Hear for Hire

Information supply and demand: we’re putting lots out there, is anyone listening?

While exploring east London the other weekend, I met up with a friend at the Shoreditch Grind – a great coffee shop with a theater marquee sign in a building which was once the emergency exit for Old Street Station. Great coffee, good vibe, and there’s even a recording studio upstairs.

Shoreditch is turning into a hub for startups, and over a slice of red velvet cake and a conversation – that two-way thing that seems rather old school these days – we sat at the window and watched entrepreneurial Londoners walk by in their rainy habitat. I bemoaned the tired fact that there is so much to do yet so little time. That there are mountains of information out there, to learn and read and act on, and that everyone seems to be shilling something: a product, an idea, themselves, a better version of themselves.

And then we hit upon a great business idea: Professional Listening.

I’m no entrepreneurship expert but I think it’s safe to claim that one of the better rules of starting a business is to identify a need in the market.

These days there is high need for people who listen.

Ever had a conversation when one of the following happens?

• Someone takes out a smart phone and starts multitasking.
• You wait idly while the other person has a side phone conversation.
• Talk is halted while a mobile device is used to fact check a point.
• A lull in the conversation brings all the phones to the table.
• You are the only one asking questions.

Of course times change and they change us. Adapt or die, so we carve off a slice of our attention from the people right in front of us and give it to the world online (which includes the very same people in front of us!) I am no exception. More often than I’d care to admit, I have sat at a table where all of us are head down, thumbs on our phones: checking email, whatsapp, sports scores, finding the exact name of a restaurant, movie, book, website to recommend.

Social media is the great connector, we’d be cracked to give it up. Drifting. For example, I have a long lost couple friend in Kansas whom I haven’t seen in +5 years. I adore them but who knows when we will be in the same timezone again. Thanks to social media, I know that Catherine ran four miles this week while listening to Janelle and that her kids are turning into adorable little buggers who appear to be happy replicas of their happy parents.

Furthermore, everyone (again, no exception here) has some kind of blog these days (or two or three) with thoughtful analysis, random musings, or photo collections. We are really good at sharing our views. People post jokes on Facebook and article links on Twitter. But…

Is anybody reading? Is anyone listening?

It’s a self-publish, self-promote world. First step: create. Second step: attract eyeballs and users. This is the era of the personal brand. First step: create an online presence. Second step: find admirers.

It’s a full time job to push out such a quantity of news, commentary, and information;no wonder there’s not a single minute to spare for what other people are putting out there.

That’s where this new business of mine comes in. If you need someone to be on the receiving end of all that information, but have come to realize that the market is just a void, a table of friends with their heads down and thumbs on phones, I’ll take you on as my client. I’ll read all your tweets and laugh at your FB jokes, I’ll heart your instagram pics. I can read and recommend your Medium posts.

I’m hear to hire. I’m also up for a cup of coffee; we can leave our mobile devices at home… it’ll be good training. We might even come up with a couple of ideas. Then we’ll just have to promote them.

This article originally appeared on Medium.