Brand Video Interview – Kathryn Rose, Social Buzz Club | Branding YOU Better!

Brand Video Interview – Kathryn Rose, Social Buzz Club

By Susan September 26, 2011 Blog, Brand-Interviews No Comments

Brand Video Interview – Kathryn Rose, Social Buzz Club

I’m proud to feature this “Skype Video” Brand Interview.

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…
It started over year ago… we needed an outlet to get the word out easier, sharing one another’s content easier and we didn’t find what we wanted, so Laura Rubinstein and I created the “Social Buzz Club” last June. We now have 300+ members.

Our mission is to help people get the exposure for themselves or their clients, build more blog traffic, (some have reported a 62% increase)… to get the word out for each other, by each other.

We also created a learning center and every thursday we feature top experts, such as, Mari Smith, Denise Wakeman (the Blog Squad), Amy Portfield, and Lou Bortone. If you aren’t a member, on thursdays you can watch the Free webinar, but after the live event, the interview goes into the membership “learning center” section.

Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
I donate “in-kind” of my time to many charities to help spread the word about their mission or special events. For the Social Buzz Club, a registered 5013C can submit information to us and we will load the “buzz” for free. It will be marked as a “2 point” share, so members who share the buzz gain double the points for charity buzz, whereas regular buzz from members is 1 point per share. When a member shares a post, because there are more than 300 members now, there is a chance of 3 million impressions.

How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo?
I had worked with Erika Ruggiero in the past, so I engaged her. We knew we didn’t want a “bee!” We wanted the name to convey… an “electrified” feeling, so the parentheses around “buzz” was just right.

How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel?
Many other companies go with blues, so we selected maroon and gold for excitement and buzz.

How did you decide which type of designer to work with, or did you design your own identity and web presence?
We just love WordPress, so Laura Rubinstein, my business partner did that part, but the actual full membership website was a custom build by a company out of Michigan, “itec.”

How long after the launch of your company did you start pitching in social media?
We haven’t yet done a full launch. We built the platform and then reached out to influencers for press and features. Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner did a feature on us, which helped grow the membership. A new version of the site, “2.0” will be coming out soon and then we’ll launch the full blown campaign! The social media plan is a combination of press releases, influencers, getting interviews and word of mouth.

Can you tell us about your Google Analytic stats since the soft launch and the stats now?
I have a search engine optimization and Google analytics background, so I love to look at the numbers. Both the readership and email list are growing and our bounce rate is under 20%. Visitors stay on the site an average of 3 minutes, so we know they are reading. Through the back end of the site we also have stats I can monitor and can see that a lot of the opt-ins are for “10 Keys for Successful Collaborations.” They come, they stay and they want to read what’s on the site.

Did you do research or study any software, take webinars, teleclasses, before approaching any area of your marketing or web presence?
We investigated other sites such as Ming, iGroup and other out-of-the-box membership sites, but we didn’t want it to be a social network. We looked at other sites and the way their sharing functionality worked. The system we built “pings” the network to be sure it was shared. On other sites you can click to share, but it may or may not work. Our system is accurate.

I would recommend that anyone who wishes to build a site like ours, should hire a visibility, functionality, and technical expert. Ours was a learning experience, but because we knew what we wanted, it works very well.

Do you advertise locally in newspapers and/or nationally in magazines? Do you advertise online using Google, Facebook or on other company sites? Are they effective?
Local newspapers and national magazines wouldn’t work well because our target audience is bloggers and social media experts. Once we launch “Social Buzz Club 2.0” Facebook and LinkedIn ads will be in the works.

When you printed your products, packaging, business cards and other print marketing did you choose an online printer or visit a local vendor?
We used a combo, my neighbor happens to be a printer, so we used them for our coupons, but the business cards were ordered online.

Have you ever used “green” technology in printing, using FSC certified papers or recycled paper and if not, how likely are you at trying this on a next project?
The coupons are printed on recycled paper, the business cards I’m not sure.

Is there anything you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon?
I love to speak at events and recently opened for Rudy Giuliani at the Small Business Survival Summit in Baltimore. It was a fabulous experience. I will be speaking at Tori Johnson’s Spark & Hustle in December and also Lorman Education Services.

For the Social Buzz Club the plan is to continually improve the platform and grow the membership!