Advice
by Andrew Samtoy
TO EVERYONE WHO HAS ALREADY HELD A CASH MOB:
A lot of new mobs are forming. Is there any advice you’d give the new organizers of things that went well or didn’t go well for you? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Cash Mobs
We each do a little. We all do a lot.
Mine didn’t go well. I think I didn’t take into account the time of day (it was a friday at 2pm) – it worked well for me. I also didn’t get as much publicity as I liked – I tried everything I could – contacting news, having our local first arizona tweet/facebook about it, inviting everyone I knew and begging them to invite their friends.
Just don’t be afraid to go for it, though!!
Keep your mobbing window short. People can shop all day but create a buzz for media in a short time window. And think about doing something fun in conjunction.
Keep it simple; follow the proven model. Blitz the media make them want to cash mob too! Update FB and Twitter often. Cash Mobbing is like a virus so BE EXCITED…it is contagious.
Previous advice is good. I have had some trouble getting the numbers up. Timing is definitely something to consider.
The most successful mob we had here in Chicago was due in part to the Chamber of Commerce in the neighborhood we visited. If you tell them the details of the cash mob you have planned, they can forward the info to their followers. Just don’t let them control all the event details. I am also starting to visit the local neighborhood associations to get them on board. Ther eis a “local first” committee here in Chicago. See if your city has some sort of official initiative or shop local campaign.
Yes, update twitter and other outlets regularly so that followers feel plugged in.
We have really good Cash Mobs in Old Brooklyn I think because we have a core group of OB residents (OB Buzz) that meet and vote on the location and everyone helps get the word out. Also the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation posts it in the newspaper, Constant Contact e-newsletters, facebook, and twitter. I think it helps if residents can join forces with a local nonprofit to help advertise their cash mobs. At Fred’s Breads, there were 87 people from noon-2PM and another 45 from 2-4!
Our primary focus to creating the movement in San Antonio is creating the buzz. We’ve created FB and Twitter accounts and contacted all local news stations. We have our first interview with local news station next week. Once it hits the local news, we expect it to go viral.
Great advice Cash Mob Chicago.
It’s been my experience that people don’t generally come to something new unless they have been personally asked, so we relied on word of mouth for our first Youngstown (Ohio) event. Facebook is a good forum for this – although it cuts out people who don’t have an account (and we’re working on wider inclusivity with blog posts and an email list), its functions for adding people to the group, polling the group, making announcements, and posting photos serves us well. Somehow our local media found out about what we were up to and at our first event yesterday, a few mobbers told me they’d heard it on the news, which is so great. But I’d suggest not seeing the media as a tool for recruitment. To borrow a cliche, if you build it, they will come.
We had a great Cash Mob in Lima Ohio. I would guess around 80 people showed up to a local record store. Just stay upbeat and positive, even if only 10 people show up, try again and again, people will start to follow when they see other people enjoying themselves!
I am overwhelmed and thrilled with the response we had for our inaugural event today. Since the idea was tossed out 4 weeks ago, we have developed a FB page with over 400 likes, a ‘board’ to act as a selection committee for businesses and today held our first event. We had over 100 people and the book store had 75 transactions during the 2.5 hour ‘mob time’. Their norm for a Sunday afternoon is 2-5 transactions per hour! The cafe inside the bookstore did a brisk business and said they saw many new faces.
We were interviewed in the days prior to the mob by two local radio stations, a local online news publication and today the local NBC affiliate came and spent an hour getting footage and doing interviews for the nightly news.
Find people that are plugged into the pulse of your community and get them involved. I fully credit that with the way ours has taken off.
oh, did I get a lesson on twitter today! I’ve been a twitter user for two years, and thought I knew the platform pretty well. Turns out: not so much! after creating my cashmobcville account, and diligently seeking out and following over 400 local businesses, reporters, other cash mobs, etc., etc. tweeting, re-tweeting, and interacting with other users (oh yeah… I’ve been workin’ it for the last few days!) — today, twitter abruptly suspended my account! arrrrrgggggg
I’ve appealed the suspension, which I THINK was done automatically because of the number of follows I entered in a short period of time — plus, being a new account, I suspect they’re a little more watchful. I suppose it’s nice that they monitor somewhat to try and keep a lid on spammers, etc. Haven’t heard back from tech support yet about my appeal, but I’m ticked because I’ve worked hard to build a little following, and while it’s suspended, there’s no telling how many people we might be missing. Hopefully, I’ll be able to resolve it soon and all will be right with the twitter universe. So – my word to the wise…. check out the RULES on twitter, and tred cautiously, lest they shut you down!
woot! Back in the twitterverse. We lost a bit of ground, but I’ll file it in the ‘lessons learned’ drawer.
Set your expectations to FUN! And have a good time with the 1 or 100 people who join you. Remember, that even just you going to the store is making a difference, more people than they would have had that day. And don’t be afraid to tell your friends about it. Lots. Let yourself be frustrated if you’re frustrated. It’s OK. Let yourself be happy if you’re happy. It’s OK. And then go forward and keep mobbing! Consistency will build a movement.
Also, I have a heck of a time getting people to stick around and go to the bar. People show up, they mingle, they go to the store, they shop, they chat, they buy something, and they leave. Rinse and repeat. For the next mob, I plan on having someone stationed at the bar to welcome people and someone stationed at the door as they leave the mob to encourage them to head over. We’ll see if that ups the numbers? Or maybe San Diego mobbers don’t want to drink together? We’ll see. It’s all an adventure. And a wacky one at that.
Weve started a chapter here in Lakeland Florida aka Cash mob of Central Florida. I thank you for all of your input and will forward our opening date. Gene
What’s your Twitter/Facebook handle?
Thanks,
Andrew