Alberta Business Marketing

I am back in my home office after a very busy couple of weeks which saw David and I hit the road to Los Angeles, California and then immediately flip the other way and head to Toronto, Ontario.  I love travel, I love being on the road and love to serve those who need help and it doesn’t matter where they are physically located.  Service is what matters and helping those in need of quality support is my personal number one priority.  Travel puts strains on the level of commitment I promise the clients I serve, so this week is a catch up week on my commitments.

Commitment…what a huge word.  Many say they are committed to a cause, their careers or their family.  But, even more who say they are never truly demonstrate it.

What is commitment? Is it getting up at 5 AM and getting two blog posts done for clients before 6 AM?  Is commitment ensuring your son’s sunburn is OK?  How about your spouse? Is ensuring the needs of the family are taken care of…commitment?  Of course all of the above are great examples of commitment and where we need to be committed.

I am not going to discuss spousal, family, church etc in this post…I would rather keep it on a professional level.  Your business and the success of your business.  We all know that marketing your business, starting a blog, ensuring your sales funnel is healthy and having happy customers all takes commitment but how do you manage this commitment.  Like I said earlier there are many of your peers who pay lip service to the word commitment and never truly understand or really want to know what it really means.

Since I work with small business owners across Canada and the US each day on social media marketing and online success…allow me to slip back into my own comfort zone here.  Social Media success takes 100% commitment.  Like anything in business you can’t go halfway and expect success.  It just isn’t going to happen…just like customer service, you need to commit to servicing your clients in order to truly have success in the relationship.

Here are a few tips to help you with committing to your social media success:

1. Develop a plan and stick to the plan – If it is blogging three times a week commit to it.  If it is tweeting four times a day, then do it.  You need to have a plan and then stick to the plan.
2. Schedule your time – put it in your calendar.  This is part of your business and must be scheduled and then the schedule has to stick.  How many stale blogs are out there?  Started by business owners with great intentions but no commitment?  Start it, schedule it and stick to it.
3. Find help - You need a coach when it comes to this stuff.  Social Media is much more than Twitter and Facebook…do you have someone to help you?

Commitment is a big word to many…even myself, however I am committed to sharing thoughts with you each day…or you wouldn’t get this email or read this post.

What can I do to help you…give me a shout at 403.775.2205, I would love to help you if you require some support and a person to bounce ideas off of.  If you are located in Toronto, Boston, New York or right here in Calgary…it doesn’t matter.  I am here to serve you and the needs of your business.

Tags: 403.775.2205, Boston, Calgary, California, canada, Los Angeles, media marketing, media success, New York, New York City, online success, Ontario, toronto, Uncategorized, United States
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No software, technology or offering is perfect.  Like many of us…no one or thing is ever completed perfect, there is always room for improvement and tweaking.  You can read through every single blog posts here on my blog and find grammar errors and other items that simply don’t make sense. What I am really getting at is the mindset today that good enough is good enough.  Look around and you will see many examples of “The Good Enough Mindset“.  How much additional value would you create if you didn’t approach life as a minimalist and just attempted to enter onto the “road less traveled“.  We see it everyday, cheap products, free offerings that don’t make the grade, and others…sometimes you do get what you pay for.

Life is about continuous improvement and taking ownership for this development.  After our trip to California last week it was crystal clear that no one has all the answers, but taking ownership and being committed to constantly improving yourself, your team and your business is a full-time job.  We can all learn something new each day and continue to constantly improve the way we do things.  I am always trying to constantly improve, seek feedback from my peers and even those who don’t know me and then apply what I learn.

Google is a great example

Over the past couple of days I have been trying really hard to work on a couple of tasks for our business clients with Ulistic and also answer questions about small business technology. One of our Calgary clients was asking about mobile phones and my recommendations.  He was asking about Android, Blackberry and iPhone.  Based on the minimalist mindset and being committed to improvement and quality, who do you think I recommended?  During my own research for a stable business systems which allow us to communicate effectively with our clients and partners, I started to find some big shortcomings in some of the platforms we employ each day.

Before you “I told you so” folks out there comment on my blog let me clear the air here about some of my challenges with Google Docs and their calendar system.  Google, Microsoft or whoever all have their challenges and the issues I am wrestling with around simple features missing in Google Docs and Calendar are deal breakers for someone like me.  Yes, I have switched to Office 2008 for the Mac and thinking once again about a new mail, calendar client for my email and scheduling (Maybe the Apple ones will work fine).  The minimalist approach maybe affordable, but at what cost?

Real leadership in the tech or any community is about recognizing these challenges, taking ownership of the issues and then roadmapping a way to resolve them.  Oh yeah…communication is the secret sauce here.  You can have great intentions but if you don’t communicate them….you have done nothing!

Are you performing at JUST OK or are you working at continuous improvement?

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Is your small business bombarded with spam messages everyday? If you have a spam problem.  I know some great IT guys wherever you are in the world..email me and I will introduce you to someone close to you.

A story of the restaurant that could

If you hate the abundance of spam that you receive continuously on a daily basis don’t tell Toronto, Canada restaurant owner, Michael Sangregorio of Local Kitchen & Wine Bar who uses opt-in mailing lists to keep in touch with his customers on a regular basis.  I have to concur with Michael, email marketing when used correctly actually does work.  But it has to be permission based and relevant to those you are sending your message out to.

First reported by my friend Denise at the Financial Post, Sangregorio ranks keeping in touch with his loyal customers and also his raving fans (don’t think the message stops with those he sends it to…many forward it on) in his Top 10 list for business success and ongoing activities.  This keeping in touch with his loyal, raving fans is a minor investment of about $20 a month.  Twenty bucks!  How much did your Yellow Pages ad cost you this year?

This is a great story on the power of email marketing.  Marketing to your raving fans is crucial and makes economic sense.  Many small business owners across the globe are now turning this powerful online marketing tool, which when done correctly provides an opt-in communications strategy which is permission based.  There are still a high number of small business owners who don’t start email marketing campaigns because they simply hate getting spam and they take this belief to their business marketing.

It is not just about marketing, it is about keeping in touch with your customers and your clients.  Keeping in touch about what you do, who you are and why they need to come back and see you.  It is about reaching them before your competitor does.

Mailchimp comes highly recommended

There is help to cure this mindset and it starts with some mentoring.  Our Calgary-based Internet consulting firm believes so much in the power of email marketing that we have devoted on whole 90 minute mentoring session on “The Power of Email Marketing“.

Ulistic recommends Mailchimp for your email marketing and business correspondence platform.  There are many out there,  however Mailchimp is free for those with small lists, less than 500.  A great place to start.  So what is stopping you…is it time? If time is your reason, call me 403.775.2205.

Here are some tips from Denise’s article to help you with your email marketing.

1. Personalize your messaging to target audiences when you can.

2. Provide links in your emails to increase user click action.

3. Encourage “forward to a friend” activities (e. g. offer a product discount) so your message can go viral.

4. Test your messages on different readers to make sure they work on all platforms.

5. Write headlines that get noticed — use the “what’s in it for me” principle.

Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/small-business/tools/story.html?id=3067462#ixzz0p2DcM275

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Last evening our Calgary Business Professionals Networking Group held their monthly Beer, Wings and Networking event at the Rusty Cage in South Calgary.  What a great establishment for a social networking event where everyone can come together for some fellowship and networking.  Hats off to our great business club in Calgary.  Thanks to Ray and the entire team at the Rusty Cage/Studio 82 for another wonderful event.

The lesson learned at our Calgary Business Networking Club

Social Networking requires people to be real.  Our business networking club is social networking and we are not hiding behind some keyboard and computer screen.  We are out and about in the community, meeting up, sharing stories, exchange business cards and learning from each other.  One of the comments that we kept hearing throughout the event is how real this business club actually is.  That everyone can just be themselves and tell it like it is in a completely comfortable environment.  This is a very important and a crucial life-lesson I learned a while back.  Many tried to reach out to me, especially during my “I” focused years.  We need to be authentic, real and ourselves more than anything.

During the evening and speaking with the members at the event I ran into a Calgary Social Media self-proclaimed Guru.  It was this couple’s first time at our event and one of the people claimed they knew me but sorry I don’t recall meeting them in the past.  This guy and his partner claim to do everything in the world of social media.  They will fill your pipeline with qualified leads, your revenues will gush like Leduc Number 1 and they have an endless team.  You need feet on the street in New York City, he does that.  You need some customized coding, he does that…maybe you need someone to mop the floors at the end of the night, he does that.  Can you see the potential challenges here?

In my early days of IT Matters, we gave the perception to our clients that we were their single source for anything IT related and even to this day at Ulistic, there is value is being a single source or that CONNECTOR who knows the right people to introduce in situations.  This is why I network, to understand who does what and who I can refer business to.   I still like to believe we can be a single source of knowledge and share openly with those we care about and trust (KNOW, LIKE, TRUST).  What is different about that mindset vs. “we do that”.  We don’t do everything, however we have strong strategic alliances that are able to help you with what challenge faces your business.

Do you need a sign for your office, we know someone and we can introduce you.  How about some tricky software code, that as well…we don’t do that but we have talented business relationships that we would more than happy to connect you with.  It is about being a CONNECTOR, about looking out for the needs of others without “sticking your oar” in and claiming it is all about you.

People like to deal with humble, authentic and real people. Part of being authentic and real is knowing what you are good at, showing that you really care and forming alliances with those who can help you with the weaknesses in your business.

Tags: Calgary, Calgary Business Professionals Networking Group, Guru, Human Interest, I T MATTERS, New York City, Online social networking, Social network service, tricky software code, Uncategorized
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Not sure, ask Varvid’s Aaron Booker from Bellingham, Washington. This Pacific Northwest technical guru recently packed in his MSP business in Bellingham to purely focus on what he loves to do..shoot video and work with people…almost similar to my story. Aaron now focuses on his passion of helping IT consultants, computer vendors and others in the technology industry tell their story through the lense of his Varvid business.  Learn about Aaron’s Social Media Video product at http://www.varvid.com.  We can’t forget about Drew and Mike as well…critically parts of the team.

What I truly admire about Aaron is his passion for being a Go-Giver.  This guy has the energy of an ox with endless amounts of energy, drive, determination and a heart of pure gold.  He never sleeps and the smile on his face proves it.

Aaron was a founding member of HTG3 with me back in November 2006.  I still remember meeting him and the rest in Council Bluffs, Iowa when I snuck away from IT Matters for a couple of days (Tony and Rob had no idea) to get involved with an organization that would eventually change my life and the way I see the world.

Aaron caught up with me this week in Dallas and shot some footage about Ulistic.  It was like we never missed a beat.

PS..Aaron it was great to get lost in Dallas with you on Tuesday.

Tags: Aaron, Aaron Booker, Aaron Corp, Bellingham, Bo, Council Bluffs, dallas, Drew, energy, Entertainment/Culture, HTG3, I T MATTERS, Iowa, Mike, Rob, Social Media Video, technology industry, Tony, Uncategorized, Washington
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