Update! December, 2009, Week 3...This is BIG.

December, 2009, Week 3 - Read These, Or Our Feelings Will Be Hurt. - Here at TNNW, we have learned to use guilt as a tool to manipulate our readers to our advantage. It worked for our mothers, and it can work for us!

Update Issue # 23

SUPERCHARGED NETWORKING : TURNING CONTACTS INTO BUSINESS. CONVERTING IDEAS INTO PRODUCTION. TNNW. THE NATIONAL NETWORKER COMPANIES.

• Synthesizing;
• Synergizing;
• Mobilizing; and
• Monetizing.

It's what we do. And we do it for you.

A Pre-Christmas (and Post-Hanukkah) To-Do List:

1. Click on the fancy new logo at the top of this Update! and make sure that you are signed up for the free RSS feed or the Daily Email. In addition to your regular subscription, this will give you access to ALL of our info, intel, breaking news, breaking wind, and other breaking things. In fact, some of the things you'll see are not broken at all -- they will be fixed, just like the presidential elections in many countries. Oh -- almost forgot...while you're on that page, scroll down a bit on the right-hand side, and grab the TNNW Widget. This nifty widget can be placed on your website, blog, or newsletter in order to provide you with great continuous information, as well as plenty of additional visitor traffic.

2. Take a moment to respond to TNNW Survey #5 (about the recession and the recovery)...it's very quick, painless and you'll be forever blessed. Click here for the survey, and thank you in advance:

http://thenationalnetworker.blogspot.com/2009/12/blue-thing-1-tnnw-surveys-analyses-and.html .

If the preceding url seems too long, you can simply click on this shorter one, and save precious time:

http://twitlik.com/MyTimeIsTooValuableForLongUrls .

3. Think Green. Choose your news. In 20 minutes per day, you can be the best-informed person in any meeting or social encounter. Get this gadget, and go green:

http://TheNationalNewspickerPage.blogspot.com .

If the preceding url seems too long, you can simply click on this shorter one, and save even more precious time:

http://twitlik.com/GreenGadget

4. Please follow The National Networker Newsletter and the Blue Monday Report on Twitter. If we get 25,000 followers by December 25th, Adam J. Kovitz will personally pay each one of those followers $0.01! Yossi Feigenson will also buy the 25,000th follower a cup of coffee. I (Douglas Castle) will also be the proud recipient of a 1-hour long backrub from Featured TNNW author Christine West, who will be clad only in an apricot leather jumpsuit (I have not exactly told her about this yet...).

Go to: http://Twitter.com/TNNW_BUZZWORKS . Bless you. Each and every one.

5. Visit http://tnnwcservices1.blogspot.com . It is under construction, but it is live! You'll learn some great stuff about news releases, publicity, public relations and branding. Our service is not comparable to PR NEWSWIRE or PR Web -- those latter two companies are the dominant forces in the newswire service business. They are merely transmitters of information which is provided to them -- our service includes all of the most crucial elements in a successful News Release (i.e., the ones you either will not get or will pay an exorbitant amount for if you ask for them at either PR Newswire or PR Web): newsworthy, exciting copy; magnetic headlines and subheadlines; strategic hyperlinks; keyword stuffing; notable quotes (soundbites and soundbytes) complete editing and proofing; third-party objectivity (so you don't look like you're putting out another ho-hum press release about something that's so self-serving that no editor wants to print it and no reader will glance at it); proper market targeting (the surgical strike); proper geographical release points; SEO and separate search engine submission; re-publication of the best versions of the final release to the social media and relevant blogs (for resonance and longevity); and, of course, tracking and metrics.

The idea is NOT just getting the piece published. The idea is to get your target market to come to your website, blog, newsletter subscription page, event or tag sale (only kidding about the tag sale). It's not about just getting into the news. It's about steering prospective customers and clients to your site so that they can be converted to actual, paying customers or clients.

Why, if we weren't so articulate, we would just say that "Homemade Press Releases are crappy." But we would never use that type of language.

6. Visit http://tnnwc-tnnwbuzzworks.blogspot.com/ . It is under construction, but it is better than live! It features a glowing thing. In fact, if you read through it, you just might emerge with a greatly improved understanding and appreciation of what BUZZ actually is, and what BUZZOLOGY is all about.

7. Give yourself a Christmas present. In fact, give your website, blog or newsletter greater visibility, search engine prominence, visitor traffic, stickiness, dynamic content and power. Grab our widget, and just put it on your site. It's free. It's priceless. It's yours for the taking.

You can get it by scrolling down on the right-hand margin at http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com/, or by just taking it by clicking on the button beneath the widget on this very page (Note: If the widget does not appear below in beautiful form and in all of its glory, it might be because of your browser, operating system, Ben Bernanke, or because you were simply not good this year. If this should be the case, then just grab it by going to http://thenationalnetworkerweblog.blogspot.com/, or if that url is too long for you, by going to http://twitlik.com/Daily )








With the promise of great things to come,

Adam J. Kovitz, Chairman and CEO
Douglas Castle, Vice Chairman and food-taster for the Chairman and CEO*

* And the guy who has to compile, write and edit these Updates! because he lost a bet.

Ladies and Gentlemen - We proudly present to you: The Masthead:

Have you Googled "Adam J. Kovitz" ? Do it now!

Follow DOUGLAS CASTLE on TWITTER - http://twitter.com/douglascastle
Follow DOUGLAS CASTLE on THE NATIONAL NETWORKER - http://twitter.com/TNNW_BUZZWORKS
Douglas Castle's Secret Blog Links!
DOUGLAS CASTLE
BRAINTENANCE
HUMANITAS MAXIMUS
DOUGLAS CASTLE'S INTERNAL ENERGY PLUS
THE INTERNATIONALIST PAGE
THE GLOBAL FUTURIST
TAKING COMMAND!
THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter





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Update! December, 2009, Week 3...This is BIG.

THIS MIGHT HURT: Buzzology: New Scientific Terms for a Powerful Tool

Buzzology: New Scientific Terms for a Powerful Tool

“Words are Tools; Words are Weapons.” – Douglas Castle This Article written and © by Douglas Castle and originally published in THE NATIONAL NETWORKER™ Newsletter. All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced only in its complete form, inclusive of all hyperlinks, with full attribution to both the author and to the publication. For information about the author, go to Linked In/ Douglas Castle or to Douglas Castle’s Blog ; for information about the publication, go to THE NATIONAL NETWORKER™ Newsletter. ___________________________________________________

Buzzology: New Scientific Terms for a Powerful Tool

Dear Readers:

Everyone uses the term “buzz.” At one time, years ago, it simply meant “gossip.” Today the term “buzz” covers gossip, visibility in the news, a grassroots groundswell of curiosity… and an ever- increasingly vast bunch of things. Some people think that buzz equates to advertising. Well…buzz is not advertising, but buzz is a critical ingredient in making your advertising work.

Buzz actually refers to a very specific three-part process:

• The first part is cutting through all of the media noise and getting the attention of your prospective market, and of other allies who may help promote or distribute your product or service (even if the product is You, personally);

• The second part is to get a message or an image across to that prospective market, and to use that special message or image (your “brand”) to symbolize and represent your company, product or service. It is your signature, your fingerprint, your essence – it is your identity at the conscious and subconscious levels;

• The third part is to build sufficient curiosity, eagerness and credibility in that message or image that your market is attracted to your company, product or service.

The ultimate buzz campaign is one where:

1) We tell the horse that he’s very, very thirsty…that his throat is parched and as dry as a sandy desert…

2) We tell him where he can find cool, clear, fresh water to satisfy that desperate thirst, and…

3) He will either begin wandering in the right direction, or we will make him follow us (at a gallop), or, if need be, we will tug him by the reins until he arrives at our watering hole.

At the end of the campaign, the horse will thank us (in a horse whisper), and happily offer us a ride onto town.

Now that you’ve become an expert Buzzologist, let’s get down to the buzz business.

All formally-organized and deliberate buzz campaigns have certain features and some simple (and silly-sounding) terminology in common. A quick crash course follows:

1. The objective is to get your name, brand, product, service, works, book or image (each of these is referred to as a “Brand Asset” in buzz-talk) buzzed (i.e., broadcasted, read and re-broadcasted and otherwise forwarded repeatedly, in waves) across the social internet media to give you recognition in your target market;

2. First Level broadcasts are of three distinct types, each one designed to fit a specific group format in accordance with that particular group’s general posting or publication guidelines. Expert Buzz Teams send out blasts of magnetic, interesting information; we do not promulgate spam or advertisements. We believe that every posted item must be interesting in order to jump out and seize the audience’s attention. The three types are:

• Brief essays (“Mini-Articles”) which contain fascinating facts or which pose provocative questions either centered upon or sponsored by your Brand Asset and which contain hyperlinks to your website, blog, news release or other information center. The challenges are to gain their attention, arouse their curiosity, to engage them and to have them thinking, consciously and subconsciously, of your Brand Asset ---

• Single provocative paragraphs (“Hooks”) which make bold, memorable statements, or pose memorable questions entered upon or sponsored by your Brand Asset and which contain hyperlinks to your website, blog, news release or other information center ---

• Quips, comments, enticements or tweets (collectively, “Comments”) which are very brief and which contain hyperlinks to your website, blog news release or other information center.

3. The social media utilized for broadcasting at the First Level are a combination of specially-selected common-interest groups and discussion forums featured on such platforms as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many others. Each of these media (okay… substitute “mediums” if you prefer) will be blasted (i.e., peppered, pelted and prompted) with Mini-Articles, Hooks or Comments as appropriate and optimal;

4. Your First Level broadcasts are initially seen by a prospective audience of hundreds of thousands to millions of readers. We continually re-post First Level blasts in reverberating waves (“Waves”) in order to build curiosity, anticipation and impression. Additionally, repetition breeds credibility and clears the path for market acceptance. Using the Proper message, the proper repetition at the proper frequency, a relatively new Brand Asset can look like a contender for a well-established brand in very short order.

5. First Wave broadcasts are the first set of First Level broadcasts which go out to the social media. Second Wave broadcasts are re-broadcasts of the First Level broadcasts. Theoretically, each Level may go out in a series of Waves, producing a repetition and reverberation effect. Depending upon the circumstances, there may be up to Five Waves of a First Level broadcast.

6. Second Level broadcasts are comprised of new material (Mini-Articles, Hooks and Comments) which supersedes, adds to and enhances (exponentially) the power of the multiple Waves of First Level material. Depending upon the circumstances, there may be multiple Waves of Second Level broadcasts.

7. Generally speaking, any Level of broadcast may go “out” in up to five Waves. More than one Wave per day of any single Level of broadcast is excessive, and will tend to devaluate the utility of any buzz approach.

Remember the Law of Diminishing Returns? Take caution not to litter the media with any particular blast – it erodes Brand Asset credibility and makes it appear as if we are merely promoting instead of teasing the audience with magnetic content. One of the keys to any intelligently-conceived buzz campaign is the utilization of “education” instead of “forced-feeding.” We might speak of a Blitz or a Blast, but we are in the business of building curiosity, anticipation and hunger. An audience inundated with self-serving information feels abused and becomes unresponsive.

8. The usual pattern of broadcasts is one Level, five Waves, with one Wave per day. This is a week’s worth of buzz. This process repeats with new material week after week.

9. In any well-conducted buzz campaign, an “echo” effect is produced when third parties start to quote or reframe your buzzed materials in the form of postings, questions, comments and re-publication. You’ll know that you have hit with a good buzz item when you see it quoted in a third-party newsletter, blog, article or comment in the social media universe. When strangers start to quote your slogan as wisdom, you are being very effective. You’ve truly arrived when an entire crowd of hypnotized heads nods in recognition.

10. There is no substitute for multi-minded image-building, branding buzz content. This creative part of the process cannot be automated. It must be inherently personalized and personable This is the most challenging, cerebrally-intensive part --- but the best Buzz Teams thrive on it. The content of your buzz is what will truly make you stand out.

A superior Buzz Team must utilize some unearthly writing talent, a practical knowledge of behavioral psychology, some computer wizardry, a tasteful dash of the dark art of subliminal/ hypnotic persuasion and, of course, the right crew with the right chemistry: this usually means a collective of brilliantly creative and fanatically dedicated nonconformists and egomaniacs. And that’s putting it mildly.

Buzz is the perfect foundation and enhancement to your advertising and public relations efforts and activities.

I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest that you visit The National Networker Companies’ Buzzworks ™ Programs Page.

It is at http://tnnwc-tnnwbuzzworks.blogspot.com

Faithfully,

Douglas Castle

______________________________________________________________________

Published by THE NATIONAL NETWORKER Newsletter. All rights reserved. Subscribe Free For Your TNNW Newsletter and THE BLUE MONDAY REPORT! - Click HERE.
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THIS MIGHT HURT: Buzzology: New Scientific Terms for a Powerful Tool