How to use iStadia
Social Networking: why it is special and why it should be of interest to you
Category: Sports Business | Specialism: Sports Management
Such sites work because users contribute information (add content) and collect it for a huge variety of reasons. There are those that also collect information and then share it back for the benefit of all. iStadia does both. Sites that have maximized this opportunity are the well known ones – MySpace, Bebo, LinkedIn and Facebook. In the latter’s case they have 20m users worldwide so think about accessing the global sport and exercise market! These sites have experienced huge growth as people have discovered the power of connecting with others either supplementing their existing social networks or finding new contacts and friends.
Sites where content is added and then rated include Digg, YouTube and Flickr. For iStadia this means many things including up to date peer review. Articles can be added and discussed and then rated. In the not too distant future we will add wiki’s which will allow knowledge/research to be added by members (as in wikipedia, now more popular than Britannica). This means that it will also be right up to date and not one or two years behind when it eventually appears in a journal. The only analogy I can use here is the site hotornot.com which has had 12bn votes where people have rated each other. If you are good at what you do then think (albeit on a slightly smaller scale) how a reputation can be built. Of course this will work in an entirely different and much more professional way on iStadia but the principle is the same. This kind of potential is very exciting as there is so much to be gained by using the internet in this way.
Using collaborative filtering technologies iStadia will be able to recommend services, books, downloads (exercise, sport science techniques, motivational music and speeches) etc as used by businesses like Amazon as in ‘people who bought this book also bought…’ added to which we will have reviews, listings and ratings etc.
Compared to traditional forms of marketing, online Social Networking is proving to be one of the best investments a business can make, or in the case of an athlete or anyone playing professional sport to ensure they have the best support. Using the tools and resources that iStadia has to offer, a consultancy, practitioner or business can quickly and effectively find the right kind of people it needs to grow. In normal networking situations (if you’ve ever considered them) you need to dress up (hmm…debatable in sport and exercise), travel to the venue, and meet a limited number of people. Meeting the right people to do business with can take a long time and cost a lot of money.
iStadia allows you to search and attract the exact people you would like to meet 24 hours a day from your office or home. It can rapidly speed up your accumulation of “social (or opportunistic) capital”.
Having a powerful online presence can also help you to position yourself as an expert, become more visible in your marketplace and leverage your existing products and services. Online social networking is changing the face of business, helping those that use it to find clients, customers, staff, advice, support, partners, associates and suppliers.
iStadia can help you:
Get business, locate expertise (coach, sport psych, personal fitness trainer, lawyer), find referrals, build a population group for research etc.
Boost your Google rankings
Position yourself as an expert in your field
Get the most from clubs, blogs, forums and articles. Increase contact with your network which has additional benefits such as developing friendships, finding opportunities, locating contacts that had been lost over time.The closest model approaching the way iStadia works is ecademy.com which has grown to almost 200,000 members globally and has seen membership grow almost 100% year on year. It has grown because it provides its users with real opportunities.
Since launching iStadia only a month ago, new opportunities are already arising. We have been surprised by the number of visitors from Africa who want access to professional sporting expertise. How can that be provided? Geographical distance is the immediate stumbling block but the internet can overcome this. We will be providing online access to courses, books, downloads and educational material (when iStadia’s marketplace is launched), expertise can be provided by telephone or skype which is free, more personal one to one client relationships can be provided by videoconferencing. If there is a desire to overcome a problem then the solution is here. We can do this but only as a community – to build, promote and provide professional products and services to the sport and exercise world.
This Social Networking phenomena is not a flash in the pan but here to stay. Yes theoretically this could have been done before but it was neither economic nor practical. Social Networking is changing the way we share information with each other and allowing us to establish and maintain relationships with people we just couldn’t have stayed in touch with before.
We are only just scratching the surface.
With special thanks to Andrew Walmsley, digital guru and co-founder of i-level
Tags:
coaching,
collaborative filtering technologies,
digg,
facebook,
flickr,
google ranking,
lawyer in sport,
motivation,
motivational music,
myspace,
networking,
performance psychology,
social networking,
sport business,
sport psychology,
sport science,
videoconferencing,
youtube
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If you are a sports professional and would like to promote yourself or build a network we recommend going straight to professional registration. However, if you are in a hurry you can come back to this later.
Comments
There's a real balance between catching the wave of current fashion in online marketing and sticking to the old tried and tested methods. For me I still think you can't beat writing articles and blog posts .... or commenting on articles written by others ;-)
Gordon
Doctor Gordon Cameron
Sports and Orthopaedic Physician
Interests: Frozen shoulder treatment | Joint Injections Posted by GordonC | June 4, 2010 at 3:14 PM