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Conversations Are Becoming Fragmented: The Case for a Killer Conversation Tracker Application

Monday, March 17th, 2008

Quick Summary: As conversations become fragmented across social networks, there will be a huge business potential for a killer conversation tracker application that allows you to track and publish all the conversations around your content in one place, on your blog.

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Over the last few months, I have noticed a new pattern emerge in how I engage in conversations:-

Step 1: I often use Twitter to pre-test a post idea. I typically tweet the topic I’m planning to write a post on and often get twenty plus reactions and suggested links. This enables me to include multiple perspectives in the post.

Step 2: Whenever I’m writing an involved post, I try to capture the essence of the topic in a graph and post it on Flickr. Typically, five to ten people comment on the graphs on Flickr and Twitter, which further helps me pre-test my post idea.

Step 3: Finally, using the tweets and the graph as a starting point, I write a post on my blog. Most of my posts get five to ten comments on the blog itself.

Also filed in Internet, Noteworthy, Novice Blogger, Social Media, Trendspotting, Twitter Threads | Tagged Application, Blogging, CoComment, Comments, Conversation Tracker, Conversations, Facebook, Flickr, Fragmentation, FriendFeed, Life Streaming, Plaxo Pulse, Plugin, Spokeo, Twitter, Wordpress | Permalink | Comments (17)

Three Dimensions of Differentiation for Indian Social Networking Sites

Thursday, March 13th, 2008

Quick Summary: Read why language (English vs. vernacular), mode of access (Internet vs. mobile) and social dynamics (global vs. Indian) will be the three dimensions of differentiation for Indian social networking sites.

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In my previous post, I wrote about why Indian social networking sites need to differentiate themselves –

Most of the Indian social networking sites are basically India-focused Facebook/ MySpace/ Orkut/ LinkedIn clones. Such clones would only be popular amongst a small set of twenty-something Indians in metros who won’t want a clone anyways.

I also presented a typology of Indian social networking sites on a 2X2 matrix with Indian-vs-global social dynamics on the X-axis and Indian-vs-global user appeal on the Y-axis –

– and suggested that –

To really build an identity and a broad Indian user base for themselves, Indian social networking sites need to reflect the unique nature of relationships in the Indian society.

Three Dimensions of Differentiation: Language, Access and Social Dynamics

Based on the discussion in the comments section and on Twitter, Facebook and e-mail, I have realized that there are, in fact, three dimensions of differentiation for Indian social networking sites — language (English vs. vernacular), mode of access (Internet vs. mobile) and social dynamics (global vs. Indian).

Also filed in Desi Web 2.0, Internet, Mobile, Noteworthy, Social Media, Trendspotting | Tagged BharatMatrimony, Desi-Web-2.0, Facebook, Graphs, I-CUBE, India, Internet, Internet Penetration, JeevanSaathi, Like, LinkedIn, Micro-Blogging, MingleBox, Mobile, Mobile Blogging, MySpace, MyToday, Nokia, Noteworthy, NRS, Orkut, Readership, Reliance, Shaadi, SMS, SMSGupShup, Social Media, Social Network, Social-Networking, Social-Networks, TRAI, Trendsotting, Vernacular, Webaroo | Permalink | Comments (7)

What’s Wrong With Indian Social Networking Sites?

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008

Quick Summary: To build an identity and a broad Indian user base for themselves, Indian social networking sites need to reflect the unique nature of relationships in the Indian society.

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According to a recent cover story in the Outlook Magazine, there are almost 10 mn users of social networking sites in India. Orkut has 7.1 mn users, Facebook 1.6 mn, BharatStudent 1.7mn, Fropper 1.0 mn, BigAdda 1.4 mn, Minglebox 0.6 mn, adding up to 13.4 mn (tweet). Add smaller social networks, factor in duplication across social networks, and the total user base for social networks in India may be ~10 mn (tweet).

As the number of Internet users in India is estimated at between 20 mn and 30 mn by most sources, at least one third of all Internet users in India now use a social network.

Also filed in Desi Web 2.0, Internet, Noteworthy, Social Media, Trendspotting, Twitter Threads | Tagged BabaJob, Bharat Matrimony, BharatStudent, BigAdda, Facebook, IDC Web Value Matrix, India, JeevanSaathi, Like, LinkedIn, MingleBox, MySpace, Orkut, Outlook Cover Story, Shaadi, SlideShare, Social Media, Social Network, Social-Networking, Social-Networks, Sumitr | Permalink | Comments (17)

Next Big Thing: Social Media Outsourcing (SMO) (Part 2 of 2)

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

Quick Summary: Read a soon-to-be-real scenario featuring imaginary Indian Social Media Outsourcing (SMO) company BuzzPundit to understand why SMO will be the next big business opportunity for India after BPO and KPO.

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If you found it difficult to believe my assertion that social media outsourcing (SMO) will be the next big business opportunity for India, let me present a soon-to-be-real scenario featuring imaginary Indian SMO company BuzzPundit.

Imagine a sprawling corporate campus on the outskirts of a large Indian metro (take your pick from Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon or Pune). Imagine 10000 twenty-something Indians sitting in front of their computer screens. If you must, think of a call center. Except that these twenty-somethings are not making call after call to customers in the US; they are reading articles, posts and comments and tagging them, or responding to them.

Welcome to BuzzPundit. You are at the corporate campus of one of India’s many social media outsourcing (SMO) companies.

Also filed in Case Study, Internet, Marketing, Noteworthy, Social Media, Trendspotting | Tagged BPO, Business Process Outsourcing, BuzzPundit, India, Internet, Knowledge Process Outsourcing, KPO, Marketing, Nasscom-Everest Study, Nokia, Noteworthy, SMO, Social Media, Social Media Outsourcing, Social Media Process, Trendspotting | Permalink | Comments (11)

Big Insight for Startups: Monetize the Idea Cluster Influence Curve

Tuesday, January 29th, 2008

Quick Summary: Businesses based on the influence curve of an idea cluster are likely to be more robust and less risky than businesses based on the influence curve of one idea.

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Ideas have a bell-shaped influence curve. Over time, ideas gain influence, reach a peak influence at a point in time and decline in influence thereafter. If your business is based on an idea, like all businesses are, your business is limited by the idea’s influence curve. To build a successful business, you would like to identify an idea early, build competence/ credibility before others during the growth phase, make money at peak influence, and exit/ diversify during the decline phase.

Different ideas have different influence curves. You can think of an influence curve in terms of height (peak influence), gradient (rate of acceptance) and width (life of idea). To build a successful business, you would like to identify an idea that has a fast rate of acceptance, a high peak influence, and a long life.

Also filed in Internet, Noteworthy, Trendspotting | Tagged Bell-Curve, Idea, Idea-Cluster, Influence-Curve, Insight, Life-in-a-Graph, Noteworthy, Social Media, Startup, Trend, Trendspotting, Wannabe-Web-Millionaire | Permalink | Comments (6)

Updated: My Three Blogging Goals for 2008

Monday, December 24th, 2007

Quick Summary: I have set myself three blogging goals for 2008 — write 100 posts with original content, reach 1000 subscribers, and enter Technorati top 1000.

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Daniels at Daily Blog Tips is doing a Group Writing Project on Blogging Goals for 2008 and more than 130 bloggers have participated so far.

While most bloggers participating in the project have set themselves goals on as many as ten metrics related to blog redesign, post frequency, promotion techniques, comments, traffic, link-backs and revenue, I have decided to focus on three simple goals — write 100 posts with original content, reach 1000 subscribers, and enter Technorati top 1000.

Goals only work if they are linked to a long-term objective and blogging goals are no different.

I decided some time back that I’m not interested in using my blog to earn money. Instead, my objective is to use my blog to establish myself as an authority in the marketing, strategy and social media niche. In fact, as I have built a library of quality original content on my blog over the last few months, I have even started putting my blog URL on my resume.

Also filed in Novice Blogger | Tagged Blogging, Blogging-Chain-of-Being, Blogging-Goals, Blogs, Life-in-a-Graph, Novice Blogger | Permalink | Comments (20)

The Soft-Hard-Soft Leadership Style Model

Friday, December 14th, 2007

Read about how a soft-hard-soft leadership style works best in an environment that is constantly changing.

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Management literature is littered with debates on what is the right leadership style. Most of these models recognize that there is no right leadership style, that different leadership styles work in different environments.

Based on my own experience over the last few years, I have found that a soft-hard-soft leadership style works best in an environment that is constantly changing.

Simply put, a soft leadership style is focused on people and a hard leadership style is focused on targets and processes.

According to my Soft-Hard-Soft Leadership Style Model, managers need to adopt their leadership styles to how easy or difficult their environment is.

There are three stages in the Soft-Hard-Soft Leadership Style Model model –

Stage 1 - Soft-Soft

When the environment is soft and targets/ processes are not under pressure, managers should adopt a soft leadership style to maintain the feel-good factor in the team.

Stage 2 - Hard-Hard

Also filed in Marketing, Personal Development | Tagged Leadership, Life-in-a-Graph, Management, Personal Development, Soft-Hard-Soft-Leadership-Style-Model, The-Next-Marketing-Guru | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Three Laws of the Marketing Chain of Being

Friday, December 7th, 2007

Quick Summary: Read about the five levels in the Marketing Chain of Being, and the three laws that govern how brands move between them.

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In an earlier post, I had written that, like the Renaissance Chain of Being, there is also a Marketing Chain of Being.

In this post, I’ll explain the five levels in the Marketing Chain of Being, and the three laws that govern how brands move between them.

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The Five Levels in the Marketing Chain of Being

There are five levels in the Marketing Chain of Being –

1. Commodity Hell, in which brands basically focus on price and channel promotions to sell more (think groceries).
2. Differentiation, in which brands highlight product features and benefits to command a price premium (think automobiles).
3. Engagement, in which brands use service (in both its customer service and conversation meaning) to develop relationships with customers (think Dell).
4. Cultural Currency, in which brands become shared social objects and help customers define their individual and group identities (think Nike+iPod).
5. Meaning, in which brands become the tools that customers use for self-realization or restoration (think Google).

Also filed in Marketing, Noteworthy, Trendspotting | Tagged Apple, Commodity-Hell, Cultural-Currency, Customer-Service, Dell, Differentiation, Engagement, Google, iPod, Life-in-a-Graph, Marketing, Meaning, Nike, Nike+iPod, Noteworthy, The-Next-Marketing-Guru, Trendspotting | Permalink | Comments (6)

Gauravonomics Blog

Category Archives: Graphs

Big Insight for Startups: Monetize the Idea Cluster Influence Curve

Updated: My Three Blogging Goals for 2008

The Soft-Hard-Soft Leadership Style Model

The Three Laws of the Marketing Chain of Being

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