Visualize what image the word beacon conjures in your mind:  perhaps a lighthouse casting light onto an otherwise dark horizon, or a signal fire atop a hill illuminating the night sky.  In the physical world, a beacon is used to draw attention, act as a guide, or call to action.  Civilizations have long used them to rally citizens together, protect ships from coastlines, and act as signal points.

But the concept of a beacon is not limited to purely physical signaling points.  There are beacons on the web – they are people, companies, networks, blogs, anything that can direct attention.

You must become a beacon or you are essentially at the whim of others who point attention at their own discretion, perhaps shining the light on you for fleeting moments…if you’re lucky.  Far better to become an arbiter of attention in your industry or niche rather than forfeit this to others.

The lighthouse example strikes me as the type of beacon most analogous to the web.  A lighthouse works by passing light through a system of lenses, focusing and directing the signal, as illustrated in the image below:

(source : Helen Beaglehole. ‘Lighthouses’, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand)

This is similar to how beacons function online.  The only difference is constructing an amplification lens to spread your messages on the web is less of an exact science than the manufacturing of a lighthouse lens – it is a far more fluid process that must be ongoing.  This is because the amplification lens is made up of your network, search engines and social areas of the web – things that are in a constant state of flux.

The fastest way to amp up the worth of your own network is to bring smaller networks together with it so they can act as one larger network and gain the total n² value.
–Kevin Kelly

A strategic, precise approach (the directed lens) is more effective than a diffusive presence.  Imagine a coastline with thousands of lighthouses all casting diffused light in all directions – yet one is pouring focused light in only one direction.  To all ships traveling down that path, it would be obvious where to go.  Without specific, directed amplification, the light cast from a lighthouse is useless.  Same with your messages.  This speaks to the real value of your network and is why bigger is not better, a razor sharp approach is far more effective at accomplishing specific goals.

If damaged, light amplification lenses in lighthouses are almost impossible to repair, and upkeep is time-intensive.  This is true on the web as well, speaking to the importance of maintaining a strong digital reputation.

The source of light (your communications) matters too.  The amplification lens you create is only going to work with certain messages.  As the architect of your network, you will find your formula and direct it through the lens each time for maximum impact.

Only room for so many beacons

User attention does not scale, yet the number of those attempting to become beacons of information and ideas is going up.  But not everyone can become a beacon due to the very nature of what defines one – that it must be glaringly noticeable.  Following the lighthouse analogy, what this means is:

• You must construct the most directed, effective amplification lens possible
• Always feed the right content through the lens
• Remember, the internet is closer to an organic network than anything else, so the lens must undergo a fluid, continuous development process
• An ultra-high signal to noise ratio must be maintained – do not attempt amplification of irrelevant messages
• Protect the lens at all costs, it is extremely difficult to regain if lost
• Strengthen/sharpen the lens regularly

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Post image provided by Shutterstock, royalty-free subscription stock photography and vector art.

1. Develop a post archetype
2. Create a simple or unique design
3. Refine your writing quality and style
4. Find a way to view your topic from a fresh angle or different lens
5. Focus on a unique topic, or intersection of topics
6. Create a better signal to noise ratio
7. Focus on achieving consistency

Check out the full post at the Online Marketing Blog on 7 ways to develop a unique brand for your blog.

As someone who spends a great deal of time as contributor, participant and observer of a pretty diverse array of web communities, I find the meta aspect fascinating.  What I mean by this is without fail, every community enjoys having discussions about itself.  It’s something not usually stated directly within the communities, but it’s a reality.

And why not?  Just like countries, schools, etc. – any grouping of people together in one place – there always exists discussions about the places we’re in, even if we aren’t there for the purpose of discussing those places themselves.

We all live in a city or town, and we’re there to live, work and play – but we also have a tendency to talk about the city itself as a natural by-product of living there.

We went to schools, where we are there to learn, not necessarily talk about the school itself – but a byproduct of going to the school is discussing the school, becoming a fan of the school, having rivalries with other schools, etc.

A simple way to think of online communities is view them in this light.  Just as like-groups of citizens or students of a certain place – while they are all different, there is the normalization factor that they are all members of the community.  And, while no one actually goes to a school just to talk about the school, it happens, just as nobody joins a a social network merely to talk about the social network, yet this also happens.

Digital communities, whether structurally defined networks or simply niche specific and loosely connected, are no different than physical communities, they foster those same discussions, rituals and memes between members about the community itself.  These discussions come up so frequently because a truism of human nature is we want something to talk about, and our minds gravitate to those subjects we know will register with others and generate conversation.  Talking about the place we currently are is an easy conversation-starter, and people take the path of least resistance with social connections because they are easy and low-risk.

Just like residents of a certain city also discuss the city, digital community members discuss the community.  In both cases these conversations can be thought of as as meta discussions.  Interestingly enough, it’s not just new members, it’s just as likely seasoned members reference the community itself as topic of conversation.

Obvious, right?  I think so – but the value here is understanding the nuances of specific and valuable communities and learn how to use shared experiences, discussions and ideas about the community itself which so easily permeate their group as strategic knowledge to tag ideas, marketing and messages to.  Remember, meta threads want to spread.

We’re all unique, but even the most unique people have strong commonalities and connections in meta discussions.  I call this the meta factor, and it’s something you can and should use to your advantage in marketing strategy.

Some ideas to put the meta factor to good use:

1.  Find an obvious commonality that’s vocalized frequently in comments/discussions, but never made into an actual topic in and of itself.

2.  Vocalize a shared experience for the silent majority.

3.  Remix a cliched or overdone topic everyone is familiar with into something fresh or nostalgic.

4.  Speak to the community in their own language somewhere unexpected, outside of the community itself.

5.  Groups with a commonality that all members are conscious of are naturally drawn to ideas which reinforce the value of that commonality.  Create ideas the community wants to support.  Communities are by nature self-protective, so anything that solidifies their presence in the world should spread.

6.  Push never works – don’t bother.  If you’re successful with push, it also had pull factors in it too – whether by luck or design.  Valuable communities and tribes will turn on members who sell out faster than the idea will spread.

7.  Change the dynamic of the community – lead them in a new, more desirable direction.  This requires bold action, but it’s possible if you set forth a new future vision that is more compelling to enough members of the community than the current path.

This is just a start – the meta factor has application for marketing in many ways, and is an effective strategy to permeate informal and formally grouped networks naturally.

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Or perhaps it was, “if we could only get our customers to come in just one more time per year, we’d achieve -insert amount here- more revenue.”

This mindset is inherently flawed, because it focuses on the wrong thing.  It’s not about that one more time per year or trying to get a little more in the short term – that only leads to an impossible to sustain cycle.  The mindset is analogous to bailing water from a sinking boat – it might make you feel like you’re doing good and making progress, but in reality you’re ignoring the larger problem.

You win in marketing not by worrying about quick short term fixes, but by fostering genuine, long-term relationships.  The kind of relationships that get people talking, that build affinity, that strengthen naturally over time and aren’t easily broken.  And, you don’t achieve that with the mindset of purely trying to get people to choose you one more time per year for the sake of revenue.  Sure, you could work to sacrifice the long term for a few more quick hits, but this comes at the greatest cost of all – the loss of trust.

I could easily link you somewhere to get a quick dollar in revenue for your attention, but that wouldn’t be prudent when I’ve worked for years to build trust with you and deliver value.  If I’m going to link you somewhere,  it is chosen because I personally believe in whatever it is I’m linking.  It wouldn’t make much sense if I sacrificed that trust for a quick dollar.  Because I don’t view you with that mindset, I get the most valuable gift of all, the ability to share ideas  (and vice versa, I learn from many of you as well – yes, email subscribers you can hit reply if you’re too shy to comment here).

It makes equally as little sense to mortgage the future for the present with your brand.  You sacrifice the value of it bit by bit when you sell out your good name for the sake of making a little more in the short term.  It is ruined just slightly every time you cut quality to shave a bit off the cost, push messages out without substance, or ultimately act in ways which don’t add value to your customers.  As an aside, adding value can mean many things, including knowledge, entertainment, resources, humor or anything in between – knowing your audience is key to understanding what this is.

I’m not saying don’t plan big wins and capitalize on what you can for buzz, attention and share of voice – absolutely do.  Just do so in a way which plays into a larger picture and actually supports your efforts of tomorrow.  Without question this can be done.

A slight difference in price isn’t what causes people to rave about you.  Neither are more interruption-based ads.  These things are what contribute to the short term, but not long term.  Ask yourself, how does what I am doing to market my clients/business/products/website/blog truly build something special and lasting.

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