Viral Video OK GO – 1 Million Hits

by Big Squid on March 5, 2010

As expected, Ok Go’s brand new video hit 1 million views, although it was a little later than I anticipated.  Here’s the timeline (in pictures) I recorded.

3:59pm 3/2- 192,553 Views

7:11pm 3/2- 306,049 Views

10:01pm 3/2- 465,601 Views

1:04am 3/3- 590,681 Views

Sometime in between I went to bed…

…and when I woke…

11:33am 3/3- 1,067,268 Views

Currently the video sits at over 3 million views!

Now to be fair, Ok Go already has  a tremendous following.  They’ve been known to put out significantly attractive videos on the web, and there was a great deal of expectation circulating around this new release.

But seriously, consider your own business.  Most of the local business owners I know would be happy just getting 3,000 views of their content.  And really, that’s all that is needed.

If you’re considering video marketing as a viable option to building community and staying connected, OK GO provides an excellent example of what to do.  This video (even if you don’t like their music) is mesmerizing enough to:

  1. Watch it all the way through – each new stage is intriguing and I’m drawn in, and invested, to see what happens next.
  2. Share it with a friend – it has a cool factor of 11 – it’s creative, fun, and quite honestly available to anyone that has the time and inclination to do something wild like this.
  3. Have value on it’s own – I’ve got another post about this coming, but think back (or watch the video again) was their any advertising going on?  Nothing about buying the album, or finding it in local stores.  Yes, they were playing their music, but isn’t that just the same as you giving away a “Free Report” or catching people’s names and email address to receive “Special Discounts”?

If you want to make a video like this, do it!  But just remember, you only need your video to become “Viral Enough” for your business.  If that’s a target of 3 million, great.  If it’s a target of 1,000 views, that’s great too.

The point is not to be intimidated by the heavy hitters in the industry.  Your videos should be relevant to the size and preference of your audience.

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Back to the Future Follow-Up

by Big Squid on March 4, 2010

So earlier this week I wrote about a local news site going all Michael J. Fox on us and eliminating their website in favor of a paid print readership.

I was able to speak with the editor on this issue via email.  He says:

The decision came from the company that owns the web site that the site is ending either way. The product is popular, though, and this is a chance to try and keep it alive. Hopefully, the print version will be better than nothing.

I don’t know if this is going to be possible or not.

I was sent this photograph my friend took.  It’s somewhat fitting here.

She told me later that the man in the back is reading a newspaper purchased from an off-site location.  It’s an excellent photograph; tells the story of our changing media world, doesn’t it?

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Viral Video Example From OK GO

March 2, 2010

Here’s another great example of how to build a viral video.
The band OK GO is developing quite a reputation for putting out inexplicably viral videos.  This, posted only 17 hours ago, is already nearing 200,000 views.  The rate will exponentially increase from there.
It’s 3:52pm PST.  I’m anticipating it hits 1 Million views by this evening.  [...]

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Yellow Pages Advertising – Another Reason To Quit

March 1, 2010

Earlier I wrote a little about how the Yellow Pages just ain’t cuttin’ the mustard anymore.  I gave some suggestions about some new and improved uses which included a  computer stand, a door stop, and a booster step.
Last night I was surfing around on eBay (not sure why) when I came across this bizarre posting.  [...]

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A Local Business Going Back to the Future…Huh?

March 1, 2010

Want to see a business fail? Read on.
Talk about going backwards! I just got an email from a local company that covers the youth soccer niche in my community.
In case you don’t know, Southern California is a literal hotbed of youth soccer. OC Soccer News has been growing over the past couple [...]

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Bad Marketing: Case Study #1

February 27, 2010

I was driving down to San Diego the other day, and while I was speeding myself, along comes a truck hauling right past me. Something caught my attention. I slammed the accelerator down so that I could catch up, in order to take this picture here.

Now, the sign in the window says “Ready Rents” [...]

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Proof Social Media Works – Un-Marketing

February 23, 2010

Scott at Un-Marketing put up a great example of the power of social media.  He committed himself to using Twitter to build his business. His results are staggering and impressive.
Since these results are possible for one crazy (and funny) Canadian, we must ask the question, what about for you and your business? What could [...]

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How Wedding-Worthy Is Your Business?

February 20, 2010

Saw a story about this posted on Mashable.com and couldn’t resist.
Believe it or not, but the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue may trend to become the new ultra-geek destination for a wedding ceremony.  Yep, earlier this week, on Valentine’s Day (audience: Awww!), Josh and Ting ceremoniously tangled their iPod-headphone-cords together in an act of, well…love [...]

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How to Handle A Negative Situation

February 5, 2010

I just ran across this Apology from one of my favorite bookmarked sites, TechCrunch.  You can read about all that happened here.  In a nutshell, there was some dishonest reporting on a highly popular blog.
The apology is sincere, direct, and an excellent example of how to handle any negatives that may arise.  Notice the commitment [...]

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Viral Video: Breaking The Ordinary

February 3, 2010

One of my absolute favorite viral videos is the JK Wedding Dance Video.  As of this writing the video has had over 41 million views in a little over 6 months!  How’s that for viral?

Breaking the Ordinary
The critical piece to all of this is the manner in which the video has taken the social media [...]

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