The Marketing Message Blog

The 4-Hour Work Week

I don't usually recommend books whose titles include the word 'Rich', but I'll make an exception in this case.  Let me be one in a long line of many, who are recommending Timothy Ferriss' new book, "The Four Hour Work Week, Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich." 

It's a fun read with a serious message —Don't work just to keep busy and feel important!   We all know people who feel important because they are busy.  But are they?  They may be important in spite of the fact that they are harried with out-of-control schedules.

I've often thought that many of these people were bad time managers without specific goals.  Now thanks to Ferriss' book we can espouse that sentiment and rein in our 'crazy busy' behavior.

Thanks to Web 2.0, we can uncouple the workday from the hours of 9-5.  Most small business owners long for some breathing room so that they can simply THINK about their business.  Read Ferriss' book for some really great tips on how to redesign your business and your time.

Buzz you can't buy

Guy Kawasaki's latest article Gimme Some Love in the June, 2007 issue of Entrepreneur is a must-read for anyone contemplating the start of an online community —this means anyone selling a product online.  People who read this blog know that I recommend building an online community immediately to get feedback on your products or services.

My favorite tips from Kawasaki's list: 

"Identify and recruit your thunderlizards—immediately!" 

Contact the people who love your product and invite them to your community instead of waiting for them to find it.

"Give people something concrete to chew on" 

I am finding that it works well if you have some opening topics in your forum for people to respond to.  Be proactive. 

"Publicize the existence of the community"

Make sure people know about it.  Put a link on your home page and in your email signature if you want to get the word out.  The key is to get started!

Your Best Design Team

Interesting article in BusinessWeek.com by Nanette Byrnes called "Xerox' New Design Team: Customers."  She reports that Xerox' had an idea about how customers would use a new printer they were developing, but "actually talking to them...really changed that." <sound of people slapping their own heads added by me>

Brainstorming is now called "dreaming with the customer" and collaboration is not an afterthought.  If you've ever worked in a big company, you know this is a milestone.  For online business owners it's now a necessity.  I recommend that you have an online advisory group (using Ning or other easy-to-use technology) and get to the heart of what your customers are saying about how they use your products. 

I'd love to hear from those of you who are tackling a new product launch using this approach.  The key is that it's not a one-shot thing.  It's an iterative process and you have to keep at it until you really have a hit.  Assuming that you only have to listen once is a straight path to failure.

What can you do with Web 2.0? It's up to you.

Very interesting post, 'THE WEB 2.0 WAVE--WHY IT’S NOT A FAD' from Patty Seybold's Outside Innovation blog.  When referring to Web 2.0 technology she says, “If we build it, they’ll use it and take it with them, and combine it with whatever else they’re doing.”   

The essence of Web 2.0 is not the tools we create but the creative use we make of them.  The genius of creativity is to take two things that have never been combined and make something new and wonderful. 

We all know that online business owners who want to get ahead of the competition, need to think about helping customers do things in new ways.  The key here is that customers will offer these ideas and they're probably better than yours.  Are you listening?