I first learned about Scott Meyer when he and his brother, John Meyer, spoke at the 2011 FutureMidwest Conference in April about marketing across the digital divide. Then, Scott was on the west side of Michigan a few months ago and made his way over to Detroit to join the Tweetea crew for a great discussion. I’ve been a fan of Scott and his philosophy on improving business through digital literacy ever since.
A little background info for you…
Scott Meyer is a bro-founder of 9 Clouds, a digital marketing and education firm that improves the digital literacy of businesses. He’s a frequent speaker and teacher and has taught around the world helping businesses and organizations of all sizes find effective digital solutions for their specific markets. He combines his passions of technology and travel by writing how to live and work anywhere in the world at 9clouds.com/blog and makes a mean Spanish tortilla.
Sounds like an interesting guy, right? Keep on reading.
1. You and your brother John are “bro-founders” (love that term!) of your company, 9 Clouds. What was the inspiration behind your company, and how is it unique from other online/social media consulting companies?
My brother and I were home for Easter in 2009 and watched as my mom struggled to find the number for the local pizza place in the phonebook. We knew there were businesses out there like her who needed to improve their digital literacy.
That helped us get started and from there we have continued to focus on helping businesses know which tools can help them online and how they can use them. We’re unique in that we focus on educating the client and enabling them to grow their business online based on the data of what works best for their specific business.
2. Building off the first question, how did you come up with the name for your company, and does it have any special meaning?
We always wanted to make people happy by putting them on cloud 9. With the growth of cloud computing, we knew that we would be spending a lot of our time “in the clouds,” so we flipped the phrase around and became 9 Clouds.
3. A slogan you use on your site is “Improving business through digital literacy.” When you were in town for Tweetea, we talked a bit about digital literacy and why it’s so important. Why do you argue that digital literacy is essential today?
Digital literacy is knowing which digital tools to use and how to use them. It is essential because no one has enough time to keep up with the latest technology. With the explosion of online networks, marketing channels and content creation, businesses just need to know what works. If they can master that little sliver, it’s enough to significantly grow their businesses.
4. You work in a very creative space that is constantly evolving. Where do you draw your creative inspiration from, both for personal and professional purposes?
I’m inspired through travel. I love seeing how others use technology and organize their lives. Whether it’s watching kids typing faster with their thumbs than I can with 10 fingers or traveling abroad to experience how to eat at midnight and walk two miles to work, I’m inspired by new surroundings. That’s why I write so frequently about travel at 9clouds.com/blog and am aiming to work on every continent on the planet by the time I’m 35 (you can guess how long until that mark.) 🙂
5. If you weren’t doing what you’re doing right now, then what would you do? Sky’s the limit!
I am in love with Norway and after spending four years living about the Arctic Circle and working as a tour guide and professor, I left to start 9 Clouds with slight hesitation. If I wasn’t with 9 Clouds, I would have created a mobile app to help others guide themselves around Norway. The great thing is I’m actually getting ready to help people discover and explore Norway with an upcoming ebook, Travel Hacking Norway!
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If you’re on Twitter, connect with Scott and get to know him better. He’s definitely a good guy to know and follow as he continues to do great things with 9 Clouds.
Know of someone who would be great for my Creative Q&A feature? Send me an email with the details!