Paul Lomax - Two Point Oh

To quote Theophrastus, “time is the most valuable thing a man can spend” - and I don’t have a lot to spare on blogging. I like to carefully consider and edit my blog posts, backing everything up with research and links. It’s very time consuming.

I had supplemented the blog feed with the ma.gnolia daily summaries of my bookmarks, which some may have found useful, but frankly they look a bit crap - so that’s gone now.

But now Tumblr 3.0 is out, and it suits my needs perfectly - you’ll find my Tumblr blog at paullomax.tumblr.com. For those who aren’t familiar with Tumblr, it lets you post a whole range of media to a mini-blog (photos, quotes, links, comments, audio, video etc) - but the real killer bit is that you can import content from other feeds such as flickr, wordpress, twitter, etc - anything with RSS.

So please subscribe to paullomax.tumblr.com if you’d like to keep up with the following:

• TwoPointOh Blog - more in-depth posts and articles on Web 2.0 (via WordPress)
• Paul Lomax’s Links - useful links if you’re working in the web world, and a few fairly early glimpses at Web 2.0 start-ups (via Ma.gnolia)
• Paul Lomax’s Shared Posts - Web 2.0 highlights from the blogosphere - I track 100’s of blogs so you don’t have to! (via Google Reader)
• Paul Lomax’s Photography - a small and sporadic selection of my best photography (via Flickr - see also DeviantArt)
• Paul Lomax’s News - find out what i’m up to - not too much detail, promise! (via Twitter)
• Paul Lomax’s Quotes, Comments, and Media - other interesting bits and bobs (via Tumblr)

My ten guiding principals for a Web 2.0 strategy are now available as a slideshow!

These tactics for success will help ensure your site grows its audience and revenue and maximising profitability by harnessing the power of the Web 2.0 state-of-mind.

In late 2005/early 2006, the web industry got exciting as it went through this whole ‘2.0′ thing - a revolution of sorts. At it’s height so many fantastically unique applications and websites were emerging, based on truly new techniques and technologies.

Then earlier this year, frankly, it got boring.

More sites than ever were being launched, but they were all so samey - nothing new, nothing interesting - just variations on a theme: local stuff, event planning, a social network for yet another niche, digg clones, sharing opinions, map mashups, and more bloody widgets than you could shake a stick at.

But in the last couple of days two things have really grabbed my attention.

They’re technologies really, but ones with really clear applications that I think will have a profound effect on the way web companies conduct their business, probably on a par with AJAX. I’m serious - this is really exciting stuff.

1. Google Gears - take your application offline (in a good way).
2. Facebook Platform - reach the social masses - the network is now a commodity.

I’ll post a some more in depth information soon, but in the meantime take a look and have a think about they could apply to your business. If you’re not a techie yourself but you have developers working for you, then get them to have a nosey for you.

If you’re not interested, then you’ve probably only just woken up to social networking - sorry, you missed the boat!

For help on web technology and business strategy, or just for somebody to bounce ideas off, do give me a call.

PS: Fairly unrelated to the web, but Microsoft Surface got me quite excited too…

Google have announced the launch of their latest beta product, the oddly named Google Gears (what happened to clear beats clever?), which seems to be a direct competitor to Adobe’s Apollo and to the recently announced plans for Firefox 3.

Google Gears is an open source browser extension that enables web applications to provide offline functionality using JavaScript APIs.  These will allow web-based applications to store data locally using a fully-searchable relational database (powered by SQLite), with full use of AJAX.

The first Google app to get the offline treatment will be their RSS feed reader.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Facebook is the new Google.

BrandRepublic have some good coverage of the new Facebook Platform launch. Their API has been around a while and lets third parties develop applications that interact with facebook data and functions, but the Platform goes beyond this. Facebook Platform lets you build applications that live within facebook. Facebook is the platform. And with the site growing very fast now, it will be the platform if you want to build an application that lets people interact with the friends. Otherwise you’re just re-inventing the wheel and forcing users to re-create their friend networks all over again.

On second thoughts, forget Facebook being the new Google. Perhaps it’s the new Internet? (Albeit a privately owned Internet…)

Mashable have very kindly created a list of 30+ Facebook Platform applications available now, which include some of the usual web 2.0 suspects such as iLike and Magnolia, but some old schoolers are playing too, such as Forbes.com.

As if the classifieds industry needed another nail in it’s coffin, Facebook have launched a new free classifieds service called Facebook Marketplace. It was rumoured to be powered by Oodle, but now it’s thought to be have been developed in-house.

Could Facebook be the new Google? Can they take decent share of any market they chose to dip into, just from having such a large reach? Their photo sharing service is a very popular feature of the site and could cause Flickr to suffer despite it having a fraction of their functionality. If all your friends are on Facebook, why bother with Flickr? The same goes for their event system competing with sites like Upcoming (now part of Yahoo) and Eventful.

For some time I’ve been thinking about a kind of boilerplate strategy for Web 2.0 success. Having tapped the knowledge of many sources including Tara Hunt, Jeffery Rasport, Peter Horan, John Musser and Tim O’Reilly himself, here are my ten guiding principals that should apply regardless of your proposition. In no particular order:

Short on time? Web 2.0 Strategy now available as a slideshow! 

#1. Create a sense of community

• Provide a feeling of membership through functionality such as profile pages, ‘friending’, defining groups and friend invites.
• Provide a feeling of influence and efficacy - a platform for expression where the audience is in charge.
• Fulfil social, ego and self-actualisation needs - allow users to show their status and expertise; let them get a feeling of competence and support from others. Status rewards, karma points, and having featured members can help.
• Take a leaf out of Flickr’s book and greet every new member. Do this by “eating your own dog food”!

#2. Have a simple proposition

• Your site must have a strong, simple and compelling proposition. Can you imagine somebody explaining it to their friend on the phone? “I found this really good website today called xxx - it’s great because….”
• More so, to be truly successful and go mainstream, your site should offer “a benefit to the person that makes a real difference in their lives.” (John Coate)
• Don’t just think about active participation such as user generated content. Aim to leverage passive participation as well - think about what you could do with ‘attention data’ and let users simply vote with their feet.

#3. Ensure viral growth

• If you want to grow, you must include facilities to encourage word-of-mouth - both altruistic and incentivised.
• Build-in ways to share - Email, blogs, RSS, widgets, cut and paste of code snippets, IM, and SMS.
• Develop ways to lower the barrier to invite friends and family, eg Import from address books (hotmail, gmail, outlook express), import from instant messaging clients.
• Include elements that encourage a natural network-effect, whereby the site has more value to users the more people they invite.

#4. Do continuous R&D

• Continually research and develop the site on a rolling basis (think Agile) - do not be afraid of experimentation.
• Keep an open dialogue with your users and involve them in decisions.
• Provide an easy mechanism for users to provide feedback. It’s free testing.
• Closely monitor real user behaviour and use this information to improve and develop your site.
• Web development and design is a process, not an event - the first day after a redesign is the worst and the day you stop tweaking a website is the day it dies.

#5. Build a platform for advertisers

• With your community, think about how you can genuinely put advertisers in touch with the right consumers.
• Create opportunities for advertisers to interact with the users in ways which will be of interest to both parties.
• But remember, advertising should just be the icing on the revenue cake.

#6. Let the outside in and the inside out

• Let the outside in: allow content from the web into your site, eg widgets, rss, etc.
• Why not include your competitor’s news on your site? They’ll only go back to Google to get it. Progressive insurance even shows competitor’s prices even if they beat theirs – builds trust, gives confidence, increased conversions.
• Let the inside out: Allow syndication of your content and brand through rss, widgets, open APIs etc. Set your content free.
• 60% of YouTube streams are on third-party sites – let your users do your marketing for you.

#7. Own the audience

• Target your proposition to an audience. Aim to overwelm the microcosm.
• You can target on one of the following:
  • Location (eg xianei.com – china).
  • Interest (eg myspace.com - music).
  • Identity (eg ivillage.com - female).
  • Condition (eg theknot.com – getting married – used by 85% of US weddings).

#8. Don’t forget to be profitable

• Think carefully about traffic acquisition costs - don’t make a net loss in driving traffic.
• Consider paid search as a cost-of-sale rather than marketing.
• Check the real costs of content creation.
• Measure and focus on your rate of monetisation - eg total revenue per visit - this is your yield. Should you be trying to increase this before trying to increase traffic?

#9. Get your content mix right

• Be relevant - readers are looking for complete solutions.
• Make sure your content resonates - expertise is relative – people are looking for the like-minded, pro or otherwise.
• Be specific - the specific always drives off the general.
• Don’t slow people down - readers need the content on demand.
• Ensure you are comprehensive - readers want the full story, so they value input from peers.
• Provide a mix of content from broad to narrow; from small audiences (long-tail) to large audiences (mass) – delivered from a range of sources, from editorial content , blogs, UGC, Forums and ratings, reviews and comments. For example narrow content might be a search for gardeners in my area, whereas broad content might be an article about gardening trends.

#10. Sell something

• Building a website business that relies completely on advertising is like building your house on sand.
• Instead, sell something! Even if it’s ones and zeros. For example Facebook sells virtual ‘gifts‘ for $1 each (when you have 18 million users I bet it adds up…); SecondLife sells virtual land; DeviantArt sells prints, merchandise and ad-free premium membership;
• Novelty items like Facebook’s gifts and other services to help you ‘pimp your profile’ are the online equivilant of mobile ringtones, which are $6.6bn global business. Another good excuse to part kids from their pocket money.
• If you’re into a more grown-up business, think about what data and content you have that might be genuinely valuable to people - and not just your users. Is there a business-to-business side revenue stream to be found? Even your user’s attention data might be valuable.
• Think about what your users would happily pay for.

Did I miss anything?

Boo.com has relaunched today as a travel website - NOT a clothing website as it once was or as their preview suggested…

Now I know what blog commenter insider@boo.com was hinting at when they said I’ll be pleasantly surprised. Surprised all right. In hindsight, their comment on Neil Perkin’s blog now makes sense!

Their about page says

Our boo.com is new, but we have years of experience in travel.
In fact, we’ve booked travel for over 12,000,000 people from 250 countries since our first site launched in 1999.

But they don’t give away who’s really behind the site. Apparently it’s actually owned and run by the Irish owners of HostelWorld.com, WSI.

So at the end of the day they’re simply trading on a famous (or rather infamous) name - no need to build a brand. Plus of course bloggers such as myself will link to them!

The logo’s a bit ropey IMHO, and their content pages (eg New York) are very cluttered. And the CSS is crap. The search seems to work quite well, but at the moment they only have B&B’s, Hostels, Villas and the like - no proper hotels…

More coverage on Mashable.

Are you stuck in the Icy North, or have you crossed the Gulf of YouTube, negotiated the Bay of Trolls and sailed through the Sea of Memes to reach the IRC Isles?

Map of Online Communities

Very funny - but actually quite useful!

Notice the compass which describes sites in the North as practical, sites in the South as intellectual and shows sites in the East focusing on real life and sites in the East focusing on the web.

This five minute film is the best definition of Web 2.0 I’ve seen (well spotted Natts) - not because it’s the most accurate or the most complete - because it’s the most inspiring.

The Machine Is Us/ing Us