Tag Archives: This and That

The 3 Links of Selling

February 19, 2010 – 2:00 pm

Sales is all about links.

In order to sell, it helps to get to know people. It helps to stay in touch with them. It helps to connect with them. People like to buy from friends. More friends – more sales.

In the old days, one of the ways to do this was by playing golf or hitting the links. So at one time (some people would still say that time has not passed and insist this is the only way even now) golf links were very important.

Then came the era of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is an awesome tool for staying in touch with people. Mostly because many people are increasingly changing jobs and it’s tough to keep in touch with everybody. LinkedIn has your friends maintain their contact information rather than you having to keep current.

Essentially it allows you to stay in touch whenever you want to. LinkedIn also allows you to send updates, similar to Twitter of Facebook, which are a good, soft way of staying in touch with people.

LinkedIn is also a great tool for connecting to people whom you don’t yet know because you can see who is connected to and ask for a warm introduction.

The third link is about links to your website and blog. Increasingly people are finding business partners and suppliers on the Internet and the most common way to do this is through Internet searching. In order to rank high on the Internet searches (you really want to be on the first page), you need to have what’s called a high PageRank. PageRank is determined by the number of quality inbound links coming to your page.

As you can see, it’s all about the links.

By Jim Estill | Posted in Alberta Business | Also tagged | Comments Off

Digital Wild West

February 1, 2010 – 5:13 pm

I’ve had the fortune of blogging here since the inception of this blog and deliberately never wrote anything marketing-related with regards to my current employer. Today is one exception I hope you will grant me.

So I’m not accused of ‘ambush shilling’ or taking 5 minutes of your time that you will never get back – I’m warning you now. You can close this browser and get out of Dodge. I won’t take offense. I promise.

Still here? Thank you. So let’s saddle up ‘pardner’ and we’ll mosey on out for a little ride!

Some may know I have the fortune of working at Harlequin Enterprises. Yes, that Harlequin. The Harlequin that is one of the leading publishers of women’s romance and fiction around the globe.

Recently we launched a new campaign promoting our HQN imprint series ‘The McKettricks’ by author Linda Lael Miller. So what’s so special about this online marketing campaign?

Last fall our Creative Director Margie Miller teamed up with our Director of Digital Content & Social Media Malle Vallik to create a unique behind-the-scenes video that shows the making of a Harlequin cover. We had never done anything like this before. Take a look.

Now I’ll admit I’m not a big cowboy fan but I appreciate good content. And although I’m biased, I think this documentary is terrific. As Malle points out in her blog, it gives you a greater appreciation of the work that creative directors and photographers do on a regular basis.

How has the campaign done? We’re very pleased with the response so far. We took some excellent content and promoted it via various online marketing and social media channels by directing people to Take A Cowboy Home which features the video content, sample editorial, cool contest and (most importantly) where to buy the books.

We also got some great support from the fine folks over at MSN who created a unique section promoting this campaign. Not to mention many friends/fans/authors/bloggers who spread the word via various social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook.

So everything is perfect and we ride off into the sunset, right? Not so fast. There were a few things I learned from this campaign. Call them the ‘3 Cowboys’ like the McKettrick brothers:

1. Many companies work in silos. Often campaigns are created and other teams such as Social Media, PR, IT and/or Legal are left out until the end and then added like a check-box. Do not make that mistake. Involve key groups from cradle (so they become stakeholders) to the grave (so they share in the successes and learnings).

2. It will not always be utopia. There will be hiccups. The issue is not ‘if’ they happen but ‘when’ they happen. And how your team reacts to quickly address them and ensure they don’t happen in future. We started creating a ‘list of oops’ so we include them in our campaign post-mortem report.

3. This is my biggest takeaway. Regardless if you sell books, lotion, laptops or luggage – it’s my view you must have a good combination of strong content and promotion for your digital campaigns. They are not mutually exclusive and together make them all the more stronger. Especially in the digital wild west.

By Sulemaan Ahmed | Posted in Alberta Business | Also tagged , | Comments Off

Who is Arianna Huffington?

January 28, 2010 – 2:00 pm

Earlier this week I had the great pleasure of seeing celebrated author and blogger Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post, speak at the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning in downtown Toronto.

Chatting with a good friend just prior to the event, I tried to explain to her who I was going to see. The conversation was a fraught with difficulty, as my friend was not really familiar with the Huffington Post – or online news aggregators or blogs or the internet, in general. It was an uphill conversation.

After all, if my friend wasn’t familiar with the Huffington Post website, how could I describe the woman at the helm? Who is Arianna Huffington? Is she a dedicated journalist? Is she a left-wing politician? A rich business owner? A media darling?

The answer: yes.

Arianna is fascinating speaker and eminently quotable. Once she started her lecture, I found myself frantically jotting down notes, scribbling madly as one bon mot after another came flowing effortlessly from the podium. The event was billed as “The Brave New World of the New Media: How technology is changing the way we think, learn, play, work and vote”. Well, yes. That about covers it.

The agenda was lively and diverse. Arianna covered a variety of topics, switching hats from journalism to politics to lifestyle, each time cleverly conveying jewels of wisdom:

Wearing her Newspaperwoman and Journalist Hat
Journalists sometimes get seduced by access. They get the “fly on the wall” detail, but miss the story. Example: China shut off the internet and gave access to select reporters. This was a significant moment in journalism. It’s easier to snow a few reporters than thousands of internet users.

Why be citizen journalists? Why do all the online stuff? Answer: self expression is the new form of entertainment. This does not undermine the role of professional journalism. Media will always need journalists to edit the content, frame the stories and give them context.

What we need is a hybrid; a world that brings together the accuracy, fairness and content of traditional journalism as well as the immediacy, accessibility and transparency of new media.

Wearing her New Media Advocate Hat
With regard to traditional media vs. new media: we need to be better at biopsies, not autopsies. Old media is acting like nothing has changed, merging into traffic using a horse and buggy. We can’t use an analog map in a digital world.

Traditional media is ADD: breaks the story and then…nothing. New media is OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder): stays on the story day after day after day.

Content follows the user. As a media outlet, we can’t expect the world’s eyeballs to come to us. We need to go to where the eyeballs are.

People don’t consume, but share news. Citizen journalists contribute to the national conversation. New media gives a voice to the voiceless.

Wearing the Politician and Liberal Pundit Hat
The American middle class is in trouble. Wall Street got bailed out, but Main Street did not get the same treatment.

In the U.S., the markets are treated like a Victorian lady – “she” can’t handle bad news.

Not everything is Right versus Left – that’s a lazy way of looking at politics. We need to take responsibility for our content: objectivity not stupidity.

Instead of Hope, we need Hope 2.0. It’s not enough to just cast your vote, people need to stay engaged and contribute if they want to realize change.

Wearing her Lifestyle Guru Hat
Surrounded by our devices, we must learn to disconnect too. Technology can move ahead of social adaptation. We should use technology, but not let it use us.

Unplug and recharge, especially at night. Remove your wireless devices as far away from the bed as possible. Create your own oasis and retain your humanity. Our most precious resource is ourselves.

Arianna had dinner with a man who bragged about only needing four hours of sleep a night. She quipped, “That’s too bad. This dinner would have been a lot more interesting if you had gotten five.”
—-
So if you ask me now, who is Arianna Huffington? I’d answer: she’s an author, a syndicated columnist, a new media advocate, a blogger, a humanist, a politician, a public speaker, a liberal pundit and a businesswoman. She’s the ultimate “all of the above”.

By Kerin Donahue, marketing coordinator at the Canadian Marketing Association

By CMA on behalf of Kerin Donahue | Posted in Alberta Business | Also tagged | Comments Off

Two Pigs an Oinking and a Chicken in a Pen

December 22, 2009 – 2:00 pm

I opened up a Christmas card the other day from my cousin and was thrilled to receive two pigs (she assured me there was no pun intended). Will my pigs be arriving in a one horse open sleigh on Christmas day? Hmm good question, if they are arriving via one horse open sleigh I won’t be seeing them; they’re going direct to Zimbabwe. I’m guessing this was in response to the goats I gave her last year.

In this festive season we often get caught up in consumerism. We’re decking the malls and buying incredible amounts of stuff for people that “have everything”. We’re so busy purchasing, partying and stressing all of the holiday festivities that we forget to adopt an attitude of gratitude.

This year, we’ve all experienced some kind of financial repercussions from the economic downturn. That being said, we’re still well over half way up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs while a good chunk of the globe is in need of food, shelter and clothing.

And don’t even get me started on our political freedom. As a post boomer female, I haven’t experienced workplace prejudice; I’ve shared equal rights with my male counterparts and had the ability to be all that I can be. It may seem like a small thing but on the world stage where many girls are struggling to get an education it’s paramount.

It’s easy to get caught up in the day to day hassles, focus on the things that aren’t going right and believe that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. Wake up, we are in Shangri-La and the grass doesn’t get any greener. We have the right to choose and an attitude of gratitude and the good life is a choice. I learned this little trick many years ago that may help if you’re down, feeling sorry for yourself or otherwise irritated. Write down 5 things that you are grateful for. Do it every day and eventually that feeling will disappear. As Aristotle so aptly quoted “We are what we repeatedly do – excellence then is not an act but a habit”. Why not start the New Year with new habit – an attitude of gratitude.

By Shelley McQuade | Posted in Alberta Business | Comments Off

Co-workers for a while. Friends for life.

December 21, 2009 – 2:00 pm

Let’s face it, I’m writing this blog because it’s my turn. I’ve been asked before but always managed to wiggle my way out of it. Until now. “Do one for December,” I was told. And, like all good creative people, I respond well to deadlines. Sort of.

Finding a topic was my biggest challenge. My first idea, albeit an obvious one, was to talk about deadlines. After all, asking a Creative Director to take time out of a really hectic December schedule to write a blog is basically asking for a commentary on deadlines. Why must everything be done before December 24th?

My next topic idea was to discuss what a tough year 2009 was. And boy was it! I’m glad to see the end of this one. But as a veteran of the business, I have to admit, I’ve seen worse. I’d be happy to swap battle stories with any other vets out there – over a glass of wine of course.

Other topics entered my frantic brain, but they all felt too negative. An old memory flashed through my mind. Once, when I was in my 20’s and looking to switch agencies, I discovered I didn’t get a job I wanted because the Creative Director thought I was bitter and jaded. And that was before I actually became bitter and jaded. Hmmm… Happy thoughts…. Happy thoughts…

Then I received a phone call from a friend, one of my best friends in fact, inviting me out for drinks. And I knew I had my topic. Sure it’s a tough, relentless, harsh, often thankless business (happy thoughts, happy thoughts), but it can also be very rewarding. In particular, in the friendships you make.

My friend, let’s call her Beth, and I met over 10 years ago – working at the same direct marketing agency. As creative partners (she’s an art director, I’m a writer), we bonded over 3am arguments over which concepts were stronger, over headlines that were too long, or layouts that just didn’t work. We shared the joy of a brilliant idea and the panic of a bad one.

Life eventually took us in different directions – different countries in fact – but we never lost touch. And now, back in the same city, we talk pretty much daily… even if it’s just to complain about something.

And Beth isn’t the anomaly. Many of the people I’ve worked with over the years have become good friends. We invite each other out for lunch, coffee and drinks. We go to each other’s parties. We’re facebook friends. We email each other youtube videos. We tell stories and laugh at the things that once made us hide out in the bathroom and cry. We dance together at the CMAs. And we hug… every time we see each other.

Recently an intern asked me, “what’s the best part about being in the advertising business?” And I had trouble answering her. (“You’re bitter and jaded,” flashed through my mind again.) But now that I’ve had time to think about it, I know what I’d say: it’s the people you work with. Friends. Friends for life.

By Shelley Sutherland, Vice-President, Creative Director, Rapp Canada (and CMA Direct Marketing Council member)

By CMA on behalf of Shelley Sutherland | Posted in Advertising | Comments Off