Posts tagged mars dorian
Why Human Competition is the Least You Have to Fear
Jan 29th
By Mars Dorian, Contributing {grow} Columnist
This headline may seem like a hoax, but I assure you, it’s not.
We all know the times are changin’, but most of us don’t realize what those changes mean to YOU and your career. We also know that competition is on steroids in the online age, but most of us think only about human competition. But it’s not humans you have to rival, but artificial agents, also known as robots.
Heh.
I can read your thoughts already – yeah, yeah, that’s some fun sci-fi you gobbled up there, but that won’t replace ME because I’m unique / incomparable / one of kind / or whatever one gloriously thinks of her/himself.
Impossible? Let’s look at where technology is today:
- Google launched the driverless car. In the near future, you may not need a driver’s license because you’ll never have to drive again. The car is first on the automation control list, ships and aircraft will be next. Wait for it.
- Philip M. Parker, a professor of management science in France received worldwide coverage. Why? Well, he used a robotic algorithm to write and upload over 200,000 (!) eBooks to Amazon. Talking about prolific writing. Granted, it’s not Shakespeare yet, but if a robot can already write correct reports, how long till they create your content marketing plan?
- According to this short CBS documentary about robotization, we’re beginning to see robots (yeah, real robots) entering the workforce. The short feature includes two renowned MIT professors who predict that robots will completely replace every job known to mankind by the beginning of the next century.
- In this three-part series from The Associated Press, experts warn that if you add up all the jobs that technology (like robots) can take, the world is going to see unemployment on a scale that we haven’t begun to imagine. The article quotes software entrepreneur Martin Ford, who foresees a computer-dominated economy with 75 percent unemployment before the end of this century, and questions whether human beings will have anything left to do as robot and computers get smarter.
Boom.
Still think you’re irreplaceable? That’s also what horse sellers thought when Henry Ford introduced the first affordable automobile to the general public. They probably laughed their hooves off.
Yeah, I think we all know how that story ended.
Listen – technology has already put a death strike on many businesses- especially the traditional media. Book publishers and newspapers have to face extinction if they don’t adapt. But it’s not just the big corporations that have to adapt, you have to, too.
The more replaceable and “mediocre” your service and offer, the easier and faster you will be replaced by an algorithm / app / software that does the job better than you at a fraction of your cost.
But hey, I don’t want to paint the future black. There’s a lot of opportunity before the robots (mis)use us as human batteries and trap our minds in a virtual reality version. What other people see as crisis I see as opportunity. (BTW – the Chinese symbol for “crisis” consists of the signs “danger” and “opportunity,” and I want to focus on the opportunity part.)
If more and more of our work can become replaceable, what can you do to stay relevant?
Here are my top tips that I obsessively follow myself:
Define your edge and go there.
If you create work that’s easy to replicate, you will attract copycats. And if a human can copy your style / tactic / method, so can a robot algorithm. Bad for business. Baaad for you.
You want to make it challenging to replicate the value you give, and that’s why you have to go the edges your competition isn’t willing to approach. You should do something extreme with your biz that makes it stand out. I for example will include more and more images and graphics into my online presence – creating a color-bombed visual marketing blog experience you haven’t seen before.
I believe: Over-the-top in your market shouldn’t be a one time thing, it should be your mantra.
Creating caring connections.
Business is made of humans. No matter how technical it gets, it’s still about humans serving other human beings, at least in this century.
Your network is your only job security – the more and better you’re connected with people from around the globe, the more opportunities will arise. I currently get 70% of my work through referrals and recommendations. Am I the only one that can solve their problems? No. But because they know me through a common friend they trust, they automatically trust me. And trust can lead to collaboration. Eventually.
If you offer value with your service and you create heartfelt connections, word-of-mouth will bring you work. No robots required.
Make art and change your client’s life.
Making art is the opposite of creating a commodity. That’s why bowling is so boring – it’s limited by a perfect score people can reach, which means getting good at it is no big value. Not so with “art.”
In essence, making “art” means creating value that’s hard to put a number on. You can feel it, but you can’t compare it. It’s unique.
You’re touching a human (and remember, all business is still about humans ) in a way s/he hasn’t been touched before. And I don’t mean in the dirty sense.
It can be your personality, your enchanting customer service or something else that only YOU can bring to the table. Drop the corporate speech. Lose the artificiality. Infuse the human touch. And when you make customers emotionally glued to you, there’s no need to fear a C3PO taking away your job. At least for now.
Conclusion:
The robot revolution won’t come in the form of Terminators with German-Austrian accents that annihilate you. Noooo. It will quietly creep into your life, eventually replacing you if you’re unwilling to adapt and make your work emotionally-essential. Maybe it’s already happening. Prove that you’re human and make “art” work that only you can make.
What do you think?
Mars Dorian describes himself as a creative marketeer with a moon-melting passion for human potential and technology. You can follow his adventures at www.marsdorian.com/
Original illustrations by the author.
A cautionary tale: Putting your business in the hands of Facebook
Dec 5th
As I enjoyed a mega-popular Kebab restaurant on my street, I wondered about the “secret” of their success.
Certainly one factor is the kebab itself — a delicious jungle of salad, meat, and fresh herb sauce that melted like Angel cream on your tongue. Mmmmmm.
The other aspect of their success, and frankly the more interesting part for us, is their Facebook presence.
The young owner has built an impressive online audience. The fan page attracted thousands of fans from around the country who post pictures and stories about their Kebab experience. Wowzee.
The owners fuel their presence through the share of fun restaurant pictures (guests posing, entertaining quotes, food pics), unique YouTube videos, and sophisticated social media give-and-take.
For a physical food biz to rock the Internet like that, I was truly impressed and as I heard his story, I almost let the Kebab slip through my fingers because of the sheer astonishment.
But when I asked them about their business website, they just shrugged their shoulders and laughed. “Why waste time and money on building a website when you can do everything for free on Facebook ?”
I frowned.
“Because you don’t want to put all of your eggs in one basket … and a basket that you don’t own.”
But the conversation was already over, because the business had placed its entire faith on Facebook’s free fan page which they’ve labored over for almost two years. Argh.
A few weeks later, Facebook introduced the “promote your posts” feature.
Bang.
Needless to say, interactivity and visibility of the restaurant’s fanpage dropped drastically. Now they are finally building their business website.
Lesson learned.
Now this is not a slap against Facebook, but it’s a mistake that happens all the time …
Every big online company wants to lock you into their platform…
…offering you free space and an incredible existing audience.
- Amazon wants authors to mainly use their author’s page and discourages outside linking challenging
- DeviantArt wants to display your entire portfolio on their site
- Facebook “encourages” you to focus on building your fan page followers and marketing
And while their offers are all legitimate, they hide one important fact :
They make you totally dependable on them – and you’ll always be at their mercy.
Seriously, I cringe every time someone focuses heavily on building their online presence on a platform they don’t own.
Instead of worrying about getting email subscribers and customers, they obsess about getting likes and followers on Facebook and Twitter.
It may be accessible, free and powerful in the beginning, but what do you do if their platform rules change, which they eventually will?
- What if the company changes from free sharing to paid promotion ? (*cough* Facebook *cough)
- What if a big player platform loses out and becomes irrelevant ? (Myspace is no space now)
- What if a successful online brand creates a hyped platform that attracts more digital dust that visitors? (sorry Google)
No matter how much you luv a brand (and I like Google a lot), always be suspicious of their offers to rely on them for your business infrastructure and marketing presence. It’s their game, and we all know you’ll never win by rules that have been set by someone else.
You can actually WASTE years of building your brand on someone else’s platform and then lose out when the tide changes. Nothing, nothing and I mean NO-THING is more important than channeling your audience attraction to your self-hosted platform. That’s why I focus the majority of my time getting people on MY site, instead of getting likes and followers somehwere else.
Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr … and sometimes even Google+ … all help me extend my reach, but each of them could vanish in an instant and I’d still have my audience and profits.
The web is in constant flux. The big platforms of today could become the no man’s lands of tomorrow.
Placing your bet on an outlet you don’t own is the riskiest and dumbest thing you can do. Treat them for what they really are – marketing tools that attract visitors to your own online real estate where you’ll turn them into subscribers or even paying clients.
Don’t be a leaf in the wind – a brand whose long-term success you want to control is dependable on a platform you own. Agree or disagree?
Mars Dorian describes himself as a creative marketeer with a moon-melting passion for human potential and technology. You can follow his adventures at www.marsdorian.com/
Original illustrations by the author.
Awesome Box. A {growtoon}.
Nov 9th
Join the growtoonists each Friday for a humorous take on marketing, social media, and current business events.
Mars Dorian describes himself as a creative marketeer with a moon-melting passion for human potential and technology. You can follow his adventures at www.marsdorian.com/
Why The Most Important Part of Your Brand is Invisible
Oct 11th
By Mars Dorian, Contributing {grow} Columinst
We talk all the time about writing cornerstone content, building effective web design, and connecting with your community in the social media world. Yessss, it’s all essential, that’s why it’s getting poured again and again into our membranes.
But what about the invisible world behind engagement creation? That special “X Factor” that every great (personal) brand emanates, that elusive awesomesauce that connects them stronger to their raving audience than gorilla glued Lego pieces ?
Danielle LaPorte has it. Chris Brogan has it. Mari Smith also has it. Mark Schaefer? YOU decide 
It’s often the invisible part of your online presence that turns visitors into raving fans.
And before I go all paranormal on you, the “invisible” I mean doesn’t include ectoplasma and proton blasters. It’s simply the “byproduct” (ugh, such an ugly world, forgive me) of your intent and THE WAY you create content and products.
It’s the elusive part that people cannot FULLY explain, but that tremendously affects the way they see your brand and interact with it.
For the sake of this post, let’s try to make the invisible visible … and demonstrate how YOU can leverage it to build a more compelling online presence.
Let’s start with…
The reason “why”
A friend of mine tries to buy as many Fairtrade branded products as her wallet allows. Their slogan “guaranteeing better deals for Third World producers” sets her heart on fire like a flame thrower.
Let’s put aside whether they actually do what they promise … it’s fascinating how it attracts a specific crowd that wants to believe in this promise.
And that converging intent binds people closer to the brand than any well-made product could ever hope to achieve on its own.
Heck, my Fairtrade fan-obsessed friend even lights up eating chocolate (and she doesn’t like chocolate) just because it’s under the Fairtrade label. THAT’s the power of the reason “why you do what you do” – a shared worldview that ignites intense passion.
So, the mission and belief you infuse into your brand will directly determine who your customers will be. If you want to attract a kind of customer who rides your wave length, you must put out a message that YOU are 100% passionate about.
Summonin’ some subtext
This looks like it belongs to a self-help book for screen and novel writers, but noooo, it’s relevant to ANY content producer. The invisible lines between your text are just as important as the visible. If you create content that can be enjoyed on many levels (think entertaining / inspiring / informational ), then you influence a reader’s heart in powerful ways:
Not explaining everything in excruciating details, pointing out hints and thoughts, writing ambiguous questions …
This can slam many more dimensions on your content creation and impact your reader even more heavily.
Sure, the average passerby, looking for fast food content to gulp down, will miss it. But the loyal reader, the one who’s deeply into what you offer, will appreciate you for doing this.
Because she will be one of the chosen few who “gets it” what you really want to say. And that will bond her even closer to your brand.
Putting the “you” in your work
Competing corporations battle it out in endless court room wars, because no matter how innovative or fast you can ship a new product, the “rival” is already on your heels, ready to copy your idea if it proves to be successful.
They sue each other because it’s fairly easy to replicate a lifeless product. But it’s super challenging, if not impossible, to copy the “You” in your work.
Material can copied, but how do you copy style and attitude?
When you buy incredible custom (art)work from individuals, or a loved one creates a delicious meal for you, there’s a heavy dose of the creator in there. “Made with love” is not just a truism, it’s something that directly enhances your experience of the work.
It’s hard to tell what exactly it is, because it’s impossible to measure. Put the “You” in your work and make your brand uncopyable.
The state of your creation process
Do you know Anthony Robbins? He’s a self-help guru with a track record that would put Donald Trump and Steve Jobs to shame (well, maybe). Yeah, he did those sleazy informercials in the 90s, but that was BEFORE the Internet, you guys.
What he proclaimed back then (now common sense), is that your emotional state drastically affects the work and choices you make. Wouldn’t that also hold true for your content and product creation? The emotional state you and your team are in will flavor the output of your work.
If you just do the work because you have to do it, people will notice. They’ll even sniff it out on the Internet. Your audience feels, at least on a subconscious level, that your work isn’t as compelling as it could be.
What to do? Exercise, dance like a monkey on fire, sing your lungs out, do whatever it takes to get you in an elevated state before you create your content. The change of energy can directly jump onto your audience and alter the way they choose to interact with you.
Conclusion
All the things I just listed are hard to prove. It’s like the wind, you can’t see it but you can feel it. But if you’re genuine about your intent, you put yourself into your work and create something that’s enjoyable on multiple levels, you can create a connection with your audience that doesn’t seem to come from this world.
Make any sense to you? What’s the source of YOUR X Factor, your invisible power?
Mars Dorian describes himself as a creative marketeer with a moon-melting passion for human potential and technology. You can follow his adventures at www.marsdorian.com/
Original illustrations by the author.
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You’re in marketing for one reason: Grow.
Grow your company, reputation, customers, impact, profits. Grow yourself. This is a community that will help. It will stretch your mind, connect you to fascinating people, and provide some fun along the way. I am so glad you’re here.
-Mark SchaeferFollow Mark
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