Picture yourself ten years ago, way on back in 1999. Everybody was listening to that one Prince song in anticipation of the New Millenium, and the idea of phone that could take pictures was – woah! – just, like, way too cool to handle. Now, I want you to think: how often did you check your email, or watch a video online?
Probably not that much. Well, think about now – how often do you check your email now? Does your phone beep when a new message hits your inbox? Did your grandma just send you a link to that funny video of the cat playing electric piano?
Nielsen -- that company that measures how many people watch a certain TV show -- reports that in 1999, people spent an average of 8 hours and 17 minutes online per month. Nowadays, the average user spends as much as 38 hours online per month! (Sources: 1999, 2009)
It’s simply indisputable: the world is changing, and with a quickness. Amidst the chaos of our increasingly integrated globe – new markets opening, technology getting the better of its creators, privacy eroding as we broadcast our lives online, more and more jobs being outsourced daily – it’s easy to feel bewildered, scared even. But as with any global shift, in the midst of all this confusion, there’s also great opportunity.
A few years ago, a visionary schoolteacher named Karl Fisch put together a video presentation called “Shift Happens” for his class. It became an Internet hit, and was later re-adapted by Sony BMG, the famous record label, as an opening video for its executive conference in Rome. Now, it’s called “Did You Know?” (Thanks to several of our affiliates for emailing us this video!)
Now, take a few minutes and watch it:
With well over 5 million YouTube views, it’s clear that this video speaks to people. But why? What’s the take-home message here? That China and India are overtaking the Americas as computing power booms? That you check your email a lot and get videos of kittens from your granny? In the singer Peggy Lee’s famous words, “Is that all there is?”
It’s got to be deeper than that. So, as the video asks us – what does it all mean?
It means traditional jobs aren’t secure like they used to be; it means the world is more hyper-connected than ever; it means we’re reaching a point where, with widespread computer access and total information synergy, people can take more and more control of their lives – and their finances.
It’s in that space between the present and the future, the actual and potential, that direct sales companies like Gano Excel come in.
A recent article on Entrepreneur.com tells us that in the midst of lay-offs and other unfortunate effects of our new global economy, network marketing thrives. And with the hyper-connectivity available with the Internet, it’s easier than ever to start and build a lifestyle-changing home-based business.
The modern world’s ever-expanding borders can make someone feel like an insignificant wire in a vast and complex piece of electronics they didn’t design. It’s easy to lose your identity, your sense of self, amidst all the shifting data and global upheavals.
It’s inspiring to know that in a world like ours, where nothing is certain and the rules of the game seem to change minute-by-minute, that there is still an industry where the individual matters – where things are still simple, and good work will yield great results for people who can recognize a life-changing opportunity when they see it.
