Web 2.0 and Its Impact on Future of Internet Copy

To download a free copy of Michael Fortin’s controversial whitepaper entitled “The Death of the Salesletter: Web 2.0 and its Impact on the Future of Internet Copy”, click on this link: Download free whitepaper

Grand Unified Diagram of Web 2.0 Technologies

Web 2.0 is all about affecting people’s lifes by improving interaction. It allows for, among many things, improved collaboration and communications. Since there are millions of so-called Web 2.0 technologies, and adding in corporate jargons, it is no wonder that most of us are at a lost. How can such a useful and powerful mix of technologies that is supposed to make my life better be so difficult to understand and grasp?

Well, I, for one, struggled for a long time trying to comprehend what Web 2.0 technologies are. After many moons, I finally arrived at this grand unified diagram of Web 2.0 technologies. I hope you will find this useful:

Web 2.0 Business Value Proposition

Web 2.0, or more correctly the future of the web, is all about integration of everyday activities with the web. The appeal of Web 2.0 is not longer about the technology. Rather, it is about the availability, and ease of use of these technologies, to enhance our lives – both for work, and for play.

Companies who are involved with web technologies aim at businesses should quickly re-focus their unique selling proposition into one along the lines of the following:

Our business is to make your work easier, more productive and fun. [And please be as specific as possible about which part of the work you are talking about; and how that part of the work pieces into the bigger picture of the business the client is in]

Companies targeting the consumer space should also have a similar value statement; one that goes like this:

Our business is to make your life easier, more enjoyable and fun. [And please be as specific as possible about which part of his life you are talking about; and how that part of life pieces into the bigger picture of him being a human being existing in this world]

Ideas That Spread Will Win

The Internet is a powerful tool for the spreading of ideas. And, as Seth Godin keeps saying, “Ideas that spread will win.”

There is no going back. Advertising agencies has to be skilled enough to use the web as a tool to spread their clients ideas – in the most creative manner such that the campaign is efficient and effective. Those that fail to do so will go out of business. And in fact, they will go out of business very quickly because – again thanks to the Internet – results can be measured almost instantaneously; in real time. Anyways, this is Seth’s talk on the topic of “Ideas that spread.”

Who Decides?

The rules of the game has to change when it comes to the Internet. When social networking site giant Facebook tried to modify their terms of service to allow them to own whatever users put on their site, users protested – and the users won. Facebook has just reversed that change.

As an aside, here is a video of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg:

Interactive Web Agencies in the Web 2.0 World

Count this as the first of my serious of “thinking aloud” post. I wanted to start a debate/forum/discuss (whatever the term might be) on how the web, and more interesting the fundamental belief system of Web 2.0, is going to change the thinking of creative agencies. Interactive web agencies cannot, and should not, aim to simply extend the business model of brick and mortar creative agencies into the Internet space. This will not work. In fact, I dare say it is a definite recipe for failure.

The belief system for Web 2.0 is collaboration and creation on a global basis with tools that are increasing becoming free. Web 2.0 is all about communities. Due to the “globalness” of such communities, any creation done by these communities is going to be on par, if not better, than the work that comes out from within the closed walls of any company. There are many examples of this – encryption algorithms, software such as Joomla – you name it. And best of all, such creations are free.

And since the day will come when all creations that exist on the Internet becomes free, the big question is, where is the money in all this that will drive enterprises?

The answer to the above question will be the Holy Grail for interactive web agencies to seek going forward.

P.S. Have a look at this cool site: http://www.wix.com/

P.P.S. Jonathan Schwartz gives a keynote at the 2008 MySQL Conference and Expo called “What is Sun’s Agenda” talking about open source, Sun and MySQL.

SEO Explained

According to Wikipedia:

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.

Search engine optimisation is not the be all, or the end all, for any website. It is also not a one-time exercise. Allow me to point out the basic components of a search engine optimisation project. They should be:

• Keyword research and current website content and structure audit
• Keyword strategy development and execution
• Website content and structure strategy development and execution
• Search engine performance indicator setting and measurement
• Ongoing strategy refinement and execution based on the above measurement and alinement with search engine optimisation targets

More on each of the above components in a search engine optimisation project later.

Web Business Value Chain

For businesses targeting the Web – Interactive Agencies included – the following will surely be part of their business value chain:

• Web Domain Registration Companies
• Website Hosting Companies
• Website Technology Companies – including businesses providing Content Management System (CMS) products; and implementation, customisation, and maintenance services for CMS
• Website Designers – including for Website Templates and Website Graphics
• Copywriters
• Search Engine Optimisation Companies

The question now is, how can all the above be mixed properly to produce that next Web campaign masterpiece?

Interactive Agency

I have been coming across the term Interactive Agency more and more these days. Frankly, I am a little confused myself over what an Interactive Agency is. What exactly is an Interactive Agency?

Well, I am really interested to put a conclusive definition to that term. Allow me some time to offer you an answer after some research. Give this some thought yourself. More on this later…

Web Business Trend

I believe that the next stage of the development of the Web will focus on user interface design. Basically, the focus will shift towards balancing usability, intuition, and astetics.

Whereas until recently, work on the Web has been dominated by technical folks, the next stage will involve graphic designers and usability consultants – the folks who are experts on the softer side of things. The Web will not only need to work, it needs to look good as well and be highly usable to the man-on-the-street for Web 2.0 to succeed.