Morning Folks!!
We all use Google. We use their tools and we use their technology. But people live on Facebook and live on Twitter. And they can make a living on both. And of course not all social sharing is alike. The way I would describe a company like Facebook is a baby in diapers that is 9ft tall and weighs 450LBS and the world knows has the capability to do things and set records that nobody has set before.
On the other hand Twitter seems like a company all grown up but with many more questions and a direction more in doubt.
Personally, I think both are becoming more important than Google.
Let me talk about "Organic Search". Geez!!! People say "Google" as if it were the answer for everything. Like aspirin. "Organic" is another word for "Free". Stop trying to get free traffic from Google and pay for real traffic, targeted enough to sell a real product or service and when you make that work, buy more and more and more. It's nice to get a bonus from Google. And that is just what it is, a bonus. Be relevant, be topical, be what folks are looking for and they will find you. They will find you if you laid the ground work for them to find you. Spamming search engines won't do that and eventually you will pay the price. Don't damage your domain trying to fake out search engines.
So it is a lot of fun to watch all this evolve. Change. And at the same time see how hard it is to move the needle. How easy it is to find success when focused on the right things. This is the greatest medium ever invented. More business done on this "Super Highway" than all other business added together. If not a fact now, will be soon.
The 20 year mark is the start, not the end. We are now on "Final Approach". You can see the lights. I am sure most are not as excited as I am. But I have a reason to be excited. As big and important as I anticipated the net would be in 1995 is not nearly as big as it already is. The thought of what this youngster called the Internet can be in the next few years is just about the sweetest thought I can have.
We know there is need, want and desire when it comes to the Internet and the things it can provide. There is a universal need. Simple. That need does not come all at once. It evolves. But the need is there the moment it is understood. The want at that time becomes obvious because that is the fuel for the need. Both equal desire. Now the "Desire" part is the single biggest variable in this equation. Need and want can easily hit 100%. But desire is much different. It is based on energy, and level of commitment and other emotions that will range from near zero to nearly breaking the needle and everything in between. Desire has to be ramped up and motivated by need and want.
Now folks can laugh or ignore or dismiss this silly thing I keep bringing up. But to me it is the foundation and the test of any item, thought, product or service. Can need and want be created? Yes. Sure it can. Want and Desire as well. And there is a path to get there. A path so many seem blind to. It's about identifying a void not manufacturing a void.
We all have the need and the want to make money because without it we can't feed or clothe ourselves. But the desire is the thing that determines what level we get to. No desire, then you become a couch potato. Lots of desire, then you become an over achiever. So that illustrates the variable of desire.
Does desire come without need and want? Do you buy things you don't need and want? I mean these are to me the simple building blocks of basic math that equals basic sales. And what happens to that need, want and desire when the outcome is not as expected? You think that goes up or goes down?
When I looked forward in 1995 there was an obvious need for every business to have a website. Once their competitor had one they too would want one. The true question would become how much time, money and energy would they invest? That was the level of desire. And as you have seen the desire part has gone up. The need and want go up as well, but they get there first and likely at 100% while desire will always lag behind. Desire is the true variable in this and so many other things in life.
And even after you get past need, want and desire, you still have to deal with the single biggest elephant in the room. That elephant is called "Circumstance". Another variable. Except this variable is private, It is usually hidden and held close to the vest. Or it is plainly exposed. But circumstance is the bus that encloses and trips all the others. Some have to change their circumstance just to get in the position to deal with need, want and desire.
And for those that are sick of hearing this and dismiss it, you will pay the price of ignorance. You have ignored the holy grail of marketing and sales. Not because I read it somewhere, but because that is my personal recipe. Decades in the making and not even talked about until I did it right here on my blog a few years ago.
When I look at a new product or service I look at it through that filter, that lens, that strainer, and then the only other variable is identifying the size and buying power of that very targeted audience. That gives me an answer and then I do one more thing. I test it out in the field and make COLD CALLS to see and gauge reaction. Before I present it and after I present it. I will do that 10 times and from there I know what I need to know. That is my test. It is designed to eliminate dead-ends before wasting time, money and energy going down that dead-end. My test is a dead-end test. All I am out to determine is one of two things. Nothing more, nothing less.
Viable or not viable and assigning a percentage based on the research I have personally done. Designed simply to identify and navigate around each and every pitfall. Just like a hiker may make preparations before a long and difficult hike, their success or failure comes more down to preparation than any other single factor. If the prep was 100%, the outcome has a much stronger chance of success than those that did not take it as seriously.
I talk about opportunity a lot because that is what this is all about. What I see in 2014 is the first time in many years that dollars are flying. Lots of huge acquisitions going on. Investment. Building is starting and real estate is rising faster than I can write this. All this and the new sensors that are coming to market that will change about everything we do, see or touch. The inventions that were coming are staggering. Life changing. The next 20 years will be more about how we live with the things we already own and being able to program anything from anywhere. The control coming to your wrist, the palm of your hand and your face are going to change virtually everything in life.
I have a car that parks itself and now even drives itself. It knows when to speed up and when to brake. It gives you an alert if somebody is in your blind spot and beeps if you try to change lanes. I am scared I will just fall asleep!
You will talk to your refrigerator, your stove, your washing machine. And the minute these items come to market there will be an instant need, want and desire. INSTANT!!
The iPhone and iPad were easy ones to identify even for the novice. You know why? They were lined up around the block in cities all over the world. That my friends is what Need, Want and Desire really look like. It all gets tamped down from there.
What is your need, want and desire today? The #1 answer is usually money. We need money. We all need money. It's pretty universal. Then the next question is how? Then you still have to determine value and that is something done not just by you. Others decide value. The market decides and the market is not kind and gives nobody a pass.
Here is mine for today.
You may or may not have noticed the new "Social Sharing Tower on the right of the screen on the home page. The plugins that I had been using kinda crashed and burned. So Danny Pryor helped me to fix this problem over the weekend and if you like what you read here, share. If you don't like what you read here, share. :-) Help me catch up!!
Rick Schwartz
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