Your content defines you. Not your product.
A while back a company brought us in to give them an idea of what they could do with "this social media thing." Before we even got to the subject matter of the meeting we did an evaluation of their "website thing" so we could get an idea of whether the other thing would actually work for them. What we found was a website filled with content that was virtually identical to content in the websites of 5 other companies in their industry, but not competing with them.
We pointed this out to the management. We told them that when their potential customers are looking for a solution to their problem, they would have to choose between a wild guess as to which of the six companies could help them, or just solve the problem themselves.
This company's problem was not figuring out the "social media thing." It was figuring out what their story actually was. In other words, it's a "content thing."
Over the past decade, that is what we've discovered is the major problem with 90 percent of the companies in the world today: They haven't figured out their story, yet they believe they have.
The reality of the world today is that products and services do not define a company. How they tell a story does. That ability determines the level of trust and ultimately whether a customer will choose you as a preferred vendor. There are plenty of companies that can solve their problem in general. The customer can generally solve his own problem. Your technology is not the primary factor in their decision.
It's been a hard slog during this time, working with companies one at a time, helping them to figure this out. One in 10 actually figures it out, even with our help. So we decided to do something about it.
Starting on August 29, with repeats twice in September, we will be running webinar on "The four flaws CEOs don't see in their communication strategy (and what it is costing them)." In this one-hour, interactive webinar, we will address these flaws and then open up to questions and comments from participants. Following the webinar, each participant will receive a copy of our exclusive white paper "The State of the Media in the 21st Century," and a custom evaluation of their current communications program from Footwasher Media: a total of $1000.00 in service and information. The first 20 to sign up will also receive a copy of Brian Soils' WTF (What is the Future) of Business. Click Here To Signup.
There is a cost to this event and there are discount codes for friends and family, and for referrals. Let me know if you're interested.
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