Adapt

July 31, 2020

Geography is no longer destiny. They say.

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Well, yes and no. It's true enough that many businesses are no longer constrained by where they can work successfully, unless they're beauticians, pickpockets, or sidewalk umbrella-twirlers. Go boldly to find new customers anywhere. It is unremarkable these days to do commerce in Khartoum, Kokomo, and Cucamonga.

The trend of commerce without contact has been gathering steam for years. COVID-19 merely accelerated it, which is why today we polish our Zoom skills, stay conscious of RoomRater, and keep a dress shirt on a hanger near the desk.

2020 has meant reeducation for people whose careers depended on face-to-face (F2F) meetings in offices or Starbucks. They have discovered very few Fs to F.

But. But. But. Don't take the encouragement to be everywhere as license to be from Nowhere.

Avoid the temptation to be from the Terra Incognita they used to describe on old maps.

Case in point: We got an inquiry the other day from a firm offering their services. We looked at their reasonably attractive website, and looked some more, and some more. Because we could not find a clue as to Where. They. Were. They had omitted their location, even on the Contact page. No phone number area code either. It seemed deliberately disguised.

Net result? Suspicion followed by rejection. Why lose the sale? If you're ashamed of what town/state/time zone you're from, stop. Realize you're still there for a reason. Use that reason to engage us. "You prolly never expected brilliant innovations from Paducah/Bangladesh/Folsom Prison, but once you see our work..." If you're charming, we'll be charmed. Pinky swear.

Keep safe. Wear the damn mask.

Image credit: By Nicolas Sanson (1600–1667) - Raremaps.com former image transferred from en.wikipedia, Public Domain, Link
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