Naked Conversations
The types of reactions I received from friends and strangers while reading the book titled, “Naked Conversations” was entertaining. In public, I literally saw people slow down to do a double take at the title of my book. Was I really reading a book like that in public? To their dismay however, “Naked Conversations” kept the pillow talk to a minimum. Instead, I learned the importance of two-way conversations between organizations and its customers through blogs. For decades, corporations have thoroughly grasped the concept of layering their clothing, keeping themselves concealed from its customers. However, today, corporations are beginning to slowly expose themselves through blogs, making themselves vulnerable and naked in front of the customer.
Robert Scoble and Shel Israel explain in their book “Naked Conversations” that blogging is like word of mouth on steroids. When marketers try to influence us with their powerful advertisements or direct mail campaigns, most of us are irritated before the advertisement is even complete. We are bombarded with companies trying to capture our full attention, when we just simply don’t have the time or the interest. We lack the trust and the confidence in the company, and wish they would just leave us alone! On the contrary, when our friends and family share their opinions on a product or service, we listen whole-heartedly taking everything they say as gospel. Why is this? The people we allow into our circle of trust are limited. Once you’re in that circle of trust, deception is about the only way to get kicked out.
For the first time, as Scoble and Israel point out, businesses that blog are being let in to people’s circles of trust. The companies that have accomplished this are willing to be transparent with their customers, and are having two-way conversations by listening and engaging with their customers. A perfect example of a company that has been allowed inside the circle of trust is Mozilla Firefox. Blake Ross, the creator of Firefox, started blogging about the creation of the new web browser as a way to vent about his frustrations with competing web browsers. Once the blog began, word of mouth took over. Since then, customers flock to download the web browser, and Firefox leads the way with downloads per day. In fact, the customers themselves spearheaded the only advertisement that Firefox has run. Customers took up a collection to run a two-page ad in the Sunday edition of The New York Times. If that isn’t trust and dedication from the customer’s perspective, I don’t know what is.
While Scoble and Israel are obviously huge advocates in company’s blogging, they did admit that not all companies have the capabilities or the culture to properly participate in the blogosphere. They discussed some of the right and wrong ways for companies to blog and pointed out that although there are no formal rules on how to blog, the simplest concepts to adhere to is to be real and have truly naked conversations with the audience. Scoble has even created a corporate weblog manifesto that lists out 20 suggestions to live by if you decide to start a corporate blog. If you plan on marketing on your blog, the general advice is don’t do it!
Allow your customers to trust you, and strive to be invited into their circle of trust. In this Conversational Era, be a part of the conversation through the 80/20 rule. Initially you might have to do 80% of the talking while you build your level of trust. But won’t it be a wonderful day when your customers are the ones talking for you?
