How to create buzz? Learn from Skype

Skype. It’s the free telephone by Internet service that eBay just bought for a 2.6 billion dollars, give or take a few million. Skype is a service built on the back of buzz. And here is their latest buzz-starter, and its one your radio station can learn from. It came to me today by email:

Hello, We’re collecting stories about how you use Skype. So if you have a great story, please send it to us to mystory@skype.net. We’re looking for all sorts of stories, no matter who you are, where you live or what you do. Are you talking from strange spots? To crazy locations? Speaking with new people? Bring it on. When you send in your story, please add your contact info (e-mail address and Skype Name). If you have any sounds or pictures to go with it, just attach them to the e-mail. Please help us spread the word and forward this message to your friends, colleagues, post it to your blog, homepage… whatever other places you have. You help us get the best stories this way, and we will share the best stories widely with the rest of the world. So please send us your story to mystory@skype.net and visit skype.com where we will post the best ones.

These guys are:

1. Collecting stories, which are by their nature interesting reading and worth passing along. 2. Encouraging subscribers to pass along the invitation for stories to their friends – which invariably gives users a reason to “buzz” about Skype. 3. Letting the users do the marketing for them. No need for heavy marketing budgets and clever but inane positioning lines.

Very smart. Very easy.

The ball is in your court.