March 13, 2011

The business world has undergone a huge cultural shift, thanks in part to the role of social media in our lives. Entrepreneurs are now engaging with customers directly at an unprecedented rate. Gary Vaynerchuk, the owner of the Wine Library, social media guru and author of the new book "The Thank You Economy," tells us why forging a personal relationship with your customers will help build success.

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• Marketing

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MSNBC's Your Business: Getting Customers, Video, social media, getting customers, MSNBC, Gary Vaynerchuk

Join the conversation ( 4 )

• Jacob Yount 1 year 2 months and 12 days ago

  

  Every action towards your customers counts...more so in today's transparent social media age? Would definitely agree. A customer with a bad experience, a disgruntled employee, even a misunderstanding that wasn't necessarily your fault, can come back to haunt you. If you use the advantages of social media, get ready to have some PR skills handy..just in case. Transparency with your customers is priceless. People want to engage with a name, a face, feel important. Not only be "talked at" by a faceless corporation hiding behind a logo.

• community manager 1 year 2 months and 14 days ago

  

  For more on "The Thank You Economy," here's a post directly from Gary:http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/marketing/article/gary-vaynerchuk-tip-1-on-succeeding-in-the-thank-you-economy-gary-vaynerchukAnd here's a Guru Review of his book:http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/technology/article/guru-review-the-thank-you-economy-matthew-e-may

• Beverley Toogood 1 year 2 months and 15 days ago

  

  I'm a small business owner & I'm reading Gary's book at the moment. What strikes me about his take on social media is that many of us are working with it like we work naturally in our small shops with customers - getting feedback on the ranges we carry, showing customers pieces 'out of the box' on Twitter & Facebook before we've put them on the website, showing how outfits go together, helping out with gift ideas and so on. It's just a natural next step for a small business that is used to dealing with the public, but probably harder for larger businesses to embrace as it's something they haven't done before. Enjoying the book - thanks :)

• KYLE CHOWNING 1 year 2 months and 16 days ago

  

  Hey AMEX. Just a friendly nudge to make your site Apple compatible. I'm on an iPad and can't watch or see a lot of your site.