Later this week I will be in Atlanta for a FISPA meeting. One of the sessions I am presenting is Social Media in a Nutshell. This follows my Marketing in a Nutshell session.
The slides are here for your pleasure.
Recently in twitter Category
If your model is free, how do you pay the bills? How do you pay for the infrastructure - the servers, switches, collocation, bandwidth, labor, etc.? How do you pay developers and engineers to scale it and keep it up?
Twitter is still free and so is Facebook. Popular too. But both have issues with keeping it running.
The funny part is that the longer it is free, the harder it will be to charge for it.
The only app I can think of that transitioned to paid was Google Apps and Gmail for Business.
Recently, a Twitter app for Blackberry, UberTwitter, (that is free) decided to try ads with its update. OOPS! (Read it here). Was it the way the ads were presented ( with no lead up or announcement)? Or is it the Entlitlement mentality of most Internet users?
There's a group on Facebook literally with the name We Won't pay for FB. I was told recently that FB's revenue is about $550M. How? There aren't that many ads running. And how much do you think it costs to keep Facebook and its CDN running? I would image over $1 million per month for bandwidth, gear, salaries, collocation, and the like.
Advertising doesn't even bring in that much. The online advertising spend is much less than what marketers pay offline (like for print or billboards). So how will all these free apps survive?
Twitter is still free and so is Facebook. Popular too. But both have issues with keeping it running.
The funny part is that the longer it is free, the harder it will be to charge for it.
The only app I can think of that transitioned to paid was Google Apps and Gmail for Business.
Recently, a Twitter app for Blackberry, UberTwitter, (that is free) decided to try ads with its update. OOPS! (Read it here). Was it the way the ads were presented ( with no lead up or announcement)? Or is it the Entlitlement mentality of most Internet users?
There's a group on Facebook literally with the name We Won't pay for FB. I was told recently that FB's revenue is about $550M. How? There aren't that many ads running. And how much do you think it costs to keep Facebook and its CDN running? I would image over $1 million per month for bandwidth, gear, salaries, collocation, and the like.
Advertising doesn't even bring in that much. The online advertising spend is much less than what marketers pay offline (like for print or billboards). So how will all these free apps survive?
Last night was the WITI Tampa meeting with two social media experts - IBM's VP Sandy Carter and Tampa Bay's own Shawna Vercher.
Sandy walked the audience through some social media lessons, including some homework on your Brand 2.0: Post 2 presentations to SlideShare; join LinkedIn and Facebook and connect with 50 people; and join twitter and tweet. Your brand is about experience, connection, promise and interaction. Social media helps you to give your audience (or marketplace) that. It can't replace face-to-face, but, as Shawna put it, it's a nice placeholder for you until you see them again. It's a way to stay top of mind. It's all about what you want your brand to be - offline and online.
Other ways to utilize social networks to boost your brand are becoming an expert on LinkedIn Answers; creating how-to videos on YouTube; and increasing your search engine results with tagged video and photos (especially with a Flickr account).
The one thing about social media that many brands haven't gotten is that social media is like dating. It should be treated just like face-to-face networking. People say stuff on Facebook and Twitter that they would never say in person.
If you met Guy Kawasaki in person and all he did was talk non-stop about his Alltop project, wouldn't you walk away?
If you met a blogger and all they did was discuss their blog posts, number of readers, famous people who commented, etc., would you want to run into that person again?
Then don't be that way on Twitter or Facebook.
Shawna talked tactically about ways to use these technology platforms to gain business. It's a way to reach out to your audience and let them get to know you before you do business together. To do that well, you need to have a social media plan. What is Your Goal? How much time will you put into it? What will you say? Who are you talking to? Shawna recommends that "You map out your sales cycle."
Ideally, you want to give the preception that you are the best or an expert in your field. To do that well, you would ideally announce (whether on LI, FB, or twitter) about your speaking gigs, industry news, client proposals, worthy works, congratulate people, case studies, etc. It doesn't have to be about what you had for breakfast or what your cat did.
Remember that social media is the virtual date. Shawna says that Facebook is like meeting for a cup of coffee and Twitter is that blind date. Either way: dress appropriately and act accordingly. It's about interesting conversation first and foremost. You can't engage by puking marketing material on them or being all Me-Me-Me. Again would you do that in a face-to-face encounter?
Lastly, this stuff is permanent! It's like herpes, your digital history will last forever.
This will be a strange post but Alex Balashov and I had a Twitter exchange today about the telecom industry and its relentless pursuit of arbitrage plays. From long distance to calling card to SIP trunking, it's all about changing the bucket of minutes for something cheaper so someone can make some short change coin. Kind of ridiculous.
I asked where the Purple Cows are. Where's the HD Voice in my Hosted PBX? Where's the mobile component that is stupid easy?
Alex doesn't like Hosted PBX. "As for Broadsoft, it's an overpriced waste of time. Not because it sucks- it is a very feature complete multitenant engine...its cost simply doesn't scale to what people are willing to pay for hosted PBX and dial tone. Shot up by commoditization."
Very few Purple Cows in our Industry. And if you think you are one, I suggest you talk to your customers. Why? Because while you may think you deliver a great service, your competitors are taking your customers.
Alex and I did agree that the way SIP Trunking is sold is yet another arbitrage play. "So, I think we agree - trunking in itself is a very mathematically exacting but mostly pointless waste of time. As far as who captures the value in the non-enterprise VoIP space, you're absolutely right - the very few value-add vendors."
It's food for thought from twitter.
Alex talks further about TDM - that it is still the winner in reliability, inter-operability, and call quality.
"From a cost perspective that is a hard OPEX formula to meet. TDM is still the only reliable means of PSTN access. Stuff just doesn't work well. Eventually the smart ones widen up and get cheap TDM circuits, and ISDN gateway boxes. ... 90% of their technical overhead drops off, churn slows, but the margins take a dive unless they got a really good deal. "good deal" usually means meeting an IXC in a hotel and not paying loop on the circuit, just blended usage."
This leads me to wonder what ever happened to Voice Peering and ENUM? Well, one thing is that everyone wanted to start one. There wasn't just one. The rules and connection costs get in the way. Why didn't COMPTEL force its membership into a Voice Peering arrangement in 2005? Add in the Cable Industry, VoIP players, and Sprint's network of cellular minutes and you take a lot of the minutes out of the ILEC's PSTN. Costs drop. Or would they? Seems that the CLEC's would still want Inter-Carrier Compensation since some have this built into their financial model (as it were). Because Bell-heads (traditional telecom execs) don't think the same way that Net-Heads (IP execs) think. The settlement model would have to be forced on them. Even the FCC has balked at that for 10 years.
Alex doesn't get my Peering point so let me spell it out further. Take Sprint as the manager of the Voice Peering Points in Dallas, NYC, LAX, CHI and maybe VA. CLEC's, cablecos, ITSP's could drop traffic either as TDM or IP on the switch and not pay for termination. A flat rate if you will. But Alex is correct that the settlement issues just won't float. Too many Bell-heads left in charge.
To mean VoIP was able to take off for 3 reasons: broadband deployment, expensive TDM, and cellular acceptance of crappy call quality. We haven't come much further than that.
I asked where the Purple Cows are. Where's the HD Voice in my Hosted PBX? Where's the mobile component that is stupid easy?
Alex doesn't like Hosted PBX. "As for Broadsoft, it's an overpriced waste of time. Not because it sucks- it is a very feature complete multitenant engine...its cost simply doesn't scale to what people are willing to pay for hosted PBX and dial tone. Shot up by commoditization."
I think that there are two camps: one that thinks Voice should be free - and I hear that more from folks IN telecom than from buyers. And these folks simply do not grasp the stranglehold that the ILEC's have on the PSTN, which for years to come will still be the network of the final mile to end user. Yes, cellular is large and cable voice is growing, but most of that traffic still resides on the ILEC operated PSTN. ENUM and Voice Peering domestically in the US has not reached a level that will cripple the PSTN yet, luckily. (What will we do when that happens?)
The other camp will gladly pay to reliably and clearly communicate with family, friends and customers.
Maybe I am in the minority but I can't hear folks well on Skype, Magic Jack or cell phones. I for one would like less computer features on my "smartphone" and better clarity, volume controls, and speaker. But that's just me.
Alex does make a good point that all ITSP's need to pay attention to: "No process, no standardisation, no infrastructure = no chance of making money, on something that is a red sea to begin with." What's a Red Sea? A bloody marketplace built on price, not value. "Develop business processes that can be replicated at decreasing marginal cost, standardize." That at least helps when you live in a Red Ocean.
The Starbucks of Telecom. Who is it? Alex suggests that it is "Ifbyphone, Callfire, and various niche call center and dialer vendors (far from all)." And certainly these companies offer a value add on in a niche way. However, who is providing the dial-tone while delivering a communications experience? (I don't know). I have a laundry list of stuff I want from my Hosted PBX vendor:
- HD Voice
- Easy access on smartphone
- Easy transfer to/from mobile/desktop
- Presence
- Video capability
- IM/Chat
- Email-Voicemail Integrated mailbox
- Voicemail text
- UM (unified messaging)
- User portal
- Click to call
Very few Purple Cows in our Industry. And if you think you are one, I suggest you talk to your customers. Why? Because while you may think you deliver a great service, your competitors are taking your customers.
Alex and I did agree that the way SIP Trunking is sold is yet another arbitrage play. "So, I think we agree - trunking in itself is a very mathematically exacting but mostly pointless waste of time. As far as who captures the value in the non-enterprise VoIP space, you're absolutely right - the very few value-add vendors."
It's food for thought from twitter.
Alex talks further about TDM - that it is still the winner in reliability, inter-operability, and call quality.
"From a cost perspective that is a hard OPEX formula to meet. TDM is still the only reliable means of PSTN access. Stuff just doesn't work well. Eventually the smart ones widen up and get cheap TDM circuits, and ISDN gateway boxes. ... 90% of their technical overhead drops off, churn slows, but the margins take a dive unless they got a really good deal. "good deal" usually means meeting an IXC in a hotel and not paying loop on the circuit, just blended usage."
This leads me to wonder what ever happened to Voice Peering and ENUM? Well, one thing is that everyone wanted to start one. There wasn't just one. The rules and connection costs get in the way. Why didn't COMPTEL force its membership into a Voice Peering arrangement in 2005? Add in the Cable Industry, VoIP players, and Sprint's network of cellular minutes and you take a lot of the minutes out of the ILEC's PSTN. Costs drop. Or would they? Seems that the CLEC's would still want Inter-Carrier Compensation since some have this built into their financial model (as it were). Because Bell-heads (traditional telecom execs) don't think the same way that Net-Heads (IP execs) think. The settlement model would have to be forced on them. Even the FCC has balked at that for 10 years.
Alex doesn't get my Peering point so let me spell it out further. Take Sprint as the manager of the Voice Peering Points in Dallas, NYC, LAX, CHI and maybe VA. CLEC's, cablecos, ITSP's could drop traffic either as TDM or IP on the switch and not pay for termination. A flat rate if you will. But Alex is correct that the settlement issues just won't float. Too many Bell-heads left in charge.
To mean VoIP was able to take off for 3 reasons: broadband deployment, expensive TDM, and cellular acceptance of crappy call quality. We haven't come much further than that.
Do you know what twitter is? It's the text messaging to the masses application platform. Officially, I think it is described as a micro-blogging social networking platform, but huh? The idea with twitter is to update a group of folks about what is of interest to you.
I'm on twitter and so are many TMC folks, like Rich, Tom, and sales guy extraordinaire Anthony; so is the TMC news service.
There are some telcos on twitter like Embarq, CenturyTel, and Windstream. The two companies merging do nothing with there account; it's a place holder. Windstream however just started up and they are doing a good job of it as far as I can tell. It's about interaction and they are being interactive with their customers, which is the example set by companies like JetBlue and Zappos.
The cable company with a bad service reputation took to twitter months ago and has been winning back it scustomers One at a time. That's right, Comcast is doing it the old fashion way, reaching out to help customers one at a time.
TWCable has an account with protected updates. Bright House Networks has one employee who is just underway.
In the VoIP world, there are plenty of folks on twitter, including Dan York from Voxeo, Garrett Smith of VoIP Supply and FreedomVoice. Actually there are too many to mention in VoIP.
Is your company interacting with its clients and target marketplace? Take twitter out for a test drive -- or watch what other folks are doing and copy it.
I'm on twitter and so are many TMC folks, like Rich, Tom, and sales guy extraordinaire Anthony; so is the TMC news service.
There are some telcos on twitter like Embarq, CenturyTel, and Windstream. The two companies merging do nothing with there account; it's a place holder. Windstream however just started up and they are doing a good job of it as far as I can tell. It's about interaction and they are being interactive with their customers, which is the example set by companies like JetBlue and Zappos.
The cable company with a bad service reputation took to twitter months ago and has been winning back it scustomers One at a time. That's right, Comcast is doing it the old fashion way, reaching out to help customers one at a time.
TWCable has an account with protected updates. Bright House Networks has one employee who is just underway.
In the VoIP world, there are plenty of folks on twitter, including Dan York from Voxeo, Garrett Smith of VoIP Supply and FreedomVoice. Actually there are too many to mention in VoIP.
Is your company interacting with its clients and target marketplace? Take twitter out for a test drive -- or watch what other folks are doing and copy it.
So social media expert, Chris Brogan, blogs about Michael Goodspeed being wronged by YouTube. Since Google owns YouTube, this is the beginning of Google becomes the Evil Empire. I've been watching this happen for a while. When GrandCentral was upgrading to Googel Voice in waves it was a bitchfest on Twitter because people had to wait. *gasp*. They had to wait like 10 days to get access to an upgrade to a free service. WTH?
I just don't understand the issue with entitlement in this world.
It's like the people who have sued Google when Google makes changes to its algorithms, causing their business to fall off. Or when Google started charging for Google Apps and Gmail for businesses. People were not happy. (What will they do when Google Voice comes off Beta and has a price tag? Voice has a cost).
I now understand why businesses fail: lack of common sense; lack of business sense; no knowledge of business or contract law; and entitlement.
Google, YouTube, Flickr, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Twitter, and Facebook are free to use. If your account gets deleted like Goodspeed's did, it is a bad day. You have back ups, right? But is Google evil because the account was deleted? I don't think so.
If you base your business on a free software platform and that company changes something, you better have plan B. What if the government decides to take ARPANet back for government use only? Or Net Neutrality policy fails so that you only get content form your ISP? No more INternet as we no it. What then? You better have a Plan B.
I understand that Goodspeed is upset his account was suspended, but it happened on Thursday, March 26th. It's only the 31st. Google isn't set up for customer support to consumers on its free services.
And he forewarned people that this could happen. How did he know?
When twitter is slow, people complain all day. There's a Facebook group titled I will not pay to use Facebook - Keep it free. I just don't understand the mentality. It costs big dollars to provide these platforms and keep them running. And to do it for free is unheard of until the Internet came along. It's the Generation of Entitlement - and it is annoying. No one owes you anything.
I just don't understand the issue with entitlement in this world.
It's like the people who have sued Google when Google makes changes to its algorithms, causing their business to fall off. Or when Google started charging for Google Apps and Gmail for businesses. People were not happy. (What will they do when Google Voice comes off Beta and has a price tag? Voice has a cost).
I now understand why businesses fail: lack of common sense; lack of business sense; no knowledge of business or contract law; and entitlement.
Google, YouTube, Flickr, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Twitter, and Facebook are free to use. If your account gets deleted like Goodspeed's did, it is a bad day. You have back ups, right? But is Google evil because the account was deleted? I don't think so.
If you base your business on a free software platform and that company changes something, you better have plan B. What if the government decides to take ARPANet back for government use only? Or Net Neutrality policy fails so that you only get content form your ISP? No more INternet as we no it. What then? You better have a Plan B.
I understand that Goodspeed is upset his account was suspended, but it happened on Thursday, March 26th. It's only the 31st. Google isn't set up for customer support to consumers on its free services.
And he forewarned people that this could happen. How did he know?
When twitter is slow, people complain all day. There's a Facebook group titled I will not pay to use Facebook - Keep it free. I just don't understand the mentality. It costs big dollars to provide these platforms and keep them running. And to do it for free is unheard of until the Internet came along. It's the Generation of Entitlement - and it is annoying. No one owes you anything.
Image via Wikipedia
People are communicating more things to more people than ever before, and not just by phone anymore. Internet-enabled communication models are gaining audience, attention and market share at the expense of traditional telecommunication providers (Telcos). Can Telcos fight back and find new growth opportunities in this rapidly changing ecosystem? The challenge is not just in understanding the technology, but also the unfolding fundamental shifts in human communication behavior.
Facebook, SMS, twitter, LinkedIn, Ning, YouTube, Ustream, and all the rest of the social media strata are where people are communicating. IM/chat like Skype, Google Talk, Yahoo, and MSN also have taken some minutes out of the system.
If you look at usage of cell phone minutes on the youth, you will see very little talking but lots of texting and web access. (Maybe charging per minute caused that). The primary communication method is social networks not telephony.
Telcos are losing landlines, mainly to cellular replacement. Certainly, cableco bundles have taken some landlines, but studies show that in this economic mess folks choose the mobile phone over a static line. Add in the fact that the next generation doesn't eat up minutes means that long distance revenue will be dipping as well as landline counts.
This presents a problem for telcos because the content folks don't want to share the revenue, which in many cases they don't have. Twitter, Facebook and Hulu are all having a challenging time monetizing a rapidly growing platform.
People are communicating in new ways -- and none of these innovations came to you from Ma or Pa Bell. Surprised? I'm not.
It's amazing the news feed you can get from Twitter.
Broadband Stimulus Plan: High-Speed Access coming to Rural America
Ask our CIO about our UC implementation at Aspect on a Frost & Sullivan webinar tomorrow:
Telefonica, Microsoft Offer Windows Live Services to Latin America
AboveNet is connecting 4 Telx facilities in NY/NJ
Recession is slowing the Death of Dial-Up.
RackSpace is using the Green label to market its hosting service. (IPO's will do that to you).
Apparently, BPL is still a viable option. Go figure.
This is all in about an hour. There's a lot going on. How are you keeping up with the Industry?
Broadband Stimulus Plan: High-Speed Access coming to Rural America
Ask our CIO about our UC implementation at Aspect on a Frost & Sullivan webinar tomorrow:
Telefonica, Microsoft Offer Windows Live Services to Latin America
AboveNet is connecting 4 Telx facilities in NY/NJ
Recession is slowing the Death of Dial-Up.
RackSpace is using the Green label to market its hosting service. (IPO's will do that to you).
Apparently, BPL is still a viable option. Go figure.
This is all in about an hour. There's a lot going on. How are you keeping up with the Industry?
I am looking forward to Miami Beach next week. I'll be leaving the chaos of Tampa in the midst of Super Bowl 43 on Sunday because flying out Monday was too expensive (and crazy). So I'll be in Miami Beach (staying at the host hotel, the Royal Palm) and watching the game at a neighborhood bar. If you are in town, ping me on twitter.
Have you checked out the Facebook page for IT Expo/4GWR? Bowling party courtesy of DIDX on Tuesday evening. And if you are looking to have dinner with some interesting people drop me a note - we will be at Meat Market on Monday night and Icebox on Tuesday.
There are plenty of no-charge reasons to go to the show: Microsoft Response Point training; Reseller Solutions Day (or How to Make Money with VOIP) and this IS the place to learn about SIP Trunking.
Well, got to run and write some more notes for my keynote, The Road Ahead, at 4 PM on Tuesday for Telecom Agent Day.
Have you checked out the Facebook page for IT Expo/4GWR? Bowling party courtesy of DIDX on Tuesday evening. And if you are looking to have dinner with some interesting people drop me a note - we will be at Meat Market on Monday night and Icebox on Tuesday.
There are plenty of no-charge reasons to go to the show: Microsoft Response Point training; Reseller Solutions Day (or How to Make Money with VOIP) and this IS the place to learn about SIP Trunking.
Well, got to run and write some more notes for my keynote, The Road Ahead, at 4 PM on Tuesday for Telecom Agent Day.
On Wed. night, I am moderating a discussion at the American Marketing Association - Tampa Bay Chapter (New Media SIG) on the Deep Dive into Blogging.
In a Biz Journal article, the author notes, "It is a new world for business. Embrace the opportunities. Open your mind to a new way of connecting. It is a great way to prosper in any economy."
I say that in today's business world, you have to be connecting with your customers and prospects - even your employees, vendors, and prospective employees. Reward programs are old school. Social media - in the form of blogging, Facebook groups, YouTube channels, Twitter, etc. - is the way to really form a bond with your customers.
For years, we heard about WOM (word of mouth). We read books about turning Customers into Evangelists and BuzzAgents and Sneezers. But how do you do that? According to Seth Godin's latest book, you build a Tribe. You lead people. One way is to be a Thought Leader in your industry. Blogging helps.
If you have an authentic dialogue on your blog whereby you give value to your readers, you will eventually build a tribe. (It may not be a big tribe, but a tribe of followers nonetheless).
Here is a sneak peek at my presentation:
In a Biz Journal article, the author notes, "It is a new world for business. Embrace the opportunities. Open your mind to a new way of connecting. It is a great way to prosper in any economy."
I say that in today's business world, you have to be connecting with your customers and prospects - even your employees, vendors, and prospective employees. Reward programs are old school. Social media - in the form of blogging, Facebook groups, YouTube channels, Twitter, etc. - is the way to really form a bond with your customers.
For years, we heard about WOM (word of mouth). We read books about turning Customers into Evangelists and BuzzAgents and Sneezers. But how do you do that? According to Seth Godin's latest book, you build a Tribe. You lead people. One way is to be a Thought Leader in your industry. Blogging helps.
If you have an authentic dialogue on your blog whereby you give value to your readers, you will eventually build a tribe. (It may not be a big tribe, but a tribe of followers nonetheless).
Here is a sneak peek at my presentation:
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