Just watched a short video by Scott Ginsberg last Friday entitled Heard From versus Heard About. Looking for how you've turned that corner? Or what you recommend?

Hey Steve, would't happen to have a link to that video would you? I think many people could benefit from it.

For us, going from being heard to being heard about actually requires a push from us to tell our customers to talk about us. It sounds silly to ask a customer to talk about you, but word of mouth is the best advertising. Offer an affiliate program if needed, but many customrs will do it for free as they too want you to be successful just like them.

We're all in it together in the hosting business. As a host becomes successful, they get better equipment, more staff and HOPEFULLY do not lose sight of who brought them to that level. We try to give back to our customers any chance we get, and even when buying things online, I try to buy from customers before searching the web. This speaks volumes for customer loyalty.

KNOWING your customers, and I mean really knowing them by name, family members or lifestyle etc is a HUGE benefit. Being able to relate to them in any manner is part of a good salesman, but caring is something different. Finding out that they had a death in the family, and sending a condolence card is something they do appreciate.

Sending out gifts (t-shirts, hats, mugs) or just a card to say thank you at a random time is welcomed by many and often gets THEM to talk about YOU when they say "look what my host sent me out of the blue"

Here is Scott's site - I highly recommend checking it out.
http://www.nametagtv.com/

Going to check out the video, thanks for sharing the link Steve

Thanks for the link - it's got some great videos! Had a blast going through them here today. I didn't find the "being heard versus being heard about". I would have figured it to be in Marketing, but I couldn't find it.

Was there a different title to it?

Since I've just started a business, I'm still very much in the Heard From phase
The link's very good, but I too was not able to find the specific video.

Scott is also on the St. Louis Small Business Monthly webiste which I read daily. I haven't been able to locate that specific video again, but Scott has a full library of this stuff.

Steve this is a great resource. I'll check it out. I had a datacenter that I was doing sales & marketing consulting for. They were looking to enter into the online market from being almost solely local. We had to move boxes without having any reputation online. The best way to do this as many knows is to provide great customer service and do some crazy promotions to get clients in a mood to try it out. Word of mouth is difficult to gain if you have no customers to spread the word in a particular segment.

Thanks for the update Steve. I'll have to do some hunting on google or maybe drop the guy a note and see what other gems he's hiding. I LOVE the fact that his videos are less than 3 minutes. I don't have time for a 10 minute presentation. Give me the facts, get me out.

And yet, somehow I end up typing novels when I answer forums

I was searching google for the video and can not find it. Anyone got a link?

Found some stuff for you Romes;

http://www.youtube.com/user/hellomynameisscott

The actual video is "Brain Candy" and can be found at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irm55BOpOpg

I'd love to sit down with this guy for 30 minutes and just pick his brain. I do a lot of the same type thinking and application in consulting, but his way of public speaking and motivational speaking is something I will struggle with for years to harnes!

Thanks handsonhosting, I am gunna watch the video right now!

Thanks Conor for the Brain Candy link - apparently what I took from the video was the Heard From versus Heard About rather than brain candy versus eye candy. Not that I'm opposed to eye candy.

Great videos, thanks for the link.

Thanks for the link Conor.
Very useful stuff.