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Aug 08
2009
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The GatekeepersPosted by Administrator in Management , Knowledge , Information , Influence , Ideas , customer engagement , business |
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The Gatekeepers
Maurie the doorman stands with his arms crossed outside the football teams locker room and lets the TV Crew enter. It wasn't like that in the old days he thinks to himself.
Gatekeeper (plural gatekeepers)
- A person who guards or monitors passage through a gate
- A person or group who controls access to something or somebody
- A common butterfly, Pyronia tithonus.
From the earliest days of society we built walls around our towns and cities to stop attacks and keep our people and businesses safe.
In most sports, arts and business we have also have gatekeepers - those burly guards at the door of football team locker rooms, nightclub or building; the Artist Manager; the CEO's Secretary or Personal Assistant filtering calls, interruptions and potential time wasters. All diligently protecting the jewel from the masses.
As people we also build our own walls and our own personal gatekeepers.
Emails, Advertising and Marketing Communications
Today we're all bombarded with thousands of messages per day trying to get us to do something or sell us something we mostly think we don't need.
All those messages a bit like rock star fans screaming for attention and action.
Our mind, as the gatekeeper, constantly filtering our sensory inputs for what is important.
Not everything has the same level of importance and there is ofter a difference in perspective to what is important between the sender and the gatekeeper.
Maurie has a job to do and he'll do it to the best of his ability.
More than often, the gatekeeper is unaware of the any bigger picture issues and problems but if the gate is closed then no solution can gets in.
Understanding Problems and Discovering Solutions
Every person and business has challenges - more time, more money, more happiness.
Back in the old days solutions weren't as easy to find as a Google Search but a "solution" is much more than a product or service.
What makes us select this product or service over someone else? What are the most important elements to sales and marketing success?
- A real solution to a customers problem
- Getting past the Gatekeeper
- Trust in you to deliver the solution
- The price the customer is prepared to pay
The greatest influences on our decisions - trusted Word of Mouth (WOM) referral - and that's were Digital Media Strategy (DMS) and online social media marketing comes in.
For small businesses, web investment is a Catch 22 - if you're not online, your content can't be indexed, searched, linked, shared and generate a return.
