I wrote a post for a blog that I'm guest writing on for Hollard South Africa, the insurance company, but I thought it is quite pertinent to share it on my social media space too :-)

You could call this your first instalment in social media knowledge sharing but I'd like to just start a conversation with you...

What do you consider important about a discussion with a friend or work colleague? You're probably have three things in common with the mental list a lot of people are now making about this subject, and it probably goes a little somthing like this: 1. it must be meaningful, 2. it must make sense and lastly, 3. it's even better when it is humorous.

Now the reason that I mention these 3 important assets is because of the impact that they could have on business. Think about it, if you as a comsumer, seek a decent response that is in a language that you could share and deliberate in then wouldn't it be easier to relate to the said company in a more constructive way?

That is why, as business leaders and innovators, it is vital that we start digesting books like "The Cluetrain Manifesto", which seeks to look at how ineffective traditional marketing in business has become due to the insurgence of the "user-generated" Web i.e. the uprising of 'social media' as we know it.

This book contains 95 theses relating to the subject that the four authors call "the end of business as usual". Now, in its very nature, Cluetrain is very provocative, but its essence is to get businesses to understand that there is change in the appearance of the so-called 'markets' that they advertise to, and it is not necessarily that they are any different to the 'demographics' that they use to market to certain groups of people.

It speaks more to the collective intelligence of human beings and how their sharing of knowledge affects business as we know it. It's quite an interesting read and I'll be using it to tackle simpler subjects that pertains to social media and business.

Stay tuned for more, coming soon!