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Guy Kawasaki is widely known for his marketing, branding and blogging expertise. Best known as creator of news aggregation site Alltop and author of top-ranking blog, How to Change the World, here Guy shares his tips for taking advantage of blogging and Twitter, discusses how to market on a budget, uncovers his beef with Twitter CEO Evan Williams and reveals why he's really a Canadian at heart.
1. Many of our readers are marketing professionals and small business owners who are starting to practice business blogging. Your blog is ranked in the top 500 of all blogs on Technorati, so as a very successful blogger, what are your best tips for business bloggers from a marketing perspective?
Business bloggers should try to own a niche -- or define a new one. For example, the best blog about social marketing. Even if the goal is webwide domination, you need to start with a strong cornerstone. It's better to be a mile deep and an inch wide than vice versa.
2. You currently have over 160,000 followers on Twitter (@guykawasaki) and are one of the top 5 users according to Twitter Grader (wow!). In what ways do you use and derive the most value from Twitter? What advice can you give marketers starting out on Twitter to inspire them that it's worth investing their time?
Not everyone agrees with my use of Twitter. I approach it as a broadcast marketing tool to help me make Alltop successful. There is no right or wrong with Twitter. Like other large platforms, it's a tool. Some people use it to create friendships. Some use it to service customers. Some use it to develop leads. I use it to drive traffic.
3. You describe Alltop as an "online magazine rack." The site has been around for several years now, but what was your initial inspiration for starting Alltop?
Advertising revenue and Popurls.com, not necessarily in that order. :-) We were inspired by what Popurls does for business and tech, and we want to create an infinite collection of "magazine racks" so that people can achieve information aggregation without aggravation.
4. When Alltop was first launched, what was your marketing campaign like and what tactics did you use to execute it?
We did a press release, contacted all our buddies in the press and blogosphere, emailed everyone we could, and covered Twitter. We happened to choose SXSW as the launch mechanism. What we didn't use was money. Depending on how you allocated marketing expenses, I can make a very good case that we've spent less than $20,000 on marketing in the eighteen months Alltop has existed.
5. You often say that the key to marketing is to "market something good." Once a business has created a product/service that they're proud of, what universal marketing strategies would you recommend to any industry?
First, being proud of something doesn't mean it's good, but I digress. There are two competing theories of inexpensive marketing: top-down and across. Top-down means that you suck up to the "influentials." These are the people who write for big newspapers, magazines, and websites. The thinking is that people listen to what they say, so these powerful folks can accelerate your efforts.
The across theory is that marketing spreads between peers. "Unknowns" tell other unknowns about something, and pretty soon everyone knows about it. Honestly, this is the theory that I believe. And Twitter is the ultimate across marketing mechanism because there is no easier, faster, and cheaper way to reach thousands of people.
6. What do you think the next step in social media innovation is? Which current tools will become obsolete, which tools will survive, and what kinds of new tools will emerge?
I was late to blogging and Twitter, so I'm not a good person to ask these questions. I have a big family, so I'm pretty busy just surviving every day and don't have time to jump on every Web X.0 gimmick. But when I see a gimmick that's working, I do know how to apply it to my needs.
7. You're a great example of successful personal branding. What tips can you give professionals on how to market themselves and create recognizable personal brands?
Be something good.
8. You're not only a marketer, but you're also a human. What kinds of things does Guy Kawasaki the human enjoy doing in his spare time?
I love ice hockey. I play five to six times a week. I am a Canadian stuck in a Hawaiian body. If I could do it all over again, I would be born in Alberta.
9. If you could sit down with any business professional and ask one question, who would it be and what would you ask?
Ev Williams. And I would ask, "Why am I not on the Twitter Suggested User List?"
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