Marketing Prank Proves the Power of Social Media

Guru marketer Frank Kern recently shocked himself by creating a scam to spook his friend John Reese and discovered the awesome power of social media.

He created a bogus marketing course that closely emulated that of his friend John Reese. He then started a Facebook group to co-opt his followers to post to the new fake site, comment on specially created youtube videos, tweet to their friends about the course and post in forums.

It was started as a joke but soon spread far out past the social media network and people started taking it seriously, even talking about legal proceedings against 'Don Fleece'.

Of course Frank stepped in and owned up way before it got out of hand but I got a mail this morning from him saying he had been frankly shocked at the results and how quickly the message had spread via the social media network and beyond. And for an internet marketer of near 'guru' status that is saying something.

Social media has broken down the formal barriers and encourages people to communicate on their own level and where their passion lies and that is always going to have powerful consequences.

Social Media - Good for your Health?

Doctors first gauge mental health by the ability to look after yourself.

So when I popped over to mine this morning for a routine test, while sitting in the waiting room, I thought I must remember to mention my shower's broken and the plumber failed to show yesterday which is why my hair looks less than fragrant and also that the holes in these jeans are deliberate.

Anyway, he didn't notice, or was too polite to say, while scraping my cervix. Phew, got away with it...

Then when I got home, and even though I hadn't been out that long I got the classic 'return from holiday' view of my place, and it's a monumental tip.

Now mess doesn't normally bother me. I like piles of books and papers, manuscripts strewn all over the place, things I'm working on left out half done waiting for inspiration or a couple of quiet hours to finish but this was heaps of washing up and clothes on the floor, everywhere.

How did that happen? What have I been doing differently these past few weeks?

It has to be Twitter, Facebook and now FriendFeed. It's not just the time spent reading and responding, keeping up with the flow, but reading the great articles posted and trying out the cool resources too.

Still, don't get freaked out, if it's important it's obviously getting done. I must be eating, look at the piles of dirty plates in the kitchen and the cheques are still arriving on time.

But is this healthy? A near addiction to staying in touch online?

We all want to belong, isolation can be soul destroying though I personally love being alone, in my opinion a mother can never be alone enough, but does being drawn into this community give you a false sense of intimacy? A safer, cleaner less messy experience? A place where if someone upsets you you just hit unfollow with no confrontations or repercussions?

On the other hand I've met a load of great people, picked up some interesting ideas and it's refreshing to be in such stimulating company. That has to be good for me surely?

Hmm, I'm still not sure and will have to monitor the effects on my hard relationships and bank balance closely.

Meanwhile I really must update a sales page and phone the plumber but only after I've checked out 10 Challenging but Awesome CSS Techniques...