What Business Owners Can Learn for the Harlem Shake

Ah, those Aussie boys from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia. What did they create with the Harlem Shake. I saw them interviewed on the Today show, nothing impressive really. I am a 41 year old mother of two, my son is now 20 but could well have been one of these lads five years ago. The love their skating, giggling, fun and girls. I thought it was all a bit stupid. That was until I saw how much coverage these guys had received. Whoa! Not so silly now. Perhaps someone should hire them as marketers. Seriously.

What does the Harlem Shake teach business owners about marketing? It teaches us that nothing has to be perfect, useful, helpful or even very good, to go viral. It simply must be UNIQUE.

I have said it before, the business world is now global. You are not simply competing with a local business, you are competing for customers on a world stage. If a million businesses offer social media services, how does a customer know you are the best service for them? What makes your business stand out? I could sit here and preach about customer service, product quality, price blah blah. Not saying this is not highly important, but we are talking about first impressions here. What is it you can do that will separate your business from the competition? The way to get attention quickly online, via social media, is by creating yourself an INTERNET MEME. Just like the Harlem Shake boys.

What is a meme? Originating from the Greek word mimeme meaning to 'imitate' , an internet meme is simply an act produced with the intention of being imitated by others. If it works you have your internet sensation.

The first internet meme I saw was of sporting teams moving to Carly Rae Jepson's 'Call Me Maybe'. If you like the song, then I recommend popping over to You Tube and searching Call Me Maybe. 

The Harlem Shake is an internet meme. It was made to be copied with the hope of going viral, and the boys did just that with over 20 million hits and hundreds of recreations. The Harlem Shake chaps also know their social media, and if you learn nothing from this article take with you the importance of your small business implementing social media as a major part of your growth strategy.

I really don't know if the Harlem Shake fella's are earning any serious money from their routine, possibly not. However, if your business does something similar you can create a mountain of leads by ensuring people can contact you directly from your video.

My advice? If you own a video camera sit down this weekend and think of doing something that will draw people to your business and get a ton of attention. Then make sure you come back and post a link!

As a thank you for this article, please enjoy the Harlem Shake :)