The wildly popular Serial podcast has a lone sponsor, MailChimp, an email marketing service provider. Quartz declared this sponsorship the “year’s biggest marketing win” (AdAge also deemed it a “big win”). Every episode opens with a 20-second ad for the company (listen below or here): The mispronunciation of the company name as “MailKimp” spawned a popular meme […]
Sitdowns With Startups Episode 5: PostPost
Twitter can be an amazing source for relevant, interesting and timely content (and much more). However, trying to keep up with your stream can feel a bit like drinking from a firehouse at times. With tweets scrolling by at a rapid pace, it can be easy to miss a fair amount even while monitoring the […]
Riding The (Social Media) Wave
I often hear small business owners skeptical of using social media asking for concrete examples of how the medium can benefit their bottom line. I had an experience recently that clearly demonstrates how the effective use of social media can drive incremental business and increase revenues. Like a lot of folks in New England, water […]
@RedSox Social Media Focus Group
Last week I participated in a Twitter focus group held by the Red Sox. Two fellow participants, Jeff Esposito and Stephanie Silverstein, recently posted recaps on their blogs (Jeff’s, Stephanie’s). I thought I’d share some of my thoughts about the experience as well. Here goes… The phrase “Necessity is the mother of all invention” quickly […]
United Breaks Guitars…Chrysler Dealer Breaks My Spirit
Like most people, I loathe the car-buying experience. I have purchased a handful of automobiles in my life and while I’ve never enjoyed the process, the frustration my wife and I endured buying our first “family car” (a minivan) in 2008 took things to a whole other level. Unfortunately, our interactions with the dealership have […]
Thank You #BlogChat!
I am constantly astounded by the willingness of people I encounter via social media to help a complete stranger without the expectation of personal gain or even asking for reciprocity. Tom Martin, who was both generous with his time and forthcoming with his advice for me, said in a recent blog post that “Giving is the […]
For What It’s Worth (FWIW)
For What It’s Worth is a recurring feature on my blog in which I give my thoughts on a variety of topics in quick-hit fashion. You can visit previous installments here and here. The Thank You Economy I recently read Gary Vaynerchuk’s book, The Thank You Economy. As I tweeted while reading it, “Perhaps @garyvee‘s […]