Life Before Smartphones?

By Mark Evans in Main Page 2 Comments Tags: , ,

As I was leaving a downtown meeting yesterday, I saw a women running a hot dog cart. That in and of itself wasn’t interesting but what caught my eye was that she was intently checking her smartphone, oblivious to the hustle and bustle around her.

It got me thinking about what life was like before smartphones? How did we fill in the small gaps between meetings, during coffee breaks or lunch, waiting in line-ups for groceries or movies, commuting or stuck in traffic?

Today, many people instantly reach for their smartphones to check e-mail, watch videos, surf the Web or play games. While these devices are terrific, what’s been lost in the process? Are we reading fewer newspapers? Are we reading fewer newspapers? Are we spending less think time just thinking with no distractions?

There is a price to be paid for using a smartphone because the time it consumes means that something else has to give. For the gains they offer, there is also a balancing loss.

Air Canada Shines Spotlight on Timid Social Media Landscape

By Mark Evans in Social Media 3 Comments Tags: , , ,

Whether or not Air Canada uses the right social media monitoring services (or, for that matter, is monitoring social media at all) is irrelevant in the wake of a disastrous public relations episode in which a 10-year-old boy’s wheelchair was damaged during a flight to New York City. It was only after Tanner Bawn’s troubles were picked up by the TwitterSphere that Air Canada scrambled to respond.

The episode drives home two points: Air Canada needs to do a much better job of monitoring the social media landscape, and Canadian companies, in general, are still not moving aggressively to take advantage of what social media has to offer as a communications, marketing, sales, customer service and crisis management tool.

A month ago, I did a post asking which Canadian companies were doing well at social media. The response in terms of comments and tweets was far from overwhelming. Sure, there are companies using it well but, overall, Canada is lagging behind in social media – much like we did in e-commerce and Web 2.0.

It is difficult to explain why Canadian companies have taken a cautious approach to social media given the amount of activity and the number of people on the bandwagon. Many Canadian companies are just starting to dip their toes in the water, while trying to figure out if its fits strategically and tactically with their other operations.

While it is important not to plunge into social media without a sense of what you want to do, your objectives and target audience, social media is something you just have to do at some point, particularly if you’re a consumer-facing company. Even putting a toe in water will provide companies with valuable experience of what works and what doesn’t so they can start to get a better handle on how they could have an effective social media presence.

Here’s some advice for companies thinking about getting into social media but not sure what to do:

1. Start by asking why why you want to social media. Is it because social media is all the rage? Does it offer obvious benefits in terms of marketing, communications and sales? Is the competition using it?

2. Establish what success looks like. It could be more sales, better customer service, a stronger brand or a new way to engage with existing and potential customers. Whatever the goal, select one that is relevant, and then measure against it.

3. Identity the target audience(s) and whether social media is how they are consuming information. If your customers don’t use Facebook, then Facebook may not be the best social media service to embrace.

4. Be realistic about the resources and people to make social media happen. As much as a good strategic plan is a necessity, many companies fail at social media because they don’t execute tactically. This means having people who can work social media on a day in, day out basis, regardless of how many services are being used. It means making sure the organization as a whole embraces and promotes social media so it’s not a siloed or orphaned activity.

5. Be patient. Social media success doesn’t happen overnight. I advise clients it takes about three to six months to get a good handle on what’s happening. During this period, companies must have a steady social media presence, provide good content (videos, photos, links, contests, etc.) and continually monitor and measure to make adjustments.

For any company looking for advice or answers about social media strategy and tactics, I’d be happy to happy to talk. Click on the contact link for more information.

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Is Canada Falling Behind Online?

By Mark Evans in Google, Social Media No Comments Tags: , ,

http://www.techvibes.com/blog/head-of-google-canada-urges-countrys-businesses-to-up-the-ante-on-being-web-savvy

Despite having some of the highest digital literacy rates and highest internet usage rates in the world, Canadian consumers don’t have much to take advantage of: Country director of Google Canada, Chris O’Neill, says Canadian companies aren’t putting enough of their businesses online for consumers to utilize.
And it’s true—there are monster stores, like the centuries-old Hudson Bay, who not only lack an e-commerce shop-online platform, but consumers can barely view images of the majority of the products.
“Canada is one of the most wired countries in the world … there’s a great opportunity for businesses to think differently about digital and the web in general,” Chris said recently in a news piece with CBC. “The internet is where things are going to be if they’re not there already, and Canadian businesses need to anticipate that and get there. It does take a while to really embrace the internet and really figure out how you can use it to transform your business.”
He and others believe Canadian consumers are just itching for more opportunities to spend their money online, and that it’s a necessary adaption for today’s businesses to create a full-fledged presence online.
“To be a relevant company today, you really need to have digital capabilities and really understand what the internet means, because that’s where your customers are,” Chris says. “You could take the word ‘Google’ away but that message still stands up.”

The End of the Internet as We Know It

By Mark Evans in Google, ILEC News, Analysis 2 Comments Tags: , , ,

For the past 15 years, the Internet has been the Wild West with little regulation. This has created a landscape in which innovation has thrived – most of it good, some of it (spam, malware, etc.) not so good.

For companies and consumers, it has been an amazing smorgasbord with lots of selection and few rules of what to “eat”. In other words, we’ve had a it good as governments have, for the most part, stood on the sidelines.

There are growing signs, however, that the Internet as we know it is poised to disappear. Every day, there is more evidence that governments are going to attempt to regulate the Internet. In the Middle East, for example, Research in Motion is being pressured to change its encryption technology so governments can see the e-mail of BlackBerry users.

Meanwhile, Google and Verizon are apparently hold secret talks about creating a new system in which content providers could get access to faster Internet “roads” if they paid fees to ISPs. This ideas is contrary to the concept of Net Neutrality, which has been a huge issue over the past few years.

Regardless of what happens in the Middle East or the Google-Verizon talks, the sad reality is the Internet is going to change, and maybe not in a good way. Just as the Wild West was tamed, so too will be the Internet. It was good while it lasted.

It’s About Doing What You Love; Not the Money

By Mark Evans in Social Media 8 Comments Tags: , ,

Jason Falls, a popular social media consultant, had a thought-provoking post yesterday about when, why and how much he charges clients. In a world where few people talk about how much money they make, it was an interesting behind-the-scenes glimpse of a successful entrepreneur grappling with the challenges of having a lot of demand but a limited resource (himself).

For Falls, it often comes to down to deciding when he should do things for free because it’s the right or nice thing to do, and when he needs to charge people. This is a common problem (albeit a nice one to have) faced by many one-person operations in which the product being sold is you. The upside is you sell a product that you believe in; the downside is there is only so much of you to go around.

If you have no interest in expanding, this demand-supply problem will always be an issue. It means taking on what you can handle, and passing up the rest. The alternative is becoming more than a one-person operation, which involves another set of opportunities and challenges.

Another consideration is determining how much your time is worth and, as important how much clients are prepared to pay for it. Even after establishing a price, the price isn’t always the price because potential clients have different budgets. For some clients, providing them with a lower price makes sense if there’s an opportunity to work on an interesting or exciting project. It comes down to your appetite to work with a client and how much you’re willing to leave on the table to do it.

Since starting ME Consulting in January 2009, these are issues that I have encountered and worked through with advice from friends, family and colleagues. While this may seem an odd take on the world, I believe the money isn’t paramount. While it’s obviously necessary to pay the mortgage, put food on the table, etc., if you’re driven by money, work is just work.

To me, work has to be more than work. It has to be something that’s stimulating, exciting, interesting and/or challenging. It should be something that makes it easier to get up in the morning because you can’t wait to get going. During my professional career, I have been extremely lucky to have had jobs that provided these things. When I was a sports, retail and technology reporter, I loved every minute – even when I was making $13,000/year as a wet behind the ears sports reporter at the now-defunct Brampton Daily News. Having a job in which every day is different and you get to meet new and interesting people made the money, in some ways, secondary.

Today, I love what I do. I enjoy the work-life flexibility, the challenge of eating what you catch, and working on different and interesting projects. As someone who spent a long time as a good cubicle-dwelling corporate soldier, including three start-ups, my only issue with the current gig is why I didn’t do it sooner.

What I find encouraging is seeing a growing number of friends have decided to take the same entrepreneurial plunge. They’re at a stage in their lives where they have worked hard to establish their networks and credibility, and now seems like the right time to roll the dice and do something different. Every time someone announces they are doing their own way, I get the entrepreneurial pom-pom out to do a little cheer.

I guess my advice would be to focus on doing something you love and enjoy. If you can find or creat a job that achieves these goals, the money may materialize or not but the upside is work won’t be “work”.

Five Reasons Why You Should Attend meshmarketing ’10

By Mark Evans in Advertising/Marketing 1 Comment Tags: , , , ,

In addition to running ME Consulting, I’m also one of the co-organizers of the mesh, meshU and meshmarketing conferences.

Today, we’re excited to announce that meshmarketing ’10 will be happening on Nov. 17 in Toronto. Here’s the details: tickets are $489 (plus HST) before Sept. 17, and $539 afterwards. There are also 50 student tickets for $99 each (plus HST).

There’s no lack of conferences happening in Toronto but here’s why I think you should come to meshmarketing.

1. meshmarketing is about providing insight and information about how to take advantage of digital marketing. While we have some great keynote speakers, Marian Salzman and Michael Slaby, the real focus on meshmarketing is giving you the opportunity to get involved in interactive, hands-on workshops and panel so you can go back to work armed with new ideas, tips and tools. We want meshmarketing to be an event that jump starts your digital marketing knowledge and activities.

2. Great speakers. Led by our programming director, Trina Boos, meshmarketing features a line-up of top-notch speakers from across Canada and the U.S. Many of our speakers have never appeared in Toronto so we’re excited about the opportunity to feature some fresh and fantastic voices. You can check out our programming here.

3. Terrific keynotes: We’re really excited about having Michael Slaby and Marian Salzman as our keynote speakers. Slaby is EVP and Global Practice Chair for Digital with Edelman. His experience includes serving as technology and new media advisor to the Obama administration. Salzman is one of the leading trendspotters, and the author or co-author of 15 books, including Next Now and The Future of Men. As well, Lee LeFever (who I’m particularly excited about) will give a super-presentation. For anyone not familiar with Lee, he and his wife and partner, Sachi, are the brains behind the popular Common Craft videos.

4. Engaging panels and workshops. For anyone who attended the first meshmarketing last year, you know that the action happens on the stage AND in the seats. As much as our speakers bring their insight to meshmarketing, we want attendees to be engaged and excited too. meshmarketing isn’t an event where speakers speak and attendees politely listen until a Q&A at the end; meshmarketing is about get involved and participating in a discussion.

5. Networking. One of the more interesting aspects of last year’s meshmarketing was the diversity of people who attended – everyone from entrepreneurs and small business owners to public relations and advertising executive, government officials and people from non-profits. An important part of mesh and meshmarketing is the opportunity to meet different kinds of people in a setting that’s comfortable, open and engaging.

We’re looking forward to seeing everyone at meshmarketing!

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