As promised, I’m re-publishing what I wrote in the Seth Godin PDF (I mentioned it yesterday). I’m sorry if you’ve already read it; I just want to make sure that it’s out there, easily search-and-retrieve-able with Google and the like (though it looks like Thomas over at RecruitingBlogs beat me to the punch).
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Engage the disengaged.
The success of Web 2.0 is commonly attributed to “conversations.” But really, when you look at it, conversation is just the tip of the iceberg. Myspace, Facebook, Wikipedia, Ning… they’re more than conversation facilitators; they’re the keys to your home on the web.
The whole Web 2.0 movement opened up the box. It gave people the chance to become part of the community, to rub shoulders with Microsoft, Honda, CNN, and Marvel Comics. Some people are more involved (Wikipedia editors), others less (Facebook). Still, Brad Greenspan, Jimmy Wales, and others involved at the early stages of the Web 2.0 movement found ways to engage the disengaged.
There are 6,602,224,174 people out there (and counting) who aren’t you. Let’s assume that half are less enthusiastic than you about whatever it is that you do — and if the number is that low, you’re in trouble. You have two choices:
1) Leave them out of it, and keep the committed in limbo between you and your competition.
2) Figure out why these people don’t care and do something about it.
Turn your industry into an auditorium, and you suddenly have the power to be the biggest rockstar around. Sure, the diehards may still be reading Wine Spectator, but Gary Vaynerchuk (with Mott at the lens) inspired so many unlikely followers that he needs a Hollywood agent to keep track of his public appearances.
A local charity, which I tried to integrate into a number of events, focuses on re-integrating street-involved youth through artistic expression. Instead of finding jobs for the young and the homeless, it teaches them how to use their voices pro-actively. Needless to say, its growth has been consistent since it opened its doors in 2003.
Trying to win votes? Getting people to vote is a lot easier than getting people to switch camps.
Trying to win customers? Make new ones for your industry; don’t try to take them from competitors.
Why fight from within when you can innovate to bring in?
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And there you have it. Once again, the full PDF is here, featuring pages submitted by 15 of my (brilliant, talented, and incredibly personable) peers.
New thoughts will be posted here as early as tonight, or as late as tomorrow morning — I’m going to have lots of time to think while driving from Montreal to Toronto! (Which, by the way, should explain my delay in answering emails today. You know who you are.)
