Leverage Blog: How to Exploit the Web.

(even) More proof that your clients visit websites.

Do we need more evidence that websites influence buying decisions?  That your customer is using the web more every day, trusting it more deeply, and pulling-out their credit card?

Well, we got some.

I read today that a recent art school graduate used a blog, a social networking website, and an online gallery online gallery to sell her art.  $20,000 worth so far.  She's using a website, blog and good-old-fashioned networking to grow her business.

She's succeeding (in large part) due to a striking design and compelling content.  Her website is attractive, professional and useful to her audience, and her blog sports a clean design and a message well-suited to her customer.  Well done Emily.

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Thanks to Seth for the discovery.

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?

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.

More businesses are advertising online (78% more)

Anything that grows 78% year-over-year is hot, and local ad spending on the web did just that in 2005-- to the tune of $4.8 billion dollars.

Businesses-- some local and some national-- are rushing to advertise on sites like  sacbee.com and sfgate.com, eager to drive customers in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay to their sites.

What we're seeing from all this investment is more information about how your customer is using the web:  They are flocking to local online resources like The SF Chronicle website.

Where is the opportunity for the Consulting Firm in Sacramento?  For the Contractor in San Francisco?  Search engine optimization (SEO) for your website.  Target the words that describe your products, in the cities you serve, and you'll be leapfrog the competition (and hear from customers that are actively looking for you.)

Depending on your industry, SEO will often provide a greater return on investment than a banner ad on sacbee.com.  How much does it cost?  Tell me a bit about your business here, I'll do the research and let you know.  No sweat.

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Full story here

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