Alberta Business Marketing

LinkedIn, Facebook and many other Social Networking sites have been suggesting friends and followers for a while now.  Do you follow these people just because the service recommends them to you.   Deep down inside where many Facebookers or LinkedIn users never get a chance to visit there is some formula or algorithm that figures out who you should know and offers suggestions based on your friends, there friends and a number of other criteria.

Twitter is now jumping of the “suggest a friend” campaign with their own “suggestions for you” program.

The Twitter blog has more information on how this will work inside Twitter.  Read the Twitter blog.

Are you the type to follow whomever is suggested to you?

What do you think about the automated suggestions?

In the LinkedIn world, I have used the suggestions to my advantage.  When I see a name pop up from someone I haven’t heard of in a while or a long-lost colleague, LinkedIn can be a great way to get back in touch with people.

But what do you think?

Tags: Blog hosting services, Facebook, Facebook Inc, Human Interest, linkedin, LinkedIn Ltd, Online social networking, Social information processing, Social Landscape, social media, Social network service, Technology/Internet, Twitter, Twitter Inc, web 2.0, World Wide Web
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What a concept, is your social media generating revenue for your business?  Directly or indirectly?  Are you making a return on your social media efforts either a return on the investment or a return on the opportunity.  We are in business to serve the community and to get paid for providing these services, correct?  Enough of the fluff.  Is your social media activities generating leads, prospects and interest from those who will buy your products and services.

When did this “group hug” thing start to over take good business decisions with social media?  Many of my colleagues in traditional marketing may never say “Go ahead and send out your postcard campaign and share information on what someone else is doing”.  So why is this acceptable behaviour in social media?

When did we lose our focus around what are business is truly here for?  Was is Napster?  Was it software piracy?  Was it this Freemium mindset? Was it illegally downloading movies?  Is it this lifestyle or behaviours that have swung our society into this mindset about not promoting our organizations or offering our products for sale.

Sure, you know what…believing others before the corporate message has been around for a long time.  It is called “word of mouth” and referrals from colleagues is nothing new, we have been doing it long before Facebook or even computers were on every desk.  But, some folks out there are telling business that social media is not for promoting your business or attempting to reach new markets.

Hey, I even drank that kool-aid until I met with my banker and he told me…great stuff Stuart but how are you going to pay your mortgage?  We don’t accept your goodwill here?  That was all I need to hear!

Your business is in business to serve the community and to get paid accordingly for these services you provide.

BTW, I am not talking about a free ticket to SPAM but we need to make sure our messages are around service, education and then “YOUR CALL TO ACTION”.

I highly recommend we focus on serving our community and also focus on the bottom line of our business.  Understand real marketing metrics and not some “social currency” that is truly worthless in the real business community.

You are in business to serve and get paid for the services you provide.

Tags: banker, Business/Finance, Computing, Facebook Inc, Napster, Social Landscape, social media, software piracy
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Working with Today’s Business Woman Magazine

Thanks to my good friends at Bulletproof InfoTech, one of Calgary’s top Microsoft Partners serving the needs of small business in Calgary.  Rene Sloos and the team allowed Ulistic to use his boardroom with fancy SMARTBoard to show the team from Today’s Business Woman the power of blogging.

Blogging as some of you may know is a passion of mine and whenever I have the opportunity to share the ins and outs of WordPress blogs with those looking for insight using this social media technology is a blessing.

Tags: blog, Blog software, bulletproof infotech, Business Woman, Business/Finance, Calgary, Computing, Content management systems, Internet, Microsoft Partners, PHP programming language, rene sloos, Social Landscape, social media technology, Technology/Internet, this social media technology, Uncategorized, wordpress, World Wide Web
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There is a lot of truth to this statement however there are still many people out there who simply don’t get it.  I think the recession also set back whatever momentum was happening out there around the value for professional experience.  Since the recession hit us, it appears everyone is a so-called professional even those who sold promotional products for 14 years and now are so-called social media professionals.

You do get what you pay for in today’s world and you know something….the cheapest isn’t always the best solution for your business.  But, still today, many real professional organizations still are getting beat up on price.  As a small business owner myself I totally get the importance of healthy cash flow and the issues many of us face around preserving cash.  However I also understand the value of “investing in our business”.  Here is the secret…Sometimes this value costs money, are you prepared to invest in this value.

Another critical component is around focus. Does the person you are chatting with about your online marketing do this full-time?

In the social media landscape we are drowning in a red sea of so-called professionals ranging from people who do this sort of stuff as a hobby, virtual administrators are moving into social media and SEO and then there are those who think they can simply do it after selling promotional items for 14 years.  There are many people who do what I do as a profession as a hobby (like my days in the computer support business in Calgary).  Not to toot my own horn but I spend every waking hour focused on delivering value to our Ulistic clients – plain and simple.   Social Media, search engine optimization and online marketing is not just another thing that I do in addition to a job I may have or another business which draws my focus away.

You get what you pay for and you get value from those who are professionals.  What works better for you?

Tags: Business/Finance, Calgary, finance, Marxist theory, search engine, search engine optimization, Social Landscape, Social Media Ventures Inc, value
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And he should be!

I still listen to news radio (only when I am not in the mood for my usual selection of 80’s hair band metal) when I am driving to our Ulistic office in Southeast Calgary.  It is only for the 15 minute drive, just enough to get the latest traffic, stock market information and news headlines.  Sometimes, I will even tune into Dave Rutherford to hear his daily rant on QR77 or listen to what Charles Adler has to say in the afternoon.  That is the extent of my news watching, listening or reading.

I read the Calgary Herald Business Section the odd Monday morning just to see what new small businesses are starting up and the odd time will I read or even glance through the entire morning paper.  When I travel in the United States, the hotels deliver USA Today or Wall Street Journal or other US Papers which usually end up in a pile in one corner of my hotel room.  Goes to show that the news in print for me is just something I am not interested in reading.

I, perhaps like many of our colleagues are electing to tune into online sources for news.  Why?  Perhaps it is the grass-roots reporting, the real story without the right or left-wing opinions attached with the story.  I will however tune into my niche blogs on the industries I work with and have Twitter alert me when something happens which requires my attention.  How about you?

This weekend I read an interesting article online on how the President of CNN is concerned about Social Media.  I am not shocked by this concern from a major US media source and I am sure others in the world share this concern.   CNN and all major news outlets should be concerned on the power of social media has for sharing of news related items.  There is an old saying, see it in the paper tomorrow, see on TV later in the day, hear about it soon on radio or get notified immediately on social media.  This is where news is now breaking and you just need to turn to the US Airways crash in New York for an example of the power of Social Media in the news world today.

Today my news sources are guys like Chris Brogan, Joe Panettieri, Larry Walsh, Bob Burg – just to name a few.  These guys are now journalists in our online world. I truly trust what they have to say for the niches I follow.

Who is Stuart Crawford

“Stuart is the go-to person for anything social media. He has an in-depth knowledge of not only all the parts that make up social media, but also how to make them work together for you. He is an entrepreneur to the core and he understands that whatever is implemented: twitter, blog, rss, video, etc. it has to be streamlined so that it takes the least amount of time possible and yet still be laser sharp as far as effectiveness goes.

Stuart is great to work with and if technical roadblocks occur, he is an out of the box thinker when it comes to remedies.”

Service Category: IT Consultant
Year first hired: 2009 (hired more than once)
Top Qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity

Monica Santiago, On Page Productions

Tags: bob burg, Calgary, Calgary Herald, Charles Adler, Chris Brogan, Consultant, Entrepreneur, hair band metal, Joe Panettieri, Larry Walsh, laser, New York City, Online social networking, online sources, online world, President, Real-time web, Social Landscape, social media, Social Media Ventures Inc, stuart crawford, The Wall Street Journal Online, Time Warner Inc., Twitter, Twitter Inc, United States, US Airways Group Inc., USA Today, Wall Street Journal, web 2.0, World Wide Web
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