Archive for business insight

Using a Wiki for business: too much like hard work

Sep 30 | by Sam Deeks | business insight, how to
No Comments

Is your business Wiki hard work?  Could it be a solution without a problem?

We all know what Wikis are, right?  They’re web pages that everyone can edit with the result that no one person ‘owns’ what’s written.  It’s the embodiment of the self-managing, self-leveling, self-policing ‘wisdom of the crowd’.  A democratic body of knowledge owned by everyone.

We all know a Wiki, right?  Err…yes! Wikipedia.  It’s that big online encyclopedia that anyone can add to or change – you know that thing that’s always right up there at the top of all Google searches for practically anything.

The thing about Wikis is that they sound like such a good idea in theory.  The software’s free; you’re already using the computer anyway… all you have to do is find a problem to point a Wiki at.

This is what Common Craft had to say about Wikis in 2007:

It all makes sense.  Firstly there’s a clear problem: ‘how do we keep track of what we need and who’s bringing what?’

Secondly there’s a tangible pay-off to motivate people to engage with it: ‘if we do this we’ll end up with all the right gear and have a great camping trip’.

Someone called me this week to discuss the merits of using a Wiki to ‘liven up a business’s Intranet’ and – more tellingly – to download the intellectual property of its employees.  My advice would be that if you have a clear problem that a Wiki can solve with a tangible pay-off for those involved in creating and using it, then go for it.  If, on the other hand, it’s just a nice-sounding idea about creating a shared pool of knowledge or worse, the desire to squeeze people for their knowledge so they don’t take it away when they leave, then it may well turn out to be a mistake.

If you’re going to use a Wiki for business, make sure that it solves an obvious problem and that the people you want to use it get a payoff for the time and effort required to create and input the stuff that has to go into it.

There is another option.  Just the tools in place and just see what happens  – like Wikipedia itself.  In a most un-businesslike fashion, you’ll need to let go of any attachment to the outcome.

And if nothing happens, it’s worth bearing in mind that Wikipedia itself is the product of several hundreds of millions of internet users.

Posting a comment on a Blogger blog

Sep 29 | by Sam Deeks | blogging technique, business insight, feedback
No Comments

Why I can’t be bothered to post a comment on a Blogger blog

I went to add a comment on a Blogger blog.  I got a box to type my comment which I stupidly spent 5 minutes writing.

I filled out the ‘Captcha’ box to prove I wasn’t a spamming auto-bot. No problem there.

Then it asked me for one of two ways to sign in – either using my ‘Google ID’ or ‘Wordpress.com’ ID.  Hmmm.

Why ‘Hmmm’?  Well because I just don’t feel happy signing into Blogger (yes, even though it’s Google-owned) with the er, username and password that controls all my adwords, analytics etc. Why not? Because Blogger is chockablock with spam content and spammers for starters.  Not exactly confidence inspiring.

And nor do I want to sign in with my ‘wordpress.com’ ID because it automatically links the reader to all my Wordpress.com accounts (whether connected to blogs or not).  That’s a step to far for my liking.

What happened to being able to comment as a private individual so long as I left my IP address (in case of being a nasty terrorist or inciting racial hatred or the like) and made sure I wasn’t a machine by filling in the ‘captcha’ correctly?

Well, sorry Blogger but I’m not going to bother commenting on Blogger blogs if those are the only options available.  I’m not willing to add to that subtle but somewhat sinister ‘interconnection’ of personal information you’re trying to build up.

UK Summer weather forecast: Gloom. It’s official

Jul 26 | by Sam Deeks | business insight, media
No Comments

Global Gloom Warming: Summer is now like Winter only slightly warmer and with more leaves.

weatherYes, I’ve got the kids down with me for ‘Summer holidays’.  Yes, we’re looking at the weather forecast trying to work out what we can do.

UK parents, we all know that feeling, don’t we?  And, no, it’s not very accepting but, hey, I just need to let it out, ok?

Nothing but rain, rain and more rain. The tent, it seems, is destined to remain in the attic.  The tent that’s made exactly one outing since it was bought three years ago. I say ‘outing’ because it made it to midnight on a rain-lashed campsite in Cornwall before we abandoned the attempt and drove home.

Seasonal depression aside, have you ever noticed how the more you look at weather forecasts, the more unsatisfactory they turn out to be – both in terms of the lousy weather they predict but also the user experience?  BBC seems to have done away with its plain, easy to read chunky sun / rain / white cloud graphics and replaced them with a stupid animated sequence.  This appears to be an attempt to mimic the equally unsatisfying Met Office animated forecast: both seem to forget that you miss the forecast while fiddling with the playback controls.

Which (sigh) given the state of the weather every summer, is probably a blessing.  But I do think there’s a real online opportunity here.  Holiday companies, take note.  Create a decent forecast experience and a constant stream of depressed UK holidaymakers will be yours for the taking.

I just wrecked your business plan, Facebook

Jul 23 | by Sam Deeks | business insight, media, what do you think?
No Comments

Does Adblocker wreck Facebook and Google’s business models?

I installed Adblocker a while back and was astonished to find that it simply disappeared all Google ads and all Facebook ads – just like that. No fuss, no complicated set up.

As I sat there staring at the denuded landscape that is Facebook without those nasty, tacky, spammy ads I was struck by the fragility of Facebook and Google’s business model.

To get what I mean, picture yourself sweating in front of the investors in Dragons’ Den.

“…with hundreds of millions of subscribers, the ad revenue will net us $blah blah blah millions a year” you say.

“What happens if I switch this Adblocker thing on?” asks Theo Paphitis with that ‘you bet I’m going to try to break it’ look in his eye.

Shit, you think to yourself. ‘Maybe people won’t find out about Adblocker or maybe they’ll prefer ads…” you bravely venture, beads of sweat trickling down your back.

“I’ll tell you where I am-” interrupts Duncan testily, heralding your exit fyom the den.

What kind of business model is it if one click of a mouse can unravel it?

Good Hotel Guide, bad marketing move

Jul 19 | by Sam Deeks | business insight, feedback
No Comments

In slating TripAdvisor, The Good Hotel Guide creates a really poor first impression

Picture 2Someone forwarded me a newsletter from The Good Hotel Guide (which I hadn’t heard of before).  The first thing I notice is that it’s ‘Issue 2′.  Aha.  Newcomers to the world of online marketing and newsletters.

The lead story is a piece entitled ‘The perils of bad advice’ in which The Good Hotel Guide rubbishes TripAdvisor’s credibility after it was able to publish a bogus review under a false name and with a false email address.

Serious issue (and one I’ve raised here before – are you listening TripAdvisor?).  However, at the point of reading this we don’t know the truth of the claim or the details of the circumstances.  By contrast, what we do know is that the tone taken by TGHG in this review is.. well, smug – like they’re trying to make themselves look good simply by knocking the competition.

It’s not a great strategy – especially since when I go to their website all I find is a dull ‘editor’s picks’ blog with absolutely none of the functionality or ease-of-use that TripAdvisor has.  Looking for a great hotel in Devon?  You’ll only find what TGHG has chosen to list – and no idea why, other than their claim that it’s totally impartial ringing in your ears.

If you’re going to slag off the competition, then be at least willing to take a fresh, objective look at your own offering before you do.  The bad news, GHG, is that TripAdvisor’s functionality is exactly what I – and most travellers – want.  Yours, by comparison, isn’t.

If I’ve got both your attention(s) here’s what I recommend: TripAdvisor – your need to make it a priority to use the technology better to improve the integrity of the reviews or your reputation will suffer.  Good Hotel Guide – until you can match or improve what the TripAdvisor has already demonstrated it can offer the online consumer, don’t try to impress that market by rubbishing the competition.

Hope that’s helpful ;-)

Spam: the quickest way to create a bad impression

Jul 10 | by Sam Deeks | Big Marketing Mistakes, business insight
2 Comments

Got a ’special offers’ spam email from a Plymouth hotel yesterday.

As it happens, I wasn’t interested in their offers but more importantly I don’t like being sent marketing emails that I haven’t specifically opted to receive.

How did this hotel chain get my email address? What made them assume it was ok to spam me? The fact that I’d given my business card to one of their people at a networking event.

A common assumption that many small business owners make is that exchanging business cards constitutes an ‘opt in’ to each others’ mailing lists. It doesn’t.

If small businesses can be forgiven that misunderstanding (after all, the law regarding spam is a bit cloudy) what’s unforgivable is when they make the process of opting-out difficult or uncomfortable.  Failing to put an ‘unsubscribe’ link in marketing emails means people have no choice but to contact the business directly to ask to be removed from a list they never wanted to be on in the first place.  Not great.

If that isn’t bad enough, there is a final way to really make sure they piss off a prospect completely.  How?  By taking offense when the prospect asks to be unsubscribed.

A few weeks ago I asked someone to remove me from their list.  Their reply? “I’m disappointed you don’t remember giving me permission…”  I didn’t.  Notice how they imply that their spam was my fault?  That line was enough to make sure I never recommend them to anyone else.

Despite it being toothless when it comes to enforcement, the law on spam is fairly simple and I summarise it here (in case you need to be reminded).

If you can’t get your head around that then remember, with spam you’re just three moves away from reputation self-destruct.

1) Send me something I didn’t ask for.  2) Force me to go out of my way to stop receiving it and 3) Get annoyed when I asked you to stop.

‘The weakest link in any organisation is its people’. Charming

Jun 11 | by Sam Deeks | business insight
No Comments

463864622_c4f34b540fDoes the organisation you work in treat people as its weakest link?

These words were spoken by Richard Thomas, Information Commissioner this morning on the Today Show on Radio 4.  He was talking about the risk of misuse of information in relation to mobile phone details.  But his words sounds strikingly inhuman.

What he meant was, in fact, this: ‘We’ve created an environment in which your mobile phone personal data will very likely be exploited, misused or otherwise abused.  If it is, it will, however, be because people in organisations are inherently bad and untrustworthy, not because we made it possible in the first place’.

His words are typical of corporate irresponsibility.  They’re also typical of a way of thinking that structures our organisations (business and social) to ‘contain’ the worst employee, rather than ‘liberate’ the best.

Stand back and take a look at the organisation you work in; maybe the one you set up.  Is it built to contain the worst possible employee, or liberate the best?

Dodgy facebook ads

May 30 | by Sam Deeks | business insight, critical approach to online media
No Comments

dodgyWho’s going to win the Facebook Dodgy Ads Jackpot?

I got two dodgy lemons and a rotten tomato this morning.  Have I won anything?

Isn’t it sad that all three are for totally dodgy propositions.  Just Google their name with a “scam” or “rip-off” on the end to see what people are saying about them.

Sad, too, that facebook has to repeat them just to fill its slots.

And even sadder (for them) that facebook’s lack of regulation and control is turning its advertising real estate into a toilet.

Greed.  Lack of regulation and control.  Has a familiar ring to it at the moment, don’t you think?  Turns everything to shit, apparently.  Ask Google.  Ask any forum owner.

Or any politician, for that matter.

Wordpress 2.8? What was wrong with 2.7.1?

May 26 | by Sam Deeks | business insight, change
2 Comments

Who actually decided there has to be a Wordpress 2.8? And why, exactly?

evolutionI often wonder who it is that decides there has to be the next version of something and more importantly, when.  Heck, I’ve only just managed to upgrade to Wordpress 2.7.1 with its attendant joy of re-learning everything plus finding out (the hard way) which plugins no longer work.

So who is it that decides there has to be a Wordpress 2.8 and when?  And, come to think of it, why?

Look, I’m no luddite.  But the difference between evolution and upgrade-mania is that evolution happens s l o w l y.  Nor does it happen just for fun or simply because the universe’s techies need to solve problems that don’t actually exist.

Why couldn’t we have planned upgrades? Hmm? Say, once a year on the same day?  Then, we could all look forward to it together and perhaps even declare a national holiday.

Upgrade Day: a whole day off to sort out all the chaos created by the latest upgrades.

Secret of instant wealth

May 22 | by Sam Deeks | business insight
No Comments

Follow the 3 step route to instant wealth – the ‘mu:kaumedia way

Step 1) Switch off the computer and stop looking for a ’solution’ to your life’s ‘problems’ in it.

Step 2) Put on your boots, your coat and call your cat.

Step 3) Take your cat for a long walk in the countryside.  Stop, sit or lie down wherever the mood takes you both.

Result?  Instant, lasting wealth.

catwoodsI’m not joking.  Contrast this with the grasping, needy feeling that comes with starting at the computer trying to get-rich-quick online and there’s no contest.

The computer is great as a communication device.  Wonderful.  Things like email, Skype are miracles in themselves.  The computer is great when used for discovery.  Watching the earth turn in real-time from the International Space Station or a dust devil on Mars is breath-taking.

But the computer seems to have become awful,  poisonous even, when it meets business.  It’s not the computer itself though.  It’s the underlying human emptiness that puts the computer to work in such inhuman, soul-destroying activities.  It’s that emptiness and neediness that’s in danger of turning online communication into simply a medium for driving sales and content into nothing more than a kind of soil in which to plant keywords.

leavessq

When I use the computer to communicate or learn, I generally feel good.  It’s a positive experience.  I feel enriched in some way.  But if I use it to try to ‘fix’ the ‘problem’ of my life (not enough money, independence, status, success, control, love, expertise, followers, traffic, hits…) I feel bad.

If you’ve just gotten off the computer after a day of chasing search engine positioning, or social media connections, or website traffic or any number of online marketing activities and you feel… well, less than you would had you gone for a walk with your cat in the countryside, then maybe it’s about time you took a look at the story you tell yourself about wealth.

I did.

« Previous Page
Next Page »