Why businesses should monitor the internet
Oct 25, 2009
A friend on Facebook was excited about the internet modem she had just bought and decided to share her excitement.
By Denis Jjuuko
A friend on Facebook was excited about the internet modem she had just bought and decided to share her excitement.
Within a few minutes, there was a debate aboutthe pros and cons of using her internet provider’s mobile services.
Among all the telecom networks in Uganda, it is only Orange who had a staff on Facebook to provide information the way public relations officers should. The telecoms that were bashed the most had no representative.
Having a representative on social networking sites and the internet is known as being Googlie or having Google-juice. Businesses must monitor what is happening on the internet where lots of happy or disgruntled customers are.
Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor and author of What Would Google Do? mentions how computer giant Dell, lost market share when people started sharing information about Dell products and how unhappy they were with their laptops.
Founder Michael Dell, had to cut short his early retirement to refocus the firm with emphasis on the internet and blogging.
He started a blog where Dell customers would share ideas with each other, and the company would respond.
Starbucks also has a blog where customers give suggestions on what coffees they would want to drink.
In today’s economy, an outburst on Facebook, Youtube, Myspace and Twitter by frustrated customers may lead to a firm’s loss of market share while compliments may lead to increased revenue.
It is very easy to dismiss the power of the internet in Uganda as the majority do not have access to it but those businesses that will get there early will reap untold benefits.
Most people who have access to the internet in this country are also business decision-makers in different capacities.
Those who are not making business decisions today will be making them in the future.
They will recommend what their friends are praising on such sites and campaign against those products and services their colleagues are complaining against.
What companies need to know is how to start thinking like Google by being available on the internet.
They should be monitoring what is happening on the internet and respond as fast as possible.
That is what being Googlie or having Google-juice means. It also means that ideas should be sourced from the customers, the way the social networking sites work.
Google gets information for free and allows anybody to update their product such as Google Maps.
Wikipedia allows anybody to make submissions and even edit these entries. All these businesses are billion dollar industries.
Ugandan firms should, start thinking internet and how they can get leverage by being present on it.
Social networking sites and being searchable on all search engines are very important components in doing business today.
These social networks have millions of people hooked to them every minute.
Unfortunately, some companies restrict access to such sites on the grounds that work hours are wasted on them. Banning staff from networking sites only hurts the companies because there wouldn’t be anyone defending or responding to what friends on Facebook are saying about their services.
Google allows their staff 20% of their working hours to do whatever they would like to. That breeds lots of ideas.
A company that wants to do business with you, will certainly do a Google search to find out your credibility. If you are not Googlie or you don’t have Google-juice, start thinking now.
The world economy has changed and you must adapt and adopt to these changes if you are to stay in business.
The writer is a media consultant
A friend on Facebook was excited about the internet modem she had just bought and decided to share her excitement.
Within a few minutes, there was a debate aboutthe pros and cons of using her internet provider’s mobile services.
Among all the telecom networks in Uganda, it is only Orange who had a staff on Facebook to provide information the way public relations officers should. The telecoms that were bashed the most had no representative.
Having a representative on social networking sites and the internet is known as being Googlie or having Google-juice. Businesses must monitor what is happening on the internet where lots of happy or disgruntled customers are.
Jeff Jarvis, a journalism professor and author of What Would Google Do? mentions how computer giant Dell, lost market share when people started sharing information about Dell products and how unhappy they were with their laptops.
Founder Michael Dell, had to cut short his early retirement to refocus the firm with emphasis on the internet and blogging.
He started a blog where Dell customers would share ideas with each other, and the company would respond.
Starbucks also has a blog where customers give suggestions on what coffees they would want to drink.
In today’s economy, an outburst on Facebook, Youtube, Myspace and Twitter by frustrated customers may lead to a firm’s loss of market share while compliments may lead to increased revenue.
It is very easy to dismiss the power of the internet in Uganda as the majority do not have access to it but those businesses that will get there early will reap untold benefits.
Most people who have access to the internet in this country are also business decision-makers in different capacities.
Those who are not making business decisions today will be making them in the future.
They will recommend what their friends are praising on such sites and campaign against those products and services their colleagues are complaining against.
What companies need to know is how to start thinking like Google by being available on the internet.
They should be monitoring what is happening on the internet and respond as fast as possible.
That is what being Googlie or having Google-juice means. It also means that ideas should be sourced from the customers, the way the social networking sites work.
Google gets information for free and allows anybody to update their product such as Google Maps.
Wikipedia allows anybody to make submissions and even edit these entries. All these businesses are billion dollar industries.
Ugandan firms should, start thinking internet and how they can get leverage by being present on it.
Social networking sites and being searchable on all search engines are very important components in doing business today.
These social networks have millions of people hooked to them every minute.
Unfortunately, some companies restrict access to such sites on the grounds that work hours are wasted on them. Banning staff from networking sites only hurts the companies because there wouldn’t be anyone defending or responding to what friends on Facebook are saying about their services.
Google allows their staff 20% of their working hours to do whatever they would like to. That breeds lots of ideas.
A company that wants to do business with you, will certainly do a Google search to find out your credibility. If you are not Googlie or you don’t have Google-juice, start thinking now.
The world economy has changed and you must adapt and adopt to these changes if you are to stay in business.
The writer is a media consultant