Problem: Attended the Web 2.0 Expo (April-2007) in San Francisco; a lot of great insight, but not very many speakers brought it down to the concrete and practical - how can SMB and enterprise use this stuff?

Let’s start with defining some basic fundamentals of Web 2.0:

Q. What is it?

A. Web 2.0 is about harnessing user (user = visitor to your website) generated content to add value to the experience of future users. So basically, if I interact with your site, it makes the next person’s experience richer, and so on.

examples: I write a review, rank an item, share a link, contribute knowledge, vote on a process, edit information (fact check), and so on.

Web 2.0 is about the power of the masses, building community, and self-expression.

Power of the Masses:
This theory is fairly straight forward - the more people you have who perform an action, the greater the ability to determine its true nature.

example: if 1 person rates a movie, you have no idea if it is good or bad, but if 10,000 people do, then you have a large enough data set that you can get a good indication if the movie will suck or not.

Building Community:
Now here is where it gets interesting. Web 2.0 allows for global congregation around any common interest.

example: So 10,000 people rating a movie should give a clear indication if its good or not - but that depends on who those 10,000 people are. Now if the movie is a cheesy horror flick, and the site rating it is dedicated to cheesy horror flicks, and most of the users are fans, then the 10,000 reviews now have much greater context - because the ratings are contributed from like minded individuals.

Self-Expression:
The final piece of the Web 2.0 experience is the capability of anyone, with no technical skill requirement, to publish anything they want at any time. Web 2.0 has put the power of the media into the hands of the masses.

example: so I, you, or anyone with an Internet connection, can, for little or no cost, publish or views, perspectives, or information on any topic we want. These are blogs.

Ok, so how do these all tie together?

First, anyone can be a publisher of words, images, audio and video.

The barrier of entry has been collapsed to zero. Off-the-shelf hardware and software can be purchased or used for low or no cost to create a message in any medium and launch it on the Internet. Where “mass media” had the only access to ubiqitous reach, now everyone does.

Second, mass media curated content only from a select few people, but now everyone with an interest (expert or amateur) and a passion to share that expertise can do so.

This gives greater perspective to the individual knowledge seeker - as there are many more sources to learn from.

Third, in a technically driven world where human interaction seems to suffer with automated services (Web 1.0), now uses technology to create natural communication and conversations - between individuals, groups, and of course entities (governments, businesses, non-profits, etc).

Next post:

The Tools of Web 2.0 - how to use Blogs, Wikis, Reviews, Ratings, Community Building, RSS, and other items. I will define what these items are and how to use them effectively.

Just got back from the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco put on my CMP and O’Reilly Media. Great event, I learned a lot, provoked many more thoughts - in general I highly recommend it.

I do have one major gripe…

Very few presenters really brought their talks back to business fundamentals.

Mr Speaker: How do I use what you just talked about
to further my business goals (make money!)?

Nothing summarized this better then on the last day while attending a talk about how Web 2.0 ideas such as blogging, video and pod casting, user generated content, and other such attributes can be used in the SMB market. How do you, as a small business owner, actually USE this stuff yourself?

About half way through someone finally asked that “So, how do I use this for my business!?”

The loudest applause I had heard yet… FOR THE QUESTION!

And to my great and utter disappointment, it was not answered. Don’t get me wrong, the guys on the panel new their stuff, they were passionate, they GOT IT. But they couldn’t make it concrete. They couldn’t bring it back from esoteric philosophy to physical representation that a business owner could understand, and more importantly, APPLY.

To some extent this was true for almost all the talks.

So now that I’m done bitching, I’m going to do something about it. My next few posts are going to be best-of summaries of the ideas I learned and how to apply them for SMBs and the enterprise.

Stay tuned.

“The main problem with your web site is that it’s ego-centric.”

Yeah. I said this to a prospective client last week. They were asking for a quote on making some extensive modifications to their site; ex. they wanted to change “Services” to “Our Services” - that was just the tip of the iceberg… it got a lot worse.

So I went through their requests to get a quote together. Actually all I had to do was read the home page and it set the expectation. The home page was all about them. This is who we are. We do this, we do that, we’re so great, as Elaine would say, yada yada.

I shouldn’t have been surprised though, they weren’t marketers, probably genius scientists, but not marketers. It’s really no fault of theirs, most websites are ego-centric.

Most websites are built to celebrate a company’s own grand illusion of themselves. I know I know, you’re going to say “well we have to sell ourselves.” Yes. Of course, BUT…

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m writing a proposal for a client. The main focus of the RFP (request for proposal) they issued was on the Content Management System. “Tell us about yours, tell us the features” the RFP said. I decided not to sell them a one legged chair, and focus my proposal on refocusing their perspective. Will it work? It’s a gamble, but it’s in their best interest. That’s the only way I go.

The Internet is a communication medium. It is not about technology. It is about communicating a message. Design, branding and getting your messages across are the critical elements. Everything else is made to support this.

Your website is about making a great first impression. It is about engaging prospects. It is about finding relevant information fast. It is about being a useful and current resource.

Your site has to sell what it has to offer – a promise of a future to a prospective student, a career for a new employee, an irresistible benefit to a service buyer, an excited then satisfied look when opening the delivered package, inspire donations, a source of knowledge to seekers of truth, and so on. Whoever your target audience is and whatever it is you offer then - you must convince them that you’re the one to provide it.

All other attributes of the Web site support these objectives. Code is infrastructure; a Content Management System (CMS) is code. It is a foundational piece, but a great foundation is just a very nice hole in the ground.

Design creates the visual appeal and first impression of the site.

Content is the substance which invites and satisfies curiosity.

And finally navigation is the rich user experience; make it obvious and thus enjoyable.

All pieces taken together create a great website.