RyanShell.com

Marketing, public relations, social media... and a little of this and that.

Facebook Places Walkthrough

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Facebook Places has launched and you’ve probably heard a lot about it at this point. What you may not have done is actually used the new location based service. Here’s a quick photo walkthrough of what you can expect.

This photo is what it looks like when you check in using Facebook Places on the iPhone.

This is how the check in will look on your profile and in the timeline on Facebook.

All location check ins will be lumped in on a community page, which is kind of a cool feature.

At the bottom of each community page there’s an option for business owners to claim their page. When that’s done the community pages change over to standard Facebook pages… which causes a bit of confusion.

If business X already has a page, but claims the community page, it becomes a typical Facebook page. Confused yet? Basically, it seems like theres going to be a way to link community pages to “official” pages so that businesses don’t end up having two pages. Sorry, I’m not sure there’s a very easy way to explain that.

At first glance it seems like Facebook Places is going to be pretty cool – especially when you get a mass number of people in one location.

The Marketing Community: A Different Type of LinkedIn Group

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I’ve done several posts about LinkedIn that highlight things that I (and many others) don’t necessarily love about the site, but I’ve decided to “put up or shut up” and try to do something to help the situation.

Allow me to introduce you to  The Marketing Community on LinkedIn – a group that is meant for discussion, sharing, collaboration, etc… but it has one simple rule that will help combat the problems so many have voiced about the sites groups.

From the welcome page,

“Welcome to The Marketing Community, an all encompassing group for the profession on LinkedIn! This group will probably be a bit different than most groups you are part of so please read this information carefully.

The Marketing Community is a place for marketing professionals to come together and discuss things of importance, join in on conversations and to share things that will be helpful to others.

Here’s the point of differentiation that’s really important…

It is requested that you not share links to your business or website, or pitch your own product. Doing so will result in removal from the group. That’s no fun, so please stick to the one rule and all will be well!

The purpose of having that rule is to ensure that we create a community that is about sharing, not self promoting and constant pitching.

Ask questions. Share articles. Answer questions. Debate. All of those things (and more) are encouraged – just stick to the one rule and add your touch of awesomeness to the group.

If this sounds refreshing as a new pair of underwe… I mean socks (never mind)… please join this group and become an active member. Membership will be limited to 200 people at first in an effort to create the sense of community we are looking to establish.

One last thing. Please don’t join this group just to say you did. Join it to help create something different on LinkedIn.

Talk to you on the inside.”

The group, and the one rule, have received a great response thus far. If you’d like to be part in this little project feel free to join by clicking here.

“What’s Next” with the “Like” and “Tweet” Button?”

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“The “Like” button and now the “Tweet” button will soon be on virtually every web page and blog post you see, but we may have a missed opportunity sitting right under our noses.

Where else could those buttons, or something similar, be placed? Allow me to toss out an idea.”

That’s from an article I wrote over at Social Media Today – one that I really think you’ll want to read. It answer’s the question of “What’s Next” and I think it highlights a great call to action at a time that you have your audience engaged.

The post is titled “What’s Next” with the “Like” and “Tweet” Button?” Click here to give it a read.

21C Museum Hotel and Email Follow-up

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I was in Louisville, Kentucky on Monday for business and had the great pleasure of staying at 21C Museum Hotel. It’s been rated the #1 hotel in the states by Conde Nast and I believe they also gave it the nod for #6 in the world. Needless to say, it has flavor.

Anyway, this isn’t an advertisement for the hotel, but I do want to highlight an email campaign that they have as a post stay follow-up. The email itself isn’t glamorous, but it is totally fitting for the hotel. Here’s what they send out.

“Dear Ryan Shell,

Thank you for staying at 21C Museum Hotel.

We just have to know…Did you love us?

And more importantly…Will you be back?

You see, for us, that’s a biggie. Each day we strive to win new fans for 21c and we always want to ensure our loyal fans keep coming back.

Please take a moment to complete this brief survey to let us know if we succeeded… and (gulp) if we didn’t, where we fell short.

Click here to take survey

Your feedback will receive immediate attention as we work to improve 21C Museum Hotel. You’ll also be helping us plan and design future 21c’s so we’re eager to hear what you think. And while you’ve got our ear, you’re welcome to ….join our facebook group, share your experience on Trip Advisor, or simply help us stay in touch with you through our mailing list.

Sincerely,

Michael Bonadies
President & CEO
21c Museum Hotels”

I really like how it’s written in a down to earth style and just like the hotel itself, the email has a unique flavor. The last paragraph could have been structured a bit different, but all and all they are on the right path.

Now for the fun stuff – a few photos from inside the hotel.