Just finished this book over the weekend. If you are looking to set up your own business, a creative, or just someone interested in removing yourself from the constraints of corporate life, this book is a great read. Loved it.

Hugh just says it as it is. Life is tough, creative freedom hard to find but, all of us have a chance of being able to express ourselves and we are fluffing it if we don’t. Seth Godin comments “A work of art, a brilliant insight, a book that will change your life.” I’m not sure it changed my life, but it is full of grounded wisdom supported with fabulous cartoons! You can catch more of Hugh’s work at www.gapingvoid.com

Just wanted to check in and explain why this blog hasn’t been that active over the last few weeks, the eBook is getting in the way. Or, should I say it’s slightly distracting me!

As an update, I now have the fifty words of which half are complete, well in their first draft stage anyway. Thanks to everyone who contributed some exciting and, what has become, some very challenging words.

The next three weeks will be about completing it, proof reading and, of course, the design. Then we will be ready for launch. Words to do over the next few days are ‘participation’ ‘slow’ ‘influence’ and ‘talent.’ Phew! Will keep you updated on progress!

I’m cheating today, but hey if someone posts something concise and great, why not share it, it’s what blogging is about! Fabulous post by Seth Godin, got me thinking anyway.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/in-between-frames.html

This social media is an amazing thing particularly for people who do a lot of thinking and have lots to say about their specialist stuff. Like anyone using tools like blogs, Twitter and Facebook, you have a journal of everything that you have ever written. The media would have us believe that this ability to record everything we do, say and photograph has its downside, well welcome to life, aren’t most things like that. On the whole, this ability to trace back and revisit something you said can be both a delight and embarrassment but, hey, how exciting and convenient is that?

You can’t avoid it. You can’t sweep it under the rug and you certainly can’t run like hell. We know the online world is starting to overpower the offline world. We can now start to show case studies of how big corporates are radically overhauling their marketing budgets towards social media activity.

People are talking about it, having conversations about it, delivering seminars about it, meeting about it, discussing it and, of course, doing it! You can’t stop what’s happening but you must understand this social media explosive wave of communicating with customers and spreading ideas. The implications are both fascinating and daunting.

It’s evolving rapidly and is causing huge problems for companies large and small. Marketing campaigns you’ve used over the last 3 years have become irrelevant. Before you think I’m thrusting Facebook down your neck and recommending you immediately create fans stop! It’s too late now just to test it out, you’ll fail. You can’t do what I did 18 months ago and plunge into it with no armbands just to see what it was like and whether it was for me. I did! I love it and hate it at the same time. But, life has moved on, its too serious for you to see it as a side issue.

I know how people are feeling, particularly those who haven’t done anything on the social media front yet and those who are wanting to rack things up this year. It presents a paradox; exciting and overwhelming! The key thing to think about is that actually the technology doesn’t really matter….it can almost do anything! What we all need to focus on, no matter what stage we are at, is how social media can help you  to develop relationships with people.

Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff in their book ‘Groundswell’ quote “people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.” I Â would add that this is not a trend that is about to go away, in fact, its likely to blow your business model apart over the next few years. As I mentioned earlier, its not something you can dabble in anymore, you need understanding, structure and strategy.

With hindsight, I’d consider following these four steps before embarking on a marketing approach that is not a spectator sport:

1. Read, read and read. Follow people who know what it’s all about and understand why its happening.

2. Understand what it is! It’s not just Facebook and Twitter. Consider some case studies.

3. Think about how you can use it to develop relationships with your customers, suppliers, people and community. It’s about allowing participation and having a conversation.

4. Then, with help, build a strategy that can be implemented. A focused approach that doesn’t expect miracles overnight but that gradually and solidly sustains your marketing over the long term.

Hope that helps!

There isn’t enough scarcity! There are hundreds of design agencies in each city, thousands of law firms, trainers, consultants, cafes, bed & breakfasts, widget makers and art galleries. Not to mention the thousands of photographers graduating from UK universities this year.

They are all ‘me too’ products and everything looks the same. A walk down any high street can be soul destroying. One store after another selling the same stuff, for the same price, offering the same deals with the same mediocre service. There is nothing scare in the high street anymore, just an abundance of sameness. And, again, it’s the same in most industries.

Things that were scare in the past are not anymore; products, food, technology, advice and much more. They have become easy to find and easy to purchase. Scarcity has shifted from the physical. When you sell something in abundance, you know it doesn’t take much for someone else to move in on your territory, sell what you sell for half the price, leaving you scratching your head, wondering where your business model went wrong. Wetherspoons is a great case study here.

Scarcity seems to be directly linked to value and desire. You ban a book, people flock to buy it. Wii have used scarcity tactics for their product but that’s not what I mean, that’s just simple old marketing tactics. True scarcity is trust, sincerity, authenticity, true innovation, long term relationships and collaboration, not Apple marketing ‘limited supply’ of the latest generation of iPhones!

Perhaps marketing is to blame. It was the ‘get out clause.’ Crap, ‘me too’ products were okay because huge investment in mass marketing managed to shift them. At the same time it possibly stifled innovation. The biggest US pharmaceutical company has $200 billion in sales, yet they only spend 14% on R&D and 31% on marketing and administration. At the same time new drug registrations have reduced from fifty a year in the 1990’s to about 20 today!

So whilst we have been concentrating on marketing that led to abundance, we forgot about innovation that created scarcity. Frankly speaking, unless you find something scarce in your business, the next couple of years are going to be very difficult. Business cannot sustain itself on an abundant business model where everyone is fighting for their part of the pond. Unless, of course, you have an abundance of cash to see you through until you find something scarce.