Tech IT Easy

May 28, 2009

An interview of a web marketing strategist: Michelle Greer

Filed under: Consulting, Entertainment, Friends, USA, blogging, entrepreneurship, marketing, twitter, web2.0 — Tags: blogger, interview, michelle greer, twitter, web marketing — Jeremy Fain @ 01:33

My cofounder at Verteego Rupert and I met Michelle Greer in the line to the TechCrunch Party during last December’s crappy LeWeb Conference in Paris. Michelle was the sunshine of at-that-time very cloudy Paris for us: we could discuss blogs (see Michelle’s blog), Twitter (follow Michelle here), hot startups, online business models, web marketing, as well as music, France, the US, blablabla

Since then, Michelle being based in Austin, Texas, we’ve been keeping in touch and I couldn’t resist introduce you guys to Michelle Greer, a great professional as well as an amazing person. Plus, I’ve become lazy writing blogs just myself with me and I, so here Michelle goes:

- Hey Michelle, could you please introduce yourself?
My name is Michelle Greer and I am a web marketing strategist here in Austin, Texas.  I love good movies, traveling, funny people, skiing, tennis, yoga, and using the web to connect people.

- what is it to be a web marketing specialist? The web has become such a broad universe: what exactly are your areas of expertise?
I’d say my specialties are copywriting, community building and social media.  Whenever I write something, I think, “What would my intended audience want to share with other people?”  I also understand social networking tools well, so I like using them to create fun campaigns for people.
- who are your typical clients: startups? large corporations? …
I don’t like the bureaucracy of large companies.  The money isn’t worth it because you can’t accomplish anything without six people’s approvals.  I also don’t like how most large companies do business, because it’s about growth instead of value.  Right now I am in charge of the Twitter contests for @NameCheap and marketing for Interspire, a community-built software company used by small businesses around the world.  They aren’t complete startups, but I have access to the CEOs, and I like that.
- what value do you bring to your clients: traffic? revenue? search engine optimization? improved conversion rate? enhanced visibility on social networks?
Customer service is the new marketing.  I as a marketer am one person.  Whether its NameCheap or Interspire, if I make customers insanely happy and then ask them to leave reviews online, they’ll do it.  The advantage of using someone like me is that I value being able to sleep at night knowing that I did a good job over pure cash, and customers know that.  It’s amazing how many companies do not understand that if you just take care of people, they want to see you succeed and they’ll send you customers and leave good reviews for you online if you ask them to.
- what is your secret sauce: what makes people absolutely want to work with you and no one else?
I can speak geek and speak to normal people.  It’s important in my line of work and most software salespeople and marketers are very deficient in their technical knowledge.  I also enjoy pushing the boundaries of what people think social media is for.  It’s not about talking–it’s about doing!
- you have become quite a famous blogger: how did you come to blogging?
I hated my job at the time and wanted to get my name out there.  My boss would rewrite everything I wrote, even though he knew nothing about writing.  I felt like I had nothing to show for myself.
- do you think micro blogging has killed or will kill blogging?
No.  If you look at what is often tweeted, it is links to blog posts.  There’s only so much you can say in 140 characters.
- what are your 3 favorite blogs and why?
This is hard.  I like gapingvoid.com, mashable.com, and treehugger.com.  I will probably think of six more immediately after sending this interview.
Thank you for your time Michelle! Looking forward to seeing you in person again, in Texas maybe?
Michelle Greer was interviewed by Jeremy, who didn’t get paid for it! Look, Tech IT Easy isn’t even mentioned in Michelle’s favorites… ;)

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2 Comments »

  1. Thanks for the interview, Jeremy. Hopefully I can make Paris again in better weather so we can hang out again!

    Comment by Michelle Greer — May 28, 2009 @ 05:57

    Reply

  2. I like that quote “Customer service is the new marketing.” If a business can make me happy, I’ll be a loyal customer for life.

    Comment by Vincent van Wylick — May 28, 2009 @ 10:01

    Reply

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