If you build it they will come may apply in baseball but not when marketing to women as confirmed by my recent experience attending two conferences* aimed at influential women online, primarily mommy bloggers.**
She’sConnected Conference built a foundation supported by the strength of relationships with brands and an online community platform. It promised to “connect top brands with Canada’s most influential and powerful digital women” for a one-day conference and yes, there’d be swag, lots of swag because that’s what these women want – free stuff. Really?
As you may know, I've been intrigued by local swap parties. Last year when Marta Nowinska approached me about promoting her swap meet on Bargainista, I was happy to help. Last week when Marta emailed to let me know she was launching SwapSity – an online consumer barter community – I suggested we do an interview.
What inspires you?
I love bringing my ideas to life and building exciting initiatives from the ground up. The creative process, along with the challenges it brings, fuels an entrepreneurial flame within me. Dialogue and idea-sharing also bring me new insights and spark my creativity.
Where did you get the idea for SwapSity? Often, my best ideas come in flashes of insight, which was the case with SwapSity. The thought of swapping things crossed my mind one early morning in 2005, while on the way to work. Market research revealed clear potential for consumer barter in Canada. The idea was also fresh and unique, so I set out to create SwapSity.
Are you planning on holding swap parties in other locations besides central Toronto?
We started out with swap meetsfor downtowners and if there is significant interest, we will definitely consider expanding our events to other locations.
What would you like people to know about your approach to swap parties? How are they different from others and how will they integrate with the SwapSity brand?
Our brand offers the option of both an online and offline swapping experience. The swap meets have a variety of themes depending on the season. To date, we’ve organized a general garage sale and a book-movie-music swap. Upcoming events may include toy swaps for parents, clothing exchanges and arts and crafts fairs. Our events are open to everyone, including those who are not SwapSity members.
You’re on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr and have a blog, how are you using social media to help build SwapSity?
Our social media presence keeps growing. We share our swap meet photos on Flickr, tweet daily swap listings on Twitter and feature interesting items on Facebook. Recently, we have also started highlighting success swap stories on our blog.
I spend a lot of time on Twitter and one of the things I’ve noticed over the past several years has been the rise in activity among Canadian moms. At the centre of much of it is a woman you may remember from her MuchMusic VJ days, Erica Ehm. Over the past several years, she reinvented her brand. Now she’s known as Erica Ehm, the mom and founder of the popular and newly, redesigned YummyMummyClub.ca – an online community with a realistic view of moms. Say hi to Erica on Twitter - @YummyMummyClub - she’s very real and friendly.
Join Yummy Mummy Club. It’s free, you’ll have opportunities for all sorts of giveaways and receive the newsletter. Rumour has it tomorrow’s issue has my post and other great shopping tips.
The primary destination of our road trip was Chicago. As far as my kids were concerned, a trip to Chicago would be incomplete without a trip to the real-life, bricks and mortar Threadless store. Truth be told, the same could be said for me.
We had barely settled into our hotel room and there was no way the kids would even consider doing anything before making the trek to Threadless, so we did. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know I’ve been a huge fan of Threadless and how an online community was built around this brand that originally could only be consumed online. I was curious to see how it would translate into the offline world, particularly since most online stores are an extension of an existing offline store, not the other way around. sorts.
As you can see from the slideshow of my photos, skinnyCorp, the folks behind the Threadless brand, did a great job of translating the spirit of Threadless.com into a 3D format. The friendly staff was exactly what you’d expect and more. The tiny three-level shop was jam-packed with Threadless t-shirt goodness. Oh ya, in addition to a gift or two, my kids and I each bought a t-shirt – mine is called Fall Into the Sun. (Like all Threadless tees, it’s available online today for a mere $9US!)
But there are some differences from the online store: • A fraction of the styles are available – not surprising considering the huge inventory online. • New tees are released on Fridays (not Mondays) so you’ll have a head start on the online shoppers if you shop on the weekend. • StreetTeam points can’t be redeemed here. Instead, shoppers get a reusable bag with their initial purchase that can be reused for $1 off subsequent purchases – a recyclable coupon of sorts.
Now if I could only get the website to accept the photo of me in my new tee all would be well in the world. Seems it logs my purchase history but isn’t able to integrate in-store purchases.
And a quick aside, Threadless seemed to be situated on a block I dubbed “community row” because it’s beside a bike store filled with Specialized bikes and down the street from a bakery with a “Community Divas” cake in the window – check out the picture.
What do you think of Threadless? Do you think it was a good idea for them to open a storefront? If you’ve been there, what other differences have you noticed?
I get a lot of email from people asking me to blog about their companies or their clients. Most of the time, most of it either doesn’t interest me or isn’t a fit for Bargainista.
So, when I hear from a company I like and I’ve blogged about before, I usually pay attention. And when I hear from a company I like because it has partnered with another company I like, of course I’m going to share… Threadless and Twitter have teamed up! You read that right. Today marks the launch of Twitter Tees by Threadless. Have a favourite tweet you want to wear? Want to turn your favourite 140-character-or-less expression into a t-shirt? Well now you have your chance.
Twitter Tees will feature tweets submitted and voted by Twitter users. Each t-shirt will be designed and produced by the awesome creative team at Threadless.
Two new t-shirts will be chosen and printed each week. And, just like the original Threadless community, if you’re tweet is selected, you’ll be rewarded – how’s US$360 and a US$140 Threadless gift certificate? But, you don’t have to initiate a tweet to reap the benefits either. As long as you’re on Twitter and you’re the first person to nominate someone’s tweet, you’ll get US$100 and a US$40 Threadless gift certificate. Sweet!
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.
She’sConnected Conference built a foundation supported by the strength of relationships with brands and an online community platform. It promised to “connect top brands with Canada’s most influential and powerful digital women” for a one-day conference and yes, there’d be swag, lots of swag because that’s what these women want – free stuff. Really?
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