DISQUS

Whitney · 2 years ago

The only thing I would add is that if your product/business is not particularly good or customer friendly, then this may be a risky strategy, because bad word of mouth will spread quickly as you noted- the first step is making sure you've got something worth promoting in the first place.

Chris Cree · 2 years ago

I'd add a caveat to Whitney's comment: if your product/business is not particularly good or customer friendly, and you don't want to fix it, then this may be a risky strategy. In that case your business has bigger problems that online social networking can't fix.

The reality is people are probably already talking about your business whether you are participating in the conversation or not. (And if they aren't saying anything that might even be worse than them saying bad stuff!)

I still say the benefits for a business that wants to improve and grow of participating actively in the conversation far outweigh the potential pitfalls.

Lorri Randle · 2 years ago

Hey Chris, been following you on Twitter and thought this a great post to add my $.02
I wrote a post about the negative feedback on my blog: http://www.mediajoltz.com/2007/06/22/tip-of-the...

and Christopher Penn added his two cents as well here: http://www.christopherspenn.com/2007/06/30/why-...

Mike · 2 years ago

What's worth promoting should be good. Community tools only make it easier to use and help out customers despite small issues.

Oliver Muoto · 2 years ago

Think its a great idea. We use flickr to host company pictures and product pictures. The service is free, its easily integrated to our blog.

beckymccray · 2 years ago

Why do I feel like you have something you want to tell me?

Yes, I have a bricks and mortar business. The liquor store has a blog and an account on Facebook and MySpace. I've made a concerted effort to update our info on the local search pages. (Thanks for the tip on Yelp. Now our website and hours are included.)

Is there any benefit to the business? Yes, I know of two big ticket customers who came because of the website.

Don't expect me to add tshirts as new products, since that is against Oklahoma law. (Actually I could set up a separate entity to sell them offsite and online, but that is really stretching a point.) But I spend a lot of time listening to customer requests to direct our product line.

The neighboring town of Waynoka has a huge tourist market, and I think they have a massive opportunity to reach out online. The existing online forum is nothing to write home about and only promotes the owners. A whole group of local businesses could create a shared space online to the benefit of them all.

In conclusion, networking has changed. If you aren't present online when people "friendsource", you miss out every time.