Gary Vaynerchuk; great marketer, good guy.
Gary Veynerchuk just created a “day.” I guess that is what you would call it. No he didn’t creat April 3rd, 2008, but he did create “Good People Day ’08.” What does that mean? Well I don’t really know, but what I do know is that it’s a great idea, and a great marketing tool.
Yesterday Gary asked his fanbase on twitter, facebook, wherever to help spread the word on his newest video. The idea presented in the video was that he was thankful for the good people out there. That the good people will be who succeed in this new tech world and that the good people need to be pointed out and thanked. He urged people to blog about the good people in there life, in the tech world, and just spread the word on who should be rewarded for being a good person.
Well I think that it’s a good idea to spread the love and for Gary V. it’s a great marketing tool. He has been spreading his name, growing his brand, and most of all just being a genuine guy. I’ve never met him, but he just comes across as a guy who takes time for others, through his twitter, through his IM convos, etc. He’s not above the commenters on his blog, or the people that send him twitter messages. I mean, I’ve gotten two IM’s and a twitter reply from him, not bad for a guy who said that yesterday he recieved 500 IM’s in 5 seconds! So if you think about it, all Gary Vaynershuck is doing is sharing his ideas and his insight with others. Why is he doing it? Well I think it’s just who he is, but as a bonus it’s helping him get to know new people and also grow his personal brand.
So today, on Good People Day ’08, lets just think about those that have helped us out. Those who have helped us become who we are today and that have been genuine people. Be it friends, family, co-workers, mentors, whatever. The good people in our lives are the ones who make the biggest impact on us and help us to grow into who we are. So to all the “good people” out there, thanks for the impact you have made in my life.
Corvallis > Seattle?
Other than Corvallis having a better restaurant (Local Boyz) and a better baseball and football team’s (Oregon State), there’s not to much I would say Corvallis beats Seattle in.
However, Fortune has just announced that Corvallis is the 48th best place to “Live and launch a company in 2008.“ I have known some great companies to be founded, created, and launched in Corvallis, but wow I just am still not used to seeing Corvallis mentioned in a financial magazine like Fortune.
To see that Seattle is not even on the list seems a little crazy to me. Especially with Bellevue being names the number 1 city on the list! Bellevue is a great city if you’re into living in the ‘burbs, but it just seems that Seattle is such a better city for finding and keeping the young tech savvy workers happy. Other notable cities in the Northwest, Portland (#6), Bellingham (#26), Eugene (#96, Yes, the Beavers win).
HT: John Cook’s Blog
Facebook needs to speed up.
- 30 minutes- Time it takes Google to notice that I have a new blog post and index it.
- 30 seconds- Time it takes for a typical email to be sent to someone I know.
- 2 seconds- Time it takes for Twitter to update my tweets and send them out.
- 1 second- Time it takes to send an IM
- 1 WEEK!- Time it takes for facebook to tell me that someone wrote on my wall.
This is ridiculous and it seems like it should be a major concern for facebook and the people who have invested hundreds of millions of dollars. As others have notices, the instantanious connection that twitter provides should really make facebook consider how they are doing things on their site. Yes, they provide a much larger news feed of what your friends are doing, but if the news is on pace with a weekly magazine, how relevant is it in the world we live in today?
It sounds like facebook will be launching an on site IM service on Monday which will allow people to chat with other people who are online. This will be a nice service, but I am surprised that it is so far up on the priority list for Mark Zuckerberg and Co. With so many people already on AIM, MSN, GChat, and the many other services that work with eachother and can be used without being logged onto a specific site I don’t see facebook’s service taking off that quickly. Yes, it will work. Yes, I’ll probably use it a few times. But no, it won’t make me stay logged into facebook all day long.
What facebook should be doing is working on speeding up their news feed as well as how quickly they notify you of new messages and wall posts. I don’t live on facebook because there isn’t enough of a stream of new information being sent through my news feed. When someone writes on my wall, if I don’t find out about it for a week then the chances of that message being relevant in todays world of connectivity are very very slim.
Facebook needs to stay on top of the game if they wanto ever cash in on their $15B valuation.
Why I’m now a fan of twitter
I signed up for twitter over a year ago, yet after I had tried it out for a few weeks I lost interest in the tool. It struck me as something that was easily replaced by Facebook’s status section and that since I had more friends on Facebook than I had on Twitter, why continue to use Twitter. I even hade Facebook on my Blackberry for easy updating and tracking of other friends facebook activities.
However, over the last few weeks I have come to realize that twitter is not only a powerful tool for communicating online and via your cell phone, but that it is also a much better way of getting you casually connected with alot of people who you would not meet or become friends with on facebook. Most of the people who I “follow” on Twitter, I have never met in person, and would not consider them my friends. I follow Ben Bernanke, Jim Cramer, Guy Kawasaki, and that is just a few of the people I follow that I otherwise would have no “access” to in the real world, or even meaningful contact with on Facebook.
The reason that I am now enjoying twitter is that I have started to follow people who are smarter and more connected than I am, as well as the few actual friends I do have on twitter. I now get interesting articles sent my way, keep in the know about web/tech happenings, and get to see what some of the smartest most succesful people in the tech industry are working on and thinking about. I don’t follow anybody that starts following me and this helps keep my feed down to a managable ammount of information that I consistantly find interesting.
If you’re on twitter, or join, let me know!
After the jump a good video by Gary Vaynerchuk, one of the guys who I am really enjoying following on twitter, on why facebook needs to adapt or get passed by twitter. A good take, and if you head over to his site check out his other videos there is some good stuff in there.
Things I hope Starbucks announces today
I know most people usually do this with Steve Jobs, but I’m a big fan of Starbucks and am really looking forward to the coming announcements from Howard on what the future holds for Starbucks.
Here are the things I am hoping to see unveiled today. Some I think we might see, some might be wishful thinking.
- Clover’s in every Starbucks. Or at least in higher volume stores. (The Clover is a machine that Starbucks has been test marketing in a few stores in Seattle and Boston that makes a fresh coffee press in 1 minute. It makes great brewed coffee that is similar to a french press.)
- Anew customer loyalty plan of some kind. Not a typical buy 10 get 1 free, but hopefully something new and innovative.
- More coverage. It’s a tough move to make, but Howard Behar made the move when he was working with Howard and it certainly paid off. Having more than 2 people actually working of the first hour and and last hour of operations seems to be key.
- An actual make your own Starbucks Card, not just put a few words in a template.
- That they will close….(I don’t know 75%?) of their license stores when the contracts run out. It would take awhile for this to take place, but it has to start somewhere. It has ruined the coffee experience and guided people in the direction of not seeing a difference between Starbucks and McDonalds coffee.
I think those would be some good first steps and I hope to see something along those lines later today. Any other ideas?
Two of my favorite things should come together.
Tomorrow is the Starbucks Annual Meeting, which I really wish I was going to. I’m a shareholder, but with just recently taking a vacation, decided I should be at work, rather than checking out what Howard talks about tomorrow. He’s typically not rolling out as many new and noteworthy things as Steve Jobs, but since it is his first meeting since retaking his role as CEO, it may be the biggest meeting in recent history.
Then this coming Thursday is the beginning of March Madness. The best sporting event of the year that typically does not have Oregon State in it. With the tournament comes office pools and many many brackets being filled out, distributed, and talked about with almost every person you know. I have what I think is my final bracket, but with UCLA having two potential game changing injuries, I may have to change it again tomorrow.
As there is a rumor that Starbucks may be unveiling a customer loyalty program tomorrow it got me thinking as to what this program can, will, and should look like.
About Otis
I live in Seattle, Washington. I am passionate about working with and interacting with others. My work experience includes marketing, account management, and sales.
I am a huge sports fan who on top of cheering for my favorite teams (Go Beavs!) also appreciates coaching strategy, as well as the marketing behind teams, players, and events.
Personally, I enjoys exploring new cities and areas (particularly small towns) and getting outside and playing.