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Getting Buzz: From 0 to (maybe) Forbes in under a week

kyro.posterous.com

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Re: Getting Buzz: From 0 to (maybe) Forbes in under a week

#11

Post by kyro »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #7
kyro wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, firstly, I didn't submit this. Secondly, I thought this might serve to benefit some people who have trouble with marketing by explaining my own story and how I utilized every day resources. And thirdly, I could have very well posted the name of the reporter, but wasn't sure if that was proper etiquette.

You clearly knew what your readers were interested in knowing... so why choose not to say the amount, and instead say you got a call from someone in Forbes? Can you please tell me why the last sentence in your article says you made a nice sum of cash, instead of listing a dollar figure? Call me a cynic, but I'd guess that the dollar amount you made would have seriously detracted from the veracity of your article. May…

'Misled by this article.'

I hope you do realize that I wasn't trying to build a company for the long haul. I'm not telling entrepreneurs to market their products in a sham-wow way. I wrote that in an attempt to inspire entrepreneurs by letting them know that all they need are the tools they are given and their creativity to generate buzz. This was mostly a response to the submissions I've seen in the past where people complain about how hard it is to get attention for their product. That SEO is still worth something. That Twitter can prove to be an invaluable tool. And that creating an interesting story is the way to get blogged.

I'm not trying to build the next Apple, man. This was clearly a gimmick I whipped up in no time and tried to push to the limit given the resources I have and no money.

Also, in response to your last line, PlentyofFish comes to mind.

Re: Getting Buzz: From 0 to (maybe) Forbes in under a week

#12

Post by swombat »

kyro wrote: post #8
Derferman wrote: post #6

So to get buzz I have to post hidden links, tweet sensational headlines, and lie to popular blogs? Count me out.

Like I mentioned, this was really nothing more than an experiment. I certainly would not have done that if I was trying to generate buzz for a legitimate company. These were the efforts of a broke college student who thought it interesting to see if he could ride the swine flu hysteria. And to a certain extent, I was able to ride it. It was a great learning experience.

I have to reiterate the grandparent poster's point... The tactics you used might be great to generate buzz in one week, but they would suck to generate buzz over 6 months, because once everyone finds you're basically abusing forums for your SEO, lying to journalists, and spamming twitter, they won't want to deal with you on principle.

So this works for a throw-away company that you don't care about. That said, I'm doubtful of the wisdom of linking your name to it publicly like this. You only have one reputation...

Re: Getting Buzz: From 0 to (maybe) Forbes in under a week

#13

Post by webignition »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #7
kyro wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, firstly, I didn't submit this. Secondly, I thought this might serve to benefit some people who have trouble with marketing by explaining my own story and how I utilized every day resources. And thirdly, I could have very well posted the name of the reporter, but wasn't sure if that was proper etiquette.

You clearly knew what your readers were interested in knowing... so why choose not to say the amount, and instead say you got a call from someone in Forbes? Can you please tell me why the last sentence in your article says you made a nice sum of cash, instead of listing a dollar figure? Call me a cynic, but I'd guess that the dollar amount you made would have seriously detracted from the veracity of your article. May…

I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that success ultimately depends on having a great product and providing great customer service.

I think this highlights an important point: the best product in the world will fail without customers and awareness. This point is clearly fundamental but one easily missed by hackers living inside their products.

I've intentionally put zero marketing and promotion into my startup as I'm completing a full-time undergraduate degree and can't provide high quality customer service to a large customer base. The product is great in so far as those that use it (about a dozen) love it. But since no-one knows of it, the customer base barely stays in double figures.

The end result is interesting and the process is worth noting. The tactics used to generate the buzz may be questionable in places. Change the implementation as per any ethical concerns and you have an interesting buzz-generating framework starting point.

Re: Getting Buzz: From 0 to (maybe) Forbes in under a week

#14

Post by esonica »

Personally, I liked your article. It was informative and showed some of the interesting ways in which you use the medium to generate interest. Some of the methods are questionable, but you achieved your goal, and were kind enough to share it with us. A follow up post about the money generated from sales would be interesting.

Re: Getting Buzz: From 0 to (maybe) Forbes in under a week

#15

Post by andrewljohnson »

kyro wrote: post #8
Derferman wrote: post #6

So to get buzz I have to post hidden links, tweet sensational headlines, and lie to popular blogs? Count me out.

Like I mentioned, this was really nothing more than an experiment. I certainly would not have done that if I was trying to generate buzz for a legitimate company. These were the efforts of a broke college student who thought it interesting to see if he could ride the swine flu hysteria. And to a certain extent, I was able to ride it. It was a great learning experience.

Please, just say the dollar figure already.

If it's in the hundreds, you don't have to be too embarrassed.

Re: Getting Buzz: From 0 to (maybe) Forbes in under a week

#16

Post by kyro »

andrewljohnson wrote: post #15
kyro wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like I mentioned, this was really nothing more than an experiment. I certainly would not have done that if I was trying to generate buzz for a legitimate company. These were the efforts of a broke college student who thought it interesting to see if he could ride the swine flu hysteria. And to a certain extent, I was able to ride it. It was a great learning experience.

Please, just say the dollar figure already. If it's in the hundreds, you don't have to be too embarrassed.

I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the Forbes article.

Re: Getting Buzz: From 0 to (maybe) Forbes in under a week

#18

Post by kyro »

jlees wrote: post #17

I'm not sure entirely fabricating a 'leak' is what Arrington meant when he said 'create a story'. Such advice from journalists (and I've been one) usually means 'give me some angle, give me some reason to write about you' not 'make stuff up'. :|

Sure, and I'm not saying he was advocating that. I'm just trying to show that I took his advice, fabricated or not, in giving them an interesting story - something beyond your usual 'hey, we made this cool site, please write about us.'

Re: Getting Buzz: From 0 to (maybe) Forbes in under a week

#19

Post by axod »

kyro wrote: post #16
andrewljohnson wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please, just say the dollar figure already. If it's in the hundreds, you don't have to be too embarrassed.

I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the Forbes article.

...Which may involve "embellished" numbers right?
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