What if we could increase publishing business performance by leveraging social networks better?

By BNI & Referral Institute - Sep 01 , 2008

By Warren J. Rutherford

Recently I had the opportunity to review a white paper on social networking for a business consulting client. It led to this thought – how is the publishing business adapting to the changes occurring before us as a result of enterprise social software and Web 2.0?

How can we adapt our publishing performance to the knowledge exchange that is occurring outside our business – through tools such as YouTube, Blogs, Pod casts, Wikis, video conferencing, social bookmarking, community file sharing, and enterprise social networking and learning sites such as Ecto Connect and Ecto Learning, amongst others?

Furthermore, how do we integrate this knowledge exchange into our publishing culture?

I watch younger people thrive in online social network communities – YouTube, Wikipedia, and My Space – as well as sharing photos and ideas online. I marvel at how easily they adapt to these experiences – not quite understanding how it can serve a useful, productive purpose. I am changing my mind on that, however.

Let’s look at some commentary by a recent Kansas State University Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Class in the spring of 2007, all from a YouTube Video:

“I will read 8 books this year, 2,300 web pages, & 1,281 Face Book profiles.”

Another wrote “I will write 42 pages for class this semester, and over 500 pages of email.”

And, “I get 7 hours of sleep each night, watch 1.5 hours of television each night, and spend 3.5 hours a day online, I listen to 2.5 hours of music each day, I spend 2 hours on my cell phone, spend 3 hours in class, 2 hours eating, I work 2 hours every day, 3 hours studying, that’s a total of 26.5 hours per day – I am a multi-tasker – I have to be.”

The knowledge exchange occurring online, largely outside our traditional publishing culture, benefits from the social software I mentioned above. As Clay Shirky defined it, social software is “software that supports group interaction.”

What is interesting about this software is that it stimulates interaction, and with increased interaction, properly channeled, it stimulates collaboration. As Becker and Henriksen have noted, “What is remarkable is the exchange itself and the organic growth of networks that support it.”

How prevalent is YouTube? According to YouTube, in December 2007, people of all ages around the world were watching more than 70 million videos on the site daily. The company was named TIME magazine’s “Invention of the Year” for 2006. Now, can similar comments be made for blogs, pod casts, wikis, and other Web 2.0 tools?

Our educational system is increasingly using this technology to create, collaborate, and share. The publishing industry has a strong incentive to fully explore and develop the capabilities enabled by the Web 2.0 environment to sell more products. Witness the number of eBooks being published online and self-publishing sites such as YouPublish.com, with well over 130,000 titles on eBooks.com.

Still wonder how this applies to your publishing business? A final comment from the KSU video – “I complete 49% of the readings assigned to me, only 26% are relevant to my life; I buy $ 100 textbooks that I never open.”

We know the challenges – how are we responding so that our bottom line performance improves? I am very interested to know—arent’ you?

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Warren J. Rutherford, President, Rutherford Advisors, Inc. is an Accredited Associate, Institute for Independent Business International, and a CMT Accredited Senior Mentor. He is certified as a Behavioral Coach, an Analyst in Axiology, a One Page Business Plan Consultant, and he is a BNI Assistant Director in the SE Mass/RI Region. He provides business consulting and mentoring to small and medium-sized business, and performs market research for businesses. He can be reached at warrenrutherford@iib.ws or at www.RutherfordBusinessAdvisor.com. Copyright (C) 2008, Rutherford Advisors, Inc. All rights reserved.