Thursday, February 07, 2008 Toral: Being remarkable is Purple Cow By Janette Toral Digital Filipino
SINCE last year, I’ve been contemplating of buying Seth Godin’s, “Purple Cow.” While traditional books do not seem to provide the inspiration that I need to address current challenges, I think this book might will be able to. True enough, the book didn’t disappoint.
It affirms ideas why we should always be creative and innovative, go out of our comfort zone, and do something new. I wish some of my potential clients will be able to read it so they can bolt out of their predicament and internal politics.
Last week, I had a meeting where I needed to present a blogging project for a telecommunications company. My pitch stressed that blogging can be a source of information, which the company can control to reach out to customers, and even conduct some fire-fighting to help the frontline whenever there is a service fluke.
The meeting was attended by officials from various departments who were protective of their turf. The whole project kept getting tamed that it dawn on me that it won’t have any chance of taking off.
What Seth Godin preaches in Purple Cow is for people to do something remarkable and not be contented with being “very good.” While doing remarkable things may earn criticism from time to time, the feedback and the backlash, and even parody, are signs that a product or service was pitched in manner that catches the audience’s attention. Those who talk about it, in turn, are the sneezers, who help spread the word that may result to patronage of a product or service.
For an entrepreneur whose business relies on having a strong community, the book creates pressure to offer something remarkable on a regular basis, with each one surpassing the previous.
I’m afraid to be contented with my current business model as that will not allow me to maintain the existing base for long-term growth.
But an offering that used to be remarkable may become predictable. Therefore, the need to create something new, to surpass a previous benefit, must be continuously worked on to keep customers excited and maintain patronage of one’s product or service.
I believe that becoming remarkable is a mindset, a culture that entrepreneurs usually have. But when we encounter too many failures, we tend to relax and try to protect ourselves or be contented with what we have. I almost reached that point recently until I noticed new competitors, who could have been clients of my service, started initiating activities that overlaps a small part of what I do. This made me realize I can’t take things sitting down.
Protecting one’s space and expanding it further is the key to survival. Although this won’t dislodge potential competitors, it is necessary to create new values or areas of service that will require more effort and resources to enable rivals to catch up. If I fail to do this, my blue ocean or uncontested marketplace will cease to exist sooner than I think.
By sharing this, I hope to enlighten people who often underestimate the kind of work online entrepreneurs do, especially in the area of services. As our competitors are global in nature, being on your toes all the time is an important key to sustainability.
