Web Business by Ken Burbary

Help write a new book about Twitter

Lately, more and more people I know on Twitter are discussing the idea that it seems to have crossed, or is approaching, a threshold and has gone mainstream. What signs point to that? Celebrities, politicians and other well known non-marketing/PR types are joining in greater numbers.

For starters, a Twitter user doesn’t get any bigger than the President. President elect Obama joined the microblogging service back in March 2007, and rose up the charts to become the most followed user on Twitter with well over 100k followers. He used Twitter regularly during the campaign to communicate the campaign message of Hope and Change.

Other well known celebrities are diving into the microblogging pool.  Britney Spears joined Twitter. And then Gary Vaynerchuk criticized her for using it as another broadcast channel, not a platform to engage fans. NBA stars Deron Williams and Shaquille O’neal both joined Twitter.

In addition to people from all walks of life and business giving Twitter a try, there were 2 important book announcements this week. Twitter power users, Laura Fitton and Shel Israel announced recent deals to write Twitter books, details here and here.

The significance of these annoucements isn’t the topic, although it is an interesting one, but rather the way in which the content, stories and topics covered will be written and selected. The authors are community sourcing the writing. This gives everyone on Twitter the opportunity to submit ideas, content, tips, tools, etc… for the book.

Laura has taken it a step further, launching a Twitter for Dummies community to make this process even easier. The site allows members to:

• submit ideas
• vote on ideas
• set up your profile
• search ideas
• read tips by category
• invite friends

This is another great example of community sourcing at its finest, and one I believe we will more and more of in the future. If you’re on Twitter and have something to share, what are you waiting for? Click on over to the community and start contributing!

Community sourcing evolves to the brand level

I’ve lived through many movements on the “web” since I began my career. Along the way there have been a countless number of trends, both successful and not, that have impacted how individuals and companies operate online. Two trends that emerged and have been adopted across the globe are outsourcing and crowd sourcing. I’ve separated them into the two major web eras to easily look at both trends.

Web 1.0 = Outsourcing                   Web 2.0 = Crowd sourcing

Outsourcing was/is mostly about saving cash.  Why try doing something in-house that isn’t a core competency? Instead go buy that product/service from the outside (Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency).

Crowd sourcing is different. The basic premise of crowd sourcing can be best described as the trend of leveraging mass collaboration enabled by Web 2.0 technologies to achieve business goals. Smart professionals have been crowd sourcing problems to the communities they participate in for awhile. Like Chris Brogan. When asked, he was unable to pinpoint his first use of crowd sourcing, but responded that he has been successfully practicing it for over 2 years.

Recently Warren Sukernek, creator of the Twittermaven blog, wrote about the the growing interest in crowd sourcing on Twitter. His post provided several examples of individuals using crowd sourcing to solve both personal and professional problems. Example:

As Laura Fitton said in Clive Thompson’s great Ambient Awareness article, “I outsource my entire life,” she said. “I can solve any problem on Twitter in six minutes.”

The benefits are many. Increased innovation, productivity, new & stronger relationships, etc.. One could argue that some businesses are being built by effectively leveraging crowd sourcing. Whether you agree with that or not, there is a large body of evidence that demonstrates its value.

Interestingly enough, Crowd sourcing has evolved into a higher level of sophistication, called Community sourcing (coined by Zena Weist). Community sourcing differs from traditional crowd sourcing in one key aspect. Its purpose is to direct the efforts and collective intelligence of the community, for the benefit of the community. Now this may be true in some cases of crowd sourcing (both parties benefit), but not always. In the case of community sourcing, it is the primary focus.

Individuals tapping into crowd or community sourcing is one thing, but how are progressive brands using community sourcing? The most widely known use is the Dell Ideastorm. However, it is far from the only example. Brands big and small are jumping into the community sourcing pool hoping to do with the help of the community, what they cannot on their own. Two examples I’ve seen recently are the NBC4 news team in central Ohio, and the Detroit Red Wings.

Ryan Squire, Managing Editor of the NBC4 news team, wants to connect with his viewers throughout central Ohio. He asked them, “What Would NBC4 2.0 look like?” on the corporate blog? His viewers have an unprecedented opportunity to establish a personal relationship with Ryan, and provide  feedback that will influence, and in some cases direct shape what the future of NBC4. How many times have you watched your local news and thought, I wish they did (fill in the blank), or I wish they would stop doing it that way? Here’s your chance to let them know.

The Detroit Red Wings are a dominant brand among NHL teams. They have loyal fans in every city, who are passionate supporters of their team. Last week, Shannon Paul (the Red Wings new media guru), led the NHL franchise into community sourcing territory by tapping into the fan base with this question: “How should the Red Wings use social media to strengthen relationships with fans?”. Have ideas on how you would like to see your favorite team engage with fans online? Exactly, we all do. What sports fan hasn’t said to themselves, it would be great if my team did this new thing, or why aren’t they doing that online? This opens the door for the Red Wings to go in a direction they aren’t capable of doing without the fans. Because in community sourcing, ideas come from everywhere. And each idea exchange, discussion, and interaction strengthens the relationship one has with the brand.

Why aren’t more companies/brands doing this? Why not tap into the customers you know for collective widsom? It’s not always going to give you the answer, but it will always show your customers/fans that you’re doing one VERY important thing, LISTENING.

What brands do you see engaging in community sourcing? What tools are they using to engage? What social networks are they leveraging? Please share your findings in the comments, and I’ll update the post to include new examples.

Most importantly, are these brands backing up the listening with changes in behavior? Are they adopting the suggestions and implementing them?