Cluetrain

Chapters 2 & 3

Ch.2

The Longing

The spiritual lure of the Web

• The return of the voice

• Longing indicates something is missing in our life

• Longing for the web occurs in the midst of a profoundly managed age– 21st century, American idea

Managed world

• Risk avoidance

• Smoothness

• Fairness

• Discretionary attention

• Lies

• Lack of voice

A managed life

• Leads to resentment

• However much we long for the Web is how much we hate our job

• All the concessions to a managed life have to do with giving up our voice

Our Voice

• Nothing is more intimately a part of who we are then our voice– Gives style and shape to content

• Our voice is expresses in our words, our tone, our body language, our visible enthusiasm

• Our managed voice is virtually the same as everyone else’s

• We are all victims of this assault on voice, the attempt to get up to shut up and listen to the narrowest range of ideas possible

It is only the force of our regret at having lived in this bargains that explains the power of our

longing for the web

Web - voice

• All of the allure of the Web comes back to the promise of the web.

• The web is a granting of a place in which we can be who we are

• It is a public place; it means presenting oneself to others

• The web is viral; it infects everything it touches

Put your ass on the line

• Make a bonfire of your reputation and a close enemy of most men who would wish you well

• Do what you will, but speak out always. Be shunned, be hated, be ridiculed, be scared, be in doubt, but don’t be gagged.

Chapter 3

Talk is cheap

• Artists have a stubborn faith in their ability to create newness from next to nothing.

• This faith shapes their work, enables them to establish themselves as individuals.

Bricolage

• The opportunism of those who work with their hands, creating stuff out of whatever is lying about.

• The web is group bricolage.

• Individuals build it without working from a master plan.

The “voice” of the marketer

• In the same way we distinguish personal attention from inattention, we can tell the difference between commercial pitch and words that come when someone’s life animates their message

The “voice” of the marketer

• Authentic voice/authentic marketing comes of focus, attention, caring, connection, and honesty of purpose.

• Authenticity, honesty, and personal voice underlie much of what’s successful on the web

• The ultimate success isn’t from talking, it’s from people wanting to listen, needing to hear each other’s voices and answering in kind

Talk on line

• Tech is putting a sharper, more urgent point on the importance of conversation.

• Conversations are moving faster, touching more people, and bridging greater distances than we’re used to

Community

• One definition of community is a group of people who care about each other more than they have to

• It is conversation, the verbal glue binding people separated by geography into community

• Fake voices are eschewed

twitter

• “is having conversations with lots of constituents really practical?” YES!

• This is basically twitter

blogs

• With more people, more stories in the mix, it’s harder for one negative story to sway me

• A single corp story is a fiction in a world of free conversation

• Corp stories, like corp cultures, are informed by individuals over time through many contacts, conversations, and opportunity to tell stories

blogs

• Stories play a large part in the success of organizations.

• With stories, we teach, pass along knowledge of our craft, and create a sense of shared mission

Why companies fail

• The problem is not in the effort required to coordinate voices, but in the attitude that assumes speech demands coordination and control

• Thinking they’re having a conversation when they’re having a lecture

• Not allowing the conversation to overcome the class structure of business

Customer loyalty

• CL is not a commodity a company owns.

• Where it exists at all-and it’s rare- loyalty to a company is based on respect

• That respect is based on how the company has conducted itself in conversations with the market

Bottom line

• Not conversing, participating, is not an option.

• If we don’t engage people inside and outside our organization in conversation, someone else will.

• Start talking!