Why Have We Been Ignoring MyGenius.com?
For some reason I’ve been ignoring MyGenius.com – the Southern African social network for business people. I have been a member since late 2006 – MyGenius’s very early days – and never quite got in to it. I get the odd message from a MyGenius member wanting to connect but have spent little no time on updating my profile or adding content to the site.
Recently I decided to give MyGenius another go based on two realisations. Firstly, the value of social networking is undoubtedly found, or much easier mined, in niche communities. The quintessential example is Charl Norman’s Zooped Up community for owners of modified cars and suchlike – completely useless for me but absolutely invaluable and addictive to people entrenched in that community. MyGenius cannot be compared to MySpace, for example, because it’s not trying to be a globally dominant player. It’s simply trying to do what it does well.
The second realisation is that I’ve been arrogant in my assumption that because MyGenius is not as technologically sexy or advanced as say a LinkedIn or Facebook that it cannot deliver an equally rewarding experience. But here’s the thing – the simple fact that MyGenius is NOT Ajaxy, jargony or geeky in any way makes it all that more attractive to Mr and Mrs Not-so-geeky (read: normal). I have poured just a bit of extra effort into my profle and interaction on MyGenius in the last few days and have already seen benefits. Why? It’s a niche community of people who aren’t geeky by nature, but understand enough about the value of a social networking platform to be investing time and energy into growing it – and it is growing… fast.
I recently did a show on CNBC Africa about the power of social networking for entrepreneurs and the producers of the show used MyGenius as a case study, not LinkedIn. Why? It’s accessible and easy to understand for the 2.0-uninitiated. What we Web 2.0 enthusiasts sometimes see as being current, sexy and improtant may seem totally of the wall and inaccessible to the layman. I liken this to the fashion industry. All fashion shows I see on TV seem excessive and weird to me. I don’t get it at all and would feel like completely out at such an event. It’s the same with the sites we use and build. We assume ‘normal’ Web users see things like we do – are drawn to the same things we are. This is simply not the case, hence why MyGenius is getting users that LinkedIn simply ain’t.
All that said, I think MyGenius could be a killer platform for us entrepreneurial / small business-types with a few small additions to the platform:
1. Make it easier for me to create links with other people. The current format of having to send an email and receive one in return to grow my network is confusing, verbose and dated.
2. Let me import my existing blog posts into MyGenius with RSS – it’s a waste of my time to have to constantly repurpose content for MyGenius when the very basic technology exists to import my stuff.
3. Maps integration – let me plot my location on a map and see where other MyGenius members are located.
4. Show a ‘Most visited Profiles’ top 10 list in the right-hand sidebar – it will help me filter through the masses of profiles on MyGenius to find key players.
5. Let me enter my LinkedIn and Facebook profile ID’s under my profile – it won’t detract from MG I promise, only add to it.
6. Pull in feeds from top news / business blogs and or sites, and allow members to rate and recommend stories for others to view. Make sure they’re business related though.
7. Have a MyGenius Facebook app developed.
8. Offer free premium accounts (Genius accounts) to top bloggers and entrepreneurs, in exchange for them putting a MyGenius widget on their sites :)
What would make MyGenius better for you?
I have a bit of spare time and doing my weekly rounds on the SA blogosphere and low and behold, Mike Stopforth is once again my first stop.
Very good post Mike and I don’t want to comment to just to agree with you, but you’re so right that we often find ourselves to cute and then simply cannot comprehend why others don’t find us as cute.
On WineCountry I try to stick to basics mostly. I can only hope I succeed in it, because my mind is obviously also entangled in this 2.0ism as well.
I use widgets, but simply to position value added banners. I try not to assume that people know how blogs work, so I don’t publish ‘n monstrous tag clowd, weird widgets from other sites or confusing banners from Amatomu and Afrigator. (Sorry guys) But most readers have no clue what they are and I think it’s kudos enough that I have their code running in the background.
It’s been an arduous task to sort out my menu structure, simply because I’m used to blogs and think the same of my visitors. But what do visitors like to read on my blog? Wine reviews, recipes etc. Last week still there was no way for them to find that easily on my blog. (Shocking!!!)
Anyway, I’m not trying to self promote, but the point is, I too neglected MyGenius for its tediousness (lack of a better word), but your post has managed to make me think differently of it, which I guess is a kudos to you :-)
Good list Mike. I’m sure they’ll oblige. Keep it up.
PS: Niche is King.
Mike,
I recently joined…not sure why but that site makes me feel exposed in some way. Especially to people selling cheap things…I dont like that – reminds me a little of a pyramid scheme kinda thing. Maybe I am not being fair.. [very possible]. Its a little ‘in your face’ for me…but I will continue to give it a try and see what happens.
Hi
I have spent quite a lot of time on MyGenius but not so much now.
You are unlikely to find much business there, you may find some alliances, I found it a good place to meet people, but it battles to keep giving value, and dumbed down recently.
There was recently an update to the functionality and its also adopted a new payment model and I think it may hemorrhage members – interesting move.
I know the owners well and I hope that I am wrong and that it will continue to be successful.
Nice post, only saw this now… I havent got into My Genius either.. I dont want to be mailed everytime someone visits my profile… also the limited functionality for non paying members is a bad move
Hi Mike,
Firstly, what a surprise finding you here on the net. We used to go to school together (Gary Potter’s mate – with the surname “Strydom.”)
Anyway, I logged onto MyGenius a few months ago and found it gave me very little value in actually making business. All I keep receiving are mails from other people asking me to sign up for their “free” daily/weekly newsletter, or asking me about writing, or just promoting their product. Perhaps I need to become a paying subscriber to MyGenius to really find the benefits, but I have honestly garnered more business from my simple website than ‘networking’ with guys on MyGenius who are also just hoping to network with me. I just haven’t seen ACTUAL business come my way; just guys who like to network.
A friend of mine invited me to join MyGenius, and he said it was a “brilliant opportunity.” I tend to feel that most of the subscribers there are just ‘talkers’ but not really ‘workers’ (if you know what I mean…) The idea is excellent, but I think it would make more sense if you could post (perhaps) portfolios, and make your profile into more of a ‘website’ (with some decent copy and call to action) than just a profile page with a little bit about what you do, and your contact details etc.