Q&A 2: Friends of Friends new Business Opportunities

Any other bright ideas for FaceBook?

Two stand out: Friends of Friends new business opportunities and integrating S-World Virtual World into FaceBook.

Friends of Friend’s new business opportunities?

This again works on the keeping the customer philosophy, via excellent customer service. Again whilst originally created for the travel industry it works for many other businesses.

OK?

First you need to take a leap of faith and appreciate we can give any dedicated S-World or FaceBook Travel Agent, the full power of a travel agent, awesome website, superb admin, CRM and Financial software, competitive rates, insurance, and a strong print media presence. For more on this look at the first chapter on www.s-world.biz

FaceBook Travel Agents?

Yes, the trouble with most travel agents is they have never been to the country they are booking, let alone have local knowledge of what to do in a specific Town or City. By offering a FaceBook member in Cape Town, a kind of franchise to represent FaceBook Travel, one at least knows the person they are booking with, knows the location and accommodation well, and their local knowledge of what to do, adds to the experience.
By asking guests to simply rank the customer service, “Could Try Harder”, “I Had a Great Time” or “I Felt like a VIP”, FaceBook will force agents to give excellent customer service, by carrot and stick

Carrot and stick?

The Stick is, they will not be allowed to trade if they get too many “Could Try Harder’s”, and the carrot is the opportunity to widen there marketing net within FaceBook.

Widen there marketing net within FaceBook?

Yes, at first I’d suggest letting a new agent only represent there FaceBook friends, if they get lots of good feedback , they can sell to friends of friends and so on.

Friends of Friends?

Yes, FaceBook averages 130 friends per user, this said most of my FB Friends hover between 300 and 2000, I guess the stats take account for people who start an account but then don’t really use it for normal Social Networking. So I’d say for people that regularly use FaceBook 750 friends is usual, by allowing your friends of friends to see your Travel Agency, you expose yourself to half a million or so clients, and if you go, friends of friends of friends your looking at 40 million odd.

What about privacy?

Well it’s an optional service, and you’re looking at them they are not looking at you.

Sounds like a valid plan, how can they build up there businesses even further?

For a start, the better they do, they could be given the opportunity to operate in new territories, Say the agent lives in St Tropez, that is there field of expertise, lets say they have done well enough to get to friend of friends status, they can ask to expand slightly, say Sainte Raphael, then Cannes.

Anything else?

Yes if they do better still, they can also earn prime beach front office space in The S-World Virtual World.

What on earth is that?

Well that is what started all this, over 11 years ago back in London, supported by the Macromedia USA development team, but this is a chapter all to itself.