Society for Word of Mouth

SWOM is for those who seek word of mouth enlightenment.

Members

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Getting started on SWOM

So you've joined SWOM. Now what? Here's five ways to immerse yourself into swomdom:

1. Introduce yourself in the SWOM Lobby

2. Join or start a discussion in the Forum

3. Join one or several specialty groups, which are typically organized by location or topic

4. Invite co-workers or friends to become a swomi, too

5. Learn more about SWOM

Latest Activity

alice and Jim Graham are now friends

1 hour ago

Jim Graham left a comment for alice 1 hour ago

Jennifer Buehler left a comment for Jackie Huba 1 hour ago

Jackie Huba left a comment for Oli Ingham 1 hour ago

Jackie Huba left a comment for Suzanne Norman 1 hour ago

Jackie Huba left a comment for Roschelle Nelson 1 hour ago

Jackie Huba left a comment for Jennifer Buehler 1 hour ago

Jackie Huba left a comment for Laura Bergells 1 hour ago

Deidra White Langstaff left a comment for Jennifer Buehler 2 hours ago

Jennifer Buehler and Deidra White Langstaff are now friends

2 hours ago

Jennifer Buehler left a comment for Deidra White Langstaff 2 hours ago

Leigh Duncan-Durst and Beth Harte are now friends

2 hours ago

Groups

Social Marketing (44 members)
Brand Enthusiasm Experts (35 members)

SWOM Chicago (33 members)
SWOMies in Austin (31 members)

SWOMies of OC - Online Communties (27 members)
SWOMies in DC (21 members)

Small Town SWOM (20 members)
SWOMies in the Restaurant Business (17 members)

Edu Swomi (16 members)
Tourism SWOMies (16 members)

New England SWOMies (15 members)
Art4Life (13 members)

Southern SWOMies (12 members)
SWOM Arizona (12 members)

YouTube SWOMies (12 members)
SWOM Real Estate (11 members)

SWOM New York (11 members)
SWOMies of the Southwest (9 members)

SWOMies in Hispanic Marketing (8 members)
SWOM Canada (7 members)

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Church of the Customer blog

eBay and the nuclear option

I decided to sell my iPhone on eBay last week. I just got the new 3G one. Bids were going well and the auction ended today. Just as I was about to invoice the winner, eBay sent me this email: We recently learned that someone was using an account to bid on items without the account owner's permission. For this...

Barack and Roll

You've heard of "rickrolling," the Internet meme for the 1987 Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up." Now you can BarackRoll your friends with a mashup of Barack Obama and the infamous Astley song. Even McCain supporters will like it.

Pictures and storytelling

This remarkable photograph today by Joao Silva of the New York Times is visual storytelling at its best. The eyes of the man in the taupe shirt bore into us. He's protecting another obviously frightened man on the ground, surrounded by concerned beefy men, some of whom are wearing flack jackets, some not. A black automatic weapon points downward to...

More…

Register for SWOMfest '08!

More info and registration here!

Blog Posts

Speaker for SWOMfest: Haley Rushing

We're pleased to announce that Haley Rushing, the founder of The Purpose Institute at GSD&M Idea City, will be joining us as a speaker at this year's SWOMfest. The Purpose Institute helps companies discover and articulate t… Continue

Posted by Ben McConnell on August 19th, 2008 at 7:30pm — No Comments (Add)

Olympic Community/Our Community

This year so far, I've watched the Olympics more that I remember in past years. Possibly with the exception of Montreal and the US Boxing team with Ray Leonard and my first crush with Dorothy Hamill. And as I watched the China Diving Team win gold and how Mexico won it's first medal ever in diving, my nationalism began to fade and was rejoicing in performances from all the participants regardless of where they were from. And as I began to see the wonder of the display and less of the competition… Continue

Posted by Rex Weaver on August 13th, 2008 at 7:00am — 4 Comments (Add)

Customer Vigilantes

Customer vigilantes: The dark knights of word-of-mouth. Takes a lot to inspire a customer to construct, in essence, a billboard denouncing your company. And put it on your property for everyone to see in a small town. I see this sign nearly every day. So does the construction compa… Continue

Posted by Zane Safrit on August 14th, 2008 at 6:57pm — 9 Comments (Add)

Meeting vs. selling

You're at a party. A stranger approaches, smiling, arm extended for a handshake. "I'm Bob." Before you even have a chance to say hello, Bob is vigorously shaking your hand, telling you all about his company's product. Given the context, Bob's hardcore sales tactic may put you off. Oh sure, you'd politely listen for a few moments, as most would when unexpectedly cornered by an aggressive pitch person, but it wouldn't be long you'd consider chewing your arm off to escape Bob's trap. That's bad… Continue

Posted by Ben McConnell on August 14th, 2008 at 10:25am — 14 Comments (Add)

Hardcore Swomi tickets sold out fast

For SWOMfest. Next available ticket price is the "Dedicated Swomi" level. Those, too, will probably go fast before we reach general admission. Lots o' love to the Hardcore Swomis who are coming to SWOMfest in October! Get your SWOMfest blog badge here.

Posted by Ben McConnell on August 13th, 2008 at 9:30am — No Comments (Add)

Welcome Ning visitors

If you're arriving from seeing us on the Ning blog today, welcome. And lots o' love to Jenny at Ning for the write-up.

Posted by Ben McConnell on August 12th, 2008 at 11:41am — No Comments (Add)

Customer Service through the Looking Glass.

Like Alice finding the looking glass poetry that can only be read by holding it to the mirror,so to is the measure of customer service holding the mirror to ourselves. As we spent time examining the customer process like Alice's chess game, pondering at the complexities of movement and victory, we too hopefully wake from our dream to find all these processes illusion and that it was as simple as looking at customer and looking at ourselves and providing remarkable customer service in the same fa… Continue

Posted by Rex Weaver on August 8th, 2008 at 7:34am — 2 Comments (Add)

“Love Shack” Social Media style- Web 2.0 cares Baby!

Does your social media…

Continue

Posted by Heather Gardner on August 7th, 2008 at 6:30pm — 1 Comment (Add)

What should Whole Foods do?

Whole Foods is a classic word-of-mouth success story. Launched as a very modest co-op market here in Austin, Texas, some 30 years ago, Whole Foods has grown into a multi-billion dollar company and the largest organic supermarket in the United States, all without any traditional means of advertising. But has Whole Foods reached a plateau? Same-store sales are down. Profits are down. The stock price has been stagnant for a year. What's Whole Foods to do now? Jackie… Continue

Posted by Ben McConnell on August 7th, 2008 at 1:51pm — 5 Comments (Add)

Comments are a blogger's currency

I’ve been putting off writing this article for a while now, because it’s long been my “game plan” to make at least 10 comments a day on other blogs. For some reason I just can’t get into the rhythm of it. Thus, this article is as much an internal exercise for me as for anyone else who reads it. I need a kick in the commenting pants! I’ve been blogging now for about 3 months on my blog and I still have a very small readership. Even still, I’m motivated b… Continue

Posted by Christen Dybenko on August 6th, 2008 at 4:57pm — 10 Comments (Add)

Forum

Share don't Scare 4 Replies

We've all heard them - elevator pitches - at a cocktail party or a conference. Did you ever want to engage into a deeper conversation with a person who just drowns you to their own agenda? Or a t...

Tagged: techniques, pitches, Elevator

Started by Ulla Jones in Case studies, metrics, and other WOM evidence. Last reply by William Campbell 1 day ago.

What product or service have you used,that customer service didn't matter? 12 Replies

Sometimes if a business does a great job of promoting scarcity,service can be thrown to the wayside.Have you bought a product or used a service that this was the case? Example:does the amount of my...

Tagged: service, customer

Started by Rex Weaver in Help fellow SWOMies. Last reply by Tara Tollefson 1 day ago.

Twitter (?) 15 Replies

Can anyone out there offer a brief, easy to understand explanation? I feel I've missed the boat on this one.

Started by Dave Hamilton in Help fellow SWOMies. Last reply by Hank Techentin Aug 13.

Death by Word of mouth 11 Replies

Can poor word of mouth actually kill a business? A case could be made that's what happened to the restaurant chain Bennigan's, whose corporate parent recently shuttered 150 stores after filing for...

Started by Ben McConnell in Case studies, metrics, and other WOM evidence. Last reply by BEN MACK Aug 11.

Is traveling dead? 8 Replies

I travel weekly and can deal fairly well with all the chaos but last week I hit my wall. Below is a letter I just sent to JetBlue's customer service. I have been so vocal about my enthusiasm for Je...

Started by Lisa Pearson in Other. Last reply by Florian Aug 6.

To aplologize or not to apologize? 13 Replies

Simple question, isn't it and it would seem that there is only one obvious answer, Yes! However that isn't always the case. First you'd need to know and acknowledge that a screw up has happened. ...

Tagged: mistake, acknowledging, service, customer, Apology

Started by Ulla Jones in Case studies, metrics, and other WOM evidence. Last reply by Steve Gentile Aug 12.

How WoM has helped our business 6 Replies

One year in, and what we have learned: Personal, deliberate interaction with our customers. I feel my business has a WoM advantage since Food lends itself very well to this kind of transaction. I ...

Started by Kevin & Karen Shinn in About SWOM. Last reply by Jack Shipley Aug 4.

Are Net Promoters going to be Influentials? (And vice versa?) 8 Replies

A big discussion we're struggling with -- is a person who has a high Net Promoter score for your brand also an Influential? Clearly, there's going to be overlap -- but how much?

Tagged: Influential, Promoter, Net

Started by Jeff Pillet-Shore in Case studies, metrics, and other WOM evidence. Last reply by Jeff Pillet-Shore Aug 6.

Marketing??? 6 Replies

Do you really need a marketing strategy? What should you pay for it? What should expect to get? How do you know it's the right one for your business? How do you know it will work?

Started by Melanie Johnson in Other. Last reply by Kim Proctor Aug 11.

A question for smart marketers: What are we loyal to - brands, markets or expectations? 15 Replies

Apple. Starbucks. Moleskine. Fans have assembled and tribes have united, but for what purpose? If these brands completely dropped out of existence right now, would fans be completely lost? Or woul...

Tagged: brands, Loyalty

Started by Bill Gammell in Theory. Last reply by Jeffrey Summers Aug 15.