Alberta Business Marketing

Last evening I was very blessed and honoured to invest a couple of quality evening hours with Calgary’s vibrant marketing community. Thursday evening, the CMA Calgary dinner was held at the beautiful and luxurious Palliser Hotel in downtown Calgary.  Our guest of honour was none other that the “Dragon Queen” herself, Ms. Arlene Dickinson.  She has to be one of my favourites on the hit CBC show “Dragon’s Den”.  I was even lucky enough to have a few words with Arlene after her talk on social media marketing and how we can play the role of influencers and master our own thought leadership.

Over the past few weeks I have been struggling with social media as a tool for business, not that I don’t see the value when you have a well executed strategy but on the validity of the entire online market.  Arlene really helped open my eyes to the real purpose on why we tweet, why we contribute to conversations in LinkedIn and why we have Facebook Pages?  Again, it is not to sell, that is never the reason but it is to inspire others and to become the thought leaders deep inside each of us.  We have to be open to reaching out and sharing news, opinions, views and also to help others we hardly know and really, it is to be a Go-Giver.

Wham, that was the advise I needed and the clarity I have been searching over the past few weeks.  I think I already had it tucked away deep in my mind…but really needed to hear it from the marketing diva herself.  One of my peers asked a very simple question that I get asked all the time “How can a small business guy like myself build a large following?”  This is a very good question, and it really comes down to have something profound to say, great advice to give and not going into a corner and hiding from the rest of the world.  ”Talent can be found anywhere, what are you putting out there” said Arlene making reference to a Maritimer she just engaged with for creative writing.  You have to engage with this guy on Twitter.  Follow Jason Sweeney on Twitter.

With Social Media and all the social networking circles out there, you need to reach out to everyone.  You must be open to speaking with or potential touching everyone, not just those you are closest with.

Thanks Arlene for a great reminders and laughes…especially at Kevin’s expense.

Tags: Arlene Dickinson, Calgary, Compagnie Generale de Batiment et de Construction, Human Interest, Jason Sweeney, media marketing, Online social networking, Palliser Hotel, Real-time web, social media, Social Media Ventures Inc, social networking circles, Twitter, Twitter Inc, web 2.0, World Wide Web
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18 hours per week the average Canadian spend online.

I think I spend 18 hours or more each day online.  Since I work and own a vibrant Calgary Internet Marketing Consulting firm, well I should be online most of my day.  My word processor is online, my email sits in a data centre somewhere in the world and you want to catch up with what I am doing…tune into my online services.

My fellow Canadians are now tuning into YouTube and other online video sources to get their video entertainment, hurting the television advertising industry.  Canadians are shift their viewing to online media vs. cable television and of course fueling a heated debate about a so-called TV Tax we are facing here in Canada.  This unrest in the cable TV community and the traditional television networks such as Global, CBC or CTV are causing many Canadians to review the value of our modern-day television services.

What do you think?

Are you turning to online resources to watch video or even traditional television programs?

During CBC’s National, Peter Mansbridge reported about a family who has completely cancelled their cable service and switched completely to the Internet for their online television or video watching.  Bypassing the traditional advertisers and the parents actually claim they can even control the content being viewed in their home.

Social networking is consuming Canadians time, efforts and attention span.  We saw reports this week about Facebook, Twitter and other services are now part of people’s daily routine.  Social Media is woven into the fabric of almost every Canadians life, many checking Facebook first thing in the morning and just before they go to bed.

Why are we still trying to figure out if Social Media is something we need to get involved with?

Combine this with iPhones and other smart telephones and now…well the world is truly connected.

Tags: Blog software, Cable TV, Calgary Internet Marketing Consulting, canada, Compagnie Generale de Batiment et de Construction, CTV Inc, Facebook, Facebook Inc, Internet, Mass media, online media vs. cable television, Online social networking, online television, online video sources, Peter Mansbridge, Social information processing, social media, Social Media Ventures Inc, social networking, Technology/Internet, television advertising industry, television networks, television services, Twitter Inc, web 2.0, word processor, World Wide Web, YouTube Inc
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