On dust cloths, giraffes and the internet
How the internet has changed and what we can do to stay relevant.
I remember trying to explain the internet to my dad, 30 years ago.
We had a PC in the back room. The internet was on that.
It was like a sewing machine—handy if you had a project to do, but mostly it was packed away under a dust cloth.
I don’t think anyone uses dust cloths anymore.
Obviously a lot has changed
The internet moved from the back room to your back pocket.
And we treat it differently now, too.
We don’t just type ‘giraffe height’
We ask ChatGPT to compare the height of a giraffe to the Empire State Building*.
But why am I talking about giraffes?
Because people are weird.
They don’t think the way you do.
And they don’t search the way you do.
So if you want to show up, you need to think about that.
People don’t really know what you do, that’s why they hire you.
They’re desperately asking questions. Comparing things. Trying to get answers.
Meanwhile, your website is talking about the awards you’ve won and you’re not in the conversation.
That’s why you might need to rethink what you put on your website…
Start answering your customer’s questions:
Help them understand their problems
Help them compare various solutions
Help them see why your version is different
Help them see their problem from a different angle
Then you’ll start to sound like someone who understands.
And people are drawn to people who understand them.
Oh, and as a bonus, ChatGPT and Claude and all those AI tools need your answers too. So they’ll start scraping your helpful advice and you’ll show up there as well.
Sometimes it does feel like it’s all changing pretty fast.
The dust cloths have gone, and the internet has changed. But people haven’t.
Be helpful to the people who need you—and you can’t go wrong.
(*BTW you’d need to stack around 80 male giraffes on top of each other to match the full height of the Empire State Building, including the spire. You’re welcome.)
Photo by Sian Cooper on Unsplash
