The Ghost Influence Podcast: How Viral Happens On Reddit - 006 Pixel Thoughts: Meditation Tool Gone Viral With Marc Balaban

006 Pixel Thoughts: Meditation Tool Gone Viral With Marc Balaban

11/25/15 • 38 min

The Ghost Influence Podcast: How Viral Happens On Reddit

Marc Balaban wanted to escape his job in tech recruitment to improve his web development skills and move towards something more creative. He joined a hackathon to push those boundaries and was challenged to create a product in a weekend. Living in San Francisco, California where technology and mindfulness are commonly included in the same conversations he opted to create a sixty second meditation tool. He dubbed it Pixel Thoughts.

Some weeks after the hackathon he finished the app and submitted it to Reddit's /r/InternetIsBeautiful where it received far more traction than he ever expected. While his intention was to build something that showcased his skills, he never anticipated that a fun project would generate such substantial professional leverage. Marc's story is a phenomenal example of how powerful passion and self-education can be as tools for marketing your creative skills.

Create social leverage with the Ghost Influence community.Music: 'Whylex - Brillante Atardecer (Especial Sunset Mix)'

Previous Episode

005 AirConsole: Redefining Gaming & Media With Rafael Morgan

Andrin von Rechenberg wanted to play video games on his computer and he wanted to use his smartphone as the controller. Unable to find an existing solution, Andrin sought out to create his own and within just two days — he had. He didn't see this as a weekend project, he saw it as a business opportunity and founded N-Dream. The newly recruited team got to work turning a weekend project into a full fledged platform — Air Console.

In this interview Rafael Morgan, the team's Product Manager, shares how Air Console evolved from an idea into something much bigger.

Create social leverage with the Ghost Influence community.Music: 'Realize - Coming Through'

Next Episode

007 Squatty Potty: Unicorn Poop Gone Viral With Bobby Edwards

Bobby Edwards just wanted to help his mom poop. Having discovered the extensive benefits of squatting to poop, he set out to create "the stool for better stool". It wasn't until a barrage of awkward Christmas gifts resulted is raving enthusiasm that he truly realized the potential of his poop platform... or as it's famously known today — Squatty Potty.

Brilliant in it's simplicity, much like the product itself, Bobby's initial marketing strategy was to find bloggers in the health space and send them a Squatty Potty. That led to a phone call from The Doctors and later an endorsement from Howard Stern. Bobby eventually took the business to Shark Tank and landed a deal with Lori Grenier who got them prime placement in Ben, Bath, & Beyond. All of that... and they still only had 1.2M customers.

Working with The Harmon Brothers, the marketers behind the viral success of Poo Pourri, the Squatty Potty team produced a three minute promo video titled "This Unicorn Changed The Way I Poop" and drove over 48M views (between Youtube and Facebook) and was submitted to Reddit 42 times within the first 50 days it existed. Bobby shares the details about the creative process and how this viral video catapulted their sales.

Create social leverage with the Ghost Influence community.Music: 'Contact - Somewhere (LIONBLOOD Remix)'