Keith Goodrum

Pay close attention to what Chamillionaire says in this video. He repeats over and over again that he found out where his fans were going… and he went there. He didn’t try to force fans to him… he followed his fans, and made sure his content was in front of them.

He gets it! Chamillionaire understands the power of social media. He has started using the many social sites to feed the demand for his fans. They are demanding more content, and he realizes if he is not there to feed the demand they will go elsewhere.

Here is the video I watched today.

[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4798499561605779000&hl=en[/googlevideo]

Chamillionaire also JV’d with Weird Al Yankovic to explode his sales. He knew this would give his video new life, gave Weird Al permission to make a spoof video. He knew that Weird Al could reach an audience he couldn’t reach.

The video that Weird Al made has to date over 27 Million views… how’s that for viral. It’s titled White & Nerdy a spoof on Ridn’ Dirty. Here is the video

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xEzGIuY7kw&feature=related[/youtube]

Oops, I bet you mashed on the play button and nothing happened. Why won’t Weird Al video play? It’s because big dumb corporations still don’t get it. This video’s embed feature has been disabled.

The big dumb corporation still clings to the belief that they must force people to the content. They don’t understand that the new way is to put the content where your fans gather. Watch and learn from Chamillionarie… find out where your fans are and add your content there. Get in front of them… Make it easy for them to find you.

In case you would like to see the video here is the link… White & Nerdy It is classic Weird Al… Hilarious.

You see if they like the content they will come to your website and check out what else you have. Now they are arriving because they trust you, and like what your are providing. This will make it easier to make sales… they are coming pre-sold.

I saw this comment left on an earlier post titled The Shortest Survey You’ll Ever See.

Hi Keith, I couldn’t think of anything to say lol, but wanted to ask you if you have seen Skribit.

A very cool widget enabling you to get “consistent” feedback from readers as they type it in themselves…I just installed it yesterday, very cool.

Dennis Edell
6 May 08 at 12:56 pm

Hey Dennis,

I have heard of Skribit. In fact I 1st read about it from Darren Rowe when he wrote about it on his blog here Skribit – Find Out What Your Readers Want You to Write About. It seems like a great way to find out what information readers are really looking for. By using the widget in the sidebar you can answer the question asked. Then through voting readers can prioritize which topics they would like to see covered here.

To answer the question “Why Are You Using Skribit?” 

It looks like a powerful tool to gain feedback from readers. It can be a way to provide content

I noticed Darren did something that others didn’t do with their Skribit widget. Most people just popped up the widget, and it sat there with no answers to the question. Darren went to his Twitter account and asked people what they would like to see covered on his blog. He then took some of the answers and added them to the Skribit que. He put up the widget and it looked busy already.

This was a smart thing to do because it seems to be human nature to not use something that’s not busy. It seems like no one likes to be first. It’s almost like the mentality of not eating at a restaurant that has an empty parking lot… If no cars are there, then something must be wrong.

So, I followed Darren’s lead. I set up a quick survey here on the blog. I took the answers I got and added them to the Skribit widget. I did see answer several times like; how to get traffic, conversions and such. In that case I just took one of the answers and added it to the widget.

I invite you to look at the Skribit widget and answer the question, or vote on one of the answers.

Not Exactly!

Another way to say this is “Do What You Love And The Money Will Follow”. I’m not sure where this “advice” came from, but I’ve been hearing it since I could remember.

On the surface it sounds like sage advice. But there is a fatal flaw with this advice, and it is this…

Do What You Love And You Could Find Yourself Bankrupt!

How could I say that?

So many people tout the ‘follow your passion and the money will follow’ it must be true. After all there are television shows, magazine articles, books, movies showing people following their passion to millions.

Yes, there are plenty of examples of people following their passion to millions, but one key element is left out. This one element is the reason you are going to make money or go broke with your ‘passion’. And unfortunately many want to gloss over this key element.

It’s popular for authors, speakers and gurus to wax philosophic about this subject. They want to talk about how awesome it is to find your passion, embrace it and run out there sell it to the world. It’s warm and fuzzy, and that’s makes it a popular topic.

But the cold hard reality is this…

If your ‘passion’ is not a something people are willing to pay for, then you just have a hobby… not a business. You have to have a passion that people are willing to give you money for something you have to offer.

Think about this… how many times have you run across someone with a “great” idea for a business? They are passionate about this idea. They eagerly tell anyone who will listen about this ‘great’ million-dollar idea. And they go on and on about this business.

Why are they only one in the room who doesn’t recognize that this idea is a dog? And if you try to point out any flaws in their idea… they get incredulous. All you did was try to point out that there’s no market for this idea… but they accuse you of being a dream stealer.

Here’s a silly example…

I like to joke about a new service that I want to start. It’s for people who are high achievers, and just too busy to do this activity for themselves. I would take this problem off their hands, and give them one less thing to worry about doing everyday. In a way they would be outsourcing this to me, and I would gladly do this for them everyday.

My service is a nap taking service.

After all I love to take naps… I take them every chance I get. And I would be thrilled to take naps for other people.

The only problem so far is I can’t find anyone willing to pay for this service.

It’s great to follow your passion, and build a business around it. You have to do your research, and make sure there is a market willing to pay money for solutions to their problems.

Remember to first find a market… then find out their problems… Then make a product or service that solves the problem…

And make sure they are willing to give you money to solve this problem.