Title is EVERYTHING!

Why?

- When I go to a new blog I don’t read the last 5 posts and see what I like. I do a skim of the titles and if 1 catches me then I read the post.

- Twitter – There is no summary of your post with your tweet. It’s your title and the link, that’s it. People aren’t going to click that link unless that title catches them.

- All of your feeds (facebook, friendfeed, ning networks) they will have a brief summary with your new post but what is in bold? The title. This is what people see.

-Everything is becoming more and more of a mashup. These mashups are less and less descriptive and you need that 1 liner to catch them (your title).

In this hyper paced world people don’t get into things unless they truly see a reason to. If your title doesn’t give them that reason then it won’t matter how amazing your content is because they will never see it.

Last month I was on Thayer St. in Providence Rhode Island with a couple friends and stopped into a restaurant called Kabob and Curry. At first it was just your average place to grab a quick bite. But then we realized all these weird prices $7.16, $8.54 and so on. Really strange had no idea why they were like this. Then we realized that it was because once tax was added the prices came out even $8 flat or whatever.

What a great idea! I loved this concept. I mean I still remember this place a month after being there…I didn’t even buy anything because I wasn’t hungry.

This is especially great in a college town because I hated having change at school. It was just a pain and generally ended up lost. I would honestly rather pay $8 then $7.85 or something where I end up with change.

One of the biggest things is it is just different. Honestly this could probably be called a marketing strategy rather then a pricing strategy. Creates word of mouth and is memorable just because its different.

Losing:

I spend a lot of time in Panera to get out of the house and get some work done. Really love it for the free Wifi and the atmosphere. However they just raised their prices on coffee. It was I think $1.84 for a medium cup now its $2.04.

Now here’s the problem. I do not want 96cents of change back for getting a cup of coffee! Most of the time I would just tell them to keep the change when it was 16cents but now I feel like I’m losing a whole dollar. I also don’t want to break a dollar bill to cover that extra 4cents.

To me this is really annoying and discourages me from getting some coffee when I end up at Panera.

My ideal price like the kabob place from above would be $2 flat. I would prefer that over the $1.84 and obviously the $2.04. Just to eliminate the change.

Now maybe I’m just being picky but its just the images these prices place in my head. I didn’t even eat at the Kabob place and I remember it a month later. The Panera price just puts a negative image in my head because the change comes across as annoying.

I wonder if Panera considered this before doing that? Do you think Panera would make more sales if their prices all ended up being on the dollar because of the word of mouth?

Or am I the only person in the world that this bothers? haha

Starbucks – free cup of coffee if you voted

Krispy Kreme – free doughnut with “I Voted Sticker”

Ben and Jerry’s – free scoops 5-8pm on Nov. 4th

Now these aren’t small businesses but it doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of all the events going on. Hopefully you did some kind of promotion or marketing event that went along with Halloween and the elections. However if you missed out on these 2 events start planning for the next couple months.

Thanksgiving
Black Friday
Hanukkah
Christmas
New Years

All of these things cause a lot of disruption in people’s lives. People get thrown out of routine, some like it some don’t. Lot’s of travel takes place along with lots of massive gatherings. Find ways to add yourself into these happenings, possibly make the disruption process more enjoyable. Be creative and throw yourself out there. Start planning something for each of these events that will further the reach of your business.

If you want to succeed you can’t let some of the biggest events of the year slip through your fingers.

Seth Godin just released a new book called Tribes. The book talks about leading tribes and who is doing it. I wanted to make a post about how Seth launched the book because it really shows why he is such a revered marketer and why all of his work reaches the highest levels. Now normally a book launch goes through some general steps. The author will probably work it into presentations he makes to promote it. They will announce it on their website or blog. They might form a group that is excited about the book to further promote the launch. Then they will just tell everyone they know and spread the word as best they can.

Now Seth implemented these strategies but with some twists that made his launch really “remarkable” as he would say. So lets take a look at some of the steps he took.

1. Created Triiibes

Back in July Seth announced that he was starting a private network called Triiibes. In order to join the network you had to pre-order a copy of his new book Tribes which was set for release in mid October. Once you pre-ordered the book you had to send him the receipt and then he would send you an invite to this private network. The network right now has 3,647 members. It has grown slightly from the original number because Seth has offered things like friend invites during the 2 months the network has been up. Now lets look at what this network does for the launch of Seth’s new book.

- Core followers
Everyone who pre-ordered the book to get an invite to the network was excited about this opportunity to be a part of this. These people told their friends about this exclusive club they were in and at the same time told them it was because of a new book Seth was launching. So right off the bat Seth has created word of mouth marketing about his book launch that is still 2 months away!

- Seth is active in the network
Seth as usual shows he cares about his followers and stayed fairly active on Triiibes. He has a Q&A discussion in the forum and regularly posts updates to the network. This lets people see further into Seth’s mind, exactly what anyone who joined Triiibes would want to do. This also enhances Seth’s image as people who maybe decided to check out this network but weren’t a long time follower of Seth now got to see how helpful and dedicated he is to his work.

- It became a resource
As Seth said this wasn’t a network like facebook. The network was created to create content. It became a great place to go to read a great blog post or take part in an intriguing discussion. This came from keeping the network private which made it full of like-minded people who were focused on making related content. This kept people coming back and thus kept the thought of Tribes on their minds.

2. Surprise Free Early Copy

So about 2 weeks before the actual release of the book I and all others who pre-ordered a copy got a little surprise in the mail. A free copy of the book! At first I was a little confused I didn’t even realize it wasn’t the copy I had ordered. But then there was a note inside from Seth telling everyone it was free with no strings attached. He then said that he wanted us to read that copy of the book and once we received the pre-ordered copy in the mail to give it away. What a way to create even more hype around the book!

After this happened I went onto Triiibes to see if everyone else had the same experience. I found that everyone was talking about it whether they had received their free copy yet or not. I realized then what a great way to create viral marketing right there. Every person who got a free copy talked about the fact that they got a free early copy of Seth’s new book for the rest of the day. In giving away thousands of books Seth was probably able to reach tens of thousands of people with his concept of Tribes.

3. Speaking

Now this is a fairly common technique that follows a book launch. Seth will be speaking in NYC on Oct. 22nd about the book, it is a brand new presentation covering the material and concepts that Tribes is about. Even for this event Seth encourages people to take videos of the presentation. Something you don’t see to often from speakers and again he knows that these videos will be put on youtube, facebook, mypsace, and whatever other networks are out there. Thus it ends up being 1 more method that his words and ideas and book reach more ears and eyes.

All of this was no accident. This is why Seth Godin is considered a master marketer. He knows how to sell things.

I think this is key to any business that is just starting, you don’t need a master marketer to create similar effects. Finding ways to create that all important “wow” factor that gets people talking. Do something that makes people go out and tell their friends and family. Seth planned out how he was going to get that “wow” factor by creating the Triiibes network and then having a group to surprise with a free copy. But it doesn’t have to be on that scale. Most people have fairly ordinary and even boring day to day routines. If you find a way to interrupt that for just a minute that may be all that is needed to get that person to spread your ideas to a few more people.

The point is that any business can implement this type of marketing. It’s not very hard. It just takes a little creative thinking and some planning but anyone can find a way to make someone go “wow” so that person goes and tells the next few people they talk to.

Anybody have any experiences with things like what Seth did? Made you take a second look or go “wow”.

If I get some good responses I’ll make a follow up post about them. Don’t forget to leave your name and a link if you want so I can give you credit!

Get a copy of Tribes at Amazon

And nice job to Seth! He talks about this kind of marketing all the time and then he shows that he knows what he is talking about by successfully doing it.

I think this shows the huge flaw in the Digg System.  This list shows the “powerusers” on Digg and its these people that can manipulate just about any story and get it to the front page of Digg.  As I’ve used Digg I’ve realized this more and more and find it near impossible to make much of an impact unless you are or are near being one of these users.

I also have become discouraged from Digg because the other day I received 18 Diggs on a post I submitted from this blog.  However when I looked at my stats I had received no clicks from Digg.  Obviously everyone of those 18 Diggs came from people just responding to my shout by Digging my story so I would be more likely to Digg the next shout they send my way.

I’m guilty of this action of digging but not clicking but that’s the problem.  Everyone who isn’t a top user is just in a mad race to have more influence on the site so they do everything they can to beef up their stats.

I still like seeing some of the news that Digg has to offer but as far as using it as an effective distribution system for stories I like or that I write I’ve just about given up.

Sites such as Sphinn and Stumbleupon seem to be much more effective and useful.  I’m also just starting to use MIxx which to this point I’m pleased with.

If you really want to make an impact in the social media world you have to find a very niche site that your work would be appropriate for.

The key to these sites however is more then just adding friends and submitting your articles.  You need to develop yourself almost brand yourself. Don’t skimp with your involvement on the site.  Use everything the services allow you to use to get as much information about yourself out there.  Put a picture up and write a profile.  Add links to your other profiles and pick interests that really do interest you.  This is how other people will find you and respect you.

Having a developed profile on these sites is almost as important as submitting good content as far as I’m concerned.  People want to know what you do and what your into.  Just a little thing like a couple sentences about yourself make people feel welcome to your page and it gives off a friendly feeling.  I know that if I come across a persons profile who doesn’t say anything about themselves I will almost always move right along without thinking of sending them a friend request or looking at their stuff.

So make it easy for people to like you.  It’s hard enough as the social media world grows to be able to stand out and be heard.  Don’t make it any harder.