In the previous post, we have covered first 4 of the 8 techniques to deal with change in the Web 2.0 era. Those 4 principles are have fun, think like a publisher, keep learning, and set goals (Review Part A). Let’s continue by introducing the last 4 techniques.
5). Start with Little Things & Keep It Simple
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. No need to make things complicated. No one succeeds overnight. We often times have high expectations about ourselves and our work. Take building a new blog for example. When I first set out launching “Web Studio 13,” it wasn’t easy to get everything under control at once. Eventually, I had to divide my goals into small, manageable little tasks. Here is how I did it.
Day 1 – Decide what topics I like to cover on my blog which would appeal to the general public. This is critically important because if you are not passionate with the subject you blog about, you might as well not do it. Building a quality blog is a long-term commitment.
Day 2 – Choose what platform to base my blog on. Although I could have chosen Blogger.com, I then realized the purpose of having a blog, for me, is to have the maximum flexibility in terms of design, plugins, monetization, etc. So eventually I went with Wordpress.org, which allows me the option to self host my blog.
Keep It Simple
Day 3 – Buy Web hosting space for my blog, and then get myself familiar with the Cpanel section of my host service. For a list of host services recommended by Wordpress.org, click here to review.
Day 4 – Get a Wordpress theme. You can choose between a paid and a free theme, mine is Thesis, which is the best paid theme available in my personal opinions. Here is a Mashable list for 30+ 2-column themes for your reference.
Day 5 – Work on the design of my blog, including header, footer, and the way I want the body section to lay out (either a 2-column design or a 3-column design)
Day 6 – Identify the plugins and widgets that I want to install on my blog, and then tweak it.
Day 7 – brainstorm for ideas for my first blog post, then write, polish, and publish.
Day 8 – Register at different social bookmarking sites and submit my blog post on each site for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes. Please be aware there are literally hundreds of different social bookmarking sites. Make your pick carefully.
Note: Here I use “Day” as a metaphor. It can mean a week or a month depending on how much research and work you need to in order to finish that particular task.
Challenge
This is my 8-day challenge for demonstration purposes. They represent “baby-steps” we must take when setting out to accomplish a social-media-related project. Why do we narrow it down to small, digestible pieces? Pure and simple. When it comes to an overwhelming and complicated subject, it is important to keep it simple so you can keep your eye on what’s important and measure your progress. Social media is a very broad and sophisticated field which then contains countless sub-fields. If you don’t choose your battle carefully, it’s easy to get lost.
The 8-day challenge exercise is not only intended for building a blog. You may also apply it to any of the following areas depending on different circumstances.
a). Build your Twitter followers;
b). Start a Podcast service via which you teach others about blogging or make a living by working online;
c). Launch your YouTube “How-to” channel to help people become Internet savvy with video tutorials;
d). Design your very first Facebook fan page;
e). Found a Meetup group where like-minded entrepreneurs or Internet marketers conduct face-to-face meetings to talk about social media.
Of course we can expand this list indefinitely. Your imagination is the limit. But you get the point. In order to gain momentum at the beginning, you need to start with simple tasks and make measurable progress in reasonable time.
6). Be Consistent
Consistency
“Affirmation without discipline is the beginning of delusion; Affirmation with discipline creates miracles (Tony Robbins).” If you have a goal (Affirmation), make sure you are consistent in applying the same fundamentals consistently (Discipline).
This is especially true for any Web 2.0 infopreneurs. For example, if a blogger wants to see a gradual increase in the number of the RSS subscribers on his blog, he needs to blog at least three or four times, spread evenly within a week. If increasing your Twitter following is your goal, you then should tweet at least three times per day. Earlier today I used Untweeps to check my Twitter follower status. To my surprise, a quarter of my 6,000 followers haven’t tweeted at all in the last 15 days.
Until you become consistent with what you do, no one is willing to follow you in your community. If you sow diligently and consistently, the fruit of your efforts will come to your way sooner or later.
7). Give Them What They Want
What Would Google Do?
In his book “What Would Google Do?”, the author Jeff Jarvis vividly demonstrated why Google is the most successful Web 2.0 company at the beginning of the 21st century. Google simply delivers what its users want. Unlike Yahoo or AOL, if you come to Google’s homepage, it takes you where you want to go. Google thinks distributed and gives up its control. As a result, Google is the #1 trafficked website and it owns Blogger, YouTube, Gmail, and numerous other services that we can’t live without today.
What can we learn from Google? Well, first and foremost, we now understand that customers are in the drivers seat when it comes to business. Everything we do need to surround their wants and needs. Ads placed on newspapers, TVs, and magazines are no longer effective. They are so 20th century. Accordingly our products and services must tailor to our customers’ requirements. What works better in this endeavor than new media?
Social media tools allow us to get feedback almost instantaneously from our target market. At the height of the Web 2.0 era, we can receive feedback based on blog comments, Twitter Retweets, or even YouTube video ratings. These instant cues then enable us to adjust our products or services to better suit our customers’ needs. This is preciously why Starbucks and Whole Foods both set up their corporate Twitter accounts, and why IBM allows its employees to blog in the workplace.
8). Shift Your Paradigm
New Rules of Marketing & PR
Robert Scoble is probably one of the most influential figures in the Web 2.0 era. He shared his story in “The New Rules of Marketing & PR,” a new media marketing guide written by David Meerman Scott. Here is what Scoble says:
“Look at how the world found out I was leaving Microsoft for a Silicon Valley startup (PodTech.net). I told 15 people at a videoblogging conference – not A-listers either, just everyday videobloggers. I asked them not to tell anyone until Tuesday – this was on a Saturday afternoon and I still hadn’t told my boss.
Well, of course someone leaked that information. But, it didn’t pop up in the New York Times. It wasn’t discussed on CNN. No, it was a blogger I had never even heard of that posted the info first. Within hours it was on hundreds of other blogs. Within two days it was in the Wall Street Journal, in the New York Times, on the front page of BBC Web site, in BusinessWeek, Economist, in more than 140 newspapers around the world…..”
As we can see here, the unstoppable power of this Web 2.0 movement is the newest phenomenon in the 21st century. This train will leave the station with or without us. As small business owners, we must adapt to this new thinking process, getting used to this paradigm shift. If we don’t, our competitors will. Having realized this, you may now have gained sufficient reasons in learning about social media tools and implementing it in your daily business.
Conclusion
In summary, we have covered all 8 techniques that would facilitate us to adapt to the change in the Web 2.0 era. These 8 techniques are all basic fundamentals that must be applied to our day-to-day business practice. They are the defining factors in the 21st century which will ultimately determine whether a business demises or flourishes. If you are a business owner, I hope this article (Part A & Part B) appears to be in tremendous help to you. To join our group and participate in our discussions about social media roles in the business world, click here. Please leave your comments and feedback in the following area.
