Hello! I have moved my site to a new domain: www.sbkelsick.com
Please visit me there.
Cheers!
Shannon Bowen-Kelsick (sbk)
sbk@sbkelsick.com
Twitter: @sbkelsick
Monday, May 24, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Calgary Marketing Meetup Summary - Oh My!
The Calgary Marketing Meetup Group, “MySpace, YouTube, Identica, Twitter, FriendFeed, Facebook and LinkedIn..... Oh my!”
One of the best attended Calgary Marketing Meetup Group events occurred on Tuesday, May 11th. Six panellists spoke to over 60 attendees, Conversation was spurred by reviewing Backbone’s “Technology Test” - an online multiple choice test that “will give you insight into the areas in which you are strong and those in which you could use some improvement. Consider it a health check: wire your company up to the virtual ECG and see how it performs”.
An attendee, who works in the automotive repair industry stated that due to the high level of competition in his industry, his company needs to respond very quickly to customer inquiries that come in online. Referring to an Inside Sales report, a customer is 100% more likely to use your services if contacted within 5 minutes of hitting your website.
The audience was mostly interested in the technicalities of online marketing. When the panel was asked about preferred web analytics tools Roger Kondrat of West17Media mentioned Crazy Egg and Clicktale, Yves Matson of Found Pages also stated that “there is hardly a drawback of installing Google Analytics". Statcounter was also a suggested tool for those that prefer an “analytics for dummies” type tool. A key area to check in analytics is your exit pages. “Pay attention to them, unless it’s your contact page” Michael C. Breuer, Technical Director, Calin Daniel Creative.
Attendee Jackie Dumaine, with The Stillness Room endorsed Facebook Advertising, Facebook Analytics and the new Like page. “Facebook gives extreme demographic data, for $5 a day the advertising is amazing”.
What to watch out for? “Mobile Marketing is in it’s infancy” – stated Steve Joyce of Local Search Heros. And apparently “Flash intros are dead!" Ernest Barbaric , Digital and Social Media Marketing Trainer and Consultant “they stall the customer’s need to get what they want”.
Mail Chimp was also mentioned several times as a worthwhile email marketing tool and service that can help companies avoid getting slammed into the Spam garbage pail.
Attendees also wanted to know what your home page MUST have. “It must have a call to action”. Ernest passionately stated. What do you want your customer to do? Buy your book? Book a meeting? It sounds simple, but this call to action is often missed.
The event was so jam packed with meaty and technical information that there was not enough time to delve into how to use Photography and Video online to market your business. Although the topics were touched on, both panellists Brett Gilmour of Gilmour Photography and Tish Bell of BizBoxTV didn’t get the opportunity to share their experience and knowledge...
Overall a fabulous event and fabulous info from a power panel, and all for only $10.
Thank you to Sandra Schultz of Ad Spots who helped organize and emcee the event.
Follow the Panellists on Twitter:
Tish @Tishsdish, Brett @ brettgilmour, Ernest @ebarbaric, Roger @Roger, Steve @localsearchhero, Sandra @sandraschulze, Michael – sorry I couldn’t find him on Twitter, leave a comment if you know his handle.
Join the The Calgary Marketing Meetup Group if you would like to attend future events.
by Shannon (sbk)
Twitter @sbkelsick
Monday, May 17, 2010
The Art of Marketing Calgary TWEETUP!
The best part about attending events and conferences is the networking. Are you attending “The Art of Marketing” (TAOM) in Calgary on June 14th? Well let’s TWEETUP before the event! Come by for an evening of socializing and meeting other TAOM attendees. This is a free, un-hosted, unstructured event. Please RSVP on EventBrite so I can prepare the venue appropriately, and spread the word!
- Location: TBA (will be downtown Calgary)
- Tuesday, June 12th @ 7:00pm
LinkedIn: And be sure to join join the LinkedIn Event for TAOM. It is a good way to see who is attending, and also stay connected after the event.
If you would like to donate any doorprizes to this event please let me know.
See you then!
Shannon Bowen-Kelsick (sbk) - just attending the event, not affiliated with the organizers
sbkelsick@shaw.ca
For more info on the The Art of Marketing Events please visit the website: The Art of Marketing
Photo by: flickr.com/photos/sverrir_thor/ / CC BY 2.0
Sunday, May 9, 2010
What did Arlene Dickinson have to say about Social Media?
On Thursday, May 6th Arlene Dickinson spoke about ‘The Future of Social Media' to a room full of surprisingly dressy (I thought we would see more artsy and/or jeans and blazer type Calgarians, there sure were a bunch of suits) marketing related professionals, put on by the Calgary Chapter of the Canadian Marketing Association.
Strange topic for Arlene Dickinson? I think so, she is clearly a marketing expert – no question, but Arlene on Social Media (SM)? She started the night off by indicating it was an odd topic for the CMA to ask her to speak about.
I follow @ArleneDickinson on Twitter, she posts several times a day, but one thing that is evident is that she doesn’t engage with her audience, and that is what SM is all about, engaging, and that is what she told us throughout her talk. But then again – she already has a TV show....maybe there is not enough time in the day to do it all!
A shocking stat from the night, when asked how many people in the room were on Twitter – less than 25% of the people in the room raised their hands. We are marketers, we should be testing all the tools, Arlene was adamant about that, “because I don’t want someone talking for me”. “We can’t keep up with most of it, but we have to participate with most of it”.
Arlene pointed out that an established online presense (that includes social media) can help balance some of the negative online talk about brands.
I would rate the event an 8.5 out of 10. The room (Palliser Hotel) was nice, but it was a long room so the tables were far back, there was a screen at the front of the room that I hoped would project Arlene’s image out to us, but it was not used, so Arlene was very far away and it was difficult to see her.
Arlene was kind, honest and very humble. “Calgary should be proud of our marketing talent” was a message she hit on several times, noting that Canadian marketers need to believe in themselves and tell the world that we are here, and we can market!
I found that hypocritical when we hit the Q&A session, when asked “what has made you the icon you are today” Arlene struggled to answer that, she quietly and humbly said “I don’t know the answer to that question, a bit of luck and being in the right place at the right time”.
Really? It may have more to do with hard work, intelligence and determination! Arlene, Arlene, Arlene we don’t believe it was luck ;)
After the talk and the Q&A she stayed after the event and spoke with many attendees. The best laugh of the night....
When asked by a young entrepenuer: “Arlene what advice could you give to yourself when you were just starting your entrepreneurial efforts?”
Arlene responded: “Don’t get married”.
The room broke into laughter, and I have to say Arlene has one of those laughs that just makes you laugh even more.
A tweet from Arlene during dinner:
I spoke with a colleague that works at a very successful local advertising agency, his comments “she was preaching to the choir”. That is true, I would have preferred to hear about her personal stories of entrepreneurship and what she has learnt, but she was still delightful and hit home the reason to have a personal online presence that YOU own.
As it goes with most events, it is the interaction with other attendees that can put the icing on the cake. I was able to meet up with a handful of colleagues (thank you Twitter!), and I also lucked out and sat at a great table, we had a great night, and connected with some pretty cool people. A fabulous night.
Thank you Calgary CMA, Arlene and my Twitter connections.
Follow on Twitter: @ArleneDickinson @Cdnmarketing (Canadian Marketing Association)
by Shannon (aka: SBK) Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
Strange topic for Arlene Dickinson? I think so, she is clearly a marketing expert – no question, but Arlene on Social Media (SM)? She started the night off by indicating it was an odd topic for the CMA to ask her to speak about.
I follow @ArleneDickinson on Twitter, she posts several times a day, but one thing that is evident is that she doesn’t engage with her audience, and that is what SM is all about, engaging, and that is what she told us throughout her talk. But then again – she already has a TV show....maybe there is not enough time in the day to do it all!
A shocking stat from the night, when asked how many people in the room were on Twitter – less than 25% of the people in the room raised their hands. We are marketers, we should be testing all the tools, Arlene was adamant about that, “because I don’t want someone talking for me”. “We can’t keep up with most of it, but we have to participate with most of it”.
Arlene pointed out that an established online presense (that includes social media) can help balance some of the negative online talk about brands.
I would rate the event an 8.5 out of 10. The room (Palliser Hotel) was nice, but it was a long room so the tables were far back, there was a screen at the front of the room that I hoped would project Arlene’s image out to us, but it was not used, so Arlene was very far away and it was difficult to see her.
Arlene was kind, honest and very humble. “Calgary should be proud of our marketing talent” was a message she hit on several times, noting that Canadian marketers need to believe in themselves and tell the world that we are here, and we can market!
I found that hypocritical when we hit the Q&A session, when asked “what has made you the icon you are today” Arlene struggled to answer that, she quietly and humbly said “I don’t know the answer to that question, a bit of luck and being in the right place at the right time”.
Really? It may have more to do with hard work, intelligence and determination! Arlene, Arlene, Arlene we don’t believe it was luck ;)
After the talk and the Q&A she stayed after the event and spoke with many attendees. The best laugh of the night....
When asked by a young entrepenuer: “Arlene what advice could you give to yourself when you were just starting your entrepreneurial efforts?”
Arlene responded: “Don’t get married”.
The room broke into laughter, and I have to say Arlene has one of those laughs that just makes you laugh even more.
A tweet from Arlene during dinner:
About to speak at #CMA dinner in Calgary. Topic at dinner table is dental hygiene. Now I need to go check my teeth!
Arlene Dickinson
ArleneDickinson
I spoke with a colleague that works at a very successful local advertising agency, his comments “she was preaching to the choir”. That is true, I would have preferred to hear about her personal stories of entrepreneurship and what she has learnt, but she was still delightful and hit home the reason to have a personal online presence that YOU own.
As it goes with most events, it is the interaction with other attendees that can put the icing on the cake. I was able to meet up with a handful of colleagues (thank you Twitter!), and I also lucked out and sat at a great table, we had a great night, and connected with some pretty cool people. A fabulous night.
Thank you Calgary CMA, Arlene and my Twitter connections.
Follow on Twitter: @ArleneDickinson @Cdnmarketing (Canadian Marketing Association)
by Shannon (aka: SBK) Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Inaugural Calgary Women in Business Luncheon, Secrets of Being Highly Productive and Happy
On May 19, 2010 four accomplished female leaders will be addressing the question: How do we empower not only ourselves but also the next generations to create change?
Location: BMO Centre (Stampede Park), Calgary
The non-profit Women in Leadership is presenting this inaugural event to help promote thier mission: to create inspirational programs that bring women together in developing their leadership skills and creating positive change in the future of women's leadership in Canada.
The speakers are Laurie Stretch, Margot M. Micallef, Paula Ierullo and Susan MacKenzie.
Laurie Stretch
Vice President, National Relations Team
Laurie’s background:
Margo M. Micallef
Founder and President, Oliver Partners Inc.
Margot’s background:
Manager of Business Development, Kantera
Sorry I could not find an online bio for Paula. I have contacted her via LinkedIn and requested some bio info.
Susan MacKenzie
Chief Operating Officer, Oilsands Quest Inc.
by Shannon (aka: SBK)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
Other articles / sources:
Location: BMO Centre (Stampede Park), Calgary
The non-profit Women in Leadership is presenting this inaugural event to help promote thier mission: to create inspirational programs that bring women together in developing their leadership skills and creating positive change in the future of women's leadership in Canada.
The speakers are Laurie Stretch, Margot M. Micallef, Paula Ierullo and Susan MacKenzie.
Laurie Stretch
Vice President, National Relations Team
Laurie’s background:
- Senior communications practitioner, with 18 years of experience spanning the private, public and not for profit sectors
- Specializes in energy and environment issues
- Skill set that includes strategic counsel, issues management, investor relations, corporate communications, government relations, employee communications, media relations and crisis communications
Margo M. Micallef
Founder and President, Oliver Partners Inc.
Margot’s background:
- Counsel to Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLPAdjunct Professor in governance and ethics for the MBA Program at the University of Alberta
- Senior Vice-President, Law, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Shaw Communications Inc.
- Partner with Russell and DumoulinCo-instructor for the Faculty of Law at the University of British Columbia
- Appointed a Queen's Counsel in 2002
- Served on board at ENMAX Board
- Chairs the Corporate Governance Committee and is a member of the Enterprise Risk Management and Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability and Communications Committees
- Chair and CEO of Vista Broadcast Group
Manager of Business Development, Kantera
Sorry I could not find an online bio for Paula. I have contacted her via LinkedIn and requested some bio info.
Susan MacKenzie
Chief Operating Officer, Oilsands Quest Inc.
- VP of Human Resources, with twelve years operational and technical experience with Petro-Canada
- VP and GM of In Situ Oilsands Development and Operations
- Fourteen years experience with Amoco CanadaHolds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from McGill University and a Master’s degree in business admin from U of C
Registration: www.womeninleadership.ca
Sponsors: Brett Gilmour Photography , TD Financial Groupby Shannon (aka: SBK)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
Other articles / sources:
- http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Calgary-Business-Women-Share-Secrets-of-Being-Highly-Productive-and-Happy-1156501.htm
- http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/30032010/30/link-f-cnw-oilsands-quest-appoints-susan-mackenzie-chief-operating-officer.html
- http://www.enmax.com/Corporation/About+Enmax/Direction+and+Leadership/Board+Members/default.htm)
- http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/WorldSkills-Calgary-2009-An-Inside-View-1064282.htm
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Ticket Winner - Calgary Marketing Association Ticket with Arlene Dickinson, May 6, 2010
Last week I ran a contest to win a ticket to an upcoming CMA (Canadian Marketing Association) event ticket, an evening with Arlene Dickinson (http://www.calgarycma.com/).
It was a really fun contest, and as expected it was really tough to pick a winner.
This applicant stuck out in my mind. The winner wrote "I need a few refreshers".
When we go events like these, or when we attend expensive conferences we don't always walk away with the sense that we learned 20 new things, often it is hard to articulate what we did learn.... In my experience it is all about the little nuggets, refreshers, or just a few different thoughts that makes it all worth it.
Most times it is about the experience rather than the content. I think the experience is what Lori would like, please read her submittal - congratulations Lori!
By Lori:
Why should I win it? Let me tell you........
I am Mom, I am Maid, I am Working Woman -- I am woman in need of a night out with real people, learning about the real possibilities of success. Who better than THE DRAGON LADY herself can pump me up and kick start my mentality back to the focus it needs.
I recently returned to the workforce after an extended leave. I was blessed with the birth of one girl - three years ago, got ready to return to work and SURPRISE - this is not early menopause - you are pregnant again. Regrets, no - life altering change - absolutely!!
I have been a successful business owner, a Senior Executive Manager, and recently hired as Centre Manager at Athene. Returning to a world of adults, dressing up in something other than my cleanest dirty shirt or hole-y housecoat - I need a few refreshers.
Would I benefit from the opportunity to tune up my skills and hone in on one of the greatest marketing minds out there... YES!! YES!! YESS!!
Pick me and not only would it be a huge honour, it would be an unforgettable opportunity.
Thank you.
Lori
Congratulations Lori, and thanks for "playing". I will get your ticket to you!
by Shannon (aka: SBK)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
picture by www.inthepitchblack.com
It was a really fun contest, and as expected it was really tough to pick a winner.
This applicant stuck out in my mind. The winner wrote "I need a few refreshers".
When we go events like these, or when we attend expensive conferences we don't always walk away with the sense that we learned 20 new things, often it is hard to articulate what we did learn.... In my experience it is all about the little nuggets, refreshers, or just a few different thoughts that makes it all worth it.
Most times it is about the experience rather than the content. I think the experience is what Lori would like, please read her submittal - congratulations Lori!
By Lori:
Why should I win it? Let me tell you........
I am Mom, I am Maid, I am Working Woman -- I am woman in need of a night out with real people, learning about the real possibilities of success. Who better than THE DRAGON LADY herself can pump me up and kick start my mentality back to the focus it needs.
I recently returned to the workforce after an extended leave. I was blessed with the birth of one girl - three years ago, got ready to return to work and SURPRISE - this is not early menopause - you are pregnant again. Regrets, no - life altering change - absolutely!!
I have been a successful business owner, a Senior Executive Manager, and recently hired as Centre Manager at Athene. Returning to a world of adults, dressing up in something other than my cleanest dirty shirt or hole-y housecoat - I need a few refreshers.
Would I benefit from the opportunity to tune up my skills and hone in on one of the greatest marketing minds out there... YES!! YES!! YESS!!
Pick me and not only would it be a huge honour, it would be an unforgettable opportunity.
Thank you.
Lori
Congratulations Lori, and thanks for "playing". I will get your ticket to you!
by Shannon (aka: SBK)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
picture by www.inthepitchblack.com
Monday, April 26, 2010
Why Do I Follow A Blogger I Despise?
Nearly everyday I subject myself to reading posts by a blogger that ticks me right off.
The content he publishes is ok (I would say a 7/10 – pretty good right?) and he is definitely knowledgeable about certain topics. And I have to say he works hard because there is a stinking post nearly everyday.
So everyday I see the post, I try not to read it, but the next thing you know it's up on my screen, I am reading it and getting bent sideways and making scoffing noises – bleh, whaaat, argh!
What ticks me off is that it is all about self promotion. Sure there are a lot of kudos given to business partners and clients he serves – so that seems quaint, but it’s a feeble attempt to try to hide what is really happening.
WHY does one have to mention their business, their title, their history and their expertise every single time they write a post?
Come on, I read certain blogs for a reason. I think they are either entertaining or they provide information I am seeking. When we want to know someone’s credentials we seek that out, but normally we just want to read the post. And if the post is well written we will know the person has some credentials, no need to flap them in my face every single day.
It may be for SEO (search engine optimization) reasons, if we determine winners by that alone I guess I will say this blogger wins. Let’s hope he is different in person than online.
For now I will continue to subject myself to this pain and misery, I think I can learn something from it, how not to blog.
by Shannon (aka: SBK)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dantaylor/ / Flickr Creative Commons:
The content he publishes is ok (I would say a 7/10 – pretty good right?) and he is definitely knowledgeable about certain topics. And I have to say he works hard because there is a stinking post nearly everyday.
So everyday I see the post, I try not to read it, but the next thing you know it's up on my screen, I am reading it and getting bent sideways and making scoffing noises – bleh, whaaat, argh!
What ticks me off is that it is all about self promotion. Sure there are a lot of kudos given to business partners and clients he serves – so that seems quaint, but it’s a feeble attempt to try to hide what is really happening.
WHY does one have to mention their business, their title, their history and their expertise every single time they write a post?
Come on, I read certain blogs for a reason. I think they are either entertaining or they provide information I am seeking. When we want to know someone’s credentials we seek that out, but normally we just want to read the post. And if the post is well written we will know the person has some credentials, no need to flap them in my face every single day.
It may be for SEO (search engine optimization) reasons, if we determine winners by that alone I guess I will say this blogger wins. Let’s hope he is different in person than online.
For now I will continue to subject myself to this pain and misery, I think I can learn something from it, how not to blog.
by Shannon (aka: SBK)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dantaylor/ / Flickr Creative Commons:
Mitch Joel and the Media Hacks Must-Listen-To-Podcast
Mitch is a published author (Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone.
affiliate link) and runs Twist Image, a Marketing firm out of Montreal. Mitch produces some of the best marketing and tech content out there, his blog: http://www.twistimage.com/blog/
My favourite content that Mitch produces is a podcast called Media Hacks (free to download from iTunes or listen to from his site http://www.twistimage.com/podcast/ - make sure you look for the Media Hacks casts...). He now has three different podcasts, but Media Hacks is my must-listen-to-cast.
Media Hacks has five core individuals (Mitch Joel, Chris Brogan, C.C. Chapman, Hugh McGuire and Julien Smith) that join a conference call, and they essentially have a “fire-side” chat about what is happening in marketing and tech. Watch out though, this is not necessarily a cast rated for the whole family, depending on who’s on the call there can be a stream of (often hilarious rants by @julien) curse words.
Mitch will be in Calgary on June 14, 2010 at the Art Of Marketing “Innovation and Marketing Conference” at the Epcor Center. http://bit.ly/aRsmCX
Hope you enjoy it all,
by Shannon (aka: SBK) Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
affiliate link) and runs Twist Image, a Marketing firm out of Montreal. Mitch produces some of the best marketing and tech content out there, his blog: http://www.twistimage.com/blog/
My favourite content that Mitch produces is a podcast called Media Hacks (free to download from iTunes or listen to from his site http://www.twistimage.com/podcast/ - make sure you look for the Media Hacks casts...). He now has three different podcasts, but Media Hacks is my must-listen-to-cast.
Media Hacks has five core individuals (Mitch Joel, Chris Brogan, C.C. Chapman, Hugh McGuire and Julien Smith) that join a conference call, and they essentially have a “fire-side” chat about what is happening in marketing and tech. Watch out though, this is not necessarily a cast rated for the whole family, depending on who’s on the call there can be a stream of (often hilarious rants by @julien) curse words.
Mitch will be in Calgary on June 14, 2010 at the Art Of Marketing “Innovation and Marketing Conference” at the Epcor Center. http://bit.ly/aRsmCX
Hope you enjoy it all,
by Shannon (aka: SBK) Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
Friday, April 23, 2010
Free Calgary Marketing Association Ticket with Arlene Dickinson
So I was pumped to attend the upcoming CMA event on May 6th @ 5pm in Calgary, Arlene Dickinson is speaking. But now I can’t attend! So I am giving away my ticket – it’s worth a whopping $89.
If you want the ticket all you have to do is tell me why YOU should win it. Are you a starving student? Arlene Dickinson is your idol? You want to schmooze with someone attending? You need somewhere to wear your new baby blue suit to?
Connect with me:
- on Twitter (@sbkelsick) or
- LinkedIn (http://ca.linkedin.com/in/sbkelsick)
And entertain me with your story! (hint: I looooove humor and personality) I will post the winning write-up to my blog. Deadline to submit is noon on April 30th.
Cheers and have fun!
by Shannon (aka: sbk)
More Info on CMA event:
http://www.calgarycma.com/
Thursday May 6th, 2010
Speaker: Arlene Dickinson, CBC’s Dragon’s Den and CEO of Venture Communications
Topic: From the Future of Social Media to the Secrets to Her Success
picture from Flickr Creative Commons
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Calgary Marketing Blogs
In the search for marketing and social media knowledge, I have found some fabulous resources online; websites and blogs like Mashable (an app is available!), Twist Image, ReadWriteWeb and TechCrunch. These sites have more information than I can possibly take in on a daily basis, I do my best to absorb as much as I can, when I can.
But there is something about getting information from "locals". I thoroughly enjoy and value information I get out of the local network I have access to (Calgary). There is something real and relate-able about local content creators.
Here is a short list of some local content creators that I learn from and enjoy. These publishers, and the above publishers create a lot of free, accessible and valuable content, soak it up if it floats your boat.
- communicatto by Doug Lacombe http://communicatto.com/category/all/
- Ernest Barbaric - http://www.ernestbarbaric.com/
- The GlueEd Marketing Blog by Fiona Friesen http://www.biggreenbite.com/
- MPowered Marketing by Kim Page Gluckie http://www.marketingmomblog.ca/
Share and enjoy.
by Shannon (aka: SBK)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
picture from Flickr Creative Commons:
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Recommended Reading - The Whuffie Factor
Want to increase your Whuffie? Of course you do, we all do.
The Whuffie Factor - written by Tara 'missrogue' Hunt is all about "tapping into online communities" to grow your customer base, and creating "social capital" which she feels (and I do agree!) is an actual currency of the digital world.
Watch a video of Tara explaining the above points:
http://www.thewhuffiefactor.com/2009/04/explaining-the-whuffie-factor-on-video/
http://www.thewhuffiefactor.com/
The book on Amazon (not an affiliate link): http://bit.ly/doOtIc
Follow Tara on Twitter @missrogue
by Shannon (aka: SBK)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
The Whuffie Factor - written by Tara 'missrogue' Hunt is all about "tapping into online communities" to grow your customer base, and creating "social capital" which she feels (and I do agree!) is an actual currency of the digital world.
Tara says to focus on the following to increase your Whuffie (social capital):
- Turn around the blowhorn, stop talking and start listening
- Become part of the community you serve
- Provide amazing customer service
- Embrace the chaos out there – people are not predicable
- Find your higher purpose - What can you give to the community and still be profitable?
Watch a video of Tara explaining the above points:http://www.thewhuffiefactor.com/2009/04/explaining-the-whuffie-factor-on-video/
http://www.thewhuffiefactor.com/
The book on Amazon (not an affiliate link): http://bit.ly/doOtIc
Follow Tara on Twitter @missrogue
by Shannon (aka: SBK)
Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
picture from Flickr Creative Commons:
The Art of Marketing Event in Calgary
The Art of Marketing Event in Calgary
Presented by Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Full Day Marketing / Social Media Class
Okay Calgary, we have been asking for it....more Marketing and Social Media conferences. The Art of Marketing is coming to Calgary! A line up of influential marketers will be in Cowtown on June 14th, 2010.
It is a one day conference that features six different speakers. Tickets are $399 or $499 for preferred seating.
I was sold on the event when I saw that Gary Vaynerchuk and Mitch Joel will be speaking. If you haven't read Mitch's Marketing blog check it out, it's one of the best: http://www.twistimage.com/blog/, and his book: Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone. (affiliate link)
And check this video out on You Tube of Gary Vaynerchuk: http://bit.ly/9uHPsk , and Gary's book: Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion
(affiliate link) I prefer the Audio Version, his voice, and he talks a bit more than just what is in the book.
Here's the full line up of speakers:
Follow @TheArtOfEvents on Twitter
www.theartofmarketing.ca
Twitter hashtag: #taom
by Shannon (aka: SBK) Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
Presented by Microsoft Dynamics CRM
Full Day Marketing / Social Media Class
Okay Calgary, we have been asking for it....more Marketing and Social Media conferences. The Art of Marketing is coming to Calgary! A line up of influential marketers will be in Cowtown on June 14th, 2010.
It is a one day conference that features six different speakers. Tickets are $399 or $499 for preferred seating.
I was sold on the event when I saw that Gary Vaynerchuk and Mitch Joel will be speaking. If you haven't read Mitch's Marketing blog check it out, it's one of the best: http://www.twistimage.com/blog/, and his book: Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone Is Connected. Connect Your Business to Everyone.
(affiliate link)
And check this video out on You Tube of Gary Vaynerchuk: http://bit.ly/9uHPsk , and Gary's book: Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion
(affiliate link) I prefer the Audio Version, his voice, and he talks a bit more than just what is in the book.
Here's the full line up of speakers:
- Mitch Joel - Digital Marketing & Social Media http://www.twistimage.com/blog/
- Sally Hogshead - Persuasion & Influence http://sallyhogshead.com/
- Chip Heath - Strategy & Communications http://heathbrothers.com/
- Gary Vaynerchuk - Personal Branding in the New Media Landscape http://garyvaynerchuk.com/
- Max Lenderman - Branding & Experiential Marketing http://www.experiencethemessage.com/
- Sir Ken Robinson - Innovation & Creativity http://sirkenrobinson.com/skr/
Follow @TheArtOfEvents on Twitter
www.theartofmarketing.ca
Twitter hashtag: #taom
by Shannon (aka: SBK) Twitter: @sbkelsick
contact me: sbk@MondayMarketingTools.com
photo from Flickr Creative Commons
http://creativecommons.org/ns#" about="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ben-zvan-photography/468487548/"> rel="cc:attributionURL" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ben-zvan-photography/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ben-zvan-photography/ / http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">CC BY 2.0
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Networking at Events - The Host Mentality
Get the most out of event networking, act as the host!
Hosts benefit greatly at events:
- they meet the most people
- they are remembered by the crowd
- and it is generally MUCH for fun to be the host than to the be the person that walks into a room of strangers that is expected to ‘network’
There are two options we have - host events or act like a host at events.
You can ‘become the host’ a number of ways if you are not the actual host (assuming this would be well received by the actual hosts), here are some ideas:
- offer assistance to the organizers - Do more chairs need to brought out? Do they need help getting the presentation running? more chairs etc. Need to be brought out?
- introduce people to other people with an introduction line like “Susan spoke at the last event on Search Engine Optimization...”
- offer to take pictures and to send them out to the audience – many people blog now and would appreciate a real photo to add to their post
- offer to pass out a page that everyone can write their contact info down and email it out to the willing participants after the event
- approach the organizers at the end of the event and and offer your help with the next event. Be specific, “I can help with name tags” or “I can bring pens and paper” instead of “let me know how I can help”.
Taking on the host mentality will increase the number of people that you engage with at an event - give it a try.
Do you have any suggestions on how to maximize event networking?
SBK (aka Shannon) contact me: sbk@mondaymarketingtools.com
Photo from Flickr - by emdot http://bit.ly/bfITMi
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Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The Rise of the Geeks
Is it me or have Geeks become the new new cool?
Geeks are making their mark in the marketing arena. Since marketing has gone online in the form of websites and social media the need for geek inclusion in marketing implementation plans and even creation of marketing plans has sky rocketed.
Highly skilled techy geeks are now advising businesses on how to increase website visits, how to install social media plugins like Sociable (www.push.cx/sociable) on your website and advising peeps on what the best blogging software is.
The more time I spend online the more I see geeks flaunting their geekiness. There are 47,922 Twitter profiles with the work "geek" in them.
One definition of a geek is "An expert in a technical field, particularly to do with computers."
Online presence and maintenance can be challenging - so if you know a geek that gets the stuff you don't - treat them well, they are the new cool.
Cheers to all the geeks out there - this is your time.
SBK (Shannon) contact me: sbk@mondaymarketingtools.com
Photo By Scott Prince www.inthepitchblack.com
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Twitter Counter - How Can It Help You?
Do you want to see your history of followers and your future forecast of followers? Go to www.TwitterCounter.com - you can see your tweeting statistics over time.
Competitor Research
You can also see anyone else's stats - even your competitors - quite interesting if you are doing some research. Some clients that are considering different Marketing avenues feel a medium like Twitter will take up too much time and not have enough return. Although I believe you should focus more on what your doing than always worrying about your competitors - you should have an idea of what their business models look like - investigate what your industry and competitors are doing - Twitter Counter can definitely help with that.
Twitter Rank
Always wanted to know how you stack up on Twitter? You can check out your popularity via the Twitter Rank on Twitter Counter.
Premium Dashboard
Of many features and offerings of Twitter Counter is the "Premium Dashboard". This paid service allows you to see stats on multiple Twitter account stats. These types of reports could be very useful in presenting your Marketing efforts and the some of the ROI of your Twitter Activity. Management may be drawn to these types of charts and the future projections it enables you to view, share and analyze.
Understand what you are doing on Twitter, see you stats, and know where you are going - Twitter Counter may be able to help with that!
SBK (aka Shannon) contact me: sbk@mondaymarketingtools.com
Friday, January 22, 2010
Doing it - Helps Your Network
He spoke to us about the benefits of building social capital - aka "building a tribe. "
Something that he said struck a cord with me "If you don't do it - your network won't do it either". He was speaking about getting out and doing things, meeting people, taking risk.
Julien pushed us to believe that our choices in life affect our friends - okay I agree on many levels. But what he really pushed is that if we open ourselves up - and essentially say YES to more things rather than NO, our friends will in turn start saying YES more often.
So why the heck is saying YES a good thing? If you haven't seen 'Yes Man' with Jim Carey - go see it! He says YES to everything, and what happens is he experiences a lot of really fun and crazy things and he meets a lot of pretty cool people.
This hit home for me. A good friend of mine has decided to sign up for her second mini-triathlon. She asked me to do it with her about 5 times. Seeing as I don't have a bike, I don't know how to swim properly and I am not a great runner - I said "hell no!". There are always excuses to why we can't do things - I have a family, I work crazy hours at work, I am the Chairman of a very complex non-profit board plus I am volunteering on the Ad-Rodeo Sponsorship Committee and I just added involvement on the PR Committee of the Terry Fox Run, oh and I will be helping with Communications for CADE (Canadian Association of Drilling Engineers), so clearly I don't have time - and my body would likely break from attempting this crazy feat.
But over the course of two weeks I got thinking - why not just jump in with both feet? I will get in shape, have some fun with my friends, be a good example for my family and learn a lot doing it. So I agreed to do my first mini-triathlon - I said to myself "why not?".
I also asked another friend if she would like to join me - she feels the same way I do (her first reaction was "are you crazy!"), but she is amazing and open so she is also jumped in with both feet.
So my friend has positively influenced one person in her direct network, and another person in her extended network, and I am sure the energy will keep flowing.
Maybe it is our obligation to our networks to say YES more often.
Let's raise our glasses of Gatorade, and cheers to saying YES to new and exciting things this year, it not only helps us experience life - but it helps our network (and vice versa!).
SBK (Shannon) contact me: sbk@mondaymarketingtools.com
Photo By Scott Prince www.inthepitchblack.com
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Is Your FACE Important To Your Blogging Success?
Is it important to put a face and a personality to my business and blog? Should I use a logo or picture for my profiles on Blogger and Twitter? The word on Twitter is that it is highly recommended to have a picture on your profile - and that if you don't people won't trust you as much as they would with a real profile picture along side your name. So personality and your mug shot do count right?
I often feel the need to like the author of the blog that I am following. And I have found myself straying away from blogs where I am beginning not to like the person - even though these people have very good blogs with very relevant and useful information.
Getting people to like you is important for your blog.
I have felt a bit special when Mitch Joel (Six Pixels of Seperation @mitchjoel) sent me a DM (direct message on Twitter), and when Liz Strauss (www.successful-blog.com @lizstrauss) mentioned (thanked) me on Twitter for mentioning her articles and blogs - I even sent her a message asking what time is a good time to post blogs - and she replied (to little old me!) quite quickly. I don't think I would have had that interaction without Twitter.
And what that interaction does is make me feel closer to Liz and Mitch, it makes me like them more, and it makes me more loyal to thier brand, and yes I feel that I like Mitch and Liza as people, even though I have never met them - I like their brand.
Social Media has changed the way we commit to brands. The shift in branding has put faces to brands and accessibility to these people that makes us feels like you can reach out and touch them.
So do we want our customers or fans to feel like they can reach out and touch us? (you know what I mean!). That is what Social Media is all about today.
Yes you can build a business and a brand that is at an arms length from customers, but if you are embracing social media as a marketing tool let down your guard and let people get to know you.
Mixing our personalities with our online brand
It feels imposturous not to inject personality into my blog, as I type along censoring out anything that relates to my family, or my "business learnings" (aka: failures), or what I am wearing while blogging. Would you discredit me because I am writing this in sweatpants while drinking orange juice from a short yellow kids cup? I sure hope not!
Some may believe that your personality is your brand. So here's to embracing our personalities and injecting them into our blogs. Don`t be shy - people might just like us.
SBK (Shannon) contact me: sbkelsick@shaw.ca
Photo by Scott Prince www.inthepitchblack.com
Monday, January 11, 2010
How Much Time Do We Need to Spend on Marketing?
Sales and Marketing can be a tedious task to some business owners who would rather be engineering their products or delivering the services they offer. But sales and marketing is an essential task that can help catapult business owner to success (you must have a valuable product or service in order for any marketing efforts to materialize so lets assume you have some star products and services!).
How much time do we have to put into marketing ourselves?
Here are several ways to determine how much time should be alloted to marketing:
% of Your Time:
- For business owners that have constant business flowing in you may be able to spend only 10-25% of your time marketing your business.
- For new business owners you may need to spend 50-75% of your time marketing.
Track what is needed with a Sales Pipe Line:
- Draw out a sales pipe line (see reference below for more info), ensure that there is activity in each section of the pipeline, if you are closing all your deals and you have nothing in at the top or "the universe" that you can pull down into your pipeline you may need to commit more time to marketing. It's all about the constant flow of possible business that turns into actual business - keep on pouring (marketing) business into that pipeline.
Compare yourself to your Competition:
- If you are a business owner you are a driven person. If you want to stand out against other companies you will have to put in MORE time marketing your business than your fiercest competition is. Write down how much time you think your main competition is spending on marketing, then double that number (you do want to be doubly as successful than your competition don't you?!) and get marketing.
We need to remind ourselves that it's all a numbers game, the more people you call and connect with the more opportunity for business. So market everyday for a few hours, fill that pipeline, and strive to put more time and effort in that your competition. Market on!
SBK (Shannon) contact me: sbkelsick@gmail.com
Photo by Scott Prince www.inthepitchblack.com
References:
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