Forty-one years ago, my Mum was six months pregnant, and probably starting to get a little uncomfortable. A few months later I was born and turned my parent’s lives upside down.
For a first child there’s a predictable pattern of shock, intense anxiety, the start of routines and then problem-solving. The problem-solving is endless.
Perhaps, forty years ago, my Mum discovered a really good way to get me to sleep when I was teething. Most likely she would have shared it with some close friends, and if the idea was a good one, they in turn would have shared it with their friends and so on. 1970’s noline viral marketing.
But how many people could my Mum’s great idea reach? Tens? Hundreds? Thousands?
More importantly, if you had no connection with my Mum, and even lived in a different part of the same city, the chance of you stumbling across the tip was as good as zero.
Today the internet has changed everything. Today everyone is a publisher, and even the most non-technical of people with access to a PC can share their thoughts, tips, ideas and experiences with the whole world.
I recently noted that thanks to the growth of the internet, and its incredible expansion from the computer to our pockets, we now have access to the largest collection of information in the history of our world. A hive mind or collective consciousness if you will.
As sellers of products and services, the collective consciousness also poses a problem. The sheer quantity of information means that making a splash is almost impossible. A new Mother might well be able to share her experiences and tips with the world, but so will many thousands of others.
When you’re big enough to be noticed by many, the snowball effect will start to kick in. The more people you see and impress, the more will start talking about you and linking to you.
But how do you go from Mum with some good ideas to Metropolitan Mum? How do you go from being a software startup to OnStartups?
Dharmesh Shah certainly got it right.
But what if the next Seth Godin is somewhere out there waiting to be heard? How do you make the initial splash big enough to be noticed in an ocean?
Thoughts, as always, are welcome in the comments below.
