Open Source and the Future of Capitalism

MIT physicist Richard Morley once quipped how innovation happens: “In order to see the solar system as it is, Copernicus had to be standing on the sun.”
That analogy serves as the title of the book Standing on the Sun by Christopher Meyer and Julia Kirby, which gives a big-picture view on how capitalism is changing and how those changes are impacting businesses. Even though the book seems to focus on large markets and corporations (and reading this text can feel like heavy lifting), there are nonetheless some profound points that small business owners can use to prepare for coming changes.
Here are a few key points from the book.
Open Source Doesn’t Equal Free
If your company is in the software or hardware development game, open source may feel like a drag on your profitability. But according to Meyer and Kirby, although open source software and hardware often follows a "freemium" model, that doesn't mean you can’t make money. There are lots of software companies that have an open source product and then build on it with a more advanced version that customers purchase.
Standing on the Sun, espouses this collaborative, interconnected way of the future by citing numerous international examples of technology being used in unexpected ways. For example, it shows how mobile phones “power” a village by giving merchants access to local and national markets. Another example is the U.S.-based small business Adafruit, a DIY electronics kit maker, which encourages its community (with a cash reward) to hack the Microsoft Kinect system with an open source driver. Microsoft objected at first until it realized this sort of collaboration could benefit its systems, too. You can read the full post here.
Faster Product Development via Makerspaces
Another way the open source movement is benefiting small business is in prototyping. The good news is that you don't have to invest $20,000 in a laser cutter or high-end 3D printer for prototyping. You can join a makerspace, hackerspace, or an open access public workshop like TechShop (although there are only five across the country right now). Many start-up small businesses are leveraging these technologies by purchasing, leasing or joining a community space where they get access to tools and machines.
Square, the credit card processing device for mobile phones, was prototyped in the California TechShop in about two weeks. This is also an example of “reshoring,” where large and small companies bring their manufacturing operations back to the United States from China. Prototyping the Square device overseas would have been both cost- and time-prohibitive for the inventors. Thus we are seeing an evolution toward small urban manufacturing that makes it easier to produce locally. (Check out my OPEN Forum post 13 Ways to Create Products in Real Time, for more on devices that help you create prototypes or even working products.)
Using Hashtags in Your Marketing
Tagging content on your site makes it possible for like-minded individuals to connect and makes tracking social media a bit easier. Not to mention that like open source software, it is free to employ. Meyer and Kirby suggest one or two hashtags in each chapter to spur online conversation. Think about your marketing pieces, your blog posts, your events and how you could add simple hashtags for people to use on Twitter and Facebook.
The world economy, like everything in life, is always in motion and always changing. We don’t always notice it until enough change has taken place. Thanks to Standing on the Sun, we can catch a real glimpse of the future of capitalism and small business.

08:49 by Robert dawne · 0

Should Small Businesses Follow Everyone Back on Twitter?

Marketers know that Twitter is a valuable tool used to reach thousands of customers. But it's not just the output of content that's valuable—the people and other businesses you follow on social media are of equal worth.
Unless your account is private, you have no control over who is following you (unless you block them). But as a business with thousands of followers, is it wise to follow every single person who follows you?
"Don't fall into the trap of something I call a 'courtesy' follow—that is, following someone that has followed you out of a desire to appear grateful," advises Sheena Medina, community manager at Fast Company.
Medina, who says this "does nothing but fill your stream with noise," cites President Barack Obama's account, @BarackObama, which at one point was following 702,586 users—the most on Twitter. The account, overwhelmed by tweets, is in dire need of a bit of damage control. But, unable to dump seven hundred thousand followers at once, the admins must slowly reduce its followers in order to keep the President's social media-friendly image intact.
On the other hand, some say that businesses should follow back so that their followers may DM them privately.
"Here's a way to look at it: would you put up a Web page without adding your e-mail address or a contact form so that people could reach out to you privately?" asks Laura "@Pistachio" Fitton, inbound marketing evangelist for HubSpot, and lead author of Twitter for Dummies. "As a business, not following someone back means you're telling them, 'Thanks for your support, but you're not important enough to us to be willing to listen to you privately.'"
Fitton says she tries to reply to all of the genuine direct mentions, and when possible, she will thank or respond to @-mentions and retweets.
"Above and beyond that, stuff like retweeting their content, asking them questions and truly listening to their answers, giving them interesting stuff to interact with are all good ways to engage your community," she says.
Both Fitton and Medina encourage businesses to refrain from using an automated "thanks for following" mention. If you do decide to follow everyone, authenticity is key. Your followers will be able to tell whether they're talking to a robot or a person—and a real person is always more valuable on Twitter.
If you do decide not to follow everyone on Twitter, Medina advises to be strategic about curating your stream on Twitter—knowing your audience helps, but you must also think about what sort of content is going to be useful and entertaining to you.
"We're not one-dimensional people," says Medina. "And increasingly, businesses are using Twitter to show how multifaceted they are. Your stream should reflect the dynamics of your personality and business."
As a small business owner, do you follow every follower back? What ways do you show appreciation to your fans?
American Express OPEN offers YourBuzz, a free app that can help you manage your online reputation and connect with customers via one easy-to-use app.  For more information or to get started, visit YourBuzz.com/freeapp.

11:37 by Robert dawne · 0