Category Archives: Business

Business, Leadership

The revolution will not be televised

Tonight, while CNN.com told its visitors about the end of analog TV, they've quietly confirmed their own irrelevance by failing to report on another revolution…the one in Iran. 

Meanwhile on twitter, YouTube and Flickr, the revolution is being reported, not by the media, but by the people involved.  And the world is watching it unfold, tweet by tweet, picture by picture, video by video.

Seems Gil Scott-Heron was right when he said, "The revolution will not be televised"…little did he know it would be on twitter.

Iran 

Photo Credit

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Business, Leadership

How to save the publishing industry

Traditionally, what a book publisher brings to the table is two sets of relationships.

1. Relationships with the people who buy books…the middle men (not the readers).
2. Relationships with the people who review books…the editor of the Times book review section.

There's a problem with this. Books are now being bought
directly by the readers, increasingly online from sites like Amazon.
The readers are increasingly being influenced by a different type of
reviewer. This reviewer doesn't write for the Times, she writes for
herself, and her blog audience.

There's a huge opportunity here. The question is who will figure it out first? The authors or the publishers.

We all agree, that successful authors have nascent tribes. The opportunity lies in connecting authors with their audience.

Authors make the bulk of their income from their advance.  If a publisher wants a successful author they offer them a larger advance than their current publisher and there's a decent chance the author will walk.

But, what if the publishers
actively helped their authors build tribes online? They'd be doing the authors a huge service and no
author could afford to leave their publisher, because they'd be walking away from their tribe.

If the publishers don't help the authors do this, the
authors will start doing it themselves.  And once they've developed their own tribe, what do they need the publisher for? I believe that publishers are in the
perfect position to do this, because authors are used to the publisher
brokering these relationships and most authors have no idea where to
start.

At this point, the publishers by and large don't get this (with the notable exception of Hachette). A couple of
months ago I received a referral from a publicist at a large NY publishing house who wanted
me to help one of her authors build his tribe (on the author's dime). What most publishers still haven't
thought through is that they should be the ones building the communities (so they own the tribe).

If publishers helped their authors build and serve their
tribes they just
might save the publishing industry.

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Business, Leadership

The starfish, the spider and the orchestra

MusicParadigm011 Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom, in their book The Starfish and the Spider, make a
compelling argument for the power of leaderless organizations. They
point to examples like Al Quieda and Alcoholics Anonymous to
illustrate how much can be accomplished when a network is left to its
own devices without a centralized command structure.

Today I had the opportunity to sit in an orchestra. It was
an incredible experience. At one point the conductor left the stage and
asked the orchestra to play a piece without him. Each group of
musicians responded to those around them and the result was beautiful.
Was it better with a conductor. Perhaps. But I was amazed at how well
the orchestra played without one. The point is they didn't need him up
there to make great music, but he was able to bring out the best in
them.

That's what a great leader is like.

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Business

Could this be the future of advertising?

A few days ago, Chris Brogan posted a video on his blog featuring his daughter and a bag he'd received from one of my favorite companies, the "They'll fight over it when you're dead" bag makers, Saddleback Leather Company.

How much more effective is this video than any banner ad or commercial they could buy?

The key here is that Saddleback Leather has a great product and an even better story. It's the kind of story that Chris loves. And more importantly, it's the kind of story that Chris' readers love. And Chris has a huge permission asset that doesn't mind being told about products that Chris loves.

Perhaps this is the future of advertising. The self selected endorsement.

P.S. I've got a Saddleback Leather bag as well, it was a gift from a client…it's amazing and it smells as good as Chris says it does.

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Business

Questioning assumptions

A few of us in the SAMBA program have spent the last week stumped by a puzzle created by thinkFun. The puzzle is brilliantly designed to force you to look at it a certain way, to make a set of assumptions. We spent hours following what appeared to be the rules. But, only by questioning those rules and challenging your core assumptions are you able to solve the puzzle.

Many assumed that people wouldn't buy shoes online. You had to go to a shoe store because that was the only place to try shoes on. Tony Hsieh questioned those assumptions, added free shipping both ways and a one year money back guarantee. It changed the way people looked at buying shoes and Zappos was born.

By questioning our basic assumptions and changing the way we look at a problem we can often uncover incredible opportunities.

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Business

What to do if you don’t want to compete on price

How would you like to have raving fans, who'll drive hundreds of
miles to your stores to pay higher prices than your competitors charge?

REI
has stores like that and I love to buy from them. They have great gear
and knowledgeable staff (who actually use the gear). But they don't
always have the lowest prices. In spite of that I go out of my way to
buy from them rather than their competition.

Why?

Here's why:

IMG_0874

That's right. A 100% satisfaction guarantee, no questions asked, for as long as you own the product.

I
have a friend who went into an REI store with a tent he'd purchased
over a decade ago. He wanted to order a replacement pole for one that
he'd lost. They told him they couldn't get one exactly the right size.
So they gave him a brand new (and better) tent.

Did they lose
money on that transaction? Absolutely. But, they understand the
lifetime value of a customer. And they understand that outdoor lovers
talk.

The cost of a tent was a small price to pay for the number
of people who've heard that story since it happened. REI's customers
think they'd be crazy to take the risk of buying from someone else.

What's the story your customers are telling themselves?

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Business

Giving your customers an “us”

A few days ago, I wrote about how we don't make our decisions alone…we make them
as part of a tribe. We're highly influenced by those around us.

What some really smart companies (or their customers) have figured out, is you can give people an "us" to be part of.

Does
Apple sell a better personal computer? Yes, but you're also becoming
part of something larger when you buy a Mac. You're joining a movement
(and Apple sells the tickets).

The same is true for a Jeep or a Harley Davidson.

And your local church or synagogue.

And a Ted Dekker novel.

Do your customers have something to be part of?

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Business, Leadership

I vs. us

For generations marketers have used polling to figure out why people buy.

There's a problem with this. Polls often assume we make our decisions alone.

But
we don't make our decisions alone. We make them together. We live our
lives in a glass polling booth, where almost every buying decision is
influenced by the decisions of those around us.

And we like it that way. We like being part of something bigger than ourselves.

When you're trying to figure out how to sell me something. Don't just think about me, think about us.

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Business, Leadership

Service or hospitality?

"It's absolutely irresponsible for anyone in a high touch business not to know who their customer is today."
– Danny Meyer, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group

I
recently heard Danny Meyers, a successful NYC restaurateur, say that
the difference between service and hospitality is like the difference
between an off the rack suit and a custom made suit. He described how
his restaurants have been able to use technology solutions like OpenTable
to know who their customers are and when they'll be dining. His team
then uses that information to do more than just provide service, they
custom design a hospitality experience for their guests.

I
believe that Danny's advice is relevant far beyond the traditionally
"high touch" businesses. Whether you're an auto-mechanic, an author, a
hotelier, a clothing company, or a coffee shop…the technology you
need is readily available to connect you directly with your end
customer so you can provide a customized "hospitality" experience. If
you don't, one of your competitors will…and then you lose.

Just providing service isn't enough…if you want to be remarkable you have to provide an experience.

It looks like we're all in the hospitality business now.

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Business

The cost of spam

There are two ways to look at the cost of spam.

Costs me nothing to ask and a few will say yes, so its worth it.

or

Every conversation is a journey. Each interaction builds on the prior
interaction. Every time you touch someone in the outside world it costs
you something and it costs them something.

How you answer the question will effect everything.

And while we're talking about spam…if you didn't send out that "e-newsletter" of yours, how many people would miss it enough to call you and ask where it was? If people don't miss it when its gone, I'd argue you don't really have a true permission asset. I don't care if your privacy statement gave you permission to send me email.  A true fan would be mad if they found out they'd been left out of a timely and relevant communication. 

What would it take for people to actually look forward to seeing your email in their inbox?

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