A business consultant is generally called into a company when it’s in a state of limbo. The company recognizes that they need outside help to move their situation forward. They bring in an outside consultant who has been choosen for their area of expertise and knowledge. The expectation is that the consultant will observe and analyse the situation then provide a solution that’ll move the company forward. The solution is presented in the form of recommendations that the company can choose to implement, ignore or shelve.  If the consultant was a doctor, we’d recognize the process as one where the patient is examined, a diagnosis is made, and a prescription is written.

A business coach is also called into a company to help it move forward. So the starting point can be very much the same as for the consultant. The primary difference between coaching and consulting is philosophical. The belief in coaching is that the client or company is naturally creative, resourceful and whole - even though they may be at a juncture where they’re stuck.  They have the solution - it’s up to the business coach to pull it out of them as opposed to prescribing the solution.  While consultants observe, analyse and recommend, business coaches facilitate the client’s analysis of the situation to deepen their learning and drive them to action. The hope with business coaching is that the learning leads to behavioural changes that ultimately have a sustainable positive effect. Hey business coaches out there - do you agree?

Niche implies specialization and focus. I suppose the evolution of specialization is a direct result of basic economics….and the theory of supply and demand.  When an industry is born and demand reaches a stage of critical mass, there’s a period when demand outweighs the supply. The imbalance between supply and demand allows for generalization vs. specialization, mass vs. niche. Think about retail in the olden days before the rise of transportation and multiple distribution channels. The general store did the trick for a while yet as supply increasd, the larger general stores morphed into department stores. Eventually, specialty stores and boutiques sprung up. These specialized stores have now evolved to giant big box specialty stores that focus on pets, electronic needs, books etc.. Then along comes the internet giving consumers even more choice and  more supply which forces more specialization. In the world of consumer goods, increased competition in a supply chain seems to result in increased specialization. What about in the world of knowledge?

Back to the internet…and the world of Google whose mission is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”  As a result of Google, knowledge today is more abundant and accessible than ever before.  What are the repercussions for the knowledge providers?  Knowledge is no longer scarce, in fact the abundance of knowledge available today is at times downright overwhelming. Seem like Google has caused the role of the business advisor/knowledge provider to evolve. Google is the new generalist, the big department store of knowledge. To survive in this knowledge-rich society, business advisors/knowledge providers need to ramp up their game when it comes to specialization. Hey Jim Collin’s does this mean the foxes of the world will morph into hedgehogs? Or will generalists evolve to become generalists of specific niches?

Jarvis suggests that  the link economy makes five demands: it’s a matter of creating unique content with clear value, ensuring that the content is searchable, exploiting the links and audience through advertising, using the links to find new efficiencies and finding opportunities to create value atop this link layer = Googlethink.

In my quest to understand and leverage the power of social media I think I’m starting to grasp some basics. It seems to be all about creating valuable content and then linking that content to numerous sources/outlets/or channels. Hmm…so the focus now has to be on creating valuable content. Who defines value when it comes to content? Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, content value must be in the eye of the reader.

I was googling social media the other day and was led to the site of a social media expert. I decided to follow that person on Twitter. They acknowledged me, said they’d visited my website and wondered if I’d be interested in chatting. This morning this person from New York called and we had a great talk about social media/marketing!

About 10 days ago, I attended the London PodCamp. It gave me a glimpse as to how some folks use Twitter. During the presentations a number of attendees were regularly tweeting providing up-to-the-minute status of the event.   I can see how that would be great if you were unable to attend an event or meeting and wanted to know in real time what you were missing.

Apparently, 60% of Twitter users discontinue after one month. I’m still trying to figure out its value. So far, I’m finding value in it as a learning resource - today’s phone conversation being a perfect example. What value are you getting from Twitter?

Most of my clients are business owners who want to grow their companies. Business owners know that if they want different results, change is required. Yet, often the biggest change needed is the hardest change to achieve. I’m talking about an adjustment to the duties of the business owner or CEO. 

This month’s issue of Harvard Business Review has an interview with the CEO of Proctor & Gamble. He believes that, “the CEO has a unique external perspective to bring to his or her real work which is to link the outside to the inside.” This involves four tasks:

1. Defining the Meaningful Outside - Which stakeholders (likely customers/clients) matter the most? What are the key moments of truth for that stakeholder? Without the outside there is no inside.
2. Deciding What Business You Are In - Have you clearly identified the competitive spaces where you can win? What business should you NOT be in?
3. Balancing Present and Future - Are you striking a balance between short and long term goals, between returns from present activities and investments in future activities? Are you developing leaders to ensure your company’s future?
4. Shaping Values and Standards - Are you winning with those who matter the most? Are you winning against the very best? Is your company purpose driven and values led?

The P&G CEO admits to giving more attention to internal demands than he should. Yet he recognizes that it’s uniquely his job to link the outside world to the inside of his company by fulfilling the four tasks outlined above. How does this connect back to growth? Since he became CEO in 2000, P&G has increased the number of consumers it serves from 2 billion to 3.5 billion. Sounds like pretty good growth. 

Ever heard of Google analytics? A few months ago one of my technology clients tipped me off to this service provided by Google. It provides statistics on your website traffic so I’ve been monitoring my traffic for a few months now. It’s dismally low - I’m talking about 67 - 140 hits a month. So this got me asking the question, “how can I get more hits on my website?”

My mission these days is to learn how all of these separate social media puzzle pieces fit together. I’m curious to understand whether all small-medium sized businesses can benefit from a social media strategy or whether just certain sectors stand to really benefit.

I’m off to an ‘unconference’ this weekend…a podcamp. I’m predicting that I might just be the oldest person there. What the heck! I’ll keep you posted.