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It looks like the Google guys are at it again making our lives better or taking over the world depending on where you sit.  With the official launch of Google Wave this week, Google has made an attempt to bridge the chasm between email, wikis, instant messaging and social media creating a truly interactive communications system where groups can collaborate to make decisions, create documents, flush out new ideas and catalog the entire process.

My web development team is spread out over several continents and having the ability to collaborate, pulling in rich content from the web and documenting the process for future reference has real potential. But before you get too excited, the devil is in the details. Even if your business team is not as geographically diverse you can use Wave to make your posse more effective and to build relationships with customers and clients.

Smiley Face: Wave benefits

1. You can keep waves private, invite defined groups or let the public
   in
2. In real time you can drag and drop web content into the wave (video, google maps, photos, etc)
3. Co-create documents with your team
4. Embed waves in your websites and blogs to add fresh content
5. Pull people together to quickly make decisions and document the process (the playback feature shows a recording of a wave’s history, how the wave was built up)
6. Wave robots can interface with other systems like Twitter that have an Application Programming Interface (API) enabling interaction with social web communities.
7. The translation robot enables real time translation, so you can communicate with people who don’t speak your language

Thumbs Down: Negatives

1. You will need other tools for voice and video chat
2. Requires the Google Chrome browser (with a special plugin), Safari or Firefox browser.  Currently there is no support for Internet Explorer which is a bummer for a product touted as anywhere/anytime access
3. With large groups it can be challenging to make heads or tails of the communications stream, the wave
4. There are no controls to pause input from your wave guests, so the “conversation” can really get out of hand quickly

Is Wave the future of web communication and collaboration?  Well, I’m not ready to cancel my Twitter or DimDim (web conference) accounts just yet.  After a few generations of refinement and evolution I believe Wave will become a useful tool for business cooperation but for now it feels a little like the iPad, a market test for the integrating multiple tools.  Add voice, video, tighter integration with the Google Apps environment and I think they have something but what the heck, it’s free!

I recently had a website client who obsessed so much over trying to project the image that his company was bigger than it was in reality. After several weeks of searching for stock images of board rooms filled with smiling executes I posed the question, “what if we embrace your small size, emphasizing the benefits of high touch and client focus?” As it turned out we were onto something.

The truth about size…

Prolific blogger and consultant to many a Fortune 500 company, Chris Brogan runs a very small business and he makes no attempt to hide its size.  He is small and does not fit the corporate cultural mode but he has valuable social media expertise that his clients don’t and because he gives them baby-like attention, the big boys come to him in droves.

Being a small firm; even a one or two person shop reduces overhead lowering costs that you can pass along to your clients. Your light weight puts you in a better position to adopt new technologies and processes than your larger competitors who have entrenched work forces and huge capital investments to contend with.  Finally as a small fry, your business can more nimbly partner with complimentary firms and reduce the time it takes to get your products to market.

Power to the people…

There has never been a better time to be small.  With so much free and next to free technologies available your small business is well positioned to thrive, so be what you are…be small.

How do you take advantage of small?

My company recently donated the development of a new website to a local non-profit and while explaining the workings of the new system to the founder I blurted out, “how do you plan to let people know about your new site?”  After several seconds of silence and head scratching, I shared these thoughts below.

1. Notify your mailing list:  Send an email announcement to your mailing list asking subscribers to visit the new site and forward the url to contacts they feel could use your services.  This works particularly well if your site is filled with useful “Ah-Ha” moment, educational content instead of pushy sales pitches.
2. Send a Press release:   Send a press release to your local media announcing the site launch.  Remember the media does not care about your business, so make your site launch pitch relevant to the publication’s audience. If you are pitching your story to the newspaper’s business section try an angle like, “Local firm beats recession using new web strategy…” Nowadays papers are always interested in recession beating stories.
3. Reach out to hot prospects:  Send a website launch announcement to any hot prospective clients currently in your sales funnel. Again, make it relevant to your contacts, many of whom really don’t care that you have a new website but they might be interested in new features that would benefit them as a client.
4. Tap online, social networks:  Spend a bit of your social capitol and partner with Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn fans on a meaningful announcement to their online spheres of influence.

Okay, I have “talked” enough…What is your experience?

               Office 2.0 explained by the folks at Current.com

Unless you are an Internet and new media geek like me you might not be familiar with the concept of co-working.  If you are up on the idea, you probably know the answer to this joke, what did the proton say to the electron?  Co-working is a net-age twist on the business incubator concept where freelancers, independent contractors and solopreneurs share an office space in lieu of working from home or at a coffee shop.

In addition to spreading office overhead costs (rent, receptionist, utilities, etc) the collective gains from the creative energy created by a group of like-minded professionals seeking similar ends. 

What is Jelly?

NY roommates Amit Gupta and Luke Crawford wanted to bring some creative energy and break through inspiration to their work-at-home experience, so in the spirit of co-working they invited a few friends to their place once a week and the Jelly was officially launched.  Their weekly meet-ups quickly attracted a diverse group of business owners from Internet start up champions to wine consultants and everything in between. “…cool things happen and you get insights…in an hour you can do what it takes weeks to do”, says one Jellyer.

People have found new homes, launched Internet businesses, received marketing advice and met new friends all through the Jelly experience.  Collaboration is the next “killer application” so jump on it.

How can Jelly help your business?

Following the Jelly model or customizing your own co-working experience really can shorten the distance between where you are now and business success.  Below are a few opportunities to consider:

1. Split the cost of a virtual assistant
2. Collaborate on creation of a local media list for PR efforts
3. Bounce ideas off one another
4. Share business leads
5. Create a list of go-to business resources (website hosts, accountants, lawyers, etc.)
6. Add your suggestions as comments below

So, what did the proton say to the electron?