The last chapter leads you through a series of questions you can pose in thinking about whatever product or service you're trying to market. Here are some of these questions:

Do You Have the Right Product?
People will pass on positive comments only if the product or service really does impress them. There is no point in stimulating the networks to create buzz unless your product meets the test.

• Am I offering a quality product or service? In order to generate positive buzz, your product needs to exceed the expectations of the people you're trying to reach. The product has to work from day one and offer everything that was promised, if not more. Do you underpromise and overdeliver?
  
  
• Does my product enhance the lives of people who use it? Is it compatible with what people do, fitting readily into their current belief system or lifestyle?
  
  
• Is my product visible—and can I help make it more so? Contagious products are often visible—they draw attention to themselves. Can you do something to make your product, or its users, more noticeable in a positive way?
  
  
• Am I offering something new? Buzz reflects excitement. Excitement doesn't build around old ideas, familiar approaches, or "me too" products. Something about your offering must be fresh and different.

Do You Have the Right Approach?
Generating buzz calls for a different attitude, a different approach to the promotion of your product than is typical.

• Am I operating in a spirit of truth, honesty, and directness? Openness and candor are key to developing strong, long-term, grassroots support.
  
  
• Am I thinking in terms of networks? Thinking of markets, segments, and categories can be useful. But when you think of buzz, think of customers as part of a network. Your objective is to maximize the number of positive comments about your product that flow among nodes in this network.
  
  
• Am I willing to work to accelerate contagion in the network? Without stimulation, word of mouth can spread at a very slow rate—often too slowly for success in today's highly competitive markets. Intense personal effort may be required to push the word and to leapfrog directly to the most productive hubs or into untapped clusters.

Are You Listening to the Networks?
You need to listen to the networks. The best way to do that is by talking to people. Every time you use another person—an interviewer, a reseller, a focus group moderator—as a messenger, you are adding a filter. Get out and talk to people directly.

• Know what customers are saying. What do they tell their friends about your company? About your competitors? How satisfied are they with current solutions in the marketplace?
  
  
• Use all possible approaches to hearing buzz. Do you read what is being said about your company on different newsgroups, chat rooms, Web sites, and other on-line forums? Do you regularly talk with customers on an informal basis?
  
  
• Track what the industry is saying. It's important to listen, not only to customer buzz but also to industry buzz. Customer buzz tells you what users are talking about today. Industry buzz can give you insight into what customers will be talking about tomorrow.
  

Are You Working with Network Hubs?
Hubs are the key to influencing the network, so finding and influencing hubs is crucial in building buzz.

• Identify your network hubs. Who are the network hubs in your category? Which are regular hubs and which are mega-hubs? Which are expert hubs and which are social hubs? What do you know about your regular hubs and how to reach them?
  
  
• Use all available techniques to find even more hubs. Are you listening when such hubs identify themselves? Can you think of categories of people who might become network hubs for your product? People who by virtue of their position have many ties with people you would like to reach?
  
  
• Track your hubs. Do you keep good records of their names and addresses? Have you developed a profile for each—what type of hub this person is, what type of influence he or she has, useful connections, etc.? Is your database accessible to others in the organization so that they can draw on the information and update it?
  
  
• Give your hubs what they need. Do you get out the word when there is something new? Do you provide hubs, especially expert hubs, with relevant facts? Are you putting the product in their hands?
  

Have You Considered All Possible Techniques for Building Buzz?
Creating buzz is an active process: You have to work at it. Have you thought of everything you can do to make it happen?

• Have you planned seeding efforts? Does your plan include seeding with both mega-hubs and regular hubs (i.e., the grassroots level)?
  
  
• Can you use a sneak preview to capture the imagination of a selected group of customers?
  
  
• What can you do that will surprise people? People talk about the unexpected.
  
  
• Can you take your customers behind the scenes? Can you show them how your product is made, who is making it, and why its producers are excited about it?
  
  
• Can your story include a hero? Is there a human drama behind your product? Is there a charismatic leader in your company?
  
  
• Can you stage an event that will feature your product and get people talking?
  
  
• Can you create a simple pass-it-on promotion? Does your Web site have a pass-it-on mechanism? Is it easy to use? Is it presented in a friendly, polite way?
  
  
• Are your customers talking to one another? The more your customers interact, the more involved they will become with your product and the more they will have to tell others. Do your customers share a common interest or bond? Can you find ways to help them socialize or exchange comments?
  
  
• Is there something in your service that can make it more useful as more people use it? Remember that customers will spread the word about your offering not because you have a cute way of asking them to, but because they perceive a benefit from doing so.
  
  
• Do you have a referral awards plan? If so, do your customers like it and respond to it? Have you asked them for their feedback?
  
  
• Are you exploring all possible networks? Even if you are busy listening to the networks where your product is generating buzz, are you also listening for the silence from networks where you aren't known?

Are Your Ads Building Buzz?
The techniques for generating buzz don't necessarily end the need for conventional advertising. The challenge, though, is to advertise in a way that helps to build buzz, not dampen it.

• Do your ads help people articulate what is unique about your product? If they can't explain what is new or special in a focus group, they won't be able to do it when talking with their friends.
  
  
• Can you use advertising to jump-start buzz for your product?
  
  
• If you're using testimonials, are they credible? Check with your customers: their opinion may not be the same as yours.
  
  
• Do your ads help your customers, such as by giving them information that reinforces their reasons for buying?

Are Your Resellers Building Buzz?
Some resellers can play a major role in spreading the word about your product.

• Have you identified the channels that are most promising in terms of buzz? The channels where there's real person-to-person interaction and where the salespeople are most trusted by their customers.
  
  
• Are you in direct contact with the front-line people in these channels? Remember, excitement doesn't store well in warehouses, so build direct relationships not only with executives but with the people who talk to customers every day.
  
  
• Can you use shopping mall kiosks for demonstrating your product? You'll get more traffic and therefore more exposure than if you demo inside a store.
  
  
• Have you seeded the channel? Are people in the channel actually using your product? Do you give them inside information they can spread to clients?
  
  
• Can salespeople articulate what's new and special about your product? Do you train them? recognize them? Can they learn from your packaging what's special about your product?