I have been thinking about this one for a while now because its time to finally get my backyard landscaped. The more and more I have looked online for “local” landscaping companies, there was not one company in my local area (through my searches) who is doing anything viral online.

If you own a local landscaping company, you could be taking advantage of a huge opportunity, and could grow your business by leaps and bounds with even just one viral campaign that goes popular on (any of) the major social networks. It will help their websites current SEO situation (which is pretty much nothing at least for all the ones I found) in the form of links and trust being pushed from many different types of sites. A boosting in the search engine rankings could mean more visitors and traffic and of course more phone calls, and even rankings for some keywords they never thought possible.

So the trick here with todays viral marketing idea is to find something inside the landscaping industry that is interesting enough, or funny enough for a social community audience. I start to think of the thinks I like when it comes to landscaping and what “gets my attention” even if I am not a part of the industry. I love looking at what other people have done with their yards, and even more, I like looking at what people with unlimited budgets can do with a landscaping project. This gives me my first idea - “What The Yards Of Billionaires Look Like” or “The Yards Of The 10 Wealthiest People In The World”, and finally “If You Were A Billionaire Your Backyard Would Look Like This Too!”

The other ideas I would have is giving landscaping tips that could appeal to a broader audience, because most people in this world are on budgets. I think this could interest a decent amount of people - “14 Amazing Landscaping Tips For Those On A Budget” or “10 Ways To Stay On Budget With Your Landscaping Projects”. You can even go into the archives of some of the HGTV shows, or TLC shows where they do landscaping makeovers, and provide videos of - “The 9 Coolest Backyard Makeovers Done On TV” I am not saying that all of these would make the first page of Digg, but could do really well on other social networks. I do think if one of these ideas were massaged out enough that it could even make a front page of Digg, like this one (I just thought of) “10 Landscaping Tips To Make Your Backyard More Environmentally Friendly” I gotta throw one more in there because I think this one would be the funniest - Do some research and find pictures of the craziest backyards that are so unsafe, and that you would never let your kids play in. Then write about “10 Backyards You Would Never Let Your Kids Play At” … then show pictures crazy unsafe backyards, or a spoof and show a picture of Michael Jacksons Neverland Ranch (then show some crazy ones). Here is a picture of a backyard that I feel would be on the list of “unsafe backyards”, and ones that could use a “landscaping makeover”

I think you can see there are so many ways you can go with this, and how it can help your business make a name for itself. I can’t help but think like a marketer all the time, and I really enjoy sharing these tips, and what comes out of my mind. I hope its helping you guys too, and that you are learning how to think more like a social media marketer as well! Chris and I always welcome your questions and comments, and we love when you ask us for ideas about your industry. I have received several amazing questions lately that I will be getting to over the next several weeks.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

Just wanted to share a quick idea for this weeks “VMIF”, and apologize for not being able to post last week. Last Wednesday I woke up with severe pains that ended up putting me in the hospital for a few days because of a need to get my appendix removed. I am still not 100% yet, but am starting to feel better.

As I was in the hospital I had a chance to talk to a lot of Doctors and Nurses (of course) all of which were interested in what I did for a living when they found out I had no need for Doctors notes (to take back to a job), or that I didn’t need to make arrangements for my stay with my boss. I am the boss, and I said it was ok!

To make a long story short I had the opportunity to share a viral marketing idea with a local Gilbert Arizona lasik surgery center Doctor when he asked me how on earth I could make lasik surgery “go viral”.

I told him that not all posts that make it to the front page of Digg, or make it to the “buzz” section of Stumble Upon have to be funny. There are lots that do well that are informative and that provide useful information and thats the approach I would take with lasik surgery.

We talked about the things his clients ask the most, and what they are most nervous about when it comes to the surgery. I got some pretty good ideas how I feel a site like this could do good with social media. First I would take the safety approach and come up with a list (after good research) of “10 Lasik Surgeries Gone Horribly Wrong - Read The Real Life Horror Stories Here” then provide examples to why they went wrong, and give references to either the equipment of the experience of the Doctor doing the procedure. You can then take this opportunity to talk about the equipment your business uses, and the experiences your customers have had with you (in the form of testimonials). You may need a graphics person to help you with this next idea, but I was thinking to share the actual vision of someone with different levels of vision problems who are going in for the surgery, and show us before and after what are typical results. You can give it the simple title - “See What These 10 Individuals Saw Before And After Their Lasik Surgery” This would be interesting for those who didn’t need the surgery, but be very beneficial (and informative) to those who were investigating lasik surgery.

I don’t really see how you can make this industry “funny” as its not something to be made fun of (and could scare clients away), but I hope you get some ideas where I would take this kind of an industry - and that is the informative route! As I was writing this I thought of another idea that could probably go well - “10 Reasons Why You Should Research Out Your Lasik Surgeon” and then share real life stories that have been shared with you, while you are cleaning up the mess. Again, the informative route is the way to go with this campaign.

Please keep sending in your VMIF requests in the form of email, or comments on any of the VMIF posts and Chris and I will be more then happy to help. We love this topic so much (as you can see) I can’t even get away from it when I am at the hospital getting my appendix out!!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

I got asked this one from a local playground equipment company here in Arizona (that specializes in vinyl playgrounds) way before we even started viral marketing idea Friday here at 97th Floor. I shared my thoughts with the owner, and gave some pretty good ideas (I don’t know if they ever ran with), but I felt it was worth sharing because these guys were local, and I feel there is plenty of love to go around in this industry!

The exact question was - “How do I create a viral campaign for local playground company?”

First of all I was impressed that a local playground company was even doing enough research to figure out they needed to create something to go viral with! I love these style of playground systems (see picture) for the kids, and the one I have is amazing, but how do you attract someone to a viral content post (or page) about a kids playground if they have no kids, are in college, or anything related? As I have said before, you have to make it funny, or super informative (which in turn makes it more sharable no matter who the person reading it is). Here is a picture of the playground I own from this local company:

Going viral - I don’t know how many of you have seen the TV show called “Mythbusters“, but its on Discovery Channel, and they did a show a while ago that was dedicated to seeing if you can really swing someone in a swing for a full 360 that wraps around. It was pretty funny to see all of the different attempts and how many ways they failed - and what they had to do to succeed. It got me thinking to see if there were other people, and by “other people” I mean users of You Tube, who were crazy enough to take videos of themselves doing this very thing. To say the least I found some pretty funny stuff.

This is just one example of some pretty cool footage I found. Some were silly, some stupid, a few were amazing, but the point here is all of them made me laugh, and I feel could make anyone laugh. In my opinion, anyway you use these videos they could help you go viral with the right title and content (and of course - a dash of link bait).

I would suggest coming up with a title that can grab anyone no matter who you are, like - “10 of the Craziest Things You Have Ever Seen Done On A Swingset” or “10 Things That Should Never Be Done On A Swingset” or (my favorite title) “Can You Really Do A 360 In A Swing Set?” [Video Included]. These are more of the funny ways to take this viral campaign, but you could also take a serious approach (if this is your real business) and provide something like - “12 Safety Tips Every Parent Should Read Before Buying A Swingset” or “10 Safety Videos Parents Need To Watch Before Purchasing A Playground” and then provide a series of tips, or videos outlining safe playgrounds for dangerous ones. You can always make a note on your site somewhere that your playgrounds always comply to all safety regulations, and anything else that could help you look like you are providing a service to the community with this info.

These are just a few ways that I feel would go viral, and do great with a playground/swing set company. I think this will give you some ideas to run with if you are looking inside this industry for help. As always feel free to submit any questions you have related to VMIF in the form of comments, or by emailing Chris or myself!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

I have to admit - todays post about viral marketing for a Pottery business is the first one I got asked in a long time that has actually made me think. I enjoyed it, and had fun and hope to share some good ideas with Josh Garner (the one who asked the question) last week.

The thing with a boring industry like Pottery (at least for those of us not into it) is you have to figure out a way to make it fun, and fun for everyone. Even if you try to bring in the edge like “10 Beautiful Pieces of Potter” or “10 Pieces Of Pottery You Won’t Believe” I still don’t think that is going to be enough to engage the likes of those who make posts go popular on Digg. Cool looking pottery to a pottery buff may be enough, but you have to understand the type of people you are bringing this industry to - are most likely not “pottery buffs”!

So here is the problem - Finding something that relates to the pottery industry that would make people (in the social type communities) laugh and want to share with everyone they know (in their communities), even if they don’t even know what a pottery kiln is.

Here are some of my ideas, and I think these ones are probably the best out of everything I though of, so thats all I will share. First of all look at this video:

It is always fun, and funny to watch people doing stupid things right? Now I am not saying this girl spinning on a pottery spinner is funny enough to make it, but I hope it gets you thinking where I am going with this. I would spend as much time as it took to find 10 videos of people doing stupid, or funny things with potter spinners. I would then title the post “10 Things You Should Not Do With A Pottery Spinner” or “10 Of The Stupidest Ways People Have Ever Used A Pottery Spinner” I could even take this angle (if I did not find enough videos, but found at least one that was funny enough) “In This Corner - One Stupid Person, In The Other Corner - A Pottery Spinner - Find Out Who Wins”

Any of those (link baited) titles would make me want to investigate more and check out the post and watch the video. It just sounds to funny to pass up, and that is what you are trying to accomplish. Of course, you have to have some really good link bait with an industry like “pottery”, but I think I did a decent job of sharing some examples of what I feel would do very well!

I had some other ideas that were pretty funny with pottery and they involved smashing pottery, dropping pottery, pottery accidents, strange uses of pottery (may not be safe for work - LOL) etc. All of which I found some pretty funny footage online thanks to You Tube and Google Video. I know if this were an industry I was marketing for, and if I took the time to research it out, I could come up with some pretty funny videos and a post that I am sure would do well for the site.

Again, I hope this gives Josh some ideas to run with, and as always please feel free to ask your industry question in the comments on any VMIF post, or by sending Chris or myself and email!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

Sorry its a bit late, but viral marketing idea Friday is here! This is a pretty funny one this week, that I think someone who is creative enough of a marketer can take industry hundreds of different ways. I want to share what I feel is the funniest!

I have a neighbor who is a web developer as well as a Soccer coach (young kids) and he has been a big fan of the VMIF’s so far, and asked if I could give him some viral ideas for a soccer training (video tutorials) website he is working on. I thought this would make a perfect discussion for todays post.

First of all check this video out (if you are a man - I am sorry this is gonna be painful to watch)

I think most of you probably are getting the idea of where you can go with this one. What most people fail to realize is that the viral campaign does not have to match 100% to the exact products you are selling. In this case its soccer related and thats it. We have a video of a soccer player getting nailed in the jewels, and as painful as it is - we like to watch it. What other reason can you explain the TV producers showing so much of us guys getting nailed down there on Americas funniest home videos every Sunday night?

This kind of stuff is funny, and you can have fun with the titles of this viral campaign for sure. Some that come to my mind are - “The 10 Most Painful Ways To Ensure You Will Never Have Kids” or “10 Of The Most Painful Soccer Videos You Have Ever Watched” and then show 10 videos you found (or may have) of people getting nailed down there while playing soccer.

Again, I realize that there may be a lot of people reading this post who could have figured this industry out without much help, but we need to remember that not everyone thinks like us Internet marketers. Once I talked to my neighbor about this strategy he starting thinking about things in a whole new light. All it takes is a few good ideas to really have fun with viral marketing.

Another reminder and shameless VMIF plug - if you have any boring industries you want help with viral ideas, please let us know in the form of comments right here on this post, or any other VMIF post, also you can let us know by emailing Chris or myself.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

As busy as we are here at 97th, I managed to pull off another one of these posts to keep our VMIF (Viral Marketing Idea Friday) going strong 2 weeks in a row! I think we might just be able to keep this series going strong because of all the feedback and support I got from last week. I appreciate those who left comments, and those who emailed me with their ideas. Like I said in the other post, if you do not see your industry answered on todays post, then keep checking back, because I will eventually get to it.

I got a good viral marketing idea industry question in the form of a comment last week from a good friend of mine - Janet Meiners who also happens to blog at one of the few other marketing blogs I read - Marketing Pilgrim (which I do suggest to all our readers here at 97th Floor) Here is her viral marketing question about this Internet Fax company:

Ok, here’s my boring business that I’m working to promote - efax service. electronic faxes. Any ideas?
Thanks
Janet

Ok, this one is going to be fun. I can see where one might think its pretty a pretty boring industry, and not have any viral marketing ideas, However; the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this question was the scene from Office Space when the three guys take the printer and give it a beat down - gangster style. You know what I am talking about “Damn it feels good to be a gangster” I don’t know where you have been the last several years if you don’t know what I am talking about, but here is a clip for the 1% that may not have seen this movie, and it will also be fun for all those who have seen the movie a million times like me. (enjoy) (song playing in the background might not be safe for work - so turn the speakers off or down if you must)

Even though I used this example (a printer getting the beat down) the headline that I would use for this kind of a viral campaign would be “10 Things You Just Shouldn’t Do To A Fax Machine“, “Can You Believe What Some People Do To Fax Machines?” or “10 Of The Great Fax Moments In TV History” Again, I used the You Tube video of the printer, but I did a quick search and found hundreds of funny pictures and videos of crazy things people were doing to their fax machines. I could have spent hours on it because it was so funny.

This tells me this would be a pretty hot campaign. Trust me, if you do any searches on this you will find some pretty freaking funny (and sick) stuff. A post showing the 10 crazy pictures, and videos (either or too) and a little write up with your take on them (maybe add some humor) would be enough because the videos and/or pictures would be enough for this piece to go viral.

So again, thinking outside the box gives us a pretty good viral marketing idea to run with, even for a boring industry like a efax service one. This is one of several ideas that “popped” in my head. Another one that I thought was pretty funny was, “10 faxes people wish they didn’t send” or “Top 10 Funniest Things Ever Seen Sent by Fax“.

I think you get the idea, so just have fun and use the resources that are our there like Google Images and You Tube, and make it fun. This is why I love viral marketing and social media because this generation supplies us with enough material for two lifetimes!!

This was a great question Janet (so thanks for asking), and again I encourage you to leave your questions in the comments, or email myself or Chris and your viral marketing question could be answered on the next VMIF!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!

If you missed the update Chris gave on Monday, we are going to be doing something new on Friday from now on. If you didn’t guess from the title of the post, then let me spell it out for you.

Chris and I are asked all the time by businesses and individuals for help with viral marketing ideas in what they consider to be “very boring industries”. In some cases Chris and I have been challenged that we would not be able to come up with any ideas at all for some of these businesses. As always, we are up for the challenge and still feel that no matter what your industry is, you can find a way to market your site with viral content.

Before I get into today’s viral marketing idea (which I tried hard to find what I felt was one of the most boring industries on the web), I wanted to also note that anyone who is needing some ideas for their industry, please feel free to to either comment on (any) of the “Viral Marketing Idea Friday” posts, or click on the about us, find our email and let us know. We are going to go through all of the emails and comments during the week, and then pick out which one we feel would be good for that week. If we don’t pick yours one week, stay tuned into us each Friday, because it could be the next “Viral Marketing Idea Friday”!

Today’s idea was not sent in, it was not asked by anyone, but again - came from my brain that never stops thinking like a social media marketer (remember the post). I had gotten rid of a bunch of office furniture this week on Craigslist that I no longer needed since I finally updated (and upgraded) my new office. (By the way I sold the furniture in about 2 minutes after the posting went live on Craigslist - I guess I need to do an update to my post about making 500 dollars on Craigslist in 10 minutes. I honestly never thought I would top that - another day, another post.) Getting back on track - As I was taking pictures of the the furniture I wanted to take a picture of a piece that had gotten damaged (and disclose everything) by one of the movers when they were loading the furniture into our new house.

Here is the picture -

As you can see the damage is not bad, but that is not the point. The point is - This picture got me thinking about so many ways that I could turn this simple picture into a viral marketing campaign for a moving business that is found online (if only I had a local moving business, or general moving business as a client.) This gives me the perfect opportunity to share some of my ideas of how (even a smalll Mom and Pop) moving business could turn this picture (or idea) into a viral campaign that would increase trust, build links, build brand and name recognition, and help in the ranking of their keywords.

The picture just gives me the idea, so I am not saying I would use this exact picture, but you could find 9 other pictures of what you feel are some of the most horrendous moving disasters (either caught on video, or still picture) that you find on the web, You Tube or even that have happened in your life. You can give it the title “10 Of The Craziest Moving Disasters Ever Caught On Tape” or “Ten Of The Craziest Moving Disasters Pictures You Have Ever Seen“.

If you are the local moving business trying to gain more exposure for local keywords, you can use this in a blog post (or static page) talking about how that won’t happen with your company (of course), but it also keeps you really relevant when trying to use a social media site to market with, and it does not seem as out of place like it would on a site selling perfume. My guess if something like that was submitted on Digg, the community would eat it up.

I don’t know if you agree or not, but I feel that a local moving company is close to one of the most boring industries on the net, so if we can come up with something that would go viral for that kind of a company - anything is possible. Plus its something that I feel all would enjoy in the social communities because you are not creating something spammy that is full of garbage that won’t go anywhere. I can honestly see myself enjoying looking at videos of crazy moving disasters (mostly to make myself feel better for some of the crazy ones I have been involved in over the years).

Well there you go! That is pretty much the jist of “Viral Marketing Idea Friday” - and this would be as good of a place to remind you that if you are having a hard time coming up with viral content for your website - let us help. Either leave a comment in this (or any other “VMIF” posts) or send us an email and we will see what we can do to help.

Chris and I wanted to do this because we feel one of the biggest frustrations for companies that are trying to grow, and really learn about search engine optimization/marketing is the execution side of it. They attend search engine optimization trainings, and hear people speak till they are blue in the face about how important social communities are, and how you need to get your content on them, but thats as far as they go. They never teach you execution! The execution part is where Chris and i want to be able to help out! We look forward to seeing what this can turn into.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed!