Just re-found an article from Fortune Small Business featuring some really solid advice on putting an organization’s people forward, in this case using online video. Key line:
"People want to do business with a company that has a personality."
Related: And, just because, here’s an iPhone in a blender.
Very obvious, yet often missed. I would say GaryVee does something similar with wine. The kid-in-me has always enjoined the “Will It Blend” series (though not enough to be proactive):)
I really like to use ‘frontier america’ (eg. butcher, baker, candle stick maker) as a measuring stick for how “intimate” these commercial relationships can be, even for large CO’s, utilizing modern communications.
You know one of Wal-Mart’s smartest implementations was to allow producers of goods (aka manufacturers) to log-in to a specific site to see where their products are (sold, shelf, store inventory, or DC)?
Allowing even greater communications and, therefore, transparency between producers and consumers will be a boon to efficiency. From the practical (helpful) to the silly (human).
O/T-Chris: If you were to switch to feedburner for your feeds, you could use feedflares. I know I may represent a very small portion of your readership, but:
http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/publishers/feedflare
🙂