A Bold Growth Engine Experiment

I would like to create a Facebook Page for the Growth Engine. The creation of the page is actually a very simple process, so let me explain the logic behind this proposal.

Facebook is one of the fasest growing social media phenomenon on the internet, with over 100 million registered users. It is difficult to explain exactly what Facebook is like, because it really isn't like anything else. But I will try.

Facebook is like a web site, in that each Facebook user creates a profile that is like their "web page." On their profile, they provide basic demographic information -- age, location, gender -- and also have an opportunity to share their interests and hobbies and favorites. They can upload photos and videos, and add custom Facebook applications to their site, such as games and surveys. (Anyone with the know-how can write a Facebook application. It is an open-source (is that the right term?) environment.)

Facebook is a network. One of the main things acebook users do is find and connect with other Facebook users. They find Facebook profiles for friends they already know, or they find profiles of people with a common interest, or they are introduced to (or introduce themselves) new friend who are friends of existing friends.

Facebook is like e-mail in that you can send messages to other friends or groups of friends. If you have something more public to say, you can just write something on their wall -- and all their friends can see it.

Facebook is like all this rolled up in one, because when I post something on my profile page -- let's say I added a photo album of the pictures of New England foliage I hope to take tomorrow -- all my friends receive a notice that I have posted those pictures. All of their friends who happen to look at their profile also see a notice that I have posted pictures, and if they are interested they can click on the link and look at my pictures, too, and, with my permission, add me to their friends list.

It's kind of like those e-mails that you used to get more often than you do now, like an e-mail that lists 100 ways to tell if you're a redneck. Your friend would see a list like that, and think it was funny, and send it to all his friends. The reason you aren't seeing those as often now is because more information like that is being spread via social media like Facebook, and less by tradtional e-mail.

Only months ago, Facebook added a feature to their service that allows companies or causes or organizations to create their own Facebook "page." I mentioned in the second sentence of this tome that this is a very simple process. It is, because you really don't have too much flexibility in what a page looks like. But that's OK, because it is not the node that matters -- it's the network. The amazing marketing and commercial potential in Facebook lies in its interconnectivity. More on that in another post.

Let's just imaginate for a minute. Let's imagine that I create a Facebook page for The Growth Engine. Twice a week, I plagiarize a chapter or an idea from one of Bryan's books (or Gary's or Jane's -- I just don't know if Gary or Jane have written any books). I post this entry on Facebook. Let's also imagine that, when it is born, the Growth Engine Facebook page has 10 subscribers, or, as Facebook calls them, "fans." Let's say that each one of those people has 10 friends linked to their Facebook profile (a very modest estimate). That means 10 people will be exposed to the post directly, and 100 people will be exposed indirectly.

Because Bryan's ideas are so brilliant and my presentation of them is so sagacious, 7 of those 100 indirect contacts add me to their list. So on my next post two or three days later, I have an indirect audience of 163 users. As you can imagine, this number can grow rather rapidly. What I meanstersay is, Pip, imagine if we are giving 163 people -- or 163,000 people -- something that solves a problem for them. Something that makes them a more valuable employee or a better supervisor or a more skilled facilitator. Will we get mindshare if we do that? We will get mindshare if we do that.

It's like publishing a book, Bryan. Why do you publish a book? Because you have good ideas that you want to share with other people. Only the distribution potential for your ideas on the internet is more significant -- much more significant-- than through print media.
Besides, and I just thought of this so it is kind of a non-sequiter, someday soon a client or potential client is going to ask you, "are you doing anything in social media?" If you let me prepare a Facebook page for The Growth Engine, your reply can be a thundering "YES!"

Even though this is, by far, the longest entry on our experimental blog, I am only scratching the surface. There are many other clever things we can do to attract traffic to our site. Separate from AdWords (by Google), Facebook has their own advertising medium. You can target ads to an incredible level of precision, and use these ads to attract people to your Facebook page.

This morning whilst you were in Greenwich, one of the things I did was survey about the first 1/3 of the first drawer in Bryan's first file cabinet. The main thing I was looking for was names. I pulled 92 names out of the files -- ranging, I am sure, from Senior Executives to Ideation Session participants. A quick survey of about 12 of those names found half of them on Facebook. That is where we get our foundation of fans for the Growth Engine Facebook page.

This can be the beginning of a virtuous cycle. I am sure you will have many questions. All I need to get started is your permission and a copy of your book.