Kim Cooper's grandparents' blog, The OGs, or "original grandparents," has had popularity and success but required barely any spending. Kim Cooper and her younger sister Chinta Cooper launched the blog in 2008 with their grandparents Barbara "Cutie" and Harry "PopPop" Cooper, then 91 and 96, to give their family something fun to do together.
Cutie and PopPop would talk about the secrets of their 72-year marriage. Kim and Chinta posted video blogs on YouTube, embedded them in their website, got a songwriter friend to write a jingle about them, and created a Twitter account and a Facebook fan page -- which directed viewers to their blog and into their fan stream.
Their mainstream media attention came as a result of one of their fans, an editor at The Los Angeles Times who had been following the grandparents online and assigned an article. "The L.A. Times piece was followed by the 'Today' show, CNN, 'All Things Considered,' and Japanese, Australian and Thai TV pieces," says Kim Cooper.
The only money spent promoting her grandparents was $30 for two boxes of business cards for their blog. Sadly, PopPop died in October at 98 years old, but Cutie is still actively blogging as a solo artist.