Web
2.0: A Strategy Guide--New
from O'Reilly
Business Thinking and Strategies
Behind Successful Web
2.0 Implementations
Sebastopol,
CA—Web 2.0 makes headlines,
but how does it make money? That
question puzzles countless heads
of companies who know they
should have a strategy for Web
2.0 but don't quite understand
what it's all about. Author Amy
Shuen can add other questions to
the mix:
-
How is Web
2.0 different from the Web
1.0 dot-com boom and bust?
-
How does
Google offer "the world's
knowledge" to searchers for
free and still make more
than 10 billion in revenue,
grow 68%, and have a stock
market valuation of close to
$200 billion?
-
What could
possibly make Flickr--a
two-year-old photo-sharing
startup--worth $40 million
to Yahoo!, a video-sharing
YouTube worth $1.6 billion
to Google, or a social
networking site called
Facebook worth the
equivalent of $15 billion to
Microsoft?
-
Is Web 2.0
about corporate blogging,
wikis and podcasting, or
something else entirely?
|
|
Amy
Shuen's new book
Web 2.0: A Strategy
Guide (O'Reilly, US
$24.99) answers these
questions, and explains
what's different about
Web 2.0 and how those
differences can improve
your company's bottom
line. Using real-life
examples, Shuen
demonstrates how various
companies, large and
small, are creating new
opportunities on today's
Web and shows how you
can apply the same
strategies to your own
business. |
"You're already
an integral part of the Web 2.0
business economy," Shuen
explains. "Every time you click
on Google, Wikipedia, eBay, or
Amazon, you are sparking
'network effects.' If you use a
Flickr-enabled cell phone or
tune in to iTunes podcasts or
check Yahoo! Finance for stock
quotes, you are creating
monetizable value for
businesses--even if you don't
actually buy anything."
Rather than
focus on the technology, the
examples in
Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide
concentrate on its effect. You
will learn that creating a Web
2.0 business, or integrating Web
2.0 strategies with your
existing business, means
creating places online where
people like to come together to
share what they think, see, and
do. When people come together
over the Web, the result can be
much more than the sum of the
parts. The customers themselves
help build the site, as
old-fashioned "word of mouth"
becomes hypergrowth.
"I wrote the
book to change the mindset and
answer the questions that
colleagues, CEOs, MBAs,
technical managers, investors,
and analysts--informally or in
one of my exec ed programs or
consulting projects--would ask
me about the 'buzz and hype'
surrounding Web 2.0 companies
and projects," says Shuen,
adding that her audience
includes any of these people who
want to thrive and survive in a
hyper-networked Web 2.0 economy.
According to Tim
O'Reilly, there is still a lot
left to learn about Web 2.0.
"The Web 2.0 revolution
continues," he says in his
foreword to the book, "and every
day, entrepreneurs are finding
new ways to apply the principles
of Web 2.0. I expect more
surprises and new success
stories. But for now, this book
is the best starting point for
any company that wants to
understand and apply
Internet-era business strategy."
Amy Shuen is an
internationally recognized
authority on Silicon Valley
business models and innovation
economics, frequent speaker at
industry conferences and venture
capital events, and an
award-winning strategy
researcher.
