Makin Whuffie at WebVisions Portland 09

Makin’ Whuffie raising social capital in online communities by tara ‘missrogue’ hunt

“web 2.0”

Facebook = >200Million users Blogs = >150Million+ (+China’s 75M) MySpace = >110Million users Orkut = >75Million users Twitter = >20 Million

Twitter = >26,000 followers Facebook = >2,500 friends Flickr = >1,400 friends l’il ole me

newsflash: you can’t shut the internets down

but I was actually really curious about this...

why were some companies being received with

while others were being greeted with

while I was pondering this I picked up a book by

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eschipul/437288525/

instead of $$

whuffie

social capital

reputation

connections (both strong and weak)

influence

access to resources/talent/more connections

favors added up (reciprocity)

publicly known accomplishments

levels of trust

in cory’s future

when you

http://www.flickr.com/photos/notic/86343146/

whuffie

high score

good reputation

trustworthy

listen to their advice

you can also buy stuff with your whuffie

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brraveheart/2072543750/

but something sounded familiar to me

it isn’t futuristic nor is it fictional

it’s here and now

it’s how we relate to one another

online communities

Friended!

ping! hmmm...don’t know him well enough to transfer trust...

A. ask for more info B. ignore for now

a quick

http://www.flickr.com/photos/notic/86343146/

would tell me

he’s not interested in being my friend

he just wants something from me

without providing me any value

[reciprocity]

if you want to become an influencer

someone who is whuffie rich

whose ideas spread

who is well-loved

you need to

credibility

it’s really as simple as that

but there’s a catch

didn’t happen overnight

it required a different perspective

alot of time and attention

it won’t cost you very much $$

and you’ll see results in real time

it involves

5 ways to raise whuffie

whuffie factor #1: turn the bullhorn around

how marketing looked before the internet

then came the competition

got louder

and louder

led to

main characteristic

impersonal

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/b-tal/179390300/

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/tin-g/90143310/

which is why

people we trust

if you are still

you are totally missing

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/striatic/133146861/

if you want to

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/klapow/39693385/

sounds easy, but it isn’t

focus on individuals

understand the needs of a community

that’s totally challenging

but if you don’t listen...and then respond...the silence will

smack down your whuffie

8 tips for being a beacon for constant feedback:

1. get advice from experts, but design for the needs of the novice 2. respond to ALL feedback, even when you have to say ‘no thanks’ 3. don’t take negative feedback personally 4. give credit to those whose ideas you implement

some ways to give credit • mention contributions in blog posts, tweets and • send a gift certificate or special coupon code videos • schwag and schtuff • name a after the or product feature contributor (or let them • upgrade their account name it) • give the contributor more responsibility • send journalists their way

5. point out and explain changes as you make them 6. make small, continuous improvements 7. go out to find your feedback 8. ignore the haters

to really become

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/klapow/39693385/

whuffie factor #2: become part of the community u serve

getting out

the question is

figure out

who is it that you serve?

what problem are you solving?

for whom?

knowing that makes it easier

then join them!

not as market research

not as a voyeur

not to sell anyone anything

if you join a community with the wrong intentions

authenticity matters

what you need to figure out is

learn from that

integrate it into what you are offering

lastly figure out

why would they give a damn?

seemingly infinite choice

what is the difference between

you need to be remarkable

because then

some people may even give a damn.

and how does one achieve remarkability?

whuffie factor #3: create amazing customer experiences

truly amazing experiences lead to:

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/lugolounge/6780004/

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/teointarifa/490408075/

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/60852569@N00/242746787/

these types of feelings

but what leads to these feelings?

and can you design for them?

in a word: YES

automagicness

automagic: a user experience so seamless that it feels like magic just occurred.

lilgrams.com

quicken for iphone

automagic demo

automagic automagic automagic bank machine spending balance finder update updater

tripit.com

#1. book my flight

#2. forward confirmation email to plans@tripit.com

#3. they do some magic stuff with that email

#4. voila! an itinerary!

bonus: iphone application

throwing sheep

throwing sheep: fun, lightweight activities that encourage user participation, but don’t ‘do’ much else

examples of throwing sheep • FB: poking • Pop Sugar: karma points • FB: ‘I like this’ • Favouriting/starring • Twitter: nudging • Virtual gifting • Twitter: tweeting casual stuff • Maya’s Mom: kudos • Dopplr: velocity metric

lighten up!

lighten up: the ability to inject fun into the most serious & professional interactions

southwest airlines

flickr.com http://ﬂickr.com/photos/joshb/1408947023/

then there is the 404 error page...

apartmenthomeliving.com/404

d20srd.org/err

tinsanity.net/404

horsepigcow.com/404

email auto-responders

whuffie factor #4: embrace the chaos

controlling the message?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiseacre/153532248/

I know...it’s hard to embrace the chaos...

long history

of fear

the fear mongers • corporate espionage • competition • security • litigation • bad-mouthers • mistrust

it’s on their shoulders • Legal • Public Relations/Corporate Communications • IT

understand the need for security

but balance it with the need for openness

there are many benefits to openness and transparency

benefits of embracing the chaos • you’ll be better prepared for the unexpected • you’ll join in the conversation that is already happening and be welcomed for this move • it will bring in the opportunity for collaboration • it will make your ideas stronger • it will create supporters you didn’t know you had

in the old days, you had one chance to get the message just right...

today, you have multiple conversations and iterations to build that message with your customers and audience.

Funny how we create our own rat traps in our success. Once we're 'there' we can no longer do the stuff that made us successful in the 1st place.

...or can we?

we’re just one more step away from

here is some food for thought

while money is part of the

market economy

whuffie is part of the

it acts kind of opposite

the more you give away, the more whuffie you gain

whuffie is only valuable when it circulates

and as it circulates, it

but we still need to make $$ to pay the rent

so the question is...

what can you give away that won’t leave you broke?

whuffie factor #5: find ur higher purpose

born out of passion?

serving a need?

fighting the good fight?

maybe that stuff doesn’t interest you

maybe you just want to

does it mean that you will be whuffie poor?

you just have to find a way to give back to the community

the more you give, the more that comes back

A couple-a gifts to give that won’t leave you broke

“nerd values” do well by doing good

“...compared check-writing and volunteering to cutting the leaves and branches off a tree, where the heart of the business and its ability to impact the world positively is the tree itself.” Gary Hirshberg, CEO, Stonyfield Farms

think customer-centrically

not customer-centric • You do everything you can to keep your customers on your • You have a long list of customer relations policies. Any exception website. to those policies has to go up the chain of command for approval. • You measure number of visitors and time spent on your website as whether you are successful. • You need to create multiple instructional videos so that your customers will understand how • When budgets get tightened, you make cutbacks in areas like to use your product. customer service, marketing, support staff and design. • You demand social media strategies that win over the ‘influencers’ to blog or tweet • You are bothered by a customer describing your product in their about your product. own words that doesn’t match your brand.

customer-centric • You send customers to other websites. • Your customers are doing things with your product you never dreamed and are posting videos. • You measure how many people refer their friends to you as success. • Influencers are adding you as friends on social networks. • When budgets get tightened, you tighten operational costs. • You work with your competitors towards better customer experiences for all. • Your only customer service policy is to do right by the customer. • You know you compete for your customers’ attention with everyone.

help others go further

spread love

akoha.com

• do well by doing good • think customer-centrically • help others go further • spread love

whuffie

will grow over time

so combine all of the

• turn the bullhorn around • become part of the community you serve • create amazing experiences • embrace the chaos • find your higher purpose

you will become

whuffie rich

better word of mouth

repeat sales

customer loyalty

big, fat increase to your bottom line

which will help you buy stuff

http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/brraveheart/2072543750/

In stores now! http://thewhuffiefactor.com

http://www.slideshare.net/missrogue

about those rockin’ images: • Many are from iStockphoto.com (totally cool site) • except as marked on the photo... • a screenshot of my friendwheel: http:// apps.facebook.com/friendwheel • and the logos & screengrabs I stole from all of the respective sites...

some references • Akoha.com http://www.akoha.com • Total Insanity http://tinsanity.net • Dell Idea Storm http://ideastorm.dell.com • Cory’s site http://craphound.com • Southpark Underpants Gnomes http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/ 151040 • Best 404 pages: http://www.plinko.net/404/ • Creative Commons: http://www.creativecommons.org • Friend Wheel: http://apps.facebook.com/friendwheel • Great internet stats: http://pewinternet.org • Whuffie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whuffie

Tara missrogue Hunt author, The Whuffie Factor horsepigcow@gmail.com 415.694.1951 twitter: missrogue skype: tarahunt747 www.horsepigcow.com

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Makin Whuffie at WebVisions Portland 09

by Tara Hunt on May 22, 2009

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Makin Whuffie at WebVisions Portland 09 — Presentation Transcript