As with the last couple weeks I have been blogging about why communities and online social media groups are going to grow significantly more and will change all forms of media in the next 18 months. Is this really interesting? Well the change could be, as advertisers are going to have so much choice to reach their target market that marketing departments are going to be expanding and working overtime to understand and use this technology.
There is nothing essentially new in blogging, in the old days you had magazines and papers where people submitted or where commissioned to write news pieces about relevant issues. The readers than replied to that by sending in a letter to say what they thought about any relevant topic. After about a month that whole particular topic would pass and the readers would move on to discuss a new hot issue. In the online media if you can write one good article in theory that article can be discussed for 6 months, a year, two years. So from one piece of advertising/writing you can get so much more advertising milege. As the article sits on the internet it can become internet real estate growing in value over the months as traffic comes to the site and comments increase. If you are going to say something on the internet, it is good to remember that although it may be a fast form of communication, your writing contribution will be there possibly for a long time.
I could write about the new year now as I am typing this on the last day of year but that would limit its market. So to gain the maximum affect, It is good to take the long term view. Whoever would have thought that about online media?
There are a lot of companies on the internet that would like to promote your website. Costs vary from £1,800 to 100,000+ For the novice web entrepreneur or newbie in the internet business it is a very comforting thought that you can pay SEO companies to increase visitors to your site. All these companies offer legitimate services using ad words, link building, tag optimisation , etc. (As we do too, the only difference with us is you just pay an hourly rate).
The main key to increasing traffic to your website and maintaining that traffic is content. If customer x goes to website y and likes the website he will most likely come back to look some more. If it is a static website with no changeable content chances are the site will not receive a second visit. Once they have read the four pages of information (about us, who we are, what we do, where we are, etc) they are not going to go back. The same applies if the content is very well written, comparable to a novel, even then they would be unlikely to; Who of us likes to read our book while sitting behind a computer? Something which leads me to a significant minor point that any website would not do themselves any harm to have a few PDF’s that people can download and print and read while they are sitting on their comfortable sofa drinking a cup of tea.
Almost daily I receive confirmation that there are any number of good ideas for business. A good idea is not enough by its own, it takes dedication, skill, demonstration that company x is good enough to get my business. Which is why ,the tools of web 2.0 are so important (blogging, forums, commenting, etc) The market is changing. A well written CV with a few qualifications and a pleasant smile used to be enough to get a job. Nowadays companies can research each applicant. If you have not written content to backup what you are doing, it is going to be very hard to achieve your goals. This used to be achieved by articles in the printing media. It is now available to every one on the internet. In the form of a profile and a blog . (Wcx, this company offers Wc3 legal compliant blogs and profiles) On the plus side by writing a little bit about what you do will have its own personal benefits, company benefits and will probably save you a few thousand quid.
New Media, there has been some discussion about this on the internet and it is clear that Newspapers, music, film, magazine are all changing. The changes that begun in the nineties are now coming to fruition. Media will never be the same again. Read Seth’s blog post here about what he predicted. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/12/how-long-has-it.html . If you tie this in with mobile phones it is going to be a very different world. Maybe even more exciting than the Roman Empire.
Do you promote people because they are good at their jobs? This is why good technical people end up as struggling managers. You need to reward people for what they’re good at. Change their role for what they want to do next. A promotion is not a reward.
Having the right people in the right role is important for growth.
When we started this business, we made a strategic decision to concentrate on the Isle of Man. The very fact that it is an Island led us to the thought that e-commerce for its residents would be important. As the islanders here have 41 miles of sea in front of them the market is limited. To anybody wanting to increase their business e-commerce would seem to be a very logical way forward. Additionally the Isle of Man government is pushing e-commerce as one of its development strategies.
The reality is quite different. Many small businesses only depend upon the Island for making a living. Being that the community is quite small everybody knows what everybody else is doing. We have spent quite a bit of time and money on informing people on the changing use of the web. I am quite certain that within the next 18 months web 2.0 is going to play a more central role for all businesses. If I was to sum it up in a few words. It would be like this. If you want to reach generation X and before (under 35’s) then you have got to be thinking internet and web 2.0. If your market is above that generation then more traditional forms of advertising would apply. What do we have to do to increase our market? Inform the generation above X.
is no secret that younger generations lead the way with new trends. By how much is the question? I was amazed this week. When my son came home asking to install software for school. To enable them do their homework and stay in touch with classmates, swap ideas(sounds a bit web 2.0). They use a software called first class. As the website explains:
FirstClass Learning Platform http://www.intl.firstclass.com/
FirstClass is a learning platform for online learning communities, that enables personalised learning activities. It provides ‘Anytime, Anywhere’ access to the learning environment from the classroom, library and home, while it enables parents to become more involved in the educational development of their child.
I have no doubt that the current generation of school children are running rings around the a large part of the current workforce. Already my son has produced his own cartoon DVD something that would have been impossible for anyone 10 years ago. How bright is the future? Well it depends on how we are able to intergrate with this generation.
So to see this week, we have experienced a big local shift, what has already been common knowledge for sometime that internet advertising is growing. The local markets are all moving up a gear on the internet. The waters are still unclear on what is the best way to get your money’s worth online and making your website pay for its self.
Funnily enough there are no great surprises in how this work. While print media advertising has been very successful in the past. It is still basically one way business. The advertisers talking or demonstrating there wares. There is no business that can be one way towards there customers. Feedback is key to developing and launching a new product. Web 2.0 is about that, two way business. Work Connexions offers that community.
The internet will not replace relationships. Despite the success of social networking sites. A quality product produces quality results. If you can build up on line profile overnight than you may have to ask your self how much is that profile worth? I believe it is possible on Facebook to becoming Tony Blair’s friend. While that might make a good dinner party story. Can one take it seriously?
