Instigator Blog

Buzz marketing works. Creating buzz works. Providing people with a reason to spread your gospel and your story works.

My 3-Week Buzz Marketing Challenge hammered home a few important points; lessons learned and steps you can take to master the art and science of buzz marketing.

The Science

1. Start Simple. Pick 3 or 4 of the simpler buzz marketing techniques and focus on those. The most effective will be contacting old friends and acquaintances and contacting stale connections.
2. Keep Trying. Buzz marketing isn’t a 3-week crash course. It’s something you should always be doing. 15 minutes of fame are nice, but oh-so-fleeting…you want to build upon each success. Each buzz trail that goes out should feed the next. Think: sonic boom.
3. Develop a Routine. I’m all for setting up personal systems to manage things. Buzz marketing is the same. Even if you do it regularly, without a system to manage and control what you’re doing, it won’t be as effective. Keep track of your initiatives, record them, review what worked and what didn’t, and get into the routine of creating buzz.

   Routines can be regimented and managed. Eventually, the routine becomes a habit and you’re buzzing all the time without even realizing it. Jackpot.

The Art

1. Get Comfortable. Not everyone is comfortable tooting their own horn. You’ll have to be if you want to master buzz marketing. It’s not about idiotic self-promotion, but if you’re not comfortable or confident in your own successes and telling others about them, no one else will be either.
2. It’s About People. Some people have a flair for communicating with people. They make you feel at ease, they open up quickly, suddenly you’re telling them every little secret…nevermind. Point is, buzz marketing is about people. Techniques and systems help you reach those people but once you’ve connected, art takes over.

   Master the art of re-connecting with people. It will help you get comfortable with the idea of buzz marketing, without going over the top. And you’ll learn to craft your message better over time when you take on bigger, more complex challenges.

3. Be Creative. The basics will work. Even if you stick to connecting with old acquaintances, customer follow-ups and a few of the other simpler buzz marketing techniques you can be successful. But now is your chance to do something off-the-wall zany. Buzz marketing is a great combination of basic communication efforts and total creativity. Take the essence of the challenges - reaching out to people and getting your success stories talked about - and find new ways of doing it. Be bold. Be entertaining. Have fun.

The real key to buzz marketing is getting others to buzz for you.

If you’re the only one standing on the rooftop shouting your name…it will eventually fall on deaf ears. When you marshal an army of buzz agents - people openly and truthfully willing to talk about you - you’ve won the game big time.

My 3-Week Buzz Marketing Challenge is over. I completed a good number of the challenges but certainly not all of them. Getting on a board of directors isn’t easy! (But I did try!)

I didn’t post about every buzz marketing challenge I took on. Some of them I was doing beforehand as well. These last few challenges are summarized below, so you can get a clear picture of what was accomplished in the 3-week time period.

For those of you that are new to Instigator Blog, my goal was to complete as many of Ron McDaniel’s 57 buzz challenges as possible, from his book Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing in 3 weeks. At least 2 or 3 others followed up after me and also started their own 3-week challenges.

Generally speaking I was very pleased with what I was able to accomplish. More than anything I learned a number of important lessons, which I’ll be sharing soon.

1. Call Someone You’ve Never Talked To. I tried (but left a message.) This is a tough challenge because many people are shy about calling strangers. I absolutely believe this can work though. Ron McDaniel recommends calling someone that you’ve read about in the newspaper, congratulate them about their success and go from there. That’s precisely what I did when I called Mohammed Hassan, who is involved with a microloan/microcredit organization in Montreal (which I had read about in the Montreal Gazette.) Mohammed did call me back, now we’re playing phone tag.
2. Online Directory. The challenge here is to use online directories to put your name and profile out there. An example used in Ron’s book is LinkedIn. I’ve used LinkedIn for quite awhile but not actively. Very soon I’ll be updating my LinkedIn profile, so stay tuned!
3. Instant Messaging. I use instant messaging constantly to communicate with people. Often it’s to share industry news as well as updates on what I’m doing. As Ron points out in his book, instant messaging can be disruptive, so use it cautiously and don’t get frustrated if you don’t get an immediate response. A powerful use of instant messaging is to spread news quickly. If you’ve got a big enough contact list you can ping people fast, and spread some serious buzz.
4. Write a Blog. Well, obviously I’ve got this one covered. Writing a blog is the single most effective way of growing your personal brand and generating buzz. End of story. Once you start blogging, tons of opportunities will come. You may be able to republish your content on reputable websites. Connect with like-minded guys doing interesting things for the blogosphere. It’s incredible what blogging can do.
5. Produce an e-book. This is not something I’ve finished doing, but I’ve been talking to a couple of people about the possibility. E-books and audio books remain quite popular, and even if you give them away for free, they can generate a lot of buzz. Ron points out that e-books can be great sales tools. It’s important to brand them properly so people know where the e-book came from.
6. Send a Press Release. I undertook this task for my friend, Jimmy Moore, from The Livin’ La Vida Low Carb Show which is a great, in-your-face and inspirational podcast. We sent out an initial press release to a variety of health magazines and websites hoping to seed the turf a little bit and get him some recognition. Recently, Jimmy’s been asked to speak on two radio shows, so the PR might be working!
7. Give a Speech. I didn’t do this within the 3-week period, but I’ve been invited to speak at 2 events coming up in the near future - one in May and one in June.

Buzz marketing does work. Take a look at the 57 buzz marketing challenges and get started.

A quick reminder to my fellow Montreal technology entrepreneurs — tomorrow (February 13th) we’ll be having breakfast at Cafeteria, starting at 8am.

You can read about how this came together and keep track of attendees at Upcoming.org. That won’t be the full list (I hope!) but it’s nice to see people planning on attending and talking about it.

If you’re a technology entrepreneur in Montreal - I look forward to seeing you there.

Forget the extra mile. How about an extra inch? That’s all it takes to provide customers with a great experience and win them over. And it’s so darn easy, it’s amazing more people don’t go…that…one…extra…inch.

A couple of days ago I went to a store to purchase a gift. The cashier wouldn’t have really known it was a gift until I asked the price of the bags that were conveniently positioned at the front. They were $2. (Incidentally, why don’t more stores have inexpensive gift bags available when you checkout? Some give them away for free, but stores are missing out here.)

I purchased a bag and was ready to go on my way to assemble the gift (put items in bag, purchase tissue paper, scrunch up tissue paper, position tissue paper appropriately…)

It was at this point that the cashier went an extra inch. “Would you like me to remove the price tags?”

“Oh, sure,” I replied, thinking that’d be one less step I’d have to do.

As he’s picking at the sticky price tags I look behind me. There’s a lineup of people. None of them seem concerned with the extra time the cashier is taking.

I go to collect my items, but the cashier is still going an extra inch. He opens up the bag and places the items carefully inside. Another step I won’t have to take, I’m liking this guy more and more.

I go to grab the bag’s handles to complete the transaction, but he’s still not done. From behind the counter he pulls out perfectly matching tissue paper!

Sweet mother of shopping experiences! Will this guy write the card for me too?

The whole time, the line of people is filling up behind me, but none of them seem concerned. I realize most of them are probably repeat shoppers, and they know this guy and this store go the extra inch. They enjoy the shopping experience (from the style of the store to the process of paying) so they don’t mind waiting. And the whole thing only takes a few extra minutes. It’s a little inch more that this guy gives - a few extra steps that are so easy. As soon as he saw I was purchasing a gift he took an approach that would satisfy my individual needs at that moment.

Some stores offer gift wrapping, but they rarely ask. And usually you expect it already. This wasn’t a typical gift store (at least not in my expectations), so I was taken pleasantly off-guard. Reading Seth Godin’s book, “small is the new big” I can’t help but make the parallel with Seth’s frustration over people sticking to a script. No matter what feedback they’re getting from customers they treat each and every interaction the same, asking the same questions even if they don’t apply whatsoever. Scripts are necessary to process people quickly (and efficiently?) but if you can’t get away from the script and go the extra inch you’ll never provide customers with a truly wonderful experience.

The cashier saved me precious time and packaged the gift better than I ever could. The result: Happiness all around. Oh, and at least 3 direct referrals on that same day.

Go the extra inch. It’s easy and you’ll win so much more.

Photo by massdistract.

Greg Balanko-Dickson is writing a new book about the irrepressible entrepreneur.

In his brief book overview he asks for people to participate - and one way is for Greg to do an interview with you via phone or email. I asked Greg to send me the questions so I could take a crack at them.

Be careful what you wish for! I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that Greg asked big, big questions…so here goes.

1) What has been your greatest challenge in business to date, how did you cope with it, and what did you learn?

My biggest single challenge was firing people when I couldn’t afford to pay them. I also consider it my biggest failure. It was a very difficult thing to do, and although it was many years ago, I remember it clearly. I coped by working to separate my feelings of disappointment and frustration and my personal emotions from the business. I was running a business. The business wasn’t doing well (it was during the dot-com bubble burst) and I had no choice. I had two choices: reduce costs (and salaries are always your biggest cost) or fold up shop. I chose to fight another day.

2) When you think of the word entrepreneurship, what does it mean to you?

• Starting companies from scratch.
• Passion.
• Going for it. Trying to hit home runs every single day.
• Fun.
• Challenging.
• Different. You’re an entrepreneur, you’re different. You stand out.
• A way of life.

3) What has been you greatest success in the last 30 days? Why is it so significant to you?

My greatest success in the last 30 days has been the continued growth of my network with an incredible number of amazing people. I’ve had phone conversations with people I’ve met through the blogosphere. I’ve met new people in-person that rock. I’ve started a Montreal Technology Entrepreneur Breakfast Meetup.

One of my biggest mistakes over the years was not networking enough in my own backyard. That’s changed a great deal in the last 30 days. It’s important because you will succeed in large part due to the power, resourcefulness and extent of your network. And while I can’t say enough about my online network of friends and contacts, there’s nothing that truly replaces meeting face-to-face with someone.

4) When you started your business, what do you wish you had known that you now know? How might things have been different had you known?

Success doesn’t come to you. You have to go out and grab it by the proverbial you-know-whats. That means always looking for opportunities. Turn everything into an opportunity. Find the angle. Make the connection. If you’re selling a blue box and everyone wants red boxes, find a new way of doing it. Either find a new market for your blue boxes, or paint them red, or do something. Success doesn’t just fall in your lap.

But for me, the question is really, “What did you know, but failed to realize was so incredibly important?”

Here are a few:

1. You can’t carry lousy business partners on your back and succeed in spite of them.
2. You need to develop a personal brand for yourself. You might not be THE business (it’s helpful if a business can succeed without you) but developing a strong personal brand helps.
3. You can’t do everything. Find a way to outsource. And related to that, run a lean, mean organization. Stay organized.

5) When you look ahead at the world of entrepreneurship, what do you see, what concerns you, what excites you? And why?

In the technology world there are a few things going on right now that will continue. Namely, it’s getting easier to start new companies, ramp up quickly, launch quickly and do it inexpensively. It’s getting easier because technology is improving and more accessible, not because there’s some magic pill you can take to become a super entrepreneur.

I see more young people getting into entrepreneurship, which is great - although this is something we need to work harder at. They should be teaching entrepreneurship in highschool.

I see more angel investment going into very early stage startups. Examples like TechStars and Y Combinator are great; they show us that you can invest small amounts, bring in lots of expertise and help a couple of guys in a garage make something happen.

My concern with the most recent boom is that we get stupid again. Things are cyclical after all, and there are plenty of younger entrepreneurs that don’t remember the dot-com crash. Heck, there are plenty of people who lived through it that don’t remember it either. Money is being invested more smartly, and less of it is being tossed around, but nevertheless, I’d hate to see another dot-com fiasco with a rat-race of stupid ideas getting millions of dollars to go nowhere.