Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC can be traced back 125 years to a small cabin, but it now boasts a service its founders could never imagine: an online gift shop. The service is an outgrowth of its multi-functional and interactive web presence, which Mission and other hospitals have long since utilized to serve functions from billing to physician order entry.

Mission's Gift Shop serves inpatients whose stay may vary from 22 hours for minimally invasive surgery to months in the neonatal intensive care unit for fragile preemies. A wide range of Flowers, Gift Baskets, and Balloons can be purchased from the beautifully photographed online gift store. On line gift cards can be used to deliver a personal message.

Gracious hospital volunteers personally deliver the card and gift by ...continue reading

It's eight o'clock in the morning and everyone's getting prepared for the annual marketing meeting. Social media is the topic of conversation. More and more of the marketing budget is going to social media, so naturally everyone wants to analyze and improve return.

As the social media marketing director, you ask yourself, "what more can I do that's not already being done?" You and your staff are posting like mad on Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube, and Twitter already. You've had your programmers/designers upgrade the website with social media in mind. Now everyone wants to know the next step. What's the answer? ...continue reading