I am going to warn you, much of what you are about to read will fly in the face everything you know, and it’s going to go against the grain of what many of the trade magazine gurus tout as being the proper way of doing business. Here is what I have to say about the industry gurus; they are wrong.
Our industry is overflowing with self-proclaimed experts. These experts tell us how to do everything, from dealing with our customers, to ordering paperclips, and everything in between. They do this using our trade magazines as their soapbox. Granted, they’re not always wrong, but they’re wrong often enough to do damage. How can I say such a thing?
The Question You Need to Ask:
Actually, it’s easy. All you have to do is step back and ask yourself; does this advice really apply to my profession? All too often you’ll find it doesn’t. Is the advice bad? Not necessarily, it’s just not geared toward our industry. Why is this happening? Simple, there’s only so much to say about anything in this world, and if you run out of fresh ideas, you run out of subscribers to your publication. The solution? Recycle ideas from other industry’s that are kinda-sorta like ours, change a few words to suit the trade, and viola! New content for the masses.
Am I suggesting people are deliberately recycling irrelevant information that doesn’t apply? Not all of them. It’s like looking at people on a side walk from the roof of a hundred story building; they all look like ants. It’s the same with the trades; if you’re far enough removed from a business you don’t see the differences, you just see people wearing hard hats. Just remember; before you jump on board the latest business craze ask yourself one thing- “Does this really apply to my business?”
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