One of the things that I love the most about my work is that I’m continually exposed to new ideas, new people, new places, and new industries.
Last week I gave the opening keynote at the Direct Selling Association of Australia annual conference. The theme of the event was “Defining our Future,” so they wanted to kick off with big picture perspectives on the future of business from a leading futurist. My presentation at the conference is here.
I had never been exposed to the industry before, however in preparing for my keynote, and at the event itself where I came in for the cocktail reception the night before and stayed on for the CEO panel following my keynote, I gained a number of insights into the industry and where it stands today.
The Direct Selling industry is comprised of three major segments: personal or door-to-door sales, such as the classic Avon model; party plan, for example Tupperware; and multi-level marketing (MLM), exemplified by Amway. All of the models rely on face-to-face interaction and relationships.
The industry definitely has image issues. My general observation is that there are undoubtedly some in the industry who contribute to that perception, however any who are successful in the long-term are absolutely ethical and genuine. Distribution based on face-to-face relationships is absolutely a valid business model and economic sector.
Here are some of the things I learned or observed about direct selling:
1. Economic downturns can be great for direct selling.
What drives the industry more than anything else is the availability of talented people becoming distributors. When unemployment rises, people seek new ways to make money. The increase in motivated distributors can outweigh lower sales per individuals to create higher revenue.
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Six key insights into the future of the Direct Selling Industry
By Ross DawsonOne of the things that I love the most about my work is that I’m continually exposed to new ideas, new people, new places, and new industries.
Last week I gave the opening keynote at the Direct Selling Association of Australia annual conference. The theme of the event was “Defining our Future,” so they wanted to kick off with big picture perspectives on the future of business from a leading futurist. My presentation at the conference is here.
I had never been exposed to the industry before, however in preparing for my keynote, and at the event itself where I came in for the cocktail reception the night before and stayed on for the CEO panel following my keynote, I gained a number of insights into the industry and where it stands today.
The Direct Selling industry is comprised of three major segments: personal or door-to-door sales, such as the classic Avon model; party plan, for example Tupperware; and multi-level marketing (MLM), exemplified by Amway. All of the models rely on face-to-face interaction and relationships.
The industry definitely has image issues. My general observation is that there are undoubtedly some in the industry who contribute to that perception, however any who are successful in the long-term are absolutely ethical and genuine. Distribution based on face-to-face relationships is absolutely a valid business model and economic sector.
Here are some of the things I learned or observed about direct selling:
1. Economic downturns can be great for direct selling.
What drives the industry more than anything else is the availability of talented people becoming distributors. When unemployment rises, people seek new ways to make money. The increase in motivated distributors can outweigh lower sales per individuals to create higher revenue.
Read more →
Announcing The Insight Exchange – transforming the events industry!
By Ross DawsonAs announced a few hours ago on Twitter, Beth Etling and I have today launched a new events company, The Insight Exchange.
It’s a major step for both of us. I’ve been organizing events in various forms for the last dozen years, and started doing it more seriously three years ago, when Future Exploration Network launched the Future of Media Summit. Since then Future Exploration Network has organized the Future of Media Summit annually – which is a major production since it’s run simultaneously in Sydney and San Francisco – and we’ve also set up and run for the last two years both Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum and Web 2.0 in Australia.
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Twitter on ABC TV – the impact on politics, media and socializing
By Ross DawsonABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) TV had a very nice segment on Twitter yesterday, as below.
As befits the august institution, the segment was more thoughtful than some other recent media coverage.
It begins with how politicians are using Twitter, including Barack Obama, Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd, opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull, and South Australian state premier Mike Rann, who announced his new cabinet on Twitter, and talks about how he embraces it as a way of communicating with his electorate.
The segment then looks at how Twitter is becoming a media channel, including providing breaking coverage of events such as the Mumbai terrorist attacks and Australian bushfires, and quotes me saying that many news events are covered first and sometimes better on Twitter than on mainstream media.
On the segment ABC Managing Director Mark Scott says that most Twitter sources cannot be trusted, so people will look to credible sources such as the ABC, possibly delivered over the ABC’s own Twitter channel.
This approach just takes us back to the traditional view that news is only news once a journalist has reported it. In part of my interview that wasn’t used in the segment I noted that people are increasingly looking for primary sources for news. They are not interested in waiting until the broadcast journalists get to the scene, and they feel capable of assessing the validity of these unauthorized sources themselves.
The segment wraps up mentioning Twitter’s search for a business model.
Visualization: Social bookmarking in the enterprise
By Ross DawsonIn our Implementing Enterprise 2.0 report, we created visual representations to help explain how the most important social media tools can be applied inside organizations.
The diagram below was used in the chapter on social bookmarking, which was designed to accompany the detailed coverage in the report, but it is hopefully fairly self-explanatory!
Go to the Implementing Enterprise 2.0 downloads page for several free chapters, including the chapter on social networking on the enterprise, with its own diagram on how social networks relate to other Enterprise 2.0 tools.
Please let me know your thoughts and feedback on improving these diagrams for future versions of the report. I’ll post more of these visualizations on this blog in coming weeks.
Pilots as a key instrument for improving organizational performance in a complex world
By Ross DawsonI caught up this afternoon with Chris Bayley of Buffalo Canyon Consulting and we had a very interesting conversation about Web 2.0 in organizations. Chris asked me about the role of pilots, and in our ensuing discussion I refined my thinking on this a bit.
Examining how to run pilots plays a significant role in our Implementing Enterprise 2.0 report, with a full chapter on pilots and many aspects of our coverage of user adoption related to pilots. The center of our Enterprise 2.0 Implementation Framework is ‘Iterate and Refine’. Pilots and agile methodologies are critical to the ability of organizations to do that. Some companies are good at piloting, but many need to shift their attitudes and approaches to enable effectively establishing, managing, supporting, and closing down pilot projects.
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Implementing Enterprise 2.0: Free Chapter 4 – Key benefits and risks
By Ross DawsonContinuing our series of free chapters from Implementing Enterprise 2.0, here is Chapter 4 on Key Benefits and Risks. For full details on the report and all the sample chapters go to the Implementing Enterprise 2.0 website.
As shown in the Enterprise 2.0 Implementation Framework above, understanding the potential benefits and risks from Enterprise 2.0 that are relevant to the organization is critical to being able to engage in the cycle of value creation. These benefits and risks vary substantially across companies. Initiatives must be designed to draw out the greatest potential benefits, and fully address potentially risks and concerns. Chapter 7 on Governance, also available as a free download, examines how the understanding of the risks and benefits are applied in creating an enabling framework for the organization.
The Key Risks and Benefits chapter contains:
* Assessing the relevance of risks and benefits to your organization
* Table of key potential benefits of implementing Enterprise 2.0
* Table of key risks and concerns in implementing Enterprise 2.0
* Risks of NOT implementing Enterprise 2.0
You can also just download the pdf of Chapter 4.
Implementing Enteprise 2.0: Chapter 4 – Key Benefits and Risks
It is totally INSANE that you cannot use an external keyboard on an iPhone
By Ross DawsonI love my iPhone. But it has some deep flaws. OK, so cut-and-paste will be available with the 3.0 operating system – that’s good. The lack of a video camera is annoying and strange – rumors are that the next iPhone released in the northern summer will have video capabilities.
But the thing that really gets me is that you cannot use an external keyboard on the iPhone. Unlike the other issues, there is no way you can argue this is a technical problem. Apple has deliberately crippled the Bluetooth functionality so external keyboards can’t be used.
The whole point of a smartphone is that it can be your central hub when you’re on the move, increasingly obviating the need to carry a laptop around. If the iPhone had an external keyboard, I could use it for a large proportion of my needs when I’m on the move or travelling, including email, working on documents, blogging and more. For now I have a choice of carrying a laptop, or taking a Palm and external keyboard with me in addition to the iPhone, just so I can write.
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Embracing the Future: keynote speaker at Direct Selling Assocation
By Ross DawsonTomorrow I am giving the opening keynote at the Direct Selling Association of Australia Conference 09 which is on the theme of ‘Defining our Future’.
The slides for my presentation are below. As always, these are intended to accompany my keynote, not as stand-alone slides.
The presentation includes a diverse range of examples of markets that are currently growing:
Guitars
Home renovation tools
Home gardening
Books
Cookware
Lipstick
Quality jewellery (in the case of my wife’s business www.victoriabuckley.com)
Brain fitness
Clean energy
Robots
Aged care
Mobile applications
Events (done well, in the right sectors)
I’ll write more soon about the array of growth markets that offer great opportunities at the moment.
Des Walsh video interviews at Enterprise 2.0: Chris Lampard, Jenny Williams, Peter Williams
By Ross DawsonSocial media commentator extraordinaire Des Walsh attended Enterprise 2.0 Executive Forum, and did a number of short video interviews with speakers at the event.
The first three interviews including both the blog posts and the videos are below.
Chris Lampard, Corporate Express
Des Walsh blog post on Chris Lampard interview
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Implementing Enterprise 2.0: Chapter 2 on Web 2.0 and the Enterprise
By Ross DawsonIn the wake of our recent launch of the Implementing Enterprise 2.0 report, we are providing a number of free sample chapters. For full details and all the sample chapters go to the Implementing Enterprise 2.0 website.
Chapter 2 on Web 2.0 and the Enterprise uses our extremely popular Web 2.0 Framework as a foundation.
New content includes:
* Table covering Web 2.0 tools with examples of both open web and enterprise use
* Key issues in adapting Web 2.0 tools to enterprise use.
We are keen for input into the next versions of the report, so let me know your suggestions!
Implementing Enterprise 2.0 – Chapter 2