Remember the 1980′s? Many people said then that a PC is just a typewriter with a television screen; twenty years later, not long in human kind, we know it is far more than that. A computer, even a handheld device such as a Blackberry, now links you to information, people and advice that accelerates your thinking, your connections and your brand across the world at lightning speed.
Being ‘online’, having an ‘online presence’ is far beyond having a website; being online now means being connected to people, having a personal brand, caring about your reputation and being found as an individual, not as a company, through Google. Your website may provide information, it may provide a retail experience, but in the future your brand within a Social Network will far outweigh the benefit of your website. Your website is about your company, your Social Networking Profile is about YOU and it is your personal brand that will feed you in the future.
Two nights ago I had a very interesting chat with a 17 year old boy, a bright boy, who uses FaceBook to ‘hook-up’ with friends, he was a quiet chap, an introvert, and clearly without FaceBook, his friendship network would be smaller than it is. He actually said he didn’t like FaceBook and was quite annoyed that peer pressure and the need to know what parties were going on forced him to use it, however, he uses it despite his feelings toward it, it is a ‘tool’ that he knows he cannot ignore.
On the other hand, my daughter, 16, is FaceBook driven, she manages her contacts, makes friends offline and adds them to her online network and cares about her network. Recently she amazed me by working far harder than some of her class mates for her GCSE’s but was quick to share all her revision notes with her network in order to ensure they were ‘all at the same level’ when they entered the exams. She has a great online reputation, not only does she use the ‘tools’ well, she also understands the importance of ‘community’, she understands the importance of her online brand, she understands that what people say about her will feed her in the future. I say she understands, she doesn’t actually, she just does this as it feels right to, by stealth, she is building a superb brand and superb reputation and people will want to help her to be successful because she wants them to be.
So here we have two types of teenagers, both using a Social Network, both creating a brand, one who wants to care, share and connect, the other who just uses the tools because he has to. You judge, which one has the best personal brand?
The touch of a keyboard, online activity, is far deeper and has far greater ramifications than we all currently understand but this is a train that will keep on rolling. Being ‘connected’ is not enough, shifting behaviours in the generation below us is what we have to understand. This is not just about learning to use the online tools, Blogging, SEO (search engine optimisation), sending messages, building your network size, this is about a going back to traditional values, not seeing the world in terms of competition, but seeing it in terms of the individual people, their lives, collaboration and having a completely different way of thinking. What is happening now, will change the way business is found, conducted and delivered for ever.
We are already seeing this change happening in the business world in a relatively small way but increasingly influential way. With an online community of business people, Ecademy.com is a network of business owners and business people, with a population of 280,000, and growing by 15,000 per month, Ecademy’s community is making waves and is creating change. They are collaborating, sharing and caring for one another. Their personal profiles are optimised on Google, their network is looking out for them and they are increasing their visibility daily by their actions and by the actions of their peers.
Imagine Ecademy as a new world, a new country, that has a population that knows that to survive they have to be interested in the other person, do things that helps the other person, but who do this unconsciously, just by ‘being there’ they are adding to the opportunity for business for each and everyone of them. Let me explain.
When you join a Business Social Network like Ecademy you become part of the ‘vibration’ that it creates on Google. You create a Profile about yourself, add a photo, think about what you want to be known for, liked and respected for and then bit by bit you learn to use the tools. You click on another member’s profile and the system sends a message to that person saying that you have visited them. You may decide to leave them a message as they have something in their profile that interests you, perhaps a random thing, just like meeting in a pub, or maybe a specific solution to a question or need that you have. That person replies and you are now ‘connected’.
You then decide to read a Blog, an article that a member has written, it is witty, it is serious, it is useful, it is fun, one day you then decide to leave a comment on a Blog, this comment has a link back to your profile embedded within.
You have now connected with a number of members and you like and respect a few of them, you know more about them and in fact you have ‘matched’ a few of your contacts to one another as you could see synergy, you could see they could help one another. You have also written 5 testimonials about 5 of your connections as they have helped you, inspired you, connected you to an opportunity and you want to publically praise them.
When you used all the ‘tools’ above you were leaving a footprint, a physical one in the form of a link back to your profile, but also a emotional one in the form of an impression of you, in various places that gave a positive experience to others. Your influence with in the community is growing and as a result you are being known for your integrity, your expertise and your thoughtfulness. You now have advocates who want you to be successful, who will tell others about you, who will act as a virtual sales force for you, who will be there for you.
In time you will be inspired to create new ideas, by being plugged into a community, you are processing information at Internet speed, accelerating your thoughts and critically, you are having conversations with your ‘market’ about the way they feel about your products. You begin to sell what the market wants, not what you want the market to buy. You ‘up your game’, your business knowledge widens due to the conversations you have with a wider platform of doers and thinkers.
Finally, all the clicks and links that you leave as you comment, write testimonials, Blog, advertise and connect increase your visibility on the web. Business Social Networks like Ecademy, are open to Google, in Ecademy’s case Google grab information from Ecademy every 21 minutes and optimises it on it’s pages. You are now part of the ‘vibration’ that is happening inside Ecademy and you are optimised, you have greater ‘online presence’. But critically, you have a greater online reputation and that will feed you in the future.
(c) Penny Power 2008
