The Web 2.0 Blogs Will Be Fine in 09

Mark Evans is asking whether the big Web 2.0 blogs will face tough times next year...

One of the fundamental questions is whether there will be enough “juice” to support growth or, for that matter, the status quo. If advertising declines, particularly by attention-seeking startups, how will that impact TechCrunch, GigaOm, ReadWriteWeb, et al? And if the number of new start-ups shrinks, does that create less editorial fodder to attract readers?

Robert Scoble wrote in the comments that the action is moving out of blogs into social networks and that this will challenge the bigs.

I think the big Web 2.0 blog franchises will remain strong in 2009. I do expect their editorial slants to change with the times. Beyond that, here are three things to watch ...

• First, to Robert’s comments, blogs vs. social networks is not a zero sum game. Social networks and search will help all of us filter out the noise and hone in on the signal. Some of this signal will be blog content. Other times soc nets will serve as a lens onto traditional media.
• Second, expect to see these sites diversify their revenue streams beyond advertising and events. Research is a good area and one that probably leaves other, older companies exposed on price. GigaOm is already publishing solid white papers. Databases are another potential source of revenue. CrunchBase may have unlocked value.
• Finally could there be a demand for subscription blogs? In other words, maybe there’s a premium
  
  version of TechCrunch that is for VCs and reasonably priced.

Twitter on Crack and for Speedy Customer Service

A couple of Twitter-related gems from my feed reader tonight...

First, Mike Elgan has set up a site called Twitter on Crack that auto-refreshes your personal Twitter page every 15 seconds. If I recall Twitter used to do this on its own, but now it doesn't.

I avoid running any more desktop apps than I need to, so I skip TweetDeck and the like. Now, however, when I want to swim in Tweets, I find this site is the ideal solution.

Meanwhile, down south, Rex Hammock has a Christmas Eve tale about how two companies - EyeFi and Griffin Technologies - were using Twitter to respond to customer inquires over the holiday. The use of Twitter as a customer service venue is definitely a key trend to watch.

links for 2008-12-26

• 
  
  The makings of a media mogul: Michael Arrington of TechCrunch » By Elias Bizannes » article » Liako.Biz
  
  
  Great and well-researched piece. Shows what's possible today in any sector, not just Web 2.0 blogs.
  
  
  (tags: Blogs media Web2.0 TechCrunch CaseStudies)
  
  
• 
  
  Obama’s Zen State, Well, It’s Hawaiian - NYTimes.com
  
  
  "The mood of Mr. Obama... embodies the Aloha Spirit, a peaceful state of mind and a friendly attitude of acceptance of a variety of ideas and cultures."
  
  
  (tags: obama zen lifehacks)
  
  
• 
  
  MediaPost - The Digital Future Through The Looking Glass
  
  
  "Adults who said that the children in their households spend too much time using the Internet reached 25% of respondents, an increase for the third year in a row and the highest percentage yet reported."
  
  
  (tags: usc Stats digitalfuture families trends 2008 children)
  
  
• 
  
  Why I Write Detailed, In-Depth Posts
  
  
  And am I glad he does because these are great.
  
  
  (tags: writing blogging adamsinger PR)
  
  
• 
  
  Newsweek's 1997 Gadget Shopping List: Merry Christmas Past!
  
  
  I had the original Palm. One of my all-time favorite gadgets. (Note Palm is an Edelman client)
  
  
  (tags: Gadgets retro)
  
  
• 
  
  Slideshows: Inside Eli Manning’s Automated Condo
  
  
  Amazing how understated it is when you think what it could be
  
  
  (tags: cribs Sports Football)
  
  

Living without Email - One Man's Story. Are you Next?

One of my fondest memories of 2008 was meeting Luis Suarez from IBM. We both spoke at the Next08 conference together in Hamburg. (I will be returning to Germany in 2009 for the Next09 event.)

Luis' story is amazing. First, he lives in the Canary Islands and he's a social computing evangelist/knowledge management specialist for IBM. Until recently, he reported to managers in the Netherlands and the US. Now he is reporting locally to folks at IBM in Spain, but he still works at home.

What's notable here is that Luis during the year has been on a quest to eliminate all business email. According to his latest status report, he's down to about 20-40 a day. He wrote about his experience in the New York Times earlier this year. I also interviewed Luis on the subject last month via Skype as part of an Edelman Change event that we held for clients, which you can view below or here.

So how is Luis doing it? By pushing more of his communication into social networks and wikis - both internal and external and relying more on IM. Luis is an inspiration. So do you think this is part of a broader trend? Is your email down this year? I think mine is down slightly and I am wondering if we're all starting to live like Luis and what the broader ramifications might be for internal communications.

Obama's Lessons for PR Professionals and Marketers

These days, it invariably comes up in virtually every client or prospect conversation. I call it TQ - short for "the question." A lot of people want to know: "How can we be like Barack?"

Companies and NGOs are eager for insights into the President Elect's magical marketing formula. They're hungry to study the campaign and apply his methods for building connections through social networks and a broader groundswell of support.

A new book coming out next month breaks the incoming President's approach down into an easy to read format. The book, entitled Barack, Inc.: Winning Business Lessons of the Obama Campaign, is available for pre-order on Amazon. However, if you have a Safari Online account, you can already read online it there, which is what I did today. Snippets are available on Google Book Search. It's overall a quick read.

Barack, Inc. breaks down Obama's strategy to three simple phrases: Be Cool. Be Social. Be the Change. I loved these simple Haiku-like expressions so much that I clipped the graphic off their web site and saved it on my computer. I have it here so you can do the same.

Be Cool means zeroing in problems, developing practical solutions, all while remaining unflappable and undistracted. It explains how the Obama team always focused on its core goal.

Be Social is the part that will interest many of you. It covers how Team Obama cultivated a grassroots following, built MyBarackObama.com into a powerhouse, created outposts in every major social network, leveraged mobile marketing and turned CRM into what they call CMR (customer managed relationships).

Be the Change was easy for Obama. That was his entire platform. But the book explains what this means for businesses - creating a vision and taking on tough issues, both your own challenges and the globe's, in a forthright, authentic way. It also means creating an internal environment that supports multiple points of view, which Obama does well.

Whether you're an Obama fan or not, I recommend the book. It offers a great roadmap for how 21st Century organizations should be run, particularly in these challenging times.