The Blog of Hans Eisenman

Dell Outlet Made $3 Million Through Twitter

Here's some ROI (return on investment) data from Dell regarding their use of Twitter.  I think this is more money than Twitter itself has made from Twitter!

How Dell Outlet utilizes Social Conversations to generate revenue « Random Thoughts of a Boston-based CTO: John Moore’s Weblog.

What return on investment have you seen for Dell Outlet by investing in social channels? In addition to revenue (we announced in June that we surpassed $3 million from @DellOutlet Twitter links alone), we have also benefitted greatly from the increase in awareness. The press we’ve received has helped us put Dell Outlet on the radar of many potential customers that would not have otherwise know about us. While it’s not something we can replicate, I think it illustrates the importance of always looking for innovative ways to approach new media and new technologies. There are many opportunities to be “first” or “best” if you keep your eyes peeled. Combine that with a great Corporate Communications team, and enjoy the ride!

SEO expert says that participation in Social Media and sending "daily press releases" will be key when Google rolls out their new way of managing search results (Google is releasing a new version of their search engine, dubbed Caffeine, and it's coming very soon).

The Google Phone Is Coming to Change the Game

If this is true, it probably really is "huge".  Apple knocked the cell phone ball out of the park due in no small way to the fact that they take developmental ownership for the whole enchilada--hardware and software.   This is their m.o. in everything they create really. 

Contrast this with Microsoft.  They just do software and some would say not all that well.  I've often wondered what would happen if Microsoft built hardware to go with their software.  Would the whole package be more stable - as stable as the Mac typically is?  Would there be as many nooks and crannies for hackers and their ilk to exploit?

In any case, I look forward to Google's phone, assuming it sees the light of day at all and this whole rumor us true to begin with.  My prediction, based on Google's track record in general and what my techie friends are saying about the Droid, is that Google's cell phone with bill a huge hit.

The Google Phone Is Coming to Change the Game | Technomix | Fast Company.

If Google is, as TC thinks, paying even more hands-on attention to how the phone works than they allegedly did with Moto's Droid, it'll be the most pure, unadulterated Android experience out there--something akin to the marriage between hardware and OS that makes the iPhone tick. With Google's giant name behind their own phone, and Android OS garnering much positive attention from users and developers, the phone could have a similar impact on the smartphone market as the iPhone did.

Making Programming Ideas A Reality

Social Network Ad Spend Surging

Here's some interesting news about how much ad spending is increasing in the world of social media.  Having just been added to the advisory board of a new social media venture, this was very interesting.  Social media is going to keep on keepin' on and without question is an upward trend, not a fad.

Sites will come and go, just as any ventures in any other business category do.  But social media is here to stay for as long as people continue to communicate with other people (and if that stops, we are in big, big trouble!).

Social Network Ad Spend Surging - InternetNews.com.

Advertisers have more than doubled the amount of money they're spending on social networking Web sites since last year, according to a new analysis from market researcher the Nielsen Company. The roughly $108 million advertisers spent on social sites like Facebook and MySpace in August marked a 119 percent increase from the same month last year. Nielsen estimated that social networking sites now account for 15 percent of all online ad spending.

First Images: BlackBerry Watch is FOR REAL! | CrackBerry.com

Blackberry watch for those times when you can't pull out the BB but know you got a message (like you're in a meeting, or driving).  Pretty cool idea actually.

First Images: BlackBerry Watch is FOR REAL! | CrackBerry.com.

Upgrade from Tiger to Leopard

Finally found somewhere on the Apple website that explains what a Mac OSX Tiger user should do to upgrade his machine.  The latest Snow Leopard version of the Mac operating system is getting so much attention on their site that it's eclipsing everything else.

Here's an image with the link and information:

The link to the Mac Box Set is here: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC209Z/A

Basically you're looking at an "affordable" $169 upgrade if you're moving from Tiger to Snow Leopard.  I haven't been able to find any links which allow one to move from Tiger to Leopard more affordably and thus allow one to take advantage of the $39 upgrade from Leopard to Sno.

Win new clients by optimizing your LinkedIn profile keywords

Here's a way to use LinkedIN to attract new clients and generate leads for your business.

The LinkedIn Blog » Blog Archive Win new clients by optimizing your LinkedIn profile keywords «.

Never underestimate the power of social networking. When I first signed up for a LinkedIn account, it was primarily to network with peers in my area. I am now a small business owner who utilizes LinkedIn as a means to help gain customers outside of our local geographical area.

How Your Competitors May Use Social Media to Leave You In The Dust

Social Media really IS turning the business-to-customer on its head and this process is only beginning.  The businesses which embrace this are going to stay ahead of this chaos as it happens.  But if, as a business,  you're afraid of change or too set in your ways, you're liable to regret it later when your competitors take a giant leap ahead by setting themselves apart.

Let's say you're a dentist (this is fresh on my mind because I just visited a great one here in town and am still convalescing a little from their excellent work).  The usual dental business model is like a lot of others: attract patients (customers), do the work, they leave, you follow-up at some point or schedule a follow-up right there.  That's the way it's been being done for years and years, with some slight variations.

What's missing from this equation?  It's the same thing missing from a lot of businesses out there: getting an honest answer from that customer on how they really felt about the service or product.  The customers truth about that service or product, if you will.

But can businesses "handle it"?
Does this idea make you feel a little uncomfortable?  It might and I'd be surprised if it didn't because businesses have not been all that good about bellying up to that particular bar.   When was the last time someone at a company really asked you for your honest opinion about a service they delivered to you, in a way that you were happy to tell them because you could see they handle the truth?  Ever?  (Note: I'm not talking about the constrained surveys that only let you numerically assign values to service or your likeliness to buy or recommend.  I'm talking about real, braindump, unedited type responses, because that's what people are able to dishout now, via their own media channels (blogs, Twitter, Facebooke, etc.), if they so choose.

Social media, if it's doing anything else in the market place is starting to tear down the walls between businesses and the minds of their customers.  Not only does the emperor not have any clothes on, but his subjects are willing to tell him and can with relative impunity.

As more and more people realize they have venues like UserVoice, Get Satisfaction and others like them (see article below), honest answers about your services and products will begin to flow out into the world, whether you like it or not.

The best thing businesses could do is embrace this fully and early as possible and build "get honest answers" mechanisms into their existing customer/patient management processes.  The sooner they do this the sooner they will also ensure that they are protecting their herd or tribe from poaching businesses.  (After all, the ease with which customers can now get information means they have so many more choices than ever before.)

Embrace this change before your competitors do and you'll give your cusotmers/patients one more reason to stick with you, in addition to your already excellent services and products.  Any business can do it.  It doesn't matter what you sell.

One more thing: there is a huge added advantage here, in addition to letting a customer know you hear what s/he has to say: the feedback will give you ideas for how to improve and, if you use them, will ensure that you stay on top of your game.  Nothing wows a customer like seeing one of his/her suggestions in place when s/he returns for the next visit.

Companies who don't embrace this are going to find themselves being talked about whether they like it or not (because anyone can publish these days).  Sooner or later that will happen and it's always harder to handle that sort of thing reactively.  Get proactive.  Start this process now.

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How Social Media is Upending the Enterprise | Fast Company.

The power of social media has empowered the consumer to reach literally hundreds or thousands of people in seconds. And because we know a consumer’s closest friends are three to five times more likely to share the same preferences for products and brands, this newfound power is not to be underestimated.  ...

The challenge for companies is figuring out how to manage this. A conversation could start with a tweet, be directed to a help forum, be responded to in email, updated in a blog post, and then broadcast on Facebook. How will this be tracked, measured and monitored? This market is ripe with opportunity for both brands and software platforms built to nurture the distributed web-wide conversation.

Cell Phone Use, Brain Cancer

Cell phone use, brain cancer...these are two words you don't really want to hear in the same sentence.

Here's my problem with this topic (see quote at end from Mercola.com, the popular health website).  On the one hand, it seems sensible enough that cell phone use could be causing a rise in brain tumors/cancer.  You get surgeons who are "reporting more cases of brain tumors/cancer than before", cell phone use is on the rise, peer-reviewed journals and all sorts of really credible sounding stuff.

However, there's one piece of information that doesn't seem to match up and I think it's an important one. 

If cell phones have been going up and up in use since, let's say 1992 or so (when I purchased my first cell phone-pictured above), shouldn't the rate of cancer be climbing as well, even if it's on a 10 year delay?  

Well, according to the Cancer Institute, it's dropping!