Chances are you’ve heard of marketing and even guerilla marketing. If you dabble at all on the internet (especially if your business is based there) you may have heard of viral marketing.
The best viral marketing occurs when people of influence combine with us fairly standard issue types to promote an activity or service that a company has performed. It gets a company great publicity and usually it’s FREE. Good news spreads like a “virus”, get it?
There are no great formulas or guarantees for successful viral marketing but if you offer extraordinary customer service as part of your daily business practice, you’re more likely to gain some positive viral notoriety.
This all leads me to a company called Zappos and they sell shoes. That area couldn’t have been further from my interests until Seth Godin wrote about a blog that some 15 people told him he should read.
I read Seth’s post. I click on the link there to get to this post which told a customer service story about Zappos.
In spite of my A-type personality, through which I may occasionally come off sounding like I know everything, I know I’ve much to learn (I think that’s a realization for most folks as the age).
In fact, I try to listen and or read many posts or books of people whose opinions I respect. They may have new knowledge on something I know nothing about or they may have a new perspective in an area of my expertise that I had either never considered or had left off my check list.
Leesa has taken a tried and true marketing tactic and applied it to podcasting: “A secret to gaining a ton of listeners or viewers is to describe your podcast in 10-words or less with an emphasis on describing the problem your podcast solves.”
Well I hadn’t done that yet. So her post got me going and here are some possibilities:
• Zigzagging across the worlds of voiceover, marketing and advertising; not necessarily in that order.
I like this one because Zigzagging is a word that I think establishes the fun the listener will experience with the podcast…it won’t be boring. It also helps define the voxmarketising title a bit (although there will always be some folks who don’t get it. But think back to way back when….did you even know how to pronounce the word “Oprah” when you first heard it?). On the down side, this IS more than 10 words. Crap!
• Where the worlds of voiceover, marketing and advertising collide!
For sheer brevity and violence, this one may have a real shot of sticking.
• voxmarketising – the audio’connell podcast: more fun than having your back waxed!
While this is certainly true (I would assume) I don’t know if it clearly explains the point of the podcast
So I am now requesting your opinion!
Which slogan do you like best? Which works? Can you think of a better one? If you come up with one and I use it, I’ll not pay you one red cent while I snatch it up but will scream your praises on line.
You can post below or leave your comment on the voxmarketising comment line at +01 716-989-6151
Editor’s Note: In the daily observation of life around him, the author occasionally feels the need to point out ridiculously inane behavior and general thoughtlessness. These are called “Rants” and this is one of those times.
Today is Blog Action Day, a day when bloggers across the internet have agreed to publish a post about one topic based on the concept:
“What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day? One issue. One day. Thousands of voices.”
My environmental hot button has always been litter: how incredibly easy it is to contain, how unnecessarily careless people are with their minor waste and how it’s grown into such a huge problem.
I’ll let the more environmentally educated in the world tackle the statistics on garbage collected and how best to recycle, etc. I want to focus on the simple everyday problem of daily litter and stopping people from littering.
Many people of a certain generation will remember in 1971 the Keep America Beautiful campaign’s TV spot for Earth Day where the actor known as Iron Eyes Cody came upon all the litter surrounding America, which made him cry.
That was 1971.
It’s not much different in 2007.
At least twice a week as I’m driving my car, I see one of the other drivers tossing some wrapper or cigarette or other refuse out of their car on to a street or expressway. Somehow the materials that got into their car “immediately” need to be expunged from the car…for some reason, it can’t be disposed of in their home’s garbage can or in a nearby trash receptacle at their next stop (there are trash cans at public places almost everywhere these days).
It’s not just cars though. Parks, streets, its everywhere!
I know Americans are lazier than ever, I know we’re less educated than ever and more disrespectful than ever. So all I think it takes is a quick reminder…a loud, public, always polite reminder that will attract attention from anyone within ear shot and embarrass the crap out of the litter bug.
(In an overly clear loud voice professional voice talent….but you can do it too>) “Hello, HELLO SIR!!!! I’m sure you dropped that wrapper on the sidewalk by accident so I just wanted to remind you to please, right now, pick up that wrapper and throw it in the garbage can you’re standing next to, great, thanks!”
Start politely humiliating the offenders, wherever possible. If we’re silent, litterbugs think we don’t mind. We mind and we need to let them know it.
I think one of the best ways to tackle a huge problem like protecting the earth’s environment is to start small. To a person, litter is a small thing, something that if we each just THINK about it, about what we are doing, how and where we are disposing our trash, we can make a huge impact.
I hope you’ll help by not littering and publicly (and politely) calling out anyone who does.
I’ve already set up about three interviews (fourth pending) for voxmarketising – the audio’connell podcast, set to debut probably in a week or so. I’ll likely only do one interview per show and I am really excited about the interviewees who’ve said yes…more to come on that.
I’ve also got the initial format set (it can always change, this is podcasting after all) and the segments for the first show all set. My first interview is tonight (I told you we’re getting closer to p-day!)
What I need are some (future) listener comments. If you call in with your thoughts for topics I could cover on the show involving voice over (acting), marketing and/or advertising, I can promise you three (3) FREE promotional benefits for your business:
When you call the comment line at +01 716-989-6151 and leave your comment you should first:
1. Say your name…thus promoting your personal brand
2. Say your business name…what you do for a living
3. Mention your web site, blog or podcast (including the web addresses)
Then, leave your comment or idea.
Just remember you must sound brilliant when you call…no pressure (just kidding).
Just like they say on TV….call today! +01 716-989-6151
OK, so I’m a nut for logos. Some people like wine, some people like tropical fish. Me, I’m a logo guy. It’s addictive, I suppose but not in a 12-step sorta way.
So when I came across a story about the about Sochi in Russia getting the 2014 Olympic Games, I went to their web site and immediately had a reaction to their logo (as I have had to other Olympic logos though I will not reference that article here lest it interfere with a poll I am about to have YOU partake in).
So above you will see logos from the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing, Vancouver, London and Sochi.
Here are your questions that you must (I’m a demanding little stinker, ain’t i?) answer in the comment section:
• Which logo do you like the most?
• Why do you like that logo so much?
• Optional question: which logo do you dislike the most?
• Optional question: why do you dislike that logo so much?
It’s true, many of us surf the net with no real purpose. One link begets another begets another and so on. The fun part of this blog today is that I can actually remember HOW I got to the link I am about to share with you (even though I didn’t start my surfing with any desire to find an idea for a blog post).
I started at Bob Souer’s blog, whose voice over blog is pretty much read by all in the biz (mine, on the other hand, is read by my wife and now you…but you only found this by mistake I’m nearly sure). Bob was kind enough to write up and link to a post I had late last week. I posted a couple of comments on Bob’s blog and then fished around his site’s links where I noticed the Voice Chasers site. Among other things, it has a forum or bulletin board for people to talk about all things voiceover.
Well, the Voice Chaser’s forum looked pretty quiet except for the news page (thank you Kristy Sproul) which carried a story and a link from ASIFA Hollywood. A member found an old recording of a speech legendary Warner Brother’s character voice actor Mel Blanc gave to the 1966 Annual Awards Luncheon of the Station Representatives Association (no, I don’t really know what that group is either). At any rate, it’s a funny account of the state of advertising from Blanc, who also owned a production company that did commercials.
Note how little the advertising and marketing business has really changed in 41 years!
