Get Personal

For those of you who may not know, I’m a recently turned coffee addict. When I need to get coffee in my hometown of Toledo, I refuse to go anyplace besides Plate 21, a small, quirky, locally owned coffee bistro approximately two minutes from my house. The owner makes individualized drinks, knows how your life is going, etc. The reason I like it? It’s personal.

Chapter six in Paul Gillin’s The New Influencers focuses on how small business can thrive by using blogs to get personal with customers and accentuate their individuality”

“One of the main reasons people do business with a small company is to get personal service. Blog are all about personality. If you bring a distinctive voice…people will feel like they know you. And that will make it easier for them to do business with you” said Gillin.

Small businesses face enough challenges as is: getting media attention, being financially stable, making ends meet. Therefore, a simple, inexpensive marketing service that allows small businesses to play off of their strong suit of personal service may be just the thing they need.

I'm going viral!

Alright guys, I’m just letting you know ahead of the game: I’m going to be the next big viral video. I’ve watched enough YouTube videos with approximately 30 billion views to learn that I’ve got what it takes. I’ve said highly embarrassing stuff while under the influence of anesthesia after the dentist, a la David. I have good home movies of me dancing ridiculously as a child. And you have no idea how many altered versions of popular songs my friends and I have co-written and are just waiting to perform on the big screen of YouTube. Anyone know Katy Perry’s “Peacock”? Let’s just say when you see the version “Pecan” explode onto the scene in a few months, you’ll know the star of the video…

The bottom line? After reading Chapter 10 in Paul Gillin’s The New Influencers and watching too many videos, I’ve learned that just about anybody can go viral. Gillin outlines steps for marketing professionals to follow if they are trying to turn their latest news or product into a web video wonder. I took the chapter a bit further by deciding to apply the message to the general public: anybody can be the next big web hit. You don’t need to be a marketer with a message. In fact, it seems like the latest batch of viral videos are everyday Joes looking get their 15 minutes. Rebecca Black anyone? The technique has shifted from company strategy to means of personal promotion.

Regardless of whether it’s for a good cause, big name company, or an egotistical teen trying to up his reputation, I’ll readily admit that I’m enjoying the viral video craze. I think I’m laughing more than ever nowadays. For instance, let’s end this blog post with my current favorite video: it hit about 12 million views in one week. You won’t find any product placement or the latest corporate craze here…just one ridiculously cute baby :)

And on the eighth day, God gave social media…

Didn’t know there were commandments for social media, did you? Well, I at least certainly didn’t, but I came across the mighty list in the second chapter of Paul Gillin’s “The New Influencers.” While they all provided great guidance to the people of the blogosphere, a few particular ones really stood out:

Thou shall be transparent

This commandment can be taken on a fairly simple, direct level: use strikes if replacing a word, alter a post through a comment instead of deleting it. These matters of transparency seem like common sense. But I also think it hits a bigger notes: blogs are truly becoming a powerful player. We count on newspapers to be transparent- they have been our reliable source of news for years. If people are demanding transparency from blogs, it must mean people are looking to blogs to be a credible source of news. Not bad for a fairly new communication medium

Thou shall comment

The word “communication” implies a two way sharing of message. Therefore, we would assume that any communication channel, including blogs, has a balanced two way flow of information. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always seem to be true; people get caught up in their own opinions and forget to consider those of others. The commandment “thou shall comment” reminds us that what we truly need from a communication channel is a conversation. The sharing of ideas and opinions is what truly fosters good communication.