Saturday, March 29th, 2008
While there’s significant evidence (aside from the obviousness of experience) that communication quality online is significantly reduced from in-person communication, I continue to be reminded of the inherent power within the simplicity of communication that the Internet has to offer.
Three times in the past two days, I’ve made new connections with people (One through Twitter, another through this blog, and another through e-mail) who I would consider highly respectable, and would have likely never had contact with otherwise. Are they high quality interactions? Not necessarily, but they were simple and as powerful as they needed to be.
I think that perhaps the reason that more people don’t know more people is that they just don’t try. It’s easy to shoot off an email, to give a compliment to another through your blog, ping people through LinkedIn, etc. My amazement never ceases in regard to the openness of others to want to help, accept help, or just shoot the breeze about an interesting topic.
So, next time you’re curious, reach out.
Tuesday, March 11th, 2008
I think that Chris Anderson’s Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business idea is a great insight into the future of marketing and advertising, especially online.
As the cost of starting a business has been all but eliminated, for a multitude of reasons (competitive advantage, vying for attention, etc) that savings gets passed to the consumer. As value in a business/offer is created over time with its customers, an expense for the service, directly to the customer or otherwise, will then be justified.
Today, Seth Godin points out times when “Free” actually creates less value.
When a business takes into consideration the dynamics of value with regard to its offering, it must consider that value is what is being exchanged in the interactions that define their business. Therefore, you might say that a retail clothing business exchanges the value of not having to make your own clothes, for the value that currency has in the marketplace.
Essentially, what Seth outlines is that when the Free! model is applied, reciprocity is broken and the relationship then becomes imbalanced. The business has accepted obligation for the customer’s concerns, but the customer hasn’t accepted obligation for the business’s concerns.
This is the fundamental imbalance that must be addressed when looking to create significant value with your Free! offers.
Reciprocity is a moral standard. That is to say, it is a necessity defined by social groups for building and maintaining power. In this case, the system of business.
If you’re offering something based on the Free! model, how are you going to encourage your customers to reciprocate their obligations as a customer to your business? How are you going to create value that’s significant enough to make them want to oblige themselves to your business…financially or otherwise?
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