A New Set of Problems

byDonHawkins

79 followers

7 months ago

I want to point out to the community a small distinction that I think is often not made. It is an important distinction that I think can lead to more marketing opportunities. This is a distinction we all know, but sometimes it can become clouded in our thinking. This distinction involves two fundamental types of knowledge and was first made by the British philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. Whitehead stated there are two basic types of knowledge, declarative and procedural knowledge. Because information is increasingly becoming important in online, affiliate marketing, I believe Whitehead's distinction has some value for us.

Say and Do

The common actions of saying and doing are more concrete and appropriate to the work of online marketing. These two actions correspond nicely with Whitehead's distinction. Saying corresponds to declarative and doing corresponds to procedural. Whitehead changed our understanding of knowledge when he recognized that actions carry as much knowledge as do words. The knowledge of actions is just different. The knowledge of actions cannot be found in the knowledge of words. Let's see what the consequences are of that distinction.

What and How

We have associated Declarative/Procedural with Say/Do. Now we need to relate Say/Do with What/How. Declarative knowledge is nice and linear but, for that reason, it can get messy. Let's make a distinction between What and How. When I tell you What to do, I describe declarative knowledge. But when I tell you How to do, I describe procedural knowledge.

A Small Difference

Through the process of association, the original relationship of Declarative/Procedural has been reduced to a much more concrete one of What/How. This more concrete relationship is more functional for us in affiliate marketing. Everyday we tell our customers What to do. Often times the difference between What do Do and How to Do is small. Some times we assume the customer knows How to Do. For me, I find this is true if I am talking about something that I know how to do. So we sell products and advice that tell our customers What to Do and leave the How to Do up to the Gods of the market place.

What Happened?

Was the customer satisfied with the product we sold them? For some products, especially if the product involves information, that is a complex question. I have noted elsewhere that machines have fundamentally changed in the 21 century. We no longer have tools like the single-function hammer. In the digital world, tools are embedded inside other tools. On top of the greater complexity, machines now change rapidly. We no longer have one phone but a whole series of phones. In the past, we could assume the carpenter knew how to use a hammer. That's not true for 21st century machines. Rapid change came in the 21st century.

Monetization of Information

So where does this leave us with What to Do and How to Do? It is no longer enough to tell our customers What to Do, we now must tell them How to Do. Because How to Do is changing so rapidly, that information is worth money. It is not out of sheer preference that videos have become necessary in merchandising. Once one has made the distinctions that we have made in this article, the importance of How to Do becomes almost obvious. At least in my niche, self-improvement, entrepreneurs often leave out the lucrative How to Do part of the product. How to Do is now part of the product that people will purchase. For example, in meditation instruction, programs tell customers to "gently return your attentional focus" to your object of meditation when it drifts away. Yet, I have never seen a meditation program that teaches how to return one's attentional focus. I suppose the assumption is that the customer either knows how to do that or will figure it out.

In the 21st century, information has become more valuable as oil did in the 20th century. For any program on meditation, I can write another one as valuable as that one teaching How to Do the things that were taught in the original program. I have written this article, because I find myself assuming I have told the customer How to Do something when in fact I have just told What to Do. There are economic opportunities in both propositions: What to Do and How to Do. Take advantage of both!!