Think eBiz; thoughts on eBusiness

Influencer's: Enabling Brand Building and Sales

What makes online marketing so vibrant and exciting is all the new "buzz words" that come into play. The latest that I have latched onto is called - "Influencer's".

"Influencer's" is one that we at Think-ebiz believe represents a major aspect of Web 2.0. Simply put, Web 2.0 is about fostering a conversation and relationship with your customers and prospects online. Influencer's is how one person can affect the branding and buying power of another person through web site enablers.

Recently, I began working with an innovative start-up called StickySurf, where we defined the value proposition as being an "influencer" for B2C (and even B2B) web sites. StickySurf is a tool that can be added to an existing web site that enables easy and efficient conversations with your friends and co-workers.

The premise is simple: You are visiting a web site and notice a product or service that could benefit a friend or co-worker. A digital camera, a unique European Travel Tour, or a new software product that could benefit your Mfg group. StickySurf or a viral enabled web site can help enhance the purchase power of the web site by bringing new visitors onboard - with a friendly recommendation.

Influencer's can exist in other more traditional mechanisms, such as forums and eCommunity advice and image sharing. A web site that enables the visitors to share experiences could increase awareness and sales. A travel web site that allows people to share pictures and advice, and experiences could influence others to sign up for the next tour.

We all know the power of a personal recommendation. Web 2.0 is enabling this capability online, and this is exciting and powerful. Hopefully I am influencing others to consider enabling this capability on their own web property.

I am Time Person of the Year, and so are YOU

Thank You - Thank YOU for this great honor, being named Time Magazines 2006 Person of the Year. And congratulations to YOU too. For this year, the person of the year is YOU.

What Time Magazine observed is just how active on the web we are. Whether it is blogging or MySpace/FaceBook'ing or YouTube'ing - the social aspects of the web are intense and incredible. This social aspect is referred to as Web 2.0, the social interactivity of the web between me and the web masters - and each other - YOU.

And while this honor was being bestowed on us today - there was also an article about how MySpace has unseated Yahoo as the most visited web property (page views/web traffic). Social networking overtakes the old guard.

What will be the affect on web based advertisting? We already see how online ad dollars are benefiting at the expense of traditional offline platforms. Online media will need to transform to meet the needs of the web 2.0 masses - social advertising? We'll explore this in upcoming Think-eBiz blog articles.

The online space is getting more and more exciting every day. 2006 Time Person of the Year, wow what an honor. I can't wait to tell my mom (via email), she'll be so proud!

Thank You - Thank YOU for this great honor, being named Time Magazines 2006 Person of the Year. And congratulations to YOU too. For this year, the person of the year is YOU.

What Time Magazine observed is just how active on the web we are. Whether it is blogging or MySpace/FaceBook'ing or YouTube'ing - the social aspects of the web are intense and incredible. This social aspect is referred to as Web 2.0, the social interactivity of the web between me and the web masters - and each other - YOU.

And while this honor was being bestowed on us today - there was also an article about how MySpace has unseated Yahoo as the most visited web property (page views/web traffic). Social networking overtakes the old guard.

What will be the affect on web based advertisting? We already see how online ad dollars are benefiting at the expense of traditional offline platforms. Online media will need to transform to meet the needs of the web 2.0 masses - social advertising? We'll explore this in upcoming Think-eBiz blog articles.

The online space is getting more and more exciting every day. 2006 Time Person of the Year, wow what an honor. I can't wait to tell my mom (via email), she'll be so proud!