Owen Greaves

Brands built without advertising, it sounds impossible right? I can’t imagine anyone saying you should never advertise, and when is not a good time to advertise? It’s a mystery for sure, but there are some huge brands out there that indeed did not advertise, and you know them very well. What a concept, that’s like saying, let’s give everything away and we will make money. Well, that is true also, competing with major companies by giving away core product and services is hard to walk away from, it’s even harder to compete against FREE.

But I’m not interested in talking about free, I want to talk about free from advertising, as in not advertising and still making billions. Imagine that, no advertising and creating a huge cash machine at the same time. How you ask, that’s the 64 million dollar question isn’t it? I mean, if you knew the answer, if we all knew the answer, we would have these mass fortunes ourselves. It’s not as simple as not advertising, but it’s close, it’s called Word Of Mouth, sound familiar? We practice it everyday on Social Networks.

Have you heard of Wayne Gould? He is the creator of Sudoku, the secret of Sudoku’s success was this, he offered the Times an endless supply of puzzles at no cost, there’s that FREE again. He offered the free puzzles with one request, that the times put a tiny credit on each puzzle, his website URL. Mr. Gould never purchased any advertising, it was a barter of sorts. The rest as you know it, is history.

Imagine this, you can’t just walk in a buy this car, you are selected. That’s right, no matter how much money you have or the position you hold will get you in the door. This brand has yet to purchase advertising, not one dime. Why? Because their customers are their marketing. They rely on word of mouth, special events and Social Media. The car? Ferrari.

With over 90 Billion in sales, this company has yet to purchase advertising, and you most likely are a card holder. COSTCO. Imagine gaining 66 million members that pay $55 or more for the privilege to shop, access to the COSTCO buying power is at your finger tips too.

This next one surprised me, The Body Shop. You’ve seen these stores everywhere, in every mall, and they don’t buy advertising. With no marketing department, they relied on one thing, a clearly stated purpose that the public could align their values to, not too mention word of mouth. With over 2,500 stores in over 60 markets worldwide, the business model seems to be working. I love this quote, I grabbed it off the Body Shop website:

“The business of business should not just be about money, it should be about responsibility. It should be about public good, not private greed.”
-Dame Anita Roddick. Human Rights Activist. Founder of The Body Shop.

As crazy as it sounds, using FREE and Word Of Mouth can build a massive brand, maybe even an incredible way of life for you and the many being served by your business. It’s all possible, it also comes with a price tag called work, lot’s of it. In building anything there is always some level of risk, but these are examples of how a simple idea can lead to something far bigger than you ever dreamed of.

You don’t have to build a business of this magnitude, but you can build a legacy that provides a modest living. What’s your dream dynasty, what does it stand for and against?

Original Article

Sometimes I am in awe of this country, the skyline, the mountains, we are a very blessed people to live here.

Original Article

I have posted on this topic before, I also talk about in my keynotes and workshops, we are close, shopping forever changed. The truth is, we are fighting this technology for the experience rather than the convenience. Most of us want to touch it, feel it, and smell it before we buy it.

I challenge you think about how this way of shopping might actually be of value to you, think of the far reaching ramifications, saving you time, effort and that drive downtown. Check it out.

Would you shop this way, I’m certain my wife will.

Original Article

Is your business normal? I attended a seminar this week, and I got to thinking, mostly about businesses and two questions I like to ask them. Nothing earth shattering, but it might be to you. If you are an entrepreneur or business owner, we tend to make one big mistake, and it’s a simple thought to keep in mind:

We only accomplish what we aim for.

If that’s true, there needs to be more don’t you think? We accomplish one goal but didn’t set a goal beyond the first one, a sure fired way to failure.

Another area I was contemplating on is sales, or leads, or seeds. I have learned the more seeds you throw, the bigger the harvest. Are you throwing lots of seeds? Keeping things simple is best, why? Because simple is hard enough.

Two questions I like to ask businesses / business owners are:

1.) What business are you in?

2.) Hows business?

Not very complicated is it, but lets be honest, there are many, many business that don’t know what business they are in. That should be addressed immediately before trying to measure the second question. Because if you don’t no #1, #2 doesn’t matter, the answer will most likely already be known.

If you are doing business as normal, or usual, you probably are finding that no one follows normal anymore.

Ask yourself if your business is normal, if you answered yes, make it your mission to be business as unusual. Because if you don’t, you will be ignored, maybe even considered obsolete, but being normal means you are most likely not making a difference and or shipping. Is your business normal?

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Original Article

People are a funny lot aren’t they, we say one thing and do another, we want one thing but we want everything, we don’t want to be rich but we want to be millionaires. There are literally millions of websites telling us all how to get rich beyond our wildest dreams (whatever that is), how to get FREE target traffic to your website for $17, how to write amazing content, and the list goes on. The GURUS are everywhere, they litter your inbox without notice, you are being directed, pulled and pushed into a million advertisements every day, how do we know who the real GURUS are, who the EXPERTS are.

That question almost seems like the 64 million dollar question. I have been thinking about this for a very long time, frustrated by people who lead other people down the garden path so to speak. Why do we do this to each other, why do we kill each other, why do we lie to each other, that’s the REAL 64 Million dollar question.

One of the things I’m plagued with is, I have been here in the Social Networks a little while, OK a long while. There are many more that have been here longer than me, and I’m certain they struggle with the same problem. We, have this sense of ownership when it comes to the Social Networks. We, get offended by the so called people that claim to be GURUS & EXPERTS. Why? Because we don’t agree with them mostly. In some cases, WE, fight back, we even push back, but the GURUS keep coming. It is a futile effort in my humble opinion. Why? Because people don’t care, they are only interested in making a buck for the most part. What WE, don’t seem to understand, is that the problem will take care of its self. Much like nature takes care of a forest after a forest fire, the vegetation just starts to recover, it forgets that it had a fire, it just knows the fire will fade. Because the forest never dies. The forest doesn’t get caught-up in the ownership game, why, because it already knows what will happen if you try to own it. There is a simple order of things, it adapts, it overcomes by doing what it does best, it keeps doing what it was designed to do, it just grows. The GURUS & EXPERTS of the forest come and go, they think they have control over the forest, but the one thing they can’t control, is what the forest does best. GROW!

The same can be said for the Internet, you have different, billions of different kinds of growth, some good, and some bad. The bad we will call the forest fire, the good we will call healthy growth. These GURUS & EXPERTS like their 15 minutes of fame, they seek it without realizing how short that really is, and many follow them only to be found out later. We have GURUS & EXPERTS in every sector of the world, industry, society, races, and so on. They are everywhere. But they always fade into obscurity at some point, the growth around them is overwhelming, they are left behind because healthy growth wins every time. We all eventually catchup, before you know it, the shiny new thing no longer is, the GURU or EXPERT no longer is.

Social Media GURUS & EXPERTS are fads, they can’t sustain or stay ahead of the growth, the change, they simply disappear, they die and move onto something else. Social Media GURUS & EXPERTS will lose their job to one simple thing, everyone will catchup. Soon, Social Media will become something you just have to know how to do, like using the phone, the smart-phone is now the phone of the day, you just know how to use it. Why? You caught up, you learned, I call that healthy growth. So, someday soon, we will read about how those Social Media GURUS & EXPERTS died. When they can no longer find a customer to listen to something we all will already know how to do, they will move on to the next thing.

So today, I claim The Death Of The Social Media GURU or EXPERT, we have, or we are very close to catching up, and no longer in need of these wind bags, these snake oil salesmen & women.

From this day forward, business owners will need to learn, you don’t plug your business into Social Media, you plug Social Media into your business. That Social Media is not a business, businesses become Social. The best way to eliminate Social Media GURUS & EXPERTS? Grow, and they will scramble to find another way to sell you something.

I charge you, GO and build something great, let the world know about your passion(s), and don’t be that guy or girl that calls themselves a GURU or EXPERT of anything, just do. If you just do, the truth will come forward and you will find your place. And remember, an EXPERT is just a drip under pressure : )

Let 2012 be the Death Of Social Media GURUS & EXPERTS!

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Original Article

This year, 2012, is a year where we all have great anticipation of special things to happen, hoping life treats us better than it did the year before. I’m no different than you, I’m struggling with much the same issues you are, just differently.

This morning I was asking myself a simple but yet complicated question, I’m going to be 55 this year, and I’m looking ahead at the next 20 years. Should I have them. What do I want to do with what may be the last 20 years I get to live? I mean what meaningful work do I want to pursue and deliver, or execute, better yet ship. How was I going to help you for the next 20 years, should you let me.

You already know how much I love to help people, you already know that I’m passionate about the business community, you should also know that I am concerned for mankind when it comes to technology. But those things don’t mean much, especially when the metal meets the meat.

One of my passions is to bring light to business start-ups in my area, I’m also looking outside of my community area. I haven’t done a good job of this just yet. Public speaking and workshops are cool and fun, but they don’t generate revenue for my clients the way good old fashion PR & Marketing do.

What I mean by that is this, I can show you what’s coming, I can tell you what you might do about it, but no one knows about you, not in the way the Future Of Business will require. You’ve read it, you’ve heard me say it, there are 2.1 Billion people on the Internet and there are another 3 Billion plus coming. How will you be found, how will you be heard, and most importantly, how will you generate revenue?

With that in mind, I’m going to be doing something extra around my workshops and public speaking, and my webhosting business, I’m going to help promote your business, or business idea for you. It’s simple really, I’m going to be doing Podcast interviews of businesses doing something interesting, something great, these interviews will be done via Skype and then released on my Blog with links to your business.

I’m looking for business start-ups to interview, if you know of one, maybe it’s yours, send an email to interview@owengreaves.com and lets talk about your business. I want to know some basic information, like what you are doing, how you are doing it, how long has your business been doing business, what’s your vision for your business, how is your business making the world a better place, and most importantly….what’s your businesses story?

Every business wants and needs exposure, qualified exposure, and it is my desire to help you by interviewing you and publishing those interviews all over the Internet.

If you know of an interesting start-up, or you are starting a business of your own, let me know, and let’s talk about a possible interview. So what’s new & exciting? I would love to hear from you.

Good luck in 2012, and thanks for being a part of what I do here at Owengreaves.com

Many Blessings,
Owen Greaves

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Original Article

When I was a little boy at the age of 5, I lived on the Queen Charlotte Islands. We moved from Vancouver, British Columbia to the Northern Tundra, it was a sad day for my Mother & I, oh ya, my brother too. It was at best an adventure, it wasn’t a lifestyle improvement. I can remember riding with my Dad in his truck from Queen Charlotte City to Masset on many occasions, what was weird about it was, you couldn’t make that drive without hitting a deer with the truck. You couldn’t own enough freezers to store all the meat, so Dad would have to report most of these incidents to the game warden. This happened everyday! The interesting thing about it was, everyone in town knew it had happened. Queen Charlotte City is not a big town, so news traveled fast.

I told you that story to tell you this one. The greatest impact living in an isolated part of the world was not how bad it was, but how these small communities all over the island pulled together. I mean it was beautiful country, there was so much natural in everything that happened, but the real treat, the healthiest thing for our community, was how business conducted.

Remember when you could order items from the Hudson Bay, Eaton’s and Sears catalogue? It was fun, it was easy, it was drop shipped to your door, except if you lived on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Oh you could make your orders through each of these company catalogues, if you didn’t, Christmas didn’t happen! Worse yet, you couldn’t get new clothes, well not unless you went down to the trading post and picked up something someone else owned at one time.

Business was much more difficult back then, or at least getting what you needed to survive, let alone having any luxury items. The most memorable thing for me living there, was when you would make your orders, wait at a minimum of one week for the ship to come in, that’s right, a freighter would come filled with belongings, food, clothes, all kinds of things, even equipment. The whole town would gather down on the main dock and wait, BBQ’s were out, music was playing, everyone in town gathered like a family reunion. Imagine waiting a week to get your food, maybe two weeks because of bad weather. I can remember some tense times when word got out the ship was delayed. But it was a great memory, a happy memory, the towns people helped each other, we all knew each other, and we made sure our neighbour was looked after.

Today, 50 some years later, we appear to be heading right back to a time such as then, without the ship of course. Social Media has brought us back to a place where we have to care for one another, connect with each other, build a relationship with each other. We had to build trust then, and we have to build it again today. Back in a time when big business did not have the same control as it had between now and then, we the people have control once again. We are gathering together to meet, to help each other, to collaborate, and make sure our neighbour is looked after. History is repeating itself, mostly in how we used to do business. Today we hold Tweet Up’s, big social events, and speaking events, all for the purpose of coming together as a community, or communities. We are going back to ordering from catalogues that are now web applications, Apps, Smart phones, websites like Amazon, and it gets drop shipped by the big ship UPS or FEDX, or whomever you prefer. These companies we order from are now asking us what we want, how we want it, and how fast can we get it to you. We are going back to small town rules, where you can’t hide, you can’t lie, and you can’t get away with shinanagan’s and stay in business.

The Future Of Business is all about people, it’s taking us back to a time like the depression, back to a time when we did all that we could for one another. History is repeating itself, are you part of making the world a better place, are you part of this history taking place? I challenge you, be the change, you be the voice, you be the reason the world is a better place, you help make history repeat itself.

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Original Article

I want to thank any and all who have come to my blog, and most especially to those he keep returning to see what I will share next, I hope you are learning something and continue to keep thinking forward. So this day I wish you and your world a Merry Christmas, and may 2012 be a better year than 2011 may have been, Happy New Year and good fortune to you.

Many Blessings,

Owen Greaves

Original Article

I have read this book twice now, the first time was a quick once over, the second time, I grabbed a highlighter and messed this book up. I read lot, I mean read sales books, marketing books, how to books, even the bible, but this book I couldn’t put down. It grabbed me right from chapter 1, I was sitting in one of my favorite offices this morning, that being the Roasted Grape, and I punched out probably 30 nuggets (Tweets) from the 1st 5 chapters! So I guess you might say, you should go buy John Morgan’s book, infact…do it right now!

The premise of this book is right on the cover, ” How to Build Your Brand, Cut Through the Marketing Noise, and Stand Out from the Competition”. I know what you are thinking, it’s another marketing book, in some ways you might get that, but I have found it to be more than that, it’s a very direct set of principles that are actually easy to understand.

The book reads easy, it’s very straight forward, and I like the directness, John is very clear when he says it. This book is filled with more wisdom than you would expect, he clearly sees something most of us know but rarely execute. There are a great many take aways for me, but I’m not going spew them all out here, you need to find them for yourself. I will share one of my favorite chapters, it’s number 6, The Right Position, it’s a very short chapter too.

The first sentence from this chapter:

“The number one goal of your marketing should be to establish and position yourself as an authority in your industry or field. Authority leads to easier sales, and more opportunities.”

This says it all for me:

“The most important element of branding is positioning.”

That say a mouthful doesn’t it?

There is so much to share and frankly it would be a copyright infringement if I were to quote the book, I highly recommend John’s book, you won’t be disappointed. Thank you John for writing this book, I have enjoyed reading it over and over a few times.

Start your fight against the machine today, John shows you exactly how to do it. Enjoy!

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Original Article

For whatever reason we seem to need to assign a dollar value for anything and everything, maybe there isn’t one, but we just have to have one. I’m not going to layout the proper conditions or equation in this post, I’ll let you do you own research, but let’s spend some time getting it right.

Yesterday I talked about Barking At Shadows, where we put far too much stock in the number of fans, likes and followers. Those indicators make you feel good but are really a false sense of security, it just means someone came knocking, they probably didn’t do anything else. So we start asking the question, what’s the value of a follower, a fan and a like…what’s the ROI?

The question of Social Media ROI comes up all the time, and immediately everyone points to the number of followers, likes and fans, but that would be the wrong thing to do right? In my last post I said I would introduce you to someone far smarter than I, he knows this stuff, he lives it. You will love his directness, he calls it as he sees it, so be prepared to learn Social Media ROI with passion. My good friend and author, Olivier Blanchard understands Social Media ROI metrics, he has clear and definite thoughts on how to plug Social Media into your business as well. I am a little biased but I highly recommend you read his book called Social Media ROI, you will be amazed at what you don’t know. I was in an exchange with Olivier and friends on FaceBook the other day in reference to this Mashable story posted on Olivier’s FaceBook wall called, “4 Ways to Convert Facebook Fans Into Super Fans”.

Olivier said with the above link:

Actually, no. Don’t. Attract fans with ads? Create advocates with… contests? Seriously? Who writes this crap? I wonder what the folks at Brains on Fire think about this garbage.

Owen said:

The problem with the “FAN” & the “LIKE” or the “FOLLOWER”, there is no real accurate way of measuring its value, it’s similar to KLOUT trying to accurately measure ones influence. Individually they don’t matter, but the SUM of these inaccurate metrics is more important. The SUM leads to a perceived value, not a real value that can be manipulated. The “SUPER FAN” is one more attempt to bring value to a single digit, WOM is hard enough to measure, the total number of those WOM messages matters more than the single blabber mouth being a SUPER FAN. But what do I know, I’m Canadian.

Olivier responded with:

You know how they do it, right? The CPF (cost per fan) gets magically transformed into fan value:

Because the fan cost $4 to acquire, that fan’s value is now estimated at $4. So the media buyer’s ROI equation, based on media equivalency models, becomes a factor of average acquisition cost - actual acquisition cost. It works like this:

“The average (cost) value of a fan is $4. Our CPF is $2. We acquired 100,000 fans, for a total fan value of $400,000. Your acquisition cost was $200,000. We provided an ROI of 200% with this campaign.

Whether the agency’s fees were included in that $200,000 depends on the agency. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. That’s the scam.

I responded with:

Its all scam, whomever scams best…. wins.

The conversation ended there, but almost everyone tries to game the Social Media Fan, Like and or follower, its barking at shadows.

The ultimate place to be is for you (your business) to bring extreme value, powerful solutions, backed by qualified data, and that might actually include the shadows, but it’s the lessor of all the metrics to be watching.

There is much to learn, and much more to unlearn when it comes to the future of business, but you should start with Olivier’s book, then his blog, then my blog. I am more about a new of changing, Olivier wants you to be honest and realistic about what you measure, and he’ll get in your face if you or I start spewing a bad message. We’ve talked about this value before, over and over again, it keeps coming back to the table. All it means is, many still don’t understand what it is and where it should go.

The Fan, the Like & the follower do have a value, but let’s put that value in perspective, and most importantly, let’s put that value in the right place in the equation.

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Original Article