Investor Relations 2.0
And other Musings…
Tom Allinder
tom@netgenpr.com
tom@intelligendo.com

This entire presentation is my opinions. I
welcome any feedback, arguments, ideas
from anyone…
And, this presentation is mostly text- I hate
text and will be converting this to more
of a multi-media presentation
over time…

First, What Exactly is IR 1.0?
Companies controlled content that was distributed by themselves and
their IR entities
Little or no feedback (needed or required as far as they were concerned)
from investors or customers
Company’s IR firm would “take the heat” or claim the “credit” for failure
or success in the marketplace.
Success or failure was solely dependent on stock performance; IR had
no concern whatsoever for actual performance of the business.
IR did not differentiate between investors and traders with regard to
stock performance

IR 1.0 Information and Content Flow
The Company and Notice that this is a
their IR Entity Company one-way flow of
determine content (the information. It is
message) then IR NOT a conversation
pushes and it is not
“the message” interactive at all.
to the Investment IR Entity
Community…
Investment Community

Investor Relations 1.0 Failure
IR 1.0 worked just fine for many years because:
For the most part the economy was good and the stock market was
trending up… “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Company’s IR firm would “take the heat” or claim the “credit” for failure
or success in the marketplace.
IR 1.0 was simple and easy to do with only one metric to measure- stock
movement and volume.
Success or failure was solely dependent on stock performance; IR has
little concern whatsoever for actual performance of the business.
IR did not differentiate between investors and traders with regard to
stock performance.

Investor Relations 1.0 Failure (cont)
IR 1.0 failed as a result of several things happening
at the same time:
Changing economic and market conditions.
Marketplace saturated with many IR entities doing the same things, the
same way over and over again.
Overall lack of new and original ideas for IR; failure on the part of IR and
client companies to understand what the audience was looking for.
Long bear market in micro and small cap stocks left these markets with
essentially traders only.
Few IR entities doing anything to reach investors or market to new
audiences.

Behold… Web 2.0
Web 2.0 has been gaining traction since the early 2000s and over the
last 2-3 years has really taken off…
Web 1.0 was about the Companies and Agencies controlling content;
Web 2.0 is a people-powered web. People determine the content.
Web 2.0 is interactive. It is conversational. It is two-way communication.
Web 2.0 is about people and brands.
Short of shutting down the Internet, we will never go back to Web 1.0.
Awareness of Web 2.0 is still not at a high level among the general
public even though many of them are using it. “It just is…”

If the Web is two-way
Communication, then so it must be with
Investor Relations… Behold IR 2.0
Companies and IR can no longer sit back and broadcast a message… The
masses are not listening to these messages anymore…
Investors do not invest in “stocks”, they invest in Brands and Companies that
they can TRUST and COMMUNICATE with.
Successful companies will engage their prospective customers and investors
through meaningful two-way communication.
These successful companies will use social media platforms and tools
CORRECTLY to engage the public and their shareholders.
Management teams of the successful companies will engage the public as
human beings and speak to them in a human voice. Communicating exclusively
through news releases and other impersonal ways is no longer effective.

Basic Investor Relations 2.0 Model
Company IR
Investment Community

Investor Relations 2.0 Model (cont)
Advantages of the IR 2.0 Model over the IR 1.0 Model Include:
Enables Companies to effectively build a teamwork environment with their
shareholders
Enables Companies to build a brand, credibility and integrity much more
effectively
IR 2.0 “reach” is much greater than traditional IR (if done correctly)
Enables collaboration with investors and customers/clients to improve
Company products, services and communications
IR 2.0 “language” is keyword and link driven thereby giving communications
virtually unlimited shelf life

Social Media Tools and Platforms to engage a new
and bigger audience include (but not limited to):
These are just a few of the social media
platforms that can be used for business and
investor awareness… There are new ones
emerging all the time…

IR 2.0 is Much More Comprehensive
Many IR 2.0 tools and platforms also have the great benefit of adding in
Clients and Customers to the model… IR 1.0 certainly wasn’t concerned
with clients and customers.
Clients and
Company IR
Customers
Investment
Shareholders Community

Another Big Difference…
Many aspects of IR 2.0 are measureable, unlike most IR 1.0 efforts
Using a variety of free applications, you can see:
Increase in web site traffic
How many places and where your news releases and other forms of
communications have been bookmarked, mentioned, linked or blogged
about
See the number of “followers” increase and engage with your brand
Get feedback to change or adjust strategy
Interact with your “audience” thereby giving you credibility

Requirements for IR 2.0 Strategy
Good candidates for IR 2.0 are real companies with actual products and
services
Must have a timeline and strategy for deployment of IR 2.0; 3-6 months
minimum…
Positive attitude and a willingness to learn and accept new ideas
Creativity and imagination are required; Web 2.0 has only a few rules.
IR 2.0 is still bound by regulatory authorities (disclosure requirements)
but there are many ways to engage that were not present in Web 1.0/IR 1.0
Openness and Transparency is an absolute must on the part of the
company’s management team.

What or Who is your Brand?
In the Web 2.0 world…
Your shareholders, your
customers and clients ARE
YOUR BRAND!

Web 2.0 and IR 2.0 is
driven in a large part by:

is far more than a Search Engine
In today’s world, it is not about knowing. It is knowing how to FIND”
dominates with regard to searches on the internet…
Understanding algorithms used by is a major key to success in
deploying Web 2.0, IR 2.0
If cannot find your Company, your business, your brand, no
one else will. Least of all, investors

The Multimedia Aspect of IR 2.0
People think in Pictures, not in text… (even though this presentation is mostly text)
Think of TEXT as a middleman.
The Middleman is being eliminated in this new economy and world…
So having made this point (again, my opinion, but a few will agree with me), lets
go back to:
Search Results almost always return VIDEO, AUDIO and other multimedia content
at the top of the search engine results page (SERP).
In the near future, mobile computing and communications for the most part, as we
know it, will eliminate text.

In IR 2.0, can we repurpose? Certainly!
An example:
The dull and boring “research report”… You could get more people to read “The Stand”
cover to cover than you can a research report today… In IR 2.0, the “research report”
will become exciting content!
The research report will be a multimedia presentation that will reside online…
It will contain essentially the same information but will be presented in video, audio and
other multimedia forms.
Because it is “online”, it can be updated regularly by contributors including the client
company’s management team, IR, and other individuals assigned to do so.
AND… Shareholders and customers/clients can be allowed to contribute ideas and
content to make the presentation better! COLLABORATION!
In fact, the old research report can become a platform/community in itself!

Another Example of Repurposing the Old into the New…
The Company Profile Page at their IR Company’s Website:
The Company Profile Page is useless without interactivity and dynamic
content…
The new profile page will be repurposed much the same as the research report
in the previous slide…
The “NEW” Profile page will be a platform and community with interactivity and
not just a place to display information
Content will be updated frequently using multimedia applications
Investor/prospective investor input and ideas are valued as are client/customer
feedback
Communications will be conversational between the company’s management
team, IR and their investors as well as the investment community

Web 2.0 is evolving and changing by the minute…
What is hot and trending today may not be tomorrow…
Constant research is a must to stay ahead of the trends and to discover new
methods and means of communicating…
Brand new platforms are emerging constantly- many will fail but some will be
the “next big thing”
We may already be at Web 2.5 and headed rapidly to Web 3.0 especially given
rapid trend toward MOBILITY.
What is inconceivable today will be commonplace in a year or two…
We live in a world of exponential change
Oh, by the way… every item above applies to
Investor Relations 2.0, 2.5 and on…

Most Importantly…
All Web 2.0 and IR 2.0 Content will be fied…
Or has undergone fication…
Possess great “ Juice”

An Example of the Exponential Change World:
•I suppose for some time to come, novels will still be printed on paper…
•But, the book, by in large, will become something almost inconceivable by most people
very soon.
I call it the “O” Book
(no, not orgasm, but “online”)
I have been writing a book for the last year on
essentially what is “Investor Relations 2.0”
Every time I “finish” it, it is already outdated!

The “O” Book and Everything Else
So… How can I ever finish my book and get it to the publisher to be printed if it is always
outdated?
Make it an “online book” so that I can update it as things change…
Make it collaborative- it will be a far better “book” if I let others as knowledgeable and
even more knowledgeable than myself (there are plenty of these people) make
corrections and contributions
The only thing to stop this process is my EGO- do I want a great and dynamic book
that I share in the credit for… Or do I want an outdated and incomplete book in print with
my name only on it???
Which process sounds better to you?
As will the book, so will most everything else we know of go the way of static content
because we live in a time of exponential change that no one person can keep up with
Communicate, Collaborate or Perish

There are currently two types of publicly-traded companies…
Company Type 1:
This Company Management team is “waiting for things to get better” to move
forward with their business and do anything to bring new investors onboard.
Things are “just too bad out there”; only fools are promoting their companies
to the investment community…
In a nutshell, Company Type 1 is anxiously awaiting the return of Web 1.0
and the effectiveness of IR 1.0 to return.
Company Type 2:
This Company Management team is embracing the changes and seeing the
astounding opportunities in Web 2.0 and IR 2.0…
They are not only increasing their shareholder base but getting new customers
and clients too. Their products, services and communications improve
because they interact with their customers and shareholders. This
Company knows their customers and shareholders are their brand!

So… In the near future, only
one type of Company will
survive and have an
opportunity to grow and
thrive… (Company Type 2)

While (Company Type 1)
goes the way of the
dinosaur… Because…
They chose to wait for
things to get better…

Mass Extinction
In the natural history of the earth, there have been a number of mass extinctions of
species due to climate change and natural disasters such as volcanoes etc…
Most notable mass extinctions occurred 250 million years ago and 65 million years
ago.
Many scientists claim we are in the process of the next great mass extinction due to
rapid warming of the earth…
But there is undoubtedly another type of mass extinction
occurring in business and communications today…
Instead of “the masses”… we now have: A Mass of NICHES
Many businesses have not figured out how to fit into or
create their own niche.

The new market consists of NICHES:
Platforms
Communities
Platforms and Communities FACILITATE
CONVERSATION, INNOVATION, Problem solving and true THINKING.
Web/IR 1.0 “Messages” facilitates no conversation, no innovation
or problem solving and above all, does not tap into the collective
knowledge and experiences of the PEOPLE.

That is all for now… Thanks for looking!
I will keep updating this presentation. It will NEVER be
“finished”
If you have input, or want to help, please contact me!
Contact
Tom Allinder
tom@netgenpr.com
tom@intelligendo.com