You have arrived at the web home of Noah Brier. This is mostly an archive of over a decade of blogging and other writing. You can read more about me or get in touch. If you want more recent writing of mine, most of that is at my BrXnd marketing x AI newsletter and Why Is This Interesting?, a daily email for the intellectually omnivorous.
All we hear is how small is the new big. Here's the truth: It's not.
Small is still the same old small. It's just more scalable than ever. Data's cheap and so is computing power. It's easier than ever to deliver customization and personalization.
The tides have shifted, we are in control.
People are dreaming "of talking directly to a business and sharing my personal data; where I am valued for this and rewarded with tailored/cutsomized services that design out assumptions and waste. And they are rewarded with my attention."
Scale used to dictate that everything must be equal, all products the same. It's not the case any longer.
The internet is redefining things. People are not content to have their world defined for them.
Not all of us feel this way. 80% are content to consume. We know what they want.
1% are content to be superusers. They create for creation's sake.
19% are stuck in the middle. They are passively active.
They are constantly passively creating content. They might not think of it that way, but the metadata footprint they leave is their blog. They have friends on Myspace and favorite videos on YouTube. They share pictures and post on forums.
Screw the 'consumer generated content' the advertising industry has declared. This one's the real deal. Millions of people are leaving their number and waiting for a call.
It's not about slapping ads on things, it's about thinking small and letting go.
Give me what I want and you'll be richly rewarded.
Update (9/8/06): Brad Feld on the other 19%.
Update (9/11/06): Organic on the 'new influencer.'