The biggest news in tech this week is that Yahoo! finally appointed a replacement for their known-to-swear-a-lot and former top-dog, Carol Bartz. They’ve appointed little-known Scott Thompson from PayPal.

But the much more fun/entertaining/frightening tech news is Rupert Murdoch joined Twitter. Really joined. No spoof account (that was his wife’s). No digital sidekick thumbing his tweets. No pseudonyms, social media gurus or ghost writers, just 100% unfettered, real-time access to our Rupes.

Love him or loath him (okay, I can probably guess which), this had to make the news wires. He started up on New Year’s eve and quickly courted controversy with (now deleted) quips like, “Maybe Brits have too many holidays for broke country!”

John Prescott must’ve found a dose of irony in a belated Christmas cracker and tweeted, “Welcome to Twitter…@rupertmurdoch. I’ve left you a Happy New Year message on my voicemail!”

It’s oh so easy to mock from the sidelines. Social media invented the term snark – and then used it in abundance. But this has got the hallmarks of a Charlie Sheenesque car crash all over it.

He’s obviously got every right to join the Twitterati but what’s his motivation here? I’ll show them all I’m not an evil bugger? I’ll prove to the world I’ve still got all my marbles? He’s not exactly in need of headlines, or a wider network.

Some are indicating he’s promoting his own products by saying “Great oped inWSJ today,” and “Very proud of fox team who made this great film,” and “Got to watch Foxnews at 5 EST.” Sure they’re all in his portfolio but his marketing teams would have to be pretty desperate to script that!

No, I think his top execs will all be frantically dreaming up ‘seriously pressing business emergencies’ that need his urgent and full attention. And his PR and comms teams will be praying Twitter falls over every 20 minutes like it used to in the early days.

In their shoes, I’d be tempted to sneak one of those Hollywood-style, CIA speced wi-fi blockers into his briefcase… or break his thumbs.

Given his opening salvo, it’s more than difficult to see this going well. I think it’ll end in either:
a) a fizzle, as Mr M gets bored of trying to be fab in 140 characters and lets the account doze off, or
b) in the furore of a NoTW closure but without the job losses.

I attended Doug Richard’s School for Startups recently. The title is a bit of a misnomer as the day had nothing specifically to do with starting a business, but it did have plenty of action points for marketing.

The day was fast-paced with lecture-style talks from Mr Richard and three colleagues. Let’s be honest, you go to see the formidable Doug Richard in action and he opened the sessions with a broad talk about business and how little we actually control. See him in action here.

I was immediately stunned about how intelligent this [former] Dragon is. He reminded me of an economics lecturer I had who could tell what day of the week you were born on within about three seconds of knowing your date of birth (he’d run a cunning formula in his head).

The 120 or so business folk were scared to answer DR’s open questions for fear of engaging this razor sharp mind. You really do need your A game if you’re going to talk business with this guy, even your own business. A chap in the audience volunteered to describe his own organisation. Big mistake. DR took his ‘elevator pitch,’ highlighted several inadequacies and spat it back at the business owner with such flare that everyone else was writing it down thinking they’d plagiarise it for themselves.

But Richard’s cohort found that uber-sharp standard a tough act to follow. They gave us a social media-is-great talk with the obligatory Will it Blend video. We had a pay per click is-the-quickest-win talk complete with incomprehensibly small screen shots. Finally we had an ecommerce-is-the-place-to-be talk from an ex-Amazon exec.

I’m sure these chaps are great in their own right, but they’d been asked to cut their usual one day training sessions down to an hour or so and you felt they’d done it on the train that morning. Then again, it was government funded social enterprise (free entry) so I certainly couldn’t say I’d overpaid.

They had 120 or so small and micro businesses in the room and they broad stroked most areas. Granted, there is never going to be time in such bootcamps for massive details, but not one of the team had researched a company in attendance and come with examples of how they could improve what they were already doing online.

For me, social media is about authenticity and credibility and I don’t think SMEs new to the arena would’ve heard that message. They could’ve demonstrated more of the beauty of listening; of how to monitor the conversation and engage without stalking.

They could’ve run us through existing clients and demonstrated how their real-world social, PPC and on-page ecommerce work had resulted in X% growth this year for their architect, or bakery, or gym (you get the idea).

The standard for these online training sessions/bootcamps is rarely going to catapult your marketing endeavours, but I have to say these guys did let out several nuggets amongst some pretty awful PowerPoint.

Bravo to Doug Richard for undertaking this philanthropic project. Bravo to his team for willing to give away insight (without charge). And bravo to the local authorities for saying yes.

If you get the chance, please do go – I promise seeing DR’s business mind in action is as an inspiring an afternoon as you can get without involving an Olympic athlete or a war hero.

Twitter is front page news this week but a friend emailed me asking my thoughts on something other than super injunctions. He wrote, “If twitter’s all about engaging with people, conversations not campaigns etc, why is @delloutlet doing so well? Both in followers, and in direct revenue according to them. It goes against everything I’ve read you should do. What do you think of it?”

Well, I think it’s because of a number of factors:

• There are no real rules to Twitter (even if there are nuanced subtleties);
• Even if there were rules that dictate against such obvious selling tactics, there would be exceptions too;
• Tweets are a broadcast of whatever you choose – some tweet their blog, others tweet their photos, thoughts, videos or jokes. Why shouldn’t Dell’s mention deals;
• Best practice isn’t common practice (physical exercise and a good diet are surely the best example here);
• People will always want bargains and IT buyers know what lives at the end of this rainbow (check Brand Alley for another strong clearance example);
• Engagement is a plethora of choice – I want the Sunday Times in physical paper but I like most of my other news digitally. If I want to engage Dell’s bargains this way, then that’s what I’ll do.

We live in a hit and run culture, flitting from place to place with ever decreasing attention spans. With 1.5+million followers and peerless sales conversion, Dell is clearly providing something of value of kudos to plenty.

What about you? How are you using Twitter in business?

Do you like business books that inspire you to move into action, or books that break down what someone did in their business? If it’s the former then this month has seen a couple of excellent releases for you:

Gary Vaynerchuk is a hustler. His second book, The Thank You Economy is out this week. Gary took his father’s wine store turnover from $4m to $69m inside 5 years. He hustled. He expanded. He served. He innovated. He grew. He succeeded. This guy is someone you should hook into.

Seth Godin has released a short 70-odd page book called, Poke The Box. It’s about starting things, kicking off and shipping. Like so many of his short pieces he’s asking you to DO something.

A third beauty that I haven’t got ‘round to yet is Evil Plans: Having Fun on the Road to World Domination from Hugh MacLeod. It’s also his second release and another offering insight into an Internet and marketing powerhouse.

Enjoy (and then DO something).

The Internet has only really been around for the masses since Microsoft brought us Windows 95 and the ever-present Internet Explorer. But over 15 years on, digital and digital marketing still remains a bolt on for many businesses that should really know better.

I’m always amazed when strong marketers tell me their marketing director (not HR or finance director) doesn’t know anything about digital or ‘The Web.’ This leaves the marketing managers or their assistants to direct any digital impact the firm achieves.

I mean, where the hell have they been for the past decade and a half, writing Yellow Pages ads?

This digital-is-an-extra-component mindset is the equivalent to the outdoor toilet. For decades the home toilet lived in the back garden. It was an outhouse; an extra to the main building. Of course, modernisation took place and toilets thankfully now live a lot closer to the bedroom.

Directors who think marketing is a whole load of ‘stuff’ plus a bit of digital on the side are dinosaurs. There’s a sea change coming thanks to digital TV and smartphones that beggars belief compared to what we have today, and these dinosaurs need to get on the bandwagon.

Not seeing digital as an integral part of your marketing and communications is as antiquated as an outdoor loo. Quaint, but terribly ineffective for all concerned.

Linked In added the Signal this week. It’s a new product that, “gives you a whole new way to consume information and news that’s most relevant to you as a professional.” Hmm…

The trouble is, I fervently disagree with those who hook up their Twitter feed to Linked In. It’s failing to understand that different media responds best to different inputs. Facebook expects some silly photos from Saturday night. Myspace expects music choices. Twitter expects inspiration, updates and whimsical thoughts. Linked In expects business. They can cross-pollinate one another, but they’re much better if treated as silos.

Sending one feed through all your social networks is like wearing the same clothes to a rugby match, to a dinner party, to a nightclub and to the office i.e. lacking in thought and effort.

That said, I completely understand that Linked In needs to evolve. Its recent IPO shows a clear hunger (or should that be need?) for growth. But is Signal pandering to the world’s over sharers, or an innovative addition to business networking. My fear is that I’m welcomed by dross like this when I log in:
I’m not sure repeating every BBC news article you’ve read is worthy of showing anyone in Twitter, let alone why on earth you’d bore your business connections with them. What possible added value can it create for either party?

The undeniable truth is The Web now has a pulse. We’ve got to hope that those with the stethoscopes ensure we skim the cream off the milk, not drown us with the Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga drivel that threatens us from all angles of our browsers.

If Linked In can be that authoritative filter, then I’m all ears. I guess that’s what digital arbitration looks like.

If an online company can act as a business lens to the Internet then who would you like it to be? Whose opinion and authority would you like to vet the world of the web?

A website isn’t a necessity for every single business in existence but few would argue it’s a massive opportunity.

When business people ask my opinion about website designers or what type of site they should employ, I say 90% should use a blog. This will usually cause a lifted eyebrow or two as the word blog invokes thoughts of lunch diaries and public letters to mummy. The truth is they make a brilliant platform on which to build your digital presence but they do need some technical skill to make them look more like a modern website than a free blog.

But Getting British Business Online is my new recommendation. It’s a free website and a free URL (i.e. website address or name, which doesn’t necessarily have to be your business name) thanks to a joint initiative between BT, Google, e-skills UK and Enterprise UK.

To quote their site “It’s simple:
1.    Choose a website address
2.    Select and customise a template
3.    Publish your website”

Point any new website starters you know here – Christmas is sticking around for a while longer.

Robert Tyler started the blog ‘I hate Ryanair’ back in February 2007. It really does what it says on the tin by publicising any and all grievances with Ryanair, ‘the World’s most hated airline’ according to Tyler and plenty of his readers.

The comment section of his blog extends the frustration and anger further still as customers are ‘shafted for hidden fees etc.’

Some would say it’s freedom of speech which the Internet breeds like a petree dish left in the sun. Poor service getting called out is perfectly fair, right? After all, there’s nothing stopping fans creating a nemesis site, ‘I love Ryanair.’

The most surprising part of this is that Michael O’Leary hasn’t got thicker skin. He’s dragged Tyler to Nominet (the body that handle domain name disputes) in order to prise the domain name off him. O’Leary’s been successful not because of proven slander or business malice, but because Tyler had made money on the back of Ryanair’s name.

Tyler would’ve been on safe ground if he hadn’t clocked up a paltry £322 from commercial links to travel and currency exchange firms.

It’s ironic that an airline known to move the goal posts saw Tyler do just that when complying with the ruling by giving up the address ihateryanair.co.uk. He’s moved it to ihateryanair.org.

Touché.

Photo credit: BBC

GAP changed their logo recently. And promptly changed it back.

Writing about the flip, GAP president, Marka Hansen said in the Huffington Post, “given the passionate outpouring from customers that followed, we’ve decided to engage in the dialogue, take their feedback on board and work together as we move ahead and evolve to the next phase of Gap.”

Unsurprisingly they’re playing it down. A spokesperson for Gap said the cost of the roll out was “minimal, almost inconsequential.” Still, costs or no costs, if you believe all advertising is good advertising, this somewhat stale brand has had a new lease of life.

< Old school logo (binned but now back)

< Shortlived new logo with small blue box

[funniest take on the fiasco is here.]

Another recent design about-face is at Digg, the social news website. Newly appointed CEO Matt Williams has had to publicly apologise to fans for a design instigated before he’d even got his security pass. Williams said in a blog post, “…we’re deeply sorry that we disappointed… we hear you loud and clear.” They’ve since “been reinstating a number of the features that many of you loved about Digg.”

Humility not hubris seems to be the new design watchword. If you’ve got more than a dozen Facebook fans you’d better crowdsource your new home page, your logo, your typeface and your uniform change. Underestimate how people feel about your brand at your peril. In our infoculture, when executives’ expenses are published on intranets and your MD and CEO broadcast on Twitter, everyone wants more involvement and more understanding.

And let’s be honest, apart from denting the ego of a Don Draperesque designer, what’s there to lose? Your biggest fans will have weighed in either from scratch or critiquing your pro stuff and their comments or design elements might actually be worth taking forward. You could put the best of the bunch to a public vote and even get some extra PR juice from the affair.

Of course it does mean a change of mindset in that your brand is not your own. Stakeholder is an overused term in business but customers (or is that fans?), despite not owning equity, have more of a stake in your business than ever before, thanks to the closeness of modern marketing.

And boy do they like to let you know about it.

I met someone this week that thinks they were burgled because they tweeted that they were away from home (i.e. London, when their location says Brighton). Such scare stories are only more likely as location-based services begin to make traction.

Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite, Loopt, Yelp etc are still in their relevant infancies but with Facebook launching Places and smartphone take-up sky rocketing, these services/games are going to thrive. They’re not there yet simply because the reason for broadcasting isn’t compelling enough.

Somewhat negatively for a social media darling, Chris Brogan wrote recently, “I’m just not always keen on decloaking for social-only reasons.” I wouldn’t if I was him either; with 146,000 Twitter followers he’s going to be mobbed and spammed big time.

Users are struggling to find a real value in location at the moment but with generation Y willing to publish everything about themselves, I can’t imagine decloaking and revealing location being a worry for them. It’s more likely the opposite as they ‘like’ and ‘check in’ at bars, cafes, clubs, shops and places all over world.

As usual, John Battelle voices the clearest business connect, “…location aware services are not yet a cultural habit, in particular ambient ones. But it won’t be long before we assume that our public presence is, in effect, a search, one for which we will expect a response from any number of potential respondents.”

There are some clever early adopters though. Example: Daily Candy will point you to ‘current local happenings like designer sales, spa deals, and underground concerts,’ as you travel around New York, but we’ve not really seen anything yet.

So marketers will create places pages inside Facebook and scramble to offer you discounts to broadcast you’re in the cinema, coffee shop or wine bar. And, inevitably, the privacy debate will become mainstream news (read ACLU’s concerns).

Location is marketing’s unconquered frontier (and privacy the debate to come). But not for much longer.

Photo credit: Kerryvaugan