The Internets future is of great interest to me, I study some of the worlds smartest technology people because they see things differently than the rest of us. The Futurists are an interesting lot, they even cause me to chuckle now and then, but we need them because it forces us to look outside the box. I share and talk about the possibilities technology can bring, I care very much how it impacts society and our economy’s, plus I love looking into the future.

So I ask you Bloggers & Marketer’s, have you stopped to consider what and how the new economy is going to work, what it might look like, and how it will impact how you Blog and Market? Do you know what the New Economy is? There is and will be a New Economy, it will be The Data Economy, the New Content Economy. We will connect data to data, line to line, not web-page to web-page, this economy will set the table for a revolutionary way of doing business on the Internet. Google is ensuring this will happen, everything will be mobile and on the cloud.

We are entering a time where Command & Control will become Coordinate & Cultivate, where domination is out – and Collaboration is in. Where the current economic egoism no longer works, because now we are all connected, it breeds mediocrity. Mediocrity is what we have / had under the control model. We need to build an Ecosystem, where we freely, openly share & collaborate, with the right blend of sharing rather than piracy. Collaboration is and will be required to build in this new economy.

An entirely new way of thinking comes from being connected, Trust is the Key, Trust is the new currency. This trust will be developed over time, it will make or break organizations and indivduals with large followings and high levels of influence, but this trust won’t come easy. Advertising in the connected world has to be radically different, otherwise it will keep declining. We can no longer market on the Internet by yelling. Marketing needs to hit the RESET button and figure out how to function in the new economy.

Content today is copied, you download a PDF, an MP3 and what have you, it’s a copy. The Internet is a giant copy machine, if you disconnect the copy function, you disconnect the listening function. The fight to keep control of copies is a losing battle on this network, but how do we get the money from a network that can copy everything for free? We need to sell things that can’t be copied, the conversation is the sell. We need to sell things around the content, the packaging, the experience. Money is moving from the selling of copies, to selling the experience. After all, your Brand will be judged by that experience, if it’s bad, you will be out of business sooner than later. You can see the landscape is changing, the end of control is taking shape everywhere.

Social Media is a very human driven practice, it can’t be done with a single person, it just doesn’t scale well that way. Gary Vaynerchuk has shown us how hard it is to keep up and stay on top of all that is data, he won’t be able to sustain the demand on his time and become ineffective.

It’s important to state that Social Media is not about technology, it’s about a culture change, a paradigm shift, we have to get better at believing in the impossible.

We need to think about how we Blog & Market, re-write the books on how it’s done, because what we are doing is a diminishing return. What kind of experience do people have when they come to your Blog, and what kind of emotions are engaged when they see and hear your marketing messages? The power is now in the hands of the people formerly known as consumers, how will you engage them?

You’ve heard this message before a million times, you probably preached it over and over, but the real question is, are you one of the change agents helping shape this new economy? Have you studied what’s to come, do you know and see the indicators? The New Economy views content first as a service, then an experience – and only then (maybe) a product.

I know my voice gets lost in the noise, that’s OK. I know the Internet is a big place, and a very large network that dissects, crosses over and loops back, and some how we are supposed to find what we are looking for. Companies like Google are trying to filter the content and help us all get exactly what we want. But that my friends, is whole nother story. Filtering and curation are the keys to the next phase, and eventually we’ll find ourselves dealing with smart noise.

Are you paying attention, what do you see?

Most business owners implement systems that solve problems, sometimes they do it without looking into who they ask to help solve this problem or problems. It happens because there is a precieved urgency, something that just can’t wait and must be solved immediately. So let me ask you, is that any different than impulse shopping? Yes & No.

I’ve learned over my 50+ years that most things can be solved by slowing down and thinking through the challenges rather than making a knee jerk reaction to something that is most likely not that urgent. Sometimes the problem or need isn’t urgent at all, it’s just a need and you fill it without making sure that the person or thing is actually qualified to fill that need. Worse yet, how far in the future are you looking when you do hire someone to fill a role or fulfill a need?

Most business owners don’t look past their own sphere of influence when hiring or solving a problem, I’m generalizing of course but you know business owners that do just that everyday. A problem I see and have yet to figure out a solution is, how to grab the business owner before they make these kinds of decisions. If you have influence, credibility and you know how to help them, then you have a chance. The bigger problem, how do they find out about you? That’s another topic of discussion.

So business owners, please take the time to look more closely, so you actually solve the precieved urgency and or hire the right people. Hasty decisions cost you, how you make decisions in your business speaks volumes to the outside world and your accountant.

What do you think?

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Owen Greaves Consulting.

Yet another example of how the little things drive me nuts when it comes to customer service. This may not be a big deal to you but I think it is from a customer service perspective.

I had the priviledge of taking a young lady out to buy a brand new Laptop, her old one decided to sleep full-time so a replacement had to be found. I took her to every computer store in my community and we also stopped at the Brand New Best Buy store, it’s only been open for a couple months. We found a cute little Mini HP, it was pink and she just loved it, had to have it. We stood around for at least 10 minutes before I finally flagged a young fella down and asked if they had this model in stock. We waited longer as he had to go back to check, then he got snagged by another customer. By this time a different sales rep asked if we needed help and I told him that guy over there was helping us but he appears to be busy. He went over and was told they did not have the computer in stock, they only had the demo available, I said no thanks I want one out of the box please. He said sorry we don’t have one and started walking away. I asked, does one of your other stores have this model in stock? His response was I don’t know, I said, can’t you call them? He said sure I can do that.

As you can see this is starting to go down hill. He left and we walked around for another few minutes, he came back and said the line was busy and he would try back in a couple minutes. No worries I said. Then 10 minutes went by and he was nowhere to be found, I went back to where we last talked to him and he came out of the stock room and I snagged him again. He said, OK I’ll try again and left us again.

A short time later he stumbled out and told us that the Langley store had three in stock. You can guess my next question, great, can you have one shipped here for us? He said, we don’t do that. WHAT! I exclaimed, your kidding right? He said I would have to drive to Langley to buy the Laptop. Stunned by this news jokingly I said thank you for nothing. The other store is 40 minutes away so we decided we would go the next day but still couldn’t believe that they won’t do a small thing like send a Mini HP Laptop to another store. Is that not suppossed to be good customer service, go the extra mile and all that stuff. I know they have inter store courier service, why not put a computer with the same courier?

The next day I was still miffed, the story is, I drove to Langley and bought the Laptop. I still have to buy an external Optical Drive for this laptop, but I won’t buy it from Best Buy for fear I might have to drive to another town to get it.

Best Buy Your Customer Service Sucks!

P.S.

Be sure to Read Danny Brown’s article here!