The Web 2.0 Internet economy has resulted in countless new innovative businesses and solutions. It’s never been easier to bring a product or solution to market. This sudden spike in new business development has made the market exceedingly competitive. Not because your competition is under pricing you or other typical market challenges; but more because its so challenging to get the right person at the right time to understand your value proposition so you can make a deal. I can’t tell you how many great companies I’ve met with, that after finally getting their one hour face-to-face meeting; left me wondering how I could work with them, what it will cost, how I can share the message with someone that may be able to use them. Honestly I can’t keep track of them all and I don’t try.
I understand that there are many special cases where you may be invited to a direct opportunity or have a inside connection; but for the majority of us the audience could be ice cold. Anything we can do to turn-up the impact and get a slight edge could mean the difference between a big payday and a big waist of time. Here’s a few points to help providers reach customers in the digital space:
I met Gary Vaynerchuk in January at FOWA 08 in Miami; and blogged about him here. I’m too busy for a real blog article this week but saw Gary on Conan last night; figured I’d share. If you like wine and web 2.0 you’ll love Gary Vaynerchuk; entrepreneur and host of Wine Library TV.
WLTV has blossomed into a full-fledged community. The viewers (self-named “Vayniacs”) convene on an extremely active forum, and have organized numerous off-line gatherings. Gary and the viewers have teamed up with Crushpad in the past year to create the first ever community wine, Vayniac Cabernet.
Web 2.0 applications leverage social media and open technology to deliver rich user experiences. The most successful Web 2.0 solutions solve problems in unique ways. Commonly these are simple often free solutions.Consumers are trying to avoid marketers Too often marketers try to add social media tools to advertising, create viral games or other marketing content intended to entertain consumers. Consumers are looking for tools and applications that solve problems; that are useful. Here are some examples:
Flickr: With almost 10,000,000 registered users Flickr is an image/video hosting website, web services suite and an online community platform. It was one of the earliest Web 2.0 applications and one of the most popular social photo sharing sites (Alexa Rank 39). Flickr offers its service free for up to 100MB of uploads per month and unlimited uploads for pro users; the account cost $25 per month. Flickr was purchased by Yahoo in March of 2005. Continue reading »
I attended the Future of Web Applications (FOWA 08) conference in Miami and it provide d great insight into Web 2.0 and social media technology than. Most importantly is to see this trend through its leaders - the super stars of Web 2.0 represent a major shift in business values and culture. This list leaves out many more amazing folks than it includes; but it represent a new wave of values. Openness, passion, striving to make other peoples lives better, to add value. Web 2.0 makes that possible on many levels.
The open source technology frameworks and APIs to build and share services and information.
Infrastructure, cloud computing, scalability with open source platforms.
Market reach through networks of people and influencers nearly free of brand marketing, word of mouth, viral social media.
The common desire to see each other success and to mutually benefit from each other’s progress.
It comes down to making really great stuff that people can use, making it free, helping each other and if your ‘thing’ is really ‘all that’ you are going to be incredibly valuable. The whole movement seems to put significance behind something we used to reserve just for vacations and occasional weekends: Happiness.
At the FOWA Miami 08 conference I didn’t hear that a Blackberry application for RTM will be available soon. I did hear that the RTM team Omar Kilani and Emily Boyd both have Blackberrys and that I may be pleasantly surprised very soon (even though Omar admits he doesn’t see why someone wouldn’t just get an iPhone) .
Social E-Challenge is a business plan competition that promotes the creation of social ventures that use entrepreneurial tools to effect social change. Participants range from for-profit businesses with strong social responsibility to nonprofit’s with sustainable revenue generation models. The common denominator is that by being successful, these companies have a positive impact in our society and the environment.
Spigit is a newly launched community that aims to provide a network of support for start-ups and their founders - the Entrepreneur Challenge. The simulation engine provided by spigit is a way to sort of test out your idea. The simulation runs through three stage where approval badges are awarded for things like buzz percentile, number of views, and expert approval. Completion badges are awarded at the end of each stage, enabling ideas to graduate to the next level. Several data points are considered for the simulation engine, including the tracking of dynamic interaction on the site. Spigit’s simulation benefits carry over into the virtual stock market as well, where “spigits” can be traded to determine the market value of a particular idea. 6 Top Companies will meet with Keiretsu SoCal; 1 will be selected to present to Keiretsu Investors for Funding Opportunities. Continue reading »
About this blog
An early pioneer in interactive media, Dean Whitney is a Web 2.0 and Social media technology evangelist. Start-up veteran, President of Garfield Group Interactive a Boston-based digital agency.
The Web 2.0 Internet economy has resulted in countless new innovative businesses and solutions. It’s never been easier to bring a product or solution to market. This sudden spike in new business development has made the market exceedingly competitive. Not because your competition is under pricing you or other typical market challenges; but more because its so challenging to get the right person at the right time to understand your value proposition so you can make a deal. I can’t tell you how many great companies I’ve met with, that after finally getting their one hour face-to-face meeting; left me wondering how I could work with them, what it will cost, how I can share the message with someone that may be able to use them. Honestly I can’t keep track of them all and I don’t try. 
solve problems in unique ways. Commonly these are simple often free solutions.Consumers are trying to avoid marketers Too often marketers try to add social media tools to advertising, create viral games or other marketing content intended to entertain consumers. Consumers are looking for tools and applications that solve problems; that are useful. Here are some examples:
importantly is to see this trend through its leaders - the super stars of Web 2.0 represent a major shift in business values and culture. This list leaves out many more amazing folks than it includes; but it represent a new wave of values. Openness, passion, striving to make other peoples lives better, to add value. Web 2.0 makes that possible on many levels. 
