This year’s topic is climate change. I tried to find a way to tie this into what I usually talk about, but I came up empty, so I thought I’d just talk about how this initiative is spreading to over 6,000 blogs globally. Viral marketing at its best.

The fact that just about anyone who gets an email or Tweet about this event will participate speaks to the ability we have to affect change.  And that it’s about social good, educating people about climate change helps us connect in a way we never have before on these types of issues. This year, the blogs involved are expected to reach more than 10 million readers. Can you do that?

I get a lot of pitches, and I actually blog about 1% of them. But when I was approached about Xerox’s IOS site, I thought it was clever enough to share. And there’s a prize involved, so keep reading!

So apparently Xerox has discovered this rare disease called Information Overload Syndrome. Here’s what they have to say about it.

Information Overload Syndrome is a condition affecting business people everywhere. It is the result of trying to manage 281 Exabytes (eighteen zeros) of non-stop information that comes in form of emails, attachments, text messages, thought-starters and FYIs. As a result, sufferers of IOS will find accomplishing the simplest of everyday tasks nearly impossible.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXFEBbPIEOI[/youtube]

Why I Like It

The fact that this spoof site is sponsored by Xerox is subtle. You are aware that they’re the owner of the site, yet you don’t feel like it’s a ploy to get you to buy.

I love viral videos. Just something to make me smile. And pass on to my friends.

And they get your email in a clever manner. Send it to them and they customize the video for you.

Why You Should Like It

Xerox wants to help you, oh suffer of IOS, by giving you a $50 SpaFinder gift card to relieve your symptoms. Want it, don’t you? So give me your best tale of Information Overload Syndrome. I’ll choose the best story on June 19 and announce the winner.

So anyway, back to this book. You’ve heard of viral marketing. Scott rebrands it as a “world wide rave,” simply because so many people think they can guarantee viral marketing (and if someone promises a viral marketing campaign to you, run away. Fast.). But the concept is simple:  letting other people tell your story. Sharing your vision, your video, your blog post, your ad, simply because they love you and/ or your brand.

Check out this video. Truly amazing the power a world wide rave has.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F4KHmm566I[/youtube]

You absolutely HAVE to read this book, so it’s not necessary I teach you everything from it here, but here are some key points in what you need to know about creating a world wide rave, according to Scott:

1. Nobody cares about your products (except you).
2. No coercion required.
3. Lose control.
4. Put down roots.
5. Create triggers that encourage people to share.
6. Point the world to your (virtual) doorstep.

He elaborates a lot more than I’ve done here, so buy the book already!

Oh PS. When I did the David Meerman Scott book giveaway a few weeks ago, he sent me an extra signed copy of his first book. Well, I’m keeping the signed copy, but will give the first person to comment my old, unmarked copy. Hurry and comment!

Although…I have to wonder. Will OfficeMax have the success it had last year? Can you duplicate a viral marketing campaign? We shall see. I plan to count how many times I get an ElfYourself email from a friend. Not that that will be a true gauge of the campaign’s success, but it will give me something to do.

Ain’t my family cute?

What I love about it is that it’s interactive. If you’re an Eggspert fan, you know interactivity is one of the five points I use to define Marketing 2.0. You enter your name and phone number at the start of the video. As the team gears up for the big game, they still have one more fan to call for support: YOU! And your phone rings. It’s eerie.

Matt Beckman, who is in charge of Marketing for Gonzaga Athletics, said, “We were approached by our local ad agency, Magner Sanborn in Spokane, WA to look at the idea of a viral marketing campaign versus traditional TV.  When we discussed the details we were on board right away!  This has been a great opportunity to create top of mind awareness for Gonzaga Women’s Basketball as well as strengthen our brand.”

It’s a great video. Check it out. And if you, unlike me, are anywhere near Seattle, buy season tickets!

Here’s why I am impressed with Epson. If you’re a regular reader, you know I feel strongly that blogs are the next platform for getting your product out there. At BlogHer 08, I was happy to see companies like Leapfrog and Picnik displaying their wares to us bloggers (resulting in us not only becoming their consumers but also us covering them on our blogs…extensively). But here’s a company that’s going one step beyond the traditional trade show booth. Epson is sending us out as its own “Epson Army” to do what we do best: blog.

We’re going to be recording video and audio of people at the show. We’re not going to be walking around touting the wonders of Epson products, but they will be mentioned on our blogs and we’ll be giving away a couple of their products. So it’s not blatant advertising…but rather smart marketing.

Here I am talking about them, not because I’m required to, but because I am grateful that they are paying my way to Vegas and I am impressed that they’re doing some great guerilla/viral marketing. I’m proud to praise them.

So if by chance you’re going to BlogWorld, look for a brunette with braces walking around with a video camera. It might be me!

There’s a “world renowned” producer talking to you from his studio. Notice I use the quotation marks loosely. He drops references about gold records and hits left and right, but his style (in apparel and music) is, ahem, remniscent of the era in which I sat in front of the television watching Smurfs and Snorks. You’ll see. I don’t want to give it away.

So here’s my jingle for Egg Marketing. And check out my totally rad cassette art!

Egg Marketing Jingle

A couple of other points:

• The video quality was amazing. More like tv, and I haven’t seen that often online.
• The entire site didn’t advertise QuickBooks blatantly. There was an unobtrusive box of QuickBooks software sitting on the desk, and once you completed the entire process you were invited to get freebies from QuickBooks.
• When your page loads, you see a rock ‘n roll hand (thumb, pointer and pinky up in the air; what do you call that?). Ha!
• Overall QuickBooks gets props for doing a good job and I hope it gets viral.
• Go get your free jingle!

When it comes to marketing and the internet, viral marketing is a “strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence.” Viral marketing is exactly like a virus where there is a rapid duplication to explode a message or messages to millions of people.

There are some viral marketing techniques that work better than others, but it is a simple strategy that has a potential to work and increase exposure. A great example of viral marketing is YouTube. It is a user generated website where video content can be submitted and dispersed to hundreds and thousands of individuals in a matter of seconds.

A successful viral marketing approach:

1. Gives away products or services
2. Provides for effortless transfer to others
3. Scales easily from small to very large
4. Exploits common motivations and behaviors
5. Utilizes existing communication networks
6. Takes advantage of others’ resources

Keep in mind that viral marketing can have huge success if done right, but it can also fall apart quickly, so be careful with the strategies you use. For example, a faux pas like Intuit’s ad from last year can create a wave of negative viral marketing.

Susan

Here are some other posts on viral marketing worth reading:

Why Viral Marketing Works So Well

Viral Marketing: Get the Bug

Memes, Rolls and Other Oddities Involving Rick Astley

Do You YouTube?

Going Viral David Meerman Scott Style

Here’s what it does. If you’re like me, you’ve tried to write an email, text message or note to yourself while driving (and this is why it took me until very recently to buy a SmartPhone. I know it’s dumb yet I still do it.) Jott allows you to call a number and record a note, reminder or message to yourself or someone else. The best part? It’s F-R-E-E.

So I’m driving down the road, thinking about the Marble Slab Creamery my husband and I just bought (no we will NOT be blogging about my eminent weight gain), and I had some questions I wanted to ask the previous owner. Knowing I won’t remember them, I just hit Jott, programmed into my phone and record my questions. It sends them to my email.

I can send my husband text messages to buy bananas by recording my voice.

And I just found out you can record events to link into your Google Calendar. And have searches for items on Amazon sent to your email. HOW COOL IS THIS???

And in the true fashion of Marketing 2.0 (yes, I’m bringing it back to marketing) the site is very interactive. It encourages users to suggest new uses for the service. They’ve been featured in several major publications and blogged about across the board.

Way to go, Jott. I want to be on your team.

-Susan
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The gist is that Oprah and Eckhart discuss one chapter a week from the book. People from all over the world call in, email and Skype their questions. It falls in line with my description of Marketing 2.0.

-Interactive. When will you have the opportunity to talk to Oprah and one of the world’s top authors? This webcast invites anyone to participate, which makes it all the more appealing.

-It’s a conversation. The entire basis of the webcast is a conversation, to delve into the book. Just reading a book is old school. Now you can completely engage yourself with other elements, such as webcasts, podcasts, and conversations with the author.
-Democracy. If it wasn’t good, Oprah’s webcast wouldn’t be so popular. It gets spread by people who believe in it (including myself; I’ve told several people about it)
-Nontraditional. You don’t see a quick movement online from national networks. I fully believe Oprah is behind the push to engage her audience in a new way. It’s unique and appealing.
-Flexible. You can download the audio to your MP3 player, watch it live, or watch the webcast at your convenience. It doesn’t get more convenient than that!

-Susan

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According to this article from the LA Times, there has been some serious “RickRolling” going on. Huh? Do what?

Say you’re on your favorite gossip site. You see an ad for the latest on Britney Spears, and you click on it. But instead of shaved heads and child custody, you see a video of this vintage hit. You’ve been RickRolled.

And then to add to that, at recent Anti Scientology protests, kids too young to even know who Rick Astley is played his song in the streets. Bizarre.

So is Rick behind all this? Is he trying to bring his song back from oblivion? Not at all. It’s sort of a practical joke that’s spreading faster than a virus on computers everywhere.

This RickRoll situation is an example of the growing-in-popularity meme. According to Wikipedia, a meme is a unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that gets transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Memes have actually been around for a while. Here are some examples:

* Those annoying commercial jingles you can’t get out of your head and pass on to anyone just to rid yourself of them
* Epic poems passed on verbally
* Nursery rhymes

Now memes are online. Remember my post about Chocolate Rain? That’s a meme. Essentially it’s anything that spreads like wildfire online.

So is it marketing? Interestingly enough, most of these aren’t promoting a brand or company (deliberately). In the example of Taye Zonday, singer extraordinaire, he became a celebrity as a result of his viral campaign. So if anything, memes give the average Joe the opportunity to have a second of fame.

-Susan

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Hearing he’s offering a free conference is like finding a $100 bill on the ground. Bonus! So take advantage of this opportunity to learn from the master.

Here are the details of the upcoming call. He’ll be speaking on his most recent book, Meatball Sundae, so get a copy before the call.

Is the New Marketing stuff working for you? Are you mixing your meatball business with your marketing sundae?

Seth Godin, marketing guru & bestselling author has the answer for you. In his new book Meatball Sundae, the definitive guide to the fourteen trends no marketer can afford to ignore. Seth explains what to do about the increasing power of stories, not facts; about shorter and shorter attention spans; and about the new math that says five thousand people who want to hear your message are more valuable than five million who don’t. Seth doesn’t pretend that it’s easy to get your products, marketing messages, and internal systems in sync. But he’ll convince you that it’s worth the effort.

Ignore it at your own risk and peril. You will be left behind or end up with a “meatball sundae” – a big, ineffective mess. By the end of an hour, Godin will have us looking at the world we live in very differently – the new rules create new winners (and losers) and there’s no time to waste.

When: April 9th 12:00 – 1:00 p.m (Pacific Time)
What: Conference Call with Seth Godin (Call details will be provided after you sign up)
Sign Up Here -> http://meatball-bo.eventbrite.com/

Join this conference call on and learn directly from Seth Godin himself!

The Fine Print:

• Participants must purchase a copy of Meatball Sundae in order to register for this conference call. If you are already a meatball fan, great! We will ask you a simple question when you register.
• If you are new to Meatball, that’s fine too! We will let you buy the book and send you the call detail and the book.

-Susan

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Videos and Your Business
So, how can you take advantage of this burgeoning platform? Keep in mind well over 100 million videos are viewed each day, so as a marketing platform, you can’t hope to reach a larger audience.

• Product demonstration. CBS’ demo of the iPhone from last year generated over 8 million hits.

• Commercials. If you’ve put in the money to develop a commercial, get the most out of it by posting it on YouTube like Wendy’s did.

• Promote events. Alex Mandossian posts his teleseminars on YouTube and promotes them there as well.

• Free information. Establish yourself as an expert, the way Expert Village does with their series of home improvement videos.

Here is a video I posted for my client, BackDrop™ Headboard. Within hours of posting, the company had a request to buy the headboard.

-Susan

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Oprah is the very definition of viral marketing. She likely doesn’t get a cut of sales of items she promotes. But as soon as something is featured on her show, it gets snapped up by middle America. And they tell other people, who buy it and tell other people.

I have clients whose goal is to be on the Oprah show. And who can blame them? It’s basically a sign you’ve arrived.

Take her newest endeavor, the book “A New Earth.” No one had heard of Eckhart Tolle (well, I hadn’t anyway) but now half of America is buying his book because Oprah endorses it. Oprah is also offering a free online course with the author surrounding the premises of the book.

At first I said, “Bah. I don’t have to follow the mainstream and read that book!” But then I remembered I said the same thing when Oprah was pushing “The Secret.” I was late on the bandwagon, but the book changed my perspective, and I have Oprah to thank for that. So I gave in and became one of the thousands of people buying and reading this book. I will blog about it as her online course unfolds.

And remember: Oprah is always right.
-Susan

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1. Do you think Digging refers to making a hole in the ground?
2. Does the term “social networking” bring to mind wine tasting events at the country club?
3. When you want to talk to someone, do you call them rather than IM or email them?
4. Does a blog sound like something unpleasant you wouldn’t want to step in?
5. Do you still use a paper phone book?
6. If you miss a tv show, do you just give it up for a show you’ll never watch?
7. Do you think YouTube is something your daughter should not wear on a date?
8. When people talk about MySpace, do you tell them you like Your Space too?
9. Do you think Search Engine Optimization is only for train engineers?
10. Does viral marketing sound like something you don’t want to catch?

If you answered yes to these questions, here are some resources that will bring you up to speed on the wonders that are available to you online!

Going Viral
The New Rules of Marketing
Sample Social Media Toolkit
Web 2.0 vs. 3.0

-Susan

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Now he’s got an ebook out on Viral Marketing called The New Rules of Viral Marketing: How word-of-mouse spreads your ideas for free. Once again, David, great stuff. It took me a minute to get the “word-of-mouse” concept because I live in Orlando where everything references our mousy friend who lives at Disney!

David provides great examples and links of viral marketing at work. It’s a must-read, as all his works are. So download it now and enjoy!

PS. Just a little sidenote about viral marketing. Did you know you were part of it at Christmas time? That is, if you were one of the 26 million people who created an elf using OfficeMax’s Elf Yourself e-card. (It was funny the first time, mom) You know the one–the silly little elves with your picture on top dancing to a stay-in-your-head tune. It spread like wildfire. And did you feel like you were being advertised to? Probably not. But I bet OfficeMax is at the top of your list for office supplies now!

-Susan

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http://youtube.com/watch?v=5hkGJ2OjsSg

You’re probably feeling that warm feeling of nostalgia right now. That means those advertisers did a great job, if you’re still singing those songs 20 years later. So what does it take to create a truly classic ad campaign?

-Susan

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I realized that even though we had the week-long Blogging & Your Business event, I’ve never actually taken the time to explain why I believe your business needs a blog. I frequently pitch blogs to my Egg Marketing customers, so it’s apropo that I post my reasons.

I talk a lot about how times, they are a changin’. It’s inevitable that we will not be able to reach customers in the ways we did in the past. To successfully grow any business, you have to be open to change. Customers adapt faster than businesses, and that’s the downfall of many companies. It’s a tiresome race, always trying to find the new way to market before the consumer discovers it, but it’s a necessary evil.

Blogs are the future. Now, if your idea of blogs is someone’s journal about what they ate that day, that may have been true in 2000, but it’s not true now. But you know that because you’re reading this. Blogs are meant to inform. Rather than buy a set of encyclopedias from a door-to-door salesman, you can have any type of information you seek with a few clicks of a button, and much of it is on blogs. Consumers like free information. Provide that to them, and their sales will follow.

Think about the places you get free information. A newsletter, direct mail, television – whatever the source, chances are there is a company who sells things behind it. And if you know this, and appreciate the information you are given, you are more likely to buy from that company than its competitor. Blogs are no different. I write about marketing because it’s what I love. I would probably blog about it anyway, but I also run a marketing and PR firm. While I’m of course not pushing anything on you, it is my hope that if you need marketing one day, you’ll think of the woman who writes such useful articles on Marketing 2.0.

Consumers are in a hurry. Blogs provide easy access to information that people can quickly digest. People don’t even sit down to read the newspaper any more, so it’s important to get readers’ attention quickly, offer what they’re looking for, and let them go on with their lives. But be assured that somewhere in the back of their minds, they know where that information came from. If you provide an RSS, it’s even more convenient for them, since they have to do virtually nothing to get your updates.

If you have frequent news about your business, where better to let consumers know than on a blog? While it’s hard to track readers from sending out a press release, your results are measurable with a blog. You can track how many visitors are on your site, and even how many people read a particular post. You know how many people you’re reaching at any given time.

With all that being said, please understand that a blog isn’t going to generate sales overnight. A blog takes months to get up and running (and to grow your readership), so consider it always a work in progress. The more frequently you post (2-4 posts a week) the faster it will grow and help your bottom line.

So let’s review your reasons for starting a blog so you have no excuse not to:

1. You have to roll with the punches. Marketing is constantly changing, and so must your technique.
2. Blogs are growing in popularity and are accepted as common marketing tools.
3. Giving consumers free information will increase your brand recognition and sales.
4. Making it easy for consumers to find information makes them appreciative, and they will reciprocate in purchases.
5. You can measure your results.
6. And did I mention, it’s pretty affordable to have a blog. You can DIY or pay a writer/blogger to post. Beats the cost of a billboard!
-Susan

Need more resources?
Wblogger covers the basics of business blogging.
Fresh Coat of Paint covers Why Your Business Should Blog
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Last week I wrote about viral marketing. It’s everywhere. Then I read an article on Problogger about John Gerard, a man who is determined to become famous in 31 days. His ultimate goal is to get on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He’s trekking across the country, from New York to L.A., telling everyone he meets about his mission. It’s a little a la “My Date with Drew.” That, I thought, is viral marketing at its finest. So I had to interview him to get his take on his viral campaign.

EM: How are you marketing yourself on this project?
JG: Every way possible. The web. E-mail blasts. Business Cards. Promotional T-shirts. Car Advertising. Word of mouth. Media.

EM: Did you create a marketing plan or are you winging it?
JG: Winging it. Just like my itinerary.

EM: You’ve gotten a lot of media coverage already. Is that something you put effort into, or is it more the effect of viral marketing?
JG: Yes! Both! I’m putting enormous effort in to this! And viral is amazing too! You can’t do without it!

EM: Viral marketing interests me in the fact that the public decides what is worthy of attention (who gets to be famous). What do you think about the probability of a normal guy with a crazy idea becoming a celebrity?

JG: People seem to love this idea. I think it’s because everyone fantasizes about leaving stability behind to go on some crazy adventure. And this way they get to do it vicariously from the comfort of their own living room sofa.

EM: What’s your day job?
JG: Television producer – On air guy.

If this guy can get on Leno’s show (and I have no doubt in my mind that he will), why can’t you create a viral campaign around your product or service? John’s proving that it doesn’t take a lot of money or even being well-known in advance to have a successful viral marketing campaign.

Model your viral marketing campaign after John:

1. Get the word out in every possible venue. Online. Email. Networking. Advertising. Press. Overlook nothing.
2. While John doesn’t have a plan (maybe that IS his plan), you should have one. Figure out what results you want to see and when.
3. Never turn down free press. John’s busy getting famous, but he took time to be interviewed by me, and as a result, he’ll have the billions of readers from Egg’s blog visiting his site (ha. ha).
4. Don’t be afraid to get crazy. The more unusual the idea the better. Make the idea “stick.”

Visit John’s website for more inspiration: famousin31days.com

-Susan
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I’ve been thinking a lot about viral marketing lately. Primarily since I spoke with Kevin Eikenberry (see last week’s Blogging & Your Business forum for his input on that topic). Today, his goal is to unseat Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows as the #1 Bestseller on Amazon.com, just for a day, with his book, Remarkable Leadership: Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time. He’s got a network of folks (including me) ready and willing to help him achieve this goal through emails, blogs and newsletters.

I find this a highly creative campaign (that has inspired me to dream up my own viral marketing idea) and I am eager to see Kevin succeed. And I do think he can succeed. Here’s why.

Viral marketing, while it may sound helter skelter, is actually incredibly organized. Or at least successful campaigns are. Kevin has his plan mapped out to a T and has to do nothing more than send a link to the instruction page for this campaign to get people signed up and ready to go.

Kevin’s campaign offers something in return. Besides giving me a great blog topic to cover today, he’s also given me the opportunity to reach the people he touches with this project. More exposure for Egg. Bonus.

Kevin has contacts. He has 74 email partners sending out millions of emails as well as a network of 21 people blogging and sharing this campaign. He also is giving buyers of his book bonuses from his contacts, including some great ebooks, newsletters and podcasts on leadership, management, marketing and more.

He understands the importance of buzz. If for only a moment in cyberspace, Kevin becomes a mini-celebrity, more power to him. It is those techniques that are noteworthy and get us talking that are the most successful.

Help Kevin achieve his dream! Buy his amazing book on Amazon today!

Leadership Expert Kevin Eikenberry has created a package like nothing you have ever seen! Buy a copy of his new book, Remarkable Leadership – Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time today, August 22nd, and receive a package of gifts, resources and tools from experts around the world – all designed to help you learn more, lead remarkably and reach your goals!

Go to http://RemarkableLeadershipBook.com/bonuses.asp to learn more, see the gifts and get started!

Need more resources?
Viral Marketing, your best new buddy
Concepts and Power of Viral Marketing
The Many Facets of Viral Marketing
Calling BS on 3 Marketing Strategies

-Susan
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