Better than everyone

Clay Shirky reminds us that the media business has changed. Forty years ago, your TV show only had to be better than two other shows–not every show, just the shows on the other channels. Today, of course, with a million choices, each show earns the attention it gets in every single moment.

As I wrote in the Dip a few years ago, the only way your business wins in Google world is to be the best available option, where "best" means best for the person searching for an answer, and "available option" means everything. (Best doesn't mean most expensive or exclusive, it merely means the best choice for me, right now. You don't have to be happy about how much competition you have, but it helps to admit it.)