The Long Tail by Chris Anderson, a book that delves into niches and what makes them, is an interesting read. I still haven’t finished yet. This post isn’t about my opinion on the book, but something it inspired.

Starting at 10pm till 1am in 2001, I would listen to a rock show on 5FM by Barney Simon. He played both local small bands and some criticized international artists. The ‘Night Zoo’, as the show was called, was only the place you could hear Marilyn Manson during the same week he released an album.

With the world calmly snoring away, on weekdays from Monday to Thursday, Barney was building a community, a niche and a following.

Create a community, not just numbers

Chris Anderson writes about how the internet creates small audiences that become even smaller but create markets in themselves. These smaller niches within others, he refers to as “The Long Tail”. In a nutshell! What caught my attention is how Barney built his following among bands and fans through content, not hits.

Knowing your audience and becoming a sought-after name creates a niche for you, where there wasn’t one before. To keep people awake, especially after 10pm and grow your listenership, this had to be an exceptional show. And it was!

It was content that kept me going back week after week after week, till Barney left the station in 2002.

As the conversation develops around your idea, your name grows an even larger following. Communities take ownership of your cause and take it upon themselves to spread it.

Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as you please. – Mark Twain

Barney knew the rules of radio, had applied them for 20 years and broke almost every single one.

Trying to appeal to a large audience, among other things, chokes the essence of your message.  Barney knew what his audience required and never played pop as part of his show. In fact, he was one of the few radio personalities who candidly criticized pop music.

It’s not a popularity contest but the ability to find a balance between making profits (selling ads on radio) and maintaining influence as a credible source.

What do you think causes ideas to ripple in time and gets people talking?

Photo by Amped Photography on Flickr

Image by: Clarky The Lion

Being an influential entrepreneur has been a target of mine for a while. When you are an influencer; people listen to what you have to say, act on it and that changes your company’s profitably.

What makes you influential? What makes 4000 people retweet your posts? Why would people knock down your down because you are selling a product? Not the next guy.

At first I thought it was:

-         Money

-         Friends in high places

-         That huge contract

All of them are misconceptions. These guys make money because they influencers, which spills over to the contracts and other benefits.

I have been fortunate enough to meet quite a few agents of change, through NetwebTv and the NetWeb Event. The common things among most of them are:

• · They share freely – lessons, experiences and contacts
• · They focus their attention on you and drive conversation toward you not themselves.
• They always leave you with a new lesson.
• · They never talk about their accomplishments unless asked.
• · They are connectors – most contacts I got, were through them.
• · They want to build you.
• They get more business because they are influential, not the other way.

This is the brief list of attributes that connect the non-conformist agents of change. The ones I’ve been following at least.

What makes you influential? Add to the list.

“Good enough” – will no longer get you through the door when your most remarkable work is what matters.

Seth Godin a marketing guru, international author and well sought after speaker wrote yet another thought-provoking book. The difference now is; we were one of the first shows he spoke to about his latest offering.

Linchpin is a book that questions what your best is and how you as an artist, an agent of change can get it out there without leaving your job. The times of work, get a paycheck, retire or even worse get retrenched are gone. Now the world is looking for you, for your work and we are listening to what you have to say.

In this episode Seth tells us how we can take advantage of change and even better be the cause. I also asked him about the concept of giving things free yet still being able to make a living.

There is also an audio version for you below. Feel free to share the interviews.

Since the South African Tobacco Products Control Act in 1993, that was amended till 2009, prohibiting all advertising and sponsorship by tobacco companies. The cigarette companies have to be even more innovative than everyone else to make a sale.

Over the December holidays at the normal price, you could buy Camels in a steel box that fits your pack inside.

The novelty of a steel box makes the smoker want to show it off to their friends. And ensuring only a few of these boxes were available they kept more people hooked for longer.  What are the chances of you having your last smoke the same day you get this pack? This got me thinking of how packaging can be used to increased sales.
If you went to the same store a week before or after this package was available your friend would have started a conversation about it. The same product you offer can be packaged in a way that makes it more special and coveted by customers.
Short of advertising and marketing this company makes themselves worth talking and remembering.  Are you?

Mongezi Mtati is the founder at NetWeb Event, a vodcaster and an opinionated geek on a bad hair day. Follow me on twitter.

Photo by: leahwithaspoon

Okay! So 2010 is here at last and no longer will I say – 2010 – whenever someone speaks of a seemingly impossible feat.

We have been working on a few things over the holidays, which will be unveiled in the next few weeks.

A sneak preview

• The NetWeb Event website goes live on the 11th of January.
• NetWebTV launches on the 26th.
• We are doing a startup of the year contest.

Happy landings.

Image by: Isayx3 on Flickr

When the Wu Tang Clan first released their debut album ‘Enter The Wu Tang (36 Chambers)’ everyone was talking about them. They set out to build a trend with their music, which wasn’t difficult being the only group who had the sound of killer bees and Kung Fu skits.

Most of us developing new products, marketing ourselves and even branding our companies tend to overlook what we truly sell. Developing a clan and creating a culture are some of the many things that worked for the Wu Tang, with some lessons that can be adapted.

What you sell

More often than not, we sell the product without realizing what it is linked with. Many companies instead of selling a lifestyle, experience or hope, they sell a pair of jeans or a computer.

I went to the D.O.P.E Store in the Johannesburg CBD recently, a clothing store,  part of whose concept includes a basement where they host parties. Their venue is mostly booked by people who would wear clothing that is sold in the shop. It gives them greater access to their market and gets people talking within a context that surrounds them by reference.

Organize a culture

The Wu Tang Clan found people already listening to Hip Hop music, but separated their audience from the norm. Their debut reinvented the possibility of what can go into an album and directed the masses to listen in a certain way thereafter.

Clans make closed exclusive communities that everyone else wants to belong to. Distinguishing yourselves by how you sell your product alone doesn’t get your message out distinctively and make you memorable.

What is your Kung Fu Skit?

The Kung Fu skits made it obvious whose song was about to play and the everyone sang along. If a song was new we all listened  and tried to find out what it was.

Find the distinct things about your service that can make you a market leader, things can become your own Kung Fu skit. Your killer bee sound. That one thing that turns conversation around when you are mentioned.

How can you reorganize your target audience and direct the course of things from where you began?

When developing a business model, we often overlook implementing marketing tools to spread our concepts virally. Unleashing the Ideavirus, a book that I think requires a sequel, transformed the view I have of my current business model.

While there many concepts covered in the book, for the purpose of this post, only 3 significant highlights will suffice.

Loosely referencing The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell on how some ideas turn into social epidemics and others don’t. Seth takes us through the process of how companies such as Hotmail and Vindigo spread as viruses and the Toyota Prius, while an award winning vehicle, didn’t.

The second mind altering concept, though disputing all known marketing ethic, is focusing on a smaller target audience (called ‘a hive’) instead of setting out for large numbers. This makes sense if you view your client base as a community that can reach friends and recommend your product or service better than adverts and large marketing budgets ever can.

The steps below, a very short summary, are how you develop an Ideavirus.

Step By Step, Ideavirus tactics (summarized from the book)

• Make it virusworthy – If it’s not worth talking about, no one will talk it.

• Identify the hive.

You won’t get the full benefit of the ideavirus until you dominate your hive.

• Expose your idea

Expose it to the right people, get them into the experience as quickly as possible and pay them if necessary. But never charge if possible.

• Once attention has been volunteered request permission.

• Amaze your audience.

• Some viruses don’t forever, embrace the lifecycle of yours.

Any business model that has a viral marketing method built into it has a better chance at longevity, besides why not make it easy for your clients and customers to spread the idea? If there’s one thing I would recommend, it would be read it with an open mind and download the ebook or get the shiny collector’s version here.

“Social Media is the answer” has become a regular phrase. The popular perception lately is that you should be using Social Media. While I’m all for you exposing yourself using this medium, it doesn’t replace everything else.

Here are my 10 reasons why you should NOT use Social Media

1. Having a large following turns into business leads.

The rise of Social Media disproved a lot of the known laws of traditional marketing and advertising. The concept that you are likely to build a paying customer base if a lot of people are talking about you is not true. However, being part of the conversation works. If you think you will bombard the web with irrelevant and unwanted messaging, this won’t change a thing for you.

2. You will follow a lot of people on Twitter and hope a lot of them are listening.

The web and spammers have taught us that noise does not amount to good content.

3. You want to make small talk in a public domain.

Nothing is more annoying than 2 people using a platform to exchange information that no one else is remotely interested in, this is sufficient grounds to have your bandwidth terminated. Some popular names have started using Social Media sites and talk about parties or who they saw, which has no relevance to the people using the same platform.

4. You take ownership of the site.

The other day, while talking to a friend of mine, I found myself saying certain people should be taught the usage of Social Media. Right then, it became evident that I shouldn’t be the content they send me. We use media for different reasons and if they don’t send or write what’s relevant for me I should reject it.

5. Because of the Digital v/s Print Media debate you think Digital Media has taken over.

Print media might have lost its traction, but the majority of South Africans still read print and it is arguable that the rest of the world has more access to the internet than print. As much as we may think traditional media has lost its significance most people believe and reference newspapers than social media sites. If you think it replaces traditional media, it hasn’t yet.

6. You think it’s easy to convince the CEO of a corporate company that your Facebook group will give them the needed exposure.

Senior managers and CEOs of large conglomerates still believe in traditional business ethic with its known laws and restrictions. Very little can be proven about the people who follow you on Facebook and more so with the tech-savvy individuals. The more technologically inclined know firsthand why you cannot build a campaign using the net exlcusively.

7. You think it replaces having a thoroughly thought out marketing plan.

8. Everyone is using it, where else are people lately?

How about out there doing their own things? An estimated 7 out 10 South Africans (based on whom I’ve spoken to) don’t have a clue what Web 2.0 is.

9. You think everyone is using it, if not you strongly suggest they do.

Not everyone ‘has’ to use social media, especially if the reason is for them to find you.

10. You think it makes you an authority.

If you think because you have a blog, website, Twitter account, 1000 friends on Facebook and a website you are suddenly more interesting and are a reliable source. You are not.

Understanding that social media and the web in general act as a support system to other things you are doing to give value, it does not eliminate connecting with clients and making contact outside this space.

Mongezi Mtati is the founder of an entrepreneurial event, a vodcaster and questions everything. Follow me on Twitter.

How often do you consider what perception your client has of you?

When pitching for a new contract, selling ideas to large companies or even applying for work at a company. We tend to overlook what they already think.

In episode 4 of NetwebTV, Richard Mulholland said; “Play by their perception”. If your client thinks you are small and nimble that is what your pitch has to revolve around. Size seems to discourage many entrepreneurs when as a result of it, you should justify why you are quicker or more meticulous than a larger company.

It was not  until recently that I discovered there are perception management companies that specialise in enabling you get yourself out there as best you can. How does the outsider view you?

So why don’t you attend the BarCamp in Johannesburg tomorrow? The BarCamp is an unconference  where anyone can raise a relevant topic that you think is worth sharing at the session. Besides, geek has been the new cool for a long time long time now.

Some active  and influential online professionals will be attending, sponsoring and presenting over the 2 days of this prestigious gathering. If you want to find out how the movers of social media locally are doing it, this is one of the places to be.

Some of the proposed sessions that will be covered:

• Add your session here, it can be as short as 5 minutes
• Build a quick Twitter mashup using Django & Jquery in 30 mins
• Guitar Hero multi-playa – just to unwind
• OSSA – FLOSS Lobby Group
• JavaFX

Go to the page and proposed your own session, if you have anything to offer. They also welcome sponsorships and other contributions.

Signup here to attend and you’ll be boat-loads more tech-savvy by Monday.