Archive for October, 2008
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 31st, 2008
Amid all the gloom and doom of the economic world its difficult to see the silver lining these days. However, we have discovered so many reasons to be cheerful this month that we may have another Reasons To Be Cheerful in mid November so that we can share them all with you.
Our number one reason to be cheerful is that amid all this turmoil and recession we know that Internet and Social media marketing will prevail. Why? Because its more effective, less expensive and easier to track than traditional marketing efforts.
Now to our new media reasons of the month:
Caught the Twitter bug? Then you’ll be interested in your Twitter statistics perhaps. TweetStats reveals your Twitter habits. I’ve been on Twitter (@outsmarts) since March 2007 and it interesting to see how my interest waned then waxed.
Another great tool discovered this month is Ping.fm. Ping lets you post once to any number of social networking tools (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and the list goes on). Very handy if you are trying to be everywhere at once.
Another most excellent discovery this month is the social advertising community AdHack – this is people powered advertising at its best.
Another great resource is HARO – Help A Reporter Out. Its a service that connects reporters with people who have content to share. Its a great way to share your material but watch out for email overload.
GivenGain is another site we came across this month. They facilitate giving. If you are a charity looking to set up a donations stream or if you are looking to give then check this out.
Lastly, WigglyWigglers - a fantastic example of how one company harnessed social media to the max.
Until next time – stay cheerful!
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 29th, 2008
Bruce Sharpe from Singluar Software taped the Third Tuesday presentation last week where I talked about overcoming the objections old school marketers have to social media. If you missed the event or want to review you can do so now on Blip TV:
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 27th, 2008
LinkedIn is one of the fastest growing social networks. It grew by over 500% in 2007 and one of the reasons for its speedy growth is because professionals are recognizing its a great tool to expand your network, establish your expertise and conduct research.
This Out-Smarts podcast discusses LinkedIn with Rob Duncan. He’s a prolific LinkedIn user and has more contacts in his network than anyone else I know. I talk to Rob about what LinkedIn is, what he uses it for and the benefits he derives from doing so.
Rob is an Innovation Catalyst, Director of Applied Research at BCIT. He is a writer and public speaker too. Learn how Rob uses LinkedIn to help him spread the buzz.
[audio:http://www.out-smarts.com/Podcast11.mp3]
Podcast: Download
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 21st, 2008
I had the honor tonight to present to Third Tuesday in Vancouver. The subject was “Overcoming the challenges of marketing new media to traditional decision makers” and the topic certainly stimulated conversation.
Here are the ten objections to new media that I come across most often and discussed tonight. To find out how to counter these, check out the Hummingbird604 blog – Raul kindly liveblogged the event and did a great job encapsulating. Thanks to all involved.
1. We already use social media
2. Its only for snotty nosed kids
3. Our audience isn’t there yet
4. It a flash in the pan
5. Loosing Control of Your Brand
6. Privacy concerns
7. Too Much Fluff
8. No Time
9. Traditional media is best
10. What is the ROI
Ssssh don’t tell too many people but Miss604 brought along Canucks tickets for Saturday’s game – she was raffling them to raise money for the foodbank and I think you might still be able to enter on her blog.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 18th, 2008
Nothing to do on a rainy weekend? Then check out Spark, a CBC blog, radio show and podcast that focuses on technology and culture – hosted by Nora Young. Of particular interest is the podcast with Merlin Mann of 43 Folders where they discuss how you can build a great online presence. This week’s episode looks at writing a good blog. Here’s an excerpt – I highly encourage you to check out the podcast:
“The best thing you can do for yourself, and for anybody who’s ever going to read what you do, is to really narrow your focus by thinking about who your audience is. Who is it that I think is going to be following what I do, and who specifically do I want to reach with this?”.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 17th, 2008
1. Its not good enough to simply to put up a web site and hope that people will
visit. You have to give them a reason to visit and more to keep them coming back.
Get creative and remember to always add value – tell them something they dont
already know.
2. Positioning is vital. Theres no need to spend vast amounts of money on this – if
you dont have it: do it yourself. The top engines that you should position with are:
Google, Yahoo, MSN, Lycos, Add-Me and Scrub the Web).
3. Search engines are more likely to find your site if the content is updated regu-
larly so make sure that the site is well maintained and regularly reviewed. Share
tips and advice as well as new testimonials, company milestones and press re-
leases.
4. Consider using a branded blog to establish or entrench your expertise. This has
the added benefit of driving traffic to your site.
5. Internet marketing should go hand in hand with a traditional marketing strategy
with one complementing the other. Your brand should be consistent. Use the same
logo, typeface and branding on the Internet as you use in traditional marketing
pieces.
6. Links – encourage partners, clients and interested parties to link to your site (and
reciprocate). The more links your site has the more attractive it will be to the
search engines.
7. List your website on all company letterhead, brochures and business cards to
promote your presence and make it easier for prospects to find you online.
8. Use all tools at your disposal to drive traffic to your web site including traditional
media and Internet advertising, blogging, wikis and social networks.
9. The Internet is a vital source for market research – use it. Always check out your
competitions web presence and find out what people are saying about your market
or even what clients are saying about you!
10. Use Google analytics to track and monitor traffic to your site to ascertain
whether your goals are being met.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 15th, 2008
Our podcast today looks at a serious alternative to gift giving – Dreambank. We had the pleasure of talking with Dawn Bowles who is the CEO of Dreambank, a local Internet company that truly offers a different way to make dreams come true, to give and receive gifts and to donate to charity. Its a unique and innovative service that really gives you an alternative to the sock and underwear dilemma.
[audio:http://www.out-smarts.com/podcast10.mp3]
Podcast: Download
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 15th, 2008
Today is Blog Action Day, a day when bloggers around the world unite to spread awareness of a cause or issue. This year’s topic is poverty and over 9500 blogs are registered from around the world to participate in this blogathon. Its another great example of how social media is being harnessed by the masses to better the world we live in.
Poverty is a hot topic in Vancouver. With one of the warmest climates in Canada, our city is home to many homeless people – too many. The hot property market is making it harder and harder for ordinary people to afford to live here and many who do, especially in the downtown east side, live in poverty.
Last year I bought the Hope In Shadows calendar and it hangs on my kitchen wall. Its a collection of photographs taken in the community by amateur photographers from the downtown east side. Profits the sale of the calendars go back to the community. Its a poignant reminder of the people in my town who are struggling to survive and certainly puts my bad days in perspective. Last week Hope in Shadows published its top 40 images for next year’s calendar. Its well worth a look and while you are at it you might want to buy one and do your part to help reduce poverty.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 14th, 2008
1. Understand your prospective customer: who they are, why they buy, when and so on – do they buy on-line or use the Internet to research product information?
2. Your company – what resources are in place or will be made available, also consider existing web presence, company culture, mission, goals and policies etc?
3. Competition – check out what your competition is doing on line, track blog and RSS feeds that mention them as well as comments on their products or service from users.
4. The market – is the overall market experiencing and up turn / down turn or is it in a state of flux? These will all impact the approach you take.
5. Integration to overall marketing and advertising strategy is imperative. Each must complement and support the other by conveying the same brand image and messages.
6. If you don’t have web savvy resources in house then don’t worry – get guidance from people who do this.
7. Positioning – find out where you stand in the web rankings in comparison to others in your field.
8. Traffic – who visits your site right now, how often and how long do they stay.
9. Pricing – if your offering is considered “prestige” then your web strategy will be different than if your its aimed at the masses.
10. Consider all tools at your disposal to promote your web presence and don’t forget to consider newer technologies such as wikis, social computing for effective Internet marketing.
Written by Mhairi Petrovic, October 08th, 2008
This Out-Smarts podcast discusses social media marketing with Darren Barefoot. Darren is a writer, marketer and technologist as well as being Head Geek at Capulet Communications, a local company well known for its innovative approach to new marketing. Find out about their latest campaign, his approach to blogging and what works in social media marketing.
[audio:http://www.out-smarts.com/Podcast9.mp3]
Podcast: Download
