Gael Ovide-Etienne's blog

My source of inspiration (part 2)

2009-09-25T01:58:00.000-07:00

I re-discovered radio 4-5 years ago - or should I call it time-shifted radio.

For the more tech savvy, we'll call it a podcast. Podcasts are actual radio shows that your computer records, and that your MP3 player can play you, anytime you wish. I learn tons of new things this way, be it in marketing, history, politics, business in general...and the best part is: I learn while I am in a taxi or in the BTS (Bangkok metro) - so I am not wasting my time.

Below is a list of podcasts I consider essentials to any french entrepreneur living in Bangkok (yeah, I know... it is niche!!!)

- Rue des Entrepreneurs (France inter) - as the title says...
- 2000 ans d'histoire - a brilliant history podcast covering in 30mn a specific theme
- LCI Plein Ecran - what's the latest in the IT world
- Hubspot TV - very cool program for inbound marketing
- On refait le monde (RTL) - to keep track of french news/politics
- Harvard Business Ideacast - sometimes boring,but usually great.
- Quick and Dirty Tips (plenty of podcasts there.. very very good content)
- Internet Business Mastery (not all episodes are good but it is quite inspirational to listen time to time)
- Marketing Online Live - hmm, funny internet marketers with passion with what they do
- Diggnation (okay, you dont learn much with this program, but this is fun to watch)

My sources of inspiration...

2009-09-21T01:47:00.000-07:00

We all need a boost time to time.

We all need to be inspired. And inspiration often comes from other people.

Below is a list of people that give me that boost on a regular basis. (just type their names on Google and you'll find their blogs/podcasts easily .Of course, this is not valid for the mysterious S. Jobs...)

- Seth Godin: just read his blog and you'll understand
- Loic Lemeur: he's french living in SF, and running his 3rd internet venture (if i am not mistaken. He is a cool guy - simple and full of energy.
- Steve Jobs: what else?
- Tim Ferriss: his lifestyle design approach is very inspirational
- Chris Guillebeau: if you want to change the world, start reading his blog.
- Roger Federer: this guy is only 27 years old. 16 grand slams. Just amazing.

There are many more inspiring people out there... I'll try to update that list regularly.

Is this me?

2009-06-24T21:17:00.000-07:00

I took a personality test here and here is the result:

You would most enjoy a career that allows you to meet new people. You would also be happiest in a career that allows you to be free and flexible, and allows you to be extremely creative. Some careers that would be perfect for you are:

Stockbroker <== no thanks!!!!
Secretary
Receptionist
Director
Recruitment Consultant
Politician
Marketing
Human Resources Manager
Religious Minister <== no thanks!!!!
Teacher
Lawyer
Advertising
Consultant
Financial Adviser
Financial Planner
GP
Physical Therapy
Occupational Therapy
Public Relations
Estate Agent
Travel Agent
Restauranteur <== no thanks!!!!
Hotel Manager
Events Organiser

You are a great leader. You genuinely enjoy being around other people. Your relationships with others are very important to you. You love talking and meeting new people. You are very enthusiastic about work and about all that you do and have in your life. You love being the focus of attention. You enjoy a fast pace. You are very socially oriented. Therefore, you are much happier being with others than you are alone. You crave interaction with others.

You are very spontaneous and often act before you think. You are always quick to answer when you are asked a question, even if you aren't sure of the answer. It is easier for you to improvise as you go along. You enjoy thinking out loud, and are most creative when brainstorming with friends or colleagues. You enjoy being involved in many activities.

You are very easy to read, and often wear your heart on your sleeve. You are never afraid to tell people what you think. You are very empathetic and genuine. You can sometimes be seen as over-emotional or too involved by others. But that is only because you tend to get so involved in the things you do that they become personal. You want to be adored, loved and appreciated. You like to please others and to make sure people are happy.

You trust your gut instincts. You are easily inspired and trust that inspiration. You are very innovative. You analyse things by looking at the big picture. You are concerned about how what you do affects others. You worry about your actions and the future. You tend to use a lot of metaphors and are very descriptive and colourful in your choice of language.

You are very creative, and get bored easily if you don't get to express yourself. You like to learn new things. You don't like the same old routine. You like to leave your options open.

The power of music

2009-06-14T23:22:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this is real or not but watching this made me feel very good. We need more of this. We need more humanity.

Very cool and free web application for photos

2009-04-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

I found this pretty cool webapp. It allows you to upload your own photos and blend them with (some) ultra cool environments.

\\\

This is hilarious video.

2009-04-02T04:08:00.001-07:00

Check that video: it is really funny and so true.

Do first, think after

2009-04-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on a side project: bangkokcrisis.com.

The project started on March 11 2009 and has cost me 194.50U$ so far and around 50 hours of partly-outsourced work.

Here is the concept: In the next 3 months or so, because of the economic crisis, (many) people will have to sell 'urgently 'apartments they bought (often at premium prices) in 2007/2008. Here is an opportunity for people with cash or good credit ratings to buy real bargains.

As a free email alert service, Bangkokcrisis.com sends its subscribers each week a list of urgent sales (5-10 apartments) with seller or agency contact details.

I have a small team (2 people) browsing and analyzing an updated list of urgent sales each week, from listings we gather from a dozen of thai classifieds websites and real estate agents. We only send to our subscribers what we believe are actual bargains.

The project is taking off steadily (250+ people have subscribed to the service so far) and I am thinking to expand the idea to other cities.

If you are interested in the Bangkok market, feel free to go to Bangkokcrisis.com and add yourself in the list - it's free!

Outliers: The Story of Success?

2009-01-28T03:20:00.000-08:00

Building a "better place"

2008-12-04T00:58:00.000-08:00

This project is one of the most exiting project I ever heard of:

When it comes to environment, there are a lot of debates on possible solutions and their their effectiveness. But here, I can say that shai Agassi (founder of 'Better Place") is really revolutionizing the car industry - at least as much as Steve jobs in the mobile phone industry with the iphone.

Imagine this:
Like a mobile phone, you can own an 'almost free' (electrical) car by signing a subscription plan / contract
Like a mobile phone. you pay as you use (instead of minutes, you pay for kilometers - and only that)
Like a mobile phone, you can use your car anywhere with coverage (but instead of antenna, you have battery exchange stations)

I love the idea of:

Driving a car that is 100% carbon emission free.
A car that can be more powerful than a ferrari -but still 100% electric
'Giving' cars to the average joe (so electric cars will be mass market in no-time)
"Switching" batteries faster than filling my tank with oil

And as Seth Godin explains, the car industry would be much healthier with hundreds of car manufacturers (like it was in the early days of the car industry) instead of a few giants: Better for competition, better for innovation, better for local jobs (!!!).

We all can now dream that, in 10 years from now, Apple (yes, Apple!!!) will launch its "iCar" with all the sexiness of an iPhone, the stability/security of its OS (but this time on the road, not on desktop) and the buzz around this on all sort of (online and offline) magazines.

But to comfort my friend Sebastien Cottet (de Simexa.com) - who is an absolute Ferrari car lover - I am sure Ferrari will keep its cars running with oil for several decades before it even starts thinking of going 'electric'. (But I am also sure that some electric cars will have programs/options in their OS to simulate specific engine noises, like you can today choose wallpaper for your desktop - and I know, Sebastien... it's not the same....)

Are you a true fan?

2008-03-06T02:32:00.000-08:00

I just read this article and found it very interesting.

Basically, Kevin tells us that any music artist could and should focus on gathering 1,000 fans in order to make a living. The reason is that choices are exploding, and it becomes harder and harder to make yourself known in the long tail of the music industry. Thus, people that are actually happy to pay for your music, or drive more than 200kms to see you in concert are the people to interact with, sell music to. And they actually might be your best advertising tool, telling their friends about you and your music.

I think it makes sense, but I do not really believe in it entirely. Here's why:

My definition of "fan" would be someone admiring, following and adoring an artist. But there's a second level to this: "being a fan" implies distance, inaccessibility, dreams... If you get too close to your fans, then the dream evaporates. Actually, there seems to have an optimum distance with your fans. Be too far too early, and they will not hear you. Be too close, and the deam is gone. On the "Be too far" aspect, that might actually work - but you have to make sure that your true fans first saw you and started adoring you. Once you have the fans, you can go as far as you want it seems: The extreme example would be Bob Marley, Jim Morrisson or Elvis Presley. They are, by definition, real icons. BUt they're also not in this world anymore. They did have a huge impact in the music industry (and thus, got their fans on the wagon) but, the day they died, something else happened. They became totally inaccessible. They became gods.

Also, fans usually become fans to express who they are, or to belong to a community. In marketing, we would call that "positioning". You share the values/beliefs/ideas of the artist and therefore, you can identify yourself with a community. You will need a critical mass before you actually want to become part of that community. Is 1,000 people enough? Maybe, maybe not.

Finally, you cannot be a true fan of someone like you - someone who has a life that seems to be quite similar to yours. Think about it: could you really be a fan of a singer, playing in your town, in some bars you go to...and after have a drink with him? Not enough dreams, too much proximity. No way. So for local artists, I think the idea of "gathering" true fans, one by one, is a very difficult if not impossible task.

Don't get me wrong: If you're a music artist and you want to have fans, the solution is not to hide (or at least all the time) from people who might like your music. It's not either to die and hoping you'll become an icon. And it's not either to give up and wait for a record company to call you.

No, the best way to get fans would be to clearly express your style (if possible unique), be viral (give out some of your music for free or on donation basis as Radiohead did), and cultivate mystery. Keep that mystery box between you and your listeners. Do not tell everything. Be like a magician - because, if you start telling your listeners your "tricks", then the magic is gone and so are your fans.

Digesting a Meatball Sundae

2008-02-21T08:01:00.000-08:00

I read several books from Seth Godin, the lastest one being "Meatball Sundae". From all my Godin's readings, I would summarize in a nutshell some of the core ideas:

The best marketing is in the product:
Every interaction your company has with its clients is a marketing opportunity

Tell an authentic story
Be sure that from your receptionist to the CEO, from your homepage to your product design, all is aligned properly, telling the same (authentic) story. It does not have to be true, but it has to be authentic and match people's believes (do you really think wall-mart is working hard to sell products are cheap as possible? No, but they tell us that, and we do want to believe it).

Inverse the megaphone: let your clients speak out
The old marketing was: make average products for average people. Buy ads and sell your products. With the money you make with the ads, buy more ads. And so on... The idea was to "shout" at people: my product is for sell, buy it. Well, this does not work anymore. Too many choices, too many types of clients, too many marketing channels. So invest the money you have in the product you have (improve it!), and let your customers tell you what's great and what's not. If you do that, your clients will connect with your company, and they'll start telling their friends how great your company/product/service is.

Go on the edge.
Be different. Do not be average in what you do. Think of the MP3 analogy: successful MP3 players are either cheap or remarkable. For 20U$, you can buy an MP3 on Amazon. People would buy it because it's cheap. On the other hand, for 299U$ (15 times more!!), you can buy an ipod. People would buy it because it's remarkable. Now, think of the ZUNE. It's neither cheap, nor remarkable. It's just average. And people do not want this anymore. Stop making average products and make either the cheapest, the most expensive, the smallest, the whatever-est, but do not make average products.

The last one (my favorite actually):
It easier to find products for your clients than to find clients for your products

Can you apply all of the above?

Change of apartment and office every month

2008-02-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

If you're bored living in the same apartment, same city and with the same colleagues, I think it's time for you to change. And guess what? It's fairly easy:

1- Start an online business (fully automated)
2- Take a map and choose the cities you wanna 'explore'
3- Go to Moveandstay.com and book an apartment + office on the cities you have selected.
4- Get a ticket online and start the journey.

Easy!

Better doing it now than later

2007-12-13T08:02:00.000-08:00

It's always the same. We wait wait wait, until it's almost perfect - or at least, until we're ready. It can be blogging, going on a diet, calling someone you have not heard of for some time.... We often wait to be in a better mood/situation/mindset. That's what happened to me over the last few weeks - no time for nothing. Well, I have made a decision to "just doing it". Yes, as Nike tells us each time we lace our sport shoes, I will act more. Like blogging for example. And so should you: take a piece of paper, a pen, and write down things (usually a goal, an end result) you have had in your head for too long. Next to that, write the steps to reach that goal and a timeframe. Do the first step right away and you'll see that the rest is easy. Have a great one!

It's the people, stupid!

2007-10-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

I was just reading an article about skype failing to meet Ebay's expectations. It seems that this aquisition was not such a good idea as it is not performing as much as expected. Mergers, acquisitions, fusions, partnerships... All the business development concepts more often fail than succeed. Why? here's my little explanation:

When you start a partnership with someone, you may have three different approaches:

it makes sense approach:
- I am selling flight tickets, you sell airport picks up => boom, let's partner and offer airport pickup once a ticket has been purchased
- I am selling coffee, you are selling music => let's have it together and create coffee shops with music you can buy on spot!
- I am renting ski chalets, you rent ski equipment => let's partner and cross sell our services

we like each other and we think we can go great things together approach
- You and I want to create a company. You're in IT, and I'm in marketing => boom, let's open up a business
- I define business this way, so you do => let's partner together on this

It's interesting to note that, for some logical reasons, we tend to go for the rational approach (approach#1): we have products that are similar/complementary, so let's work around this. The problem with this approach is that we do not take into account the people that are going to work together on the partnerhsip. And you can have the best idea ever, if the execution is less than average, then the results can be catastrophic. Were eBay and Skype 's company's cultures compatible? Future will tell. If you take the Apple+Motorola example (RockR mobile phone), the incompatibility was certain and the products failed miserably.

The other approach is probably what Google has been during over the last 36 months. Buying lots of startup companies with talented and entrepreneurial "geeks". Same people as Sergey and Larry in a way. I am not saying they buy the companies regardless of the startup itself, no. But I would bet that Google bets much more on the people "they are acquiring" than the idea.

I guess, the very best is to mix both approaches. If you manage to have complementary products and people with full compatibility, then you are highly likely to succeed.

A very complete article on this topic.

Take your time to be smart...

2007-10-02T05:22:00.000-07:00

In most people's mind, making good decisions is difficult - and making bad ones is very easy.

That's not logic. As we usually have to make (easy or hard) decisions everyday, we should be getting better at it, right? Well,apparently not. We keep making mistakes and taking bad decisions on a monthly, weekly or daily basis (which one is it for you?). Two tips I would give to people having hard time making decisions: take your time and do not take any decision that does not make sense to you. The best way to take bad decisions is to rush and not follow your gut.

This applies to all kind of decisions. But take "starting a new internet business" for example. Although (and because) starting up a new internet business can be really easy, cheap and quite fast to implement, lots of people start on the spot, wasting their time, money and energy in chasing the next multi-million dollar idea. I would guess that the main reason behind it is the lack of rational thinking and lack of listening to one's gut. I have a business idea once a week, and usually, after a few nights sleep, I know that: my idea sucks/is not realistic/is not profitable and does not any make sense to pursue.

Next time to make a 'tough' decision, try to apply these 2 basic tips and see what happens.

An interesting article about dumb ideas.

I have to admit: I bought this book

2007-09-24T03:49:00.000-07:00

Have you ever bought stuffs that you wish nobody knew about?

I recently bought the old "How to win friends and influence people" by Dale Carnegie, a famous american writer for its self-help books ... It's a very interesting book giving you concrete tips on communicating and negotiating with people. At the end of each chapter, there's a two-line advice, easy to remember and apply - you have around 18 tips if I recall well.

Since I've bought this book, each time I have guests coming home, I always feel that I should hide the book. I just do not want my friends or even people I've just met to know that I have an interest in manipulating people... I mean, do not get me wrong: I am fascinated by the arts of communication and negotiation... but that is, i think, very awkward for people coming to my house, to see that I've studied the science of manipulation! Well, actually, it's not a book on manipulation... it turns out (IMHO) that this book teaches you basic education principles - and if your parents have done a good job, then a "so-what?" question should popup in your head at the end of each chapters.

I would still recommend it to anyone who needs a refresh on that particular and important topic.

Dead-Time Learning

2007-08-30T06:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a few weeks since I have started organizing my life a bit differently, using what I would call the bi-tasking model. I've read several articles and heard several podcasts on productivity, banning multi-tasking. Well, I agree but to some extend only. Let me explain: During a whole day, we normally go through several phases that I categorize as follow:

1- Active Time: these are the times where you interact with people, concentrate on a given task or simply read a book. These phases require your full attention or it can be either dangerous (driving and talking on the phone....), very impolite (pretending listening to someone while watching a beautiful woman passing along) or simply unproductive (try reading a booking while watching tv...).

2- Passive Time: as opposite to the active phase, passive are moments during the day where you are doing something that does not require your full attention/concentration (cleaning the dishes, sitting in a bus, waiting your turn at the doctors..).

3- Sleeping Time

After looking at the use of my time, I realized that I was spending several hours a week in passive mode. I do clean the dishes :), I take the bus or train or plane at least once a week, I go (walk) food shopping, etc... During this time (that I now call the dead-time learning moments), I multi-task by listening to my ipod - I learn new things every day (currently learning spanish, thai, internet marketing classes and french history) by using these dead-time moments.

But be careful not to fall in the trap of keeping your ear-plugs day long. Connect with people is still the most interesting and valuable time you can have in a day.

Don't do like Balthazar Picsou (Scrooge McDuck)

2007-08-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

I have just finished reading the book "The Millionnaire Next Door" by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko.

It's a book that tells you how rich and very rich people managed to accumulate wealth during their lives. They don't really tell you how to generate money, but rather how not to spend it. The big trophy is held for the millionaires, who during all their lives worked very hard, and spent very little. Accumulate is probably the most used word in the book and I find it AWEFUL. Saving is one thing, investing is another thing - but accumulating has this notion of total emptiness. I repeat, emptiness.

Start make sense of the money you just earned and give yourself a treat after reading this blog:

- Buy yourself a bestseller book and read it at the terrace of your favorite café
- Book a cheap air ticket for yourself+someone special
- Learn something new (spanish, climbing, kitesurfing ..)
- Buy flowers and send it to someone special
- Buy a new bike and start going to work biking!
- Buy a cooking book, go to the market (a real one) and cook a great dinner for your family in the evening

Anything you can think of, do it. Really, do it. Life is too short but it's never too late.

Making Money Online

2007-08-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

Lots of new businesses bet on making money online with advertising as main revenues. Indeed, adsense from google made it very easy for anyone to earn a few dollars from the ads displayed on the side of a webpage. Making a living with adsense/ revenues from advertising is another story.

1- It's extremely hard is to attract people to your site, blog or podcast.
2- It's even harder to keep them coming back

=> If you want to make money online, do not create your site or blog or podcast. Instead, get your product or service right, and use social-network sites, classifieds and/or bloggers to sell it for you.

Tip: Testing online is cheap. Let's say you want to sell tennis rackets online, assuming to can have it at a cheaper price than retail of course... You may first post the rackets on craiglist and wait to see the response. If you receive 10 emails or phone calls the next day, it means the response is rather positive and you may start your business in real . However, if you receive no emails or calls, it might be that your product is in low demand and/or your price is too high. You would need to refine your offering and try it again.

Mind Blogging

2007-08-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I blogged. I guess, the main reason is that, when an interesting idea comes in my mind, I am not necessarily in front of my computer. That's the problem with blogging. I'd love to have a chip in my brain, scanning all my thoughts everyday, and i could decide what to "mind-blog" at the end of each day. Not that I love the idea of having a chip in my brain....

But really, I read at least 50 blogs per day, listen to business, tech and history podcasts daily for hours - so I assure you, lots of topics to be blogged on... But yet, it's been nearly 3 months since my last blog. Anyway, I'd like to share with you some of my readings and listenings:

Favorite Blogs:
Seth Godin
Tim Ferris
Guy Kawasaki

Favorite Podcasts:
The Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders
Businessweek Cover Stories
Internet Business Mastery
Marketing Online Live
Diggnation (Video)
The GigaOm Show (Video)
43 Folders

Stick or Quit?

2007-05-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

Starting a new business is exiting and relatively easy.

You have all the energy, the dreams and the money that you need, at least in theory. What's much harder though, is to face the realities of the business you've just built, working 90 hours a week and running out of money - and all of this in the same time.

I have ordered and just received "The dip", the new book from Seth Godin. It is about this period of doubts and frustrations (be it in business, sports, politics or life in general) - where you do not know whether you should quit or you should stick.

I have had built three businesses so far and two have failed. Strangely, the first company I have created (7 years ago) is the one that survived. Let's look briefly at my two other failed businesses:

sportDNA:
Activity: sport content providers
Crash: After 2.5 years
The dip: building a name that is trusted in the industry by the media (our clients)

ThaiWinningStock.com
Activity: Stock Trading Advisor for the Thailand market
Crash: After 12 months
The dip: No dip in my opinion but simply no real market to support such business in Thailand.

Maybe business is really like monopoly: try make money as soon as possible and you'll increase your chances of winning big time... Try make something you can sell BEFORE you actually set up your business. If you can't sell it by then, then quit. Sell FIRST, Set up AFTER.

If you can sell, then STICK
If you can't sell, then QUIT

Being productive.

2007-02-15T11:40:00.000-08:00

You have to buy this book.

I have read it, twice. And that gives you an amazing new approach on how to clear your head and to become super creative and efficient. I have been working online for many years now and from day one, I multi-tasked - or I should say - as David Allen puts it - I kept my time refocusing on different projects.

Also, 43folders gives you great tips and features a podcast on productivity. There's an hour or so of recording with the author of Getting Things Done, david Allen.

Finally, I recommend anyone interested in starting a business online to check that website (and they have a very interesting podcast with tips and advices on being an online entrepreneur). One of the interesting concept they talk about is the idea of building systems making money for you - independently of the hours you work everyday (of course, this once the system has been created!).

Alright, I have tons of things to blog and I am sure I'll be back very soon with more... (Try blogging with a few glasses of wine, and all your inspiration soares!!)

Cool T-shirts

2006-12-28T07:11:00.000-08:00

I love this simple post from Seth Godin. It basically asks you whether you and/or your clients would buy t-shirts with your company logo on it. if the answer's 'no', then you might work on it - and re-make your company cool again.

Taking about cool t-shirts, I have been quite impressed with that website. Very neat site, cool concept, cool t-shirts, and cool 'boss' - I recommend you to read his blog.

Marketing Mix... Think again!

2006-12-28T03:49:00.000-08:00

In the middle of Cotentin (somewhere in Normandy where I am from), there's a little shop called - la maison du biscuit - selling biscuits. Not industrial ones, but real authentic home-made biscuits. And they make the best biscuits I ever had.

Every month, thousands of biscuit-lovers come to the shop. You even have coaches next to the shop, and people must wait outside, queuing!

Now, thinking of the 4Ps I have been taught in business school (product, place, promotion, price):

The shop is located in "Sortosville en Beaumont" (believe me, it's not central)
They do not do any promotion/advertising (at least, traditionnal)
They do not sell thousands of different products (but only a very good few)
They are not selling cheaper than other shops (actually slightly more expensive)

I hope they've stopped talking about the marketing mix and the 4ps in business school. All successes I have seen in the last few years (be it online or offline) have been telling me a total different story.

Silence...

2006-12-17T09:10:00.000-08:00

I discovered, not so long time ago, the main reason I enjoy being home: that is one of the rare place I can hear..silence.

Would a "Silence Coffee" work?

Basically, that would be a coffee shop for people in need for silence (below 20 decibels). Pure silence. Not even slow/classical music. No, nothing else but silence.

If there were such coffee shop near my office, I would certainly go there once a day.

0.0001% or less

2006-12-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

We've read it everywhere and experienced it in the airports: The new airport carry-on regulation (Liquids, gels and aerosols must be in three-ounce or smaller containers and in a one-quart, zip-top bag - otherwise, I don't go through) is affecting all business travelers and tourists:

We're all suspects and, in a way, we need to prove we are 'good' and 'docile' people.

We must leave from home an hour ealier than before as we might get stuck at the check-point and miss our plane.

We undress, put our stuffs into trays, queue, pass the electronic gate, retrieve our stuffs, and get dressed again.

Millions of passengers are affected everyday because of (maybe) 0.0001 percent of the population. Wow, that's powerful. In other words, one person can change the behaviour of millions of people, without even being known.

Your competitors are your best friends

2006-12-13T15:46:00.000-08:00

When it comes to competition, people usually associate it with the "ennemy", the bad vs. the good, "they do wrong - we do right", etc... But we're wrong.

Why? Because our competitors:

- oblige us to improve or create new things
- push us to think outside the box
- explore new ways/strategies for us (at no cost)
- promote our industries
- are often very good potential partners

So tomorrow, imagine the impossible. Think of ways to work with your partner. It might remove some barriers you might had in your mind. And if you still cannot imagine such thing, have a look at Tom peter's blog. If you do not want to partner with your competitors, you should at least respect and be opened to them.

Is this 'me'?

2006-12-13T14:52:00.000-08:00

In his post, Seth Godin talks about the pleasure for us to read our names. And he actually gives an interesting example, on how marketers use some strategies to "grab" your attention. But he also underlines the fact that, in some time from now, that strategy will be over used, and we will start ignoring these emails/pictures.. with our own names.

Well, in one part, this is true. When we are tricked by something/someone several times, we tend to become suspicious and sometimes, inhibited. But our names...would that really happen? I mean, this is probably the one of the only words that when we hear it, we react on it instantly, even though we heard it hundreds or thousands of times.

I do think marketeers will continue using personnalization as a strategy for a very long time. And I also believe they'll go even further by adding elements in their message you will be familiar with (ie. friend's or family's names, your company's name, etc..). The more familiar elements they will include in their message, the higher attention we will 'pay'.

Consumers, be ready!