MindComet

A lesson in listening. Why Shakey’s Pizza rocks!

Are you a fan of Shakey’s pizza? Well, pop star Katy Perry is. In fact, she recently tweeted that she was hoping for a b-day shout-out from Shakey’s Pizza on one of their store front signs.

To provide a bit of backstory, Shakey’s had already established a Twitter presence and, with social media monitoring help from MindComet, were actively listening to mentions about their brand on Twitter. So when this opportunity presented itself, Shakey’s was already there, ready to go. They reacted quickly and had one of their LA locations change out the sign to say “Happy Birthday Katy Perry”. A photo was snapped and posted to Twitter.

This was a few days ago and unfortunately Katy Perry hasn’t responded to the tweet (yet). However, Holly Madison, star of The Girls Next Door, saw it and sent out her own tweet.

That’s what I like to call PURE GOLD. As a result of her tweet, the shout-out photo currently has over 7,000 views and that number is still growing as I author this post. Add that to the fact that Holly Madison publicly called Shakey’s Pizza one of her favorite things to over 230,000 of her followers! I suppose you could have Holly eat a slice of Shakey’s on Dancing with the Stars, but I’m thinking her tweet was alot cheaper (FREE) and less messy.

So I ask you, when opportunity knocks for your brand will you be listening?

BTW, please help me get the word to Katy by retweeting this tweet. I’d hate to see her miss her birthday wish.

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Oct. 26, 2009

The sore thumb approach to social media

Getting noticed paves the way for progress. It opens doors. This is true in love, work and almost any other activity in life, including social media.

It’s easy to be a “me too”. I’m guilty of it. The problem is, “me too’s” don’t get noticed. You need to stick out, like a sore thumb.

So ask yourself, what do you have to offer that is unique to you? What sets you apart?

The answer to that question is your social media strategy.

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Oct. 08, 2009

Thoughts on how to improve Google Sidewiki

Sidewiki has already made a splash… although adoption is fairly minimal, the blogosphere is already starting to buzz about it.

This post isn’t intended to spark a discussion about whether this is brandjacking on the part of Google or generally fair to site owners. There are plenty of other places for that.

I would, however, like to offer a couple of suggestions that I think would make Sidewiki a more useful tool and perhaps help to quiet the storm that’s brewing online.

For one, I don’t like how all the comments are presented in descending order, based on time/date added. There is one exception that allows site owners to keep their comments at the top of the wiki, however for the most part, Sidewiki’s look like a jumbled mess of disjointed thoughts, NOT a conversation. It seems as though threading would make sense here. Suppose I am the owner of a site selling apples and someone complains, via Sidewiki, that my apples suck. This comment is now attached to my site. Shouldn’t I, as the site owner, be allowed to respond to the comment and have my response physically positioned next to the original comment. If my response documents me trying to save the relationship by making it right, shouldn’t that be made apparent to the reader? On the flip side, if I tell you to go to hell because you obviously don’t know the first thing about apples, shouldn’t that also be apparent as well? Isn’t that type of “conversation” exactly what makes social media so powerful?

I’ve included a little mock up of a Sidewiki “thread” that shows a response. Notice that the site owner is visually distinct from other commenters.

In summary, maybe Sidewiki should become more of a Sideforum.

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Oct. 06, 2009

Breaking and Friending - the folly of the Facebooking thief

Just how stupid can one be?

A 26 year old italian man answered that question this weekend. The unnamed man was arrested for burglary after he logged into Facebook while breaking into the house of 52 year old, Albano Laziale. After Mr. Laziale reported the crime, officers noticed the computer was still on. The victim touched the mouse and the still logged-in Facebook page of the burglar popped up. DOH!

Authorities simply went to the burglars house, arrested him and found items stolen from Mr. Laziale.

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Posted by Jeremy Hilton on Oct. 05, 2009