Today I got this in my inbox. Its a link to a You Tube video. It’s hilarious! Takes the domino effect olympians to a whole new level. You can watch it here (for some reason I was unable to download/embed correctly – just click the YouTube option and it will play.
As I was watching the video I could not help but draw parallels to blogging and internet marketing. Lets take a look at what we can learn from this video:
1. UNIQUE
What first caught my attention is that this is a departure from your standard domino effect videos. Clever as those are they are from today onwards – at least in my eyes - just thematic variations on dominos falling in rapid succession. In this video the dudes devised a clever use of mixed objects to move inertia to action
How does this apply to blogging?
In yesterday’s post I talked about your blog’s USP and how differentiating your blog from others was important. In this video we see imagination taking over and the result is a uniquely creative domino effect.
2. FIRST STEP
The simple act of pushing the truck sets off a succession of movements that impact some domino style blocks. I like the use of these blocks as it tells us from the outset that this is another one of those domino wonder videos, then it changes tack as a string is toggled, then a marble then a series of half pipes and the whole thing goes down a wild rabbit trail. It had me glued to my screen. I watched it several times to see the point of connection at each new article in motion.
How does this apply to blogging?
The first physical step that a blogger takes is to buy a domain. From there on the ball starts rolling. In this video there were 89 mechanisms involved. As you progress in your blog you learn how to optimize your keywords, how to appeal to the search engines, to drive traffic, to develop a community, to attract stark raving fans, to have conversions. Ultimately to make money.
3. CONTENT
Did you notice that all the items are ordinary, every day things? Same with what you write in your blog. Unless you’re writing to a very small niche of rocket scientists – well, this is not rocket science. Content for your blog is all around you. Some seemingly non related items can be worked into your post, no matter what your topic is. Think about how strong March winds, or April flowers, or fashion shopping baskets might fit in to what you write about. My friend Cheryll just started a site on her collapsible shopping baskets (its a work in progress just wanted to show you an example) … if yours is a greening the planet type of blog, would these not fit in nicely as a post.
Most importantly, keep it simple.
4. ENGAGEMENT
Make it fun. OK. This is a tough one. Not all of us are blessed with clever witticism, thigh slapping humour or the ability to string a bunch of words in such a way that they will entertain your audience. Ok … the least that you can do is lighten up – yes, I am working on it!
5. LEVERAGE
Excellent example of the leverage of the power of kinetics. How can you leverage your blog for traffic, conversions, links, list building, making money
6. TENACITY
This took a lot of planning. Do you think that it was perfect from the get go? How many “takes” did it take? It took months to perfect the concept and get this – there are 89 points of connection and it took 85 takes! Aaah. Tenacity, thy name is success!
If you get the time watch the other videos on the behind the scenes of the making of this video, do. It is both inspirational and informative. I was so taken by the video it took me a second or two to clue in to the fact that this was a band! OK GO! The creators? Oh I dunno, gotta be engineers or just dudes with too much time on their hands and bent imaginations living in their heads!
BUT DON’T YOU JUST LOVE IT?
