Yesterday My Blog Post Went To The Southwest Airlines CEO

Here’s a funny story.  Yesterday I was doing some research for a project I’m doing for MarketingProfs.com (one of my favorite online sources of information).  I somehow went to Southwest’s blog, Nuts about Southwest, and was interested to see they have a bunch of participation in social networks.

I was especially interested in the LinkedIn Profile, since you aren’t supposed to have a Profile for a company, rather an individual.  I clicked over and found it was the CEO’s Profile… and had an idea.  Since LinkedIn reviewed Guy Kawasaki’s profile, and that’s been a huge hit (gets great search results, and is usually at the bottom of some pages within LinkedIn), what if I reviewed Gary Kelly’s Profile?

So I did – you can see the Southwest CEO LinkedIn Makeover here, on my LinkedIn blog (I titled it Nuts About Southwest, But Not Gary Kelly’s (LinkedIn) Profile).  It was fun to write ;).  And then I tweeted it, specifically bringing it to the attention of whoever the Twitter person is a Southwest:

I got THIS reply back within a few minutes:

Now I think that’s pretty funny/cool!

Blogging + Twitter got something I wrote on the desk of the Southwest CEO?  I’d say that’s a pretty cool story, maybe even showing some of the value of Twitter!

Have YOU gotten any value out of Twitter?

9 thoughts on “Yesterday My Blog Post Went To The Southwest Airlines CEO”

  1. That’s a great example of how to use Twitter or any social media site. So many people are talking about the theory of using social media (including myself at times) and you’ve created a perfect scenario through example. Nice job!

    I realized, yesterday, that Twitter is my Facebook/Myspace. You know, the place where you hang out all day and spend time following links, stories, ideas, etc. I encourage anyone on my blog, Facebook, Myspace, etc. to come follow me on Twitter because that’s where I am. That’s where I interact. That’s where I can respond whether I’m at the computer or in the car (but not while driving, of course). Um. Yeah. So Twitter it up.

  2. Jason, great post. I guess this goes to show, you can get in front of anyone with a little effort.

    I’m glad to see more and more companies embrace platforms like Twitter to engage with their customers. It’s a topic I’m going to cover at length in my presentation at the Wasatch Business Conference in a few weeks. Get out from behind the counter and shake some hands.

    Thom Allen

  3. Twitter has enabled me to have some really great connections with others. I wound up founding a group in Cincinnati where we meet once a month to talk about new and social media technologies and have some face-to-face networking.

    Just one of the many great things of value that I’ve obtained from Twitter.

  4. J, the underlying issue here is whether the culture of an organization is receptive to non-standard channels of communication. I posted on my RBC blog this simple question: Do the companies on Forbes’ 200 Best Small Companies to Work list also have better than average recruiting functions? Same question would hold for larger companies – my guess is that the recruiting strategy DOES NOT factor into the equation…

    You found one that really does take employment brand seriously AND is using some of the latest technology to manage the brand. Great for you!

  5. Jason,

    Very cool! This can be adapted to almost any smart person’s job search as follows:

    1) Find a decision maker at a firm you want to work for; this is easier with smaller companies, obviously. Begin at Linkedin, since almost everybody is there.

    2) “Start work before you’re hired” by doing something that showcases ths skills/expertise you’d get paid to use if you were an employee. In your case, you displayed your expert knowledge of Linkedin.

    3) Blog about it.

    4) Give away the information to the target employer. Start by Tweeting to someone at the firm; email a few hours later. Call if you’re gutsy. Snail mail without fail, just to be sure.

    5) If you can’t have a conversation that leads to an interview after 3 tries, email me, because I’d love to help with what you’re doing — kevin at thesimplejobsearch.com 🙂

  6. Social media has given common-folk a voice. Before the internet age, the only way to contact a CEO…was none. It was almost actually impossible. Writing a letter would inevitably end up in the wrong hands, and a CEO is far to busy to take a phone call from a customer.

    But social media has given CEO’s and “important folks” a way to communicate with consumers in a quick, easy, and insightful fashion. There are many companies and CEO’s on Twitter including Zappos, Comcast, and as you already mentioned Southwest Airlines.

    If you know how to use social media, it can be a very viable option in conducting excellent 2 way conversation with your audience.

  7. I made a connection with Sandy Carter, VP at IBM who was a keynote at “Women In Technology International’s Summit” this past week in Santa Clara.

    She asked the 300 plus Silicon Valley professional women how many were on Twitter, to which only 6 raised their hands.

    Not to miss an opportunity, I searched for her on Twitter and introduced myself at the mixer.

    Presto!

    Conversation opener!

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