Who is RPK?

RPK writes an influential blog which has been active since the last century – Malaysia Today. This blog calls the politicians in Malaysia to account for their actions. As a result, he has been detained twice and now, resides overseas for the sake of peace. However, he is credible with his facts, particularly with the killing of the Mongolian translator with restricted military explosives (very suspicious indeed) or else he would have been convicted through the judicial system. He is no radical. All he wants is politicians to be accountable for their actions. He is really passionate about all citizens exercising their voting rights to elect the true leaders of the country.

Heather Brooke the journalist, much in the mould of RPK, asked questions about the expenses of the MPs (Members of Parliament) in the UK. Even in a more open system in the UK, it has been documented how the authorities tried to block the answering of her questions. This blocking and its subsequent revelation, led to the downfall of the ex-speaker Michael Martin and the discrediting of a number of MPs.

There are 2 points:
We all appreciate that power corrupts. Also, the longer you have the power, the greater the temptation. In Malaysia, the ruling parties have been in power for 51 years and it could be imaged, what the status quo is. Hence, the revelations in the work RPK in his blog – Malaysia Today

But more importantly, it is the power of a single person being able to take on the might of the government with all its facilities and money. We are all so fortunate to be living in this age where, through the internet, we can communicate so powerfully. However, this power can only be used when there is authority, credibility and used with responsibility. Without these ingredients, the power and credibility is lost. Also, the message can get through to the rest of the world matter the number of obstacles (in this case – establishment) is placed in its path.

Dr Michael Oon

Each network group is more or less self regulating; people are going there to do business but not expecting to do it directly, There is generally no direct sales but it is a process of getting to know the various network members. By establishing your reputation, you can impress other members to refer you to their own personal network. As a result of attending the meetings, you get to know them, but also, know their personality, their business, credibility and the relevance of their personal network.

Each network group has a group of core members and there is a peripheral group who are newer but have not established within. People of the newer group still have got to know the others but it is because of the desire to do business, they learn to adapt to the rules of the network group. In general, these rules have been described in Penny Power’s book, “Know me, Like me, Follow me” where their mindset is Open, Random and Supportive (ORS). One of the best analogies of networking is “farming”. You are sowing your seeds by establishing yourself in the network and you harvest it when you have established yourself in the network. Direct sales is described as “hunting”.

I have always wondered what happens when a “newbie” to networking, who has a different mindset – “Closed, Selective and Controlling” (based on Penny Power’s book), comes to a networking group. How do members respond?

In ORS, we try to collaborate as it is a win-win situation but suppose, a comment like “I do not collaborate with my competitors” is made.

In ORS, we concentrate on raising the strengths of our network members are they are own partners but suppose, a comment like “I find “AN Other” very aggressive and unreliable”. As a group, we know this is totally contrary to our knowledge of this person’s personality.

In ORS, we find out the skills of others so we know how we could fit in, but suppose a comment like “I am an expert of “XXX”” and talks about the “expertise”. It so happens, in that meeting, there is a world renown expert who says to himself, “that does not work”.

Just like in a village, back chatter happens. Conversation between members about the statements are made. Not surprising, comments go out to support the aggrieved and questions are raised about the newcomer. It is all about having ORS mindset.

There is order in the unregulated network meetings.

Dr Michael Oon

Tom Evans, The Bookwright

Tom Evans, The Bookwright led a workshop about getting your killer blog on the web at the Blackstar Ecademy meeting at Ripley on 12 March 2010. He went through the WordPress basics together with the various essential functionalities to get it as a killer blog. The essential focus was to have a reader centric mindset. More importantly, he stressed the importance of blogging being the core of your Social Networking toolset. Care with the use of keywords as Google matters.

Tom demonstrated the principles and use of catchy “headlines” in newspapers to attract attention as this is the only criteria to attract readers in the multiple formats of PC or smartphones. They should be either vague or interesting; making the reader curious to have a look. An ingenious system to over come writer’s block was shown with great effect. This was really impressive and will be a boon to any blogger who gets stuck on topics to write.

Other basics that Tom covered were the use of Categories (like Topics), Tags (keywords) which are needed when the blog gets large or you plan to write a book from the blog. Additionally, each posting should have a “call to action” at the end of the page.

As to the presentation of images, there is the use of the golden ratio of the images and text so that the it just looks right.

It was a hour well spent with Tom and endeavour to use was presented at the workshop.

Tom Evans, The Bookwright (thebookwright.com)

Dr Michael Oon

1.   Linkminds meeting on Friday 26^th February 2010 in Exeter.

2.   “LikeMinds is an organisation dedicated to Making Action Accessible. Founded in 2009 amidst the boom of Social Media, where communication was drastically changing, and knowledge was overflowing – creating both the opportunity and the necessity for us to act and turn our ideas into reality.” (http://www.wearelikeminds.com/likeminds2010/)

3.   From the description, it feels like an organisation that has embraced social media. I wanted to see whether this meeting was a Social media event or an event using the words social media as a marketing angle.

The event was a mix of meeting people and presentations – this is good  especially in this day and age. The programme looked really ambitious – 6 keynote speakers, 6 discussion panels consisting of 18 panelists with 6 moderators.

My point of view: I am a Social Media newbie and have come to see this in action. My understanding is Social Media is conversations between people rather than communications – corporate speak for broadcast.

Comments:

I will only comment on the afternoon session as it took me quite a time to get my head round the event.

1.   The 2 speakers – Joanne Jacobs and Chris Brogan were the highlights; Joanne was a performance that set the standard. Chris – an outstanding blogger and the reason why I came. He did not have the time to finish; what a shame!

Chris Brogan in action

2.   Then there were 2 speakers with corporate backgrounds – explaining why corporates are not comfortable with social media. Corporates in general broadcast and do not have conversations – it is their structure that makes it difficult. There was a constant referral to Dell getting USD 6.5 million extra sales from twitter. That is broadcast of special deals and not business resulting from a conversation.

It would be better to have people who are successful in using social media and doing good business resulting from it. I can name 4 people immediately and would therefore, recommend them as keynote speakers.

3.   Panels: I did not think there was sufficient time to develop the “conversation” with the panels short of the introduction. It is also very brave to “label” a person as a social media expert. How old is this subject and the knowledge has not settled down. The time allocated for the panels was just too short.

4.   No twitterfall in the background – that was a real disappointment. This is a validation of the event by social media – everybody in the audience can see what is happening.

Is it a distraction to the speaker?

Everyone in Social Media knows that there is a fight for attention so that there will be engagement. Therefore, every successful person in Social Media is outstanding or exceptional. They are well above the noise because of the quality of their content or their presentation.  If your presentation is only mediocre, you will sink to the level of the noise and the twitterfall screen will be more interesting.

In this day and age, multi-tasking is the norm – listening to the presentation and twittering; watching TV and “doing” e-mails simultaneously.

I spoke to a number of people who were not in Exeter and were disappointed that their tweets where not shown – no twitterfall at the meeting.

Suggestions

Conclusion:

I had a beneficial time in Exeter and got the message of the important 4 words mentioned in Vanessa’s blog “Business : Four little words that may lead to success on the social web … #likeminds”
(http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=145723).

However, this Likeminds series will survive should it show its authenticity and leadership in the social media age where transparency is paramount.

Was it a true Social Media? It has the potential to get there if……

Dr Michael Oon

At this present time, 2010, products and services are now treated like commodities. The consumer is bewildered by choice.

How then do they handle this situation?
They simply filter the vast mess of information –

On-line – use of a search engine like Google.
Off-line – get referrals or recommendations from your network like family, friends or others.

(Google: search engine criteria – age of web site, quantity of content, relevance, frequency of update, quality of inbound links)

Now, let us look at the other side of the coin, you are a service provider, how are you going to market your services?

In the traditional marketing context (print media advertising & PR, leaflets), are they cost effective?
There is so much competition on the web for that particular topic – insurance, advertising etc

So, where do you position yourself?

There is now a surfeit of product and services, what is now scarce is the attention of people. There is so much distraction or activity.
You have to target your market with engagement.

Grant has a model of the inverted funnel. You pull the potential client to the top of the inverted funnel and then you engage them within the inverted funnel.
This is the opposite to the conventional funnel where you get masses and then qualify people out of the process.

Therefore, his suggestion is:

1. On-line – people do not search for the topic; they search for solutions for their problem. Therefore, go to where the people with the problems are.

2. Rather than benefits, you describe the experience of solving the problem. Engage with them once you have established a relationship (return on engagement)

He concluded by providing 2 case studies with lateral solutions. Leveraging the marketing by collaborating with potential clients or forming alliances.

He enthralled the audience for a good hour by ending with the quote

“It’s got nothing to do with the music, you silly cow!”

What Grant’s message is: How can you differentiate yourself from the competition just based on the benefits; they are all the same (or a commodity)

Describe the experience; it is different!

Charles Revson (founder of Revlon cosmetics) is quoted to have said “In the factory we make cosmetics; in the drugstore we sell hope.”

Grant Leboff is a principal of The intelligent sales club – http://intelligentsalesclub.com

The Ecademy Weybridge events is organised by David Nunn. http://www.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=meeting&mid=31583

In January, I spoke on the business opportunities that are coming up in the next decade. In the following month, Grant Leboff gave a talk on how to handle the same opportunities.
Great planning David.

Dr Michael Oon

John and Edward Grimes, otherwise known as Jedward, were the final 12 contestants of the X factor 2009 series. Their standard of their singing was way below the other contestants and they could not even co-ordinate their movements to the beat of the music.

But, they were finally booted out on the 7th week of this singing competition, much to the relief of many. This made them the top 6 in a singing competition when they cannot actually sing or dance properly. They must have some special quality for the public to endure to them for that long.

What is more, they have a recording contract with Sony BMG, an ITV documentary, countless appearances on TV chat shows, front the Irish Tourism advertisements, countless column inches in the print media, chatter in Social Media and much more.

What did the other finalists get? Not a lot. Other than the winner, Joe McElderry, John and Edward are the only ones to get a recording contract and sing more songs on the X Factor show.

What is it for them – fame and a start of a career.

What is it that gets them that far? – it must be their hairstyles (smile) and the willingness to try anything new.

Nick Tadd, could also be another geek with an unusual hairstyle which is not in keeping with the times. He is mad about Audi cars, has some fancy Apple technology both in his office and on his person, loves design, tells bad jokes but loves talking.

In his description, he labels himself has a web brand auditor, strategist, thought provoker, communicator and connector.

He has some 11,500 followers on Twitter and 13,000 connections of Ecademy. He must spend a lot of time on the computer and knows what he is talking about.

He led a workshop on Saturday (6th February 2010) –

How to implement a Social Media Strategy training day.

The training day could be summarized by knowing who you are, identifying your target market and listening to the chatter. Only then join in the conversation, just like in a pub or network meeting.
Being a regular visitor, they get to know you as you build up trust and credibility.

Nick is sharing this method because that is how he has established himself in Social Media. Not from the theoratical level but from the basis of results.

So, what is the significance of the hair in both Jedward and Nick and their hairstyles?

They have achieved their results by having large comfort zone and do not know the words – “I cannot” or “beyond my limits”. Their comfort zones allow them to have unusual hairstyles no matter the current fashion is.
They just do it and achieve it.

PS Nick will be sharing his knowledge

How to create great web video content on 5th March 2010 .

and will be repeating
How to implement a Social Media Strategy training day on
10am-5.00pm Friday 12th March 2010.

Dr Michael Oon

However, from the case studies presented and answers to questions, I get the impression that they had just tried the various methods but have not spent time to understand it or realise their role in the mix. Or, they, like many others, could have been seduced by the publicity to be leaders in this new field.

However, I perceive Nick Tadd differently. He has developed his expertise by actually working on the various methodologies and has come to understand how each part plays in the big picture. After getting the results, he has started to share his detailed knowledge.

I will be attending 2 events organised by Nick

4 Walls / ecademy property and social media networking – 27th January 2010

How to implement a Social Media Strategy training day.

I made a comment in a posting Where would I want to get new knowledge from? in my blog based on my experiences of 20 years to training and learning at the Forensic Science Laboratory of the Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) in London.

Dr Michael Oon

As a low-cost airline, it now has
• 72 aircraft,
• carried 55 million passengers,
• 61 domestic and international destinations with 108 routes
• 400 daily flights in the region (4 hours flying time or less)
• been profitable since 2002 and still is.
It also has a long haul carrier arm which started in 2007 – AirAsia X has London, Abu Dhabi, 3 Australian cities as destinations. Paris will be next.

With this undeniable success, who is this Tony Fernandes?
Whilst he was boarding at Epsom College in Surrey (UK), he developed a passion to own an airline and loved F1 motor sport. He then worked as an executive in Virgin Music and learnt from Richard Branson the benefits of working with the media. Tony, following his passion, started AirAsia at the nadir of after the 11th Sept 2001 (destruction of the Twin Towers in New York).

He has since developed alliances with partners in Thailand and Indonesia to extend the AirAsia airline brand. Also, he has started Tune Hotels – excellent low cost hotels with pricing based on Yield Management and Tune Money (Financial Services, modelled after Virgin Money). The Economist Interview with Tony Fernandes

How does Tony do it?
He faced tough competition from the “government owned” flag carriers of Malaysia and Singapore.
• He followed the business model of Ryanair (and easyjet) but with service levels comparable or exceeding legacy airlines in Europe and North America.

• His mantra “Dream the impossible, Believe the Unbelievable, Never Take No for an Answer”.
• He allows staff to work on their passions. People work best when allowed to work their passions – they go the extra mile.
• He is media savvy and is so aware of the changes in the world. AirAsia has one of the easiest to use web sites
in the industry and now they have just launched Koolred  the AirAsia social networking site.
In keeping with the trend, he has a personal blog at http://www.tonyfernandesblog.com
and a twitter account
• Most importantly, his businesses give superb value to his customers, all with a very big cheerful smile.

What is next for Tony Fernandes?

He is team principle of Lotus F1 team in Formula 1 motor racing probably the world’s most competitive sporting event. We will be able to see his work laid open in the summer of 2010.
However, think of the branding advantage he is getting with this exposure.

Good Luck Tony, we will be rooting for you.

Dr Michael Oon

How Air Asia founder Tony Fernandes’ dream came true

Seth Godin starts from the premise that big organisations (corporations and governments) resist change as the organisational structure is to maintain the status quo.

Change happens all the time and stability is an illusion.

At this moment there is a downtrend in advertising, downward price pressure on manufactured goods etc. These organisations remedy this by introducing quality systems, manuals, scripts etc which have in turn put pressure on the working practises of workers. Are they happy with the work?

He makes the observation that people work best when they are happy and have the passion for it.

People with the same interest are forming themselves into groups, especially on the internet where communication is no longer restricted by geography.
However, groups need a leader. A group with a leader becomes a tribe.

When you blog, you are sharing your views. Aren’t your readers part of your tribe?

Seth proves information on creating a tribe and how to get the best from it.

Certainly a worthwhile book for this age and period of time where changes are abound. as this is a juncture of 2 trends, the end of one and the start of a new trend based on Traditional Feng Shui.

Dr Michael Oon

Forgetting has always been part of human society and it is used as a method to move on.

Care has to be taken as this system does not forget. This not only applies to information being added to the system but also, information that had been printed previously. He gave the example of a Canadian academic who had declared that he had tried LSD in the 1960s. He is now not allowed to cross the border to the USA because of this information found on the internet.

Viktor suggested methods of having expiry of information or rusting memory – it is harder to retrieve older information.

We now live in this society where information does not get lost (or forgotten). Just make the most of it – be aware.

The Independent:

“Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age”, Princeton University Press, £18.95

Dr Michael Oon