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Innovate Or Die

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Credit: Jayme Soulati via iPhone 4S to Instagram

Every news article you read, there’s something about company innovation. You can scale that to the size of your operation, and that can be in the realm of a self-published book, for example.

The examples I love and which inspire are:

Why Is Innovation Important?

Innovation is about remaining relevant. Companies that produce the same product or service the same way every day are not being innovative.

Companies that remain the same with no change for consumers become surely irrelevant.

Small businesses that never painfully challenge the status quo get stagnant after awhile.

Solopreneurs who never push the envelope to try new things cannot rise to the next level.

What is Innovation?

In this day and age, innovation can be defined in a variety of ways:

  • New products or services
  • New authority for the CEO
  • Increased levels of engagement by a company team
  • New realization that consumers are king.

Consumer Is King; Content is Queen

I want to focus on that a moment; consumers are king.  We’ve been hearing for awhile now that content is king. Nope. The throne is squarely in control of the consumer.

To innovate, companies need to understand consumer is king.

    • What does your consumer need to keep coming back to your business?
    • Where do you need to engage with consumers?
    • Where are they engaging with you?

The takeaway today is not really about defining innovation, because most of us know and understand what that means. Knowing what it takes based on market and consumer research, understanding the inside of your company, and knowing what business goals the company has set are all aspects of successful innovation.

This is such a broad subject, and I’ve only toplined a smidge of this topic. How do you break it down?

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The Online World Of Negative Product Reviews

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spyI got bought, and I bet you’ve been bought at some point or another, too…right there in the online product reviews of Amazon.com.  I don’t feel good about it, I actually am upset that I caved.

Let me share:

1. Kidlet wanted a new iPod case; none of them were available or appealing at Best Buy.

2. In a search on Amazon for “iPod cases” this Harry Potter SkinIt brand “case” appeared.

3. We bought as it was the most reasonable price; it arrived and to my chagrin and lament, it was a sticker.

4. Then I felt dumb; ah-hah, the “SkinIt” brand was all about skins as stickers and not skins as gel cases or what not. How was I to know? A mom trying to appease a pre-teen with what she wants with nary a look at the fine print.

5. We went to Target and found a white case; kidlet trimmed the SkinIt to fit and now she’s happy. But, Mom wasn’t.

Write A Product Review

When the request came to write a product review (it caught me at the right moment as I had ignored the request many times previously), it was the right moment. I gave it 2.5 stars and said that maybe I was a dumb mom for not knowing SkinIt meant sticker.

Wait several days and here comes the product team for SkinIt. “We have refunded the prices of your purchase, will you please now alter your product review to something more positive? After all, the fine print says explicitly that this is not a case at all, blah, blah. Here are the steps you take to change your review to a positive one.”

A Range of Emotions

From the “I got bought” trashy feeling to the “really? Are you kidding me?” and the “I’m so pissed off” emotions, I ranted and raved internally and was none too happy with this chain of events.

Options were to:

1. Oblige them with a new glowing review.

2. Do nothing.

3. Delete the comment totally.

4. Rant and rave in the comments section for all the world to see.

5. Write a blog post on the experience.

Before I share my decision, let me share one of my peer’s blog posts with you; it was so timely it was uncanny.

Mark Schaefer’s Dongle Blog Post

Mark Schaefer, blogger at {grow}, shares a scary post about the world in which we now live policed by onlookers and bystanders (no longer innocent) looking for an instant of fame (in this case negative) to influence the what-used-to-be-jokester mentality of peeps having fun in and amongst themselves.

In a gist, two guys yak together about the “big dongle;” the girl in front of them snaps a photo of them, posts it to Twitter with an “I’m offended” comment and what ensues is where nightmares are written. I want you to read Mark’s post to get all the gory details, and how this is relevant to me is the following:

1. Your fellow man is no longer trustworthy.

2. The online world is scarey and full of those wanting to take advantage.

3. Employers are caving to the online pressure of negativity by a few who have taken advantage.

4. Innocent people (who joked amongst themselves) are losing jobs as a result and fighting back via cyber attack.

5. And, me? I wrote a negative online product review because it was true and was bombarded with the appeal of a refund and strong request to alter the truth.

What did I do? Number 3 and number 5.

By Jayme Soulati

You might like Mark Schaefer’s latest book, Born To Blog:

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