Viral Marketing Idea Friday - How To Tell if You’re A Geek?
There are so many “geeky” technology (type) websites out there that provide some amazing information that people use everyday, but many of these blogs do not have the exposure they deserve. Many of the geeks I know that love to code and share about their world of technology have no clue about social media sites, let alone micro-blogging sites like Twitter or Plurk. They may have heard about Digg, used it once, got bored of it and moved on never understanding or unleashing the power of a social community.
I had a neighbor when I lived in Utah that was a top level-hard core programmer for Novell, and eventually even got bored there (see a pattern?) and is now working with a web based start up company and loving it. The reason I bring him up is because he use to be a hard core Digg user (got sick of it and the politics), and then eventually fell in love with Delicious and has never embraced anything else. A lot of these guys that (like my neighbor) have some amazing blogs providing good information on coding topics, Linux or general programming etc. do not realize who their audience is.
Why do they even have blogs in the first place? Is it to document their research? Are they doing it just because everyone else is doing it? After talking with many of them including my old neighbor, they want to make money with their blogs, they just don’t know how. They want to get the exposure they are looking for, but again - just don’t know how. These guys need to be taught how to make their websites social media friendly, and then start to create some viral content that would appeal to the masses of social media users.
I had a great idea come to me the other day in the form of a Plurk conversation I was having with a fellow Plurker. She was driving and saw a license plate that had just “CSS” on it. It made her smile she said, and it made such an impression on her that she wanted to share it with all her friends. Why would that make anyone smile? If you are web developer then you know why. I got to thinking about how something like this would make a great viral marketing idea. “10 Things You Saw Today That Prove Your A Geek” and then share all the pictures of the things in your day that made you smile that would just fly over the head of a normal average person. You could also use this as a title “10 Pictures I Took Today That Prove I Am A Geek” and do the same thing - sharing pictures that you took. Remember if you come across a license plate that says CSS on it, you better take a picture, you may need it!
I see stuff like this all the time - on the back of a car the other day I saw this bumper sticker < /bush > and I promise you that very few people understand that this obvious programmer was sharing his un-satisfaction with the current President. You have to be able to think like a marketer and take advantage of what is around you. If you run a technology blog or a programming blog where you give tricks or tips, think about the kind of content you could create that would appeal to the masses too. Once your blog is known, you will get more traffic, better rankings and more money from advertising etc. You may even get some programming jobs out of it! That wouldn’t be such a bad thing either - would it?
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I agree to you above mentioned post. My conclusion is you need to put the things in a different fashion rather than following the same stuff again and again. Yes, people do get bored of doing same kind of work. By nature you need changes.
Keep the good work going.
Amit G
Promotion Ranking Blog