[Hedgehog & Fox - as found for sale on Etsy by StayAwake in London, Ontario] First off, the title of this post is misleading. There is no formula, everything is ...
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Creating a Smooth(ish) Hangout on Air
I’ve been poking around Google+ (G+) and Hangouts on Air (HOA) for some time now, but hadn’t really taken much of a leap into things until recently when I made the mistake of suggesting my client use it to tie together a series of events across Canada. The mistake wasn’t in the suggestion of the tool, per se, but when […]
Featured in Entrepreneur Magazine as a Woman to Watch
I usually try to be pretty humble when it comes to getting press. (“Try” being the operative word!) But this one I’m especially proud of because: 1. it’s in one of my favorite magazines 2. I share the page with one of my heroes 3. the distinction is pretty darn awesome (no really) I did giggle […]
How Do We Make Canadian Politics Sexier? A: Nerds
When I was in university, I did some volunteering for the political party I most admired. I put signs on my lawn. I called. I handed out leaflets. I knocked on doors. I felt engaged. But something happened over the years. Year after year, I lost interest in Canadian politics. And I’m not alone. Voter […]
The Sinners and Saints of Social – Retail Version
This week I gave a presentation on the sinners and saints of social to a room full of retailers. The sad truth is that it’s nearing the end of 2012 and it’s still really difficult to find brands that are doing a good job of social. There are definitely more and more that are starting […]
The Social vs. Interest Graph
I’ve been using Pinterest for about a year and a half now and Facebook for just over 6 years. And though I’m not one of those Pinterest Addicts I hear so much about, I use it pretty consistently for an entirely different reason than I use Facebook. On Facebook, I post a mishmash of stuff: articles […]
Engaging a Brand Advocate vs. Advertising Spend: Case Study
Just as a short follow up to my last post, I want to show you something I uncovered. Estée Lauder has done something very good: they hired popular fashion/beauty/foodie/lifestyle blogger Emily Schuman of Cupcakes and Cashmere to do some videos for them. This is interesting to me because ,although I love Emily’s stuff and she’s […]
Brands on YouTube: Hits and Misses
Viral videos are still largely a mystery. Why a South Korean music video has been viewed over half a BILLION times in less than 3 months is beyond me. It’s a catchy tune, yes. And the parodies have been oodles of fun. But over 500M times? I doubt anyone would have predicted that. Justin Bieber […]
Why I Heart the Social Web
Even though I’m not American and cannot vote, I enjoy watching the US Presidential debates. Why? Because like any live event, it creates an opportunity for some fun collective dialogue in social spaces. Last night’s debate didn’t disappoint. As I follow many people with different political leanings on Twitter, it was interesting to watch the […]
When it Comes to Social, Small is the New Big
Actually, big has never really been the way social works. Big is the way traditional advertising operates. The bigger the bullhorn, the bigger the brand impact, right? Sure it reaches more people, but as the old adage goes, “It’s not the size, it’s how you use it.” And this matters more than ever in the […]
The Seven Deadly Sins of the Fashion Web
I spend a good part of every day keeping up on fashion trends: whether it’s through reading articles and trend pieces in online publications or sifting through online retailers and design showcase sites. I do this mostly because of the nature of my startup, but I am also personally interested, an avid shopper and passionate about […]
The Hierarchy of What We Buy (and where you want to be)
Most people will tell you that they only buy necessities and stuff that makes them a better person (books, travel, etc). In fact, this is only an observation, but the types of things people are happy sharing on their Facebook wall tend to be purchases that fit into the SELF-ENLIGHTENMENT box above. It’s hard to […]
Becoming a Social Retailer
One of the biggest issues with the label “social” is that it often gets misconstrued as the use of social media. So when I hear about an ecommerce site using social, I can almost always bet they’ve done things like putting a ‘pin-it’ button on their product pages and are using Facebook connect on some […]
The Secret to Great Social Content
[Hedgehog & Fox - as found for sale on Etsy by StayAwake in London, Ontario] First off, the title of this post is misleading. There is no formula, everything is social and it’s not about the content at all. But with that out of the way, there IS a different philosophy to creating social content […]
Where would I be without the internet?
As Internet Freedom Day approaches once again, I reflect on how this amazing platform has provided me with a voice I couldn’t have accessed otherwise. And I wonder, “Where would I be TODAY if it wasn’t for the internet and it’s openness?” I was born and raised in a small town. It was a lovely […]
Let Me Wave my Magical Content Wand
It usually starts something like this: Hey! Everyone I know is on Instagram! We should start an Instagram for the company! The suggestion in itself isn’t wrong per se, it’s just not made with much of an understanding of how these social platforms work. It takes less than 5 minutes to set up an Instagram […]
The Lee Atwater Legacy and Attack Ads
Thanks to a recommendation on Twitter last week, I watched Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story. For those of you who aren’t familiar with his legacy, Lee Atwater was the campaign strategist that pretty much invented the negative political game. He was a master at planting rumors and spreading lies that would take hold before any […]
2012 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: 4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 36,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 8 Film Festivals Click here to see the complete report.
My #Themeword for 2013: Triumph
In the past few #themeword years, I’ve been incredibly cautious when it comes to picking my word. I felt it unwise to take the leap that this year or that would be MY year. It started with Transition in 2008, and Thrive in 2009, then moved along to Achieve in 2010, then Reap in 2011 […]
There’s No Shame in That
I was describing my startup experience to a woman I admire the other day, when out of the blue, she asked: “Was it worth it?” I hardly hesitated at all and said: “The only thing I’d change if I could go back is that I’d integrate the incredible lessons I’ve learned during this time.” And […]
