Ben Yoskovitz of Instigator Blog has read my new book, Buzzoodle Buzz Marketing.  Now he will attempt to do all 57 Buzz Marketing challenges in 3 weeks.  Since 45 or so of them are very easy, I am guessing it is going to go quickly until he gets to those more difficult ones we have in there.

It will be fun to watch, and you can follow along on his blog.  My guess is that he will see some modest success at the end of three weeks and will continue to reap rewards from his efforts for months to come.

Since once challenge involves throwing a party, you should email him right away and get on the list.

I just got a call from Edna Williams about Dr. Sears being on Dr. Phil today.  Edna and I have met once, and we have talked several times on the phone.  She sells family health products.

She thought my family would be interested in seeng Dr. Sears.  She has met my daughter and has been trying to connect with us.

I am writing this because I am very impressed she called.  Also, how great is it that Dr. Phil and Dr. Sears have an advocate out making calls for their show!

Can you produce information of value that would turn strangers into advocates?  Sure you can.  eBooks and blogs do it all the time.

If you are interested in Entrepreneurship, check out the new BIGGER blog, Wil Schroter’s Go Big Blog.  I just really like his attitude and approach to information that makes you think.  His blog will make you feel better because you will realize you are not the only person with problems.

If you want a happy story about how to write a business plan and get rich, look elsewhere.

Matt Heinz wrote a great post on his blog about weather and excuses.  What if you let your employees say home on a bad weather day but asked each one to spend an hour or two creating buzz on the web for the business.  Seems fair.

PS:  I have lived in Seattle 3 times and love the area.  I can appreciate how shut down it probably is right now.  Not only can they not deal with snow well, but they also have roads that are more like tabogan runs (They were actually log runs at one time.)

To hear a 45 minute Buzz Marketing podcast, launch here.

Thanks to Ron Finklestein for hosting and moderating the podcast and tele-seminar.

Most of what we do is out of habit. Habit is a good thing, because having to think too hard about every single activity would be difficult. However, habit is also your enemy.

I read an article about how Multilingualism Delays Dementia (cannot find the link) and it said the act of speaking two or more languages every day exercises the brain more and postpones the effects of Dementia and Alzheimer. It is a clear case of habit verses intention. By habit, we can speak one language, but if we know two or more languages and use them regularly, we need to intentionally choose the appropriate language at the appropriate time.

This is very relevant to marketing as well. It is valuable to create good Buzz Marketing habits, such as blogging every day. But you have to intend to write something really different and valuable if you want to mix it up and get better results.

What are some other things you can do today intentionally?

• Make a customer feel really important
• Help someone else be successful
• Write and publish something that inspires people

Today is Martin Luther King Day. Talk about intention. When someone acts intentionally instead of out of habit, they can change the world.

Consider going through today and taking an extra second or two and think about each action. Changing some of your habits, even slightly, can intentionally make you a bigger success.

The buzz about the iPhone is wide spread. If you ever questioned the power of blogging to help springboard a brand, this is an example where it is true. Discussion of the iPhone is wide spread and bloggers in many places are gushing over the iPhone demos on the web.

Some people are a bit critical, but even then, they just have more ideas to make the iPhone better.

Even if apple cannot use the iPhone name, I am sure it will be a success. It is just different enough and interesting enough to make many people want one. And their product designs make people pay attention.

Apple may be a rare company that actually keeps innovating and getting better with age. I’d say it is as rare as a band innovating and consistently making better music.

I did not buy an iPod when they first came out, and I will probably not buy an iPhone when it first comes out, but I have a feeling I will have one soon enough.

Seth Godin has an interesting post about how someone used Permission Marketing that ended up creating $140 Million dollars of value.  Very interesting.

I heard another story around here where someone sold one home for much more than it’s value by really getting into the story of the home.  Yes, it took more time and effort, but the payoff was huge.

Call the marketing what you want, but if you take the time to craft an interesting story, build good relationships with people and achive a high level of word of mouth, you are going to win.

I just talked to someone who used to work with me about a year ago.  He said he still reads my blog every day – and he is not interested in Marketing!

This brings up a good point.  Do you still keep in touch with people after they leave your organization?

I am trying out the Answers feature on LinkedIn.  This is where you can ask a question and people answer it.  As I have a long list of connections there, I am getting a lot of great responses to the question: What is the best free thing you have ever done to create some buzz for you or your organization?

I have 18 responses so far and some of them are great.  This weekend I will try to compile them and publish them here.  I have tried this on message boards before and never gotten so many responses, nor such detailed responses.

You may want to check out this new feature on LinkedIn as it makes the whole application much more fun and active.