It's quite possible that the era of the professional reviewer is over. No longer can a single individual (except maybe Oprah) make a movie, a restaurant or a book into a hit or a dud.
Not only can an influential blogger sell thousands of books, she can spread an idea that reaches others, influencing not just the reader, but the people who read that person's blog or tweets. And so it spreads.
I'd like you to help me spread the good word about my friend Jacqueline's important (essential) new book, The Blue Sweater. I'll be reviewing it here in two weeks, but there's a great opportunity now if you have an influential platform and are inclined to pitch in.
Visit this form and describe your platform if you'd like a copy. I'm buying books for a few bloggers interested in doing a review of the book and then giving it away to one of their readers or friends. (I'm not picking the winners, so don't blame me). Apologies in advance that only a few people will get a free one (they will email the lucky recipients, so if you don't hear, you know you need to buy your own copy).
PS as a public service, a reminder that today is the king of all Hallmark holidays. Pretend you didn't forget.
February 14, 2009
Some excerpts from an interview on the future of the music industry. I was being specific about one industry, but I think it applies to just about everything:
The music industry is really focused on the
‘industry’ part and not so much on the ‘music’ part. This is the
greatest moment in the history of music if your dream is to distribute
as much music as possible to as many people as possible, or if your
goal is to make it as easy as possible to become heard as a musician.
There’s never been a time like this before. So if your focus is on
music, it’s great. If your focus is on the industry part and the limos,
the advances, the lawyers, polycarbonate and vinyl, it’s horrible. The
shift that is happening right now is that the people who insist on
keeping the world as it was are going to get more and more frustrated
until they lose their jobs. People who want to invent a whole new set
of rules, a new paradigm, can’t believe their good fortune and how
lucky they are that the people in the industry aren’t noticing an
opportunity…
I define a tribe as a group of people sharing a common culture, a
goal, a mission, probably a leader. There are tribes of people – like
the ones who go to South by Southwest – who are connected because they
want to remake the music industry. There is the tribe of people who
follow Bruce Springsteen and will pay unreasonable amounts of money to
hear him live and compare playlists. The important distinction here is
that music labels used to be in the business of grabbing shelf space,
on the radio and in the record store. Now, the music industry needs to
realign and be in the business of finding and connecting and leading
groups of people who want to follow a musician and connect with the
other people who want to do the same…
In the ‘70s or ‘80s you listened to a song because “everyone else” was
also listening to it. That’s the definition of pop music. In those days
we defined “everyone else” as people in our high school or people who
listened to WPLJ. Now, “everyone
else” is not defined by where you live or what radio station you listen
to. It’s defined by which horizontal or vertical slice of the world you
connect yourself with. I might listen to Keller Williams
because everyone else in my world includes frustrated Deadheads. We
don’t have new Grateful Dead to listen to, so everyone else in my
circle is listening to Keller Williams, so he is pop to us. He’s not
pop to the kids at the middle school who have never heard of him,
right? So you end up with all these silos and niches and lots and lots
of ways to look at the world…
Digital is about to surpass the CD, and once
it starts to happen it’s going to happen faster and faster and faster.
The more interesting thing to me is who is going to control the
playlist. If there is an infinite amount of music available – and I
would argue that as soon as the amount of music available exceeds the
amount of time you have in your life, that’s infinite – somebody will
have the leverageable spot of deciding what to listen to next. And it’s
unclear whether someone will charge to tell me that or will pay to tell
me that. It’s still up for grabs in every one of these vertical silos.
Who are the tastemakers and how do these ideas spread? The analogy I
like to give is if you’re an author and Oprah Winfrey calls, you don’t
say, “How much are you going to pay me to go on your show and give away
all the ideas in my book?” In fact, if you could you would pay to be on
Oprah. For a really long time the music industry has had two minds: On
the one hand, they would pay money to be on Clear Channel or MTV; on
the other hand, they would charge you money to hear their music in
concert or out of your stereo. Those days are all getting intermingled
now. “I am the program director of my radio station, so where’s my
payola?”
R&G: When a band brands itself, there is a credibility issue with their fan base; they run the risk of being perceived as a sellout.
Seth: I think the first thing I’d ask is, “perceived as a sellout by whom?” Some people say Patricia Barber
is a sellout because she’s a popular jazz musician as opposed to a
starving jazz musician. But the people in the crowd don’t think that. I
think selling out is largely about expectation, about being transparent
and telling the truth to your audience. When Talking Heads went
from being unsuccessful at CBGB to being really successful on MTV and
making a movie with Jonathan Demme, some people said they sold out.
Other people said they wished they were more pop-like. I’m not sure
that’s something that needs to be at the beginning of the conversation.
I think that what you have to do is make it clear to your tribe and to
yourself what you stand for, and do that.
February 13, 2009
Billionaire raconteur Mark Cuban just posted a fascinating challenge. Post a business plan that meets certain criteria and he'll consider funding it, right here, right now.
Here's what's neat:
1. As soon as you see enough plans, you realize that in fact there are tons of ways to create a viable business in just a few months. There's no shortage of ideas worth stealing.
2. Mark asks that you describe how much money you need and how much equity you'll give up for it. My guess is that for most of these businesses, that causes the entrepreneur to whittle down the money that's actually necessary (hey, that money is expensive!) until the point that they don't need Mark's money at all. They can just start.
The comments on his thread are typical of what happens when you call someone's bluff. There are plenty of skeptics, critics, trolls and naysayers. What a shame. Shun the non-believers.
PS! If you think you don't have a good enough idea, nine superpowered friends of mine came up with a list that might just help.
February 12, 2009
An algorithm is a set of instructions that allows you to solve a problem.
Each instruction is simple and repeatable. It's important to understand that the instructions work on all similar problems, not just one.
Here's an algorithm for sorting any set of numbers, to get them into order. Start with 4,3,5,6,2 for example.
The bubble sort algorithm is simple. Compare two numbers. If the first number is higher than the second, switch them. So now it's 3,4,5,6,2. Next step is to compare positions two and three. If the second is higher than the third (it's not) switch them. Repeat for the whole string. Then start over. Do it over and over again until you can go the whole way with no switching. Done.
Same trick works for alphabetizing words or sorting kids in order by height.
Of course, there are algorithms that are far more complex, far more intuitive or far more useful.
Algorithms don't care a bit if you believe in them or not. They either work or they don't.
Algorithms in business appear to be magical, because they allow you to be smart about problems you haven't seen before. The 'angry customer' algorithm or the 'promote a book' algorithm don't always work, but they are approaches that work on a huge range of problems.
All of which is a long way to wish Charles Darwin a happy birthday. The simple algorithm he described is often misunderstood but is robust and flexible and powerful, and it works for ideas and businesses as well as fruit flies and turtles.
Ideas that spread, win. Sometimes ideas get changed in transmission, and sometimes those changed ideas spread even farther and with more impact than the ideas that came before them.
In business, if you lock down ideas, make them difficult to change and spread and have impact, you fail. If you accept the fact that change is real, that there is competition for your ideas and that amplifying the good stuff works, you can grow and thrive.
Seeing the algorithm in action (which the Net makes easy) helps you understand the notion of failing fast, of exposing ideas to the real world with a posture of perpetual beta. The clothing store Zara doesn't have clothes for a particular season, they launch clothes for a particular fortnight. They watch and measure and adjust and then repeat.
Your organization (and your career) either embraces change and turmoil and sudden shifts in the rules or you fear it. In times of rapid change (that would be now), embracing the algorithm of the evolution of ideas and systems is a significant competitive advantage.
The secret to being the best in the world is to make the 'world' smaller.
Alan Scott was the best community-focused artisan pizza oven builder in the world. A niche that didn't exist before he got there, but one that spread, that engaged people, that created a tribe and that supported him.
Alan was passionate about his craft and wasn't shy about sharing it. He trained others, turned it into a movement.
It's entirely possible that you will choose a niche that's too small. It's much more likely you'll shoot for something too big and become overwhelmed. When in doubt, overwhelm a small niche.
February 11, 2009
The top of a mountain is rarely the best part.
You can watch "the good parts" of a baseball game in about six minutes. The web has become a giant highlights reel… the best parts of SNL, the best parts of a speech, the best parts of a book.
We can skim really fast now. This is a problem for marketers, because it means that if they don't make the good parts easily findable and accessible (and bold and loud and memorable) then the whole product becomes invisible.
As consumers of information, though, I wonder if the best parts are really the best parts. Yes, you can read a summary of a book instead of a book, or watch the trailer instead of the movie, or read the executive summary of the consultant's report instead of the whole thing… but the parts you miss are there for a reason.
Real change is rarely caused by the good parts. Real change and impact and joy come from the foundation and the transitions and the little messages that sneak in when you least expect them. The highlights of the baseball game are highlights largely because the rest of the game got you ready for them.
Don't skip that page, it's there for a reason.
February 10, 2009
The best way to overcome your fear of creativity, brainstorming, intelligent risk taking or navigating a tricky situation might be to sprint.
When we sprint, all the internal dialogue falls away and we just go as fast as we possibly can. When you're sprinting you don't feel that sore knee and you don't worry that the ground isn't perfectly level. You just run.
You can't sprint forever. That's what makes it sprinting. The brevity of the event is a key part of why it works.
"Quick, you have thirty minutes to come up with ten business ideas."
"Hurry, we need to write a new script for our commercial… we have fifteen minutes."
My first huge project was launching a major brand of science-fiction computer adventure games (Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, etc.). I stopped going to business school classes in order to do the launch.
One day, right after a red eye flight, the president of the company told me that the company had canceled the project. They didn't have enough resources to launch all the products we had, our progress was too slow and the packaging wasn't ready yet.
I went to my office spent the next 20 hours rewriting every word of text, redesigning every package, rebuilding every schedule and inventing a new promotional strategy. It was probably 6 weeks of work for a motivated committee, and I did it in one swoop. Like lifting a car off an infant, it was impossible, and I have no recollection at all of the project now.
The board reconsidered and the project was back on again. I didn't get scared until after the sprint. You can't sprint every day but it's probably a good idea to sprint regularly.
February 9, 2009
My post on possible uses of education struck a chord with people. Different people are looking for different outcomes.
The first implication of this list: why did you stop educating yourself when you graduated?
Not you, of course. You read blogs and by that action demonstrate that you're looking for something new, or useful, or important.
I'm fascinated by the way the marketplace treats non-fiction books, particularly business books. The most popular business book of all time was purchased by less than 3% of all the people who could benefit from it, and read by a tiny fraction of that group. I'm guessing that less than 10% of the people who read this blog have read one of my books.
Books remind us of school, of chores, of homework. Give someone a DVD of a hit movie currently in the theaters and they'll eagerly thank you and watch it that weekend. Give them a book and it's a whole commotion. "I read that book!" they brag to you next week, when maybe they didn't really.
Which leads to The 100 Best Business Books of All Time, which is a shortcut in the best sense of the word. Not some sort of prurient blog list designed to draw traffic, the book actually makes you sound smart because the authors tell you what each book says… so you can get back to your DVD.
The #1 habit successful people share with me is this: They read books to learn. They do it often and with joy. It's cheap (or free, at the library or online) and portable and specific. Jack and Todd's book might be a good place to start the habit.
February 8, 2009
Richard was telling me that he doesn't care what his customers think.
Instead, he writes and creates for himself. If his customers like it, fine. If not, fine.
This is the gutsy statement of an artist. I pointed out to him that he's had a long line of successful books, conferences and consulting gigs. "I don't care what they think," he said with a bit of contempt.
Fortunately for Richard, there's a high correlation between what he likes and what the market likes. The power of his conviction, though, is that instead of being joyful when he runs into a customer who thinks the way he does (and annoyed at those that don't), he's comfortable enough with his sense of art and craft and quality that it's enough. He does it for himself. He actively ignores the market.
If you're strong enough to do that, more power to you. If you do your art and the market rejects you, though, you need to make a choice. If your art has no market, it's still art. It just might not be a living.
February 7, 2009
Wired interview about Tribes
Video interview about thriving in a down market
Bryan starts a web podiatrist testing/improvement service
Andy Nulman has a surprising new book out (about surprise and expectation and marketing)
And here’s a video interview I did with Loic two days ago at TED.
February 6, 2009
