Connection Economy

In The Box Podcast

Episode 29: Connecting To Consumers, Sources Of Disruption, Taxi Cabs And More – Podcast

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we talked about if social promotions can work without a real-life element to them, where disruption comes from (in or out) of an industry, a technique for closing a communication gap, on way to connect with a consumer and a riff on the pointless existence of taxi cabs.

Enjoy listening here.

Episode 29: Connecting To Consumers, Sources Of Disruption, Taxi Cabs And More

Connection: What’s one way to connect with a consumer?

Social media: Do you think a social promotion can work without a real-life connection?

Disruption: Does disruption come from inside an industry or outside of an industry?

Closing a gap: One technique to close a communication gap when talking to someone and there is a misunderstanding?

Bonus: Why do taxi cabs still exist?

 

Stay Positive & Maybe Connecting Comes From Closing The Gap

Who Decided This?

Garth Beyer

Toms Decides

Andy Katz-Mayfield and Jeff Raider are the names behind Harry’s. They decided on the voice, the personal assistant each person who purchases Harry’s gets, and the rules of purchasing blades.

Blake Mycoskie made the decision to give a pair of Toms shoes for each pair purchased.

If you don’t like the concept of our Connection Economy, you can only point your finger at Seth Godin who coined and writes about it.

Authorship – essentially, putting a face to a brand or concept or rule – is the best marketing strategy you can start with.

Without a name, who can you blame for pricing Gillette razors? Who said we have to shower before entering and after exiting a public pool? (Of course it makes sense to, but to have no actual authority figure giving a reason why, well, no wonder why very few obey it.) As for a larger example, who decided we were in a recession?

For businesses who have ridiculous rules of engagement and transactions, they’re free to continue doing so because there’s not one person we can write to, attempt to persuade or flat-out fire.

The reason I started to purchase solely from smaller companies is that there’s a person at the other end that has declared ownership; a single person who decides the policies, so if I don’t agree with them, I know exactly who to write to. Not surprising, though, I never need to.

Every decision, rule, policy, product needs to have one person who stands up for it. If there’s no one standing up for something, it might be because they don’t have something worth standing up for. Are we going to allow that to continue?

 

Stay Positive & Stand Up For Standing Up

There Are More Of You Out There

Garth Beyer

Finding people like you is tough. Ignorance made me think I was the only one who had difficulty finding people who thought the same as me. I’m not. You’re not either.

No matter how many people we can share similarities with (there are a lot!), very few seem to just click. Taking away from the romance of the two pieces of a puzzle that fit together, I have to break it to you that there are no two, three, or four piece puzzles that work. At least none that are any appealing.

The puzzle concept is a fair analogy. You, one piece of the puzzle, fit perfectly together with only a couple other pieces. That doesn’t mean you’re complete. Nor will you ever feel complete with only a few perfect pieces. Should you reject all the other pieces that connect with each other and with those who you connect with, simply because they can’t connect directly with you? Of course not.

This is the Connection Economy. No one said it was the Perfect Connection Economy.

Connect with as many as you can, no matter how weak or strong the tie will be. Pretty soon, you’ll have pieces fighting over each other to be closest to you. But, you’ll never get there if you reject all those who don’t think exactly like you.

One is lonely, two is company, a hundred is one hell of a party.

 

Stay Positive & Who Doesn’t Want That?

 

What The Real Reward Is

Garth Beyer

the journey is the reward too

Let us not forget the real reward is not what we receive, but what we give. When you ask yourself what you want to get, you might put on a sour face and think of what you will have to do (how much you will have to work) to get what you want. But when you’re asked what you would like to receive. You get a lot happier, don’t you?

One more thought to consider your emotional reaction to: think of how good it is when you’re able to buy or do something for someone who has wanted that particular item or service for awhile. Or perhaps for many of us in business, what someone never knew they wanted.

Don’t forget that feeling. That’s what drives this connection economy.

Writing this blog is my reward. Not page views. Not income from ads (there’s barely any anyway). Not retweets or bookmarks, although greatly appreciated. To further reward myself, I’ll be crowdfunding my journalism on higher education soon. I hope you’ll be there to join me in the reward.

 

Stay Positive & Connect, Give, Prosper

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Your Audience Is More Open Than You Think

Garth Beyer

When you create more connections, you’re bound to be more open. That’s something I love about the current state of society and the people in it.

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Part of me feels that I have Facebook and Twitter to thank for making people more open. Another part realizes that it is just a beneficial byproduct of the connection economy.

Yet, I see businesses and freelancers running with their arms held close to their chest so they don’t hit anyone, so they don’t make themselves open, so they don’t seem vulnerable. This is trite and counterintuitive.

I can barely begin to tell you how many people have told me things about themselves and their lives that they would never have mentioned eight years ago. Respectively, I owe it to them to be just as open (which is in our advantage).

It’s not a matter of mutual generosity, it’s more a risk at creating a symbol of trust.

This calls for you to reciprocate that risk. When you see that others are doing or acting as you do, you feel comfortable, you feel in place, you feel more willing to trust and invest in what that person is offering.

Just the same. If you want the business of those who are very open about themselves and their lives, you need to be open too.

This is why storytelling has become the largest importance of businesses, why brand matters, why sales are made on trust, not shininess.

 

Stay Positive & Open Sesame

Garth E. Beyer

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Why The Digital Age Is Creating A Stronger Sense Of Community

Garth Beyer

Getting things for free feels so good. Getting things for free when you know you shouldn’t – that feels even better.

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Everything that this digital age is producing – whether it be ads, shifts in cultural norms, or tangible products – the result is the same: a stronger sense of community.

(unrelated to digital age) You go to your favorite local coffee shop and since you bought one Turtle Mocha, you get a second one to go for free. Compare this to going to a local coffee shop and buying one Turtle Mocha, but when you pick it up, the barista gives you a second one to go “on the house.”

(related to the digital age) You get one month of Netflix free, after that one month you have to pay. Compare this to getting one month of Netflix free, and after that one month, you get the username and password of your girlfriends’ parents account.

In the coffee shop scenario, getting something free when you shouldn’t have established a connection between you and the barista (effectively the coffee shop too). In the Netflix scenario, you’ve reaffirmed the connection between you and your girlfriends’ parents (obviously a win-win).

This effect is one of the single most important reasons why I love advertising in the digital age. No matter the success or failure of ads, they always leave a stronger sense of community.

Either you buy into the brand and become part of that brands community (coffee deal drinkers or addicted Netflix supporters) or you find a way to get something free when normally you shouldn’t – be it through pre-existing connections (step-brother, in-laws, etc,) or through making new connections (class mates, coworkers, etc,).

The end result is the same: stronger sense of community.

 

Stay Positive & There’s A Reason It’s Called The Connection Economy

Garth E. Beyer

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Here’s a bonus read. Enjoy.

 

Talent, Finishing, Conversing, And Starting

Garth Beyer

You have no clue just how talented you are.

The two best things you could be doing with your talent is finishing and conversing. These two actions not only compliment you by expressing how talented you are, but they precede growth.

You learn best from finishing. When you finish something, you have the choice to keep it quiet, stick it in the drawer, erase it entirely… or share it, talk with people about it and get feedback. (Both are positive, but you know which produces the greater result.)

The tragedy is that you may also not know how untalented you are. The fear this ignites when faced with being part of a group is enough for you to stop considering it all together.  So, you finish and that’s it.

That was okay to do prior to the connection economy we are in now. 25 years ago, you could stockpile your art and still leave a legacy. Now you never hear of a person who kept everything to herself and became a legend.

I encourage you to get together with someone or a group of people.

In a world that demands you to finish, don’t forget to start something incredible along the way. Eight people getting together to converse about what they have finished. That in and of itself is incredible.

 

Stay Positive & Go

Garth E. Beyer