Transition Strategy Part 2: Staying Focused
Posted by: Carl Smith on Friday February 26, 2010
I’m sure this happens anytime a company tries to change themselves. You have moments of clarity, you outline your plan of attack and… the phone rings with a great opportunity. Or worse, the pain in the ass that you thought was dead and buried rises up from the ashes. This week definitely had its share of those situations, as well as the usual things you have to do to keep a business running. There’s no way around doing our day jobs as we’re positioning ourselves for the future. But we’re not letting that slow us down; in fact, we’re implementing some of our new thoughts and approaches in the work we’re doing right now.
In addition to the usual, it also was a week of great conversations and insights.
Video game psychology and the web industry
Something struck me as I was reading Trust Agents this week, mainly because they said it. What’s going on in the web industry today is a lot like video game psychology. I promise this won’t hurt.
We play a game
As most of us start playing a game, we fail a lot and learn what works and what doesn’t. It’s fun, but there comes a time when we get stuck and quit playing. A few finish the game without getting hung up on something they can’t solve.
We cheat
Okay, it’s not really cheating. The cheat codes are built into the games and every video game site has them listed. Or maybe we use a walk through that helps us get around a particularly sticky situation. Either way, we went outside of the original game and kept going. Eventually this gets boring because it’s too easy.
We create our own game
The rare few use the built-in tools that games now offer to create their own levels or they actually learn to program and create their own games. They make the rules and they decide what works and what doesn’t.
In so many ways, this pattern defines what’s going on with the web industry as we see it right now. There are a lot of people playing by the rules as they know them. They create websites for clients and that’s pretty much it. They do okay if they’re talented and some do really well. But others cheat and convince companies that they can get them easy money by getting them to the top of the search engines and attracting a big following without much work at all. They go from industry to industry, changing the terms but continuing to do things that take advantage of the web and don’t really help their “clients” at all. Then you have the companies who create a new game. That’s absolutely where we’re trying to get to at nGen Works. A new game where we can help clients succeed over the long haul.
There is no magic
The more we’ve read and researched, the more obvious it becomes that everything about succeeding on the web involves talent and hard work, not tricks. If you’re a web designer and you’re worried about SEO, don’t be. Just help your client write good content that hits on important phrases to their audience. Use the free tools and a few accepted and even encouraged techniques to help the search engines. Code the site following best practices. Encourage your client to search the web for people talking about their product or service and to gently join those conversations in a helpful way. It’s the same with social media. Find the groups to which you have something to contribute. Hang out and join in on conversations. Offer something of value. Encourage the people you reach to come back and share the good experience they had. Yes, there is more to it than I just laid out, but it’s not magic. It’s being smart, dedicated, honest and, most importantly, real.
Worry about the end users’ ROI, not your own
So many people are so worried about their own investment that they ignore their customers’ need to understand what’s in it for them. Why should someone buy a product from you? What makes you interesting or different? What promise can you make and keep? What would make them tell others about what you are offering? Think about JetBlue offering unlimited flights for $599. Did they make money? Did they get a return on their investment? If I still remember it now and think they’re awesome, then I would say yes. That offer spread like wildfire over the Internet. I bet they got $100 million dollars’ worth of coverage as everyone started talking about the trips they were going to take and how great JetBlue was. That’s what the new world of marketing is about: Creating amazing value that’s honest and watching people thank you.
So what about nGen’s transition?
Right now we’re looking out a wide-open door at an overwhelming number of choices. To trim them down, we’re working on positioning statements. Words we can believe in that guide us in all the decisions we have to make. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, we’re still working on it. At the same time, we’re working on our own plan to find out what we should be doing and who we think would see value in it. And yes, we are starting to think about how we present ourselves. Personally, I’m feeling deep turquoise plays big into our future.
Again, we thank you for hanging out and seeing what’s going on. We plan to finalize our new positioning statement next week and once we do, we’ll definitely let you know.
Comment RSS Filed under: Interweb
Martin Ringlein
02.26.10 at 6:19pm
Another interesting post, loving the ability to follow along.
My only comment is that I’d like to believe there is indeed magic and that the magic is within the talent … the talent that is the people and the creatives they produce.
Something amazing happens when you have the right people working together … I like calling that something “magic”.
Carl Smith
02.26.10 at 7:24pm
Martin I could not agree more. Talent is critical as is chemistry. I truly believe ideas have the ability to change things. And for me all of that is magic.
What I can’t stand is the illusion that there is some secret formula to success on the web surrounding search, social and even mobile.
When you have a team that finds and interprets that great idea and you deliver it to people the way they want it, well that’s the promise nGen wants to be able to deliver on.
So glad you’re following along. It’s gonna be fun.
Jason Sadler
02.26.10 at 11:55pm
I really like the video game example. It’s common place these days that people have ideas or businesses that go 95% but can’t go the extra 5% to completion or success. They can’t put 6 more hours in at 3am in the morning to finally jump on Bowser’s head for the 3rd time to save the princess! Maybe a bad example…? How about 2 extra flaming upper cuts to defeat Bison? No?
I’m all about focus right now. Everyone can talk about social this, platforms that, strategizing there, etc etc. Focusing on what it is you want to do, what you’re good at and what you’re passionate about is key. Stop trying to grab the low hanging fruit… focus on the fruit that means something.
Keep up the awesome posts and I can’t wait to read one dedicated to ROI.
I wanted a couple more cliches, but I was too tired.
Michael Kozakewich
02.27.10 at 2:07am
The video-game analogy is apt, and I wonder just how much it says about different people.
When playing an RPG, I’ll battle the early monsters for hours on end to do things I’m not really supposed to do. (A specific example: summoning eidolons near the beginning of Final Fantasy IX. Man, I feel geeky talking about that.)
We could probably find advice for each of us through that. Like, I should push myself further, instead of doing low-level stuff for a long time.
What gaming habits do you guys have?
Carl Smith
02.27.10 at 8:09am
↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ ← → ← → B A
Carl Smith
02.27.10 at 8:25am
@Jason Agreed. We need to be focusing on what works and forgetting the channels/tactics discussions. We have a surf client right now that has passionate customers that love to build their own boards. They love sharing this information. We’re giving them a place on the site to do this. Is it social? Sure. Good for SEO? Yep. But more than that it’s fun and good for the client. We’ve got to get past the channels and tactics talk and get back to good ideas.
@Michael Personally I hate going online to find answers. I always want to solve whatever the challenge may be on my own. Eventually I’ll check a walkthrough though if I’m just stuck. I try to only find what I need and nothing else. Often my wife will check for me so I don’t accidently see any other hints.
Dylan Phillips
03.01.10 at 11:17am
Now this is a damn good post! I can see the themes coming together. I really like your themes, “There is not magic” and “Worry about the end users’ ROI, not your own”.
In my experience, ‘Cheaters’ aren’t interested in having conversations about the Economic Utility of their solution. In the JetBlue example, I know that their executive team, weighed the cost of the $599 with regard to the value of the PR versus the cost of a marketing campaign with the same reach. Good ole fashion Economics 101. We don’t see this enough in our industry. Frankly, I think it’s because some of the numbers, don’t justify the cost of our services.
I see your Transition, as becoming Creators that focus on Utility, and thus you can provide services to clients without relying on Cheating or Magic.
Carl Smith
03.01.10 at 9:08pm
Thanks Dylan. I’m not exactly sure where we’re going to end up, but I’m really glad you’re enjoying the trip. Unfortunately I think you’re right about the difficulties many companies would have in justifying the cost of their services. It’s definitely something we need to keep in mind as we move forward.