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Much has been said lately about Howard Dean's success raising money and supporters through the Internet. In fact, most articles might be a bit misleading.

Some of the commentary sounds like Dean has successfully mobilized Netizens because of some kind of cool factor. This is the same blind analysis that took us into the Internet stock bubble. It isn't the Internet, folks. It is communications - personal appeal and involvement. The Internet simply enhances communications by many factors.

For decades national candidates were selected by a well-orchestrated process. Campaign organizations developed strategy, sought endorsements, appealed to interest groups and counted support precinct by precinct. Individuals didn't matter. Groups mattered. Even when there were surprises along the way (such as little-known governors rising to the nomination) it was mostly because they captured the right groups in the early primaries, thus garnering enough delegates to achieve a break-through vote at the convention.

The average voter was lost in all of this. To feel any part of this one had to be a key player in an interest group (such as a large chamber of commerce or a labor union), or highly active in the local party. Giving to a campaign seemed useless. ordinary citizens heard only about the $250 to $2,000-per-plate fund raisers. Most of us have to be extremely loyal to a candidate to part with $100. The candidates never had any way to even pursue massive numbers of small donations. Fund raising to the masses meant direct mail or TV appeals and that meant way too much money spent for the return expected.

Also, the individual couldn't contribute suggestions and argue policy positions. Suggestions came only from the campaign or the highest levels of contributors. It was way too messy to read thousands or hundreds of thousands of letters just to find one or two good ideas.

As in business and personal matters, the Internet has closed that gap. A politician, a brand manager or a group organizer can reach thousands or millions easily and cheaply, and they can reach back. Dean and his campaign manager, Joe Trippi, have figured it out.

First, you form your message. It has to be concise but not as concise as, say, a 30-second spot. It must include a link to a web site for more information. You send this pitch via email to as many friends, family members and contacts you can gather from personal address books. Oh, your pitch also has to include a request to forward. Everyone has an addressbook and what you are after is to win over a percentage of your recipients and to get them to forward your email to everyone they know.

To keep your recruits loyal and to answer remaining questions you establish an interactive web site. You can use a blog, a web bulletin board, a calendar, a subscription form for an email newsletter and any number of other means to give information as its needed and in the format desired. Everyone is different and will follow your updates in different ways.

Here is a key point, though. In fact, this is where most politicians and many business people have failed in using the Internet. Your goal isn't to collect email recipients who are willing to be blasted by your sales pitches. Your goal must be - this is absolutely critical - it must be to form a talking community that converses freely between and among all members. Your messages to the recruits aren't half as important as the conversation they have with each other and by extension with you.

Dean and Trippi use a blog and an email list (or two) to keep this community active and vibrant. Is Dean an infinitely cool netizen? Hardly. He didn't know what a blog was till his campaign staff said he needed one.

In fact, reading the recent interview between Lawrence Lessig (atty, writer, intellectual property rights consultant) and Joe Trippi gives you a great idea how the blog came to Dean and how it has paid off for the campaign. (http://lessig.org/blog/)

You can download the PDF file at (http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/Trippi.pdf)

Another Democratic contender, Dennis Kucinich, has been guest blogging on Lessig's blog. He also has his own blog. (http://www.denniskucinich.us/index.php?topic=blog)

Notice the difference, though, between the Kucinich blog and Dean's official blog. (http://www.blogforamerica.com/) Dean's blog isn't a platform for Dean to write policy essays. His blog is a lively conversation headed by a couple of staffers and regular bloggers. The surface posting is alright (sometimes nothing more than cheerleading or updating), but don't miss the comments. Every staff blog has comments and that's where the conversation gets going hard and fast. Kucinich's blog is a podium, not a crowded convention hall. Read the comments there. They all talk about Kucinich as if they have no expectation of him being a part of the discussion. The original blogger (Kucinich) is almost never addressed directly. One person did. He suggested Kucinich dump his first attempt at a blog and recreate it as a discussion, though the comment was made crudely and insultingly.

Bringing this back to your business, we have moved away from doing business with consumer blocks. People want to be dealt with as individuals and with the respect and personal interest individuals deserve (One to One B2B; I and Thou; Soul of a Business - Search Amazon or your local bookstore). The Internet makes that more possible than ever before. If you are interested in starting a business blog, though, keep that principle of discussion in mind. Invite comments and comment on the comments. Get a community talking about you, about your product and about your service. Ask for ideas, criticisms and successes.

We as individuals can be plugged back into the relationship, with the people we buy from as well as the people we vote for.

posted by Unknown at 8:51 PM