Web 2.0: Waarom zou je bloggen?

Vraag jij je wel eens af waarom je zou gaan bloggen? Wil je je gedachten kwijt? Wil je anderen laten weten dat je over een bepaald onderwerp kennis hebt? Ben je ondernemer? Of werk je ergens? Blog je daarover? Wil je klanten werven? Je netwerk vergroten? Moet je bepaalde regels in acht nemen? Is het handiger om op deze blog alleen over ondernemerschap & nieuwe media te bloggen? Omdat de blog new media entrepreneurs heet? En in welke taal schrijf je eigenlijk? In het Engels? Of in het Nederlands?

Ik startte in het Nederlands, later toch maar in het Engels. Nu weer in het Nederlands. Bereik je meer lezers in het Engels? Of is de concurrentie dan groter? Of ligt het helemaal niet aan de taal waarin je je uitdrukt? Ligt het aan de manier waarop je berichten opstelt? Pakkende titels, veel verwijzingen en een aantal kernwoorden, met andere woorden: zoekmachine optimalisatie. Kijk je ook hoeveel bezoekers er op je site komen? Met Google Analytics bijvoorbeeld? En, heb je ook advertenties via Google Adwords op je blog geplaatst?

Gebruik je ook widgets als embedded video's van You Tube, presentaties van Slideshare om extra aandacht op je blog te vestigen? Voeg je ook afbeeldingen toe aan je blogposts? Ter illustratie? Of om via Google afbeeldingen weer bezoekers op je site te krijgen? Doe je eigenlijk aan personal branding? Dat je van tevoren nadenkt over hoe je wilt overkomen? Hou je dat ook bij via Friendfeed? En de onderwerpen waarover je blogt, gaat dat over actuele zaken? Die je goed moet bijhouden? Of blog je over zaken waar je toch al mee bezig was? Laat je ook op Twitter weten dat je een nieuw bericht hebt geplaatst? Verkort je de URL dan viaTiny-url? Of werk je liever efficient en meld je alleen zaken waar je toch al mee bezig was? Kan je eigenlijk efficient werken en bloggen tegelijk? Kost het niet veel te veel tijd? Wordt de druk niet te groot omdat je vaker artikelen zou willen publiseren dan je in werkelijkheid doet? Zou iedereen straks bloggen? Net als dat bijna iedereen belt en e-mailt? Ik weet het allemaal nog niet. Ik zie het wel. Kom je nog eens terug op deze blog? Misschien leest wel niemand dit. Ook niet erg.

Innovation and the methaphor of the red monkey

According to Jef Staes innovation means creative entrepreneurship. Creativity means new ideas. Entrepreneurship means implementation of these ideas. I think this can also be a definition of intrapreneurship. Intrapreneurs are employees with a mindset and skill set of an entrepreneur. These people are often hard to keep within an organization. The will start their on business on the long run.

Strategy Safari and Blue Ocean Strategy

Strategy consultants are often using methaphors to explain complex problems which are hard to explain in one sentence. Strategy Safari (The complete guide through the wilds of strategic management) by Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel and The blue ocean strategy are examples of concepts where metaphors are used to simplify the concept. Although a red monkey doesn't exist in real life, using a methaphor to explain a something in the field of strategy isn't quite new. For that reason a red monkey itself can't be seen as an innovation.

Attention Economy: how to get some attention as a media entrepreneur

In 2005 I bought the book 'Starting and running a coffee bar'. I had a great idea to combine a coffee bar with digital music services. I wrote a business plan, bought some books, and then... nothing. Suddenly I didn't believe in the idea anymore. I still have the books and maybe it is now a better time to start a digital music location based service. But anyway, today I re-discovered this book about starting a coffee bar. In a chapter about 'The power of publicity' the author Linda Formichelli gave some advice to her readers about publicity: "Getting your name into the public eye doesn't have to cost an arm, two legs and a spleen. By issuing press releases and positioning yourself as an expert, you can have reporters calling you for stories - and when an unbiased media source such as a reporter or TV news anchor puts you on stage, your credibility jumps a lot higher than it does from a paid advertisement that says, 'Hey, I'm great!"

We are living more and more in an attention economy (it seems like everybody would like to have your attention these days). Sending out press releases isn't enough these days to generate attention. A great example with a sad starting point is the story of a Dutch entrepreneur who lost his cat. This internet entrepreneur shared via Twitter with his followers that he lost his cat. He started a special website www.wijwillendirk.nl (we want Dirk. Dirk is the name of the cat) Using Google maps, he made a mash up about where the cat was seen in the streets. Next to this he put some pictures and videos of his cat on this website. He also printed some flyers, posters and he even asked followers on Twitter to create a t-shirt about his lost cat. A great way of crowd sourcing. And showing the world the power of social media. Even a Dutch national newspaper wrote a story about this cat. As an owner of two cats I can tell you that losing one of your cats isn't fun. I was happy to read that they found Dirk back.

One of the most important tasks of an entrepreneur is creating attention for the products or services they offer. I think Jaap Stronks did a great job by trying to find his cat and showing the world how he can create - as a media entrepreneur - a great campaign by using social media.

The future of the Dutch creative industries

The impact of the credit crunch on the Dutch creative industries has many faces. Next to cost cutting and bad results of (media) companies, Dutch newspapers are asking the government to invest in newspapers to survive. Ruud Hendriks gave his unsalted opinion on this topic during the symposium 'Creativity means business'; don't invest in companies which are in trouble because of mismanagement. Walter Amerika, another speaker of this symposium showed some results of a research on the creative industry. The industry is suffering from not enough financial injections. This situation can become even more problematic because the Dutch government has given a warning to the Dutch creative industries. As long as the industries aren't able to work closely together with other parties within the industries the government will stop facilitating / financing innovation.

I understand that there is a fundamental difference between investments in products, companies and industries. But, it seems like no one is interested to invest in creative products, creative companies and creative industries anymore. Does this mean that the creative industry will disappear? In that situation creative products and services are only generation a cash flow when it is served bundled with other (paid) services from other industries. This means the 'feels like free business model' will survive. This also means that other products and services which are served as part of the bundle, will become more expensive. Nice to have a greater customer experience with the products thanks to the creative products which you are getting for (feels like) free, but how long will the customer pay for this experience? The consumer will look for other ways to get the product for a lower price. Imagine what will happen when the products will be available via social media for free (or a lower price). Other industries of the bundled products and services will start collapsing as well. My advice to business people: look what is happing in the creative industries. Learn from their mistakes because it will be soon happening to your industry as well! Be prepared: It's innovation time!

Funding by friends, fools and founders

Last Saturday I went to a beer & innovation meeting with some Dutch music start-ups. Today I met some venture capitalists. Now I am wondering if and how entrepreneurs find investors and how they communicate with them. I think it's not always easy for entrepreneurs and investors to find and understand each other. Are investors mainly thinking in terms of Return on Investment (ROI)? Are entrepreneurs able to translate their message about passion and ideas into a message about ROI? Or should the investor try to understand the passion of the entrepreneur? I think both. Building a sustainable business is only possible with passion, focus, hard work and full support of your most important relations. Your investor is one of these relations. So, a good relationship between an entrepreneur and the investor is one of the informal terms & conditions for a successfull business. But, is it always necessary to find an investor? Remember: funding can be done by friends, fools and founders.