Every business and businessperson who wants to thrive, now needs to build a visible and credible Web 2.0 presence, or they will lose out.

A traditional website is not enough!

This free WEBINAR will show how free Web 2.0 tools and techniques can:

• Gather information, spot trends, and turn these insights into business opportunities for you and your customers.
• Build an expanded networked brain trust of people who will help evangelize you and your business.
• Establish a visible and credible social media presence that builds trusting relationships and attracts new customers.
• Assess and monitor your Web 2.0 or social media presence.

It will help you Get with it! and turn business challenges into opportunties.

The Webinar: Wednesday, August 13th, 2:00 pm EDT/ 11 am PDT.

Register

Web 2.0 tools and filters can harness information overload and turn it into insights and opportunities. These filters can help businesses deal with their own challenges. Most importantly, executives gain insights on ways to help customers make sense out innovation and see how it can help them and therefore creating desire and demand. 

2. Building a Networked Brain TrustTrust in relationships can simplify things in a fast-paced and complex world. While online networks improve the efficiency with which businesspeople can accumulate and manage connections, they don’t necessarily foster trusting relationships. The reality is that time-pressures and other societal factors have reduced the number of close relationships for most people.  

Online social networking sites and tools can be used proactively to build a robust base of people who can provide the knowledge, know-how and advocacy to thrive in a changing business climate—a Networked Brain Trust. The key is turning online connections into trusting relationships with real-world consequences.

3. Regaining the Ability to Influence CustomersCustomers in just about every marketplace are online and they are vetting products, companies and people before they do business with them. All three must have a visible and credible social media presence. If they don’t, they lose out. A Web 1.0 website is not enough. Today customers not only want to know about products and where to buy them, they want to know about the experience they can expect when they consume them. And, they want to know if the people and companies behind the products will help them get the greatest possible experiential value with the least possible frustration.

The rules and tools of a Web 2.0 world are dramatically different from traditional marketing, advertising and brand building. To be successful efforts to build a credible social media presence requires an understanding of how today’s customers make decisions and what they value. It requires an understanding of the principles underlying the viral network effect of social media as well as how Web 2.0 tools can be systematically used to make it happen.

The new rules and tools of Web 2.0 are a source of disruptive change to the business world. Therefore, it is essential that any businessperson who wants to adapt and thrive must know how to play the game. You can outsource the tasks but you can’t outsource how your business knowledge and know-how addresses the challenges your customers face. 

For the past year I have been helping clients deal with these issues. The insight, strategies and tactics are now available in two forms. One, an interactive eBook, Get with it! The Hands-on Guide to Using Web 2.0 in Your Business. The second is a series of 12 short and digestible, online seminars. To learn more, I invite you to go to the Get with it! Site. (www.thewhetstoneedge.com/gwi/gwilp.php)

Over the past year we have been helping client’s harness free Web 2.0 tools to address pressing business issues that confront both individuals and businesses. We have now made these insights, strategies and know-how available in a series of short online seminars and an interactive, step-by-step guide.

To learn more go to Get with it!

In that spirit, an increasing focus of this blog will be on the new rules and new tools for making this happen. Join in the conversation by leaving comments.

If you are new to this site and interested in Web 2.0/Social Media, here is a list of previous blog posts that deal with the topic. All you have to do is scroll down to view them.

We Media Miami, a unique conference
The NEW Age of Conversation Book
Social Networks and Online Communities…
Why Online Communities Matter
Customer Relationships in a Web 2.0 World
Insights into the Business Side of Web 2.0 and Social Media
The Power of Word-of-Mouth
PRweb.com in Plain English
Company Case Studies versus Peer-Reviews
Fake Peer Reviews
Customer Relationships in a Web 2.0 World

Recently I have been showing Geert Desager’s terrific video titled “Bring the love back.” In two minutes he humorously illustrated the disconnect between traditional advertising and what today’s customers value. I guess it is not to humorous if you are an advertiser or commit a chunk of your budget to advertising.

Here’s the link: http://bringtheloveback.com/2007/05/16/mdas_europe/

Another clever video that everyone should see it Lee Lefever’s RSS in Plain English. Even if you already know what RSS is about check this out. Lee knows how to communicate the essence of what could be complex topics. Check out some of his other video’s as well.

The link: http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

Now would be a good time to get an RSS feed to this blog.

Remarkable things happen when you bring together a diverse group of talented leaders and organizations around the power of media. Collaboration stirs the imagination. Good ideas get real.

We Media connects individuals and organizations from across industries who believe the power of media, communication and human ingenuity should be applied to innovate in business AND to make the world better through media.

Leaders from all sectors, fields and disciplines join enterprising citizens in participatory programs, unscripted dialogue, workshops, demos and networking events aimed at using the power of our media to strengthen communities geographic and virtual.

We Media functions as a marketplace of ideas and actions. It’s a meeting ground for the global We Media Community - an eclectic and ambitious network of media innovators, entrepreneurs, creators, investors, funders, community activists and executives. Together we seek new collaborations, new relationships and new ways of thinking.

We Media itself is an idea: it’s a counterpoint to “The” media. In a world connected by digital information networks and devices, the power to produce and distribute media and communications services is now in everyone’s hands. That includes grass roots groups, bloggers and independent media creators, as well as institutions large and small that share space, time and attention with everyone else in the connected society. A new creative class of technology entrepreneurs, dreamers, inventors, story-tellers and digital media producers is fueling a relentless cycle of innovation in communications.

The conference will have live blogs giving a variety of takes on the proceedings. Check the blog.

 http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/2008/01/calling-all-aut.html 

to vote.

Last year, in what began as a half dare, the editors, Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan challenged bloggers around the world to contribute one page — 400 words — on the topic of “conversation”. The resulting book, The Age of Conversation, brings together over 100 of the world’s leading marketers, writers, thinkers and creative innovators in a ground-breaking and unusual publication. And in the spirit of conversation, you can follow-up and extend your interest in the topics covered in the book at the Age of Conversation blog — www.ageofconversation.com.

All the proceeds from the sale of this book (less printing and shipping) go to Variety, the Children’s Charity. We thank you for supporting this initiative with your purchase.

 Influence – Power exerted over the minds, behaviors and actions of others; it can be received unconsciously or consciously.

Customer Relationships – The value that customers derive from interactions with a company rather than the utility of their products, and the value the company derives from this influence.

Web 2.0 World – The Internet has evolved FROM being websites displaying information about a company and its products…TO a content rich network of information and people that enables much more participation by customers. Customers now generate content, share experiences, engage in discussions. When they search for information and guidance they are influenced by one another.

A Growing Buyer-Seller Disconnect – Changing business dynamics are contributing to a growing disconnection between what business practices are serving-up and what today’s customers value. The net result—businesses are losing influence with customers and their products are more rapidly becoming commoditized.

Two powerful examples of this disconnect:

Eighty percent of business executives believe they are doing a good job in serving customers. Only 8% of customers agree!  Bain & Co., 2006.

Consumers rank companies, their executives, employees, marketing and products in the bottom third of trust scales. They rank peers near the top. (2006 Edelman Trust Barometer).

Communities of Interest & Influence – Customers are increasingly relying on social networking and social media to establish interactive relationships. “Social” is used here as a relational connection that motivates customers to participate and contribute. These relationships help customers extract more value from present experiences and provide guidance in dealing with a fast-changing and increasingly complex world. These networks and communities have lasting influence in customers’ lives.

Shifting the Focus of Customer Relationships – Companies that focus on shifting the focus of the relationships with customers can regain influence. The shift needs to be from selling and servicing “things” to building trust and credibility with customers. These are the interactions that help customers extract greater experiential value and predispose them to meaningful relationships.

Online and Offline Strategies – Companies that embrace the interactive, networked nature of a Web 2.0 world can regain influence with customers both online and in physical world interactions.

To read the complete white paper go to: Customer Relationships