Archive for January, 2012
Caught in the Swirl
Thursday, January 19th, 2012“The swirl” is one of the things we talk about with Harley-Davidson dealers when we are coaching them to improve the profitability of their dealerships.
At any given time in a dealership, there are customers considering buying motorcycles, trying on clothes or waiting for their motorcycles to be serviced; service techs working on motorcycles; parts orders arriving via UPS; and a parade of salespeople walking through the showroom. There are a hundred things the dealer would like to pay attention to, and at the end of the day, he’s exhausted. He works hard every day, but he can’t find time for the things that are most important because he is too busy.
Information Products, Then and Now: A Look at the Evolution of an Industry
Thursday, January 12th, 2012The best current approach to the information business has the product(s) integrated into “membership” or “coaching” or a business opportunity or franchise, an association, or some other ‘wrapper’ and continuous delivery, wrapped up into newsletter(s), tele-classes and/or tele-coaching, restricted internet archives, chat rooms and other online AND offline deliverables. This almost totally de-links price from component parts, and virtually shuts down piracy; you may be able to sell the CDs on eBay until we find you and sue you, but you can’t deliver the other parts. Further, this approach ends “transactions” and converts the business from being about “product(s)” to being ALL about a continuous relationship. In many cases, this is all presented as one level; if not first, second, on an organized ascension ladder.
The information business as a whole is evolving from generating its profits from hard products (books, tapes, courses, etc.) to seminars, coaching, services and licensing … from things easily duplicated, downloaded, uploaded and transferred from one media to another to things almost impossible to pirate or commoditize. At the same time, product has these four expanding roles
“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he asked me.
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” he asked me.
“No, I don’t think so.” I was shopping for clothes at the mall. I’d recently gotten a new job, I was 21 years old and I knew few people in town.