The Big Island Reporter

Web economy in G20 set to double by 2016

2012-01-27T13:11:00.000-10:00

Web economy in G20 set to double by 2016, Google says

By Tim WeberBusiness editor, BBC News website, Davos

More and more people are accessing the internet via mobile devices

Davos 2012

The value of the web economy in G20 countries will nearly double by 2016, according to Boston Consulting Group.

Driving the spurt from $2.3tn (£1.5tn) to $4.2tn (£2.7tn) will be the rapid rise of mobile internet access.

The study, supported by web giant Google, assumes that in four years 3bn people will be using the internet, or nearly 50% of the world's population.

The research suggests that the UK is one of the most advanced e-commerce economies.

Right now, every year about 200 million people are going online for the very first time.

However, traditional internet access via a copper wire and a desktop PC will fade into the background.

The rapid fall in the cost of smartphones - with cheap versions now costing about $100 - means that by 2016 about 80% of all internet users will access the web using a mobile phone.

The research does not even account for web access using so-called feature phones.

The 'new' internet

These numbers look impressive, but they are still just a fraction of the global economy.

“Start Quote

We don't fill empty holes on websites any more, we engage customers”

Michael LazerowChief executive of Buddymedia

The search for e-commerce 3.0

In 2010, the internet economy in the G20 group of leading nations was worth $2.3tn - larger than the economies of Italy or Brazil, but a mere 4.1% of the total size of all G20 economies.

The Boston Consulting Group researchers speak of the emergence of a "new internet" where:

web access will not be a luxury any more

the majority of web users will live in emerging markets (within four years, China is expected to be home to 800 million people using the internet; that is more than the United States, India, France, Germany and the UK taken together)

about 80% of all internet users will access the web from a mobile

the internet will go social, and allow customers and companies to engage with each other

This trend will be coupled with another huge technology shift that will fundamentally change the nature of how to run a business - the rise of the so-called "internet of things", where all kinds of devices from sensors to cars to radiators will be connected to the web.

“Start Quote

Understanding the economic potential of the web should be an urgent priority for leaders”

Patrick PichetteGoogle chief financial officer

Technology giant IBM estimates that by 2015, one trillion devices will be internet-connected.

Online is also reaching into the offline world. The BCG researchers say that every household already researches about $3,000 worth of goods online before buying them in traditional stores.

Digital, the researchers say, cannot be an add-on. Businesses have to adapt their people, processes and structures for the digital economy.

Paul Zwillenberg of BCG says that entrepreneurs building a digital business are outperforming rivals who do not embrace the web economy.

However, what the research fails to capture is the balance of employment between new, more efficient digital companies and old-style businesses.

The winners

Google, who supported the research, is obviously one of the companies set to gain most from the rapid growth of the internet.

"Understanding the economic potential of the web should be an urgent priority for leaders... [with] a powerful case for countries and companies to get online and reap the rewards of an age of data," Patrick Pichette, Google's chief financial officer, says.

However, the report suggests that Google will not be the only winner.

The researchers identify several "internet ecosystems" that will try to tie users in to their customised part of the internet, among them Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Baidu and Tencent in China and Yandex in Russia.

What is digital?

A problem with BCG's research is obviously that it is difficult to define what is actually part of the digital economy.

"During the research we discovered very quickly that there is no approved way of measuring the internet economy," says David Dean, a managing director at BCG.

Official statistics simply do not capture the sideways move of old technologies into the digital world, for example when a widget maker starts upgrading its devices so that they can be hooked up to the internet.

But if the report's predictions are correct, then speaking of a "web economy" will soon sound about as comical as speaking of an "electricity economy".

David Dean believes that the G20 countries could reach this moment as early as 2020.

Come check out Twitter.com to see what's new, and happy following!

2012-01-26T13:00:00.000-10:00

Hey,

French impressionist Claude Monet said, "I am following Nature without being able to grasp her." Dutch computer scientist Edsger Dijkstra once asked, "Why has elegance found so little following?" More recently, @ladygaga sings "I'm your biggest fan, I'll follow you until you love me." At Twitter, we spend a lot of time thinking about following. In fact, this information network brims with such abundant variety that it helps to have a guide.

We've recently created a selection of tools to help you discover the accounts that are creating the information you want. We've worked with our friends at LinkedIn to create the Tweets app on LinkedIn which is useful for finding and following tweets from your colleagues. We've also published a directory of popular accounts organized by topics of interest.

More recently, we released a feature called Suggestions for You which you should see when you sign in. Just like Netflix recommends movies or Amazon suggests books, this new feature makes follow recommendations on Twitter using an algorithm. We will continue to refine these recommendations.

In addition to apps, algorithms, and directories there's good, old-fashioned suggestions from other people. I'd suggest following @twitter for news about our company and a special new account called @earlybird. @VirginAmerica recently offered @earlybird discounted fares and donated $5 of every transaction up to $50,000 to DonorsChoose.org. We were happy to discover that they flew way past their stretch goal of 10,000 tickets sold and many classrooms in need are better for it. Plus, lots of Twitter users got some really good travel deals -- look for their Tweets from the air.

This newsletter focused mostly on following but there's much afoot these days at Twitter. The company is growing very fast and we're working on features at a steady clip. Come check out Twitter.com to see what's new, and happy following!

Thanks,
Biz Stone, Co-founder (@biz)
Twitter, Inc.

Hawaii Wants to Ruin Paradise By Invading Your Privacy and Keeping Track of Every Website You Visit

2012-01-26T09:51:00.000-10:00

Hawaii Wants to Ruin Paradise By Invading Your Privacy and Keeping Track of Every Website You Visit:

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PRIVACY

BY CASEY CHANJAN 26, 2012 2:20 PM

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Hawaii Wants to Ruin Paradise By Invading Your Privacy and Keeping Track of Every Website You Visit

Hawaii! You're supposed to be the state that us contiguous folks dream about moving to so we can escape the noise and interwaves of computers and Internet. You're not supposed to be the state that pushes a ridiculous invasion of privacy bill that requires every Internet provider to keep track of every single website every person ever visits. What happened to paradise?

According to CNET, Hawaii representatives are scheduled for a hearing of the measure, H.B. 2288, which says that "internet destination history information" and "subscriber's information" such as name and address must be saved for two years. That means, Hawaii will have internet providers create a file about you and list every website you visited in the past two years and attach those websites to your name.

What's worse, is that the current proposal is extremely broad and has no specifications whatsoever for privacy. There are no restrictions what internet providers can do (like sell it to advertisers), no instructions stating that police need a court order to look at the files and no stipulation that the data must be encrypted. It's just insane how much information this bill will invasively squeeze out of Hawaii citizens without offering any semblance of protection for them. This is crazy. Hawaii, save yourself! Don't let them do this to you.

Democratic Representative John Mizuno of Oahu is the lead man in charge of the bill and I hope he realizes what he's doing here. It's an unprecedented bill that completely stinks for everyone involved. Unless it's a marketing ploy to keep people away from Hawaii, this bill is easily the worst thing to ever come out of Hawaii. [CNET, Image Credit: Stanislav Komogorov/Shutterstock]

Contact Casey Chan:

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2012-01-23T21:19:00.000-10:00

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Rule Is Not Inevitable

Negotiate the Salary You Want with the Briefcase Technique

2012-01-19T18:34:00.000-10:00

Negotiate the Salary You Want with the Briefcase Technique:

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NEGOTIATION

BY RAMIT SETHIJAN 19, 2012 1:00 PM

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Negotiate the Salary You Want with the Briefcase Technique

Ramit Sethi is a New York Times best-selling author and creator of one of our favorite personal finance sites, I Will Teach You to Be Rich. In his weekly video Q&A for Lifehacker, Ramit answers common questions about personal finance, careers, and more. This week, Ramit shares his Briefcase Technique, a tried and true method for successfully negotiating your salary.

Photo by claudiofichera (Shutterstock)

Most of us don't negotiate—with our bosses, our clients, even our cable companies. Why? We know we're leaving money on the table, but we're not sure what to say. We don't want it to be awkward. And what if they say no?

In my household, I was basically bred to negotiate. And after my parents taught me, I wanted to share some of my most powerful negotiation tactics with others who didn't grow up in such a... peculiar family.

Today, I want to share a specific technique that I always recommend for freelance and salary negotiations, and which, when it works, can make all the difference.

What you'll notice is something unusual that you rarely hear about successful negotiations. Yes, your body language matters... and yes, the words you use matter. But you'll notice that 80% of the work is done before you ever set foot at the negotiating table.

This is called The Briefcase Technique, and I've put together the video above to show you exactly how it works.

Notice a few things.

First, this isn't just for negotiating salary. You can use this for job interviews, client discussions (for freelancers), and virtually any other type of negotiation.

Second, when I initially released this technique publicly, it got re-posted on a discussion forum, where people said things like "yawn" and "He could really use a professional clear plastic binder too."

Ah, internet commenters. It's easy to scoff at something that seems so simple, but in my experience, and the experience of readers of I Will Teach You to Be Rich, it works.

Finally, notice what's really happening here. Besides its theatricality, the Briefcase Technique forces you to do your homework before you ever set foot in the room. You'll need to truly understand the hopes, fears, and dreams of the other person—whereas most people walk into an interview and simply "answer questions" or into a salary negotiation and "ask for a raise."

80% of the work happens before you walk in the room.

You do this by studying the needs of the other person—not simply writing down what you want. What does the hiring manager really want? What do they fear? What if you gave them a 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day plan?

If you do, you've just separated yourself from 99% of other applicants. And when you do your homework, the Briefcase Technique can produce powerful results. If you're curious about the exact words and body language to use in a negotiation, check out the exact words to negotiate your salary.

The Briefcase Technique - to earn thousands of dollars | I Will Teach You to Be Rich

The Big Island Reporter: Hawaii's Ultimate Web Portal

2012-01-18T20:19:00.000-10:00

The Big Island Reporter: Hawaii's Ultimate Web Portal:

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Haydn Shaughnessy, Contributor

Documenting the emerging economy

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12/08/2011 @ 4:59AM |149,745 views

How to Be a Social Media Power Influencer (And Why!)

84 comments, 46 called-out

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Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Last week, in writing about the top social media influencers I was struck by the sheer scale of connectivity that leading influencers create for themselves. Chris Brogan for example has an astonishing 122,000 identifiable followers on Twitter (up from 115,000 last week) and strong followings on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google + where he has almost 67,000 followers. 60,000 people subscribe to Mari Smith’s public updates on Facebook, along with approximately 77,000 identifiable people who follow her on Twitter.

Two things are remarkable about the numbers.

The first is the scale. Chris Brogan has a pull or reach that is over 3,000 times more powerful than that of the average Twitter user. Mari’s reach (or social pull) is 1800 times greater than the average Twitter user’s.

The second is the fact that we can identify those 122,000 people through tools like PeekYou analytics. In building a web of identifiable people we’re also moving the point of connection in business from the corporation to the person and creating more opportunities for a more individual form of captialism where the person, the networked power of the individual, is the new capital (for a discussion of numbers see Why Numbers Matter).

To get a better handle on that I asked three of the social media power influencers about their network building and what it means to their businesses to have strong social media influence.

The three are Mari, Pam Moore and Jason Falls.

Jason is exceptional in having a very large average network size (13,000). That means the average network size of each of his followers is 13,000. Mari – with a much larger following – has an average network size of 11,000. Pam Moore with an identifiable following of around 41,000 has a reach, or social pull, approaching 1600, that is 1600 times the average Twitter user.

UPDATE – I have also posted a simpler guide to becoming a social media influencer.

Q: I wanted to know when they decided that this was a goal for them – to grow a powerful network:

Jason Falls

My focus on networking for business purposes began in earnest in late 2005 and early 2006. I was transitioning out of a niche area of public relations into mainstream marketing and PR, and social media was beginning to percolate as a subject in the broad marketing world. I’d used social media (blogging and social network platforms in particular) for personal reasons for a long time and knew my way around.

As I began to add professional contacts in the mainstream world, my network began to grow. It wasn’t until late 2007, early 2008, however, that I started speaking at conferences and focusing my networking on influencers. That’s when I went from 1,000 social contacts to 5K, 10K, etc. At BlogWorld & New Media Expo in the fall of 2007, I decided to target the power players, get introduced, ensure they knew who I was and I was working with brands and knew a thing or two. Every bit of my networking since has been targeted and purposeful.

Mari Smith

I joined Twitter in September 2007; I was already active on Facebook about four months prior to that. At the time, I was running my business fulltime from the road, traveling the U.S. in an RV. I would share all manner of photos from my various travels and my network began to grow from there — people would tune in to find out which city I was in and what activities I was enjoying. I kept my growth milestones moderate at first, growing to my first 1,000 followers, then 2,000 and so on. I was never aggressive in pursuing followers, but I was proactive.

Q: I asked what are they are most focused on?

Pam Moore:

I don’t like to focus on one network over the other. Instead I like to focus on an integrated strategy that leverages content to connect with audiences with a goal of meeting both life and business objectives.

How I use each of the following:

Blog: Provide the best possible content I can to inspire and connect with target audiences.

Twitter: Enables me to reach a large network of folks who enjoy and share my content with their friends. Also enables me to build communities that are taken offline and on to other social networks for further nurturing.

LinkedIn: Where people validate what I do, what I have done and who I am.

Facebook: Enables me to more intimately connect with people via my personal Facebook page, business page and private groups.

YouTube: Similar to my blog but in video format. It was a key success contributor while in startup mode.

Google+: Similar to all of the above but enables me to connect with my most favorite, geeky friends.

I get the highest number of qualified leads from LinkedIn. However, I have also received hot leads via Twitter DM and Facebook messages. I have been a member of LinkedIn for many years. I have a network size of 1700+ and know most all of the people I am connected to. I have over 50 recommendations from current and past colleagues and clients. The growth of this network has been 100% organic and a spill over from past employers, other social networks and life!

TweetChats: I host #GetRealChat on Tuesday 9pm ET. We average 12-18 million impressions for a single TweetChat. The community has grown substantially since January. We have had many guests including AT&T, Argyle Software, Klout, Webtrends, Kred, EmpireAvenue and many more. It enables me to connect with brands as well as give back to the community who has helped me. I have seen people join the tweet chat not knowing how to do a retweet. Many of these same people are now leading communities, quitting their corporate gigs to pursue a life of their dreams.

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MS: Facebook has always been my “first love” when it comes to social networks. I proactively, but slowly, built my friends to the maximum of 5,000 over a period of approximately 18 months from 2007 to 2008. Once Facebook launched fan pages for businesses in late 2007, I also began to slowly build up a fan base. It wasn’t until 2009 that my fan page really took off, though. Now, with the recent introduction of the “Subscribe” feature on personal profiles, I gathered over 60,000 subscribers in just 2.5 months and have passed the number of likes on my fan page (57k). Amazing. I’ve found the Subscribers to be the fastest growing social channel I’ve ever seen.

Q: I wondered were there particular thresholds that were like waymarks where the network building started to grow or change. Mari has some interesting points to make there:

MS: Yes. On my Facebook personal profile, those thresholds were at every 1,000 friends – especially given I had been very deliberate about hand-picking most all individuals with which to connect. I was deliberate in reaching out to many influencers, authors, speakers, leaders and Internet marketers. On Twitter, the threshold seemed to be 10,000 followers – once I got to that point, my growth, reach and impact was exponential. I saw some decent traction on Google+ too; I got up to 30,000 followers fairly quickly (less than three months), but am still testing how G+ fits into the mix for my social media marketing plans.

Q: I also asked what are the business gains from having this scale of network?

JF: Credibility is the big thing. CEOs of some companies will call me back. Marketing managers of brands who pay a bit of attention to Social MediaExplorer will take my calls. I’m not cold calling if they at least know my name. Micro-celebrity does have some benefits. Being recognized and given a head start on credibility is one of them.

PM:

1. 24/7 Market Research: One known fact about social media is there is always someone to talk to. I love the power of real-time conversation. If you have a question about anything, even at 2 am on a Saturday night you are guaranteed to get a handful of solid opinions and suggestions within a few minutes at the tweet deck!

2. Agility: Having an always on engaged network provides agility in brand awareness and time to market with new products or business ventures. As an example, our agency ZoomFactor is experiencing much growth as a result of social media. We have a new business partner and are excited about how agile and accepting our audience is as we transition our brand and launch new services. We take them along with us each step of the way.

3. Ability to establish authority. Because of the reach a solid network provides, it’s easier to establish authority in a specific topic or content area. This of course assumes you have knowledge and real authority on the content area.

4. Trusted Voice: Our ability to walk the walk, not just talk the talk helps us close deals and earn trust of new clients based on proven methodologies. By earning our clients trust earlier in the engagement cycle, we can more easily help them become a social business and integrate social media into their business versus simply hiring us to setup their Facebook page (which is what they usually initially think they need).

5. Hang with the right peeps. I always say that if you hang with 9 brokes you’re going to wind up being the 10^th! It’s important people new to social media hang out with people who are going places. Don’t sit on your lonely Facebook page wishing someone would “like” and talk to you. Instead get out there and engage.

MS: Three primary benefits that I enjoy: 1) the ability to help people out, share their content, and bring a spike in traffic to a quality post, new resource or tool, 2) greater opportunities to participate in – and speak at – online and in-person events around the world, and 3) early invitations to beta test new platforms, tools, and apps.

Is there much network crossover, i.e. people following you from Twitter to elsewhere?

JF: People who follow me on Twitter inevitably try to connect with me elsewhere. I’m more choosy on other networks — I want high quality connections, not just passing acquaintances — but I have a fairly low threshold for who’s worth connecting to. I like being connected to a lot of people. It helps you drive more action when you need to.

MS: Absolutely. I intentionally cross promote across my various social channels. At times, I’ll tweet out a permalink from a Google+ post to bring more people over to my Google+ profile. I do the same with the permalink of a post on my Facebook fan page from time to time. I often say to my clients and students that, of all the social networks, Twitter is the easiest to proactively grow. Even though the relationships are non-reciprocal, when you follow people the majority will follow you back. Whereas on a Facebook page, it can be much slower to gain momentum – the act of liking other pages doesn’t create an increase in your own likes. Page owners need to be creative in building a highly engaged community in order to grow their network.

Advice to newbies?

PM: Focus on the people. Relationships are the life raft of evolving technology change. Focus on the art of social media over the science. Knowledge of the tools will come with time. Network growth will come with time. Invest your efforts in connecting to real people, one person at a time. Focus on the heartbeat of social which is real people.

JF: Make sure you’ve got substance to stand on. You can be popular and know everyone, but when they start reading your materials, asking you to speak at events, look at your experience … if there’s little there to speak of, you’re going to be just another follower to them. You’ve got to have a foundation of experience, wisdom, smarts, clients or something to solidify yourself with influencers in your field. Then you can become one yourself. Those without substance don’t last long.

MS: Be active every single day, if only for a few minutes a day. (Okay, you can take Sundays off if you wish, but that’s often a very active day on social networks. Plus, Sunday is Monday on the other side of the world!) During that time, 1) share quality content, 2) engage back, and 3) proactively friend/follow a few more people. You can always do this via your mobile device when away from your desk.

The Big Island Reporter

Web economy in G20 set to double by 2016

Web economy in G20 set to double by 2016, Google says

Davos 2012

“Start Quote

“Start Quote

Come check out Twitter.com to see what's new, and happy following!

Hawaii Wants to Ruin Paradise By Invading Your Privacy and Keeping Track of Every Website You Visit

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Hawaii Wants to Ruin Paradise By Invading Your Privacy and Keeping Track of Every Website You Visit

How Your Friends' Locations Give Yours Away Online

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Rule Is Not Inevitable

Negotiate the Salary You Want with the Briefcase Technique

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Negotiate the Salary You Want with the Briefcase Technique

How to Negotiate for a Lower Price on Anything JEZEBEL

How to Say No (Without Being an Asshole)

Negotiate Your Salary Like a CEO by Asking for Protection

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12/08/2011 @ 4:59AM |149,745 views

How to Be a Social Media Power Influencer (And Why!)

Jason Falls

Mari Smith

Pam Moore: