« back to blog home

Archive for February, 2008

[what is...] a Social Network

Friday, February 29th, 2008

Graham has been talking a lot about Social networks lately, and I can see why – it’s a massive part of the Internet’s appeal and a natural extension to how we enjoy interacting in the real world (well, that and the fact that Graham generally has a lot to say anyway). However, what is a Social Network?.

A social network is a collection of individuals who are, in some way, connected to one another. This connection usually takes the form of a current or past friendship, but can also take the form of a shared interest, shared vision, sexual preferences or anything else you care to imagine. The key component to a social network are these connections:

  • Any individual can be connected to any number of other individuals,
  • New connections can be found easily through existing connections,
  • Your connections’ connections (?) can be easily seen.

The concept of Social Networks has been around for a long time, but the Internet has provided us with many powerful tools to connect networks and people far more easily than was ever possible before. The power of a social network is in allowing people to connect very, very easily, and then allowing those people to benefit from their network very, very easily (perhaps by introducing them to new friends, finding potential business opportunities or by finding new people to share and discuss your interests with).

These guys have done a great job of explaining social networks very clearly, it’s worth a quick look.

There are a huge number of social networks which have become very popular for connecting people. Some networks exist to connect people through friendship, other networks connect people through a niche, shared interest. some of the most popular networks are:

(We’ll be taking a look at these sites in more detail soon. Promise.)

Now, you know where people are hanging out, who they are talking with and what they enjoy talking about. What would you like to talk to them about?

Tags: , ,
Posted in Social Networks, Understanding On-line Marketing Tools | No Comments »

FT encourages anti-social networking

Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

When the Financial Times does social networking, you expect it to do it with flair and a certain panache. However, their release of three ‘Executive Membership‘ forums seems to be taking the idea of niche a little too far. What they’re offering, in fact, is a series of exclusive clubs for high level execs. But at a cost. I don’t know the cost but Mashable is reporting a starting fee of £1700. Per annum. (It’s fair to point out that Mashable are also saying that the site can’t handle Firefox. It looks fine in my Firefox browser, so I assume the FT have fixed this pretty quickly.)

I can’t find any costs mentioned on the site but there is an application form for a brochure, which presumably contains the membership rates. I joined a network that required paid memberships before and left it very quickly. The FT are ladling on the benefits for their members in the three sectors they’ve created but I can’t help but feel dispirited by a network that uses net worth as its entry point. What do you think? Is exclusivity superior to niche? Would you want to be part of a network of financial peers only?

Tags: ,
Posted in Social Networks | No Comments »

LinkedIn goes mobile

Monday, February 25th, 2008

LinkedIn has been busy this week releasing ’stuff’. There was an updated version of their Firefox toolbar, which I installed on Friday, and now there is a mobile service.

The best part of the toolbar for me is the ability to link quickly to the LinkedIn profile of anyone who sends email to my Gmail account. There are other useful elements, of course, and you can find the full specification here.

Now there’s a mobile version of LinkedIn. The best thing about this will be accessing questions and answers on the go. I could also see sending LinkedIn invitations as a new form of exchanging business cards in meetings etc. But whatever works best for you: social networks thrive on the innovation of their users, after all.

The best way to find out about mobile LinkedIn is to point your phone to m.linkedin.com. There’s also a YouTube video from one of the lead engineers at LinkedIn, which I’ve added below.Â

Tags:
Posted in Social Networks | 1 Comment »

Are Facebook UK users melting away?

Friday, February 22nd, 2008

Mashable has just carried two stories about Facebook in the UK.

First, Paul Glazowski interprets a Guardian report that Facebook UK usage is in decline as more a reflection of poor stats, combined with winter being less ’sociable’. Facebook has seen some heavy criticism recently but I think it’s too soon to start dancing on its grave. Following on from yesterday’s debate about building or joining social networks, I would expect to see an increase in niche groupings, which may or may not coexist with larger social networks or simply break away. Federated states of social networks, perhaps.

The second Mashable story sees Kristen Nicole describe a new Facebook app called Celebration. This is being launched by Mars UK and will allow users to send each other real bars of chocolate. Well, almost. In a neat solution to privacy issues – and UK postage woes – you actually send points to be redeemed by the recipient.

I think we’ll see more of these marketing drives hitting social networks. Does it cheapen the network? Or do you think it adds value? Let me know in the comments.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Social Networks | 3 Comments »

Social Networks: build or join?

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

Jeremiah Owyang over at the Web Strategy blog has put up a podcast and post discussion here about whether companies should roll their own social networks or exploit an existing application to create a community.

It’s an interesting debate but the conclusion, as you may expect, really comes down to what Chris Heuer of the Conversation Group defines as horses for courses. In other words, it depends…..

The danger is in creating a social network of your own for all the ‘wrong’ reasons but it’s important to remember that those wrong reasons may seem the right reasons to the people making the choices (and paying the money). If there is one guiding principle when it comes to making this choice, I think it has to be: what does your community want? As always, this brings us to the question of listening. Ask them first.

Tags: ,
Posted in Social Networks | 2 Comments »

6 Key reasons why your company needs to blog

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

Last week I outlined what a blog is, and began to look at why a business should invest time in developing, writing and promoting their own blog. Here I want to look at 6 key reasons why your company needs to blog:

1. Gathering Feedback – A blog can serve as an essential communication channel with your customers. Customers feedback, critiques, praises and complaints can prove invaluable. How much would you be prepared to spend on customer opinion polls, surveys and focus groups? A blog is a cost-effective way to listen to your customer feedback.

2. Clearer Communication – How would your business deliver relevant, up-to-date messages regarding events in your business or market to a broad audience, instantly? A blog helps you attract new customers and offer a personal touch to your communications with existing customers.

3. Google loves a blogger! – A blog can form a cost-effective, measurable solution to gaining higher rankings in the major search engines. Google loves relevant, updated, ever-changing content – the essence of a good blog, plus, if you’re talking about your market and business, your blog is naturally keyword heavy. (your talking about your products/services/industry after all, right?)

4. Blog for your staff - You value your customers feedback, thoughts and complaints, but how about your most valuable asset: your employees? Offering a channel for airing staff views and offering a virtual ‘water-cooler’ for your staff to discuss ideas, what’s working and what’s not, can provide direct feedback and it can help keep staff motivated and feeling valued.

5. Stay ahead of the competition – A blog allows you to demonstrate your industry expertise. Striking up conversations with potential and existing customers may well set you apart from your dull corporate competitor. If your competitors aren’t blogging, who are your customers listening to?

6. Extend your brand - Don’t just give your company a voice, how about a personality? A blog gives you the opportunity to talk to your customers in whatever accent you choose. The ethos of your company can be projected in the way you communicate, and what you choose to communicate about. A blog gives you the chance to further build on your brand.

Bonus 7. It’s the way you tell ‘em – Say what you want to say, when you want to say it – a blog allows unedited views, announcements or statements without being at the mercy of press editors. Press publications rarely tell it as you see it, so why aren’t you?

So, I believe these are among the most compelling reasons that your business has to join the on-line conversation, but the road to blogging bliss is crawling with considerations: who will write your blog? What will it be about? How often should you blog? Will it be hosted by yourself? Do we moderate comments? And more…

Of course, [warning: blatant service offering ahead] bpodr would be happy to help you implement your new blogging strategy, or just talk you through your options.

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Blogging And Your Business | No Comments »

Chris Brogan knows how to ask a question

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

Chris Brogan (see blogroll) has sparked a good debate about categories of conversation with his latest post. More than anything, this is a great example of how asking the right question can lead to an outpouring of useful thinking. Chris seeded the debate by having a go at putting types of conversation into categories and then asking “Am I missing anything?”

How can anyone with an opinion fail to rise to that?

There are many companies out there who seem scared to ask open questions like that. Or like, “What don’t you like about our latest product?” Sure, they may conduct some surveys and bury the answers. I believe that the company who does it openly and who then responds and takes criticism both as valid and as input to the next iteration of their product line, will leave the businesses lurking in the shadows in permanent darkness.

Tags:
Posted in Blogging And Your Business | 1 Comment »

It’s not the technology, stupid

Saturday, February 16th, 2008

Today’s FT carries a short piece on some research recently carried out by Cranfield School of Management on behalf of Pipex Business. The upshot of the report is that many SMEs are struggling to see the real benefit of internet use.

Here is the most telling sentence:

The report concludes that the popularity of online communication in society has created more competitive markets and more picky customers.

Imagine that. Basically, what that sentence says is that customers are finding ways to get better information before making choices. And businesses are suffering because of it. The report’s co-author – Andrew Burke – draws a dispiriting conclusion: he thinks that widespread uptake of internet use means that SMEs struggle to gain competitive advantage with it.

Now, pardon me, but that really is a case of looking at things the wrong way round. Or, as we say in online marketing circles, RSS about T/T.

The majority of the 422 businesses that took part in the survey need to stop and think about their customers. It’s apparent that the company’s use of the internet is currently passive. There is no sense that they feel they should be trying to drive a conversation. If their customers are looking for information, what are they doing to provide it? If they want to seek competitive advantage, they should be looking to what they offer, not what the technology is doing.

If all businesses are doing the same thing, to stand out you must do one of two things: be remarkable in your sector or change sector. How do you become remarkable? Start off by changing what you do that everyone else does. Get rid of your dull corporate web site and replace it with a blog, for instance. Create a forum for all your customers to post up complaints about your service. Stop issuing press releases to media outlets that never use them and write pieces that will interest your customers instead.

Above all, change.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Blogging And Your Business | No Comments »

[What is...] a Blog

Friday, February 15th, 2008

You’ve heard people talking about them, seen links to them littered over the Internet, and occasionally wondered what on earth they actually are – Blogs. The fact that you are reading this, and that this is in fact a blog, means that you have certainly been exposed to at least one blog – and you are about to find out what a blog is and more importantly, how one can work for your business.

A Blog (pronounced blog, short for web log) is a small website which allows its owner (or blogger) to post entries on any subject they care to write about (blogging). A Blog might contain news or information about a niche subject, a personal diary, or a corporate means of making announcements. Just about every imaginable topic has a broad array of blogs with an army of bloggers, blogging. (blogsearch.google.com is a good starting point to begin your searching blogs.)

There are a lot of sites around for creating a blog (blogger, wordpress, typepad…), and a large number are free. The fact that blogging is freely and easily accessible by everybody means everybody can become a published writer. Everybody can have a voice – a published voice, with an audience ready to listen to what you have to say.

Why should my business care?

Your business can benefit from starting an on-line conversation in several ways…

  • Start conversations with your customers. Tell them about upcoming events or promotions, new services or what your working on. Well established blogs even find their customers responding to posts with comments of their own – providing valuable feedback.
  • Position yourself as an expert in your business field. Publish your thoughts, ideas or reactions to what happens in your field and establish yourself as a leading authority on your business subject. Show your customers why they should choose your business and its expertise instead of a competitor.
  • Reach a new audience. Increase the exposure of your business, get listed in blogging directories, and reach a wider audience.
  • Be your own editor. Say what you want, when you want, and however you want. Give your business a voice and start talking with your customers.
  • Boost your search engine ranking. Google loves bloggers! Google loves content that is relevant and up-to-date. You’ll love being ranked higher in Google!

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Understanding On-line Marketing Tools | 3 Comments »

« Older Entries