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Newsletter #872: The “Help Them Do It” Issue

February 23, 2012

[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]

We support and promote the businesses that help us do things — things like have a little more fun, learn something new, or lead a slightly better life. Get started by checking out these ideas on how you could help:

1. Fix their motorcycles
2. Meet fellow travelers
3. Give a guy a Valentine
4. Check it out: Tripline

1. Fix their motorcycles

For most of us, when our car breaks down, we drop it off somewhere and it (hopefully) is returned to working order a few hours later. It’s great when it works — but it also means most of us can’t fix our own cars. But at Vancouver’s Motomethod repair shop, you can ride your motorcycle in, rent a bay, and find all the tools you need to fix it yourself. Owners Paul, Ian, and Simon are there to show you how. It’s become much more than a repair shop, it’s a place to hang out. People are actually coming in even when there’s nothing wrong with their bikes — they just want to tear it apart, learn how it works, and put it back together.

The lesson: Being the repair guy means one-off interactions. Being the teacher means lots of reasons to come back again and again.

Learn more: PSFK

2. Meet fellow travelers

If you can help customers make strong connections by being the middleman that starts it all, you can earn fans for life. KLM Airlines is doing this with their “Meet and Seat” program. Through it, passengers can share their Facebook or LinkedIn profiles when booking travel and review other profiles on their same flights. They can also change their seat selection based on what they find. The service is available on select international flights, and it all makes sense: 19 hours is plenty of time to make a great business or personal connection with someone.

The lesson: Think of places where powerful connections can be made — traveling, conferences, classes — and look for simple ways to help people do it.

Learn more: KLM

3. Give a guy a Valentine

When it comes to giving a girl a Valentine, there are plenty of safe, well-tested options to go with. But guys are harder. There just aren’t many gifts designed for them on the big day. That’s why the Kirin Beer Bro-Quet is so great. It looks much like it sounds: It’s 10 mini cans of Kirin beer hand-arranged in a leafy bouquet.

The lesson: While everyone is making gifts for the obvious recipients, what can you do to show love to the people a tradition often overlooks?

Learn more: Beer Bro-Quet

4. Check it out: Tripline

Tripline is a fun little tool to map things — your Foursquare check-ins, the location of your Facebook friends, your Instagram photos — all in one interactive spot.

Check it out: Tripline

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Newsletter #871: The “Update on Our Amazing Word of Mouth Projects” Special Issue

February 16, 2012

[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That! newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.]

Word of mouth is an incredibly powerful force.

More than marketing, it actually changes companies forever. It rewards good people at good businesses for treating their customers right. Companies that make people happy make more money — it’s a magical thing.

Think about it. There just aren’t a lot of things in this world that put profits and doing the right thing on the same side of the table. But word of mouth does, and it’s our mission to help smart marketers like you make it happen at your company.

For the past 6 months, we’ve been working on some amazing word of mouth projects that are going to help you earn the love, respect, and recommendation of your customers. We wanted you to have the first peek at what’s coming:

1. The Word of Mouth Crash Course
2. The paperback edition of “Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking”
3. The Word of Mouth Comic Book (yes, we said comic book)
4. The launch of WordofMouth.org

1. Come to the Word of Mouth Crash Course

This is the event we previewed last week: We’re featuring 12 how-to classes, 12 real-world case studies, and 6 brilliant authors all in one thrilling day. It’s going to blow your mind.

The classes will teach you the fundamentals, the case studies will show you how real companies actually do it, and it’s all being presented by word of mouth legends like Spike Jones, John Moore, Saul Colt, Rick Murray, Dave Kerpen, Geno Church, and yours truly.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing never-before-seen videos from our most recent word of mouth event as a preview.

Learn more and register at www.wordofmouth.org/crashcourse.

2. Pre-order the paperback edition of “Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking”

The best-selling book on word of mouth launches in paperback on April 30th and we’re now taking pre-orders.

In this book, you’ll learn exactly how companies and causes of all sizes create passionate, loyal fans. It’s specific: where to start, what to do, and how to make it successful. You’ll learn how to use word of mouth to make your company more profitable, how to spend less on marketing, and how to make your customers happier.

We’ve put together a bunch of great bonuses for pre-orders including special downloads, event discounts and passes, exclusive training calls, and private consulting.

Learn more and pre-order yours: www.wordofmouthbook.com

3. Preview the Word of Mouth Comic Book

This is one of the coolest projects we’ve ever done. While republishing the paperback, we said to ourselves, “Hey, what if we made a comic book version of this?”

So, we did.

The result is an action-packed, condensed, and illustrated version of “Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking.” It’s all the fantastically useful word of mouth ideas in a format that’s even easier to read, implement, and share.

We’re only printing a limited number of these, but we’ve got a preview you can download and you can guarantee yourself a copy when you pre-order 12 or more of the paperback edition.

Learn more: www.wordofmouthbook.com/comic

4. Join us for the launch of WordofMouth.org

As excited as we are about the Word of Mouth Crash Course, as awesome as the new book is, and as much fun as we’ve had putting the comic together, WordofMouth.org is what it’s all about.

We’re creating a place for the word of mouth thought leaders to share their passion, ideas, and insight. This is a home for teachers who want to help others embrace word of mouth marketing. We’re the evangelists for evangelism.

In the coming weeks, you’re going to see our GasPedal newsletter transition to WordofMouth.org with a new name: “Word of Mouth Lessons.” We’re also launching a new blog, a library filled with word of mouth ideas, and a directory of ethical and effective word of mouth marketing companies.

Sign up here to be notified when we launch: www.wordofmouth.org

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Customer reviews: Are you asking the right question?

February 15, 2012

Reviews are about more than just whether a product is good or bad.

They serve another important function: Reviews let existing customers guide new customers to the right product. If people buy the right stuff, you get happier customers and fewer returns.

Sometimes you need more than a 1-to-5 star rating system. Bazaarvoice* and the other review tech providers offer interesting options that focus on issues that are more important to certain customers. Example: Lilly Pulitzer asks customer to “Rate the Fit” of each item.

Figure out what causes your new shoppers to buy the wrong thing and let existing customers help them out.

rate the fit

(*I’m an advisor to Bazaarvoice.)

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DeVry University’s case study: How to create an online community of encouragement with the help of your biggest fans

February 14, 2012

BlogWell DallasCome to our upcoming BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media conference in Dallas to hear brands like Farmers Insurance, Rogers Communications, Target, Yahoo!, NVIDIA, Hitachi Data Systems, Verizon, and Autodesk share 8 great case studies on corporate social media.

You’ll get practical, how-to advice on developing your social strategy, scaling your program, driving sales, engaging internal and external audiences, and measuring it all — and you’ll see some brilliant presentations like this one from BlogWell Atlanta:

One of Chase Fritchle, Justin Gillmar, and Laura Dagys’ big ideas: When developing an authentic voice online, don’t forget about your brand’s ambassadors that already exist — they’re your biggest fans and they love to talk about you.

BlogWell Atlanta Case Study: DeVry University, presented by Chase Fritchle, Justin Gillmar, and Laura Dagys

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Will you write about me on your blog?

February 14, 2012

I get asked this several times a day. Sometimes by well-meaning entrepreneurs and authors, sometimes by talentless PR hacks. Here’s what you need to know: A blogger will only write about you if your stuff makes their blog better. There is no other reason. If you can’t offer something that meets that criteria, then don’t [...]

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The Jimmy John’s guy came back with a bag of chips

February 12, 2012

Someone in the office ordered a sandwich, and the driver forgot the chips. So he drove back to the restaurant to fetch them and brought them to us. Most places would have apologized (maybe), or issued a refund or discount. Jimmy John’s probably lost a few bucks in labor costs. But the extra effort got [...]

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No feedback is not good feedback

February 11, 2012

Some smart advice from the folks at presentation design firm SquarePlanet: Never mistake lack of feedback for good feedback. If your presentation (or product, or service, or content) gets no one to say something good to you (or to a friend, or a tweet, or a Facebook post) — it’s not good enough.

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How to make great eggs in 2 minutes

February 10, 2012

Here’s a little video of my recipe for Mug Eggs. You can make the tastiest, fluffiest eggs in two minutes with just a fork, a mug, and a microwave. It’s from my bachelor cooking days (long gone), where the #1 goal was to never dirty a utensil. Note: For some reason, this is the most-watched, [...]

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