For up-to-the-minute observations about the future of work and the factors that influence it, follow me on Twitter @dwrasmus1.

The latest Wordle on the blog:

Thank you for reading. If you are new to the blog, perhaps this cloud will inspire you to dig deeper.

Thanks again. Dan

A July 25 article in the Economist (Co-operation in the ether) demonstrates how technology can facilitate dialog across boundaries couched in politics and space. I find their ability to meet physically in a small outpost (a gas station on the Jerusalem-Jericho road) that doesn’t seem to care about the prejudices and policies of the lands occupied by residents who share the system called G.ho.st (global hosted operating system). We need to learn from these small examples how dialog, common interest and cooperation can turn conflict into innovation.

Co-operation in the ether, The Economist

A current CRM Magazine article (New Social Media Not Helping Sales) says what the title implies. Sales people are hard pressed to document how social media is helping expand revenue.

A few things to think about. Knowledge and relationships don't translate directly to sales in way that can easily be tracked. Think about white papers. We write these to change perceptions, create arguments for our point-of-view or to help educate customers. White papers can't be linked directly to sales. Leads perhaps, but not to sales. A sale is a transaction that takes place when the customer is willing to commit to an investment. Many things go into preparing them to make the commitment. Social media should be seen through that lens. It should be seen as a way to understand customers, cost effectively communicate with them in broad ways, making them aware, for instance, of new white papers you think would be important for them to know about - in the world of twitter, retweet tweets and links you think customers should care about. Help filter - add emphasis - don't add to the noise, create value - and listen.

Social media continues to evolve. We can't take a snapshot analysis and read much into it about how we should behave now or in the future because we haven't even started asking the right questions. If you believe your network of relationships helps keep your customers closer, and if you think that is valuable, or perhaps more pointedly, your customers think you help create value, then that value will accrue when it comes down to more hours, renewals of licenses or just more. In an economic downturn value more so than ever is perceived as part of the package. If you add value in more ways than expected, then you are more likely to be a supplier of choice rather than a supplier on the edge.