Eggblogg

Who were the early internet 'thought leaders'?

I've recently had the pleasure of discovering some excellent and thought-provoking people writing on the subject of social media and the future of the internet.

It's made me go back and look again at some of the earlier internet 'thought leaders' who had such a great influence on me in the late 1990s, such as Nicholas Negroponte, founder of the MIT Media Lab. His 1995 book 'Being Digital' was one of those reads that sent my head spinning - so many ideas and possibilities of how technology was to change the way we communicate.

I went on to read Esther Dyson, another great web visionary. She foresaw the role of peer recommendations, content sharing and co-creation long before social networking was around. Similarly, Sherry Turkle's pioneering work Life on the Screen was a huge influence on me when I was first drawn to the idea of online community.

The Cluetrain Manifesto was another internet milestone that set the scene for the advent of social media. For me, this publication signalled the beginning of the end of traditional marketing. This has a poignancy as it came out at the same time that I left corporate, 'offline' marketing for good and moved onto the internet. I admit I don't remember the authors' names, but you'll find that out if you follow the Wikipedia link.

Going much further back, I must mention an article I only came across in 1999 although it had been written in 1945 - 'As We May Think' by Vannevar Bush. I can't describe how thrilling it was to read this for the first time. Bush was a US scientist at the time when technology was being developed for one purpose only - to wage war. This paper is his call for scientists of the future to apply new technology to non-military purposes, for the good of all, and in so doing he conjures up a digital future that is visionary, extraordinary and elegant.

Do you agree? There have been so many waves of internet pioneers in its short life. Who were the ones who influenced you? I'd love to know.

Also, who are the exciting thinkers of today, those who'll be remembered, not just for being the biggest names, but for their vision and influence? I have my list! But I need to stop reminiscing now and do some work. So that's for another blog post.

Photo: Grace Murray Hopper, early computer scientist and inventor of COBOL. Credit: Computermuseum.li

UK small business social media case study no 3: Curved Vision

Is it important to have a plan before starting to use social media in your business? The textbook answer of course would be 'yes' ... but the reality for many is that it evolves in a far more organic way. Trial and error, suck it and see, whatever you want to call it.

One UK small business that has adopted an unstructured approach to social media, but is seeing a tangible return on its investment is Curved Vision, a presentation skills training firm based in the North East.

Director Simon Raybould first started embracing the world of online forums some five years ago, joining a business networking group that gave him some good contacts, although he's since moved on. Having joined Twitter in early 2008 he went through the classic stages of Twitter adoption - starting off enthusiastically, then wondering what the point of it all is. "It was really only 6 months ago I started to use Twitter regularly," he explained. "It has definitely resulted in sales, not to our immediate followers necessarily, but to their followers."

Every couple of months, Curved Vision produces a useful article or resource which it gives away for free, and enquiries come off the back of the quality of these pieces and the number of retweets. Sometimes the enquiry simply happens when one of their followers mentions them to others. 

But Raybould doesn't simply use Twitter as a broadcast medium. He estimates his tweets break down into 40% social/fun/conversation/helping people, 40% tips/information and 10 - 20% (max) out-and-out promotional. This wasn't planned, but it's a balance that seems to work well.

A key part of Curved Vision's promotional activity is the company blog where they are currently taking part in a BT Tradespace initiative to post one blog post a day, every day in November. In the two years it's been going, the blog has grown into a vast source of information. Raybould reports an interesting effect: although the number of speculative enquiries has dropped, the conversion rate of those they do get is far higher than is used to be - close to 90%. In other words, the blog acts as a filter to qualify prospects, so saving the firm time on phone calls and proposals that go nowhere.

When it comes to keeping in touch with current and past clients, Raybould turns to Facebook where he has a regular profile page, not publicly viewable. All his tweets show up on there, but Facebook updates are not tweeted. "My contacts on Facebook already know me, and it's not like Twitter where anyone can follow you, so I can be a bit less guarded about what I say." The purpose of the Facebook presence is more about encouraging recommendations and keeping the brand in people's minds, not selling as such.

For those just starting to use social media for business, Raybould has some good advice: take your time to get to know the community - they're all different. It might be couple of weeks of watching and reading before you start to chip in, and when you do, make it something helpful. "It's easy to get people's backs up by asking something of them too soon or not respecting the etiquette of the place."

As for finding the time, one of the typical cries of the small business owner wondering about all this tweeting, posting and blogging...Raybould's attitude is to go for consistency rather than frequency. "Two or three tweets a day isn't a huge commitment - even if you're out of the office you can do it from a mobile phone."

Questioning the idea of 'locking out the competition' in business networking

The other day at First Friday Lewes I was discussing the different kinds of business networking groups with a couple of people. Someone had suggested I visit another local group that meets for a sit-down lunch, and everyone gets a minute to speak about their business. It's a familiar format. Having been a member of a similar organisation some years ago, I still maintain that I got a lot from the experience, but the aspect I really don't think works is the 'lockout' system.

'Lockout' is the practice of only allowing one person per profession to join a group. This is sold to prospective members as a positive benefit - you'll have no competition! Everyone in the group will be getting you business, because you'll be the sole printer/marketer/osteopath or whatever that they'll recommend!

In practice of course it doesn't always work that way. But thinking about it, why should 'locking out the competition' necessarily be a good thing anyway? Personally, my business has benefited from the connections I've made with people in my own industry, and learning from and working with other marketers, copywriters or web-savvy people has contributed significantly to my own professional development.

One of the people in the discussion said that lockout is 'a male way of looking at things - separate and dominate rather than co-operate', which I thought was interesting. Even leaving aside the male/female thing (I'm not sure I want to go there!) does word of mouth recommendation really work better when regulated through the 'lockout' system, or is it better left unfettered?  I wonder if there's a parallel with the idea of shared space on our roads.

Shared space is a concept that some cities are adopting as a way of tackling problems associated with high concentrations of traffic and pedestrians. For example, in Brighton's New Road, the result of its being changed to a shared space over the last few years has resulted in increased pedestrian and cycle usage and a big reduction in car speeds. I've driven along the street myself and I can testify to the fact that it makes you drive very carefully and slowly, but the fact that you still can drive along it is excellent as it reduces the need for long diversions or idling in queues.

Related research has suggested that removing signs and barriers from many of our urban streets can actually make them safer to use. In other words, self-regulation rather than rules imposed from outside leads to better understanding and respect on all sides.

I realise that plenty of business networking organisations worldwide have thrived on the model that says 'if everyone follows the rules exactly, it will work'. And the 'lockout' concept is central to the model. But I suspect that tomorrow's business networkers, the YouTube generation, will be just as comfortable, if not more so, with co-operation rather than 'separation and domination'.

List mania

Twitter recently launched its 'lists' feature and already the lists are accumulating. My first reaction, I admit, was 'ooh ... lists! what lists can I make? what lists should I be on?'

There's something compelling about lists, and they're a mainstay of the print media. No real news today? Let's cook up a list! The Sunday Times annual 'Rich List', The Guardian with its regular supplements featuring the country's best pubs/restaurants/organic food shops or whatever, those lists of 'top ten best countries to live in' or 'top ten worst cities for crime', or whatever simple numbers can be distilled from the latest survey.

And now Twitter lists, the latest driver, according to Ian Aspin, of 'status anxiety' - alongside follower counts and the #followfriday trend. Reading his recent post on the subject made me rethink my attitude to Twitter lists and made me determined not to get sucked into worrying about them!

I was also inspired by Ian's suggestions of more meaningful lists, such as people you care about, problems you've overcome (and how), things that have worked for you. I for one would be interested in reading people's lists on those subjects. How about you?

PS If you find yourself on a list that you'd rather not be on, you can remove yourself by blocking the person who created the list, according to Robert Scoble