brands and social media

On AR Commerce

July 5, 2010 No Comments

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Years ago I walked into a large ballroom at the Biltmore Hotel in Montecito with a rep from CISCO. He handed me a little blue booklet. It was CISCO’s plan for commerce in the year we now inhabit – 2010!

Fast forward to this month and we have a fabulous rendition by Gary Hayes of what this book held + a summary by Barry O’Sullivan, SVP at CISCO, of predictions for this year. Mr. O’Sullivan’s 10th point on his list states:

“Customer Collaboration – organizations will continue to evolve the way they interact with their customers, responding to the ground swell of demand for consumer / vendor engagement in public arenas such as social networking sites and specialized forums. We expect to see early majority adoption of social customer care (what we call customer collaboration) solutions among larger organizations.” (Barry O’Sullivan’s full article here).

Mr. Hayes’ excellent video vision reflects Mr. O’Sullivan’s prediction and takes it several steps further, giving us an exciting preview of what is possible now! (Mr. Hayes’ video preview of Augmented Reality commerce here).

Strategy for small businesses in crisis times

July 4, 2010 No Comments

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Strategy for small businesses in crisis times:

1. Take one day to listen to yourself:
– http://amzn.to/Proprioceptive
– http://amzn.to/walking_meditation
– “Silence is a source of great strength.” – Lao Tzu.

2. Take the next day to listen to your customer.

3. Take the 3rd day to map the intersection points of your dreams and your customer’s needs.
– http://bit.ly/Behance_Action
– http://bit.ly/37_signals
– http://bit.ly/Timeboxing

4.Create 20 strategies for you business based on these intersection points. Prioritize these strategies. Remember, strategic thought is the art of shaping realities.
– http://bit.ly/scenario_planning_method
– http://bit.ly/social_footprint_map

5. Identify and clear blockages to effectively actuating these strategies.
– Go for a stroll (this is very powerful and simple. Be sure to breathe while walking).
– Give attention to the thoughts (focus on the blockage itself and go into it.
            “If you can’t get out of it, Get into it!” ~ from Outward Bound)
– Let go of thinking (vigorous physical exercise helps with this one, including dancing all night!)
– Be in the present moment (What is happening right now? And now? And now?)
– Practice conscious breathing
– Shift to a new scene
– Shift to doing something different
– Free association
– Reverse the thoughts
– Practice mindful non-judgment

6. Execute the strategies 1 by 1, using increased income to facilitate all the extras that come along and to give you white space for zen and more strategizing.

How to make the transition from outer to inner reality, from Earth to Cyberspace

June 26, 2010 No Comments

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It is in the space between inner and outer world, which is also the space between people–the transitional space–that intimate relationships and creativity occur. ~ Winnicott

I suggest that social networks ARE this transitional space for humanity. During this time of paradox and liminality, individuals get to explore the connections between themselves and others, between worlds hitherto seen as separate, between one’s deepest beliefs and trending topics. Liminal space has been defined as “…a space in which alternate realities meet, in which the past and future are open to us” by Starhawk, a leading teacher of human circle-gathering. Liminal space implies permeability and a kind of communication/discovery which has, up until now, been known by the very few.

Social networks have changed all of this. In fact, the very fact that boundaries are seemingly more permeable due to swift accessibility in social networks makes discovery of truth both more practical AND more questionable. The kinds of questions emerging out of our burgeoning social networks contain a specificity not seen 20 years ago. An example of this is the explosion of infographics available now to bring previously unseen phenomenon into view (http://bit.ly/infographic_blog_resource).

What is one TO DO amidst this increasing complexity AND swift migration of the human spirit/mind/heart from earth to virtual worlds, virtual economies and, quite honestly, whole new planets (formed and lived within the collective human psyche)?

Brian Solis has produced a fabulous graphic along with JESS3 (http://bit.ly/heart_based_marketing) that suggests the most effective roles humans can play in the social fabric of the internet. He invites us to be Problem Solvers, Producers, Curators and Conversationalists vs. being Marketeers, offering Too Much Information (TMI), being Complainers or Self-Promoters.

In keeping with this are Paulo Freire’s fabulous steps for solving problems and making progress. Find below the steps, along with social tools for aiding you in resolving just about any problem currently facing you in your life. By the way, prior to getting into this, I must add that having courage and belief in yourself is a BIG piece of the puzzle!

STEP 1: IDENTIFY THE PROBLEMS through getting acquainted with the participants in the issue/eco-system/sub-culture/conflict. – Do this using social listening and scanning tools (http://bit.ly/audience_counts) AND flesh-matching tools like http://www.meetup.com. Study focus group agencies and their methodologies: http://bit.ly/egg_strategy_blog

STEP 2: PRODUCE THE CODES – (a) Employ a graphic artist who is intuitive to help you create an infographic + a single symbol to hold the essence of that information OR (b) upload CSV files full of data to a tool like Many Eyes or another data visualization tool: http://bit.ly/many_eyes_tool. The infographic functions as a kind of map of a vicinity within a niche sub-culture or slice of the greater social eco-system AND the single symbol is a kind of talisman or avatar that holds the power of that niche and quickly communicates this in the greater social fabric of the internet.

STEP 3: SEE THE SITUATION AS THE PARTICIPANTS EXPERIENCE IT – More on this here: http://bit.ly/listening_tips.

STEP 4: JUDGE THE SITUATION – Read Chinese military classics like these: http://bit.ly/chinese_military_classics. Military leaders are some of the best diviners of truth, out of necessity. It has been un-fashionable and politically incorrect for too long in therapeutic settings to make outright judgements but we live in times when good judgement is more important than ever.

STEP 5: TAKE ACTION TO CHANGE THE SITUATION – Pro-active beings are the ones who make the world go round AND have the most fun in life. Here are some fabulous tools from Behance to aid you in getting IT done, whatever IT is: http://www.behance.com/Products.