“In the collaborative economy, people can get what they need from each other – instead of buying from you,” says Jeremiah Owyang in his awesome presentation called “sharing is the new buying” that outlines how to win in the collaborative economy. It’s awesome and I’ve embedded it below. My mom doesn’t know anything about Owyang, but despite this, she also happens to be an unintentional winner in the collaborative economy. She shares excess vegetables from the garden, crowdsources swimming pools for her grandchildren, and uses Airbnb (as well as her social networks) to arrange accommodations when she travels. Here are some lessons you can learn from how my mom is winning the sharing economy.
She is a really nice person
People want to do business with people they like. Whether you bank with a regional credit union or RBC you probably do it because you like someone (or many people) who work there. This is the same principle that underlines expensive marketing campaigns built around celebrities and athletes who people like and admire. At work I am certainly more likely to pick up the phone and call someone I enjoy working with when I need to start a project. My mom is winning the collaborative economy because she is a kind and generous person, which makes people want to share their experiences and their stuff with her.
She has an incredible network
I always joke that my parents will be fine if there’s a zombie apocalypse because of their gated homestead and their amazing network. Over the years my parents have parlayed their careers as teachers and their natural predilection for convening people in fun ways into a vibrant and awesome community of gardeners, fishers, hunters, doctors, explorers, and many other members of the “maker movement”. The folks in their network also see huge value in sharing stuff and actively acquire resources that will benefit the entire community. My parents have literally traded wood for sheep and brick for fish with their neighbours, whereas guys like me only experience this kind of sharing on a Settlers of Catan board. Sure, you can participate in the sharing economy with strangers in communities like eBay; it’s just easier and more authentic when the people with whom you’re sharing are friends.
She talks about her interests
Like her son, my mom is a talker. Genuinely excited about education, grandparenting, politics, the environment, and many other things, my mom talks a lot about what she likes and this makes it really easy for people in her network (or strangers who want to be her best friend). When goods or services of interest to my mom come across peoples’ screens or desks they immediately think of her because of how well she expresses what she needs. Without really trying to do it, my mom has others working collaboratively with her interests in mind!
She lives DIY culture
Both of my parents are thriving in the maker movement. My mom is awesome at canning fruits and vegetables and she’d rather make a gift than buy one. This helps her participation in the sharing economy because folks who create value as opposed to buying it often do so in collaboration with friends and business partners. For example, my mom makes absolutely amazing raspberry jam and she trades some of it for her friend Dr. Pam’s zucchini relish or for “Internet help” from a wiz-kid-of-a-neighbour.
She uses the right tools
My parents’ neighbourhood has a Facebook group. It’s better than any group of which I’m a member. Folks inform each other of everything from cougar sightings (the wilderness kind, not the Courtney Cox TV show kind) to who has excess zucchini for sharing. My mom also pulls photos of her grandson, Miles, from our shared Dropbox folder and turns the best shots into beautiful gifts (calendars, mugs, and photobooks) for our family. She knows how to share with old school tools like posters at the end of the street and by hosting get-togethers, too. Whether you join a co-operative like the Vancouver Tool Library or Modo, leverage Craigslist, or share stuff in your condo building with bazinga!, use the tools and systems that make the most sense for how you want to participate in the collaborative economy.
She asks for what she wants
When I visited my parents a few weeks ago it was at the height of the West Coast’s heat wave. Clearly, we needed a kiddie pool for my son to play in while he beat the heat. So, my mom went to the neighbourhood’s Facebook group and asked if anyone had a pool she could borrow for two weeks. Within a day there were three pools at my folks’ homestead. My dad’s also good at asking for what he wants. The grass in his field had grown too high so he borrowed his neighbour’s sheep for a month so that they could eat it down (and provide hours of entertainment for the city-based grandchildren who were visiting). You will absolutely get stuff shared with you without asking, but you will experience more value in the collaborative economy when you ask for what you want (or need) and are ready to reciprocate accordingly within your community.
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