Monday 27 April 2009

10 business authors on Twitter and their blogs

This post is probably more for introductory tweeters and blogosphere-surfers, as it is no where near as comprehensive as it should be. I've just quickly listed 10 business/marketing/new media/yeah-perhaps-not-business-at-all authors and their corresponding links. I'm sure there are thousands of others out there, but I'd say these are the more prominent ones. Please feel free to add to the list in the comment box below. So, in alphabetical order:

  1. Alain de Botton: @alaindebotton & http://www.alaindebotton.com/
  2. Chris Anderson: @chr1sa & http://www.longtail.com/
  3. Clay Shirky: @cshirky & http://www.shirky.com/
  4. Jeff Jarvis: @jeffjarvis & http://www.buzzmachine.com/
  5. Joseph Jaffe: @jaffejuice & http://www.jaffejuice.com/
  6. Malcolm Gladwell: @Gladwell & http://www.gladwell.com/
  7. Richard Branson: @richardbranson & http://entrepreneur.virgin.com/
  8. Seth Godin: @SethGodin - (placeholder) & http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
  9. Timothy Ferriss: @tferriss & http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/
  10. Warren Buffet: @W_Buffett & http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/

So, who is your favourite author? Blogger? Tweeter?

Also, there are some particularly funny parodies of them going around. You know you've touched some people at least when you've got a Twitter-parody!

And, un-surprisingly enough, there are no female authors on the list. Would appreciate any suggestions or recommendations that you may have (even just it's the offline counterparts).

Tuesday 21 April 2009

The web is inherently social-ist

So-cial-ism:
-- noun
1. a theory or system of social organisation that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

2. refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organisation advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterised by equality for all individuals, with a fair or egalitarian method of compensation.

3. a system of society or group living in which there is no private property or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state.

= which all sound like SOCIAL MEDIA and Web 2.0 to me.

Therefore, is the internet inherently a socialist 'state'? Can it be a capitalist one? Can people genuinely reap financial benefit out of it? Can networks be monetised? Can people's social interaction actually be monetised online? Are community managers the new facilitators? Is society now owned by its users?

Is capitalism dying because of the internet?

Five things I would have trouble marketing

  1. Freebirthing
  2. Apple stickers (yes the ones on fruit... not on fanbois. At least there's one other person in the world with this phobia.)
  3. A Neo-Nazi Association
  4. Lindsay Lohan (where to start... where to stop), and
  5. Grout.
You?

Sunday 5 April 2009

Newbies -- if you read anything, read these:

Thought I would do one of those posts for new visitors to The Zeitgeists, that aggregates some hopefully memorable old content for ease. And no, I'm not struggling to write a post... just nostalgic for some of the buried content out there!

+ The exchange is now the bonus

+ The 5 Cs of online publishing
+ The accidental content foodie
+ Warning warning content saturation approaching
+ Engage thy enemy

Enjoy.

How will Twitter make money? Biz Stone, co-founder, responds...


Although it's an hour-long lecture by Biz Stone (first he co-founds Blogger and then Twitter!) and dates back to the 15th of November last year, this video really is fascinating and a must watch for anyone interested in Twitter. Stone discusses possible revenue sources and monetisation strategies for the platform, which includes the on and off again rumour of charging business users for the service. All I can say is blurry lines... blurry lines. Oh, and of course you don't need to sit here on my blog watching -- feel free to check it out at the Haas School of Business Channel.

Social Media Breakfast Melbourne Facebook group

I've just started a Facebook group separate from the Social Media Club Melbourne one, specifically for the weekly breakfast. Melburnians can join here. There's been a fantastic turnout in recent weeks complete with really interesting and inspiring conversations so keep coming peeps - especially during those dark winter mornings. We're having a break for Easter and will resume at Mr Tulk (8am) on the 17th. For updates though, be sure to follow the #socialmelb tag in Tweetland.

Consumer Psychology in a Recession - Harvard Business

This video is worth the watch. It highlights how marketers can segment and market to their consumers in the economic downturn. The interview is with John Quelch. Check out his blog here.

One of the really interesting points (around the 10-minute mark) from Quelch was that during a recession consumers may train themselves into new behaviours that might not be reversed when the good times roll back in. For instance, if someone had a broken washing machine, instead of going out and buying a new one right away, they would call a repairer and try and another couple of years out of it. If this turns out to be the general case, the recession could actually curb the consumerist nature of society.