My wife & I in Times Square

I have been thinking lately that it is becoming more of a challenge for me to come up with new and fun ideas to write about –but not that is not the reason I have been unable to write in the Crowd Factory blog in the last few weeks. We have not only been working on a top secret website project, but I took a few days of vacation time to go back to New York City, where I called Manhattan home for nearly a decade. In the last few days I had a number of social media optimization thoughts and felt I had to just get them off my chest, so I hope you’ll get comfortable, get a drink and follow along.

New York & Geo-Local Marketing

It is amazing to see that in the almost 2 years since I had been on the island that now everywhere I looked local business were asking me to Like them on Facebook or Follow on Twitter. I did some juggling in my brain around the logic of localized and niche marketing campaigns. These small gestures of the thumb, mouse and keyboard are actually helping to promote local vendors. I think in the world of Amazon and Zappos, it is a survival instinct.

Doing Your Homework

On my way back to San Francisco I was watching a news story about the jury selection for a murder trial in Florida. While the circumstances were horrifying, what I found interesting was the new twist on the modern judicial system. Attorneys for both sides of the case were using social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace to research the background of potential jurors. I actually looked at the screen for a second making this weird sound of “well…that…how, good…no that’s wrong,….invasion of….on the other hand?” Is it a good idea to let my vacation pictures in Cancun decide whether or not I am part of an impartial group that determines whether a person receives the death penalty or life in prison.

Social Politics on Camera

Upon returning home, I find out Newt Gingrich announced he is running for President via YouTube. Grassroots marketing is no longer in the grass; it’s on the keyboard and in front of a small video camera. The old saying used to go “don’t believe everything you read” to “what you watched on TV” and now “what you see on the internet.” I have a story where I was not sure what to believe, but now this person is #1 on Amazon. The following is a case for just how easy it COULD be to reach #1.

Viral Marketing Replaces Paper?

In 2006 I was a member of a Leadership Project. Through the project I met a young author in Los Angeles by the name of Adam Mansbach. When I moved to San Francisco in 2008 Adam was living just across the Bay Bridge in Oakland and about to have his first child. Sometime within the next year he made this his Facebook status:

“Look out for my forthcoming children’s book, ‘Go the F— to Sleep.’ “

Of course most of us thought….no, no he would not ACUTLALY name his book that right? Wrong.

All of his Facebook friends found it hilarious, so Adam banged out some verses to go with the then-imaginary “child’s book for adults.” Verses like this (sans dashes):

The eagles who soar through the sky are at rest

And the creatures who crawl, run and creep.

I know you’re not thirsty. That’s bullsh–. Stop lying.

Lie the f— down, my darling, and sleep.

And so, the Internet which takes much of the blame for the demise of corporeal books, helped make a bestseller out of one that doesn’t come out for another month. Wait huh? What do you mean Michael?

How Is This Possible and What’s Next?

‘Go the F— to Sleep’ is the No. 1 best-selling book on Amazon.com and the funniest part: the book doesn’t become officially available until June 14. As it turns out, many of the customers pre-ordering the actual book may have already read it via a pirated PDF. Book industry workers, it seems, forwarded the pre-published version to friends, who forwarded it to friends, and so on. In a piracy twist, the free copy of the book made people want to buy the actual thing.

But it seems that book publishing has a new issue on its hands: the viral book PDF. And then this morning I read this headline: Updated: Amazon Now Selling More Kindle Books Than All Print Books

Which leads me to think, am I still living on an island and the rest of the world has gone mad, or are we all in this journey together? Lordy, what will they think of next….