BizMediaScience

Forget Influencers -- the New Metric of Interest will be "Saturation Point"

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:23:09 -0700

Lots of people (including yours truly) have talked about influencers and their value in social networks and social marketing. Basically, find the people who can influence the most others and win them to your side then turn them loose.

I still accept that model to a point.

The challenge is that I'm finally having another spurt of time to catch up on all the research we've done over the past few years, mostly our unpublished stuff, and I noticed something about influencers and their audience.

Defining Engagement (Again? Oh, Lordy!) and Exploring the Holes in Flawed Logic

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:03:50 -0700

I spent a few hours early this morning reading and re-reading someone's post on engagement. They put a lot of work into their argument. Unfortunately, there were some serious logic holes in their arguments that I truly doubt they were aware of or would even recognize as such.

<ASIDE>
Let me go on the record at this point as stating that I'll accept anybody's definition of engagement as valid so long as the definition, the derivation of the definition and the method of proving the definition valid are internally consistent.

Basic law of world building, folks; You can have magic and violate the laws of physics if you want, just make sure that the laws that make magic work and the rules by which physics can be violated are self- and internally-consistent.

Not self- and internally-consistent? Sorry, the world -- or definition -- falls apart.

And while I'm <ASIDE>ing, I never thought NextStage's ability to correctly measure engagement or modify marketing material so that it would be more engaging as a big deal. Engagement was simply something we could do. In and of itself it doesn't matter much, it's just one metric among several, one lens among many.

What I do know is that the more lenses you can turn on something, the more tools (or metrics) you can apply to your study, the more information you have.

Also note that, like T.S. Eliot, I don't believe more information equates to more knowledge or that more knowledge equates to more wisdom.
</ASIDE>

While peering into these holes, however, I got to wondering about what they revealed. Logic holes normally occur when an individual or group makes assumptions -- uses what is often called common knowledge. The problem with common knowledge is that it's often what cultural psychologists sometimes call folk knowledge.

My Easter Eggs Critiqued

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 13:29:20 -0700

Dr. Joseph James Geertz came to my attention a long time ago. I didn't notice until recently that he'd posted comments on TheFutureOf blog and yes, I know I need to get back there and finish what I started.

Recently Dr. Geertz and I have been corresponding about my work and the various writings I and NextStage have published. He took particular delight in my exchange with Christopher Berry (see links below) and I asked his permission to reference one such exchange in this post.

He agreed, and my thanks to him for doing so. Here are his thoughts on my attempts at humor ala Responding to Christopher Berry's "A Vexing Problem, Part 4" Post, Part 1...

Responding to Christopher Berry's "A Vexing Problem, Part 4" Post, Part 2

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 08:15:22 -0700

As I type this, two people have contacted me about Responding to Christopher Berry's "A Vexing Problem, Part 4" Post, Part 1. I'll be sharing some of their thoughts in future blog posts. Here I want to conclude my response to Christopher Berry's "A Vexing Problem, Part 4".

My previous entry dealt with language issues and why an analytics argument won't work with any audience. Here I'll mix in cultural learning and how working memory affects how we interact with clients. It turns out that most people are not only prisoners to language, most people are also prisoners to what they've learned, how they learned it and the last time they used it.

(And at some point (tha mi duil na dhia) I plan on actually getting back to what Christopher wrote in his post)

Responding to Christopher Berry's "A Vexing Problem, Part 4" Post, Part 1

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:00:52 -0700

First off, my thanks to Christopher Berry, June Li, Stephane Hamel and others for both engaging me in this discussion on why web analytics is such a hard sell in Canada and for keeping the conversation going in blog posts, phone calls, Skype sessions and (oh, lordy) emails (I will get an email you send me and usually only if you call me to let me know you sent it). As I wrote yesterday in The Language of Web Analytics - The Hard(er) Sell in Canada, "why can't people have more discussions like this on their blogs? This is interesting stuff we're talking about here. To me, anyway"

Allow me to add a little to the discussion, some more information on how we are prisoners to language...

(and I admit now that I'm going to have some fun with this)

The Language of Web Analytics - The Hard(er) Sell in Canada

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:22:25 -0700

Stephane Hamel and I were having a conversation earlier today about the online discussion Christopher Berry and I have been having about...well, I think it's about selling web analytics to the Canadian business community. It's gotten into some different areas and Stephane picked up on these in his comment on my Responding to Christopher Berry's Vexing Problem, Part 3 post entry.

Christopher has since posted A Vexing Problem, Part 4 and I promise to get to it soon (heaven knows what that means with me, of course).

<RAMBLE>
It's amusing to me that I take a weekend off and several of the blogs I write get lots of traffic. Maybe I should stay away from the computer more often?
</RAMBLE>

Stephane was most curious about my "I'm also quite sure logic (at least as we're using it here) isn't the answer because the language of analytics (as exemplified by this blog, June Li's, (oh, just pick any one but not Stephane Hamel's or mine because Stephane and I use different language models, me all the time and Stephane much of the time) is to effect action, not promote logical processes. Effecting action rather than promoting logical processes is not specific to analytics although analytics really enforces that former aspect of language."

I asked Stephane if I could respond to some of his comments in a post and he, gracious man that he is, agreed. My purpose is to clarify what I meant by the above. I'll also add some when I respond to Christopher's latest.

Thanks, Warner's found

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:49:07 -0700

Thanks to everybody who took part in yesterday's search for Warner, our friend's dog. One of the amazing things that came out of it was a site called FindToto. Find Toto is a for-charge service with prices that range from US$75-425. You enter the relevant information and it calls 500-5000 neighbors and alerts them with the necessary information to help find your lost or stolen pet.

Warner's folks received several phone calls from people simply to let them know they'd received the alert and would be on the look out. About 10 hours after sending out the alert Warner's folks got a call that Warner was walking down the middle of the road about 1/4 mile away. When they got there people were stopping traffic until Warner's parents could safely get their boy in their car.

Hats off to FindToto, folks.

Lost Dog - Please send this on to anyone you know in the Nashua-Merrimack, NH area

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:13:57 -0700

Warner, a friend's dog, is lost. Please pass this post on as a link to anyone you know in the Nashua-Merrimack, NH, area, and thanks.

Dog Information

Name - Warner

Sex - Neutered Male

Breed -Beagle Mix

Color - Black/Brindle

Age - 13 Years

Hair - Short

Markings/ Distinguishing Characteristics - Graying face, Approx 40lbs, Wearing blue collar with tags

Contact Information

Name - Mike& Barb Mullins

Phone - call my office, 603 577 4575, and I'll relay the information.

Address - 4 Santerre St, Nashua, NH

E-Mail - snillumu (at) comcast (dot) net

Last Seen - June 27, 2008
Location - 4 Santerre St

Story

Warner escaped during a thunder storm. He gets terrified of thunder and loud noises. He can be skittish and may be difficult to catch. Responds well to cookies & treats. He is not aggressive toward people or other animals. PLEASE call if you see him or are able to capture him. We miss him terribly!

Responding to Christopher Berry's Vexing Problem, Part 3 post

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:41:24 -0700

Christopher Berry wrote The Vexing Problem, Part 3 and included much of my Canadian Based Business Differences -- Responding to June Li, Christopher Berry and Jacques Warren in it (any my thanks to him for doing so).

I wrote a response to Christopher's Part 3 and, being a Luddite, couldn't post it to his blog hence am posting it here and hoping he'll once again quote the parts he feels worthy.

Hello again,

Nice thoughts here!

I hope it is understood that my use of "fiscal conservative" was not from a socio-political perspective (NextStage has worked for politicians and political parties and I don't follow politics much), it was from a neuro-economics, psycho-socio-linguistics perspective.

That offered, it seems the two overlap based on your comments. Funny how often that happens, yes?

"The power of the status quo" -- very well stated although I'd never heard the phrase before. I'll be sure to use it liberally and reference you as the source.

"Every single amendment to a bill permanently changes it." Someday remind me to give you the semioticist's version of that statement. So close it scares me.

Do I agree with what you've written? Some of it, yes, and purely from research and observation as well as another set of paradigms.

Thank you for suggesting that necessity is the key. I'm not sure that's the entirety of what I meant, though. I believe I wrote "...there is not a strong enough case made for adoption...". Necessity is part of the mix, I'm sure, and I would be failing you if I encouraged the thought that necessity was the sum of it.

Canadian Based Business Differences -- Responding to June Li, Christopher Berry and Jacques Warren

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:43:28 -0700

This blog post is a response to a request from June Li, "the matriarch of Toronto Web Analytics", for me to take part in an online discussion about challenges the Canadian analytics community is facing getting its value proposition across. You can read the leadins to my response in "Good Time Had By All", and Vexing Problem, Lively Web Analytics Wednesday T.O. and The Vexing Problem, Part 2. My response follows.

Howdy, Thanks to June Li for calling me and asking me to take part in this discussion (for those who don't know, you can reach me far quicker and more easily by phone or Skype than email).

Okay. First question: "Why are Canadians so reluctant to embrace data driven strategy?" ...

The Stephane Hamel, Susan Bratton, Eric Peterson Convergence and more "Thoughts on Blogging"

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:00:00 -0700

Okay, I'm chuckling. I keep on thinking of that scene in Godfather III where Al Pacino's character says "No sooner do I think I'm out then they pull me back in".

Stephane Hamel read yesterday's Thoughts on Blogging and offered a sage comment, that historically blogs were meant to be personal journals and thus are more apt to be opinion and emotion rather than researched information.

Stephane's comment caught me off guard. I always considered my BizMediaScience blog as personal, my AllBusiness.com blog as "business".

I've also had enough training to know that anything anybody writes is going to be a demonstration of their personality unless they've had lots and lots of training (no, don't worry, I know most of the people with that level of training and you're not one of them).

Way back when I was studying (when haven't I been studying? I mean "Way back when my study was more formal") we did an exercise where everybody in the class had to write a story from an opposite gender perspective; men had to write from a women's perspective, women from a men's perspective. We turned the stories in anonymously (this was back when you either typed things up or printed them out. Nobody used emails for class work back then).

The purpose of the exercise was to determine if we could determine a) the true gender of the author and b) who the author actually was.

Thoughts on Blogging

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:38:57 -0700

Ah, the freedom.

I've been doing some thinking about blogging since my liberation therefrom. That, of course, means research. My curiosity knows no bounds, I've been told.

I've wondered at my lack of number generation. I stopped writing for a online magazine because they wanted me to write "rants". I remember when the editor-in-chief told me they were looking for rants I had to ask what she meant. Pretty much what she meant was "A rant or harangue is a monologue that does not present a well-researched and calm argument; rather, it is typically an attack on an idea, a person or an institution, and very often lacks proven claims.
"Some rants are used not to attack something, but to defend an individual, idea or organization. Rants of this type generally occur after the subject has been attacked by another individual or group.
"Rants are used often in situations requiring monologue. Comedians, such as Lewis Black or Rick Mercer, use rants as a way to get their message or punch-line across to the listening audience."

I like Lewis Black's comedy. Not sure if I've ever seen Rick Mercer. I also recognize (in Lewis Black's case) that much of his rants are well researched. To me, it's that research that makes it worth waiting for his punchline.

But the problem for me in ranting was the "...does not present a well-researched and calm argument; rather, it is typically an attack on an idea, a person or an institution, and very often lacks proven claims."

Well, heck...why would I waste my time on a not well researched attack on someone or something, especially when they or it are not there to defend themselves?

So I began to wonder...

Liberation and Heuristics

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 08:16:40 -0700

I learned earlier this month that my blog isn't making the numbers it should. This doesn't surprise me for lots of reasons. My writing will only appeal to a small audience to begin with and very few things I write are quick reads. NextStage's own research indicates that these are not winning elements in the greater blogosphere.

Sigh.

I know I have a readership...the emails I receive and comments posted to the blog are good indications that I'm reaching a reliable audience, simply not an audience large enough to warrant the overhead.

Strangely enough, I find the fact that my blog isn't economically viable liberating. I don't have to worry about posting something every day. When I do post something it'll be important and/or fascinating to me, not something I feel compelled to post on.

Take heuristics, for example.

Lots of people are talking with me about heuristics lately. I don't think they know that's what they're talking about. Often I listen to them and say, "I think you're talking about heuristic solutions."

What are heuristic solutions?

Rocks, Hammers, Competition and How People Get Left Behind

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 08:00:00 -0700

I've been talking with lots of people about what NextStage does, about our Evolution Technology, and about how I never wanted people to lose their jobs because of it. Ever since I made the first announcement about being awarded our patent, people have been walking up to me and saying things like "Well, there's goes A/B and Multivariate testing" or "There goes web analytics as we know it" or "There goes marketing".

It was never my intention to have people lose jobs or have industries go away. I am (at my core, probably) a tool maker. I recognize challenges and create tools to address those challenges.

I also make the tools I create available to anyone who wants to use them (and often at a sliding scale based on their ability to pay). Nobody gets it for free, though. That's pretty well understood by anyone who asks me.

I also often talk about the history of technology, how tools change culture and, in environmental time, how tools change tool users.

Consider rocks, hammers and those who lost their jobs versus those who didn't when this technology -- a mass accelerated through a torque arc. That's what both hammers and rocks are -- changed.

Marketing, Social Media and Sex - Who's Doing It Right, Why and How?

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:00:00 -0700

Marketers and people in social media can't seem to get enough sex. What do men do? What do women do? Why do they do it? I sometimes wonder if the sexes and the differences between them is all marketers and social media folks think about.

(can't wait to see where this post shows up in the search engines and yes, I'm intentionally writing the intro this way to test a theory)

Susan Bratton (right) interviewed me for her DishyMix podcast a while back (see links below). Susan followed that up by placing me first among equals of interesting interviews she'd done (high praise, me thinks. I once told a friend that the first time I met Susan Bratton I understood what the ancients meant by "Artemis" (below)).

This time out Susan asked her readers questions that they would like to ask me about marketing and social networks as they pertain to everyone's favorite topic. I've been answering them in my travels and you can find the first one at How to Entice Men vs. Women with Marketing Messages - Guest Blogger Joseph Carrabis.

The first question came from Susan herself, "If I were launching a social networking site for boomers, what words would I use to entice men to join and what would inspire women to sign up? What words would be different? How would I evocatively articulate value so that I had a higher number of conversions? And are there any reasons that both men and women share in their desire to connect online with others?"