Paul Wallbank – Brilliant Communications

Tag: business

  • The real digital divide

    The real digital divide

    The real digital divide isn’t between the young and the old; it’s between those who are prepared to explore new technologies and those who hide from change.

    We’re often told that there’s a divide between the “digital natives”, those who grown up with computers, and the “digital immigrants”, those who’ve had to learn about computers.

    In reality this isn’t true, the real digital divide is about being prepared to learn and explore the possibilities being opened up every day by the Internet and computers.

    I was reminded of this shortly before Christmas when talking to a group of forty year old business owners who dismissed Internet tools like Twitter and LinkedIn out of hand – “a waste of time” “just for kids” and “I tried and received Chinese spam” being a few of the objections.

    The contrast is the Australian Seniors Computer Clubs Association who prove you’re only as young as the computers you tinker with. These seniors, some of whom were retired well before computers became commonplace, are prepared to explore and discover possibilities that change their lives and the lives those around them.

    The forty somethings all had successful businesses and they were the first to admit mobile phones, email and websites had changed the way they work. Yet nearly half of them didn’t have a website for their own business; a statistic consistent with business surveys that find almost 50% of small enterprises don’t have a website.

    In many respects these businesses and their owners are reminiscent of the handloom weavers of the early 19th Century. At first technology worked in their favour and pushed wages up but as industrialisation continued they found their skills redundant and incomes falling. Eventually their trades and businesses disappeared; which is what will happen to complacent companies and industries in today’s industrial revolution.

    A similar thing is happening to society and individuals. While you won’t disappear if you aren’t using the net, those who won’t will find it harder to do pay bills, communicate and simply get things done. Eventually they’ll find themselves marginalised as not being connected will make it harder for family and friends to keep in touch.

    All of this is unnecessary, it’s just a matter of being prepared to try and to give something a go. The real digital divide is between those who choose to give things a go and those who don’t.

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  • Growing your business with Tweetups

    Growing your business with Tweetups

    It’s hard to resist the offer of a free sandwich in Sydney’s Hyde Park on a beautiful spring day, so a“tweet up” offering was always going to be successful.

    Like most social media meetings in any big town these days, people from all walks of life gathered to meet and become more than just a Twitter handle or obscure forum name.

    Any idea that your average internet user is a pasty, overweight, underemployed 20-something is quickly dispelled as you meet all sorts of interesting people who are doing interesting things.

    The hundreds of “tweet ups”, coffee mornings and social media dinners across the land are creating new networks which are changing business and society.

    This is opposite of the stereotype being used to reinforce the mindset that blames the internet and social networking sites for everything from schoolyard bullying through to street riots and arrested brain development.

    Over the last few days we’ve been treated to stream of stories about the views of professors and researchers detailing how the world and our minds are being destroyed by the internet.

    My favourite is an English professor currently visiting Australia who claims computer game addled 20-something market traders may be responsible for the global financial crisis.

    Perish the thought that good old-fashioned greed and hubris, the cause of every market crash since the Bronze Age, may have had something to do with the GFC.

    The weekend press mentioned the professor applying for a study grant from an American university to prove her theory.

    If that is true, it’s a shame the she didn’t take the time to check out the Twitter hashtag to join us for a sandwich in Hyde Park.

    Had she done that she’d have had a nice sandwich, caught some sun and seen her theory disproved.

    She would have met a far more diverse group than a bunch of stuffed shirts huddling in a cosy lunch club, desperately trying to validate their deliberate ignorance of the changing world outside.

    It’s those stuffed shirts, along with their newspaper columnist friends, who are isolated. By choosing to demonise the internet and ignore the opportunities social media tools present, they are being left behind in a fast changing world.

    The options for entrepreneurs and business owners are clear – you can lock yourself up with the stuffed shirts and rage about your dying business or you can use the net to help your business grow. The choice is yours.

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  • Lipstick myths

    Lipstick myths

    Is the lipstick theory really true? I’ve been hearing a lot about it lately and I’m not so sure.

    The “lipstick theory” is people will spend money on small, modest priced luxuries in a downturn to make up for not being able to afford big luxuries.

    It’s been used to justify everything from increased fast food sales to Belgain chocolates to expensive beer to, well, lipstick.

    I recently heard it used by a software developer as the rationale for investing in a software as a service product.

    But is it true?

    The Economist isn’t so sure and shows there’s little correlation between past recessions and lipstick sales.

    My suspicion is if it was true in the twenties and thirties, it was more because better manufacturing and distribution techniques meant a better, cheaper product could get to the market.

    Even if the lipstick theory is true, it’s dangerous to assume your product is the same.

    For a start, some lipsticks will do better than others, partly because of marketing and partly because their price points are smarter.

    Should your “lipstick” product be successful, it might not make much money for you anyway. In the last recession we saw McDonalds and other fast food chains introduce $1 and $2 meals, we’re seeing a similar trend at the moment with sub $500 computers.

    These “recesssion busters” may keep your market share up, but they aren’t going to be particularly profitable. Indeed, for the computer manufacturers, the sub $500 laptops may well be cannibalising what’s left of their profitable product lines.

    The reality is a lot of the products that are claiming the “lipstick theory” will save them are really doomed. The vast majority of shops selling expensive chocolate, lingerie, beer and other pricey but non essential products are simply marking time until the effects of the popped bubble reach them.

    It’s best to base your business plans on sound evidence rather than blind hope in an idea that may or may not be true and may or may not apply to your products.

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