eric rochow

Andy Sernovitz invited me to attend the Word of Mouth Crash Course put on by Gas Pedal. Its a one day course on how to get people talking about you and your business.

I love word of mouth marketing. Its how I’ve gotten work all my life. With the rise of the web as a tool for people to communicate, word of mouth marketing has gotten even more fun.

But, as Andy points out in the first 10 minutes of his course, not all Word of Mouth Marketing has to involve the internet.

The Layout:

When you’re asked ( or told by your boss ) to attend a one-day class, the usual drill is you go to a hotel conference room with bad lighting, uncomfortable chairs, and that ever-present hotel meeting room aroma.

Gas Pedal’s one day Crash Course is the polar opposite. I have never been in a conference room like the one we were in. It was just a fun room, a mash-up of Pee Wee’s Playhouse and Southwestern design. Casual furniture, small tables, plenty of snacks, nice lighting: a very comfortable place to spend the day.

And the food was great too. Healthy plus some decadent snacks.

The Presentation:

What immediately struck me was the lack of pretension Andy Sernovitz has. There’s no MBA, PhD, etc. on a powerpoint slide. Its just this regular guy who clearly enjoys talking about Word of Mouth Marketing, and the concepts and ideas just roll out of his head.

Lots of interaction as well. In the class was an eye doctor, and during the course of the day Andy and the group came up with several very cool ideas for his practice.

The day was broken up by several exercises we did as small groups. Normally there is a lot of eye-rolling when you are asked to do this sort of thing in a class, but this was fun. I learned stuff.

And what we learned you can put into practice in the Real World. Andy calls them the Five Ts:

Talkers : find out people who will talk about you

Topics: Give people a reason to talk

Tools: Help the message spread faster and farther

Taking Part: Join the conversation

Tracking: measure and understand what people are saying.

I’m always thinking of how someone or a business can improve their marketing, so now, I’m always walking around thinking ” OK, who are the talkers for this business”

I had dinner with a friend who is doing marketing for a Cosmetology school. And the first thing I asked him was ” Who are their talkers?”

We came up with 2 quickly: those who are enrolled or have completed the school, and beauty salons that have employed people from this school.

I suggested my friend buy Andy’s book and take the Word of Mouth Marketing Course.

Getting ready for the day of the class I attended, I actually came prepared. I brought a pen and a pad to take notes ( its unusual for me to be this prepared ) But Andy is 2 steps ahead of me, he has a clipboard, a cool course book, and a bag of swhag with my name on it. And the swhag is smart shwag, stuff you will use, like a cube tap, which is a hot item in an airport when you’re delayed for hours.

The course book includes all the powerpoint slides and plenty of room to take notes. Its now a great reference tool for me.

Andy pushes the idea of thinking out of the box, your talkers are not always the most obvious ones.

A good example he brought up in class was Las Vegas Casinos. Who are your talkers? One might say travel agents, websites, friends who gamble. Andy told us of one I did not think of: taxi drivers. You get in a cab, want to go to a casino? the cab driver makes a suggestion.

How to get the cab drivers to talk about you? One casino, before their grand opening, invited Las Vegas cabbies and their families to stay at the casino-hotel for a free weekend. It cost a bunch of money, but those cab drivers, when asked which casino they like, will remember which one they stayed in for free. And they will remember that weekend for years.

Andy also talks about marketing on the web. One of the things he said that sticks in my head. ” Email is the only advertising we ask for ” wow. never thought of it like that. All the people who sign up for the Gardenfork - Real World Green newsletter are asking for info, but expecting advertising as well.

Another point Andy makes: Make it as easy as possible for someone on your website to tell a friend about you or your site. YouTube has 13 ways to tell a friend on each page; put a Tell A Friend button on each of yours, and include one in your emails as well.

The Gardenfork - Real World Green email newsletter has a big ” Forward to a Friend ” button at the top of the email.

Andy also has a blog with a bunch of fun thoughts and picts of the way people market and do things thoughts. I’ve put it in my Google Reader list.

In short, this course is a must-take for people looking to grow their business. Its down to earth real world marketing ideas. You will have a lot of ” ah ha! ” moments during Andy Sernovitz’s Gas Pedal Word of Mouth Crash Course.

And, in the meantime, buy a copy of Andy’s book, Word of Mouth Marketing, How Smart Companies Get People Talking.