Web 2.0 marketing. Some food for thought. And your OPINIONS are highly encouraged...

[Ankesh]

Actually - there are quite a few people who are "rebranding" themselves with the web 2.0 tag.

For eg: many people are trying to raise money by claiming that they have a web 2.0 website... and many internet marketers too have come out with ebooks that show how to use linking strategies on social networking and other such sites. If you visit some hard core internet marketing forums - you'll see what Steve and Pete are talking about.

Most of these people over-do it a bit. They act like web 2.0 is the next big short cut make-a-million-bucks-in-half-a-day thing.

But that doesn't mean web 2.0 is a fad. It's an idea that has some real value. As Gordon also stated in the beginning post - Inter-Connectivity is great for selling more.

[GordonJ]

Web 2.0?

Internet Marketing? What does it mean?

Auto-Pilot Business? Meaning?

I hope more people weigh in on this discussion...

Neurological event? What the he** is that? Heart Attack? NO. Stroke? NO. "More like aftershocks of an earthquake, sort of like tremors in the brain"...so said my idiot doctor (whom was subsequently fired) a few years ago...right before the RIGHT diagnosis was made...DKA...

Anyhow, doctors aren't the only ones that deftly use OBFUSCATION which Wikipedia defines as: Obfuscation refers to the concept of concealing the meaning of communciation by making it more confusing and harder to interpret.

AH. Web 2.0 seems to mean different things to different people...so let's see what the all knowing Wikipedia says about it:

Web 2.0, a phrase coined byO'Reilly Media in 2004, refers to a perceived or proposed second generation of Web-basedservices-- such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools, and folksonomies that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users. O'Reilly Media, in collaboration with MediaLive International , used the phrase as a title for a series of conferences, and since 2004 some developers and marketers have adopted the catch-phrase. Its exact meaning remains open to debate, and some technology experts, notably Tim Berners-Lee, have questioned whether the term has meaning.
The last, compact definition of Web 2.0, according to Tim O'Reilly is this one:

"Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them." (Emphasis mine)

Now we know what THEY think. And some of you seem to have some strong feelings about what it means, if anything too.

Way back in the 96, Akron-Canton was one TWO Roadrunner test sites (the other was in CA, I can't remember..Fremont?? perhaps)...anyhow...
everyone else was on DIAL UP.

Did we have the same Internet experiences? I did a test (might be in the archives somewhere) and I was able to visit about 7 times the numbers of sites in the same period as a person with dial-up, however, if downloads were involved, I was about 20 times faster...compared to what people had, some friends considered that I had Web 2.0 already.

We get new versions of software, each update has version number...we all know about that...anyhow...since 96 most of the world has gotten broadband of some kind. Some reports indicate that dial up is a minority option for Internet access.

On dial up those FLASH intros really don't work. But on broadband they are awesome. (Maybe unnecessary for marketing, but that's a different debate.

In my mind Web 2.0 is simply an UPGRADE. In 96 Charles Prosper told me to lock myself inside for a week and don't leave the house until I knew html...very good advice for back then...

With more and more people having broadband access, it makes more things possible...the early video conferences had streaming...almost unbearable to watch delays...Web 2.0 allows you to communicate directly without delay or streaming...(let's not get technical boys and girls)...

Imagine this. The other night I was on a TELE CONFERENCE...on MY dime I dialed up...punched in a code...and listened in to some BS being slung by one of the 1001 gurus (maybe the one Steve objects to so much??? don't know)...

So how much did that FREE tele seminar call cost me? I'll let you know when I get the phone bill.

IMAGINE a full VIDEO conference. You just go to a website...log in. You can see the presenter...behind her is a screen that appears to be 1000 televisions...NO just video thumbnails of those tuned in. Click on one of them...say MINE for example...and like a PIP (Picture in Picture) during a footballl game...there you have the presenter and ME...and we can carry on a separate conversation while we record the conference...and when Q and A time appears, we can ask questions..

All of this done for FREE. Would that be an improvement over today's TeleConferences? Maybe you don't think so, but I think it is an UPGRADE...something Web 1.0 couldn't do...(hey if we use Web 2.0 we have to call the "old" web something right?)...

The technology you SEE today has been in development for years...and what you will see and do tomorrow on this thing we call the WEB, will be done with all of that research and development exploited to the fullest.

There isn't ever a MANDATE for new technology...some people still have phones you dial LITERALLY...some have really OLD radios...and others have GASP, Vinyl Records...that must have been Portable Music 1.0 but back then if you wanted to steal a song, you really had to steal the thing from the record store...

OK OK.

Some of you feel that Web 2.0 is a bunch of hot air, hooey, baloney nonsense...and that is shared by the guy who most credit with creating the Internet (providing key apps to make it work) and that would be the above mentioned Tim-Berners Lee.

As a marketer, I look for trends, for advancements in technology...for an edge if I can find one. It doesn't bother me what some "guru" says or what BUZZ of the day is happening...most of it I simply ignore...

so you can ignore Web 2.0 if you want...carry on...do as you've always done...there is a guy somewhere around here that still keeps his record store open. It is never a YOU MUST do this or lose out (well, actually it is in some instances)...but as for Web 2.0

I'm very excited about some of the new apps I've seen and I'm making plans to integrate in...but, I may be wrong.

Gordon Jay Alexander 3.1.1 (I've had at least than many UPGRADES and incarnations...HA!

GJA,

Thanks for starting this thread.

Web 2. Ahh. Reminds me of those heady days back in 1998. The TV show "The Site" with Solidad O'Brien was a hit. And there was much ado about...

Internet 2.

I've read the pasted Meaning of Web 2. And I see Corporate Speak. Designed to bamboozle - maybe dopey VCs? Nothing that can be Nailed Down. One of those stupid words like Kitch. So those who use it can feel important while saying to those who ask what it is, "if you just don't know you won't understand". Is that like a Zen Thing?

For there to be a True Web 2, then there must be a defining moment when we stopped being Web 1 and became Web 2. And I just do't see that Event. I don't even see those gray Spring or Fall moments were a transition happened.

Everyday - every single day - those who play on the internet playground are coming up with new stuff. So no single defining moment can be seen. Just a Constant Change.

The internet has always been about Affinity and Interaction. And as I look around, I still see the same. Done slightly differently in some instances, but the same nonetheless.

Michael Ross

Jim, et al..

Here is why I feel the way I do about Web 2.0.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004,[1] refers to a
perceived or proposed second generation of Web-based services..

=======================================

Russell Shaw (On the ZDNet Blog)
http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=805

"Well, Web 2.0 is bunk. Not that the elements of this rebirth aren’t
there. I write about some of them, and Richard has them nailed. It’s
just that they cannot be classified under a common umbrella. They are
forward lurches of various standards and technologies, some compatible,
some not. Some revolutionary, some evolutionary, some impractical.
Some are collaborative, others are highly competitive with each other."

============================================

Tim Berners-Lee on Web 2.0: "nobody even knows what it means"

============================================

Then, on the lighter side...

Web 2.0

No Thanks, I'm Holding Out for Web 3.0

http://www.somethingawful.com/d/hogosphere/web-20.php

=============================================

I'm done now.

Pete

hi pete...

your link to chia is not working..or at least on this thing it isnt

I "think" I've got if fixed now.

I appreciate you letting me know about the glitch.

Pete

It's deja vu all over again.

Electronic communities sharing common interests through messages and files...It's the Bulletin Board System with the first one started in 1978.

It is very similar. I was reading an article on the CBC this morning about the social network service that Netscape Communications Corp. founder Marc Andreessen, has created called www.ning.com. In the article he says:

"Today's social networking services are fantastic, but they are very similar in approach to AOL, Compuserve, and Prodigy in the early nineties."

Best Regards,
Steve MacLellan

[Glenn]

Hi,

Thanks for raising the topic of Sales.

Anybody interested in the Anatomy of a 2.0 Sale?

Here's a FRUSTRATING Sale:

STEP I - Entertaining and Wacky ideas in my Ezine - get prospects to call. Or email. Then I call Them.

Here's how it works.

A - Got a phone call from Hawaii yesterday. Bill had read an Ezine and wanted More ideas on how to keep his job. (Too soon to report results)

B - A customer in Dubai called to Applaud a BIG RED NOSE Ezine about Getting Appointments. And asked for ideas on how to reach the owner of a chain of Crystal Sculpture Stores. (Called an hr ago)

==================

C - 30 DAYS AGO - A Radio Talk show contact in Florida - ordered my "How to Make $ From Home Reading Books" Book off Ebay.

Then called me. He talked about wanting to lose 100 pounds.

#1 - And said, "NO." When I guaranteed he'd Lose Wgt eating the Special "HEALTHY CHOCOLATE" we use as a referral system.

He asked for a sample. I sent him a Tupperware container.

#2 - He said, "NO." I called him. He said, "Too Expensive." And had the nerve to refer me to a chocolate site where the cost was more than TWICE as high. 15 pieces for 30.00

#3 - "NO" After I sent him my 78 Page "Munny Making Chocolate" book.

#4 - "NO" - I called him with the #3 Chocolate Distr on the phone.

#5 - "NO" - I called to Thank him for an idea he gave me. Told him a funny chocolate sales story. He said, "No thanks."

#6 - I called him 2 more times to Report Pain Relief, Wgt Loss and Sugar Diabetes folks needing less Insulin after eating the chocolate. He said, "NO."

#7 - I called him with a Warped Munny angle one of my readers was using. And he told me he was scheduled for a Stomach Banding Operation. To lose Wgt. I asked him to Try Healthy Chocolate 1st. (You guessed it. "NO"

#8 - While on the phone with a marketing client - he told me 2 horrific Stomach banding and Stomach stapling stories AND that he himself at 5 ft 8 inches - used to weight 240. But had lost 52 pounds.

I asked permission to 3-way call them together.

"YES" - The horror stories did the trick and I sold 2 boxes to the guy. With a promise to eat "Healthy Chocolate" steadily up until the operation date 8 weeks hence.

WHEW.

Sales Stats show that 50% of all sales don't happen until after 14 contacts or more. I'd say that if you counted Emails - we were around 14 contacts.

Since 99% of the folks who order Chocolate from me ALSO begin to order some of the other products or services on my archives site...

I sometimes PACK Lots of Contacts into a short Space of time - combine, email, snail mail, Voice mail and Live contact - to get to the MAGIC # 14 Faster.

Thanks,
Glenn

P.S. - "Here's a link to where this sale STARTS - "How To Make $ From Home Reading Books" book...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=120376155734

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Glenn

Sales Stats show that 50% of all sales don't happen until after 14 contacts or more. I'd say that if you counted Emails - we were around 14 contacts.

Since 99% of the folks who order Chocolate from me ALSO begin to order some of the other products or services on my archives site...

I sometimes PACK Lots of Contacts into a short Space of time - combine, email, snail mail, Voice mail and Live contact - to get to the MAGIC # 14 Faster.

Thanks Glenn... Your post is a KEEPER! Great stuff!

Once upon a time I took on a part time job selling comedy tickets for a few months... I did it mostly for the sales experience. I wanted to get more experience at it.

Believe it or not, we were cold calling to the PHONE BOOK! I couldn't believe it... The "list" was not "selected" in any way, shape, or form...

I got pretty good at it. Every now and then they'd have a competition, and give a bonus to the person who made the most sales that day. I won the bonus multiple times, I'm happy to say.... (Even so, I still quit after a few months, since my plan was to get the sales experience, not to do the job forever.)

Anyway, some people take a long time to get to "Yes"...

The way I figure it, is that everyone needs certain boxes checked before they'll say yes.

- There has to be an emotional desire for the product...

- The price has to seem sensible for what they get...

- They have to feel confident that they won't be ripped off, that it's not a scam - that there's credibility in the product and in the sales person...

- If they like you, all the better! (I'd often "joke around" with customers and put them at ease, and get them laughing...)

Anyway, it was a good experience. However, yes, I did have a few prospects who would umm and ahhh... and keep me on the phone... and eventually buy (or not!). But they sure took a long time to make a decision... The way I figure it, they were going through the check boxes, making sure each box was checked before they'd buy...

Having multiple contacts, I feel, helps people get the opportunity to check all the boxes they feel need to be checked... And the more comfortable they will feel, as long as you treat people well...

Thanks for your post, Glenn! It was a great one!

Best wishes,

Dien