1. The Anthill is Growing for More Listening

    Tuesday, 16 Mar 2010 View Comments Posted by: Jennifer Hughes

    Ant’s Eye View is thrilled to announce the addition of Stephanie Nahas to the Austin anthill.  Stephanie is a graduate of St. Louis University where she majored in Business Administration & Marketing.  Since graduating, she has worked as a Search Specialist for the global search engine marketing consultancy Outrider LLC.  There she helped her clients reach their business objectives through strategic planning, insight, and execution of search campaigns.

    Stephanie’s strong background in search and account management will aid her greatly in her role as Listening Analyst. Stephanie’s interest in socially driven consumer engagement and her understanding of the importance of listening to online communities is a perfect fit for providing the valuable insights provided through our Listening 360 service.

    Stephanie is new to the Live Music Capitol of the World, where she will be able to explore her interests in fashion, design, and music!  Please join me in welcoming Stephanie to Austin and to the team!  You can follow her at @steph_nahas.

  2. Ant’s Eye View Seeks Good Listener

    Sunday, 13 Dec 2009 View Comments Posted by: Jennifer Hughes

    That’s right folks, another job opening at Ant’s Eye View and this one might be the one for you.  We are looking for a Listening Analyst to join the colony and expand our Listening practice.

    This is a cutting-edge job, so experience can come from a number of different places.  Perhaps you have experience listening to customers and helping to take action on the feedback you hear.  You may have listened to customers through online communities, surveys or other avenues.  Maybe you have spent a lot of time on twitter, reading what others have to say about a specific topic.

    If you are ready to use your experience to partner with clients and listen to online conversations for business insights, we’d like to hear from you.  Ant’s Eye View offers a fun and collaborative environment with 401k and Healthcare benefits.  Check out the job post for more details.

  3. A Strategy that Worked

    Wednesday, 9 Dec 2009 View Comments Posted by: Jennifer Hughes

    I walked away a little confused after reading Isn’t the Value of Social Media What Business Is All About? in the Huffington Post yesterday.  Manish Mehta, VP of Social Media and Community at Dell Inc., wrote an excellent article about the importance of connecting with customers in the social space. The confusion comes down to the last sentence: “No strategy necessary.”

    What’s that now? Manish isn’t serious, is he?? 

    Don’t get me wrong, I like the concept of having a ‘Mom and Pop’ shop approach to building relationships with your customers.  Having solid customer relationships are a big win and a solid reminder of how to do business. But let’s not forget that half of small businesses fail before their fifth birthday. 

    And why? In my mind, it’s largely (but not only) because of a lack of strategy and clear direction.  Of course you need a strategy. 

    Ironically, most of what Manish talks about in this article actually is Dell’s strategy.  After Jeff Jarvis’ Dell Hell series educated everyone on Dell’s opportunity to connect with their customers in 2005, Dell built a strategy to do just that.  A clear direction was outlined, to listen and connect with their customers, and IdeaStorm, Direct2Dell and online customer outreach ensued.  A social strategy will define the direction and scope of your activities through objectives and goals, and ultimately drive resources to the environment (tactics, tools, processes, etc.) that will benefit stakeholders.

    Give yourself some credit Dell, your strategy has been effective!