It’s been two years since I last gazed into my crystal ball, went out on a limb, and made predictions about the coming year.
But that doesn’t mean I’m ready now to try it again! No. I won’t. Though I will share some thoughts/insights on what I believe will be ‘in’ and ‘out’ in the coming year, 2010.
Email Is OUT, Social Media Is IN
Yeah, yeah, I know. I’ve been saying it since 2007. But now, it’s final.
And I’m acting on it. In 2010, my blog (this one) will be where I ‘hang out’. You can still get on my email list for some special stuff – but primarily I will mention updates to the “Information Marketing Made Easy” blog on it.
For the rest, Twitter, Sokule and Facebook will see more of me – and (I bet) YOU too.
Hype Is OUT, Value Is IN
You can fool some people all the time; all people some time; but you cannot fool all the people all the time! And that’s why hype in selling is firmly on its way out.
Value creation won’t go out of fashion. Ever. And when hype flees, value will fill the vacuum.
Don’t believe me? Go on. Keep shouting louder. See who listens!
Faking Is OUT, Integrity Is IN
‘Fake It Till You Make It’ might have sounded good advice at some time in the past. Today, it well may get you in jail!
Flogs and forged earnings, always on the wrong side of the ethical line, are now frankly illegal – and Big Brother (with initials that spell F.T.C.) is watching.
Beware. Be smart. Be honest. (Or be gone!)
Groveling Is OUT, Authority Is IN
Losing sales? Dropping profits? Plummeting response? Blame the recession, if you must – but don’t GROVEL!
Feel like slashing prices? Or giving away the barn as a bonus? Stop. That doesn’t work either.
Then what will/does? Authority does. Yours. But first, you must earn it. And then, folks will listen. And follow. Even buy from you. Because they trust you.
‘Guru’dom Is OUT, Genuine Concern Is IN
Aspiring to be a guru with all the perks of celebrity status is a poor ambition to pursue in 2010. Far better to seek to serve – knowing that (temporarily) being the leader of your tribe is a privilege, not your right or entitlement.
Keep on posturing and preening, if you like. But know that your audience is watching – and isn’t happy. Soon, you may not have any left.
Show that you care. And are human. They’ll love you more, warts and all.
Bluff & BS Is OUT, Authenticity Is IN
Social Media just turned the Web more transparent. Folks can see you, no matter where you try to hide. And see through you, to what’s real.
So keep it real. Don’t pretend you’ve got it all together when you really don’t. Congruence was never more of a competitive edge than now.
Or if you don’t/won’t/can’t do it, heed this… Stay AWAY from social media! (And isn’t that a ‘fate worse than death’ in 2010 and beyond?!)
What do you see lurking around the corner in 2010 ? Please share in a comment.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I think email has another 10 or more years for us. It’ll morph over time, but I think it’s still here to say. It’s the backbone of our current web existence. Think about ALL your logins.
Hype and faking and stuff, I don’t recall them ever being in, so you get those as freebies.
Guru being out. I can’t wait. Truly. : )
I think you’ve got lots of points to consider. I wonder what others will do with them.
what you say is true.. always has been. These values are fads, we always have wanted to be more social and email is technology from the 1970’s.
I tell people toe LISTEN and LOVE.
New tools help us do what we always new we should be doing. In the future, we’ll be responding to customers, acknowledging each other and treating people right.
Sounds like a Sunday School lesson.. turns out it’s also good business.
You probably have a point with email going out, but I agree with Chris…not this year.
Blogs are great, but i still think newsletters with true content and value are better.
But I am biased, I like ranting in my newsletter…
Hello Dr. Mani,
I landd up in your blog-site following one email to my inbox advertising a Free Book – from there on to many web-pages one by one. I am amazed by the wealth of knowledge you are imparting, particularly at a time I was thinking of blogging to earn my future income (presently a freelance writer after retirement) and my friend (who is buying my writings regularly) suggested me that we start blogging since I have a lot to give to others by way of my experience and writing skills. Kindly accept my profund gratitude for explaining everything about stumbleupon, which was the first choice of my friend. I just went to that site and did not find it impressive – possibly because of my ignorance as how to navigate the site. I was pleasantly surprised you touched the same point in your article and enlightened the reader how to overcome this problem. A great help as otherwise I would have lost a great opportunity. Thanks Thanks and Thanks again Doctor.
p.s. I could not resist the temptation to reveal this – I am disappointed that while you have given the choice of translating this blog on an array of languages – I am very much disappointed to find that there is no room for your and my mother tongue – Tamil. Given a chance I can translate your blog in Tamil.
I’ll take the easy ones. More government regulation is in,
and in the “how-to-make-money” industry and a few
others, a bit of a shake-out is in-store.
Willie
Most 20-somethings and younger may have an email account, but they rarely use it. Strangely, since the largest demographic growth area is in “fossils” over 45, we might see increased use of email. Or not, depending who’s showing them what’s what.
The focus on Authenticity has been growing for a while now, and may be what’s behind the growth of Social Networking sites.
As for Hype … I think most people would be happy just being able to pay their bills every month without having to worry about losing their job. But the price of everything seems to be falling, so it takes more sales to get to that point. But once you crack that nut, you’re pretty much home free!
-David
Finding here from your reply on Triiibes.com, I am joining the discussion late, but I want to add something about email.
I don’t agree that email is out, but rather would say, we have to use and nurture it differently than in the past.
However, a strong email list is still an asset, like your website — as long as you host it on your domain.
Who owns — and most importantly has jurisdiction so to speak over — your social media profile?
The inherent benefit of email is it’s independence from any given email marketing service provider on the sender side. Maybe the Google Wave protocol will push email type communication into this century and at a same time allow a merger with social media. I am looking forward to it. Maybe in 2011, 2012.
Yours
John