Why Try To Get Out Of Your Box, When You Can Use What's In It?
A perfect experience, product, service doesn’t necessarily make it more interesting.
In fact, it’s often the opposite.
Not in the sense of a poor experience, but one that’s different, unexpected, with more variability.
Stay Positive & Be Different, Not Perfect
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There’s a lot at play in the market.
I have plenty of friends wanting to sell books, sell movies, sell workout groups, sell music, and sell t-shirts out of the trunk of their cars.
Growing up it’s apparent that scarcity sells. Johnny Cupcakes profits when his inventory of limited time shirts is nearly empty. Airport restaurants succeed because food is scarce at the airport, so they can charge you more and sell just the same.
When someone has something you don’t, you want it.
What happens when someone has everything?
Scarcity still sells, but it’s an instant gratification transaction. What consumers are craving is…well… everything and forever.
Blockbuster circulating 20 DVDs of He’s just not that into you isn’t good enough, although scarce. (Which is why they’re no longer in business). Netflix arose and found a way to give people everything, right now, easy to digest, easy to share, easy to talk about and for as long as the consumer wanted.
It’s getting harder, I believe, to leverage scarcity.
There was a time when people wanted what others couldn’t have, now they want what everyone has. The market is transitioning from a selfish market to a generous one, a connected one.
I don’t just want to be able to watch everything, I want my closest friends to be able to watch everything too. (Thanks, Netflix three person login capability.)
When in doubt, favor subscriptions, packages, and boxes.
It is, after all, a connection economy. What can you give?
Stay Positive & Telling It Like It Is Since 2011
Thanks for reading along.
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I love driving, but never knew why until this last weekend.
When I’m driving, I like to put myself in the driver-of-another-vehicle’s shoes. I like to guess how they will act on the road. Do they speed? Are they about to pass someone? Are they the type to look before they start changing lanes?
How does their actions relate to the vehicle they’re driving? Do they fit stereotypes? Do they blow expectations away?
There’s a remarkable world out there on the road where you can acquire so much information about human habits, intentions, and behaviors.
And, of course, the marketer in me finds brand-related touch points.
The epiphany was a nice reminder that we as marketers can get smarter off the road as much as on it, even without podcasts.
Stay Positive & Shut Up And Drive
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Many brands choose to rot instead of change.
When business slows up, they hunker down, they pull resources, they stop investing in themselves, in their staff, in the “extras” no one expects when they reach the storefront.
In doing so, fewer customers show up. Fewer clients call.
Less income means they’ve got to hunker down even more.
Then they begin to rot.
There is another option, obviously. It’s to change. To pivot. Right now, as you’re reading this, you still have some customers, still have some income, still have some product. Change things up. Try a new platform. People die standing still. Move.
Is losing really more scary than altering your vision for your business?
Stay Positive & Rotting Is A Choice
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It puts a huge smile on my face to see the transitional leap so many businesses are taking to hire people with initiative rather than obedience.
Funny how I’m just writing about this today when I asked Michael on last week’s podcast what he would look for in a person if he were hiring. He said initiative. (Episode 33)
Bravo to brands for up-ing the game, the standards, and for realizing the connection economy we’re living in before it was too late for them. Sadly we have another problem.
The workforce who is looking for jobs is still under the impression businesses are hiring the compliant. School has taught them how simple compliance is to measure and to test for. It’s easy to know when they’re doing a good job and when they’re not. They are seeking low standards and easy acceptance into the work world.
Many of those doors have closed though.
We need to change the mindset we have about the workplaces we want to be in and the brands we want to work with. They’re not looking for compliant workers, they’re looking for artists who take initiative.
Of course, initiative isn’t any easier to take, to do, to be. That’s on me and you. The cool thing about initiative is once you take it, we all benefit.
Stay Positive & Here’s Godin On Initiative
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On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we talked about the effectiveness of every brand getting into real-time marketing given how much of an uphill battle it is. We also heard from Michael one thing he suggests you try. Additionally, we chatted about if it matters how others perceive us, if experiences are earned, and getting angry at people for abusing your time.
This was a pretty fun podcast (yea, well, they all are). Enjoy.
Real Time Marketing – Should brands be trying to publish content in real-time?
Something new – What is one thing you suggest our 11 listeners to try?
Earned – Are experiences someone has earned / unearned?
Perceived – Does it matter how others perceive you?
Bonus – Do you have a right to be mad at someone for taking advantage of your time?
Stay Positive & Sometimes It Is More Questions Than Answers
Beginner content is more free than ever before. It’s being created by more people than ever.
When looking to move your business forward, don’t expect to win big by marketing to the masses with beginner content.
It doesn’t matter if the majority of people don’t know how to cook or play an instrument or ride a motorcycle. The easy mindset tricks you to think it’s in your favor to create more beginner content. But it’s not.
You’re much better off helping the intermediates improve, the experts finesse, the geniuses consult.
It’s always more profiting (and emotionally rewarding) to help people who care, not help people to care.
Stay Positive & Create More Care Content
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