Friday, March 29, 2013

Where’s the beef?

There are certain basics bricks and mortar businesses, such shops and restaurants, need to get right before they consider incorporating social media into their marketing mix. Face-to-face customer service, competitive pricing and signage are but a few.

Do you think the new Hero Burger in our neighbourhood considered what customers would see as they walked by their window?

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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Tip of the Week: Display your contact information prominently

Welcome to the fourth in a series of tips to help bloggers build communities, find an audience and get the most out of working with brands.

I hope you’ll enjoy these tips I’ve assembled with the help of other bloggers, brands, PR consultants, marketing pros, community managers.

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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Customer service tips for my hair salon

Reception
Dear hair salon,

I’ve been a regular customer of yours for more than two years now. I love that you’re with in walking distance from my home. The colour tech team is awesome, especially Sabrina. She does a great job of keeping my colour in check and making sure everyone else takes good care of me when I visit.

As much as you hold yourself up as a salon excelling in customer service and charge clients a premium for that privilege, here are some tips:

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Reception (Photo credit: austinevan)

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Thursday, March 21, 2013

west elm's Neil Gazmen connects with local customers

According to his bio, “Neil Gazmen is a retail people manager with over 9 years experience in managing high volume, complex stores in the Toronto area. He is a strong supporter of relationship based selling and grassroots type marketing that targets building a community of loyal followers, one customer at a time.” The last sentence is quite telling.

I met Neil on Twitter several months ago and recently in real life. He’s always bright, friendly and busy making everyday conversation with his Twitter community. Although he’s always quick to answer customer questions, he makes a point of being himself and not overtly promoting west elm or its Toronto store – the first Canadian location – where he is Associate Store Manager.  A of couple weeks ago we had a chance to chat and in a few minutes shared each of our “how we got into social media” stories. I was fascinated by how he’s been helping west elm build relationships with customers one tweet at a time and asked if I could share some of his story with you.

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Photo credit: Eden Spodek
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Monday, March 18, 2013

Tip of the Week: Be brand loyal

puppy
photo: Eden Spodek
Welcome to the third in a series of tips to help bloggers build communities, find an audience and get the most out of working with brands.

I hope you’ll enjoy these tips I’ve assembled with the help of other bloggers, brands, PR consultants, marketing pros, community managers.

Tip 3: be brand loyal
Michèle Bosc, Director of Marketing at Chateau des Charmes says, “Don’t be afraid to endorse a brand you love. Stay loyal to that brand within a category… Be professional and true to your voice.”

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Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Tip of the Week: Develop a publishing schedule

schedule
Welcome to the second in a series of tips to help bloggers build communities, find an audience and get the most out of working with brands.

I hope you’ll enjoy these tips I’ve assembled with the help of other bloggers, brands, PR consultants, marketing pros, community managers.*

Tip 2:  Develop a publishing schedule
Brands, and those representing them, want to know that your blog is being updated regularly and that you’re publishing new posts frequently. You don’t need to blog every day but they will want to see that your blog is up-to-date before they approach you with opportunities. If you’ve published 800 posts but haven’t blogged in more than a year, no matter how high your search rankings, a brand worth its salt won’t be interested in what you have to say, except perhaps if you've blogged about them a lot in the past.

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Photo credit: Jade
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Friday, March 08, 2013

International Women’s Day – progress, passion and a little bit of cattiness

Are all the world's top dogs really all men?
If my math is correct, today marks the 104th International Women’s Day.

I’ve spent a good chunk of the morning thinking about how I’d like to honour women doing amazing things who inspire me. One recurring theme throughout my life has been how so many women are catty and bring each other down, unlike men who tend to be less threatened by their male peers and support them, particularly in business.

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Thursday, March 07, 2013

Saturday, March 02, 2013

Tip of the Week: engage your audience

Welcome to the first in a series of tips to help bloggers build communities, find an audience and get the most out of working with brands.

Despite an extended on Bargainista vacation last year, I’ve been working behind the scenes helping clients with their blogs and writing the occasional guest post or two. Friends, family, colleagues and students often ask how they can become better bloggers.

I hope you’ll enjoy these tips I’ve assembled with the help of other bloggers, brands, PR consultants, marketing pros, community managers.*

Tip 1: Engage your audience

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Photo credit: Flying Pete

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