Category: Thoughts (Page 3 of 7)

What is your answer?

December 19, 2008 / Arne / 0 Comments

In a previous post I talked about finding out what your customer really wants. Even though the whole thing seems pretty obvious, it seems as if interpretation always wins over plain listening. AS an easy example I would like to look at a situation which has to do with information retrieval. What a contractor is really looking for, is something that will tell him where the cables and pipes are exactly before he starts digging. What the person storing the information wants, is an easy map that can be filed as piping for water in second street. So when the contractor comes in and asks him what pipes he has to mind he just hands him a stack of maps. Easy to find and easy to hand over. But what the contractor would really love, would be a gps overlay on the city streets so he knows where he can point his digger when he arrives on the site.

Does this mean you need to work in new ways? It can. It means letting go of what is most convenient to you and offering service to your customers. Will they like it? They will love it. Everybody loves their suppliers to lend a hand getting the job done. And they will return.

Small is the new big

December 17, 2008 / Arne / 1 Comment

Big companies are in trouble. Or at least, that is what the media wants us to believe. And big companies are the future of the economies of countries. Thousands work at big companies. They will all be hurt by the current economic situation. And yes, I cannot argue with that. But it does trigger a question. Why did these companies get big in the first place? Some of them became big because demand for their products forced them to. Some became big because acquiring extra businesses was the best way to maximalize profits. And some became big because big was fashionable, you just had to be big to be somebody.

With big has come status and the opportunity to play with power. And few people give up power once they have goten their hands on it. Control apparently is the biggest asset someone can have in his life. That is exactly what we have been witnessing over the past months. It might have been better to be smaller. It might have saved jobs, it might have saved a crisis. Or maybe not. But reality is that the bigger the companies the more support is needed now. So where are the small companies? Where are the freelancers? Yes, they might get into some rough times, but ultimately their flexibility will allow them to stand. Especially when the big players learn that small is the new big. If you bring together a group of smaller companies to build something big, they are just as good. They are just as driven to succes and they are just as cost effective. If not more on all these points.

Lets go small. And win.

What is the question

December 15, 2008 / Arne / 0 Comments

Do you know what your customer wants? Do you really know what your customer wants? It might seem like an obvious question, but very few people actually do. Everyone has his or her customers. The question is what they want from you. What do they want you to do? What is it they are looking for?

The answer can not be found in books. The answer can not be found in best practices and the answer can never be found by asking people who do the same as you do. The question can only be answered by asking your customer. By listening to them and by looking at what it is they want need to achieve to reach their goals. And that might be something completely different from what you are thinking.

Does my blog look big in this?

November 14, 2008 / Arne / 0 Comments

Last Monday I restyled my blog. I felt it was in need of a new look so I went looking for the best way to do it. The trouble is that I wanted it quick and I am not a WordPress wonder. So I grabbed a standard theme and changed the header for a picture I shot a while ago.

Twitter is fantastic. I post when I post a blogpost. In fact, I post lots of other stuff there as well, as my blog is just a very tine piece of what I do on twitter. Today I asked for feedback on my blog and got some very nice pointers. Some I had received earlier through chat or mail and some suggestions were new. In any case, I loved them because they are the equivalent of advice given to a woman trying on something new. You know the question. And that is the question I would love to ask you to give me feedback on. Does my blog look big in this? Or do you have ideas to make it look bigger? Just let me know and I will try to incorporate all your ideas.

P.S. And if your idea would be to restyle it even more with one of your themes, just let me know as I would be interested as well.

Sitting down with Tim O’Reilly

November 11, 2008 / Arne / 0 Comments

When I was in Berlin last month, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Tim O’Reilly in our pitchcar. I have to say that I enjoyed that time. After hearing his keynote on how the future will be for startups, it was only natural to see our conversation drift that way. And we agreed that the key element for anyone to become successful in the current market would be passion. A passion to work on something that you would work on anyway regardless of whether you would get funded. Regardless of the interest it gets from the media, regardless of whether it will be a quick way to earn lots of money. It comes down to the passion of the people behind it. Their enthusiasm for the question they want to answer and their joy when users benefit from using the service. This is something we both feel very strongly about.

For me personally passion is important in what I do. I have a passion for people. And my passion for people only naturally became a passion for social media, because that is full of them. And that is why I loved spending time with Tim O’Reilly. Because besides all that he has talked about and all that he has done in the past, in the end he is a man of passion. When talking to him, he will lean forward, he will use his gestures and his eyes will light up. He is passionate about what he does. And even though he has a pretty big organisation behind him, I believe that he would be doing exactly the same thing if he wouldn’t. A great demonstration that passion is the key to succes, if it is genuine and for no other reason than the subject you are working on.

Common interests, feedback and appreciation

November 10, 2008 / Arne / 0 Comments

Last week I received an invite to the beta launch of Wayzon.com. Not specifically interesting as I get invites more often, but as it is close to an idea I used to have, I thought it was worth a try. After registration I came into a very pleasant looking visual representation of people that have similar interests to mine and who are on the same network. That is a great idea. One that I was talking about a year ago or so. Anyway, as I went over more of the details, I found a good couple of points which I would consider changing. As I am a demanding customer and one that likes to let people know what he thinks, I replied to the mail with the invite. I received a response within ten minutes thanking me for the suggestions and after a quick exchange of some suggestions by email, I received an extra mail telling me they were going to send me a t-shirt.

To be honest, I am not to be bought with a t-shirt. But what I do fall for is the service that is there. If we pull this thing apart it is a very basic way of dealing with your customers. A customer tries your product, he gets back to you with feedback, you tell the customer how you are going to del with it and then you give him something to show your appreciation. How many companies actually do that? And how many do I write about? There you go. On a very simple, very small scale, this is how it works. So are you rewarding your most valuable customers for their feedback on your business/product/service? Or do you not even give them a chance to make the suggestions. Because they will talk about you anyway, but it is your choice what they are going to be telling.

Great win @barackobama, lets stay in touch

November 6, 2008 / Arne / 0 Comments

As you will all have heard, Obama won the elections on the 4th of November. If nothing else, what I liked about his approach was his use of social media. He really was working on gathering people around him to carry his ideas further and communicate them to their friends. By using the established networks such as Facebook (2.5 million followers), LinkedIn (500+ contacts) and twitter (119,486 followers) but also by building the my.barackobama.com site. A great approach. And a great example of leading a tribe to influence the world. However, the question I am left with is this. Will Barack keep it up? Will we hear from him next week, next month or in April when he has been in office for four months. Will we still be able to contact him this way and will he still share with his followers what he is doing. Or will the site be hushed and will we wake up to the fact that it has been a great marketing effort to push the name and push the man. I sincerely hope not, because we have had a great taste of what social media are able to do when they are a part of your complete approach to reaching your potential tribe. Lets keep that up @barackobama and lets keep on talking. It might even be a bit more personal to my taste as you see with @MaximeVerhagen the Dutch minister of foreign affairs. But at least @barackobama, lets stay in touch. Can I hear your “Yes we can!” on that?

Possible recession, or possible opportunity

November 4, 2008 / Arne / 0 Comments

Right now, if you are not talking about the US elections, you are talking about the possible recessions which might hit the world. And it probably will. Mainly because the media want it to. But that is another story. For many people, a possible recession generates uncertainty and doubt about the future. It is a hard time. Or is it? Is a recession something to scare us, or is it something we need to face head on. Something we need to think about. Not long and hard, but quick and hard. Because in a time of recession the survivors are the ones that have been able to adapt quickly enough to the new situation. In a time of recession it becomes more and more clear that your relationships matter. Because it will be the customers you have the best relationship with, that will keep coming back. Even when your product or service costs a bit more than your neighbors. In that way, a slowing economy show you what your customers think about you. Even if you are only competing on prices.
A slowing economy is a challenge. A challenge to get out there more and make more of less. Less money coming in, less advertising and less giveaways. Your key to success in this time is to make sure your relationships are solid. Because they will result in more customers, more turnover and more recommendations from your current customers to their friends. Relationships allow you to grow against the flow. Because everyone loves to be loved.

Tribes: We need you to lead us

November 1, 2008 / Arne / 2 Comments

Yes, I am cheap. I got the audiobook from audible.com for free. Seth Godin’s latest book is on tribes. What? Tribes. The second meaning the Oxford dictionary lists for tribes is “a distinctive close-knit social or political group”. And that is what Seth is talking about. A close group of people that are lead by a leader. And that leader isn’t just anybody. That leader is you.

Honestly, I have not finished the book just yet. I have quite some time still to go. But I have to write about it already. Because it is all new to me? Well, not really. I am a very firm believer in all things related to social media, as most of you will know. Only this afternoon I stated that relational marketing is the marketing of the near future. And I stated that to my old marketing teacher. Why I have to write about Seth’s book, is because it has made me think again. I have had a number of things in the back of my head, that I had not taken action on. They have just been lying around there gathering braindust. But if there is something Seth’s book does, it is getting you involved. It gets you thinking about how you can be a leader. About what type of unconventional ideas you are having. And it makes you dream about what it would be like if those ideas could be put into practice.

So the question that remains is what YOU have been dreaming about lately? Or over the past few years even. What is the thing you would most love to do? What is the change you would want to make in the future? Think about that while you read the book, or listen to it. And then get up and do something about it. Not because it is fun to lead, not because it will give you status, not even because of what you will be achieving. But mainly because you love doing it and because you have a passion for the change you would want to make. And that is the best reason if ever there was one.

On the road with Max

October 29, 2008 / Arne / 0 Comments

If you read this blog, it will not have escaped your attention that I was in Berlin last week at the Web 2.0 Expo. It was a fantastic week, not in the least due to the sponsoring I got to do the pitchstops. Through doing those I met lots of new people and exchanged ideas with many of them. A literal vehicle to make this happen was the Ford S-Max. Ford Netherlands jumped in to sponsor our trip to Berlin with a loaded Ford S-Max, which we could use for the interviews we did in Berlin. And I have to say, it was a great car.

It all started off with my question on how to get to Berlin in style for the Web 2.0 Expo. Unfortunately a number of brands rejected the whole idea. Both BMW and Citroën even stated that they were not interested in social media exposure at all. But Ford is working hard on finding the value communities can offer its brand and Scott Monty reacted positively to the idea. As he connected me with Dennis Homburg at Ford Netherlands, the search for a suitable car started and the end result was the S-Max. A spacious car with a sporty outside due to the sports package and the huge 20″ alloy wheels.

To be honest, I was a bit sceptical about the Ford. I have driven Ford’s before and I never really liked the seats. And on a trip to Berlin, you really spend a lot of time in those. However, the S-Max exceeded my expectations. Of course the car dazzled you at first with it good looks and even two-tone leather on the seats. During the pitches in Berlin the car even changed names from the Pitchmobile to the Pimpmobile. But driving it for so many ours revealed that the car was much more than just good looks.

I enjoyed the S-Max thoroughly. So much so, that I never actually let go of the wheel, except when I got Erno Hannink to drive it to the Berlin Conference Center once. But the only reason for that was that I still had to change after running. Sorry about that guys. It was just a good wheel to be holding. Speedwise the 2.5 turbo leaves nothing to be desired, as long as you keep track of the gear you are in. Accelerating from 120 in sixth will not be heartstopping, but go down two gears and you are flying. As long as you make sure the turbo is spinning, performance is great. And one of the nice additions for the autobahn was the adaptive cruise control. It keeps you at a safe distance of the car you are following, regardless of what speed you are doing. Well, I have to correct that. It only works until 180 kilometers an hour as it does not allow you to use cruise control above that speed. And that is not a bad idea. Because you need all your concentration at speeds that exceed that. Nevertheless, even when it topped out at 220, we still had someone asleep in the car. A testimony to the relative ease with which the S-Max seems to be performing. And that was something we all agreed upon. Travelling with five to Berlin and four coming back, we did notice that four adults fitted the car much more comfortably. But five worked great if a bit cosier in the back seat. We never pulled up the two rear seats, because we did not have to, but anyone bigger than a child would have been challenged to sit in there for the whole trip by the looks of it.

As an overall result, I was very pleased with the S-Max. It looked great, had good performance and got us there reasonably rested. A good travelling companion. Thanks Ford. It was a good experience.

Streaming and reality

October 22, 2008 / Arne / 1 Comment

I have to admit to something. I have to admit to believing that mobile media was better than it is. I have to admit I believed in live streaming great quality video from anywhere. I have to admit to thinking we could pull it off by using applications that are readily available.

And then reality kicked in.

Mobile technology is great and we are able to do much more than we would have a year ago. The phones I am carrying, the Nokia N82, the N95 8Gb and the new N96 are all able to do great quality video. However, the network is not up to it yet. The capacity to process data is probably there, but realtime streaming still is a very different story. Let alone streaming live from a car doing incredible speeds on the German autobahn.

But we are not stopped by this. We are now using the N96 for in-car videos and uploading them through youtube. You can find them all here and on Dutchcowboys.nl

Pitch-Stops, live pitchen vanuit de auto

October 10, 2008 / Arne / 3 Comments

Over een ruime week vertrekken we naar Berlijn. Na overleg heeft Ford Nederland mij een Ford S-Max uitgeleend voor de reis. Tijdens de reis kun je de auto volgen door middel van een live verbinding die via de DutchCowboys site te zien zal zijn. Daarbij kun je inbellen om te praten over de snufjes in de Ford S-Max. Maar ook over de visie van Erno Hannink en mijzelf op de toekomst van het internet. Als alles goed gaat, kunnen ook de bellers live gevolgd worden via de video’s. Maar, hier wilde ik het niet bij laten.

Voor de lezers die mij intussen een beetje kennen is wel bekend dat ik startups een heel warm hart toedraag. En daar wil ik ook deze keer weer aandacht aan besteden. Dus gaan we ook Pitch-Stops houden. Tijdens een Pitch-Stop krijgen startups de kans om in vijf minuten hun concept te pitchen op de achterbank van de S-Max. Of om hun ideeën aan te prijzen. Het maakt niet uit. Als het maar een pitch is en hij mag niet meer dan vijf minuten duren. Die pitch zal dan ook te zien zijn op de stream van DutchCowboys. Een perfecte manier om de aandacht op je te vestigen dus.

De eerste Pitch-Stop zal in Arnhem zijn. Daarna rijden we door naar Berlijn naar de Web 2.0 Expo. En daar zal de S-Max de hele week beschikbaar zijn voor Pitch-Stops bij de ingang van de Expo.

Als je ook wilt pitchen, laat het dan even weten, of tik me even aan op de Web 2.0 Expo in Berlijn.