Connie Bensen

When I think of viral, the first thing I think of is YouTube. In particular the WillItBlend videos. But YouTube isn’t for everyone. I have the capability to make live videos and screencasts, but umm I’m not compelled to do so. I’ll leave that to a master like Gary V.

Two days ago Slideshare sent me an email about my Case Study for using Twitter for Lead Gen:

Your presentation is currently being featured on the SlideShare homepage by our editorial team.

Today I received another email that said:

"Twitter: a Case for Lead Generation" is being tweeted more than any other document on SlideShare right now. So we’ve put it on the homepage of SlideShare.net (in the "Hot on Twitter" section).

It was odd because I had tweeted a link, but Twitter was quiet (or so I thought…). In looking at the stat’s on Slideshare I saw that SocialMediaToday and it’s sister site, MyVenturePad had published my blog post and were receiving a LOT of traffic. There were almost 1500 views between them. Next question, what was driving the traffic? A quick search for the phrase, “Twitter Engagement”, that’s a part of my blog title showed that there was some serious retweeting happening on Twitter!

Slideshare is an active community with great shareable features

For the past three years I’ve been studying why things happen in social networks. Then I unravel them and share the steps so that you can apply them to your situations. And this one is easy to replicate. It will work for YouTube as much as Slideshare too!

First, a quick explanation of Slideshare. Skip this if you’re familiar with it.

Slideshare is a free site where you can host your powerpoint decks. It’s a really active community. They totally understand the concept of ‘shareable’ which is so imperative for word of mouth (some call it viral). (This is one of the main principles that Andy Sernovitz asserts and I highly recommend that you read his book, Word of Mouth Marketing.)

The secret sauce is that it allows you to embed your presentation in your post and others can download it and also embed it. They also offer a nice widget that I’ve put on the side of my blog AND are integrated into Facebook and LinkedIn so my friends there can see my newest decks.  It can grow legs! and Slideshare keeps track of the number of views. The community in Slideshare can favorite presentations and comment on them. So Slideshare has done a great job of helping their users connect!

How can you make Slideshare + SocialMediaToday + Twitter = Viral

I’ll list the steps. You provide the ideas

1. Create your content and post on a shareable site such as Slideshare or YouTube
2. Write a blog post and embed the content
3. Syndicate your blog to great communities like SocialMediaToday.com, MyVenturePad.com, etc
4. They and many others tweeted the link x 180 + times!
5. Engage with the communities on Slideshare, Socialmediatoday & Twitter. Here’s an article I wrote on syndicating your blog. (That post is how I got my job at Techrigy)
6. Watch the ripple effect afterwards and thank those that blog about it and further share my content.

Here’s the stat’s on this adventure 24 hours after publishing my blog post:

On Slideshare.net (note that it’s been downloaded 48 times)

SocialMediaToday.com – 1529 views

MyVenturePad.com – 1147 views

Tonite I was asked a question. Will this work for a company and their brand? Of course! I realized yesterday that Dell had followed me on Slideshare. And their decks are quite interesting! Check out the So So Social Media Strategy. (Note that my deck is also branded & has my contact info.)

Another point is that you don’t need the reason of speaking at events to create and post slide decks. There are also people in Slideshare community that have never posted a deck (but what fun is that?!)

So what are you waiting for? Get busy, and make a slide deck. Link it up here. Need ideas? Go explore the decks in Slideshare.

Special thanks go to Beth Harte & Ann Handley for inviting us to share Techrigy’s story in Marketing Prof’s Twitter Success Case Studies and again at their virtual event! (It forced me to make the slide deck!)

And thanks to Adam Helweh @SecretSushi for his thumbs down on my first draft. You can thank him for his honesty & for pushing me to be more creative!

Now I want to see your work!

in Kindergarten

That’s the usual ending…

But that’s not what I was going to say. I was going to finish it with

online!

Did you know that in terms of blogging, social media and brand building there are many great resources online? With the recession there are even more opportunities. And so many are free! Over the past three years that I’ve been working online I have learned so much from webinars and virtual events.

With that, I encourage you to attend the Marketing Prof’s Digital Marketing World Fall Event

They have a number of great sessions and it’s free!

I’m presenting a case study of how my Techrigy Team has used Twitter for lead generation. And the other two case studies are even more interesting! One is on how the NHL has used Twitter to build community around their advocates. And the third is how mozy.com has increased their brand presence and  promoted their service on Twitter. Some very interesting stuff!

So I highly recommend that you sign up and attend some sessions. Marketing Prof’s has a great blog that always offers high quality information.

Next week I’ll be in London for the early part of the week.

On Tues I’m presenting at a Social Media Seminar in Covent Garden hosted by

Tuesday evening would be perfect for a meetup if you’re in the London area.

Drop me an email at conniebensen @ gmail.com or leave a comment here.

My husband & I were in London a year ago for a vacation & I really look forward to visiting your city again!

Upcoming:

In the end of August I’ll be in Chicago speaking at the Alterian summit… more info coming on that! I’ve just started to see their products and they’re amazing tools for marketers! (Alterian recently acquired my company, Techrigy).

One of the things that I love most about my role is that I work with communications across the spectrum. For me marketing & public relations  are interchangeable. Really it’s about developing relationships.

On Monday I will be speaking in Minneapolis at a sold out event that will be keynoted by Jason Kintzler.

PR 2.0: THE NEW TOOLS OF THE TRADE
This day-long seminar features keynote presenter Jason Kintzler, founder of PitchEgine a social platform that enables PR professionals to package stories and share them with journalists, bloggers and influencers via the social web.  The day will also feature eight breakout sessions reflecting the most cutting edge and innovative thinking on how to navigate this rapidly changing industry. Special thanks to our promotional partners for this event, the Minnesota chapter of PRSA and Mashable: The Social Media Guide.

My session will be:

How to Monitor and Measure Social Media
PR pros are no strangers to monitoring media, old-school style. But, the same methodologies we use to measure traditional PR placements don’t translate to social media. In this session, we’ll explore some of the monitoring tools that provide visibility into the social media space and discuss the most effective ways to measure the value of the conversations taking place across social networks.

I’m really excited to finally meet Jason in person. He’s flying in from Wyoming so he doesn’t live in a city center either. You know how I feel about working online & living at my house in Minnesota. I believe that someone can live anywhere in the world and contribute at a high level to the social media world. Jason has also proven that! I used PitchEngine to do a SM Release to announce Techrigy’s acquisition of Andiamo Systems. It’s easy to use & definitely a great service!

Jason Kintzler is the Founder of PitchEngine, a web tool enabling PR professionals to package and share press content via the social web. He’s a former print and broadcast journalist turned PR pro and now, entrepreneur.

Jason’s goal is to evolve public relations as a whole, bringing authenticity and engagement to PR through the integration of social media content. By utilizing the PitchEngine Social Media Release, brands are not only engaging media contacts the traditional way, but also consumers. He’s fostering a new approach to a century-old craft.

And I can’t travel 5 hours without meeting my friends! So I asked for a Tweet up. Jennifer Kane, the conference organizer has kindly organized one for us on Monday night from 6-9 pm. So join us to talk about social media, community, and summer in Minnesota!

Where?  Tavern on France    6740 France Avenue South, Edina, MN

When?   Jul 13, 2009      What time?   6 – 9pm

On Tuesday I will be scheduling meetings so let me know if you’d like to get together. Send me an email if you’d like to get together (conniebensen @ gmail dot com). I always enjoy talking with people interested in community & social media!