This post written from Starbucks in Marlboro NJ 

Do you know what all the web 2.0 hubbub is about? If you said no then you’re not alone. Most businesses have no clue what web 2.0 is, for that matter neither do marketers. 79% of marketers are not familiar with web 2.0 and of the ones that are, only 33% use web 2.0 strategies.

Web 2.0 is fast becoming the most over used and misused term on the web. 

I’ve heard web 2.0 described as an evolution, design style, application and I’ve even read an article calling it a revolution. A revolution!? Are we all going to be throwing our laptops into Boston Harbor?

Let’s see if we can set the record straight. Web 2.0 is a “marketing term” it does not signify a second coming of the web. If anything, the web is in its fourth or fifth coming. We started with basic communication when the Internet was the ARPANET (web 1.0) then we went to chatting and bulletin board type communication prior to the first web browser (web 2.0). In 1995 Netscape went public and the web became mainstream as people began building both personal and commercial websites (web 3.0). Shortly thereafter Amazon went public (1997) and kicked off“e-commerce” (web 4.0). So easily we are looking at web 5.0 today.

No matter what iteration we are entering into the fact remains that web 2.0 is a dominant phrase that marketers, web developers, businesses and connected customers are using and misusing. Let’s run down some of the medium that is being dubbed web 2.0 and get to the bottom of this once and for all.

User generated content is often said to be a web 2.0 staple however sites like Amazon and eBay have been using content generated by its users for years. eBay feedback and Amazon customer reviews are and have been critical elements for both sites almost since their inception. Nothing new here.

Blogs are considered web 2.0 because they are timely and utilize user generated content. Blogs have also been around for many years as “web-logs” but only recently have they reached mainstream acceptance. Again, nothing new here either.

Podcasts Are audio and video files on the web – next!

Wiki. A wiki is a website that allows content collaboration through a web browser to anyone that has been granted access to it. The best known wiki is Wikipedia. The first wiki was created in 1995! On with the run down.

Widgets are one of my favorite so called web 2.0 thingy that businesses are rushing to create so they can be seen as “cutting edge”.  A widget is an interactive tool that you download and it sits on your desktop (or a website) feeding you up to the minute information about practically anything you want. These widgets gather information from the Internet and display this info to you without you having to go and get it.

Widgets are cool little gizmos however they are not widely used as intended and they are far from new, Apple has been using them in their operating systems for years and Microsoft integrated them with the web using “active desktop” featured in the release of their Internet Explorer 4 web browser.

The reason they have not been widely  accepted by users on their desktops is that PC stands for “personal computer” and that is why people put pictures of their family, pets (penthouse or animal), cars, boats or just about anything that they want to stare at day in and day out. Widgets cover that coveted space which is why we all don’t have tons of little gizmos on our desktop.

Web 2.0 Design is among my favorite of the misused terms out there. They are designers, agencies and web developers that are touting the fact that they will design using web 2.0 elements such as glass buttons, rounded corners and reflections.  Web 2.0 is not a design style. I’ll say this again. Web 2.0 is not a design style. Rounded corners and reflections have been used by Apple for years. I personally like the look however it’s soooo 15 minutes ago. Everyone is using this style and it’s now lost its appeal. Designs and marketing companies are telling clients to do this to be different but they just end up different like everyone else.

Dynamic websites are starting to pop up all over the place. Sites using programming languages like AJAX to allow a websites users to move components around, integrate feeds and manipulate content are becoming commonplace. Sites like iGoogle that allow a user to create a page that they want by integrating anything they want wherever they want seem to be appealing the web 2.0 programmers out there. Whether the site needs to have that level of customization or not it is being built in because everyone wants to develop in a web 2.0 manner. Again nothing new here. I think Burger King invented the “Have it your way” thing.

Sometimes you can give people too many choices and end up having a negative outcome. So all this being said web 2.0 is more of a movement than anything else.

Think of web 2.0 as a mindset that will lead to a more fluid interaction between websites and connected customers. Web 2.0 is more a way of thinking than a technological advance. Building things from the bottom up as opposed to the top down to give the customers what they want and need is what web 2.0 is about.

When web 2.0 is positioned as a mindset to enhance customer interaction and satisfaction I’m all for it. Unfortunately the only thing I could find that was new about web 2.0 is having businesses and marketers that now think about the customers needs first.

YouTube boasts 60,000 plus uploads per day with over 100 million videos already online and ready for viewing and that’s just YouTube. Start adding all the other video sharing sites like iFilm, Blip.TV, MySpaceTV etc. There seems to be no end in site for this online video explosion, but it’s not all fun and games. These videos are not all skateboarding dogs and know it all ninjas.

A new and possibly damaging trend is emerging. People are using video and other social media (blogs, forums, podcasts etc.) to forcibly get what they want. People are using social media to get satisfaction and others to get notoriety.

Armies of connected customers are using social media sites to spread buyer beware messages to the masses. Anyone who has ever been wronged by anyone or has had a less than favorable experience with just about anything has found their global sounding board. Legions of the wronged are now armed with video enabled devices and it’s given them the courage to do what they could not do in the past – be heard.

It may not have started with a video of the now infamous Vincent Ferrari who posted his efforts to try and cancel his AOL account but this sure was a rallying cry to the masses. Now everyone is a video vigilante that shoots (video) first and asks questions later all hoping to get their moment in the spotlight with Matt Lauer.

Social media has given the average consumer a way to fight back a way to take charge and throw open their windows to scream, “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!” We can never be screwed again by angry waiters, inferior products or bait and switch marketing by less than ethical businesses. They could prey on us in the past but they better think twice before doing it now! This is great, right?!? Right?

Some are saying that social media has leveled the playing field and created accountability in the business world but that may not be the case at all. The playing field may actually be tipping in the direction of the consumer at the eventual cost of, well, the consumer. Businesses are now fighting a painstaking battle to manage their reputations and guess who will pay for that in the long run?

Connected customers apparently would rather have a bad experience to share on video than actually resolve the issue in question. Issues that seemingly can be easily resolved by simply asking to speak to a manager or owner are now escalated to extreme levels in an instant. To make matters worse, in some cases you only get one side of the story and the accused is not given the opportunity for rebuttal.

When you post a video on YouTube you have the option of allowing comments or not allowing comments as well as having comments instantly appear or await moderation. This is also the case in Blog’s and other community type websites. A growing trend of swaying comments in favor of the customer has businesses concerned and rightly so.

An example of this is a video on YouTube of a woman returning a vehicle to a car dealer. She was not the actual buyer nor was she present during the sale, her mother purchased the vehicle a few days earlier. The story she tells is that her mother was lied to, told one thing and sold something different (that old story) or something to that effect. The video contained snarling comments about thievery, scams and bad business practices at this local car dealer. I watched the video and noticed that the woman never gave anyone a chance to say anything. She never asked for the manager, owner or anyone in authority. She made no attempt to get the whole story. It seemed very one sided so I decided to post a comment which read, “why didn’t you try to resolve this issue with the owner? You were not there when the car was sold so maybe there was a miscommunication?” My comment never appeared and when I tried to re-post, it seemed that I had been blocked from posting altogether. Seems like a clear cut case of “If I want your opinion – I’ll approve it”.

To make matters worse, within an hour of the video being uploaded more negative comments we’re posted by other users. I thought, wow, was this woman right? Maybe this car dealer really is a thief? Upon further examination, all the people that commented in this woman’s favor had just joined YouTube within the last hour. Hmmm, all these people that happened to buy a car at this dealer all joined at the exact same time as this video was uploaded and all commented on the this particular video and never commented on any of the other 100 million videos on the site. This is a perfect example of someone engineering an opinion. There would be no way anyone from the dealership in question could defend their name.

Now that the public has a little power, some are abusing it by using it as a form of intimidation. People are storming in the doors of businesses around the country with cameras in hand demanding to get things done their way or else. Any attempt on the business owner’s part or store clerk to try and deal with the issue off camera and the customer makes a beeline to the nearest WiFi hotspot to upload the video and seething comments of their dissatisfaction coupled with the standard “Buyer Beware”. Seemingly businesses are being bullied and even held hostage with little or no recourse. 

Don’t get me wrong, I think the tools we have available to use are great and can be very powerful and helpful when used properly. Having a voice that can be heard by so many may actually help improve the sad state of customer service in this country. What I’m not a fan of is people using these tools just to gain notoriety or engineering a one sided point of view without concern of who it affects. In the long run it will affect us all.

We live in a clickable culture where one single voice, one single post or one single video can make a difference but this does not mean we can abuse the power we’ve been given. The ability to be heard must be respected before everyone stops listening.

This post written from Starbucks in East Brunswick, NJ

Yes you too may suffer from RRHS (red riding hood syndrome) and not even know it! Little red riding hood (“red” to her friends) was clearly in denial. She knew damn well that it was a wolf in grandma’s bed but refused to believe it.

Red: “What big eyes you have grandma” – Wolf: “All the better to see you with”.  All the better to see you with! Are you kidding me!

Red saw a figure in her grandmother’s house, her grandmother’s clothes and her grandmother’s bed and just assumed it was granny. If she failed to mentioned the big teeth she wouldn’t be with us today.

How many times have you fell victim to an offer that looked to good to be true and assumed it was? How about all that spam messaging on the Internet, ever gotten sucked in only to wonder later, “what was I thinking?!?”.

If you’ve ever punched a monkey in a banner ad to instantly win an iPod then you too may suffer from RRHS.

Well there’s good news! RRHS is treatable. Many past sufferers even go on to live full and productive lives but the first step is admitting that you may have a problem.

Here are some signs that you may suffer from RRHS.

1. You never wondered how the deposed Nigerian dictator got your email address in the first place.
2. You ignore the fact that Viagra is a prescription medication and should be prescribed by a doctor. Just because the email states that it’s “The Real Deal” does not mean it is. Buying prescription drugs from spam email is like buying produce from your garbage man.
3. You approve the comment on your Blog from the guy who writes “Nice stie – thank you ” even though it’s followed by a hyperlink reading “Cheap Levitra”
4. You actaully think that your loan was approved even though you never applied for one.
5. You can’t wait to open the next e-card from an old classmate.

These scams exist because RRHS exists. RRHS is very real and until we cure everyone, scams like these will continue to run rampant.

Some scams are not as recognizable. There are tons of self proclaimed Internet marketing and search engine gurus out there claiming to have created riches for their clients and guaranteeing they can do the same for you!

Claims of guaranteed Google placement! Page one rankings! Increased PageRank instantly! Raves of how they’ve unlocked the secrets of search that will lead to tons of traffic for your site. These animals prey on hapless RRHS sufferers and it must stop!

Just as Red eventually realized that a wolf has no thumbs and could never have possibly tied up an elderly woman, you need to realize that no one can guarantee anything when it comes to search engine placement. There are no great secrets to unlock, no magic bullets, just lots of over inflated claims.

If you suffer from RRHS it’s imperative that you question everything. Analyze every detail and then question it again before hiring anyone to assist you with Internet marketing.

Thanks to corporate supporters of RRHS like Google, there is information available to help combat those who prey on RRHS sufferers.

It is my hope, no, my dream to see a world free of RRHS but I can’t do it alone. Together we can wipe out RRHS through common sense and just not being stupid. It won’t be easy, some people may need to be beaten but it can be done. Won’t you help?

On a side note, many of you will be happy to know that Red went on to live happily ever after. Oh sure she had to go through years of therapy after the woodsman defiled her muffins and ran off with grandma but eventually she pulled herself together, went back to school and became a partner in the law firm of Wolff, Wolff and Muffit – Good for her… Good for her.

This post written from Starbucks in Manhattan - 31st and 6th ave.

There is a lot of buzz lately about social media and web 2.0 super communities Facebook and MySpace.Both are in a heated battle for the top social networking spot on the web. 

MySpace, an obvious player in this arena is the largest online social networking portal on the web with over 61 million registered users. It’s the second largest destination on the web by page views and it demographic splits 50.2% male, 49.8% female with an average age of 16-34. The site attracts 220,000 new registrants daily and there are 50,000 groups including fashion, marketing health, wellness & fitness, sports and recreation, music, film, TV, etc. 

Comparing the numbers side by side, Facebook is not even a close second – but this seems to changing rapidly. 

After opening the site up to more than just college students last September, Facebook took an amazing leap forward in popularity. Currently there are over 25 million users, growing 3% per week, which amounts to 100,000 new users per day! Projections indicate that Facebook will reach 50 million users by end of 2007. Facebook is the 6^th most trafficked site is the US with over 60 billion page views per month. Facebook users seem to be loyal as well (which is rare in the social networking space), 50% of the registered users come back to the site every day. 

While MySpace continues to skew to a younger demographic (just ask my 16 year old cousin who practically lives on MySpace), Facebook’s fastest growing segment of users are in the 25 and older crowd which makes it very attractive to advertisers and marketers.  Many of the social networking masses and business marketers alike are making a shift from MySpace to Facebook stating that MySpace has become too juvenile and spam ridden. The site is slow and the failures are becoming more frequent. The main reason for the failures is that MySpace profiles can be heavily customized if you know how to code in HTML. Rouge HTML code and scripting is causing browser crashes and incompatibilities. Facebook by comparison is much cleaner and does not allow the level of customization that is causing problems on MySpace. Instead Facebook allows the use of approved applications that work on top of their platform. 

To make matters worse for MySpace, in 2006 it was named one of the top 50 coolest websites by Time Magazine and this year it made the list of the 5 worst! Has MySpace fallen out of favor?  Could this be the beginning of the end for MySpace? Will armies of marketers and legions of social networkers just simply move to Facebook or is MySpace “2 legit to quit?”  I use MySpace and Facebook (as well as many other social networking sites) as a vehicle for marketing my book and as a marketer I’m not convinced that the fat lady is quite ready to sing over in the MySpace camp. 

Here are some of the stats I’ve gathered from the website for my book. 

I have roughly an equal amount of friends on both MySpace and Facebook and spend an equal amount of time cultivating each. 

On average over the last 3 months MySpace accounted for more than 25% of the visits to the website for my marketing book (MommyWhereDoCustomersComeFrom.com), that’s more than the visitors from Google and this Blog combined! LinkedIn (yet another social networking site with more of a business focus) sent 8% and Facebook a mere 3%. 

As a marketer, MySpace is still a viable marketing vehicle - period. As a user I totally agree with all of the MySpace rhetoric, it’s slow, way too many failures, too much spam and yes it skews to a lower age group. As a fellow Blogger (and a MySpace friend) commented in one of my earlier posts (Twitter De – Twitter Dumb?), “I am also too old for a MySpace page and I have one of those too”. The part of that comment that jumps off the page, “I have one of those too”. 

It’s my opinion that MySpace is in fact 2 legit 2 quit. As long as they keep adapting and making smart choices that address the concerns of their connected customers, this social media behemoth will not be going anywhere anytime soon. 

The one caveat to that statement is that when I spoke at Affiliate Summit in Miami this year I did attend a session where a MySpace exec stated “we don’t really see Facebook as a competitor”. The last high profile technology company to underestimate their competition was Netscape, they didn’t see Microsoft as a competitor and Microsoft crushed them like a hammer to a grape! 

Recently Microsoft did strike a pretty big deal with Facebook. I hope MySpace wises up before I have to write another MC Hammer inspired post titled, “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em”. 

This post written from Starbucks in Newark Liberty International Airport, Terminal C.

Marketing has changed dramatically in the past few years. Social networking and social media continues to stir traditional marketers into frenzy.  Conventional marketers such as ad agencies have barely come to grips with the proper usage of the Internet as a sales and marketing vehicle. They continue to disregard cornerstones of successful website design such as usability, load times, strategic content development and search engine friendliness. Instead these traditional marketers tout the benefits of creativity and unique design elements that go against the grain. Creativity ends up blocking communication and no one but the agency benefits.  The proper usage of the web continues to elude a lot of marketers but they seem to be slowly coming around as businesses become better educated on what works and what does not. 

Now throw social media into the mix. BLOGs, viral video, Podcasting and social networking sites such as MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook etc. Most agencies I come in contact with have no idea how to deal with this ever changing medium. Businesses for the most part have no idea what to do in this space and more often than not dismiss the notion altogether citing reasons such as. “Only kids are doing this stuff” or, “We don’t have the time for that”. 

The fact of the matter is your average business owner is a wimp, afraid of spending money and failing or afraid to admit that they just don’t understand it enough to make a go of it. They don’t know where to turn since their traditional marketing channels are as bewildered as they are so they do nothing and hope for the best. 

Hope is not a strategy - Get over it! In the fledgling days of the commercial Internet there were many businesses that simply dismissed the internet as kids stuff or a fad. The ones that looked beyond conventional wisdom and took a chance online are reaping the rewards and the naysayers are licking their wounds and try to play catch up. 

As the title of this article states, “it’s hard out here for a wimp”, business is not for the faint-hearted, it’s tough and marketing is risky, but how is this different from any other time in history? Business has always been complex and marketing has always been a gamble. You cannot dismiss new ways to connect with customers as fads or simply ignore them and pray your business will flourish as it has in the past. The greatest business leaders of our time did not achieve greatness because they were timid. Good businesses do not become great businesses with a play it safe strategy. 

You think social media is going to go away? For the sake of argument, let’s say you’re right. Sites like Second Life or MySpace will eventually fade away. The fact still remains, they exist now and so does the opportunity. One of the foundations of marketing is identifying opportunity and exploiting that opportunity until it no longer has value. When it stops working – move on. So who cares where these sites will be in six months or a year? They are here now and represent an opportunity. 

You simply cannot keep doing the same things over and over again and expect to thrive. In order to grow you must keep moving forward. Don’t have time to BLOG, find the time. Don’t have the time to create a social media strategy, hire someone to do it for you. Contrary to popular belief it does not take that much time to get out there and make connections with your customers. A few hours a week is all you need to get started. 

Yes some people do get carried away and spend far too much time seeking out online friends and get completely wrapped up in the social aspects of this type of Internet marketing. I won’t deny that you can go overboard to the point where you are wasting so much time with social networking that it becomes counter productive. That’s why you never venture into any type of marketing without planning. It’s critical that you create a strategy for this type of marketing. Outline a detailed blueprint of where you want to be, how to properly use the tools and how much time can be allocated to these efforts. 

Your customers are out there connecting with new and exciting medium and you need to be there too because, you can be sure your competition is. 

You don’t have the time – make the time – before all you have it time (think about it).