Sometimes, the best business change you can make is when you “go back to your roots”, Rewind to what you know best. Stop being “cute”.
Today, for the first time in a long time, David Pogue wrote a column that was worth reading.
I say that, fully aware that I’m not the world’s end-all arbiter of what’s worth reading. And let me be clear: I’m trying to compliment David Pogue, not insult him. Pogue is an occasional touchstone here at Answer Guy Central, and it makes me sad that every now and then I write about him in a way that sounds snarky. He’s even written in to complain a bit.
But today, David Pogue went back to his roots. And it works.
Before Pogue was an author, columnist for The New York Times, commentator for CNBC, and all-around famous journalist-type, he was a computer geek for hire. A pretty successful one, too; David’s clients were A-list celebrities. And knowing David Pogue a little bit, I’m sure that he approached his computer consulting practice in much the way I’ve always approached being a computer consultant: your advice needs to be meaningful and practical; when you stray into the geeky and esoteric, you hurt your clients—and your business.
And hey: if that’s what your clients need, fine. But usually, your clients need simple. Right?
When I wrote my “Computers Are Hard” piece earlier this week, this is exactly what I was thinking about. Things look obvious. They look simple. And sometimes you need to dig to a level that really is simple before you get anywhere near “reality”. It’s what we do at The Computer Answer Guy, and at PC-VIP; your computers need to just work, and we make that happen.
Click the link above and read David Pogue’s article; it’s why he got to be David Pogue. And it might help you remember how you got to where you are, too.