Marketing Turnaround continued from page 68
Festivals & Holidays
February 2014 Feb. 2 - Groundhog Day Feb. 2 - Super Bowl Sunday Feb. 4 - Vasant Panchami Feb 10 - Jayā Ekādasi Feb. 14 - Valentine’s Day Feb. 14 - Māghi Purnimā (Full Moon) Feb. 17 - Presidents Day Feb 19 - Shivāji Jayanti Feb. 22 - Shrināthaji Pātostav Feb. 25 - Vijayā Ekādasi Feb. 27 - Mahā Shivarātri March 2014 Mar. 1 - Darsha Amās (No Moon) Mar. 3 - Rāmakrishna Paramhans Jayanti Mar. 9 - Daylight savings time begins Mar. 12 - Āmalki Ekādasi Mar. 16 - Holi / Akshar Purnimā (Full Moon) Mar. 17 - Dhuleti Mar. 17 - St. Patrick’s Day Mar. 27 - Pāpamochani Ekādasi Mar. 30 - Darsha Amās (No Moon) Mar. 31 - Gudi Padvo
Puzzle Solutions
Facebook or Twitter. The authors immediately liked, friended and followed each other so they could retweet, share, like and comment on each other’s posts about the project. The Kickstarter also had a Facebook fan page, a Facebook event page, a Tumblr page, Twitter hashtags, Pinterest posts, a YouTube video and a Goodreads event. Authors and their friends talked it up on all those social media sites plus others like Reddit and Google+, and reached out to bloggers, podcasters and book review sites. They kept up a constant flow of commentary, banter, witty repartee and flat-out asking for funding for 29 days, often interacting with each other in realtime on multiple platforms at once. (And should you think the authors were all twenty-somethings, the average age was 40+). Kickstarter needs constant buzz. It’s not a set-it-and-forget-it medium. Kickstarter creates an exciting opportunity to reach what pundits call the “Long Tail” of customers. The “long tail” refers to the trail of a comet, which stretches on for a long, long time beyond the comet itself. The marketing theory around the “long tail” holds that there are viable niche markets that often go untapped because they are too small to be profitable for the business models of very large companies, but which can provide a very nice living for entrepreneurs or small, efficient companies that can tap that niche and provide a desired outcome. Thinking about bringing your product to market but stymied on funding? Take a look at Kickstarter. But remember, what appears to be just a funding mechanism is really an endeavor that requires a lively network, a clear concept, a niche audience and a lot of marketing mojo.
Gail Z. Martin is the author of 30 Days to Social Media Success, 30 Days to Online PR and Marketing Success, and 30 Days to Virtual Productivity Success. Learn more at www.DreamSpinnerCommunications.com or follow Gail on Twitter @GailMartinPR.
Solution to Math Magic
Saathee.com
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February 2014