The value in being. . .
Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 11:36AM 
sav⋅vy
- verb
1. to know, understand
- noun
2. Also, sav⋅vi⋅ness. practical understanding; shrewdness or intelligence; common sense
–adjective
3. shrewdly informed; experienced and well-informed; canny.
As we continue our march into the 21st century marketplace, change is the word that you cannot ignore. It is everywhere. Whether it is the newspaper, automobile, or music industry change is happening. You can embrace it or ignore it. The choice is up to you. Many companies and inviduals will not embrace change and will eventually become obsolete. Just ask Circuit City, GM, or The Rocky Mountain News.
Now in these dynamic times with a market that is becoming increasingly complex to navigate, having business smarts and being savvy is ever more crucial. This means taking smart advice, having sound judgement and making informed decisions (so this means paying very little attention to the hype machine).
For example: social media. Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Flikr etc. (they are being hyped as the greatest things since sliced bread). Are they changing the face of business and culture: yes. Are they changing the way people communicate: yes. Are they proving to be extremely valuable in the market:yes. But let's not position social media as the end all be all.
Case-in-point: an article by Robert Scoble in the May issue of Fast Company is titled "Brand New Day - Reputations are created and destroyed online in the speed of 140 characters. Seven tools to earn you a thumbs up." Reputations created and destroyed with 140 characters?? Hmmm. . .really?
Let's quickly take a closer look at Twitter. A report by Harvard Business Publishing states that the top 10% of prolific Twitter users accounted for over 90% of tweets. As of this past March Twitter had 8 million users. So with 10% doing over 90% the major tweets that's only 800,000 serious users. Is that a large enough number of users to start ringing the alarm on and saying 140 characters can create and destroy reputations? Further more the same Harvard report said that 75% of its users have tweeted 4 times or less. Ever.
Ok, let's just look at the 8 million registered on Twitter. In comparison Facebook has 160 million users - that's 20 times the size of Twitter. Twitter has a ways to go.
Understanding how to perceive the market is invaluable. Being savvy (knowing how to use and leverage resources in the market) will save you time and money. Knowing what to pay attention to, how to pay attention to it and for what reason will position you as a smart and stategic thinker, leading you to short and long term successes. Now in my opinion, that's something to tweet about. ;-)
Reader Comments (1)
I can't remember who's line...?