Overcoming Unnecessary Costs
I spoke with a potential client this afternoon about a variety of industry buzz words, including their brand identity, the user experience of their software, their corporate network, and how it all connected to the social web. The first half of the conversation felt more like a memory dump on my behalf, followed by a more humane conversation on the relevance of these buzz words to their bottom line. By the end of the conversation it was clear that the benefits couldn’t outweigh the costs of the current Economy.
On the way home I counted all the businesses along the highway that couldn’t overcome the unnecessary costs. One of the passing billboards had their website listed at the bottom, and I was reminded of the Web 1.0 when nobody saw the need for a website. It wasn’t before long that everyone knew they had to have one. The same thing is happening with the Second Coming of the Web: Social Media, where the West Coast is overflowing with new ideas that will soon make it around to the Midwest.
While this does offer me some time before the Social Media bomb hits Southern Ohio, I’m unsure exactly how to navigate myself into a position to help individuals, businesses, and communities, make the transition to a more social existance on the Web. One thing is for certain: Learning the Social Web is an active process, not passively learned in a single book or blog. I imagine the end result of the seeds I sow will look much different than my current set of expectations.
