Using Lethal Generosity in Social Media

    

              [Jeremiah Owyang, a pioneer in lethal generosity. Photo by Shel]

It's a term I had  used before, but somehow when I used it at a recent KD Paine & Partners, off-campus client meeting, I saw it jell in the eyes of a few folks in the audience. I call it "lethal generosity," the concept that the most generous members of any social media company are the most credible and influential and as such, they can devastate their competition in the marketplace.

In short, the company whose representative posts the most tips, links, advice, case studies, best practices that followers find useful will always rises to the top, not just in influence but also in search results. The more outbound links you post, the more inbound links you are likely to receive.

One of my favorite illustrations is ancient in social media--over two years old.  Jeremiah Owyang is a senior analyst at Forrester Research and a recognized online community expert. A couple of years back he was at Hitachi Data Systems (HDS), a global leader in data storage a category that to many of us is as strategically important to the modern organization as it is conversationally boring.

Yet there is a a very active data storage community. There are people who dedicate their lives to improving data storage and customers who have great passion for the topic. Companies rise and fall on the issue of data storage and protection. I met Jeremiah at a conference where a competitor was on stage talking and he was relegated to listening from the audience. Both Jeremiah and his own boss, Hu Yoshida had moderately successful blogs but neither had captured the hearts and minds of their community.

Jeremiah was working this problem. He had recently sipped social media's Kool Aid and was pondering what he could possibly do in social media that could possibly help HDS.

His answer was to start a wiki. And when he did, he added a stroke of brilliance. Instead of making it an Hitachi Wiki, he opened it to all members of the data storage community, vendors, customers, press, analysts--anyone who cared. Jeremiah welcomed competitors. People came to the wiki and discussed ideas and concerns. They answered each other's questions. Any vendor could jump into any discussion. Hitachi never tried to dominate the conversation, but merely participated just like any other data storage vendor.

I forget what the wiki ws actually called, and could not find it through a quick Google search this morning. It had a generic name with no mention to HDS. But it was usually referred to in conversations. People knew that Hitachi was behind this preemptive act of generosity. Throughout the community, the wiki was called the "Hitachi Wiki."  Hitachi was recognized as  the thought leader.

This is an example of "lethal generosity." Every time a competitor joined into the wiki conversation, it re-enforced Hitachi's leadership. If it did not join in, it was visibly boycotting a place customers found valuable. Lethal.

In social media, the best way to beat your competition is to be more generous with anything that your customer values. In blogs, you are served best by sending people away through links. In Twitter, as Chris Brogan, one of that community's prominent thought leaders advises people to write a dozen times about other subjects for every time a Tweeter talks about his or herself.

This is about as far away from the aging command and control philosophy as you can get. n today's competitive environment, you need to understand that the customer is in control. If you want to win, give the customer what the customer wants. If you do this often enough and credibly enough it will be brutal to your competitors--unless the competitor rises to the occasion and tries to "out-generous" you back.

In either case, the customer wins and that is really what social media is all about.

Comments

[Marc Meyer]

Shel before I read the post, I thought that the 2 terms were mutually exclusive if not oxymoronic. But I agree with you Jeremiah and Chris are both prime examples of 2 people that give way more than they need to or should but they consistently go above and beyond the call to deliver time and time again.

[Dan Schawbel]

Shel, you just nailed it! The more you give, the more you get back. Many people are selfish and take and take from others. It's easy to stand out amongst a crowd if you give before you receive. Jeremiah is an excellent example of a positive brand activist, who is able to advise other people and companies with simple blog posts.

I bet he's pulled in a lot of clients because of his blog and hard work.

[The Lovable Rogue]

It seems like it should be obvious doesn't it; the more you help others, the greater the return. Kind of like electronic karma...! I agree Shel, the social media seems to represent a viable means of helping to contribute to existing knowledge. By collaboratively enhancing available knowledge and granting greater access to it, the customer is bound to benefit one way or another.

Thank you for the insight.

[Jeremiah Owyang]

Wow, this is really a tremendous post, I'm not quite sure how to respond. Thanks is a good one, since you've been with me every step of this journey, helping, mentoring and being a friend.

Thanks Shel. The data storage wiki has been turned off about a year after I left, reasons unknown to me.

[Heather Rast]

I enjoyed this post and wholeheartedly concur with your callouts about Jeremiah and Chris. I'm still a newbie, active in online communities less than 6 months, but it only takes a minute to recognize their earnest interest in sharing and growing together with others.

A bit more of your post resonated with me, too--
"This is an example of "lethal generosity." Every time a competitor joined into the wiki conversation, it re-enforced Hitachi's leadership. If it did not join in, it was visibly boycotting a place customers found valuable. Lethal. In social media, the best way to beat your competition is to be more generous with anything that your customer values."--
Succinctly put, there is pure brilliance about the preemptive ownership of thought leadership--even if its collective thought leadership. Eliminating client pain points by giving freely and easily will ultimately place a company in a more enviable position. After all, what greater demonstration of confidence and security than to welcome the client, the skeptic, the competitor, the news analyst into your inner circle?

[Chris Brogan...]

I'm grateful for the mention, and I have to tell you, so far this methodology has served me well. I never want for work, and I'm endlessly in the opportunity to help others.

You're great for mentioning me. : )

[shel israel]

Chris/Jeremiah, Consider my mention as acts of lethal generosity.

[frank]

Jeremiah, Chris and You are 3 people that I have quickly latched on to in learning how to 'be' in the social media world. Each of you have helped be a more educated individual when it comes to participating and engaging in SM.

One thing that is loud and clear to anyone listening to the 3 of you ... we must add value, participate and be a giver to our communities.

This post show's the power of those things!

--
http://twitter.com/franswaa

[Lucretia Pruitt]

I love this article - if only because it more firmly enforces the belief that I have that I have so much to learn from you, Jeremiah, and Chris.

It's good to know that I stumbled on to the right role models accidentally. But then, I guess it wasn't really an accident, was it? :)

[Ginger Kenney]

Wonderful post Shel, and though I am a newbie too, have to say it is apparent pretty quickly which people are self promoting and which people are really generous. I wholeheartedly agree with your examples, Jeremiah and Chris, and there are more, including you. Thank you for what you do.

[chat]

thanks

[Katie Paine]

Once again you have invaded my mind and borrowed some thoughts that were swirling around there and made them oh so much better and far more articulate!

[shel israel]

KD,
It was the Vulcan Party, where we danced cheek to cheek. Mind melds are so cool.

[e-okul]

I love this article - if only because it more firmly enforces the belief that I have that I have so much to learn from you, Jeremiah, and Chris.

It's good to know that I stumbled on to the right role models accidentally. But then, I guess it wasn't really an accident, was it? :)