Hugh MacLeod is busy writing collateral materials for Stormhoek—the South African winery he helps market via Geek Dinners and the bloatoshere. Here’s some of his copy:
The future of the wine business is- actually- the same as the future of all business.
The future is, of course, the internet.
But when we say ‘internet’, we’re not talking about the usual suspects: Internet retail. Vineyard websites. All the stuff we’ve seen before. Those are just virtual storefronts. Little more than electronic brochures. Those are irrelevant.
The web is not about techonolgy. The web is not about a new media to market one’s wares in. And the web is certainly not about you.
Remember the following line, first coined by Jeff Jarvis; you will need to rely on it for the rest of your life:
The web is about people.
“And the web is certainly not about you.” I wonder how non-net savvy wine merchants will like that one. I get what Hugh’s going for, but it does seem somewhat contradictory. If the web is all about people, then it is about you.
“You” as in “You who supply the markets”, Silly! 😉
I think I get what you are saying David. When you tell someone that ‘it’s not about you’, many of them will naturally get defensive and tend to curl up their nose at whatever you write next.
I wrote something similar (but in a completely different context) recently on The Garden. I said ‘It’s not about you, it’s not about me, it’s about the community. It’s about us.’.
I think you have to have some give and take and frame your argument in terms that your audience can relate to. That’s the key, because they can’t understand what they refuse to hear.