The Squared Root

Hit 'Publish!'

stuart — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:50:18 GMT

It’s my first blog entry! Wish me luck.

Something good’s bound to come of it, especially if it’ll get me in the habit of sitting down to write just 500 words every so often.

Consider Graham Greene, who wrote this exact amount daily, in such a precise manner that he would actually stop in mid-sentence if he knew he’d reached his quota. Often, in Greene’s case this would occur before breakfast, leaving him free to use the remains of the day to do whatever he pleased.

(So: 500 words a day, right? That’s 2,500 words a work-week, 10,000 a month. If you can do this, in just one year (voila!) you will have written 120,000 words, sufficient for a nice-sized novel. And you’ll have had your weekends free.)

OK, granted, there are some fearsome talents out there--writers who can effortlessly combine prose and plot, who “see” the story faster than they can write it.

We were talking about blogging here...

And there are others – like Steven King -- who’ve been quoted as saying, “When the words flow, it’s like taking dictation.”

King also says in his memoir, “On Writing,” you can make a good writer better; you just can’t make a bad writer good.

I’d amend that, for the times -- and to get this blog entry finally to the point! -- and say this instead:

Hit “Publish.”

In the Web 2.0 era, where publishing your work has never been easier nor more immediate, sharing know-how happens instantaneously.

All you have to do is press the button. Just sit down and bang out some thoughts – whether anyone sees it or not, you’re going to benefit in any number of ways.

I have a perfectionist friend named Peter -- a real person working in newspapers whose name’s been changed to protect the innocent, and who’s also a gifted fiction writer.

But he hasn’t written anything in years. That’s because Pete suffers from an acute fear (I jokingly refer to it as The Pete Syndrome, but it is very real) of producing less than his best or most clever effort, always.

So to escape this problem, he procrastinates. The clock keeps on ticking.

(Unburdened by a defined style or voice, I can just sort of bang out copy while Pete, a borderline genius, labors.)

Finally, when there’s enormous friction and no time remaining, he coughs up some flawed masterpiece that blows away his peers. Yet he is miserable. Pete’s throwing away his gift, and we’re the ones suffering.

The quickest route to getting better at anything is to just do it, to practice the fundamentals.

No, it doesn’t mean that, to improve one’s writing skills one should read a lot of books on grammar or style

(although that couldn’t hurt), but it does call for writing more -- and reading more.

So here’s the message of a rambling first foray into the blogosphere:

Lose your fear. Grab a chair and join the conversation.

Just keep your fingers moving on the keyboard.

And hit “publish.”

The Communications Revolution

mchapman — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:00:36 GMT

I have sometimes characterized social media as a revolution in communications. While that may be a bit of hyperbole, social media and online social networking are certainly providing a multitude of new opportunities for two-way and multi-directional forms of communications.

These often disruptive and sometimes less than polished online conversations, form the basis of the Groundswell occurring on and around the internet. Marketing, advertising, and all forms of media, including customer and public relations, have been profoundly impacted.

Despite the feeling of newness, however, the basic characteristics of social media are at least as old as the United States. Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense, written in 1776, encapsulated the concepts of the American Revolution in an unorthodox form for its time and was circulated in a purposefully disruptive manner among the American colonists.

The pamphlet served as a call to arms against the King of England's tyrannical rule and offered an alternative approach for self-governing. The ideas in the pamphlet weren't completely original, but the simplicity of the language used was out of the ordinary.

Paine's more casual style of writing was more suitable to the kind of democratic society he and others envisioned. Complex ideas were made intelligible to the average reader in contrast to the more formal style favored by institutions of power. That sounds similar to the authenticity and transparency which are also the hallmarks of modern social media.

Finally, Paine's willingness to openly confront King George III, on the record for all of his fellow colonists to read, was very uncharacteristic among colonists who feared the wrath of the King. His willingness to voice his opinions in the open, and in understandable language, was instrumental in initiating a public debate about independence.

Common Sense Communications Today

Compare Paine's revolutionary pamphlet to what's going on in communications today. Because of the many options that have been created by new technologies, each of us has the opportunity to engage in conversations with other people who share our interests and in a language that can be understood by those involved.

Consequently, proactive companies are instituting new strategies that anticipate the sweeping changes in communications and self-organizing occurring around the internet. Not only can a business or not-for-profit organization get out in front of potential negative communications coming from their various constituencies, they can effectively convert them into brand loyalists with sincere attempts at developing genuine relationships with them

By acknowledging them as being important and then communicating openly with them, it's possible for corporations to foster good will and enhance the organization's social capital among its customers. It's not only possible; it's happening.

There are profound opportunities for large organizations, including corporations, to empower their employees in this new environment by opening new channels of communications to the communities outside of the company. This very natural form of social capital is nothing short of revolutionary. Well, it's certainly a move in the right direction.

Additionally, through effective implementation of an internal communication system, such as an intranet, employees can be empowered to be excellent advocates for their company. With clear internal guidelines in place, an intranet can provide a platform for coordinating teams of goodwill ambassadors who can be available to reach out into the groundswell. I'll write more about how FG Squared is taking the lead in this direction in a future post.

It's a little too late for King George III to learn about the benefits of listening. It might be, however, the perfect time for you and your business to start.

Food Bank Employs Social Capital for Social Good

mchapman — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:25:44 GMT

One month ago, Michelle Greer and I met with Lisa Goddard and her staff at the Capital Area Food Bank. At that meeting we hatched the idea for a tweetup to help with their efforts surrounding Hunger Action Month. We even came up with a clever name for it. We called it a HAM-up. A tweetup is a meet-up in real life for people who have usually met first on Twitter.

Twitter is a growing social network surrounding a microsharing application. "HAM-up" is a play on a word that is completely made up and named after an application that sounds pretty funny to begin with. All of this is fairly typical of the social media and social networking world. Creativity and fun are allowed and encouraged. Along with the fun, however, is the potential for some very serious real world benefit accompanied by valid and measurable results.

Here's what happened: Lisa made the connection with me through colleagues Connie Reece and Sheila Scarborough of Every Dot Connects. They had recently led a workshop on social media which Lisa had attended. Connie, Sheila and I are also co-founders of the Austin Social Media Club which agreed to cosponsor the event. We pulled David Neff of the American Cancer Society into our group because of his active membership in the Social Media Club and 501 Tech Club of Austin, which also agreed to cosponsor.

Following the success of the Blood Drive Tweetup led by Michelle and David, we were confident in the combined social capital of our online networks. So we started twittering away trying to reach anyone who might be willing to help with our efforts to promote Hunger Action Month and the HAM-up.

Next, David remembered that he had met someone at a conference on social media who might have an interest in our project. Ed Nicholson, of Arkansas based Tyson Foods, and David had continued their relationship on Twitter. David figured that Ed might be able to help with our efforts based on their ongoing online conversations. Ed liked the idea and decided to use our efforts to follow through on an idea he had already been considering.

Ed then authored a blog post about the HAM-up on Tyson Food's Hunger Relief blog. In it the company pledged to donate100 pounds of protein products for the HAM-up for every comment they received on the blog post. Ed figured that 360 comments would be needed to fill a truck and that we might be able to generate that much interest over a few weeks of intense online activity.

With the tremendous help of our combined online networks it took less than four hours to reach the goal. In fact, we doubled the number of comments needed in only a few more hours. The truck arrived this past Monday with over 40,000 pounds of desperately needed protein products for the Food Bank. You can visit the Tyson Foods Gift of Protein 2008 flickr page for a good look at the actual delivery.

By utilizing the social capital she is developing online, Lisa Goddard of the Capital Area Food Bank in Austin, was able to locate resources she might not have been able to identify through traditional outreach methods and with only a few weeks of online activity. This very real example should be studied by anyone considering empowering their employees to use their social networks as a resource for their own company or organization.

September is Hunger Action Month and Hurricane Ike is likely to make the need even more urgent. Please do what you can to help. Whole Foods recently hosted a Grill-up to benefit the Food Bank. As FG Squared CEO Steve Golab joked, "it's time to HAM-up or shut up." I agree. If you can help, please do.

Social Commerce: Word of Mouth, applied to Business

devans — Sat, 31 May 2008 19:39:02 GMT

The subject of "social commerce" -- social media applied to business and specifically to commerce-related transactions and customer processes -- is gaining in recognition as a significant tool in the standard business toolbox. For example, of the top 100 retailers with online operations, 50 are using the Bazaarvoice social commerce platform. Powering these commerce applications is, at the core, social media: digital word of mouth turned media, produced and presented by current customers for consumption for consumption by potential ones.

If you're wondering about who is using social media -- and in particular experiencing it in the context of a purchase -- the answer is "everyone," a point driven home in a recent Universal McCann study. It's basically a given that if you sell it, someone else is talking about what happened after they bought it. That conversation is being tapped and inserted into the purchase funnel, right in between your ad (awareness) and the check out (point of sale).

The rise of social media good news for those brands with a tight link between Marketing--where the expectation is set, and Operations, where the promise is delivered on. These are just some of the topics I'll be speaking about at the upcoming Interactive Austin conference in June. I hope to see you there. In the meantime, let me about your experience with social media and its use in your company.

Our Future is Up to Us

steve — Sat, 31 May 2008 17:57:12 GMT

I am not someone who serves as a walking advertisement for just anyone or any cause. But given next weekend is father's day, I thought now is perhaps the best time to share Bamboo Originals (http://bamboooriginals.com/), a t-shirt business owned by my father Len Golab. The mission of his business is to provide his customer with the finest Bamboo T-shirts and clothing to wear and enjoy. He believes after you learn about the natural properties of bamboo fiber, and especially once you feel its softness, you will never want to wear anything else.

Many of us are very particular when it comes to the clothing we wear and the car we drive. In many ways, our individual purchasing decisions send a message to those you share a relationship with. Indeed our purchasing decisions communicate and make an impact with the world.

Our Future is Up to Us - these are the six simple words printed on a t-shirt gifted by my father to celebrate my 35^th birthday last weekend. Given the acceleration of personal change in my life right now, these words resonate and are reinforcing my sense of purpose right now. Dad, thank you very much. I really appreciate this gift and wanted to share with you publicly.

Let me assure you, a shirt like this makes a great father's day gift. If you are thinking about buying one for that special dad in your life, here's where I recommend you go.

http://bamboooriginals.com/products/?view=product&pid=61

Bamboo is a sustainable resource, which thrives naturally without pesticides and is 100% bio-degradable. Naturally anti-bacterial because of its bio-agent "bamboo kun", that prevents bacteria from cultivating on it. It has unusual breathing ability, because of its hollow fiber which keeps you cool, comfortable and will never cling to your skin. It doesn't retain odors either due to its moisture ventilation properties. Its uncommon softness gives it a silky feel that you will love.