What are the tech bloggers missing? Your business!

Excellent way to look at this. That could be a great way to help these business owners understand and embrace the opportunities that exist with social networking.

I will try once more since the first response got deleted, maybe because I referenced bloggers who **do** attempt to do this (myself included.)

With the SME space – the biggest issue is that too many people ‘don’t know what they don’t know’

And yes there are many of us trying to convince them, verbally and in writing.

Robert, technology overall, in regards to small businesses is divided three ways:

1. Those who lead in technology and/or are quite advanced. These small businesses have web sites (that look good, blogs, CRM, etc, etc). Often times they lead like this due to management that gets it on a personal level but also sees tech as a way to advance the company overall.

2. Those who use technology out of a necessity. Sure they do email marketing – but that’s about it. They do it maybe 6 times per year and they put 100 images of their latest product in the newsletter as well. They try – keeping customer records in MS Access or Excel – but that’s about it. They are always trying to keep the water from rising too fast in their “boat” of business. Know what I mean.

3. Then there are those who really can get by as they are with no or litle tech. Maybe the local pizza shop or old school accounting office. 1MB of memory on an old computer, no network. The on button is filled with dust.

Millions of us are on Twitter – but guess what it looks like many people are twittering about twitter. I don’t think there are that many businesses – “succeeding” using Twitter. WSJ says so, in finding ONE success story, but it’s hype.

There will always be a digital divide. PERIOD.

Ramon Ray, Editor & Technology Evangelist, Smallbiztechnology.com

This is a great post. It hits the heart of the matter. These tools are just crying out to be used by “ordinary” businesses to create extraordinary returns. It’s unbelievable the blindness we can have. We pay to much money to have a TV ad, and yet every company in the World can have a virtual TV network with Worldwide reach for almost nothing. Wal-Mart has thousands of stores, one in every town, but today, even the smallest business can have, not just a store, but a cash register in every house in America, and get the customer to be their own sales clerk to boot! And why aren’t they blogging everyday, new pictures, the latest things happening at their store, restaurant, creating interest, creating energy, twittering, facebooking, and all these incredible tools, most are free! Peter Drucker would say they are too busy solving problems to create opportunities. “Don’t Solve Problems. Create Opportunities.” he famously said. There is so much dead energy. These sites are silos at best, most are just fliers just so they can say they have a website. When it comes down to it, business is primarily social. You do business with who you like, with who woos you, who’s fun energetic and makes you feel good. If they only knew how their websites are subconsciously doing the opposite, telling visitors almost to stay away and don’t come back, and most people never do nor think about the business again. You’ve hit the nail on the head. This is the crucial missing link in the system, how to bring this whole thing together, and as Drucker famously also said, “All the money goes to the company who provides the crucial missing link” Too many people are also doing stuff they hate just for the money. That’s the definition of the Wasteland mentality, a slave mentality. So I hope this new era ushers in a wave of energy to unlock that old paradigm and give people fresh hope, fresh lives, new awakenings on every level, in other words, what has been termed in the past a new “Golden Age” sorta, well not sorta, like the Renaissance and that Ionian Greek period.
If this were a horse race, the runners are entering the gate!

I’m gonna add one thing to that. By not interacting these Mainstreet Companies are giving the impression to potential new customers that they’ve something to hide. That helps cement that wall in the customers mind (if they’re even thinking of them at all, which they probably aren’t) which is why businesses need to use these tools to constantly be interacting, creating awareness and credibility.
Leo Laporte certainly is no “ordinary” business but if “ordinary” business’s just watched was he was doing, get that vibe into their own businesses, they wouldn’t even have to be so interested in tech to get into what he’s doing, to take cues from it and apply it to their own success.

Robert, you are talking about how to help a restaurant like Junoon. But the majority of tech bloggers, media, analysts do not focus even on the larger enterprise tech buyer like a Citi or a GM – it is largely a vendor driven world. Vendor pr around new products, their earnings releases etc drive most reporting and blogging.

I have long felt the CIOs and CTOs and IT directors are the unsung heroes in our industry. They get none of the stock options or the fame, but make tech work…the more we can write from their POV the better it will be for the industry

I think you’re right Robert. I work as a project manager in the Digital Media department of Europe’s largest conservation charity and I notice a real disconnect between the the ‘geeks’ and the business itself.

The reason I started selfwinding.net was to try and address that disconnect. There’s such a wealth of knowledge here that can be applied to business and the more they (the business) understand, the more they want to do and the more we have to do. All good for everyone.

It’s a very new project and I’m looking for other digital media professionals to contribute – you’d do at a push.

Great post and fantastic replies.

I run a business search and local microblogging site in the UK. I totally agree with JS. Most are time short so unless you can show them what the ROI for using your service they won’t stay long.

Many ‘Social’ services are precisely that and as such don’t translate very well to business.

Yes many businesses use sites like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter etc but how many of those can honestly say that they receive significant new customers from those sites.

The two quesions most businesses want your site to answer are

1. How will your site help me find new customers.
2. How will your site help me retain existing customers.

I think social networks need to innovate around those two questions in order to convince businesses to invest their time (and Ad spend)

i have been using twitter, amazing ..!! i get more traffic

“I don’t go anywhere unless I can a) FIND the place on google (etc) and b) Find out more about the place on google (etc).”

He may be 100% correct as far as your buying patterns go. Still uncorroborated if he is correct as far as the other 6+ Billion people in the world goes. Show me the data beyond anything anecdotal.

Hi Robert -

Excellent observation… and really a major problem/issue if you step back and think about it in terms of the billions of dollars companies large and small spend on technology.

I’m not a regular blogger (which hopefully doesn’t disqualify my comments) but what you’ve experienced is why I left the corporate world 12 years ago to start a consulting business around helping people and organizations make better use of the technology THEY ALREADY OWN.

The truth is stuff doesn’t have to be brand new or the latest gizmo to be of value. Individuals today have more power at their fingertips (courtesy of a PC loaded with Microsoft Office and has high-speed access to the Web) than entire Fortune 100 companies had just a generation ago. But they’re only taking advantage of a sliver of its potential because most of what could be really helpful to them is talked about in technospeak… something the majority of business people don’t understand, and are too busy to learn.

It may be simplistic, but I think what you’ve (accurately) described is something I called the “culture” of technology in my book “Winning Clients in a Wired World” (John Wiley). Back in 2004 I described it this way…

“If you’ve ever felt as if you’re missing a technology gene, or that you just don’t get what everyone else does, let me put your mind at ease: It’s not you; it’s the “culture” of technology. Developers focus on *features* (what the program does); users care about *benefits* (what the program can do for them).

“To be fair, the people developing these tools are only responding to user demand for more and more functionality. But in the process, programs have been loaded with layers of labyrinth-like menus whose features, in most cases, remain undiscovered and unused. Left to themselves to figure it all out, most users get confused and frustrated.

“That said, you don’t need to become a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, you just need to master a few processes and procedures—and then implement them. As you do, realize you’re not alone. Everyone wrestles with technology. Others have faced your problems and found solutions. Later on, I’ll show you how to connect with them.”

More than a decade of working with business people, mostly in sales and marketing roles, has proven to me that given clear direction and described from that perspective of “here’s why what we’re talking about matters to you”, most people are eager learners.

It could be something as basic as understanding how to navigate Google and limit your search to exact phrases, titles, or certain web sites. That may seem incredibly old hat to your readers, but I assure you the majority of the Internet-using public does not know that they can do those things… much less how. And when you show them, it’s like turning on a light in a room that’s been forever dark.

If you’re interested, I’d love to explore this subject further with you. There’s a tremendous opportunity to help lots of folks at the core of what you’ve surfaced. You are welcome to contact me at the email included with this post. I’ll reach out to you separately with an email or phone call early this week.

Hope we can connect.

Kind regards,

Kip Gregory

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What Robert seems to be trying to say is that on a grand scale none of the big blogs are really doing you guys much service. I’m sure he knows that he’s just a geek, writing about geek stuff. He said we went looking for the articles about business and couldn’t find much of anything.

Douglas, you talk about promoting local businesses. This is great, but if its only local, then it’s not getting out there to the rest ofthe people that might benefit from your experience. How can we as a community maximize and leverage your knowledge and experience?

Silicon Valley is where the TECH news is made. Business news of all other type is made elsewhere. (and there but the Valley is small compare to the World)
The Valley is making the tools for the businesses but how do the businesses use them, what do they want? I have a pretty good idea, I’ve serve technology to small & medium sized enterprises throughout the northwest.

This isn’t about “web presence” That’s yesterday’s news. And Yes if a business didn’t get it they are going to get it. But Social Media is a whole new ball game. It’s not about “presence” . It’s about “enagagement” Its about interaction with the customers, future employees and the community. A “web presence” was about putting up a billboard on the information super highway (sound 90s enough for you?). If you didn’t put up billboards on the real life highway, why would you want virtual ones? But the face of the matter is, every business interacts with its customers, employees, and the community as a whole. It IS what they do. Social media extends that interaction in to the online world. Why is this important? 75% of all people under the age of 35 in the US have a a Facebook or Myspace account. (IIRC) We’re nearing that percentage with the 35-50 demographic. Most children today GREW UP on Facebook and Myspace -it’s the playground that they experience. Businesses are going to have to be able to speak to this side of their community.

But the people to tell them how to do it are in short supply. If Robert Scoble can’t find them, I have to imagine there just aren’t that many. I know how Robert absorbs news. He’s big on telling people like me how to do it.

So how do we as a community make this really happen for the business community?

If it’s not really out there, how do we make it happen? How do we get that completely business oriented blog site to take off? How do we attract some talent to it? How do we get writers like myself & Jesse, who can provide some business focus, the right eyeballs reading them. Out of the geekdoms and into the boardrooms and into the mom & pop shops.

I recognize I am little off topic here. We’re ready to bring ya here when you’re we ready. Yes, we blog everyday, http://www.hawaii-aloha.com/blog we podcast twice a week (for almost 3 years now) http://www.hawaii-aloha.com/podcast http://www.hawaii-aloha.com/podcast Let me think about you question about engaging like customers, it’s a pretty good one.

My take is who the hell in there right mind is gonna give US any kind of free advertising, people in the blogging community simply do not take bloggers like me seriously, will not cross link, post etc. cause we ARE a business.

Robert you’re definitely heading in the right direction. I’ve been wrestling with these issues for a month and the closest I’ve come is that it’s my “Marketing Campaign”. I think I’ll start to focus on your other point of what story I’m trying to tell and then what I’m trying to sell! But maybe ultimately we are just trying to sell ourselves and the blogs reflect that. Those that don’t have content, borrow some, others invent!

By the way I’m publishing and IT Project Methodology but I’ve ended up doing product development, marketing and just plain thinking all at the same time. Any advice?

Does Junoon “need” a Web presence? Well, that depends. Do they want to be found on Google? Do they want geeks to be able to reserve a table via OpenTable? Do they want reviews on Yelp? Do they want to find new clientelle that doesn’t know about them today? Do they serve Silicon Valley’s best people?

If they do, they need to cater to people who use the web.

Personally, yes they do.

Now that we got there, what could we do to make their business even more successful?

Agreed. Brogan rocks. But he focuses a bit too much on social media. Most businesses don’t even do the fundamental stuff well (most businesses’ sites really suck, just like the two I gave above). If you don’t understand the fundamentals, how are you going to get into Twitter or Facebook? http://www.chrisbrogan.com/

If the business right next door to Facebook isn’t getting it, then I feel better about the progress we’re making. Equalizers are good things, mostly. =) Will let you know…thanks!

At least that business is interested in finding out what to do. They will eventually start making progress. Just last week I told a local business I was unable to find them online and they could get listed for free.

Their response was “everyone” in town already knew where they were. (Highly unlikely even in a town of that size.) They did not need to advertise or have an online presence. I should mention that in many small and even medium size towns such as theirs, lack of competition has created a dirth of motivation to improve.

@Doug, What about ChaCha… Angie’s List and eTapestry. They have all made it on key Valley blogs… Just a FYI

Jesse – Two out of those four articles really directly apply to most businesses. The Cotweet article seems like it’s really appropriate to almost any type of business -we all need CRM tools, and twitter is a mess in that area. The article on TodaysMama shows a business much more about how it can find and use social networks that are more specific to the individual needs of the business. The fourth article (allowing certain friends)is more appropriate to 2 types of people than anyone else: public sales/marketing/PR types, and and current or future job seeker (which realy encompasses us all but….)

The problem: Placement. “Location Location Location”

I have to wonder how many non-tech business readers you’re reaching on your blog and Louis’ blog. Certainly Louis’ seems more tech-market driven. What about simultaneously publishing articles like this on more business oriented sites?

Robert’s point was essentially two-fold 1) Not many bloggers writing about solutions for general down-the-street businesses, and 2) of those who are writing about those solutions, most are winding up in “new-technology” blogs.

Where’s the blog that the business readers read? How about getting these kinds of articles in the NYT and WSJ? Thats one start.

And also, what about a “business blog” where are those?

Robert, Dig a little deeper into the Indianapolis tech scene if you’re looking for tech bloggers that address real business issues. Indy is quietly developing into an software, data center, SaaS and cloud hub that offers talent pool, competitive salaries, and awesome cost of living.

Conrad,

You just defined your ideal client:. “…clients who dont care about anything but how much can I pay you to get me more customers”.

I guarantee you there are people out there who want to put $1 into Conrad and take $2 out.

Talk about what they care about, not what you care about.

Mark