The Problem With Ready, Fire, Aim

(Ready, fire, aim wildebeest via Imagen 3/Google Gemini)

If I had to choose between acting too quickly and acting too slowly, I would choose the former. You already know I don’t like it when things never get done. But the ready, fire, aim method introduces problems of its own. Let’s look at how ready, fire, aim can adversely affect both external and internal content.

External content

If you haven’t figured it out already, I create a lot of external prospect/customer facing content. Not only for Bredemarket’s clients, but also for Bredemarket itself so I can get more clients. This blog post is an example.

Sometimes I meticulously plan a full campaign via a myriad of Asana tasks covering multiple blog and social media posts. Sometimes the entire project appears in a day or two, sometimes it takes a week, and one recent project took 3 weeks including teaser content, the main content, and follow-up content.

Yes, sometimes I meticulously plan. And other times I just do stuff.

Last Saturday I was struck with an idea for a 2 minute and 20 second landscape video about biometrics and Bredemarket. I knew it was long and many who encountered it wouldn’t watch the whole thing, but I wanted to make my statement and reserve it for bottom of funnel activities.

Only AFTER I posted the video did I realize that this was the logical second part to a 30 second video that I had previously created for biometric clients. 

If I had thought this through, I  could have started with the 30 second video, THEN introduced the longer video as the logical next step. Like a funnel, if you believe in funnels.

The proper first video

Well, better late than never.

The 30 second edition.

Watch this 30 second video that I made for Bredemarket’s biometric prospects and clients.

For Biometric Clients.

The proper second video

Hey, did you like that video? Would you like to learn more?

The 140 second edition.

Watch this 140 second video that I made for Bredemarket’s extra special biometric prospects and clients.

Biometrics and Bredemarket.

Hey, did you like that video? Learn more on my “CPA” page.

Bredemarket’s “CPA.”

Well, that’s what I should have done in the first place so I wouldn’t have to make this clumsy fix later.

But there’s still time to fix a future internal campaign before it happens.

Internal content

Because this content is internal I can’t really talk about it, but I anticipate that Bredemarket will be invited to a future event…and I am already planning NOT to attend.

There are a number of stakeholders associated with this event, and in a TLOI kind of way they will have different reactions to my non-attendance. Some of them probably don’t give a you-know-what whether I attend or not. But perhaps there are those who do care, ranging from mild curiosity about why I’m not going, to the other extreme of demanding to know how I could bypass this important event.

So I drafted three messages in case I was asked about my non-attendance: (1) a brief two-paragraph message, (2) a longer message, and (3) a detailed message which delved into my concerns.

But what if I don’t know which message to send? What if I unloaded my deepest darkest fears via the long message, when the stakeholder merely wanted to know if I had other commitments at the time of the event?

So I rewrote the messages so that they build on one another.

  • Let’s say Bob asks why I’m not attending. I would simply send Bob the first, brief message. If this satisfies Bob’s curiosity, we’re done.
  • If Bob asks more, then I will send those portions of the second message that weren’t part of the first one—namely, the 3rd and 4th paragraphs of the second message. (The first 2 paragraphs of the second message are identical to the entire first message.
  • If Bob still questions, I will unload parts of the third message on him—namely the stuff absent from the second (and first) message.

There’s my funnel. And if needed I can skip directly to the third message with certain stakeholders.

And if no one asks why I’m skipping the event, I don’t send ANY communication—and know that my decision to skip the event was the right one.

Future content

So in the future, whether creating external or internal content, I need to pause and think about how it fits into the tons of content I’ve already created.

So that I can tell the best stories.

And so I will achieve ready, aim, fire rather than ready, fire, aim.

Spilling One of My Secrets on Differentiation

(Wildebeest picture Imagen 3/Google Gemini)

I recently interviewed for a full-time position with an identity/biometrics company.

The hiring manager and I agreed that differentiation is sorely lacking in the industry.

However, the company did NOT agree that I was the person to lead their firm’s product differentiation efforts.

But this, combined with the upcoming completion of a Bredemarket project later this week, provides an opportunity.

Their loss is your gain

Bredemarket can now help others in the identity/biometric industry, including the hiring firm’s direct competitors, with THEIR differentiation—in the same way Bredemarket has differentiated other companies.

So I am going to help SOME company differentiate itself from the me-too “trust us” crowd. 

But how?

I won’t tell everything, but I will give away ONE of my secrets. 

Which isn’t a secret.

My baby’s got a not-so-secret secret

As you probably know, I like to ask questions before starting a content, proposal, or analysis project. And the first of my questions is critical for differentiation.

Why?

No…that’s the question. Why?

The life experiences of founders are very different. After all, the reason Bill Gates got into the computer business is different than the reason Steve Jobs entered the business. 

  • What if Jobs had never studied calligraphy at Reed? 
  • What if Gates had studied calligraphy at Harvard? 

The world would be very different.

Book ‘em, Danno 

I’ve written about the why question. Here’s an excerpt:

“Before I can write a case study about how your Magnificent Gizmo cures bad breath, I need to understand WHY you’re in the good breath business in the first place. Did you have an unpleasant childhood experience? Were you abandoned at the altar? WHY did you care enough to create the Magnificent Gizmo in the first place?

“Once I (and you) agree on the why, everything else will flow from that, and your own end users will benefit in the process.”

Give me that origin story and I can differentiate you and your product. Whether it’s your breath gizmo or your identity verification solution, we now have a story that your foolish inferior competitors do not have. 

THEY are just mere moneymakers. 

YOU are the enlightened giving individual solving a problem that has bugged you for years, making the world a better place.

So tell your story…and differentiate yourself!

Feeding My Niche

(AI image Imagen 3/Google Gemini)

My interests are admittedly niche (I created a YouTube video about it that most people won’t watch), but I’m still devoted to feeding the few who are also interested in this niche.

So if you’re interested in identity and technology content, ensure you’re following the Bredemarket blog and current social channels. They’ve changed since my original list and the May 2024 contraction, but…

in addition to the Bredemarket website, you can currently search for Bredemarket on Bluesky, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, the aforementioned YouTube, a well-known site that may or may not disappear in the next three weeks, and other places.

Subject to change.

Why No BOI?

(Business terrorist image Imagen 3/Google Gemini)

I asked my good buddy Google Gemini to describe the court arguments against FinCEN beneficial ownership reporting (which as of this hour is on a court-mandated hold pending a possible Supreme Court stay). Two of the items identified by Gemini are Bill of Rights related.

“Some argue the reporting requirements force businesses to disclose information about their owners, which they consider a form of compelled speech. The First Amendment protects freedom of expression, and this argument suggests the government is overstepping its bounds.”

“Critics argue that the collection of beneficial ownership information constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. They contend that this collection is overly broad and lacks sufficient justification to meet the constitutional standard of reasonableness.”

Human sources, including Engage Wealth Advisors, mention these same concerns.

So the big boys are still subject to KYC, KYB, and AML regulations, while the little boys (sole proprietors) aren’t. The ones in the middle who would have been subject to the Corporate Transparency Act remain in a state of limbo.

Of course, if an anonymous entity claimed that BOI opponents are Putin lovers who want to hide terrorist activities, those same opponents would want to know who is saying that about them. What’s good for me isn’t good for thee…

Oh BOI Again, Subject to Change

On December 23, 2024, we learned that Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting WOULD be required, albeit later than originally planned.

The next day, December 24, I wrote a Bredemarket blog post about this.

Two days later, December 26, my December 24 blog post was already outdated. 

“On December 26, 2024, a different panel from the Fifth Circuit issued an order that vacated the court’s prior December 23 order granting a stay of the preliminary injunction. As a result, the injunction issued in Texas Top Cop Shop remains in effect nationwide and reporting companies are currently not required to file beneficial ownership information with FinCEN.”

The notice above was published on January 4.

Check back on January 6.

Infrastructure!

Ontario’s Measure Q sales tax increase is funding infrastructure.

““This is a big measure for us,” he continues. “It’s going to bring in anywhere between 65 and 95 million a year in extra funding for our community.” The majority of that is going to be used for capital improvement projects like infrastructure, and so we’re really trying to make sure that our strategy for Measure Q means being transparent in where residents can see the money in their community.””

City of Ontario, CA

Meta Verified is Worthless

I thought X’s blue checks were bad enough, but Meta has topped (or bottomed) Elon in the realm of meaningless identity verification.

The janeaustenpen Instagram account is Meta verified.

From janeaustenpen on Instagram: Meta Verified!

Even though Jane Austen is dead.

Come to think of it, Austen never had a driver’s license. How did she get verified?

But Meta’s AI creation isn’t dead.

And you can’t block “her.”

And probably can’t report “her” for impersonation.

I really dread what LinkedIn is planning. Will Henry Ford dispense advice? Steve Jobs?

Lack of Differentiation Limits Your Available Talent

I’ve talked about differentiation ad nauseam, and even created a video about it last spring.

And I’ve provided some examples of lack of differentiation from my own industry:

  • (Company I) “Reimagine trust.”
  • (Company J) “To protect against fraud and financial crime, businesses online need to know and trust that their customers are who they claim to be — and that these customers continue to be trustworthy.”
  • (Company M) “Trust is the core of any successful business relationship. As the digital revolution continues to push businesses and financial industries towards digital-first services, gaining digital trust with consumers will be of utmost importance for survival.”
  • (Company O) “Create trust at onboarding and beyond with a complete, AI-powered digital identity solution built to help you know your customers online.”
  • (Company P) “Trust that users are who they say they are, and gain their trust by humanizing the identity experience.”
  • (Company V) “Stop fraud. Build trust. Identity verification made simple.”

This isn’t effective. Trust me.

But prospective customers aren’t the only ones who are turned off by “me-too” messaging.

Further ramifications of lack of differentiation

What about prospective employees who don’t want to apply to your company because they see no compelling reason to do so?

I’ll grant that the tech job market is so out of balance right now that people are applying to ANYTHING.

But the more choosy ones are…more choosy in their applications. Just like choosy mothers choose…you know.

From funkystay, https://imgur.com/gallery/choosy-mothers-choose-gif-ykZIPRe.

I recently received this message from a product marketer after I shared a particular identity/biometric job description with them.

Not so sure that company is well positioned for evolving identity landscape.

From a selfish perspective, this benefits me, because I DID apply for this position while they DIDN’T. Reducing the competition increases my chances of getting the job.

But the company (which I’m not naming) doesn’t benefit, because at least one experienced identity verification product marketer doesn’t want to work for them.

So be sure to differentiate…as long as the differentiation resonates with your hungry people (target audience). If your audience is repelled by your differentiation, then that’s a problem with your customer focus.

From the Gary Fly / Brooks Group article “7 Tips for Implementing a Customer-Centric Strategy,” at https://brooksgroup.com/sales-training-blog/7-tips-implementing-customer-centric-strategy/.

Now Bredemarket can’t help you with your job search, because I’m certainly not an expert in that. But I can ask you questions that help you create content that conveys that your product is great and your competitors’ products…are not so good.

Visit Bredemarket’s “CPA” page to learn how I can help your firm’s content (and analysis, and proposals), and to schedule a meeting.

Bredemarket’s “CPA.”