Bernaisesource

As Tim O’Reilly pointed out: “What we found compelling about Satisfaction was their use of collective intelligence to redefine the relationship between a company and its customers.”

Company sponsored forums where customers can talk and help each other is not new; more and more businesses are creating them to help customers, build loyalty and deflect expensive calls to support centers. But Satisfaction’s communities meet a need for customers of companies who lack forums or want an alternative. It makes it easy for customers to set up and interact with one another within a neutral environment.

Satisfaction taps the power of crowdsourcing to give customers a collective voice. For the uninitiated, crowdsourcing involves engaging a large, undefined group of people to develop a product, solve a problem or refine a process.

A growing list of companies have bought into the idea and now employees at such companies as Google and Timbuk2 are becoming members. Thor Muller, Satisfaction's CEO and co-founder estimates that about 40 percent of Satisfaction's communities include representation from the companies being discussed.

From a PR perspective, a Satisfaction community gives companies an alternative channel to reach and converse with their customers. Ideally, companies should not have to wait for a Satisfaction community to appear. They should already be creating social networks for their customers to address service issues, announce products and solicit customer feedback. But ignoring a Satisfaction community is not only a lost opportunity to increase customer loyalty, it potentially blemishes a reputation and could threaten future sales.

Satisfaction has made the job of creating social networks easier, and companies should determine how this new twist on crowdsourcing meets their customer support needs. It will be interesting to see if Satisfactions's strategy is scalable and will be able to handle an influx of participants. While crowdsourcing is a compelling complement to an existing support structure, I would not advise companies to rely solely on crowdsourcing. Businesses come and go but continuity is critical to customer relations. Company run forums help ensure a constant dialogue with customers.

While I can't predict Satisfaction's future, using crowdsourcing as a customer support tool will force companies to assess their customer service strategy. It is yet another example of how, in an era of social media, the name of the game may not be control but the ability to adapt to new technologies. Perhaps the benefit for companies is not in how they control social networks, but how they choose to embrace them.

Later this week I will post an interview I recently did with Thor Muller.

Let me get back to you.

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The trends raised in the new book by Burson-Marsteller CEO Mark J. Penn are bigger than the title suggests. Like the warning on the passenger side mirror (objects are closer than they appear), Microtrends examines “under the radar forces…which are powerfully shaping our society.”

Famous for identifying the importance of the "soccer mom" demographic, Mr. Penn identifies more than 70 microtrends, which collectively embody a larger marketing strategy. Like microelectronics and microfibers, so goes marketing. He predicts that microtargeting will come to dominate advertising and marketing. In time, we will witness a huge expansion of personal communications where the right products are advertised to the right niches of people.

How big these small forces actually are is a matter debate, but when I got an email from Burson Marsteller asking me to review the book, I accepted the opportunity to comment.

Mr. Penn cites many compelling microtends, but just as it is dangerous to go too macro, it is also risky to go too small. The small picture can distort, drowning us in a sea of details, with each trend as important (or unimportant) as the next. Many of his examples are counterinituitive like Long Attention Spanners in the age of ADD and Shy Millionaires in era of bling and conspicuous consumption.

One microtrend I found particularly relevant looked at DIY Doctors – Do It Yourself Doctors. These are people who research their own symptoms, diagnose their own illnesses, and administer their own cures. It’s big business. In 2002, a growing number of American adults say they have used non-doctor provided alternative medicines, and the number of Direct to Consumer ads by the drug industry has risen from $1 billion in 1997 to $4 billion in 2004. People are making their own choices when it comes to medical care.

The Internet’s easy access to medical information is putting expertise in the hands of the DIY Doctors. What goes for medical information also goes to book reviewers and bloggers. Take a look at the number of non-professional book reviews on Amazon that are helping drive sales. And consider the power of citizen journalists to topple newscasters like Dan Rather and senatorial candidates like George Allen.

Technology is the great leveler turning amateurs into experts. As a communications professional, I grapple with how blogs, social networks and other forms of social media are challenging our assumptions about expertise, opinions and authority. In the age of social media, an individual or small group of individuals need only a computer and Internet connection to bypass traditional communications channels and power elites.

Reading Mr. Penn’s book, I kept thinking about two theories that have gained popular currency: the butterfly effect and the long tail.

The butterfly effect states that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in one part of the world can lead to a typhoon in another. Or more broadly, small variations of the initial condition may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the overall system.

Coined by Wired Magazine’s Chris Anderson, the long tail theory states that the total sales volume of low popularity items exceeds the volume of high popularity items if the distribution channel is large enough.

Together these laws reinforce Microtrends larger premise that “small trends” and “slight changes” will “trigger profound changes in the shape of our globe and the character of our society.” Going forward, the challenge won’t be the loss of identity associated with mass communications; it will be trying to find consumers though a ever-widening number of niche markets

As a pollster, Mr. Penn puts a lot of faith in the power of statistics. Most of us don’t have his level of experience and expertise. Thought provoking, engaging and useful, the book’s insights beg the next question: how do you spot a microtrend ahead of the competition?

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Microtrends; Mark Penn; Burston Marsteller; Long Tail; Chaos Theory; Soccer Moms;

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I was recently talking to a group of 40 something guys about career 2.0, and the conversation moved to LinkedIn – the business social networking site. One seasoned CIO had never used it, while another had over 1,100 direct connections and more than 5 million indirect ones. I mentioned Facebook as the latest tool. One was unfamiliar with MyFace [sic], the others thought it was for personal relationships.

The latter point of view was confirmed by Alice Mathias, a recent college grad, who recently shared her thoughts about Facebook in a New York Times op-ed piece. The piece received a lot of play in the blogosphere with postings from bloggers like Mathew Ingram, Scott Karp, and Mario Sundar about the nature of personal and professional networks.

According to Ms. Mathias we post graduates don’t quite get it.

She writes: “Just a warning: if you’re planning on following the corner of this map that’s been digitally doodled by my 659 Facebook friends, you are going to end up in the middle of nowhere.”

To her and presumably her generation, Facebook is not a valuable social network; it's "online community theater," less a functional tool and more a source of entertainment.

We can learn a lot from today’s youth. How they embrace technology is of great interest to me. But their (i)tune may change when the Facebook generation scatters across the country and around the world to start new jobs and begin families. They may abandon Facebook for LinkedIn or begin using Facebook the way we working stiffs have started using it – as a valuable social network to keep touch with friends, family and colleagues. Or maybe a hybrid will form that combines the personal and the professional, just as work and play have merged in the real world.

And when that happens, the youth of tomorrow will likely do what today’s youth have done -- embrace a whole new network they can call their own. They will put up a digital warning on their doors that reads– Knock before entering or Keep out – signs any parent of a teenager will recognize. And once again, adults will be told they just don’t get it.

And so the generation gap continues -- only this time in cyberspace. In our youth obsessed culture, it’s not surprising that adults want to enter the bastions of the young. I don’t see too many college students clamoring to join eons.com, the social network for the over 50 set.

Yes we adults probably don’t get it, but give us credit for trying and for recognizing the knowledge and sensibility that the young bring to the table. It’s not as if we are trying to dress like college kids in age inappropriate clothing.

Let me get back to you.

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Time was when getting customers to buy your product or service was good enough. Repeat business was even better. Now we want them be our advocates -- without paying them.

From a marketing perspective, their word is invaluable in reaching other prospective customers. From a customer service perspective, their input on company-sponsored forums not only deflects expensive calls to contact centers, it deepens their loyalty.

But why would customers be willing to volunteer their time and how are companies enlisting them?

This new band of volunteer marketers and customer support experts rarely do it for money; that would turn what they do for fun or personal satisfaction into a job. Perhaps that’s why Google pulled the plug on its online answer forum, and Yahoo’s thrives; Google paid, and Yahoo doesn’t. It has become customary for companies to devise a competition where participants vie for points, but even achieving a high score doesn't tell the whole story.

Maybe instead it is a feeling of helping or influencing others, showing off an expertise, being part of something, having new things to talk about or receiving new products and service before anyone else.

On the marketing side, organizations like the Word of Mouth Marketing Association and companies like BzzAgent have emerged to help businesses find these pitchmen and pitchwomen. These volunteers are tapped to promote new products through their network of family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. They are upfront about their affiliation, honest about their opinions and devoted to their products. Companies get loyal customers and genuine advocates, and customers get a sense of accomplishment.

The same spirit that drives individuals to spread the word also motivates others to contribute to company sponsored social networks.

Lithium for example builds and manages customer support forums for some very large companies like AT&T and Dell. Through experience, they have developed a set of profiles or personas that show how a new community member becomes a regular, established contributor. A successful community needs a large numbers of contributors at different levels to be self-sustaining.

According to Lithium, a member of an online community starts at the Initiate stage. Depending on his or her level of commitment, a community member will then become an Observer, Convert, Evangelist or ultimately Opinion Leader. For forums to work and customers to participate, companies must cede control. The results are more unpredictable and thanks to the Internet permanently searchable. But the payoff is loyal customers who may identify solutions that those inside the company had not considered.

Like word of mouth marketing, company forums tap an existing social networks. But customer support forums generally don’t recruit participants. They operate online where face-to-face contact is rare. Word of mouth marketing on the other hand generally operates in person with an established social network.

It strikes me that building and sustaining online forums are more difficult than enlisting citizen marketers. Companies using forums must set up and tend to underlying infrastructure and monitor content for accuracy, tone and appropriateness.

Regardless of the degree of difficulty, however, having individuals pitch products and help others is an exciting new way to deepen a company’s relationship with its customers. While it is always nice to rely on the kindness of strangers, companies have the added responsibility of nurturing this trust. They must avoid the temptation to take advantage of those who are willing to make such a personal commitment.

Let me get back to you.

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All these concerns have legitimacy, but consider what reporter Anjali Athavaley wrote last week in the Wall Street Journal: "Job References You Can't Control."

Professional networking sites such as LinkedIn Corp. and Jobster Inc. are making it easier for employers to get in touch with people who have worked with job candidates in the past or know them personally. Recruiters say they use such sites -- where people create online profiles and then link to professional colleagues who are also members -- to find mutual connections they can hit up for information. Many hiring managers say they even check to see if they have mutual connections with a candidate onFacebook and MySpace, the popular social-networking sites.

It is only another reason to check out Shel Holtz’s “Stop Blocking” campaign. My belief is that accessing social networks is a cost of doing business. But it is not carte blanche to do anything one pleases.  Employees need to understand the threats from malware and should be reprimanded or dismissed for abusing their privileges. I am confident most will not be downloading videos and viewing content that HR has deemed off limits (e.g. content that offends or is pornographic). Employees have jobs to do. Social networking without guidelines is as bad as outright bans.  Prohibiting social networks won't guarantee higher productivity, but it may limit opportunities and access to valuable information.

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Stop Blocking; Recruiting; ScanSafe;

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In the world of blogging, as with most everything else, ranking matters. It is convenient shorthand to see who is the best, biggest, worst, smallest, etc. And as one editor once confided in me, stories with headlines that list and rankings sell more magazines.

Technorati rankings have become a near obsession for a lot of bloggers, and Technorati's top 100 blog list is a blogosphere industry standard. And now there is a new kid on the block, The Techmeme Leaderboard, which lists the sources most frequently posted to Techmeme. As Jason Kaneshiro observed, the blogging elite now have another hurdle to overcome on Techmeme.

According to Techmeme, sources on the Leaderboard are ranked by “presence,” the percentage of headline space a source occupies over the 30-day period. "Discussion" links are not taken into consideration— only full headlines are counted.

It is a mixture of traditional and new media, and as Scott Karp points out, it’s dominated by media brands like TechCrunch, GigaOm and Engadget. There are very few “blogs” on in the “traditional” sense, i.e. a SINGLE voice, like Dave Winer or Jeff Jarvis.

Announced earlier this week, Leaderboard has generated a fair amount of media and blogging interest.

So as budding or jaded PR professionals, what should we make of it? For one, it does represent a fairly accurate reflection of the most influential blogs and news sites out there. And according to Techmeme, “it reflects the reality that both blog-driven sites and traditional sites define today's news, so use it to discover new sources, recommend sites to others, or illustrate where tech news breaks.”

My take is that rankings are a useful guide but PR professionals can’t live on presence and influence alone. Brian Solis reminds readers that you can't ignore the “Magic Middle” (bloggers who have from 20 to 1000 other people linking to them) of the attention curve who help carry information and discussions among your customers.

Numbers just don’t always tell the whole story. Chuck Tanowitz correctly adds that sometimes it is who links to you and not how many – especially if those limited few carry a fair amount of clout.

Nor is targeting the top bloggers a substitute for a carefully planned, nuanced media/blogger outreach effort. The pitch must be carefully tailored. When identifying reporters and bloggers for a possible pitch, I consider the news, the source, and the author.

And so with Techmeme's Leaderboard, we have a new way to rank sites in the blogosphere, and Technorati has a new source of competition. Care to rank predictions on who comes out on top?

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Techmeme; Technorati; Leaderboard; Rankings;

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For those who don’t know, I am leaving EarthLink as part of its corporate restructuring announced in August. My last “official” day is at the end of the month. I'm entering a new phase I'm calling – Career 2.0 – to reflect my focus on social media. Whether I finally wind up working at another corporation, with an agency, or for myself, I know social media will be an integral part of my job.

As a sign of the times, I have created a new Facebook group called "Career 2.0". I invite others to share their career 2.0 observations with others in this group. From the ridiculous to the sublime, I hope this forum will be a collective diary on a micro level of how we are adjusting or radically altering our career paths to embrace web 2.0. For another perspective, check out the career path of Jeremy Owyang who just started a new job with Forrester.  Feel free to post questions, provide answers or offer comments and suggestions.

I began my the next phase of my career 2.0 journey speaking to a classroom of undergraduate economic students at Georgia Tech here in Atlanta. A professor there generously set aside some time for me to address the topic of career reinvention.

One thing I quickly realized, 40-something may be the new 30, but standing before a bunch of college kids, I am still very much on the plus side of 40.

Undaunted, I started with two stats from a terrific video Shift Happens from Karl Fisch.

1. Former Secretary of Education Richard Riley has said that the top 10 ten jobs that will be in demand in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004. That means that students are preparing for jobs that don’t exist using technologies that haven’t been invented in order to solve problems that no one yet knows are even problems.

2. It is believed that the amount of technical information doubles every 2 years. Half of the technical skills students start learning as a freshman will be outdated by their junior year.

Depending on your perspective, the video is either sobering or exciting, describing a world that is both threatening and promising.

Now career reinvention may be an odd topic for classroom of students who are still working out the invention part. Selfishly, I wanted to learn from a generation more wired into MySpace than “Lost in Space,” who barely know what dial-up access is and who prefer texting to talking.

I handed out a survey to get a sense of how they use they web -- from what sites they visit to how often they are online. The answers aren't that surprising, but I did discover one thing. To them, technology just is. They don't think about how their Internet habits are fundamentally transforming the way we market, advertise, and communicate. We talk about their expectations and assumptions; they don't. We post blogs, write thoughtful white papers, conduct and speak on panels about the the power they are wielding; they just want to stay connected to friends and share their experiences online.

Now the Fish Story

To illustrate this point, I turn to a passage from David Foster Wallace's monumental novel Infinite Jest.

A hoary old fish, hooks and leaders trailing like battle ribbons from his jaw, approaches a collection of loitering youngsters taking their ease by a coral reef. "Hey," says the grandpa, "how's the water?" The young fish smile, bob and sway their fins deferentially. "Fine, fine, fine," they all say. When the relic has swum off and away, they turn to each other and, almost simultaneously, say, "What's that all about? What's water?"

Most of us are not yet grandpas, but we all know what water is. Swimming about in career 2.0, I invite you all to jump in -- the water is great.

Let me get back to you.

Technorati Tags: Career 2.0; Georgia Tech; Shift Happens; Karl Fisch; Richard Riley; Social Media;

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