What was the first really big online social site? MySpace, Plenty of Fish, or Facebook. Well, young Jedi, these are all far too young. Since 1985 The Well has been connecting people. And after that there was a place called LambdaMOO.

The Well allowed me as a member to connect with such people as Dr. Tim Leary, and Jerry Garcie. I connected with people from around the globe in a way I had never dreamed was possible with the local Bulletin-Board Systems (BBSs). And when Lambda came along it took everything to a new level. Neither of these place allowed rich content. There was no pictures, no audio, no music and of course no video. There was however text. The written word. And relationships were built based upon the words you typed. From 1989 until 1997 these two places were a part of my daily life. And in an era when most of my friends and peers thought the “internet thing” was a waste of time and a toy, I got to be part of something that was bigger then anything those of us in those days ever dreamed. In that era it was a new frontier out there and we all were a bunch of mavericks and by accident pioneers.

I created friendships in that era that have stood the test of time. I watched people meet in textual based rooms, start relationships, and fall in love. Some ended up getting married and those are some of the strongest relationships I have ever witnessed. We exchanged ideas, reviews on products, and helped one another out in anyway we could. In Lambda we developed a virtual world. When Pavel created Lambda that wasn’t his idea. But he gave birth to something bigger then us all, and we all benefited. Pavel didn’t do it for money. Pavel didn’t do it for fame. There was no cost to join either one of these sites other then the price of your monthly dial-up account.

So what’s the point of this. The beauty of that era was it was pure. We had no ads. There was no marketing hammer us from every angle. No banner ads. It was about connecting. Building relationship built upon mutual respect, trust and shared interests. As I said, it was pure.

There is a rumor that banner ads or some other form of ads will be coming to Twitter soon. This doesn’t bother me. I enjoy the service, and I don’t mind a smart ad. Facebook has ads, and yes, I do click through. What people tend to forget is these services take a huge amount of money to operate. Servers, network usage, IT security, skills & talent, etc all cost money. And we tend to forget that at times. Lambda was run by volunteers. It was sponsored by XEROX PARC in the beginning. But I don’t think any of use would have minded an ad here and there, just so long as it didn’t fsck too badly with out online experience.

Consumer control dictates we have the power. But in order for us to have that power, we must surrender a part of our privacy. If I don’t want ads for online sex-webcams on FB, I need to tailor what I do wish to have ads displayed for. By sharing my interests the powers that be can build a program that targets me and my interests. And this folks, is part of data mining. The real money or power behind FB is not the online ads, it’s ALL that data we place online. Take that data, run it through a few stats programs on a super computer and the corporations and/or government are able to build profiles based upon our lifestyles and interests. The question to ask, is this a good thing?

The vote is still out. Lambda and The Well never data mined, but I suppose they could have. What I think is important, is if Big Brother is going to track what we do online, do we really care? And are they going to be ethical with that data? Is the exchange of what I consider important in my life, who my friends and peers are really that valuable that I am not prepared to share that knowledge with corporations in order to connect with people around the globe?

Personally, I can live with that exchange. However for your business you may decide no. The internet is never gonna be the same. Online marketing now has as much if not more power then TV or radio. And the key to take away from this posting is that text has power. What you write and how it is written online can have a huge impact on your bottom line. Trust is important. The text we read online is the content we keep. And yet so many websites seem to miss this point. Personally I see the textual content of a site as having more value then the images or rich media they offer. So, young Jedi, be smart and make damn sure you have something of value in all those words upon your website. Twitter is all text. Facebook has rich content, but it’s the textual content that determines if I’ll view that video or not.

I suppose something haven’t changed. Twenty years later we are back to text. Yes, the pen is mightier then the sword.

In his book Always On: Advertising, Marketing, and Media in an Era of Consumer Control, Christopher Vollmer addresses the issues of the new era of Consumor Control and what this means to marketing, media, and advertising. The book does a wonderful job of explaining to the masses how things have changed and how consumers now have control over what forms of advertising they are willing to embrace.

The book also explains a little on why large corporations like Microsoft are throwing millions of dollars into social network sites like Facebook.

For many small businesses they see social networks and social media tools as mere toys or a waste of time. And they are so wrong, words can’t describe it.

An example.

Paul Colligan, whom I follow on Twitter recently posted updates about their experience with Orbitz. In his blog posting, Will Orbitz Rise to the Occasion Paul discusses how he used Twitter and his Blog to document his frustration with what his travel company had put his through. The story details the good, the bad, and the ugly. What’s important is that someone from Orbitz who had her own Twitter account stepped upto the plate to handle this problem, and Twitter played a key role in all of this. Now Paul has 3,082 people who follow his tweets on Twitter. And you can bet that each of those people have at least 10 people following them. Do the math. That’s an easy 30,820 people who have heard about how Orbitz first fscked up and later resolved the problem. How many follow Paul’s Blog, well only he can answer that question.
 

In marketing any exposure can be good. With a talented spin-doctor even a total cluster-fsck can be worked to one’s advantage. Hey, any press is better then no press, right? Wrong. When people share their experiences about your products or services they can help you gain sales, or loose sales. The era of “if you like something tell one friend, if you hate something tell ten friends” is over. Just like the Dinos, it is so dead. Today if I like something I can share that knowledge with a potential 100,000 people in under 10 days using social networks. And that’s if I like something. Think about what I might do, if I really don’t like something…

Consumer Control is about your clients having power of you. They don’t like the TV ad, they change the channel (hell with PVRs they can block commercials all together). They don’t like your Pop-Ups they use a Pop-up Blocker. They feel you ripped them off or they got bad service, and they start a XYZ Company Sucks Facebook Group. And in an era where trust relationship have HUGE value, your company suffers.

No the client isn’t always right. Hell, most of the time they don’t have a fscking clue. But they have the money in their pockets and they will decide how they will spend it. Think you have a monopoly on something? Guess what, I can find it online over seas and order from there if I don’t want you to have my business. Think testimonials aren’t worth the effort to gather and post online? Consider that another nail in the coffin.

Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace have change the face of business and marketing forever.

The question to ask yourself, is if you want to gain from this change, or be buried with the Dino’s in the past?

Twitter Related Links – pay attention before you screw up in front of 10 million people
50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business
40 Twitter Tips in 140 Characters or Less
The TwitterHandbook

Get the Book at Amazon
Always On: Advertising, Marketing, and Media in an Era of Consumer Control

Last week I discussed the concept Punk Marketing. In that posting I talked about how the concepts of punk marketing have been around a lot longer then Social Marketing and the whole Web 2.0 thing. After a few emails in the past week asking me to answer a few questions I have decided this week to answer those questions in relation to Social Network marketing.

1. Should I have a Facebook group/page for my business?

A. Right off the top of my head, my answer is yes. Facebook is no longer just for the 16-25 crowd. I have more friends and peers using Facebook in the 30+ crowd then I do in the under 30 crowd. The marketplace on Facebook is free and you can advertise your products or services there. In addition, Facebook uses the concept of “trust” to enable people you don’t know to hear about you. For example, you email a friend on Facebook about your services. Because they are “your friend” they are much more likely to actually read that email, and look at the Facebook group page. They in turn can use the “Share” feature to let all their friends know. If properly executed, and with the proper branding, images, content, and media, it is possible to gain over 100,000 members in as little as 10 days. Those numbers can’t be bad for your business.

2. What is the value in using Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn?

A. The value is in what you do with these tools. And never forget, they are tools. You can meet new clients, develop professional friendships, locate sub-contractors, educate yourself, teach others, and leverage your brand. The secret in my honest opinion is to brand ALL of these site profiles to reflect your brand and yourself. There has been tons written on this subject. Check out the book, “Always On” by Christopher Vollmer to give you an idea of how Social Network have changed the ways companies do business. Soon to be published is the Twitter Handbook. ”Get your copy of the Twitter Handbook (Free if you sign up now) at http://TwitterHandbook.com“ 

3. Can Social Network marketing damage my bottom line?

A. Yes. Just like everything else in life, if you do it wrong it can cost you in the end. Don’t for example have pictures of yourself and personal friends slamming beer on your Facebook profile. Is that the image you would want to portray to potential clients? Also, I see a lot of people spinning their wheels (wasting time) because they don’t fully understand how to implement these tools. If you are not sure, or don’t know how, hire a consultant who does. It’s cheaper to pay a professional who can do it right, then to screw it up yourself and waste time “trying to do it on your own”.

4. If I get all this Social Network stuff happening, does my company still need a web site?

A. Yes, yes, and YES. The idea of “this stuff” is to drive business to your website. It’s about increasing your sales. Sales = Profit. Make damn sure your web site is ready for a Social Network marketing campaign.

5. How can I use this, AND still follow your idea of Punk Marketing?

A. This is easy. While raising awareness for your brand, you can also raise awareness for local grass-roots non-profits in your area. Create links to their web sites from your site and your profile pages. Maybe help them to create a Facebook page or group. Or if you want more advise, just email me.

6. My company is a non-profit, can these tools help us?

A. Yes. The United Way, Unicef, and a number of the other big non-profits are using Social Networks to prompt awareness for their causes. Virgin’s charity side is leading the pack with brilliant ideas.

******

Songs for the day:

1. The Little Things – Danny Elfman – Wanted Soundtrack

2. So Alive – Love and Rockets

3. If You Could See – Fastway – Trick or Treat Soundtrack

4. Walk Away – Dropkick Murphy’s – Blackout

5. Bringing on the Heartbreak – Def Leppard – High and Dry

*******

Help a kid have a chance in life.

Covenant House

http://www.covenanthouse.org/ http://www.covenanthouse.ca/

*******

Links:

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/

MySpace – http://www.myspace.com/

LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/

Here’s a question I seem to get a lot. maybe it’s because I’m the geek who coined the phrase, but really, I had thought it was self explanatory. 

A long, long, long time ago, in a far, far, far away place called London (in the late 1960’s / early 70’s) a movement came out of the low-income social class called punk. Now since that time there has been some serious myth-conceptions about what punk really is, or was.

So, going beyond the media’s misunderstanding, and beyond the twisting the conservatives of the time published, punk was really simple: change. It was about change. Changing the situation. Changing how people thought and viewed things. True punk wasn’t about fighting, violence, hatred, or dropping out.  It was a direct result, a backlash if you will to the hippy movement at the time, which didn’t do much to actually change things. It was about simplicity. It’s music roots were in reggae and rock music. yes, it was fueled by the frustration of the youth at the time. And in my humble opinion John Lennon was the first punk icon. It was about sharing, and people getting along. It was against racism and institutional racism. It was about being socially conscious. It was about rebelling against what was wrong in politics, society, etc. It was a concept that had merit and still does.

The Problem began when the media glammed on (no pun intended) to the antics of bands like the Sex Pistols. The conservative governments of the time and organized religion saw it as a threat. And as they, the rest is history.

Punk Marketing.

I first began using the term with clients in the late 1990’s. My belief was and still is, is success demands that those who have the power and the money should make a real effort to help those who don’t. Yes, I can hear the capitalists screaming foul. But in an era where there exist corporations who have more money and worth the a large number of countries, especially third world countries, I find it depressing and disgusting that so many people go hungry daily. Movements like Make Poverty History are a good start, but they are not enough. Charity should start at home. Charity is not about publishing a news release stating how much you donated, or worse yet spending 70% of your budget advertising your charity and less then 30% on the actual charity. 

So I believe you can be a good corporate citizen and help others and that effort will be rewarded. For anyone who has ever worked with a non-profit organization (NPO), you know all to well how these socially vital organizations are under-staffed, under-skilled, and under-funded. Take a look at most of the grass-root NPOs in your area and you’ll quickly see how they lack branding, marketing and business development skills.

Long before viral marketing became a buzz-word, punks in the 70’s were employing the concepts to get the message out to others. Long before guerrilla marketing was coined as a term, people were being damn creative with no budget and promoting events, ideas and concepts. Social networks are the buzz these days, but for those of us old enough to remember and who were in any way a part of the “scene” we were doing everything social networks do today. People you didn’t know would show up in your city from around the globe and through the “network” know how to contact you, and you’d offer them a place to stay, food to eat, and show them around your city. People created distant friendships based upon reputation and mutual interests that were founded in trust.

So you see, punk marketing has been around a long time. maybe I’m just the geek who named it. Doubt it. But for now I’ll continue to use it and take the time to explain to clients how their success can have more meaning then just money. Significance has far more social value then cash. And the kid you enable to eat tonight, may one day be the next Steve Jobs.

Well, am finally here. Tried to avoid it. Tried to not end up with a blog. Guess the universe had other thoughts for me. For now you can follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com/Scott_Fraser , or check out the new site which is under development at http://deckersinc.com , or check me out on Facebook.

A warning label will follow and I’m not responsible for what you do with knowledge gained here. This will be about marketing, technology and business. Social enterprise. Success. Changing your world. This may offend some, excite others, or be just bloody boring. It will however be interesting.

Next steps… locate a theme I like. Figure out how to integrate WP into iWeb OR find a handy tool for OS X 10.5. Actually, will create a theme.

Time for world domination to begin. Let go out and be safe…hrms… second thoughts, screw being safe, lets have fun.