It seems to me that we are living in a world that demands instant gratification. If you can provide instant gratification you are on to a sure fire winner.

If someone wants something delivered tomorrow, they can pay a bit extra. No need to wait. If you want to order some food, it can be on your doorstep in ten minutes. No need to feel hungry for long. If you decide to go on holiday, you can book it in five minutes. No need to go out into the High Street. If you see a celebrity wearing something on TV that you like, you can look it up and order it on-line within a few minutes. No need to worry about not being "on trend".

There are 31 billion searches on Google every month.

What are all these people searching for, and who did they ask before google existed?

The fact that they are searching suggests that they are "primed" to engage with the product or service they are searching for. They are making an effort to seek it out, and they want to have their interest satisfied as soon as possible!

The on-line world is a world where instant gratification is possible. The most up-to-date results are the most relevant to the community.

If someone cannot reach you by phone straight away, they will phone someone else who does answer and do business with them instead.

If someone does not get a reply to an enquiry email within 24 hours, they will go elsewhere.

Being visible on line means that you are "findable". Showing contact details gives the message that you are easy to contact and connect with.

The easier and more instantaneous the connection, the easier it is for them to engage with you.

A web site is a passively viewed static page that does not up-date very often. In the fast moving on-line world it’s boring and dull. That is why a blog is so vital to your on-line presence. It’s constantly updating and changing, it’s interactive, and it’s a platform for conversations around your product or service. People talking about you in real time shows your relevance.

You responding in real times shows there is someone "present", someone who cares, someone who listens, who reacts. How powerful is that for your business?

I quite often look at websites that haven’t changed in eons, and I wonder if the company is still trading! "Last news update April 2009" makes that website look very out of date and not giving me the latest information I am hungry for.

People want to see change, they want to see up-to-date commentary, they want to see that you are active in your field, that you know the latest news, trends, products, information, thinking ….

That is why Twitter is such an amazing tool. It’s instantaneous, real time, up-dating every second of the day. The latest tweet is the most relevant to the audience. I believe that the search function on Twitter will becoming increasingly important to people, as Twitter grows. It provides real-time, organic results. Not paid for. This is very appealing to the community as they understand that the most recent results are the most relevant.

However, a twitter account where you haven’t tweeted for ages sends a distinct message that you have left the game or the party. (I would suggest it would be almost better not to have a Twitter account at all, than leave one "un-tended" and not up-dated regularly! In fact, I believe that Twitter delete accounts if they have not been used for six months).

In an on-line (business) world that is increasingly operating in real time, what are you doing in your business to stand out from the noise, be available, be up-to-date, be visible, be active, provide instant gratification?

I know from my own experience, when I am not very visible on line due to being very busy working individually with clients, people start to ask where I am. I start to lose relevance or interest if I do not appear on ecademy for a few days, for instance.

If you are not on the on-line playing field playing the game every day, you are in the stands watching, and chances are you and your business are not relevant.

Even if this is not the case now (I happen to believe it is), it will most certainly be the case as the younger generation move from social networking to social business networking and the older "analogue" generation retire. You are up against a generation of people who intuitively understand the web, embrace open, random, and supportive naturally, and who reach for Google when they want to find something. They are your customers of the future, are they not? If you want to be relevant, you need to be playing their game and the name of their game is "real time results" ….

As a side note, thanks to Twitter I recently connected with the DJ turned property developer Danny Rampling and spent a great day with him yesterday organising and stream-lining his on-line presence. I am delighted to say that Danny will be attending our Twitter Training Tactics Walk in the Surrey Hills as a special guest. If you would like to learn more how Twitter can provide instant gratification in your business, please see further details here.

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