With Web 2.0 came a new openness. People now regularly Twitter, Blog and post to Facebook things they never would have broadcast to the world prior to Web 2.0. With great openness comes great opportunity for your competition and even criminals. I just read an MSNBC article that talks about how people tweet that they are on vacation giving details about where and how long they will be gone. The whole world now knows that their house is sitting empty and for how long. This just seems like a bad idea. Would you post an ad in a newspaper letting the whole town know that you are away and your house is empty? Interesting read and a little bit of a lesson… http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31921967/ns/business-consumer_news/

Yes, Facebook, Twitter and Blogs are essentially free from a monetary standpoint. There are however other costs – primarily the resources and time that you need to devote to these social mediums. I believe that the costs are still considerably less than a company would have to spend on traditional media to achieve similar results. See what they think at MSNBC.com:

Leading up to his inauguration then President Elect Obama was asked on more than a few occasions to comment on the economy and crisis on the Gaza Strip.  Most times he would say that “there can be only one President at a time” and abstain from interjecting what he thought the U.S. should do.

The Internet was a key element in President Obama’s campaign.  His team’s mastery of it to build grass roots support, communicate with his base and raise money was crucial to winning the Democratic Nomination and the Presidency.

So it was more than symbolic that at 12:01 on January 20, 2009 we had a new President and a brand new www.Whitehouse.gov.  It wasn’t just the President’s name on the site that changed, it was an entirely new site.  New architecture and functions that include up to the minute updates and information.  A site that includes video, a blog, slide shows, and text about what the president is doing and why.  Text from Obama’s first speech as President was posted shortly after he concluded.  There was a slide show of his first day in office.  Visitors can view the inauguration speech video and even download a higher quality version.  There will even be a weekly video address on the new site.

President Obama has said throughout the campaign that his administration would be “open and transparent”.  Just a minute into is presidency he proved that he meant what he said when his team posted the new site.

The importance President Obama placed on using the internet to craft his image and get his message out is something no business person should ignore.  After all, this is a man that raised hundreds of millions of dollars online and was able to use the web to bring his supporters together like no other.  President Obama has made the Internet an important part of his overall communication strategy.  Nothing reflected that more than the change we say at 12:01 on January 20, 2009.

July 31st, 2006Nike has long been a leader in making use of the web to build their brand. While many companies showcase their tv commercials on the web few allow you to download the videos. Not Nike. The company now allows you to download it’s Nike Air commercials in a variety of formats including Quicktime, iPod and PSP. It makes me wonder why more aren’t doing this. If someone wants to hear and spread your message don’t put up roadblocks, make it easy.
They have also made it easy for bloggers to talk about the spots, providing code for bloggers that want to embed the videos into their code!

July 19th, 2006Business is about ‘relationships’. Blogging is about publishing your thoughts for the world to read. Blogging showcases how you think.
I’ve learned that “willing to pay me money” is not enough of a reason to work with a potential client. It’s important that we see eye to eye on big picture stuff. For example, if a client wants to do what everyone else is doing they probably aren’t a good match for Caffeine Group. It’s not that they have to share the same ideas. After all, that’s what we get paid for.
I pitched a GM dealership one time on a plan that would have 9000 young families coming into his dealership in a four week period right around the time the all new GM minivans and SUVs were launching. He gave two reasons for turning down the plan. First, the plan would eat up 25% of the money he had earmarked for newspaper advertising for 3 months. He went on to explain that all the dealers advertised in the newspaper and if he did less ads in that period he would not be maintaining the status quo. The second reason he gave was “I don’t know if I want 9000 families with their kids in here touching all the cars.” He was not anti family, just concerned about how to handle crowds like that and was missing the point.
After turning down the pitch he said he liked my ideas and offered me work. I didn’t pursue it as it became obvious to me that we did not see eye to eye. In my mind we were just not compatible in how we thought about the world.
This is where blogging can help. Whenever I am looking at working with someone new whether it is a supplier or client I try to first get an idea of how they think. If they have a blog I can discover in a matter of minutes if we should work together or not.
So if you are thinking about working with Caffeine Group, either as a supplier, independent contractor, client or team member, read this blog and see if we think like you think. And if you believe in your ideas and in what you can do for your clients and customers, blog and give the world some perspective about how you think and why they need to work with or buy from your company.