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The Age of the Platform Will Make You Think
Nov 27th
Phil Simon’s newest book, The Age of the Platform, is the kind of book to read if you want to better understand the Internet and how your company can fit into it and create a business model to profit from it.
The subtitle “How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Redefined Business” gives further clues of what this book is about. Simon refers to these four companies as the “Gang of Four.” It’s a term first used by Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, to describe four tech companies that are growing at “unprecedented rates.”
What is a Platform?
The premise of the book is that these four companies have created not just companies, not just technology. They’ve created platforms — and platforms are something that YOU can leverage with a small business. Or you can create your own smaller platform.
What’s a platform? It’s a valuable and powerful technology ecosystem. It scales and grows quickly. It serves customers, yes. But it also serves vendors and partners, who use it for their own business purposes. A platform embraces third-party collaboration. The platform, he says, is “becoming one of the most important business models of the new millennium” and “new companies are hitching their wagons on the platform.”
Platforms have benefits and they have their downsides. Benefits for you include a place to sell and distribute your content (Amazon or Apple’s iTunes) or promote your business (Google or Facebook). To understand the benefits of a platform, you have to understand consumer behavior. Simon says that consumers “want one-stop shopping, even at the expense of missing out on ‘the best’ app or service. They like platforms; they don’t want to manage 100 different devices, sites, and services.”
Of course, the downsides include the fact that a platform may end up becoming your competitor. Or it may just go out of fashion (think MySpace), leaving you to have to re-establish a foothold on another platform. Therefore, you must be fluid and nimble, and able to change as circumstances change.
About The Author
The author (@PhilSimon on Twitter) is a technology expert and former tech consultant. We had Simon on my radio show to discuss this concept of platform (go here listen to the 30-minute audio interview if you’d like to hear more in the author’s own voice). I was intrigued and he offered to send me a review copy so I could share more with you.
A Lot to Like About This Book
If you love to read about Google and Amazon — or are amazed at the growth of Facebook or how Apple can keep churning out new products that continue to delight — then you will love this book for that reason alone. These are history-making companies. We are seeing in real time how they change consumers’ lives. And, as the book points out, we are seeing how they are changing the Internet since roughly 2005.
I know I can hardly resist reading a good article about these companies and how they are changing the Web. I’m fascinated. But reading an article here and there gives you a fragmented view. Reading a book gives you a broader view of the landscape, and puts more in context. You capture more of the nuances. You get a better understanding when you read a book.
Another thing to like about this book is the way it gets you thinking about how to use the platforms of the Gang of Four (and other smaller platforms) to benefit your own business. It’s a book that raises more questions to think about, than perhaps it answers. That’s actually a good thing. After all, to build our businesses using the Internet we have to first open our minds and understand enough to know the possibilities.
Who Should Read This Book
This is a book for anyone with a business that is using the Internet to generate revenues — or wants to. If you produce content and want to promote or sell it online, read this book. If you create apps and need to get those apps to the populace, read this book. If you have developed technology or a product and need to market it, read this book.
If you are struggling with your online business model, or finding that your business model has to evolve due to circumstances outside your control, read this book.
It is NOT a how-to book in the true sense of the term. You will not be presented with chapter after chapter of detailed steps to take to create your own platform or learn to use the platforms of other companies. Yes, there is a chapter of about 30 pages called “The How: Tips for Building a Platform.” But you will have to do the thinking and heavy lifting to build your platform and learn to leverage others.
Still, not every book needs to be a how-to. It’s an important book in the sense of understanding the big picture and how your business can fit in. We liked it so much that our Book Editors added it to our list of Top Technology Books. If you want to learn more you can read the foreword and listen to the Introduction in audio, on the book’s website.
I recommend you read The Age of The Platform to start sparking ideas for where to take your business in the future.
The Age of the Platform Will Make You Think
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Change Is What You Think It Is
Nov 24th
Change Is What You Think It Is
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
Happy Thanksgiving
To live fully you must learn to welcome and embrace change. Resistance to change won’t kill you, but it will keep you from becoming the person you are meant to be and will cause friction as you try to realize your vision for your business.
The very thought of change creates fear. We want comfort and certainty, even if it means sacrificing the remarkable experiences that wait around every bend on the adventure.
Today is the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States and there are grown men and women in every corner of this great country for whom the entire day will be ruined if they do not eat the exact food, prepared in the exact same way, as every year since they were born.
You’ll find this in business as well. Think about all the times you do something or handle something in a way that you really don’t understand other than the fact that you always do it this way.
Know this, change allows you tread the path you were born to follow and feelings of resistance and fear are nothing more than signals that you are on the right path. The more you fear a certain form of change the more you should rush, headlong in, to embrace it.
Here’s what I think change is:
Change is opportunity – I make my living embracing change because there are those that count on me to make sense of it for them. Every new tool, network and marketing subtlety provides fuel for business opportunity if you can come to view it this way rather than a hurdle to overcome.
Change is energy – Few things are more exhilarating than uncertainty. Even something as simple as trying new foods, taking new routes to familiar places and seeking out new people to engage, can deliver a shot of the kind of fresh energy that snaps you out of the routine and helps you appreciate being present.
Change is growth – In order to make progress in business and life you must be willing to leave one part of yourself behind in favor of change. Little growth occurs in the known. It is only when you push yourself through the fear and are willing to allow yourself to be really, really bad at something that true growth can occur.
Change is possibility – Part of the problem with change is that we don’t know what will happen on the other end. We don’t know if we will be the same person, we don’t know if our friends will still like us, we don’t know if we’ll be thought of as a fool. But, all possibility for living the life we are here to live lies on the other side – all possibility comes from detaching from the fear and inviting change.
Change is purpose – Purpose and passion don’t just happen. They are essential elements of a fully alive person and a fully alive business, but they are works in progress. Connecting with a higher purpose that drives your day to day actions is not something you find in a workshop. It must be given the opportunity to evolve as you discover opportunity, find what creates energy, leave the past behind and open the doors to possibility.
View full post on Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
If You Still Think The Customer Is King
Nov 16th
If You Still Think The Customer Is King
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing
Marketing podcast with Aaron Shapiro (Click to play or right click and “Save As” to download – Subscribe now via iTunes or subscribe via other RSS device (Google Listen)
You know the old adage – the customer is king, well there’s a new king and every business today must shift their focus to the much broader world of the user. A large segment of this user community may never buy from you, but in today’s increasingly digital world they do influence how your brand is perceived and, in the end, who does or does not become a customer.
For this week’s episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast I visit with Aaron Shapiro, author of Users, Not Customers: Who Really Determines the Success of Your Business
The trick is to become indispensable, through content and interaction to a large group of users, those that may never spend a dime with you, and your customers will naturally fall from this group. The larger the user group, the larger the customer pool.
Building products and adapting your business for users over customers takes a bit of a mind shift, but successful organizations are doing this in a variety of ways.
From my own experience, I can tell you that making your free products more valuable than your competitor’s paid products is one of the best ways to install this principle.
Shapiro also addresses one of my favorite topics – rapidly deploying new technology that benefits your users.
In one of the more telling moments in the interview Shapiro explains doing focus groups with millennials and when asked how much time they spent online they didn’t know how to answer the question. The next generation is so digital they can no longer distinguish moments when they aren’t online.
You can listen to the show by subscribing the feed in iTunes or a variety of other free services such as Google Listen (Use this RSS feed) or you can buy the Duct Tape Marketing iPhone app. (iTunes link – Cost is $2.99)
View full post on Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
Focus On Success Now – Think And Grow Rich Audio Club
Nov 1st
Success Audio Package Of Think And Grow Rich, The Master Key System, Understanding The Law Of Attraction, And Building Self Confidence Plus Audio Club Of Monthly Success Audios Of Books, Entraintment, NLP Audios, Subliminals, And More.
Focus On Success Now – Think And Grow Rich Audio Club
Think the Downturn Cut Your Income?
Oct 25th
Think your income doesn’t cover your expenses the way it used to? It could be worse, you could be self-employed.
Recently, the Census Bureau released a report which showed that the income of the typical American household fell 6.4 percent in inflation adjusted terms since 2007, the last pre-recession year. Not good.
But for the self-employed, the numbers are far worse. Between 2007 and 2010, the median income of a household headed by a self-employed person dropped 15.4 percent in real terms.
Compared to 2006 when real median income for households headed by those in business for themselves hit their post 2002 peak, the numbers are worse still. While real median income at households of wage earners fell only 1.3 percent between 2006 and 2010, the decline was a whopping 17.4 percent households of the self-employed (see chart below).
Moreover, real household income increased for those working for wages between 2009 (when the recession ended) and 2010. But it continued to decline for the self-employed, albeit by only 0.7 percent.
With this hit to their income, should we be surprised that few people in business for themselves are hiring these days?
Source: Created from data from the U.S. Census
Think the Downturn Cut Your Income?
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
3 Stats to Think About When Crafting Your Social Media Campaign
Oct 20th
There’s a lot involved with building your social media presence–so much so, that it’s easy for small business owners to feel overwhelmed and become unsure of what they should be focusing on. And then you come across some startling stats that show just how big the disconnect really is.
I present you with three social media stats to ponder. Think about how they may reflect your own social media strategy.
1. Social Consumers Rely on Ratings and Reviews
Consumers’ increased use of social media is changing buying patterns and behaviors. It’s something we’ve been able to feel for a while, but thanks to NM Incite, we now also have the data to back it up. According to NM Incite, 63 percent of social media users listed “consumer ratings” as their preferred source for getting information about products and services. Another 62 percent of social media users listed “company reviews” as their preferred source.
Consumers are seeking out these websites for information about the products and services that they are interested in. And they are making their judgments based on the reviews and ratings your brand has received. Last week I mentioned the importance of putting together a holiday review strategy – using the momentum of the season to pad your reviews and testimonials in the New Year. The data released only reaffirms the importance of this. If you haven’t created a strategy for getting online reviews, now is the time. Don’t let it sit any longer.
2. Seventy-One Percent of Companies Ignore Customer Complaints on Twitter
How’s that for customer service?
According to research from Maritz and Evolve124, of 1,298 Twitter complaints reviewed, only 29 percent received a response from the company mentioned. The other 71 percent went completely ignored by the brand, essentially telling consumers companies are not listening and don’t care about their experiences. To make the stat even more heartbreaking, 86 percent of the tweeters who were ignored said they would have liked or loved if the company had responded to them. And that makes sense. We like hearing that a company is listening to us, that they hear what we’re saying, and that they’re going to address our concerns. We are looking for these signs when we do business with a brand, even if 51 percent of users don’t believe a company will respond when we tweet at them. We’re still elated when they do.
If your customers are giving you the opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade, to right a wrong and to start over, don’t let that opportunity slip by. Even if the tweet directed at you is full or fury , the fact that the customer said something gives you the ability to correct it. And according to the numbers, more than 80 percent will be genuinely happy to receive a response from you. That’s like guaranteed happiness just for showing up!
3. Fifty-Eight Percent Expect Exclusive Content/Discounts for “Liking” Your Brand’s Facebook Page.
If ever there was a reminder that consumers have their own motives for following you on Twitter or liking your brand on Facebook, ExactTarget reminds us that it’s really about the customer. Always. When it comes to expectations after liking a company on Facebook:
- 58 percent expect to gain access to exclusive content, events or sales
- 58 percent expect to receive discounts or promotions
- 47 percent expect to receive updates about the company, person or organization
When you begin to develop a presence on social media, it’s up to you to provide the why and create that incentive. It also means understanding your audience so you know what they want. Some may prefer discounts, while others will want exclusive videos or access to your brand. By giving your customers what they want, you increase their engagement with your brand.
The above statistics stood out to me because they all reinforce the reason for getting involved with social media in the first place. It’s about helping people find information about you, engaging when they reach out to you, and giving them something for their time. Those are the three things every social media plan should be based on.
3 Stats to Think About When Crafting Your Social Media Campaign
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Think, Write & Retire!
Jul 19th
Turn Words Into Massive Wealth – Easily! Discover How To Be An Internet Infopreneur. Buyers Love it! Affiliates: Profit from brisk sales. 3.5% conversion rate. Generous commissions. Go Here For Tons Of Affiliate Tools: http://ThinkWriteRetire.com/aff
Think, Write & Retire!
Teach Me How to Think About Internet Marketing
May 12th
It’s overwhelming. It’s overloaded. Sometimes it’s just flat out too much! It’s the information age and we have answers, tips, advice and thinly veiled marketing pitches for the latest “this-that-and-the-other” coming at us from every direction. And sometimes we love it. Because (if the marketing department did their job right) we hope that this miracle product will make our business as profitable as we dreamed.
Online Marketing
But when it comes to online marketing (and information in general), we just need the truth about what works and what doesn’t. And the truth is there is no miracle product for our business – meaning that while there are great things on the market, nothing eliminates the strategy work that the small business owner is responsible for.
So how do we get a handle on online marketing? I suggest we start at the heart of the matter and work our way out. In fact, Mike Blumenthal, “Professor Maps” and the man behind understanding Google Maps and local search, has created an infographic that helps us do just that.
Core Marketing
Mike believes in building your core marketing first. He teaches small business owners, via GetListed Local University, to focus first on the marketing elements that you can control and then build from there. In other words, your marketing core begins with things like your business name, your phone number, your website and your blog. Build a strong foundation there and then move on to the social networks with a plan. His infographic helps you to see this concept.
I recently interviewed Mike and learned a few more things about him and this neat little tool. He feels that once we get the “big picture” of what our online marketing is for and should look like, it’s easier than we think. Mike is “a big believer that not only do small businesses need to understand the context of their marketing but they need to invest in their marketing in such a way that they are not giving away future equity without knowing it.”
What you don’t know about online marketing, about getting listed in directories, about the demise of the printed Yellow Pages, and the rise of online local searches (for everything from the closest restaurant to the nearest dry cleaner) can hurt you.
Training for Online Marketing
“Reason and information are the currency of life,” Mike says. If he’s right, then we’d better start spending that money wisely. According to him, “each marketing effort should leverage what went on before.” I agree. And to help us (learn how to) leverage, we need a simple and systematic way to understand the overall strategy. Here are three tools from Mike’s world to help with this:
GetListed is a simple website that tests your business listing in the search engines. Why? Because it’s relevant to small businesses. These days, when we get ready to go somewhere, we pull out our smartphones and Google it. Or we map it out on our laptops and print it out before we leave the house. Or we let the GPS guide the way. The point is, we are using the Internet to find local businesses, and so are our customers. GetListed helps you figure out where your business stands and gives you advice on how to improve it.
GetListed Local University is live and in person training that focuses on smaller cities like Birmingham, Alabama and Spokane, Washington. It’s a half-day event that’s designed to give small business owners “up-to-the minute, pitch-free education about online marketing.” As an avid educator at the GetListed Local Universities, Mike believes that “Social engagement is important, but if potential clients can’t find a business at the moment they are ready to buy, then the business will be in trouble.” In other words, establish your website and get listed in the directories first. Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) come second.
Mike’s Infographic: Web Equity – Owning Your Local Web Presence is a single visual. Mike designed it to show “the marketing opportunities that are available to small businesses.”
I like this tool. It takes some thinking to digest it. But with his concise explanations and a little focus, the concept behind an effective online marketing strategy becomes clear. And for me, that’s a breath of fresh air.
Teach Me How to Think About Internet Marketing
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
Why makers should think a little bit more like managers (and vice versa)
Apr 9th
Paul Graham, as usual, is thought provoking.
There’s no question that programmers, designers, writers and others that do their best work in a moment of flow do themselves and their organizations a disservice when they are ruled by the clock and spend a lot of it in meetings.
Paul’s argument is that makers should be insulated from this sort of wasteful nonsense.
The essay is one of his best ever, but I think he needs to add a key point…
Managers need to act more like makers, because making is more important than ever before. Even the most Outlook-driven manager can benefit from finding the isolation to do truly challenging work.
Makers need to be disciplined enough to interact like managers, else they will become pawns in a system they don’t sufficiently influence. If you’re not present when decisions are getting made, my guess is that you won’t like what gets decided…
Neither side gets to insist on just one way. Both need to do more of the other’s work. Not because it’s easy or even fun, but because it’s still the best way to bring your vision to the world.
View full post on Seth’s Blog
Why to Think Twice About Green Labels
Apr 9th
Getting your business or product “green certified” may seem like a smart way to show your customers and prospective customers that you adhere to environmentally friendly practices. But be careful. You could end up spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a green label that’s worthless or, worse, hurts your reputation.
More organizations and consulting firms are introducing green labels and certification programs. The idea is to make it easy for consumers to see which businesses follow eco-friendly practices or meet a rigorous set of sustainability standards. Such programs often appeal to small businesses that need help navigating the evolving world of sustainability and perhaps believe a label adds some credibility to their efforts.
Yet, some certification programs aren’t as valuable as others, nor as reputable. (Read about a green certification scam recently penalized by the Federal Trade Commission.) Some, such as Green Seal, may require intense assessment of a business’s practices before providing certification. Others may require little or no assessment at all. They’re just a marketing gimmick: Fork over $200 in order to get a window cling or a website listing signifying you’re a green business. (I know a couple of websites, for instance, that ask businesses to fill out a short online questionnaire to self-certify themselves as green. The businesses then pay fees to get listed on the site, even though nobody actually verifies that the business does what it says.)
You want to make sure you’re dealing with a reputable certification program that will ultimately add value to your business, and not suggest you’re simply greenwashing your image. So what to do? Here are some tips when it comes to deciding whether a green certification program is right for you:
1. Read up. Several online resources can help vet green certification programs or at least direct you to reputable ones. Consumer Reports offers a helpful Eco-labels center where people can look up and read about environmental labeling programs.The U.S. Small Business Administration also has a list of green labeling programs. Before signing up with any particular program, make sure to thoroughly research it online, such as checking with the Better Business Bureau.
2. Assess the program. Determine what kind of information and guidance you will get for going through the certification process. Are the steps ultra-simple, so you’re basically just paying for the recognition? Or does it require a set of environmentally meaningful standards that are verified by the certifier? Also determine whether it’s a valuable recognition to have: Will your customers and prospective customers actually know and care about the green label?
3. Weigh the alternatives. Plenty of businesses effectively market their greenness without ever getting a label from a third-party organization. They do so by creating a dialogue with their customers. They use social media and creative marketing to tell consumers about why their products or practices are environmentally sound. They write and follow sustainability plans and post them on their websites. It’s more authentic and more likely to pay off in the end.
Why to Think Twice About Green Labels
View full post on Small Business News, Tips, Advice – Small Business Trends
