14 Slides Business Needs to Thrive in the Social Web

Neil Perkin gave a keynote with a slide deck that would rival Lawrence Lessig’s.

Perkins presents key data points for navigating the social web, which resonate success for anyone engaged in social media, social networks, or simply using their smartphone.

Here are 14 slides business (or anyone) needs to know:

• #8 – About 70% of the digital universe is generated by individuals.
• #14 – Media brands are increasingly defined less by the platform and more by the community
• #15 …the means of production and distribution are shared…
• #18 …the purpose of information is to foster communication  — M.Zuckerberg.
• #21 …attention is increasingly earned…
• #22 …creating and supporting groups…
• #23 …engaging and nurturing its community…
• #25 …how can you help that comunity do what it wants to do  — M.Zuckerberg.
• #29 …you are what you share  — C.Ledbeater
• #31 …companies must act faster, responding in real time, to keep apace with its customers.” FarisYakob
• #32 …its about responsiveness…
• #38 …create content and services that [is] worth passing on.
• #51 – Americans between the ages of 8 and 18 spend on average 7 1/2 hours a day using some sort of electronic device
• #58 – New ways to tell stories…

Be There. Share. Show You Care.

The bottom line? The road to success will be earned by those who create and share an endless stream of information, and whom participate to support within their communities.

Feed your community. Grow your influence.
Feed your community. Earn their trust.
Feed your community.

What are you sharing?

Be the perspective. Be the difference. #sixwords

Why do we want to inspire? To motivate? To Sell? To Influence?

Why are you in business?

How do you build an audience?

How do you make friends?

How do you serve your community?

What is your bliss? Your mission? Your vision?

What perspectives do you hold on life?

With whom do you share this?

Who are you listening to? Who is listening to you?

What is your perspective?

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Nation’s Oldest Living Couple Tweets Relationship Advice on Twitter: Are you there?

Still not on Twitter?

Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher,
aged 104 and 102
respectively.

Married 85 years.

Now, they’re sharing
relationship advice to couples
on Twitter.

Two Tweet or not to Tweet

Crowd sourcing is not a new phenomenon; neither is knowledge sharing nor open communication nor open innovation. What can be learned in the open participation of collaborative communication is wholly dependent upon being there – to participate.

Those who have gained experience in life, or success in business, tend to share their knowledge to help others learn. They write a book. Make a movie. Though how many make themselves accessible in real time to participate with others while sharing that knowledge?

The story of The Fishers is about “relationships” and open communication, a recurring theme in many “success” stories we buy and read daily.

Moreover, the metaphor of The Fishers on Twitter truly exemplifies this.

Why Relationships Matter

The transactional value of knowledge sharing is key.

Why do relationships matter more than mere transactions?
Transactions work when explicit knowledge is involved —
problems must be precisely framed and solutions must be equally
precisely articulated. Of course, this works for a certain class of
problems but some of the most challenging problems cannot be
precisely framed — that is part of the problem. On the other side,
really challenging problems require tapping into the tacit knowledge
possessed by more than one individual in order to create
new knowledge and generate a workable solution.

Tacit knowledge is the “know-how” that is hard to express or
transfer and therefore much more sticky than explicit knowledge.
Sharing this kind of knowledge typically requires long-term,
trust-based relationships that can support the inevitable fumbling
that occurs as we try to express and share tacit knowledge.

Harvard Business Review, “Open Innovation’s Next Challenge: Itself“.

The Secret

The Fishers appear to still be learning. Their secret may be that they are learning together; with each other and now, in participating with the online community.

Many people and companies are curious to learn and deploy engagement strategies to participatie online, but for what return? How many strive to develop new, collaborative solutions in knowledge sharing with their followers.

Relationship Matter

The Grateful Dead give us another take on this in their citation in The Atlantic as “the most successful of all time.”

Twitter is but one platform where users can “join the conversation.” Albeit the largest at present.

Feed Your Followers

What is your plan in joining the conversation?
What will you share openly or strategically?
How can your relationships flourish in learning from an institution that has lasted this long?

With whom will you share this story? 

Follow The Fisher’s tweets here.  You can also check out Twitter here.

Photo: Mashable.

@loranimal Looked for you on Twitter last November to no avail. How have you been?

Creativity thru brevity inspires a generation- #haiku

Love Twitter?  Try SixWordStories or Lytton’s one sentence contest.

The internet and short communication platforms promote and enable creative communication and literary forms.

The emergence of the internet and most recently Twitter with its 140 character limit has sparked a communication and literary revolution, all of which seek to share brief communications; often times creatively.

Twitter loves Haiku

All kinds of people have taken to tweeting Haiku to express themselves creatively on Twitter’s short communication web service.  Twitter haikus became so popular that Yoko Ono teamed up with Guy Kawasaki to offer a twitter haiku contest.

Haiku is a poetic form that evolved in 15 century Japan. It is characterized by 3 lines (ons) of 17 syllables of 5-7-5 syllables per line. However, like most art and languages, Haiku itself is an evolved form stemming from the Renga and Renku.

Having written haiku for more than 20 years, Twitter’s platform provides a fun and unique format for publishing and sharing creatively. The 140 characters seemed to be just enough to effectively communicate while being short enough to avoid fluff.

Evolution of the Story

Taking a cue from Ernest Hemingway, Wired Magazine inspired a movement to produce six word stories. one of the earliest recorded incidences of this is Wired Magazine. Hemingway once stated that his best work extended from the following:

Thus, perhaps, beget SixWordStories project.  That’s it. Take six words to form a story.

• Mother’s Day came, doubling Oedipus’ pleasure. —Bruce Benderson

Communication Evolution

Will Sixwordstories ever be any more than a novel, creative exercise?
Will these platforms themselves evolve or will they further inspire other serious, creative art forms like haiku, the short story, sudden fiction or Twitter Novels.

Technology has further inspired creativity thru brevity. What benefits this holds for society, business or government policy making may not be fully realized for years to come. Though it is disruptive enough to make more than 4.5 Million people explore communicating via these short communication web services.

The Last Word

So what are you doing now?

Does it take a community to raise a business?

Posted by Dee Allomong.

Does it take a village to raise a business?
Some experts think so.

In this information era, consumers have digital access to a myriad of competitors and business information and market forces and disruptive technologies have shifted the balance of power away from traditional marketing and advertising models.

Both consumers and businesses have self gravitated to online communities to find answers to new questions and to find solutions to the unforeseen challenges they have yet to experience.

Proverbs: Lessons from our past

The old African proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” emphasizes the impact a community has on the growth, development, and successful maturation of a person to not only survive to adulthood, but to thrive to become a contributing member within their community.

Although we are in a high-tech age, these simple words still ring true with in application beyond the walls of the family unit – as they are now being applied to impact community as it supports the growth of entrepreneurial businesses.

So, if it takes a village to raise a child, what does it take to raise a business?

Often, your business is often conceived out of a passion, which gives birth to an entrepreneurial idea.  Once that idea is “born” from your research and planning, it must be properly nurtured in order to mature to a full-fledged business.  That’s when the work begins in earnest, and when the support of a community can become crucial to its survival.

5 Community Assets

Here are 5 community assets that can impact the growth, development, and maturation of a small business.

1.  Knowledge –  A community is a place or experience where knowledge is shared.  Each community member brings unique skills, perspectives, experiences, and level of education to contribute. Community mentors (those who hold and/or share the greatest amount of their community experience) bless others with their wisdom and often shorten the path to success for newer entrepreneurs in sharing their lessons learned.

2.  Encouragement –  A community is a place where achievements are recognized and celebrated, and where trials, challenges and failures are kept in perspective. Community “encouragers” help entrepreneurs keep going when things are tough or when vision is lacking, spurring us to create and set goals, to remain focused, to celebrate victories, and to overcome roadblocks. Their support is the glue of any community.

3.  Critical Analysis –  A community is a place where people ask hard questions and tell you the truth. Community “critics” stretch us to go beyond their comfort zones, and, through their analytical questions, ignite us to plan and develop business strategy.

4.  Cooperation –  A community is a place to meet like-minded people and to form strategic partnerships to collaborate on meaningful work. Successful entrepreneurs learn to leverage key relationships to expand visibility in their target niche, to launch cooperative business ventures, and to develop credibility and influence.

5.  Reservoir of Resources –  A community can serve as a self organizing reservoir of resources.  Through networking as a community member with supportive and sharing, like-minded individuals, an entrepreneur can identify the technology, business tools and resources that can help them run their business more effectively and grow more quickly.

So what does it take to raise a business?

Today, building a successful business takes passion, an entrepreneurial idea, and a nurturing business community. A fair amount of sweat, research and strategic focus are not to be excluded.

A community of sharing, supportive, experienced and learning individuals will contribute significantly to helping you achieve business success.

What online communities were helpful in developing your business?
Which communities provide good business ideas and support?
Share your comments here.

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Dee Allomong is Community Catalyst for
Let’s Talk Property Management: an online community
of news, strategies, tips and engaging discussions.
www.letstalkpm.com

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Amos White is a Social Media Marketng evangelist
and public speaker.Follow Amos on Twitter @Mos42

Google Logo Celebrates Sesame Street

Google logo design honors the 40th Anniversary of Sesame Street.

A familiar pair!
Pink bands round long orange legs
brands yellow torso.

Where would we be without the inquisitive Big Bird?

Google and Sesame Street: a fitting mashup of two familiar brands. You would know their images anywhere.

Today, Google published a logo honoring the 40th Anniversary of Sesame Street.

The home of Big Bird, Ernie and Bert, Gordon, Bob, Snuffleupagus, Elmo, and their beloved creator, Jim Henson, Sesame Street has created some of the worlds most familiar brand images.

A global brand giant and online source for inquiries, Google is considered the Top Global Brand by Millward Brown and 7th in an Interbrand 2009  Report.

When have you changed your brand to recognize others?

Learn more about Google’s Holiday Logos.
www.google.com/logos/index.html

Take a walk down memory lane on Sesame Street.
www.sesamestreet.org

Watch Sesame Street’s 40th celebration on YouTube.
www.youtube.com/user/sesamestreet#p/u

Search YouTube for Sesame Street videos.
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sesame+street

Watch Sesame Street on Hulu. 
www.hulu.com/sesame-street

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Amos White is a Social Media Marketing Evangelist and public speaker.
Follow Amos on Twitter @Mos42

President Obama Shares in Celebration of Diwali

Courtesy, Wikipedia.

In what communities do you participate?

Web 2.0 in Practice

President Barack Obama this week celebrated in the Indian holiday of Diwali, a festival of lights.

A friend’s e-card made me aware of Diwali, also known as Tihar in Nepal. Then a featured WordPress post got me to explore this festival in celebration of “light over darkness“.

Having learned about Diwali I find it a beautiful celebration to share in with those across the globe and who recognize it here in the US. Many places in India are half way around the world, 12 hours ahead in time zones. Obama kind of brings the world all the more closer with his public participation in celebration of this festival.

When I was growing up, I actively participated in the activities of those in my community. I played dreidel or dradle between Chanukah and Christmas in school, built a backyard Sukkoth with best friend Andy for Yom Kippur, and celebrated more than a dozen Bat and Bar Mitzvahs.

The result was a deep appreciation and closer relationship in community with others- not apart from them.

Sharing Online

Online communities hold the same richness diversity and opportunities in connecting with others across the globe or in your own back yard.

How we openly seek, invite and include friends, family, classmates, clients, colleagues and others can better define our personal brand as rich exchange networks.

Building Your Community

How do you participate with those from other cultures, nations, and beliefs? Leave your comment.

The Whitehouse posted its official video on President Obama’s recognition and celebration of Diwali this week.

WordPress Article on Obama and Diwali

http://americanepali.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/happy-diwali-president-obama/

Times of India Video: Obama celebrates Diwali

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videoshow/5126165.cms

Obama celerating Diwali in NYTimes.com

www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/10/14/us/politics/AP-US-Obama-Asian-Americans.html?

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Amos White is a Social Media Marketing Evangelist and public speaker.
Follow Amos on Twitter @Mos42

Who owns my pics? Zee calls out media sharing services

In a recent post, Zee, Editor of The Next Web, cautions against using third party, Twitter media sharing services due to the potential risks of loss of control over your personal branding.

His overall message is important: find and use a platform that you can own and control your media as hosted.

However, what Zee intones can largely be seen as true, it overlooks and discounts the disposable behavioral dispositions for many people who actually “choose” to post multi media they consider disposable, ephemeral, and of the moment: “pop.”

Come on, Zee. When wasn’t the last time you saw a Guy Kawasaki photo-op of him standing next to his latest conference host? Personal brand value? Ok, so this means he’s human and can take those in the moment shots. But do I want to consume this as part of “the magic” of Guy Kawasaki? No, its just a momentary reference image to codify an event.

Not all information needs to be owned or even wanted by a user. Just ask any teenager with a cell phone, or look at your own travel pics of the Cinque Terra. (No disrespect nor offense meant, Zee. They were nice and showed how sweet and human you were, but I’m sure a host of other people just want to follow you for you marketing and social media insights. They’ve seen a gazillion pics of Italy’s famed coast and harbor.)

The coastal harbor pictures or the sky pics were in the moment.

A cup of cafe: in the moment. Why not just share them on Twitpic or any other third party app?

Information that is not a “keepsake” nor of positive brand value is quickly used as referential media- to connect with and to share with others about an immediate experience. This kind of disposable media does not necessarily have to “owned” nor even wanted by the user who considers its value trivial since its in the moment (e.g.; a coffee picture in any cafe while at a conference) and thus of little or no “personal brand value” to a user other than to say “I was here.”

I still think and find Twitpic and other third party media services to hold much value as media intermediaries and repositories for such disposable information.

The beautiful and value added media I reserve for my blogs. This higher quality information is what for my followers, fans, etc. truly appreciate in poignancy, relevancy and quality.

Why not post the detritus of the moment to and thru these other services as errant comments, rants, giggles and fancies caught in one’s eye?

For more, read the full post, “Why you should NOT be using TwitPic, TwitVideo or any other Twitter media sharing service.”

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Amos White is an Social Media Marketing Evangelist and public speaker.
Follow Amos on Twitter @Mos42