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OK. So, maybe the Borg aren’t the best analogy. But when two people I respect separately reference the same article that talks about “the hive mind,” I’m understandably intrigued. The article in question, Clive Thompson’s “Brave New World of Digital Intimacy” in the New York Times Magazine, looks at the growth of “life-streaming” applications, such as Facebook and Twitter. Stowe Boyd comments, noting,

“I have maintained for years that social tools are specifically different from other tools we use to interact in that they shape culture. They are not principally about communication, or number crunching: they are in the business of changing what we think is right and wrong, what we think is important, and how we perceiev (sic) the world.”

Stowe mentions his conversation with Thompson about how you can put these tools to work, but, sadly, that conversation made neither Thompson’s article nor Stowe’s post.

Fred Wilson gets a little closer to the life-streaming meets work-streaming world, but looks at the issue as one of content delivery and interface. Which is valuable, if your business is one of content delivery or interface design - and, to be fair, most businesses online these days do need to care about those issues.

But, the most critical item is how you can use these tools to connect with your customer. And this is where Thompson provides the clearest guideposts. He writes,

“Facebook and Twitter may have pushed things into overdrive, but the idea of using communication tools as a form of “co-presence” has been around for a while. The Japanese sociologist Mizuko Ito first noticed it with mobile phones: lovers who were working in different cities would send text messages back and forth all night — tiny updates like “enjoying a glass of wine now” or “watching TV while lying on the couch.” They were doing it partly because talking for hours on mobile phones isn’t very comfortable (or affordable). But they also discovered that the little Ping-Ponging messages felt even more intimate than a phone call.”

The key thing is, customers crave these types of connections. While we rugged individualists loathe to admit it, inside we’re all aching for contact. We want to be with people just like us. Social - in any form - is about people. Last time I checked, your customers were people. Seems like an obvious fit to me.

So, how do you use these tools to grow your business? Here are 11 examples (Top 10 lists are trite; mine go… to eleven!) of past coverage:

• What the Marines can teach you about social media marketing
• Can you find new business using Twitter?
• Are the critics right? Is social marketing not ready for business?
• How to succeed at selling inside social networks
• How well connected is your brand?
• News from the local and social front
• The hidden key to social marketing success
• Comcast and Twitter (Sorry. No chickens this time).
• What’s the business value of Twitter?
• Is it possible to be a good social citizen and a successful brand at the same time?
• Smart companies use Twitter. Here’s how.

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Just as Google announces it’s working to sell TV ads for NBC Universal, the Wall Street Journal reports the U.S. Justice Department has hired a lawyer to investigate Google for antitrust violations in its advertising business. We’re not going to examine the merits of the case itself. Instead, we’re going to look at what such an investigation means to you and your business.

Whether the case has merit or not - and at this point, calling it a “case” is premature - doesn’t matter. Companies under investigation - or post-investigation sanction - by the U.S. government inevitably lose focus. The Microsoft-DOJ battle of a decade ago, and its aftermath, shows what happens after companies go through these sorts of distractions. Not only did Microsoft’s product introductions lag during the immediate period following the case, young competitors suddenly found the will to enter markets Microsoft once ruled. What happened as a result? Microsoft, while still a massive player in the technology space, isn’t the immovable object/irresistable force it once was: Google is. Or is it only coincidental both the antitrust action against Microsoft and Google celebrate tenth anniversaries this year? For that matter, Microsoft itself emerged as a dominant player in the aftermath of the U.S. antitrust case against IBM of the 1970’s.

Google may already be showing heightened concerns of government action. The company has announced several changes to its privacy practices in just the last few days (here and here), potentially to deflate government concerns about harm to consumers. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the government is swayed by arguments like Nick Carr’s,

“…Google collects more data on consumers’ needs and behavior and can tailor its ads more precisely, strengthening its competitive advantage and further increasing its income …[Even its beta products increase this effect] by generating advertising revenue and producing valuable data on customer behavior.”

Why should you care?

Small, niche-focused businesses will always need search for a chunk of their business. It’s inevitable. As customers increasingly turn to search as their first source to find what they’re looking for, your business’ results will depend, in some part, on search. Unfortunately, due to its dominance in the search space, when Google sneezes, thousands of small businesses catch cold. The question is, is it time for you to get a flu shot?

Yes. And no.

Even if this thing turns into a real case, and a real distraction for Google, alternative search engines likely will fill the void. As noted above, these actions usually result in new players coming on the scene. So, continue to make sure your company’s site shows up in search results. But, also consider how much of your business should come from search (see Mike Moran’s thoughts, too). And how much search comes from Google. If all your eggs are in Google’s basket, it’s time to get some other baskets, too.

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Vinton Cerf - who is as close to the father of the Internet as exists - recently offered his opinion on where the Internet is going. Along with his views on the societal changes the internet will bring, Cerf notes (and Blumenthal highlights):

“We’re nearing the tipping point for mobile computing to deliver timely, geographically and socially relevant information.”

But whether it’s things like cloud-based computing for your iPhone or Nokia’s amazing - though imperfect - N96 mobile phone (actually more of a palm computer), the abilities available, literally, in the palm of your customer’s hand increase daily.

And it’s not just phones. For all the ink (literal and digital) spent on the launch of phones such as Apple’s iPhone or Nokia’s N96, the emergence of devices like Amazon’s Kindle also will change the way people interact with the Internet. By far, its most innovative feature is its free, “always-on” network connection. Amazon includes connectivity to make it easy for customers to purchase books. But once customers have constant connectivity - for any of these devices - the game changes. Mike Moran thinks the cost of network connectivity is what’s holding back the mobile web. Generally speaking, I agree.

It’s not just cost, of course. But the other limitations are fading fast. Connectivity options are increasing. Popular web applications such as search and social networking exist. The U.S., according to one study, is even on pace to top the mobile web market (understandable given that they’re teaching college kids to live with these devices).

OK. In theory this is all good news for your business. But what should you do about it today? How can you benefit from these changes? We have looked at how to use the mobile web to grow your business before (here, too).

Remember, the ones most likely to win will have answered these 3 questions:

• Can customers find you?
• Can customers browse you?
• Can customers contact you?

As the market matures, it’s the folks who’ve laid the foundations today who will benefit. Plan to be one of them.

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Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Reviewed by the New York Times here.

Now that the political conventions are over, the Olympics behind us and the kids are back in school, it’s time for a little back-to-school learning for the rest of us. Here are a handful of posts to help you cram for the finals:

• No reason not to learn from the masters. Few know as much about brand building as consumer packaged goods producers. And no one knows more about paid search than Google. So, how great is it that the Official Google CPG Blog offers up its lessons on “The Branding Value of a Search Impression?”
• Not to be outdone, the Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog also offers a back-to-school theme, explaining how “Search Engines Are Like Your College Professor”.
• Google is the Big Man on Campus, though. So, it’s worthwhile to check out the new webinars offered on the Inside AdWords blog.
• Part of going back to school, of course, is learning some new skills. Drew McLellan’s Marketing Minute blog asks guest poster Gaurav Mishra to explain “How to market to the anti-consumer”.
• One last new skill to think about is mobile. TechCrunch reviews Billing Revolution’s ‘single-click’ mobile billing and payment service. Mobile will change your business in the coming years. Good idea to bone up your skills now.

Enjoy your weekend everyone. See you back here at thinks next week.

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There’s an old joke that says, “the great thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from.” But making sure your website complies with web development standards forms a key part of any successful online strategy. While we don’t normally get up to our elbows in the gory details of how to build websites here, every business can benefit from knowing enough to ask the right questions whether you build the site yourself, select an outside agency or use a hosted service. Standards compliance means using things like the right version of HTML along with CSS to provide your information to customers. Why does it matter? Here are the top 5 reasons:

1. SEO benefit - We all want our sites listed in Google, Yahoo and Live, right? Why make it hard for those sites’ crawlers to access your content? Sites that aren’t standards compliant can easily limit Google’s access to your content - which limits your access to customers.
2. Ease of maintenance/lower cost of ownership - Change is inevitable and never more so on the web. Want proof? Check this out:
   • The folks at BusinessWeek point out Engadget gets 96% of its mobile traffic from iPhones. iPhones didn’t exist 18 months ago. By extension, neither did most mobile traffic.
   • Consumers are increasingly choosing Firefox on Windows and both Safari and Firefox on the Mac over Internet Explorer. IE now comprises around 70% of internet traffic. And it’s falling fast. Can you afford to turn off 30% of your visitors?
   • Microsoft is bringing out a new version of its browser with all kinds of special tricks in it. Sadly one of those tricks appears to be screwing with standards, but I don’t expect that to last.
   • Why not? Google introduced its own browser. Think your visitors won’t use that? Me neither.

   That’s just this week’s news. You don’t want to be in the business of worrying about whether your site keeps up. Standards compliance takes that worry away. Plus, building compliant sites gets easier with practice. So what are you waiting for?

3. Support for disabled customers - Many of the same standards that make it easy for Google’s crawler to find your site also make it easy for customers with disabilities to use your site. And when you consider how many individuals deal with some challenge, it represents a huge market opportunity. It can also limit legal risk. And, at the end of the day, it’s just the right thing to do for your customers.
4. Improve your site’s speed/lower page weight - OK, this is the gory, techy one. But, with folks like Comcast planning to limit bandwidth for its customers and the impact that slow sites can have on Google Quality Scores (i.e., reduced rankings and higher costs for paid search) and the hosting cost for high bandwidth sites - to say nothing of the negative brand perception your customers may have if your site is too slow - improving your site’s speed with clean, standardized code is a Very Good Thing.
5. Reach more customers - Finally, more than anything else, you care about ensuring customers can access your information. When you limit customers’ options - whether to certain browsers, operating systems or devices - you limit your sales opportunities. Ultimately, standards compliance makes it easier for more customers to see your site. And that’s the only thing that matters.

Standards compliance doesn’t look sexy at first glance. It’s not in your face. And no one will acquire your business or push you to go public just for maintaining a standards compliant site. But it can save you money and drive more sales. And that might do the trick.

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