A shortage of digital coaches
Here are three things that are true:
1. Digital technology, especially computers and cell phones, can dramatically increase productivity.
2. More and more users of digital technology are small firms or individuals.
3. The vast majority of users of digital technology are totally lame in getting the most out of the investment of their time and money.
"Oh, I didn’t know I could do that."
"You mean I don’t have to manually type my address book in by hand?"
"There are graphs in Excel?"
"Gmail is free?"
Here’s what I haven’t found: people who charge $100 an hour to hear what you do and how you do it and then show you how to do it better. People who organize data and put it in the right place. People who overhaul the way small groups use technology so they can use it dramatically better. People who use copilot to take over a PC and actually rearrange it so that it works better.
More examples: Teach people to back up. Show them how to check their email on the road. Help them understand how to use online networking when it’s appropriate (and warn them when it’s not). Show a restaurant how to use OpenTable to keep the place full, or to use a blog (with an RSS feed) to easily communicate with loyal customers. Teach a company to keep tabs on itself with Technorati.
This is a growth area. The tools are finally in place to market yourself, and even better, the productivity increases you can produce for $500 or $1,000 are not just valuable, they’re actually priceless.
I bet you’re out there. I bet there are people looking for you. Show yourself on this showcase for digital coaches…