Because when you talk about what's possible you have a better likelihood that:
1) you'll be given more opportunities not just to talk about it, but to make it happen, and
2) your input will be sought after.
Actually this is the best way to stop being someone people look to only for output, and start being seen as someone who provides valuable input to move forward, or break through. When you change your internal conversation, all that stuff on personal branding (value, positioning, etc.) then just falls into place.
I was reminded of the difference and impact while reading a post by Doc Searls about building better markets, not just better marketing. In it, he writes that his company, The Searls Group started "helping clients understand and engage their markets, rather than helping them craft and send messages to those markets." See the difference?
I pretty much love what he's saying in this post. Those are the ideas I've been engaged with ever since I read The Cluetrain Manifesto. Customers and markets expressing demand, and providing input is where we should be headed.
As individuals we do own our own data, and companies would do so much better if they allowed us to indicate through permission, privacy settings, and preferences, how we'd like them to deal with us. Doc Searls calls himself a builder. We need builders.
Personalization would be so much more personal if it wasn't driven by the seller who guesses what the buyer wants. Even the most powerful lead gen tools are still guessing as to what someone wanted when they were downloading that article or clicking on that button.
The question still remains as to whether customers want anyone to help them. And of course, we're all still grappling with becoming better listeners.
***
Conversation is a gift, a way for us to provide input - not just output. I'll be traveling in the next couple of weeks. As customary during my vacation, I invited professionals from my network to guest post at Conversation Agent.
Content-wise, they represent the lenses I'm researching at the moment. And I will collect their thoughts and your best input from the comments, in a leave-behind eBook next month. People-wise, I like that we find ways to debate issues from differing points of view, positively.
I love learning from them, and I hope you will, too.
[image by mdezemery]
© 2006-2009 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.