Main Ideas

What is the core creative idea that will engage your audience? Platforms are just amplification.

The Internet is a network of computers. The World Wide Web is a network of links.

Do you want to control the platform, or control the conversation?

How you use the internet depends on what you want to do. Whatever you want to do, chances are someone else has already done it. R&D means Research and Duplicate.

My Incoming Education Search Engine – Take the time to learn

how to use your chosen search engine. I subscribe to nine Google blogs to learn how to make the most out of their tools. Last night I saw Google developers searching on Twitter.

Email – The great communicator. You can quickly reach most of the world from your email. I have 6 accounts in one Gmail window because Gmail has the best spam filter.

Blog Aggregator – Replaced my newspaper. I use Google Reader, part of Gmail. I subscribe to 67 blogs. That list is posted on Through The Browser.

Getting Found I have two free web sites,

www.saleslabdc.com and www.dickdavies.com. I am not a programmer, and I built it in four hours from a cold start. It comes with 50 free email accounts and other goodies. http://throughthebrowser.blogspot.com

/2009/10/please-welcome-wwwdickdaviescom.html

I have two free blogs, Sales Lab Posts http://blog.saleslabdc.com and Through The Browser, http://throughthebrowser.blogspot.comwhere I post twice a week. Figure a good post is 5 paragraphs, ten sentences. Started last September, now more than 85 posts.

I have a free LinkedIn page, www.linkedin.com/in/dickdavies,

My LinkedIn strategy is explained in Web 2.0 in Three Paragraphs http://throughthebrowser.blogspot.com/2009/09/web-20-in-three-paragraphs.html.

When I change the status bar on my LinkedIn page, I notify over 500 LinkedIn contacts and automatically notify my Twitter followers.

Syndication To get my message out to my world, I am active in 25 LinkedIn Groups and a half dozen targeted Ning social networks.

When I write a blog post, I also post it to some groups. A full post goes to over 80,000 people. See “Building Your Social Media Platform,” http://bit.ly/dvuDUG

What Else Can You Do? John Battelle, one of the leaders of Web 2.0 recently posted an update of his 10 year old Database of Intentions. The first concept of DBoI was what people asked search engines. He has expanded that to “What I Want,” “What I Buy,” “Who I Am,” “Who I Know,” “What I’m Doing,” and Where I Am” (or “What’s close?”).

For a chart of the top companies answering these questions, search Battelle Database of Intentions Chart - Version 2, Updated for Commerce.

For an even grander view of tools you can use, search The CMO’s Guide to: The Social Landscape www.cmo.com/social-media/cmos-guide-social-media-landscape

I don’t agree with all the choices on either graphic, but my needs are not your needs. They showed me the bigger opportunity.

What’s a small business to do? Get email. Learn to use it. I favor Gmail as it is excellent quality and free.

Build a website you can fix yourself. Websites get better, not finished. I favor Google Apps Standard Edition as it is free and requires no programming.

If you’re a local retail business, become a Yelp guru. Yelp shows where you are and what your customers think about you. I found my barber on Yelp and he’s the best barber I have had in a decade.

If you have a business-to-business operation, get a LinkedIn Page, get 500 contacts and some recommendations.

I have 28 LinkedIn recommendations and I like them so much I copied them to my website so people I am not linked to can see them.

Join LinkedIn groups and other social networks that interest you. Start by reading, then write. Let other people read what you write. Good feedback is wonderful.

Other Thoughts

“Hunh?”

“Hunh, Hell! Do Something!”

The new tools, the most advanced tools, that let you take advantage of the benefits of the Internet are mostly free.

These tools are “social,” so tell your friends what you are doing. Get their help and opinions.

When you need help to do something, ask a search engine. The answers are there. The trick is which figuring out which question provides the right answer.

When you are building your cyber-empire, keep a pad of paper handy. for ideas, passwords, user names, and questions.

When you get frustrated, take a break. The stress is because you get immediate response from a computer. Relax! Rejoice! Resolve to have fun, don’t blame anyone or anything when you don’t understand, because you will be ashamed when you do understand.

In 1995, on my first website, I realized, “Websites don’t get finished. They get better.” I liked that so much, I put that on the website.

In The Mythical Man Month, Rick Brooks writes, “Software is the ultimate art form. You can make anything.”

Learn anything today? Write a comment telling the best thing you learned, and see additional links previous comments at http://bit.ly/saleslab_internet_adv.

Thank you! This work licensed under the Creative Commons

Attribution-Noncommercial United States License

SALES LAB INCORPORATED WWW.SALESLABDC.COM

How Local Businesses Can Take Advantage

Of The Internet A Cost-Conscious Workshop

For Successful Small Businesses

Arlington Business Council April 8, 2010

DICK DAVIES

SALES LAB INCORPORATED DICKDAVIES@SALESLABDC.COM