co nt rarianco nsult ing.

co m

http://www.co ntrarianco nsulting.co m/blo gs-facebo o k-twitter-and-chance/

Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and Chance

by Alan Weiss June 4, 2008

Ive just invented a new law f irm, as you can see by my title. T hey specialize in obscure technical torts. Someone posted a commentary here asking my opinion of the world of linked-in f acebook, YouTube, and other assorted means of mass mischief . Im not high on them f rom a business standpoint. Now, I know, that there are experts all over the place claiming that social networking is going to replace traditional marketing, and customers talking to customers will determine the f ates of businesses. Forgive me, but I also remember the paperless of f ice, checkless society, and T he Friendly Skies (yeah, right). I dont really think that citibanksucks.com took a whole lot of business away f rom Citibank. From a consulting business perspective, heres what I think: 1. Blogs are only ef f ective if you already have a brand. People come here, or go read Seth Godin, or Marshall Goldsmith, or Jef f rey Gitomer, or David Meister, because were all well known in our areas of expertise. T hat is, a blog f ollows a brand, not the other way around. You cant create a brand just with a blog, unless youre ridiculously lucky, and business cant be based on luck. 2. It is variously estimated that there are about 200 million blogs (counting the strange Chinese networks stuf f ) and the overwhelming number of them are crap. T hey are unposted f or months; they contain just the streamof -unconsciousness of the author; they f ocus on bizarre trivialities. T here is no barrier to entry f or a blogger, and you get what you pay f or. Most are poorly written and treat English as an alien lif e f orm. (I love the ones with no paragraphs, just massive text, that make no sense, and have no indication of who is actually doing the writing. Now, T HAT S ef f ective promotion, huh?!) 3. You can use up all your time f ollowing blogs. Buyers of consulting services dont visit blogs as a rule, and certainly not to make buying decisions. T hey may visit a blog AFT ER they have a relationship with the consultant, which just proves my point. 4. Twitter is pretty nonsensical. Watching someone wash their hair or walk to their car is irrelevant to marketing consulting services. It is idiosyncratic. I think its f ine if people want to do this as a hobby, but f or solo practitioners and entrepreneurs, it can drain your lif e away. It is to marketing what text messaging is to writing a novel. 5. YouTube I f ind usef ul in that you can access some outstanding resources there, such as the lectures given at T ED. But you also f ind all the schlock in the universe, and there must be a law that, to post comments, you have to have f lunked both basic English and civility in primary school, because the proportion of dolts and louts who post things is f rightening. Its like being at a hockey game, but you cant get a hot dog. 6. Facebook, linked-in, and all the rest of the social crawl space is f ine f or trying to get a f ull time job, or f inding out whos divorced, or sharing your latest hairstyle, or f lirting. I abhor the linked-in automated messages about good f riends who have asked me to join their network whom I cant even recall, and I f ind it reprehensible to dump your entire contact list into this morass and annoy everyone whos ever written you an email or sent you an overdue notice. I f ind linked-in to be the worst kind of spam. My f ocus is on helping consultants and entrepreneurs to market their services better and improve their lives. I dont think it happens with social networking on the Internet, and like television or alcohol, a little bit can be f ascinating and diverting, but if you over-indulge you can boil your brain and ruin your lif e. If television is the great wasteland, in Newton Minnows f amous phrase, then the Internet is the great land waste. T here is so much potential f or growth that is almost subsumed by a ghastly amount of unregulated, egomaniacal, derivative schlock.

With rare exception, consultants arent going to meet key corporate buyers online. T he web is a good place to do some research (if youre smart enough to realize that places such as Wikepedia are suspect, given the sources), order specif ic goods, and arrange f or certain services (though the trend now, f or example, is to return to human travel agents and abandon Orbitz and the rest of the automatons). But its a lousy place to f ind and meet clients. Im still quite convinced that youre of ten talking to a dog. Buddy wont make eye contact when I conf ront him, but I f ind paw prints on my trackball in the mornings and biscuit crumbs near the keyboard. Alan Weiss 2008. All rights reserved. PS: Ive cut back on the Podcasts because my allergies are killing my voice and I dont want to inf lict that on you. T hey will return as soon as the allergy medicine, JW Blue, kicks in.