You Can't "Do" Viral Marketing

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Viral A friend of mine told me the other day that he was working on a viral marketing project at work.  He was trying to spread the word about a site he just released.

Curious, I asked him what activities he considered viral marketing activities.  He listed building a Facebook page, postings in web forums and "Twittering."

To me, this isn't viral marketing.  It's simply old fashioned advertising through new channels.

Viral marketing, on the other hand, is when a customer tells a friend who tells two friends who each tell four friends who each tell eight friends.

It's a passive activity for the marketer; the marketer isn't "doing" viral marketing, he's simply watching it happen.

But I do believe you can enable it in two ways:

  1. By creating a product or service that is so cool that people are inclined to spread the word.
  2. By making it REALLY easy for your customers to spread the word.

Beyond that, viral marketing is mostly luck.

My BlackBerry - Part 2

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Blackberry-logoBack in January I wrote about post about all of the things I use my BlackBerry for and how I believe that handhelds are coming closer and closer to eliminating the need for personal computer use.  It's interesting to watch how this list increases over time.  Here's an updated list.

  • Phone (home and cell)
  • Texting
  • Email (work and personal)
  • Blogging (because the keyboard is so easy to use, I rarely feel the need to write on my laptop anymore)
  • News. I've setup the WSJ.com Reader on the device so I get real time news feeds from all of my favorite news outlets and blogs. I get more news through my BlackBerry than other format.
  • Personal calendar, address book, tasks and notes
  • Alarm clock
  • General web surfing
  • Facebook (I have the application though I rarely use it)
  • Camera
  • Watching video
  • Online radio (through Pandora)
  • Sports Radio (through Flycast)
  • Navigation (Google Maps is a great application when it works)
  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2009

Organic Traffic

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A really useful metric for internet marketers to watch is "organic traffic %." 

Most web traffic comes from:

  • Service Emails
  • Marketing Emails
  • Search
  • Other Advertising (banners, TV, radio, print, etc.)
  • RSS Feeds
  • Organic (people that come without being prompted; a proactive visit, directly to your site)

The breakdown of these sources varies by industry of course, but it's useful to watch how the percentage of traffic that comes organically changes over time.  An increase in organic traffic over time is a good way to measure the increased value and quality of your product.

What's Too Personal?

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Twitter_logo_header Here's the thing about Twitter and Facebook status updates that's really got me thinking.

Surely there are certain things that one can write but that they'd rather not share with the entire world, in real time. So, when one becomes inclined to 'Tweet" there must always be an assessment, even if subconscious, as to whether or not the musing is something that should be shared with the audience that's following the "Tweeter."

This assessment is of course made harder by the fact that the Tweeter's audience is always evolving, thus the thought required of this assessment increase over time.

Does this seem stressful to anyone else?

The Battle Against Outsourcing

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Seth Godin blogs about some of his predictions for the future. There's one that's particularly interesting to me.

Prediction: The effort required to outsource a task involving the manipulation of data of any kind will continue to decrease until it will be faster and cheaper to outsource just about anything than it will be to use in-house talent. What will you do today to ensure your prosperity when that happens?

I think Seth is dead-on with this prediction. Here are a few tips on how you can stay prosperous despite this trend:

  1. Get closer to the core value of your business. Your goal should be to either build or provide the product or service that your customers pay for; or to sell the product or service that your customers pay for. If you're an accountant at a construction company, you're doing neither. And it's only a matter of time before your job gets outsourced. Get on the front lines. Be an accountant at an accounting firm so that you grow as companies outsource.
  2. Focus on the right things, the valuable things. Every quarter list the things that you do that can't be outsourced. Find a way to double the amount of time you spend on those things.
  3. Innovate, innovate, innovate. Innovation is hard to outsource. Cheaper, faster, better, more efficient, more scalable. Every week give yourself an "innovation score" (from 1 to 5); answering the question: How well am I doing at continuously and radically innovating on the work that I do? If you're scoring a 4 or a 5 then you're way ahead of most workers, and you're in a great position to prosper. But don't forget, do this every week.

Finally, above all else, think like a CEO. Every quarter assume your CEO is asking the following question: How could I go about outsourcing [Your Name]'s work? Use the tips above to make it impossible.

An Internet Business Idea

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Here's an internet business that I'd be happy to invest in and I hope someone creates. A website where I can select my favorite clothing retailers, my zip code and my sizes. The site will feed back items in my size and location that are on sale. I could then reserve the items I like and if I get to the store within, say, 24 hours, the items are mine.

Of course the site would have email alerts for specific items I'm watching. This wouldn't apply to a widespread sale across the whole store or across an entire clothing line. I'm referring to a specific item that the store believes it can't sell at full price and gets stuck on a sale rack, never to be found.

Someone out there really wants to buy it at that price but there's no mechanism for the retailer to tell that consumer that it's available.  This website would facilitate that communication.

The value for the consumer would be savings and good clothes at the right price point. The value for the retailer would be far more efficient inventory management, increased traffic and sales, more intelligence to set prices and enhanced customer loyalty.

Diversify Your Job

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There are all kinds of books, blogs and articles telling people that they should get out of their boring jobs, start their own business and go to work for themselves. While I fully agree with the spirit of this advice, the fact is that we all already work for ourselves.

The problem is that we only have one customer -- our employer.If that “customer” goes out of business or decides it doesn’t want to work with you anymore (lays you off/fires you), then you’re completely screwed. This describes most people’s current lot in life, i.e. most people only have one job. Does anybody else think this is crazy?

The advice shouldn’t be to go off on your own and start a new business, the real advice should be to diversify. Find a way that you can have income coming from several different employers and/or clients.

A smart investor would never put all of their money into one company. A smart company would never put all of their resources into one client. That would be stupid. Because if that company or client disappears, then so do you.

Why is this different for workers? Why is it acceptable for a worker put all of their time and energy into one company?

Monday through Friday

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Monday through Friday contains 120 hours and makes up 71% of our lives.  I've been thinking a lot about what I do during these hours and whether or not I'm using them as effectively as possible. 

Here's the breakdown for me:

  • 54% - Work (65 hours)
  • 33% - Sleep (40 hours)
  • 4% - Exercise (5 hours)
  • 4% - Spending time with friends and family -- in person or over the phone (5 hours)
  • 4% - Chilling out -- reading, watching TV, internet, research, paying bills, etc. (5 hours)

Because a reasonable amount of sleep, or at least rest, is a requirement for me, I'm spending 77% of my Monday through Friday doing something that is more or less involuntary.

If you're anything like me it's crucial that you're getting a BIG return on the effort you're putting into your work.