Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz: How to Attract Massive Attention for Your Business, Your Product, or Yourself

240 Pages·2008·2.04 MB·English

by  David Seaman

BUZZ
Practice the Black Art of
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Do you want to jumpstart your sales and profile in a
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jaw-dropping way? How would you feel about unleashing
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your message on the entire world?

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In Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz, veteran promotional stunt-planner David
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Seaman reveals a brand-new, counterintuitive approach to traditional marketing
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and PR. Find out how controversy, scandal-mongering, and social networking
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can turn your message into a viral sensation.
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Inside are sixty-one secrets for getting millions of eyeballs turning toward you e
or your business, including:
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e
c
(cid:129) Enemies are more important (cid:129) Google juice: hot links from
than friends highly rated sites r
(cid:129) A dog and a blog can increase (cid:129) TV doesn’t make you—you e
repeat customers make you t
(cid:129) Put MySpace, Facebook, and the (cid:129) Get ten thousand visitors for s
social networking revolution to free through StumbleUpon

work for you o
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Dirty Little Secrets of Buzz is a powerful how-to collection of all the secrets
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no one talks about—secrets you won’t fi nd in any other marketing book
or program.
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David Seaman is a full-time writer, blogger, and media personality. Z
Seaman is the founder of Shutterline Interactive, a vehicle for rapidly
deploying new publicity stunts. He has appeared on numerous TV and Z
radio programs, including CNN Headline News, CBS Radio News, and
FOX’s The Morning Show, and has been quoted in countless publications
all over the world.
SEAMAN
Business $ 14.95 U.S./$15.99 CAN/£ 7.99 UK ISBN 13: 978-1-4022-1337-3
ISBN 10: 1-4022-1337-9
www.sourcebooks.com AN
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How to Attract Massive Attention
for Your Business, Your Product, or Yourself
DAVID SEAMAN
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Copyright © 2008 by David Seaman
Cover and internal design © 2008 by Sourcebooks, Inc.
Cover photos © iStockPhoto.com/emily2k, RoyKonitzer
Cover design by Cyanotype Book Architects
Sourcebooks and the colophon are registered trademarks of Sourcebooks, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic
or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in
writing from its publisher, Sourcebooks, Inc.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to
the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged
in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert
assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.
—From a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar
Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations
All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trade-
marks, or trade names of their respective holders. Sourcebooks, Inc., is not associated with
any product or vendor in this book.
Published by Sourcebooks, Inc.
P.O. Box 4410, Naperville, Illinois 60567–4410
(630) 961–3900
Fax: [phone]
www.sourcebooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Seaman, David.
Dirty little secrets of buzz : how to attract massive attention for your business, your prod-
uct, or yourself / by David Seaman.
p. cm.
1. Publicity. 2. Industrial publicity. 3. Marketing. I. Title.
HD59.S43 2008
659.2—dc22
2008014860
Printed and bound in the United States of America.
VP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Acknowledgments (cid:2)
(cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
(cid:2)
Emmanuelle Alspaugh, my agent at Wendy Sherman
Associates.
At Sourcebooks: Shana Drehs, Erin Nevius (who has
hawk-like editing abilities), and Sara Kase. In the publicity
department, Liz Kelsch and Heather Moore.
My family, friends, newsletter subscribers, and—of
course—all of the media professionals consulted for this
book. Thank you!
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(cid:2)
Contents
(cid:2)
(cid:2) (cid:2)
If you’re in a major hurry to become famous, read these (cid:2)
chapters first. I’ll make it easy.
Preface: Consider Yourself Warned . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Introduction: Welcome to the Media Feeding Frenzy . . 1
Chapter 1: Choose Your Own Adventure . . . . . . . . . 7
(cid:2)Secret #1: Fame and Glory: For the
Company or For Yourself?
(cid:2)Secret #2: Be Outrageous or Die!
Ann Coulter: Crazy Sells
Chapter 2:The Rules of Effective Publicity Whoring. . 19
(cid:2)Secret #3: The Five Rules
Sam Adams: Founding Father, Publicity Whore
The Naked Cowboy: The Absurd
Michael Moore: The Piggybacker
(cid:2)Secret #4: The Truth Counts…or Does It?
(cid:2)Secret #5: Dealing with Press Stress
Hugh Grant and Savvy Spin
(cid:2)Secret #6: The Media Is for Profit
(cid:2)Secret #7: People Will Criticize—and
That’s Free Publicity
(cid:2)Secret #8: Overcoming Publicity Postpar-
tum Depression: Knowing When and
Where to Find the Next Hook
Chapter 3:All Fires Start with a Spark: Getting Friendly
with Mean Bloggers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
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(cid:2)Secret #9: Make Your Own Blog
Zach Braff’s Syndicated Superblog
Successful, Funny Fake Blogs
(cid:2)Secret #10: Anatomy of a Blogger
(cid:2)Secret #11: How to Get a Blog Mention
Natalie Reid’s Blog Buzz
(cid:2)Secret #12: Take Advantage of Slow
News Cycles
Moby’s Alienating Blog
Julia Allison’s Online Fame
(cid:2)Secret #13: The Major Blogs
(cid:2)Secret #14: Social Bookmarking Sites:
The Backdoor Approach
(cid:2)Secret #15: Pinging Services
Chapter 4: MySpace, Facebook, and the Social
Networking Revolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
(cid:2)Secret #16: Rules of Social Networking
Etiquette
Tila Tequila and Her Million MySpace Friends
(cid:2)Secret #17: Building Online Street Cred
(cid:2)Secret #18: Community Advertising
on Facebook
(cid:2)Secret #19: Social Networking as a
Viral Platform
(cid:2)Secret #20: The Death of the E-Zine
Chapter 5:When It Makes Sense to Pay for
Attention: Teaming Up with the
Godfather of the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
(cid:2)Secret #21: Google AdWords, an Oldie
but a Goodie
(cid:2)Secret #22: Breakdown of Other Online
Advertising Services
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(cid:2)Secret #23: Making Nice with the
Godfather of the Internet
(cid:2)Secret #24: Google Juice: Links from Highly
Rated Sites
(cid:2)Secret #25: Building a Website and
Unlocking Google’s Secrets
Chapter6:How to Get on Television . . . . . . . . . . . 107
(cid:2) Secret #26: TV Doesn’t Make You—
You Make You
(cid:2)Secret #27: TV Show Jealousy
(cid:2)Secret #28: Handling Your First Call from
a TV Booker
(cid:2)Secret #29: What to Expect: Green Room,
Makeup, Piss in Your Pants
(cid:2)Secret #30: Turning One Show into
Fifteen Shows
Why CNN Likes Bill Maher
(cid:2)Secret #31: Get Your Message Across, No
Matter What
(cid:2)Secret #32: The After-Buzz: YouTube Your
Appearances!
(cid:2)Secret #33: To Thank or Not to Thank:
Showing Gratitude to Bookers
(cid:2)Secret #34: The Minimal—Yet Real—
Threat of Stalkers
(cid:2)Secret #35: What Television Producers
Really Think
Chapter 7:Become Famous in Your Underwear
(Or, Getting Radio Coverage) . . . . . . . . 131
(cid:2)Secret # 36: How to Get on Radio Shows