Hitch...

A client and good friend of mine, Don Russell, recently picked up a couple of hitchhikers.

Imagine how I felt when he called me from the middle of Indiana to tell me what had happened.

He'll be fine. But he learned a lesson from his experience. In fact, I think we can all learn a lesson from what happened to him.

Let me clarify a few things: First, he didn't pick up random hitchhikers on the highway -- he found out about them on the Internet. And second he wasn't harmed. The lesson he learned was one in viral marketing.

Don gave these two guys a ride from Indianapolis to Chicago to help them with their project he'd read about on digg.com.

The hitchhikers, Fiddy and Scotty, are a couple of recent business school grads who have a goal of hitching free rides to see all 50 US capitols in 50 days. It's not just a high-tech joy ride -- it's an in-depth experiment in viral marketing. They're testing and documenting how viral marketing works. In fact, the same concept they're using allowed one man to trade up from one red paper clip to a house.

Their story and the website hitch50.com detailing their travels, has been picked up by various radio, TV, print and internet news organizations including CNN, NPR and USA Today. Their marketing budget - $0.

Don says when their adventure is over, they have several ideas of how to "monetize" their efforts. Interesting.

So how can you apply this concept to real-world marketing? It's only limited by your imagination, the hard work you put in -- and a lot of luck. You need a compelling storyline and a way to get your message to the media and/or the community you want to reach. Or you need to build your own community around your story.

While marketers are trying to use "social media" like blogs and social networking sites 69% of users are skeptical says JupiterResearch. My guess is most corporate programs are too corporate to work. They are either too plain vanilla or too obviously commercial.

I can't give you any quick answers in this tip. But if you go to my blog (http://philsasso.blogspot.com) I'll be glad to give you a link to a couple of interesting articles on viral marketing on the Inc. and Fast Company magazine websites.

Or give me a call and we can discuss how I might be able to help you hitch a ride on the viral marketing train.

- Phil Sasso
Link to Inc. Magazine
Link to Fast Company Magazine