Hey Seth,
I agree with you… but there’s a solution!
I hate to oversimplify, but the answer is Angie’s List! Of course, not for a company as mega-whopper-sized as Apple, but it works amazingly well for a $30 million/yr enterprise like ours.
Confused? Here is Seth’s post: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/03/cascade-of-broken-promises.html
Comments?
When I first heard the name The Enchanted Floorist, I laughed out loud at the fun nature of the name itself.
Then, I tried to find them online.
Like so many others in the flooring business, it was rough going.
First shot was Twitter… no good.
Then, Facebook… nope.
Then Google… ok, we’re getting somewhere, but it’s still tough sifting through actual florists. Take the name out and look for a flooring company in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and I can’t find them.
I did come up with a Service Magic number, but I don’t want to incur a charge to them by trying to contact ‘em.
Well, I’m going to give them a hand.
Tomorrow, I’ll add their brick-and-mortar information to this post, as well as a link to their web presence.
So far, I’ve put them in a status update on Facebook, Tweeted their name and now comes this blog post.
Then, I’ll use this post as my url and leave a few comments on some high-traffic blogs.
Let’s go to town with this one and see where we wind up.
Nowhere to go go but up!
All the best,
Chris
Picture this!
If you’ve not heard the term “freemium” you’ve more than likely at least participated in one.
Have a Flickr account?
I know, it’s free… but you can always upgrade once you’re addicted, I mean “acclimated.”
Think of it as a sea change in marketing or the biggest paradigm shift marketing has seen since television.
How so?
Well, instead of getting a piece of bourbon chicken on a toothpick to entice you to buy the entree at the food court, now, you get the meal but the drink or dessert are not free.
Make sense?
You’re reading a post on a WordPress blog right now.
These blogs are free to set up and you can take advantage of 95% of what they have to offer.
But down the road, you can pay for enhanced services like video hosting, which I’ve not chosen yet.
Instead, I like the idea of tying my social media real estate together by hosting video on YouTube and embedding videos in blog posts like this one.
Keep an eye out and you’ll start to see freemiums everywhere.
All the best,
Chris
In my “brick and mortar” position I spend countless hours working to establish a culture of web awareness and weave that into our corporate environment. It’s very enjoyable, but it requires consistent effort.
I send these emails out once in awhile to give everyone in the company a sense of involvement in our online efforts.
This, in turn, yields far more cooperation when I step outside the brick-and-mortar box.
In fact, I’ve gotten responses to some of these emails that have spurred blog posts yielding increased traffic!
From: Christopher Moline, LEED AP
Sent: Thursday, September 09, 2010 1:29 PM
To: [Everyone]
Subject: Web searches
Good afternoon gang [over 70],
Along with the absolutely stunning weather, I thought I’d pass along
some of what’s been happening online this morning.
What’s on our web customer’s minds?
Here’s a peek into just a few of the hundreds of searches from just this morning…
Onward and upward!
Chris
Christopher A. Moline,LEED AP
Residential Group Manager
Chief Blog-meister + Social Media-izer
BLOG WEB EMAIL FACEBOOK TWITTER
If you need immediate response, please call Elisha at (301) 440-3421.”
Note my email signature, which I’ve included for your benefit as well.
It includes hyperlinks to my blog, website, email, Twitter and Facebook presences.
That is another tool to keep the “webmindset” at the forefront of everyones mind.
Note also the “24-hour response” note… I’ll thank Tim Ferriss for that one!
All the best and let me know how it works for you,
Chris
Here is a short and sweet list of some of the most popular webmaster links and forum sources:
Drip Marketing professionals ask “why?!”
Because I told Amy Cosper… Entrepreneur Magazine‘s Editor, and @Aronado that I would.
And, my inner serial entrepreneur can’t resist a good business idea.
Just ask me about the time I beat a multi-billion dollar business to the web-url punch.
It’s just how I roll.
Besides, am I the only one who thinks “drip marketing” sounds like a way to sell venereal disease medication?
Of course, to get technical, here is Wikipedia on drip marketing:
“Drip Marketing is a communication strategy that sends, or “drips,” a pre-written set of messages to customers or prospects over time. These messages often take the form of E-mail marketing, although other media can also be used. Drip marketing is unique from other database marketing in two ways: (1) the timing of the messages follow a pre-determined course; (2) the messages are dripped in a series applicable to a specific behavior or status of the recipient.“
That said, I’ve been sorting through online material for some upcoming industry-specific presentations related to effecting social media plans for brick-and-mortar businesses. The name came up during an online “Ask The Editor” Ustream event with Amy and this is what happened.
Since I have years of experience as a business owner (and sold a successful business) I’ve found that being able to at once speak Web 2.0-ese AND sound business-speak has been very fruitful. Many who crave “startup crack” don’t have the real-world savvy to digest delivered sales reports and determine sales person effectiveness… much less look at PPC ROI to determine quarterly ad budgets.
And I believe the name will only be easier to convey and it sounds far better than “drip marketing”, although a little sexual inuendo never hurt anyone 
Here is a link to the video.
Cheers!
Chris
Chris Moline, LEED AP
@Webmindset
Move quickly online and you'll win
