Who is Your Biggest Competitor? It Might Not Be What You Think.

So today, I want to talk to you about relevance, and this is actually based on a keynote that I am giving at a networking event.

And I thought I would share it with you too, because it is so incredibly important to be thinking of our relevance rather than what we're actually doing because the context of what we're experiencing changes so much.

And as a personal brand, as a business owner, we really need to be making sure that we're relevant, not only to where we're at now, but also our future.

So if I asked you a question who your biggest competitor was, what would you say? Some might say your biggest competitor is you.

Others might say another business, someone who's cheaper, someone who's bigger, someone offering exactly the same thing as what you do.

But I don't believe that your biggest competitor is another business or someone who has a rocking, you know, personal brand.

I think it is irrelevance.

So whether you're a business owner or an employee, someone who has their own personal brand, the question is exactly the same.

Does the value you bring today still match what the world needs today and in the future? 'Cause that is what relevance is all about.

Relevance is when the value you bring aligns with the needs of the world around you.

And one of the easiest examples I can share with you is Kodak.

So many of us will remember the Kodak cameras, right? And Kodak actually invented the world's first digital camera in 1975.

Steve Sasson designed the first-ever prototype.

It was huge and not ready for market yet, but it was designed to capture black-and-white images onto a cassette tape.

And so at that time, Kodak was the most successful camera brand.

Everybody knew Kodak and remember the film and- or someone had a Kodak camera.

I took a Kodak camera away with me in 2001 to the Middle East with the film, and it was, you know, in those times where we had to be really, you know, selective and discerning with the photos that we were taking because we couldn't see [laughs] what the photo looked like, and we actually had to get the film developed to see our photos.

So Kodak owned the market share, and they had invented the first digital camera.

They owned the market share until they didn't.

Most people think that Kodak failed because they missed the digital revolution.

They didn't.

They invented it.

So the problem wasn't their capability or their know-how or, you know, thinking about the future.

It was choice.

They chose not to lead with the digital camera.

So today, I want to talk to you about relevance, and this is actually based on a keynote that I am giving at a networking event.

And I thought I would share it with you too, because it is so incredibly important to be thinking of our relevance rather than what we're actually doing because the context of what we're experiencing changes so much.

And as a personal brand, as a business owner, we really need to be making sure that we're relevant, not only to where we're at now, but also our future.

So if I asked you a question who your biggest competitor was, what would you say? Some might say your biggest competitor is you.

Others might say another business, someone who's cheaper, someone who's bigger, someone offering exactly the same thing as what you do.

But I don't believe that your biggest competitor is another business or someone who has a rocking, you know, personal brand.

I think it is irrelevance.

So whether you're a business owner or an employee, someone who has their own personal brand, the question is exactly the same.

Does the value you bring today still match what the world needs today and in the future? 'Cause that is what relevance is all about.

Relevance is when the value you bring aligns with the needs of the world around you.

And one of the easiest examples I can share with you is Kodak.

So many of us will remember the Kodak cameras, right? And Kodak actually invented the world's first digital camera in 1975.

Steve Sasson designed the first-ever prototype.

It was huge and not ready for market yet, but it was designed to capture black-and-white images onto a cassette tape.

And so at that time, Kodak was the most successful camera brand.

Everybody knew Kodak and remember the film and- or someone had a Kodak camera.

I took a Kodak camera away with me in 2001 to the Middle East with the film, and it was, you know, in those times where we had to be really, you know, selective and discerning with the photos that we were taking because we couldn't see [laughs] what the photo looked like, and we actually had to get the film developed to see our photos.

So Kodak owned the market share, and they had invented the first digital camera.

They owned the market share until they didn't.

Most people think that Kodak failed because they missed the digital revolution.

They didn't.

They invented it.

So the problem wasn't their capability or their know-how or, you know, thinking about the future.

It was choice.

They chose not to lead with the digital camera.