I was watching the Scobelizer's interview with Pringo, a new social networking company for businesses. They sell a set of software that adds some of the social networking aspects to your corporate site. I'm still not completely sure what the social networking sites are good for in a business world, but I thought the interview was interesting.
There was one thing that struck me during the interview as a fallacy. It's something that I think too many companies, big and small, new and old, try to implement as part of their strategy.
One of the Pringo executives was talking about how valuable their software was and wouldn't Robert Scoble love to go to one site and learn everything about their niche or industry? Wouldn't a person interested in mountain biking want to get all the information on trails from one site?
It's an interesting idea and it's an ideal that so many people strive for. But do we really want to have one stop for all our information? I know that most of us like being able to shop at one place, like a Wal-Mart, and get groceries, socks for the kids, oil for the truck, and more. Especially with our busy lifestyles in the US. But would we want to get everything from there?
Variety is the spice of life. Someone said that and it's very true. As much as we have loyalty and like to revisit the same places over and over, most of us also will vary our routine periodically and try new things. It's why we so often give new things a chance.
In the past week I've purchased books from Amazon online and Barnes and Nobles in Southlands, Colorado. Both places meet me needs, both are enjoyable, and I wouldn't want to have one exclusively to the detriment of the other.
Building a business is a process, an ongoing effort that requires you to focus on your products, your service, your marketing, and your customers' needs. But it doesn't require that you succeed at the expense of your competitors.
Grow your company into something you're proud of, get along and respect your competitors, and understand that the world is a huge place. We can all win together without trying to completely shut out others or lock customers into our vision of the market.
Steve Jones
The Voice of the DBA Podcasts
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