隨著世界越來越數(shù)字化,在互聯(lián)網(wǎng)占據(jù)一席之地已成為各行各業(yè)的標配。但大量新創(chuàng)業(yè)者涌入市場的結(jié)果是,社交媒體能提供的紅利越發(fā)稀少。幸運的是,英國這位技術(shù)營銷達人兼數(shù)字朋克——文森特·迪格南正努力幫人們迅速獲得最渴望的流量。 文森特性格好斗,腦袋聰明,非常了解貧窮的痛苦和創(chuàng)業(yè)的艱難。他花了很多時間研究如何高效打入社交網(wǎng)絡(luò)。 如今文森特已成為非常成功的作者和演講者,他也開始走出數(shù)字世界在全世界巡回傳授“秘密武器”,解釋他瘋狂做事背后的邏輯,這四個字恰好也是他最新一本書的書名。 《千禧一代》雜志與在好萊塢見到了文森特,希望了解為何這位生于倫敦西南的社交技術(shù)達人能白手起家三年內(nèi)賺到幾十萬。這是個堅忍不拔的千禧一代如何利用病毒營銷實現(xiàn)自我重塑的勵志故事。 進入文字的世界 “小學時我就發(fā)現(xiàn),表現(xiàn)得奇怪一點就能讓人注意逗人笑。這對我影響很大。”他告訴我們。從小文森特就很會寫東西。他的同班同學曾建議他當記者。多年后命運卻指向一條不同的道路。 人們常說凡事天注定,在文森特身上體現(xiàn)得很明顯,當年誤打誤撞敲開一扇門是他犯過最正確的錯誤?!爱敃r我在一家夜總會里找洗手間,推開門后發(fā)現(xiàn)找錯了,里面是樂隊休息室?!狈路疒ぺぶ杏刑煲猓纳剡@次誤闖后來幫他當上一份全國報紙的音樂記者。 他回憶起那段有趣的生活?!?9%的情況下采訪對象都會給我免費的門票,所以我想看什么樂隊就看什么……簡直太贊了。”文森特表示,那段時間恰好是音樂歷史上關(guān)鍵時期(2004年-2009年),很多新樂隊雨后春筍般冒出來。“搖滾有敲擊樂隊,有Von Blondies,情緒搖滾有我的化學浪漫樂隊,翻鬧小子樂隊等,英國有Grime,車庫搖滾,還有新銳舞,等等,”他說。 音樂不僅影響人們的穿著,隨著社交網(wǎng)站MySpace流行,音樂越發(fā)讓人們興奮?!癕ySpace的出現(xiàn)意味著突然之間每個人都可以有網(wǎng)絡(luò)身份。”那是文森特第一次接觸社交媒體,沒想到過不了多久社交媒體會徹底改變他的生活。 從音樂記者到數(shù)字朋克 文森特從報道樂隊轉(zhuǎn)型成為樂隊經(jīng)理,到2009年幾乎所有樂隊他都打過交道,從Phoenix樂隊到Eagles of Death Metal都合作過。“我?guī)退麄兗s電臺采訪,送他們?nèi)ボ囌?,”他說。但就像20多歲年輕人經(jīng)常遇到的一樣,他沉迷于尋歡作樂,因為工作不力被炒了。 他承認,后來申請了社會救濟,開始做電話銷售。但新工作只做了5星期又被炒了。這段經(jīng)歷讓文森特渴望獨立,他立刻開始閱讀創(chuàng)業(yè)方面的書?!爱敃r我靠救濟金生活,前女友說,你得有個工作,你想干什么?我說我想寫東西。” 那天晚上他做夢自己辦了份網(wǎng)絡(luò)雜志?!半s志里的明星都是作者,不是樂手。”他醒過來,立刻打電話給好朋友劉易斯·弗路德幫他按照想法搭建網(wǎng)站,Planet Ivy誕生了。 下一步就是吸引作者?!拔以谂P室里打給全國所有大學,解釋說我在辦全英國最酷的雜志,現(xiàn)在還沒有稿費,但作者會收到編輯反饋,還可以在比個人博客大得多的平臺上發(fā)表?!狈错懞軣崃?,稿件蜂擁而至。 Planet Ivy于2012年5月上線,一個月后成立了公司。網(wǎng)站專門生產(chǎn)病毒營銷內(nèi)容,上線第二個星期瀏覽量已達到25000?!耙话銇碚f,樂隊成立半年就知道能不能活下去,我覺得各行業(yè)都差不多。要做好一件事,半年內(nèi)一定得折騰出點名堂?!蔽纳卣f。 沒到半年P(guān)lanet Ivy已經(jīng)聚集起200位作者,每月瀏覽量已達30萬次。3個月后,作者數(shù)量達到600人,瀏覽量突破百萬。雖然發(fā)展勢頭不錯,卻沒有銷售收入,文森特和劉易斯都清楚一定要融資,不然網(wǎng)站就得關(guān)閉。 “他解釋說,之后那周在一個類似創(chuàng)業(yè)真人秀的論壇上看到廣告說‘快來推薦你的公司’?!彼姓J真正推介的時候,“表現(xiàn)不是很好,不過最后說了一句‘過去三個月里訪問量已達100萬?!币晃磺癋acebook高管聽到了這句,對他們的快速成長很感興趣,立刻找了文森特,說可以幫忙籌集25萬美元資金。 一線生機 順利完成種子輪融資后,文森特和作者團隊幾乎壟斷了在線內(nèi)容領(lǐng)域。他們繼續(xù)生產(chǎn)病毒營銷內(nèi)容而且很成功,但很快又沒錢了。 他們的最后希望是加入倫敦的一個孵化器科技之星(TechStars)。Planet Ivy從1500家創(chuàng)業(yè)公司中脫穎而出,加入2014年的科技之星。 “加入科技之星后,我們的訪問量從200萬掉到30萬,”文森特解釋說?!八晕覀冮_始研究要不要繼續(xù)留在孵化器里。很多人希望我們繼續(xù)融200萬資金。但我們想不如趁機成立個創(chuàng)意公司?!?/p> 他之前從未有公開演講的經(jīng)歷,直到在科技之星最后幾天才終于嘗試?!拔覍χ?00名投資人介紹項目,站在臺上時我心里知道我們還沒什么業(yè)務,只能說我們是個從事內(nèi)容生產(chǎn)的公司?!彪m然緊張到胃痛,但文森特演講的結(jié)果出乎意料。 |
As the world continues to digitize itself, having an influential online presence has become a standard business practice. Yet as new entrepreneurs enter the market, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to navigate and harness the power of social media. Luckily, UK based growth hacker and digital punk, Vincent Dignan, is making it easier for individuals to better understand how to amass the one commodity everyone wants: traffic. Scrappy and resourceful, Vincent knows too well the struggles of being broke while trying to launch a business. That is why he spent countless hours researching and investigating the most effective techniques at breaking through those social barriers to entry. Now as a successful author and public speaker, Vincent has come out of the digital shadow and is touring the globe sharing his “Secret Sauce” – a phrase that represents the method behind his madness, and which also happens to be the title of his latest book. MiLLENNiAL met up with the British social hacker in Hollywood to learn more about how this Southwest London native went from living on welfare to making over six figures within three years. This is the story of how one resilient millennial merged self-reinvention with the power of virality. Entering the World of Words “In primary school I realized that if I was weird or different people like it and laughed. And that really affected me,” he tells us. Vincent always had a knack for writing. Kids in his class even suggested he be a journalist. Years later that opportunity would find him in an unlikely place. It is often said that there are no mistakes in life. And in Vincent’s case, opening the wrong door at a club would be the best mistake he ever made. “I was in a nightclub and I was looking for the bathroom, and I pushed this door and it was not the door for the bathroom, it was the green room for the band.” As fate would have it, Vincent’s stumble would land him a job as a music journalist with a national newspaper. He reflects on this fun chapter of his life. “99 percent of the time they would give me free review tickets, which meant I could see any band I wanted…it was incredible.” As Vincent points out, this was happening during a pivotal time in music’s history (2004-2009), where a lot of new niches were popping up. “You had a rock rival with bands like The Strokes and the Von Blondies, you had emo with My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy…in the UK we had Grime, Garage, and New Rave,” he says. Not only did music affect the way people dressed, but the scene was on steroids due to the invasion of MySpace. “MySpace meant that we all suddenly had an online identity.” This was Vincent’s introduction to social media—an industry that would soon change his life in ways he could never imagine. The transition from music journalist to digital punk Vincent transitioned from writing about the bands to managing the bands, and in 2009 he was working with everyone from Phoenix to Eagles of Death Metal. “I was managing their radio and getting them to the station,” he says. But as most 20-somethings do, he fell victim to the party and was fired for incompetence. Admittedly, he filed for welfare and began telemarketing. But after five weeks in his new job, he was fired again. This gave Vincent a lust for independence and he immediately began reading books about entrepreneurship. “I was on welfare and my ex said you need to have a job. What would you like to do? And I said writer.” That night he had a dream about running an online magazine “where the writers would be the stars, not the musicians.” When he woke up, Vincent immediately called his friend Lewis Flude to help him build the site that matched his vision, and Planet Ivy was born. The next step was attracting writers. “From my bedroom, I called up every college in the country and said we are running the coolest magazine in the UK, we can’t pay you but you will have editorial feedback and you’ll have a platform that is bigger than writing on your own blog.” The response was enormous and the content started flowing. Planet Ivy launched in May 2012 and formulated as a company a month later. By strictly focusing on creating viral content, the site had reached over 25,000 views within their second week of being live. “You know in six months whether or not your band is going to make it, and I think that is a great distinction for any pursuit in life. There have to be major things that happen in the first six months,” Vincent says. Within six months Planet Ivy had amassed over 200 contributors and had reached over 300,000 visitors per month. Three months later, they tripled their writer count and were receiving over one million visitors. But with all that work, came no time for sales, and Vincent and Lewis knew it was time to raise capital or they would have to shut down. “The next week I saw an ad that said “come pitch your company” in a shark tank style forum,” he explains. When it came time for the pitch, he admits, “We weren’t very good but I closed it with “we’ve had a million page views in the last 3 months.” This caught the attention of an ex-Facebook executive who was intrigued by their rapid growth. She immediately approached Vincent and said she could help him raise $250,000. The Light at the End of the Tunnel After successfully closing their seed round, Vincent and his team of writers dominated the online content space. Focusing their attention on viral content got the best of them yet again, and they soon found themselves running out of money. Millennial Magazine – quote-2Their last hope? TechStars. Out of 1,500 applicants, Planet Ivy was selected to join the TechStars London class of 2014. Just when they thought they were finally in the clear and on to bigger things, Planet Ivy died within the program. “We went from 2 million visitors to 300,000 while we were in TechStars,” Vincent explains. “So we had to pivot while we were still in the program. Everyone wanted us to raise $2 million and we were thinking why don’t we start a creative agency.” He had no public speaking experience up until the last day of TechStars. “I had to pitch in front of 600 investors, knowing that my business didn’t exist and that we were going to become a content writing agency on stage.” Even though his stomach was in knots, Vincent’s largest obstacle became his biggest reward. |
文森特?迪格南的關(guān)鍵制勝局 第二天,Planet Ivy就順利變身Magnific,一家內(nèi)容營銷和生產(chǎn)公司。幾個星期后,文森特開始在倫敦各種會議上介紹技術(shù)營銷。 他發(fā)現(xiàn)“公開演講作用非常大”。大談技術(shù)營銷一個月后,他找到了19個客戶,然后開始各處演講。 他下意識地申請在SXSW科技大會上講技術(shù)營銷,而且得到了機會。令他吃驚的是,他得了最佳演講稱號,生意也越來越多。“那次演講幫我賺了幾十萬美元,”他說。 演講賺錢策略繼續(xù),他頻頻出入Meetup.com在紐約、舊金山和洛杉磯組織的各種會議,誰邀請就去哪講一場?!昂髞硪粋€月里我講了9場?!?/p> 社交媒體的秘密武器 他的演講有什么特別之處?面對一群信息饑渴的創(chuàng)業(yè)者,最合適的內(nèi)容就是告訴他們?nèi)绾卫帽辉诰€服務和平臺充分占領(lǐng)的世界。 文森特有個過人之處,他會列出所有利用技術(shù)一個小時內(nèi)實現(xiàn)大量吸粉的網(wǎng)站,然后解釋如何做到!他第一條建議是:合作。 他說:“英國人的習慣是什么都不說,喜歡保密。但在美國講求合作,合作方越多就越成功?!彼ㄗh其他人不要孤立,要勇敢與別人合作,因為只有團結(jié)合作才能將問題各個擊破。 合作是一方面,每天踏踏實實工作8小時也很重要?!耙WC工作時間就得拒絕很多誘惑?!彼€表示有些最重要的突破就是周六晚上工作時想出來的。 另一個建議是考慮內(nèi)容戰(zhàn)略時要重視渠道。“好內(nèi)容是10%的文字加上90%的渠道。”他表示,業(yè)內(nèi)專家都建議寫文字時注意取吸引人的標題,段落要簡短,不過并沒明確指出哪些渠道效果最好。 當然,表情包的作用也非常大?!氨砬榘浅jP(guān)鍵。從小孩到老人都熱愛表情包?!蔽纳乇硎?,所有內(nèi)容形式中,表情包的反饋最好。 下一章:倫敦到洛杉磯 文森特的公司日漸增長,演講生涯越發(fā)成功,還發(fā)布了合著新書《秘密武器》,他也在不斷拓展職業(yè)生涯,目前又在開拓新業(yè)務,明年初就會宣布。 與此同時,他打算從倫敦搬到洛杉磯,尋找可以共同探索下一步的合伙人。文森特用自己在多個領(lǐng)域不斷的成功告訴我們,命運關(guān)上一扇門,必然會打開另一扇窗。他的經(jīng)歷正是強大適應能力的體現(xiàn)。(財富中文網(wǎng)) 譯者:Pessy 審校:夏林 |
Vincent Dignan’s Pivotal Power Play The next day, Planet Ivy turned into Magnific, a content marketing and production agency, and a few weeks later, Vincent was giving talks on the topic of growth hacking at various events around London. That’s when he realized “public speaking gets leads.” After the first month of speaking about growth hacking, he picked up 19 clients, and began giving talks everywhere. Then almost subconsciously he applied to give a talk at SXSW V2V on growth hacking and was offered the opportunity. To his surprise, he won Best Speech, and as a result, ended up receiving a ton of new business. “That speech made me tens of thousands of dollars,” he adds. Capitalizing on his strategy, he reached out to all the Meetup.com groups in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles and whoever got back to him first he would fly to give a speech. “I ended up giving nine talks in less than a month’s notice.” The Secret Sauce to Social Media So what was so special about this speech? In a room full of hungry entrepreneurs, the best information to offer is how to leverage the saturated world of online services and platforms. Vincent has an uncanny ability to feed his audience with all the sites he uses to amass a large following within an hour, while offering strategy on how to do it! His first piece of advice: partnerships. Millennial Magazine – quote-1“It’s a very British mentality to not give your secrets away and keep everything for yourself. Whereas, here in America, it’s all about partnerships. The more partnerships you have the more successful you are.” He encourages others to not get consumed in their own isolation and to work with other people more because together you can divide and conquer. While partnerships are key to growth, so is committing a solid eight hours of work everyday. “You have to say “no” to a lot of thing to get those hours.” He even suggests some of the best breakthroughs happen while staying in on a Saturday night. Another piece of advice he gives when thinking about content strategy is to focus on the distribution. “Content is 10% content and 90% distribution.” He says experts in the space are advising people to adjust their content with better titles and shorter paragraphs, among other things, but they rarely define which distribution methods work best. And of course, posting memes will help with engagement. “Memes are everything. Everyone from children to old people can enjoy a meme.” According to Vincent, memes receive the most engagement out of any type of post. The Next Chapter: London to Los Angeles With the growth of his content agency, burgeoning speaking career and launch of his coauthored book “Secret Sauce,” Vincent is continually reinventing himself and is currently working on a new business, which he plans to announce in the new year. In the meantime, he is ready to make the transcontinental move from London to Los Angeles and is looking for allies he can partner with to take his vision to the next level. As someone who has reached all levels of success in multiple industries, Vincent reminds us when one door closes another opens. He is the living embodiment of the power of adaptation. |