Stock and flow « Snarkmarket - 0 views
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There are two kinds of quantities in the world. Stock is a static value: money in the bank, or trees in the forest. Flow is a rate of change: fifteen dollars an hour, or three-thousand toothpicks a day.
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stock and flow is the master metaphor for media today. Here’s what I mean: Flow is the feed. It’s the posts and the tweets. It’s the stream of daily and sub-daily updates that remind people that you exist. Stock is the durable stuff. It’s the content you produce that’s as interesting in two months (or two years) as it is today. It’s what people discover via search. It’s what spreads slowly but surely, building fans over time.
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I feel like flow is ascenascendant these days, for obvious reasons—but we neglect stock at our own peril.
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Flow is a treadmill, and you can’t spend all of your time running on the treadmill. Well, you can. But then one day you’ll get off and look around and go: Oh man. I’ve got nothing here.
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this is no time to hole up and work in isolation, emerging after long months or years with your perfectly-polished opus. Everybody will go: huh?
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if you don’t have flow to plug your new fans into, you’re suffering a huge (here it is!) opportunity cost. You’ll have to find them all again next time you emerge from your cave.
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we all got really good at flow, really fast. But flow is ephemeral. Stock sticks around. Stock is capital. Stock is protein.
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And the real magic trick in 2010 is to put them both together. To keep the ball bouncing with your flow—to maintain that open channel of communication—while you work on some kick-ass stock in the background.
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all these super-successful artists and media people today who don’t really think about flow. Like, Wes Anderson
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the secret is that somebody else does his flow for him. I mean, what are PR and advertising? Flow, bought and paid for.
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Today I’m still always asking myself: Is this stock? Is this flow? How’s my mix? Do I have enough of both?