Zipf’s Law tells us that something that ranks #1 in a category often sells 100 times as well as the item ranked #100. Human nature makes that likely–we want to read the most popular book, hire the most successful speaker, travel to the most desired place.
Which means that the category you’re in matters.
The New York Times doesn’t have one bestseller list, it has many. Hardcover and paperback, sure, but also non-fiction, fiction and "advice, how to and miscellaneous." When one book threatens to dominate a category (as Harry Potter did) they invent a new one just for that book.
This week’s Times reports that James Frey’s controversial book is still "non-fiction" (with a disclaimer) and that Malcolm Gladwell’s fine books continue to be non-fiction as well (though mine are considered advice, how-to or miscellaneous, not sure which, not sure why). Dave Barry, surprisingly, doesn’t write humor (which is miscellaneous, right?) or even advice (his new book parodies money books) but is, in fact, non-fiction.
It matters at the Times because the advice category is the most competitive and also the shortest.
The reason you should care about all this: you are in a category too. So is your organization.
And you have a lot of influence over what category you’re going to be placed in.
For example, there are a lot of software products (fireclick, hitbox, etc.) that measure analytics. Unfortunately for these guys, in the very same category is Google analytics, which is free. Google is now the official short head of analytics, and as long as you are in the same category as they are, you’re in trouble.
For example, there are a lot of software engineers looking for jobs. And some of those engineers have absolutely stellar backgrounds and great skills. As long as you are in the same category as they are (and there’s only one slot available) then they get the short head advantage.
For example, there are a lot of blogs. Blogs that invent brand-new categories grow far faster than those that just live in an existing category.
Sometimes you want to be in a category unto yourself. This works with blogs or (sometimes) with blockbuster movies (ask Mel Gibson).
Squidoo was most intentionally placed in the Web 2.0 category. Not because it changed what the service does, but because the attributes and attention of that category were both a good fit and moving in the right direction (up). If you can join a category that is already generating conversations, you’re more likely to get talked about.
Other times, you want to be in a category with a lot of churn that is proven popular. Like non-fiction books or cosmetics for teenagers. Here, the current short head leader won’t last long, and if you’re in the right line, you might be next.
What you don’t want to do, it seems to me, is not pay attention to which category you are in. Pick your category and live and breathe and act appropriately for that category. Choose wrong (the way Pringles potato chips did) it might take years or longer for people to notice and embrace what you’ve built.
February 13, 2006
My friend Brian sent me a stack of chocolate he picked up in London. Besides being amazing (and I don’t use the term lightly), the packaging is brilliant.
It communicates all the right messages, tells a story and is easy to share–the story and the chocolate! Thanks, Brian.
February 11, 2006
Darren Devitt points us to (warning, gratuitous bathing suits in February alert): Heidi Klum’s Search for Top Models: When Super Skinny Is "Too Fat" – International – SPIEGEL ONLINE – News.
Scroll down to the bottom and you’ll notice a technorati link.
One of the most popular newspapers in Europe is now pointing its readers to what people all over the world are saying about the subjects of their stories. For each and every story.
PS I picked the racy example, not Darren
Here’s what person to person organic growth looks like (from alexa.org). This is one of the most popular sites on the web. No giant promotions, no SuperBowl ads. It’s so classic, it could be in a textbook.
I’ll let you know which site next week.
February 10, 2006
So, of course, the Eata Pita parable below is part of a bigger story.
How many organizations don’t hear?
I don’t mean the counterpeople and the customer service reps. I mean, how many organizations are organized to actually allow customers and prospects to share their insights and feedback?
Second, how many of those organizations have management that bother to listen to the feedback? Or employees that are empowered to do something with it?
And finally, once an organization listens, does it actually do something about what it comes across?
Insert [political party, relgious order, non-profit, for profit, teacher, school board, insurance company] here. Do they Hear, Listen and then Act?
Lunch today was supposed to be at Eata Pita in the basement of Grand Central Station. I was there early, there was no line.
"I’d like some hummus and a whole wheat pita, please. With hot sauce and some lettuce if you can. Thanks."
The guy just looked at me.
No surprise. I mean, it’s like Grand Central Station in there sometimes. He couldn’t hear me.
So, I repeated myself. He smiled, scooped up some hummus, added some lettuce and started to close up the container.
"Could I have some hot sauce, please?… and a whole wheat pita?"
He hadn’t been listening.
He smiled and put the hot sauce on the hummus, sealed it up and gave it to the cashier, and then walked away. He obviously heard my repeated request for a whole wheat pita, but didn’t take action.
The cashier looked at me with the universal, "I was standing here but didn’t listen or hear and have no idea what you just ordered" expression. "A hummus with whole wheat pita," I said, helpfully.
She rang me up. No pita.
"Can I have a whole wheat pita please?"
She turned around, grabbed a wrapped pita from the top shelf, smiled, and put it in the bag. I went to the train. Opened my lunch as we pulled away. Not a whole wheat pita. A poisoned white bread pita, food of the oppressors!
Sigh.
The folks at Eata Pita don’t get the Hearing, Listening, Action scenario.
You get it, it’s obvious. So why don’t they?
Nice piece on CNN yesterday.
And a new lens designed to make it easy to buy stuff you were going to buy anyway (and some stuff you didn’t imagine you’d ever want), with all royalties going straight to JDRF. Squidoo : Helping the fight against diabetes. One lens that does that won’t make much difference, but what if every person reading this built one supporting a favorite charity (more charities coming soon, by the way).
PS check out this lens on the church burnings. I had no idea people would use Squidoo to work on problems like this one. Breathtaking.
Dave Balter invited an author inside of his company to blog about what’s happening. No filters (okay, a few filters, but not many): 90 Days of BzzAgent.
I’ve known Dave a while, and I can tell you that he’s more interested in reading the blog than in having you read it. Like Jay Chiat, Dave is really interested in the process, not just the results.
That’s the number one request (other than, "pass the salad dressing") of most of the people I meet.
The problem, of course, is in the "get." The request has at its foundation the assumption that what you’ve built has somehow earned attention. "Our business model is working great–we just need more traffic…"
People never say, "how can I earn more traffic?" or "How can I rethink the core of what I’m offering so that it organically attracts people who want to see it?"
Getting traffic is a little like getting a date. You can probably manipulate the system for a little while (I had a roommate in college who was great at it) but self-reinvention is a markedly better long-term strategy.
February 9, 2006
That was one of two reactions to a study published in JAMA yesterday. The study, which tracked 50,000 women for decades, found no connection between a low fat diet and cancer or heart disease. (pop summary)
If you’re like me and you run screaming from a donut, you couldn’t help but take the position that Dean Ornish took. The study was "deeply flawed" from the outset because the fat-content
reduction was too low, he said. "It didn’t ask participants to do much to begin
with.”
And the other reaction? "Let’s go to Krispy Kreme!"
If a $415 million study, one sponsored by National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and featured in the Journal of the American Medical Association isn’t sufficient to change the minds of people who care about their health…
…what chance is there that a banner ad or direct mail letter or TV commercial is going to change anyone’s preconceptions about what you sell?
It’s a lot easier to leverage a worldview than it is to change one.
February 8, 2006
