It seems that Ryan Shamus has really stirred up the pot with this viral video marketing thing. About two weeks ago, I was asked by Ryan if I would help him promote an article that was just published yesterday. He gave me a copy of the article in PDF and I was able to review it and agreed that I thought it would be very helpful for my readers and decided to help with promoting it. As many already know the article went live yesterday and most all of the top bloggers took part in helping Ryan with promoting his article.
As ironic as it might seem, John Chow decided to make an attempt at creating a viral video. Of all the possible topics he could have chosen to talk about, he decided to talk about shit, literally. He recorded a four minute video and talked about human waste, feces and gave examples of how people look at it in a toilet. Now, I’ll admit, I do find this video fairly amusing; however, I am really curious to discover if he will eventually pull this video offline. Needless to say, the only thing viral about it is his mouth. I never in a million years would have guessed I’d hear words like this come out of John Chow’s mouth in an online YouTube Video.
* The video below contains profanity. Not intended for sensitive ears.
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Date/Time: 3-28-2008 18:38:40 Comment #12906
This is disgusting. I don’t know whether to digg it or flush it.
Date/Time: 3-28-2008 18:42:45 Comment #12907
Honestly, I have no idea what the hell to think of this… Do I think this will go viral? Yes!! For the fact that it is shocking to see John Chow do a video like this. I am totally shocked… but I guess that is what viral videos do, they shock people. Wow!!! was the first word that I thought when I saw the video. This indeed could be very controversial.
Date/Time: 3-28-2008 22:20:11 Comment #12917
I have no idea what to think either.
Questions need raising, such as what does he want from it, however the main objective has started, people are talking…….. I guess that means MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Date/Time: 3-28-2008 22:27:08 Comment #12919
Personally, I think that the mission could have been easily accomplished without degrading his credibility. I can see quite a few people getting offended with this video.
Date/Time: 3-28-2008 23:15:07 Comment #12920
Hello Garry,
I think it has already gone viral as we are talking about it lol. But ya, it’s profane, now if he would have had some advertising in place for something like laxitives, now that would have been genious.
Date/Time: 3-28-2008 23:25:00 Comment #12922
haha, advertising for Laxatives. LOL.
Date/Time: 3-29-2008 00:04:50 Comment #12924
I believe that he can modify his video at anytime while maintaining the same URL. He very well may edit and include advertisements. He also very well may pull the video offline.
Date/Time: 3-29-2008 00:28:28 Comment #12925
Wow, I had meant to check out his blog, I’ve subscribed to tons of sources with good info including yours Garry, and John Chow’s blog was on my radar, but what the heck? It was pretty gross, who the heck talks about this online? Especially through a video and when you have that level of authority and presence. He had to be on something.
Date/Time: 3-29-2008 00:46:22 Comment #12927
As previously mentioned, I am not easily offended with John Chow’s most recent attempt towards creating a viral video, but indeed it did seem strange for an individual of his level of popularity to produce such an amateurish video, while others with only fractions of his authority provide the community with such higher quality videos. While I may not be offended by the video, I am sure that there are large numbers of people who are.
I mean seriously, here is a guy that has received international exposure and has scored some amazing reviews and interviews such as the case of making multiple appearances with Leo Laporte:
Again, I am not easily offended, but I really question why Chow would have published a video like this. He is really not someone who needs the exposure and to be quite honest, if John Chow did this video in a direct effort after reading the sponsored post of Ryan Shamus, I seriously feel that he missed the point.
I believe that viral videos can be a very effective way towards enabling businesses or individuals to communicate a message that successfully promotes a product or service in an alternative nature. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the video is to be vulgar.
In my opinion, viral videos are about finding some inner creativity that strikes a profound interest among a mass audience in a very short period of time.
That can be done in two ways. Either by being utterly tasteless and trashy or by illustrating your intelligence, creativity and ability to entertain.
Here Is A Prime Example of A Viral Video
Here is an absolute perfect example of a viral video that displays the utmost level of creativity, intelligence, and entertainment. All of these elements are being used to promote this individuals ability to provide a professional search engine optimization service for interested prospects. The video was uploaded on March 20th 2008 and currently at the time of syndicating the video here it has received over 21,000 views. Now, I am really no fan of rap music, but I am a huge fan of successful marketing. The publisher has intense skills and is very educated within his business as can be interpreted within the lyrics of his song.
This is viral video business marketing in pure form. This is the next generation of Internet marketing. It combines the ability to promote a message to one medium (e.g. YouTube) coupled with the ability to target another (e.g. Google SERPs).
Here is a copy of the lyrics to this song written and published by The Poetic Prophet (AKA The SEO Rapper):
Your site design is the first thing people see
it should be reflective of you and the industry
easy to look at with a nice navigation
when you can’t find what you want it causes frustration
a clear Call to action to increase the temptation
use appealing graphics they create motivation
if you have animation
use with moderation
cause search engines can’t index the information
display the logos of all your associations
highlight your contact info that’s an obligation
create a clean design you can use some decoration
but to try to prevent any client hesitation
every page that they click should provide and explanation
should be easy to understand like having a conversation
when you design the style go ahead and use your imagination
but make sure you use correct color combinations
do some investigation, look at other organizations
but don’t duplicate or you might face a litigation
design done, congratulations but it’s time to start construction
follow these instructions when you move into production
your photoshop functions then slice that design
do your layout with divs make sure that it’s aligned
please don’t use tables even though they work fine
when it come to indexing they give searches a hard time
make it easy for the spiders to crawl what you provide
remove font type, font color and font size
no background colors, keep your coding real neat,
tag your look and feel on a separate style sheet
better results with xml and css
now you making progress, a lil closer to success
describe your doctype so the browser can relate
make sure you do it great or it won’t validate
check in all browsers, I do it directly
gotta make sure that it renders correctly
some use IE, some others use Flock
some use AOL, I use Firefox
title everything including links and images
don’t use italics, use emphasis
don’t use bold, please use strong
if you use bold that’s old and wrong
when you use CSS, you page will load quicker
client satisfied like they eating on a snicker
they stuck on your page like you made it with a sticker
and then they convert now that’s the real kicker
make you a lil richer, your site a lil slicker
design and code right man I hope you get the picture
what I’m telling you is true man it should be a scripture
if it’s built right you’ll be the pick of the litter
everyone will want to follow you like twitter
competition will get bitter and you’ll shine like glitter
if you trying to grow your company will get bigger
design and code right man can you get with it
……………………………………………….
Now if you want my opinion, that’s some amazing stuff. The publisher of this video is an individual named, Chuck who grew up in a church upbringing and got saved at age 13. During that time he wrote religious raps and performed at his church. He felt good representing Jesus. Although he was writing Godly raps, he was also doing secular raps as well. There was an internal battle within himself that he had to conquer that lasted for the majority of his teen years. [source]
Chuck has found himself in a position where he meet lots of business owners who sign up for his SEO services mainly because they are seeking results. His clients have either tried SEO/SEM and didn’t do it correctly, don’t have time or simply don’t know how to do it. Majority of his clients have tried and failed at it which resulted in loss revenues and time loss. Chuck then realized that even though his clients are business owners, they don’t understand the sales process and how to “close deals†of potential new clients on the Internet. [source]
Chuck’s regular 9 to 5 job is in the business of Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Consulting and currently works at an agency called Pop Labs. Chuck is a God fearing, success driven, sportsaholic, internet addict, lyricist, proud father of 3 who loves entertaining friends. I believe that his above video and displayed lyrics are a reflective example of his inner personal qualities. [source]
Pop Labs was founded in 2001 and is one of the nation’s leading full service digital media agencies. Employing a unique holistic and hands-on approach to search engine marketing and social media, Pop Labs helps clients achieve better online marketing results by focusing on what web users really want. Serving thousands of small to mid-sized business owners, (in addition to the occasional multi-national conglomerate) allows Pop Labs to develop key processes and efficiencies that yield better results at lower cost…enhancing your ROI. [source]
Pop Labs Led by serial entrepreneur, Gene McCubbin, the Pop Labs team is a zany, close-knit group of experts in web design, usability, accessibility, search marketing, technology, sales, online behavior and communication. We are all driven by the same passion that drives the company – Meet the needs of people, and ultimately you will meet the needs of the client.
Gene McCubbin is an accomplished entrepreneur and has co-founded four technology based companies over the last twelve years. Gene has participated in several successful enterprise exits including a $120mm IPO, a $30mm private equity sale, and numerous smaller M/A transactions. He has been featured in Success magazine, Entrepreneur magazine, Houston Business Journal, the Houston Chronicle and many other national and regional publications. Gene has been a member of Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization (YEO) since 2000 and is currently running Pop Labs; #2 fastest growing technology company in Houston, TX in 2003, #50 in the US in 2004 (Entrepreneur magazine and PricewaterhouseCoopers). Gene was recently awarded as a finalist for the Gulf Coast Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards. [source]
What Is Viral Video?
Viral video is a form of online marketing that generates compelling levels of interest among a mass audience. It is a form of marketing that drives a target audience towards wanting to learn more and in some rare cases it creates a desire for individuals to publish a 1200+ word article related to it within the comment section of their own blog.
I wonder how many people will use their own blog’s comment section to write about John Chow’s most recent viral video attempt? I didn’t intend for this to provide negative publicity for John Chow. I really like John and have no problems with him. However, in many ways it really rubs me the wrong way to see him produce a video like this.
Yet Another Example of a Viral Video
For those who don’t know this, Joel Comm has been very inspirational for me. He is a fine individual and a very gifted and super talented person in the business of Internet marketing. Joel Comm has been building profitable websites since 1995. He is the co-founder of Yahoo! Games, author of the new York Times bestseller, “The AdSense Code”, and Host & Executive Producer of the world’s first competitive Internet reality show, “The Next Internet Millionaire”. [source]
Consequently he also holds the title of being the producer of one of my personal favorite videos being broadcasted on YouTube. Here is a syndication of the video below:
Joel has an amazing ability to grab you out of your seat and grip onto your attention like he was squeezing a grape. His work is of the best in the industry, and he is one of the only people I put trust into the products being produced. I have been given many wonderful gifts from Joel and everything I have received from him has been worth more than the price of gold. Recently I pushed forward on my web design business and I owe a huge amount of credit to that decision based on watching the DVDs included in The Secret Classroom.
Viral Video At It’s Greatest
Joel Comm was a pioneer in successfully producing the world’s first Internet reality television show. The show was a huge success and is now paving the path for others to follow:
And Indeed Did People Follow…
Shortly after The Next Internet Millionaire, Thor Schrock decided to produce the next Internet reality tv show called, Top Affiliate Challenge. Thor has created such a viral BUZZ about this show that it was even featured on a the local ABC news station during 6:00 PM Hour in his home town:
Date/Time: 3-29-2008 08:05:15 Comment #12941
I was seriously surprised when I saw this video – like others have said, it’s not the kind of video to gain exposure that I’d have imagined a high profile blogger making, so it was kind of refreshing to see, while at the same time I can understand if others might find it offensive – at least he’s taking that risk that he won’t alienate current readers – he might end up getting loads more for it, who knows!
Date/Time: 3-29-2008 23:27:22 Comment #12964
Maybe he’s trying to become a comedian? Maybe he wants to get more noobs to come to his blog by getting on the last comic standing or something. It is pretty funny, but its not something that I would consider “Highly Viral”
Date/Time: 3-30-2008 06:35:42 Comment #12974
Hi Garry,
I love the new blog design and header! Its excellent
I saw John Chow’s latest viral video, and I must say, its fairly funny. Its not something you would expect John to talk about, but there is no doubt its being spread around the blogosphere. So great work!
Date/Time: 3-30-2008 17:35:53 Comment #12994
I guess no publicity is bad publicity, if its getting spread around the blogosphere’s thats a good thing.
Date/Time: 3-31-2008 10:52:37 Comment #13031
Garry,
What in the world kind of video is that? Not exactly what you would expect, eh?
Like Ryan, I really like what you have done with the new header image. Very nice. Did you do the graphics, or do you have a graphic designer that did that for you.
Date/Time: 3-31-2008 11:06:45 Comment #13034
Hey George,
I do all my designs and graphics myself. While the one I am now using for GCDC isn’t my most Web 2.0 savvy type graphic… I think it’s fun and entertaining.
Thanks for the compliment. Hope things are going well for you.
And yes… I kinda agree about JC’s video… “What were you thinking??? er… Drinking!” LOL!!!