Leverage Blog: How to Exploit the Web.

Web 2.0: I believe in its future

I've got a theory on the Web 2.0 technology boom, and I brought a visual aid.  Refer to the chart at left, and let's begin.

OK, right now the number of "Web 2.0" companies is growing like crazy. (See the top line, the thin one.)  What's a Web 2.0 company?  To keep it simple, let's say Web 2.0 products and services involve social-networks and user involvement on the web. MySpace is one, where the users are creating the online content-- personal web pages-- and connecting with one another.

Flickr is another.  Users, like me, upload photos to share, and we label them for others on the site to find and enjoy.  (Go here for an expanded definition of Web 2.0.)

These companies and their online "products" are (mostly) amazing, creative and very, very useful.

On my chart thick line is the number of people who understand these new tools and are using them.  I'm not talking about being hip and in the know; and I'm not making a value-judgment.  I'm talking about people who have chosen to invest the time to learn about and use tools like Flickr, RSS or del.icio.us.

After all, it takes time to integrate this stuff into your life, right?  What if you enjoy Triathlons more than technology, like my brother Eric?  He's not listening to podcasts, he's running his business...and training for the next race.  He's no slouch when it comes to technology, but we all make choices about how to spend our time.  Choosing the web over a Triathlon-- one isn't 'better' than the other.

My point is there are tens-of-millions of Americans like my brother, slowly integrating the new technology into their lives.  It will take time.

OK, back to the graph.  The two lines intersect, and that's good because with adoption we get profitability, which leads to more innovation and more creative, useful products.  BUT before they intersect I see this...gulp...downturn.  (The cross-hatched area.)  I'm a startup veteran, and I helped burn-through venture capital and watched the business turn-out the lights; I've been there, it's heartbreaking.  But here's my point about this downturn (and I hesitate to call it that:) It's going to be different this time.

That cross-hatched area on the very scientific graph up there?  Not fallout or crash.  Not YIKES but more...YOWZA! Why?  The people.  The people starting these companies are collaborative, open-source thinkers and this will help the consolidation (which will happen) to occur more gradually and with less fallout.  These innovators are more patient, less enamored with wealth, more often self-funded and stable, and the VC's funding them are more prudent too.  They will merge with one another and will survive.

I'm optimistic. I'm excited. I say YOWZA.

What do you say?

Elton John earned over $50 million last year. (And what that has to do with your business.)

Good things happen to your business when you make the investment.  The Long Trail from Seth's Blog:

[...Want to guess what these musical acts have in common?

The Rolling Stones
The Eagles
Elton John
U2
Paul McCartney

They each made more than $50 million last year, according to Forbes. They accounted for 40% of the top 10 acts.  The long trail is what happened...

...The long trail explains why so many unprofitable movies turn a profit when the DVD comes out. The Shawshank Redemption got seven Academy Award nominations when it was released, but disappointed at the box office. Now, after more than 1.3 million reviews at NetFlix, it is one of the most enduring DVD hits ever.

The long trail is a reminder to invest like your product might just be around in ten years...]

LeverageBlog Interview: AttentionTrust

Where are you focusing your attention on the web?  A non-profit startup called AttentionTrust wants to help you protect (and profit from) your web surfing history.  I'm glad they're on our side.

I recently interviewed Ed Batista, the Executive Director of AttentionTrust, a non-profit in San Francisco, CA researching the implications of our online attention, and their work is worth a minute of your time.  While still in a research and information-gathering phase, the future implications of this work will be huge.

What we're talking about

Think of the value of online attention in the same way that Nielsen Ratings affect TV:  When a 'Nielsen Family' focuses more of it's attention on a particular television program that programming becomes more valuable because advertisers will pay more for it; the same holds true for the web.

The exciting thing about the web however, is that we can collect much more detailed information.  What you clicked-on, how long you visited a website, what you purchased.  The ability to gather countless hours of information on our preferences is a fantastic opportunity, Ed says, if we can protect it and share it voluntarily.

The opportunity for us, as consumers, is to gather and store our online data-- our attention-- in a private way, and then to identify places we feel safe sharing it.  Take Amazon.com, for example.  AttentionTrust envisions a world where Amazon might be certified "trustworthy" because they will not misuse our privacy data.

If we voluntarily share our attention data-- our web surfing behavior-- with a trusted enterprise like Amazon they can recommend products we might really enjoy.  (And more importantly, NOT send us the "special offers" that we don't care about.)

Less spam, fewer ridiculous popup-ads, and more relevance.

More than just eCommerce

AttentionTrust is not just concerned about smart recommendations for books and CD's.  They and the growing community of "Attention Theorists" realize that social networks are built around attention.  Imagine being able to find, for example, fathers in San Francisco with kids between the ages of 8 and 11 who play baseball.  (Do you know anyone?  Let's go to the Giants game this weekend!)

By saving my attention data and making it available (anonymously, of course) within a social context we can use the web to find others that share our interests.  Yes,the internet can help create real, personal connections. Imagine that.

Implications for your business

The near-term implication for your business is this:  Personal relationships with your customers are critical, and the web is the easiest way to collect and save the information.  Help clients to register online and tell you what they like and what they want changed.  AttentionTrust reminds us that this type of personalization is what your customer will come to expect from you.

Thanks to Ed and AttentionTrust for sharing their time and, er, Attention with Leverage.

Net Neutrality: Why it matters

You may have read about the discussions of "Net-Neutrality" in congress recently.  If you've missed the debate (perhaps on purpose) I'll provide a high-level review of the issue and throw-in my .02.

Net-neutrality refers to legislation being debated in Congress that would keep the internet free.  This activity is in response to cable and telephone companies lobbying Washington to create two access-levels to the internet--  large websites that pay large fees would get priority over smaller sites.  The impact?  Small (business) websites would load more slowly and be harder to navigate.

Who does your customer blame when their experience on your website becomes harder and slower?  Comcast?  SBC?

That would be nice, but no.  They form the impression that your business is harder to work-with.

A few companies would make a windfall, like internet service providers and telcoms, but the small-medium enterprise would pay the price.  This issue has joined the left-leaning moveon.org with the conservative Gun Owners of America, as wild as that sounds.  What's more, a Democrat and Republican have teamed-up to draft a net-neutrality bill.  This issue has created strange bedfellows.

I suppose my .02 is clear:  Let's hope the lobbying skills of a small group of companies don't win-over our Representatives in Washington.

Additional ideas in the NY Times here.

Where are news and advertising and, well, *media* headed?

A brilliant article in The Economist discusses the future of media, and they do it in a way that busy entrepreneurs will appreciate:  Clear, objective and brief.

The era of mass media is giving way to one of personal and participatory media [...] that will profoundly change both the media industry and society as a whole.

What's the bottom-line for your business?

1. All media is moving online.
2. The Internet (and later, all media) is becoming a place where the user is creating the content-- be it your business, your customer or your kids.
3. By opening your business up to your customers in this way they won't want to buy from anyone else.  You'll be more than a product, but a destination.  More than a service, but an activity.

Old way:  We have magazines, TV, newspapers and radio that send information to us.  We read.  We watch.

New way:  Blogs. Comments. Photo sharing online.  Social networking websites (i.e. MySpace) where the user creates their experience.

Full article-- highly recommended-- here, and thanks to Erik @ Business 2.0 Blog for the find.

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Return to Leverage Blog homepage:  small business blog  >>

Do your customers want you blogging?

One key to growth is anticipating the needs of your customers.  While it can be a challenge to figure out exactly what new service or product they might need, we can safely say everyone likes information.

The business that educates and informs is often the most trusted, and trust wins clients.  Blogs are a pretty easy way to provide that information and build trust.  To see if your customers want you blogging, think about the questions they ask...

...and then answer them, in your blog, one post at a time.

Still not sure how a blog can grow your business?  Email me.  Let's dive-in.

The web is still growing very, very fast

Seth talked about a fungus today, and it made me think.

Seriously.

My comment after reading about his experience at the buffet is this:  The Internet is still growing, and fast.  Growing in terms of visitors.  Users.  Customers.  There are tens-of-millions of people out there that just started using email 6 months ago, and made their first online purchase last Christmas.  What will they be doing this Summer?  Reading blogs?  Using an RSS reader?

Not to mention the 75 million Americans retiring soon who will have time on their hands and may enjoy activities while seated.  What do you have for them?

Bitty Browser: (Another) new way to spread your message online

I came across the Bitty Browser today, a small browser that you can add to a website or, in this case, a blog.  It can be configured to display any site or blog you choose or organize a blogroll, and access to search.

Cool and interesting?  Of course.  But more importantly, what's the marketing value of the tool to your business?  Here are my top-of-mind ideas:

• Cross-promote blogs and websites.
• Add "Portal" features (search, news, etc.) to retain visitors and encourage repeat visits.
• Keep your site (and your brand) fresh *

* This is the big one.  Let's talk about how this tool can help communicate to your customer that you're a leader in your industry.  Are you providing your visitors with easy access to information that will position you as a thought leader?  Can this tool reinforce the message that innovation is standard at your business, and that your competitors are standing still?  Get creative, think about your customer and what they want to see, to know.

Also to note:  Non-technical staff can configure (and update) the Bitty Browser in no time flat.  The marketing strategy requires some thought, but the moving-forward execution is easy.

Oh, for this post I've set the BB to Wheel Media, my web design shop for small-business.  Surf away.

The Google dis-utopia

Allow me to digress...

Michael Arrington's post today reminded me to share a link to a mini-movie that paints a dark future...one owned by Google.

One part entertainment, with tongue-in-cheek, and an equal part forecasting; it's worth a look. Michael's overview is below:

In the spring of 2004 Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson presented the ominous Epic 2014 (now renamed Epic 2015) that ultimately predicts that Google will force the New York Times to shut down. In the movie, they also predict that Google will launch something called “Google Grid”: “…a universal platform offering an unlimited amount of space and bandwidth that can be used to store anything. It allows users to manage their information two ways: store it privately or publish it to the entire grid.” See the movie here.

Oh, the quote in bold well, that's coming.  Google announced it on the 2nd to analysts.

Orwellian, or simply progress?

Blogging: Will it catch on?

This just seen on a bus in Sacramento:

Blogs being advertised on the side of a bus?  With the marketing budget of AT&T (and others, I'm sure) building awareness about blogs the medium will get a head-of-steam in no time.  AT&T has so much faith in blogs they're spending big bucks just to promote the category.

Wow.

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Return to Leverage Blog homepage:  business strategy blog  >>

New in Search Engine Marketing: Pay-Per-Call

When I discuss search engine marketing (SEM) strategy with clients we evaluate the opportunity/impact/expense of two core tactics:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

A new tool called Pay-Per-Call is being rolled out by Google and Yahoo! and I've added it to the list.

Pay Per Call adds a phone number to paid search results.  Calls to a toll-free number are forwarded to the advertiser's business and are tracked and billed by the search engine (or their partner.)

The service is very new so listings are hard to find...so far.  The opportunity is great for simple services, like a florist. This searcher/customer is less interested in comparing flower shops and more interested in ordering a bunch.  For most B2B firms however-- an example might be aircraft sales-- the visitor is going to be clicking-on website links to evaluate the business; they'll be less-likely to just pick up the phone and say I'd like to buy a plane.

Pay-Per-Call is now on my radar.  Learn more here.

The Long Tail

Simply put, the Long Tail is a look at the company of tomorrow.  Maybe.

It's a theory advanced by Chris Anderson, the Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine, that makes a strong case for specialized business-models. Niche-companies with focused, highly-targeted services can compete with giant companies...and win.  So what does this look like from a 20,000 foot view?

1.  The internet makes it possible to target a very specific customer. (Example:  Pay-per-click advertising on search engines enables a niche business to target the specific words that describe their services...and not spend a dime on the rest.)

2.  And the search engines now make it easy for customers to find a very specialized company. (Example:  A Google search for "Environmental consulting company in Oakland, CA." This person knows just what they are looking for-- in this case a certain-type of company in a specific location.)

3.  The website behaves like a salesforce. (Example: An online tour introduces the firm's service, FAQ's anticipate objections and respond, quote-request form set expectations about pricing,  live-chat makes an instant conversation easy for the prospect...more.)

4.  If product inventory is online, you don't need a warehouse.  And you don't need shelf-space.  The Long Tail theory doesn't suggest that brick and mortar businesses will disappear, only that niche-businesses will spring up-- and do very, very well.

5.  You can listen to your customer like never before.  (Example:  Blogs.  The enable you to demonstrate your expertise, ask questions, gather feedback and refine your offering.)

Keep Long Tail on your radar.  Read more at The Long Tail.

We're not living in the Information Age

Paul Saffo, a Forecaster at The Institute for the Future (IFTF), Stanford professor and all-around guru recently declared we're not living in the Information Age. He calls it Media:

"...In the old media, all we could do was press our noses against the Glass and watch.  This new world of personal media- the web, the internet etc. - not only delivers the world to [our] living rooms, but everywhere.  And we get to answer back.  And we're expected to answer back.."

Media more accurately describes the exchange aspect of today's information.  The interactivity.  And this is impacting every business out there,.  You can sell tires or manufacture parts or design buildings--  regardless of industry, your customer expects to interact with you pre- and post -sale..and they expect you to answer back.

How will your customer expect to interact with you tomorrow?

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Of note:  The web design agency I created for small business three years ago is called Wheel Media.  Was I prescient, or just lucky?

 

The advantages of focus

During a recent discussion about the new companies (I hesitate using the term 'startup.' Why is that?) buzzing around the Bay Area the topic of new product development came up.

Some firms cannot stop innovating new products/services.  They love their customer and they want to deliver the world, so they create new offerings, new services, new payment models.  New new new.

My experience as the Director of Product Marketing for a fast-moving startup (gulp) in 2000 was that introducing new products made it hard to market those already in the mix.  Sure, the new products we're a good for our customers and fit into our core-business, but the challenge was time.  Let's say with 20 offerings each gets an hour.  If you're driving 5 offerings each gets 4 hours.  Hmm.  If you can succeed on all 20 with that single hour by all means, rollout now.  If.

Our company faced the challenge of advancing each fantastic, interesting new product an inch each day when it needed a yard to gain traction.  Many factors outside of our control sealed our fate, but this one made things that much more challenging.

On the other side of the specturm, many firms don't seem to innovate new products at all.  This is slowing growth by either a little or a lot, and usually is part of the culture of the organization.  This doesn't mean a consulting agency should start selling lawnmowers, but simply start thinking new.  The fastest way to break out of this rut is to talk with 3 customers and ask them what they do with your product, how they use it, what else they want it to do, and what else they'd like you do do.  Mow their lawn? Well, that's a start.

eCommerce: Not just for product sales?

I met with the sales & marketing director of a large hosted shopping-cart solution yesterday and he asked an excellent question:  With about 70% of small businesses selling services rather than products, how long will it take for SB service companies to leverage eCommerce?

• Attorney's selling chunks of time online?
• Contractors accepting payments online?

or...

• Pay for your haircut before you drive over?
• Your car wash?

And he's a smart cookie, so he suggested the eCommerce platform for SM B's could be easily tweaked to accommodate online scheduling as well.  What would that look like?:

• Go online, schedule your haircut appointment for next Tuesday, pay for it.  That took 284 seconds.
  • You didn't have to pick up the phone.
  • Your stylist (no, not 'barber') didn't have to answer your call
  • You didn't have to make sure you had cash in your wallet when you rushed over (late) on Tuesday.

Slick.

We have some of this right now, of course.  Fandango is a good example, but the opportunity for 1000's of other markets is there.  Waiting.