My readers have expectations
for my books.
They expect a certain tone,
a certain level of sex and violence,
a certain relationship construct,
a certain pacing.
This is why they buy my books.
But they also want
something new.
They want every book
to be different,
unpredictable in some ways,
exciting.
And I suspect
your customers want that too.
That is the challenge of
maintaining a brand
and building a business.
Our customers want new products
but they want them
to be similar
in the ways they expect from us.
“The thing is,
innovation has long-term benefits
for all of us.
The craven search
for attention at all costs
does not.
Musicians have figured this out
–every new song has to
push the envelope,
has to somehow make things better
and be new enough to matter–
but at the same time,
they can’t burn
the trust of audience
they’ve earned to date.
The Who can smash guitars
and Dylan can mumble,
but Kenny G can’t do either.”
Know the core aspects
of your brand,
of what your customers
expect from you.
Deliver that
but also deliver something new.
(No one said
this was easy.)