The monitoring the Zeitgeist of Humanity using new media technologies and tools isn’t the point of this post, but it should be the takeaway.
Why? Because the power of social technologies to empower humans across the globe to change the world for good and to live from a place of purpose is a key way we should all be using social media regardless of how we use it in our business lives.
Forward wind to Scott Klososky and a talk I heard him give recently (word on that note – if you haven’t heard him speak, find out where he is and go. He’s incredibly inspiring).
Because we know what we know and don’t know what and who we don’t know, it’s easy to think we have heard every talk and every speaker who has anything to ‘gift’ an audience in the world of social media if you live and breathe it every day. That said, we all have our own micro-circles we travel in and Scott isn’t really in circulation in mine.
Here are some takeaways, summaries and key points:
Word-of-mouth is driving more leads than search is right now and he went into the transition from Web 1.0 to where Web 4.0 will lead us to give us a snapshot of where we are today. From his vantage point:
- Web 1.0 was about connected organizations, i.e., building websites so you can connect with customers and other businesses. It was the start of the death of paper mail (note: the postal service is now losing $3 billion a quarter) and of course the decline of newspapers.
- Web 2.0 is about connecting people (social technologies) which is obviously changing the world and how we interact with each other. We can connect with people in ways we never have been able to before.
- Web 3.0 is about pervasive computing, where mobile devices will be able to control everything. Every device will be connected to every other device. We are already seeing pieces of this in place today.
- Web 4.0 will be about connected intelligence (s).
Let’s look at various stages of immersion with social technologies:
- Consumer-to-Consumer
- Connecting with family and friends
- eWord-of-Mouth
- Rating & Recommendation Systems
- UGC (user-generated content)
- Citizen Journalism
- Discussion Groups
- Business-to-Consumer
- Socially-Directed Buying
- SEO and PPC
- Social Media
- eWord-of-Mouth (applies to both areas obviously)
- Organizational Voice (so many companies do not put enough time or thinking into this point, which frankly I think should be at the top)
- Online reputation management
- Crowdsourcing
- Location-based marketing (geo-loco is growing, i.e., Foursquare, Gowalla)
- Viral Video – Old Spice success (so he’s sexy, okay, very sexy) and United Breaks my Guitar disaster are great examples.
- Business-to-Business
- Socially-Facilitated Selling
- Social CRM
- Social recruiting
- Rivers of information
- Online industry experts
- Organizational voice
- Online reputation management
- Virtual team support
- Socially-Facilitated Selling
- Socially-Directed Buying
Renee Blodgett is the Founder and Managing Editor of We Blog the World, a global travel, culture and lifestyle publication exploring the world through the lens of meaningful experiences, human connection and cultural depth. Having lived in 10 countries and traveled to 95, Renee has spent much of her life immersed in the people, traditions, landscapes and ideas that shape how we experience the world.
Since launching We Blog the World in 2007, she has written and produced extensive editorial coverage spanning boutique and luxury travel, culinary experiences, arts and culture, wellness, adventure, technology, spiritual traditions and transformative travel. Her work is rooted in the belief that travel is about more than where we go—it is also about what a place, culture or encounter awakens within us.
Renee brings more than three decades of experience across journalism, photography, media, brand strategy, technology, wellness and global storytelling. She has worked with companies and organizations around the world on brand positioning, communications, product launches, media strategy, speaker positioning and storytelling. Through Blue Soul Media, she works with authors, entrepreneurs, thought leaders and purpose-driven brands to clarify their message and expand their impact, which includes speaker coaching/training for high-profile stages such as TED and bringing authors’ work to market while retaining authors rights.
She is also the co-founder of Blue Soul Earth, an educational platform exploring consciousness, ancient wisdom, spirituality, healing and the intersection between science and the nature of reality. Renee is the producer and host of the award-winning Blue Soul CHATS, a conversational series bringing together leading voices in science, technology, consciousness, wellness and spirituality.
Her growing body of work also includes Blue Soul Living, which extends her interest in consciousness and well-being into the spaces we inhabit, exploring how intentional design, energy and environment can support greater harmony and connection.
Renee is the award-winning co-author of the bestselling Magdalene’s Journey and founder of the Magdalene Collection, inspired by women’s voices, stories and wisdom across cultures and generations.
A longtime photographer and storyteller, Renee has documented people, places and cultures around the world and produced photographic collections focused on destinations including the Galápagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome and Ecuador. She also co-founded Traveling Geeks, an international initiative that brought entrepreneurs, journalists, creators and technology leaders together with their counterparts in other countries to exchange ideas and explore innovation across cultures.
Renee’s work has been recognized by Forbes, the United Nations and others for her influence in media and social storytelling. Across her work in travel, media, consciousness and culture, a common thread remains: curiosity about the world, the stories that connect us and the ways meaningful experiences can change how we see ourselves and one another.
