Those of you with babies (or nieces, nephews, grandchildren, etc.) might be interested to know that I’ll be hosting a “Mominar” next week. It’s a fun, interactive workshop where we’ll share tips and tricks on taking better photos of your beloved small humans. This is NOT a photography class, so don’t worry about things getting too technical. You are welcome to bring your baby and your camera. Space is limited, though and you have to register in advance online here. Only $10 and ALL proceeds go to a local cause, Saving High Park Zoo. Hope to see you there!
Français : Milla Jovovich au festival de Cannes. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I have a confession to make. I’m a bit of a fangirl when it comes to Hollywood. So when I’m not using social media for business, I’m using social media to catch up with my favourite celebs. Believe it or not, I think observing how the famous use Facebook and Twitter might actually teach us a thing or two about using social media for business. At least that’s what I tell myself so it doesn’t just seem like I waste a lot of time being a fangirl (haha!).
So here are just 3 of my favorite celebs (trust me, there are more) and what we as business owners can learn from them about social networking:
George Takei – Best known for starring in the original Star Trek series, Takei has a rabid following on Facebook. Most of his content is hilarious and light-hearted, but he also uses this platform to speak about GLBT rights.
What businesses can learn from George Takei
Just be yourself. Does everyone approve of George’s work as a GLBT activist? Of course not. But Takei isn’t out to please everyone, only those who get why “it’s okay to be Takei.” His fans connect with his courage, his positive outlook and the confidence to poke fun at himself: “ooohhhmmyyyyyy!”
Milla Jovovich – Via Twitter, Milla Jovovich’s fans accompany her to film sets, parties, fashion shows, award ceremonies, etc. What more could a fan ask for? It’s the next best thing to being there. Jovovich tweets quite frequently, but the best thing about her is she answers her fans.
What businesses can learn from Milla Jovoich
Engage! Take a close look at Ms. Jovovich’s tweets; most of them are direct replies to her fans. She addresses them one-on-one and as a result, her fans can’t help but feel like she really cares about them.
Stephen Amell – On Facebook, Amell engages his fans, answers their questions via video Q&A’s, shares the ups and downs of waiting for his new TV series to be picked up, and even lets fans peek into his personal life with photos of his mom, dog, and Blue Jays hat.
What businesses can learn from Stephen Amell
Mix it up! Stephen doesn’t just write: he posts photos and videos too. He experiments and asks his fans for feedback, support and questions. His Facebook fan page is varied and interesting.
What celebrities do you follow on social media and what have they taught you about social networking?
Pinterest’s skyrocketing popularity has a mass of eager, social media-savvy business owners trying to figure out ways to use Pinterest to their advantage. But unless your business involves crafts or wedding cakes or something that easily lends itself to visual content (that is, pretty images), how to use Pinterest for business might not be entirely obvious. The challenge is especially real if your business sells services as opposed to products.
HubSpot has published an eBook, “How to Use Pinterest for Business,” which offers some excellent ideas for business owners who want to channel the power of Pinterest. Pinterested? Some of HubSpot’s recommendations include:
Pinning visuals from blogs
Pinning infographics
Pinning imagery of customers using and liking your service
You can download the entire 44-page eBook for FREE here.
Blogging for business is a great way to get noticed but sometimes coming up with original content week after week can be difficult. Here are a few tips to combat writer’s block if (and when) it rears its ugly head:
Write what you know. Yawn. Not exactly revolutionary. But what might surprise you is #2. (Keep reading!)
You don’t have to know everything. Good news! It’s a blog, so you’re allowed to be opinionated. In fact, your readers will find you more interesting if you are. Having a point of view will spark comments and conversation which is GOOD for a blog!
Portrait of a male tabby cat (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Start by writing a list. Five Reasons Star Wars is Better Than Star Trek. Six Disgusting Cupcake Flavours. Seven Reasons Robert Downey Junior Should Run For President of the United States. Lists are short, punchy and pique readers’ interests. They also pretty much write themselves. Start with a cute list, add an introduction, a closing statement, a photo and a smart-ass title and voila! You’re done!
Hang out at the water-cooler. Okay, bloggers don’t usually have water-coolers to jibber jabber about hot trends, what’s in, and what’s out. Instead, they have Facebook, Twitter, YouTube videos and various social media. Stay on top of what’s newsworthy and trendy and you’ll have constant fodder for your blog. Plus, as an added bonus, your blog will likely come up in searches if what you discuss is topical. So what’s everyone talking about right now? The Hunger Games? Draw Something? Tupac? Game of Thrones? Be a part of the conversation!
Get out of here. Sometimes, you just need to take a walk or water the plants or something to clear your head. Sitting at the keyboard and beating yourself up for hours isn’t going to accomplish anything. Go feed your cat.
Do you have any other tricks or tactics to overcome writers block? If you do, please tell us in the Comments section!
Are you on the fence about blogging for your business? Here are ten super-fantastic reasons why you should go for it:
Blogging improves your website’s SEO (search engine optimization). Search engines (such as Google) prefer sites that are constantly being updated with new content as opposed to unchanging, “static” sites.
Blogging positions you as an expert in your industry.
Blogging will help you engage and grow a following, as opposed to advertising and spamming a not-so-eager audience.
Blogging helps you build credibility in the eyes of potential buyers. Imagine if you found two suppliers online: Supplier 1 has a loyal following and offers free information and tips on a regular basis, in addition to a description of their products of services and contact information. Supplier 2 has a static site offering only advertising and contact information. Which one would look more tantalizing to a potential buyer?
Blogging forces you to stay on top of your game. You’ll need to keep a lookout for new trends, new technologies and advancements in your industry. Experts become bloggers and bloggers become experts.
It’s fun! You’ll be surprised at how much you know about something you’re passionate about. And it will build confidence (if you don’t have enough already).
Blogging allows you to test drive content for seminars, classes, video tutorials, infographics and other materials you might be thinking of creating down the line. Think of your blog subscribers as a mini focus group. Pay attention to their reactions and comments.
Blogging is great for networking: you can feature guest bloggers, interviews, follow people who comment and share… you’ll be amazed at who you meet and how easy it is to stay in touch with industry pros.
Blogging gives your target demographic a real reason to keep coming back to you, so you’ll stay on top of their minds.
Blogging will get you more business. And it costs way less than advertising. It just takes some time and thought.
Can you think of any other reasons why blogging is good for you and your business? Comment below and share with the rest of us!
There’s been some trouble brewing lately in the wonderful world of social media. It seems some employers feel it is in their right to demand that their employees (or potential employees) surrender their Facebook passwords.
Derecho (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Employees socializing on Facebook and other social media during office hours has been a legitimate concern since social media caught on. Lately, there’s been a growing trend where employers (and colleges for that matter) checking out public social media profiles when considering candidates. But the “need” to have full access to a personal social media account is a whole different ballgame.
Corinne Muccilli (known as @Friendlylawyer on Twitter) says “Any employer who engages in this type of behaviour is putting a prospective employee in an awkward position, to put it mildly. Courts in Canada have recognized that there is, generally speaking, an imbalance of power between employers and employees and that the scales tip in favour of the employer. Asking a prospective employee for this type of information preys on the vulnerability of an individual who’s either really keen, or really needs, that job. It can be really difficult for a prospective employee to remember that the interview is as much about the candidate deciding whether he or she wants to work for the employer as it is about the employer deciding whether it wants to hire the candidate.”
I wouldn’t share my email password, I wouldn’t share my ATM pin number, heck I wouldn’t even share my gym locker combination with an employer (and yes, I’m self-employed). Why on Earth would sharing my social media passwords be any different?
According to Muccilli, “Canada has a history of protecting individual privacy. There are various torts which have been used to defend one’s privacy and, more contemporarily, there are statutes at every level of government which specifically address how organizations collect, use and disseminate personal information. If something as basic as a person’s name qualifies as information which needs to be protected, an individual’s Facebook password would easily fall in the category of “personal information.” A case decided in Ontario described the family computer as, effectively, a filing cabinet. Asking for a Facebook password would be akin to asking for the key to that filing cabinet, or at least a drawer in the cabinet. It is interesting that that this issue emerged in the US just a couple of months after the Ontario Court of Appeal recognized the tort of the intrusion of seclusion which is, effectively, invasion of privacy. ”
As it turns out, at least here in Canada, it is completely illegal for an employer to make this request. Our neighbours in the United States aren’t quite so lucky: read the whole story here in the Globe and Mail.
According to Muccilli, “Employment law in Canada is quite different from that in the United States. There are a lot more limits put on employers here in Canada, such as what they can ask in an interview, and how they can terminate an employee. A Canadian employer would more likely to think twice about asking for a password than their American counterpart because of the rules we have placed on the employment relationship. The really interesting thing is that most of the rules about how we, as a society, interact have already been established and social media nothing more than a different platform from which we interact. The trick will be how to apply our existing rules on this new platform, which is where our courts step in to offer direction. It will be interesting to watch the caselaw develop.”
Corinne Muccilli is a litigation lawyer with Baker & Company in Toronto and has a special interest in employment law. Find out more about Corinne and the firm at www.bakerlawyers.com or contact Corinne directly at (Email) cmuccilli@bakerlawyers.com (Ph)416-777-0010 and twitter @Friendlylawyer.
If part of your business entails planning events (networking soirees, launches, seminars, performances, unveilings, drum circles, quilting bees, you name it), consider hiring a professional crew to capture your next event on video. A well-crafted video will not only make viewers realize you planned an excellent event, but more importantly, it will make them want to attend your next event. How, you ask?
Show versus Tell
It’s one thing to tell people about how amazing your event was but it’s way more convincing to be able to show people how amazing your event was: everything from the gorgeous venue, the beautiful decor, the fancy food, the impressive turnout, the riveting entertainment and enlightened speakers.
2. Testify!
You’ve got a room full of people who are loving your event… why not get them to say a few words on camera about their wonderful experience? Testimonials are an excellent sales tool and video testimonials are just wicked awesome.
3. Suck Up To Feature Your Sponsors
Where would you be without your event sponsors? Featuring them in your highlights video will make them look like the respected professionals they are. They’ll want to use your video as a marketing tool and share your video with their respective network spheres because you’ve taken the time to make them look like rockstars. They get some good publicity and you get more eyeballs on your event: it’s win-win.
4. Share and Share Alike
The great thing about video is that it is super easy to share on the web, thanks to various social media such as YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Ask everyone who sponsored or helped organize your event to share your video. Ask anyone who even appears in your video to share it. While you’re at it, use the video to promote your website, get new blog subscribers, gain new Twitter followers, more Facebook fans… see where I’m going with this?
One Last Piece of Advice
Events can be particularly difficult to shoot: you often have to deal with less than ideal lighting situations and challenging audio requirements (lots of background noise and loud music, for instance). So think seriously about hiring a professional crew who has experience in this sort of thing. It’s important that everyone look and sound their best. I’m not just saying this because I happen to produce videos for a living (well, maybe just a little… *smirk!*).
And now, here’s an event video we did for Define Events’ eventConnect, a fabulous networking event geared at event professionals that took place in the Greater Toronto Area not too long ago. Notice: the event highlights, the testimonials, and the fabulous sponsors. And yeah, that’s ME being interviewed just before the end credits. Thanks for watching!
