Makin’ Whuffie
5 keys for maxing social capital and winning
with online communities
by
tara ‘missrogue’ hunt

wtf

is

whuffie?

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

boingboing

cory

is crazy

about

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/459418289/

he wrote

sci-fi story

his characters

actually live in

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms/459418289/

Down and Out in the Magic
Kingdon

instead of

money

thing he calls

whuffie

=

social capital

=

reputation

connections
(both strong and weak)

influence

access to resources/access
to more connections

favors added up (reciprocity)

public accomplishments

levels of trust

etc.

in cory’s future

when you

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

whuffie

score

high score

=

good reputation

trust them

listen to their advice

it also buys you stuff

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

but this should sound

familiar

this ain’t the future

& it ain’t science fiction

it’s real

right now

how

relate

online communities

2,000+ Facebook Friends

8,200 + twitter followers

1,150

I have strong or weak
connections to

I’m not telling you this to show
off

i’m not that unique

“there are three kinds of lies: lies,
damned lies, and statistics”
Mark Twain

!=

buy

whuffie

you see

whuffie

!=

currency

online communities

to make

connections
+ time
= trust
= the basis of whuffie

credibility matters

if you are known to take $$ to
talk about a product

you lose credibility

without whuffie

you lose

will be seen as

if you want to become an

influencer

[someone who is whuffie rich]

credibility

it’s really as simple as that

but there is a catch

didn’t happen overnight

it required a different
perspective

a lot of time and attention

involves

5 key components to raising
your whuffie

#1.
turn that bullhorn inwards

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

the 8 commandments of
receiving feedback

1. Get advice and input from experts but design
for the broader community
2. Respond to all feedback, even when you
respond by saying, “No thanks.”
3. Do not take negative feedback personally;
remember that when people give feedback,
they are doing so because they care and have
taken the time to improve their experience.
4. Give credit to those whose ideas you
implement; nothing says “we are open to
conversation” better.

5. When you a implement new idea, make sure
that you highlight it, and ask for feedback.
6. Make small, continuous changes rather than
waiting to implement everything at once.
7. Don’t just wait for feedback to come to you,
go out and find it; people are probably talking
about your product elsewhere.
8. No matter how many people like you, you will
always have someone who doesn’t - mind the
haters.

to really become

#2.
become part of the
community you 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?

#3.
create amazing customer
experiences

when I say amazing

I mean experiences that lead
to

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

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

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

and then you will

this doesn’t need to be
complicated

10 things you can do to create
amazing experiences

1. The Dazzle is in the Details.

moleskine
http://flickr.com/photos/confusedvision/226129765/

1. The Dazzle is in the Details.
2. Go Above and Beyond.

TED conference
http://flickr.com/photos/stewart/433935679/

1. The Dazzle is in the Details.
2. Go Above and Beyond.
3. Appeal to Emotion.

vosges
http://flickr.com/photos/quintanaroo/1516782327/

1. The Dazzle is in the Details.
2. Go Above and Beyond.
3. Appeal to Emotion.
4. Inject Fun into the Experience.

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

1. The Dazzle is in the Details.
2. Go Above and Beyond.
3. Appeal to Emotion.
4. Inject Fun into the Experience.
5. Make Something Mundane
Fashionable.

method home products
http://flickr.com/photos/schweb/2890697924/

6. Let People Personalize.

moo cards
http://flickr.com/photos/schweb/2890697924/

6. Let People Personalize.
7. Be Experimental.

threadless

6. Let People Personalize.
7. Be Experimental.
8. Simplify.

37 signals

6. Let People Personalize.
7. Be Experimental.
8. Simplify.
9. Make Happiness Your Business
Model: increase autonomy,
competence and relatedness.

6. Let People Personalize.
7. Be Experimental.
8. Simplify.
9. Make Happiness Your Business Model:
increase autonomy, competence and
relatedness.
10.Be a Social Catalyst.

#4.
embrace the chaos

controlling the message?

heh

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

lay the foundation

set a template

then get ready to discover

another list

7 ways to embrace the chaos

1. Stop moving and look around you until you see
everything clearly.
2. Transfer the knowledge.
3. Every time you feel anxiety, acknowledge it.
4. Define your own measure of success.
5. Get outside of your personal circle.
6. Realize that everything is out of your control
anyway.
7. Have patience.

in no time you will feel

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?

#5.
find your 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?

nah.

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

the more you give, the more
that comes back

5 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 • You have a long list of customer
your customers on your website. relations policies. Any exception 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 to
• When budgets get tightened, you
use your product.
make cutbacks in areas like
customer service, marketing,
support staff and design. • You demand social media strategies
that win over the ‘influencers’ to blog
or tweet about your product.
• You are bothered by a customer
describing your product in their own
words that doesn’t match your
brand.

customer-centric
• You send customers to other • Your customers are doing things
websites. 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.
• You let people feed in their content
from other sites easily. • You work with your competitors
towards better customer
experiences for all.
• When budgets get tightened, you
tighten operational costs.
• You know you compete for your
customers’ attention with everyone.
• Your only customer service policy is
to do right by the customer.

help others go further

spread love

akoha.com

value something bigger

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

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 raise whuffie

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/

which is why makin’ whuffie is
the here and now.

end.

licensing:
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
• Microformats: http://www.microformats.org
• OpenID: http://www.openid.net
• Creative Commons: http://www.creativecommons.org
• BarCamp: http://barcamp.org
• Coworking: http://coworking.info
• Ma.gnolia: http://ma.gnolia.com
• Friend Wheel: http://apps.facebook.com/friendwheel
• Great internet stats: http://pewinternet.org
• Whuffie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whuffie

Tara Hunt
tara@citizenagency.com
415.694.1951
skype: tarahunt747
www.citizenagency.com
www.horsepigcow.com