What is the value of common-sense advice? I recently commented on a Facebook friend’s post who wrote “I've finally reached the point where seeing Seth Godin quotes actually makes me not want to read the quote at all. The smartest guy who never sold a thing.” I’m not going to defend Seth Godin, nor attack the comment itself - but it did get me thinking about the value of informed advice.
Although Godin has built and sold a company (or two) successfully, the “product” for which he is most known is his personal brand, and his insights on marketing. I have been a fan of his ideas since I learned that he titled one of his books “All Marketers are Liars.” That’s some truth - many marketers are liars, and the title challenged marketers to prove themselves otherwise. I love a good shot across the bow of an entire industry.
Common sense it is not always commonly used. I have taken some heat over the years for admiring the work of Tony Robbins: my peer group is old enough to remember when Robbins sold his “Personal Power” series via late-night informercials, and while that approach may have undermined his credibility, he sold a tonne of product that way. I was one of those buyers of Robbins’ CDs in the mid-90s, a classic example of someone who was frustrated with my opportunities in life, and looking to make a radical change (I was trying to make a living as a creative writer and musician, and it was predictably kicking my ass). Robbins’ products, by-and-large, were valuable - they inspired many people (and me) to take some actions that would move them towards achieving better goals. I have said that Robbins’ skill is in packaging common sense, and selling it back to people - because common sense is in fact a scarce commodity. His ideas didn’t change who I was - I just shifted my approach to doing some things, and found a better way to support myself (and my future family) while still working in a varied, creative career, which I still do.
So what is the value of repackaged common sense? What is the value of Godin’s marketing ideas? Does the value cease when these writers have taken our money for their books, seminars, and audio recordings? No, of course it doesn’t - if that were the case, then all education would be fundamentally valueless. The product they are “selling” is not their written words, nor the medium, but the ideas that their words convey. The final, actual value is determined by the end-user’s ability to fit those words into their own context, and put those ideas into actions that support their own circumstance.
Robbins has repeated the statistic that 90% of people who buy a self-help book (including business books) never actually read it to completion. This means that 90% of a writer’s potential market will only exchange value for the physical product - they will generate no added value after the purchase. The same statistic likely applies to the “products” of management and marketing consultants - strategic plans and documents also often end up unread in filing cabinets after the contract has been paid. This ineffectiveness, if anything, is what gives business writers and consultants a bad name - but this could arguably be the fault of the reader, not the writer.
So, should writers focus on the 10% who will read their ideas and take some action on them? Perhaps, but I would suggest that that writers and consultants should make their work more well-written, engaging, and inspiring - the challenge to all writers is to break through to more than 10%. If Seth Godin or Tony Robbins are successful (and they are), it’s because their work is resonating. It’s getting results, which means that it gets referrals, begetting more “sales,” which means even greater value provided to more and more people who are using the ideas they have learned. In this sense, outside of selling a lot of books, it means that successful writers have sold a lot more than just their own physical products.
Even if a reader disregards almost all of an author’s ideas, if one idea inspires a reader to do something differently towards a positive change, then that is value provided though an informed tool of guidance. The true value of any educator’s counsel can be incalculable: if anyone has taken something they learned and put it into action for positive change, then the educator contributed meaningfully to that change. It seems odd that people will begrudge the success of someone who shares good ideas and counsel in exchange for a share of the value they facilitate. That is the value of consulting - it is outsourced expertise that takes you to places you haven’t been able to go to on your own. You just need to pay attention - and respectfully pay your invoice when it arrives - before putting new ideas and perspectives into action.
No comments:
Post a Comment