Underground Web Designs Blog

This is the first of my “Link Love Sundays” articles. As I mentioned in my post National Day of Service, every Sunday I will take some time to go “off topic” and promote a small business, organization, or individual that is doing something good for the world. These posts are all 100% free… I’m not compensated in any way.

Couchsurfing.com -- Got Couch?

If you travel a lot, there is a chance you’ve already heard of Couchsurfing.com. If you haven’t, couchsurfing is essentially a social network that helps travelers find a place to stay while on the road by connecting them with other members of the site who are willing to host them. Hosting is not elaborate - accommodations range from a cozy spot on the floor to a spare room, though in most cases the traveler sleeps on the couch (hence the name). 

Couchsurfing is much more than just a free place to sleep, however. In fact, the official couchsurfing mission statement - “Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch at a Time” - has little to do with travel at all. Instead, the focus is to “networking people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding” (Couchsurfing Mission page). 

As a member of Couchsurfing.com for just over a year, I have seen that mission expressed in a huge variety of ways, both at home and abroad. During a 6 week backpacking trip in Europe in the Summer of 2008 I couchsurfed in the UK, France, Italy, Greece, and the Netherlands, and was always welcomed not only by my host but also by the local couchsurfing group and often the host’s non-couchsurfing friends. No matter where I went, couchsurfers were more than willing to host me if they could, show me around when they had time, and help me out in any other way they could. One of the highlights of my trip was a 5 day camping trip on Naxos in Greece, with over 100 other couchsurfers. The entire trip was organized by volunteers, and attendees came from all over the world. 

Back at home in Canada, I have been experiencing another facet of couchsurfing… being part of a local group. Many medium / large cities around the world have a local couchsurfing group. This group takes the form of a dedicated forum on Couchsurfing.com where members can post and organize events, parties, or just about anything else. Besides a weekly meeting on Tuesday nights there is always 1 or 2 other events created on the spur of the moment and opened up to any couchsurfers who want to come.

Yet another example of the couchsurfing mission in action are groups for people who are all interested in a particular thing. As of this writing there are over 15,000 groups on the couchsurfing site focused on everything from marital arts, to vegan diets, to theater. Any member can join a group and participate!

Probably the most important part of Couchsurfing, and the part that makes everything else possible is the references system. Every couchsurfer can leave references about other couchsurfers he has interacted with, either positive, neutral, or negative. This produces a self-policing system similar to Ebay’s feedback. If you’re a jerk, everyone will quickly know about it, and nobody will invite you to anything — or host you. Couchsurfing is a very liberal, open place. You’re free to say just about anything you want (as long as it isn’t abusive, defamatory, etc) but you also have no anonymity. The site will tie everything back to your profile.

So, whether you’re a young backpacker, retired traveler, or are just looking to meet new people from around the world, Couchsurfing.com is - in my opinion - one of the best places to do it. If you’re open minded and willing to expand your horizons and step out of your comfort zone you’ll have a blast.

Just one quick tip: don’t use it as a dating site… that’s one of the fastest ways to get negative references!

Where does your target market hang out?

Different markets spend time in different places, both online and off. With the advent of the social web, it’s now easier than ever to reach people where they spend a lot of time… but do you know where to look?

YouTube is loved by young people and teens, but few people who are out of highschool spend much time searching the site for the latest cool videos to watch.

Likewise, Facebook’s user base is mostly highschool students, college students, and young adults.

While I won’t argue that both Facebook and YouTube can be great potential marketing opportunities, I would suggest first thinking about who you are trying to market TOO. If your message is great for college students, then by all means, get an ad on facebook. If your target market is teens and pre-teens, make a super-cool YouTube ad. But if your ad is targeted at working class parents or baby boomers, YouTube and Facebook probably aren’t going to show a very high ROI.

The social web has more than anything divided internet users into groups. Different people use different services and get their news from different places. Different demographics spend their leisure web-surfing time in different places. So before you spend a ton of money on the next hottest YouTube vid, do some research into where in the online universe your target market hangs out, and advertise there.

You’re almost guaranteed a better ROI than just taking shots in the dark.

Yesterday I wrote about how so many marketers abuse the power of the social web by marketing AT people instead of realizing that the social web is a conversation. Well, today I have the perfect example of the power of the social web, and the lengths some people will go to to make a little extra money.

Ian of Conversational Marketing wrote today that LinkAdage is selling blogging space on a .EDU domain name. Why is this such a big deal? Because not just anyone is allowed to own a .edu domain name. In order to own a .edu domain name, you have to be a verified educational institute. In turn, because only educational institutes can own these domains, they are trusted by both consumers and search engines to provide useful and accurate information.

Now LinkAdage has spoiled all that by offering anyone access (for a fee, I might add). Even though technically they’re allowed to do this, (see Ian’s article for details), that doesn’t make it right.

The Lesson:

There are many things you can do online to market your business. And there is nothing wrong with using social media, Search Engine Optimization, and other aggressive marketing strategies to do it. But don’t be one of the people who cuts corners and abuses the system just to make a few extra bucks. It never pays in the long run.

And as I pointed out yesterday… when the blogosphere hears about someone who’s trying to cheat the system… we’ll make sure the world knows all about it.

Everybody is talking about social bookmarking, social media, social networking, etc. So what’s the key word in all those names? It’s SOCIAL. Marketers: Remember that!

The whole idea of the social web is that everyone is involved, and everyone can make their feelings heard. As a marketer or business man, this sounds like a dream come true. Countless opportunities to get your message heard! Just don’t forget that the social web works because it’s a two way street. You get to say what you want to say… but then everybody else gets to say what they think of it. If what you offer isn’t up to par you’ll be ignored, or maybe even labeled a spammer.

Now maybe people are quick to judge. But in the social web, nobody really cares. All it takes is one person who’s ticked off enough to write a negative review, and suddenly your integrity is in question. In the online world, one negative review can and WILL be seen by many, many people thanks to the power of Google.

So by all means, enter this strange new world of social media and spread the message of what you do. Just be careful how you’re presenting yourself. Give me a great product at a good price and I’ll sing you’re praises to the world. But if you rip me off, I’ll gladly trash your reputation forever.

Ye Have Been Warned.