Building the Buzz
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For years I have had people come up to me and ask the same questions: "Chaz, how did you get your Web site on Tech TV? Chaz, how did you set up meetings with major companies like Target and KFC? Chaz, how did you get to play your music at the White House or meet Muhammad Ali? Chaz, how did you get so many newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations to do stories on you? Chaz, how did you think up the Orgasmic and Farting Calculators? Chaz, how do you think up these wacky, silly ideas? Chaz, how in the world did you do that?"
If I had a nickel for every time somebody asked me that one question, "Chaz, how did you do that?", I would never have to work another 15-hour-day again. Whenever somebody asks that inevitable question, I ask if that person has a couple of hours. This often sends people running, but if they are at all serious, I go over everything and anything that they want me to talk about.
Do not get me wrong—I'm happy that people are interested in what I'm doing, and, of course, I love to tell people my story. But you can probably guess that it gets old repeating myself over and over and over. That is part of the reason why I'm writing this article. Now instead of having to repeat myself, I can now say, "It's on my Web site, http://www.spazco.com or http://www.primitiveonline.com—check it out."
What I want to accomplish with this article is show you how to build a buzz for you or your company. Throughout this article, I will give you real examples of how I accomplished these goals through persistence and creative thinking. Okay, let the buzzing begin!
Here are the topics that I will be covering:
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Writing an online newsletter
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Setting up email lists
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Doing pro bono work
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Bartering
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Doing e-card campaigns
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Linking with other Web sites
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Offering free downloads from your site
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Giving out an award
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Using the Site of the Day
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Working the message boards
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Becoming an authority on what you know—offering advice on your local TV or radio or in your town's newspaper
Online Newsletters
This idea sounds so simple, yet lots of sites on the Internet are looking for fresh content on a daily basis. In fact, this InformIT article that you are now fully engrossed in is a prime example of what I'm talking about. I had something that InformIT believed would be of use to online subscribers, so they asked if I could write some articles about self-promotion and marketing.
In fact, I also write for another site, http://www.emazing.com, an email delivery company with more than 12 million unique subscribers that receive daily tips in more than 125 subjects. I write a yoga tip every Wednesday, and it is sent out to more than 500,000 people. In exchange for my yoga tips, there's a link to my yoga site, http://www.yogamazing.com, at the bottom of my yoga tip that's sent via email to the EMAZING subscribers. This helps to drive lots of traffic to my site, where they can purchase yoga products such as videos, music, books, and clothing.
These can be great deals—some will pay you for your work, and others will give you lots of exposure, driving traffic to you and promoting your Web site. This, in turn, builds on your brand recognition and ability to make money selling goods on the site.
To date, I have written articles for EMAZING.com, http://www.informit.com, and http://www.yoga.about.com.