Inside VT KnowledgeWorks

Expertise vs. IP

Gary Hamel writes in The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500, "The experience of growing up online will profoundly shape the workplace expectations of 'Generation F' - the Facebook Generation."

Hamel adds, "Power [online] comes from sharing information, not hoarding it...To gain influence and status, you have to give away your expertise and content. And you must do it quickly; if you don’t, someone else will beat you to the punch - and garner the credit that might have been yours. Online, there are a lot of incentives to share, and few incentives to hoard."

What a dilemma for the high-tech entrepreneur!

Give away my expertise?  Quickly?  Or get beaten to the punch?!

Isn't that an oxymoron?  Don't I have to hoard my intellectual property, my IP, until my product is ready to launch?  Then I share my expertise online, right?

As the founder of a public relations firm built on a high-tech platform, i.e. Web 2.0, the challenge I see for high-tech entrepreneurs is the time lag. 

The point from product launch to establishing a meaningful, credible presence online takes time.

In addition to contributing to the greater good by adding to the store of human knowledge through sharing one's expertise online, the purpose of having a meaningful, credible presence online is to create associations between an online presence and a product.  Ideally, those associations result in sales.

Sometimes the amount of time between product launch, online presence, and sales is beyond a company's amount of funding.

One of the purposes of Inside VT KnowledgeWorks, the VT KnowledgeWorksblog, is to provide to VT KnowledgeWorks member companies a shortening of that time lag.  We share member companies' stories, news, business profiles, leadership profiles - and expertise rather than IP - to address the reality of doing business in the world of Web 2.0.

One has to start now for later.

Yesterday might have been better.

Are You a LinkedIn Entrepreneur?

Used with permission from a post by Z. Kelly Queijo, a frequent contributor to Handshake 2.0, an enterprise of VT KnowledgeWorks member company Handshake Media, Incorporated.

From Z. Kelly Queijo:

I've been following the posts on the VT KnowledgeWorks blog about the upcoming competition for venture capital sponsored by the Charlottesville Venture Group (CVG).  A recent post that included recommendations on how to make your application stand out included this bonus tip:

BONUS: If you go to a funding source and don’t have LinkedIn completely filled out and with some real business contacts on it, we’re not impressed. Get with the program.

Mr. Angel's Advice on Business Plans: Use Spell Check

Whoa! LinkedIn might play a role in whether or not an entrepreneur receives funding??

Absolutely. LinkedIn is THE social media network for building relationships in business. With more than 30 million users representing 150 industries, you're likely to find people you know from past jobs, college, friends, clients, and professional interests. You start with who you know and begin to build your network.

Grow your network by inviting new contacts to join your network. When you follow-up by email with people you've met, whether you met them at a conference, a networking event, or through others, use LinkedIn to invite them join your network. This provides them an invitation to expand their own business network and gives them the opportunity to learn more about you.

Learning more about one another is the foundation for building strong relationships - and building business starts with building trust.

Inside VT KnowledgeWorks Listed on Top 150 Blogs for Entrepreneurs

Inside VT KnowledgeWorks, the blog for business acceleration center VT KnowledgeWorks, was listed on The Top 150 Blogs for Entrepreneurs from Open Business by Marc Dangeard.

From the 12/5/08 post:

I am using eCairn to track what is happening in the blogosphere around Entrepreneurship/ Social Entrepreneurship / High Tech/ Venture Capital (tracking about 350 blogs total), and I use eCairn's influence ranking on these blogs to prioritize my reading and commenting (see here how they do this - this is NOT about traffic but rather who links to what).

Here is the list of the top 150 blogs that I find relevant for entrepreneurs in general, with a bias for high tech and social entrepreneurship and a special interest on the funding side.

Future updates will be posted on the Entrepreneur Commons website.

Something that you may find useful for yourself...

Top 150 blogs for Entrepreneur (based on the influence ranking by eCairn):

146 http://www.insidevtknowledgeworks.com

We are deeply honored to even be listed on the same page with these fine blogs.  Thank you very much, Open Business.

We learned of our listing through TypePad's statistics and thank Himanshu's Blog - Technology, Entrepreneurship & Business for posting the entire list of The Top 150 Blogs for Entrepreneurs.

You Already Know How to Slam Dunk Using Web 2.0

Last night, I started reading Charlene Li's and Josh Bernoff's Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. 

I was struck by this description of a manager at Sony Electronics:  "Rick Clancy seemed worried...He was grappling with a force he didn't understand, one that was growing all the time...Consumers whom he'd never met were rating his company's products in public forums that he had no experience with and no way to influence...Rick had decided it was time to take matters into his own hands, to become a blogger himself...For this veteran of almost two decades of managing his company's image, the goal looked daunting."

I respect Rick Clancy's position.  The use of online - a.k.a. Web 2.0 - tools can feel daunting.  

Li and Bernoff define the "groundswell" as "a spontaneous movement of people using online tools to connect, take charge of their own experience, and get what they need - information, support, ideas, products, and bargaining power - from each other...instead of from companies."

I think some managers experience the groundswell as returning the slam-dunking pro basketball player within them to Little League lay-ups.

No one likes to feel awkward, especially someone with hard-won expertise, experience, and credentials.

It doesn't have to be that way.

The day before, I had a meeting with Jim Littlefield, marketing advisor to VT KnowledgeWorks business acceleration center member companies.

He looked me right in the eye and said, "Ralph Waldo Emerson said, 'Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.'"

Jim pointed his finger in the center of the table for emphasis.

"No they won't," he said.  "Unless you tell them about it and how it benefits them, no, they won't."

Jim Littlefield is right.  Tell them about it...

Telling them about it, whether you're a high-tech entrepreneur or a curbside recyling start-up is as cheap, easy, and quick as writing a single sentence for Twitter or a paragraph or two for a blog.

I'll finish Groundswell and undoubtedly learn some subtleties.  Leader, manager, CEO, business or organization member who is reading this groundswelling-ground-breaking-take-matters-into-our-own-hands blog may want to read it, too.

But whether it's Web 2.0, Web 3.0 or Web infinity point oh, it's still people using it. 

And you already know people love your slam dunk.

So the game's the same but the equipment's a little different.  And it changes.

Get me or someone else to show you the latest Web 2.0 equipment.  It'll change.  

But you already know how to slam dunk.

Being Connected to Everybody is as Valuable as Being Connected to Nobody

Here is more for high-tech companies to consider for getting the word out in 2009.

This excerpt is from Business Strategy Review, Winter 2008, from the London Business School:  “Coming attractions:  What are the ideas which will shape business in the year to come and fill bookshelves and conference auditoriums?  We asked a collection of management thinkers what each is thinking about and working on right now.”  (Here's the .pdf.)

John Patrick,Weblog author and conference speaker

“One of the first social networks was LinkedIn, and I have been a member of it from nearly the beginning.  Hardly a day goes by that I don’t get several invitations to become a ‘friend’ or ‘colleague’ with another LinkedIn member (or Plaxo Pulse or Facebook).  To gain the real ‘network effect,’ I recommend being selective in dealing with these invitations.  Otherwise you end up connected to everybody, which is as valuable as being connected to nobody.”

“The real power is not in the numbers per se but to really know someone who knows someone who knows someone and to have the credibility with the person who knows you such that they are willing to help you to connect to someone else.”

“I have 178 trusted friends and colleagues in my LinkedIn network.  Two degrees away – friends of friends; each connected to one of my connections – there are more than 60,000 people.  Three degrees away – members who can be reached through a friend and one of their friends – is 3, 200,000 people.  If you are discerning about it, you can develop considerable social capital.”

Getting the Word Out in High-Tech in 2009

How will high-tech start-ups like those at VT KnowledgeWorks get the word out about their products and services in 2009?

 

Maybe these sources will help.

 

The first is a 12/15/08 Wall Street Journal special section, The Secrets of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World. (Thanks to @rgeller via Twitter for the source.)

 

The second is a compilation from former Forrester researcher, Peter Kim.  Kim asked 14 social media pundits to make predictions for 2009.  His excerpts are quoted below from Social Media Predictions 2009 on Peter Kim's blog, Being Peter Kim.  The 23-page .pdf report is here. (Thanks to @ramskill via Twitter for the source.)

 

From Peter Kim:

 

Community and collaboration are wonderful things.

Fourteen great minds on social media have shared thoughts on what 2009 may have in store for us.  Here's some of what they're thinking:

• "Although it is now cheaper to launch an initiative leveraging Web 2.0 technology - it requires qualified and passionate people to make them successful." - David Armano
• "You may not always start the year as a leader, but you can certainly finish it that way." - Rohit Bhargava  
• "Intimacy touches emotion; emotion powers conversation." - Pete Blackshaw
• "Doors are going to close all over the social web. Why? Because the money didn't come the way people thought it would." - Chris Brogan 
• "The tipping point has not only *not* been reached, but could still tilt *away* from Social Media." - Todd Defren
• "There's a lot of fixing that needs to be done." - Jason Falls 
• "Dwindling budgets suddenly make low-cost social media look like the pretty girl at the ball." - Ann Handley 
• "We're going to develop a set of better metrics to help guide, direct and validate 'commitment'." - Joseph Jaffe 
• "The movement is rooted in a desire to have quality, not quantity, as people cocoon in the face of the economic crisis." - Charlene Li 
• "After a pre-qualifying wrestling match..." - Ben McConnell
• "These will be cumulative events and interactions that will build brand loyalty for the companies that pay attention to them." - Scott Monty  
• "The recession will force revenue results out of social technologies." - Jeremiah Owyang
• "Companies that focus on earning love will thrive during hard times, and kick ass when good times return." - Andy Sernovitz
• "Suddenly, being Facebook friends with your mom will seem less ridiculous than following 4,000 strangers on Twitter." - Greg Verdino  

Everyone's thoughts have been assembled in this PDF.

How will high-tech start-ups like those at VT KnowledgeWorks get the word out about their products and services in 2009?

 

Maybe these sources will help.

 

The first is a 12/15/08 Wall Street Journal special section, The Secrets of Marketing in a Web 2.0 World. (Thanks to @rgeller via Twitter for the source.)

 

The second is a compilation from former Forrester researcher, Peter Kim.  Kim asked 14 social media pundits to make predictions for 2009.  His excerpts are quoted below from Social Media Predictions 2009 on Peter Kim's blog, Being Peter Kim.  The 23-page .pdf report is here. (Thanks to @ramskill via Twitter for the source.)

 

From Peter Kim:

 

Community and collaboration are wonderful things.

Fourteen great minds on social media have shared thoughts on what 2009 may have in store for us.  Here's some of what they're thinking:

• "Although it is now cheaper to launch an initiative leveraging Web 2.0 technology - it requires qualified and passionate people to make them successful." - David Armano
• "You may not always start the year as a leader, but you can certainly finish it that way." - Rohit Bhargava  
• "Intimacy touches emotion; emotion powers conversation." - Pete Blackshaw
• "Doors are going to close all over the social web. Why? Because the money didn't come the way people thought it would." - Chris Brogan 
• "The tipping point has not only *not* been reached, but could still tilt *away* from Social Media." - Todd Defren
• "There's a lot of fixing that needs to be done." - Jason Falls 
• "Dwindling budgets suddenly make low-cost social media look like the pretty girl at the ball." - Ann Handley 
• "We're going to develop a set of better metrics to help guide, direct and validate 'commitment'." - Joseph Jaffe 
• "The movement is rooted in a desire to have quality, not quantity, as people cocoon in the face of the economic crisis." - Charlene Li 
• "After a pre-qualifying wrestling match..." - Ben McConnell
• "These will be cumulative events and interactions that will build brand loyalty for the companies that pay attention to them." - Scott Monty  
• "The recession will force revenue results out of social technologies." - Jeremiah Owyang
• "Companies that focus on earning love will thrive during hard times, and kick ass when good times return." - Andy Sernovitz
• "Suddenly, being Facebook friends with your mom will seem less ridiculous than following 4,000 strangers on Twitter." - Greg Verdino  

Everyone's thoughts have been assembled in this PDF.

A Web Site and A Blog - Two for One

For companies contemplating an online strategy in 2009 that includes an updated Web site and a blog, how about doing both in the same place?
 
I'm a fan of TypePad's blogging software because of the user interface and the tech support.
 
And the top blog author uses TypePad, too, so I joined his crowd.
 
TypePad allows users to make both blog posts and pages, so a company can have dynamic content with the blog and static content with the pages.
 
My understanding of this actually originated over a year ago through a conversation with Justin of Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center company Biz Net Technologies. He helped me discover TypePad's low-cost way to host the charity fund-raising site for the New River Valley Triathlon.
 
Here's the site and you can see that it has updated blog posts.  On the right, though, is a navigation list, and each one of those words or phrases links to a static page.  So all the information that doesn't change is on the pages and all the stuff that does change is in the blog.  
 
For example, here's the first press release and it's a static page.  I put it in the blog, too, so that people who subscribe would see it, but that's long gone into the archives now.  The static page, though, is there for site visitors not to miss.
 
One reason people create blogs is to generate traffic for their web sites.  All my traffic comes to the same place, both blog and pages, because my web site has dynamic blog content:  2 for 1.

Inside VT KnowledgeWorks is a TypePad blog.
 
And Handshake 2.0 looks like a cutting edge super site and it is.  But underneath it all?  A TypePad blog.

Cyber Liability for Entrepreneurs

From B. Janelle Jordan, CIC, Commercial Insurance Sales Executive, USI Insurance Services LLC:

Lawsuits pertaining to cyber activities are ever-growing.  The insurance industry is trying to develop more and more coverages to address the exposures associated with cyber liability by revising the wording in their liability and property policies to more clearly include coverage or exclude coverage associated with the Internet and/or electronic data (if excluded, the insured can obtain a separate and more specific policy such as a stand-alone cyber liability policy). 

If you have a business, you have to ask yourself where your exposure is and then obtain a policy(s) that address those exposures.  The major areas of cyber liability are Security, Privacy, Intellectual Property, Media/Content, and E&O. 
 
Privacy Liability is the issue that most people associate with cyber liability due to the publicity of some high profile privacy breaches over the last couple of years such as TJX, the Gap, and Ohio State University.  The notification cost associate with these security/privacy breaches is a huge concern for companies with transactional websites or who store sensitive or critical data.  But they are not the only companies that have a cyberliablity exposure.  Anyone with a web site may be held legally liable for damages.
 
The best method of protecting yourself is to have a discussion with your agent.  If you have a web site, there are affordable coverages out that there that can be endorsed to your policy.  If you are an Internet advertiser or publisher, an e-commerce company, Internet service provider, or if you provide telecommunication and media technology services, then you you may want to go one step further and consider contacting an Internet risk manager to discuss your exposures.  
 
 
B. Janelle Jordan, CIC
Commercial Insurance Sales Executive
USI Insurance Services LLC
300 E Main St, Ste 1300
Norfolk, VA  23510
direct: 757-640-5466
toll free: 800-733-7475 ext 35466
fax: 610-537-4234
http://www.usi.biz
janelle.jordan@usi.biz

From Lindsey Eversole, VTKW Member Services Director:

All VT KnowledgeWorks and Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center companies are invited to an insurance seminar on Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 2 p.m. in the RBXII conference room hosted by Janelle Jordan of USI Insurance Services, the 8th largest insurance brokerage firm in the United States.  The seminar will address the insurance needs of Technology and Biotechnology companies at the three Primary Stages in the life of a business, including when the business is emerging, growing, and transitioning.   You will learn about WHAT coverage is needed, WHEN the coverage is needed and WHY you need specialized coverage to protect and grow your company’s assets.  USI specializes in directors & officers, professional, fiduciary, employment practices, foreign, IP, and cyber liability. 
 
If you are interested in attending the seminar please RSVP to lindsey.eversole@vtknowledgeworks.com or 540-443-9100.  
 

How Was Your Company Doing Online in 2001?

As does Seth Godin, I've suggested to company leaders, "Google yourself."

That would answer the question, "How is your company doing online in 2008?"

Now we can do a retro-Google.

Google "found" its own search engine from 2001.

Here's Google 2001.

Here's a description of its finding in 2001: A Search Odyssey from The Official Google Blog.

Here's commentary on Google 2001 from Gizmodo.

In Google 2001, a search for me as I was then--Anne Giles--showed first.

My keywords?  Again, a search for what I was then--Internet business consultant--came up fourth.

Not bad.

A search for myself with my former married name?  Lots of listings.  I click a link.

"The page cannot be found."

PR Tips

I asked Robert Geller, senior vice president with Fusion PR, a New York-based public relations firm with a specialty area in high tech, if he would offer three PR tips for high-tech entrepreneurs.    He answered that question and more in this post on his blog, Flack's Revenge. 

Here's an excerpt from that post with Robert Geller's PR tips:

1) Before You do Anything Else, Spend Time Honing the Message

With the proliferation of media of all types, it has become increasingly harder to be heard above the noise.  That is why you need to make sure your story is interesting and resonates.

Most focus their efforts on describing the service or product they are marketing - the names, features, benefits etc. You need to also fit this within a story - a narrative that takes into account the marketplace you fit into, and explains how and where you fit, and how you will make a difference.  In  short, you need to describe your position in the market and vision for it.

For further reference, please see my Words that Work in Tech PR series.  Also, in my post Building Better Memes , I referenced the excellent book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, which tells how to craft stories that resonate.

2) Take your Story to the People

Back in the day (just five years ago), coverage was important for the sake of coverage and the vaunted press clipping reigned supreme.  These days it is more about making connections, and knowing where and how to be seen.  Many social media and social networking channels let you bypass the traditional gatekeepers - major media and market research analysts - and take your message directly to the audiences of interest.

See my post on Fusion PR Forum: The Advent of User-generated PR.

Social media such as blogs enable anyone to have their own soapbox.  Social networks make it possible to directly connect with potential customers and influencers.

There are many who can help you understand and utilize these channels.  Anne [Clelland] focuses on this in her work with H20 and VTK.  The agency I work for, Fusion PR, offers a range of social media PR services.  One thing that can't be outsourced is your own genuine voice - your thoughts, ideas and expertise.

So it is important for you, the entrepreneur to be vocal online, and get out there and be seen and heard.

3) Work the Traditional PR Channels

As important as social media is theses days, traditional media still counts, so don't forget major media, radio, TV and the trade media that cover your market in your PR efforts.

Some in the media and PR profession have said that the press release is dead.  Don't believe it for a minute.  Press releases are still a great way to get the word out, assuming you follow my instructions in 1, above, and don't spam people with gratuitous releases that don't say much.

New companies and new products are intrinsically newsworthy, and issuing a press release over one of the traditional wire services is a great way to get attention, boost SEO, etc. 

I would be remiss if I did not mention that there is much more to PR than "sending and praying" - i.e., just issuing the press release over the wires and hoping people will take note.  You need to also directly get in touch with those who are most likely to cover the news, and not leave it to chance that they will see it on the wires.  Ideally, you want to do this before the news goes out, give these people a heads up that the news is coming, and offer to brief them in advance.   News has a very short shelf life these days; after it crosses the wire people will quickly lose interest and move on to the next hot story.