Using Web 2.0 in your Business

The buzz these days is web 2.0 and the social networking. Numerous individuals use social networking each day to keep in touch and others updated on what you are doing. The question remains is this useful for business?

Some of the web 2.0 applications are last.fm, facebook.com, myspace.com, twitter.com, Pandora.com, linkedin.com and various others.

Myspace.com and facebook.com and linkedin.com are social networking sites. You can keep in touch with friends and post pictures of yourself. You can also join groups and also link to your blog and other web 2.0 applications.

Twitter.com is an interesting application, in 140 words to post. You can keep people updated on what you are doing.

Blogging is probably the biggest application most business and individuals are using. As with anything you have some real good and really bad blogs that exist. Some exist to help others and some exist to keep family members up to date.

I believe some of the web 2.0 social networking applications are useful for businesses. A story I recently read discussed a district attorney that was trying to locate someone to server someone with papers. We could not locate him; he proceeded to use facebook to locate the individual and was able to serve the papers. Someone could argue about privacy, but I think it is a good use of social networks.

In the recent election President Obama used numerous social networking and web 2.0 applications to successfully reach out to younger voters. It helped him secure the presidential election.

Facebook, which was originally only for college and high school students is getting a business following. Some are using it to find employee’s or look for a job. Others are using it to market their business. (I am currently testing out the marketing your business theory).

I really am having a difficult time seeing any value in twitter.com. I really don’t want to have to post what I am doing or where I am at. I think twitter is a good place to link to your blog.
Bands have used facebook and MySpace to promote themselves and become discovered. It is much easier to put a few sample songs on these sites then to try to get some to listen to your demo.

I think the best way to help your business is to provide some valuable free content that people can use. This will establish some creditability and also start getting your name in the search engines. If you approach it that you are going to education someone about a topic your business can address or you are passionate about, it more than likely will have a better following than something you are doing just to do it.

You do have to be careful; both personally and with your business on what you post or pictures you might place on the web. People are always looking for an opportunity to scam someone and if you put too much personal information, you might be at risk. Also be carefully about what you say in your blog, it can live out on the Internet for a long time and potential clients could discover this and decide not to do business with you.

Finally, the question is should you block access to these websites? I think you have to evaluate what you Internet usage policy is and also the job duties that are being performed. Most people who are 20 and under have grew up with these applications and expect to use them at work.

To retain top talent in the future, you might have to allow access to these applications, even If you do not think they relate to your business. You want to be seen as being flexible and being able to adapt to the times. But you also want to make sure your employee’s are not putting your company at risk by posting something you do not approve of or are wasting valuable time.

Overall, I believe social networking and blogging can help your business, you just need to figure out if it will work for your business. If it will, develop your strategy, are you going to blog, use face book, etc. Finally, you can waste a bunch of time, make sure you use your time wisely.

Dell Carbon Neutral

I have a subscription to the Wall Street Journal and they had a very interesting article that relates to green computing. Dell has claimed over the summer that is is carbon neutral. What does becoming carbon neutral mean?



The Wikipedia definition of Carbon Neutral is "Being carbon neutral, or having a zero carbon footprint, refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent amount sequestered or offset". You can find the full definition here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_neutral.



Anyway, they have curbed some energy use but mostly have achieved it by buying energy credits. How does that work? An good example is the University of Minnesota has some windmills that produce energy and they have carbon credits they can sell. Dell could buy them and it offsets the carbon they produce. You can also plant forests to become carbon neutral



The interesting thing about this article is it discusses if the suppliers Dell uses should be included in the carbon neutral claim. Currently, Dell does not include them but is going to start reviewing the suppliers to see if they are going to pursue becoming carbon neutral.

Dell seems to be one of the leading companies in the effort to become Carbon Neutral.



The article is an interesting read and if you have a subscription it can be located here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123059880241541259.html.