For this panel, I ditched the laptop and only used pen and paper so my notes are less than clear. In fact, I’m lucky if I can read my own handwriting, but the highlights for me were finally meeting the lovely Tara Hunt, a fellow Canadian expat and inspirational blogger.

My notes might be a bit garbled but sue me, I was too busy listening.

“Self-Replicating Awesomeness: The Marketing of No Marketing” panel notes
Panel: Deborah Schultz, Chris Heuer, Jeremiah Owyang, Tara Hunt, Hugh McLeod, David Parmet

Community around a business requires participation. “Stop trying to sell to me, start helping me buy”

“Marketing is the price you pay for creating mediocre products”
The more you give away, the more you get back out of it
The concept of Whuffie

Best way to build your own whuffie is to help others build theirs.

Social objects: facilitating communication via social gestures

You don’t own or even create a community, you are part of one, or many, around you.

Take action: Give freebies, get out of your ivory tower and don’t be pushy with people

“If you’re a startup and you have 10 customers, then talk to them every day. It’s not about Superbowl ads and flowers on Valentine’s day, be consistent and constant.” – Deb Schultz

“It’s all about every tiny thing, not one big idea. Do all the little things to make it happen” – Hugh

You can’t “go viral”, the product needs to do it. Go to the customers, put it in their hands and let the chatty ones show it off.

If your product is already free, then work to improve their experience.

Example, Hugh couldn’t just drop off wine bottles at a party and expect it to work. It’s the follow up around it that matters.