Times Have Changed: How to Take Control of Your Future and Thrive in the New Economy
– by Chris Cummings, Introduction by Tera Warner
I’d like you to meet one of my best friends, Chris. He’s a “drives fast cars, climbs steep rocks, and runs like the wind” kinda guy. He generally seems to be up for some of the most break-neck activities a person could consider and that may be why he, more than anyone else I know, stays cool, calm and confident in the face of headlines forecasting doom for the economy.
It takes a certain kind of person to stay positive in the face of bad news. As a single mom of two, I sometimes get intimidated about the articles and conversations that cross my path, and if there’s one subject that overwhelms me, it’s finance and the “economy”. But Chris talks hope when others talk hardship. He sees opportunity where there’s difficulty.
He understands that “times of trouble” throughout history have created opportunity for magnificent change, and that in times of struggle we need people committed to their vision, and invested in the possibility of a better world to turn things around. That’s why I thought you’d appreciate a few of the things he has to say, and I do hope they will inspire you.
Times Have Changed
The world you are living in has fundamentally changed!
It’s hard to believe when I look back at pictures of myself at the age of 4 that telephones were still tied to walls, transistor radios were cool and the possibility of the Internet would have been nearly impossible to believe!
If we look back at change over time, what’s taken place in the last 5 years alone is mind-boggling!
Even if your life and career have remained relatively unscathed since the online revolution took root over the past few years, you need to pull back and look at the big picture – if it hasn’t affected you yet, it will.
I don’t say this to intimidate you, or feed into negativity, just to galvanize you into taking control of your future. A future in which you have a simple choice – meet the speed of change, or be left behind. The numbers speak for themselves:
- Radio took 58 years to reach 50 million listeners
- Television took 13 years to reach 50 million viewers
- Internet took 4 years to reach 50 million web surfers
- iPod took 3 years to reach 50 iPod-ers
- Facebook reached 100 million users in less than 9 months!!
There was a time when advertisers controlled most of the messages we receive, but it’s a people-driven economy now.
The days of phone books are OVER! Where word of mouth, friendly suggestions and billboards used to lead us toward our purchases and a new restaurant worth trying, now more than half of all purchases happen because of an Internet search.
- 71% of all American adults use the Internet.
- Over 50% of all purchases are preceded by an Internet search.
- There are 2.6 billion local searches a month.
Traditional advertising methods are dead and the speed of change is unlike anything we have ever seen before. It doesn’t matter if you’re a business owner, an employee, or a consumer – everything has changed and there’s no going back! You’ve got to be able to keep up, or you’ll be left behind.
What Happens in Vegas, Doesn’t Stay in Vegas Anymore
In the old days, a lousy meal at a restaurant didn’t go much further than a few friends and was quickly forgotten. These days, when drama strikes, people pull out videos and start recording complaints that go viral in minutes. Businesses can’t get away with mediocrity any more without someone hearing about it.
- There are 5.9 billion mobile phone subscribers (that’s 87% of the world population!!) with the growth led by China and India
- Social media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
- 1 out of 8 couples in the US last year met through social media
- 80% of the people using Twitter are using mobile devices.
- In the US, 25% of mobile Web users are mobile-only.
(It’s not enough to have a “website” anymore, you need a mobile site!) - 47 million Japanese have adopted tap-and-go phones
(they use their phone to just “tap” and pay for their purchases!) Wallets are passé!
The online revolution has made the entire world virtual next door neighbors. Whereas before you were competing locally or nationally for clients or jobs, you now face endless competition from all over the globe.
It Has Never Been Easier to Get Paid for Your Passion
I’ve always loved speed. I just never knew my love for it would lead me to building a business designed to help aspiring and established business owners capture the power of the fastest thing out there — The Internet! The most successful people in life are the ones who pursue their passion with a purpose. The ones who are pulled by something inside them, not driven by external forces.
The hyper-connected world we live in is empowering more individuals and small groups to start their own companies and create new jobs, and it’s easier and cheaper to do so than ever before. The potential for us today to globalize our talents, hobbies and passions into a worldwide market is unprecedented with dizzying potential.
It has never been easier to get in front of people who are searching for your product or service. It has never been easier to leverage your experience and passion to create apps, info products, membership sites, or digital products in a variety of formats. The same is true of physical products. Once you understand how this online world works, there are a host of options to suit every individual size and budget.
What if I’m an employee at a company – how does this affect me?
Very few jobs will remain unaffected. Your jobs are now being threatened by highly trained labor in other parts of the world who are happy with a fraction of what you get paid. Before you scoff at the thought of competition from small countries halfway around the world, consider that some countries are graduating more PhDs in science, tech and engineering than we in U.S. have students combined. Their English is excellent (some even teach English as their first language, like the Philippines), and their work ethic is off the charts.
Think like the owner of a company. Companies can no longer afford to keep redundant employees. Every position must justify itself. If your work doesn’t have an important contribution to revenues or profits, you are vulnerable. Understanding the shift to an online world will help position you to contribute immense value to your company. Success online requires new thinking, new management structures, and new strategies.
In the new online economy, you don’t have to guess anymore! There has never been more control over your marketing and ability to connect with your target audience than right now. Even better, you can test and track everything to a degree unimagined even just a few years ago.
So How Do We Play the New Game?
Through a process called “keyword research” (keywords are the search terms and phrases people type when searching online), you can pull up the average number of monthly searches to see which ones are the best to target. In addition, you can use additional data to help determine your competition, how they compare, and how to determine the profitability of your ideas before you spend a dime.
You can pick your battles wisely from the outset now. With a little bit of strategy, you can know before you even start how successful your idea will be based upon consumer trends and statistics. The results will often surprise you. I’ve experienced this with my own company, where we uncovered keywords we never thought of! As well as we thought we knew our business, we didn’t understand how to make subtle changes to how we offered our product that led to a dramatic increase in client interest and sales!
Once you have your keywords to target, you can use this in a number of ways to get in front of people searching for these terms. You can use them everywhere from your website, blog posts, and headlines along with any and all online advertising – especially SEO.
SEO stands for “search engine optimization”. This is a specialized process where you can hire teams to help get you to the top of search results anytime these keywords are searched. This is imperative because 97% of clicks come from the first page of search results – almost no one goes to page 2.
SEO is expensive and a long term proposition, but it’s like building equity – as you advance to the top of search results, it becomes like a tap of traffic you can’t shut off. Our clients see an average of 2-3 x their return on investment; some as high as 10 x. With any other form of advertising, you are always starting back at zero.
Camping Skills Won’t Cut It Anymore
The old fashioned skills of being able to light a camp fire and cook your own beans doesn’t really serve us in the new economy. We’ve got to develop new systems and strategies that will help you keep up with the pace of change.
There are some key things you need to know before you hire an SEO team! I will be doing a special call with Tera to get into the details, but in short – common sense will prevail! If you are approached by SEO vendors telling you “it’s free – only pay for results”, or offering any kind of guarantee – run away, don’t walk.
Even if SEO isn’t an option for you, there are plenty of other options out there to advertise and set your budget. One important note: You don’t have to master this yourself! In fact, if you try to, you will not be able to keep up with the demands of production and delivery in your business. It’s an overwhelming and ever-changing online world, and it has never been a better time and situation to delegate systems management to a competent team. The numbers will always speak for themselves. That will continue to escalate, but the right guide can shortcut the process. You can leverage their experience to help save you a lot of pain, suffering and expense.
One final note: If you are at all considering getting online with your business, product or service, or already are and wondering how to take it to the next level, do not wait! You need to act now. The longer you wait, the more difficult, competitive and expensive it will become.
The Future Looks Bright to Those Who Shine
I get worrying about the future and feeling concerned about the headlines and forecast for tomorrow. I’m a dad. I read the same headlines as you and I want to believe in a world where my daughter can thrive.
Like all change, we can embrace it and flow, or we can resist and face the consequences. Despite the recession and nearly endless flow of sensationalized bad news in the media, the new economy presents a thrilling opportunity. More people are able to work from anywhere in the world and work from home. We have new levels of freedom and flexibility in our schedules. That translates into more time spent with our kids and doing the things we love!
In the words of Thomas Friedman, “There is a business adage that says ‘You win in the turns.’ That is, when there are big shifts in the marketplace, the best companies gain market share and put distance between themselves and their competitors because they have the vision and the flexibility to spot change and leap ahead when it occurs, while others are simply overwhelmed.” Look to the intersection of your passion and experience to see how you can win in this turn!
To your success,
Chris
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How has the Internet and the New Economy affected your life, work, business, family, and play? Let us know by leaving a comment below.