Building and Spending Buzz Capital

By leelefever on September 16, 2005 - 9:54am.

• Categories:
• buzz
• marketing
• twinf
• Comments: 3

As I’ve been hinting, I’m getting really close to revealing something new that I’m very excited about. Quite honestly, I’m hoping to build some buzz, as I’ll be looking for people to participate (it's free). In planning for buzz, I like to look at it in terms of something I call “Buzz Capital”.

Like most types of capital, buzz capital is something you build up and then spend. The goal is to spend it at the most opportune moment, thus increasing the returns on the buzz. I'd say that Apple is a perfect example of good buzz capital management.

When I started planning this project, I chose a moderate level of secrecy so that the buzz capital wouldn’t be spent too early. For example, let’s say that I wrote about the development of the new thing in public for the last 6 months. To me, this might spread the potential buzz over months. By the time it’s finalized, too much buzz capital may have been spent too early, decreasing the potential returns.

Despite the potential benefits of open/public development, I’m on the side of being (publicly) secretive and hoping that a finalized new thing will return more buzz than an in-development new thing. My hope is that when I’m ready to reveal it, it will have the elements in-place to maximize the potential buzz it can create.

My hope, dear reader, is that you'll be able to help me maximize the buzz capital I'll be spending soon. Like I said before, the new thing is something fun, free and experimental.