RyanShell.com

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

Subway Cars = Marketing Opportunity

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As I continue my little life here in the big city, I’ve noticed various news stories highlighting budget problems for the state of NY and for organizations within the city.

One organization in particular plays a big part in many people’s lives, Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) – they run the subway system.

Last week MTA made service changes (meaning they cut some bus and subway routes) which was a big news item in the city. With the hubbub being made over their budget, I couldn’t help but ask myself one question?

“Why doesn’t the MTA sale ad space on the outside of the subway cars to generate revenue?”

I’d asked around to see if they’ve done this before, but no one seemed to know. [Note: transit and tour busses are wrapped with ads.] But funny enough, as the subway slowly crept up before coming to a stop at Union Square yesterday evening guess what I saw? One or two subway cars with an ad down towards the bottom part of the car.

“Ha” was my exact reaction after seeing the ad. I then of course thought to myself, “Why aren’t there more ads?” Sure the subways spend a lot of time in the dark, but when they pull up to where you are waiting you can’t help but notice the exterior ads. Imagine a giant Nike swoosh on the side of a car. That would stand out immediately and the brand would easily be recognized.

I’m sure there is a logical hurdle as to why this isn’t done on a more broad scale, but given budget issues… MTA, and organizations all around the world, will need to start thinking about how things can be done (and how to implement new ideas) a bit different in an effort to generate revenue.

Use Prezi to Create Awesome Presentations

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Herd of Prezi? If not, you are going to love it! It’s an online solution that allows you to make awesome shows for presentations. Bland boring slides are a thing of the past!

The story being told in this presentation is true (kept very brief), but I’ve simply tossed together a Prezi show to give you an idea of how it works (and I’m just scratching the surface).

What you will see below took me about 10 minutes to create. Click the right arrow to view the show correctly. Again, this is a test and I wasn’t trying to win any awards – just wanted to show you the tool.

Time Warner Cable Deserves Credit for Active Engagement

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I’ll be the first to admit that my relationship with Time Warner Cable over the years hasn’t consisted of a lot of love, but I have to take a moment and give the cable giant some props.

Yesterday while watching the Tour de France my TV screen kept freezing up and at times simply went black. This has been an ongoing issue so I did the only sensible thing (said with humor), I posted the following to Twitter from my @ShellandtheCity (strictly NYC stuff) account.

ShellandtheCity: Anyone else in NYC have problems with the Time Warner Signal going in and out so you get a black screen sometimes?

Within a matter of minutes I received a response from @TWCable help,

TWCableHelp: Is this affecting all televisions?

I was totally impressed with the fact that they were listening (I’m sure they have to do a lot of this) and were being proactive. I then responded and the following conversation ensued.

ShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp One, the only one I have.
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity If there’s a box on the account I can attempt to check the levels if you’d like.

ShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp OK. Can you look it up by my name?
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity As long as it’s a unique name. Account or phone number also work. Can DM info.

ShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp Sent DM.
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity Some of the levels are out of spec, will need a technician out. First available is 07/17 11am-2pm. ^BP

ShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp Not happening. Has to b in the evening & I’m not blocking 3 hrs of time. Did that when it was supposed to b set up. [Note: this is where proper training for online customer service reps becomes important.]
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity Can do 5-8pm same day; all time slots are 3 hour blocks. ^BP

ShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp I’ll give you a 1 hr block. That or you’ll need to credit my account for costing me such a large amount of time. [Sorry, can’t help but be annoyed with that.]
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity We don’t have 1 hour blocks. If you’d rather, I can schedule on an alternate day. ^BP

ShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp Sorry, that doesn’t work for me right now. Do you have 3 hrs of your time to waste for something that will take 5 minutes? [I set the bait, but was happy to see they didn’t address this.]
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity If there is someone else that is atleast 18, they may be at the residence in your place. ^BP

ShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp Would a doorman be an option? If so, I can see if they’d do that.
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity As long as they cant grant admittance to the residence. ^BP

ShellandtheCity: @TWCableHelp Ok. I’ll check and be in touch. Thanks.
TWCableHelp: @ShellandtheCity Certainly. To keep the appointment it is currently scheduled. If it needs to be changed please advise. ^BP

All and all I’d say this was a positive customer service experience. I’m always going to think there 3-hour window is obnoxious, but at least the agent worked through the issue and kept looking for solutions.

Time Warner Cable doesn’t get a lot of love from customers, and I don’t think they ever will, but it’s great to see them actively engaging customers and taking part in the online conversation.

Kudos to their efforts… but seriously, we have to work on that 3-hour window. Especially after I had to pay $25 for one of your techs to come “set up” my box only to leave without it being done properly. That’s an entirely different conversation though. 🙂

Location Based Services: It’s time to get Involved

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By now I think it’s safe to say that you’ve probably heard of location based services such as FourSquare and Gowalla.

At this point, if you’ve only heard of the services, but not actually used them… I need to share a gut feeling with you.

It’s time to get involved.

It’s time to start actively using one, or both, of the services and know what they have to offer. If you don’t, you’ll soon realize that you’ve fallen behind the curve.

I’m not going to lay out tons of reasons why you should care about the services, but I will give you one using FourSquare as an example.

You’ve probably heard about badges and things of that nature, but I see a big value in the tips feature.

Basically, the service allows businesses and users to provide tips for people that check-in at certain locations. I’ve started to see more and more tips popup, and I think they are very useful.

Why?

Imagine that you’re visiting XYZ location and you check-in with FourSquare. Upon doing so a tip pops up on your phone that says, “Do [insert great tip] while at XYZ.”

You now have an instant travel tip being provided by a local or someone that has already been to the location you just checked-in at. Think of the tips as your personal travel guide.

For example, here’s a tip I added to FourSquare for people that check-in at a certain part of Central Park.

“Make your way down the path behind Sheep’s Meadow towards the West and look for the retro roller skating rink. If the skaters are out you’ll love the show!”

As a person living in a new city I find lots of value in the tips… and think they will be something that continues to grow in popularity.

If you haven’t experimented with a location based service, you need to go ahead and do so. Facebook will be jumping in the game sooner or later, and when that happens… heck, I don’t know what that will do, but it could be a game changer.

Increase Your Hustle / Get the most out of the Day

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My recent move to New York City is forcing me to change how I do certain things and manage my time very carefully.

While living in Greensboro, NC I stayed extremely busy, and time management was also crucial, but it’s just different in the city.

Everything happens faster.

There’s more opportunity.

And there’s just more going on – period.

Shortly after exiting the subway this morning my schedule for the day came to mind, and then I thought to myself, “I’ve got to start getting the absolute most out of every day.”

It’s not at all that I’m lacking motivation or am not doing things, but it’s more about fitting 12 things in one day rather than 10 (just an example).

Funny enough, when I received Wednesday afternoon’s HARO from Peter Shankman (We still need to ride by the way!) I read his note that said,

“Quick tip: How to improve your hustle by 10%:
http://shankman.com/five-ways-to-increase-your-hustle-by-10/”

His list doesn’t perfectly match my thought process from this morning, but he makes some good points that are worth highlighting. If anything below catches your attention, give Peter’s full post a read for more info.

  • Talk to three people you haven’t spoken to in a while – Hint – Facebook makes it super easy
  • Get off your ass
  • Go drop some money on something cool
  • Change the scenery
  • Take on a pro-bono client

Each item he highlighted has to do with creating momentum, which I feel is very important. Without momentum I’d not be getting off the subway thinking, “I’ve got to start getting the absolute most out of every day.”

I’ll do a second post on this topic down the road and highlight things I’ve learned that help me save time (Like recording blog post, or main points, while riding my bike)