Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies (Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff)

A book written primarily for those in businesses wondering if they should get involved in Social Networking.  It goes through a way to determine if it is appropriate for your particular customer base (and in what way you might get started) then gives case studies of how other companies have both succeeded and failed.

It also has a step by step suggestion for how to start to get involved and then build on your interactions.

(I'm still reading Ch11 on internal networking and will update the post when I finish it)

Loc. 26-27 Simply put, the groundswell is a social trend in which people use  technologies to get the things they need from each other instead of  from companies. If you're in a company, this is a challenge.

Loc. 83-84 But lawyers and entrepreneurs aren't the most powerful force on the Internet.   People are. And people, empowered by technology, won't always go  along. Media isn't neatly boxed into little rectangles called newspapers,  magazines, and TV sets anymore. People connect with other people and  draw power from other people, especially in crowds.

Loc. 113-15 Mike  Masnick, a blogger for Techdirt, coined the term Streisand effect  for events where attempts to remove content from the Internet  cause it to spread broadly instead.'1 So not only is Barbra Streisand's   house still visible online-now her name has become synonymous   with futile attempts to remove content from the Net.

Loc. 139-40 groundswell is: A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need  from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.

Loc. 147-48 People have always depended on each other and drawn  strength from each other. And people have always rebelled against institutional   power,

Loc. 155-56 the technology   is just an enabler. It's the technology in the hands of almost-always-connected   people that makes it so powerful.

Loc. 226-27  With that in mind, here's the principle for mastering the groundswell:   concentrate on the relationships, not the technologies.In the groundswell, relationships are everything. The way people  connect with each other-the community that is created-determines  how the power shifts.

Loc. 242 Video viewing is also popular, but there are  far more video viewers than video creators.

Loc. 250-52  First, listen. Read blogs that talk about  your company and see what people are saying. Blog search engines like Google Blog Search and Technorati can help you determine which blogs  have the most influence. Search YouTube, Dailymotion, MetaCafe, and  other video sites for what the groundswell is saying about you, or use a  cross-site video search engine like Yahoo! Video.

Loc. 257-58 If you want to get serious about monitoring, work with services, like  TNS Cymfony and Nielsen BuzzMetrics, that monitor blogs, videos,  and online discussion groups for mentions of your company and your  competitors and gauge general sentiment.

 Loc. 307 Wikipediaisuni-  versally known and frequently used: it's the eighth-most-popular site on  the Web, according to Alexa.

Loc. 333-34 Discussion forums are basically   a slow-motion conversation, enabling people to respond to each  other online; frequent posters in many forums get to know each others'  tendencies well, although they likely have never met.

Loc. 353-54  Even so, keep an eye on this activity-after all, those who  classify and organize the online world will determine how we see that  world.

Loc. 365  The first thing you should do is to go to  del.icio.us and enter your company's site in the search box.

Loc. 539-41  Europeans' participation is more similar to Americans', but with  variations by country. Swedish and Dutch companies can count on engaging   with their highly active customers in the groundswell. There are  comparatively more Critics in Germany than in the rest of Europe, so  forums and ratings make the most sense there. The French are far less
likely to belong to social networks,

Loc. 618-20 To help you get started, we've provided a free  tool at groundswell.forrester.com. Enter the country where you want to  do business and the age and gender of your customer base, and we'll show  you the Social Technographics Profile of the group you've specified.

Loc. 741-42 But in the end whoever is in charge  of the plan must regularly brief the CEO on how it is transforming   the way the company does business with customers. Groundswell   projects routinely stir up people well above the part of the  organization where they started.

Loc. 796  Your brand is whatever your customers say it is. And in the groundswell   where they communicate with each other, they decide.

Loc. 817-18 Designed cleverly enough,  these surveys will answer any question you can think up. But they can't  tell you what you never thought to ask. And what you never thought to  ask might be the most important question for your business.

Loc. 1126-27 Brands that appeal to consumers ages thirteen to  twenty-three must engage in social networks because their customers   are already there, while those with a market between  twenty-four to thirty-five are likely to be successful with this  strategy.

Loc. 1145-48  The result was a  short, straightforward blogging policy and a course that would-be bloggers   could take to keep them within the guardrails. HP's blogging policy  includes such commonsensical but better-not-violate gems as "Include  your name and position [in blogs and comments] ... and write in the  first person" and this one that made the lawyers happy: "Your blog must  comply with financial disclosure laws, regulations and requirements."
Ironically, these rules made blogging spread because now the corporation   had blessed it. And HP began to reap the benefits.

Loc. 1374 people believe other  people more than media.

Loc. 1446-48 our research shows that about 80 percent of reviews   tend to be positive.9 And in fact, the negative reviews are essential  to the credibility of the site-without them, the positive reviews just  don't seem believable.

Loc. 1547-48 Other companies succeed despite a significant number  of dissatisfied customers. If that's you, then energizing your customers  will only make things worse.

Loc. 1671-75 Amazingly, we see this impulse throughout the groundswell. Caterina   Fake, cofounder of the photo-sharing site Flickr, called it "the culture   of generosity."6 We call it the search for psychic income.' As we  described in chapter 3, psychic rewards come in several varieties, including
 good feelings from altruism, validation, and belonging to a  community. People like Jeff participate for the gratitude. Others want  recognition. Still others feel answering questions gives them influence.  Psychic income is free-it's paid in love, not money.

Loc. 1746 Support makes people  comfortable. And people need to be comfortable to spend money.

Loc. 1829-31  In reality, the members of such a community are dying to  hear from you-they are there explicitly to talk about your products and  services. Posts by the company will garner a lot of attention. If there's a  vibrant community around your product or service already, consider  joining it, sponsoring it, or forming some other relationship so you can  help your customers support themselves.

Loc. 1846-48  Communities have opinions on  everything. They'll not only tell you what product features to  add; they'll also tell you how the community should run and what  you are doing right-and wrong. Be sure to include a thread  called "Improving this community," and pay close attention to  what you hear, not just there, but throughout the forum.

Loc. 1906-8 People who've connected  with customers in this way are always amazed at how much more quickly  they generate ideas. It's because they've just supercharged their dozens or  hundreds of engineers with thousands or millions of other minds.

Loc. 1977-78  First of all, the bank has aligned itself on the same side as its customers.   Instead of saying "Tell us what to do," it said, and the difference  is subtle, "What would you do if you were us?" By encouraging the customers   to develop empathy for the bank, even momentarily, Credit  Mutuel gets much more realistic suggestions.

Loc. 2165-66  For Dell, listening and then acting was the crucial first step for its new  social strategy.

Loc. 2220-21  First, start small. We've said this throughout the book, but it's  even more crucial in company transformation. The change will  take time, and you typically only have so much political power to  use at any one time. So pick your battles strategically. Second, educate your executives. Some of them think this is for  their kids, not their customers.

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