Goodbye to all that.

The Inkling speaks, the media listens.

This week's edition ofNation’s Restaurant News, the leading food service pub, features a full and fair article on WOM. Such a refreshing break from some of the hit pieces we’ve seen lately.

I was interviewed as well, discussing how my employer (rhymes with Sold Cone Themery) has focused on WOM as the primary brand-building strategy. I also was quoted using a five-syllable word (“serendipitous“), just to make my wordsmith mom happy.

The article also cites research by Chadwick Martin Bailey that shows 27 percent of Americans ate at restaurants based solely on a personal recommendation. At an average bill of $50, WOM can be a gold mine for the industry. Go ye and read of it.


technorati tags: WOM; WOMMA; NRN; Restaurant

23 Squidoo, Baby.

Search a lens, build a lens. Enter Seth Godin & Co.'s foray into Web 2.0: Squidoo.

The idea behind Squidoo is that the Web currently has too much info to sift through. Just type a generic search term into Google or Technorati and you'll get more fluff than usable content. Squidoo invites all sorts of people to create "lenses" on innumerable topics. So now, instead of wasting time sifting through pages of search engine results, you can visit a lens on a subject and get a solid overview in a minute or two.

The site just opened to the public this week. Thankfully, I was invited to the beta test where I created a lens on word-of-mouth marketing which I invite you to visit early and often. In a completely unrelated note, I've also begun a lens on chiles since burning my upper GI is one of life's purest pleasures.

P.S: The lame reference in my headline comes from the century-old hipster phrase, "23 Skidoo." I never knew what it meant until now.

technorati tags: Squidoo; Chiles; WOM

1,000.

One score and 19 days ago, I founded this modest blog to address word of mouth marketing, advertising common sense and the occasional diatribe on shaving. And today we welcomed our 1,000th visitor, hailing from the proud bradley.edu domain (Go Braves!). Hearty congratulations to that loyal reader.

I was going to offer him/her an official Inkling commemorative spoon, complete with The Hasselhoff's face rendered in mother of pearl and Topaz... but alas, our factory in Laos is short-staffed, what with the bird flu and all. A pity on so many levels.

By reaching 1,000 visitors in 39 days, by my calculations we will host our one millionth visitor by 2105. Look out, Instapundit! Thanks to all for your kind patronage.

technorati tags: Ego; 1000; WOM

WOMBAT draws nigh.

What is so important about January 19, 2006? No, it's not that it is National Penguin Awareness Day. Okay, it's also the 91st Anniversary of George Claude's patenting of the electric neon sign, but that still isn't what makes the day so special. National Popcorn Day? You aren't even trying anymore are you?

Jan. 19 is important because it is the opening of WOMMA's two-day Word of Mouth Basic Training (WOMBAT) at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Orlando, Fla. This conference will teach you the core WOM skills and ROI measurement tools to succeed in our rapidly-changing marketing environment. And you'll be in Florida. In January.

You want authors? WOMBAT has Dave Balter, Jon Berry & Ed Keller, Jackie Huba, Mark Hughes, George Silverman and more. Experts too! Pete Blackshaw, Walter Carl, Jonathan Carson, John Moore, Laurie Weisberg and Terri Whitesel are but a smidgen of the brain trust. Still want more? Okay, okay, I'm speaking as well.

Obviously, my insights alone are worth the admission price. However, WOMMA has made sure that you -- the influential readers of this august blog -- don't need to pay retail. When you register, just use the code "speakerdeal" to received a $100 discount. Sweet.

technorati tags: WOM; WOMBAT; WOMMA