Neighborhoodnow Chronicles

So last week, I had coffee with a friend who told me about a program he heard on NPR (our national public radio show for those of you in other lands) – and a story about a Kenyan farmer who saved his potato crop by sheer willpower. I was so intrigued by the story, I went home, got online and Googled “Kenyan farmer potato crop” – and found Zack Matere and his inspiring story…

Zack lives in Seregaya, Kenya, an agricultural community where his potato crop was in danger from an unknown pest.

“I cycled 10km to the local cyber cafe, Googled “potato disease” and discovered that ants were eating the potato stems.

“I checked again online and found that one of the solutions was to sprinkle wood ash on the crop.”

He not only saved his crop, but also found a local buyer online.

So I connected with Zack on Facebook – and he wrote back I’m now connected to a Kenyan farmer who I would never have known if it weren’t for Social Media and the power of it’s connection…

If he can save his potato crop and meet a Californian Techie, what can you do?

Yes, I know I’m mixing my metaphors with the title of this post, but bear with me I’m giving another seminar tomorrow evening (free) at the Pelican Art Gallery in Petaluma on Social Media and its impact on business…and I’ve been giving a lot of thought as to whether it should be the same presentation as last time when I began with the Pepsi Refresh Project and went on to discuss the shift from “traditional” marketing to “new” marketing.

But in the last few days, I’ve been struck by how many people I’ve met recently who are just starting to become aware that there is a shift, if at all. Sure, lots of people know that “Social Media” exists, it’s something online and probably involves tweeting and facebooking, but for most – it stops right there. Many don’t see the value for their business, imagine it’s probably a huge time-waster, and think it’s probably all going to go away in the near future to be replaced by some other internet fad. On the other hand, many have some idea that they need to know more and recognize that something fundamental is happening in business communiaton.

So what’s happening here? With the number of people who are on social networks increasing at an incredible pace (who would’ve have guessed Facebook would outpace Google so soon), and more and more small and large businesses incorporating social media formally into their business enterprise, why are so many business owners and marketing and media people still talking about how traditional media isn’t dying, and how there will still be a need for printed newspapers 20 years from now? After all, traditional media (TV, radio, newspapers etc.) is the King Kong of the marketing world and has had a close hold on advertising and ad revenue for decades.

A really good gauge of the future for me has always been to look at my children’s habits. With a teenager and a young adult, I have kids who are pretty typical for their age in terms of their use of technology – well, ok, perhaps just a little ahead of the curve since I’m their mom (think of a slightly geeky mom whose main job is being a tech. evangelist).  But when I think about my children and their friends, they chatter and communicate online and via text messaging with a vast array of family and friends, they absorb information, they don’t “watch” TV unless it’s with a strong grip on the remote control so they can switch channels and hit the “mute” button during the ads…you get the picture. It’s an entirely different way of participating in multiple communication channels – all fragmented yet specific and customized to their needs.

And that’s essentially the argument I’m making about traditional media vs. new media – whether we like it or not – the proliferation of media choices that are available to us today has allowed us to “turn off” what we don’t want to see or hear. And that means the monopoly that traditional media had in terms of information and advertising control is dwindling…rapidly. 

So though I’m not sure how many people really yet understand or even perhaps believe the effect of the new kid on the block – Social Media – and it’s ramifications on business, marketing, sales, customer service…as we move into this new era of social online interaction, traditional media models are having to re-examine who they are and how they can remain relevant.

And the presentation tomorrow? Probably going to include more Q&A, and a discussion about relevancy in a changing world…no matter who you are or what you do.

Got an event you need to promote to your community? Need more visibility for your events? If you’re a business, an association, a group, a chamber of commerce, a service provider, a non-profit, a school…whoever you are, if you have events, one of the biggest challenges you face in getting event information out to the public is that there are numerous websites where you can promote your event.

In one way, that’s good – because it means you could get lots of visibility. But to get that visibility, your events have to be re-entered on every calendar. We ran into that very problem when we wanted to promote SocialBiz 2010 - we had to re-enter the same information into multiple calendars on multiple websites – even if they were using the same system! Such an administrative headache…

So on NN, one of my priorities has been to offer a feature so that when an event is posted, you can also post it out to multiple calendars and multiple cities. Well, I’m proud to announce that feature is finally here

We rolled out this major new feature this week for our online calendars. Events can now easily be shared out to multiple cities and multiple sub-calendars on NN – that means that you don’t have to re-enter the event into multiple calendars – a huge time-saver.

And the best part? Our calendars are free.

My goal was to make event sharing much, much easier. Let me know what you think…if your organization wants its own event calendar but also wants to promote events out to the wider community, you can set up a calendar now and take it out for a spin…

So I’m meeting a lot of people these days…through work, through the SocialBiz Conference, sometimes just because I need to get out and away from my computer every once in a while….But what’s astonishing to me is how many people I meet who are still unconvinced or procrastinating about the fact that they need to have a strong internet presence. I think a lot of the hesitation has to do with people being afraid of losing their humanity by being connected to technology, and that’s not an unreasonable fear for people who aren’t used to being immersed or strongly connected to the internet-sphere.

Now for those of us in the technology or marketing world, we’re faced with a barrage of information every day that tells us it’s imperative that we get with the program – and if we’re not online and writing and communicating and living a pseudo-life online already, then we should be. Between our Blogs and Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn, let alone YouTube and Flickr and Search Engines, we’re just happily hopping from one online hub to another all the while absorbing the rapid change of pace… (just imagine what it’s like for those of us in the technology and marketing world).

But what about the rest of the world? How about all those people who aren’t in the technology or marketing or communication world? Yesterday, I sat with a Health Educator, an Interior Designer and a Travel Agent as they tried to learn the brave new world of LinkedIn. This is foreign territory for them – remember that to connect to people online instead of face-to-face is a whole new ballgame for a lot of business people. But their sense of urgency to “do something” was strong. They talked about how they could tangibly see a difference in their business as more and more, those who are more agile and flexible and willing to take risks are going to be where they’re not – and these days, that’s online, communicating and engaging.

Hitwise is reporting that Facebook just surpassed Google in pageviews yesterday for the first time ever. The share of visits to Facebook for this week has increased 185% over the same week last year, while Google increased only 9% in the same time. Why? Well, I think it’s because people see the value of conversation and communication more than they see the value of search. Some are even saying it’s the death-knell for Google – it’s a bit early for that prediction, don’t you think? I do think we’re only just beginning to see the evolution of Social Media, though – and what it’s going to take to stay competitive in the business world.

So take a look at your business. What are you doing online? Do you have a website? What does it look like? Does it reflect your brand? Is it a glorified business card or does it actually bring you leads or clients? Do you have a blog? Are you using Social Media to communicate with your customers? Just because it wasn’t necessary to do so in the past is not a good reason to not be online and using the tools we now have available. If you’re not there, you can be certain your competitors will be.

What’s a “strong internet presence”? A website that delivers more value than just being a billboard. A Social Media strategy that consists of goals first and tactics second – and don’t forget the metrics. A defined identity for you and your company – what do you really do for your clients? I mean, what do you really do – as in value and achievements? What do you really stand for?

Yes, I know – this is all work. And sometimes it means we have to take a good long look at ourselves and ask some tough questions – who are we, what do we stand for, what do we want? For many of us, we’ve been doing the same thing for so many years, self-examination is tough. But if we don’t take a look and figure out who we are, neither will anybody else. But it doesn’t mean we have to give up our humanity – on the contrary – I think it forces us to look at ourselves with even greater depth. It’s not about the technology, it’s about us, who we are, what we try to do with our lives, and what we represent.

And by the way, the reward for self-examination and trying something is tremendous. At the least, it’s cathartic and eye-opening. At the most – who knows – the sky’s the limit.

Ok, and here’s Macy Gray’s I Try – just another one of my favorite songs…