Today is a very exciting day. I volunteer on the Board of a local non-profit literacy organization that has been quietly doing really good things in my community since 2004. Like many non-profits, our budget is limited, if not non-existent, and we struggle to find an audience to share our message.

Thanks to my good friends Jose Guzman and Alan Crouse at Generator, today we launched our online welcome page and contest, “What’s the best book you ever read” Facebook campaign, that we hope will raise our profile and get us some more friends(!) in the community. 

You see it every day; another not-for-profit, do-gooder, community organization jumping onto the social media bandwagon. Somebody–a c-suite, upper echelon, board member–decrees that yesirree, we have got to get into social media. The task is duly assigned to either the youngest person available, or the eager-beaver-social-media-guru who volunteers to take it on.

The vehicles vary but the usual suspects chosen are Facebook and Twitter. The page is created with enthusiasm and then everyone sits back and waits for the results that will bring success. More often than not “success” remains elusive and the site sits dormant. What happened, they wonder. Where is everybody? [I know, I'm sounding like a broken record here, but really! When are you going to listen!!]

What happened is that no one ever defined what “success” looks like. No one came up with a business case and plan that would align with the organization’s existing marketing and communications plan. The young person who was chosen to take on the project uses Facebook with her 1,295 personal Facebook friends but she has no idea how to use social media strategically. And the keener social media maven? With little, if any, online marketing experience, she hasn’t the technical or strategic skills necessary to build relationships in a space that she’s unfamiliar with. 

At the risk of sounding redundant, ok, I’m definitely sounding redundant, there is no magic sauce for success online. But give the following a try: 

• Promote offline events on your online platforms – website, Facebook, Twitter, etc.
• Promote your online presence on your print materials.
• Create visible partnerships with your sponsors, funders, partners – they want and deserve the attention and you may garner some yourself through their established networks.

In the meantime, please “like” us and say hello at Pediatric READ and follow our journey as we celebrate reading, writing and literacy in Windsor-Essex. You know we’ll “like” you back

So you’ve set up a beautiful page for your company on Facebook or Twitter. You’ve carefully chosen the perfect photo for your avatar, written some brilliant factoids about your company’s mission statement and values, and posted your first update which you feel is truly poetic. You enjoy a moment of pure pride and satisfaction as you review the page for the 37th time.

Then it hits you. What next?!! Who is going to come and see your fabulous page. What will you post on your page next? Days pass. Your two best friends have “liked” your page and you’re now becoming so desperate you’re considering asking your kids to do the same. Where is everybody?!!

It’s a very common scenario…Facebook is littered with abandoned sites begun with enthusiasm and the best of intentions. All they needed was a little coaching. My clients invariably want to know how they are going to find people who will become their “friends”, “followers” or “likes” and what they are going to post about. This is the fun part, the brainstorming session that always involves discussions about the company’s brand attributes and marketing goals.

How can you promote your page? A contest, promotion, fundraising event or paid ads on Facebook are great places to begin especially if you sell a service or product. Once you start developing an audience, you can make a list of possible ideas for updates.

Other ideas for promoting your sites:

• promote your offline events on your social media sites
• promote your online sites through your offline marketing perhaps on your vehicles, sandwich boards, external signage and window clings at your place of business
• offer coupons that are exclusively for your online audience
• connect your social media sites to an e-mail campaign

Finally, measure your social media efforts through google analytics to make sure you’re achieving your goals. Never forget that social media may be “free” but it takes time away from other activities.

How are you promoting your business online?

There are currently more than 600 million users on Facebook and most of them access the space unfazed by rumours about security and privacy issues. Facebook is, after all, all about sharing, so worrying about privacy would be sort of like diving into the sea and then complaining that you got wet. 

But there are lots of people who are dipping their toes tentatively into the popular social networking site because, heck, everybody seems to be there. Still, they worry about strangers hacking into their profiles and perhaps seeing photos of their children, or seeing where they live and knowing when they’re on vacation, and even really bad guys potentially stealing their identity.

Questions about online privacy often arise when I’m setting up accounts for non-profit groups and businesses, and I take care to walk clients through their privacy settings. In my view, it’s not much different than learning to look twice before crossing the road; we should all be social media savvy and practice safe engagement online.  

The good news is that Facebook is constantly upgrading their site to give users more options and control over what others can and cannot see when they land on their personal profile pages. The flipside of that is that once people set up their accounts, they rarely go back in and review their settings. But just like booking regular dentist appointments, it’s a really good idea to set up a “review my settings” session with yourself once a quarter.

I was going to share a few new privacy features recently introduced by Facebook but my friend Brendon Walker does it so well in this video he created for his company Centric Consulting that I’m simply going to encourage everybody reading this to take a look.

And the golden rule? Never, ever, ever post anything online that you wouldn’t put on a great big sign on your front yard. Got it? Be safe kids.

Way back in 2006 when I first dipped my feet into the mysterious waters of Facebook, I can’t say I had a vision of where the social networking site might lead me, if anywhere. As a communications professional I was intrigued by its offering of connectivity but for the most part I just thought, “Wow, this is a cool place to connect with my friends.” Not that many of my friends were there in those days. 

Facebook evolved as the whole world climbed on board, but I continued to protect my site from “strangers” even though others—the, ummmm, social media “gurus”—amassed thousands of Facebook “friends” to whom they could ply their wares. Meh, not for me. So what if my Facebook page didn’t provide street cred for my work, that was what Twitter, Delicious, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, SlideShare, Yelp, LinkedIn, Ning, and my WordPress blog were for. Even on Twitter I remain fussy about who I follow. No one yet has shown me the value in amassing meaningless hordes of “followers” who aren’t sharing anything of interest or listening to anything I’m saying.

Alas, Facebook, now in its umpteenth iteration, has changed so much that I have gradually abandoned my ideal of maintaining a cozy space for family and real friends. It has evolved into an unbeatable channel for sharing news not only about what we’re doing but also about cool things going on in our communities, and there is real power there.

Are my Facebook “friends” truly friends? Some are, most aren’t.

Consequently, it was with great interest that I read a local blogger’s rant slamming Anne Jarvis for her column last week on the recent TWEPI debacle (that would be the unarguably dysfunctional Tourism Windsor-Essex-Pelee Island Board). The blogger accused City Counsellor Drew Dilkens of not doing due diligence with regards to his fellow TWEPI Board Member whom Jarvis outed as a creep with a disgusting past. The blogger insisted that Dilkens should have recalled the guy’s sensational case as it had been all over the media back in 1990. And, as further proof of Dilkens’ negligence, he pointed out that he and the offender are, GASP!, Facebook friends. Yep, clearly these two are tight.

So, just a heads up to all you Facebookers out there….keep a discriminating eye on who you “friend”, you never know when some disreputable dude with a past might incriminate you.

As we all brace for the onslaught of Snowmaggedon 2011, I for one, am looking forward to spending lots of time curled up with my laptop engaged in some quality hours researching, reading and listening to those extended podcasts that tend to get shelved because life is just so relentlessly busy.

If you saw The King’s Speech and marveled as I did at Colin Firth’s brilliantly empathetic portrayal of Bertie, the reluctant but dutiful King George VI, take some time during the Storm of the Century to listen to Creative Screenwriter Magazine’s Senior Editor Jeff Goldsmith interview the film’s screenwriter, David Seidler.

It’s a long interview, but you’ll be rewarded by Seidler’s fascinating insights into the process and hard work of writing. It seems Seidler, himself a stutterer as a child, was strangely destined to write the screenplay. His journey as he describes it has been an incredible one that, like the King’s Speech itself, has been all about the delivery, and overcoming obstacles.

One particularly intriguing sidebar to his discussion is the challenge he describes getting an agency to take him on. Seems they’re typically not overly keen to hire older writers because “older writers tend only to want to write about things that are really meaningful to them.”  

Yep, I’d have to say there’s a grain of truth to that. Enjoy the storm!

Links:

Official site for The King’s Speech 

Footage of the (real) King’s Speech

Interview with David Seidler

I’ve recently transitioned from working with a small but amazing marketing team at the credit union to consulting on a part-time basis, a shift that’s allowing me to take some time over the summer to evaluate where I want to go next. And that, I think, is a very good thing.

Sometimes we’re in control of change and other times we’re not, but whether I’m controlling it or not I try to view change as an opportunity. I realize that not everyone shares my Pollyanna perspective. There are a lot of people who despair when they discover the Cheerios’ box is empty and they have to settle for Shredded Wheat instead, who won’t hear of having dinner at 8pm if the usual time is 7pm, and who wouldn’t dream of changing the route they take home from work even if it shortens the drive or provides a more scenic trip.

They’re the “we’ve always done it that way” folks for whom the world is a predictable place and for whom change represents a threat, a challenge to a comfortable and safe status quo. I think we need to recognize whether we’re sometimes the road blocks to new ways of thinking and doing, or whether we’re excited by the promise of cool things to come – not change for the sake of change, but change that will provide better communications, process efficiencies, or even a more engaging way to do what we do. Fun should count.

Traditionally, the corporate world has moved slowly, but many of today’s successful companies – like Southwest Air, Best Buy, and Amazon – are those that adapt well to change, that embrace new ideas and technology, and that are paying attention to the groundswell of change that is currently taking place on a global level.

As for me, I intend to keep exploring ways to merge “traditional” media with “social” media while continuing the conversation. And as I transition, I’m going to keep in mind James D. Finley’s famous quote:  “Nothing encourages creativity like the chance to fall flat on one’s face.” To me that means be brave, take chances, embrace life.

If you happen to be headed for Chicago anytime soon, this is for you.

I stayed at the Hotel Monaco, part of the Kimpton chain, which proved an unexpected pleasure. I loved it so much I asked them whether they need a communicator; I mean, who’s even heard of them? Mine was a charming room with lots of fluffy pillows, gorgeous linens, and a goldfish in a bowl to keep me company. And women, take note – l’Occitaine products for the bath! Fabulous staff, especially concierge Ryan Lettier, who bent over backwards and sideways to ensure that I enjoyed my stay.

There is great food in the Windy City that goes way beyond deep-dish pizza. Find artisanal cheeses and charcuterie, house-made tapenades, fabulous sandwiches on to-die-for bread, and an intriguing selection of wine at Pastoral on Lake Street. The outdoor Green City Market on the edge of Lincoln Park is another fab spot to grab organic greens and sprouty stuff, yummy and healthy baked quiches, croissants, crepes, flatbread pizzas, and small farm cheeses from goats, sheep and cows. After you graze your way through that, work it all off by spending an hour at the wonderful Chicago History Museum just around the corner.

Like eggs? I do, and Chicago boasts some terrific breakfast spots. For the best eggs benny in the Mid-west you’ve got to get to Yokes on Michigan across from the splendid Millennium Park (handily located to provide a delightful setting for the walk you’re going to need after brekkie!). If you’re off exploring the charms of Wicker Park, check out Caffe de Luca where the locals hang out in part, I’m convinced, because of the exquisite spinach and goat cheese quiche: 2 quivering inches of creamy, velvety, eggy yumminess.

If you’re rushing to catch one of the many architectural tours (do take the First Lady Boat Cruise – no school groups, knowledgeable guides, need I say more?) – then make a run for Hannah’s Bretzels – all organic, all green, all healthiness – where you’ll find a wonderful fluffy organic egg, bacon and cheddar on a wholegrain “bretzel” that you can eat while racing down Michigan Ave to make the boat.

Then there’s dinner, which can be sublime in Chicago. I discovered a handful of hip little restos where the emphasis is on local, sustainable, organic, and fresh. Eve, Sepia , and Avec all fall into this category where the creatively imagined menus have been painstakingly chosen and dishes faultlessly executed and delivered by staff who know of what they speak. Hard to get into all of them so plan ahead.

Finally, rent a bike at Bike Chicago. The lakefront trail offers miles of scenic and relatively flat riding. Not only will you work off some of that hollandaise sauce you had for breakfast, but you’ll feel justified going out and doing it all over again.

Oh, and to help with all your planning follow @explorechicago – really nice folks who can answer all of your Chicago questions. And if you have any other recommendations for Chicago, share ‘em here.

Innovation in Canada is not an oxymoron and there are lots of examples of quite spectacular Canadian innovators to prove it.

For example, way back around 1876, in Brantford, Ontario, inventor Alexander Graham Bell proved his theory about relaying the human voice over wires and the telephone was born. The world’s first wireless message was received by Marconi in 1910 in St. John’s, Newfoundland. And, the first trans-Atlantic telephone cable connected the province of Newfoundland with England in 1956. More recently, Research In Motion developed the eponymous Blackberry in Waterloo, Ontario.

With a pedigree like that you’d think we Canadians would be the envy of the world, leading the way in communications gadgetry. Add to that the fact that our neighbour to the South is one of the world’s biggest consumer electronics markets, it seems logical to me that, at the very least, companies would launch their cool new electronic gadgets simultaneously across both of our deserving countries. But that’d be a no. When RIM launched the Blackberry in the U.S. (oh, and France, Germany, the U.K, Austria…) we Canadians sat at home with our flip phones waiting…and waiting…and waiting. Heck, even the Irish got Blackberries before we did. WUWT?

When the much-anticipated Iphone was released,  Canadians were once again left gazing longingly across the border waiting for our turn. Last month’s big news that Skype was coming to the Iphone had the Twittersphere all abuzz with excitement, but alas,  not available in Canada. Huh?

And that’s not the worst of it. Canadians pay more than almost anyone else in the world for wireless phone service. Yep, we sit on hold for hours at 1-800-Rogers or Bell, waiting to sign up for another 3-year, locked-in, can’t leave even if you die, contract term, and then we pay the highest rates on the planet for the privilege. I just don’t get it.

Is it idiot politicians as suggested by a CTV article that describes Canada’s abysmal position as a global  innovator (not!);  or are Canadian consumers disinterested in communications gadgetry? Canada’s Research Chair of Internet & e-Commerce Law  Michael Geist makes a compelling argument that it has a lot to do with a lack of competitiveness in the Canadian market.

Or perhaps, as many have suggested, we’re a nation of “blah”? A Timmie’s and McDonald’s-loving people who don’t just accept mediocrity, but embrace it. A people striving to maintain the status quo, and criticizing those who dare offer up new ideas.

Or maybe our nation is simply imbued with a remarkable level of patience.

I don’t have the answers and I’ve pretty much sat back grumbling quietly with everybody else, but the Kindle has thrown me over the edge. I’m a voracious reader of books, blogs, magazines, newspapers, journals, billboards, menus and even road signs. If there are words, I’ll pretty much read it. So, when Amazon came out with the “next chapter in wireless reading” I  whipped my wallet out faster than my Blackberry could auto dial my best friend, ready to purchase my Kindle and the hundreds, no thousands, of books that I’d load into it.

With visions of reading on beaches, trains, around campfires, in the back garden, anywhere and everywhere I felt like a good read, I clicked through the familiar Amazon check-out pumped with anticipation… and then it happened. The dreaded screen that we Canadians fear more than any other, appeared before me. The good folks at Amazon were very, very sorry, but they could not sell me a Kindle. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not any day in the foreseeable future. All because I am Canadian.

Well I say it’s time to rise up and protest Canada. Plead with our politicians. Write letters to the editors of our local papers. Start a revolution in this country and demand what was promised us way back in 1876 when A.G.B. made that historic call from Brantford, Ontario.

Kindles for Canadians!

I know it’s true because I woke up one morning late last week to the unmistakable sound of mourning doves making whoopee outside my bedroom window.

I know it because no matter how late I stay at the office, it’s still light outside when I finally leave.

I know it because the acres of Essex County farmers’ fields I drive by to and from work are flooded from the record rainfall we’ve been pummeled with over the past few weeks.

But even more than that, I know it’s Spring because staff in our Marketing Department have been feverishly working on the upcoming Annual General Meeting, the Annual Report and the Spring Member Newsletter – a triumvirate of annual Spring to-do’s that keep us all multi-tasking like mad.

This year a lot of us think it’s pretty exciting that our Credit Union has a number of candidates vying for a position on our volunteer Board of Directors. Yes, remember people, we’re a Credit Union, not a bank, and we have an annual election where our Members (not customers!) get to choose their Board from among the committed and community-minded people who bravely put themselves out there to stand for election. These people will get to help determine the direction of our community giving and involvement and ensure that we maintain solid and accountable business practices. Different, huh?

Without further ado, I’m really excited to announce that we’ve launched our second annual One Member One Vote site (thank you David!). That’s where you’ll find candidate videos along with all of the important how-to-vote stuff.

We think it’s pretty cool, and we think it says a lot about the difference between a Credit Union and a bank.

Oh, and if you want to find out more about Credit Unions, check out this funny video by Larissa, former spokester for Young & Free Alberta. And don’t forget to vote!