That is, the website or blog may be free.
The iPhone app costs a couple of bucks.
Or the Kindle stream costs you a few bucks amonth.
Or you still get the printed copy.
This is where content is going, pay for how you receive it, just the same as water.
Water from the tap is free unless it’s bottled or carbonated or served at a restaurant. People will pay, in the right place, in the right form.
That is questions that provide a different perspective, stimulate not only the recipient but yourself.
Questions that flip the perspective, provide more insight and potentially shine the light on new opportunities.
Get beyond the standard questions and delve deeper. You not only owe it to yourself but to whom whose precious time you have requested.
You’ll know you’re getting it right when you hear “I’ve never heard it put like that” or “I’ve never thought of that” or most importantly “I like the questions you ask”.
You see questions aren’t give and take, the right question can give to both parties.
That is create the habit of zagging when others zig, even if it’s exploratory.
Often my business partner Duncan will bring up a topic and I will take the opposing side (even if I agree) as it forces us both to evaluate the decision from all angles.
It’s a fanstastic habit for better decision making… consistently.
Ensures you get the most unique learnings. Unique learnings that give you an advantage over your peers.
It also prepares you for anything that’s thrown your way. Again moreso than your peers.
And it means if you have to repeat that path, you’ll do it faster and better the second time, providing another edge.
I’m not saying you should always do it but realise the importance, different is better (more often that you think).
We were driving through Samoan villages early evening, just before dusk, as the air temperature was cooling down kids were coming out to play.
A few scenes struck out to me as we drove through, one was of a group of kids playing volleyball, island style. They didn’t have an official net, more something pulled together by one of the locals and they didn’t have any poles for it.
Instead they had two of their team mates holding the poles up! The kids would alternate but someone had to always be holding it up. What you would initially think is, that must be the worst job, but those kids had the biggest grin from ear to ear, they were close to the action playing the game. That’s real teamwork.
In order for the whole team to have a good time, someone had to hold the net up, not the greatest job in the world but a necessary part to keep the game going. And that’s what teamwork is about, working together, each doing your own part towards a common goal – having fun!
I was chatting to the CEO of Ricoh New Zealand last week around leadership and I picked up on an interesting point.
He was talking about the little things, make hundreds of little changes and the net effect they had.
You see the little things, firstly they’re hard to identify, so hard to replicate but also the unique combination of them makes the little things a strong competitive advantage.
Reminds me of Tom Peters book, The Little Big Things, an excellent read.
You don’t really need permission to do anything online, if you want to write about a topic, do it, disagree on a point, say so.
Don’t like a topic? Stop reading it.
The internet really is a world without permission, you can do what you want with essentially no barriers. And this is a world that Generation Z is growing up in, I suspect consumers are going to get much much pickier over time. Whether that’s for the better or the worse? Too early too tell but it’s definitely speeding up innovation (which is very very cool).
Just keep this in mind, as I suspect this a major point of tension between generations, different expectations of the world around us.
Touching on them, finally asking those hard to ask questions are what moves us forward.
Improves the status quo. Changes the now. Makes the impossible a possibility.
Unfortunately too many of us stop asking them after the first couple but just so you know it does get easier, just like failing, you learn to roll with the punches.
Not everyone gets your message, and that’s good, a great community has it’s own language, a way of interacting, it’s quirks.
And it’s those very quirks that make it attractive to those in it; which make it a community, ignore the critics and listen to those who partake.
You have an audience waiting, just talk to them!
This way please, “oh look we have photos of you, would you like to buy one?”
It’s the last and final gasp to grab some value from you after a tourist adventure or visiting a destination, it’s a way for you to remember. It’s also when your most likely to grab something that symbolises that event.
The gift shop shouldn’t ever be the last we hear from you!
What about post event? 6 months later? There’s a market there. Getting permission and having an ongoing conversation with those that visit. Getting them on board and reminding them of the good times, sharing with their friends, sending them a note at christmas saying hey we could send a photo direct to your relatives.
Can definitely be a competitive advantage.
If your people are more brighter, creative, responsive for the same times when your competition are just waking up it’ll make a world of difference.
So why would you discourage napping? Google doesn’t.
They define what is important, what isn’t and we divert our resources to where they get maximum impact.
And sometimes circumstances dictate these rules (as per the video below)….
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG6nZY9Bxy0
What it highlights is our capacity to redivert resources to where they’re needed, we just need to set the rules for them to operate within.
Spam is a numbers game, spam enough people and someone signs up, people get more savvy, means you need to spam more people.
Spam really is the result of going by the numbers too much – the more we talk to the more we hope that someone converts.
Given the cost of email is so low it works (if you get enough people).
It really is the result though of a series of decisions, made by the numbers and the numbers only. Please be cautious marketing by the numbers, remember to step outside them, question the assumptions that build the numbers – often there’s a lot there if you dig into it. Otherwise you end up in a situation…that’s very spammy indeed.
Read something along these lines:
“they want to cut marketing first, ironically they don’t value it as they sit there in $200 jeans..”
Sorry I don’t have a credit (as the tweet was in passing) – but I think we’ve all seen these conversations go on over the last 18-24 months.
Do not forget the consumer, get back to people, sales & marketing – drive what drives the business.
Had a few emails recently asking that exact question, so I thought best to publish one post and get everyone up to speed.
Thanks a lot guys, appreciate everyone for reading,
-Ben