The rush to build Web 2.0 technologies reminds some observers of the wild run-up to the Internet bubble during the late 1990s.However, users and analysts say there is a significant difference this time: Customers are demanding that businesses use wikis, blogs, podcasts, widgets and social networks to communicate with them, and many businesses are already responding to that demand.
Vendors no longer need to create a corporate use for new technologies out of thin air, they noted.
Joseph Jang, director of marketing at mortgage banking company Liberty Financial Group Inc. in Bellevue, Wash., said his company plans to use Zoodango Inc.’s social network to boost brand recognition with a block of customers the company hasn’t reached using more traditional outlets.
The company and its 80-plus loan officers will post profiles on the Seattle-based vendor’s site to generate leads and better interact with users, Jang said. “[Social networking] promotes aspects of interaction you haven’t had before between consumers and the business,” he said. “This is a living, breathing thing. It will evolve as it goes along.” [24×7]
An American Postal Revolution
Not since Benjamn Franklin invented the early-American postal service 225 years ago has anyone outlined such a major shift in the evolution of the postal industry than a Seattle company which announced Remote Control Earth Class Mail today.
With EarthClass Mail, Remote Control Mail™ is leveraging the power of the Internet to launch a postal revolution.
The concept provides for a shift in how postal mail gets delivered: In online form, available anytime, anywhere, and as easily managed as email or voicemail. Online mail is “Earth Class” because it’s global, allowing mail to be delivered to addressees no matter where in the world they are, electronically. And, it is “Earth Class” in the many ways that it helps postal operators and marketers reduce their environmental impact.
Viewing postal mail online was inevitable. From college students, snow birds, and frequent travelers, to companies with far-flung offices and telecommuting employees, people are less likely to be tied to a permanent address, and are used to receiving every other form of communication electronically these days. Even phone service has succumbed to the Internet. [24×7]
