Business.
Just the sound of the word kinda get’s to me.
It feels like it’s somewhere elderly old barons in suits belongs.
Not me.
I would though, if business was something more than business.
If marketing was something more than using spreading noisy messages to potential clients.
If employees was something companies embraced.
If businesses could change from one day to another.
They can’t - because they are businesses.
if you look inside an organisation - how many people do you think are actually working to embrace new ideas - to make their clients happy, to create products that are worth buying ?…
And how many people sit around and actually lives their life being core of the business and the controling factor of the employees ? For business to change we need to create a business environment that is suited for changes. For every person within the company to take a ball and run with it…

Now please help me out and go and vote for it so I can get to write the manifesto…

oh this is crossposted on henrietteweber.com

So in the process of relaunching the casa del Toothless Tiger on the web, I have written an manifesto that I believe I work and live by. Anyway before implementing it to the new webpage, I would like you guys to give me some input. (you can get a sneak preview of the new toothless tiger if you ask me nicely)

I really hope that you’ll be able to recognize all of Toothless Tiger in the manifesto, and I hope you will give me feedback if there is something I’m missing.

so here goes :

Toothless Tiger: marketing school of Rock, web and communities

We are firm believers that the business of business is not business anymore.

We believe that the nature of the web is anarchistic, and the company needs to embrace this nature and live by the premises of the web. The web in essence is rebellic and a huge playground of undiscovered potential for businesses that dare to embrace it and enjoy the chaos.

what do you think ? - is it “Toothless”?

Huge thank to everyone ( especially Mark Wubben) who has helped me come to this short manifesto…

Seth Godin wrote a blogpost the other day about getting closer to the pain of the customer.

Meaning that if something is scarce - people will pay more for the product.

John backs it up by saying:

The customer who has a scarcity of time will value convenience.

The customer who has a scarcity of contacts will value network effects.

I don’t know where my scarcity lies right now, what I am searching for at this point of my life is “substance”…

I am so sick and tired of people and businesses who doesn’t have substance and who are just living day by day without any greater vision. They don’t contribute to a better cause, and when they do, it’s to take advantage of it… these companies are sleek and smiley, probably really good business people, but - when you get to be in their presence for a while, you can see it’s a fad….

My problem is… that they are not in business because of the better of the world or the better of their co-worker or employees or anybody.. they are in business because they are all about business…

Business + personality+ attitude + loving thy neighbour = a business full of substance and meaning

Business without the above is just “business emptyness” - nothing except a product and a framework to make money… gah…

In the movie “almost famous” ( one of my absolute favorite movies) the leadguitarist with mystique is looking for something “real” and decided to go to a party with a bunch of teenagers on acid. He’s tired of the “industry of cool” - so he goes somewhere completely different - to people who admire and love him for who he is.

I love some parts of the “industry of cool” - and there’s a lot of really good companies in business everywhere - but I have to add something to Johns list:

A business ( or a Toothless Tiger if you please) who has a scarcity of substance, will value authenticity and opinions

And I think this is one very important key for the future of business. We need real and we need it to work with the industry of cool.

When the designers did the new design for Toothless Tiger a while ago ( I know it’s not up yet - but it’s coming.) they asked me how I wanted it communicate. I found out that I am probably 70 % personality and 30 % business. Maybe even closer to 80 % personality and 20 % business.

Anyway when you get people who says that they are more than 40 % business ( I know some people who I would say was 95 % business) you really have a problem…

In February 2007 right after lift07 I claimed that web 2.0 was dead.

So I admit I was wrong.

I even made the following graphic of it:

I was sure that in my world web 2.0 would be death, because the geeks at the conferences didn’t talk about the tools of web 2.0 anymore. They talked about something else.

From experience I have found out that when the geeks stop talking about it, it’s when the cash cows are being made, and people can actually start making a living of it.

So web 2.0 didn’t die. It became mainstream and reality for a lot of companies and people.

It’s really interesting to look back at, and see that in some aspects, I was right… Just take this with you from this blogpost: When geeks stop talking about it, that’s when you should set all sails and make a living of the tendencies =)