There are a lot of great tools out there on the web that automate processes. The problem with automation though is that you not only loose the human touch, you are relying on processes to take place in an unpredictable environment.

Two things that highlight this for me in the past few days.

Firstly, a lot of people have started to use tools such as Ping to update all their social messages at once. The way I see this is that my Facebook audience is different from my LinkedIn audience, which is also different to my Twitter audience. If you take the basic principals of Permission Marketing, I should not be making it easier for me - I should be making it relevant to them.

Secondly, and this one is not nice. I clicked on a link through to a story on a local newspaper website. The site does, as many do, run display advertising. But, considering the story, the message is the thing that caught my eye for all the wrong reasons.

As these systems appear to make our lives easier, we need to remember that we still have the human touch…

Many marketers and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) geeks work hard to get a website found for certain search phrases. It’s a necessary investment if you want to get in the game.

But, Google don’t owe you anything. Their focus should be on delivering the user a great result, not in creating an algorithm that suits the marketer.

It’s a moan I hear a lot. But, what would happen to your business model tomorrow if Google dissappeared?

If you are creating a business that relies on the way another business works, then I would suggest that you have a business model that may not sustain itself for very long.

I went to an event in Basingstoke yesterday - Futurology 2013 - about what’s around the corner for business from a technology perspective in the coming few years.

One of the speakers, Ian Hughes (aka epredator), talked about the work he is doing in Second Life and other online social environments. One of the comments he made really struck a chord…

He had a scenario of an online meeting in Second Life on screen, with people from different nationalities, all discussing something work related and mentioned the phrase “serendipitous conversations”.

I’d never really thought about it before but this is what the web is becoming - for me anyway - a series of serendipitous meetings. I have recently started to meet/follow people online that I wouldn’t otherwise met. eg.

• Garri and I started talking via an online forum about holiday properties about 2-3 years ago.
• I have had brief conversations with Jason and Sarah via Twitter as ideas get bounced.
• I met Kevin through Twitter and then in real life when it turned out his business is about 200m from my own.

Happy accidents happen everyday - online and offline - in business and in your life in general.

So, if anyone ever asks, “yeh, but what’s the chances of that happening to me?” I’d have to respond… “pretty high if you get in the mix”.

The world is getting smaller and connections with real people just like you are easier to make than ever before.

I was even having a Twitter conversation with Ian during one of the other presentations before I had to shoot off and we are now connected via Twitter.

The current credit crisis has the man on the street up in arms at the greed of the bankers - it’s all their fault. The reason that people are so incensed this time around is that the problem is affecting them personally, the ordinary working man and woman, and of course the press have a fire to stoke for the next few months.

It’s not a great time for many people but it is an important one and I hope a lesson is being learned. We are all as much to blame for the problems as the bankers and it’s driven by greed; greed and lack of understanding about money matters in general. Let’s face it, I still remember the last main economic downturn in the early nineties, did many people forget?

• It frustrates me when friends moan about immigration, yet this has driven up the equity in their home, which they have borrowed against.
• I listen in disbelief when I hear people talk about jobs in the UK being lost, but they are happy to be buying products made in China, because they are cheaper.
• I laugh when I hear comments about share prices and greed, yet most peoples pensions are linked to stock markets feeding their pot (or not).

It’s all intrinsically linked - globally - whether we like it or not.

As an individual, I see it as my responsibility to understand as much of ‘the system’ as possible, so I can make informed decisions, rather than rely on general opinion when it’s too late.

About five years ago, I read a great book - easy to read - called Rich Dad, Poor Dad, by Robert T. Kiyosaki. It’s a simple book about money and the difference between earning money by working, and earning money by investing. It not opnly changed the way I look at my money, but also my time and the investment I need to make into my own ongoing education in all areas of my life.

About nine years ago, I read another great book called Funky Business, by Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale, which pretty much illustrated where business was going in the global ecomony. It opened my eyes, prepared me and gave me an immense level of flexibility.

In bad financial times the people and businesses with the most flexibility will not only survive, they’ll  prosper.

On a large scale recently, Warren Buffet just invested heavily in Goldman Sachs, when others are running a mile from banks. On a small busines scale, I was chatting to a friend who runs a training business. He was talking about how his pipeline has dried up and how he is switching his marketing efforts to coaching until the training market picks up.

Unfortunately, I think that most people will continue to keep their heads in the sand during this downturn.

My advice? Invest in your understanding. The more your know, the more options you have. The more options you have, the greater your flexibility - through good times and bad.