Whenever Shawn Blanc puts pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), something remarkable takes form. Take this for example:

I’ve found that some common factors amongst remarkable things include simplicity, focus, personality, delight, nostalgia, and/or excellence.

There isn’t a 1-2-3 recipe for building something other people will want to talk about. And though it’s certainly not easy, neither is it impossible.

But what is remarkable? What makes you go "Wow!" over and over and over? Everyone's definition of "remarkable" is different and applicable to their lives and their experiences.

Buzz marketing — marketing a product through word of mouth — becomes one of the most difficult forms of marketing to implement. One person's version of "Wow" is so different from the next that effective buzz marketing can often be detrimental instead of beneficial.

But when it goes right, it goes really right. Buzz marketing, especially through the power of social networks, is what marketers shoot for.

And Shawn is what buzz marketers want. His views seem so common and so right, but he is one of the few that have influence and can effectively put "remarkable" and "delightful" into words.

I'm not here to bow down to his writing. But I am here to admit he is one of my favourites.

And, because he says that these items are remarkable, I will probably buy a couple of them. Don't take my word for it; take his.

●