Posts Tagged ‘Small Business’
The Future Of Business – Yes!…You’re The Problem
The more things change, the more they stay the same. We’ve all heard it before, and we’ve all said it, and yet we expect different results. That’s the definition of insanity right? Doing the same things over & over again expecting different results. We know it’s true, we tell people this all the time, and yet we don’t change our habits, worse yet, we don’t change our thinking.
If technology is changing the world, and changing the way we move products & services, why do we practice the same connecting exercises? Why do we still hold on to old ways of thinking? We hold networking events, we hand out business cards, we shake hands, eat lunch and then never really stay connected. Many attend networking events because they truly believe this is the way to build a business. For small tiny businesses and MLM’s, this will be the normal way of building business, the rest of us have to start paying attention to the way business really is, and how it’s changing.
The problem is business, it’s you. Most of us claim we like change, but when the metal meets the meat, we’re not totally honest with ourselves and those around us. It’s easy to spot, you say it, and then 5 years later, nothing changed. You might be thinking, Owen sure is being hard on me, you’d be right. This blog and my work is about you, to help you see business differently, to make you think, and most of all, help you change how you view business, how you think about your business. Clearly, I’m failing on a massive scale, I apologize for that, I’ll keep trying harder to find ways to reach the very depths of your hearts and brains.
If the problem wasn’t you, things would be different, right? The innovators would never innovate the same thing twice, you would never practice the same bad business practices twice, it would all be different. You’ll notice I didn’t say better.
I challenge you to sift through this blog, read much of the content, and then….make notes on how you see your business, I’ll bet it’s different. I’ll bet you find yourself a little uncomfortable, and wanting to stay in the comfort zone you’re in, that would be a mistake in my humble opinion. You should embrace the change, you should be excited about the future of business and how it will be different than the way you were taught. The problem will always be you, you can never point the finger at someone else.
If you keep using old networking practices, you will continue to reap the same results, and you will notice, you will be shaking the same hands at every networking event. Change your scene, move up a level, start networking with people you don’t know….better yet, start networking with people that have money. If you have to network, doesn’t it make sense to be with people with money, people with influence, people who don’t think or do the same thing twice. This alone will scare the daylights out of most of you, but I challenge you to try it, just once. You might feel energized by it.
You don’t have to be the problem, it’s better if you get out of the way, your business will thrive if you step out of it’s path.
The good news is, you have the power, you can get out of your businesses way, you can meet new people, people with money, people who see opportunity. The very people that fired you, are the very people you can make money from. It’s a matter of perspective, it’s changing the way you see and do business. Sounds uncomfortable doesn’t it, it’s not personal, it just feels that way, it’s business, get out of the way and build a business that makes the world a better place. You have the power, you just have to decide to do it.
The more you analyze your fear, the more you discover you are the problem….shed the fear, and stop being the problem.
By the way, I’m no different than you, I have to do the same things, I’m not so special that I don’t have to constantly change, at 55 it get’s harder and harder, but I must change, or my work and business will be forgotten : )
When The Dog Days Of Summer Hit Your Business
So summer finally arrived, now it’s the dog days of July & August, and business has dropped off right? It happens every year, but most business owners don’t plan for the drop off. So when the drop hits, you start to panic, you make offers you normally wouldn’t make, you do things you normally wouldn’t do.
I too have the same problem, in fact, we all have the same problem, it’s called needing more clients / customers every month. We all at some point experience the dog days of summer drop off in business, or maybe it’s attendance for your workshop and so on. Why are we so shocked or suddenly surprised when it happens?
One of the best tips I can give you is this, find like-minded partners in your business community. Why not get together with 2 or 3 other businesses and work together for the common good of your businesses. Help each other get through the summer months by building a promotion that involves all of you, and share the costs evenly if at all possible. This is very common in the online world of doing business on the Internet, it just makes sense. The MLM businesses call this having the best interest in your success, why, because everyone wins.
Brainstorm ideas together, work the details out and promote it like it you would the Olympics, invest in it. This is not a new concept, it’s just one we tend to over look or blow off, mostly because it seems like it’s too much work. Well, welcome to the world of being in business, work is part of the deal when you started your business.
The work is actually the easy part of solving your problem, the real issue is foresight. Taking the time to stop and look ahead 3 – 6 months can help prevent these down turns in July & August. It takes effort, you may want to bring someone in to help look at your situation from the outside looking in, they will see things you can’t. Why? Because you are too close to the problem.
This all sounds so simple doesn’t it, if it was these short-term struggles wouldn’t happen to most businesses. So keep it simple, because simple is hard enough.
So, find some partners going through the same struggle in your area, make sure they are not competition : ) Pose the question of doing a promotion together, and get creative. Do something significant, not the usual giveaways and 10% discounts, do something special for your business communities / tribes. Make your clients/customers want to get involved, they have the money, give them a reason to buy. Your customers are worth it.
The Future Of Business – It Will Get Harder & Harder To Get Attention & Build Trust
The Future Of Business – It Will Get Harder & Harder To Get Attention & Trust. I chat with many who say it’s hard to get attention online for their business. There are many ways to skin the cat, you could spend lots of money trying to do online what you’ve always done offline, but that seldom works. The online world is a unique beast, people don’t want to be sold, they don’t want to be yelled at in Social Networks, but they do want things on their own terms. And that is one of the many challenges business owners are facing everyday, but why don’t business owners understand, because it’s still confusing.
The two biggest reasons it will get harder to get attention & trust, it’s sheer numbers really. The first issue is the noise, I mean the volume of it, and you’re in there somewhere trying to be heard. Let’s look at the noise problem, there are currently 2.2 Billion people on the Internet, almost a Billion on FaceBook, and factor in all the other Social Networks. Each network has an approach on how monetize or generate revenue, and some have models for business owners, you know, FaceBook Pages, Google Plus Pages for business and so on. But 2.2 Billion people are producing a crap load of content (noise), and it’s a tidal wave of information, a giant global wall of noise, it’s already hard to be heard right? The second issue is….Well, there’s still another 3 Billion people coming online, and our tools have not progressed at the rate they need to, so we can all filter the noise effectively.
It is perceived, the larger the following you have online, the easier it is to be heard, and supposedly you are trusted at a higher rate. If we used the Industrial Age way of thinking, that would be true, but it’s not!
Consumers online are much more in control of you and your business than in any other time in history of doing commerce. It takes nanosecond for them to find out how ethical you and your business is, and if it isn’t ethical, you will probably never get heard again. Bad service, bad communication, and bad treatment of customers, are all on hypersensitive mode today.
It is perceived, that if you were an early adopter of any technology, you will be heard and seen as a leader, that too is not true. You may be for a short period of time, but eventually your output of content will be your voice, and if the masses don’t like your voice, you will be ignored. If your product or service does not deliver what it supposed to do, you will be ignored.
What does all this mean? It’s going to get harder and harder to get attention and build trust. The world is getting fussier, more sensitive, and has what some would call hyper sensitive BS protectors on. And that filter will work at a high rate.
So what’s the answer, probably far too many for you to adopt I suspect. Products & Services from this day forward have to be compelling, solve problems, deliver what it claims, and do so at an almost perfect rate. I can’t imagine what that means to be completely honest, a perfect delivery rate, a product or service that never fails, it gives me a headache thinking about it. Oh and BTW, I have the same problem you have, are you hearing me? I didn’t think so, too many people out there disrupting my disruption.
In the end, do the best work you can, deliver the best solutions you can, and be the best person you can…treat you customers the best you can, and above all, support them better than anyone else can. At least then you might have a chance to be heard, and your might be able to build trust through your efforts. You won’t be able to take a day off from these problems, they will be in your face everyday.
Deliver solid customer service and create a buzz, build a tribe, and your tribe will help you rise above the noise, and then maybe, you will have built trust.
The Future Of Business? It will get harder & harder to get attention & trust. Do think it’s getting easier, or harder?
Related articles
- The Future Of Business – Pay Attention (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – The Consumers New Found Power (owengreaves.com)
- Can I really trust you? How to build trust online and offline to get referrals (successnetwork.wordpress.com)
- The Future Of Business – Online & Offline (owengreaves.com)
- Is Your Business Community Listening? (owengreaves.com)
- 9 Ways to Improve the Signal to Noise Ratio on Twitter (briansolis.com)
Freedom At 50!
I have a confession to make, sometimes, I just don’t know how to help you. Why? It’s because you don’t know what I know, and you can’t see what I see. It’s not your fault, you have been conditioned, blinded, and even had the wool pulled over your eyes by the industrial age of business. But today, you don’t have anywhere to hide, you already know too much, and that’s why you are afraid.
I was asked why I do what I do, why do I work so hard to help business owners and entrepreneurs that don’t seem to want to be helped? My answer was a little confusing to this person, I said, it’s what I do, I don’t really have a choice. You see, I feel it’s a calling, a voice in my head, my conscience, my deep concern for the business community, and my heart for people. I can’t not do this blog, I can’t stop reaching out to my business community, and I have to continually share what I know and see. You see, it’s not about me, it’s about you.
In my workshops, I do an hour long presentation, a look at what’s happening, and then I share what I see happening, and then I try to teach what to do about what’s happening. I try to help you create new ideas or deliverables for your business, maybe help you find the business you want to start, or one of the many passions fighting like hell to be let out of yourself.
I’m turning 55 this November, not sure how I feel about it but, 5 years ago I found myself suddenly free, yep, freedom at 50! It wasn’t because I was financially independent, it was simply this, the industrial age had spit me out on the curb, it was a blessing, although at the time it didn’t feel like it. I had a choice, pay attention to what was happening and figure out how to adopt it, or…be comfortable in the industrial age cocoon and the lie it is, was, and had told me. The truth was talking to me, and I was fighting against it.
I knew that day was going to come, January 27th, 2007. The harder I ignored what I knew was happening, the direction business was headed, the work situation seemed to get worse and worse, until one day it came to an end. You see, it wasn’t working for them or for me, I just couldn’t tow their party line another day. There was a lot going on behind the scenes I didn’t know about, and that’s fine, on February 1st, 2007, the company I used to work for, was sold. It was a kick in the butt, and seat on the curb. I even felt used, taken advantage of, but that’s not what this story is about.
So why am I sharing my story, its simple, I know many of you have similar stories, and you’re afraid just like I was, but I knew I was going to be OK, I didn’t know why, but I did. I know you will be too. Like you, the call in me was strong, that force was very strong, my passion was screaming at me to let it out, to take a chance and learn how to live with ambiguity. There I said it, ambiguity. That’s what most of us fear, we have this deep need to know what’s going to happen next, where the next meal is going to come from, and worse yet, when is the next payday going to happen. And it needs to happen religiously every two weeks!
The problem wasn’t doing it, the problem was, how do I do it? When you step outside the industrial age system, pay days are a reward for your faith walk, for your commitment to the call you feel inside, there is nothing the industrial age can offer that matches the reward of heeding your call, and the feeling of freedom you possess.
Freedom at 50 is hard when it doesn’t come on your terms, and most of us will have to work at something well past the age of 65 and even 70, what will you do, and what will it be. Will it be what the world and the industrial age tells you it should be, or will you learn to live another way, learn a new business model. Whichever you choose, you will have to work, it’s part of the curse of having the life you want to live.
I am writing this to you because my heart is aching, it’s even breaking, because you are struggling just as I did 5 years ago. You should know, I still struggle, but I am not controlled by it, my call and my passion make the struggle fade away.
So if you find yourself sitting on the side-lines (curb), or you know you have to make a change, don’t let fear control to call inside you, it could be the call is telling what to do and you’re simply ignoring it. If you do anything do this, always seek counsel from someone you trust, someone with perspective, from someone who can teach you how to live in the new age of business, from someone who is doing it, from someone who can show you how to become the passion inside you.
For years I fought against my passions, my desires, and simply did what the education system industrial age told me to do, I was wrong to listen. I teach an open & free business model because it works, it takes commitment, it takes patience, and it takes work….but it works. I’m selling ideas, I’m selling you the truth about what’s happening, and I’m selling a message of freedom. Freedom at 50 wasn’t my choice, but I’m grateful that it happened, it’s like Morpheus pulled me out of the Matrix. Which pill will you take, the industrial age lie, or the open & free business model
I hope sharing bits of my story helps you, will you have freedom at 50? If so, what are you doing, what do you want to do, and do you plan to do it?
Related articles
- The Future Of Business – If I Were A Carpenter (owengreaves.com)
- The industrial age has finally run out of gas (Don Tapscott) (mediafuturist.com)
- The forever recession (and the coming revolution) (sethgodin.typepad.com)
The Future Of Business – Online & Offline
These two are not the same, they don’t provide the same results, and they can’t be measured with the same metrics, apples to apples so to speak. Many people believe that online is merely taking your offline onto the Internet and expecting the same results, really? Profit is profit, whether it be online or offline, that’s true, but both online and offline require work, there is no short-cut.
There is much confusion, we are lead to believe, that making money online is actually easier, and you don’t have to work as hard, not so. The digital world is a very foggy landscape for the masses when it comes to making money online. In an ethical, human caring way. It is my opinion that the Internet Marketer’s of the world only care about your wallet, how much they can get from you. They don’t really care if they solve a problem or help you in some small way. That is a huge generalization right? Think about it, almost everything on the Internet can be brought down to a small community, just like your offline world.
You & I can only meet or interact with a small group of people in real life, you know, going out and meeting face-to-face, to do business and stuff. It took time, it took effort, it was actually hard work, and you felt like you got nothing done sometimes. Online, where do you start? You actually have to have a plan before doing the same thing as you did offline, why? You don’t know the people, when you met someone face-to-face, you probably already had a relationship with them, that took the pressure off. Online, you can’t tell who’s attention you have, or if they are even looking you in the eye. Oh the two worlds are very different, but there is one common denominator, we all seem to want the same thing. Some go about it in an underhanded way.
I like the fact that these two are different, they are only the same to me because they both have people at the end of it, and that makes it easier. Selling offline works differently than online, you would think it wouldn’t but, it just is. Online, we don’t want to work as hard, we have been sold down the river, we have been lead to believe it’s easier and less work, NOT!
I’m not trying to rain on your parade, I just want you to be realistic about what you are trying to do, you are trying to push a square peg thru a round hole, plain and simple. The online world does think differently because it believes you don’t have to work hard, just setup this and that and watch the cash pour in. Those who tried that offline didn’t make it any better than those online, it’s just different.
What is different, if you fail online, you lose nothing….offline, you can’t get away in the same manner as the online world. So don’t get sucked into the online & offline are the same game, they aren’t, they are two very different worlds, both are capable of being very cruel, and both can be very rewarding.
I prefer the online world for one reason really, I can reach out much easier, I can reach more people in seconds than I could in a lifetime doing things offline the old fashion way….face-to-face. Don’t get me wrong, I like meeting people, alot…I’m a highly relational guy so I need to be around people. But if you are anything like me, and you have a vision to reach as many business owners & entrepreneurs as you can, online does provide a better way of accomplishing that vision. The mission on the other hand takes a balance of both online & offline.
The Future Of Business is a balance of doing both, one is not easier than the other. What do you think?
Do you think it’s easier to build and run an online business?
Do you think it’s easier to build and run an offline business?
Do you think business online is the same as business offline?
Related articles
- How to make money online (sethgodin.typepad.com)
