Prezi

Prezi is a very different presentation software... I love it! http://www.prezi.com/

 Check out this one I made to illustrate the newsletter set-up process: http://prezi.com/b0u1bxp8iywu/newsletter-campaign-creation-process/

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Home Office Holiday Party

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In preparation for our office party this year, I wrote a poem. Then I gathered together the things I would need to have a party with Romeo and Danielle. (The Temptations were for Romeo, the phone for Danielle, and the coffee for me.) Romeo, my cat, is used to hearing me talk out loud as I proofread and he was unusually excited about hearing the poem. Danielle, who lives several time zones away in Saskatchewan, also works alone (and helps me out lots) so I invited her to my office party by phone. It was a good move because she's a master at rhyming words. After much anticipation, I started to read the finished poem aloud to them. As you can see in the photos above, I had their full attention. Ode to a Midnight Blog Silent night, late at night, I've still got my blog to write. My laptop propped up on my bed, I'm hoping ideas will fill my head. Yawns escaping, eyelids drooping, Neck is stiff, my thoughts are looping. My brain is sore, I th...
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Quick Tip - Avoid Hidden Format Problems

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When you're inserting content into your newsletter, website or blog, you're often copying it from other documents.  I suggest you always compose in Word (or similar) to take advantage of its spelling and grammar-checking functionality. Your formatting in Word may not be the same as your default formatting in these various applications.  While there are a raft of applications that make it easy now to do your own newsletter, website and blog, most of them are converting your content to html code in the background.  When you copy in text that is already formatted, you're possibly creating problems behind the scenes .  As well, you'll end up with differing fonts and sizes that all have to be corrected before you publish. You can avoid the potential for problems by stripping off all formatting before you paste into the application.  An easy way to do this is to use Notepad (or similar).  You simply open a blank notepad document, paste your con...
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Reusable Content Ideas to get you Unstuck

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You’re stuck and your deadline is looming. It’s been a long day and you’re far from feeling inspired to write for your blog or newsletter. The more you try to think of something to write about, the more uninspired you feel. Sometimes I feel like that too, so I came up with a list of ‘topic triggers’ that can be used over and over again. The next time you’re feeling that what-am-I-going-to-write-about stress, come back to this list and pick an item at random. All of these triggers can give you topics to write about immediately. Use an online idea generator tool. Check this article for links to three of them. Check your blog or newsletter archive for what you wrote about at this time last year. Expand on the topic, referencing the original post. Scan your social media feeds for a post that you agree or disagree with. Embed the post and explain. ( example ) Search “what’s new in (your industry)?” Provide a commentary on someone else’s article or sum up views from several a...
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Online Marketing Faux Pas

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Online marketing provides an ample playground for errors, such as typos, broken links, and incorrect dates. We've gotten used to little boo-boos - they happen to everyone and we're mostly forgiving. Then there are those biggies - the things that can cause a total disconnect with our brand, services and products. Here are some examples I see more often than you might think: The marketing strategist whose LinkedIn profile page url is a series of letters and numbers The sharing app that doesn't use their own tool in their blog posts to make them easy to share The bulk email service provider that sends icky looking newsletters The blogging trainer who doesn't post regularly The social media experts with no social connecting links on their websites The catchy call-to-action that takes you to a sign-up form that doesn't work The website designer whose own website is 5 years old (and looks it) The obvious typos on a homepage that are still there 6 months la...
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10 Email Predictions for 2013

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1. Your inbox will continue to be full. 2. You’ll check your inbox at least 5 times a day. 3. The more emails you send, the more you will receive. 4. You will spend significant hours just organizing your emails. And then you’ll spend even more looking for specific emails. 5. At least 100 times, you’ll swear to yourself that you’ll get ‘caught up’ on email. 6. You’ll delete several important emails by accident. 7. A handful of times, you’ll send an email forgetting the intended attachment. 8. You’ll find emails in your ‘draft’ box days after you thought you’d sent them. 9. You’ll click ‘reply all’ one too many times. 10. You’ll unsubscribe from countless commercial emails. But you’ll sign up for a few too. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Click to Tweet this Article
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Get a Head Start

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Start thinking about your next newsletter issue as soon as your last one has gone out. Set up a place to gather your content ideas - an 'idea catcher'. I use a folder on my Windows desktop. If you're not always sitting at your computer when inspiration hits, there are other more flexible tools: Evernote , Dropbox ,  Google Docs , and many more. (Along with everything else, Evernote even allows you to capture all your tweets, which are usually a good source for content ideas.) Load up your idea catcher. When you have an inspired idea about something you want to include in your next issue, plop it in. This works really well if you regularly include popular quotes, blog posts, book recommendations, and other resources. As soon as you come across ones you want to use, 'catch' them. By the time your issue date rolls around, it won’t seem like such a chore to assemble your newsletter. The bonus of this approach is that you have less stress trying to rememb...
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Build It and Work at It

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A newsletter is not one of those ‘build it and they will come’ things. It takes work to both maintain and build on each relationship that you (re-)start with each issue. Maintain: Give your readers what they want, not what you want to give them. Deliver VALUE in exchange for your readers' time. Respond to everyone who replies to your newsletter, even if it’s just to say “Glad you enjoyed it.” Build: Add new contacts to build your list. Promote each issue through social media to extend your reach. Make it easy for people to share and subscribe. photo by subsetsum / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article
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Being a Rebel (Book Review)

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Social Media Day Halifax 2018 Marketing Conference

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For the first time, Halifax will be celebrating Social Media Day in grand style this year. I'm proud to be one of the organizers of the first Social Media Day Halifax 2018 conference taking place on June 22nd. The conference is for entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals working in social media roles for companies and organizations. Sessions and workshops are for anyone and everyone who wants and needs to improve their social media communications and marketing. Since Social Media Day Halifax is all about increasing marketing expertise on the east coast, recruiting presenters who are both subject matter experts AND excellent training facilitators is key to the success of the conference. Ideally, we’ll find social media professionals who want to help encourage, inspire, train and motivate colleagues in the local marketing community. If you're on the east coast of Canada and do social media marketing, you don't want to miss this conference and the chance ...
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How to Answer a Question on Your Small Business Blog

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You might think your website FAQ page is the best place to answer questions but I would argue that your blog is even better. In fact, I suggest your FAQ page should list the questions, and perhaps short answers, with links to blog posts for more detailed answers. If your answers to frequently asked questions are individual blog posts, that content is ultimately more shareable via social media, email or chatbot. It's also a great way to make use of common keyword phrases, boosting your SEO. The Question The question you're answering might serve well as your post title or you might include it in your first paragraph. If it makes sense, you might also add some context which gives information about who the answer is for. For example, I might mention that I get asked this question often when networking with other small business owners. The Answer Generally, there are two types of answers. Facts and/or opinions: In this case, the question might start with something...
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