Makin Whuffie at WebVisions Portland 09

Makin’ Whuffie

bytara ‘missrogue’ hunt

raising social capital in online communities

“web 2.0”

Facebook = >200Million usersBlogs = >150Million+ (+China’s 75M) MySpace = >110Million usersOrkut = >75Million usersTwitter = >20 Million

Twitter = >26,000 followers Facebook = >2,500 friendsFlickr = >1,400 friends

l’il ole me

scary

newsflash: you can’t shut the internets down

#FAIL

but I was actually really curious about this...

why were some companies being received with

while others were being greeted with

???

while I was pondering this I picked up a book

by

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/437288525/

instead of $$

whuffie

=

social capital

=

reputation

connections (both strong and weak)

influence

access to resources/talent/more connections

favors added up(reciprocity)

publicly known accomplishments

levels of trust

etc

in cory’s future

when you

http://www.flickr.com/photos/notic/86343146/

whuffie

score

high score

=

good reputation

trustworthy

listen to their advice

you can also buy stuff with your whuffie

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brraveheart/2072543750/

but something sounded familiar to me

it isn’t futuristic nor is it fictional

it’s here and now

it’s how we relate to one another

online communities

ping!

Friended!

ping!

hmmm...don’t know him well enough to transfer trust...

A. ask for more infoB. ignore for now

so if

a quick

http://www.flickr.com/photos/notic/86343146/

would tell me

he’s not interested in being my friend

he just wants something from me

without providing me any value

[reciprocity]

if you want to become an influencer

someone who is whuffie rich

whose ideas spread

who is well-loved

you need to

credibility

it’s really as simple as that

but there’s a catch

didn’t happen overnight

it required a different perspective

alot of time and attention

it won’t cost you very much $$

and you’ll see results in real time

it involves

5 waysto raisewhuffie

whuffie factor #1:

turn the bullhornaround

how marketing looked before the internet

then came the competition

got louder

and louder

led to

main characteristic

impersonal

http://www.flickr.com/photos/b-tal/179390300/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tin-g/90143310/

which is why

people we trust

if you are still

you are totally missing

http://www.flickr.com/photos/striatic/133146861/

if you want to

http://www.flickr.com/photos/klapow/39693385/

sounds easy, but it isn’t

focus on individuals

understand the needs of a community

that’s totally challenging

but if you don’t listen...and then respond...the silence will

smack down your whuffie

8 tips for being a beacon for constant feedback:

1. get advice from experts, but design for the needs of the novice

2. respond to ALL feedback, even when you have to say ‘no thanks’

3. don’t take negative feedback personally

4. give credit to those whose ideas you implement

• mention contributions in blog posts, tweets and videos

• name a product or feature after the contributor (or let them name it)

• send journalists their way

• send a gift certificate or special coupon code

• schwag and schtuff

• upgrade their account

• give the contributor more responsibility

some ways to give credit

5. point out and explain changes as you make them

6. make small, continuous improvements

7. go out to find your feedback

8. ignore the haters

to really become

http://www.flickr.com/photos/klapow/39693385/

whuffie factor #2:

become partof the

communityu serve

getting out

the question is

figure out

who is it that you serve?

what problem are you solving?

for whom?

knowing that makes it easier

then join them!

not as market research

not as a voyeur

not to sell anyone anything

if you join a community with the wrong intentions

authenticity matters

what you need to figure out is

learn from that

integrate it into what you are offering

lastly figure out

why would they give a damn?

seemingly infinite choice

what is the difference between

you need to be remarkable

because then

some people may even give a damn.

and how does one achieve remarkability?

whuffie factor #3:

create amazingcustomer

experiences

truly amazing experiences lead to:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lugolounge/6780004/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/teointarifa/490408075/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/60852569@N00/242746787/

these types of feelings

but what leads to these feelings?

and can you design for them?

in a word: YES

automagicness

automagic:a user experience so seamless

that it feels like magic just occurred.

lilgrams.com

quicken for iphone

automagic demo

automagicbank machine

finder

automagicspendingupdate

automagicbalanceupdater

tripit.com

#1. book my flight

#2. forward confirmation email to plans@tripit.com

#3. they do some magic stuff with that email

#4. voila! an itinerary!

bonus: iphone application

throwing sheep

throwing sheep:fun, lightweight activities that

encourage user participation, but don’t ‘do’ much else

examples of throwing sheep

• FB: poking

• FB: ‘I like this’

• Twitter: nudging

• Twitter: tweeting casual stuff

• Maya’s Mom: kudos

• Dopplr: velocity metric

• Pop Sugar: karma points

• Favouriting/starring

• Virtual gifting

lighten up!

lighten up:the ability to inject fun into the

most serious & professional interactions

southwest airlines

http://flickr.com/photos/joshb/1408947023/

flickr.com

then there is the 404 error page...

apartmenthomeliving.com/404

d20srd.org/err

tinsanity.net/404

horsepigcow.com/404

email auto-responders

whuffie factor #4:

embrace the chaos

controlling the message?

heh

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiseacre/153532248/

I know...it’s hard to embrace the chaos...

long history

of fear

the fear mongers

• corporate espionage

• competition

• security

• litigation

• bad-mouthers

• mistrust

it’s on their shoulders

• Legal

• Public Relations/Corporate Communications

• IT

understand the need for security

but balance it with the need for openness

there are many benefits to openness and transparency

benefits of embracing the chaos

• you’ll be better prepared for the unexpected

• you’ll join in the conversation that is already happening and be welcomed for this move

• it will bring in the opportunity for collaboration

• it will make your ideas stronger

• it will create supporters you didn’t know you had

in the old days, you had one chance to get the message just

right...

today, you have multiple conversations and iterations to build that message with your customers and audience.

Funny how we create our own rat traps in our success. Once we're 'there' we can no

longer do the stuff that made us successful in the 1st place.

...or can we?

we’re just one more step away from

here is some food for thought

while money is part of the

market economy

whuffie is part of the

it acts kind of opposite

the more you give away, the more whuffie you gain

whuffie is only valuable when it circulates

and as it circulates, it

but we still need to make $$ to pay the rent

so the question is...

what can you give away that won’t leave you broke?

whuffie factor #5:

find ur higherpurpose

born out of passion?

serving a need?

fighting the good fight?

maybe that stuff doesn’t interest you

maybe you just want to

does it mean that you will be whuffie poor?

nah.

you just have to find a way to give back to the community

the more you give, the more that comes back

A couple-a gifts to give that won’t leave you broke

“nerd values”

do well by doing good

“...compared check-writing and volunteering to cutting the leaves and branches off a tree,

where the heart of the business and its ability to impact the world positively is the tree itself.”

Gary Hirshberg, CEO, Stonyfield Farms

think customer-centrically

not customer-centric• You do everything you can to

keep your customers on your website.

• You measure number of visitors and time spent on your website as whether you are successful.

• When budgets get tightened, you make cutbacks in areas like customer service, marketing, support staff and design.

• You are bothered by a customer describing your product in their own words that doesn’t match your brand.

• You have a long list of customer relations policies. Any exception to those policies has to go up the chain of command for approval.

• You need to create multiple instructional videos so that your customers will understand how to use your product.

• You demand social media strategies that win over the ‘influencers’ to blog or tweet about your product.

customer-centric• You send customers to other

websites.

• You measure how many people refer their friends to you as success.

• When budgets get tightened, you tighten operational costs.

• Your only customer service policy is to do right by the customer.

• Your customers are doing things with your product you never dreamed and are posting videos.

• Influencers are adding you as friends on social networks.

• You work with your competitors towards better customer experiences for all.

• You know you compete for your customers’ attention with everyone.

help others go further

spread love

akoha.com

• do well by doing good

• think customer-centrically

• help others go further

• spread love

whuffie

will grow over time

so combine all of the

• turn the bullhorn around

• become part of the community you serve

• create amazing experiences

• embrace the chaos

• find your higher purpose

you will become

whuffie rich

=

better word of mouth

repeat sales

customer loyalty

=

big, fat increase to your bottom line

which will help you buy stuff

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brraveheart/2072543750/

end.

http://thewhuffiefactor.com

In storesnow!

http://www.slideshare.net/missrogue

about those rockin’ images:

• Many are from iStockphoto.com (totally cool site)

• except as marked on the photo...

• a screenshot of my friendwheel: http://apps.facebook.com/friendwheel

• and the logos & screengrabs I stole from all of the respective sites...

some references

• Akoha.com http://www.akoha.com

• Total Insanity http://tinsanity.net

• Dell Idea Storm http://ideastorm.dell.com

• Cory’s site http://craphound.com

• Southpark Underpants Gnomes http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/151040

• Best 404 pages: http://www.plinko.net/404/

• Creative Commons: http://www.creativecommons.org

• Friend Wheel: http://apps.facebook.com/friendwheel

• Great internet stats: http://pewinternet.org

• Whuffie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whuffie

Tara missrogue Huntauthor, The Whuffie Factor

horsepigcow@gmail.com415.694.1951

twitter: missrogueskype: tarahunt747

www.horsepigcow.com