J. Emilio Flores for The New York Times Michael Dubin: “For a 24-hour period, no one could get on the site.”

Today’s Question

What small-business owners think.

We’ve just published a Conversation with Michael Dubin, a founder of Dollar Shave Club, the razor-blade business that got its start with a promotional video that went viral in March 2012. It featured Mr. Dubin walking briskly through a warehouse as he issued off-color wisecracks and encouraged men to buy his razor blades on a subscription basis for as little as $2 a month.

In the last year, the company, in Santa Monica, Calif., has increased its full-time staff to 24; begun to sell three different types of blades that are sourced from overseas manufacturers and sold for $1, $6 and $9 a month; introduced a new product called shave butter and generally made the transition from YouTube sensation to a real business. After you have read the interview with Mr. Dubin, whose background is in digital media and marketing and who has also performed improvisational comedy as a hobby, please tell us in the comment section below if you think there are lessons in this story for other businesses.

Why did this video go viral? What does it suggest for other companies who are marketing with video?

Article source: http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/have-you-tried-video-marketing/?partner=rss&emc=rss