A Link-Tastic Article on Crowdsourcing for Business

I was inspired by this article in the New York Times about crowdsourcing. They mention Wikipedia and Linux, two semi-non-profit type organizations. I was curious how businesses owners can and have made it work for them.

First, to define: "Crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production model. Problems are broadcast to an unknown group of solvers in the form of an open call for solutions." Wikipedia

Seth Godin talks about a "tribe" or a group of people who are excited about your product and want to connect (not sure how to create a tribe? Start a blog, get on twitter, engage in person). Why not use that group of people already listening to you and see what they'd like to see.

Here are a few popular examples of for-profit businesses using the concept of crowdsourcing:

• Apple - Oh the iPhone. Any shmo can make an app. It's juried for quality, and apple uses the pure VOLUME of applications created as an incredible marketing campaign to basically say to the consumer "Our phone can do anything". Thank goodness these guys have a huge fantanic customer base because they are pimping those apps out without so much as a credit.
  
• Threadless - A retail T-shirt company that allows you to vote on T-shirts submitted by users just like you. At the end, the company has new product, and the user feels connected to the product. The trick here is that it's regulated by the company to reduce the overall "crap factor".
  
• iStockPhoto - A retail stock photo company, started by a collection of graphic designers desperate for affordable stock photography, users submit their photos to a Gallery that can be purchased by other users. There is a juried process to ensure quality, so once again the "crap factor" is reduced tremendously.
• YouTube - Free online videos...the content created by the users to be watched by the users. This unfortunately has little to no regulation which basically increases their overall volume of content but does nothing to assure quality outside of companies patrolling for copyright infringement or the occasional decency remove. High "crap factor".

So, what can we learn from these crowdsourcing examples?

1. You can make money crowdsourcing (also interesting).
   
2. You need to regulate the masses. There's a reason the government doesn't let us vote.
3. Some of your users are super-duper smart.
   
4. When you're marketing, or creating products, talk the people who are really going to buying your product. They know what they want.
   

Marketing your Business on the Cheap-Part 2: Social Networking

Welcome to my fast and dirty tutorial on ways to get your new business' name out and about like a east coast debutante.

Social Networking
If you read my last blog post, you'll have started a blog. Every time you write a blog post, pimp it out. Every time. That means you. Take five minutes to let everyone know that a) you've been writing and that b) you'd like them to give you feedback in the form of content.

Where?

1. Twitter. I'm sure you're sick of hearing about Twitter. I know I am. But God bless it, it works. I'm not sure why it's better or worse than Facebook, but by gum, there is a community out there waiting to hear what you have to say. Search for people saying your key terms by going to search.twitter.com and add them. They might just add you back.
   
2. Facebook. Who will sing your praises more than people who love you? Let people know that you're writing. Invite them to comment. You never know who they might turn on to the information you're providing. Plus, doesn't everyone like to brag/complain about a successful relative?
   
3. LinkedIn. Run, don't walk to create your business profile, personal profile and add people to your network. Add your URL to your status update. They are sent out to everyone in your network and can also provide an excellent way to get the word out. Not to mention it introduces you as a new business owner to the business community. Join an association! Answer Questions!
   

Anything else? Let me know if you have ideas.

A Short Interview with Lisa Barone at Outspoken Media

Without belaboring the point, it's a tough economy to start a business in. Not to mention a marketing firm. Lisa Barone, Rae Hoffman and Rhea Drysdale of Outspoken Media have managed to leverage the crappy environment with their experience, talent, and vision. Lisa Barone offers you some delicious social networking tips to help your business thrive as well as an insight into their history and what makes Outspoken Media tick.

1. What compelled you to start a business in this crazy economy?
   
   I don’t know that “compelled” is the right word to describe what happened. Basically, life threw me a curveball and it was either dodge it or get smacked in the face. I dodged. ;) The true Outspoken story is that my (now) business partner Rhea Drysdale and I both moved cross country (her from Florida and me from California) to Upstate, NY to accept positions working together at another company.
   
   Those positions ended up not working out and we had to do something fast. We knew that we loved work together, so we called up our third lady of mayhem, Rae Hoffman, and decided it was time to do something together. There was no backup plan, no “what if this doesn’t work”, just a promise to each other that we’d make it happen and that together we could be successful.
   
   Obviously, we didn’t plan on starting a new company in an economic downturn, but we weren’t prepared to let it stop us either. We trust each other and ourselves to know we could make it work.
   
   
2. Do you feel like you have to work harder than a business starting up in a more receptive economy?
   
   Honestly, no. The fact that the economy is in the tanks hasn’t factored into our day-to-day operations that much. We have a new business, so it’s our baby and we’re working hard hours on it. But we’d be doing that anyway because that’s the attitude you need to take when you start a business. It becomes your life and you have to be obsessed with nurturing and growing it. It has nothing to do with the recession everyone keeps reminding us about.
   
   If anything, I think we’ve used it as an opportunity. We know that other companies are tightening their belts and looking at their budgets and taking more things in house. So we’ve focused a bit more on targeted some of our content towards that. We’re creating content to let them know all the little things they can do to help themselves with posts that offer advice for promoting a small business Web site or help with SEO for nonprofits. We’re trying to find ways to make the recession work for us instead of letting it scare us into submission. It’s worked out pretty well so far.
   
   
3. How do you define success?
   
   How do I define it personally? Wow, that’s a loaded question. ;)
   
   This will sound horribly cheesy, but I have a list of the things that I want to accomplish with Outspoken and for Outspoken. Any time something happens or I create an opportunity that gets me closer to scratching one of those goals off…then I view that as a success. A lot of my goals for Outspoken and for our clients have to do with strengthening their brands online.
   
   Internally, I want to be continually starting important conversations and to get people engaged and talking about certain areas of Internet marketing. And for our clients, success is showing them how to connect with their customers and how to start those conversations themselves.
   
   Rae and Rhea take care of the SEO and nitty gritty stuff. For me, success is found in the conversation.
   
   
4. What are the benefits of being a business owner over being a regular worker bee?
   
   You can work whatever hours you want, flexibility, being your own boss, freedom in voice and what you’re doing, etc. It’s a trade-off, though, because there are definite drawbacks as well – time investment, long hours, only eating what you catch, insurance issues, losing all social interaction when you suddenly spend 14 hours a day working out of your apartment. ;)
   
   For me the biggest benefit of being a business owner has been being able to use my real voice. I’ve gotten a lot of comments from people suggesting that the type of content on the Outspoken Media blog is “different” than the blogging I’ve done for previous employers. And what they meant was that it’s more engaging, it’s more authentic, it’s more passionate, and essentially, it’s more me. And it’s that way because I’m writing under my own rules. I don’t have other people’s corporate policies to deal with or have to be concerned with censoring myself. For me that’s been really important. I feel like I’m finally at a place where the blog and company I work for really represents who I am and what I believe. And getting to come to that every day feels incredible.
   
   It’s amazing to create something that you love so much.
   
   
5. What are the three most important social networking tips you can offer new business owners?
   
   • Get on Twitter: I can’t stress how valuable Twitter has been to the new branding of Outspoken Media. We’ve connected with current clients, brought in new ones, and attracted media attention and other big name SEO folks. It’s really leveled the playing field for small businesses to get in there and connect with the people who matter most and to make that process very scalable.
   • Network outside your little bubble: Find people who run parallel to you and get on their radar. Stop playing in your incestuous little circles and go make friends with the folks who sit just outside your bubble and run with different crowds. Talk to them. Help them promote their stuff. Lift them up. It will come back to you in spades. The people just outside your niche can do more for you than the folks running in the same circles.
   • Always give more than you take: You want to be someone that people want to associate with and you do that by being the type of person who supports others. I wrote a post a few years ago called Don’t Be Famous, Be Useful and it’s something I still keep in the back of my head today.
   • Don’t focus on making yourself a star, focus on making your customers and everyone else around you a star. That’s how you make friends and connections. It’s how you get people’s attention and show them you’re the kind of person (or company) that they should be interested in.
     

Blog Call: Marketing Info Worth Bookmarking

Welcome to Blog Call! As we speak I have 567 entries in my Google Reader. I'm going through them so you don't have to. I've compiled a short list of "keeper articles" that are bits of information you can apply today to your marketing plan, in my humble opinion (or IMHO, for those who don't remember English).

• Social Voting Madness - Houston Search Engine Marketing remarks on popularity of polls, why they're helpful and which models are most popular.
• Twitter-Based Business - Maybe it's time to delve into new marketing. SWOM has a few samples of people who are making money off of rapidly growing Twitter.
• 3 Reasons Social Media Fails at Companies - More SWOM, three essential reasons worth reading.
  
• Importance of Twitter for the Over-40s - Check it out people, it's time.
  

Why use Twitter?

Okay, so maybe I'm alone here, but I don't quite understand the point of Twitter. Actually, I understand it from a business point of view. Of course you're going to want to more about the day to day activities of your customers to analyze it from a business point of view. If you're lucky enough to have some one actually mention your company name, even in complaint, you've hit the jackpot! You've been invited into their secret world of living and consuming. You've got an opportunity to engage with them and offer a fantastic experience.

But I guess there's a fundamental part of Twitter I don't understand. I feel like an old fuddy duddy even talking about this. But why, as a user, do I care to share 140 characters about how I'm mad at some company? Why shouldn't I use my blog to write a more scathing concise version of my complaint? Why wouldn't I share it on Facebook? Why do I feel compelled to SQUEEZE my day, feeling, habits, or otherwise into 140 characters?

Don't get me wrong, I use Twitter. In fact, it's a great networking tool. I was just asking my Twitter network if anyone knew someone from Redfin.com because I had submitted a resume there on Friday and literally an hour later, a person from Redfin pinged me to see what I needed. I was impressed. My mom was impressed. My husband was impressed. Heck, even the pug was impressed. But is this what Twitter was built for? Companies reaching out to consumers? Networking?

So, I guess if you use this service, WHY? Help me out here.

An Ode to Seth

As Seth Godin says in Sliced Bread and other Marketing Delights, Be remarkable.

Take time out of your day to ask yourself what will excite your customers about your product.

Those that do will have a product worth sharing. Bonus points if you're doing something nice for someone else in the mix.

An entrepreneur on their way out probably won't be saying "I wish I was more dogmatic in my marketing approach."

Social Media: Why not just socialize?

When I was commuting, I took a boat to work. Although this may sound glamorous, it's still a commute like any other. Okay, I'm a liar. It beats the bus by a mile. We can drink beer, play games, use wi-fi, and enjoy the stunning panorama of the Puget Sound.

There are the miniature cultures that I've seen that spring up from all of that forced fun. I've divided everyone up into the following categories:

Work Buddies
Previous affiliations take first spot in the way people connect. For instance, if a group works together, or are neighbors that group will form a clique.

Stuff In Common
Next are people searched out for similar qualities. In my case, I sat by the plug so I could keep my laptop battery charged. Other people with laptops started to sit with me and we formed a clique.

Visitors
Next are the visitors, people who are coming to visit people on the other side of the water, or tourists seeing what the peninsula has to offer. They are people you can have an exchange with, but may never see again.

Lurkers & Work-a-holics
The singles who you'll seen around the boat are generally lurkers who float from group to group and alter the dynamic of the group with their presence. They never form any deep connections, but they do have acquaintances with a huge breadth of people. And you'll find the workers. Those people who are here just to get home and back to work again. These folks work the whole way there and the whole way back without talking to anyone unless it serves a purpose.

Online or offline, we socialize in the same ways. Take these examples and identify in your Facebook account who fits into which of these categories. And why are we creating these virtual "communities" that so perfectly mimics the real deal?

Maureen Jann's a web and marketing project manager with 4 years experience who specializes in web site design & development and management online marketing (particularly search engine optimization, search engine marketing). Feel free to contact her for contract or permanent opportunities at maureen@iheartiheart.com.

Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Loudmouths.

I've finally done it. I've experienced the urban legend. I said something on Facebook that cost me a valuable opportunity. I've always considered myself a conscientious internet citizen. I monitor my online PR. Yet, this one, as it does sometimes in life, just bit me right in the tush.

I thought I'd share what I've gotten out of this experience aside from a few cocktails to dull the pain.

Live it.
Every day, and with every comment you put out there, you're making a statement about how you see the world. Over time, you develop a persona that tells a story about you. The internet is the new employer's reference. Long gone are the days of typing out separate sheets of who will offer glowing recommendations. They get the real deal, right from your collective history book.

Learn it.
Don't make assumptions about who can see what. You're often wrong. Want to vent? Want to talk trash, call a friend. Talking disappears into the ether, your frustrated twitter comments, even if they're private, can be retweeted. Your friend of a friend on Facebook might be looking over a shoulder. If you're on social media sites, you've now got the privacy of a D-List celebrity.

Love it.
Good and bad, you can use this to your advantage. Take time to cultivate good citizenship on the web. Use every challenging opportunity to change your outlook on life and make every interaction a positive one. Someone's saying you're butt's too big? Tell them that you've been cultivating that hiney for years and you appreciate them noticing.

Maureen Jann's a web and marketing project manager with 4 years experience who specializes in web site design & development and management online marketing (particularly search engine optimization, search engine marketing). Feel free to contact her for contract or permanent opportunities.