Tag Archives: MD

Day 82: Dr. Maria

Sight is one of the most crucial abilities that we possess. Last Tuesday I was working with Dr. Maria who owns Unique Optique – a funky optical shop in charming downtown Frederick, MD. I don’t wear glasses any more but if I did, I’d buy them here. Very cool place.

photoboothI love that they have an old school photo booth that you can pop into snap a photo of how you look in your new specs. Lots of people have left their photos to be posted all over the photo booth.

Dr. Maria is not only a respected optometrist and entrepreneur, she’s also got a clear vision (see what I did there!) for social media. “I manage about 10 different social media platforms,” she told me. Wow! I even told her that I thought that might be a few too many. Step 2 of my INSPIRE social media storytelling methodology is to say no to the platforms that you’re not going to focus on. It’s a hard one – but essential to really focusing on the other ones.

Check out Dr. Maria and Unique Optique’s website, blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and You Tube.

Day 81-2

Dr. Maria,

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you last Tuesday and was extremely impressed with Unique Optique. You can’t help but feel relaxed and comfortable in your beautiful downtown shop.

My attempt at an embossed tree on Dr. Maria's card.

I embossed this tree on the card – turned out great!

Your commitment and passion for social media impressed me – you understand the commitment as well as the reward that can be earned from telling your story effectively through social channels.

If I can ever be of any assistance, please let me know.
Reed

P.S. I had Lasik a few years ago, but if I still used glasses I’d buy them from Unique Optique – here’s a photo of me with my last pair of glasses.

Day 78: Gerry Hicks, The Trail House

Day 78

I made a bicycle embossed card for Gerry! I didn’t have a stamp of a backpacker or a campfire.

You saw in my post on Tuesday that I was up in Frederick, MD doing some work. I’ve got a few thank-yous to write. Here’s one to Gerry Hicks who opened The Trail House with her husband Clyde in 1984.

It’s a great outdoors shop and you’ll love the people who work there. If you’re in Frederick, stop in and say hello. They gave me a cool Nalgene water bottle – I’ve promised to photograph it some place interesting. I don’t rock climb or do a lot of hiking, but I have made about 100 skydives, so maybe I’ll take this thing to 14,000 feet and enjoy a cold, refreshing beverage on the way down. Stay tuned for the photo!

Day 78-2

 

Dear Gerry,

I just wanted to drop you a note to thank you for taking time to speak with me last week about The Trail House and your experiences with social media. I enjoyed our discussion and meeting your staff. I thought a lot about our conversation since Tuesday and how your business has changed since opening the store 30 years ago.

Your Facebook post on Tuesday evening sharing Jennifer Pharr Davis’ course on preparing for a hike of the Appalachian Trail is a perfect example of the 80/20 rule I mentioned – giving your audience something they can use.

Keep up the good work. Let me know if I can ever be of any assistance.

All the best,
Reed

P.S. Be on the look out for some photos of me with The Trail House water bottle!

Day 76: Downtown Frederick Partnership


Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I had the pleasure of spending Tuesday in Frederick, MD working with several companies on elevating their social media through the power of storytelling. So much of the social media that you see from companies focuses on their product and not on the real hero of their story – their audience. And I say audience deliberately instead of customers. With social media, we need to focus our messages toward the people who believe what we believe, and not those who want to buy what we sell. It sounds counterintuitive but it works.

I had a little fun and embossed the front of this card with a city skyline.

I had a little fun and embossed the front of this card with a city skyline.

After my talk in the morning, which competed with the 8am rise and shine “Kegs and Eggs” festivities two blocks away at the local Irish watering whole, I then visited five local companies and sat down with each of them to work on crafting their social story.

It was a fun day chock full of thought provoking conversations. I enjoyed getting to know each of the businesses I worked with and am thankful to the Downtown Frederick Partnership for making it all happen. They’re a fantastic organization working to enhance, promote and preserve the charming downtown area of Frederick. The next time you’re there, please stop into these five businesses and say hello. Tell them Reed sent you.

Gerry at The Trail House
Richard at Earthly Elements
Murray at Hunting Creek Outfitters
Maria at Unique Optique
and Lianne at Nido’s

Day 7576

If the address on the envelope isn’t crystal clear – you need to visit Dr. Maria at Unique Optique!

 

Dear Kara, Brittany and Danielle,

Thank you so much for inviting me to speak at the Competitive Edge Series today– I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and so many of the wonderful people that represent the companies from your vibrant downtown business district.

I particularly enjoyed meeting one on one with some of the businesses and working with them on creating an effective social media presence. I look forward to keeping in touch with them – as well as with each of you.

Thanks again,
Reed

Day 33: Chef Janny, Bistro Blanc

Wow…what a crazy end to the Super Bowl last night – I still can’t believe it.

Photo: Newsweek.com

Photo: Newsweek.com

Photo: Jen Rynda

Photo: Jen Rynda

Today’s handwritten letter recipient and Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady have something in common. They’re all about texture. When questioned about Deflategate, Brady said that it was all about the texture of the footballs.

Chef Janny Kim of Bistro Blanc in Glenelg, MD agrees, “I’m all about texture.” He was referring to food though, not footballs. The 28-year-old self-taught chef is delighting customers at this Howard County hidden gem. I was with a group of friends at the Chef’s Table that featured a 10 course mouth-watering menu.

Pillows of RIce: fermented sesame leaf, roasted peanut curry, toasted peanut and micro shiso

Pillows of Rice: fermented sesame leaf, roasted peanut curry, toasted peanut and micro shiso

The aerated celery soup, the grouper, suckling pig, the 29 day dry-aged ribeye and spicy dark chocolate ganache were my favorites, but they were all very good. I’ve never written a chef to tell them that I enjoyed there food – but why not?

I even found a postage stamp that featured Edna Lewis – famed James Beard awarded chef known for her southern style culinary creations.

BistroBlanc-2

Chef Janny,

Suckling Pig with nuoc mam pickled vegetables and leek emulsion

Suckling Pig with nuoc mam pickled vegetables and leek emulsion

I had the distinct pleasure of dining at your Chef’s Table Saturday evening. I live in downtown Washington, DC and have dined in wonderful restaurants here as well as in New York, Chicago, Lima, Sao Paulo, Paris, Madrid, Florence, London, etc. The food that you created for us was worthy of the coveted Michelin stars. Your intense flavors, complimenting textures and stunning presentation are a clear result of your passion and commitment to culinary excellence.

Thank you, it was outstanding!
Reed Sandridge

BistroBlanc