| Guerrilla Insights into Technology
by Jay Conrad Levinson
The very first insight is to realize that technology isn't
what it was while you were growing up and isn't what it was when
I was writing this sentence. The blurring speed of change
in
technology is so pervasive and dramatic that only a dunce would
attempt to pin it down. Breakthroughs are reported every
day
and happening at a pace even faster than that. Your job
is to
be aware of the changes and to be grateful for technology.
Yesterday,
I was watching my football team getting thumped on
television. Both teams had wireless technology connecting
coaches and assistant coaches, spotters and analysts, and it was
all working like a charm. But my team was seriously losing.
I
made a note then to remind you now that it doesn't really matter
how good your technology is if you're not very good. My team
could have had even better technology, newer and faster, and
still would have had their derrieres whipped. The effectiveness
of your technology will reach as far as your own effectiveness
and can't surpass it. If everything else is equal, the business
with the best technology will win out. But if you
have the
best technology and not the best attitude and strategy, you
haven't got a chance.
To make technology your ally, the first thing to
do is learn to
love technology -- not for what it is, but for what it can do
for you. The biggest changes in technology in the
nineties
were not the lower cost and increased power, but the simplicity
of using
technology. User manuals are more clear than ever and
the technology itself is far user-cozy.
This gives small businesses
an unfair advantage. It allows them
to appear as large, as expert and as important as the big guys
without the attendant necessary to spend big bucks. It not only
has leveled out the playing field, but has actually tilted it
in favor of the guerrilla.
That means doing everything you can to increase
your comfort
level with technology -- taking a course, enlisting the aid of a
consultant, reading a book, going to seminars and practicing.
How do you
get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.
How to you get to love
what technology can do for you?
Practice, practice, practice. It's hard
to break a computer, so
your mistakes won't hurt you -- unless you don't risk making
them.
The main idea is to learn what kinds of technology are out
there to help you run a smooth operation, then to get what you
need rather than what you want. If you fail to embrace
technology, the world will pass you by.
Companies that have enlisted the
aid of technology, made it
part of their everyday business, have several marketing edges
over their competitors who are lagging behind. By becoming
virtual, which is a fancy way of saying "connected," they
are
able to use technology as a way to keep in touch with their
offices, their employees, their customers.
These guerrillas become virtual
by means of their computers,
to be sure, availing themselves of the speed of email. They are
also granted virtual status by means of their communication
devices -- telephones, pagers, answering devices,
call-forwarding. They can be anywhere they like and still be
available at a moment's notice when they're needed.
The insight here
is that the more you're connected, the more
you're available, and the more you're available, the better you
can run your business and service your customers.
These
days, technology is very visible and portable, thanks to
wireless technology, with people walking down the street talking
on their miniaturized telephones. This enables them to engage
in multiple tasks -- such as conducting business on the
phone
while driving. It increases their efficiency while reducing
their worktime. These people can put their business in
their
pocket or purse, so to speak. Many entrepreneurs have been able
to save substantial sums on office rent by closing down their
office and carrying it with them.
The way to think is digital. That means
connecting, wherever
you are, with real data, tracking all customer interactions, and
mining for even more information to better transport those
customers to a state of bliss.
Let me urge you now never to use your
technology, your
virtualness, to bug your customers, to send junk email to anyone
on earth, to invade people's privacy, to be intrusive in any
way. Digital power and virtual convenience are extremely easy
to abuse. Never require customers to give personal information.
Ask for it, but never require it.
Technology does enable you to gain
a lot of it without asking.
If you purchase books from Amazon.com, their
technology enables
them to review your purchasing history, then recommend books
you'd like. But take heed: When you do have information,
use
it judiciously. Don't bombard people with marketing materials.
As with
all marketing, the prime beneficiaries of your
technology should be your customers. When they appreciate
your
virtuality, your technology, their convenience, and let
you
know -- you're using it right.
Jay Conrad Levinson is probably the most respected marketer in
the world. He is the inventor of "Guerrilla Marketing" and is
responsible for some of the most outrageous marketing campaigns
in history - including the "Marlboro Man" - the most successful
ad campaign in history. Learn how Jay can make *your* business
a huge success in his latest book (and arguably his best ever)
"Guerrilla Marketing for the New Millennium":
http://www.guerrillamarketingforthenewmillennium.com
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