Communication...Your Business Depends On It!
Let me share with you a story about....Failure in business!
And I'm going to speak about personal experience and show you how my ex-partners and I took a multi-million dollar company and literally, drove it into the ground.
Let's go back in time to around 2010 or so...And the birth of my company saw the meeting of 3 skilled individuals coming together to build something special. We each had our strengths and weaknesses and we complimented each other perfectly. The community of customers we built was a thriving place to be and things looked perfect...We couldn't lose.
Or so we thought....
Then we hit hiccups. Business priorities changing. PayPal did their best to ruin not only our business but an entire industry and continue to do so in internet marketing circles....
And we stopped doing something that we did, every single day....
My partners and I stopped communicating.
We went from talking with each other every day and developing winning strategies into weeks of not hearing from each other. Communication seemed to be something we avoided rather than embracing it's importance.
Not only that, but the worst thing we did was stop communicating with our community....
We shut them out.
We didn't maintain relationships and a once thriving business quickly became a skeleton of what once was...
Sure, things around us weren't great. PayPal's slap didn't help. And an industry that once thrived was on life support...But at the end of the day, I directly blame our lack of communication as to why we failed. If we would have talked more, engaged our community more...I'm sure we would have found solutions!
Communication!
This is something that doesn't cost a penny. It takes some time and some effort, but communicating with your community and partners doesn't cost anything out of pocket...
Yet most failures in my business seem to have come directly from a lack of communication...
In business we have spent the better part of a century PUSHING our message to the masses. Here's our product or service, let's advertise to bring awareness to it.
The revolution of social media added a new dynamic to the business world...Now savvy businesses make an effort to PULL their community to them.
This is communication in business....Push and pull! A benefit to both business owner and customer within the community...
Still, we fail miserably at basic communication. And I see it happening here in the STEEM community too...
This is my warning to anyone that takes community for granted. And a warning to anyone that takes partnerships for granted...If you stop communicating, you may as well kiss what you had good bye.
Take it from me and the extremely expensive lesson I have learned...Don't EVER stop communicating!
Our most valuable asset these days are the relationships we build with our community...So I urge you to treat it like gold.
Let's start pulling people in with great communication, discussions and content...And the community WILL support us!
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://plus1daily.com/communication-your-business-depends-on-it/
Man this is so true and it’s been my mantra since Dec 1, 2018. I explained it recently that if you feel you are communicating, you probably aren’t! Therefore set your levels to Hyper-communicate! You might hit the mark of communication needed then. Great reminder Jon.
Posted using Partiko iOS
it’s funny cause so many excuses pop up why we fail. and to me it comes right down to communication. or lack thereof.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Ego and assumptions eh
I ageee with communication being important too
Not just to be heard but also to listen
two way street for sure. so important
Posted using Partiko iOS
So true about Communication. It transcends everything i.e. business, love, friendships, family etc..etc..
Thanks for sharing
absolutely. not just a business lesson but a life one too.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Well said my friend! The world moves so fast these days that timing and communication must be aligned with the strategy of executing goals and objectives. If communication is lost, so is momentum and the attention of the community which is what creates values in relationships.
Posted using Partiko iOS
agreed. and t just takes effort on our part. no money. no fiat. just time and effort.
Posted using Partiko iOS
That why on the steem blochchain I answer my comments every 24 hours.
Posted using Partiko Android
for sure. and with tools like partiko it’s even easier to communicate.
Posted using Partiko iOS
You are being a bit to hard on yourself you at least tried to get your so called partners to do what they were supposed to do.
Communication is the key but all parties must listen and act on what is being communicated.
Posted using Partiko iOS
i’m just as responsible as anyone for what happened.
learning to stop blaming the world is something i’m trying to master lol
Posted using Partiko iOS
You guy's done really great at building a great business back in the day, and everyone of you should be proud you were able to do what most would never even dream about doing, with that said I seen a decline in the industry in general and while lack of communication probably was an issue I think the general enthusiasm throughout the whole industry was dying anyway... I agree with what Eric said don't be too hard on yourself - You guy's gave it your all... at a time when most people were giving up.
Avsolutly right communication with community is base for every thing you want to do.
Posted using Partiko Android
community. relationships. once we stop talking things go really bad quick
Posted using Partiko iOS
Right
Posted using Partiko Android
I feel like Ned does an okay job with personal interviews but wonder if his self-confidence is low.
He also has bashers who have a big stake in SP.
Posted using Steeve, an AI-powered Steem interface
i dunno. but something needs to change. there is major issues when it comes to the relationships between steemit inc and the community
Posted using Partiko iOS
@andrarchy seems really good at dealing with people - Do you think he could entertain interviews and speak with the public more often? @jongolson
I don't necessarily agree with the threats of Hardforking Steemit since I am satisfied with their performance (for the most part), and think it would cause MUCH more harm than good, but I like @aggroed's idea of having a PR spokesperson for Steemit Inc..
It is kind of bad timing right now though, since they probably don't have funds to hire a spokesperson, and finding the right talent might be difficult!
absolutely. threats of hard forks are way above my pay grade. all i know is i invested everything i had into steem in 2018. blood sweat tears and a lot of fiat.
this is a community i believe in. the powers that be need to remember they are playing with peoples lives when they threaten and cause this kind of drama.
both sides should sit down and find a solution. for the community’s sake.
Posted using Partiko iOS
What a necessary reminder and lesson Jon! I hope we all learn from it before we need to go through failure from lack thereof communication, and learn the hard way.
almost ruined me man. without steem last year i don’t know what i would have done. this kept me focused.
Posted using Partiko iOS
Thank you Jon for your honesty... When I first joined the internet sites, your company was The One to aim for, to be like and to aspire to... I sadly watched it start to fall apart and I couldn't understand how and why it could happen to an industry leader.. Your openness as to the why and how you plan to recover, reorganize and renew should be an inspiration to the rest of us. Communication is definitely where it fell apart. You were open with members as to why things that needed to be done were not getting done, and you took the major blame for the issues.... Communication.... Thank you for raising that flag for all of us to see...
it nearly killed me. i was trying my best to keep things a float but we were rotting from the inside.
sucks on so many levels. but alas. i learned some huge lessons and i’ll never not put communication front and center.
Posted using Partiko iOS