Content IS Action

January 24, 2010 by · Comments Off 

Content IS Action - Directed Movement in Form I have strong feelings about that statement after attending awesome WordCamp Boston, #wcbos, yesterday. It inspired me to respond to the many variations of a statement I often hear and see:

“Enough with the content, its action that really matters”.

Content and action aren’t mutually exclusive. Content is directed movement (action) in form: written, audio and video.

I can’t think of any action that doesn’t correspond with content, including:

  • communicating – stories
  • meeting – recaps
  • directing – strategy
  • sharing – posts & comments
  • teaching – course work
  • designing – visuals
  • preparing – notes
  • helping – feedback
  • marketing – web pages
  • systematizing & processing – applications
  • searching & researching – aggregated information
  • presenting – shows
  • entertaining – scripts
  • playing – toys

I think this is very important for anyone just starting out, or struggling with content creation. Don’t buy into the myth that you’re sacrificing action for content. They’re hand in hand.

Photo credit:
Title: hand in hand
Artist: Lumatic on flickr

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Filed under: Communications, Community, Content, content-marketing, Creativity, design, Natural influence, relationship, self-expression, social communications
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Merchandising Your Professional Service Practice

August 19, 2009 by · Comments Off 

I read Creating You & Company in 1999 when I was planning to leave my last real job and start my professional service firm as a solopreneur. Picture 38

It was a great influence because it validated my sense that “having a job” was a worn out concept, signally that huge, disruptive shifts would take place in the world of work. It also supported my business model idea which was to offer services as products, which I call programs.

Recently, its occurred to me that professional service “products” need merchandising just like any other product. I know quite a bit about merchandising because I work part-time doing garden center merchandising as the liaison between the grower and the big-box stores.

Three fundamental merchandising concepts in garden center merchandising can be effectively applied to professional services:

Display – One of the first things I do when I take on a new store is to scan what product is out front in the main aisles and benches, and to look at what product is in the lot and in the back of the carts. Typically, there’s old stale product where people are shopping and fresh new product languishing where nobody can see it. Are you displaying your best solutions, ideas and content where your clients are are looking and shopping?

Consolidation – In the garden centers, I’m continually maximizing shelf space while at the same time grouping products for maximum appeal. The more I do it, the greater the capacity I develop for quickly scoping out very large areas, visualizing the end result, and figuring out the most efficient way to get that result. What are your opportunities to continually consolidate and group together your solutions, ideas and content so they “pop” when your clients are looking and shopping?

Culling – I’m surprised how difficult it is for people to get rid of product that’s no good. I think its mainly because they can’t make culling decisions by putting themselves in the customers’ shoes and asking themselves: “will I buy this?” Its a no excuses point of view. Prolific author Stephen King is a great culler and strongly advises that aspiring writers pay strict attention to culling:

..kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings. – Stephen King

Are you hanging on to boring or outdated solutions, ideas and content that are spoiling the overall appeal, and are holding back the growth and momentum of your professional service practice?

If these fundamental merchandising concepts make sense, and the questions hold some truth for you, this may be a good time to put aside the latest and greatest tools and technologies and merchandise your professional services. Inspiration is always available at your local garden center. If you need a good system, I love WordPress.

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Filed under: content-marketing, creative habit, design, disruption, going solo, innovation, job shift, Professional Services, self-expression, self-management, simplicity, solo psf, writing
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RedShift News

August 20, 2008 by · Leave a Comment 

RedShift Web 2.0

I’ve recently made significant changes (yup – again!) to my web site and blog and it may be of interest to those of you who are starting a new business needing online content or who are thinking of bringing your existing site(s) to another level. I’ll try to explain in the simplest, non-technical language as possible.

I decided 2 weeks ago to migrate to WordPress and to self host my blog. I’d previously used TypePad, a blog service. I was so impressed with its capabilities, that I decided to integrate my web site and my blog, bringing them both together in one WordPress site. Not only is it more professional looking and integrated, but it also provides a greatly enhanced architecture for Web 2.0 trends and search engine optimization. On top of that, its easier to maintain, manage and update, and its cool and fun which I like to be. Its no longer a big deal to add additional functionality (calendars, forums, social networking….you name it) and the capabilities are extensive.

Custom web design and programming is expensive for solo’s and small business and often does not really serve the purpose of building community and relationships. On the other hand, standardized applications, developed specifically for Web 2.0, provide a pre-built structure for doing just that. When business owners don’t have to deal with the mechanics, they can focus on education, collaboration and relationship building – the things that keep people coming back for more. Another huge advantage is that WordPress sites are developed to maximize search engine placement.

Although I’ve resisted doing Web site work for clients in the past, I believe that these great new web tools, combined with my strategy, writing and coaching skills, allow me to offer “my kind” of creative program that provides clients real value for a very reasonable investment. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

I still have a few things on my new site to fix or complete. But I’m trying to adhere to a mantra that someone I respect recently posted: “better done than perfect”.

RedShift on Twitter

I’m now on Twitter and send out very short posts – information, ideas, inspiration. If you’d like to check it out, or if you’re interested in following me on Twitter, you can get my little snippets by email or on your cellphone. You may want to experiment with Twitter yourself. Like most Web 2.0, its very simple concept providing a lot of community development potential.

As always, thanks so much for your time, interest and feedback!

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Filed under: convergence, design, going solo, integral, Markets, Natural influence, self-expression, SEO/SEM, simplicity, social capital
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