Leveraging Intellectual Property

By Barry Hurd

RISMEDIA, Feb. 25, 2008-As professionals, many of us have volumes of information collected inside of our heads. When we consider our immediate professional network, the amount of information and expertise available dramatically increases. Yet if you take blogging, online communities, and social media- the dramatic increase expands to an almost unbelievable level.

I wanted to “field test” the expert knowledge of a free information site that is readily available to anyone with a computer. I simply asked the community on Linkedin “What are the best Social Media Business Development “how to” sites?” The results proved how effective reaching out to the community knowledge base can be.

The question was fairly broad (but detailed enough to give someone direction on what was needed.)

THE QUESTION – “I am looking for everyone’s input on sites dedicated to best use of social media tools and developments for business owners. What are the best blogs, how-to, and guide sites out there covering the latest Web 2.0 and social media trends in regards to business development?”

In less than 24 hours, I received four different responses that were pretty clean and actually useful. One of them even gave me a resource that I wasn’t aware of, and that takes a lot of skill considering I spend 30 to 60 hours a week online researching social media and online marketing. I’ve included all four responses below. Keep in mind that these answers and expert pieces of advice were absolutely free.

Callan Harris – Online Marketing Manage at Ministry of Sound – “Mashable is the best source for any news/developments in social media, and specifically social networking – great site.”

I couldn’t agree more. Mashable is one of the best sources for the latest developments in online tech and social networking services. They report on a wide range of Web services ranging from image sharing services to new community networks, with daily coverage on industry start-ups and shake-downs.

Sante J. Achille – Search Engine Consultant – “There is a lot of noise out there these days on social media – you can easily spend days at a time just reviewing countless posts and articles on social media . Your best bet is to determine your exact needs before venturing out seeking information and set up some queries on tools like blogsearch (Google) and Ask (pretty SPAM free these days) and start reviewing what you find-if it isn’t good enough review your queries-a sort of trial and error process I find very useful”

I agree again. There is a lot of noise out there in social media. I would say less than 1% is worthwhile or on-target. It is however very enlightening that Achille is an SEO consultant from Italy. For $0 (free), we received a good tip on filtering the large amounts of data we receive.

Robert Lesser – Direct Impact Marketing, Leadgen Tools – “We recently surveyed B2B marketers and asked for their votes on Web 2.0 tools. A high proportion of the responders are using these tools for business development. The site is free and frequently updated with votes by qualified B2B marketers.”

Lesser is right. The survey did have some useful information for those interested in online marketing and business development. The survey doesn’t have a huge number of respondents, but it does show some pretty clear trends.

Ian Lurie – Owner of Portent Interactive – “Copyblogger writes about writing, from the perspective of blogging and social media. The author is brilliant, and his thoughts are a must if you’re considering launching a new project.”

Lurie, fellow Seattle resident and online guru, is also right on the money. Copyblogger is an amazing resource of blogging 101 and online marketing information.

The amazing part of this very simple test is breaking it down to the fundamental access to reactive knowledge social media provides. I had four respondents who were all highly qualified professionals, ranging from an expert living here in my city to an expert in Italy.

If you stop for a moment and realize that these four individuals are also in my field of work. They don’t feel any need to horde information or mislead. They instead leverage the medium of social media to expose the knowledge they have to the world. In the case of three respondents, it may mean increased exposure or a contact in a few months when I (or a client) need their niche specialty. For Lurie, it may also get him a free cup of coffee when we compare our favorite cafe choices in the area.

This field test is just a simple example of how much intellectual property exists within professional and social networks. For real estate professionals this benefit can be seen by communicating with industry peers, members on the same teams, or co-workers covering regional and national changes. Providing a method to share and access information found within social networks allows highly skilled members to share high levels of expertise and maximize the economy of scale found with social media.

To learn more about leveraging intellectual property online, see 3net Social Media Marketing Blog. www.socialmediasystems.com/blogs

About the author:
Barry Hurd is president of Social Media Systems, an online marketing and advertising consultant group working with search engine marketing and leveraging social media communities. He has over 15 years of entrepreneurial Internet and online marketing experience. As an author and prolific blogger, he has reached online audiences around the world. Since the mid-1990s, Barry has been involved in numerous efforts to bring forth technical innovation through online business models. Past projects have included NIKE, REI, TMP Worldwide, Monster.com, Verizon Superpages, Intuit, and RISMedia.

Real Estate Hot Topics

Profit Center: Real Estate Tips, Training & Events

RISMedia Solutions

RISMedia on the Go

Today's Featured Listing