Today I found myself on the website of The Cluetrain Manifesto (Buy at Amazon) which also has a list of 95 theses, in many ways guideposts for social media. This book is a now almost 10 years old, but its points are still relevant. In fact, I would argue the 95 theses are exponentially more relevant today than when the book was first published. I’d advise keeping a copy of the 95 theses at your desk and to refer to them regularly…daily if possible. Here are a few points that I particularly liked:
Hyperlinks subvert hierarchy
There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone.
Companies can now communicate with their markets directly. If they blow it, it could be their last chance.
Companies must ask themselves where their corporate cultures end.
If their cultures end before the community begins, they will have no market.
I could go on. The pace of change in how business and society operates is moving at warp speed. To paraphrase Ferris Beuller (aka Abe Froman, the Sausage King of Chicago): Business moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.