Word Marketing Blog

Finding a Good One

Auto mechanics, doctors and IT specialists: three professions that typically rank low on our trust meters. It's a shame that some of them have manipulated the typical consumer's lack of knowledge to such a degree as to damage the entire industry - especially for those with integrity.

Recently I was in need of IT services for my home computer. Night after night, my husband tried to upload his day's work only to be kicked off half way through - all work lost. Cussing and banging and with no options apparent, he would be forced to drive to the nearest wi-fi parking lot at way-past-our-bedtime in order to meet his deadlines. Utter frustration finally outweighed our fears of outrageous costs and solutions we didn't understand. We made the call.

Of course the problem never materialized during an appropriate hour. Our IT guy had to field calls from us late at night and early on weekend mornings. He also made multiple trips to our house to test different solutions. In the end, the problem was determined to be that of our provider. Getting them to understand/fix it was another purely miraculous work.

It's been weeks since the problem, which went on for months, has tormented us. Our IT guy hasn't had to make a visit or field a call for some time, but has dropped in via email about once a week to check on the situation. We finally received his invoice yesterday, and were shocked at how affordable it was. I seriously feel like I need to buy the guy dinner... twice.

If you are a business owner I urge you to protect your industry with integrity, and by building solid reputations of goodness. As a consumer, I urge you to keep the faith and continue searching until you find "a good one." And if you happen to be in need of some IT service, I invite you to contact studleyrcm@gmail.com.

Facebook is Number One; It's Time to Embrace It

Anyone who knows even just a little bit about the Internet knows that Google has long been king. The web giant holds over 60 percent market share among search engines, and has been the number one website for years.

But something happened last week. For the first time in a long time, Google got beat.  It was by none other than Facebook.

Love it or hate it (and there are those that do hate it), Facebook isn't just where the world is going; it's where it is.  Facebook is no longer just a place where friends go to keep in touch with one another; it is where business people go to network and businesses go to keep in touch with their customers.

Where business communities used to get together at networking events and exchange stories, they are now being shared in real time online. Businesses are talking to your customers, and your customers are talking back to them. In a fast paced business world where information and engagement are vital, to not be on Facebook is to be out of the loop.

For those who haven't yet embraced Facebook, now is the time. If you are in the business community and haven't yet devised a social media strategy for yourself and/or your business, it's time to get started right away.

Social media (and Facebook) isn't the next big thing; it is the big thing. There is no way of knowing how long the social media revolution will last, and where consumers will frequent in the future, but there is no doubt where they are today.

Are you with them?

The Value of Networks (Reed's Law)

If you want to truly understand the power of Social Media and Social Networking, you must first understand the value of building networks.

In my previous posts on the subject of The Law of Networks, we have covered Sarnoff's Law and Metcalfe's Law.

Computer Scientist David P. Reed, a renowned expert in the area of computer networking also conceived a law in the area of networks. Reed's Law, also called "The Law of the Pack" says that the value of the network grows more powerfully that either Sarnoff or Mecalfe would suggest through the formation of groups (which in turn give rise to communities) and the interconnections between them.

Compared with a network of 10 people, a network of 100 people that can talk not only with each other as they would under Metcalfe but also within groups of people is 2 raised to the 90th power. 290.

Reed's Law totally utilizes and leverages social capital on the net to maximize potential not seen before with networks built using Sarnoff's Law or Metcalfe's Law.

Under Sarnoff's Law, think TV, Radio, and most large centrally managed websites. The gain in value by attracting 10 times the unique members is 10X.

Now, consider your personal e-mail or your mobile phone which operate on bidirectional networks. I can talk to you while you talk to me and while Kelli talks to Anna. These networks follow Metcalfe, a tenfold member increase boosts their value by a factor of 100 compared to what it would have been for a simple one-way broadcast-style network.

Reed's Law adds an additional layer: groups.

Reed's Law speaks to the impact on network value by recognizing and supporting groups of members. This is the incredible power and value of social networks and social networking.

The Value of Networks (Metcalfe's Law)

If you want to truly understand the power of Social Media and Social Networking, you must first understand the value of building networks.

In my previous post, I explained the value of networks by using Sarnoff's Law.

In understanding each of these laws, the value of networks increase.

Metcalfe's Law was developed by Robert Metcalfe, a distinguished graduate of MIT and co-inventor of Ethernet and founder of 3Com.

Robert Metcalfe determined that networks that support communications between members, rather than as in Sarnoff's Law (one source to many), the value of the network grows as the square of the number of users. Now in this hypothesis, people can talk in both directions, and with more conversations occurring simultaneously.

Examples of Metcalfe's Law would include: A telephone, basic internet (email, not email groups). Essentially Metcalfe's Law states that a network of 100 people is roughly 100 times as valuable as a network of only 10 people.

Google Fiber Will Completely Change How We Consume Media

The Google fiber initiative is whipping communities and technology buffs into a frenzy. City officials and economic development types across the country are scrambling to put together solid responses to Google's Request for Information, all in an effort to persuade Google to choose their community as a test market for their experimental fiber optic network. Everyday citizens are coming together on Facebook pages to show their support for those efforts, including those of us here in Columbia, MO, where our Facebook page has over 4,000 fans as of this posting.

As Google's (or another company's) efforts ultimately become successful, we can't even begin to imagine the benefits that broadband speeds that are 100 times faster will bring. Dreamers will dream, and businesses will innovate. One thing that is certain is that it will completely change the way we consume media.

We are already seeing traditional media bypassed through YouTube and web-only channels, but most people are simply watching this content on their computers and not on televisions. The lack of quality in which these videos stream live on a big screen makes watching them undesirable.

Televisions are already being connected to the Internet, however, and faster Internet speeds will encourage that practice that much more. As we start depending on the Internet to deliver channels to us, and not cable and satellite, we'll start seeing more web applications that are specifically designed for television viewers.

We'll start watching content that would have never been picked up by traditional media outlets in the past, but that is now available simply because someone had an idea and the camera crew to pull it off.

We'll interact with our television shows more, through live streaming social media feeds that you can watch (and comment on) as the shows you are watching play live. (CNN recently did this online during President Barack Obama's State of the Union address).

Traditional television channels who fail to innovate will be cast aside. Those who do will thrive, along with new media options that do not exist today. How things will look 5 years from now are anyone's guess, but there has never been a more exciting time to be a media consumer.

The Laws of Networks (Sarnoff's Law)

David Sarnoff was an American broadcasting pioneer and founded the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and was President of Radio Corporation of America (RCA).

He ruled over an ever-growing telecommunications and consumer electronics empire which included both companies forming one of the largest companies in the world. He was nicknamed "The General".

His theory called "Sarnoff's Law" states the value of a broadcast network is proportional to the number of listeners or viewers.

It was framed to relate the value of the network increases as the number of participants increases, which emphasizes the reach component of most media pricing models.

In radio a single voice is sent to thousands or millions of listeners, same with television, a single broadcast is transmitted out to thousands or millions of viewers.

Sarnoff's Law therefore would state that a network with 100 people is 10 times as valuable in terms of reach as a network with only 10, all things being equal. (simplified here for easy mathematics!)

The Googlefication of America

According to venturebeat.com Google has about 71%market share for searches in the United States. They have just about anything you could want from an Internet giant; Google Earth, Google Chrome, Google Reader (my personal favorite) and the list goes on and on. Well...now they have released Google Buzz. Google Buzz is another platform for users to communicate.

Is it a social networking site?

Yes. Is it another stab at enhancing the email experience?

Yes.

Will it replace Facebook or Hotmail for the social networking or email crown?

We will have to wait and see. It will not come easy. Google Buzz is only available to Gmail customers, which represents about 1% of the total email market. Google has long been trying to create something that will replace email ie Google Wave, which is a interesting concept by itself, but it will not be tackled today. I have been reading blogs and stories about Google Buzz and the buzz has been...well...lacking. Most think this is a very weak attempt at social networking without offering anything new to the medium. I see this a little different.

From a strategy standpoint, I think Google has a shot with Buzz. The central focus on Google Buzz is email. Most people have their email open all day long and check it often. Some people have their favorite social network open most of the day as well (don't lie...we can see you). Google Buzz will centralize these two features into one place. Facebook does not have the threat of an all out email platform and neither does Twitter. The Gmail account is the central feature of Google Buzz. Another feature that Buzz offers is it will automatically link up with your Gmail contacts, there is no finding followers and friends. Google does not have a huge part of the email market by any means, but enhancing the email experience by integrating social networking options will separate them from the others.

Yahoo has a similar program.

Google is banking on providing a better brand experience than Facebook, Twitter, Hotmail and Yahoo. What I feel is the most important feature that Buzz provides is weeding out the social networking noise that has become overwhelming as of late.

James says "On a Steel horse I ride...wanted dead or alive" or Melissa said "Our meatloaf was great tonight." Social networking noise has become a problem. Twitter took action by creating lists, but Facebook has yet to make a substantial move in this area. Google will use some of the same algorithms that made them famous to weed out posts that you do not care about. This could be a huge advantage. Will Google take the crown from the Facebooks, Twitters and Hotmails of the world? We will have to wait and see. I would be interested in any Google Buzz feedback users have experienced.

Do you like it or does it need work?

2010-SEO & Website Management

How important is it to you how your website performs this decade?

It's amazing as we move forward into a new decade how much the internet has changed our lives. Can you imagine a world without the internet? Some of us even remember it and yes, I know that dates me.

We've come a long way. Web Analytics have come pretty far too.

Does anyone remember Analog, the log analysis program?

In 1995-96, we started to get exposed to web statistics through a little thing called a "visitor counter", which also was a companion to the "guest book". Remember these? Counters were everywhere you went on the web, they were cool and you were popular.

Isn't it amazing this was all pre-Google?

Innovation is running fast in the world of web analytics with newer and easier ways to take complex sets of data and organize them so that we can fully capitalize on our websites and web platforms.

To get started doing a better job with your website, let me pose one simple question:

• Why does your website exist?

It's a community, not a commune

More and more people over the age of 30 are discovering Social Media. Just last week a bunch of my high school friends all flocked to a post started by someone on their Facebook page about how they missed high school and all the things that went with it. Almost 50 of my old buddies posted memories, comments and jabs about the school, teachers and times. All of these people are over 40.

If you are over 40 and you mention "online community", be careful not to let your mind think of "communes" as they were in the 60's and 70's. Communes of these decades were typically counter-culture and hippie oriented.

An online community is a bunch of people interacting together. They interact via communication media such as newsletters, e-mail, IM and Social Media. Even though some of my friends had not seen me and maybe not even each other in over a decade or more, through our previous association, we were magically brought back together as an online community through the technology of Social Media.

Your Facebook friend roster is an online community, and if you are a user, you are part of all of their online communities. As Mr. Spock says, "Fascinating".

In online communities, some people stay low, preferring to be an observer, some are just beginning to engage and others are constantly adding value, while others are just adding while working out frustration of not being able to share before, they share too much, I guess we could call this ITMI (internet too much info).

Some people leave. Can you believe it? Some people will actually stop following you on Twitter or de-friend you on Facebook? Yes, they will. They are either annoyed or just disinterested. Hey, some people's interests change.Maybe the new wore off or they just don't want to make time for you anymore. They don't see the same value or participation in the community as you do.

As I told a client a while back, this is the way the world is going, will you go with it?

Communities are about connection.

A conversation leads to a connection and that connection is community.

Website Content

When it comes to your website, what kind of content should be there?

While it's true that your website acts as your personal marketing vehicle, without limitations of size, timeframe or other parameters when delivering your message, it is not the case that anything you decide to put there will be effective.

Good website content must, first and foremost, satisfy one particular objective: it must have all the informaiton your potential customer is seeking. Above all else, if your visitor cannot find what they are looking for, they bounce. But there is some savvy required - you cannot just dump all your information out there.

The content should be well written - easily understandable and with a good flow.

The content should be well-organized - with much thought put into how people's minds will lead them through the site, and multiple ways to get them where they want to go.

The content should be valuable - made up of the information your customer wants and seeks, and not just blathering about you and your business.

Good websites can account for a tremendous deal of revenue for a business, and not just through e-commerce. Give your site a good look with fresh eyes, or better yet, ask some honest friends and family do so for you. And if you'd like some help getting it just right, let us know.