Landing the Buzz

Dan Tudor at Landing the Deal just did a 10 part interview with me. I answered the questions and he added the color commentary. Good fun. He did an excellent one with Jeffrey Gitomer and is going to do one soon with Seth Godin, so I feel in especially good company. Here is part one of my interview: Follow the links as they are in order and you can navigate each question. For those of you wondering if blogging is valuable, consider that Dan and I met through blogging, we both have learned a lot about each other and he is interviewing all kinds of authors and experts, as well as establishing his own expertise. His interviews are a great sample of how to create value with a blog without even having to create all the content yourself.

What are 5 things you can do today to create a little buzz?

• Tell one success story about where you work to someone that does not understand what you do well.
• Give a good business referral to someone.
• Surprise someone with an email or letter that is unexpected.
• Email a blogger or post a comment on a post. Make it thoughtful enough that they may highlight it in another post.
• Surprise someone with great customer service that goes above and beyond.

While one person doing these once is not going to create a lot of buzz, creating a culture of buzz will make any organization stand out from the crowd.

Success in Word of Mouth

I got the Make It Great newsletter today and saw this quote:

"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out..." - Robert J. Collier

Our philosophy on buzz is the same. Buzz is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out by all the people that are passionate about the success of a product or service.

Word of Mouth Marketing Study

I hate when competitors do something better than me, but oh well, let's not be stingy. Todd Tweedy at BoldMouth has put out a very good and comprehensive word of mouth marketing study that is a great intro to the topic and a convincing argument that, if you are not on the band wagon yet, you need to get hopping. Here is what he wrote:

Wanted to let you know about a study we published with Osterman Research titled Perceptions, Practices, and Ethics in Word-of-Mouth Marketing.

Here’s a link to the pdf: pdf link

I’d love to get your feedback on the recommendations section.

P&G Moms

Tim Raines pointed out a post about P&G recruiting moms for word of mouth marketing campaigns. I am not sure this is new news, but interesting none the less.

Landing the Deal - Dan Tudor

Dan Tudor had a post about firing your customers. I left him a comment on not making a snap decision and he reposted the comment as a blog post here. Not only is this particular post interesting, but it is also a good lesson in how blogs scratch each others back. My comment added content to his blog post. He then used that content to create a new blog post, linking back to me, now I am blogging about it here linking to him. It is a win/win with content and links. Dan also sent me some interview questions, so he got more content and I got more exposure. Seems simple, but how often are you reaching out to people and creating these win/win scenarios?

Are you a business composer?

In honor of American Idol, which I do not watch but I understand a few other people do, I am writing this blog on music composers and how they are exactly like business owners. A composer and singer may sit down and compose 20 new songs in a year, record them, test them, create a fancy wrapper and then wait and see what happens as they try to get people to buy it. If you are a small business owner, you are probably creating new programs, new packages and new products in an effort to meet customer demand and expand your income and reach. In both cases, most of the ideas/songs seem great. However, we all know how rare a CD full of hits is. My point is this. Create your packages and products with the same dedication and understanding of the audience as a musician has. You are trying to create an emotional response that makes people want to have what you are offering. Accept that some efforts will be good and others that seemed great will not hit. Any one might be a top 20 and make up for all the duds.

Happy Birthday

Today is Buzzoodle's 1st Birthday. Wow. We have had some successes and failures. The DIY Buzz Software was not the hit we thought it would be, but the message, the brand, the courses, speaking engagements and training programs have all been fantastic and the plans for the coming year are even bigger. Thanks Jessica, who runs our Outstanda Referral Program for pointing out the important date.

Buzzoodle Challenge #11

Buzzoodle Challenges #11 is a Buzz Marketing challenge to get you to connect, create some buzz and get out of your comfort zone. To see the first 10 Buzzoodle Challenges, visit my Squidoo Lens. #11 Go to a conference, expo or convention that is outside of your industry. Meet lots of people and learn about how that industry works. I was recently invited to attend the Book Expo America by David Lorenzo at Career Intensity. I do work with some publishers, but the industry as a whole is not something I know well. The expo opened my eyes to how it works, what opportunities there are to work with authors, and gave me a chance to meet some great people and strengthen some existing relationships. What will come out of it remains to be seen, but I can assure you I made some great connections and I am coming back to Ohio and discussing with authors here some ways to improve sales and exposure. Find something that interests you and go to one of their events. You will meet new people (Since it is not your industry) and learn new things. Unless it is a secret serial killer convention, it should be nothing but upside.

DC Book Expo America 2006

At the Book Expo America in DC this weekend. Why should you blog and how it is related? About a year ago David Lorenzo of Career Intensity emailed me and said he liked my blog and the theme. He asked me to review his book and I was happy to. Around the same time, Phil Gerbyshak of Make it Great emailed me and we got to know each other over time. I also reviewed his upcoming book. They also met each other through blogging. David has a booth at the expo and he could get more tickets than he was planning on using, so he invited both of us to the Career Intensity Book as exhibitors. So this weekend we all met in person for the first time. So I traveled from Ohio, Dave from New York City and Phil from Wisconsin. It's been a blast and we have been all getting to know each other. - And selling some books for dave, and making some buzz and connections for ourselves.... It was also smart on Dave's part. Extra sales people at no extra cost. That is why you build advocates before you need them and then give them something to talk about and a fun way to do it. Thanks Dave.

Buzz in Germany

I hired Marion to work with us for a month on finances. He then went to Germany. He is a recent graduate looking for a marketing job with an big, international company. He is interesting because he combines strong quick books and accounting skills with marketing. Here is the email he sent. [Yes, I was the one that made him start a blog] Hi Ron, Just wanted to drop a line and let you know the address to my Blog http://mariongermany.blogspot.com/ It details my daily experiences here, which really are great! Unfortunately, I am not able to keep it quite as current as I would like, given all the German beer I am consuming in conjunction with our tight schedule. Oh, and I can't forget. I spoke to someone in Germany who had already heard about your company. Yes, you're international presence is quite impressive. His name was Jason, and he is a Kent State student (computer science) interning here in Dresden. He said he's heard good things about Liquid Learning. [Buzzoodle Parent Company] Schuss, Marion

Book Expo America

Last night I met Phil Gerbyshak in person for the first time and then we are off to help with the Career Intensity booth because David Lorenzo got us tickets into the expo. Fun stuff. Watch this blog and Phil's to see who we meet.

Book Expo - Buzzoodle Book Buzz

I am off to the book expo in DC tomorrow. Thanks to David at Career Intensity for the tickets. He is also the person that mentioned to me that there is a lot of demand for a comprehensive Book Buzz Marketing package. We have worked with authors in the past, but doing something truly complete and big is an entirely different strategy. We did up the Buzzoodle Book Buzz program to address the need and help busy authors get on the road to having a best-seller. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Word of Mouth Effect

Look at the word of mouth impact on your company. I first found it on Dan Tudor's site, Landing the Deal. - Anyone that understands word of mouth and takes an organized, 12 month + approach to the issue should be able to increase the positive WOM. If you are not doing this yet, you had better start.

Is your Marketing Strategy full of home runs?

We are always talking about creating buzz through many little Buzz Incidents. People are in love with the jackpot buzz, but that is not the realistic approach. (It will happen as part of a steady buzz effort, but not as the sole goal of the effort) Seth Godin backs up this philosophy with a home run analogy.