Value Creation is NOT a thing of the past

by Geraud Staton

This is not my first business venture. Nor is it my only current business. I know many other business owners. I have graduated with honours from Business School. I have read some amazing business-related books such as Tipping Point, or The 4-Hour Work Week. But there seems to be a new movement out there that says that all of the old stuff doesn't work anymore. Traditional marketing is a thing of the past. Business building can no longer be done the way it once was.

I do not disagree with these things. We are evolving, and so is the way we do business. But a lot of this is specifically for multi-million dollar businesses. For guy that owns a book store, or the woman who sells paintings, or the family that runs the absolutely amazing cheese shop, sometimes the old ways are the best ways.

The Purple Cow is an amazing thing. But sometimes, you just need to add value to your customer's life. It's as simple as that. If you can make my life easier, help me get to my goals, or allow me to help someone I love, then you have done something that I value and I am more likely to buy your product or use your service.

The Segway is a popular example of this in action. When it was put into the market the company announced that it was going to sell 50,000 of these things in the first year. In fact, it took them 5 years to even sell 23,000 of them! The Segway doesn't really add value to anyone's life. Especially for the $5000 price tag.

You can't forget marketing business finances and your sales team. But they don't matter unless your product or service actually DOES something for your customers. And the more it does, the more likely they are to buy it.

What does your product do for me?

Figure that out. And then, make it do more!