Write The Grafitti On The Wall
February 19, 2008
Now, I’m not suggesting you resort to vandalism. Seth Godin’s quote refers to the power of blogs and individuals voices, over large corporations.
At one time these organisations could get away with shoddy service, as their money and mass marketing methods were far more influential than the complaints of a few unhappy consumers. But they can’t anymore – thanks to the power of bloggers.
And if a big company upsets one person and someone blogs about it – that message has the potential to reach far more customers than any form of traditional marketing.
So, What Does This Mean To You As A Business Owner?
Well, there has never been a better time for people like you to start a small business, or improve the one you have. In fact, individuals like you are in a better position to influence customers than some of the giant corporations are.
Why Most Of The Big Companies Can’t Pull It Off
1) Some of these big businesses won’t change: In fact, most of them won’t even see the need to until it’s too late, because they’ve become complacent.
2) They don’t realise the significance: Have you ever looked up poor reviews on some of these large companies? And have you noticed how many of them don’t bother to reply to their customers and try to put things right?
That’s because they’re still under the illusion that nobody is really listening and that a handful of unhappy people aren’t loud enough to make a noise – but they are. And so are you.
3) They have teams of managers who believe that business can still be done under the old school network rules; and who you play golf with is more important than what you do for your customers. And they’re stuck with these managers and their archaic attitudes.
So How Can You Write The Graffiti On The Wall?
People power: Give your customers a service to talk about and give them an easy way to talk about it. Having money to burn on advertising doesn’t matter anymore. People want to hear the opinions of real people before making a buying decision.
Community: Set up a community that your customers want to be part of, or join a community where you can connect with them.
Satisfy Their Wants: Find out what they want and give them it.
Remember this is your opportunity to outperform those massive corporations, and there has never been a better time to write time to write the grafitti on the wall.
Can you think of ways that you can beat the huge corporations? Do you see them being overtaken, if they don’t change? Do you think individuals have the power to overtake them? I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments section.
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15 Responses to “Write The Grafitti On The Wall”
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Great advice Catherine. Some of my clients get nervous about having a public forum on their website and don’t want customers to vent.
I explain that it’s better to have complaints on your site where you can address it rather than letting it spiral out of control on some other site you have no control over (ie http://www.paypalsucks.com).
I remember reading a book on the subject called The Cluetrain Manifesto – The End of Business as Usual. That was back in 2000. Eight years later some companies still don’t get it.
Thanks for the article Catherine!
sterling | bizlift’s last blog post..Go Big: Free Enterprise Tools For Small Biz
Hi Catherine…
I apologize for being off topic – but, I wanted to let you know that I tagged you with a meme – more info about it can be found on my blog. I think you might find it interesting…
dawn’s last blog post..Link Building Meme…
Hello Catherine. I’m a big fan of Seth and recently made a blog entry where I posted a video of him talking about “curiosity.”
This is a great topic for new entrepreneurs because they always come to a point where they don’t feel they can compete with the larger corporations with big advertising bucks and well trained staff.
Hmm, ways to beat (or compete) with the big corps:
provide more personable service
do something that is from left field and will get the attention of people in your niche
big corps tend to advertise to everyone (TV commercials, for example), as a small business try focusing your limited advertising dollars on people who will spread the word about your business. To focus it a little more, concentrate on people who have others look to them as an authority
create a product or service better than theirs
try to get your target crowd to associate with you at a more personable level
while finding out what the customers want, find out what the big corps are leaving out. Who are they excluding? What needs are left unfulfilled by the big corps – fill them
characterize your business so people can remember it and put an image to the name
spend a little money and create a really cool video game (PS2, for example) that resembles your business and young adults will enjoy playing
do what you love doing because you’ll probably work hard at it
make an offer your customers can’t refuse. Free websites, for example.
educate yourself and tell yourself you are capable
pray!
As for them being overtaken if they don’t change, I believe so. Society and technology is always changing. If a business never adapts to the new, they are running on limited time (probably would be bought out by another company who does adapt).
John Hoff’s last blog post..Create Yourself A Shortcut – How To E-Mail, Blog, and Text On The Go!
Catherine – I tried using to bullet my points but I guess it didn’t work. Sorry.
John Hoff’s last blog post..Create Yourself A Shortcut – How To E-Mail, Blog, and Text On The Go!
This is a really good point. In fact, this started in earnest before even blogs, but people power is getting bigger.
When we started our IT support company, whenever we were looking at a new product, we’d look up reviews – newsgroups, forums etc.
We couldn’t take chances on stuff.
Now the same sort of things happens, but with far more info – and on blogs too.
We’re looking at a product right now. We looked at reviews of it, but also found problems people had.
But reading a far wider range of opinion than ever before made us decide to buy this product and test it ourselves.
The point – negative comments answered well can actually create sales. If you can see there is a supporting community around the product and others have discovered better uses or ways to get around problems, then it can be a good product.
Social platforms are taking this to another level. We may have reached a tipping point which has sparked an acceleration away from other forms of media like TV.
My daughter is 6, but I foresee her not being stuck in front of the TV as she grows, and not even in front of a PC screen, but using a mobile phone to interact and entertain herself in a far more social and interactive way.
I do have worries about it, but wherever there’s a problem, there will always be a solution – if they haven’t developed popular mobile phone versions of Facebook, Myspace etc then they will.
And someone will produce a net nanny version to work on phones so parents can be assured.
That’s perhaps why Microsoft wants Yahoo – everyone’s trying to get in the mobile phone space where people power is shifting to at an ever increasing pace.
Ian Denny’s last blog post..Email Marketing: Don’t Spam, Know Your Audience
Hi Catherine,
I do believe unbiased reviews, which can be easily be found online are becoming more popular. They are something I turn to before making many purchases, especially big ticket items. I also subscribe to Consumer Reports, and often compare their reviews with others online. If I read multiple bad reviews, I stay clear of the product.
I don’t think big name corporations have the branding power of days gone by, and it is, like you said, some have become complacent.
Companies of all sizes can benefit from listening to their customers. By turning a deaf ear to consumer complaints, your business could soon be lost to those who care.
Oh, the power of blogs and/or forums.
Barbara’s last blog post..New Commenter Becomes NBOTW
Catherine, this was a powerful wake up call!
I’m quite fascinated by what Godin’s teaching us too though some of it requires a double or triple take…
I listened in on a tele-seminar he did last week and that was a great way to get a fuller sense of his ‘message’
Thanks for the call to action
Joanna
Joanna Young’s last blog post..7 Ways To Write With Numbered Lists
Hi Sterling – that is so true. People have seen this coming for a long time. But some of these companies will never get it. It would be awful if someone set up a site dedicated to complaining about your company – as you say – if you keep it close you can deal with it.
By the way – congrats on being chosen as blogger of the week on http://www.bloggingwithoutablog.com
Hi Dawn – thank you for thinking of me. I will check it out, but please don’t be offended if I don’t join. I just never do memes because I worry that they’ll interfere with what my readers want. But, you never know – if it is on a subject that will appeal to them, then this may be a first.
Hi John – you have some brilliant ideas – I love the PS2 games one. And reaching customers on a personable level is something you can definitely beat them on. Also – the free websites are another great idea.
Hi Ian – that is true – this has been building up for a long time with forums reviews etc. And now the speed that the info could be found got faster. A blog can get on the front page of Google for the keyphrase of an article in seconds – it’s amazing.
The mobile phone thing is interesting and I guess these are becoming more and more sophisticated. Will we see Google, MSN or Yahoo buy out mobile phone companies in attempt to dominate the market? Or maybe there will be a windows type platform for phones?
Hi Barbara – I do that too – especially when it’s a company I’ve never used before. If I’m booking a plane seat, I even go over to seat guru to check out recent reviews of the airline and also to make sure I don’t wind up with a seat that sucks.
By the way – did you visit that site? It is amazing and the guy who owns it does really well.
Hi Joanna – glad you found it useful. Most of what Seth says is good info, but my explanations are my own words. I wouldn’t like to mislead you into thinking that Seth would agree with all the points I make. Especially as I have a post coming up soon that disagrees with one of his ideas.
cathlawson’s last blog post..Write The Grafitti On The Wall
About MSN, Google, or Yahoo breaking into the cell phone media and dominating, that just might be the next big player – it’ll be either one of them or another new company that comes along. Cell phones are already connected to the Internet, but what new social platform awaits their fate??? Hmmm.
@Catherine – I already have my game planned out; character, missions, plot, etc. But for now it’s just a dream and maybe one day will turn into a timeline.
John Hoff’s last blog post..Create Yourself A Shortcut – How To E-Mail, Blog, and Text On The Go!
Hi John – it will certainly be interesting to see what happens.
It’s great that you already have your game planned out. It sounds like you have some brilliant ideas.
Why not make some plans to start doing something about it now – even if it’s just making connections with people and some market research.
Even if it’s just baby steps – it will move you closer to your goal.
[...] Catherine’s post and a recent one by James reminded me of recent thoughts on customer service. [...]
Hey Catherine
I was looking for something I said in one of my blog posts to comment on one of your other posts but realized something.
I wrote an article based on what a young entrepreneur asked me about how he could compete with larger corporations. He was unsure of himself.
The result was a post I wrote. I hope you don’t mind me providing the link, but I think people might find it insightful.
It’s about teaching yourself to be creative and keeping a positive mindset so to compete with larger corps.
http://eventurebiz.com/blog/8-ways-to-train-yourself-to-be-creative/
John Hoff’s last blog post..Create Yourself A Shortcut – How To E-Mail, Blog, and Text On The Go!
Hi John – I don’t mind you providing the link at all. Thanks for sharing it with us. I just read it and it’s an excellent post with advice that will work for anyone wanting to improve their creativity. Thanks.
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