Tag Archives: volume

Gather what you Scatter

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Note: this is a bit of conceptual peice today, based on things we’ve been discussing on this blog for a while. If you don’t quite get it, read the posts that I’ve linked to and you’ll get the full picture.

I’ve written a bit over the last months about spreadability being the way that people are marketing today. Spreadability vs Reach is in fact something I speak a lot about at events (you can see the slides here.)

One of the things we said in particular was that spreadability is like scattering seeds, in so much as every bit of your message that you put out, no matter how big or small, has a only a certain degree of predictability to it as far as a return on your investment goes.

Scattering is a volume game, and we play the volume game because we don’t know who is of value out there. We don’t know which relationships will end up returning the greatest to us, which tweets return the deals, which bits of marketing make the biggest difference – and trying to carefully plant our seeds rather than scatter them neglects all the potential relationships that we could have, that we’d never normally pick.

You can watch a video of me sharing a great recent example of that from Like Minds Conversation Helsinki.

What we can’t do is live in the volume game. This creates burnout, and means we have width but no depth, and it is in a deep, valuable relationship that we really begin building.

The conundrum is this: how do we go from a volume approach to a value approach? How do we filter all that we scatter, and know what relationships or opportunities to begin investing in with greater value?

The way that we go from the volume game to the value game is to go from scattering to gathering.

What do I mean? I mean that if I scatter my message by sending out a tweet, then those who are valuable to me are the ones that respond – they participate. I then begin the process of gathering those people to me at the level at which they are participating.

The best way that I can explain this is this: if a farmer scatters his seed, and some of that seed begins to yield fruit, then he doesn’t just leave the fruit out there – he gathers it.

If you want to read excellent insights into this, I advise you read this post on the subject last week, and in particular, the comments from Robin Dickinson on how he only follows those who he had a value-based relationship with. It is inspiring stuff.

Your Leading Thoughts

I’ve got a lot formed in my mind about this, but I want to get your feedback on it to balance it out.

  • Do you agree with scattering and then gathering? Can you see truth to this?
  • How do you go from volume to value?

Another look at Scattering Seeds

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NigmIlPr9k

If you can’t see the above video, click here, or watch it directly on YouTube.

This is a quick clip of me on Tuesday 15th June in Helsinki, chatting about how Like Minds Conversation Helsinki came together. I wanted to show it because I’ve having another thought about value vs volume and also about spreadability being like scattering seeds.

The point is that Like Minds in Helsinki came about through a chain of events that I could never have planned. In actual fact, it came about because we asked 1000heads to partner with us for our Like Minds Conference in February, but without charging them – so essentially promoting them for free. We loved what they were doing and just wanted to use the platform that we had to give them more exposure.

Of course, our relationship began to flourish from that point. One connection then hooked onto another, and before we knew it, we’re in Helsinki running a Conversation and also a Summit with the tourist board of Finland.

Value vs Volume

The value play says that rather than seeking to grow through shallow touches with lots of people (therefore volume being required to turn a profit), we seek deep relationships that have far more yield. This is contrary to most internet and social media marketing which is purely about volume. However with my story of Helsinki, I want to reevaluate this a little.

I’m not sure if you can predict which relationships will be valuable and which won’t. We’ve all been let down by people we had expectations of, and then been surprised by others who have exceeded our expectations. This is church, in business, in work, in life, in family – in relationships of any kind.

This means that if I carefully plant my few seeds in a few select locations, am I not leaving room for this exception equation. You’d invest in the ones who you predict will yield the most return, and leave the ones that you predict would not yield a good return. And then problem with that is as we described above – your expectations aren’t always right. People surprise you – either by letting you down, or coming to the fore.

In my mind I am beginning to see that we need both the value and the volume play. Spreadability is like scattering seeds – and you don’t know which of those seeds will yield what. But by scattering a volume of seeds, you create room for expectations to be both let down and exceeded.

This volume-based scattering is like the training ground where value-based relationships then come to the fore. Something that my social sales funnels make room for.

Your Leading Thoughts

  • We all acknowledge this effect – synchronicity – is the product of planning?
  • Can you predict a value based relationship?