MBAB: It’s all about me
It’s all about me.
Well, not me exactly but you too. Let me digress a moment.
In the good old days, there was a writer, an editor and a reader. The reader pretty much took whatever the writer and editor cooked up and delivered. That content was sandwiched between advertisements and we were pretty much captive readers if we wanted that information.
With television, we started with a few channels and were still pretty much captive audiences. The ads were delivered right alongside the content and we were still captive to the content-ad delivery.
Then somebody invented the boon to all guys – the remote controller. Now we could channel surf during commercials and never have to watch one again. Except that of course all the commercials are pretty much on at the same time. Still captive.
Then we had the 500 channel universe explode on us and combining that with the remote, cable tv specialty channels and a bit of creative taping or tivo, and we never had to watch an entire commercial again. Commercials changed – become more like stories and entertainment in hopes of capturing our attention. But the days of captive audiences had ended.
Now the Internet is the main source of information. And for all intents and purposes, this is an infinite amount of information, entertainment and social networking freely available to all. There is ultimate choice. And the ultimate remote controller is now the mouse.
So how does this tie in to being all about me?
It only takes the average visitor 3 seconds (or less) to decide if your website or blog is “about them”.
If your website is about you, then they leave. If it is about them – then they might stay a bit longer and evaluate your content.
Fact of life #1 on the Net. You no longer control the information channel – your visitor – your customer controls that channel by giving you or removing their attention from your website or product.
If your website is about them – meets their needs – then they’ll reward you with their attention. If it’s about you – and they don’t care about you – then they click away.
And oh yeah, the younger the audience, the worse this phenomena is. If you think older consumers are quick on the mouse – you ain’t seen nothing yet.
When I have that mouse in my hand – it’s all about me.
So what’s that do to your blog or commercial website?
