A little early – too excited to wait

Some shameless promotion for my bank: Citizens Bank of Canada is sponsoring a contest for their community site, Hockey Stars (launching fully a little later).

Here’s the contest:

submit your favourite photo or video connected to hockey and you could win:

Grand Prize: $1000 gift card

Second/Third Prize: XBOX 360

Visit HockeyStars.Com to enter!

ps: fellow bloggers – if you want to post this on your blogs, have at ‘er! I’d (we’d) be delighted for the word to spread. Either right click the image, or leave me a comment if you want me to e-mail it.

It’s getting late and I have LOST episodes to catch up on so here’s a couple brief goodies:

Vancouver has a new Sample Store, with some sweet deals this weekend. If you’re on facebook, join the group to keep updates flowing.

Hockey fans and players will want to check out the new community site HockeyStars.com and enter for some prizes. (Full disclosure – it’s powered by Citizens Bank of Canada, my (patient) employer).

I’ve been enjoying a lot of FREE stuff for the past several months.

Google, of course. (pardon my little joke if you click the link).

And if I need good info on a person, org, or idea, I go to wikipedia.

Recently I’ve also signed up with Skype, and now a lot of my overseas (as well as local) calls are Free.

My banking is free.

My entertainment is free.

My inspiration is free.

My cutting-edge information is free.

Notable exception: Alas, our public transportation is Not Free (boo!) although I’m hopeful that eventually this guy will get through to the right person and get that changed for us.

Ever really thought about the fact that all this is free?

We’re all about to think about it a whole lot more.

According to Chris Anderson, editor of Wired, our economy is changing to FREE.

That’s a pretty freaky gobsmacking thought.

Here’s his argument.

1. We’re used to “free” stuff, which is in fact subsidized by some kind of cross-sell. Think: cel phones for free, if we buy the 3-yr plan (my least favourite thing, fyi). We’re also used to “free” being in fact at the cost of being subjected to adverts.

2. Technology has plummeted in cost. There’s plenty enough to go around and we’ve found ways to make it for almost nothing.

3. This is introducing a new economic model. We can now subsidize the vast majority of services by charging money only for the top tier of service. “You can have a Flickr account, but if you want all the bells and whistles, pay us this small charge”.

So far we’ve seen this only in the online/technology domain. I wonder how long it will take to translate into the ‘real’ world: free computers (but if you want the xtra RAM…), free clothing (but if you want the soy-based kind…), free food (but if you want organic…).

Of course, it’s predicated on the basic kind being inexpensive enough to produce that the premium version will cover the costs and profit. But still. I wonder.

Photo Credit Rache.

Update: for a completely different opinion on FREE (in fact, a robust argument that it’s for the birds) visit the inimitable Squawkfox.

And I quote:

How things have changed. The city [vancouver] in the rain forest is the very definition of luxury, the sort of casual elegance and graceful quality of life Vancouverites have come to take for granted.

Now the rest of the world is taking note.

Vancouver’s skyline is bristling with cranes as more and more high-end hotels and condo complexes are built. Famous faces mingle with the crowds shopping at international luxury retailers. New restaurants open almost every week.

(Nat’l Post, March 29 2008, FW5)

In the immortal words of Shania Twain: That don’t impress me much. And I hope to god that’s not becoming Vancouver’s brand positioning.

Don’t get me wrong. I love genuine quality as much as the next guy. My mac. My piano. My gorgeous daschunds.

So quality, yes.

Luxury? Meh. Boring.

For one thing, it smells bad. Like exclusivity smells bad to me. What the frack does anyone gain by using luxury as a demarcation from the next person?

For another thing, it’s dumb. Most of the us – I hope? or am I kidding myself? – kinda get the fact that we’ve overconsumed, overspent, and screwed the planet and exploited about a billion people in the process. Conspicious consumption is pretty much yesterday, don’t you think? So I repeat: I hope this isn’t Vancouver’s brand, or we’ll be pretty embarrassed sooner than later.

Last. It really is boring. Compare “luxury” to “intelligent”. To “innovative”. To “creative”. Which piques your interest? Which has a breath-of-fresh-air quality to it? I’m betting luxury sounds tired in comparison.

So, marketers — if I’m reading Vancouver right, lose the “luxury” angle, already. We can do better than that. Much better. Can’t we?

Periodically people ask me why I state so definitively “I’m a money coach, not a financial planner”! (see blog header)

The topic came up again as I was walking with Jan and David after WordCamp yesterday.

Here’s why.

1. Statement of fact. I’m not a financial planner. I haven’t got any financial advising/planning credentials. I don’t give advice. I don’t even really create plans. I don’t suggest stocks or mutual funds. What I do, is equip people on the basics that so easily escape us – budgets. getting out of debt. setting up savings plans. defining and prioritizing financial goals. befriending money. setting up effective banking structures.

2. In my experience a lot of Canadians have felt disappointed by the financial planning industry. There are some awesome financial advisors – I’ve met lots and respect them – but so many times people have expected something that they didn’t end up getting, and remain upset, distrustful and even bitter. I want those readers to understand right away that money coaching is a different thing altogether. fyi, Here are some of the reasons people have become jaded about the financial planning industry:

False expectation: We think they’ll help manage our money in a granular way. Sometimes financial planners perpetuate this myth by doing a one-off review of your debt and cash flow…. but does it happen ever again? Or even quarterly? Not usually. Financial planners are here to help with our investments, with insurance, tax planning and legacies. They don’t help, not in an ongoing, meaningful way, with overspending, relationship with money, conflict about money between couples, getting out of debt.

False expectation: They will regularly keep in touch with our investments and constantly be watching out for them. Most financial planners have well over a hundred, often hundreds, of clients. They simply don’t have the time to review our individual personal portfolios on a monthly or even weekly basis.

False expectation: We will receive completely unbiased advice. Not so. Most financial planners operate under some sort of umbrella, and have a particular set of products (usually, mutual funds) that they can offer.

and the biggest False expectation of all: A globalized hope that they will look after our finances. We often feel intimidated and anxious about our money, and in our heart-of-hearts wish we could abdicate our control of the whole thing and pass it off to someone else. When we discover that our portfolio has diminished in value, when we receive financial statements that don’t make things clear (ggrrrrrrr!), when it dawns on us that we’ve simply bought a product, not someone who is carefully nurturing out nest eggs — we understandably get disillusioned.

Here’s what I offer as a money coach.

1. I create a safe space in which to review the basics of being savvy with money (spending/saving etc.)

2. I offer the tools, tricks and tips that have worked for me, and plenty of clients, in taking control of cash flow.

3. Perhaps most importantly of all, I simply have the conversation. Many clients already know what is required to take back control. Having someone with whom to talk it over, sometimes ‘hold hands’, and be accountable (very gently) to, is often the best value I provide.

btw, Regarding the investment etc. angle, I encourage clients to inform themselves. To attend lectures, seminars and increasingly, read blogs of the diy’s -

MillionDollarJourney,

FinancialJungle,

MoneyGardener

CanadianCapitalist

TheFinancialBlogger

FourPillars

ThickenMyWallet

These may be a challenge for a while, but over time, strategies will become clear, a financial lexicon will expand, and best of all, clients will start to feel empowered.  Then, they can have a relationship with their planner based on realistic expectations and more informed conversation.

Any questions? Fire away….