I think we are at an impasse of sorts these days.
There is a tremendous push and desire to get the SMB (small and medium business) market more involved in the online space. Of course, it would be fun to think that it is because there is great concern for the SMB community but that’s not the case. There is a lot of potential business there so there’s money to be made. Hey, it’s called capitalism.
There is only one thing getting in the way of this truly happening and I’ll call it the Great Geek Canyon. This great divide between SMB and technology is wide, deep and a huge river runs through it. Getting from one side (where the geeks run free) to the other (where the SMB lives) requires something that few have been able to provide. Maybe no one has yet actually.
It’s called communication. It’s talking to the SMB (particularly those 40 years old and above) in a language that uses primarily regular English words and limited acronyms. It’s a language that is direct, open and accessible to all.
It’s language that never uses the term ‘title tag’. It’s a language that never uses the term ‘social media marketing’. It’s a language that would never use the term ‘location based service’. It’s a simple language that people still use when they do that trite rite of the past; shake hands.
Do you bridge the gap between geek and business? If not you may just be speaking a foreign language so you better brush up your geek to English translation. Otherwise, you may have nothing to talk about.
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I haven’t met with a new client in sometime, but have certainly run into this. I try to remind myself on the way over to just speak English. Sames goes for devotions for the family. We were reading the lineage of Jesus in Matthew and my wife pointed out that the younger kids don’t know what the word lineage means.
Speak to their level, but also work on bringing them up so that they do understand the language. :O)
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