Related thoughts about how individuals can create businesses by living their lives and creating meaningful, culturally resonating experiences. Marketing through living, in a way.

• Starting with an old thought from Business Models and Life Models, Interconnected:

  Business models based on creating value and expanding the pie are more powerful than business models based on allocating and extracting value; lives focused on creating, aggregating and directing value to others are more powerful than lives focused merely on the extracting value for the self.

  Examples, click here.

• John Hagel, Pursuing Passion:
  

  I want to use the term [passion] more narrowly, to refer to strong emotions that motivate us to move beyond our comfort zone and to achieve the potential that resides within us. Passion comes from within each of us; it cannot be imposed or mandated from outside. At the same time, it compels us to move outside, to engage with the world around us.

  Read the rest of his definition of passion for a more defined picture of what passion means to John.

• How can you market a product or a service by indulging your passions? Grant McCracken, Culturematic, new media, and marketing:
  

  I think it would be pretty interesting to hear some tweet their day from the point of view of their Levi’s. I would like to hear from a Tweeter who has taken the point of view of a carbonate soft drink sitting on the shelf of a glass refrigerator in a Mom and Pop convenience story. What about hearing from someone who has taken one of the persona away from a movie and is now living it in the street? And indeed, any product or service that is experienced-based or oriented should be able to call on twitterers.

  … If we are sincere in our claims of interest in the consumer’s participation, cocreation, and fuller engagement, a culturematic of this kind might be just the thing.

  For my previous thoughts on culturematics, check out Culturematics and Communities and a note about Alain de Botton’s A Week At The Airport: A Heathrow Diary.

  What are the keys? Passion, meaningfully directed. Transparency. Authority. A unique point of view. An ability to connect discrete actions to a meaningful cause. Resonance with a community. An obvious, transparent business model that “fits” the product, service, experience and community.

  I believe there is a huge opportunity for people to follow their passion and evil plans to create relatable experiences and culturematics as “marketing campaigns.” Because these experiences are inherently human, they can invade niches and propagate through communities cheaper, better and faster than traditional marketing efforts.

  Yes, that’s not a complete thought; a task for another day.

And Matthew, I’m expecting you to set me straight on this :)