Okay, so… you’re a small business and want to tap into the bagillion internet users who are hacking away at their keyboards every day to find products, services, and info… that you have…
… but you just don’t know how to and really don’t want to spend thousands of dollars in marketing.
Is that you?
Ya, well you’re in good company because you’re in the same boat as tens of millions of other small businesses who are struggling to get customers online.
Okay… so, grab a pen and pad… because I’m going to give you 3 simple steps to implement this month to start edging out your competitors online.
Online Small Business Marketing Made Easy – 3 steps
I woke up this morning to see probably about 15 emails showing "comments" for one of my websites . Usually this is a good thing… but this time it was 100% comment spam for online casinos and poker sites.
Comment spam on WordPress isn’t a new problem. On a usual day my sites will probably get one or two spam comments that make it to the moderation cue through Askimet.
But…
This morning all of these got through into the moderation cue and of course I got emails notifying me to "moderate the comment".
Okay, that was this morning when I deleted 15-20 emails from Gmail about the comments and marked them as spam in my WordPress 2.5.1 install.
Fast forward to this afternoon.
Here’s a screen shot I took a few minutes ago of my gmail account (after I’ve probably deleted 30-50 spam comments for online casinos that made it into the moderation cue).
Of course, after I took the screen shot I deleted those and went into WP admin to see what I could find out about the damn comment spammers.
Every comment is from a different IP
Every comment is for online gambling of some sort (except one that is for free ringtones)
Every comment is in the same format (of course done by a spam bot)
And… every comment is a real pain in my ass right now until I get my WordPress install to screen spam comments a little tighter
Anyhow, I got to looking at the comments to see why they aren’t getting screened by Askimet and saw a few interesting things… that are spurring on a bit more thinking on my part as far as if they’ve gotten into my WP code or not (I’ll let you know).
Here’s an example of what the comments are looking like:
video poker strategies
http://url | 206.255.14.39
casino gratuites en francais…
Play casino no deposit play free baccarat…
They are all in that same format but with different verbage and in different languages. The interesting thing is that the comments aren’t leading to a URL other than the "http://url" which does take you to www.url.com which then pops up an ad or two.
What’s Interesting Is…
I know, I’m wasting my time writing a post about this… but it’s really interesting from an SEO standpoint… and whether or not they have gotten into my code and placed hidden links somewhere.
Hey, have you seen this recently? If so, what’s your take on this format of WordPress comment spam which is simply banking on bold keyword phrases with no link back to a site… except the http://url site??
I’d love to hear your comments… in the mean time I better check out my WordPress code to make sure there isn’t any spammy code sneaked into my them.
Damn spammers… I’d love to see what this person is making per day off of this campaign… and how they are making their money.
Oh, by the way… there’s now another 24 spam comments since I started writing this post (about 15 minutes ago).
I’ve heard it a time or two… “In the end, the best product will win out every time“.
Hmmm… while this sounds all warm and fuzzy… and when looking it at completely logically it SHOULD be true…
Does the best product REALLY win out in the end??
In a perfect world where everyone gets the same chances, all variables are the same, you can predict successes and failures of products, and people only take into account their own personal beliefs and needs when deciding to buy a product or to do something… I think that the best product would win out pretty darn near every time.
But…
What happens when it’s not a perfect world?
What happens if people not only listen to their own beliefs… but they listen to the beliefs and actions of others too?
What happens when variables are different and even the slightest change in variables can have huge effects on entire markets, product successes, and the direction of an entire culture?
What happens when a product/person/ or company somehow gets an edge (because of a variable) even though their competitors have a superior (or even identical) product to offer?
What happens when the exact same product (or very similar) is a huge success today… and the company uses the same criteria and formula to launch another product… and it’s a complete failure?
What happens is that the superior products don’t always rise to the top… and often we can’t predict with a whole lot of certainty that something will be successful or not.
Now, I know… I’m going to have some critics reading this saying “when I launch a product, I know pretty darn well that it will be a success“. Okay, some products and markets can be launched with a degree of certainty; however, let’s look at mass markets and huge successes that generate millions of customers (i.e. – Record albums, social media websites, the next “clapper”, real estate, software, etc.).
Where’s the certainty now?
Do People Really Buy What They Want… or What Is Best For Them?
In marketing we’ve all heard that “the consumer doesn’t really know what they want… we have to tell them what they want and why they need it to solve their problems”.
When you really look at that statement, it’s pretty damn true.
Do you think that millions of people thought that they needed Facebook, while at the same time Myspace had tens (maybe hundreds) of millions of users already?
I’m thinking not. So, why did Facebook become a hit? Really there’s no real solid and quantifiable reason why Facebook has done so well and the hundreds of other social networking sites have absolutely flopped.
Yes, Facebook has some unique features and it’s much different than Myspace… but so are a bunch of other social networking sites that have failed miserably (some that are just as good or better than Facebook).
Many people joined Facebook because it was a great way for them to solve some of THEIR problems with staying in touch with their friends…
… but, the vast majority of people have joined Facebook not necessarily because it is truly the single best use of their time… but because they saw the craze about this “Facebook thing” (myself included) and thought… “Facebook must be the best social networking site for me because ALL OF THESE PEOPLE have already joined, therefore… it’s gotta be the best“.
First of all, I didn’t coin the term “Network Effect”. It’s been written about many times and is a pretty well known philosophy in the marketing and sociology world.
In essence, the Network Effect is simply:
“The phenomenon whereby a service becomes more valuable as more people use it, thereby encouraging ever-increasing numbers of adopters. “
In simpler terms that even I can understand, people like to do things that a bunch of other people have already done (the majority of us think this way anyhow).
Your brain reasons that if something is used by more people than something else… it must be the best… therefore it is a prudent to go with that service.
The Network Effect On Products/Services/Brands
Today’s world is a complex and ever changing world. It’s pretty damn tough keeping up with everything and having the time to fully research every buying decision we make.
Can you imagine the time and effort it would take to do OUR OWN full research based ONLY off of OUR OWN personal experience and opinion about whether or not that product is really best for us? I would go insane.
So, to help streamline things for us, our brains have developed a clever little thought process that makes us feel safe when we are confronted with decisions.
Here is the thought process according to my brain:
First, find out what I “think” I want or need
Find products/services that look like they might fit the bill
See if anyone else has used this product and what they think about it
Usually go w/ the highest rated and most popular
Find the best place to buy it for the best overall offer (price and everything else that goes with it)
That’s it for me anyway.
Notice #3 in my thought process? “See if anyone else has used it and what they think“(the Network Effect at work).
General intuition should say that the more people using something, the better the product must be. Right? I mean, when I go to download a song or piece of freeware software… if there’s a “download” counter on the page for each product… I’ll usually pick the one with the most downloads. I’d be willing to venture a guess that most people act this way.
I know, you’re way ahead of me here... but that statement isn’t always right. Let’s think of a few very popular products right off the top of my head that challenge this statement:
Microsoft Windows (is it REALLY the best operating system in the world? Hmmm…)
Is Justin Timberlake really the best singer and entertainer out there? Not likely. Or, even better… Britney Spears?
McAfee Anti-Virus… please, do I need to go into this one?
All of these products have huge followings… but are they really the best at what they do? So, why did the crowd say it is?
The Network Effect and First Adopters or Promoters
Yes, we’ve already determined that people like to make it easier on themselves when making decisions… and a lot of the time will place trust in the crowd that the crowd has picked the best product.
But, also as we’ve determined… the crowd isn’t always technically correct on judging the “best”… and this still often leads to inferior products/services ending up on top.
The reason for this is simple (or so it seems
If people like to trust the “crowd” this means that people are at the whym of the crowd… and the person or people who started the crowd in the first place.
So, if the person that “started the crowd” is absolutely correct on which product is truly the best (the best for them anyway), the people joining the crowd with similar likes and dislikes will also be correct in choosing that product.
However, if the person who “started the crowd”:
Chose randomly and made the wrong choice
Has unique likes/dislikes and is actually part of the minority
Is an influencer and helps the product/service/brand along in the early stages (this one is important)
… the crowd may not necessarily be choosing the truly best product to fit their needs. But, they are choosing a product based off of the likes/needs of the early adopters/influencers and the crowd of people before them who have also followed that initial jump start.
Okay… where am I going with this?
How does this directly relate to marketing and the success of a product/service/brand?
After you finish this article, head over to read this great article on the subject. It goes in-depth on actual scientific studies on the Network Effect and shows mind-blowing results that are extremely simple when you really drill down to the core of the Network Effect.
In essence, the article goes to show that in mass market products (software, music, movies, Web 2.0 websites (social media), etc.)… the success of these products are really at the whim of the Network Effect and how well the products/services grab hold with a core of influential users. Even though some products may not be the best… they are still a huge success because “their number was called” and the market happened to go their way.
If we were to replay the past over again, a completely different set of companies, people, and products would dominate our culture depending on how the Network Effect took hold in the beginning stages of the product.
Here’s a great passage from that article:
“…while in some sense these markets do reflect what people want, that is true only of what they want right now. If markets not only reveal our preferences but also modify them, then the relation between what we want now and what we wanted before — or what we will want in the future — becomes deeply ambiguous.“
So, long story short (way longer than I was planning , we can’t always predict the success of a product/service/brand when you look at the past… or even when you look at the quality of the product.
We as marketers need to utilize the tools available to us including:
Advertising
PR (huge one)
Social Media and Web 2.0 (and beyond)
The blogosphere
and on and on…
… to give our products and brands the best chance of capitalizing on the Network Effect to propel its success.
Yes, quality is hugely important and will play a big factor in the success of the Network Effect. However, if we don’t do a good job of getting our products to the influential early adopters in our markets (and across other markets), someone else will and our companies will be the one that was lost in history as a result of the Network Effect at work.
How Do We Do This?
There is no real formula for ensuring the Network Effect goes your way. However, with the tools we now have… it’s important that we do a few things:
Build a community around your brand/product/service
Enable your users to be evangelists for your product and spread the word to everyone else
Create a solid offering that speaks to the core of the user… from your own core… basically, be who/what you are… don’t try to be something you’re not
Make it easy for users to share their experiences and questions with you and the rest of the world (online communities, company blogs, community outreach, etc.)
Find the influential early adopters in your market and make them a user of your product/service… then promote the hell out of that
Whenever you can, use social proof and social proof by numbers during the marketing and sales processes
And more than anything… create your own luck and just make sure you utilize every tool you can to get your message, product, and offer to the people who can benefit from it the MOST.
Finally, Think About This…
Next time you go out and buy a CD (download on Itunes), sign up for a new social media website, or even go to a movie… think about how the Network Effect has affected the product… and how you can apply that to your business.
Question:
Have you been able to capitalize on the Network Effect? If so, how much easier was it for you to spread your brand once it took hold? My guess is waaaaayyyy easier.
No really… what is social media all about at it’s core?
That’s right… it’s to help people like you and me connect with each other, catch up with each other, communicate in 2 way conversations, find like-minded people… and build a community around ourselves (online and OFFLINE) of people we want to associate with.
Facebook is an awesome platform… way better than Myspace (in my opinion) at really building bonds with people that are more than just voyeuristic attempts to see peoples profile pictures and sell music (you know that’s a huge part of what the myspace crowd is about… don’t kid yourself).
The whole Facebook idea is modeled to “connect people with friends and others who work, study and live around them.”. That idea inherently is a better model to build strong bonds than the Myspace model of, “MySpace is an online community that lets you meet your friends’ friends.“.
So, Myspace is like the cool nightclub where you go with a few of your friends. It’s cool… a bit edgy… is as much about impressing other people as it is about being real w/ who you are… and is the hang out for people looking to just have some fun.
To me, Facebook is quite a bit different (hold on… I’ll get to the Twitter thing in a bit). Facebook is more like the networking event, conference, or fun gathering with friends that you go to so you can catch up with old friends… be introduced to new like-minded people… and be the real you.
Myspace is kinda like the immature and less serious version of Facebook (don’t get me wrong… there are huge marketing opportunities on Myspace… just stay with me here)… and Facebook is a place that you can come hang out and find like-minded people and share your world with them.
Facebook is more centered to your current networks, interests, and those of your friends. More targeted you might say.
With this environment… better bonds with your Facebook friends are more inherent and you are reminded every time you sign in about what your friends recently did on Facebook through the updates section. Cool stuff.
Where Facebook Misses The Boat…
Like I mentioned, Facebook is an awesome application and is a great way to build a network of LIKE-MINDED people and easily keep up on what people have been doing on Facebook.
But… just like the evolution of every other type of media… 2 way communication in a time delayed format isn’t as powerful and “sticky” as 2 way communication in a REAL TIME format.
I don’t know about you… but I live in real time.
When I go to the grocery store I talk to the person standing in front of me in line in real time.
When I go to the gym and chat with some workout buddies… talking in real time.
When I go to a networking event (like Young Professionals of Portland… great networking … once again… talking in real time.
If human beings really enjoyed time delayed communication more than real time communication wouldn’t we all just pass notes to each other all day… and spend our lives on email?
Hmmmm…
Picking Up Where Facebook Leaves Off… Forming Huge Bonds w/ Twitter
Okay, imagine this. Bear with me because this can either be cool or way corny.
You are in a bar… and you have two groups of friends.
One group is sitting in a booth with name badges, they have some pictures of things they just did on the table, a cool white board that you can write messages on to them, some fun little games that they ask you to play with them… and a pile of paper airplanes that you both write private messages on and fly back to one and other. This group of friends can’t talk and they don’t have fancy dancy phones that have internet.
All of the stuff you need to keep in touch with your friends and keep that bond there… right?
Okay… in another booth you have another group of friends who are in a normal and natural conversation. They’re talking back and forth (no paper airplanes or white boards) telling each other what they’ve been up to… showing you funny videos on their Iphone right there in front of you… you bring out your Iphone and show them a great article you just found… basically you guys are having a natural conversation about everyday stuff.
You stay in that bar for a couple hours and bounce back and forth between the two groups of friends. After a while you have 45 paper airplanes sitting in front of you that you need to open… and you’ve already spent like 15 minutes writing messages on paper airplanes and flying them back to your FB friends… not to mention all of the messages on the white boards that you need to answer back.
Building quite the bond huh?
Delayed time communication coupled with multiple ways to communicate back and forth with your friends
So… you get fed up… leave the 45 paper airplanes there and tell your friends to join the other table… the one that is just sitting there talking naturally in real time. They do… and you have a real conversation with them (in real time) and actually get to build a great bond with your friends because now communication is so easy that your friends are telling you little stuff that they wouldn’t have told you before…
Fancy Dancy Formula Time…
Easy Real Time 2 Way Communication = More Long-Tail Communications = Greater Bond
Easy Real Time Communication Is Where It’s At…
Just like the little formula I whipped up says… the easier you can communicate… and the more like a natural conversation your communication is… the stronger the bond you are able to grow with someone.
Ya… instant messaging has been around for a while and is a great form of instant two way communication.
But…
That’s 1 to 1 communication… and it would take up way too much of your time to shoot off a message to all of your 432 friends to see what the heck they are up to… so you can keep building that bond with them.
Right now, Twitter is the next evolution in easy two way real time communication… 1 to many.
You can see what people are doing right now… and let other people know what you’re doing right now. The simple fact that you get to learn what your friends are doing “between the conversations” gives you an inside look into their lives… and you mind says, “well, if I’m important enough to know that he just got a hair cut… or is walking through LAX right now and wants to have a beer w/ me… I must be cool!”.
Also, don’t forget the fact that inherent in real time communication is the fact that there are more messages being sent between the people talking… than there is with delayed communication.
More Messages = More Top of Mind Placement of YOU = Better Bond
Not to mention the subliminal message that comes across when you click the button to “Follow” someone on Twitter… versus simply “Add as a Friend” in Facebook. I mean… the definition of “follow” is… “To go in the direction of; be guided by”… what kind of message are you sending your subconscious when you choose that you want to FOLLOW someone… pretty powerful as far as creating and building a bond.
So… Follow Me On Twitter…
… and let’s figure out the best ways to DO GOOD on the internet… build better bonds… and help more people.
A last note… Twitter is only a stepping stone to something better… and Facebook will surely build something Twitterish onto their platform. Humans are social beings by nature… and the closer we can get to being able to intimately interact with people (both 1 to 1 and 1 to many) in a “real world-like” setting so we can build stronger bonds with more people… the more the entire social media and internet marketing game is going to change.
Just be sure you evolve along with it… and don’t get stuck in the delayed communication mind-set in your marketing, brand building, and LIVING.
Oh ya… really… one last note. Follow Me On Twitter
You've found the blog of Trevor Mauch, entrepreneur, marketer, investor... and lover of life. I created this blog to help you get the most of the web, life, real estate, and your biz.
time“.
