Ryan C. Miller.com - Social Media, Design, Tech, Commentary - broadcasting from Utica, NY

Stop Texting Me - A Mailing List Parable

Posted on May 29, 2009 by MillerNo Comments

How do YOU get your mailing list contacts for your business? And how do you use them?

The Vendor Client relationship - in real world situations

Posted on May 28, 2009 by MillerNo Comments

Give Us A Story

Posted on May 28, 2009 by MillerNo Comments

image by florian.b

Chris Brogan had an interesting post the other day about how a health insurance company (Humana in Louisville, Kentucky) is taking steps to make its employees more health conscious - an effort to ‘walk the walk.’   Integrating things like pedometers which are tied to a digital fish bowl, and bike sharing programs are things that I’m sure go a long way towards improving employee satisfaction but are also just pretty cool… Its a great example of being able to make what I would not think of as an exciting industry - lots of fun.

And I hate to bring it all back to business and marketing - but it gives them a story to tell - a fun, engaging story that separates them from competition. That’s not only good for job satisfaction, but I’m sure it is a hell of a great tool for reaching potential clients. How many people talk about how great their insurance co is? I don’t. But if they gave me a story to tell (and provided kick ass service) it would be easy to become a brand evangelist.

That’s the point I want to make here.  I’m not saying that your company needs to have a ’schtick’  - but to have something besides your product or service that customers can latch on to will enable customers to turn in to brand evangelists.  Let’s face it - people love to talk about ‘why’ they make that kind of purchasing decision. It’s like they need to defend it.

So first - make sure your product or service is kick-ass. Once you feel like you’re getting there, give your employees and customers something to talk about , whether its how your employees focus on wellness (as in Humana’s case) or how your company helps build schools in Africa.  Do something that’s good.  Do something that’s cool - and your business will be better off.

Shared Items - May 25, 2009

Posted on May 25, 2009 by MillerNo Comments

Best articles, photos, and general signs of cool from my Google Reader Feeds
• Start-up Strategy: To Change the Game, Change the Economics of How It’s Played

May 13, 2009

• My thoughts were so loud, I couldn’t hear my mouth

May 16, 2009

Social Works - I’ll Drink To That

Posted on May 20, 2009 by MillerNo Comments

I just wanted to share a great post from Katie over at socialmedialand.net - She gives some great examples of how local businesses in the Tempe area are utilizing social (twitter in particular) to get people in the door, while providing value to their users and followers.

One local bar does discounts on cover charges or free drink specials for their followers. Its a great way to get people in the door for events and they can also use these channels to promote their events really effectively.

An Excerpt:

Again, I saw a tweet, this time from @RulaBula (honestly, it must have been a retweet-but I forget who it was from now.) It was about an upcoming Twappy Hour (like a tweet-up, or meet up of Twitterers, happy-hour style.) The tweet said if I sent a direct message to Rula Bula, I could get my name on the list and get free food and complimentary first round of drinks. As Rula Bula is one of my favorite bars, I followed them, retweeted the message and signed myself up.

Another great point that Katie makes is that because of the nature of the promotions, she is able to share then with her network, and so on and so on. She goes on to give examples of what they did right, and what they could have done better.

The lesson here is that first of all social works. And it can work for tons of businesses - BUT as a business, if you’re requesting (and get) the right to be in my network, you better be useful. That means not being afraid to do giveaways and discounts. It means not sending out spam. It means giving me information about your business that I can use.

I guess the golden rule is: If you don’t think you’d want to receive a certain kind of message, then its probably not a good idea to send it.

Great article Katie. Follow her on twitter or visit socialmedialand.net for more great articles.

Great Keynote: Gary V. at Big Omaha

Posted on May 19, 2009 by MillerNo Comments

Really enjoyed this keynote from Gary V.  Its one of the better ones I’ve seen him give.  If you just want to get pumped up about building something, or just following your passion.