Are Global Brands Too Important To Be Hyperlinked ?

Leon Benjamin posted the following thought to Twitter - and hence to Facebook.

"You know you're a global brand when people don't bother hyperlinking to you on blog posts coz' everyone knows where to find you. Thoughts?"

I started to write a response - and then ran out of space.

So here goes ...

I think we should flip it - as to WHO links and who doesn't ...

When a new social network is small, nascient, getting going - the early users are likely early adopters - been around the block a few times with other apps, know the expected behaviours, the etiquette etc - this includes hyperlinking - even for famous big names - the hyperlinks are there.

As the Social Networks grow, the noobies appear. And - as a 'nooby', the inevitable question - who (in the case of Twitter) do I follow ? who (in the case of Facebook) should be my friend ? - and so on.

Two things then happen

1) As time marches on the new people that join start to lose the core understandings, rules and etiquette of the original early adopters - forget - don't know - aren't as knowledgeable/ schooled in the finer points etc

2) The higher up the brand / success tree a brand / user is ... the more likely the 'uninitiated' will be following - so a higher proportion of no hyper linking will be occurring.

Thus my suggestion would be to flip the research.

I contend that the less aware a user is of the etiquette - the more likely they are not to hyperlink - and the more likely to follow big names.

@stephenfry and britney (i am sorry - I don't know her '@' off the top of my head - are sitting there on twitter with hundreds of thousands of followers - out of however many millions of twitterers there are.

I am betting that a lot of those followers are 'noobies' - just think of some of mr frys's frustrations posted to twitter ...

@PTPayne What!!!!??? Have you read nothing I've posted in the last 24 hours???
8:56 PM Mar 14th from TweetDeck in reply to PTPayne

It's not instantaneous. You tweet ONCE ONLY, including the string #followmestephen After hours/days/weeks you'll see me added to your list
8:55 PM Mar 14th from TweetDeck

Sigh. So many of you just don't get hashtags and aren't using them. It's so simple. I'm afriad I can't follow anyone who doesn't do it right
8:30 PM Mar 14th from TweetDeck

.. and I can't find it now - but a cracker a few weeks ago when he blacked out his image - I paraphrase :
" really - it would only take you a scroll down the page to answer that question for yourself"

Bottom line - all of the above is fully laced with 100% opinion - and no absolute data - but to me it makes sense.

I'd welcome a debate.

10 Fortune 500 Companies That Started With Next to Nothing

In this world that seems to be collapsing around us - a little high spot ...

10 Fortune 500 Companies That Started With Next to Nothing

Further on from the original posting, we see a series of comments - my one would be are they all American companies because the writer is American - or are there no other similar success stories elsewhere in the world ?

My thanks to : Business Pundit.

Innovation - according to Guy

Just found this locked up in my blog softWare 'PENDING' .. thought I should actually post it! Bottom line - Mr. Kawasaki talking about innovation.

In his words:

"Don't be afraid to polarize people." For radio, he said, an attempt to please everyone will only "create mediocrity."

The full monty ...

SAN JOSE -- February 9, 2009: Guy Kawasaki -- an original Mac "evangelist" in the '80s and now Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures -- opened Radio Ink's Convergence '09 with a keynote that focused on innovation: what it is and how to get it. He said, "True innovation occurs not when it's motivated by the desire to make money, but the desire to make meaning -- that is, to make the world a better place."
Kawasaki said most of the entrepreneurs who come to him and say their primary motivation is to make money end up with failing companies because they attract employees with the wrong motivation. He asked attendees, "How do you take the radio business and make people's lives better? That is the true foundation of innovation."

Kawasaki noted that most businesses define themselves by what they make today rather than sufficiently broadly, and urged attendees to jump past radio's current "curve of local transmitters broadcasting 30s and 60s for local advertisers.:
He recommended that companies seek a two- or three-word "mantra" instead of a mission statement and said innovators should be guided by the idea of "Don't worry, be crappy" -- that is, understand that a valuable innovation will be so much better than what came before that it won't matter if it's not perfect out of the box. But then, he said, the innovator must be willing to open his or her mind to ideas for improvements -- which can be the most difficult step.
Kawasaki also said to radio specifically, "Don't be afraid to polarize people." For radio, he said, an attempt to please everyone will only "create mediocrity."

... with thanks to : Radio Ink Magazine, for the source.

Human Capital Management

This extracted from a recent Economist article ....

During the relatively modest downturn at the start of this decade, many professional-services firms cut too deeply, especially in their lower ranks, and found they were poorly positioned when strong growth resumed sooner than expected, says Heidi Gardner of Harvard Business School. Firms built on pyramid structures in which senior managers mentored larger numbers of employees below them suddenly found that, in a growing economy, they lacked the mentors needed to manage the army of new recruits. Instead, they had to re-hire ex-staffers at higher salaries and, in some cases, abandon proven policies of hiring senior managers only from within, says Ms Gardner, who worked for McKinsey at the time.

This crisis is revealing how few firms have really thought through their talent strategies, says Mark Spelman of Accenture. Claims that 'our workers are our most valuable assets' are too often platitudes, the emptiness of which is now being revealed. But those firms that have thought seriously about their talent needs have the opportunity to get ahead of those that haven't, says Mr Spelman, not just by shedding poor performers but also hiring scarce talent from outside, in what is now a buyer's market. Other tips from Mr Spelman include avoiding voluntary redundancy programmes, which encourage the most employable people to quit, and not firing the newest recruits on a crude first in, first out basis, as this cuts off the supply of future talent. Instead, firms should identify which workers they need to keep, and do what they must to retain them.

Haven't found the article in full other than here ....



The solution : Expert Alumni

Why Does It Sound Like AA ?

Six Steps to Hire Better Temps

... it strikes me that they should be calling Expert Alumni

Ki Work

Ki Work - powering the online work revolution ... or so they say ... and contained within - a short presentation describing the premise. 

My Take ? 

I am wondering if the 'Virtual Organisation' has arrived ?

The UK/US Extradition Treaty

This article is reproduced from the International Accountant. Issue 42. July 2008. The words of the article speak for themselves ....
To quote Ben Hayes of Statewatch

"Under the new treaty, the allegations of the US government will be enough to secure the extradition of people from the UK. However, if the UK wants to extradite someone from the US, evidence to the standard of a "reasonable" demonstration of guilt will still be required.

No other EU countries would accept this US demand, either politically or constitutionally. Yet the UK government not only acquiesced, but did so taking advantage of arcane legislative powers to see the treaty signed and implemented without any parliamentary debate or scrutiny.

Read on for the full article

The AIA has been campaigning this
month to give British businessmen
the right to be tried in the UK, and
is calling for Britain’s withdrawal from the
controversial ‘one way’ extradition treaty
which has placed a number of UK businessmen
in a frightening position.

The Chief Executive of engineering firm
Morgan Crucible, Ian Norris, is one of the
latest British businessman to be involved in the
ongoing wrangle over the UK’s hugely unpopular
extradition treaty with the US. After the
prolonged dispute over the fate of the NatWest
Three, AIA believes that it is time for the
government to sort out this travesty of justice
once and for all. AIA Chief Executive Philip
Turnbull has described the Treaty as “unjust and
failing to protect the rights of British citizens.”
We are in a situation where the US does not
need to show that an accused British citizen
has a case to answer, yet the UK must present a
case that can be tested by the courts in order to
extradite an American.

Introduced following 9/11 in an attempt
to speed up the extradition of terrorists, the
2003 Extradition Treaty has been used by the
US Justice Department as a fast-track way of
extraditing British businessmen. Furthermore, it
has not been ratified by the US Congress and it
is unlikely that it ever will be as the agreement
limits human rights and is, therefore, deemed to
be contrary to the American constitution.
AIA has suggested that the treaty has
been misused to target alleged ‘white collar
criminals’ in the UK even where there is no
clear causal link with the US. For example,
the NatWest Three were extradited in 2006
following their alleged fraud activities
involving the bankrupt Enron even though
their alleged crime was not directly linked to
the collapse of the US energy company.
In the case of Ian Norris, there was blatant
injustice. Following the retirement of the Chief
Executive in 2002, he was accused of conspiring
to fix the price of carbon brushes as well as two
further charges to pervert the course of justice.
Even though price fixing was not a crime in the
UK before 2002, the US authorities pursued the
charges. In fact, Mr Norris was not given the
opportunity to defend the case against him, as
under the treaty, the US authorities are able
to set out the charges without supplying any
evidence.

AIA believes that the treaty is quite simply
bad for trade between the two countries. It
reflects negatively on business in the UK, whose
citizens deserve to receive the same protection
as US citizens from the treaty. This is an issue
that AIA has followed with growing incredulity
over the last five years.

In a recent meeting with David Blunkett, who
was home secretary at the time of the renewal
of the treaty, AIA was told that the NatWest
Three’s “guilty plea indicated that the claims
made that they should not be extradited were
somewhat wide of the mark.”
Guilt or innocence is not the issue here, it is
the fact that the treaty is being used to target
alleged white-collar crimes and that British
businessmen are not being given the right to be
tried by British courts.

Despite attempts to restrict the treaty
to alleged terrorist crimes, and an ongoing
campaign by a national newspaper to change
the treaty so that British executives are tried
in the UK for British offences, the government
has failed to rectify the problem of this one-
way treaty. As the House of Lords has upheld
Ian Norris’ long fight to avoid extradition, AIA
believes it is time for the government to address
the issue of the imbalance in the transatlantic
extradition procedure. If the US is not willing
to ratify its side of the agreement, then AIA
believes Britain should withdraw its compliance.
Now is the time for the British business
community to join forces and challenge this
unjust legislation.

Nokia Buys Symbian, Possible Google Android Delays

Nokia Buys Symbian, Possible Google Android Delays

I can't recall the exact specs - but something lke 200 symbian phones to every iphone - Android still to come .... still - Nokia gets pre emptive.

Seemingly in a response to growing competition from Apple and Google, Nokia is buying out Symbian Ltd and will open its mobile operating system for royalty free use. Nokia will pay $410 million to buy the remaining 52% share of the company .....

... with thanks to : MacRumours, for the source.

Where Have All the Prospects Gone?

An interesting article on the 'problem formally known as "the pipeline has dried up"' ... Jill Konrath on Sandhill.

First - a short list of why do they go away - but a much longer and more interesting list on what to do about it.

Opinion : Where Have All the Prospects Gone?

Passed on - with thanks to : SandHill.com

The Top Three McKinsey Articles From Last Quarter

Seen them before - read them before - but in case you haven't ...

Leadership And Innovation

Eight Business Technology Trends To Watch

Making Talent A Strategic Priority

Command and Control Enterprise ... I'd like you to meet UGC.

Trawling the net over the weekend - and thinking about one of my pet hobby horses - the seemingly contradictory idea of empowering the enterprise with these wacky and way-out concepts of blogs and wikis and 'UGC' and IM and You Tube and Facebook and and and ...

Except I don't think it is contradictory - it is what will happen - and in some lucky enterprises - IS happening.

A couple of posts caught my eye ....

ZDNet reporting on John Chambers from Cisco talking about the importance of collaboration to 'all things Enterprise.'

In fact the article even opens with

“The future is all about the power of “we” and how to collaborate with Web 2.0,” said Cisco CEO John Chambers,

Pretty straight forward huh ? However - read on and you will see that he highlights the essence of the challenge ....

"However, breaking down those hierarchies won't happen overnight. Organizations managed by command and control aren't about to give the keys to the kingdom to the IM, Facebook generation."

So here's the thing. One of the companies I am working with is Expert Alumni. Check them out.

In their words ...

"As half of the current workforce is planning retirement over the next 10 years, an experience gap is being created. This is not a short fall but according to industry observers, consultants, strategists and business leaders alike, it is a gap of unprecedented proportions.

In the past 40 years, corporations have enjoyed a balanced workforce at every level, with succession occurring fairly naturally.  People have been moving through the system and as individuals leave or retire, their replacements have not only brought the same level of experience, but have added value. This is no longer happening.

We now understand that the experience gap is too big to fill naturally and that the ad-hoc succession planning of the past is not enough. This situation is worsening as Baby Boomers retire."

The point is that those 'old' guys at the top - and in the middle - and at the bottom are retiring. They are retiring at a rate that is unprecedented. The skills gap is extraordinary. Talk to the Energy industry about the shortage of people they have. Or wonder who will keep - all the old computers going when the people that know how they work have retired - and the new guys are only learning about mash-ups and XML and ROR ... you get the point.

You see - I think that the "Organizations managed by command and control (who) aren't about to give the keys to the kingdom to the IM, Facebook generation" ... need to understand that if they don't those Gen Ys will simply go somewhere else that they are understood - or even start it up from scratch - they sure aren't going to spend their time sitting in the cubicles that their 'forefathers' sat in ....

Which brings me to the point - why wouldn't a C and C organisation try out a little bit of self organising collaboration. What do they have to lose?

Everything I would suggest - if they don't.

Microsoft Gives Yahoo Ultimatum

Microsoft playing hardball !!

Microsoft Gives Yahoo Ultimatum: Sign Deal In 3 Weeks Or We Cut Bid

ANALYSIS: In this ultimatum Microsoft makes a compelling case that Yahoo's board is violating its fiduciary duty to shareholders by not even engaging with Microsoft. This, combined with the threat of a bid cut, will likely prompt Yahoo shareholders to turn up the heat on Yahoo's board and management. It will also likely prompt Yahoo's board to do some real soul-searching, in which the directors ask themselves again whether they really want to continue down this path.

passed on - with thanks to : Silicon Alley Insider

How Do You Value A Good Brand ?

If ever you were wondering - 'just what is a brand worth ?' ... read on....
Interesting brand questions - and results ...

passed on - with thanks to : Broadchannel

Flash and Java on the iPhone

I just love this kind of stuff ... don't you ?

I mean the kind of stuff when people leap on band wagons without THINKING !!!!

Flash and Java on the iPhone - Similar Problems, Similar Fate

"It turns out, however, that they hadn't. [Ed - thought] All they had done was follow the live blogging of Apple's March 6 event and, on hearing that the SDK beta was being released that day, signaled their PR department to announce the impending arrival of Java on the device. Not once did they stop to think whether it would actually be possible or not. They had no clue how they would do it and yet there was Eric Klein, vice president of Java marketing for the company, making a public announcement about it.

Right on cue, and as if to ensure that no one would miss the joke, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen announced that they were working on a Flash media player specifically for the iPhone (full article available only to paid subscribers) and would leverage the power of the SDK to bring it to the device. Apparently, he too had overlooked the limitation of unforeseen applications on the iPhone when Steve Jobs was announcing it onstage. Thankfully, they'd realized that it wasn't going to be as simple as just wishing for it and had issued a retraction by the next day, along with the assurance that they still intended to have a nice chat with Jobs about this little issue.

Seriously, how hard is it to pay attention, people?"

Passed on - with thanks to : Apple Matters

Mobile Business Magazine - Smartphones to be 1 in 3 by 2013

A little bit of market data that I just spotted ....
Smartphones to be 1 in 3 by 2013

passed on - with thanks to : Mobile Business Magazine

Mobile Business Magazine - Moto Splits

So ... this one in today ....

'Moto Splits'

Motorola today announced plans to split the company into two separate entites: Mobile Devices and Broadband & Mobility Solutions in a "structural and strategic realignment of its businesses".
“Our decision to separate our Mobile Devices and Broadband & Mobility Solutions businesses follows a review process undertaken by our management team and Board of Directors, together with independent advisors,” said Greg Brown, Motorola’s president and chief executive officer. “Creating two industry-leading companies will provide improved flexibility, more tailored capital structures, and increased management focus – as well as more targeted investment opportunities for our shareholders.”

passed on with thanks to : Mobile Business Magazine
The question is ... why ? Given that :

..... "Our priorities have not changed with today’s announcement” ... “We remain committed to improving the performance of our Mobile Devices business by delivering compelling products that meet the needs of customers and consumers around the world.”

Just don't why it needs to be done in two parts - doubtless wise commentators will weigh in soon.

Selling Software in a Recession

Steve Martin's Heavy Hitter Selling Is A Good Book - you should check it out.


In this new post, Steve highlights four important rules regarding whether you have a sale or not ...

If you cannot accurately determine who the Bully with Juice is in your deal and none exists, be prepared for no decision to be made. It takes a Bully with the Juice to make a major software purchase happen. This is a reality in today’s economy.

If there is a bully with the juice in your deal and this person will not meet with you, always assume they are aligned with someone else or are against the purchase from being made at all. Therefore, the deal is lost.

If a Bully with the Juice does exist but you aren’t able to identify the person, be prepared to lose. You are in a position of extreme risk because you have no idea which economic decision-maker you must win-over.

You MUST meet with the Bully with the Juice as early as possible during the selection process! This is the only way to know whether or not a deal really exists.

Read the full article to understand the context.

(Brought To You Courtesy Of ... Sandhill.com - thankyou Steve.)

Information Design and Visual Business

Information Design and Visual Business - one for the Group Partner Network methinks ...