So can you. Well. Umm. Dumb it down? Make it a little less... errr... how can I put this nicely?... errrr... cryptic?
You know. Perhaps retell the story without the numbers? You see I was never good at maths at school and well... all those equations and those charts. It makes the brain hurt. And let's face it if you are looking for a larger audience you are not going to make a connection just using numbers.
And what about those diagrams? You know they are kinda confusing. Don't get me wrong. I like the colours. Colours are cool. Just not so bright. And as for all those circles and arrows. Look if I was looking for circles and arrows I be playing darts down the local pub.
The other thing I'm not really keen on is all those fancy words. Why can't you just use plain English to tell the story? These new words? Well they just make the head hurt don't they? Simple words tell a simple story. Let's keep it simply can't we?
And by simple I don't mean songs or rhymes. Forget the songs. You seem to forget that your audience is overwhelmingly American males, 25 to 35 years old professionals. And you serve them up songs their mothers listen to? I mean what's the connection there? And what about that reference to the Big Gig. Really. Tell me what was that all about?
No simple words tell simple stories that simple people can connect with. You seriously need to think about dumbing this down. So people can understand what your message is.
Besides you and I both know that all they want to know is how can they make money out of this.
They're not interested in thinking. They're not interested in numbers. They're interested in dollars. They're here to find out how to make a quick buck. The question on everybody's mind is: Tell me just how do you make money out of it?
So you really want to know? Simple words for simple people? A slogan for the times? The perfect sound bite? The all gain no pain recipe on how to profit from a networked world?
Answer me three questions and I might just tell you.
Question 1. What problem did the Telephone solve?
You can make a phone call?
No. The simple answer is distance. the telephone solved the problem of distance. You didn't need to be in the same room with somebody to have a conversation.
Next question. What problem did the computing industry solve?
You can write a letter?
No the typewriter and pen and ink before that had already solved that one.
Give up?
The answer is memory. The computing industry solved the memory problem more efficiently than a bookshelf, an archival room or a filing cabinet. The problem was in doing so it created a new one. The problem of discovery. Now you have a box full of memories how do you find the memory you are looking for?
OK. Final question. Converge telecommunications and computers and what is the problem you have solved?
Struggling? You may have to think hard on this one. Move outside your comfort zone.
Try turning it into a logic equation. Distance + Memory = ?
You have solved the problem of distance between memories? But I didn't know that was a problem.
Exactly. It wasn't. At least until the Internet came along.
And yet we read everyday about the enormous opportunities that the Internet has created. What gives?
The reality is the Internet hasn't solved a problem. But it has magnified the original problem of having a box full of memories. So. To cut a long story short. Solve the discovery problem, or at least create the illusion of having an answer to the problem, and you have the answer to your simple question.
What question?
How do you make money out of...?
But hasn't Google already solved that problem?
See now you are getting the hang of it.
You mean that on the network of memories Discovery = $$$$?
No. That in a world full of answers it helps if you begin your journey by asking the right questions...