You and your whuffie factor
a presentation 4
thinkingdigital.co.uk
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

scary

newsflash:
you can’t shut the internets
down

#FAIL

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/

[cory doctorow]

[boing boing]

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

etc

in cory’s future

when you

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

whuffie

score

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

ping!

Friended!

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

A. ask for more info
B. ignore for now

so if

a quick

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

would tell me

he’s not interested in
being my friend

he wants value 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

just ask Dell computer

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nrkbeta/3283932325/

“
DELL SUCKS. DELL LIES.
Put that in your Google
”
and smoke it Dell!
Jeff Jarvis

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/464177597/

Dell turning the bullhorn
around
1. Direct2Dell - blog where people could start
talking to Dell about their experiences.
2. Instantly responding to fiascos (like the exploding
laptop)
3. CES - blogger lounge with Michael Dell
4. Dell Idea Storm
5. Delivering on the ideas generated in the tool
6. rinse. repeat.

DELL turned their whuffie deficit
into a whuffie making machine,
stopping their decline in sales and
stopped their bad press.

but if you want to really
become

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

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

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?

heh

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?

nah.

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

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 Influencers are adding you as
success. friends on social networks.
• •
When budgets get tightened, you You work with your competitors
tighten operational costs. 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

• 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 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/

end.

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