They Ask, You Answer, 2nd Edition

19 The Big 5, Topics 4 and 5 Reviews and Best in Class

Before we dive into the powerful elements of this chapter, let me just mention that what you’re about to read is a very, very different way of approaching business and consumer education than what most people are used to. It’s not taught in MBA programs, and it’s certainly not the norm.

But that, in and of itself, should make it a good thing. After all, the most successful business innovations of the digital age happen time and time again when an organization elects to take the road less traveled, ultimately clearing a new path and a new way of seeing “the way it should be done.”

And with that, we’ll now discuss the final two elements of The Big 5: reviews and best in class.

As stated in the previous chapter, as consumers and buyers we love to compare. We love knowing whom everyone else loves, hates, and how they all stack up against each other. We’re also obsessed with reviews.

Whether it’s a website like Yelp, Angie’s List, or even a print publication like Motor Trend’s Car of the Year, we are a society that cares about pecking order.

After embracing They Ask, You Answer in 2009, as a business owner I started to look at the types of content that were experiencing success in multiple industries and I came to an interesting conclusion: There was no Yelp or Motor Trend Car of the Year award for the fiberglass swimming pool industry.

Notwithstanding, ours was very similar to the car industry. A handful of manufacturers make ...