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Transparency Is The Future Of Business | ||
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By now you’ve probably heard of “transparency” and how it relates to a company’s marketing. It can mean many things — from the open disclosure of certain policies to a public explanation of ‘why’ a company is taking a certain approach or utilizing a certain strategy.
But one area of transparency, more than any other, is what I believe is the future of all business. It’s when a company provides a “behind the scenes” look at its culture, work environment, special events, lives of its employees and more. It’s all about doing things that can build a lifetime BOND. Let’s face it, we’re bombarded with marketing today. It’s coming at us from all directions. And TRUST is a major issue. How can we trust one company over another? Transparency is going to help solve this problem - at least for the companies that embrace it. Gone are the days of marketing behind impersonal advertisements, generic campaigns, or fancy product design. ”Customer” is a dead label. The future of business is all about creating FANS and also FRIENDS. As the commercial Web took off in the mid-1990s, single man or woman operations had a major advantage over ‘big’ companies — they had an easier time building relationships with their prospects and customers. They wrote email newsletters and shared stories about their personal lives. They shared photos of their cats. They talked about lessons they learned from their kids. And their businesses THRIVED because of this “better business relationship.” People were drawn to it. And it’s no surprise. Would you rather give your hard-earned money to some cold, distant corporation or to someone that at least appeared to care about you enough that they took the time to tell you stories and share things with you? As “social media” and the Internet continues to evolve, it’s getting easier and easier to share photos, videos, and stories with others. I think it’s only a matter of time before businesses (and individuals) are going to be in deep trouble if they aren’t sharing ‘more’ like their competitors. One way for YOU to practically guarantee that you make more money in your business is to improve the relationship with your site visitors/blog readers. And being more transparent about your business and your own life is one way to do it. You may have some PRIVACY concerns and it’s definitely something to think about before you start sharing anything. I’ve been pretty much a paranoid freak during the past 10+ years of marketing online. I rarely posted any photos of myself or anything to do with “my life” because I had privacy concerns. But I’m slowly but surely getting over it. I know that in order for my business to thrive I’m going to have to become more transparent. Business today practically demands it. (Or will very soon.) Here’s a quick example of a young company that’s got this transparency thing down… IZEA. They post videos of company parties, have employee “confessionals” and tons of other ‘fun’ stuff that I’m sure their customers love to see. Do you think this is helping build the relationship with their customers? You better believe it. Ted Murphy, IZEA’s Founder & CEO, is a friend of mine and he’s done an amazing job creating his company’s culture. Check out the IZEA Blog to see some of the crazy stuff they are doing. Now not all companies are going to go to such extremes as IZEA but they better start doing ’some’ of this transparency stuff (i.e. sharing) or they will be in trouble. And you definitely need to consider doing more of this in your own business. Personality Is Becoming More And More Of A Marketing Weapon In A World Of Over-Hyped, Outdated, Boring Strategy. In my own effort to be more transparent, I’m going start sharing more “behind the scenes” stuff about my personal life and the life of my business. If you haven’t already done so, make sure to follow me on Twitter. I’m also starting to post more photos on my Flickr photostream. Here are just a few of the photos I’ve just added… (you can click them to see larger versions).
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April 21st, 2008 at 12:32 am
You’re right on. It’s kind of become the new USP. I actually started do this kind of thing a couple of years ago. I compiled a web page, and I edit it often (some may say it’s TMI - too much information, lol) but nonetheless it does work as far as opening doors to new friends, biz assoc, customers, etc.
Mellisa
P.S. I like the pooches.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:59 am
Right on John. People want to deal with real people.
Regards
James
April 21st, 2008 at 1:04 am
Yep - and I think it is even more important with internet marketing… where everything is dealt with in ‘cyber-space’… people aren’t walking into a store touching ‘tangible’ stuff - so the more you can make your business personal and transparent the better! Great post!
Jenni
April 21st, 2008 at 1:35 am
John,
I totally there with you about that whole privacy thing. lol For years I’ve really tried to keep a distance between myself subscribers and visitors. But recently after reading all this stuff about web 2.0, I decided to give it a try with an old site that i changed to a blog.
I revealed a lot about myself on the blog and basically acted like how I would in person and to my surprise it lead to a great bond with my subscribers and visitors that I don’t have on my bigger more sterile site.
My blog has less visitors but the conversions are higher on that site because people feel connected to me and to be honest I feel connected to them now. It’s not even a ploy. And i guess that is transparent to them which leads to trust and thus less of a barrier to making sales. So I think you’re spot on about what you’re doing.
People want to be connected. The internet has made the world a smaller place but for a while people still felt disconnected but now the web is going back to what it should’ve always been. And if companies don’t adapt they’re going to be left behind.
The key is that its has to be sincere. As a former employee of a fortune 100 company i was privy to some of the marketing ploys that were being discussed to take advantage of the web 2.0 phenomena. And it was interesting because I was always bumping head with management because they didn’t really understand the spirit of it. They were just suits that wanted to get their brand out there. Not realizing that they could do that effectively by being true and not contrived.
In any event, great post John. As always you bring great insight and real value to the table. Hopefully other marketers will follow your lead.
Eddy Salomon
WorkAtHomeCareers.com
WorkAtHomeNoScams.com
April 21st, 2008 at 2:05 am
John,
I think you’re right-on… as usual.
Especially in very skeptical markets,
this “behind the scenes” concept is
sure to more easily win the trust of
people.
Come to think of it, I know I’ve seen
more than usual in the “work from
home” market in the past year. That’s
probably the most skeptical market
I know of.
Thanks, John!
Will
April 21st, 2008 at 2:18 am
Hi John,
Just wanted to say that you have a beautiful house, I like it.
There is a stong contrast when you see the house and the furniture’s style.
Anyway, you are right, transparancy makes you instantly stand out from the crowd.
I remember the first time you showed your war room.
And the last photo of your dog eating the sofas…
April 21st, 2008 at 2:48 am
Hi John.
You are so right about the game changing. Business in the 21st century is not about big business pushing their customers around and exploiting their trust, but about small business embracing their customers and nurturing their loyalty.
The Internet has helped bring the barriers down: how else can you get a customer from the other side of the world unless they can see who you are and know something about you?
It’s not the people who are changing: it’s the rules are changing. The ones who understand this will come out on top.
Thanks for the glimpses into the grand kennel you have provided for your dogs
Sarah
April 21st, 2008 at 2:53 am
John,
I really like your behind the scenes concept. It reminds me of when some marketers would let you watchch them working via web cam. Being seen as trustworthy is key. I deal with Network Marketers and that is probably the most jaded “niche” there is.
Showing your personality and proving you are human after all can certainly make a big difference in your business. But I also think being personal can be taken too far. Once in awhile I see marketers getting so personal that it weakens their marketing message. They start talking more about their cat than they do about what it is they offer.
We just have to remember it is still about What’s In It For Me.
April 21st, 2008 at 3:29 am
Hi John,
thats excactly what I am thinking about the future in online marketing. Your stuff support and encourage me, and I think many other people out there.
I love to do online marketing and meanwhile I get more and more ahead of the competition in Germany.
Thank you,
Oliver
April 21st, 2008 at 3:56 am
All of your name links here have no-follows attached to the link. That’s not the John Reece I used to know!? What gives John - not supporting your followers anymore? Follow you on Twitter and follow you on Facebook you say. I’m a little disappointed. Although this must be a staff error because the King of traffic and customer service would never to this intentionally to his followers I was told last night in a forum!?
April 21st, 2008 at 3:57 am
Yeah i agree John its a refreshing change to see transparancy in a company or individual. Isn’t it about getting back to basic values and treating people how we want to be treated, its stuff that sounds like it came from our parents or grandparents era and the internet probably needs it even more than the outside world. Its karma really in my mind. What goes around comes around.
Good on You John
Thanks Brad
April 21st, 2008 at 4:13 am
Isn’t it amazing how quickly the web is changing? Today 1/2 of the top 20 sites (Alexa) are Web2.0 sites!
I’m a member of ThemeZoom which is very forward thinking and another one of the really important trends we see is in Educating Your Customers. Many consumers have been burned way too many times by salesletters that “promise the world”.
The combination of Transparency and High-Quality Education will go a long way.
John, you are definitely all over this…
April 21st, 2008 at 4:50 am
Hey, I’ve been into the transparency thing for quite a while now. In fact, I’ve set up a long term transparency with a vanity dotcom (see my link) with reviews of my fave books, movies, music etc. as well as links to satellite blogs with fave videos, jokes, opinions etc.
my dotinfo is my marketing base…and now I’ve just got to make some money! (LOL).
Andrew Goulding
April 21st, 2008 at 5:28 am
I like where you are going here. It does, however, depend somewhat on the type of business or service you provide.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:20 am
John,
The old adage ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ is very true.
Cool house.
It’s instructive that as I saw your dogs my mind flashed back to
when you said something about coming home or being out of the
house only to return and discover how these innocent faced imps
had destroyed your leather couch… Power of pictures, transparency,
and story all working to create connection.
Thad
April 21st, 2008 at 7:26 am
Hi John,
Great tips John and so true.
I am noticing growth since I started being more “transparent” in my business.
You have a beautiful home and thank you for the tour!
Jason Oickle
April 21st, 2008 at 7:47 am
If you’re a multiple business owner like me, and most of those companies are represented on-line, social marketing and “going public” helps a great deal in transferring your customers of one company into another. I have great results with this, from getting my UK dental patients to have dentistry in Central Europe, go on Safari in Kenya, attended personal development seminars in the UK and buy my albums of my group. This has all be done through getting the people to know the man behind the scenes and not just the company face. So take the leap into social marketing, you’ll find it’s worth it.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:52 am
John,
Your so right, I live 40 miles due west of Seattle on a mountain and can see the tall buildings from my windows. I have pictures of my scenic view and made headers from them on my blogs. That software is on my site and is named “Blog Theme Generator” It makes headers from any picture you want.
I still haven’t quite figured out Twitter yet but will when I get more time.
Thanks John
Mel
April 21st, 2008 at 7:53 am
Hey John,
Thanks for the mention. We have put a lot of effort into being as open with our customers as possible. It can be a little risky at times, but I have found that the rewards far outweigh the risk. We have been able to build able strong community and deep connections with the customers we serve.
I would highly recommend that entrepreneurs take a look at their companies and see where they can open up a little. Maybe it is sharing photos of company birthday parties via the blog, maybe it is having an online town hall meeting. You can start small and work your way up, just start. A little transparency can go a long way.
Nice house John.! You still owe me a ride in the Lambo!!
April 21st, 2008 at 8:14 am
I completely agree John. Ted, nice to see you post here and what you are doing on
your Blog. By the way John, I always swore I would never do social media, never,
but you convinced me to Twitter!
April 21st, 2008 at 8:17 am
Thanks John for the tip. Been working on that myself with my raw food blog, trying to be more ‘reachable’ and genuine, to build trust and encourage my visitors check out my recommendations. Trying to establish more 2.0 features. Is that a Springer Spaniel? I had one for 15 years, she was the best dog!
April 21st, 2008 at 8:28 am
I so agree - I want to “know” the person/people behind the sites and blogs I visit, and even more so if I’m going to buy their products or services.
The “About Us” page is usually the first place I click to after landing on a site, so I can learn something about who’s behind it.
I’m less comfortable doing business on sites that are operated by an anonymous presence, or where the About page is just a few impersonal lines of “this site provides the best (whatever)”.
My readers often email me because of something they connected with on my About page, and I think it makes them feel comfortable with trusting the info on the rest of my site. I also frequently write about mistakes I’ve made, related to my site’s topic, which keeps me off a pedestal.
Even if I never meet you, John, now I feel like I’ve hung out at your house! :o)
April 21st, 2008 at 9:14 am
[…] their users. John Reese just did a really good post about this type of transparency called “Transparency is the future of Business“. There is really only 1 affiliate marketing company doing this sort of transparency which is […]
April 21st, 2008 at 9:34 am
Hi, I agree with you, I think that this is a way for us to connect with others in a very real way. I think people need people, no matter what they say. This goes back to the old school days of learning about ” No man is an Island”.
Encouragement, friendship, mentoring, careing and loving communities are sure needed in today’s society.
Have a Positive day
April 21st, 2008 at 9:40 am
Nearly 4+ years ago you posted pictures of your home and office:
[EDIT: Link removed as that domain is about to be replaced.]
What’s so new about this?
Hey, just asking a fair question.
I’d like to see you follow in Eben’s footsteps and do a video of
yourself walking around your house and “office” area telling us
what’s new and exciting in Reese World.
You rock!
Chris
April 21st, 2008 at 9:40 am
John
“Transparency” Such an emotive word As soon as I saw it it made me smile
You see for the last 10 years I have been and still am involved in running a charity where Transparency is part and parcel of our ethos it even involves us using “open book” quotes from suppliers such as building contractors and any service providers
And when applying for grants we use the ‘Full cost recovery’ system where our expenditure is open and transparent etc….
Further on I sympathise with you as to your concerns over the first 10 years of your business as we are all weary of the competition and those who might steel our ideas etc…
Still I would be careful showing photos of my private house but that is personal
Anyway thanks for the post quite informative
Charles
April 21st, 2008 at 10:05 am
John, you are so dead on right!
I’m heading home from Frank Kern’s Mass Control event,
and my big takeaway, was that we ALL need to add more of our personality and
personal life in our marketing.
People respond to it! I know that I do
-Christina
April 21st, 2008 at 10:29 am
Yep John. Transparency, honesty and integrity. Difficult to put across in an email, on a website or wherever. Vote For Values New York Governor Eliot Spitzer a case in point.
The challenge John, is that whilst people aspire to live in a house like yours and have your lifestyle, perhaps, we are always brought down to earth by some wag who will look at your house and say “The longer the drive, the bigger the debt…” Or “Have you borrowed this from a wealthy friend like they do in “Puff” videos?” And further, “Is what you are doing replicatable? You may be doing OK but I live in a basement. Yep I am honest. Yep, I look after my ageing and crippled by arthritis mother. Yep , I have got a good opportunity but no one joins me because I look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame…”
The key, in my view, is what you are doing something that I can do no matter what my circumstances and be proud of doing? Nothing sells like success. Nothing sustains like honesty and integrity. The challenge is to step carefully between these maxims and the wisdom of Honoré de Balzac, “Behind every great fortune there lies a great crime”
Warmly,
Malcolm
http://www.myinternetbusiness.asia
April 21st, 2008 at 10:36 am
“Behind every great fortune there lies a great crime”
LOL.
Why would you believe this Malcolm?
And the funny thing is, because you believe this statement,
your brain will automatically go to work and make it true in
your experience.
I can just imagine you breaking in to an office complex
and stealing documents lol.
Or kicking small animals to make a few bucks.
LOL.
Matt
April 21st, 2008 at 10:38 am
Hey John,
Thanks for sharing a part of your life with us.
It really make you more “real” to me, I guess others feel the same way.
Anyway… I love that you are being transparent!
~Brett
http://www.FreeTrafficBigProfits.com
April 21st, 2008 at 10:44 am
Last year, when my dog ate my office chair, I posted pictures on my blog.
It certainly got people laughing. And, yes, I’m still sitting in my 1/2 eaten chair. (If I spend money to get a new one, he’ll just eat it, too!)
Love the war room. It’s excellent.
Nicole
April 21st, 2008 at 10:53 am
Matt has proved beyond reasonable doubt that whatever one writes or says in any format, it leads to selective understanding or quotation.
There is no wonder that politicians are not more candid (Honest) in their utterances because they are forever being pilloried for the interpretations of others by what they have said or what they are supposed to have said and done. George Bush is a case in point. Anyone who can party for thirty years and become President of the United States gets my vote by default…
Warmly,
Malcolm
April 21st, 2008 at 11:01 am
Hi John,
Your post is a very timely one for me. I am in the process of brainstorming ideas to replace the “gotta do it” type marketing things on my websites.
I’ve tried to look from the customers perspective with everything I do.
More people will have success online when they stop and realize how arbitrary we consider companies that we can’t get a “feel” for.
Eloquent presentation as usual.
Best,
Jeff
April 21st, 2008 at 11:46 am
John,
Right on man! I just got back from Frank Kern’s event in San Diego and he mentioned this white board room you show up top. but nothing like the actual photo. Very cool.
Frank also mentioned that in his work, every time he would confide some personal possibly embarrassing thing about himself the “trustometer” of trust built with customers and prospects would go UP.
Makes sense. The old stoggy corporate culture may be getting replaced with something more personal, more vital and most important, more FUN!
Thanks!
Wayne
April 21st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
I agree with Wayne, I love the whiteboard room. I have a room with 10 on the walls but how do you get all the walls to be like that?
I always find the transpeancy thing interesting. I always believed that if you gave people quality material and products, identity did not matter. Slowly starting to think that the more public approach might have a use but am being pulled there kicking and screaming.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Thanks for the great feedback, everyone!
Gary Bunyip - the links in the comments on this blog have always been nofollow. It’s a default in WordPress and it’s to keep out the spam. This blog alone has been spammed over 5,000 times even with the nofollow in place. This has nothing to do with not supporting my readers.
Chris Franklin - I edited that link because it goes to the old blog which is about to be removed. (Don’t use that domain anymore.) Anyway, I guess the difference is that I now plan on sharing more photos and things about my life on a regular basis. When I posted them before it was just a one shot deal. Now I will be posting photos of trips, etc. to that Flickr account and anyone can view them. I also have some videos planned like you mention.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Eric - the room was built using material made by http://www.walltalkers.com.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Agreed, giving your customer an opportunity to make a connection with you is important. You have to be able to ‘tell’ your story and not be afraid of letting go of the ‘control’. You mention your privacy concerns and I’ve had the same issues over the years so I too haven’t been too anxious in letting other people into that space but work has become ubiquitous — anytime, anywhere — so often you’re letting people into your not only your work, but also your home.
And I’m more likely to do business with someone I’ve met or become friendly with than with a big corporate conglomerate that doesn’t know my name.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Thanks for a very good article, John.
During my years in corporate finance and corporate planning, the impersonal corporate ethos really disturbed me - the false front of friendliness. Then with internet involvement, the impersonal nature - not knowing with whom I was communicating - was worse.
I have embraced web 2.0 and social networking now and have found the new transparency not only refreshing but reassuring - I no longer feel alone. There are real faces and real lives represented by those names, and real people with whom I’ve developed some real relationships. That leads to mutual support, quick answers to quick questions, pitching in when someone is in need or hurting… being part of a real community!
You’d better believe people buy more from those they’ve come to know and trust than from all the slick advertising and hollow promises any corporation can make. [Hey, I trust your professional planning approaches even more now that I have seen your war room and understand its effectiveness!]
Now we just need to learn that anything we put out there IS “out there,” and that anyone can see it. So while we start to get comfortable, we must remember not to release anything that is overly sensitive (such as here’s my home address and how to get there) or slanderous (even if we KNOW we are right!). I’m coming out of my paranoid privacy shell and sharing openly, but… Well, I think we are all learning.
Margaret
(MargHamp on Twitter - I follow you!)
April 21st, 2008 at 1:14 pm
John,
How did you get over the privacy concerns?
I don’t mind being transparent to real fans and followers, but the general public?
I don’t want to be rich and famous. I just want to be rich and free, by providing real help and value to real people.
Its much easier nowadays to become a target from all directions; from the media to unscrupulous scammers and just simple on-line hate-mongerers.
Besides, being that we’re human, an occasional slip-up will inevitably happen, and we’re more likely to become fish meal.
In addition, becoming a target yourself is one thing, but what about the risk of innocent family members becoming targets themselves?
Isn’t there a better way to earn people’s trust, and still keep private?
April 21st, 2008 at 4:02 pm
being a newbie to all this, it’s interesting to hear all your comments and to share with you our new holiday apartment. We have just comeback from a well deserved two week holiday and can’t wait to go back again. Maybe you would like to go to, I can certainly recommend it.
April 21st, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Your four legged companions are loving and brilliant!
April 21st, 2008 at 5:37 pm
John,
Beautiful war room, and a beautiful house, lovely dog.
Tell me, how much did you pay for income.com?
I have been to domain auctions, and I guess it was 10k-400k, and well worth the money.
Jack
April 21st, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Right on the money John!!
Having been a “ghost in the machine” for a couple of years now, I’m finally marketing under my own name and amazingly, my personal site is getting great results and demanding me to channel my priorities through this site. I’m sure as well as people enjoying the accessibility to a real human, Google also seems to like it a lot.
April 21st, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Love the whiteboard brainstorming room!
Privacy is hard to give up - everything is available for a price.
Cute pooches too =)
April 21st, 2008 at 9:24 pm
I totally agree, I call it attraction marketing. It is easier for me to be out there on the social web (and more fun) sharing what I have learned about internet marketing and just being able to be found than a lot of other marketing stuff.
People have “had it up to here” with ads and jive and hype. That stuff is everywhere.
A lot of offline business has always been social, especially the professions and in business to business sales, and the social web has come to mimic socialization like offline times a couple million.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Thanks for your information
April 21st, 2008 at 10:55 pm
How bizarre.
Hey have you ever heard of the actor Eric Bana?
He’s successful in the movie business and you don’t squat about his personal life.
I don’t think you have to be transparent in your personal life to have business transparency.
April 21st, 2008 at 11:52 pm
[…] the foremost authorities on Internet Marketing, John Reese, who recently wrote about the need for Transparency In Business - a great topic for another […]
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:11 am
I am testing these theories on Youtube at the moment and they are working like a gem.
My subscribe rate has gone up 300% and my view about the same.
To be noticed you have to get noticed but kind of have your own secretive style. Form a group and become a guru in an area. Its not that hard. Just like John Reese. I remember the days when people said JOHN WHO? now look at just what he has achieved.
Nothing is far from you reach….whether you are an optimist, pessimist or someone in between. Create you reality and reality will become you. Hope this helps.
Cheers
JOhn
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:25 am
You are so right John. Transparency in business is more important than ever. I believe that companies are loosing, if they haven’t already, their grip over consumers. Recently, one huge company, which I’m not going to mention here, released a new service which was down on their release day, and they have received so much bad rep on Twitter. It’s unreal.
Keep it up John.
Peter
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:49 am
Nice post…
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:11 pm
This is so true, people love to connect with the people behind the business, rather than give money to a faceless entity. It’s can be hard to judge when handing out personal info is “too much,” especially for a young woman in business. But you’ve got to think about what you can share with people (safely) to really get that personal connection, and they’ll keep coming back!
April 22nd, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Hey John,
Great post. I am now off to out a little transparency into my business.
Shannon
April 22nd, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I agree that being more transparent earns people’s trust. I have had a better response from my clients by letting them into my life a little. Thanks for the encouragement that I’m on the right track……Jan Marie
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Oh, BTW, I love your living space. It’s kind of the spanish style I love although that looks more mediterranean than spanish. Muy bueno.
April 22nd, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I would like to get folks to take a look at http://www.friendfeed.com
This seems to be the hottest WEB 2.0 feed aggregator
“The four founders of FriendFeed have plans to make it a one stop shop for all your social networking updates and news items. The four founders were all team members at Google and helped to launch such products as Google Maps, Adsense, GMail and Google Groups. They’ve brought their expertise to a slightly different area: social network aggregating.”
Its a startup by some top guys from the big “G”. Actually when I first saw the friendfeed logo I thought it might be johns next stage for income.com - same graphics.
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Since I am a solo/virtual op, without big office parties or whiteboards to display, I will be wearing see-thru vinyl in an upcoming blog video, in order to become more transparent to my friends and readers, and show them more of my “personality”
May not have any left after that, however…
.. or maybe more?
Seriously though, Jeff Paul started it all by being photographed in his underwear, yes?
April 23rd, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Im really glad you wrote on this topic, and I was actually going to start to share more personal notes with subscribers. I think it lets them know that I am a real person with a real life.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Oh my John, your house looks like a holiday beach resort and the home theater you have, I want mine too! Haha. Thanks for sharing.
~Terry
April 24th, 2008 at 6:52 am
Thanks John. I would say it is way overdue to put some humanity and personal connection back in the impersonal http://www.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:55 am
John I have followed your work since I been online since 1999.
I have always known your do quite well online and the posting
of a glimpse in your home is awesome. I love your movie room!
I have never in my monitoring of your activities seen you mention
a wife or girlfriend? I am curious when you going to get some
family in that huge estate!! Take care Joe
April 24th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Just to say thanks for sharing your expert opinions and I’m certain that the majority of online customers appreciate dealing with REAL people and not faceless ones who may just be after a quick buck…Great pad by the way..!!
All the best..Tony
April 24th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Great Article John,
Me thinks that Frank Garon was ahead of the pack
as he has been doing this for at least the past 5 years
that I know of.
Most of the other “Guru”types were always telling him
not to market this way.
The tide has turned…and that’s a good thing for all.
http://tinyurl.com/5e3hmj
April 24th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Interesting concept; better jump on the bandwagon now; the more people doing it the less innovative transparency will be.
April 26th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Short title, but powerful meaning. Will consider this on a personal level too and how it affects our business, makes sense to me and I can see it working, and examples of it working on the net are working all around us. Thanks for bringing it again into clearer perception but hit dead center and focused on it.
April 30th, 2008 at 12:36 am
[…] who trust what you have to say. John Reese wrote an excellent article recently about how important transparency is in today’s business practice. If your sales message can’t be shown to the world, you […]
May 1st, 2008 at 6:16 am
John!
I must say I’m very Impressed! But I believe and hope, I and many of us, are on the way to make some more money we can invest and grow to a better wealth than today.
So far I’m happy with my Company, that is free to join, free to maintain, free shop with a number of valuable products you can sell and earn up to 80% retail commission, it’s even free to Earn!
Look at this if you searching for a Business you can afford:
http://HowToMakeSuccess.googlepages.com
Thanks for your attention,
Income Group
T.A.
June 19th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Your site is amazing. I just wanted to add in here for everyone how the internet is changing and making it actually possible for people to do their advertising much easier. There is a program called Glyphius that is becoming very popular. The way it works is, you just type a headline into the text field of whatever it is you are writing and click on the score button, it automatically runs and comes back with a score. Its to show you if it needs tweaking , change of words and so fourth.
Finally, there is something out there to help everyone get a bigger boost in retrieving people to visit your website and or blogs.
Just thought I would try to help everyone out, which I love to do!
Thank you and have a great day.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:12 pm
You are correct. MuVar maintains total transparency with its users.
July 16th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
This is how I’m able how to record music all day and play music !
check this link out very cool!!
Mark
http://www.secretmoneybox.com
September 2nd, 2008 at 8:21 am
Hello John,
As customers are faced with information overload, they experience more uncertainty.
The transparency you write of provides certainty to customers in any market that they find to be uncertain (for them). This in turn provides an extraordinary competitive advantage.
Good business!
November 14th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Beautiful house… Love the theater, but sorry to say the living room has the ugliest furniture I have ever seen (from a Man’s view) Just can’t picture calling up the boys to come over to watch the game in that decor??
Sorry Man,
Rick
November 15th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Hone makes a good point - the distinction between business transparecny and keeping your private life private. It’s often beneficial to reveal business information gradually too (scarcity principle).
April 17th, 2009 at 11:36 am
[…] new business model as it relates to newer Internet technologies requires a certain amount of transparency with your business, and if you are not prepared to offer up some of that transparency (let your […]
May 12th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
You have a great point, but your photos do not necessarily speak well of you to all audiences. In fact, they have potential to have a reverse effect, as they did with me, and repel your audience. If you want to appear grounded and genuine, it might bode well for you to try to show more about your life, and less about your material possessions.
June 10th, 2009 at 9:03 am
transparency to be effective must be a true window into your life style and and assets Secretmoney box.com is misrepresenting him self and calling any one who exposes him
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:46 pm
[…] the correct information at hand, and the concept of transparency in place, the shareholders and investors would have noticed right away that something was amiss. […]
November 17th, 2009 at 7:46 am
[…] […]
November 17th, 2009 at 10:25 am
[…] Transparency Is The Future Of Business […]
February 6th, 2010 at 4:35 am
[…] another would struggle for months to come (Not to mention the mainstream media’s backlash!) Corporate Transparency is very important in today’s world, and I think that any company that is not willing to be honest […]
March 1st, 2010 at 3:54 pm
In fact, they have potential to have a reverse effect, as they did with me, and repel your audience.
March 14th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
I can not belive how hard it was for me to find this post! Great Job, Kat