RyanShell.com

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

Advertising on facebook

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I’ve had the opportunity to thoroughly test out facebook advertising and I think it should be a viable option for various types of companies, both big and small.

Why?

As marketing budgets are getting slashed, more and more businesses will be looking for less expensive ways to get their message out. Facebook is one of those options, no doubt about it.  Do keep in mind that facebook should not be your only source of advertising, nor should any other medium.

I recently spoke to Credit Union Journal about my experience with advertising on facebook and you can read the article here.  Seriously, read the article (has lots of info that I’m not going to recycle in this post).  It will give you some good insight into the world of facebook advertising.

Twitter: A “How to use it” Example

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“Twitter is great!  But how does my organization use it?”

That is a question I’ve heard from tons of folks lately.  Allow me to provide you with a simple example of how the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau (NOCVB) is using twitter.  The image below shows you a short tweet I did about going to New Orleans for Jazz Fest in April.  After making the tweet I received a response from the NOCVB about my upcoming trip – total surprise.  How cool is that? A conversation was started.

ryan shell on twitter

Twitter allows you to proactively reach out and create conversations with individuals that are talking about your industry, brand, cause, etc.  On the other hand, twitter is NOT somewhere you should spam people.  Don’t agree?  Do it and watch how quickly your “followers” number shrink.

Use twitter? I’m @ryanshell.

Launching the Greensboro Community Watch

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This is in regards to a new initiative I launched today.

“Greensboro, N.C. (March 16, 2009) – Crime.  It doesn’t discriminate and it happens in all parts of the city.  For years, residents of Greensboro have been proactively taking part in community watches and looking out for the area in which they live.  Unfortunately, even the most active watch typically stops once you get to the end of a neighborhood, and a new one might start somewhere down the road leaving a gap in the communication process.  Ryan Shell, a community activist, is launching the Greensboro Community Watch (GCW) in an effort to bridge this gap and to create a channel for critical information to be shared amongst residents.

“I’ve headed up the Southside Community Watch for just over a year now, and have had the opportunity to see how neighbors can successfully work together to reduce criminal activity,” said Shell.  “The one gaping hole that I’ve noticed is that a line of communication between the various watches is virtually nonexistent.  There is a clear opportunity to take our fight against crime one step further, and I believe the Greensboro Community Watch is that answer.”

Initially, Shell is urging neighborhood leaders and current community watch leaders to sign up for the program. To get started, simply visit GreensboroCommunityWatch.com and complete the short registration process.  Once individuals are signed up they will receive a welcome message that further explains how the process works, more importantly, how to report incidents happening in their respective neighborhood.

“I will distribute weekly emails, or as needed, to residents alerting them of trends that are being seen around the city,” said Shell.  “Crime tends to go in waves and if we can get ahead of those waves then a real difference could be made.”

The GCW will also have District Captains that will be very similar to that of typical community watch Block Captains.  Individuals interested in being a District Captain should contact Shell via the GCW Web site.

“This is a great form of community policing,” said Tim Bellamy, Greensboro’s chief of police.  “We can track down criminals all day, but the key to reducing crime is the preventative measures that can be put in place.  The concept of the Greensboro Community Watch will create awareness of what is happening all across the city and bridge gaps between young and old, rich and poor.”

To be clear, the Greensboro Community Watch does not intend to, and will not replace current community watches; it will simply be a resource that connects watches all throughout the city.”

GCW TV Coverage

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The Value of Social Media

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To put it simple, social media is cool.  Let me give you a little background information before I tell you why.  My New Years Resolution this year was to travel once a month, and I’m on par to this point.  Yesterday, on a whim, I decided that I was going to go to Charleston, SC this weekend, a decision that was partially made due to Priceline.com.
 
After tooling around on Priceline for a bit I successfully got a hotel room that normally runs around $300 per night for $90.  Once the purchase was made I logged into facebook to tell the world I just booked a trip to Charleston via Priceline (see below).

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Stay with me here because this could get a bit confusing.  I use facebook and twitter on a regular basis and have opted to allow my twitter account to be updated by the status updates I post on facebook (see below).  Still with me?  I basically streamline the posting process.  

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When I logged onto twitter yesterday afternoon, via my iPhone, I saw a @reply (message directly to me about something I posted) from Priceline (see below).

priceline

Never in a million years did I expect to receive a message from Priceline outside the normal “Thanks for purchasing” email, but I did… and it made me happy.  I’ve now told this story to multiple different people and am now posting it here.  Had Priceline not been on twitter they wouldn’t have received any word-of-mouth advertising from me… and they would simply be “another travel site.”  
 
See the value?

Unexpected facebook Comment – Adopt-A-Street

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commentI just received this comment on facebook  (www.imonfacebook.com)  from Fox 8 reporter Chad Tucker.  I must admit that I was rather excited that he took this shot, simply because I’ve never taken a photo of the sign.

When I adopted this portion of Lee St. (about a year ago) there were a bunch of old run down buildings down towards the Eugene St end, but they have sense been torn down and redevelopment plans are in the works.  The stretch of Lee that I adopted extends from Eugene up to Bennett, some of which is still questionable and what the police categorize as “gang territory.”

The Adopt-A-Street program is fantastic if you ask me, and I would encourage others to take part because a little effort can go a really long way.  If interested, you can get further details here.