Caffeinated Marketing Has Powerful Results!

For all of you who are here from Active Rain to read the rest of the story, welcome to the Dakno Real Estate Marketing blog! Thanks for making the click.

What I Thought Would be a Wasted Afternoon!

With Brad standing in line at the passport office I figured my afternoon was going to be totally unproductive. I walked up to the barista at the Starbucks and placed my order, “grande’ mild blend and a slice of iced lemon pound cake”. She rung it up and said “your bill has been taken care of”. In bewilderment I said “really”. She said “yes”. I wondered who could have performed such a random act of kindness.

The Power of a Simple Act

This one solitary act changed my afternoon. Sitting down sipping my FREE coffee and scanning the scene, I wondered who was the mastermind of this “Pay it Forward” scheme. At that moment a gentleman went by the cash register and retrieved his credit card. Knowing he was the architect of this good deed, I introduced myself. He introduced himself and we struck up a conversation, the bridge already built by his kindness. I asked for his business card, and he asked for mine. Darn it! I left mine back at the Dakno office. Rule #1 shattered, always have business cards on hand.

So What Do You Do?

I asked what he did for a living and Tyler said, “I work with TriangleBlvd.tv“. He pulled out his iPhone and I thought, “this is going to be rich”. He showed me a video his company shot for a local restaurant. We agree there were some cool opportunities for our worlds to work together. He had tons of great lifestyle-oriented video content that would benefit our Dakno real estate agent clients on a local level. At that moment, I was sold.

Take a look at Tyler’s videos at TriangleBLVD.tv video

Lessons Learned From Tyler’s Caffeinated Marketing

Never did the barista say, that guy with TriangleBlvd.tv is paying for your coffee, nor was a “banner ad” proclaiming for the next 5 customers, free coffee compliments of Tyler Helikson, Director of New Generation Video (Triangleblvd.tv). In fact, his act of kindness wasn’t even a marketing campaign at all. Tyler discreetly performed a simple act that had a profound impact on me. He had instant credibility with me. We connected because of his good will. This is what I think Jeff Turner meant when he coined “YEO” – “You Engaging Others“. Tyler wasn’t seeking “customers”. In fact, many recipients were beneficiaries of his kindness and never knew who provided their “perk”-olation.

It’s called “social” networking. Notice social is the first word and that’s exactly what Tyler was doing only in a very low-key approach.

IRL or Social Media

So the next time you engage “In Real Life” networking opportunities, or join a social media site, I recommend you follow Tyler’s lead. Offer value, create opportunities and provide something of benefit. You never know who’s watching or what impact you could have on a person.

Thanks Tyler Helikson, you have a new friend.

Bobby Carroll
@rewebcoach