« January 2004 | Main | May 2004 »
February 26, 2004
Info Sleaze
There's a new peril sweeping the Internet.
No it's not spam. It's not viruses. It's not a worm.
It doesn't cost corporations millions - in fact the only people who seem to be paying for it are those who don't recognize it for what it is.
It's infosleaze.
What is infosleaze?
Infosleaze is a new form of "information" marketing - typically sold in downloadable PDF or other e-book format...
But let's back up a minute.
Most good books - in fact, most good information products of any kind - including books, audio programs, magazines, video - and yes - even ezines - are the free-flowing outcome of a personal (or corporate) passion for a subject. They are created by someone who has steeped themselves in a subject, thought long and hard about it's impact and deeper meaning, and created some expression of that work.
Now all this thinking doesn't make the thing good, but it's a good start. I'd say it's the best start possible.
Then there's infosleaze.
Infosleaze is created using a different process. First research is done to find out what questions are on people's minds. (So far, so good.)
Second a writer is hired who will seek answers - of some kind - to these questions, and whip them into a book.
Now, you might say to yourself - why is that bad? I want answers to my questions.
The question is one of quality.
In infosleaze, the only purpose to "creating" an answer to the question is to sell a product. To be able to say you have answers to a burning question so people will buy your product.
The problem is no attention is paid to whether the answer is a good one or not. And therein lies the sleaze factor. Because with infosleaze it's all about the sale. None of it is about providing a solid product with top-quality, usable information.
I recently heard one marketer say proudly that his products were "crappy." And they are! They are crappy - and yet they sell like hotcakes. Why? Because the masterful marketing material claims - justifiably - that these sleazebooks answer all of the potential reader's burning questions.
And they do, after a fashion.
It's just a sleazy fashion.
Look - there's nothing wrong with researching a market to understand what the issues are, and crafting a well-researched, well-written book that addresses those questions. What separates a quality product from a sleazy one is the attention paid to whether the answers to the questions will make a difference for the reader.
There's a big difference between answering a question in form and answering it in substance. It's called value.
Posted by plemberg at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)
February 09, 2004
Core Critical
Another perspective on gap analysis starts here.
Most people have way too complicated a view of how their companies are organized, which makes it hard to make things better and improve profits.
Instead, think about your business as simply as possible. Consider the smallest number of units which allow you function. Or perhaps, think about it as an expense statement with the fewest possible line items. I like the first way better, which will lead you to a P&L analysis when you're done.
No matter how you look at it, here's what you should come up with:
1. Sales and Marketing - telling people about what you've got, and helping them purchase it.
2. Product Development - coming up with cool things the market wants and will pay for.
3. Production (or operations) - manufacturing and/or delivering the products and services PD comes up with, in sufficient quantity and with low-enough costs
4. Customer Care - making sure your clients (customers) are satisfied, loyal and repeat buyers.
5. Executives, Administration and Overhead - the glue that holds everything together.
That's it.
Think about this and let me know if you come up with any other "core critical" elements to a business. I don't think there are any.
PL
Posted by plemberg at 05:07 PM | Comments (0)