I’ve moved! Visit me at EdenSpodek.com

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I blogged here and wanted to let you know I launched a new website and blog on my own domain. I hope you’ll join me there. Please visit at EdenSpodek.com.

Thanks for all your encouragement and support over the years.

Eden

Tip of the Week: Think beyond the blog

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

“Be prepared to offer your content ideas up for brand usage,” suggests Matthew Stradiotto, Co-founder, Matchstick, “today brands want to ‘co-create’ content with publishers. Think about how your content could live brand-side, and not JUST on your blog!”

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• Tip of the Week: Discovering new blogs
• Social Media Goes to College at Social Capital Conference
• Tip of the Week: Network

Tip of the Week: Discovering new blogs

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

One of the highlights of being part of the team of instructors for the Digital Strategy certificate program at U of Toronto SCS is the opportunity to meet with many interesting and talented students. Martin Waxman does a great job of summing up his experience with the class.

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Photo credit: kakisky

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• Social media goes to college at PodCamp Toronto 2013
• A week of firsts... #digitaledu, Storify and Spin Sucks
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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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Recent articles

• Tip of the Week: Be brand loyal
• Tip of the Week: Develop a publishing schedule
• Tip of the Week: engage your audience

Tip of the Week: Develop a publishing 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

Recent articles

• Tip of the Week: engage your audience
• All that's wrong with blogger relations...
• A little inspiration from Amy Poehler

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

Recent articles

• The value of disclosure in social media
• A little inspiration from Amy Poehler
• Jack Astor's gave me reason to blog

All that’s wrong with blogger relations…

(Photo credit: edenspodek)

While I consider myself a communicator and I’ve worked for and with many PR agencies over the years, I don’t consider myself a PR person. So PR people, if you’re going to hate me for what I'm about to say, I can live with that.

As some of you know, I’ve been blogging since 2006. I blogged steadily for three years then things slowed down a bit as my interests went in other directions. (Misguided, I know but it’s the truth.) Last year, I published one blog post here and handful of guest posts elsewhere.

Read more...

Recent articles

• The value of disclosure in social media
• A little inspiration from Amy Poehler
• Jack Astor's gave me reason to blog

The value of disclosure in social media

It’s never too late to talk about disclosure in social media so I thought I’d share a post I wrote back in October for Food Bloggers of Canada.

The value of disclosure in social media

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Image credit: Melissa Hartfiel for Food Bloggers of Canada

Recent articles

• A little inspiration from Amy Poehler
• Jack Astor's gave me reason to blog

A little inspiration from Amy Poehler

Amy Poehler at the premiere of Baby Mama in New York City at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Be okay with writing really bad stuff for a long time––just keep doing it. The act of doing it, the muscle memory of it, is more important for me, because you would do shows every night, and they would suck every night, and one night they’d be okay, and it would sustain you for another year.”

               –Amy Poehler, Entertainment Weekly, February, 8, 2013  

If you’ve read my bio you’ll I recently joined a bright team of professionals to help U of T’s School of Continuing Studies launch a certificate in Digital Strategy and Communications Management.

Read more...

Recent articles

• Jack Astor's gave me reason to blog

Random thoughts about art and passion

I don’t know a lot about art. Nor do I pretend to know a lot about art. But today when I visited the AGO, one thing became quite apparent. Art is truly a labour of love and most of all passion.

Before most art has any value, it’s created entirely from an artist’s vision, talent and passion. The passion to keep on creating and sharing, regardless of whether or not he or she is making any money. Even the artists responsible for some of the most expensive pieces of art today probably weren’t making a living from their art.

Yet, that didn’t stop them. The results of their efforts are works of absolute beauty enjoyed by people around the world. That’s what defines and drives the value of a piece of art, long after an artist is no longer around to realize the impact her vision and creativity had on generations to come. These visual artists weren’t thinking about being rich in monetary terms. They were thinking about self-expression, doing something they loved and sharing with an audience who appreciated their talents – day in and day out. Now that’s passion.

This got me thinking about why so many people are hung up about being paid for pursing their passion today. There are many things I’m passionate about in life that don’t have a monetary value, nor should they, like family and relationships. It’s the relationships I’ve made here that drive my passion to maintain this blog – and if you’re wondering, less posts do not mean I’m any less passionate – so please keep your comments coming.

So why are so many people hung up about making a living from creating personal online content? If you can make a buck or two at it, that’s great. If it’s getting in the way of other things you value, maybe you aren’t as passionate about it as you think.

Oh yeah, and if you’re looking for a way to get a lot of value for your money on a rainy summer day, visit an art gallery.

Six random things about me

I was tagged again! It usually happens every few months and I don’t always participate. This time I couldn’t refuse the ever-so-talented Daniele Rossi who illustrated my laptop bag (pictured).

Here are six random things in random order:

1. I went to the mall today, wore a different colour of blush on each cheek and took polls at 3 different cosmetics stores before deciding which colour to buy.
2. I loved 80s fashions in the 80s but I’m not digging them now.
3. I have a hard time finding shoes that fit; otherwise, I’d spend way too much money buying them (a girl can never have enough).
4. Scallops make me violently ill.
5. I got suckered into the faceyourmanga.com vortex on twitter this weekend (my avatar is pictured)
6. Launching a podcast and public speaking help me step outside my comfort zone because I’m shy and hate the sound of my own voice.
7. I can’t count. Contrary to what some of you may think, I do have a life away from the computer. ;-)

I am tagging the following bloggers: Amrita Chandra, Rayanne Langdon, Jay Moonah, Nancy Zimmerman, Glen Farrelly and Mitch Canter

Random rules (hat tip to Connie Crosby):
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

photo credit: The Finished Product by Daniele Rossi on flickr

Announcing Community Divas!

I’m passionate about a lot of things.

One of them is Bargainista. Why? Because of you! Without you, it wouldn’t exist. If no one was here reading, leaving comments or writing guest posts, I don’t think I’d still be here doing this almost two years later. We are all part of this community.

And that leads me to another one of my passions: community, especially the ones I belong to online. They are made up of real people sharing common interests and ideas while forming real friendships. Many of us have been able to get together offline too.

The podcasting community is one of those online communities very near and dear to my heart. With the urging of my friend Connie Crosby, I joined the PodCamp Toronto organizing team last fall and attended Podcasters Across Borders (aka PAB) in June. I didn’t have a podcast but I didn’t let that stop me.

Now all that has changed. With the help and support of many of our friends, Connie and I teamed up and we decided to host our own podcast about online communities and some of the social networking tools that help build them. It’s called Community Divas. The first two episodes feature an interview with our friend and community builder, Jay Moonah. We hope you’ll listen and participate by giving us your feedback and offering suggestions on how we can make it more meaningful for you.

Follow Community Divas on twitter; join the fan page on Facebook.

If you’re interested in learning more about podcasts and social media, consider attending Niagara on the Lake Podcasting and Social Media Meetup next weekend and PodCamp Montréal, September 20 & 21. Admission is free for both events.

photo credit: Glow Bracelets on PAB Cruise by Andy Caster on flickr

Tip of the Week – Check out out miniBookExpo for free books

Looking for something to read this summer?

Wanna choose a great book or two for free? It’s easy. All you need to do is check out the miniBookExpo. The rules are pretty simple, basically, you choose a book and agree to blog about it within a month.

Last year I read The Manny and so far, I’ve selected 2011 by Richard Laermer this year. Stay tuned for my review.

Don’t have your own blog? No problem. You can submit your review to Alexa Clark, the wonderful woman who conceived the miniBookExpo three years ago. She’ll post it for you.

Photo credit: lexnger on Flickr

Toronto Fashion Bloggers Brunch 14 - Sun., Jan. 27

You’re invited! Calling all local fashion bloggers:

What?
Toronto Fashion Bloggers Brunch (TFBB)

Where?
Brassaii
461 King St. W. (map)
Toronto

When?
Jan. 27, 2008
11:30 a.m.

Who?
The TFBB gang and friends.

How?
RSVP by logging on to http://tfbb.eventbrite.com

It’s been a while since I’ve brunched with the gang. I’m looking forward to this one. Hope to see you there.

Beauty Confidential - how to look like a million bucks for less

One of my favourite holiday surprises was receiving a copy of Beauty Confidential, a new book by former magazine beauty editor, Nadine Haobsh (aka blogger Jolie in NYC).

Nadine is big on developing personal style and doesn’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to beauty even if it’s the mantra espoused by her peers.

Although I read beauty mags at the hairdresser, I’ve never paid much attention to beauty books. Until now that is.

Beauty Confidential is written in a light conversational style and chalk full of valuable tips about every beauty concern under the sun. The format is useful too. Each chapter includes a “product guide” listing each product mentioned in the chapter, along with it’s website address and price range. How handy.

If you’re like me and find yourself collecting cosmetics, hair care and skin care goodies, this handy little beauty book is a must read. You’ll learn when to save your money and what products are splurge-worthy in order to look your best.

Good haircuts and colour are worth the big bucks but you can follow Nadine’s illustrated step-by-step instructions and learn to blow-dry your own hair like a pro. Learn how to groom and trim your eyebrows properly, give your self a professional manicure and lots more. Why throw money away on expensive nail polish when you don’t have to when the less-expensive brands will do. Did you know lots of drugstore skincare products are formulated the same way as others costing megabucks?

You’ll get lists of all the best beauty products (i.e. shampoo, mascara, skin cream, blush, foundation, sunscreen, etc.) and why those products have earned their stripes. Even some of my personal favourites including Lancôme Definicils mascara, Essie nail polish and Cetaphil were list-worthy. ; )

So, if you’re like most women I know and have a stockpile of make-up, skin creams, hair care, body lotions and potions, Beauty Confidential is a smart investment.