Worldviews, cynical views, and contrarian views
More thoughts on habits, and packaging your ideas to fit with the customer’s worldview instead of trying to change their worldview to “make” them want you…
Buying a (quick-fix no-work prepackaged) “solution” is way easier than solving the problem.
Even if you know what the real solution is, it allows you to forestall necessary actions and pretend you are moving forward. Sadly, motion ≠ forward motion, but we convince ourselves it does all the time.
And everybody loves thinking they’ve found a cheat.
Something to ponder for yourself, but also for your products or services. It might sound a bit cynical, but you can take advantage of that simple fact and save yourself a lot of banging-your-head-on-the-wall. In the comments earlier this week we talked briefly about the diet and the smoking-cessation industry, both of which are filled with companies which have accepted that we’d rather buy a solution than solve a problem—and thrive as a result.
Is it right for you? (Is it right?)
Loyal readers know I proudly make a living solving problems with my clients, so it’s not the direction I’ve gone. But there’s plenty of head-banging in the path I’ve chosen, especially when it comes to my beloved small-business clients.
And (indulge me for a moment) thinking about the larger picture, beyond your business…
Are people becoming afraid of real-world, get-off-your-duff, solutions? Were we always? Is this good news or bad news or not news?
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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26 February 2010, 1:21 pm
I think a large percentage of people want magic fairy dust no matter what. Those who choose the hard way do so because it is the way they are wired, they enjoy challenges, they don’t know any other way, they are dense, they don’t trust magic, or they don’t like fairies
People weren’t always this way but then again people didn’t always have the temptations that choices that exist today. Examples:
- We have computerized wizards today that do a lot of work for us. Why bother learning how to install WordPress when the magic of Fantastico can do it for you?
- It is easy to schedule Tweets for times when you aren’t there. Is it smart?
- It’s easier to say you are a graphics artist and be a little fish in a LARGE pond, than it is to innovate and become a BIG fish in a little pond.
- A video only course with no transcript or worksheets. Talk about targeting your audience.
- Settling for a cookie-cutter websites just because it is easy and cheap.
- Ramming through a 2,000 page health bill instead of TRULY working on the hard problem.
- Buying a quick LLC package instead of spending another $100 to work an attorney who knows to override the bad defaults for your state in the magic solution.
Good, bad, or not news? Both! Quick-fix no-work pre-packaged solutions lead to commoditization if the market accepts the cheap quality or cookie-cutter reality that normally emerges. Example: cheap logos. The good news comes for those who make cheat sheets (example: selling stock photos effectively created an industry), and for those willing to innovate (example: SEO writing assistance via a WordPress plug-in). I think the ultimate message is the age-old truth of innovate or die.
26 February 2010, 4:15 pm
“I proudly make a living solving problems with my clients…”
Something occurred to me here. Yes, there is a good case to be made for the fact that everyone wants to find the easy way out. But even in those cases where you’re willing to roll up your sleeves, sometimes it’s hard to effectively problem-solve your own business. I’ve heard it from many writers, and it is surely true for me, that the most difficult web content to write is the content that goes up on their own websites.
Extend this a bit, and perhaps people aren’t looking for “quick-fix” solutions all the time, but simply an outside viewpoint that will help them get it done *right*. Again, not dismissing the head-in-the-sand thing — we all do it from time to time — but sometimes we all need a bit more than getting off our duff.
The trick, of course, is realizing which is which.
From a marketing point of view though, I’ve found that underlining “ease of use” (where warranted) is never a bad idea. Whether people are looking for the quick fix or the outside view, you are still making their lives easier.
~Graham
28 February 2010, 11:02 am
Mike,
Thanks for the comment—you made some great points!
Man, that’s perfect.
Welcome to MCE—you really get it. It’s not right or wrong, but what you do with it for your business, and how you make it work for your customers.
Graham,
“… the most difficult web content to write is the content that goes up on their own websites.” OMG is that true—nearing the end right now, slog, slog. I love it but hate it!
I agree. I sure don’t think real outside help is a quick fix. LOL! That’s usually an active solution, more like hiring a personal trainer than buying a treadmill to use as a clotheshorse. But I know people with three dozen books on their shelves, e-books and courses and, lately, memberships at specialty forums, telling them how to XYZ for their business, who’ve never done anything with all that they’ve “learned.”
It scares me how much people are willing to pay to stay *in* motion, rather than paying what could amount to much less (and pay off much better) to get that real help and make some actual *forward* motion happen.
Regards,
Kelly
28 February 2010, 4:20 pm
I’ve tried to convince small mom and pop shops I’ve created websites for that they don’t need flashy graphics on their homepage. It’s as if an animated graphic somehow equates to increased sales. I ask them, “What exactly does an animated graphic of a welding machine have to do with bringing in more sales? Let’s just show the machine and state why they need YOU instead of the other guys like you.” The answer usually is, “Can we have two animated graphics?”
They don’t want solutions, they want lottery luck with their business’s future.
Shane Arthur´s latest blog… Creative Copy Challenge #18
3 March 2010, 8:31 am
Shane,
LOL at “Can we have two?” I know what you mean. Web cheats are particularly frustrating, because people still think that the road to easy street is lying out there on the web if only they can find the right formula.
Web business is still business, folks, and like any other, for all but a very few it won’t be get-rich-quick. It will be hard work, slow, and…
… worth every minute. Can’t end on such a sour note.
Until later,
Kelly