Blogs generally fall into two camps, personal/business promotion or as a platform to disseminate information and stimulate debate on a particular subject. Blogging is a powerful advertising tool which we can use to best advantage, to quicken the pulse, to connect with clients and prospects and to differentiate our businesses.
The blogs that stand the test of time, the ones that have legs are the ones which as well as being witty, humorous and informative, raise and debate contentious issues. The ones that gather readers and commentators because of the nature of their content. People use the internet to connect and communicate, there is thought to be approximately 200m blogs posted worldwide and few ways of measuring the most popular. The Huffington Post, the internet newspaper, was at the top of the Technorati top 100 blogs list but closer to home names like Andrew Sullivan, journalist and Sunday Times contributor, feature at number 25 on this far from complete list.
Social networking sites like Twitter have seen a speedy rise in popularity. Twitter is also a form of blogging and is used to great effect by the likes of 10 Downing Street to keep us informed of events on a daily basis. With mobile technology rapidly changing the face of blogging is likely to evolve to keep abreast of the ever changing pool of users and the gadgets available to them.
This week, while the news is full of banking calamity we learn from Brand Republic that (quote): Twitter is set to begin 'building revenue-generating products' after receiving an additional $35m from investors. How clever! This is on top of $20 million received in venture capital to date and as yet they haven’t yet generated any income. Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, said in his blog that they are now positioned extremely well to begin building revenue-generating products and that Twitter was planning to ‘charge for commercial accounts'. He said the company would look at adding new services through which it could make revenue from its business users.
It’s not hard to see the value of a website that, while it is apparently light hearted, pulls heavily on the success of the blogging community as a platform for both comment and as a business tool.
What will these new services look like I wonder, there is no doubt that the Twitter researchers will be following the success or otherwise of another new online business community: On 22nd January 2009 Sage (UK) Limited, the business software and services provider, released its State of the Nation survey results, which showed that almost half (47%) of surveyed respondents do not consider salary, job title or status as indicators of their success in the workplace. The survey was carried out as part of Sage's national Business Brains campaign, which aims to identify, explore and celebrate the qualities that make people in business more likely to succeed. Brain training games offer a playful way to make you better at problem solving. Through them, we’re told, you’ll discover your Business IQ – a way of measuring your relative business strengths and weaknesses, the qualities that will help you overcome the challenges you face in your daily professional life. All of the games are inspired by their association with The Krypton Factor.
With the benefits of mental agility exercises and improved cognitive recall also being promoted by the likes of Nintendo and the Alzheimer society, online games are increasing almost daily and Sage have very cleverly harnessed this with their latest marketing brain wave.
I’m not a quiz addict more of an internet junky, once I start on a thread I can get lost in the www for hours at a time but this game from Sage is compulsive, when you get into it (and a login with email details is required), you pit your wits against three other players and against the clock. So you’ve got the old grey matter working and the time constraints help to get the adrenalin pumping, that combined with a growing will to beat your fellow contestants encourages you to return, to put the Sage website in your favorites and return again.
Will Twitter be using this model to enhance their own and add business services for which they can charge? One thing is for sure, good marketing is about mental agility, becoming a trend setter rather than a trend follower, finding that unique selling point and advantage over your competitor.
A unique proposition can’t be found in a book, it can’t be learned or taught, it’s not about following guides or rules in fact it is exactly the opposite it’s about breaking the rules, thinking outside the box about using your brain to out-wit the competition.
Twitter is a good simple idea and a popular idea, but what will make it a successful business?
Kerry
Financial Director
The blogs that stand the test of time, the ones that have legs are the ones which as well as being witty, humorous and informative, raise and debate contentious issues. The ones that gather readers and commentators because of the nature of their content. People use the internet to connect and communicate, there is thought to be approximately 200m blogs posted worldwide and few ways of measuring the most popular. The Huffington Post, the internet newspaper, was at the top of the Technorati top 100 blogs list but closer to home names like Andrew Sullivan, journalist and Sunday Times contributor, feature at number 25 on this far from complete list.
Social networking sites like Twitter have seen a speedy rise in popularity. Twitter is also a form of blogging and is used to great effect by the likes of 10 Downing Street to keep us informed of events on a daily basis. With mobile technology rapidly changing the face of blogging is likely to evolve to keep abreast of the ever changing pool of users and the gadgets available to them.
This week, while the news is full of banking calamity we learn from Brand Republic that (quote): Twitter is set to begin 'building revenue-generating products' after receiving an additional $35m from investors. How clever! This is on top of $20 million received in venture capital to date and as yet they haven’t yet generated any income. Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, said in his blog that they are now positioned extremely well to begin building revenue-generating products and that Twitter was planning to ‘charge for commercial accounts'. He said the company would look at adding new services through which it could make revenue from its business users.
It’s not hard to see the value of a website that, while it is apparently light hearted, pulls heavily on the success of the blogging community as a platform for both comment and as a business tool.
What will these new services look like I wonder, there is no doubt that the Twitter researchers will be following the success or otherwise of another new online business community: On 22nd January 2009 Sage (UK) Limited, the business software and services provider, released its State of the Nation survey results, which showed that almost half (47%) of surveyed respondents do not consider salary, job title or status as indicators of their success in the workplace. The survey was carried out as part of Sage's national Business Brains campaign, which aims to identify, explore and celebrate the qualities that make people in business more likely to succeed. Brain training games offer a playful way to make you better at problem solving. Through them, we’re told, you’ll discover your Business IQ – a way of measuring your relative business strengths and weaknesses, the qualities that will help you overcome the challenges you face in your daily professional life. All of the games are inspired by their association with The Krypton Factor.
With the benefits of mental agility exercises and improved cognitive recall also being promoted by the likes of Nintendo and the Alzheimer society, online games are increasing almost daily and Sage have very cleverly harnessed this with their latest marketing brain wave.
I’m not a quiz addict more of an internet junky, once I start on a thread I can get lost in the www for hours at a time but this game from Sage is compulsive, when you get into it (and a login with email details is required), you pit your wits against three other players and against the clock. So you’ve got the old grey matter working and the time constraints help to get the adrenalin pumping, that combined with a growing will to beat your fellow contestants encourages you to return, to put the Sage website in your favorites and return again.
Will Twitter be using this model to enhance their own and add business services for which they can charge? One thing is for sure, good marketing is about mental agility, becoming a trend setter rather than a trend follower, finding that unique selling point and advantage over your competitor.
A unique proposition can’t be found in a book, it can’t be learned or taught, it’s not about following guides or rules in fact it is exactly the opposite it’s about breaking the rules, thinking outside the box about using your brain to out-wit the competition.
Twitter is a good simple idea and a popular idea, but what will make it a successful business?
Kerry
Financial Director
No comments:
Post a Comment