Alberta Business Marketing

Saturday, July 24 is the only date on the CFL regular season schedule this year that typical normal everyday Calgarians turned into green monsters from Saskatchewan.   The Saskatchewan Roughriders played the Calgary Stampeders at McMahon and lost 40-20 to Henry Burris and the Stamps.  To put this game into perspective for my readers south of the border or outside Canada…Henry Burris says this game is as big as Florida vs. Florida St in College Football.

Back to the fans…it is true…Saskatchewan fans lurk amongst every day Calgarians and once or twice a year they come out of the closet to support their “GO RIDERS”.  Look over your shoulder and you will see Roughrider fans mixed into everyday Calgarians.

Have you heard of Saskatchewan? It is the only province in Canada that is easy to draw but extremely difficult to spell for the non-Canadian, in our schools we learn how to spell Saskatchewan…sometimes over and over and over.  OK, I am poking fun at the thousands of Saskatchewan transplants now living in Calgary and according to the Edmonton Eskimos President, the same thing goes up in the only CFL team not to have a win so far during this season’s campaign.

I am talking about Football and our game, the CFL.

Rider Pride…for those who support it is a beautiful thing and those who don’t well they may not be the biggest fans of the cutout watermelons and the strange get ups that come out of the closets to those who support the green.

RIDER PRIDE IS A MARKETING SUCCESS STORY!

Why is Rider Pride important?  Like many CFL teams, they had their struggles when it is uncool to like Canadian Football. Their has been a tremendous amount of change in the CFL since those days across the entire league.  Maybe we owe Saskatchewan some credit.  CFL football is once again cool, fun and extremely exciting to watch.  3 downs, 110 yard field and 12 guys banging it out on our turf.

Here is an interesting fact about Saskatchewan though.

Did you know that the Saskatchewan Roughriders (aka RIDERS) sell more merchandise than all the other CFL teams combined!  Why is that?  What is happening in those small towns and in their big cities throughout our central prairie province?  What did the Riders do to attract raving fans?  And what can we learn in our own businesses to do the same thing?

As a Calgary consultant who focuses on marketing the Riders just maybe a great study.  One thing I can assume very easily is that the Rider brass doesn’t care about logo infringement with their fans who paint the Rider “S” on almost anything that can hold a coat of paint.  Cars, houses, chests, Pilsner boxes…you name it, if it can hold an “S” it gets painted on.

I see so many companies and recently had a discussion with a colleague of mine who works for a MLM.  The directors of the Multi Level Marketing firm have dictated to their loyal supporters that they are not allowed to use logos, verbage or product descriptions on any outside marketing material.  Here they have an army of sometimes brainwashed raving fans who can’t share their story online or make their own marketing materials.

This I simply don’t understand and never will.  It is mind-boggling when you look at what happens in Saskatchewan and how the fans are raving about their team and organizations like Harley Davidson who never frown upon people painting their bodies with Harley tattoos.

It is obvious Raving Fans are the best thing for your business.  Never, ever stop them from promoting you in their own way.  Let them rock and roll and make things happen.

Tags: British Columbia Lions, Business Success, Calgary, Calgary Consultant, canada, Edmonton, Edmonton Eskimos President, football, Harley Davidson, paint, President, Pride, Rider, Roy Shivers, Saskatchewan, Sports
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I found out this morning that a very good friend and colleague was a victim of the latest round of cutbacks across the Microsoft Partner Network.

My good buddy Robert Dutt from CRN Canada reported that long time channel program manager for the Microsoft Partner Network, Carol Terentiak has parted way with the Mississauga crew.

I found by accident when contacting Carol and another colleague this morning at Microsoft Canada, who informed me prior to getting the Google Alert.

During my tenure as IAMCP Canada President, Carol was there for me and the entire team.  She made sure everything was taken care of.  Her commitment to the Partner Program and now Partner Network was second-to-none.  I sometimes have to shake my head at the decisions made at large organizations.  Carol was a gem and still is…she was the type of person who would respond to your emails and return your phone calls.  That doesn’t happen much in these large companies (well doesn’t happen in small ones either).

I wish you luck Carol in your next steps…

Your Friend

Stuart

Tags: Carol Terentiak, crn canada, Google Inc., iamcp canada, long time channel program manager, microsoft canada, Microsoft Corporation, President, robert dutt, Stuart's ramblings
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Is your head buried in the sand or does your technology organization understand and leverage the powers of online marketing, search engine optimization and social media to share information, content and advice with your community and client base?

Hello from Toronto and the 2010 Search Engine Strategies conference.  David and I are guests at this years Canadian stop and enjoying a great opportunity to share best practices and ideas with many of our peers in the online community.  It is great to actually see faces in this usual face-less world that is emerging.

It is no secret that the online search world is evolving, is your business prepared for the upcoming changes or are you still attempting to catch up with older techniques?

Today’s age of the knowledge worker empowers users and search is one of the most important ways many learn about what you have to offer and teach the market about your offerings. Search can be a complex yet adaptive strategy and the time is now businesses large and small to take control of how and where people find them online.

Interested in understand the latest on how Google’s search techniques impact the marketplace? Does Microsoft’s advertising strategy tweak your curiosity but allow prospects to find you?

The 2010 Toronto Search Engine Strategies may just have the answers for you. Now underway at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Toronto this annual event brings the sharpest minds together for 2 days of intense collaboration on search engine techniques and facilitates the sharing of best practices amongst conference delegates.

It is no secret that the Internet is evolving and the way small business across North America look at new ways to market their business challenges even the sharpest of marketing minds. SES 2010 provides a forum for online marketers to learn the latest techniques on effective link building, pay-per-click advertising, social media tactics, real-time search effectiveness and many more business and marketing strategies.

Now in it’s seventh year, SES Toronto is organized and programmed by the SES Advisory Board and SearchEngineWatch.com, the leading authority on Search Engine Marketing (SEM), including Search Engine Optimization and Pay-Per-Click.

What are some of the emerging trends? Is it Google’s recently announced “Caffeine”, which is a complete overhaul on how Google indexes websites? Will this shift from crawling the net looking for content to a real-time database of online content change the way many of our VAR businesses show up on search results?

Will Social Media continue the onslaught that has attracted the attention from experts, enthusiasts and hobbyists? Gobbling up the attention span of business professionals to casual surfers across everywhere? How important will Facebook and Twitter be in the next year? Will the “instant on” social media services play impact search results and help position business when prospects look for products and services? “We can’t continue to keep our heads in the sand.” states Ulistic Senior Advisor David West.

These questions and others will be discussed in the keynotes, breakouts and in the hallways throughout the 48-hour conference in downtown Toronto. Peter Morville, President of Michigan’s Semantic Studios kicked it all off with his morning keynote address on how search patterns influence the decisions and actions people make. “We really need to understand our users and the vocabulary and the words they use,” said Morville, talking on understanding how people search for information throughout many facets of Internet, mobile and Internet search.

Follow Search Engine Strategies on Twitter #SESTO.

Tags: advertising strategy, Advisor, Business/Finance, David West, Facebook Inc, google, Google Inc., impact search results, Internet Marketing, Internet search, knowledge worker, Michigan, Microsoft Corporation, North America, online community, online content, online marketers, online search world, pay-per-click advertising, Peter Morville, President, President of Michigan, real-time search effectiveness, Reprise Media, search engine, Search engine marketing, search engine optimization, Search Engine Strategies, search engine techniques, Search Engine Watch, search results, search techniques, SES 2010, social media, social media services, social media tactics, technology organization, Technology/Internet, toronto, Twitter Inc, Vertical search, Web search engine, World Wide Web
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A tip of my hat goes out to my good friend Joseph from the Power Within.  These guys pulled off another excellent event yesterday (Thursday May 20th, 2010) here in the Stampede City.  The keynote speaker was hockey legend and captain of the Canadian Women’s Hockey Gold Medal Champions Haley Wickenheiser, no wait she was the last speaker, does that make her the headlining act?  Did the 42nd President of the Free World open for a Canadian Hockey Gold Medalist?

Actually, it was William Jefferson Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States who most people came to see (at least the business community who left shortly after the President’s address) to a near sold out crowd during the recent Power Within stop at the Telus Convention Centre.  Mr. Clinton was purely sensational and highly engaged with every single person in the crowd during his keynote address and Question/Answer period with Salida Capital President and CEO, Ms. Courtenay Wolfe.

Bill Clinton’s stop in Calgary wasn’t his first and chances are it will not be his last.  I highly recommend next time he is in town, you get out and see him. Bill spoke on a number of topics including the importance of shutting down the coal-burning electric generators, the energy sector in North America as a whole and any discussion with a former President wouldn’t be complete without his views on the economy.

What I really grabbed onto the most was Bill Clinton’s passion for every single cause he works on and especially the importance of ending hunger worldwide.  Through the William J. Clinton Foundation, he strives daily to end things such as childhood obesity, famine, HIV/AIDs and a number of other great causes.  He even gets along with the 43rd President, George W. Bush as the two work together on some efforts.

How does Mr. Clinton’s address effect a Calgary Online Marketing person like myself?  Mr. Clinton shared some discussion points on technology and the rapid changes occurring around technology.  Especially how we can leverage these changes to do something good in the world.  It was an eye-opener that was what hit me the most and when I left the Calgary Telus Convention Centre I was thinking to myself, what can I do right now to make a change?

It is no secret that technology is crucial to business today.  It is also crucial to the very existence of us as a race today but I am shocked when I hear about the number of people worldwide without fresh drinking water or proper sanitation.  How can I make a difference here?  After all, I am just a blogger?  Can I increase awareness of the challenges facing our world today.  Bill Clinton did talk about how great of a world we have but how poor we treat it.  Interesting, once again I ask…

How can I make a difference?

Tags: 42nd President, 42nd President of the United States, 43rd President, Arkansas, Bill Clinton, Calgary, canada, Captain, CEO, childhood obesity, Clinton, Clinton Foundation, Courtenay Wolfe, energy sector, Force Majeure, George W. Bush, Haley Wickenheiser, HIV/AIDs, Joseph, keynote speaker, last speaker, North America, Online Marketing person, Politics, President, Salida Capital Corp, Stuart's ramblings, Telus, Telus Convention Centre, TELUS Corporation, The Power Within, United States, William J. Clinton Foundation, William Jefferson Clinton
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Does your business have a CEO? The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) many times in a small business is also the President, Salesperson, consultant, technician, bottle washer and accountant.  However, the CEO position is an essential role within many successful small and large enterprises.

My good buddy Joe who runs a number of technology blogs recently shared a great article on the topic of CEOs in the Managed IT Services business.  You can read Joe’s article from the MSPMentor.net site here.  Joe mentions he was inspired by an article that appear in Inc. magazine, I will have to track this one down.  Our new client in Tampa who focuses on back to work programs in the US also gave me a copy of Inc. this past week…so now I have to check it out.

What is a CEO? Does your business have one?  Perhaps you have it printed on your business card.  If it is you, are you acting like a CEO?

Joe’s article shares a number of key and highly valid points about what or how a CEO needs to function in their business.  I am sure there are many great examples of “how a CEO should behave” and everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Over the past several years, I have worked for a number of people who have called themselves the CEO (some great and some still under development) who have inspired me one way or another in my own personal development.   The one who has inspired me the most from an overall leadership perspective has to be Pat Davis from Passion Parties.

Pat shared with me the importance of “leadership by walking around”.  I still remember discussing these points with her in Passion Parties’ Brisbane, CA office a few years ago.  During that time I was helping Passion Parties with their complete technology overall and also assisting in the move to their new Las Vegas HQ.  Pat and I would often discuss technology in the direct marketing business and how technology will enhance their overall business.  At that time I was working in the small business computer networking business and as a technology professional was very much in development of my own business acumen.

Pat and I would discuss the importance technology will play in business often, but she also told me computers are tools and tools only.  Nothing will ever beat the importance of getting off your backside and walking around the office, getting out in the community and shaking the hands of those around you.  Pat is an expert at speaking with her staff, talking with her consultants and she is the master at leveraging the media.  Just Google her and you will see what comes up.

A CEO in my opinion has to be the face of the organization, you can’t sit in the backroom, head down in your laptop sending out email after email.  A CEO has to get out of the office and meet people eyeball to eyeball.  A CEO has to speak with the media and not be shy of the camera.  A CEO needs to know everyone in their organization and their families (bigger firms will find this a challenge).  A CEO needs to do a lot of the grunt work and it is not an easy job, that is why only a handful do it successfully.

What does this have to do with social media? Social Media services now enhance the reach of a CEO, their circle of trust just got a lot bigger.  Those they can touch and inspire just exploded in size.  A CEO must be a company blogger.  A CEO needs to own the company social media services.  A CEO needs to connect with people and especially connect online.  Did I say the face of the company, yes I believe I did.  The CEO must be the voice of the company, before someone else claims that voice.

I personally work with a number of CEO’s across North America master their online appearance.  Some are getting it, some are still having a challenge.  Need to chat…call me 403.775.2205.

Tags: 403.775.2205, Brisbane, Business, business computer networking, Business/Finance, CEO, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), company social media services, consultant technician, consultant technician and accountant, Data General, Google Inc., importance technology, Joe, Las Vegas HQ, leadership, media services, MSPMentor.net, North America, online appearance, passion parties, Pat, Pat Davis, Person Communication and Meetings, President, salesperson, social media, Social Media Ventures Inc, tampa, technician bottle washer and accountant, technology blogs, technology professional, Technology/Internet, United States
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