As I come closer to the date of publishing my first book Waking Up In Corporate America, I’m fascinated by the pitches made to me by the PR world. Some are purely old-school sales (I just want you to buy something) and some are really spot-on in their delivery.
I haven’t engaged yet with a specific firm and I might not. Just the same, I thought I would link you to a post from Guy Kawasaki. In his post on Word of Mouth Versus Key Influencers, Guy sites a study that states what we maybe have intuitively known for a long time; word of mouth marketing works well. The only exception here is when your aim is fame and fortune-first and last. I know those twins are beasts of a complicated nature. So when we examine motives, we have to be careful.
Word of mouth/viral marketing is truly the only lasting approach to marketing. Relationships are built on the idea of telling other people about something special. Think of it this way; would you tell someone to buy a certain book because Oprah endorsed it? Oprah would help the word of mouth, but people buy because the person telling them had a wonderful experience reading the book.
If you’re looking to spread ideas, then you need to focus on articulating your thoughts the best you can and shoot for something viral in nature. Viral agents spread the ideas because they see value in your ideas and want the world to change on a small or large scale.
Here are some thoughts around people who will want to be viral on your behalf:
- They don’t need a lot of convincing.
- They will spread your ideas because you’ve made it easy for them to do it. Make the burden lite and the action will follow.
- They understand what your idea is because you’ve made it simple.
- They believe in your ideas because you’ve actually experienced the idea…something they connect with.
- If the idea is worthwhile it should attract because people want to be a part of something great.