There in the dentist waiting room sat Entrepreneur Magazine. I had forgotten about that magazine and flipped to a page where the subscription card would most likely be. ( yeah, last minute Christmas gift to myself … I let that magazine lapse about 2 years ago ).  And there it is: “The Truth About Truemors - An interview with Guy Kawasaki.”  Guy and I go way back…..ok, he doesn’t even know that I am alive but I’ve been a big fan of his.  Anyway, the piece is a nice read.  It is a glimpse into the mind of Guy Kawasaki and his new venture, Truemors.  The site www.truemors.com let’s ‘citizen journalists’ express themselves and “tell the world something without having to run a website or a blog.” 

Truemors is another one of those “Social Communities” where the content is created solely by the site’s visitors.  The community fuels the site, its path, and even its online personality.  The online masses can choose to embrace or bash a site within a very short amount of time. 

“The blogosphere is full of angry nay-sayers who are good at tearing things down but not at innovating. They should move out of their mothers’ houses and start dating.” - Guy Kawasaki

Truemors makes money with Advertising and Sponsorship - a common method for funding such communities.  So, does this mean that companies are spending ad dollars with Social Media websites?  Do they even know the difference?  The opportunites to market a company online is quickly moving beyond just PPC and SEM/SEO ( Search Engine Marketing/Search Engine Optimization ). 

Take for example www.fthebigthree.com.  The site was created to illustrate the opportunities available to find products and services through communities rather than search engines.  For example, if you respect my opinion then maybe you will check out Truemors.com.  If you don’t….well, I guess you won’t.  But, a search engine doesn’t give you that same two-way, push/pull feel.  It pretty much just does the pushing - hoping to serve up the best match to your keyword search. 

A buzz can run through a community very quickly ( positively or negatively ) leading to the success or failure of a campaign ( even if their wasn’t a campaign to start with )…..

OK, I’m getting off track here…

Guy was asked: “What advice would you share with other entrepreneurs about this startup exercise?” 

Guy Kawasaki: The most important lessons are: Do things quick, dirty and fast; don’t wait for the perfect time/market/product; ignore the naysayers–odds are they are right, but you’ll never know unless you try; and keep things cheap so you can make a lot of mistakes.

Wow, how the Internet makes starting a business a much different process than just a few years ago.  Where is the planning and planning and the endless business plan wrapped around 100 pages of double-speak?