Media Rules!: Mastering Today's Technology to Connect With and Keep Your Audience

Chapter 7. Be a Fighter

Conflict with your audience is inevitable.

You have your plan for how to manage your organization. Your audience has its own ideas and expectations.

You set the vision and expend blood, sweat, and tears to make your organization run. Your audience gets to make a snap decision about whether your idea is solid.

You create the products, provide the services, and create the experiences. Your audience chooses whether to invest, become members, or make purchases.

You have big plans and goals. They think its all about them.

You have made the choice to say no or to be exclusive. They don't like being told no.

Again, conflict is inevitable.

Managing a dynamic organization is challenging enough. When you consider the need to win approval, build loyalty, or monetize a relationship with an audience on top of everything else, it is no surprise that things get more complicated and more confusing. Add in the fact that the audience's expectations of quality, speed of delivery, and price competitiveness have become so high, as a result of the advances in technology and the rise of competitiveness in the marketplace, it may not be possible to fully satisfy your audience all of the time anymore (if it ever was possible).

All the more reason that you should never give up or stray from your mission of offering valuable information, a compelling experience, or high-quality stuff to your audience. Trust that your instincts, experience, research, and the effort you put in every day will ...