The Web 2.0 Conundrum

With the possible exception of current macroeconomics, the ambiguous and omnipresent “Web 2.0” phenomenon poses perhaps the most currently perplexing quandary for small businesses. Many feel the former pressuring them to develop their presence on the latter. Additional pressure accompanies the uncertainty surrounding the newness of the medium, both in terms of the sheer array of sites and the differences among them. Small business owners, especially--and ironically as they are the ones who stand to benefit most from effective use of the medium--struggle with managing the time requirements. Finally, a universal set of questions is developing but the answer set is different for each participant. Should I blog? Should I Twitter? On which sites should I maintain a profile? How frequently should I update this profile? And what does SEO stand for anyway?

This installment will address the industry at a high level. Future installments will seek to drill down into the medium: The players, best practices and examples of successes and failures.

What’s in a name?
This medium is simultaneously referred to in a number of ways. “Social Networking” and “Social Media” are two of its monikers; while these do accurately describe the core original purpose, they neither encompass the scope expansion already experienced nor are sufficiently medium-specific. “New Media” is simply too broad and problematic. Despite its ambiguity and because it seems the industry is trending toward using this nomenclature, I will in this and future installments refer to the industry as “Web 2.0.”

Regardless of market or medium, it is paramount to realize that presence without strategy and commitment are counterproductive. As with any medium (and with eternal thanks to Marshall McLuhan)--be it a brochure, radio spot or convention--your Web 2.0 presence is your message. Clarity, consistency and coherence are critical opportunity and risk areas into which we as business owners are compelled. As so much of business management is a search to minimize risk and uncertainty, best practice here is to research and understand the entities and options and choose a strategic path toward specific goals with a realistically manageable set of ongoing tasks…and embrace the notion that “ongoing” is the nature of this beast.


Past and Future
Prior to the proliferation of the internet, the magazine industry was the epitome of a low-risk, easy-profit medium. Cheap to produce and deliver with easily-identifiable and endless niche demographics, print magazines provide low, controllable barriers to entry and exit compared to electronic or daily print media. With the advent of the internet and its inevitable progression to user interactivity, we now observe the consequences of traditional media outlets who failed either to acknowledge or change the disruptive nature of the new medium. As the marginal price, for example, of a classified advertisement quite predictably made its way to zero, the already mature print industry stayed with its model…and now we observe shakedown which will eventually include the most hallowed names in the industry, tragically but perhaps fittingly with a whimper and without mourning. Magazines that have weathered the storm have done so by appealing to audiences of light- or non-users of the internet or by employing the internet and other media as strategic complements or reinforcements.

The primary lesson is that change must be embraced and acted upon, and strategically. Once upon a time a Bachelor’s degree gave a job candidate a significant advantage; now a targeted Master’s degree is a prerequisite for many entry-level positions. Because Web 2.0 is so easily entered and can be maintained at some level with little expertise, ownership within the sphere is a fundamental requirement at present. A secondary lesson is that, anymore, no medium stands alone. Interactivity is increasingly and irreversibly pervasive in all aspects of our lives.

The aspect with which I am currently most fascinated, and about which I fail to find consensus among experts, is the development of the industry. You’re about to spend valuable time setting up and maintaining your Web 2.0 presence; you need to know your horse will run for the long haul. Every industry (not just print media) reaches a point of maturity and experiences consolidation and shakeout. What will this look like for Web 2.0? Will the cycle be contracted in the same way the technology progressed? Or will it be extended by the virtually nonexistent barriers to entry and exit? What incremental innovations will prove defining differentiators?

I do think that big companies will be strapped to keep up; that this is a medium that rewards speed and the ability to change--two things larger companies either resist or simply cannot do. For any smaller operators with imitative, substitute or complementary products who can identify the whereabouts of their low-hanging fruit and beat the larger entities on cost, strike now. The iron is hot.

Here’s the “teaser.”
The next installment will begin to address best practices for strategic and tactical startup and maintenance. Until then, I recommend small business owners look into LinkedIn, Facebook and Meetup.com.

Get your message out!