“People don’t buy the facts. They buy the feeling.” – says Bernadette Jiwa, and she's right.
Bernadette isn't talking about WordPress. She's writing about Starbucks, but as a brand and storytelling expert, her truths apply widely.
Enterprise WordPress
I work for Crowd Favorite, where we sell and deliver WordPress solutions to large enterprises some of whom are currently using SiteCore even though it costs much more and is far more complicated to use.
The facts should be plain. SiteCore costs a lot. WordPress (in terms of annual license) is free. But there are very few people selling WordPress replacements for SiteCore deployments, and so every time we pitch (or even win) a deal, we're fighting fears and feelings more than facts.
“People don’t buy the facts. They buy the feeling.”
WordPress Hosting
The other day I was reading about how well managed hosts (like WP Engine and GoDaddy) had performed in December and January.
There are many hosts out there but few have the divisive nature of WP Engine or GoDaddy. Some people absolutely love them. Others write them off. There is, apparently, no middle ground.
This is especially true for GoDaddy among many WordPress insiders. Yet if you look at their performance numbers, you might be surprised. But most people aren't surprised because most people don't look.
They write off providers and never look back. They ignore the facts.
“People don’t buy the facts. They buy the feeling.”
WordPress Pricing
Some plugins are really expensive. I get it. But most are ridiculously inexpensive.
But I'm not complaining about plugin developers. Yes, they set prices, but they do it in response to an entire ecosystem that often seems hell-bent on driving prices to zero.
But if they succeed, if prices really get low, most companies will go out of business, or go elsewhere. Either way, it's not a good thing. Yet people still want low prices. Even if the facts are clear as day.
“People don’t buy the facts. They buy the feeling.”
The Truth About WordPress
The truth about WordPress is that it's filled with people who are self-taught.
- Self-taught programmers.
- Self-taught product folks.
- Self-taught business folks.
- Self-taught marketers.
- Self-taught writers & bloggers.
There's a lot about being self-taught that is awesome.
When I started working with the internet there were no courses, no books, and the only way to learn about things was to learn on our own.
But when you're self-taught, it's easy to just go with your feelings. You go with your gut. Even if it's untrained.
We don't go with the facts. We trust our feelings.
Here's what we can do about it
Thankfully, we don't have to be people who only go with our feelings. We can study, learn, and improve.
It's why you've seen so many people heading to PHP conferences instead of just WordCamps. It's why you've heard people pitching talk proposals to Javascript conferences instead of just WordPress meetups.
It's why my schedule for events this year is different.
Exposure.
How are you engaging outside of the WordPress community? How are you learning from others? How are you challenging your perspective?
The more you learn, the more you grow, and the better you help our community mature.
Until we're making decisions based on facts instead of feelings.