tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91576106465656299672024-03-06T05:38:18.281-03:30Digital DaisyAbout Internet marketing, search engine marketing, optimized web development, search engine authoring and social media marketing.@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-90494391988477882592011-03-29T14:55:00.002-02:302011-03-29T14:58:18.194-02:30Updated Shift Happens VideoThe original video went viral and has seen numerous updates - always giving the latest state of the digital universe. Here is the latest version of Shift Happens:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6ILQrUrEWe8?rel=0" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe><br />
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Eric Qualman's 2009 Social Media Revolution video also provides a good overview of the state of social media.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lFZ0z5Fm-Ng?rel=0" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-83566201062988945332011-02-10T22:51:00.002-03:302011-02-10T22:54:01.560-03:30A Suitcase EntrepreneurI recently "met" a fellow digi-tizen on a mission to squeeze the last drop of profitability out of technology for businesses that have a passport to exist anywhere - from Starbucks to the airport to the beach... and never stops ticking over profits.<br />
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<a href="http://womanzworld.com/">WomanzWorld</a> is a site aimed at empowering entrepreneurs with Internet technology and in this information packed YouTube video founder Natalie Sisson gives some of the most valuable business advice in less than 2 minutes. Wow! <br />
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Exactly the tools I would have recommended, but in less than two minutes...? Watch this:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hZgOY5_d_-g?rel=0" title="YouTube video player" width="480"></iframe><br />
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Let's recap:<br />
<b>Online Tools</b><br />
<a href="http://www.skype%2Ccom/">Skype</a><br />
<a href="http://www.freshbooks.com/">Freshbooks</a><br />
<a href="http://www.gmail.com/">Gmail</a><br />
<a href="http://docs.google.com/">Google Docs</a><br />
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<b>Social Networks</b><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a><br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/">Twitter</a><br />
<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/">Linkedin</a><br />
<a href="http://www.wordpress.com/">WordPress</a><br />
<a href="http://www.hootsuite.com/">HootSuite</a><br />
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<b>Outsourcing</b><br />
<a href="http://www.odesk.com/">ODesk</a>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-67482492894535801822011-02-02T10:45:00.000-03:302011-02-02T10:45:11.671-03:30Tips for Getting Through Your Worst Days<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wJ6qnZiWxzq9imbtTdblRxE1wTJf953wQ-w8_DTYPKWIaSrRZDF-bVvMBh6U1Ip829RxHRjD-jn4YkbKRTufmVe2b0LdC2c7ARTmhtnpnYUXM4FYT6izh2TI_7zlNEzWpooBs85IWzsB/s1600/help+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_wJ6qnZiWxzq9imbtTdblRxE1wTJf953wQ-w8_DTYPKWIaSrRZDF-bVvMBh6U1Ip829RxHRjD-jn4YkbKRTufmVe2b0LdC2c7ARTmhtnpnYUXM4FYT6izh2TI_7zlNEzWpooBs85IWzsB/s1600/help+sign.jpg" /></a></div>As entrepreneurs we all have them... days where we ask ourselves: "Why do I do it?" "It is so much easier to get a job." But fact is, if that were true for you, you would not have been in business for yourself. What we need, rather, is perspective to help us survive the tough times.<br />
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Here is a really <a href="http://www.bnet.com/blog/customer-relationship/surviving-tough-times-100-entrepreneurs-share-their-tips/">neat blog post on Bnet.com</a> - see the excerpt below - great inspiration for those bad days. <br />
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Written by <a href="http://www.bnet.com/blog/customer-relationship?tag=drawer;blog-author-info">Michael Hess</a>, he asked 100 entrepreneurs how they get through their worst days and here are some of the responses he received. He classified the responses as "Inward-looking" and "Outward- looking":<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #252525; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 24px;"></span><br />
<div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>"Outward-looking people</strong> tend to focus on the business itself and the big picture, in a fairly unemotional and matter-of-fact manner, and may also take advantage of outside resources and support:</div><ul class="unIndentedList" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Compartmentalize… when budgets got real lean I compartmentalized the immediate pain of a tight budget and kept the long term goal in mind.” -Jeff Brodsly, Co-Owner, <a href="http://www.elitedatacorp.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Elite Merchant Solutions</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Think <em style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">around</em> the problem… there is always another way to look at something, a way to tackle it that has not yet been tried.” — Pamela Barefoot, President, <a href="http://www.bluecrabbay.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Blue Crab Bay</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“My philosophy on managing my attitude when things are stressful focuses around four things: Mission, Vision, Values and a Realistic view of the financial situation.” — Doug Burgoyne, President, <a href="http://frogbox.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Frogbox</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I make 100 decisions a day, 99 of which I don’t want to think about. The little things cannot be ignored and take up a big portion of your time as a business owner, but keeping the big picture in focus is vital to survival” — Retha Sandler, President,<a href="http://www.blamtastic.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Blamtastic</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Perspective allows me to know that just about any successful business does not follow the plan it starts out with… Groupon [for example] was originally a cause-based message board. Call it adjusting or pivoting, whatever. I call it ‘zagging.’” — Dave DuPont, CEO, <a href="http://www.teamsnap.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Teamsnap</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Once a week, I review my business plan, review our top projects list, look through the marketing calendar and the financials. I believe you plan or get planned for” — Ellen Rohr, President, <a href="http://www.barebonesbiz.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Bare Bones Biz</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I subscribe to the Vince Lombardi philosophy of winning in the workplace: when things are tough you must get better at what you do.” — Venanzio Ciampa, President, <a href="http://www.thepromofact.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">The Promotion Factory</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I stay in action. Action alleviates anxiety. I feel better when I am actively doing things to promote my business.” — BJ Gallagher, sociologist/author, <a href="http://www.peacockproductions.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Peacock Productions</a></li>
</ul><div style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong>Inward-looking people</strong> use different tools to keep themselves where they want and need to be. They may be philosophical, spiritual, physical, or psychological, but they tend to revolve around introspection, perspective, and mindfulness:</div><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“You HAVE to know your purpose for running your company in the first place! Why does your business exist? Who do you serve? What do they need most from you, right now? 99% of business owners do not take the time for this introspection.” — Christian T Russell, <a href="http://www.dangeroustactics.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Dangerous TACTICS</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I remind myself that nobody is making me do this. I chose to build a company… I can stop if I want. This always reminds me that I’d be miserable doing anything else.” — J.T. O’Donnell, President, <a href="http://www.careerealism.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Careerealism</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“We mindfully approach unlikable or frustrating things with an attitude of kindness… most important, be kind to ourselves and our staff by remembering that the reason we are in business is to serve others.” — Mitch and Jen, <a href="http://www.pawhouse.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">The Paw House Inn</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“To maintain a healthy perspective we take inventory of the great attributes of our company… Instead of cringing at challenges, we try to savor them… and reflect upon past triumphs.” — Adam Anthony, CEO, <a href="http://www.creocare.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Creo Care</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Focus on what you have to work with, not what you don’t have. Positivity is everything. Meditating is also key. Anything you can do to keep your head in the game and keep your cool.” — David Collier, President, <a href="http://www.inkfloyd.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Ink Floyd Screen Printing</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Repeat to yourself that ‘worry’ is a waste of mental resources. I concentrate on what I can control.” — Kenneth Lebersfeld, CEO, <a href="http://www.1800lighting.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Capitol Lighting</a></li>
</ul><ul style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" type="disc"><li style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: url(http://i.bnet.com/images/201007/icon-arrow-tan-10x10.gif); background-origin: initial; background-position: 2px 0.5em; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I have a “mantra” of sorts, summed up in three words: “Okay; now what?” using [the challenging moment] as the starting point for planning what to do and how to forge ahead.” — Alan Simon, President, <a href="http://www.thinkinghelmet.com/" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #005399; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Thinking Helmet</a> "</li>
</ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Credit: <a href="http://www.bnet.com/blog/customer-relationship/surviving-tough-times-100-entrepreneurs-share-their-tips/">Bnet.com</a></span></div>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-78747773215795960672011-01-07T16:11:00.000-03:302011-01-07T16:11:30.161-03:30Costco's Five Social Media Faux Pas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO5jaSEHSgiMOHnGUbUDaVSEGdyYuLMlhFvX3SNtDL_F_uYQvOQ6bjcV3Gqp5M9xzGobxq3IRX6fMYBhc0RMAAZLYrUCbDCs35w4wl6o1jjdBRoTjy_WOcp-63Fwuc-pZnEqjCyXQ0Ptnw/s1600/social+media+faux+pas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO5jaSEHSgiMOHnGUbUDaVSEGdyYuLMlhFvX3SNtDL_F_uYQvOQ6bjcV3Gqp5M9xzGobxq3IRX6fMYBhc0RMAAZLYrUCbDCs35w4wl6o1jjdBRoTjy_WOcp-63Fwuc-pZnEqjCyXQ0Ptnw/s1600/social+media+faux+pas.jpg" /></a></div>Costco Connection, Costco's client magazine, often includes little business gems such as this article in their January edition about the pitfalls of social media. Here is a brief synopsis of the main 5 points...<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Ignoring the Competition</span></b><br />
Social media allows for easy tracking of your competition, so use it! Try <a href="http://tweetbeep.com/">TweetBeep</a> or <a href="http://www.google.com/alerts">Google Alerts</a> for an automated message each time your competitors are mentioned online.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Ignoring What Your Customers Say About You</span></b><br />
Negative comments about your company may turn out to be the best free market research you can ever do to identify gaps in your capabilities. By responding publicly you demonstrate that you care enough to reach out and it positions your company in a positive light.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Arguing on Social Media Channels</span></b><br />
Your business can be judged not by the fact that you responded to your customer but also by your tone and manner. Arguing in public is a losing battle. Remain professional and keep to the facts. If you are wrong, calmly admit and let your public know that you want to make it right.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Failing to Live Up to Promises</span></b><br />
If you promise a customer on Twitter or a blog that you will take care of an issue, failing to do so will make it worse. There are an increasing number of places to monitor where customers may be discussing an issue related to your business but it is important to do so.<br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Wasting Time</span></b><br />
Experiment with social media channels that your customers use. If you are not sure that a social media site is good for your business, sign up as a customer first and explore. If it is useful for your business then claim your business space on that tool. "Don't just Tweet for Twitter's sake. Focus your posts on items that matter to you and your business."@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-8326799164580907842011-01-06T17:41:00.000-03:302011-01-06T17:41:11.971-03:30Location-Based MarketingNew smart phones that allow wireless mobile connection to the Internet, while also broadcasting your GPS location (yes! the satellites always know where you are!) have made an entirely new range of services possible. Location-based marketing is an emerging form of marketing - sending you deals, offers and information that are relevant to you based on where you are (with your mobile phone in your bag of course!)<br />
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My friends at <a href="http://www.sitepoint.com/newsletter/">Sitepoint's Tribune Newsletter</a> had this interesting article this week that I thought I'd share. I receive a lot of newsletters and this one is one of my favourites! (I actually learn valuable stuff):<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMPJ4K8BQrVEVmQtImfcym0o-suXt8AjXM1J2CL7NPAeu-rrFMQa-oCzz95vCmHFrLiOd6lE_bcYgQ4JY6M-eRgUflZRFqcLhJxvvIiKPb1HtCqo4hG6CNunA02Bvk1p_55sEvd2YmScuA/s1600/location+based+marketing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMPJ4K8BQrVEVmQtImfcym0o-suXt8AjXM1J2CL7NPAeu-rrFMQa-oCzz95vCmHFrLiOd6lE_bcYgQ4JY6M-eRgUflZRFqcLhJxvvIiKPb1HtCqo4hG6CNunA02Bvk1p_55sEvd2YmScuA/s320/location+based+marketing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Location-based services like <a href="http://www.foursquare.com/">Foursquare</a> and <a href="http://www.gowalla.com/">Gowalla</a> were all the rage last year, after starting out as a sort of game. It was only when businesses realized they could be used for marketing that the general public saw the potential. Since then, Facebook has released its own location-based service, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/places/">Facebook Places</a>.<br />
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If you (or your clients) have a physical presence (a retail establishment, restaurant, office, or other place of business where you see customers), you need to claim your listing on these services. Once you've claimed your listing, you can create promotions and incentives to bring customers back again and again. They offer a great way to build customer loyalty, and create a sense of excitement around your business.<br />
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Let's take a look at what's involved with each one:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="color: orange;">Foursquare</b></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://foursquare.com/">Foursquare</a> lets you create specials for free (for now), and there are several types, for:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>the mayor</li>
<li>every X number of check-ins</li>
<li>when another specified condition is met</li>
</ul>When a user checks in to your business, they can see available specials; once they've met the requirements, these will automatically unlock. Foursquare will even send you a window cling to help you promote your special.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: orange;">Gowalla</span></b></span><br />
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<a href="http://gowalla.com/">Gowalla</a> lets you purchase custom "stamps" that visitors can earn by checking in at your location. You can also create custom messages for patrons to see when they check in.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="color: orange;">Facebook Places Deals</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/places/">Facebook Places</a> deals are still in beta, but are rolling out to more and more businesses every day. Claim your business and you'll see if you can post a promotion. If not, check back in a few weeks. <br />
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If you are one of those fortunate few, you can create several types of deals:<br />
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Individual deals—one-time deals, such as a coupon<br />
Loyalty deals—require a number of check-ins before "unlocking"<br />
Friend deals—unlocked when a certain number of your friends check in at the same time<br />
Charity deals—donates a certain amount to charity with every check-in<br />
The process for creating a deal is fairly straightforward, and I can see these really taking off once Facebook opens them up to all businesses. There are already hundreds of millions of Facebook users, so I expect this to give Foursquare a run for its money in 2011.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="color: orange;">Promotions on All Location-based Services</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://geotoko.com/">Geotoko</a> is a new web service that integrates the most popular location-based services mentioned above, letting you post your promotions once and distributing them to all three networks. <br />
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Geotoko will also help you customize your campaign with custom landing pages and Facebook tab integration. The service is still in beta (Facebook Deals isn't functional quite yet), but it looks very promising.<br />
<br />
If you liked this content, check out <a href="http://www.sitepoint.com/newsletter/archives"><b>Sitepoint </b></a>and sign up for their Tribune newsletter too.@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-69297748344012679732010-12-07T12:23:00.000-03:302010-12-07T12:23:41.648-03:30The Art of the Corporate Blog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8IJ1yDI6_Zg8eGifoLzDbWVLRWZ7_KQ9fd8-3-8we9B1MopdQdpdrkBbbCxsJYSjuXkhJOXEz261t5Y2etvgLgROeiJK3hfem1KfPwfXn28RyM3qaiidmcDOWh4S23bbUkasJN14MqTQg/s1600/corporate+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8IJ1yDI6_Zg8eGifoLzDbWVLRWZ7_KQ9fd8-3-8we9B1MopdQdpdrkBbbCxsJYSjuXkhJOXEz261t5Y2etvgLgROeiJK3hfem1KfPwfXn28RyM3qaiidmcDOWh4S23bbUkasJN14MqTQg/s1600/corporate+blog.jpg" /></a></div>Corporate blogs take on many shapes and play many roles like the executive blog (to staff or public-facing); the "how to" blog; sharing news; offering promotions; building the brand or acting as the entire corporate website. <br />
<br />
In essence a corporate blog is an opportunity to connect with a reader community or customers and strengthen their relationship with the brand - PR at the click of a mouse.<br />
<br />
A recent article by Likeable Media called <a href="http://www.likeable.com/2010/12/corporate-blogs-done-right/">Corporate Blogs Done Right</a>, highlights these elements as keys to blogging success:<br />
<br />
<ol><li>Have <i>multiple writers</i> like <a href="http://1000words.kodak.com/">Kodak</a> to bring many different perspectives to your blog.</li>
<li>Be<i> true to your brand</i> through the blog <i>design, language and style</i> and by reaching out to readers with useful tips and information like <a href="http://www.blogsouthwest.com/">Southwest Airlines</a>.</li>
<li>Collate the helpful <i>voices of a user community</i> such as Wordpress does in its blog, thereby giving users a forum.</li>
<li>Create a community by sharing not only information about products but also about a <i>company's values and those things it holds dear</i> like <a href="http://blog.wholefoodsmarket.com/">Wholefoods</a>.</li>
<li>Open the doors of your company to the world by <i>showcasing your unique culture</i> and employees at work like <a href="http://blogs.zappos.com/">Zappos</a> do in their "Family Blog".</li>
</ol>Read the full article <a href="http://www.likeable.com/2010/12/corporate-blogs-done-right/">here</a>.@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-68656418714434822812010-11-24T20:24:00.001-03:302010-11-24T22:24:46.523-03:30When You Love Your Tims..<div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJyyQpIVafvMFgefMtXPZ0pmfCuP6dmgXUCdDUKy4fdjox8OPpFTLNTf5o4vviaGTfZVfX3-5g032UtYZ7WJ2RNpgej4P2ojPB3vDYI6V1d8YD7vwsALSqPpbn9BlX5GS1bo31kD9_fOV/s320/Velma+Tims+and+Everest.jpg" width="320" /></div><br />
...and your Tims loves you back!<br />
<br />
This is the story of Tims, TA and Velma the Vanilla Dip.<br />
<br />
When Everest climber and Tims fanatic TA Loeffler decided to take her ownership of the Tim Horton's brand to new heights, Tims was there to support. To TA a Vanilla Dip doughnut (eaten in moderation) is akin to a "religious experience". In fact, it came to her as no surprise when she noticed one day that budhist prayer flags such as the ones that provide protection to climbers on Mount Everest are indeed in the colours of the sprinkles that decorate her beloved Vanilla Dip.<br />
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Being so close to her Tims brand, made Tim Hortons an obvious choice when she was seeking sponsorship for her attempt on Everest. In her own words, the fund-raising effort for an expedition of this proportion, tops the challenge of the actual climb.<br />
<br />
Tim Hortons, like all other big brands, is no doubt inundated with requests of this kind and their subsequent $10 gift certificate was probably quite generous, all considered.<br />
<br />
It is not until TA's second attempt to summit Mount Everest two years later and another sponsorship request that the story started to unfold in the most interesting way.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://draft.blogger.com/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span id="goog_2038185586"></span><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnoGUCIL5dtazAB28K2OEUcJZ8t9tpFXao74MAUhptTEJbRgfn5S_TY0zwRh1VSEkasqfQyCeUecf1YFFdxIUpHMQah0mPgtetpGVwx8vr3GwJMY8XM_GzKHglD7a30hqmEOThoc_U3RMM/s320/TA+and+Tims+Cup.jpg" width="320" /><span id="goog_2038185587"></span></a><span id="goog_2038185556"></span><span id="goog_2038185561"></span><span id="goog_2038185565"></span><span id="goog_2038185573"></span><span id="goog_2038185577"></span><span id="goog_2038185582"></span><span id="goog_2038185583"></span><span id="goog_2038185578"></span><span id="goog_2038185574"></span><span id="goog_2038185566"></span><span id="goog_2038185562"></span><span id="goog_2038185557"></span></div><br />
It is important to mention that TA summited Mount Elbrus in Russia in the mean time and an important lesson was learnt here. The Vanilla Dip doughnut (Velma I) that went along as expedition mascot did not do too well at altitude and emerged a shadow of its former self.<br />
<br />
Not keen to repeat this mascot disaster, TA approached Tims again. If monetary sponsorship was not on the cards, what about a preserved version of Velma for the 2009 attempt on Everest? This is when Tim Hortons came to the table: with a specially preserved vanilla dip doughnut that was to be collected last minutes at a Tim Hortons coffee shop en route to Nepal.<br />
<br />
Velma the Vanilla Dip II returned well traveled, very experienced and having reached amazing new heights.<br />
<br />
The love between TA and Tims continues - wonderful photographs of Velma's adventures have been posted to the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/TimHortons">Tim Hortons Facebook Page</a>. This page is seen as the most successful Facebook brand story in Canada with more than 1.2 million people liking it at the time of writing. It is stories such as this one; photos such as TAs and a technology that allow us to share, that build the essence of Canada's beloved brand. It is about more than coffee - and also about a "religious experience" to some. <br />
Follow the story of Velma, Tim's vanilla dip doughnut, and her and TAs extreme adventures on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150302338630551&set=o.90790343096">Tim's Facebook album.</a><a href="http://draft.blogger.com/"></a>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-21524441307631962822010-11-15T19:52:00.007-03:302010-11-15T19:58:24.291-03:30Mark the Spot: Location Based Marketing<b>The Social Web and the Destination Web</b><br />
Barely getting acquainted with Web 2.0 and what it means and now there is talk of the "Social Web" - as opposed to the "Destination Web" - phrases coined to distinguish brochure-style static websites from websites with interactive "social" characteristics such as feeds, posts, comments and ratings.<br />
<br />
<b>Location-based Marketing</b><br />
And in comes location-based marketing.... The newest in the social media family, this technology aims to get to know as much about you as it can, then get your GPS location from your mobile phone with the aim to offer you a deal that is tailored to your needs. <br />
<br />
A block away from the nearest Starbucks, your phone sends you a message that you can have a special discount on a <i>tall skinny cafe latte</i> - your favourite drink. (this is only an example). This is what location-based marketing aims to do. Location-based services are growing - there are <a href="http://foursquare.com/">FourSquare</a> (that let's you become the mayor of your favourite spot), <a href="http://www.facebook.com/places/">Facebook Places </a>and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150318377910484">Facebook Deals</a> (watch video), and <a href="http://gowalla.com/">Gowalla</a> to keep your eye on.<br />
<br />
<b>Location-based Contesting to Create Brand Awareness</b><br />
Check our this fascinating video of a recent Mini Campaign in Stockholm that used GPS locator technology for this contest game. Participants aim to obtain a virtual Mini and keep it for a week to win a real Mini Countryman:<br />
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<object width="400" height="250"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WMWu1h_6OfE?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WMWu1h_6OfE?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="250"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<b>Location-based Marketing and Your Business</b><br />
If you find this mind-blowing, come and join 99% of us. However, early adopters often reaps the awards - so think about how you can apply this to your business. Ideas are no doubt starting to flow. Here's a suggestion (it is new to me too, so I will be trying it along with you):<br />
<br />
<ol><li>Claim your business on the map in Facebook Places, Google Places, FourSquare and any other similar space you can find.</li>
<li>Set up accounts where you don't have them and check out what is happening.</li>
<li>Watch for examples where others are successful.</li>
<li>And who knows... perhaps at that point you're ready to become more than a spectator.</li>
</ol><div>Which Location-Based marketing site do you like best? Did you get any useful deals? Any interesting experiences? I know a downtown Toronto shoe store peeved my new friend Ryan - refused to give a refund that was due- he posted his dismay on FourSquare... and there it sits for the world to see. Don't buy there!</div>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-58190452080817145222010-11-12T14:38:00.000-03:302010-11-12T14:38:56.631-03:30A Good Friday Chuckle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0zpOAe6VPxbl_TV8LtVHBZYlEBk7l1l-Il9LUhKdxA_13NCLql5tKJ5ohJrVAXDi4WkVCguAcPB4zoTZ4Sm3KWu3DrQaPrjLQB2Yg8BgY60KgOtMHJtopOHJXkiZegKjdkpHlmNWTDX3/s1600/cool-cartoon-2155547.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0zpOAe6VPxbl_TV8LtVHBZYlEBk7l1l-Il9LUhKdxA_13NCLql5tKJ5ohJrVAXDi4WkVCguAcPB4zoTZ4Sm3KWu3DrQaPrjLQB2Yg8BgY60KgOtMHJtopOHJXkiZegKjdkpHlmNWTDX3/s320/cool-cartoon-2155547.png" width="320" /></a></div>Thanks to <a href="http://blogs.zoho.com/humor/humor-on-the-cloud-hunger?utm_source=Zoho+Buzz+Newsletter&utm_campaign=e8ed546003-Zoho_Buzz_Newsletter&utm_medium=email">Zoho's Meera Supra</a> for this "cloudy" perspective.@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-68581996192827273622010-10-21T10:28:00.006-02:302010-10-21T18:42:40.706-02:30Business Tips from the Dragons' Den<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXQoy9XGzKKDSNevD5EgxBXkbtWhdpPnhv7Bj1KW4AlUr36SgWMlGm08QbfA5WZ7GOFrUGH2gRiU_1bkopGbTQw2ojD_vgmaRu0wbRPsZ6VWN-UMe02I8LrWZXeeUUzfcwUuAW7KlDvwy/s1600/Dianne+Bruckner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXQoy9XGzKKDSNevD5EgxBXkbtWhdpPnhv7Bj1KW4AlUr36SgWMlGm08QbfA5WZ7GOFrUGH2gRiU_1bkopGbTQw2ojD_vgmaRu0wbRPsZ6VWN-UMe02I8LrWZXeeUUzfcwUuAW7KlDvwy/s1600/Dianne+Bruckner.jpg" /></a>A privilege and honour to be nominated for the <a href="http://www.mtpearlchamber.com/">Mount Pearl Chamber of Commerce</a>'s annual Best in Business Innovation Award last night, it was an equal pleasure to listen to Dianne Buckner of <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/">Dragons' Den</a> fame share her Top 10 Tips - those characteristics that successful entrepreneurs share - straight from the Den! I paraphrase as I summarise them here. The list should be read in reverse for order of priority.<br />
<br />
<ol><li>Successful entrepreneurs know <b>how to get to YES</b>. They seek to understand where their "target" is coming from, what would be important to him/her and how to make a pitch that will get an ultimate yes.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>When pitching a solution, successful entrepreneurs remain <b>open and flexible</b>. By being agreeable they negotiate until a deal emerges that is good for all the parties involved.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li><b>Tough times are not necessarily bad times.</b> Most successful people have the ability to deal with circumstances that present themselves at the moment and many success stories such as Home Depot started in times of recession. Tough times can spur great creativity.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>Successful people <b>stay abreast of trends</b>. In this age of fast paced innovation there is no shortage of new trends. While eco-friendly economics and social media are currently hot trends, Dianne also cited the example of a company who came up with temporary phone numbers - used like a disposable phone number that could be useful for online dating etc.)<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>Successful entrepreneurs are <b>brief</b>.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>A <b>comfort level with their own weaknesses</b> - successful entrepreneurs understand that they cannot be great at everything and they have a plan for dealing with them. They understand that there is always something to compensate for.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>Contrary to popular belief, successful people <b>proceed with caution</b>. They go out on a limb with caution.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li><b>Hard work</b>. No surprise here and no way of avoiding it. Successful entrepreneurs work exceptionally hard.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>Success also requires <b>not to work too hard</b>. Successful people define success by something broader than money. Working too hard always takes a toll - health and relationships being first in line.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li><b>Persistence.</b> Successful entrepreneurs learn and get better continuously.</li>
</ol>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-90436539218730397632010-10-12T12:53:00.001-02:302010-10-12T15:07:38.261-02:30Which Side Are You On?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 9px;"><b><br />
</b></span></span><b>I have been reading numerous books on Business and Internet Marketing lately, and frankly, it leaves me somewhat confused. </b><br />
<br />
Let's start with "<i><b>Profits Aren't Everything. They're the Only Thing</b></i>."<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Self-proclaimed contrarian small business guru George Cloutier says:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"<i>You must micromanage and then micromanage some more. With a small business you have to know everything that is going on at all times</i>." </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"<i>It's OK to be a control freak</i>". </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"<i>Fire and hire faster. Don't tolerate mediocrity.</i>" </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">"<i>I</i> <i>want </i><i>my employees to do what I say, not what they think." </i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i></i>You are starting to get the picture, right?<br />
<br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6VuVYPu6ETyWG9jyMohXX0tVIWBPFx9SvnmqtLgrvwcBb1XLaZLGscWqv6k8Xag-MxU9PpolZ_NMJzfx0HaDfGVh6DKrFfFyCqMryohzxeQhsuiY1k2_wa6mG3BEAlVkX5JXGgfohL8se/s1600/Decision.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6VuVYPu6ETyWG9jyMohXX0tVIWBPFx9SvnmqtLgrvwcBb1XLaZLGscWqv6k8Xag-MxU9PpolZ_NMJzfx0HaDfGVh6DKrFfFyCqMryohzxeQhsuiY1k2_wa6mG3BEAlVkX5JXGgfohL8se/s320/Decision.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">On the other end of the scale Josh Bernoff's latest book "<i><b>Empowered</b></i>" says the opposite:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>"Your company is not and cannot be nimble enough to serve them. With our established processes and departmental boundaries, you move too slowly."</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>"To succeed with empowered customers, you must empower your employees to solve customer problems."</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i>The ideas don't come from management: management's new job is to support and empower employees."</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><i><br />
</i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Both books were published during the past year. How can both modern business books punt two opposing points of view and both be right?</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">On moral grounds the principles of empowering employees and unleashing collective creativity for the greater corporate good sound like a good idea. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">From my small business experience I tend to understand the authoritarian stance. Even if there are cheques in the cheque book, you cannot write them if there is no money in the bank.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">So, like so often the case, is the truth not somewhere in the middle? Experience has taught me:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><ol><li>Train and mentor employees to deliver great service, BUT stay close to your valued client. Staff come and go and as business owner, the <u>client remains YOUR customer</u>.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>Empower, but do not abdicate. Once a clearly defined task has been delegated, check in to gauge progress. Follow up afterwards to measure success and to give feedback, thanks or rewards. My business associate Cathy is a proponent of checklists. I am a fan of our internal project management system. The secret lies in <u>clear instructions</u>.<br />
<br />
</li>
<li>A small business has less leeway than a larger organization. Each employee in a small business sits directly on the profit line and the business can ill afford the luxury of learning from mistakes. Social media and social networks expose our businesses daily, and everyone has a direct line to almost everyone except the most untouchable deity. <br />
<br />
While this connected world offers vast business potential that HAS to be harnessed within a clear policy, agreed use and measurable outcomes, social media is an emerging technology that requires time to mature. A small business does not have the flexibility of allocating staff to research trial and error in a new media world. <u>Hire an expert and pay for results</u>.</li>
</ol><div>Although I do not particularly subscribe to the authoritarian language in Cloutier's book, he is very clear in what he believes. Simply put, if we are not in business to generate profit, our energies are best utilized in a different environment than the world of hard commerce.</div><div><br />
</div><div>On the other hand, although I do not believe that Bernhoff's book was born from the school of hard business knocks, we have to acknowledge that this millennium is giving birth to a generation of Internet-connected employees and customers who are changing the world - one click at a time. Ignoring this emerging force is business suicide.</div><div><br />
</div><div>What do you think? Share your comments here and let's continue the discussion...</div>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-1886259168584867872010-10-11T22:10:00.000-02:302010-10-11T22:10:32.209-02:30Why Are Loyal Customers Leaving?You hired the smartest people. You offer the best product. Your prices are competitive. Why are your customers leaving?<br />
<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">People Do Business With The Nice Guys</span></b><br />
In "<i>Fierce Leadership</i>" author Susan Scott makes the point that when you land yourself in a competitive situation with all the above being true, customers choose the "nice guys". People want to do business with people that they have a connection with. People that they can talk to and people who listen. People who make them feel good about what they buy. And that is just too bad for the smart guys.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;"><b>Experience Economy</b></span><br />
Joseph Pine ("<i>The Experience Economy</i>") wrote that today's economy is an "experience economy", indicating that customers are seeking more than a good product or good service. Using the product or service has to be an enjoyable experience which begins with the very first encounter a customer has with your business.<br />
<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Deepen the Experience with Web 2.0</span></b><br />
In a global economy that first experience often starts on the Internet and relationships are deepened through the tools of web 2.0 - social networks, comments, reviews, ratings and sharing. The customer experience is created not only through your messages but also through what others say about you. The media relations and advertising departments no longer control your brand. Your customers and staff do and they are a part of your brand conversations.<br />
<br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Engagement - The Glue In Your Brand</span></b><br />
In the latest of the well-known "<i>Did You Know</i>" videos (also known as Shift Happens) Eric Qualmann's version says: "What happens in Vegas, stays in... Facebook, Bebo, MySpace..." Keeping loyal customers will require rallying the troops - and those troops are staff and past clients. Engagement and meaningful deep conversation create loyalty which becomes the glue in your brand.<br />
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<object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gNDP9jLuzXU?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gNDP9jLuzXU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
Employees who feel engaged and who are a part of meaningful conversation at work, become empowered brand ambassadors. Engaged employees contribute to the customer experience (some airlines get this right - see <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvdCFYLf_JI">Southwest Airlines</a> and WestJet or just think about the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNDP9jLuzXU">Fish vendors</a> at Pike's market in Seattle).<br />
<br />
Also rally current customers - they are guaranteed to talk about a great experience. Help them along by providing the forum on your website, your social network page, or your blog.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">Where to Start?</span><br />
It starts with buy-in at the top. As the leader of an organization the buck starts and stops with you - setting the example, creating the tone. Scott tells the story where a top notch consulting firm with the smartest employees and managers who are referred to as "partners" could not sew up a billion dollar contract - only to discover that the competition won the contract because they were the "nice guys".<br />
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If customers are walking away, competitors stealing your staff, or getting the job done is like pulling teeth - check the level of engagement with your staff and your customers.@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-64248935897196025832010-09-10T16:07:00.002-02:302010-09-10T16:09:36.781-02:30Facebook Places<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook is entering the world of location-based marketing, similar to </span><a href="http://gowalla.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gowalla</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, </span><a href="http://www.foursquare.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">FourSquare</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.yelp.ca/">Yelp</a>,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> with </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/places/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook Places</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Facebook Places was recently launched in the US and is being deployed world wide.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Location-based_advertising">Location Based Marketing</a>, including services such as Four Square and Facebook Places is a fairly new addition to the Internet Marketing toolkit and has enormous potential for businesses, in particular businesses such as restaurants, coffee shops, bars and other "social" businesses where the general public gather.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A service like FourSquare is a fun </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">web and mobile application that allows registered users to connect with friends and update their location. Points are awarded for "checking in" at venues. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Facebook Places, similarly, will allow users to let others know where they are. This video that was published on the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Social Media Examiner</span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 22px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> page explains what Facebook Places is all about.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<object height="247" width="380"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/H0TFBfk_u-8?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/H0TFBfk_u-8?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="380" height="247"></embed></object>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-76885325625076503452010-09-08T00:43:00.000-02:302010-09-08T00:43:35.785-02:30Get Organized this Fall<span style="color: #ff9a00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,Verdana,Geneva; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px;" styleclass="style_ArticleSubHead"><span style="color: #777777;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9979307003912743" style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>As we leave summer behind, we get into work and school mode with being organized on of the top items on the list. Here are a few tips to make it easier... </i></span><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9979307003912743" style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />
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<span style="color: #ff9a00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,Verdana,Geneva; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px;" styleclass="style_ArticleSubHead"><span style="color: #777777;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.9979307003912743" style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Get it out of your head and onto paper.</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Many competing ideas in your head will drive you crazy. Paper is tangible, so get it out of your head and onto paper. From there you can underline, colour code, connect certain items, stick it on the wall or share.</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><br style="color: #777777;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Set up space in the clouds to store information.</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Upload documents to space on the Internet where they are accessible and secure such as Microsoft's </span><a href="http://windowslive.com/online/skydrive" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119) ! important;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Skydrive,</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Apple’s </span><a href="http://www.apple.com/mobileme/features/idisk.html" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119) ! important;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Mobileme iDisk</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, </span><a href="http://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTM4OTUyOTY5" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119) ! important;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Dropbox</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Store your client contact information online in Google Contacts (need a Gmail account or in Apple's </span><a href="http://www.apple.com/mobileme/" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119) ! important;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Mobileme</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.)</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><br style="color: orange;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Flag your to-do items for follow up</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: orange;">. </span> </span><br style="color: #777777;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Often emails contain a reminder to do something or to follow up on something. In Microsoft Outlook, use the Flag feature to flag those emails for follow up or in Google Mail, use the Star feature.</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><br style="color: #777777;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Online collaboration saves time.</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Use </span><a href="http://docs.google.com/" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119) ! important;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Google Docs</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> to take minutes in meetings. Save, format and share with others. It saves paper and time. Zoho is a service that rivals what Google has to offer and </span><a href="http://docs.zoho.com/" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119) ! important;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Zoho Docs</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is worth looking into.</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><br style="color: #777777;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Search, not File.</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">As a time saver, use a mail program that lets you search for information in stead of organizing information into folders. </span><a href="http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/business/index.html" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119) ! important;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Google Apps</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is a must for your small to medium sized business.</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><br style="color: #777777;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Keep track with an online calendar.</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><a href="http://www.google.com/calendar" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119) ! important;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Google Calendar</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> lets you store multiple calendars in one, it syncs with other calendars (Microsoft Outlook, iCal, iPhone) and it can send you a reminder by SMS or email. Your Google Calendar can also easily be shared with others. And above all, you can access it from wherever you are.</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><br style="color: #777777;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: orange; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Get an iReader.</span><br style="color: #777777;" /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Carry multiple books with you, save paper, add notes and bookmarks electronically and see what other readers highlighted in a book. My favourite is the Kindle app on my iPad. iBooks on the iPad is equally as nice. The Kindle app will also let you read books on your </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119) ! important;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">PC</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> or </span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_mac_mkt_lnd?docId=1000464931" style="color: rgb(119, 119, 119) ! important;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Mac</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #ff9a00; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif,Verdana,Geneva; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px;" styleclass="style_ArticleSubHead"><span style="color: #777777;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #777777; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>So you have any time saving organizing tips to share? Let us know.</i></span></span></span>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-34835387085734182442010-09-07T21:36:00.001-02:302010-09-07T21:37:39.855-02:3013 Things to Do at the End of the Tourism Season<b><i>For Tourism Operators:</i></b><br />
<br />
Labour Day Weekend in North America signals the end of summer for many and with it, the end of family vacations, visits and travel. June, July and August is peak tourism season in the northern hemisphere and tourism operators work like bees to create a good time, comfort, memories and great experiences.<br />
<br />
With the end of this busy season in sight, the list of work continues as things are getting wrapped up. Here are a few marketing ideas to consider:<br />
<br />
<div style="color: orange;"><b>Manage Contact Information</b></div><ul><li>Organize your list of names and addresses of guests and customers that you collected during this past season.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Segment your contact lists (couples, families, boomers... whatever is suitable for your business). </li>
</ul><ul><li>Capture the contact information in a contact management system (<a href="http://mail.google.com/support/bin/static.py?hl=en&page=guide.cs&guide=21758&topic=21762">Google Contacts</a>, <a href="http://batchblue.com/">Batchbook</a>, <a href="http://www.zoho.com/crm/index.html">Zoho CRM</a>, Microsoft Outlook Address Book or an Excel Spreadsheet) or in an email program (<a href="https://www.constantcontact.com/features/signup.jsp">Constant Contact</a>, <a href="http://www.mailchimp.com/">MailChimp</a> or <a href="http://www.streamsend.com/?utm_source=IDEV&utm_medium=HOME&utm_campaign=IDEV%2BHOME">StreamSend</a>)</li>
</ul><b style="color: orange;">Follow Up</b><br />
<ul><li>Send a follow-up e-newsletter with photos from the summer and a bit of news to encourage happy memories to linger a bit longer. If it makes sense in your business, create different version of your e-newsletter for different segments of your list, i.e. outdoor enthusiasts; theatre-lovers; families, honeymooners etc.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Send a sincere thank-you note or card - make sure your business gets a fond spot in the email box, on the fridge, album or notice board. </li>
</ul><b style="color: orange;">Continue the Relationship on Social Media</b><br />
<ul><li>Invite guests to become a part of your social community on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or YouTube. Continue conversations with your guests on these social channels.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Search for photos, tweets, blogs or videos that were posted by guests or visitors to your region, establishment or town and comment, link, "friend" or "like" the content.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Add a <a href="http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like">Facebook "like" button</a> to your website as well as social media buttons to your social channels.</li>
</ul><b style="color: orange;">Freshen up your Website</b><br />
<ul><li>Update your website with photographs and images for the new season to encourage a few more weeks of travel during the shoulder season.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Post photos to your website and invite your guests to provide their favourite pictures for your site.<b style="color: orange;"> </b></li>
</ul><b style="color: orange;">Create Packages</b><br />
<br />
<ul><li>Plan travel packages with other tourism operators in your area or a location along the route for the new season.</li>
</ul><b style="color: orange;">Testimonials</b><br />
<ul><li>Update testimonials on your site and invite your list to submit testimonials to sites like Canada Select and Tripadvisor.</li>
</ul><b style="color: orange;">Learn and Network</b><br />
<ul><li>Plan for your own professional development and <a href="http://www.digitaldaisy.com/workshops/">register to attend</a> one of our workshops! You may learn a few new things but also network with like-minded people.</li>
</ul>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-68780727388066463082010-05-18T23:05:00.009-02:302010-05-19T08:20:22.498-02:30Where do I start with my website?<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"Where to start planning a new website?" is a question I am asked quite often. This is a broad question and many resources already exist that help getting to the right answers.</span></span></b><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Here is a link to a comprehensive blog post on the topic "</span></span><a href="http://www.ovaleye.com/cgi-bin/oeye/blog/display.html?mv_arg=TOP100046"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Preparing to work with a designer: What to bring to the plate when you are planning your website?</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">" It is well worth the read.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Or perhaps you prefer to get advice from a Rapper - </span></span><a href="http://digitaldaisy.blogspot.com/2008/04/from-seo-wrapper.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">see this SEO Rapper</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> tell the story of web development.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Digital Daisy's blog also has a few articles that answers this same question:</span></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://digitaldaisy.blogspot.com/2009/02/ten-most-commonly-made-mistakes-made-in.html">The </a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://digitaldaisy.blogspot.com/2009/02/ten-most-commonly-made-mistakes-made-in.html">ten most commonly made mistakes in online marketing</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://digitaldaisy.blogspot.com/2009/02/web-development-process.html">The </a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://digitaldaisy.blogspot.com/2009/02/web-development-process.html">web development process</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></li><li><a href="http://digitaldaisy.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-to-ask-before-hiring-web-developer.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">What to ask before you hire a web developer</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></li></ul><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;">Planning</span></span></span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Like all planned journeys, the web development process starts with a destination in mind. There are two questions that are important before embarking on the web development journey:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">1. Why the heck am I doing this?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">2. What do I want from my site?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;">Elements</span></span></span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A website has 4 basic elements that require planning:</span></span></div><div><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Design</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Content</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Navigation and</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Functionality</span></span></li></ol><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Developing content will most likely be your responsibility and the earlier in the process you get this done, the easier it will be on the rest of the process. A small business owner knows best who he/she is talking to, and what to say. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;">Navigation</span></span></span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Planning a site's navigation is like planning a journey with its main route, detours and excursions. Think of how content in the site has to connect to each other. Two sites I like for planning, are </span></span><a href="http://www.gomockingbird.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">GoMockingbird</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (great for mocking up a page that shows where all the elements of the page should be) and </span></span><a href="http://www.slickplan.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Slickplan</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (for creating flow charts). Microsoft Excel is useful for this as well.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;">Functionality</span></span></span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The functionality you'd like your site to have depends on the site's purpose and could be an events calendar, a form, a photo gallery, social media widgets, a shopping cart or more. One piece of functionality that is almost a given nowadays is having a content management system (CMS) for your site. This allows you as the owner to add, delete and edit pages on your site in a user-friendly way.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Popular CMS's are Django, Drupal, Joomla and WordPress. Even Blogger which was originally a blogging site, now allows for easy addition of pages to the blog page. In the list of questions to ask a Web Developer - ask to have a CMS and ask to see an example of how it works.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Other benefits of a CMS: CMS's like the above are used by many developers across the globe who collaborate to write functionality for sites (also called plug-ins). These are often available for download by other developers (free). This means that you are able to "plug in" new functionality into your site as you need it at low or now cost very quickly, like a registration form or a calendar.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;">Conten</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;">t</span></span></span></b></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The most important point about content is that is should be written for the user and from the user's perspective. What is your reader looking for?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Other web writing tips are on this blog post </span></span><a href="http://digitaldaisy.blogspot.com/2010/03/11-hot-tips-for-techknowledgeable.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">11 Tips for Techknowledgeable Writing</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF6600;">The Hidden Bits</span></span></span></b></div><div><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Ensure that you get the domain name of your choice, that it is registered in the name of your company, using an email address/es that will always reach you.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Make note of your registrar, its web address and passwords to your domain registration account.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Make sure upfront that the web host you select can host the files your developer will create.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Make a note of your web host's web url and password to your account.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Meta content (page titles, tags, key words, alt-tags) are not always visible on first glance at the site. Make sure that they are there, that they are unique for each page and that they are search engine optimized.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Plan for links: Link the content of your pages together. Hyperlinks is another form of site navigation and search engines like it. Also plan for other sites you want to link to or want to request a link from - good for users, good for search engines!</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Add analytics to your site - Google Analytics is a popular choice and ask your web developer to set it up on your site and to show you how to use it.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Plan for Social Media - which of your social media would you like to integrate on your site and where? Widgets are available from most social media sites (Linkedin, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and more). This can help to keep your site fresh and interesting. Also plan for sharing options to add to the page such as RSS feeds, Email This, Tweet This, Like, comments and ratings options. One quick way to add this is by adding something like </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://www.addthis.com/">AddThis</a>.</span></span></li></ol></div><div><br /></div></div></div>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-40461255634738369382010-05-12T23:57:00.006-02:302010-05-13T00:34:48.376-02:30What are Canadians Doing Online?<!-- BEGIN TABLE --><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><b>Stats Canada published the following information on May 10 2010 with regard to </b><a href="http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/100510/dq100510a-eng.htm"><b>how Canadians use the Internet at home.</b></a></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Interesting that a popular use, Travel Planning, remained at the same level as two years prior, while the use for health & medical research; watching TV & Video online increased significantly as did contributing to social media activities (blogs etc.). Internet telephony increased - a trend worth watching. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The largest relative increase (2007 - 2009) in Internet usage was in Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick respectively (both up by 15%).<br /></span><div class="table"><br /><table><tbody></tbody><caption class="pview"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Online activities of home Internet users</span></span></b></caption><tbody></tbody><thead class="RGBShade"><tr><th id="hdt2r1c1" class="stub1 RGBShade"> </th><th id="hdt2r1c2" align="right"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">2007</span></span></th><th id="hdt2r1c3" align="right"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"> 2009</span></span></th></tr></thead><tbody></tbody><tbody><tr><td id="t2stub2" class="stub1 RGBShade"><br /></td><td colspan="2" align="center"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">%</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub4" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">E-mail</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub4" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">92</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub4" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">93</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub5" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">General browsing for fun or leisure</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub5" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">76</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub5" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">78</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub6" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Obtain weather or road conditions</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub6" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">70</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub6" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">75</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub7" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Research other matters (family history, parenting)</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub7" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">70</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub7" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">73</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub8" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Search for medical or health related information</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub8" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">59</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub8" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">70</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub9" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">View news or sports</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub9" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">64</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub9" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">68</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub10" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Electronic banking or bill payment</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub10" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">63</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub10" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">67</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub11" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Travel information or making travel arrangements</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub11" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">66</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub11" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">66</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub12" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Window shopping</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub12" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">60</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub12" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">65</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub13" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Search for information about governments</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub13" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">51</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub13" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">57</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub14" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Education, training or school work</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub14" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">50</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub14" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">50</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub15" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Research community events</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub15" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">44</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub15" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">50</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub16" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Order personal goods or services</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub16" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">45</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub16" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">50</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub17" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Obtain or save music (free or paid downloads)</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub17" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">45</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub17" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">47</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub18" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Use an instant messenger</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub18" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">50</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub18" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">45</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub19" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Play games</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub19" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">39</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub19" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">42</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub20" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Obtain or save software (free or paid downloads)</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub20" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">33</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub20" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">35</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub21" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Job search</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub21" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">32</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub21" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">35</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub22" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Listen to the radio over the Internet</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub22" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">28</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub22" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">32</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub23" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Download or watch TV or a movie over the Internet</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub23" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">20</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub23" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">31</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub24" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Research investments</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub24" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">25</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub24" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">27</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub25" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Communicate with governments</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub25" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">26</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub25" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">27</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub26" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Contribute content (blogs, photos, discussion groups)</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub26" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">20</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub26" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">27</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub27" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Make telephone calls</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub27" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">9</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub27" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">14</span></span></td></tr><tr><td id="t2stub28" class="stub1 RGBShade"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">Sell goods or services (auction sites)</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c2 t2stub28" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">9</span></span></td><td align="right" headers="hdt2r1c3 t2stub28" class="data"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;">13</span></span></td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody></table></div></div>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-71940477570617365132010-05-08T13:06:00.010-02:302010-05-09T00:12:40.708-02:30Haul Videos more Powerful than Like buttons?<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/haul-videos-turn-tech-savvy-shoppers-web-stars/story?id=10158339"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><b>ABC News recently reported</b></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><b> on a new trend on YouTube called Haul Videos. Teenage girls, predominantly, use one of their favourite things, their web cam, to video blog (vlog) about one of their other favourite things: shopping.</b></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Girls show off their purchases online, become YouTube stars and even attract sponsorship. The power of these "consumer reviews" by a group with tremendous retail purchasing power and influence is undeniable. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">ABC News reported there to be about 110,000 haul videos currently on YouTube. Originally displaying predominantly cosmetic purchases, this has expanded to include anything from bags to shoes to clothing for their favourite pet - commenting on the quality or the purchase as they vlog along.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Even more powerful than peer reviews and like buttons, it is anticipated that marketers will be hot on the trail of this technique, canvassing user-promoters that are happy to promote their products - a second-cousin technique to mystery shopping.</span></span></div><br /><img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border="0" width="0" height="0" src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bT*xJmx*PTEyNzMzMzM3NjgwMDQmcHQ9MTI3MzMzMzg*MTY1OCZwPTEyNTg*MTEmZD1BQkNOZXdzX1NGUF9Mb2NrZV9FbWJlZCZn/PTImbz*yNzg2ZGM1Njc2Mzg*YzA4YWRjZjI1Yjc1NDRiYzAzMyZvZj*w.gif" /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,124,0" width="344" height="278" id="ABCESNWID"><param name="movie" value="http://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.6/flash/SFP_Walt.swf"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="flashvars" value="configUrl=http://abcnews.go.com/video/sfp/embedPlayerConfig&configId=406732&clipId=10161087&showId=10161087&gig_lt=1273333768004&gig_pt=1273333841658&gig_g=2"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><embed src="http://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.6/flash/SFP_Walt.swf" quality="high" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" allowfullscreen="true" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="344" height="278" flashvars="configUrl=http://abcnews.go.com/video/sfp/embedPlayerConfig&configId=406732&clipId=10161087&showId=10161087&gig_lt=1273333768004&gig_pt=1273333841658&gig_g=2" name="ABCESNWID"></embed></object>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-6898805915448904702010-05-05T11:18:00.000-02:302010-05-05T18:02:22.049-02:308 Tips: Listening as a Marketing Strategy<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><b>What a scramble to get on the social media bus - we tweet, update statuses, blog, comment and create. However, it is generally accepted that listening is the most effective social media marketing strategy. Here are some ideas for keeping your ear to the ground.</b>..</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102); font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">1. Eavesdropping on Twitter - Twitter Search</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 53px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB509Crd36DhRz7fo28dHSGw2I-Pp7W6Oot-4P2d_wyPYViRkrkL_Nul9vEPjlHcGRJ9DQ8PlBQPuOt7HCNmDOZS2Ulfwl23Hc53kNdPpG72qnCWf-9gDkSYOgOcftJway83HrbHyTGWaJ/s320/twitter+search.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467822780065603746" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://www.search.twitter.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><o:p></o:p></span></a></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Twitter Search is ideal for finding out what is being said. No Twitter account is needed - just enter the search term in the search window on twitter.com to find out what others are saying about your topic.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102); font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">2. Follow #Hash Tags & Monitor Search Terms</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6O9Keb2Ds8qOhKYRdgTfYV7iZwlN_XOGbzEvgr-TTS7bLxALGwCe9z_2p3kKfpelTih684-uzUvUgiGD9qPDXTAcK3GWf5z9iS-SCyX-UswFamR58kvG9rVbli0H6GePgGbqxEcIVLg1/s1600/hash+tag+column.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 289px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6O9Keb2Ds8qOhKYRdgTfYV7iZwlN_XOGbzEvgr-TTS7bLxALGwCe9z_2p3kKfpelTih684-uzUvUgiGD9qPDXTAcK3GWf5z9iS-SCyX-UswFamR58kvG9rVbli0H6GePgGbqxEcIVLg1/s320/hash+tag+column.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467831592659601730" /></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The so-called “hash-tag” that prefaces certain terms clusters conversations that include this tag on Twitter as belonging together. At conferences hash-tagged phrases often spring up spontaneously (such as #TedX) to cluster anything being said about this event.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A recent fun example was #doyletweets and #doylequotes, used to tweet about the Republic of Doyle. Doyle fans would tweet comments out about the episode while watching - a search of #doyletweets lets you in on the conversation. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Find a community that talks about topics you are interested in. Twitter Search will point you in the right direction. If you use a tool such as TweetDeck, set up columns for your favourite search terms or hash tags. One of mine is the town of Twillingate - every time there is a Tweet about "Twillingate", it is picked up in my "Search: Twillingate" column. This morning I was saved a speeding fine by a kind tweeter alerting me to a speed trap along the way <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#3333FF;">#Twillingate</span>. Catch negative comments about your business quickly and respond, or pick up on a business <a href="http://digitaldaisy.blogspot.com/2010/03/what-twitter-can-do-for-you.html">opportunity</a> and follow the lead.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9966;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">3. Follow Industry Leaders </span></span></span></b></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Another technique for listening in on my favourite topics, is to search for authors of my favourite business books on Twitter. A few of my favourite Tweeps are authors @shelisrael (Twitterville), @tompeters (Thriving on Chaos), @anthonyrobbins (Unlimited Power) and @charleneli (Groundswell). Add a comment to share yours...</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102); font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">4. Plug into the Local Community</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><b><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxK8raG01iTFZSnzQ1Bs8CGsEm2f0x4Uxfd_kcxd9cB5v23kVcMMhUoVt70eaf3aZH_Vn2s9s-SZkIo45Dn6_B0Fkagy0fQaOoeDO1puM61y7jfFWtc2O5_g6D_9qzzFt2WW65dV-I0ROc/s1600/nltweets.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxK8raG01iTFZSnzQ1Bs8CGsEm2f0x4Uxfd_kcxd9cB5v23kVcMMhUoVt70eaf3aZH_Vn2s9s-SZkIo45Dn6_B0Fkagy0fQaOoeDO1puM61y7jfFWtc2O5_g6D_9qzzFt2WW65dV-I0ROc/s400/nltweets.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467821921121674930" /></a></b></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In our local tourism industry you may want to eavesdrop on what @nltweets (Dpt. of Tourism), @centralNL (Central Destination Marketing Organization) or @DestinationSJ (Destination St. John’s) are saying. Visit their pages (twitter.com/nltweets etc.) if you do not have a Twitter account, or follow them once you are logged in.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Follow @ryansnoddon to get the local weather report even before the weather office does! Each community has its tweet elite.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9966;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">5. Follow the buzz on Facebook, YouTube or Linkedin</span></span></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">You have a </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Digital-Daisy-Inc/84292508534?ref=ts"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Facebook page</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> for your business? Great! So, what is more important… what you are saying or what “they” are posting? Comments and contributions from others become gold in your research. Why spend millions on research if you could merely eavesdrop on the conversation in your community. Here are some ways to </span><a href="http://digitaldaisy.blogspot.com/2010/05/7-essential-social-media-instincts-for.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">engage your audience</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">...</span></span></p> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg35Kpt5blFABjmHfoTqWYSjVtJ_XjAnomc-D1HgktmW3FuI1A8bcgjoDtRjGAsczycSeGjTenbS3SvBzLviTe0ylTCO2AylKvIUCwjI-sA8dYTixAdUaaSbYksO3lO96AbzS7utFQjDQBn/s1600/Linkedin+Answers.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg35Kpt5blFABjmHfoTqWYSjVtJ_XjAnomc-D1HgktmW3FuI1A8bcgjoDtRjGAsczycSeGjTenbS3SvBzLviTe0ylTCO2AylKvIUCwjI-sA8dYTixAdUaaSbYksO3lO96AbzS7utFQjDQBn/s320/Linkedin+Answers.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467832497614324530" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Have you ever searched for topics of interest on Facebook or </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/answers/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Linkedin</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">? Pages and groups reveal much through the conversation that is happening. Outsider comments on your own blog posts or photos are equally useful. While creating content is a good start, engagement and conversation are invaluable. It takes good fuel to start a fire - ask open-ended questions or throw out a provocative statement.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(255, 153, 102); font-weight: bold; font-family:arial, serif;font-size:small;">6. Get Google Alerts</span></p> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDrRqAjV6IWclrhfxEMGoL022H32-ffa9i0iHDfhz_SBNNYYxgV7XPM8djXOvMRms6AcTM5Hr0dDxVQ9WrBLm91yhVvyzRQmPbEh2FNlZa9SA6Ktp3Ep1DmAPeo5pTyiNnMmrH1nDZNeYC/s1600/Google+Alerts.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 172px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDrRqAjV6IWclrhfxEMGoL022H32-ffa9i0iHDfhz_SBNNYYxgV7XPM8djXOvMRms6AcTM5Hr0dDxVQ9WrBLm91yhVvyzRQmPbEh2FNlZa9SA6Ktp3Ep1DmAPeo5pTyiNnMmrH1nDZNeYC/s320/Google+Alerts.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467836100838216498" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Heard of Google Alerts? Let Google do the listening for you... </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic. It is as simple as going to </span></span><a href="http://www.google.com/alerts/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Google Alerts</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> once you have logged into your Gmail account and entering the words or phrases you wish to monitor. A regular report will be delivered into your email account. Want to be alerted when something is said about your business or product? Set up an alert - Google sends be a daily email about where the phrase Digital Daisy is used on the Internet.</span></span></span></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><o:p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(255, 153, 102); font-weight: bold; ">7. Keep Your Eye on Your Web Stats</span></span></span></span></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 164px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg876ZJyhK5fI2u_NAvCZYqIq67qQEjnsnZ1CIZ9QKQtLBF782r_qwym7GjlaMFr-GNeuU5CPyAcKSiea3NxqpuOAtWX9JGS4B6Sv02Q1EAuwjVIhLMSRnWvB6nkib6maIqySakqEsHQSYb/s320/Analytics.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467875683251115714" /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A place with much hidden treasure is often overlooked. If a web site has stats such as Google Analytics, you can most likely see from those stats, which words were typed into search engines to bring them to your site. This provides an indication of what potential customers are looking for.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#FF9966;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">8. Listening to the gurus</span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Even though I facilitate </span><a href="http://digitaldaisy.eventbrite.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">online marketing workshops</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> and develop strategies for clients, I never fail to learn something new when attending someone else’s workshops. Listening to others in your field of business – a workshop, a conference, a mastermind group or simply a phone call can provide great market research. "Two ears, one yapper" someone recently tweeted... for good reason.</span></span></p> <!--EndFragment-->@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-68015458282470758962010-05-05T10:24:00.011-02:302010-05-05T13:20:40.856-02:307 Essential Social Media Instincts for Small Businesses<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuBrpWiandXbCQSF8u11Q3Sd3yPZhKn1ib3cOiZOKYS3d0ZIe3gh1MePArqIC1Hr0etu34TVMMwb82Y0FkDjHRQtN6X6w3y1a6sjH9u3prQGsE-XfVcJVipvopkuIUc_vSlYGUqJ3s3z3/s1600/social+networking+iStock.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 134px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuBrpWiandXbCQSF8u11Q3Sd3yPZhKn1ib3cOiZOKYS3d0ZIe3gh1MePArqIC1Hr0etu34TVMMwb82Y0FkDjHRQtN6X6w3y1a6sjH9u3prQGsE-XfVcJVipvopkuIUc_vSlYGUqJ3s3z3/s200/social+networking+iStock.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5467812557343971410" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Small business owners see both the opportunity in social media and at the same time grapple with a successful strategy for using it. I found this </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="https://www247.americanexpress.com/MoblOpenWeb/articles.do?TargetID=7-essential-social-media-instincts-small-businesses-should-learn-rohit-bhargava&showOnOne=true">useful article by Rohit Bhargava</a><a href="https://www247.americanexpress.com/MoblOpenWeb/articles.do?TargetID=7-essential-social-media-instincts-small-businesses-should-learn-rohit-bhargava"> </a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">that captures solutions well.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Rohit says "being good with social media has very little to do with your technical ability." (big relief eh!) Essentially he makes these points - please read his <a href="https://www247.americanexpress.com/MoblOpenWeb/articles.do?TargetID=7-essential-social-media-instincts-small-businesses-should-learn-rohit-bhargava&showOnOne=true">full post</a> for the entire picture...</span></span></div><div><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Be conversational</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Listen and respond</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Proactively comment and share</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Use questions in stead of statements</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Find groups and participate with those who share your passion</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Complement social media by meeting people - there is no substitute for knowing people in person</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Invoke good karma by genuinely helping, supporting and sharing with others</span></span></li></ol><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">To this I would add: Find your topic and style and stick to it. This is a way to create followers that are loyal because they know what to expect from you - just like a good friend would.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I recommend Rohit's </span></span><a href="http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Influential Marketing blog</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> for information about online marketing that is actually useful to business owners.</span></span></div></div>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-13462436685184233232010-05-03T01:41:00.008-02:302010-05-03T02:22:15.913-02:30Bookmark this: Social Media Workshop June 1<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_j8z6HPmW1GDrIlJQV19WEi8GcJdxRuqvuHTE35khJXASiNI64NE1sPwKh5xPMY6yJ89hYLR-MYFoPw7NEppZ5QHHyORU2kzaVTxUE25ecnfMmwIIE2iVmRTuDIVD__R-9CzuoTkRt2g/s1600/Sarah+Stoodley.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI_j8z6HPmW1GDrIlJQV19WEi8GcJdxRuqvuHTE35khJXASiNI64NE1sPwKh5xPMY6yJ89hYLR-MYFoPw7NEppZ5QHHyORU2kzaVTxUE25ecnfMmwIIE2iVmRTuDIVD__R-9CzuoTkRt2g/s400/Sarah+Stoodley.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466895563825618162" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >It is exciting to announce our first mini conference on Social Media. Sarah Stoodley agreed to do a presentation on Twitter - sharing strategies learned as the official Tweeter for Memorial University (@memorialu).<br />Sarah is such a vivacious presenter and has a host of real life examples that she draws from.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0VwjDn71iS2U47PcOHp5fyBsoNP4Va0H1WJ5khmemlAVmDr5y1h-QAAeN9564RRtD8CohzdL0DZ14-t65wNyd20gWfh3Ht2Ko_YRSrQGeUvpurSsNPXXfKIKVrlLhLQOWaKu-9vAzcq4/s1600/John+Feltham.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 114px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0VwjDn71iS2U47PcOHp5fyBsoNP4Va0H1WJ5khmemlAVmDr5y1h-QAAeN9564RRtD8CohzdL0DZ14-t65wNyd20gWfh3Ht2Ko_YRSrQGeUvpurSsNPXXfKIKVrlLhLQOWaKu-9vAzcq4/s400/John+Feltham.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466895818952424258" border="0" /></a>John Feltham will present a few of the exciting case studies that he has worked on. John played a significant role in creating an initial Social Media plan for Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, did it again last year for Targa Newfoundland and more recently for Ruckus on the Edge - the week long music fest that accompanied the 2010 Juno Awards.<br /><br />I am pleased to be co-presenting with these two leading edge social media marketers and will draw on my experience in business to make sure the content is focused on entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses.<br /><br />Check out more information about the <a href="http://www.digitaldaisy.com/workshops/">One-day Social Media Intensive</a> and <a href="http://digitaldaisy.eventbrite.com/">register online</a> to ensure you get your seat. We are keeping the groups small so that there are lots of opportunities to share information.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2TY1uPG18ABCf3PGy9XuxzQTqH90ycNjbpN1neFNbqYIy0lAp-zBOUkl8vEakbZiAAK1OKp8IZNnwDiClwUic9sUTV6VEqO0gs1CFC88f8vnsuL9CijZTT9OUo4XwvoW20HYZTTz3Ws1-/s1600/centre6.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 145px; height: 89px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2TY1uPG18ABCf3PGy9XuxzQTqH90ycNjbpN1neFNbqYIy0lAp-zBOUkl8vEakbZiAAK1OKp8IZNnwDiClwUic9sUTV6VEqO0gs1CFC88f8vnsuL9CijZTT9OUo4XwvoW20HYZTTz3Ws1-/s400/centre6.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466896352812066658" border="0" /></a>And I'll be amiss not to mention the lovely venue - <a href="http://www.myxmeetings.com/">Myx Meeting Centre</a> - and chef Denise's amazing cooking! (Yes, breakfast, lunch and refreshments!)<br /></span><br /><a href="http://digitaldaisy.eventbrite.com/?ref=ebtn" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.eventbrite.com/registerbutton?eid=674681992" alt="Register for One-Day Social Media Intensive in St. John's Newfoundland & Labrador, on Eventbrite" border="0" /></a>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-6652345787401499122010-04-01T22:31:00.005-02:302010-04-01T22:52:35.018-02:30Juno Awards' Melanie Berry's Top 10 for 2010<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In a recent presentation to the members of NLOWE at a breakfast session, CARAS CEO Melanie Berry shared her top ten entrepreneurial priorities for 2010 while in St. John's for final arrangements for the 2010 Juno Music Awards.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0qEdXkuY3Es&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0qEdXkuY3Es&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Expressing the value of mentorship in her career, Ms. Berry cited these as her important entrepreneurship and life lessons:<br /></span></span><ol><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Always treat others as you would like to be treated.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Do what is RIGHT, not what is EASIEST.</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Pick your battles - don't waste time with unimportant issues</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Think about the big picture and do not be distracted by the little issues</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Value your friends</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It is what it is - realize what you can change and what you cannot</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Take time to learn from your mistakes</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Celebrate successes</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Always admit when you're wrong</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Love what you do - you have to love your job.</span></span></li></ol><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Melanie also emphasized the importance of having a strong support system you can rely on - and cited her parents as playing this important role in her success. This video that was taken at the event, lets you share in her positivity and enthusiasm for what she does.</span></span></div><div><br /></div>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-51416156422808795102010-03-24T18:18:00.006-02:302010-03-24T19:07:37.248-02:3011 Hot Tips for Techknowledgeable Writing<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Well... they were hot when I wrote them originally 4 years ago. But I think it is still valid for creators of website content - layout and presentation can make or break the deal...</span><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >1. Put yourself in the reader's position</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">What is the most important thing on your website or in our email, newsletter or blog for users? (Use your web statistics to form and opinion on this.) In each and every article, try to pinpoint what users will find to be most interesting or useful, and focus on this.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >2. Use the right trigger words (key word)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">When users come to your website, they have a mental picture of what they seek, often a so-called "trigger word". If they come from a search engine, is is the word that they used in their search query.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">If a user is searching for "<span style="font-weight: bold;">glasses</span>" , he (read "she" if you prefer) will not automatically click on the word "<span style="font-weight: bold;">visual aids</span>". It is for this reason that it is counter-productive to use the jargon in articles or navigation bars.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-family:arial;" >Jargon fails because the user is looking for his trigger word, and does not find it. Therefore; fine out which words your users like to use and to describe their search. Use </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-family:arial;" >these</span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-family:arial;" > words and not your own internal jargon!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >3. Write meaningful headlines</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In order for a reader to get interested in an article, web page, long email, blog or newsletter, he has to know what the article or page is about. After that, the reader will determine whether it is relevant and interesting and whether it answers his current question.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-family:arial;" >Therefore: </span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-family:arial;" >A good headline uses relevant trigger words (see above) and is descriptive - telling what the article is about. If you have a web page about offshore oil exploration off the coast of Newfoundland, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Newfoundland offshore oil exploration</span>" would be a good title, and "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Newfoundland economy</span>" would not.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Remember that headlines can end up being the entire story (when the article is placed lower on the screen, or when another site quotes your content). Then the headline will have to stand alone - with neither picture or sub-header to support it - and still be able to convey the news.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >4. Write the article as a teaser</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">A "teaser" consisting of a headline, sub-headline and picture, should be able to inform the user of an event to such a degree that a user that is in a hurry (or who is only reading superficially) does not need to read the whole story. Those who are interested in reading more about the topic can click in on the entire story, while those who aren't, will still get the basic information.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >5. Use the most appropriate presentation method</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Information can be presented in many different ways. By analyzing and organizing your content you will be in a good position to select the best presentation method. Choose from:</span><br /></span><ul style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-family:arial;"><li><span style="font-size:100%;">bullet and numbered lists, </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">tables, </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">graphs, </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">flowcharts and </span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">diagrams.</span></li></ul><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >6. Help readers down the page</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Let the reader get a quick grasp of the article by simply glancing at the page. Techniques to help readers down the page, are:</span><br /></span><ul style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-family:arial;"><li><span style="font-size:100%;">SUB-HEADERS</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Bullet Points</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;">Hyperlinks</span></li><li><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bold</span> words (preferably trigger words)</span></li></ul><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Remember that these elements must give a complete description of the article when the reader simply looks down the page (seeing only the headlines, links, points and bold or underlined words). Pay attention to the fact that you can spin or twist a whole article by choosing to make one word bold, so be careful.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >7. Create space on the screen</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Few things kill a reader's desire to read, like a massive and visually impenetrable block of letters. Only the most motivated readers will dare to read such an article (basically fewer than 5 per cent - check your website statistics if you do not believe me!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 0);font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Therefore:</span> Create space! Break text up into paragraphs, sub-titles, pictures, lists and bold words so that the page doesn't appear like a fortress.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >8. A picture is worth more than a 1000 words...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Text is not the best medium to convey all types of information. So, consider whether your information can be conveyed better via pictures, numbers, models, diagrams etc.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >9. Say it as </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" >simply</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-family:arial;" > as possible</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Write simply and directly. To achieve this, think "How would I explain this to a grade 4 student?" or "What would I have said if this were a classified advertisement?"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The intention is not to underestimate the reader, but to write in an inclusive way. If you need to write an extensive and complex article (a research report, a medical analysis etc.) consider breaking it into smaller parts (see Tip 7).</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >10. Layer it</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">If you must convey a demanding text, consider doing it over two different pages: Make one simple article, which explains where the content can be obtained, or which presents the main points of the larger article.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Set up a link to the entire report/text/evaluation for those who are particularly interested in it, from where it can also be printed.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >11. Watch out for typing errors!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">It is hard to catch your own mistakes, so set up routines whereby a colleague double-checks your work, if possible. Spell-check your own work. Remember that a misspelled word not only looks unprofessional, but can also confuse a search engine. A user looking for "</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Canada</span><span style="font-family:arial;">" on your web site will not get a hit for an article that mentions "</span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >Caanada</span><span style="font-family:arial;">".</span></span>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-11416703061857977122010-03-10T10:25:00.006-03:302010-03-10T10:48:09.704-03:30What Twitter Can Do For You<img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFK64EehJcS7Z0i42j0ru3d0hHEnPNZ7lqp502_K9d5e1E6QhYWJFPJQecml7AIQC7ONmgRO_f7hUDXwxlDSCSWYsOEe6SaYng_V2aJoxqELzHbp0DuQtoHwBjM_eoSQik7tjUjAKEVYwZ/s200/twitter_icons_free.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5447008140067696466" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">There is often Much A-twitter About Nothing, as Shakespeare no doubt would have said today. But hard to dispute is that Twitter is being used to deliver results, and here are some suggestions how...</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">A business acquaintance of mine manages a hotel in a scenic travel destination that is somewhat off the beaten track. Every morning he searches Twitter, using a few key words that include the name of his region, his town, the nearest airport and ferry terminal. By responding to the tweets of travelers looking for travel information ("Heading to Gros Morne - any travel tips?") or a place to stay he builds goodwill, is a great tourism ambassador for his region and attracts business. How long does it take? Not more than an hour every morning during his peak tourism season, he says.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This blog post on </span></span><a href="http://www.doshdosh.com/ways-you-can-use-twitter/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Dosh Dosh</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> has another </span></span><a href="http://www.doshdosh.com/ways-you-can-use-twitter/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">17 ways to use Twitter</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">1. Personal Branding</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">2. Getting Feedback</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">3. Hire People</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">4. Direct Traffic to Websites</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">5. Read News</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">6. Make New Friends</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">7. Network for Benefits</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">8. Use it as a To Do List</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">9. Business Management</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">10. Notify Your Customers</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">11. Take Notes</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">12. Event Updates</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">13. Find Prospects</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">14. Provide Live Coverage</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">15. Time Management and Analysis</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">16. Set Up Meetings</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">17. Acquire Votes</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">18. This one is not included on their list but works for me:)! Shorten the time in the doctor's waiting room</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">For more information and ideas, head over the </span></span><a href="http://www.doshdosh.com/ways-you-can-use-twitter/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">the Dosh Dosh blog</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. Would love to hear if you have any other ideas.</span></span></div>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9157610646565629967.post-18896086630921093022010-03-09T10:59:00.005-03:302010-03-09T11:05:13.602-03:30Managing the Conversation in Social Media<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Here is an interesting high level discussion about the conversation in social media - how businesses can use them, what can be gleaned from being a part of the conversation and how social media conversation is becoming the way consumers are expected to be treated. Marketers have always dreamed of engagement with their brand and suddenly social media has dropped the opportunity in our laps. The challenge is to use it effectively. Check Ralph Wilson's video out:<br /><object height="295" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/j73RPxLF4Sw&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/j73RPxLF4Sw&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x402061&color2=0x9461ca" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="295" width="480"></embed></object></span></span>@Digital_Daisyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17745340462118225768noreply@blogger.com0