Of mouse and man

WORD OF MOUSE
101+ Trends in How We Buy, Sell, Live, Learn, Work, and Play
Marc Ostrofsky
Simon & Schuster
223 pages; Rs 599

The phrase "what happens on the internet stays on the internet" may read like an unoriginal variation of the famous saying about Las Vegas. But, in truth, nothing summarises the power of the World Wide Web better. We are living in an age in which the old saying "it takes money to make money" isn't valid any more. The internet is the new Las Vegas, where new business ideas and technologies are sprouting by the minute and millions are being made in the process.

In Word of Mouse, Marc Ostrofsky, who is known for selling the domain name Business.com for $7.5 million, provides a treasure trove of new business ideas and case studies on how to leverage the power of the internet. From personal branding in the age of social media to how to use YouTube and database marketing to building a brand online, Mr Ostrofsky's book offers a wide range of answers to varying business needs. Moreover, he highlights the business opportunities that can be created by combining our knee-jerk and very human willingness to disseminate information about us with the lack of privacy that is the by-product of the internet age.

Although the Googles and the Facebooks of the world have made it easier to compare products and prices, and to find doctors or real estate listings, they have also made it easy for others to find information about you. Do you know there are companies making millions just by managing your online reputation? Mugshots.com and Reputation.com are among a few online reputation managers that specialise in making damaging information difficult to find by altering the results produced by search engines.

If you think this is a mind-blowing business idea, think again. Companies such as InnoCentive and Guru.com are changing the current workplace with their out-of-the-cubical innovative solutions. Generation Y, or the millennials, will not wait for companies to accommodate its needs. Amid the chaos of an evolving and aggressively competitive workplace, businesses need to embrace technological changes - or else they run the risk of being outsourced. Companies such as InnoCentive, an open network of millions of problem solvers who connect on a cloud-based platform to innovate, solve problems and facilitate research and development, and Guru.com, which is an online workplace for people who are tired of their nine-to-five jobs and is currently the world's biggest marketplace for hiring freelance workers, are leveraging this tectonic shift in workforce practices by using co-working and crowd-sourcing techniques.

No book on new technology can be complete without mention of Big Data analytics. Whether you are a small-business owner or a stay-at-home mother with an online hobby, it never hurts to know who is visiting your website and why. The more information you have, the higher are the chances for you to give your customers what they want and build your own online community. Mr Ostrofsky rightly says, "The dollars are in the data". The key to an organisation's success in terms of metrics is to have someone on board who can analyse and understand the company's data. There are companies, such as Hadoop and Google Analytics, that can level the playing fields between the big boys and mom-and-pop operations. They are free services that generate detailed data about website visitors. Whether you think this new world of data collection is a road to smarter consumerism or an invasion of privacy is up to you.

Locker Project is one such company. The firm makes it possible for people to access and aggregate their personal data. For example, you can give your interior designer access to your data so that she can gain a complete understanding of your tastes and interests. The concept works like a container of personal data that gives the owner the ability to control how the information is protected and shared.

If these examples do not pique your interest, consider this: Printer Bees, a print and marketing solutions company that outsources small business marketing needs, debunks conventional wisdom by tapping empty mailboxes rather than flooded inboxes. For print marketing, there is no competition at the mailbox. The company puts quick response (QR) codes on clients' printed marketing pieces. It says it is the fastest way to reach a person's mobile phone and combine print and online marketing.

Mr Ostrofsky has made the book very interactive; each chapter is followed by QR codes, which are just like bar codes but better. The difference is that it takes you instantly to a webpage when scanned by a smartphone. This makes the book a perfect audio-and-visual experience. Although the book has three introductions and the volume of advice may seem too much to handle in places, the interactive case studies from companies that benefited from using new technology make it an interesting read. All in all, it is a useful assimilation of trends, case studies, forecasts, and tips of the world's most powerful disruptive force to date.