I don’t own that fence company anymore (sold out to my competition because they wanted my site gone! LOL) but I am still blogging and have developed some other sites too.

Would really like to talk/email with you on some ideas I have involving community management. Was reading an email I get from Ad Age and it mentioned you, I immediately remembered out conversation that day!

Hope things are going well for you…
Keith Bloemendaal

Keith – I clarified that – sorry about that. it was my pleasure to meet you too!

Scott – thanks for adding your contact info – maybe others would like to engage your services. I agree that WP is awesome.

Thanks Mykl & Adam!
Connie

Thanks for the compliments on Keith’s Blog – RaleighFenceContractors.com.

I appreciate your comments on the design because we are the company that helped Keith get his thoughts and ideas transformed into a Wordpress blog theme.

Keith has been an incredible student and has surprised me at every turn with the speed in which he has adapted to the whole “blogging thing”.

We feel that blogs used as content management system websites for small businesses, like Keith’s, are absolutely the right way to go. Not only because Wordpress blogs are incredibly effective, but because they are much easier for new users to understand and maintain. When the business is involved with the website, like Keith is at RaleighFenceContractors.com it shows. New visitors may choose Keith as a contractor over the competition simply because he has a well organized and informative website.

New business comes from dedication, work ethic and pride in ones brand or image. I feel that Keith, with our help, has embodied all of these attributes and more. I think he will be a great success with this new website and in his new business.

Thanks so much for following Keith’s link and recognizing his dedication (And for giving us some kind words on the design).

Respectfully,
Scott Pooler
CEO iBusinessLogic.com
Publisher
Trading Assistant Journal

I was especially pleased to see the thoughtful approach he’s taking in his online marketing and social media activities. I agree with the previous comment that a specific goal (like improving SEO) is crucial when embarking on a social media campaign. It’s great to see how successful small businesses can be when they utilize these new tools thoughtfully.

Thank you for the kind words. Just to clarify a few things (maybe was my fault from our phone conversation) I actually had started blogging and using other social networking tools about 4 months ago, and was doing it promoting the company I was working for (at no extra pay for me!) and then a few weeks ago (almost a month now) I found myself in the position of looking for work and trying to make the right decisions for me and my family.
I truly enjoyed our conversation and look forward to reading more on this and the other blog you write on!
Keith

What I liked in this example was that social media were used with a specific purpose of improving the SEO. This is a much more mature approach than that of many large companies investing in social technologies without a specific or achievable objective in mind (see the WSJ article on ‘Why Most Online Communities Fail’).