Hail entrepreneurs and marketers! I’m curious, have you noticed the shift? In recent years we've gone from selling “stuff” to selling experiences. This has been coming for a while but the transition is almost complete. You can find the roots in our recent abundance that triggered our shared awakening. Now that our basic needs are fulfilled, what next? I believe it’s the fully realized self.
So in the end, all we really sell is the realized self. So much is standing between us and that “self”. Our bodies, our habits, our diet, our activity, our thoughts. We need help. Underneath all this crap is a unique and, just maybe, magical being.
This pure self is what we all seek. But we can’t do it alone. We need to help to get there. It’s a massive collaboration. Essentially the internet is the playground for that collaboration. Not just the old internet trapped behind a screen. We are being connected via an increasingly screenless Internet.
The “internet of things” has begun intersecting our lives at an intimate level. We know the only way to create change is to change thoughts and habits. Recent movements like the “quantified self” are enabling awareness and change. This is not a fad but our new reality. This presents an even bigger opportunity than the screen-bound internet. So how do you cash in? By creating awareness and changing behaviors. By helping others live better lives.
So the more you help others realize their potential the more you will have to gain. But here’s the rub, those that have success will be increasingly held to a higher and higher standard. The next generation of entrepreneurs and marketers will be forced to be far more virtuous than the present or past.
This is because they will experience an unheard of level of openness and transparency. Which means accountability, which can be bad for sales.
So how do you navigate this new world? How do you sell the realized self and not screw up?
We must become worthy of our customers and employees. We must set the example of a fully realized self, show how our product or service has changed our lives. But it isn’t really a product or service we are selling, it’s a cause.
Companies without causes will be lost in a world of infinite choice. If following that cause hasn’t changed your life for the better then why should I bother? To sell the fully realized self we must first practice what we preach.
The challenge is set, all businesses must answer the question- what helped you that could help me? How can you change me for the better?