Tara Hunt‘s presentation at Web 2.0 was really fantastic. I love the presos that have just a few words per slide followed with pictures to illustrate concepts. Tara used that technique to her advantage as she spoke to a packed room — not only were all of the seats full, but people stood or sat wherever there was a spare pocket of space.

Reciprocity
One of Tara’s key points was on reciprocity: if you want to be an influencer, you need to provide time and attention to the community.

Become part of the community you serve. Ask:
– what problem can I solve?
– what makes people happy?
Then, integrate the answers into your initiatives.

I took this concept as a reminder I can share with others when they bring up that social media is inexpensive — when planning social media projects, you have to plan for an investment of your personal time (lots of it!) as well as your budget dollars.

Tara also advised, look for opportunities to turn the bullhorn around because it’s impersonal otherwise–you’re just shouting. Further, worry less about stating your position than listening and responding personally to others to create amazing customer experiences.

Create amazing customer experiences
1. Dazzle with the details (e.g. Moleskine)
2. Go above and beyond (e.g. TED)
3. Appeal to emotion (Vosges black pear chocolate)
4. Inject fun into the experience (Google’s talk like a pirate day)
5. make something mundane exceptional
6. Let people personalize
7. Be experimental (threadless, iplai: iparklikeanidiot.com)
8. Simplify (37 signals)
9. Make happiness your business model
10. Be a social catalyst

Tara continued with more points about how you can build whuffie. Look for her slides on slideshare (site was down for maintenance just now). Or, for more you can check out her book, The Whuffie Factor. It’s due on shelves April 21, but if you click over you’ll find video clips, images and more info.