Of all of the things I have had to look for, and find, this story is the best one I have ever experienced, or seen anywhere, on social media. Social media has the power to find people and things that you might consider a “Needle in the Haystack”. It is an ideal tool for helping businesses and organizations find what they are looking for.
A while ago I encountered a problem that I was not sure could be fixed. Yet social media solved the problem. This is the story of what happened.
Problem: a banner was sent to Sydney, Nova Scotia for the Sunday #walkforjustice. The package was supposed to be picked up at Purolator on Friday. The person, who was to pick up the package, arrived after Purloator closed. Purolator would not open again until Monday.
Background: a friend of mine, Scott Mills from the Toronto Police Service, contacted me via Twitter to see if I knew anyone in Sydney who could help. I have relatives in North Sydney. I was not sure who else to contact. I sent them an Email, but did not get a reply. So I searched for Sydney on Twitter.
I found a few contacts on Twitter. I asked them if they knew the local owner of the Sydney Purolator depot. A guy name Chris responded “No”, and I thanked him. This really felt like a needle in a hay stack. Scott Mills resent my tweets back out on Twitter again.
Then we received a reply that indicated that a UPS number was required to go further. Somehow we made a good connection. Scott and I did not know at the time that the guy we were tweeting with had a great connection inside of UPS. As a result the package was found, and the local contact that needed to pick up the package for Sunday, was contacted.
What looked like disaster, turned out successful. All because of social media. This story proves the value of social media.
Summary: social media allowed us to connect with someone who could help us get a package, after the Purolator depot was closed. It helped us find a needle in the hay stack. Special thanks to those that helped and Purolator.
Key learning point: social media can help you connect with someone you do not know, who can help you achieve an amazing result. Imagine what it can do for your small business?
So here’s to a great day in business for you 😀
