With Jonathan Christian (@jdgem)

What? Just read about a very hot trend on YouTube that’s breaking new ground in social media marketing. Young people (‘tweens’) are shopping for the latest fashions and then posting their finds on YouTube— along with tips on accessories and what’s hot and what’s not. They’re already focusing on back to school fashion trends! And their peers are loving the advice.

Why? We all know that everyone wants his or her 15 minutes of fame and this presents us with a real business opportunity. These young women are making such an impact that some of the items they’re recommending are selling out overnight online (and we’re talking serious brands – at full price). These ‘Haul’ videos are being watched by tens of thousands; they’ve gone viral and now contemporary stores like Forever 21 (and traditional stores such as JP Penny) are paying these girls large amounts to video blog their deals and new products. And they’re reporting tremendous success.

How? How could you get your customers to know about your great new arrivals? How are you driving traffic to your online shopping cart, retail store, or other outlet?  Have you considered asking some of your customers to engage in a YouTube campaign? For example, if you sell circular saws, why not gift your newest model to a well known customer, in exchange for a YouTube video production. Tie this in with some key words and you can be right in front of thousands of potential buyers. Here are two examples from the tween world:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpa6sQPr9Xk&feature=fvsr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY2pLdW7VqQ

Tipzntrix: These young video bloggers are also posting their reviews on Facebook and Twitter – using everything available to get the word out.  Their retailers know that the best advice comes from a trusted source  – and nothing is better than peer to peer. We’ve written several articles on setting up a YouTube account and posting videos. If you’re reading the newsletter version of this post, why not visit our blog and scroll down the left sidebar to read our past articles.

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Welcome to the 90-Day Marketing Dangerously Social Media Challenge

Where we are doing our best to answer one simple question: Can social media work for business?

For the 90 days of our social media challenge, Marketing Dangerously is running blog posts and newsletter articles three days a week that relate specifically to using social media to build business (every Monday, Wednesday and Friday). On Tuesdays and Thursdays, we continue to run our T’nT (Tuesday and Thursday) articles on how to promote your business generally.

Why are we focusing on social media for 90 days?

If you’re in business you’ve been told you “have” to be on Facebook…you’ve “got” to be on Twitter – or at least on LinkedIn – not to mention YouTube, Digg, Squidoo, Reddit, MeetUp, Naymes, Plaxo, MySpace. STOP.

And, if you’re like most of the business people we talk to, you don’t “want” to be on any of these sites. You don’t want to hear that someone’s heading out for coffee – or how (badly) they golfed on the weekend. But. Is tweeting nuisance messages “really” using social media effectively? What about using Twitter (and Facebook) for nothing but sending and receiving valuable business messages? What about joining customer groups on these sites – handing out helpful advice.  And providing links to your website or blog – and links to sources of other helpful advice – positioning yourself as an expert?

Would that work? Or would it just be a waste of time?

During this 90 day challenge we are posting three times a week to our Marketing Dangerously blog (and newsletter), challenging you each time with a new social media task — in our quest to answer that question. By the time we’ve completed the challenge we (and you) will know if using social media — of every kind — and in every way — can generate sales of our products and services. And, of course, we will share what we learn with blow by blow descriptions of what we tried; how it worked (or wallowed) and what you can do to implement these ideas in your own business. Our blog is at: http://www.neilgodin.com/marketingdangerouslyblog/

20% of all sales go to Kiva, our favorite non-profit!

Yes. Fully twenty percent of all product and service sales during the campaign are being contributed to Kiva, the world wide organization that arranges micro-loans to micro-entrepreneurs in the developing world. Entrepreneurship is our passion. Promoting entrepreneurship (vs. charity) in the developing world goes beyond passion. We are darn near fanatic about supporting and promoting this cause. And we hope you stay with us.

Neil Godin, Jonathan Christian, and The Marketing Dangerously Tribe
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