Ever go on a business trip or vacation and find yourself downtown in a new city, trying to make your way around a maze of one way streets? Sometimes, you get so close to your destination you can see it, but you just can’t get to it. If there’s a reason for a one way street, you sure as hell don’t see it. It would make so much more sense if they would just let people go both ways, right? Conversations are no different.
Anyone who’s ever found themselves at a meeting or party, face-to-face with someone who just won’t let them get a word in edge-wise knows this feeling. Faced with a talking head, most people will be focused on making a hasty retreat, rather than anything the other is saying.
The internet is not a one way street.
I feel that the internet is more about conversations than anything else today. What began as a series of interconnected computers and evolved into a sort of directory of static knowledge has become a sort of fourth dimension of humanity. There are still plenty of organizations that view the web as another channel through which to broadcast their message, or a one way street if you will, but those organizations are missing out. They are the talking heads from which many of us are planning our escape.
Hey! Look at us! We’re on the internet! Here we are!
And that’s about the extent of it for a lot of organizations these days. “Hey! Look at us! We’re on Facebook now!” So you hit up Facebook and, sure enough, there they are, but that’s it. It’s like the internet is seen as a digital phone book. Ever think about how many of us out here in consumer land take their brand new phone books and throw them directly into the recycle bin when they arrive? If you’re treating your online presense as little more than a directory listing, you’re not providing any real value and a lot of people aren’t bothering with a second glance.
The internet is a two-way street.
Well, it’s more like an eleventy-billion way street, but you get the point (I hope). People want a choice in how they reach their destination. They want answers and they want to get to those answers in the most convenient way possible. Worse than being on a one-way street that forces your customers to go around the block in order to get to your door, what if your customers show up and the door is locked?
Be a good driver!
Roll your windows down (try putting the top down!). Make eye contact. Smile. Wave. Help someone with a flat tire. Let the other guy go ahead of you at the intersection once in a while. Think about it…
