A few years ago, I met entrepreneurs at networking events who were creating exciting new products. I realized during these conversations that many could have used a consultant with user experience and marketing expertise like me on their team. I think these entrepreneurs did too.
We'd have great conversations brainstorming ideas and solutions. Many of these founders were changing industries. Personally, I love working on projects like these, create a product from simply an idea and see it go to market and make money. However, the end result of these conversations was often the same. After about 10-15 minutes of intense brainstorming, right where the boundary between free ideas and paid, implementable ideas lies, I would see their faces change. Excitement, hope, and promise faded to silence. Often, these founders had little to no budget available for my services. They were nice people, so rather than pretend that there was an opportunity for me and get more free ideas out of me, they found a gracious way to exit the conversation, suddenly needing a beer or a sandwich. We'd connect on LinkedIn, but that was that.
After these conversations, I often felt that I failed. But I didn't feel that I failed as a business owner. In business you want to find people who can pay you. I felt that I failed as a person who couldn't help them achieve their dream and help us both succeed. I felt that my design mind should have been able to create a solution for this problem, but I wasn't sure what would work best.
After about 6 months of these incidents, I knew that I needed to offer more than consulting services for Gearmark. Something more economical and scalable.
"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together"
- Origin unclear. Possibly African or general Internet proverb.
I first encountered this quote at an Agile conference in a session about teams. I think it's overused because it's just too accurate. Teamwork is always the answer. Even in learning.
Where did this community idea come from?
I tried to create a user experience course for managers and directors twice over the past few years. I really didn't know what I was doing. I tried. I failed. I wanted to share my ideas, but I wasn't communicating them as well as I could, and I didn't understand how video really worked at the time. Until I took a course in public speaking, I didn't know how little I understood how to give a proper talk.
But hey, I tried!
So now I'm trying again - in a different way.
There was one lesson I got from HP that I will always carry with me: consensus and collaboration is key for anyone to achieve a goal. We all help each other, even though the message may not come from the expected source. Sometimes HBR resonates better with people than McKinsey or MIT Tech Review or someone's blog post. It matters less where you learned what you did; what matters is that this learning, this message, helped you achieve you goal.
This is why I want to create a community.
Not only is it great for the members to learn in a community environment, but I learn from them too. We are all learning and sharing knowledge to help each other succeed. On all teams, everyone has something to contribute. A link. An idea. A thought. A video. Sometimes, a comment can give you a new perspective that you never considered and inspire you to finish a project.
Here's how I describe the Gearmark community on the site.
The Gearmark Community is a place where you can learn how to create great customer relationships through exceptional customer experiences. The best learning happens from others.
Knowledge comes from everyone sharing their experiences, information, and insights. Why learn alone when we can learn together?
But it's not up to the community alone to do this. We'll also be available to answer questions and participate in conversations to provide help and advice.
Who would benefit most from the community?
Anyone who feels that their business isn't meeting its potential, but they aren't sure why.
Anyone working alone or who feels like they are working in a bubble when creating a customer experience.
Anyone working in a company that doesn't support this style of thinking, but feels this is the right approach.
The Gearmark Community is a great place to find other like-minded professionals who want to create great experiences. Connect with other marketers, sales, UX and CX professionals to stay current about trends, results, and what's coming next.
Let's learn together so we all win.
Special introductory rate.
If you are an entrepreneur or solopreneur who feels you need more focused guidance, I offer a special startup package. I won't be writing your marketing plan, but I will help you identify elements that you can use to build a better customer relationship and get you started on your business. Email me or contact me through social media for more information.
What else is coming soon near you?
I plan on creating more ways for leaders to learn about customer experience. So much is coming in 2019 - it's crazy!
- My new book, Revenue or relationships? Win both. A customer experience primer to shift your perspective of business, will be released in early 2019.
- A new webinar to complement the book (of course!)
- I'll be launching a 4 week course in February, What are your customers telling you that you aren’t hearing? This course will look at how your metrics are giving you a wealth of customer information - if you are listening.
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