I was at the library the other day and I picked up Friction: Passion Brands in the Age of Disruption. I remember Glenn Beck talking about it a year ago. At the time, it seemed like a book for larger companies with physical products, but it looked like a quick read, so I picked it up. If you are a small business owner, I recommend you pick it up. It’s not just for big businesses. It’s for bloggers too.
I’ve been writing on the internet since college (and earning money from my writing for almost as long), but I still don’t earn enough to equal my pay at Walmart. It doesn’t help that some of the places that I used to write for no longer exist, so that money is gone. At least personal blogs don’t go away unless you want them too. Anyway, I always feel that I can be more successful at what I’m doing. Friction actually has pretty good advice for small businesses like bloggers.
One of the main premises of the book is this: people don’t like commercials. Do you ever pay attention to banner ads? Do your eyes glaze over like mine when you scroll past sponsored Tweets and Facebook posts? I thought so. Getting the word out about your product today is a lot different than it was 10, 15 years ago.
People like getting value for their time. They don’t want to watch commercials. They want personalized content. They don’t like popup ads. Removing the “friction” from a user’s experience will cause people to want to come back. This is good advice, whether you are running a physical business where you want to make it easier for people to shop at your store, or if you’re running a blog and you’re hoping that people will want to come back.
The book is really easy to read. I read it in a few hours. The type is big and there are a lot of pictures. Even though it’s not a densely packed book, it will get you to think, what can I do to reduce friction with my customers/readers/etc.? That question that you will walk away with is probably the most important part of the book.
Whatever your business goals are, Friction is a helpful book to read.