Friday, January 04, 2008 Toral: Focusing on social objects for success By Janette Toral Digital Filipino
HUGH Macleod (http://www.gapinvoid.com) made an interesting post last Monday on “social objects for beginners.” He referred to social objects as the reason people talk to each other. Social objects can be referred to as common interests or likes that, when discussed, make people click and engage in an interesting conversation. It can be your favorite music, political beliefs and gadgets, among others.
From a business or entrepreneur’s point of view, these social objects are partly the reason our businesses are doing well. It is not really about our products per se but when people talk about it, that eventually leads them to us. For instance, I get a considerable number of website visitors who were referred by friends and who eventually bought a book or signed up for membership. Learning and reflecting about it made me realize that social objects have played an important role in my growth.
E-commerce is one social object that got me talking to other people and them talking about me as well. The desire of people to learn and make it work in the Philippines has given me the opportunity to connect with peers in the industry to establish the Philippine Internet Commerce Society. E-commerce as a social object paved the way for the creation of DigitalFilipino.com, where interested parties helped out to get the site started and my first book published. Some educators who are teaching e-commerce were using my articles as a reference material to discuss the subject further.
Whenever I get asked about possible opportunities in e-commerce, I normally advise the entrepreneur to focus on things where he or she finds a need and has expertise in. Need arises during our “conversation” with people who tell us what they are interested in availing themselves of in case it becomes available.
If the product or service delivers and customers are actively using it, then it becomes a powerful social object where users, if they know each other, are able to build a relationship with each other because of it. An example of this are some of my community members who end up working together, partner in a business, provide business support, or even develop a personal relationship.
I believe that those who eventually fail are the ones who were unable to sustain and further build that “conversation or relationship,” or its premise is based on one’s greed (such as some quick-rich schemes) where some of its participants have hurt their credibility in the process.
