Are You Special?

[Phil Tanny]

Being a truly special writer is a true challenge, and one we're unlikely to meet if our attention is focused elsewhere.

Back in 1995 people thought I was a NASA engineer because I could upload images to a web server. I kinda thought that too. :-)

Obviously things have changed a lot since then, and my NASA security clearance pass has been revoked.

Over the last 15 years lots of NASA wannabe nerds like myself have been working hard, and webmastering tools have become ever more powerful and easier to use.

What's coming next?



Is Your Website Worthless?

If it hasn't happened already, someday soon your dog will be able to push a few buttons and create a really professional looking website with all the latest high tech features. ARF!! ARF!!

What this means of course is that every webmaster in the world will have a really slick website and thus, having a really slick website will mean nothing. Nothing at all.

Those of you who are old enough will remember when having a fancy looking business card was a badge of status. Now the universal reaction is, who the heck cares, what a bore. Fancy business cards almost annoy people now.

This same cultural shift is coming soon to all the websites of the world. We have a website, it looks really great, and who the heck cares.



Wait, It Gets Worse...

Thanks to the amazing information sharing power of the net, everybody has access to the same business strategy information.

Sure, the market will change over time, and new strategies will emerge. But as soon as they do, 18 minutes later every webmaster in the world will be able to know about the new techniques.

Some will adopt the new techniques sooner, and thus will prevail for a time. But sooner or later, just about everybody gets on board, and the early adopter advantage is lost.

The competitive advantage brought by new strategies is very perishable, and those who rely on being early adopters are imprisoned within a never ending and exhausting chase for the latest greatest thing.



What Does All This Mean?

If having a fancy website gives us no competitive advantage...

If having a fancy business strategy gives us limited advantage...

What else do we have that we can use to....

- distinguish ourselves,

- overcome mediocrity,

- emerge above the crowd,

- create a valuable brand,

- and build an audience?



What's Our Secret Weapon?

Our secrete weapon is us.

We're the only thing that we can bring to the table that everybody else doesn't already have.

The great irony is that the amazing technical and information power of the net is steadily rendering technical and information assets less relevant as competitive tools, and all we're going to have to compete with in an unfolding future is our personal human qualities.



So What Do We Do?

How do we prepare for this future, where our unique human qualities will ever more be the key business battle ground?

One thing I can tell you for sure is that this NASA wannabe nerd geek guy will not be leading the charge in the personal development era that is coming. That just wouldn't be a nerdly thing to do.

But I will stick my neck out and say this.

Over 90% of everything we are reading across the webmaster niche is preparing us for a quickly vanishing past, not the future.

There's a largely unspoken truth that most of us know in our hearts, but perhaps just aren't quite ready to deal with yet.

The majority of things that we webmasters spend our time doing and talking about are actually a place to hide from the very demanding job of meeting the coming challenge of personal development.

Perhaps the most constructive thing we can do is sweep our schedules clean of as much of this noisy busy work as we can, find a quiet place inside ourselves, and face the question squarely..



Are We Special?

How are we going to be special, truly special?

Net readers will become ever more jaded over time, and thus will increasingly demand something special.

Net readers will also become ever more sophisticated over time, and will be able to smell someone faking it a mile away. Those of us trying to fake being special will be swept away in the social media tornado.

Being a truly special writer is a true challenge, and one we're unlikely to meet if our attention is focused elsewhere.

PS: I've been asked to report I wrote this post.

[Phoenyx]

LOL I didn't mean it that way

There is a lot of truth in this. When I read posts or articles, I can't help wondering if they are writing to tell me something, teach me something, or just get me to buy a product. I don't like it when people make my decisions for me at all. I like to write, I love to read, but if what I read sounds more like a sales pitch than someone trying to help me make an informative choice? Kinda makes me move on to the next post, article, sales pitch.

[Phil Tanny]

Hi Phoenyx,

Yes, good point, sometimes the harder we try to sell, the behinder we get.

I wrote this post all by myself. No, really, I did! :-)

[Phoenyx]

I know. It's just a safeguard here at IMT, I hope I didn't offend

LMAO yep. people don't realise that the best way to chase a client away is to try shove something down their throats, when they don't need it.

[Phil Tanny]

I know. It's just a safeguard here at IMT, I hope I didn't offend

No problem at all. No worries, you're just doing your job. And now we're having some fun with it.

LMAO yep. people don't realise that the best way to chase a client away is to try shove something down their throats, when they don't need it.

Our local public radio, which I've listened to for decades now, has hired a guy to come on every ten minutes to say in his sing song ad voice, "YOU'RE LISTENING TO WRUF-FM, IT'S GREAT, YOU'RE GONNA REALLY LOVE IT!" Every time I hear his voice, I turn the radio off.

I wrote this post too!

Well, ok, ok, my mom helped me with part of it. :-)

[Phoenyx]

LOL your mom has talent. I can see where you get it from.

It's all over nowdays, not just radio, tv, the internet. It's as if people are trying their darndest to sell something no matter what the cost. Even if someone doesn't really need the product / service, they will find a way.

[Phil Tanny]

LOL your mom has talent. I can see where you get it from.

Mom says thanks!

It's all over nowdays, not just radio, tv, the internet. It's as if people are trying their darndest to sell something no matter what the cost. Even if someone doesn't really need the product / service, they will find a way.

I know, I know, I HATE that!!

Hey, would you like to buy this post? I'll give you a great deal!! If you buy 4 posts now, I'll give you the next 3 posts for the price of 9!! Sure, you might think you don't need this post, but what if you suddenly discovered you did, and then you didn't have it! That would be a shame! ORDER NOW!! Or my mom might write even more posts like this!

C'mom Mom, cut it the heck out!!

[Phoenyx]

heads for the tiny little white "x" on the page......

It makes me wonder, is it a survival tactic, wanting more money, or do they feel that the end is nigh and every product must go before midnight?

I just don't get why people use haste in their adverts. if I didn't need it five minutes ago, the world surely won't end if I don't get it in the next five... (OMG did I just say that?) lol

[Phil Tanny]

It makes me wonder, is it a survival tactic, wanting more money, or do they feel that the end is nigh and every product must go before midnight?

I dunno. I guess a certain kind of person just gets great satisfaction from feeling they are getting other people to do what they want them to do.

[futurem]

Ummm.. my head is spinning from this post. Can i comment here? Ill buy your moms post and raise you three vouchers where i promise to never post on your post.... My only question is.. Do you take post it notes as payment or cancled post stamps?

Hey.. i got to post somethin too you know... xoxo

[Phil Tanny]

I really don't know honestly, you'll have to talk to the post man.

[futurem]

Lol....
Nice..

Im tryn to work out a deal with him in exchange for some food stamps....