Businesses are learning the difference between a word and a question.
Way back a decade ago, if we wanted something, we would choose the proper word or words—maybe something like “biometric product marketing expert”—and search for those words.
Today, we go to our favorite large language model tool and ask a question—maybe something like “Who is a biometric product marketing expert?”—and get an answer to our question.
“People talk to AI differently than they type into Google. We optimize your content to match conversational, long-tail questions (e.g., “Who is an affordable estate lawyer near Claremont?”), positioning your website as the exact source material AI tools use to answer users.”
What questions are your prospects asking? Do you want to discuss this? Talk to Bredemarket.
In business there’s something called a “Type 2 decision.” Because of my biometric background I shy away from the term (which means “false positive” in biometrics) and prefer to use the term “two-way door decision.”
If you’ve been through an airport security checkpoint, either entering or leaving a security area, you know that you can only go one way.
“The [two-way door decision] concept was introduced by Jeff Bezos in his Amazon shareholder letters, using the metaphor of walking through a door. With a two-way door decision, you can walk through the door, see what’s on the other side, and if you don’t like it, you can easily turn around and come back through. If you make a suboptimal two-way door decision, you don’t have to live with the consequences for long—you can reopen the door and go back through.”
While in the end the original decision was reversible, the reversal was not without pain. The rise and fall of Amazon Fresh took years. (Technically less than a year in Upland, if you don’t count the years of planning, but still a long time.)
But what about trying a new product marketing idea? While some ideas, such as pricing a luxury car at one dollar, can cause permanent damage, others can easily be reversed.
I’ll use Bredemarket as an example. Back in 2020 I was heavily pushing my Bredemarket 404 Web/Social Media Checkup. While it remains on my website, I haven’t promoted it in years. I could certainly still do it (and did it for one client), but while it parallels my analysis strengths, I find other areas (such as market and competitive analysis in the biometric industry) much more satisfying and financially rewarding.
Google Gemini.
On the other hand, I DID pull my editing services from the Bredemarket website. That’s not rewarding at all.
Or alternatively, you could send up a trial balloon such as a blog post, a social media post, or a data sheet.
Google Gemini.
Then measure the results.
If the content resonates with your prospects, double down.
If your prospects are indifferent, never mention the idea again.
If your prospects hate it, delete it.
Because of my “I ask, then I act” bias, I gravitate toward these trial balloons. As long as the idea doesn’t kill your company, why not try it quickly, rather than paralyzing yourself by repeated inaction?
Your trial balloon
Google Gemini.
Are you ready to launch a trial balloon, but need some help with the helium? Set up a meeting with Bredemarket and we can discuss your options.
In an unusual co-location of retail upheaval, the store just west of this one is a Dollar Tree…that used to be a 99¢ Only Store. Other stores were converted.
And that’s just the consumer world. We know what the business-government world (where Amazon also plays) is like.
“After a careful evaluation of the business and how we can best serve customers, we’ve made the difficult decision to close our Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh physical stores, converting various locations into Whole Foods Market stores.”
I’ve talked at length about the new Amazon Fresh store in Upland, even before it opened. Now that it’s been open for over a half year, I was wondering how others felt about the store.
The average Yelp review, based upon 51 reviews as of December 18, is about a 3.5, which is good. But what’s interesting is the polarity of the reviews, with 28 5-star reviews and 12 1-star reviews.
You can’t please everybody, but some of the 1-star reviews are interesting.
“very, very few employees at this location are incompetent and have no customer service skills. also no manners or decency.”
I think the reviewer meant “competent,” but hey.
“No matter what time of day I go there, there are always workers blocking the isles with large carts. That makes it impossible to shop.”
Again, “aisles.” But the reviewer noted a common complaint: the store appears to prioritize delivery orders over people coming in-store to shop, and multiple reviewers have noted the rudeness of the workers fulfilling delivery orders.
And apparently the rudeness does not coincide with speed.
“The order wasn’t ready for pickup hours after scheduled”
However, this particular review was written just a few days after the store opened, so some hiccups are expected.
Google Gemini.
And those who love the store LOVE it.
“Nice clean store. Cheap prices. The dash cart is awesome. Very helpful employees.”
And
“The store is clean, spacious, and very easy to navigate. Shopping here is simple and enjoyable. The staff is friendly and ready to help, which made the experience even better.”
So it appears that experiences can vary anywhere. Hopefully this store will last longer than the La Verne one.
I was wandering around my local (Upland, California) Staples on a Saturday afternoon. If I had arrived on a weekday, I could have applied for TSA PreCheck.
Only weekday hours, at least at the Staples on Mountain in Upland.
(No, I didn’t apply for TSA PreCheck in 2017 when MorphoTrak became part of MorphoTrust (when IDEMIA was formed) and I became eligible for a corporate discount. I didn’t predict a pandemic. Oops.)
Bredemarket 