Last updated on April 2nd, 2012 at 11:28 am
As the person who was crazy enough to set herself up as the motivator and the creator of 8 Women Dream (trust me I often think I need to have my head examined … could just be the menopause), each week I try to come up with something inspirational to help those of us in this group and those beyond to stay with our dreams. Sometimes I peruse the Internet for a timely speech, something poignantly blogged, or something to make us laugh and remember not to take ourselves too seriously.
I like Internet videos because they show what can go viral on the Internet. They are a good indication of what people are looking for on the net. Which is important information when one is trying to market the hell out of something placed on the web, which I acquaint to being much like attempting to explain the importance of a bath to my terrier dog Boonie. She doesn’t agree with it, she fights it paws and claws, but in the end feels better. She becomes happy with the experience when everyone pays attention to her new pretty self.
Dan and Chip Heath of Fast Company tell us that you want people to talk about your product or service, you need to ratchet up one of three secrets to make a message go viral –
- It is emotional – People compulsively share emotional experiences, and the more intense the emotion, the more likely they are to talk about it.
- It is doing a public service – Sharing it might actually save someone’s life.
- It has to have a trigger – A trigger is an environmental reminder to talk about an idea.
When presenting something to an audience on the Internet you have to ask yourself if it is entertaining enough for visitors to send to their friends. This is more easily said than done. Presenting on the Internet needs be more than helping our visitors – it needs to be good enough to share with family and friends in a way where family and friends will like it too – a sure thing. They want to be proud enough to say, “I discovered this amazing thing . . . ”
As a blogger, I know this can be extremely difficult to do, so in honor of Mother’s Day I offer up two different viral videos as examples of what I am talking about. Do you think these videos meet the criteria?
First I present to you mother and comedian Anita Renfroe singing her version of life as a mom:
By Oct. 1 2007 , approximately 1.5 million people had seen this video. By Oct. 19, the number had risen to 8 million; the video had gone viral.
Followed by Tim Hawkins view of moms from a son’s point of view:
To date, this video has been viewed over 350,000 times.
Happy Mother’s Day, and keep on dreaming –
Catherine
We’ve started to work on the 8 Women Dream Worldwide part of this project where we invite you to dream with us. Please go to our 8 Women Dream Worldwide page and consider challenging the world to help you with your big dream. Be creative – send us something fun. You never know – it could change your life!
Catherine’s dream is to be a motivator and published writer. She is testing her theories on motivation with this blog and the seven other women who have volunteered to be a part of her dream project. Catherine also writes about her life as a mom at the blog A Week In The Life Of A Redhead. She would also like to be invited to speak at TED as the next Erma Bombeck. Catherine posts on Monday mornings.
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Catherine Hughes is the founder, content director and editor-at-large of 8WomenDream. She is passionate about helping women step out of their own way and strike out into a world waiting for their special talents. She’s a published author and a former award-winning mom blogger. Catherine has helped companies both large and small create engaging web content, social media narratives, and unique blogging platforms. She claims to be a redhead, but don’t hold that against her.
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