The purpose of this blog is to showcase blogging and viral marketing successes!
None of the companies, above, existed 15 years ago. Some of them didn't exist just five years ago, which may have you wondering what they do. How many of tomorrow's household names and brands will be created solely from online marketing?
Blogging is really just an extension of the face-to-face interaction we experience everyday. At work. At the store. In our neighborhood. It's done online with the written word rather than in person as the spoken word and allows you to reach far more people than in person.
How can you benefit by expanding your reach to hundreds, thousands or millions of listeners? What talents can you share that others are desperately seeking for entertainment, knowledge, networking and/or to solve a problem.
Please send me your submissions of great ideas, campaigns, success stories and so on. Contact us at Gmail - reasonstoblog (then) @gmail (don't forget the dot) com
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Several things are accomplished through online communication; currently known as social media, including branding, networking, direct sales, etc.
Another accomplishment includes raising money and awareness for causes like building a school in Tanzania; where over $10,000 was raised in just 48 hours.
The subject of Internet celebrities has come up in several of my latest discussions. Maybe it’s because we’re seeing more and more of these people rising up without the traditional media support or maybe it’s just timing. Either way, it’s obvious that traditional media is changing. Even social media is changing as it matures into a much more obvious choice for socializing.
Not to be confused with the infamous Matt, co-founder of Wordpress, Where the Hell is Matt? has carved his niche in travel, video and dominating the search engines for the keyword Matt. He’s sponsored by Stride gum.
His videos have also been downloaded million and millions of times. Who’s gonna argue with that kind of media attention?
Last week, on the social networking system called Twitter, I saw something interesting happen. I’ve seen this before, but it happened at the right moment. A mutual connection on Twitter, Mari Smith, needed some business cards. Mari couldn’t get a hold of her normal printer, so she put out a message on Twitter for recommendations. Laura Beulke turned out to be one of the people recommended. Laura is a Twitter user also, and told Mari that should could help her get new cards in a snap.
The two were able to create a win/win situation. Mari got her cards fast and Laura got a new customer. But what I don’t think Laura was anticipating, was the amount of people who would become customers on Mari’s recommendation. Mari carries a lot of weight with her network, and when she says something is worth trying, people take action. Laura saw an increase in new customers from this one interaction. Her time cultivating was low, and the return was high.
As you can see, connecting with your customers where their eyes are can be just as critical, if not more, than any paper or web advertising. WordOfMouth2.0. Blogging has the same effect. Whether its a full length post like this or micro-blogging with Twitter, Facebook or dozens of other services. The point is to connect. Help people get what they want, and you’re definitely on your way to getting what you want.
Follow me on Twitter if you would like.
We’ve previously discussed the importance of companies using current events for marketing purposes.
The band Wilco has done an excellent job engaging their targeted audience by offering a free song download with the promise of voting. It’s actually quite brilliant. If you’re new to their music and enjoy the single you’ll likely go purchase a full-length album.
This is a great example of using current events to promote your brand. It doesn’t matter what you believe or which candidate you prefer. The Women’s Entertainment Network isn’t taking a position here, but they’re using the election to promote their brand and unite their viewers on the importance of voting. It doesn’t hurt that they’re building incoming links to their site as well.
I took a screenshot to archive the page, should they decide to take it down after the election. You can click on the image to visit their page and grad a badge for your site.
Comcast has been very smart to use social media services to not only make friends with it’s customers but actually make a difference after doing so.
Customers who can’t seem to get a problem solved or a question answered have been going online and lashing out for years. It’s become so much easier to find people to tell about a bad experience and the younger generation is taking full advantage.
Being aware, at least two guys at Comcast have created Twitter accounts and reached out to their customers complaints. They reach out to customers and solve their problems as quickly as possible. They get raving reviews from customers and it spreads from customer to customer that Comcast Customer Service is available on Twitter.
If you’re not on Twitter, you can sign up for a free account.
If you’re a business experiencing customer backlash, you can consider following Frank and Scott into the online customer service field.
Nice job Comcast.
I first heard about Larry Dinsmore from Jibber Jobber, a Career Management Toolset, when they blogged Damn I Need A Job (dotcom).
Dinsmore has since found a job and created a business as well as inspired many others to stand out from the crowd while looking for employment. He scored tons of media coverage for being catchy and found his way back to employment.
Think of the media coverage the company that hired him could be getting from this, if properly arranged. Of course, I’m not sure I’d give up my idea to a corporate contract but it’s an idea.
You can use his site to:
It seems Dinsmore has been too busy to keep up with the job search, forum and blog, probably because he’s working again, but maybe he’ll return to his roots eventually.
Lessons he learned and wants you to know:
Ultimately, a social media mindset; mixed with local News PR and lots of standing around landed Dinsmore his job. But because he was thinking outside the box he continued to get media coverage, add sections to his blog and promote his idea online.
This is what happens when seemingly normal people decide to share a personal talent with others, take video and share it online and then everybody passes it around. Over 97 million times!
Judson Laipply has danced his way to the top spots on YouTube with:
He’s created a personal brand for life and been featured on TV and all over pop culture including Inside Edition, The Today Show, Good Morning America and Rolling Stone.
Check out the Evolution of Dance website for all the details.
A young couple, with four young children, survive a plane crash with third-degree burns on over 50% of their bodies and the blogging community came together to raise money, participate in a balloon launch (a family tradition) and support in any way the extended families who are helping house their children, enrolling them in school and becoming their interim parents.
Follow their progress here.
Thanks to Design Mom for hosting several auctions and listing 300+ auctions for Nie Nie Day to spread the word and raise as much money as possible. I’ll update here when it’s complete and we know how much has been raised. Totals are topping $100,000 so far. Amazing!
This is where blogging becomes more than just a bunch of people talking about opinions and arguing over their views of the world; and into the hearts of people to bridge communities.
Press:
You may have heard about Boston, the band, and how they found their new lead singer after losing Brad Delp. It was all by mistake really and never could’ve happened without social media sites such as Myspace.
Tommy DeCarlo, a credit manager at Home Depot in Charlotte, North Carolina recorded a karaoke-style mp3 and uploaded it to his Myspace page as a tribute to Brad Delp. Along came the wife of Boston’s founder, Tom Scholz, who was surfing around Myspace and stumbled onto Tommy’s version of their song. Amazed, he flew Tommy and family up for an audition and resulted in a Delp tribute show and tour invite.
Having rapped the summer tour, Tommy will appear on Boston’s new album due out in early 2009 along with Stryper frontman, Michael Sweet.
