Digital Biographer™

Don’t Be a Non-action Hero by Bill Gammell - ubereye.wordpress.com

“You’ve heard of great action heroes like Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman. But have you ever heard of a “non-action hero”? A non-action hero doesn’t save the passengers of a train bound for certain doom because some didn’t follow his strict “wearing clean underwear in case of an accident” policy (so your mother was right after all!).”

In a chapter entitled ‘Don’t Be a Non-action Hero‘ Bill Gammell outlines three things you need to be a hero in business, and to defeat the evil status quo: —

1. Core purpose
2. Super powers
3. Action

>> Read the full story from Bill Gammell and 236 other contributors: Buy Age of Conversation 2 today…

David Petherick is one of 237 authors who contributed to the book ‘Age of Conversation 2‘. For the first 237 days of 2009, he is highlighting a chapter from one of his co-authors, briefly discussing their contribution, and linking you to their blog or online presence.
All proceeds from sales of Age of Conversation 2 go to charity.

2.0, Business, authors, conversation 2.0, online identity, share, social media aoc2, Bill Gammell, Business, heroes, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, social media

This article was originally published here at Digital Biographer in January 2008. That’s Eight. A year ago. I think it still is very relevant a year later.

The significance of social networks is now starting to become obvious to the marketing departments of larger companies, largely due to two factors - 1) Traditional advertising channels are proving less and less effective and 2) Marketing and advertising agencies have started to realise where people are spending their time.

They have seen the writing on the wall - with one particular statistic likely to be a challenge for many a marketing manager: “Social networks will become the dominant channel for viral marketing campaigns - email has been the dominant channel for viral marketing campaigns since the mid 90s, but social networks will overtake it in 2008.”

Another fact that’s staring marketers in the face - a tipping point that only has one further hurdle to clear: “In October 2007, Social Networks accounted for 7.7% of upstream Internet traffic to all other websites, making the category the second most important source of traffic after Search Engines.”

The next hurdle of course is for social networks to become a more important source of traffic than search engines. That’s a whole blog of its own, however.

An article in this morning’s Financial Times is entitled “Business urged to woo social network figures“, and uses language very firmly couched in the tradition of ‘moving product’ and the pages of publications such as ‘Campaign‘. This all suggests to me that although businesses may have woken up, they have not actually smelt the coffee - they still have the urge to sell cereals.
Read more…

2.0, brand, conversation 2.0, corporate blogs, search marketing, social media Blog, Business, Marketing, Marketing and Advertising, online reputation management, social media

“Ads that went to people who wanted them outperformed (50:1) ads aimed at strangers. Suddenly, respect becomes profitable” Seth Godin sums this up brilliantly.

That is all.

2.0, authority, brand, conversation 2.0, share, social media Business, conversation, marketing 2.0, seth godin, social media

Blog08, Amsterdam, on the 24th October 2008, has added some great bloggers to its line-up, and tomorrow is your last chance to get an early bird discount to save €45 on the entry fee,

I’d recommend you get your name on the list today, as the early bird discount, means it’s only €150 to attend, rather than €195. With a mention in Parool.nl, and being all over the Dutch media today, and online in the likes of AD, Metro, and Trouw, the reduced price allocation may be gone very soon. You also have the chance to win a free seat at the Speaker’s Dinner on the night before the conference if you buy before Thursday.

Use this special discount promo code to save €45: digitalbio

This will be the rock’n'roll blogging event of the year in Europe, with a great host in Patrick de Laive, a great venue, and an amazing program that, of course, includes performances from a rock band… and an after-party at Odeon, Amsterdam.

And of course, it takes place on a Friday… leaving you free to enjoy an extra day or two in Amsterdam. Assuming you survive that after-party, of course.

Speakers list…

2.0, Conferences, authority, authors, corporate blogs, digital biographer, social media amsterdam, blog08, bloggers, blogging, Business, conference, rock and roll

Image via WikipediaSocietas Privata Europaea (SPE) is a proposed EU-wide company type designed specifically for small to medium sized companies to operate in EU member countries, which could be enacted as soon as 2009. This is a core part of the Small Business Act for Europe, which the European Commission unveiled at the end of June, based on ten guiding principles and proposing policy actions for both the Commission and Member States.

Here are some of the headlines in what is being planned:

• An SPE formation should be effected within 7 days.
• A cap on obtaining business licences and permits of one month.
• Lower VAT for services supplied locally.
• SMEs can set up their company in the same form, no matter if they do business in their own Member State or in another.
• Cut the administrative burden by 25% by 2012.

The press release begins with the wonderful phrase “a step towards a Europe of entrepreneurs, with less red tape and more red carpet for Europe’s 23 million SMEs“. [English Version] [Dutch Version] A set of Frequently Asked Questions also helps to explain the benefits of this initiative.

The lawyers, accountants, international tax experts, company formation outfits and administrative bureaucrats will hate this, as they have long grown fat from the cumbersome and often antiquated legislation and regulations that small businesses are forced to deal with, often irrespective of their size, and the necessity to follow separate, complex, and expensive company formation rules and registrations in each country. I would not be too surprised to see attempts from these types of organisations to slow down and undermine this initiative, as it of course lessens their role, and reduces the number of intermediaries involved when a company expands and works in more than one country.

However, the European entrepreneurs of today and tomorrow will love this - and it is in the long-term interests of every member nation in Europe to support this type of initiative. This is how one creates the jobs of tomorrow. It is a sad fact that long-term enlightened thinking has not always been a strong point for politicians and entrenched vested interests in Europe, so it is up to enterepreneurs across Europe to applaud, support and spread the word about this initiative.

2.0, commerce, e-government, startup Business, EU, European Commission, European Union, Member State of the European Union, Small business, Small Business Act for Europe