The Power of Being Transparent
One of the things that becomes very clear when you begin conducting business online is the need to be open and honest about what you are doing. There are simply too many eyes upon your every action as you unfold your online presence to consider for even a moment trying to hide anything. And if you have any desires to create effective word-of-mouth marketing, it is imperative that you begin sharing information as soon as possible with those who express an interest in what you are doing!
As we have evolved BigIdeaGuru.com across the past several weeks, this reality has become increasingly apparent to us. While we intended to develop the site quietly and release it when we were ready, the fact is that many of you found it long before we were ready for you.
For example, one day we popped up an initial entry on this blog to allow us to test it out and work on the design, layout, and so forth. Then within a few hours a a visitor who found the blog posted a comment. So we hid the page and did some more work, then revealed it again while we were testing out our RSS feed and almost instantly another comment was posted.
While it was gratifying to see the interest, it was also challenging. Our action plan called for the Blog to appear and become public on March 1st, and we were simply not ready to deliver content or to respond earlier. But we also realized that in an online instantaneous world, we needed to respond quickly or risk a negative perception that could stifle our efforts completely.
A similar issue emerged when we were testing our members area…an area that we planned to roll out on March 14th. About one hour into our test we noticed that we had several people who had already signed up. It was an interesting development, since there was viritually nothing available to access, and there was no description of any benefits or services. But people found the sign up form and decided to join.
These two situations taught us an important lesson that is worth sharing because it impacts all of us in business today, and that is the power of being transparent.
Here’s how we define the concept: being transparent means being comfortable enough about what you are doing to share the details, warts and all, with the people you serve. It’s about being completely open and honest with your cutomers. It’s about sharing the pitfalls and the successes with those who are interested in what you are creating. And it’s about being comfortable with the uncertainty that can emerge from talking about your plans as they are evolving on a day-to-day basis.
In this spirit of transparency, let me share an update with you on where we are heading with BigIdeaGuru.com and what you can expect in the weeks and months ahead:
- The Idea Blog. Yesterday we formally opened the blog with a simple welcome message and our plan is to post 3-4 entries per week, and to respond to comments, feedback, and ideas that are shared by our readers. Tomorrow’s entry will be the first post that we put up when we were testing, along with the comments from our readers. Entries that follow will focus on a variety of topics that have relevance to our focus…engaging entrepreneurs, growing business leaders, and independent professionals in an ongoing dialogue regarding ideas they can use to grow their business and lead their teams.
- Ideas That Matter Online Magazine. On March 14th we will unveil the first issue of our online magazine called Ideas That Matter. Each issue will feature content in three core areas:
- Leadership;
- Service; and
- Strategy
Each of these areas will feature a podcast with an expert or a business leader, along with a feature article from the guest and a transcript of the podcast. Additional feature areas will include: BIG Ideas of the Month, The BIG Bookshelf, Recommended Resources, and a variety of reader driven sections, such as a Q&A area, a Reader’s Ideas area, and a Case Studies area.
- Big Idea Gurus Club. This membership club will debut near the end of the month to provide entrepreneurs, growing business leaders, and independent professionals with access to resources they can use each month. It will include a subscription to Profitable Ideas, a monthly DVD and Audio program for members, a private forum, an idea-focused wiki, and monthly tele-seminars and Q&A sessions for members.
- Learning Packages. Several learning packages are currently in development that will support the growth of your business and the development of your leaders. These will be released across the next 6-9 months and will include home study packages, online learning tools, and tele-seminars.
Let’s stop there for now. We have more on the way, but this is probably more transparency than you needed at this point…but it does illustrate the concept and the power of being open about what you are planning and how it will help those you are seeking to serve.
One final thought: As you begin your path to becoming more transparent, don’t underestimate the power of stating publicly what you are planning…it makes you more accountable AND it helps you to attract the people and resources you need to create your vision. So go forth and unleash the power of being transparent in your business!
