“Like at Halloween: I knew I’d arrived when I saw people dressing up on Halloween as my character.” ~Jane Badler

Saturday my family and I went to a Halloween party/dinner. However, at 1pm we were still having troubles trying to decide what to go as. A few web searches showed that there are some ambitious and creative people out there when it comes to Halloween costumes.

If you want a good tutorial and an in progress case study on creating viral web videos, than check out today’s New York Times’ article on political YouTube Ads. The article is about Ladd Ehlinger’s work on creating successful (aka viral) YouTube political ads. It particularly follows Ehlinger’s creation of an ad for Republican candidate Sean Bielat of Massachusetts. After reading the article there were four take-aways I gained on how to have a video go viral. With the November elections around the corner we will have to see if having a viral YouTube video makes any difference in winning! ~Paul

1. Creating Buzz Around the Buzz
I think the major ingredient Ehlinger capitalizes on is the political hot-spots that are going on right now. It’s not necessary to completely create your own buzz. It seems the videos that do the best are those which focus on current interest (think Obama Girl in 2008).

2. Holding Hands with Traditional Media
One aspect the New York Times pointed out (in the video accompanying the article) was that Ehlinger’s major goal for his video was to get it on TV. Not as a commercial, but rather as part of the news. I don’t live in Massachusetts and won’t be voting for either candidates, but I am compelled to make a personal note to watch Mr. Bielat’s ad when it comes out. It looks like the New York Times helped Ehlinger’s achieve his goal by writing about his goal Ü.

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So, I am not one for rap music or R&B, but when I came across the below video I couldn’t pass it up. This is definitely one effective way to teach SEO. Unfortunately, the old saying that white guys can’t rap still holds true for me! When you get a chance checkout the rest of the SEO rap songs. ~Paul

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Every since I was a kid and first heard about subliminal advertising I have been fascinated about whether it works or not. In college I read a study about a Canadian TV network running subliminal advertising and then informing their viewers at the end of the program. They asked people to call in and tell them what they thought was being advertised to them—less than one percent got it right.

I believe if done correctly subliminal advertising could work. This video makes me believe that I just might be right.