I keep hearing everyone say, ‘Facebook is a social tool, it’s not really for club promotion – myspace is what that was designed for’. Interesting. Sure, myspace seems to have all the record labels you could want, plenty of artists showcasing their music and great features for artists in general, but is it good for the local artist who wants to let people in his local area know gigs are occurring? Myspace feels very international, whilst Facebook feels local.
I have a myspace page, have done for a few years – and I have used this to publicise every gig I’ve played at, or have been scheduled to play at, showcase my music and act as a profile page. Whilst friends I know have responded to gig requests, it’s never really made any huge difference (that I can see) to those numbers attending the gig that are outside my friend circle.
I created a Facebook account a while back now, and decided to use the ‘events’ feature to publicise my gigs on Facebook. Much to my surprise, I had people I don’t know confirming themselves as coming, photographers asking for passes to take photos for the night, and generally much more of an online ‘buzz’ about the event than I have seen on Myspace for one my events.
I’d like to hear if anyone else has any similar experiences? Whilst Myspace may be the first place to look for gig details and information for the major players in the music industry, perhaps Facebook could work better for us local talents? It’s an interesting notion, that I’ve yet to see fruit properly, but the indicators for me, at least, are there.
Matt wrote this on 28.01.08 – 4 comments
It's filed in the Blogging, Brighton, Interesting, Internet, Social media, Social networks box
If you’re wondering why Sun bought a company that gives its software away for free; why Google’s market capitalisation is currently $187 billion; and yet Yahoo! is rumoured to be considering shedding thousands of employees, you need to read Umair Haque’s essay on edge competencies. It was written two years ago, and virtually every day I’m seeing evidence of this theory being a powerful force in economics.
I’ll do my best to explain the basics, and give some examples for those who don’t have time to read the essay (writing this helps me to fully grasp the concept too.)
The central idea is that until recently, corporations have needed to focus on their ‘core competencies’. These are the things they do in-house to create value for customers and ultimately make a profit. Yahoo’s core competency when it first launched as a search engine was to employee humans to review websites, then maintain a searchable database of pages so users could find what they were looking for. The website had huge traffic, and their holy grail was to sell banner ad deals for the homepage at a million dollars a pop. These are all core competencies.
But the Internet, with its near infinite connections between information and people has led to a new type of competency. One that harnesses value that’s created in the wild, outside of the corporation. We’re talking about networks, markets and communities.
Google realised that you don’t need human editors to review websites because there’s already a huge amount of editorial happening out there on the web (authors creating hyperlinks between pages) which could be used to determine which content is most relevant for particular searches. This is an edge competency in action. In this case, to leverage the value created by a network to build value for itself (quality search results).
Once they’d established themselves as the worlds most popular search engine, Google monetised their position by creating a market for online advertising where anyone could bid for keywords. With smart software (Google Adwords) to run the market, they could sit back and allow supply and demand economics to dictate prices. This highly automated system allowed Google to make a few bucks here and there from all kinds of niche keywords, that add up to an incredible amount of revenue. Google have never sold an advert on their homepage.
mySQL are the creators of the open source database used by thousands of application developers worldwide. They give the software away for free which has enabled them to build a huge community of developers who are using and improving their software. They’re able to leverage the value created by this community by selling the software to certain clients who would prefer to have a direct relationship and support with the creators. Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz writes:
“Facebook gives its products away for free, too. They make money on ads, we make money on service, support and infrastructure. MySQL has a big business, growing very rapidly. Investing in the future has more value than buying the past – which is why the latter so often comes at a discount.”
Leveraging networks, markets and communities is all about understanding where the value is. There is latent value out there waiting to be tapped into, which is a huge opportunity to companies who can build edge competencies. At the same time, this new value can completely disrupt certain old business models.
The music business is a classic example: An industry based on distribution is being disrupted by filesharing, social networks and digital downloads. There’s a huge amount of value out there which can spread the word about amazing new music and give bands access to potentially enormous global audiences. But at the same time it threatens the traditional model of selling music in a physical format. The choice they have to make is either to attempt to resist the tide or figure out new business models to leverage the value in the networks, markets and communities outside of the corporation. Seth Godin has some fantastic ideas about this that you can apply to many other industries.
Umair would argue that it’s not even a choice. Resisting the tide is an impossibility so it’s a case of adapt or die. But for smart companies who build edge competencies, there are good times ahead.
Tom wrote this on 21.01.08 – 3 comments
It's filed in the Business box
The word ’social’ has several meanings in the Oxford English Dictionary. The social in ’social media’ most likely refers to meaning number three: “relating to or designed for activities in which people meet each other for pleasure.” The keyword there is ‘meet’. Like chimpanzees and ants, humans are social creatures (see meaning number four: “breeding or living in colonies or organised communities”), and our social bonds are cemented by face-to-face meetings. Read more…
admin wrote this on 10.01.08 – 69 comments
It's filed in the Interesting, Off topic, Social media box
In 2008 the quality of your product design has never been more important. Never.
This networked world permits and powers word of mouth on steroids. We know this: Landrover showed us (see result no. 2); Dell showed us; HSBC reminded us.
As if you didn’t already know, we usually share recommendations and warnings with a small circle of human beings we see or communicate with regularly, in small groups, usually through voice, each recommendation or warning of the chitter chatter tailored to that audience. (For more on the dynamics of word of mouth you *must* read Gladwell’s Tipping Point.)
Read more…
Will McInnes wrote this on 04.01.08 – 3 comments
It's filed in the Business, Design, Marketing, NixonMcInnes, Social media box
