Word of Mouth – Old or New?

This concept of “Word of Mouth” has always been really interesting to me.  Dorky…maybe, but it’s consistently been a pretty big part of my life.  Growing up my father was the entrepreneur I emulated the most.  He created something, and it’s called Kay & Company.  On the surface my dad started a business which sells life, health, and disability insurance to people in CT, MA, and NY.  However, what always fascinated me was that he built his business on honesty, integrity, and word of mouth referrals.  In fact, he was able to support and send to college a family of 5 based mostly on word of mouth referrals.
Now the reason I bring this up is because, sometimes it’s hard to imagine that word of mouth even existed before social media.  I mean think about it, my father spent nearly 20 years building a name for himself and was able to extend his reach into 3 states.  Just yesterday I had someone reach out to Grasshopper on Twitter and ask for an “unbiased” list of pros & cons.  Not 20 minutes later we were able to reach out to our network and connect that person with a current Grasshopper customer: @KyleLussier President of AutoNOC.  Now, Kyle happens to live in Georgia (1,107 miles away), but because of the world we live in this actually doesn’t matter.  Location no longer defines the communities (or Tribes) we can be part of.
In short, this means that Word of Mouth is actually becoming a more powerful tool than ever before.  Zak Normandin the founder of Little Duck Organics is another Grasshopper customer.  Zak has about 523 different outlets & networks available to him that he can use to criticize our service or yell from the rooftops about us.  In fact, that is exactly why successful companies actually realize that their customers are driving the direction of their business.  It is also why companies like UserVoice and WuFoo are able to be extremely successful.  People don’t want to be “sold to” anymore, they want to stumble on you or get referred. 
As a new business you are only as strong as your Army of Brand Loyalists.  Brand loyalists are the Kyle’s and Zak’s of the world who believe in your brand, they aren’t just happy customers, but people who go out of their way to promote you and make connections.  A brand loyalist is able to have a real, unbiased conversation with potential customers and drive free sign ups to your site.
One of the reasons I have made such an effort to be heavily involved with MassChallenge is because they seem to really get it.  They have taken this idea of a “global business competition” and completely turned it on its head.  They were even smart enough to work in a Word of Mouth and Buzz angle: http://www.masschallenge.org/competition/team-pitches .  As a business not only do you have the opportunity to harness the power of YouTube (look at how many views), but you get to utilize your social networks as well.  And oh ya…did I forget to mention that your incentive to embrace Word of Mouth as a business tool is a measly ONE MILLION DOLLARS.
If I didn’t love my job, I would be recording my pitch video right now, followed by reaching out to all my Twitter followers/Facebook friends.  Learn from past entrepreneurs, there is nothing more powerful than the “Spoken Word” (or in our generation’s case a: Tweet, RT, Status Update, Like, Thumbs Up, Digg, Stumble, Share, Buzz, Favorite, Bookmark, Comment, Etc….I could go on but I think you get it).
I am always eager to learn more…anyone have any unique / effective strategies to creating Buzz?
Jonathan Kay is the Ambassador of Buzz at Grasshopper, a provider of virtual phone systems. He is extremely passionate about helping / meeting new entrepreneurs and always excited to learn about their unique journey. Find Jonathan on Twitter @GrasshopperBuzz or via email at jkay(at)grasshopper.com.