Stop Jon: the ideas and observations of Jon Pederson

A Great Brewery, The Pike Brewing Co.

If you’ve ever enjoyed the XXXXX Stout or the Kilt Lifter then you know what I’m talking about when I say that Pike Brewery makes some great brews. So, this post is a tribute to them.

Last Summer I noticed that they didn’t own the very domain name that most people refer to them by… pikebrewery.com. As a courtesy to this great establishment, I decided to to register the domain name for them (before someone else did). I immediately called them up and told them that I had purchased the domain name for them, but their response was, “No thanks. We already have a website.” Ummm… wait. What?

Anyway, because they’re such a great company I thought I’d just give them a word of praise here, and then give you all a link over to their site.

And if you work at Pike Brewery (a.k.a. The Pike Brewing Co.) please feel free to contact me. I have your domain name.

Advertising: When Is Enough, Enough?

In most cases, I would tell people to never stop finding new creative ways to communicate with their customer, but the key word in this statement is “with,” and if it becomes interchangeable with the word “to” then you should have shut up a long time ago.

Ever get into a conversation with someone, and no matter how hard you try, there is just no polite way to indicate they are babbling on about something you have absolutely no interest in? Or, even worse, they keep going on trying to explain the same concept in as many ways they can think of, but are incapable of making sense? You’re stuck having to just be rude; telling them you have to go get your cat out of the dryer, or pickup your grandma from work. That’s what I’m talking about, so don’t be that guy. (more…)

Get Engaged, Now!

Digital Strategy – A Deeper Engagement on Every Level

The internet landscape has changed so much in the last decade. I networked with people all over the country back then; emailing lists and individuals… and lots of phone calls, but it was not to the scale it is now.

Today there are not only more methods of communication, both individually and socially, but there are more platforms for engaging with people. This opens the doors to meeting more people, and having more conversation, but it also forces us to realize we must have a strategy for managing this environment or become shallow and ineffective.

There are three main aspects of communication to include in your digital strategy:

1. Broadcast Messaging: this is proactively communicating with large groups of people with like interests who are truly interested in your message. This is where facebook pages/groups, corporate twitter accounts, discussion forums, blogs, marketing website, etc. play a key role.
2. Mass Engagement: responding to the open dialog created by groups of interested individuals. This is reactive involvement through, many of the same initiatives above, but segmented into subsets of people.
3. Personal Conversation: relationships are grown at this level; understanding both person’s needs, desires, challenges and opportunities, and working together for mutual benefit.

These three “levels” of communication can be applied to any digital strategy for internal and external corporate growth, or personal branding and marketing, and are necessary to engage on a deeper level. Depending on the goals of your strategy the value of any particular level will change, but if not identified you will be left spinning a lot of wheels and wasting a lot of time trying to find meaning in the social media noise out there.

I’m always helping companies and individuals develop their digital strategy so they know where to focus their energy, and identify their most valuable relationships. The methods of communication has changed dramatically in 10 years,  I would love to hear your experiences and feedback.

What I Learned From Some Chairs

I had two recent experiences with customer service for similar issues and the way they were handled was almost entirely opposite. I learned a lot about customer service, and what NOT to do in resolving issues.  It seemed more fitting for the Pondry company blog so I posted it over there.