[Editor's Note: I can't tell if this is written to maximize SEO (especially the last paragraph) or is really just a nice note...but the concept of looking at the world through the lens of "what's the SEO value" is certainly a reality business faces today...]

Hi there, Kristen here.  I am Dave’s biggest blog fan.  Why?  Because I’m BzzAgent’s Search Engine Optimization specialist and I know that Dave’s blog is interesting, expert, honest, funny, and a repeat performer.  Basically, an SEO dream come true.  I’ve been begging him to reactivate his blog for 9 months now.  I tried persuading him, bribing him, threatening him (nicely).  I even entered a bet with him and lost (I was soooooo close, even he got worried).  Luckily he’s a good sport and so am I for putting up with him.

In this blog, Dave will provide great stuff about the ins and outs of word of mouth marketing so stay tuned and come back often.  [Editor's Note: in reality, I'll talk some about WOM, sure, but this is really a blog about business transparency and evolution.] In the mean time I want to make sure you know about all the great things we do here at BzzAgent.

Our historical competency is word of mouth marketing. Learn how word of mouth differs between buzz and viral marketing and how BzzAgent activates conversations.  And check out our word of mouth campaigns up close and personal—they’re effective and FUN!  Next are our online products… Frogpond is our collection of the most interesting websites. See what our Agents have to say about them.  Lastly, BzzScapes are brand communities where you can discover and share content about your favorite brands.

That’s us in a nutshell.  Enjoy the BzzAgent blog, the expert voice in Word of Mouth.

Today, Seth Godin launched his new venture, Brands in Public.   Over the years, we’ve been privileged to work alongside Seth on a number of ventures, and this one aims to be no less inspiring.

This case, though, is a little different.  Instead of one of us being a vendor and the other the client, we’ve pooled our resources to create a best-of-breed solution for marketers.  Seth created the idea and has executed on it, and BzzAgent is providing content (from our BzzScapes platform) as well as the expertise of our sales organization to help clients use the service.

This is quite unlike any other business development relationship we’ve ever struck.  What’s most interesting is that this wasn’t exactly how we envisioned using the BzzScape platform and our sales team has never been an outsourced resource for another company.  But that’s exactly what makes this work for us – for too long we’ve been consistent with, “this is how we do things” as opposed to, “hey, let’s see how it evolves the business.”

Already, this partnership has created a number of different avenues of discussion at BzzAgent, opening doors for new explorations and ideas about how our model can evolve.  While we’re excited about this partnership, I’m most excited that we’re back to the jump-off-the-cliff startup attitude and thinking that will create the next evolution of our success.

Hi there BeeLoggers! My name is Cat and I am a Sr. Producer at the Central Hive.

My role in the Hive includes project management of BzzCampaigns. Each campaign team includes a Media Services Director (who are the clients’ main point of contact, rolling out campaign success strategies), a Campaign Analyst (who invite agents and measure the results of the campaigns), and a Producer (aka Project Manager, who manages the schedule and the creative production). We work, along with other staffers in various capacities, to take each BzzCampaign from our clients to our agents.

I have been at the Hive for almost a year now and after working on a few BzzCampaigns, I realized that many of the campaigns home pages never really change much. It seems like there aren’t a lot of reasons for agents to keep visiting the campaign home page after the first week or so of the campaign. So, I started to brainstorm, I asked myself,

self, how can we spice it up a little? How can we use this page to encourage Bzzing over the course of the campaign?

When various clients kept providing video files for use somewhere in the campaign, the green light went on for me; “(green light!) why aren’t we using videos at all? That would really spice things up.” Video content can be extremely captivating for web audiences when used well, so I thought this was something we could test.

Over the past few months, we have been experimenting with changing up the campaign home page content every other week for a few campaigns. When we make the changes, we notify agents of the new content via email updates. Eventually, when the timing was right, those biweekly campaign home page refreshers started to include a few of those videos.

We included hilarious “Go Meat” commercials for the Hillshire Farm Deli Wraps BzzCampaign, testimonials for the Wachovia campaign, unboxing and review videos for the Logitech Harmony One (there are still more on the way too), and we linked to videos from our sponsor’s websites in a few cases.

Our goal in adding these videos to the campaign home page is to keep agents engaged, not only at home with the product they are bzzing, but on the BzzAgent website. The videos should try to have helpful information about the product that can help Agents Bzz the product or should be somewhat entertaining and interesting for agents.

For 2 test campaigns and for the Choose & Cook campaign, we even went as far as to produce a few videos straight from the Hive. The most intensive one to produce features our beloved copy writer, Keith starring in a cooking segment where he prepares a delicious treat with Carolina Jasmine Rice (it was great, I ate it for dinner) – check it out:

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

However, for some campaigns we just couldn’t find any videos, but not for lack of trying. This endeavor is still in its infancy and we have more exploring to do but I think we are on a positive track. There has even been talk of including more video BzzReports submitted by agents on the campaign home page – so keep submitting so we can keep exploring this option as well.

From the limited feedback I have seen, agents seem to notice the videos and the changing campaign home page content – have you seen any of it? What do you think?

If I had a status point for every time someone asked what’s taking us so long, BzzAgentJoeC would have leapfrogged (not a Frogpond pun, I promise) “wtr27513″ and landed squarely at the top of the Agent Leaderboard. So let’s tackle this question here and now.

There is much more to the new system than disconnecting points from campaigns. There’s more to it than filling honeycombs. There’s even more to it than figuring out what to do with Canada! The new system is designed to be fresh and interactive. It’s fun, it’s vibrant, it’s engaging. There are a slew of new perks and there are special offers that we haven’t yet revealed to you (we’re calling ‘em “WOMlets”). There are technology changes – such as algorithms that prevent you from falling back when you join a new campaign and software that makes it easy for you to manage your points and offers. Remember, we need to walk nearly 400,000 people from all different backgrounds through an entirely new system (and we have to train our service staff on it first). We’ve gotta make it simple. And in the worlds of design and engineering, there’s nothing more difficult than simple.

So although it is taking a long time for us to do this right, it doesn’t mean there is a long time to go. I know we keep saying, “We’re getting close,” but we really, really are.

When I was in elementary school, everyone had some sort of party going on for their birthday. The parties were at houses, roller rinks, ice skating rinks, the local indoor Chuck E. Cheese like place. And since our class was small-ish, usually everyone was invited. I went to way more parties when I was 8 than I do now. Now that’s a sad thought.

Anyway, every once in a while I was invited to a party that I wasn’t particularly interested in going to (most likely for a boy that made fun of me once at recess or something). Whenever I would talk to my mom about not wanting to go, she told me that it was my decision, and that I didn’t really have to go if I didn’t want to. The invite, however, was still open until the RSVP date – so if I wanted to change my mind, I could.

So I know BzzCampaigns aren’t the same as birthday parties. There’s no cake or balloons involved (unfortunately). But in a way, you can think of us as one big old party planner:

• We send out invitations to our agents. Now remember, not everyone can be invited – if you live in Boston, we can’t necessarily invite you to something that’s going on in Dallas. It doesn’t mean that we don’t like you! And most of the time it’s on a first come, first serve basis, so you have to act fast!
• We give you information on what the shindig is about, so you know for sure what you’re getting into. We don’t want you to commit to something without knowing what it’s about. That’s not fun for anyone.
• If you decide to join us, you’ll get a goody bag (aka BzzKit) and get to share it with your friends.
• You may or may not blow out some candles. That’s your call.

Like when we were younger, whether it be BzzCampaigns, parties, or other events, sometimes we get invited to things that we don’t really want to go to. That’s ok – not everyone loves everything. Like my mom said, just because you’re invited, it doesn’t mean you have to go. Moms are so smart.

If you do decline to participate in a BzzCampaign, we want you to know that you’re still welcome to join us, which is why the invitation might be there for a while. So if you change your mind, you can! (Are there more people out there that are as indecisive as I am?) And remember, even though you might not want to be a part of it, there is someone out there who wants to, and is going to have a good time. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure…

Our first GoodBzz Frog has officially launched (or is it leapt?)! (Many thanks to everyone involved, especially the tech team for the quick turnaround) From the name alone, I’m sure you can guess but it’s our initiative to well, do something that gives back. In a nutshell, we’re providing pro bono services to nonprofits via the Frogpond.

We’ve worked with lots of nonprofits in the past (March of Dimes, Making Change for Katrina and Alliance for Lupus Research) but with the introduction of Frogpond, it made sense to transition the GoodBzz campaigns to the pond. Our inaugural campaign is with The Canaan Foundation, which has launched a sister site, 1,000computers.org. The foundation gathers used computers for donation to schools across Cameroon and Kenya.

I started here a little over a month ago, and so far the most rewarding part of my job is telling people who are passionately involved with a cause or organization that we’ll help spread the word about their work—no strings attached. Last week, one of the nonprofits we’re going to work with called me up and said, “You’ve made my day.” I’ll admit that it made me smile. Who doesn’t like to be told you’ve made someone’s day?

Go ahead. Check out the first GoodBzz Frog and see how you can get involved with worthy causes. And don’t forget to come back…we’ll be running one a month.

As of Monday, April 21, 2008 at 6:22 p.m. (also known as, “right now”) the word “tier” appears 16 times in the comments following last week’s rewards post. It’d be hard to pick a more popular topic to discuss. So let me consolidate those various references to tiers into a single, cohesive, and eloquently articulated question: What the &$#@! is going on with the tiering system?

The short answer: a lot. For the longer answer, please read on.

We created a tiering system for one simple reason: to provide a fun incentive to keep you all active and engaged. And for many of you, the system works. But for most of you, it doesn’t.

What’s wrong with exactly?

• There are too few levels.
• It’s not clear what you need to do to climb to the next level.
• It’s (way) too easy to slide back down a level.
• And it’s just sorta drab – there’s nothing really “BzzAgent” about it?

So those are the shortcomings we’ve set out to fix. There will be new tiers and it will be much more clear what you need to do to climb up the ladder (or – more accurately – what you need to do to “fill your honeycomb”). It’s going to be remarkably difficult to drop down a level. And the spirit of the whole thing will be more lighthearted, more “BzzAgent.”

And please remember, when the system goes live, you will carry your existing level over to the new program. So if you have already earned Agent status, fear not!

As previously noted, each week we’ll answer at least one question about the rewards transition posted or submitted by an Agent. This week, as we’re in the mood for bonuses, we’ve picked two!

The first question was posted on the BeeLog by lindylady, who asks:

How are rewards going to happen? You mention that we would be able to redeem our points in phase but that phase 3 has a different reward system. Does that mean our points expire?”

This is an excellent insight. Think of “Shaloha” as a transition point, a festive goodbye to the old rewards system and a celebratory hello to the new one. Yes, phase two – the redemption stage – will have a clear beginning and end, but we’re confident it’ll be long enough for every Agent to have ample opportunity to convert their points for great rewards. And we’ve set it up in such a way that the first Agents “in” won’t gobble up all the best stuff (we know that’s been a problem in the past). Shaloha will close on the day the new system launches. The new system will work differently than the current rewards program, so your past BzzPoints will no longer be needed after the transition.

The second question was emailed to us anonymously. It says,

What’s going on with the rewards store? Why are there no rewards? When are you going to add more stuff?”

We aren’t going to add any more stuff to the current rewards “store.” We are saying goodbye to the old system. We think you will thank us for it, we promise. Keep earning points, and saving them up. Because come mid-May when Shaloha launches, you will be provided with a wide array of choices – and you won’t have to be in a campaign to redeem your stuff.

Keep sending along or posting those questions – more to come!

This one even took us by surprise.

BzzAgent Karen Fink checks out the Frogpond, signs up for JackPot Rewards, and wins $1 million.

Go figure.

[yes, you should check out the pond...what are you waiting for?]

What’s this? It’s an interactive Google Map of the word-of-mouth that happened during the Listerine Whitening Strips campaign. Click the map to zoom in and around.

A = a BzzAgent
B = the person they bzzed about Listerine

The lines connecting them are the word-of-mouth happening. We could only do a few of the actual A’s because otherwise it looked like a rat’s nest of connections!

I like this one — bzz traveling from Boston to Texas and Seattle:

The fine print — where did this come from?

One of the major challenges of our business is that word-of-mouth happens in casual offline conversations, and so it’s hard to track or prove or show it to our clients. That’s usually a bad thing for a business!

Early in our history, we worked with Northeastern University to consider how to track Generations of Word of Mouth, and set up a study whereby we tracked offline word-of-mouth by using an offline “link” like a physical card. As the idea progressed, we realized WOM is a casual conversation, so we need a reason why an agent (and their friend) would want to give/receive a card…?

We know word-of-mouth doesn’t stop with the first person talked to, so…what if, when we send them the product sample (a BzzKit of their own) we also gave them cards they can use to give to their friends? We thus become a facilitator (spectator? bystander?) for each step of generational word-of-mouth as it happens.

For the first time we had a tracking mechanism (a) with natural incentives (getting a sample), and (b) where we can positively identify the recipient of the bzz. In other words, for the first time we can actually show word-of-mouth happening.

[btw: Walter Carl from Northeastern has recently turned this tracking concept into a company, ChatThreads. Check 'em out if you want to align a great tracking mechanism with your Word of Mouth programs!]