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November 18, 2005

What world am I in?, Fri., Nov. 18, 2005, 9:14 PM

Just today I am starting to understand the power of specialization. I am a voice in the wilderness, and the numbers that have jumped off the web stats at me seem to say something like almost 300,000 hits in a single day. I cannot comprehend a number like that.

You talk about shock and awe? That's me.

Last night the Donald Trump Apprentice Show on NBCTV had an episode about XM Satellite Radio. I thought it was nuts. I thought; how could people specialize their tastes to the nth degree?

Yes, satellite radio goes out to 300 million people and, yes, there is an audience to the nth degree, but I started to ponder the significance of that. When my wife arrived home this evening, I said to her that today was an epiphany.

I learned something last night from the Trump Apprentice Show. And today I can see in the letters from my readers that have been streaming into me all day that they are sending me a message. A message that is important to them.

And I thought back to being in The Bahamas in the mid-1990s when I had hired a techie from the West Coast who was a Microsoft engineer, who told me about Starbucks coffee and I had never heard about that. He said there was a Starbucks on all four corners of main streets across the USA, but I had never even heard of the brand name.

So I was curious and went into one in the States, and I saw all these people ordering double lattes with a specified spice etc, and when I got to the server I asked for a regular coffee, double double. And the server said, We don't offer that."

This is an absolutely true story. I was so frustrated at not being able to buy a regular cofee in this coffee shop; I even asked the Starbucks employee if could I have their instant coffee in a jar to take home.

A couple years in The Bahamas and life had passed me by.

I even got a surprise last night watching the power of Satellite Radio XM do their thing on the Trump Show.

And I thought that I have to be very careful not to alienate my own audience because they have needs and wants that maybe I don't understand. But first I have to know who they are.

It seems I have discovered that my blog is self-empowering to them, and to me.

I feel like a 5-year old. Literally, I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Can you believe it?

Posted by Posted by Bill Cara on November 18, 2005 09:14:53 PM | Category: Cara re: Cara