The full program

This is an audio program. Listen and/or download here.
[private_Premium]
Right Click here to download

[/private_Premium]

A few lessons from this program

Within minutes of posting on twitter that Mixergy.com kept crashing, about a dozen people suggested that I drop my current Web hosting company and switch to (MT) Media Temple. Wouldn't you love to have people champion your brand like that?

To learn how (MT) did it, I interviewed Jason McVearry, the company's partnership director. Here's some of what I found out.

The subtle influence

(MT) hosts web sites that internet companies consider authorities. If you look at sites like TechCrunch and Mashable, you'll see the (MT) logo. In his book Influence, Robert Cialdini said that authority is one of the most powerful persuasion tools because it's so subtle. Without feeling like they're being sold, people instinctively follow authority.

In person

I kind of pushed Jason about this point. I wanted to understand why a tech company would spend so much money to fly its people to events. Wouldn't it be more efficient to use online ads to acquire customers? He helped me realize that the reason people bond with (MT) is because they've seen them at conferences or had a beer with them at an event.

Sponsor

I saw the (MT) guys at the TechSet party at BlogWorld. Their logo was up on the wall and they were being ushered around like rock stars. Sponsoring events has its privilages.

Bring the brains

Most companies seem to send their sales people to conferences. These are the guys who know how to buy you a beer and smile, but they don't know squat about the product. Jason told me that his company sends passionate tech people out to events. If you have an issue with your site, they'll give you some live tech support over a beer.