Children are the masters of Internet

It’s their environment, their world, their natural environment. For them a mailing address or a fixed phone does not mean too much, a mobile phone number is somewhat more useful for the simple reason that can send and receive messages, but when they want to be in contact when they know other children and make new friends Do not ask any of these data, you say: give me your messenger. Do not ask if you have a computer, whether they are connected to the Internet or if you have a hotmail account, assume that all these requirements are met and that, furthermore, the connection is ADSL. Children are being broadband.

So do not be fooled, the Internet is not ours. We just are preparing for what they do on the Internet so that we can hardly imagine. We can talk about technological innovation, business development, communication and interaction, social networking and Web 2.0, the Web 3.0 and any neologism that we were going to occur. Prehistory. The wonderfully modern Internet that lets you do so many things and through crowded highways whose byte has come to this blog is little more than a Beta carried out with a lot of work and best intentions.

Being a child is no longer what it was. Being a child is the closest thing to be a pilot in Formula 1, because childhood is a time that runs at speeds of vertigo. That’s why the children are better prepared to assume, understand, develop and improve anything they find around them.

The estdaísticas say (and are estadísiticas 2007 U.S., so the figures should be revised upwards) that young people who now have less than 22 years have passed:

     – More than 20,000 hours in front of the TV

     – More than 5000 hours playing video game

     – More than 5000 hours on the phone

     – Have sent and received over 250,000 SMS messages and emails

 

     – And more than half have created some content for the Internet

They also say the data from various sources and studies that a child of 13 to 15 years have, on average, more than 350 contacts added in his messenger, that in an open session is from 5 to 15 simultaneous conversations, and that makes it more Ergonomic a command that kind PlayStation a flyer for “driving” a car in their video games. I really loved broadband are drawing a future that is in advance of ours.

The key to understanding what is the role and importance of children in the development of technology is to assume that pobablemente for the first time in history, children ahead of their parents’ access to and use of technologies. The computer was cheaper enough for a computer is not a subject that we must maintain expensive section of the reach of minors. On the other hand, applications, content and utilities designed for children, or that children can use “to his measure” are very numerous and easily accessible via the Web. It’s over technology and devices “reserved for elders.” Mobile phones, PDAs, computers, the video game consoles, MP3 and MP4 are part of the natural environment of most of our children and that is why they, in many cases, the early adopters, the energizing and introducing technology in homes, families and schools. We can not ignore that.

Driven by curiosity and excitement.

Two powerful engines to which must be added the lack of “technological panic” so typical of our generation (those who are among the many thirty-and forty-odd …), which has made us see the technology as many times a threat rather than an ally.

But when we talk about children and the Internet, there is an immediate concern: security. A Google search on the Internet and our children will result in thousands of pages where pornography, harassment, cyberbullying and the hazardous contents are the subject of great debate. True, the Internet is full of content that are dangerous or at least undesirable for children. Exactly the same thing happens in the real world.

Parents, educators, associations and authorities are concerned and propose measures, filters, security protocols to protect girls and boys of that which can harm them. It’s a justified concern, and certainly a serious problem. But let us not lose sight of something essential …

 

The problem of children on the Internet is not the security is the responsibility. And the responsibility is ours forever. The best preventive measure and the best security filter to protect children from the “danger of the Internet” are some parents at her side.

We also learn that we proactively share with our children as the digital life. We must ensure them, but, above all, we must sail with them. Ban is the worst of the alternatives, but has the perverse attraction of which is the simplest. Do not forget it.

And from here, we raised the challenge of incorporating children, the young, adolescent development of the Internet. Not only as observers or as users of the tools and content. They are essential in the design, in the developments in the test and in innovation. Any project-oriented endure and bring value should have at its core the illusion of development, creativity, ability and expectations of the smallest How can we do? Not looking at children only as an attractive market segment, but as an indispensable partner. The education system, economic system, the technological environment … the youngest are in the key point of intersection.

Let us be creative, think of new ways to harness the talents child because their value is incalculable. In this way, your Internet will also be ours and the technological gap that opens will be a bridge between generations and not a border.

Finally, it is helpful to remember that we keep a child inside, or should, thanks to which we remain ayendo the sonar casacabel Santa Claus … Do not you remember? In this case, perhaps it should go back to view with their children or their nephews, Polar Express.

Vertical social networks, cross-business

Assumes that you are a member of a social network. Because, in these times, gives the impression that, if not, you’re the closest thing you can find a space alien or a digital heremita. The situation was very different just a few months ago What has happened?

In an article in April whe spoke on the good health of Social Networks, “Social Networks in good health and good business,” and we did that Reflection:

Where to walk the social networks? Undoubtedly towards specialization. They follow a transit of the generic to the specific. That is, of the Social networks are cross-cutting “migrating” to the vertical social networks. So much so that while one looks, large social networks incubate and create sub-themes within it. Networks within networks.

At about that time, from late 2007 until mid-2008, have been appearing in the media Communication some articles, studies and cases are talking about a phenomenon in the making: the vertical social networks. A few motnhs later ther verticalization is clearly a fact.

It is not a surprising phenomenon in fact, it is logical to do so. And it is because people have the tendency, or need, bringing it together looking affinities that allow us to share what is important for us. Because sharing is something that characterizes the Social Web, the verticalization of social networks, horizontal and generalists in its infancy, fell under its own weight. If you are a member of LinkedIn or Xing or Facebook (three of the best known networks), at this stage and will surely be a member of several groups within its network. Groups may be related to the geographical area where he lives with his professional specialty, with their hobbies or hobby, with their social concerns or their political beliefs. Social networks are autosegmentan and in addition to the groups that network administrators are opening, users also have the opportunity to propose and open groups. Networks within networks.

The other key point in the evolution of networks is the interconnection. Social networks, blogs and share content on various platforms are interconnected. In this way, you can integrate into your blog LinkedIn WordPress, the presentations that have hung on SlideShare, the files you want to box.net or photos on your album Flickr. This too was predictable, and that could reach no more than a matter of time. Interconnected networks and platforms, pure essence of the Internet.

Where all this takes us, what new opportunities are presented to us? Does the specialization of social networks means that business, or business models, are becoming more vertical as well? The opportunities presented are many and, no, the business does not necessarily have to be vertical, on the contrary, it is a great opportunity for businesses from becoming too vertical cross or, put another way, if you have a business “of niche, “that is, very focused to a very specific target, now has the ability to access your audience, your market, by different routes of entry and even diversify without losing its essence.

Exploring some interesting possibilities.

- Positioning for useful content. Sure it can explain things interesting for their customers and potential customers. Practical things and they can serve to make better use of their products or services, to get more out of them, to enjoy more and better, to apply them in their daily lives more often. Turn these tips, suggestions and explanations “capsule contents helpful” and put them within reach of their target audience on the Net How? With attractive presentations that can hang on SlideShare, with educational and interesting videos that can get on youtube. Content that suits sure you have (if you do not have them is not difficult to generate them and give them the right format for each platform) and put at the disposal of its audience. Do not forget, two conditions: interesting and useful content (a typical corporate presentation is neither one thing nor the other). In this way achieved by positioning the direct value it offers to its market, which is rather more interesting than the traditional positioning SEO or SEM, because positioning his company valued not by keywords.

- Research, study and monitoring in real time. Anyone who says that his business research and market analysis and study of the behavior of consumers are not important is that you do not have a business or is about to not have it. Remember the The X-Files slogan: “the truth is out there.” If you do not know what your competition does or what the market’s view and said the products, services and how to act in your company, then you are going to drive blindfolded. The chances of accidents are high. You’ve got tools such as delicious, google reader, google alert s, the rankings from Alexa, technorati, for example. All these tools on the net can be transformed to adapt to the information needs of your business. It is not complicated, just know what each party is and what you can get to you. The result is real-time information, with international coverage and accurate data on important aspects that otherwise would cost much time, effort and money to know.

- Prospecting, coolhunting and benchmarking “live from the scene.” Expansion, globalization, new markets, new trends, new consumers … The users of the network can be an extraordinary source of first-hand information to help you guide your business into new territories and to develop new products and services. If, for example, is planning to open new markets, opening establishments or offices or simply exporting, you can use some social networks as a tool of coolhunting (trend analysis) and benchmark. Users of Wolpy are travelers, they like to comment on the places they visit and are intensive users of digital photography. If you become a member of Wolpy may come into contact with people who have been, or who thinks going to countries and cities on the information you need. Ask them, Keep Them Coming which, if they are to this or that place you comment on this or that aspect, amazed at the cooperation it receives. Something similar can be done in Dopplr, another network of passengers (is more focused on business travel) in which you can obtain valuable testimony and information relevant to important aspects of your business. And then there is the blogosphere itself, immensely rich in content and views. If you’re a WordPress member , not least, you can use the browser labels “for what is published on the topics that interest you.

There are a few examples of the benefits offered by the network. It is true that the tools used to anything if you do not know how to use or not used correctly, but to know exactly how useful it must first give you know, learn what the users at each of these places, how they relate to content and share views. That means time and attention. And it also means that we must be reciprocal in the exchange, that is, if you need information and requests, it is natural that provides content and information. Share. If you offer value, it will be valuable what you’ll get.

Therefore, businesses, products and services that each company offers, although they are very specialized, they can find new groups to arrive, new ways to adapt to needs that were not previously known. With minor modifications you can expand the market. On the other hand, if the business is very general, to adapt to different audiences will also increase penetration in certain segments that perhaps until now seemed intractable.

It would be an illusion to try to make a table of equivalence between all social networks, platforms, content and user communities and the value that each can bring to a company. In this, as in almost everything, every case is different. And since nobody knows your business better than you, no one like you to explore, learn and apply common sense and philosophy of sharing, the extensive possibilities offered by the universe 2.0. But it will take time, but it is time well spent.

And, of course, all this has an impact in organizations because, although it is still something very unusual, it is necessary that within the corporate structure and begin to create more professional people or departments whose primary mission is to be permanently working on the Mark Network. If you want to take advantage of the network, the network must be part of the business philosophy of your company.

Crisis, business and debt.

We live in an era of the intangible. While the crisis we are now experiencing also stems from something intangible. It is curious how things have changed. When we think about what happened (and happens) in the U.S. with the sadly famous junk mortgages (subprime), we concluded that the giant bubble that has been forming in the last years and that has caused the current situation is one of its epicenters in the value of the financial system has given a absolutely something intangible: the debt.

 We have moved the value of what is the value of what they do not have. In fact, a mortgage is nothing more than someone’s debt, a debt taken on to acquire a building. A debt means that someone has to return money that has given him another one, for that refund have more time, even long time, provided that what we end up giving back is much more of what he was given. So, who is mortgaged, or the debtor becomes a long-term customer who lent him the money.

We could say, in a way that is not the debt where the value lies, but on the client. But in this case that would be a vast understatement because this customer (who are the vast majority of whom most of us because the less I live with a mortgage) is subjected to a forced loyalty plan that, if he could have, would not have chosen. The link between customer financing provider is on the one hand and the need for a further lack of alternative, so that even if does not sound good, the true value is given to the debt, not the client.

The debt runs the financial system and business structure in an extremely unstable, and instability there comes a moment ago that the structure shaken up the critical point of overcoming resistance and do it all collapse. Too much tension causes a crack. Pure physics. Pure logic. Common sense … you know, the less common sense.

But, much as this crisis arises from something as intangible as debt, its consequences that it is tangible. Businesses that fall, closing businesses, people who lose their jobs, wealth that is lost. All this and much more are the results we see and touch every day. In addition, the Stock Exchanges around the world have become schizophrenic and falls, slight recoveries, desplones new and uncertain future are our daily bread Have you lost dignity in the way we do business?, A big business we are talking Is everything has become so speculative that ambition goes above everything else? Have we lost the sense of ethics in the way we do business? We want to be confident that no, but reality shows that something of all this has been forgotten.

Business crisis, money. Everyone more virtual than the previous Could it be that the economy and the financial sitemas not bear much virtuality? Virtuality so much and so many cases not met: loans made to generate debt backed by properties that were supposed to, they would never lose value so if the dedudor could not pay, the creditor is a building that was worth more money than when it was purchased and the lender always wins … and it is not. It turns out that have been built to houses so many people there are not enough to live because, after all, nor do we buy a new house every year and there is no need or money to cope with a cost so high. Therefore there comes a time when the constructor has no more money to continue building, the bank has no money to continue to provide and the debtor has no money to continue paying, and it’s Crack. The system assigns. Too much stress. Too many of course not met.

Any virtual excessively in the negative sense of the word. Virtual because this whole operation of the system has been based on assumptions that no one in front with two fingers had been believed. And that is what we have believed all of us. Or all we have assumed and we have participated. Or the majority of banks, financial institutions and insurers throughout the groups have muyndo fact, which is the same.

Ah, then Will something or someone to the crisis? Of course. Sure. Many survive, should have learned, have been fast, smart and cautious. Many will be, we will have learned. And we will proceed.

• The success of companies after a time of crisis, or are companies that come from the previous period and have either supported the change and adapt to the new ecosystem, or are start-ups but whose talent comes from the accumulated experience and observed in enterprises of the previous era.
• The companies that lead after a time of change are those that have learned from the crisis, not the old schemes that denies knowing that only lead to failure.
• Companies that are strengthened after the chaos are the ones that follow the market and understand that people do not change the overnight dramatically. There is no social or economic transformation that is so explosive, everything takes time to adapt. Companies that offer good results in unstable environments are those that do not make the mistake of thinking that a market is large or is not ripe when it is neither. Are those that do not make bets impossible or create unfounded assumptions.
• Companies with meteoric growth are enormous predisposition to the equally meteoric fall, and therefore a thing as another cause tremendous trauma.

We are in the Age 2.0, it is true, businesses also evolve towards that 2.0, right. But that does not mean that everything becomes smoke, or that production systems are no longer necessary, nor that the primary and secondary sectors are obsolete and unserviceable and that the future is only in the tertiary, in services, and yet beyond that, in content, in pure knowledge, in the virtual ether. No.

Behind every business and every expectation there must be a reality. If you offer a product must be able to manufacture it, serve, maintain and restore. If you offer a service must offer guarantees, attention and problem solving. If you have a business, must respond to what your business offers. The promises on promises remain virtual smoke, or anything. The “anything” does not generate wealth, not fueling the economy, we can not pay the mortgage and it is not sufficient to pay the purchase in the supermarket.

And, finally, of course, all this is just a matter of money. The money, which is much more so than the Virtual Business 2.0 and 3.0 the crisis. Money is a concept, a metaphor, an illusion that we have enshrined in paper and plastic cards to make us look real. But it is not.

We could dwell on this item to fall from exhaustion. No lo vamos a hacer. We are not going to do. Just finally, a simple thought: if all is smoke, if all of we sell smoke, we will have to make a very big bonfire to generate much smoke, and end up burning.

This is a very interesting and informative video lasts about 10 minutes. In fact is an excerpt from the original (which lasts 47 minutes) “The money as debt” and weinvite you to see if you have a little more time, it is worth.

Web 2.0 already has its soundtrack

Web 2.0, with everything that has been written and write about it, had to have their song. We’ve searched the Internet what you sing this Web participatory demodrática and full of tools, networks, platforms and directories. And we have found quite a few things, as expected, but between those things there are a number of “hits”. It seems that blogs, twitter and facebook are the phenomena that over 2.0 inspire artists. Listen…

Are you blogging this???…

Twitter whore…

Facebook Song – Bristol Chapter…

And now that Web 2.0 is also sing, perhaps it is time to recognize that, beyond the impact on the communication, business and relationships, is not that we are starting to love it …. What is your favorite? Sing and enjoy

How are businesses that are successful?

The search for the perfect business is like finding the lost ark, the Holy Grail and the Philosopher’s Stone. There may be, it may not, but they do not stop searching. Let’s start from the premise that there is no perfect business, and we wonder which of the businesses that seem to be aware if there were.

As we live in a Global Society, which identifies with Business and Enterprise business with Brand, is the ideal business could be something like Coca Cola, Microsoft, Sony?  Or it might be more in line with Google, Amazon or IKEA? An ideal business is a business that moves a lot of money, right?, Which provides benefits and generate more value and business. So, perhaps the ideal business is intrinsically linked with money, could be the HSBC, Santander, the Chasse Manhattan Bank?, Perhaps an Investment Fund, an insurer? Well, in light of recent events with its own name as Lehmann Brothers or Merryl lynch, that the road may be another A company of online auctions? You may something about the spectacle and entertainment, as this is the entertainment company, Pixar, Time Warner, Paramount? Something more cool, admired and liked, Apple, MTV, Nike? A business with the glamor of Armani or sofiticación Bentley?

Big business all of them. Companies that operate large-scale, led by the giant among giants: Wall Mart. Not all profitable, of course. No simple, but global no doubt. The majority of them suffering from what we might call the Babel syndrome, characterized by trying to cover everything and touch the sky. Most of Marks mentioned here are contained in the Ranking 2008 “Best Global Brands” that produces an annual Interbrand. Ah!, But the ideal business could not have anything to do with any of them. Mies van der Rohe, the great German architect, said at once, when asked about the secret of perfection that reflected the great works:

“Perfection is not a question of dimensions, but of proportions.”

If there is a perfect business, will surely be a business balanced proportions. Balance means harmony. If there is a perfect business, to be sure, it will mark a banner recognized, valued, well positioned, associated with strong values and an emotional connection with the public. When the big consulting firms develop their rankings of most valuable companies, always take into account the importance of the brand, the reasons for consumer purchases and likelihood of revenue from the brand in question. These parameters determine the value of the Business of Enterprises, of Brands. Serve as an example the ranking of the 50 most valuable brands in Latin America produced by Interbrand and AméricaEconomía.

The 2.0Internet has changed quite a few of the parameters with which we were accustomed to measuring and valuing the business. Among other things, has transformed into businesses (sonadamente lucrative cases) projects and initiatives that would not be crazy adventures and fanciful short time ago (delusional and ridiculous remain so, despite everything, but we have to take off his hat before the skill that some people have had to make these crazy ideas their way of life).

The most representative of this phenomenon are the Blogs. A very recent phenomenon, considering that hatching can put the world in 2006. Blogs are now a world in themselves, a new territory that puts us face a different reality, influential and constantly growing, every day 120,000 new blogs are created and 17 new post is published every second. U.S., Japan, the United Kingdom and Germany are the leaders of the blogosphere.  Statistical data of the blogosphere is the most interesting, and analyzing a bit better we can understand the magnitude of change we are experiencing and that goes beyond the technological impact. It is a social change, and certainly a transformation of the business-economic parameters.

Though not all blogs on the Internet as much as 2.0 now it seems. In any case, since they are the major “stars” of the moment, as they were in their day websites, e-commerce, flash applications, virtual communities, video streaming or the messenger, let’s say 4 things on the blogs:

• Anyone can write a blog, but it is always nice to have something interesting to explain.

• Your blog can be read worldwide, but, keep in mind, it’s possible anybody like it.

• With your blog you might get rich, but does not create everything you read about the easy money on the Net.

• Yo publish and to maintain a blog is completely free, as long as you consider that the time devoted to your task of blogger has absolutely no value.

There is life and business beyond the blog. However, it seems that whatever the business or the business idea or the perfect business plan, you must go through having a presence in the list of His Majesty Google. Much has changed since Google appeared in our lives, but Instead, the new era that the most famous and used to symbolize the search engines, began to make a long, long time, back in 1945, when Bush Vannaver published in The Monthly Atalantic an article that prompted a new way of understanding and sharing knowledge.

What a curious, right? That new things are, in fact, the updated version of things that already existed or who come from far behind.

The search for the perfect business is as old as the very concept of “business”. What suecede is that some time ago that the Internet came into our lives and our society as well as in our estrucutura mentally, to make us look with new eyes ideas that are not.

We agree that the Internet is essential in any business, from the most traditional to the more avant-garde. This does not mean that a truly prosperous business can exist only within, to, for and on the Internet. Certainly, the Internet is a channel of communication, a sales channel, a research tool, a wonderful shop window and a tool of great value if branding is to use well-known. But if we take e-commerce as an example, we see the actual data are, say, discreet. It is true that the trend is upward, but not yet live in a 100% digital environment.

There is something, however, that has not changed since the start of business. Something whose importance has not changed decisively industrial revolutions, social or technological. That “something” is the customer. A good business, a real good business is measured by customers. Hence stems everything else, from the Corporate Reputation to the Income Statement, via the Brand Image and Positioning in the Marketplace . Customers, actual or potential consumers, satisfied or dissatisfied, they are the ones who make good or bad business, which close or move away from perfection. Clients. Consumers. Neither more nor less. Because a business fails, does not live on ideas, but from customers.

And then come the times of crisis. And it gives the impression that the fog of the crisis it permeates all and nobody knows what to do, and the basic principles of business are invested, the bonds are upset, it is difficult to distinguish a good from bad news and, most serious However, nobody knows what will happen tomorrow. To understand a little better in this crisis, we recommend a visit to encarecidament blog Leopoldo Abadia, its analysis of the crisis NINJA is bright. But tell me, just in case we ever know what will happen tomorrow? No.

The crisis may increase the uncertainty, but uncertainty remains intact. If before we did not know what was going to happen tomorrow, now the situation is the same. And a few certainties also keeps intact is more, confirms and reinforces. And these are the certainties, if not a perfect business, yes to a viable business:

• It is better to engage in something we do well and find differentiation in how to do that trying to make a fortune on something that no master and whose only advantage is that it is “new”.

• The gap between the fortune and the debacle is the measure of risk. A high-risk business is ephemeral and, unfortunately, we do not know when the streak ends good. Excessive risk, failure insured.
  

• A business with certain guarantees of prosperity should keep a balance analog / digital reasonable. You should also keep a balance innovator / known reasonable. It is important that the market understands what is offered and can compare it to something already known.
  

• A great business must be, above all else, great for you. You should feel right at him and with him.Can hardly convincing if not convinced. It is very obvious, it is true, so this is a stone on which so many face.

• If there are customers there are business.

 

In a previous article said customers no longer exist. Does not exist in its conventional meaning, because in the environment of Internet 2.0, define customer is complex. A customer is not necessarily the one who buys a product or a service uses. A customer can be someone who consults a content, which read a blog, which shares a file, someone who weaves links in social 

networks, updating your profile, leaving comments at a forum. Customer is someone who bids on an item in an auction, which leaves their data in a form … Client, ultimately, is the person who, with his action and his relationship with respect to our business gives us a value (because it has no be money, although that value must be measurable and be transferred to economic value) that allows us to maintain our business, to grow and generate increased value of assets. That is, what the customer provides (information, links, comments, references, content, time, money …), this should enable us to generate wealth.

If there are no customers, no wealth is generated (we let everyone give meaning to the term wealth to create more convenient). The search for the perfect business goes through the search for the type of client suitable for generating wealth. Do you have a business?, It is neither good nor bad. You have’got customers?, That’s good. Preserve and be sure to strive to achieve more.