Agenda: An action-filled, intense day

8 AM — Prepare for the day

Join us for a scrumptious breakfast and lots of networking.

8:30 AM — Introduction

We start promptly — if you miss this, the day will be confusing.

Setting the stage for a full day, we’ll introduce the core concepts of word of mouth and discuss several case studies.

9 AM — Word of Mouth Marketing: 5 Ts

The 5 Ts represent the fundamental steps in every successful word of mouth campaign. Using this framework, you’ll have a process to use every time you want to get people talking about your new product, service, or brand. Through these simple, repeatable steps you’ll learn how to:

• Find the right people to talk about you and your business (influencers and evangelists)
• Give them something to talk about (viral email, samples, buzz, and more)
• Create tools to make it easier for them to talk to each other (blogs, discussions, tell-a-friend forms)
• Participate in the conversation
• Track and measure results

10 AM — Kickoff Brainstorming Exercises: The 5 Ts

These are our first intensive hands-on exercises, applying the concepts we’ve discussed to get in a WOM state of mind. You’ll break through the traditional marketing mindset to develop a new perspective of your customers.

10:30 AM — Break

10:45 AM — Talkers: Finding and Feeding Evangelists

This is where we’ll identify the folks most likely to talk about you and your business. Learn new ways to look at groups of people and how to motivate them into becoming something more than just buyers. This is where you turn Joe Customer into an evangelist for your products and services.

11:45 AM — Topics: Reasons to Talk

Now that you know who your talkers are, let’s give them something to talk about. Learn exactly where to find or create the things that generate buzz. Develop the thought process so you can earn that conversation from your customers as well as your employees.

12:45 PM — Working Lunch: Talkers & Topics Exercises

Roll up your sleeves and put these lessons to the test. Over a nice lunch, brainstorm with teammates to find talkers and topics in various scenarios.

1:45 PM — Tools: Word of Mouth Techniques

This is where we’ll discuss how to create avenues for all that buzz about your topics. We’ll cover tons of ways to make it easy for people to talk about you — everything from real-world conversations and tell-a-friend forms to online tools like blogs, social communities, and networks.

2:45 PM — Brainstorming Exercises: Tools

More team-oriented brainstorming. We’ll work on real-life examples to implement inexpensive, realistic, and practical tools to get those conversations started.

3:15 PM — Break

3:30 PM — Taking Part & Tracking: Responding and Participating

Once the conversation about your company’s products or services is underway, you need to be a part of it. We’ll teach the proper, ethical ways to insert yourself into the dialogue without committing the common (but easy-to-avoid) mistakes, and you’ll see how and why your employees should play a role in these conversations. You’ll discover the techniques to handle negative word of mouth and what to do with the feedback you get.

4:30 PM — Creating Your Action Plan

Now that you know the right way to build great word of mouth, it’s time to get started. We’ll put together a personalized action plan shaping the specific strategies that will work for your company. Taking all of the concepts you’ve learned and all of the ideas we’ve brainstormed, you’ll end this session with a customized breakdown of the actionable steps you can immediately implement to get people talking about your business.

5 PM — Adjourn

Prepare to put your lessons into action! Your brain is going to feel very, very full. We’ll line up cabs to get you where you need to go.