In case you missed it, this is a pretty clear telling of how the Internet as we know it came about.
It’s interesting to think of the ramifications of the work we do. None of the people that worked on the beginning pieces had any idea what their work would become.
That should inspire all of us to work with:
humility to know when we are wrong, hear the critique, and make change
imagination so we can even begin to conceive of vision and unintended (or intended) consequences
love so that we can seek the betterment of society through what we do
Still think you don’t need to be using social media? There’s a new research study from Chadwick Martin Bailey that could change your mind.
“In a recent study of social media usage it is clear that consumers who are Facebook fans and Twitter followers of a brand are more likely to not only recommend, but they are also more likely to buy from those brands than they were before becoming fans/followers. The study of over 1500 consumers by market research firm Chadwick Martin Bailey and iModerate Research Technologies found that 60% of Facebook fans and 79% of Twitter followers are more likely to recommend those brands since becoming a fan or follower. And an impressive 51% of Facebook fans and 67% of Twitter followers are more likely to buy the brands they follow or are a fan of. Considering Facebook’s over 400 million users, the opportunity is great for social media marketers.”
Possibly the most interesting part of the study was that it found a growing perception of brand being considered “out of touch” if they were not on social media platforms.
At the very least, your brand needs to have an engaging presence on different social media platforms. Even if you aren’t using it strategically, the fact that someone can identify themselves as a fan of yours helps them tell the world who they are. Reap the benefit of that.
I recently read this little story in the Monday Morning Memo (a weekly column you NEED to be reading). The lesson will be obvious. If you need help learning to not be a wimp in your messge and advertising, call us at Wordswell.
My partner Peter Nevland recently bumped into the owner of a bottled water service who asked him for some free advice. Peter asked, “Why should the customer of another water service switch to yours?”
“We’re locally owned.” “Ten percent of our profits go to charity,” blah, blah, blah.
Peter was unimpressed.
Exasperated and grasping at straws, the man mentioned his water had recently been voted “Best Tasting” by the readers of an obscure, local business journal.
“Why do you think you won?”
The man hung his head, “We cheat.”
“How?”
“Our water is saturated with dissolved oxygen, twice the amount found in regular water.”
“What does that do?”
“Dissolved oxygen is what makes water taste good. It’s why cold water tastes better than warm water. Cold water contains more dissolved oxygen.”
“You’re saying your room temperature water tastes like cold water?”
The man nodded his head.
“Do you always saturate your water with dissolved oxygen?”
“Yes, why do you ask?”
SAD ENDING: Peter was unable to convince the man to promote his better tasting water with dissolved oxygen. I swear I’m not making this up. The man remained convinced his ads needed to say, “We’re locally owned and give ten percent of our profits to charity.”
Eric Miller, a real estate agent in Jacksonville Beach, Florida has hired Wordswell to help him get more leads from home buyers and seller.
We have created a website that will specifically focus on Jacksonville Beach real estate. The site will have house search functionality, tools to help buyers and sellers, and information about the following communities:
Neptune Beach
Jacksonville Beach
Atlantic Beach
Ponte Verde Beach
Intracoastal West
We think the design is really cool. Eric looks engaging, and there is clear communication of how to get in touch with Eric. We will be adding contact forms and other sources of lead generation shortly, and of course, we’ll help Eric navigate the social media world to contribute to his success.
White space is typically a term used in graphic design that means the space between elements in a composition. It’s often the mark of simple, clean, and clear design.
The past month we’ve looked at white space in new ways.
In “White Space (Part 1)” we note, as did Da Vinci, that “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Often complex ideas can be best explained by using metaphors or examples. By utilizing these techniques, we can all bring a greater understanding to what we do.
“White Space (Part 2)” looks at how the internet is creating another sort of white space. By having multitudes of information always available when we search for it, we can relax, clear our brains, and be ok with decentralized knowledge.
All of these approaches to white space lead to a hopeful reality for our emerging world:
Great ideas will win.
This is largely due to the technological changes happening right now, in real time. The internet is redefining “authority”.
Culturally, the playing field is leveling. It’s less about how much influence you can buy and more about how much influence you can earn. It’s about how good your ideas are and, of course, how well you communicate them.
Here’s why:
We’re in an opt-in world. Increasingly, we only consume the information and media that we want to. We self-select the influences we want to have and so we care more about what those people and brands say. Time-shifiting products like TiVo, DVRs, podcasts, other on-demand services, and even Google itself, mean that we get what we want when we want it. The role of interruption-based messages (like traditional advertising) is changing drastically.
Communities are evolving, and they’re going online. Instead of turning to big media outlets to tell us what’s happening and what’s cool, we are looking more and more to our hand-picked communities (or, as Seth Godin calls them, “tribes”). These tribes are developing online where we can create and digest tons of content, stay in touch with more people than ever, and essentially leverage our time, our expertise, and the value bring to the table.
All media is becoming “social media”. This means that we can engage with and/or contribute to the messages we consume like never before. Walls are down. Gatekeepers are dead. Ideas can spread with the click of a mouse or cell phone button. For example, if one of your Twitter messages is “retweeted” by a few folks and again retweeted by some of their friends, you’ve reached an audience of thousands within seconds. We have more potential for influence and power than ever before.
The real question is, what are we going to do with it?
Brody
P.S. A great example of this whole concept is that in a matter of days, over 1,000 people signed to participate 40 Days of Water, a Blood:Water Mission campaign to bring clean water to our neighbors in Africa. In the 2 days after launch, about 10,000 people had visited the special website dedicated to the campaign. All of this happened almost exclusively through social media and word of mouth. It’s incredible.
Wordswell had the privilege of building the website and software application that is supporting this campaign. You can sign up to participate by making water your only beverage for 40 days. Otherwise, if you’d like to donate to the cause, visit my profile page at http://40Days.bloodwatermission.com/brodybond.
It’s why we should all be excited about emerging web technologies. Here’s why:
We will no longer have to wade through the mire of content packed into tight, unsearchable places.
The old way
Jam lots of content into a printed newsletter. Force people to have to read though everything to find the pieces of content they actually want. Make sure none of this content is ever accessible again. Do not leverage this content outside the scope of your current audience. Oh, and spend lots of money to print and mail it.
The newer way
Put all of your content online – text, pictures, audio, and video. Allow users to see titles, summaries, categories, and tags to find what is useful to them. Make all this content searchable, both so that it can be found in the future and so outsiders might find something valuable to read. Store all this content for free (regardless of how many people see it). Allow folks to comment, share, link to, and otherwise engage your content.
The web lets us spread out information. It allows us to find information on demand. It’s like a proxemic white space.
It allows us to find those needles in the haystacks.
It allows us to breath.
It also levels the playing field of influence… but more on that in Part 3 next week.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” according to Leonardo da Vinci.
He’s right.
The best teachers, consultants, pastors, artists, and leaders all do the same thing: they make the complex simple. Does what you do fall into any of those categories?
What should you do when you have to explain something complex? How do you make it simple? Find a metaphor.
If someone doesn’t understand something, figure out a way to say, “Well, it’s just like…”.
Is he still not getting it? Use careful examples. Starting a phrase with “For example…” is one of the most powerful ways to bring meaning to what you are saying.
In graphic design and web design, simplicity is achieved through the use of white space.
What’s white space? Well, it’s just like what you would have when you clear away all the hay to find the needle.
For example, look at how simple it was to donate to Haiti relief efforts through the way this iTunes store page was designed and written:
