Have you been paying attention to the Airbnb revolution?

Essentially Airbnb has totally disrupted the hotel and hospitality industry. With its killer platform it has revolutionized the way people travel. Some hotels have tried to ignore Airbnb (or have complained to regulatory authorities about them) and they are suffering. Others have adapted and have become more competitive in the digital space.

Of course Airbnb is just one of many examples. We can talk about Uber, Avvo, Betterment, etc, etc.

Have you thought about what this all means for your business?

Well, unless you have some rare business that cannot work better on a completely digital platform, here are the key takeaways.

1. You’d better be building a digital brand. You’d better be spending an inordinate amount of time learning the digital landscape and figuring out how your business will stand out there. Those businesses and professionals that don’t have a digital brand won’t be in business in 2020. Digital brands aren’t built on credentials either. So leave your MBA, PhD, or JD, etc at the door when you’re building your online reputation. People are realizing that these letters don’t necessarily translate into value. Instead, they’re focusing on what kind of content you produce, your reviews from other customers or clients, and what your social media presence looks like.
2. Make use of the platform. Avvo.com has completely revolutionized the legal industry. It has given consumers unprecedented access to crowd-sourced reviews about lawyers, has massively incentivized lawyers to give out lots of free advice and to change their fee structures (read: flat fees) and, most importantly, it has given lawyers a platform to reach LOTS more clients. Problem is, many lawyers resent Avvo because of how it has disrupted the legal industry and refuse to advertise there or even to claim their profile (which exists regardless). These are the lawyers who are probably complaining to the state bar associations about Avvo. These are also the ones who are bleeding red when it comes to revenue. You can’t stop the digital train and as the saying goes, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Be open to using platforms that are made available to you.
3. Build platforms, not products. Are you the more enterprising type? Wanna build something digital? Well learn from Uber and build a platform, not just a product. With Uber, the individual drivers are offering a product (and some are even doing pretty well doing so). However, the clear winners are the owners of Uber since they created the very platform where all this business takes place. Platforms beat products every time.
4. Keep looking for opportunities to be the first on scene for new digital and social platforms so you can build attention there. Attention is the #1 most important commodity in the digital world (thanks for teaching me that Garyvee). The first people to build huge followings on Twitter were huge winners in their fields. Same goes for Youtube and Vine (even if the latter was short lived). Now it’s Instagram’s heyday and soon to be Snapchat. Understand that platforms come and go and that the risk-takers who take the time to build enterprises early on the successful ones win. Bigtime. Be willing to capitalize on the next one to come along and let go of ones that no longer work. That means ditching your Myspace account (finally).

Want some free training? Before we wrap up: are you ready to add Instagram to your digital marketing plan? If so you’ve gotta check out our FREE “Instagram for Small Business” training. Access this on-demand webinar here!

Bottom line. The internet is changing EVERYTHING and it isn’t slowing down. Be smart and strategic and the world literally is your oyster. Just don’t be the one who thinks “this tech thing” is a fad. Otherwise you’ll be working for your competitor who realizes it isn’t.

Now to you. What do you think about the Airbnb revolution? Has this article made your day? Made you mad? What are you doing for your business’ digital marketing? Let me know in the comments or come sound off on our Facebook page!

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Eric Hsu

Eric Hsu is the technical and content development expert at Communication Hackers. Eric has a strong background in business strategy and is an avid techie. He uses this to help businesses understand the big picture of digital marketing funnels and how all the pieces work together.

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