Hatch’d: A Idea-based Social Network for Improving Business
Allow me to introduce you to Hatch’d: a recently born social network with a drastically different purpose than the social media we’ve become accustomed to. Instead of supporting interpersonal, social conversation like Twitter and Facebook, Hatch’d was conceived as a way to simply and efficiently share ideas. Hatch’d is a new take on outsourcing that aggregates product development ideas into one location for the creation and improvement of better products and services.
Easily Communicate Your Ideas
Have you ever had an idea that would allow a company to improve their product or service, but you could not find an effective communication channel that allowed you to be heard? For example, emailing customer service always seemed so distant and ineffective; and posting on Facebook, writing on a company’s Wall, or Tweeting at the business seemed just as hopeless. Now, Hatch’d is working to be the location for you to share and businesses to hear ideas.
Hatch’d works much in the same way as Twitter. A user can share an idea in 140 characters and can utilize the familiar @Username to directly target a business. For example, Brad H. shared his idea “@McDonalds serve breakfast all day.” Users can then vote ideas up or down and can comment on ideas to generate discussion. Through these social aspects, business owners can gain better insight into the minds of their customers and the rationale behind their ideas.
Standard social networking features have also been built into the site. For example, visible on a user’s profile page is a portfolio that displays your posted ideas, picture, and short biography. Users also have the ability to follow other users and businesses to track what is being discussed.
Crowdsourcing What Hatchd Will Become
Admittedly, due to how new the service is, the creators of Hatch’d still do not know what exactly the social network could be. On the About section of the site they ask users to “help figure that out” by sharing an idea @Hatchd.
The largest opportunity for Hatch’d and where I predict the service will find the most success, is for businesses to read ideas that will allow them to better serve their customers. Because voices are often lost in the crowd on sites such as Facebook and Twitter, Hatch’d is a promising tool for its narrow, yet distinct purpose as an ‘idea-network.’ Furthermore, due to this purpose, if a business creates an account on Hatch’d users can trust that their opinions are read and considered.
But Not Perfect, Yet
One aspect of Hatch’d that seems to stray from this well-defined intent is Groups. The About section describes this as a place to “brainstorm ideas with your friends. Plan a vacation with college friends or your family! [Hatch’d wants] to make it as easy for you to toss around ideas here as it is for you to do with your friends over lunch or hanging out at your apartment.”
While the ability and support to discuss ideas with your friends is nice to have, it seems more appropriate for Facebook, where interpersonal conversation is the norm, and even more effective “over lunch or hanging out at your apartment.” To me, Hatch’d needs to be about communicating ideas solely with businesses. Discussion with friends, like I previously said, is sort of played out at this point. Trying to be too many things could lead to its downfall.
Hatch’d is still in beta mode, but it seems solid and bug-free. Expect new features and improvements to roll out regularly. Hatch’d is also competing in Advertising Age’s contest for a reward of a $25,000 partnership to work with respected brand marketers to help launch its product.
Check out Hatch’d and start sharing your ideas!
What do you think Hatch’d’s strengths are? Where could it improve?
About the author: August Drilling works in the marketing department at CliqStudios.com, the online supplier of quality oak kitchen cabinetsand is a blogger, social media enthusiast, and Apple aficionado. You can follow him on Twitter @ardrilling and read insight and odd musings.
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Six (non-sleazy) Steps to Networking
Networking has, over the years, gotten a bad name. This is probably because of the sleazy behavior exhibited by too many people at networking events. Some people are pushy, others are obviously phony, and worse, they want something from you, without even considering how they might provide value to you. Read more
Why do Small Businesses #Fail at Using Social Media?
When you were a kid, do you recall standing on a dock overlooking a lake and wanting to dive in but you were afraid to, for fear the water would be too cold? You were faced with a dilemma: jump in, absorb the shock, and get used to it, or slip into the drink slowly one body part at a time. The experience for small businesses eager to get a handle on using social software is similar.
And it’s a sink or swim scenario. Diving headlong into using social tools and networks has its benefits and risks but preparation is essential. In a nutshell, social media involves engaging people via online social networks to generate exposure, improve customer satisfaction, and grow sales.
Managing Resources
Rob Enderle, principal analyst, The Enderle Group, says like anything else when one is starting from scratch, the problem initially is making good decisions with regard to resources.
“However you can, use social networking to find others like yourself that have already gone through the process in your industry and you can see what they have done and the success they have achieved,” he said. “From that you can determine what will work for you . . . social networking requires some study and work to both determine what works best for your industry and what works best for you.”
To that end, Enderle recommends reading “Engage: the Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success on the New Web” by Brian Solis. The book is focused on social networking and it is a great starting point, he added.
Which Network is Right for You?
Michelle Warren, principal, MW Consulting & Research, advised carefully choosing which social networks to utilize. Because many social media tools are ‘free’ there is a misconception that a strategy isn’t required; that the value is guaranteed because the cost is minimal and that’s untrue.
“A plan is important. Think of it as a map — if you are unsure about your destination, how will you get there?” she asked. “Partnerpedia.com is worth checking out for a B2B network. Otherwise, Twitter and LinkedIn are worth investigating. And since these can be linked together, they are worth considering.”
Use it or Lose It
Warren stressed getting involved though. Small businesses have much to gain from using social tools in a concentrated fashion.
“Using some social media tools for marketing and business opportunities is wise, but have a grasp of what to expect and know how to measure the results,” she advised. “Like any initiative, it takes some planning in order to achieve desired goals.”
Ultimately, strategy requires goals. Without a goal, your business is rudderless and diving into social media might do more damage to your brand and image than good.
“The first step is to learn a bit about social media. The second is to set a strategy. Then you can best determine the tools and resources you need to achieve that strategy,” Enderle said.
About the Author:Liam has been a journalist for more than 12 years. His media career began in the late 1990s as a beat reporter for the North Shore News in Vancouver. Since then, he’s written for ComputerWorld Canada, Computing Canada, eChannelLine.com, ConnectITnews.com, Computer Dealer News, and several others. A man of many interests, Liam is easily wowed by new technologies, retro video games, and the multiple positions his cat can fall asleep in.
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Photo Credit: Gamma-Ray Productions
The Ultimate List: 40 Social Networking Sites Specifically for Small Business, Entrepreneurs, and Startups
We all know of the huge social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. They’re great for large scale connections and discussion.
But, as entrepreneurs and small business owners sometimes it’s nice to connect with other like minded individuals in a smaller, more focused setting.
If that sounds like what you are looking for in a social network, the below list is for you.
We’ve scoured the Internet looking for social networking sites specifically for small businesses, entrepreneurs and startups, and found 40 we feel are worth a look.
1. LinkedIn
LinkedIn, The grandaddy of business social networks. LinkedIn strengthens and extends your existing network of trusted contacts
2. Meet The Boss
Meet the Boss is a business networking tool for business executives around the world, across all vertical industries. Content is all in English.
3. PartnerUp
PartnerUp is an online networking community that entrepreneurs and small business owners use to find the expertise and resources they need to start and grow a business. Members can connect with potential partners, advisers, and business resources.
4. Qapacity
Qapacity is a business-oriented social networking site and a business directory founded in March 2008 and launched in February 2009. User are given a set of tools to promote their business online, to keep their clients and business partners up-to-date with their work and to reach new clients.
5. Ryze
Ryze.com is a free social networking website designed to link business professionals, particularly new entrepreneurs.
6. Talkbiznow
Talkbiznowis a comprehensive interactive business networking site for business professionals.
7. XING
XING is a social software platform for enabling a small-world network for professionals.
8. Yelp, Inc.
Yelp is a local business review and talk networking site, including user reviews and recommendations.
9. FledgeWing
FledgeWing is an online community aimed at entrepreneurial university students launched in February 2009.
10. The Funded
TheFunded allows entrepreneurs to research, rate, and review venture capital sources worldwide
11. Cofoundr
Cofoundr is a private social network for entrepreneurs, programmers, designers, investors, and other individuals deeply involved with starting new ventures.
12. Perfect Business
PerfectBusiness helps entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses. Our resources include easy-to-use tools and resources, plus a network of entrepreneurs
13. Biznik
End your isolation and invisibility with Biznik, the local, independent entrepreneurial community where collaboration beats competition.
14. StartupNation
StartupNation provides real-world business advice to people who want to start a business and who want to grow their small businesses.
15. Entrepreneur Connect
Entrepreneur Connect is the social network where small-business owners can create a profile, explore the community, share ideas and make connections. This site is not intended for mass self-promotion, but rather should be a positive destination where entrepreneurs can exchange real advice and make lasting connections.
16. Young Entrepreneur
Young Entrepreneur Forums – your online discussion forum to share and talk about Entrepreneurship
17. Blogster
Blogsteris a resources for free weblogs. Offers tools, tips, and opportunities to share.
18. Konnects
Konnects is a social media platform that is embedded on the site of an online newspaper or publication to bring engagement to the organization’s site.
19. Upspring
Upspring is a business networking, local Internet marketing, local advertising, product promotion, and online marketing services
20. Fast Pitch
Fast Pitch is a Social Network for Business Networking Professionals to market their business, press, blogs, events and networks.
21. E.Factor
The E.Factor is a vibrant, global community for Entrepreneurs. E.Factorhelps you build your business, find financing, network with like minded entrepreneurs
22. BizToo
BizToois a Global Co-Operation and Social Network of entrepreneurs worldwide. BizToo helps entrepreneurs make the contacts
23. Go Big Network
Go BIG Network helps connect companies with investors.
24. Black Businesswomen Online
A Social Network for Black Business Women and Women Entrepreneurs
25. Networking for Professionals
Networking for Professionals offers online networking and business events. Get Connected today, both online and in the real world.
26. Spoke
Spokeoffers on-demand business to business contact information for sales people, marketers, and recruiters enabling Sales Lead Generation, and Business List building.
27. Ning
Ning is an online service to create, customize, and share a social network.
28. Unstucture.org
Unstructureis an open discussion platform for business professionals, bloggers and contemporary thought leaders to discuss and debate action ideas that would aid the evolution of business. Unstructure consists of an online discussion forum (where you are currently), an annual physical event and a book of insight and action ideas for businesses of the future.
29. Home Based Business Network
The Home Based Business Network is an online community and resources for starting a home based business, featuring home business profiles, blogs, forums, videos, ideas, and more!
30. Freelance Face
The Freelance Face is the freelance social network. By freelancers, for freelancers.
31. Blellow
Blellow is a community with a focus on productivity. It’s a place for freelancers and professionals to collaborate, find work, and solve problems
32. StartUp
StartUpis a fast growing small business, startup, social network.
33. Ecademy
Ecademy offers online networking for business, offline networking events and global networking groups.
34. Focus
Focus is a business destination where business professionals can help each other with their purchase and other business decisions. Share expertise in functional areas of business. Numerous categories – small business, HR, Finance, Sales, Marketing, Etc.
35. JASEzone
JASEzone is a professional community where you can find potential clients and business partners.
36. Ziggs
Ziggs is a professional connection portal. They have in one index over 1 million profiles.
37. Black Business Space
Black Business Spaceis a commUNITY of business owners, and entrepreneurs.
38. Jigsaw
Jigsaw offers an online business card networking directory. Easily establish contacts with each other.
39. YouNoodle
YouNoodle is a place to discover and support the hottest early-stage companies and university innovation.
40. Raise Capital
RaiseCapital is the premiere online destination for entrepreneurs to showcase their business ideas and capital needs directly to investors.
Bonus Site:
Once all that hard work networking pays off, you’ll want to join:
Affluence.org
Affluence.org is a private social network where wealthy individuals connect, share information and engage in meaningful conversations. Affluence.org also provides exclusive, high quality content and advice from experts on subjects such as art, technology and travel.
Membership in Affluence.org is free but requires a verifiable minimum household net worth of $3 million
Your Turn
Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments below.
Seth Godin On Social Networking For Business – Is It Useless?
Is social networking valuable for business? Seth Godin, widely considered an expert in all things marketing, says it may well be useless.
Seth’s Take on Social Networking
Networking for networking sake is worthless, according to Seth who answered the question in a recent Open Forum Q&A.
Having hundreds of Facebook friends, or thousands of followers on Twitter may not be as valuable as having a handful of deep relationships you can count on, people who will be there when you make the big ask.
Seth points out that networking is always important when it’s real, and a useless distraction when it’s fake. The internet has allowed an enormous amount of fake networking to take place.
We are becoming too focused on breadth and not depth of relationships. We count who likes us today, and who doesn’t, and are consumed with the metrics (friends, followers, connections) and not the true nature of those connections.
What Matters are Where the Real Relationships Are
Seth says we should be asking ourselves “Are their people out there I’d go out of my way for, and would they go out of their way for me?” That’s what you should be tracking.
And how do you get there? By going out of your way for them, and earning the privilege of one day having that connection be worthwhile.
Running Time: 2min
Your Turn
I’d like to hear what you think of social networking for business? Agree or disagree with Seth in the comments below.
photo credit: bpedro
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Social Networks, Influencers, and Word of Mouth
This is part four in our series on Getting Word of Mouth Marketing to Work for You. Be sure to check out part one, part two, and part three to get caught up!
Word of mouth marketing is by nature a social activity. Its no wonder then that it lends itself so well to the social networks we form.
Whether it be physical or virtual networks, business or for pleasure, understanding the dynamics of the social network is imperative to word of mouth success.
Blending Networks
The lines between online networks and offline networks are fairly ambiguous. Day to day interactions continue as online conversations and vice versa. Your focus cannot be on one or the other, but needs to encompass both.
Online Networks
- Forums
- Review sites
- Social networks – Twitter, Facebook, etc
- Blogs
- Fan sites
Physical Networks
- In person, face to face
- Clubs
- Community organizations
- More commonly, informal communication by peer groups
These are the places your conversations are taking place, and it should be the goal of the word of mouth marketer to engage these groups to talk about what you are doing.
Setting the Stage for Conversation
You can use the same techniques we discussed yesterday to build buzz with the groups, but only after you’ve taken the time to:
Listen:
- Engaging them in open, unfiltered conversation
- Promptly and honestly responding to their concerns
- Valuing customer opinion, whether it is positive, negative, or neutral
Engage the community:
- Identify the influencers
- Educate people about your products
- Make your product/message easily shareable
- Manage buzz blockers, in this case listen to the conversations and engage the supporters, answer the detractors, and convert the neutrals.
Once you’ve listened, your focus shifts to engaging them and specifically engaging the key influencer’s of the group.
The Role of the Influencer
The Word of Mouth Marketing Association defines an influencer as:
“A person who has a greater than average reach or impact through word of mouth in a relevant marketplace.”
10% of consumers influence the other 90% of buyers. You want to connect with those 10% – the influencers.
How do you Find the Influencers?
Influencers usually rise to the top of any discussion, they stick out, that’s why people listen to what they say and do what they do.
Some are well known on a large scale, but influencers exists in the smallest of networks too. Think about your groups of friends – who’s the leader? That’s an influecner to your peer group as much as any celebrity or expert.
Online and off you will need to really listen to your customers, think about trends, and identify who they are following and in what networking format.
What do you Want Them to Do?
You want to create a relationship between the influencer, yourself, or your products in the hopes they talk about you. They are not there to promote for you, your product will promote itself and they will talk about it naturally with their groups and “followers”.
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The larger scale of the influencer the bigger you’re going to have to go to get their attention.
Audi recently gave Guy Kawasaki a new R8 sports car to drive for a few weeks in hopes he would blog about it. They knew he was an influencer, and one with exceptional reach in online social networks.
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Approach your influencers with a value exchange. What are they getting, and what do you hope to get in return? Guy got a free car for a couple days, and that was enough value to get him to talk about it on his blog. If Audi had of offered him a $500 rebate on the car, do you think he would have talked about it?
Remember
The same rules apply with influencers as with any word of mouth marketing, you’ll want to be sure you are implementing the 3 pillars of success we talked about in part 1 of this series.
Have great content – Make it shareable – Call to Action
Managing the Conversation
As you engage the social networks, and make contacts and relationships with the groups influencers you will need to manage the conversation. How do you manage the conversation? The same way you deal with negative buzz:
- Listen to the conversations and engage the supporters, answer the detractors, and convert the neutrals.
- Remember, negative conversations can be a big learning opportunity. If negativity comes from a consumer who has yet to try your product or service, see if you can get it in their hands. If they’ve tried you and just don’t like you, drill into the “why”. Possibly they aren’t representative of your target market, or maybe you have a flaw in your product of delivery model. Both can be learned from and approved upon as you move forward.
Putting it all Together
Social networks are a blend of online and offline communication. This communication is happening naturally, and thus lends itself well to word of mouth marketing.
Your job is to find the social networks your consumers live in, listen to the conversations they are having, and then engage them in talking about your products and services by using the techniques we discussed in building the buzz.
Your focus in the social networks should be around finding the key influencers, that 10% who influence the group, and getting them interacting with what you are selling.
Influencers are your business partners. Approach them not as a person there to promote you, but as someone you want on your side to help you spread the word.
You last step is to manage the conversations, while drawing upon some of the buzz building techniques to keep it headed in the right direction.
Up Next:
Elements in a Successful Word of Mouth Campaign
- Social media’s role – Getting viral
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Photo Credit: sml!
Virtual and Physical Social Networking – A Web of Connections!
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the importance of networking, and what impact leveraging your small business networks has on your business.
Darren Rowse @ Problogger.net put together a great post (and nice graphic) detailing what makes up his social media network at Problogger, which looked something like this:
Darren put together this idea based on some work done by Chris Brogan, as detailed in this presentation by Chris, which starts frames the idea of “Hubs and Outposts” as they relate to web presence and social media. The idea being that we all should have a “hub” or home base in the virtual world surrounded by outpost which act as our virtual networks/outlets.
This got me thinking that what Darren was sharing, and the concepts Chris developed, were only one half of the equation for most small business owners. I began to think of our networks more as interconnected webs with infinite possibility to make contacts and connections to further our business, split between two halves – the Virtual Social Network and the Physical Social Network.
My graphic looks something like this (I know, Darren’s is much prettier!)
Notice how elements of one network overlap with the other. For example, your customers may be on Facebook, or Twitter even if you don’t have a presence there.
As small business owners our job is to learn about how these networks interconnect and overlap, and then put a plan in place to best leverage those networks. Not only should we have Hubs and Outpost in our online communities, but in our “real world” communities as well.
If you have a brick and mortar storefront, why aren’t you on Twitter, or Facebook? Your customers are! If you run an online business why haven’t you partnered with the local Chamber of Commerce or Networking groups in your area? They go online!
As small business owners we should have two hubs. One resides in a Virtual Social Network and the other in a Physical Social Network, with both hubs being surrounded by numerous interconnected outposts.
The lines have not only gotten blurred between Virtual networks and Physical networks they have been obliterated! By overlooking either side of the Social Networking equation you are overlooking one of the most important elements to your businesses success.
What do you think? Is your business effectively operating in Virtual and Physical Social Networks?
