An opportunity!? October 4, 2009
Posted by Mike in : Mike, Opportunities , add a commentI just had one walk up and sit down. In my ignorance I ignored the opportunity that was slapping me in the face and continued to prattle on about nothing. It was only when Jesse said…”our web site sucks” that I went “huh??”. Here is what happened. Jesse, the pianist from the MacPodz 
comes over and shows me two new articles from music magazines…and I was like cool…they are getting exposure. So he’s still chatting me up and I’m like…okay…whaz he still doing here. I’m not that cute and I know he’s straight.
So when Jesse said “Mike what do you do again with computers”, and I give him the spiel, and he has to reply “WE NEED A WEB DESIGNER!“, that I pull my head out of my ass and go “OH!!…so whatcha lookin for?”. Turns out their old designer “passed away” and understanding that any programmer is emotionally on the edge anyway so I’m only slightly surprised when I learned it was due to “Suicide”. Makes sense. I carry two virtual guns with me all the time and occasionally, just occasionally, I pull them out, put them to my head and go “Pkeewwwww! Pkewwwww!”. But I digress.
So how does one handle this opportunity? I said without batting an eye: “I’ll do it for free”. So why Free vs. something? It’s called penny economics. There is a great article by Chris Anderson at Wired Magazine “Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business” that discusses the second you charge 1 cent for an item, you are in a completely different business model.
Free affords one flexibility and freedom, especially when you are unsure of the payoff, which in this case will be exposure for me. “PR” is worth more than any cash that I could charge for the web development. So for the MacPodz, I sent Jese off to go get a consensus on the design of their website, and if he returns, I can look at what he has and tell him if I can do it or not. If not, no skin off my nose and I’ll point them in the right direction. If I can, I’ll pick a time limit to finish it and that includes a “frustration” factor…for if that puppy is high…I’m out.
But this post is about spotting opportunities. I believe the answer is in what is called Socratic Questioning. I learned it when I took a course in sales training at the Sandler Sales Institute. Basically, instead of popping your mouth open and spewing forth what you think they need and how you can help them, you step back and ask “What do you need?”, “What is wrong with your website now?”, and let them tell you. Common sense I know, but like that rule of “no crossing railroad tracks when the lights are flashing”, people do it all the time.
When you see the eyes of the listener staring blankly at you and their lips aren’t moving, just stop with whatever your saying and say: “Sorry I’m prattling on…did you have something in mind?” That one question will open a dialog were a great opportunity may be hiding.
