Show #41: A naked conversation with Shel Israel

Listen to Shel Israel, author of Naked Conversations, as he embarks on a global research tour for his new book, tentatively titled Global Neighborhoods. In this 27-minute podcast, Shel and I talk about b5media, Google’s acquisition of YouTube, the effect of social media on society, and Canadian winters.

You can download the show right here or subscribe through iTunes.

Here are the show notes:
00:01 Intro and welcome
00:45 Introducing Shel Israel, author (with Robert Scoble) of Naked Conversations, a highly regarded book about blogs and how they are changing the way businesses talk with customers
02:55 Shel’s excitement over what’s happening at b5media and what Jeremy Wright (author of Blog Marketing) is doing
03:50 Role of VC Rick Segal in b5media
05:05 Shel and Rick’s world tour
05:44 How Shel will conduct research for Global Neighborhoods; friends strewn around the world because of social media; global society is restructuring itself
07:55 Communities gaining all the power; society moving away from large organizations
08:30 We are at a flex point in history; world will be very different
09:00 The revised itinerary; the world is larger than Shel thought
10:42 Who needs winter?
11:45 Shel’s exploration of Estonia; similarities between Estonia and Ireland
14:50 Shel will blog the new book, as he did with Naked Conversations; blogosphere makes the content better
16:40 Shel wouldn’t write a book without involving the blogosphere
19:40 Looking back 20 years from now, Google acquisition of YouTube will be a watershed; New York Times doesn’t understand what social media really means
20:30 Why newspapers are suffering
21:10 Advertisers are moving online because that’s where their customers are
21:29 We’re in the beginning of a 20-year transition where society will be as different as it was before and after TV
22:32 It would be a shame if change didn’t disrupt our everyday lives
22:55 The publication process for the book
25:30 Where to send comments: email to trafcom AT gmail.com, call the NEW comment line at 206-338-4200 or post a message to the Trafcom News Podcast blog
Look for the Trafcom News Podcast on Blubrry.com
Theme music is “Beneath Your Surface” by the Elisabeth Lohninger Quartet from the Podsafe Music Network

Comments

[Dave]

True to form, that was a valuable show!! It's always great to hear someone explain the importance and power of social media... no one can every say that building a community with your customers is a bad idea. However... can you really say that this new communication method is an opportunity for everyone?

The success stories are coming from the Fortune 500 companies who are consumer focused. Big business has budget and staff available to blog, podcast and develop captivating and engaging new media. They can with little effort demonstrate an ROI to their bottom line or corporate brand when devoting resources to building a community from a very large potential consumer audience.

Unfortunately over 95% of business in North America are small to mid-size businesses with the majority less than 100 employees in size. They not only find it difficult to develop content or make time available to participate in social media, but they have little ability to "drive traffic" to their RSS feed, blog or podcast once they do launch it. They have great difficulty in even getting the basics done like finding a clever way to get their web site listed in the top 3 pages of a Google, Yahoo or other search engines.

And if they do become believers in social media, how do they actually gain the sustained interest of their prospect and customer base? Is the potential audience for their message large enough to truly create a community? How can they get reader/listener mindshare when the limited time available to a prospect or customer has already been taken by the blogs and podcasts of the major players in social media. How can the small to mid-size business demonstrate an acceptable ROI to justify the expenditure of precious corporate resources? Can they truly track the impact on their brand resulting from their RSS feed, blog, podcast etc? Can they perceive a new relationship in their customer base? Can they identify new prospects or an increase in sales?

Few today have the ability to understand how or why or when to enter the world of social media. And the industry is not yet mature enough to identify many professional suppliers skilled enough to develop content or publish it successfully on behalf of those uneducated but highly committed companies. However I'm positive, it won't be long before just like radio, TV, website and traditional newsletter development, there will be suppliers more than willing to take outsourced assignments.

So yes... intellectually, we all should acknowledge how the communication world is changing and how new opportunities now exist to build better relationships with our audience. Practically however, the majority of companies should take cautious steps before entering the deep end of the pool.

I for one, I'm thankful that a life guard like Donna Papacosta is on duty and available to administer CPR :-))

cheers... dave