Dear Community:

I just got a wave of thankfulness for all the great relationships I’ve been able to build over the last year. Although many of you I’ve not yet met IRL (that’s how all the cool kids say it), I know we will meet someday and I’ve enjoyed every moment of getting to know you all. Technology is so great when I can feel such a deep connection and such a sense of community and respect for someone I have not actually had the chance to meet.

Don’t get me wrong, I definitely have met IRL a lot of the people I consider part of my community and what a cool thing that is. It’s strange in a way the first time you meet someone you’ve only conversed with inside the twitterverse. But it’s a good strange, It’s a familiar and friendly kind of strange. It’s like catching up with a friend that you haven’t seen for years but know all the recent things in each others lives. It’s weird but great! I’m so excited that I have gotten to know so many people in my own town that I probably would not have met any other way.

So many great things have come out of being socially active. I have made business connections, landed jobs, made friends and been introduced into a world I have fallen in love with.

So thank you friends for being such a wonderful part of my experiences thus far!

Breaking Through The Glass.

It occurred to me today that I’ve entered into the marketing/advertising/PR world during the most exciting era for social media. Ok I know we all know that but what I am getting at is that I’ve entered into social media (and others in the same boat as me) at a time when I’m learning the ‘new’ ways and have not been accustomed to the ‘old’ ways of doing things. I’m not having to really change my ways or necessarily have to adapt to this new way of doing things because it’s really the logical way for me since it’s what I know. Now I don’t want to come across as seeming like I don’t have a good understanding of the way things used to be before social media came along, I do. Obviously I grew up around it but the difference is that I never had to actually execute it. I was on the other side of the glass consuming the content but not creating it.

So where I am going with this is that this is why I feel that it’s so important for us to learn from the seasoned pros. To really value the opinions of the people who have been doing this for years and years because without them, we have no backbone to what we are evolving into now. We’re coming from two places that are so different yet so similar that we really do need each other to learn form. Where we are still creating the content that is being consumed from the other side of the glass, we are now creating content that can break through the glass and be interacted with. Our side of the glass is not the only side creating content. But one way can’t survive without the other to keep up and harness these new ways.

I think us young professionals coming into this now are in a great position to learn form the best and to tech the best. If we play our cards right and work together we have the opportunity to learn the good habits and practices that our pros already know and combine it with the new ways that come natural to us to create dynamite. It’s not a war between new and old, it’s an opportunity to combine and evolve into something bigger.

Traditional business values go a long way

The British Pantry

My mom runs a small British shoppe and tea room in Port Hope Ontario. Her store is called The British Pantry, a tiny little place that has a whole lot’a heart. It’s charming and inviting and the small staff of 4 are always eager to greet, help and chat. The little store offers British, Irish and Scottish food products, delicacies and gifts and the tea room offers traditional teas, scones and deserts. There are regulars that come in everyday and the girls that work there sit and have a coffee and a chat with them . One particular gentlemen, George, comes in everyday for a tea and buys my niece a little package of chocolate stars. Even though there are many regulars, it is truly surprising how well this little shop does. People come from all over Ontario for the experience. And apart from a one off local TV spot or newspaper ad, the store has never advertised. They don’t have a website, buy ad space in newspapers, participate on social networks, nothing ( frustrating when you’re in advertising!) This little store survives solely on traditional neighboring values. Be nice and courteous and treat your customers right. If you do, they’ll be back – with friends. Such as this blogger who writes that upon a visit to the store received a free cookie and ‘As a note to all business that sell candy and things of the sort, if you give me a free cookie or treat I’ll probably say nice things about your business.’ My mother always told me if you have a good experience somewhere you’ll tell a friend, but if you have a bad experience you’ll tell ten.

This little store uses good values to create organic word of mouth which I think is pretty spectacular in today’s society. And although times will probably change for the little gem, and I know social marketing will probably be in the forecast, it’s almost refreshing to step into that kind of environment. Good old fashioned help-your-neighbor values.

Word of mouth is a reference to the passing of information from person to person. Originally the term referred specifically to oral communication^[1] (literally words from the mouth), but now includes any type of human communication, such as face to face, telephone, email, and text messaging. – Wikipedia

It’s exciting that word of mouth is transforming as communication tactics transform but I think sometimes I need a quick refresher on the meat of word of mouth. Person to person communication. The British Pantry relies 100% on word of mouth and on great experiences and products leading to someone telling someone else about the great experience they had and both parties becoming repeat customers.

I think it’s important to remember that no matter how much advertising or social networking and marketing you’re doing, providing an unforgettable experience, having solid values, great products and great customer service will generate powerful word of mouth marketing.

Do you think businesses ‘get’ this?

Let’s Think Strategy

It’s obvious by now that integrating social media can be very beneficial to a company, and knowing that, is leading many companies to dip their toes in the water. Some chose to hire an agency, a social media consultant, or delve in by themselves depending on their needs. My concern is not how they go about getting involved but the actual implementation itself.

I’ve noticed company after company starting a Twitter account and a Facebook page and updating them for the first few weeks ‘check out this sale we’re having’, ‘look at our great new products’ and having no interaction but mostly, no plan. But it’s not only the companies that do it themselves, but their agencies are setting this up too. There seems to be no strategy behind a lot of it, they just set up the platforms, show the client how to update and send them out blind. It’s a fact that the level or participation and engagement and the choice of platforms differs for each individual companies objectives but there still needs to be some sort of action plan, some type of means to achieving goals. And goals, there needs to be goals. I’m not trying to say the strategy needs to be the next big thing, but I do think there needs to be a strategy in play that meets the goals and objectives. An agency or consultant should be doing more for their clients than just setting up one of two platforms and showing them how to update. There should be a level of training on engagement and strategy and most off all there needs to be commitment. I’m not by any means saying that the agency should be updating/blogging for the client because I do not believe that at all but I think the agency should work together with the client to help meet the goals and objectives and ensure the most is being made of the social media implementation.

Of course setting up a Facebook and Twitter account to showcase your specials might meet your objectives but it’s not harnessing the essence of social media and so what’s the point.

So my question to you is this: How important is strategy in social media and do you think a one or two platform set-up with no strategy can be succesful?

Happy to be an explorer

While talking with @autom8 (a life saver and idea inspirer) this morning about my new bio, I was struggling to find a word to describe my experience in social media. As an advertising grad that has been swimming in social media for the last six months, I like to think I have a pretty good handle on it but I know I am far from being an expert. Which got me thinking about one of the topics that is always floating around Twitter about the abundance of social media experts and gurus. It seems funny to me that everyone is so eager to get ahead of themselves and become one of these titles. I’ve only been exploring social media for about 6 months and I’ve noticed people that have started long after that considering themselves all things short of ‘the one’ in social media. It makes me wonder, what is so wrong with just taking your time and learning? Everyone has to know everything right now and proclaim it to the world. But why can’t we just take a breathe. Step back. There is so much to learn, so much to explore and grow with, I find it impossible to become an expert is such short time. I’m sure it has to do with recognition. Everyone wants to be accepted and recognized and titling yourself will accomplish that faster and put you on the map. And I also know that everything moves so quickly that if your not in top of your game you’ll get left behind. But sometimes it feels like a marathon trying to keep up and I just want to sit back and relax for a minute.

And well maybe it’s just too hard to take a breathe because we all know we will miss something. But if we’re all experts and guru’s, then there really aren’t any experts and gurus at all.

Young People Don’t Tweet. Young Professionals Do.

Lately, there has been a lot of buzz surrounding young people and why they don’t tweet. This video by Beth Kanter nails it. Watching this made me realize, young people don’t tweet, young professionals do. That’s why I was so excited when I heard a few weeks ago that @LenKendall was working on a project to create a list of the top under 30 tweeters. The list was released today; Top 30 Under 30 Tweeters: Volume 1. The first of many to come, this list recognizes up and coming under 30 tweeters and is meant to be a resource for young people on Twitter to aspire to. Not only are there some amazing people featured, but there are also over 100 nominees that are equally incredible that should not be overlooked. As Len describes it:

‘To recap the 30 under 30 Tweeters Project, we set out to find the best tweeters born after 1979 so that there would be a resource out there that people in this category could learn from and aspire to.’

The point of #30u30t and of Len’s recent panel submission for SXSW, Underrepresented at South by Southwest (check it out and help get this panel through), is to bring a voice to young people in the industry who ‘get it’ and to shed light on the obstacles young professionals are faced with as they try to make leeway in the digital world.

I also came across a new discussion #u30pro starting next week where people of any age can discuss how young professionals can contribute and grow in the workplace hosted by @CubanaLAF and @DavidSpinks (two people who are also listed as #30u30t).

These things are not only great resources for young and old alike, but are stepping stones in the initiative for young people to gain ground and respect in the online world.

(On a side note, I’d like to thank Len Kendall and all the judges for featuring me as one of the Top 30 Under 30 Tweeters. It’s an honor and a nice surprise to be among such forward thinking young professionals)

Canada’s First Job Auction Site

What are you worth as an employee? I just read an article in The Globe and Mail about Canada’s first job auction site. As we know, the recession has made it increasingly difficult for people to find work so they have been turning to innovative and creative ways to land jobs. The newest method? On-line auctions.

A job auction is set up for employers to post job openings and employees seeking work to bid on them. This method has become increasing popular in countries around the world, but Canada had not adopted it until now.

Filip Narula and Robert Hjelmberg, a pair of university students from Sweden, got the idea after reading about a similar site in Germany. There was already a site set up in Sweden, so after noticing Canada didn’t have one in play, they jumped on the opportunity to start the site. Although they admittedly don’t know much about Canada – only being here once to visit Niagara falls and Toronto.

The site, 4job.ca aims to connect an individual with a company or a job. The job will be posted with a description and the maximum salary the employer is willing to pay and the interested job seekers then compete offering their experience and salary. This allows the employer to chose the lowest bidder with the most experience to get the job. There is no charge to post jobs or submit bids so the site will most likely depend on advertisements to make money.

The site was launched yesterday and when I visited it today, there were four posting varying from a dog babysitter paying $150 for the week to a PHP programmer paying $21/hr. There are already 2 bids placed for the dog sitter.

Due to their small budget, they have not started marketing the website yet and have not received much publicity. Similar sites, such as jobaphiles.com in the United States, started out with only a few postings and now has over 800 jobs listed. Can the same happen for 4job.ca?

I wonder how employees feel about auctioning themselves off? Will this be seen as a great opportunity to stimulate new employment or as an exploitation of workers.

What do you think?

Pimp This Bum

I recently stumbled upon a website when I typed Google wrong into the search bar. It brought me to a site called Pimp This Bum. As I was just about to click off, I noticed a video at the top of the site that looked like an actual homeless man. I scowled to the bottom of the page and read a paragraph describing that ‘Tim’ is indeed homeless and the site is set up to provide donations for him – anything from a meal and a razor to a college education, with 100% of the profit going to Tim and other homeless people.

The more I navigated around the site and the more videos I watched, I noticed that Tim’s story and the campaign itself are fairly new (launched February 17,2009) and have been getting quite a bit of publicity, such as on Rachael Ray and CNN. The campaign started by giving Tim a sign displaying the Pimp This Bum URL to hold while panhandling. The purpose was to generate traffic to the site and encourage donations by having live web cam sessions to track Tims progress. In less than two months the site generated $50,000.

Pimp This Bum was created by Kevin and Sean Dolan; a father/son duo from Houston with a background in marketing and volunteer work. The pair saw an opportunity to create a website that generated traffic while helping the homeless. The controversial name choice was due to their belief that a campaign with a sincere approach such as ‘helpthehomeless.com’ would be ignored compared to a name that insulted peoples sensitivity and appealed to their humor.

To date, Tim received a barely recognizable makeover and has attended Sunray Treatment and Recovery center in Seattle Washington for a 5 week alcohol recovery Program but the site still remains active to raise funds for his continued recovery and housing.

To complete the campaign, you can also follow Tim on Twitter!

Proud Of You

My little sister who is 22 has decided to make a big change to her life.

Emily has always had trouble in school as she has ADHD and Dyslexia and just never liked school and though of it as quite the waste of time growing up, but she is a brilliant girl, very creative and sweet and genuine but has always been shy to let herself shine. When she became pregnant with my beautiful niece at 20, Emily decided she was going to be a mother. In the past two years, she has been trying to better educate herself so in order to educate her daughter. I’m not being biased when I say she is an amazing mother and Trinity is turning into a well educated, amazing little girl. But Emily has been wanting to go to College so that she can get an education and a career and set an example for her daughter and to most of all prove to herself that she can do it.

Yesterday I found out that Emily has been accepted to Fleming College and will be starting in September! Not only that, but from now until September she will be sitting in on the classes already going in order to have a head start and become familiar with it all before actually starting school. She will be one busy girl maintaining her job, going to night school, and running around after a two year old, but I know she can do it and she will be amazing at it and come out swimming!

She has a hard run at it the past few years but I am so proud of her for turning it around and going after her goals. Congratulations Em, you are an inspiration.

A Twitter Twist on News

ABC is about to make a bold new move to integrate Twitter into traditional media with NightTline (The ‘T’ in the middle stands for Twitter), a Twitter twist on the popular news program Nightline. The program and anchors are going to be hosting a weekly online news show using Twitter for debates and questions. The show will apparently be taking on Nightline’s Face-Off model and will act as a debate between two opposing sides on an issue provided and moderated by ABCNEWS anchors.

There will be a Twitter widget that will allow viewers to join in the discussion by offering opinions and asking questions throughout the debate. Pixel touchscreen technology will be used to display and interact with the debate occurring over Twitter.

It is a great and edgy concept by ABC and it will be very interesting to see how this all pans out and just how much participation will anchor from Twitter. Although, I’m sure there will be a lot of buzz around the Twittersphere to ensure success for the first few episodes at least.

The first topic will be “Is torture ever acceptable?” and will air digitally on the Nightline website and ABC News Now on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. EST.