Word of Mouth is a powerful thing, especially when it saves your home from foreclosure.  The Today Show aired a moving story this week about a woman who baked her way out of foreclosure…literally.

Angela Logan needed $2,500 in 10 days to make her mortgage payment on time and she didn’t have the money.  Together with her sons, she began baking organic cakes that sold for $40 each.  She told her coworkers, church and friends and, before she knew it, the power of Word of Mouth sold 42 cakes and helped to make her mortgage payment almost overnight.

Once the media got word of Angela’s efforts, her phone was ringing off the hook.  She had over 500 people that wanted to purchase her cakes and help her family.  Founder of Bake Me a Wish, Josh Kaye, read the story and joined forces with Angela to help her family and many others.  Within a week, Angela’s idea became a business and a Word of Mouth phenomenon.

By mobilizing her friends and Advocates, Angela saved her home, her family and is helping many other families in need.  Never underestimate the power of Word of Mouth and what it can do for you, your business and others.

In the second part of our five-part ground-breaking whitepaper series, we found that Advocates are five times more influential and valuable than average customers.  In some cases, Advocates are worth $500K each.  Learn more about our key findings from our CEO, Rob Fuggetta, in the video below.

The research report will be released the first week of August.  To reserve your copy, contact our Word of Mouth expert, Cara Fuggetta, at cara@zuberance.com

PQ Media just announced its key findings from their upcoming report, Word of Mouth Marketing Forecast 2009-2013.  Despite the recession, Word of Mouth spending by leading brands continues to increase and is “on pace to remain among the fastest growing segments of the media and communications industry this year”.  Moreover, PQ Media projects Word of Mouth spending to reach $3 billion in 2013.

PQ Media defines Word of Mouth Marketing as an alternative marketing strategy supported by research and technology, which encourages consumers to dialogue about products and services through various online and offline tactics, often facilitated by brand ambassadors.

President and CEO of PQ Media, Patrick Quinn, says, “the most influencial marketer in a consumer’s life is someone they know and trust, such as a family member, friend or colleague.”  It is clear in the report that brands are spending money on Word of Mouth to harness the power of Advocates and build trust with consumers.  To learn more about the report, click here.

By now, you’ve probably seen or heard about the “United Breaks Guitars” video that was published a couple weeks ago by Dave Carroll, a disgruntled United customer. (We’re publishing it here just in case you haven’t seen it.)

There have been over 4 million views of this very clever and entertaining video. The song is even available on iTunes.

In the Groundswell, unhappy customers can share their dissatisfaction with millions. They can galvanize Detractors and even cost companies millions of dollars in lost sales and shareholder value. Remember Dell Hell or the Intel floating point disaster?

Now, as any frequent flier knows, airlines are far from perfect. (You wonder if their leaders sit around in conference rooms brainstorming ways to piss off customers.) But airlines do have “pockets of advocacy.” They do have customers who know they’re trying to make things better and are willing to recommend them.

So how should United and other airlines respond to this kind of public flogging? Well first, they should fire or at least severely reprimand the baggage handlers who abused Dave’s guitar. Second, they should buy Dave a new guitar. (And maybe arrange a meeting for him with Eric Clapton or one of Dave’s guitar heroes.) And third, they should identify and mobilize their Advocates to spread positive Word of Mouth and sales.

In case you missed our Webinar, we have posted the video so you can learn more about energizing and mobilizing your Advocates!

Yesterday’s Webinar, Using Obama-Style Social Media to Drive Sales Now, was a great success!  Thank you to all of our attendees.  In case you missed the Webinar, we will be posting a recorded version right here, on ZuberRants.  Make sure to check back and learn how you can energize and mobilize your Advocates.

During the Webinar, we took several polls and we wanted to share the findings with you:

Q: In the next 12 months, do you expect a percentage of your marketing budget to be invested in Word of Mouth Marketing?

20%- No
61%- Yes
19%- No, but plan to in the next 6 months

Q: What do you think the average donation for the Obama campaign was?

54%- $40
21%- $80
16%- $100
9%- $300
2%- $1,000

Q:  What percentage of your customers do you think would be highly likely to recommend your brand or product?

26%- 10% of customers
21%- 20% of customers
16%- 40% of customers
21%- 60% of customers
16%- 80% of customers

This morning, we decided to conduct a staff survey asking what the Zuberance team has recently become an Advocate of and how they initially heard about it.  Here’s what we found:

-Our UC Davis marketing intern, Cara, is a big comedy fan and bought the season of the Australian “Mockumentary” series, “Summer Heights High” after watching hysterical video clips her friend posted on Facebook.

-Susan, our product manager and a mother of three, purchased the H20 Mop that sanitizes without using harsh chemicals after Zuberance marketer, Veronica, recommended it on her blog.

-Grayson, Zuberance’s lovable sales manager, saw a friend’s Facebook status update giving the new U2 album two thumbs up, then downloaded it on iTunes.

-Zuberance’s marketing consultant and food guru, Elizabeth, bought the Top Chef Cookbook on a website she landed on after clicking a link that was tweeted out by one of her foodie friends.

When people buy a new product, see a new TV show, or listen to a new album, they use Social Media to share their experiences and recommendations to friends in their social network. Trusted recommendations, like the ones you read above, turn word of mouth into sales everyday.

As most everyone knows, Social Media is like a massive amplifier for consumers. Consumers now have the ability to reach and influence thousands to millions of buyers, and that means they can build or bury your reputation and revenues.

The other day we ran a little test at Zuberance to  see how much reach our employees (one of our key segments of Zuberance Advocates) have. We calculated that, on average, each Zuberance employee has the ability to directly reach 250 people they know via LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. (Of course, they also can reach many through plain old email, text, and IM as well.)

Assuming Zuberance has 50 employees (we’re a little shy of that currently), our Employee Advocates can directly reach 12,500 people they know. And of course, our employees can also reach thousands of more people including prospects via the Social Web. This calculation doesn’t include the reach of other Zuberance Advocates like customers, business partners, and prospects.

Do the math yourself. If each of your Advocates (people who recommend you to others) can reach 250 friends and peers, what is the reach of your “Advocate Network?”

Word of Mouth has a substantial impact on consumer decisions whether the consumer is seeking a new restaurant, is in the market for a new car, or looking for the perfect get-a-way vacation. But did you know that Word of Mouth can help you find a job?

The founder of JobAngels, Mark Stelzer, describes Word of Mouth in their latest newsletter as “one of the most amazing things to behold about this movement.”  JobAngels is a non-profit company based on volunteers helping people who are seeking jobs through answering questions, editing resumes, sharing job leads, and more.  Most volunteers and professionals that use their services heard of JobAngels through a Word of Mouth referral from a friend or colleague.   Without the power of Word of Mouth, Mark and his team would not have the bandwidth and ability to help as many job seekers.

If you are one of the millions of job seekers out in the market today, use Word of Mouth to your advantage.  Ask friends and colleagues for tips and resources and share what you find with others.  You never know where it may lead you.

Nielsen Media Research reports that 90% of consumers surveyed in April 2009 trust recommendations from people they know, while 70% trust consumer opinions online.   Those are some powerful numbers…so how can companies use these numbers to their advantage?  Simple.  Companies need to identify, track and mobilize their Advocates to generate recommendations and drive sales using Word of Mouth.

Jonathan Carson, President Online International for Nielsen, says “Consumers’ reliance on Word of Mouth in the decision-making process…has increased significantly.”  While there are overwhelming facts pointing to Word of Mouth and its importance in the marketing mix, many companies have not identified who their Advocates are.  Why pay a salesperson when you can mobilize an Advocate for a fraction of the cost?

Research like Nielsen’s is the reason Zuberance is seeing so much success!  As the leading online Word of Mouth marketing company, we educate businesses on the power of Word of Mouth and help them harness it to drive sales.