My friend Staci runs a skin care business from her home recently asked me how she could promote her business better on Facebook. I talked to her about the various types of ads you can run and the advantage of each.

The big selling point for using Facebook ads is that you can target your ads very specifically and only show them to people who live nearby. The drawback is there is a learning curve and it’s always changing. Also, in addition to investing the time both to learn and manage an ad campaign, you will need a daily budget. If you have the budget, unless you enjoy doing it, I would just hire someone like Avalaunch Media to run them for you. They’ll create the ads and run the campaign for you.

There are many free ways to promote a local business online that are easy and don’t require as much maintenance that every small business should use and maximize. Here are my top 3:

1. Maximize your Facebook business page with custom tabs
This is obvious, you need a Facebook page for your business. But after that, then what do you do? I found this business page from a Facebook ad asking me to like their page. It’s not a local business (in other words, it’s not in Utah) and so normally I would gloss over it. This time I wanted to do some research so I went to the page and I liked it. I found it was a good example of effective Facebook marketing for a local business.

Besides having a decent level of engagement and following, her cover photo (the large photo) clearly  tells you what she does. The custom tabs give you more information.

Imaginary Jane is in a crowded space – she is a graphic designer who creates logos, business cards and other collateral for small businesses. Her page is at  www.facebook.com/imaginaryjane

Note how she has created tabs (where it says “services” “prices” “contact”) which link to corresponding sections of her website. They have a nice style, which I’d expect because she’s a designer. There’s a consistent design for each button that fit with the overall theme of her page (color, look, font, etc). If you don’t have a website you can simply put the information right on your Facebook tabl. I liked that she put her pricing because immediately I knew what to expect. She is priced right for a small business and I thought to myself: I’d hire her!

It’s a little tricky to learn how to make custom Facebook tabs but you can learn or pay someone to do it for you by using a site like Elance or Odesk, maybe even on the cheap at Fiverr.

Note: Here’s an online scheduling tool: http://www.timetrade.com/products?product=professional that you can use if you create appointments, so people can schedule online. I’m sure there are Facebook apps that do this too (please suggest one in the comments if you have one you like).

2. Create a free profile on Yelp
Yelp is a community that rates and recommends businesses and most people know it as a good place to find restaurant reviews. However, Yelp features many types of businesses. You can create a Yelp business profile so you come up in searches on the site.

This is how I found someone who does eyelash extensions, who also has a home business. I went to Yelp, typed in “eyelash extensions, Kaysville” and found this business: http://www.yelp.com/biz/truebeauty-professional-skin-care-kaysville

She was one of two businesses that came up but she had no reviews.  I needed someone immediately and she could fit me in so I took a chance on her anyway and was really happy.

3. Create a Google business profile.
If you type a type of service or business along with a city and/or state name, you will usually see a Google listing come up first. You should create a business profile on Google, which is now technically a Google + profile.

I searched on, “eyelash extensions Kaysville Utah” and the top result was for a business called Eyecing. They also has a Google business listing with the address and a map on the right hand side of the page. They have no competition for their business listing because they’re the only business shown, and they didn’t have to pay for any of it.  It’s really amazing how much real estate on the page you get free as a local business, simply by getting your business listed. People can also leave a review and Google will display them, adding further credibility to your business.

These are some of my favorite tools for a small business to get free publicity and rankings, free. There are tips and tricks you can apply to further enhance your listings, but this is a good start. Please let me know if you have any additional tips you want to share about free ways to promote your local business online, by leaving a comment below.

This is the final post in my 3 part series about saving the newspaper industry and my interview with Joe Boydston. It details some of the ways newspapers can use custom plugins and tools to increase efficiency.

Online and print editions both originate within WordPress
The first way the staff is more efficient is in the publishing process. They plan the paper’s layout and where each story appears in the print edition using WordPress. Stories get published online and they are turned  into an InDesign file for print. This cuts down production time by 2 hours.

Comments plugin
The comments section of newspaper sites can be awful. There are so many trolls, mean people and spammers. To improve the quality, you can monitor the comments manually, but the volume can make that task overwhelming.

To crowdsource some of the work, the newspapers added a “report abuse” link. When someone clicks it, WordPress automatically hides the comment from the person who reported it. If 3 people flag the same comment, then it will be moderated, and can be permanently blocked or removed from the site.

Activity stream
With all the reporters and staff using WordPress to publish, it can get unwieldy to monitor. Like Facebook, they added an activity timeline that shows what is happening in real time. Using the activity stream inside of WordPress you can see who is logging in (which subscribers), who is sharing content, saving posts, activities from reporters, etc. Joe monitors the feed to see which subscribers view the most content and sends them a personal thank you. Nice touch.

Broadsheet theme
The newspapers use the Broadsheet newspaper theme for WordPress as a base for the design.

Membership plugin with pricing models
The newspapers manage their 7k paying customers, using s2member plugin with custom controls to determine who pays for content. They aren’t charging to raise revenue but to reflect the value of their content – that it is worth paying for.

So the online version of the paper is free outside of the newspaper’s market. If they can’t deliver the newspaper to your house, it’s free for you to read online.

They can also open the pay wall on days that readership is low (for example every  Monday), and run ads for the newspaper on those days.

Since they want to encourage mobile use, people who access the paper on a phone are not charged. Some categories such as the obituaries are always free. If a story is linked to in an email they send out it will be free too. Social referrals are free, so if someone gets a link to a story on Facebook they won’t be asked to pay.

Another way they customize the experience is by looking at referral domains. There is no charge for Google or .edu domains.

I’m impressed by just how much thought and care goes into this model. It’s based on principles and values. The team developed rules (within the plugin) that turn on or turn off the membership based on various criteria.

Spelling, grammar and editing tool
Afterthedeadline is a WordPress pugin that helps with editing, grammar and spelling which is also built into Jetpack. I love Jetpack and need to enable this module immediately.

I hope this series has been helpful. As Joe says, either we need to save newspapers or offer a viable alternative. According to him,

“The future of newspapers is not a digital revolution, but a digital renaissance.” 

Thank you Joe for enlightening me and for your love of freedom and a free press. One last thing about Joe that I find amazing: he’s a runner. I’m not sure if it’s for exercise or to save the environment, but rather than driving to the airport from the University of Utah campus where he spoke, he ran it. On major roads. With his luggage. Pretty impressive.

Personal note: I got my start in writing for newspapers in college, writing for The Daily Universe and The Student Review. Later I freelanced for The Daily Herald. I have a degree in conservation biology and wanted to be an environmental journalist. After realizing the poor pay, hours and risks, I decided against it and later discovered blogging.

I have never lost the love of reading newspapers or writing for them. So I’m deeply grateful for Joe’s work and advocacy. He’s an innovator in an industry that really needs innovation or it will not survive. I hope more newspapers will consider following his lead.

In Part 2 of how to save the newspaper industry, I talked to Joe Boydston, who works for McNaughton Newspapers, about how newspapers must shift and value online subscribers as much or more than print. I also asked how the newspapers use social media to extend their reach.

The daily newspapers do charge a fee to access online content (though not in all cases, see Part 3 of this series for more details). However, most revenue comes from advertising, which is determined by readership.

The way that newspapers count readers discounts a digital reader. This is a mistake because people are shifting from print to digital. Part of the problem is that there are different versions of the print and online versions and so naturally they are assigned different values. Right now, online is not as highly valued as print.

However, if they are equivalent, or superior to print, advertisers will pay for the combined audience. In reality, I believe a digital reader is MORE valuable because of the network effect – people share content with their friends through social media.

One thing that has prevented combining audiences is the way that newspapers work. They often have two different publishing systems and versions of the paper, one for print and another for digital. When both versions are consistent it keeps the perceived value higher for advertisers. In this case, ads are only shown on stories that make it into both versions.

Another reason to value online readership is the ability to find and share content through social media.

Using social media in the publishing process

Reporters submit their stories into WordPress and they are published on demand rather than waiting until the story comes out in print. Not all stories go into the print version but each story is pushed out on Twitter. It’s published on the main Twitter account account first (the fire hose account). Each reporter retweets their stories on their own account — brilliant!

Reporters are required to retweet their stories from the main newspaper site — it’s part of their job description. For example, https://twitter.com/D_Enterprise will tweet the story automatically when it goes live. The reporter then retweets the original tweet which gives both parties additional exposure.

Stories also get visibility on the newspaper’s Facebook Page (see the Facebook Page for the Davis Enterprise). They post every page of the newspaper as a .jpg image with a direct link to the story. You can’t actually read the story from the image, but you see the headlines.

With a digital version you reach can readers across many platforms:

“…readers expect their news, information and advertising in a multitude of ways. On their computer, smart phone, iPad, and increasingly social media like Facebook, twitter and google.”

-Joe Boydston

Another way the newspapers use social media is to determine what gets printed. Social signals help determine what stories make it from the site into the print version. So stories that get more tweets, comments, and shares online get printed. Same with letters to the editor. They might get 20 submissions a day but can only print 3. All submissions can be published online. The letters that are most talked about also make it into print.

There are many opportunities to further integrate social media. On the site I looked at the author’s bio didn’t include a photo or a link to their Twitter account. There are also no prominent share buttons at the top of each story. In addition, they could use Facebook Open Graph or apps to make it easier for people to share stories they like. Still, in their industry they are way ahead.

In Part 3 I write about some of the plugins and features the newspapers use on their websites to improve their efficiency.

This is part 1 of a 3 part series about how to save the newspaper industry.

I met Joe Boydston at Wordcamp in Salt Lake City. He is an IT director for a small group of newspapers in California, and is speaking at several Wordcamps to share his vision of the future of the newspaper industry. In his presentations he shows the innovative ways their newspapers using WordPress, social media, and advertising.

Joe led the newspapers he works for in adopting WordPress as a single CMS (content management system) to publish both the digital and print versions of the newspaper.  The model is working. Ad rates are up 5,000%, and their audience is growing. All of this with no cuts to the newsroom. This at a time when many daily newspapers are hurting. They are either closing or laying off staff. (See also: Newspaper Death Watch).

Newspapers make most of their money through advertisements, not selling subscriptions. Unfortunately advertising is way down. Some blame the internet for killing newspapers, but it’s perhaps more how newspapers treat online and print reads and ad rates. According to Joe, using a pay for performance model is to blame.

Newspapers use traditional banner ads across the top and sidebars of their websites. When advertisers pay for print ads, they pay a set fee per day or by column inch (this site lists newspaper ad rates by state). You can see the difference in pricing compared to banner ads – just look at this ad rate sheet from Tampa Bay Times. If you advertise online, you often pay based on the number of clicks. You pay much less for online ads.

For example: a print ad in the newspaper might cost $700 a day, the online version might bring in $7 a day. With readership shifting online, this represents a huge loss.

Rapidly declining advertising revenues continue to be the industry’s core problem. The losses in 2011 were slightly worse than those of 2010 – 7.3% compared to 6.3%. Ad revenues are now less than half what they were in 2006.

- State of the News Media 2012

Another issue is ad placement. Online, the ads are usually separate from the content, which diminishes its value. Instead the ads can appear with the content, and look just like they do in print. The ads are only different from print in that they are clickable. They can be click to call, click to go to a web site, or click to enlarge (and possibly print) an ad, such as a coupon.

The ads are also shown no matter where the content is accessed.

Advertisements that appear in the printed newspaper will “follow” each article on that page throughout the day. No matter how readers choose to receive their news, information and advertisements, the ad experience will remain consistent.

So looking at this, one way to increase advertising revenue is to create consistent content in print and online, including ads. Stop using banner ads which are based on CPM (cost per 100k impressions) and move to a different pricing model that takes total readership into account.

In Part 2 of this series I look at how newspapers can value online subscribers and how the papers use social media to extend their reach.

A prominent speaker and authority in search engine marketing is coming to Utah to speak next week.

Image by Danny Sullivan on Flickr via CrunchBase

It’s Danny Sullivan from Search Engine Land. If you’re a small business or want to learn more about online marketing, you should attend.

Social networking is great for building brands and can lead to sales, but when you are at the top of search engines for key terms relating to your business you can capture people who are ready to buy. I believe both are important.

Danny is coming as part of SLCSEM a group of people in Salt Lake interested in search engine marketing. So far the events have been very high quality and worth attending. There’s an hour or so of networking and then the presentation. Last time the food rocked too.

State of Search Marketing with Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land
Day/Time: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 from 6:00 – 9:00 PM (MT)
Place: 209 E 500 S (the Leonardo – formerly the Salt Lake City main library, right next to the new library)
Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Sign up here: http://slcsem-feb2012.eventbrite.com

Related: Make it a day of learning from the best. Alan Hall is speaking at a free event the same day called The Profit Experts Symposium.

Mark Cuban is an Internet billionaire and owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team. He has a new book out. It’s short at just under 100 pages and it’s cheap too, at $2.51. He hopes to sell a billion copies (he seems to think in billions). Imagine if he does sell a billion copies. I’m looking for the current numbers, and don’t know what Amazon keeps but even if he gets $1 a book, that’s one hell of a profit (over $1.5 billion).

You’ve heard of blog to book deals. The newest rendition of this is blog to ebook.  And you won’t need a book deal or publisher. All you need is some big success and a lot of friends. Cuban has over 330k friends on Facebook and 760k followers on Twitter.

The book is basically a compilation of Cuban’s blog posts you can read free on his blog. But that hasn’t stopped it from becoming an instant bestseller. It’s titled: “How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It.” I like this interview with Mark Cuban about his book and life.

I love this line, it just strikes me as so amazing: Of all your business ventures, the profit margin for this book is unmatched. Much of the book already had appeared as blog posts, and the production, promotion and distribution costs were negligible.

I love to use Twitter to find great headlines. Here’s a few about this story:

The Book World Is Changing: Mark Cuban Creates A Best Seller Out Of Some Blog Posts

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban hopes for a slam dunk with his new e-book

I’m buying it to see how it differs (in format) from his blog and to read it in one concise place on my Kindle. But really I’m reading it to see what all the hoopla is about. And to learn.

Check out

Mark Cuban’s book on Amazon

In related news, the Justice Department is looking into if Apple is keeping prices for ebooks artificially high.

When it comes to SEO, there are hundreds of elements that come into play when search engine algorithms determine rankings. From Title tags to anchor text rich links, the tactics are many and varied.

However, one element of the ranking algorithm that is often overlooked is the server on which your site is hosted.

Believe it or not, the type of server you host your website on can have an impact on your rankings. While it isn’t the most important element, when you are targeting a competitive niche every little bit helps.

When it comes to servers, you have 3 main options:

1. Shared Hosting – Your site is on one server with dozens or hundreds of other sites, usually on the same IP address. This is the least favorable option from an SEO standpoint.
2. VPS, or Virtual Private Server – Your site is hosted on a server with other sites, but your IP address is unique. A much better option than shared hosting, but still not the best.
3. Dedicated Servers – Your site is on its very own server, with a unique IP address. The best way to go, for many reasons.

Out of the 3 main set-ups, Dedicated Servers are the best from an SEO point of view. Why?

For one, it essentially guarantees that your website won’t suffer from any “bad neighborhood” penalties from being on the same IP address as potentially low quality or spammy sites. A dedicated server also tends to provide better up-time and much faster page load speeds, all of which are known elements of Google’s ranking algorithm.

A dedicated server is also much more secure, since you have complete control over what sites, programs and code go on your server. If your company deals with sensitive data such as customer credit card information or social security numbers collected through your website, you can’t afford to not be on a dedicated hosting account.

Though dedicated servers aren’t the least expensive web hosting option, they are absolutely worth every penny…consider it an investment in your business’s future.

This is a guest post from Sam McRoberts is the CEO of VUDU Marketing, a Utah SEO company. He has been involved with online marketing since 1999 and has worked with hundreds of clients, from small local businesses to Fortune 500 companies. Sam was compensated for this post, but the views and opinions on the topic are his own.

7-Eleven could be like any other convenience store — boring and predictable.  But they’re not. They are relevant, creative and fun. It all comes down to their PR. When I was researching companies for my book I was drawn to how 7-Eleven follows my PR philosophies. While mine are online, they translate well to both traditional and social media.

They create their own news, tie into current events and look for opportunities to “grease the wheels” when what they do captures national attention. I know 7-Eleven isn’t a sexy choice to love. I don’t see them as examples of social media success at all the conferences but I’m a big fan of their PR (along with Sharpie).

I wrote about how they predict election results by how many people bought their Slurpees in red cups compared to how many bought blue cups. They run their own campaign during every election and they can predict the outcomes with surprising certainty based on sales numbers.

At a press conference the day after the elections, President Obama made a funny crack about how he might hold a “Slurpee Summit” with the new Republican leadership. That set off a lot of free buzz and the company tried to make it a reality. Instead they gave free Slurpees at a DC location near the capitol and went on tour.

Note how much fun they had with this besides getting a story about it in USAToday (link above). I like this idea from the article:

“Strategy guru Mark Coopersmith says Slurpee should quickly go big in social media, nudging folks to have Slurpee Summits to solve problems.”

- USA Today: Obama’s ‘Slurpee Summit’ joke makes icy drink hot

My Thanksgiving had some ridiculous fighting about who was bringing what food and other trivial matters. I should’ve suggested we hold a Slurpee Summit and bought a round for everyone to try to lighten the mood (it all turned out well).

This is what I’d put in my book if I wrote it today – think of how you can start conversations and engage your community before, during and after a PR campaign.

Here’s how 7-Eleven did it. They ask a funny question:

Then they declared their own version of Black Friday: Purple Friday. They created a hashtag around it and got people into their store with a promise of free Slurpees. Some suggest it’s too cold and they should’ve offered free coffee in purple cups instead (you do lose a lot of sleep if you’re hitting all the sales).

You can create your own version of any holiday or current event too.

On Facebook they turned their profile picture purple:

7-Eleven (who is one of the few companies who might be better with a hypen in their Twitter name) got a TON of free coverage from both of these ideas. NPR, CBS News and lots of blogs picked up the story. Their stock even went up.

Let these campaigns from 7-Eleven inspire your creativity. What can you learn from these examples to promote your small business?

Related articles

• Slurpee Summit: 4 social media lessons (holykaw.alltop.com)
• GOOD RETURNS: 7-Eleven stock rises (politico.com)
• Black Friday Is Free Slurpee Day At 7-Eleven! (popcrunch.com)

More than 42 million women are involved in social media weekly, about half of them moms with children at home! Mommy bloggers reach many millions of these consumers, and they influence mothers’ buying decisions.

I call prefer to say mom bloggers or social media moms. Most people say mommy bloggers (which I don’t like as much because it sounds so patronizing for a grown adult to call someone else a mommy in any context. Would you like to be known as a daddy to your professional contacts or a dad?). Either way we’re referring to mostly stay at home moms who are actively blogging, tweeting and Facebooking. They have a lot of influence and if your product or service fits, you’ll want to pitch them.

Want to know what brands are working with mom bloggers? Just check out #GNO on Twitter or www.MomItForward.com or attend a conference like BlogHer or Evo. Can’t wait? you can attend a webinar next Thursday and hear from 5 mom bloggers who will share their PR tips from the trenches.

Leading “mommy bloggers” are going to talk about how to pitch them in a live 90-minute audio conference from Bulldog Reporter’s PR University.

“Pitching Mommy Bloggers: Top Women Online Influencers Reveal Best PR Pitches and Strategies to Drive 42 Million Consumers to Your Product or Service”

Day and Time: Thursday, October 14 (1PM EDT; Noon CDT; 11AM MDT; 10AM PDT) (Go to http://bit.ly/MomBlogs for more info)

Stephanie Azzarone, President, Child’s Play Communications; Blogger,
“MomMarketTrends.com”

Renee Ross, Publisher, “Cutie Booty Cakes”

Liz Gumbinner, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, “Cool Mom Picks”

Christine Young , Blogger, “FromDatestoDiapers;” Ambassador,

BackyardDiscovery; Contributer, WalMartMoms

Here’s what it will cover:

** What Motivates Mommy Bloggers: Key insights into the mindset fueling the momosphere—and how to use that knowledge to protect and promote your brand or product

** How each of our mommy bloggers approach what they do so you can make sure your ideas match their pitch preferences.

** Best ways to find, monitor and analyze online influencers in your particular market . . . and what to do with them once they’re on your radar.

** How mommy bloggers are using the recently updated Twitter, and PR can (and can’t) join the conversation

** New rules for crafting irresistible mommy blog pitches—the story elements and exclusive pegs that resonate with these bloggers and how to use them to generate wide coverage

** Hot Topics: Family, safety, children, economic pressures in recessions and recoveries—the concepts, trends, products, services and influencers that appeal most to the “mom market”—and how to incorporate them into your pitches and programs

This event will give you

• “rules” to follow when pitching mommy bloggers

• case studies of major brands that have been successful in social media

• PR faux pas to avoid with these bloggers

• how to communicate (without getting into trouble) in the “momosphere”

• how to build a PR campaign around mommy blogs.

Gather as many people in front of a speakerphone and a computer screen as you want for $199. No travel expenses. Use as a cost-effective, time-efficient means of training staff, while reinforcing key issues in a fresh, new manner that they will remember and act on.

I’ve been working on a national campaign that involves working with mom bloggers. It’s been very educational because I’m more used to being the blogger or participant than the one pitching. I’ve done live events with local bloggers but I’m doing more national campaigns recently.

I’m very interested in how mom bloggers have successfully worked with brands in product development and social media campaigns.

Do you want to learn more about how to tap into the social mom network?

I hope to ask a question to the panel about what charging for posts. Either way, I’ll be live tweeting from the call on Twitter – @Newspapergrl – please join me!

Related articles

• What Mom(my) Bloggers Want (ghdialogue.posterous.com)
• Mommy Bloggers: Tips for Marketing to the Mom Crowd (dontdrinkthekoolaidblog.com)
• Two levels of getting it right with blogger relations (getgood.com)
• Write a Review that’s as Sparkly, Interesting, and Delightful as You Are (blogher.com)

Orabrush YouTube Channel

UPDATE: Orabrush was just featured in this New York Times article.

Austin Craig sounds like a film guy – he writes, produces and even stars in shows. People recognize him and he’s become a bit of a celebrity. In the process of helping a local business he stumbled upon a new media career that wouldn’t be possible even just a few years ago — he’s a YouTube pitchman.

Austin has flown around the country to promote products in his fast, slapstick style that is popular on YouTube. Now he’s achieved fame and I predict fortune to. People he doesn’t know recognize him on the street and have even offered him discounts. It usually starts with, “Are you on the Internet somewhere?” Die hard YouTubers know him as the Orabrush guy and ask for an autograph.

Austin learned of Utah-based  Orabrush through a marketing class at BYU. The engineer behind the product that helps eliminate bad breath tried marketing his product unsuccessfully. He created an infomercial – which cost tens of thousands of $$$ but resulted in less than 100 sales. So Austin and his friend traded tongue brush marketing for a motorcycle. The first Orabrush video was Austin ranting and raving about bad breath.

I still get clients who want their video to “go viral” and this is a recent example of a company who has done that. But as you’ll see below it wasn’t just by chance. They have a good product and the videos were worthy of going viral but they needed a push. In other words, a little cash.

Like another Utah company, BlendTec of “Will it Blend” fame, YouTube put this company on the map. You may think the landscape is too crowded but remember Orabrush is just a year old. This is a recent success (as is the Old Spice campaign which amazingly enough won an Emmy. I love how even the knockoffs like this one from BYU have been successful).

The Orabrush YouTube channel has over 37,000 subscribers. It is the #7 most subscribed to video on YouTube by a sponsor.

They have a very well-designed branded page and a branded URL — www.youtube.com/orabrush. The videos get great ROI too. They brought immediate sales. They also got Orabrush into drugstores in more than 40 countries.

This is a great example of online PR where the most expensive solution wasn’t the best solution and online outperformed offline marketing tactics.

10 Ways to Achieve YouTube Fame and Success for your business:

1. Pay (or beg or trade) for talent.
   Personality and entertainment value is worth paying for. Consider hiring this out. It makes the difference between an average and a viral video. Where would Old Spice be without the Old Spice Guy Isaiah Mustafa?
2. Invest in promotion of your video.
   Like most viral videos the first few videos needed an initial push. The team heavily promoted the video with YouTube ads.
3. Study the most successful videos on YouTube and copy the elements that make them work.
   Dissect popular videos on YouTube to figure out what elements they share and use them in your videos. As I always say, the internet is an open book where you can see what everyone else is doing. Use this to your advantage.
4. Track and test to see what works for your audience.
5. Include a “call to action” at the end of your video and a social sharing element.
   Orabrush gave a free sample of the product. To get the free Orabrush you had to share the offer with your Facebook friends.
6. Consider making an “app-ertisement” — a branded app.
   Orabrush created a bad breath iPhone app where people blow into a phone to test their breath. Then they heard Austin’s voice spew pithy 1-liners.
7. Use user-generated content to get more user-generated content.
   Austin made another video of him testing the bad breath app on total strangers, Jay Leno style.
8. Make the video entertaining enough that people don’t realize it’s about a product until they’re hooked.
9. For branding create episodes tied to a common theme or character.
   In this case, they developed a tongue character who’s always down on himself to further brand Orabrush.
10. At the end of the video, ask people to comment, subscribe or watch another video.

I interviewed Austin along with my cohost Nigel Swaby for the Web Marketing Weekly Show. We should take some of Austin’s tips to heart to see how to grow our podcast by studying successful podcasts!

You can listen to the entire episode here. Oh, and I predict the next new media career niche is a YouTube talent agent!

Related articles by Zemanta

• Hasbro Brings Trivial Pursuit to YouTube (youtube-global.blogspot.com)
• How To Become The Next YouTube Star Making $100,000 Plus Per Year (businessinsider.com)
• 3 Ways That Viral Video Monetization Will Explode Like Social Games Did In 2009 (socialtimes.com)
• How To Make Images Inside Videos On YouTube Clickable (elliottlemenager.com)
• Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt Says YouTube Profitability Is Near (reelseo.com)
• An Easy Way to Embed YouTube Playlists (labnol.org)