Mike’s Facebook posts have become the stuff of legends, averaging 400 words and reaching 3,000+ words if the mood strikes. Initially hesitant about the social media he eventually embraced it - why?
"So last time I saw [Glenn], I was in New York. I stuck my foot in with this whole Walmart thing. All I did was read an ad. I don't work for them. I just read an ad about reinvigorating of manufacturing through a big investment. So whatever.
"But [Glenn] had me on the radio show to talk about it. And we talked about Facebook a little bit, and I described what was going on. And I went over to Facebook, and I kind of wrote about that, and, you know, I had never paid a lot of attention to Facebook before, but after this, aid few hundred thousand people. Now I got a couple million. And it wouldn't have happened without you. Because, honestly, what I did was, I went back and I thought, you know something, Facebook, it's not just -- it's a place where you can be utterly transparent with the people you truly work for."
"That's not to say that I'm not as honest as I can be in a newspaper article or on a television show or with a network or any other thing. But, you know, people I think understand that advertising is powerful and executives are powerful. And everybody has their own brand and you got to be a good sport if you want to get along. But in the end it's really great to have a place where you can talk as candidly as you want. That's not to say you can't make trouble if you do it wrong. It's important to have a place to do that. Right now it's Facebook. It might be different in a couple of years. I don't know. Actually, here is one of those places too. I get a little grief when I come on your show. I don't care. Because, honestly, the people who are most interested in a real conversation will look past it."