Networking is the epicenter for new contacts, sales leads, friendships and new clients. Social media has been a magnificent platform for networking and sites such as Linkedin – have created a community – that has been a well respected platform for businesses and professionals. Twitter has now also become a great place to connect for all genres of interest both business and personal and lets not forget Facebook! Read the rest of this entry »

In light of the world cup soccer FIFA – taking place as I write this in South Africa – I thought it might be fun to write about sports and social media. As many sports fans know ,there are many sports that have embraced social media from NBA basketball ( which is in the midst of a nail biting finals), hockey congrats to the Chicago Black Hawks who won the Stanley Cup after a record draught of 49 years! WOW that is worth the celebration that took place on the streets of Chicago! Yes my beloved tennis just finished the French Open and all of these sports have embraced social media. Read the rest of this entry »

I read a great article today that I am going to SHARE with you at the end of this post. It talks about brand promise vs brand experience. Social media as we all know – has now broadened the net for reach and allows not just a brand, but anyone to SHARE anything their hearts desire and have it spread like wildfire by leveraging social media tools. Many businesses are finally waking up to the power of these tools and better yet -  it is the customer that is now driving much of the power – by being able to clearly articulate and SHARE with those that will listen, to their wants, needs and benefits of doing business with them. In return the business in question must be able to not only listen – but stand tall on what their brand promise, product, service and value is and stay true to their word. Read the rest of this entry »

Before there was social networking there was real-world networking. And you know what? It came with drinks and hors d’oeuvres, so it wasn’t all that bad.”

–Rich Brooks, president of Flyte New Media

I have written many articles about Twitter in the last few years that I have been writing this blog. There are many out there -that are still trying to figure it all out – along with many other social media sites such as Facebook and Linkedin. While you continue to ponder or assume that many of the people you are trying to connect with and target may not be there – guess again. On Twitter alone there are more than 100 million users and many small businesses have already begun to use it as a free resource to market their business. I tell our clients all the time that even if you are not ready to use social media – I can almost guarantee (I still go by the adage that their are no guarantees in life!) – that your current and potential customers already are and better yet they are talking about YOU. The question becomes are you reaching out and talking to them? Read the rest of this entry »

Happy to be back after taking a short break. Happy Victoria Day to our Canadian readers that just passed and Happy Memorial Day to our American Readers.

Since we began writing this blog we have talked about the importance of creating brand connections with your customers. We have called it brand evangelism or brand evangelists- creating and cultivating that connection to your product and or services with those customers who love and care about what you do. It is this connection leveraging social media tools that can begin not only initiate a relationship – but become the engine – that viral engine that can spread the word,  about your products at a speed that appears to make traditional marketing ancient. Read the rest of this entry »

Not sure if you are familiar or not – but there has been a surge of websites pop up with alot of media attention relating to group coupons. The idea behind these sites is that discounts are offered and a specific number of people must take part in purchasing the coupon for it to become active. This takes place via social media and there are several sites that have popped up. Groupon is one of the larger ones Wagjag and LivingSocial.com are others. Groupon has grown from 400 subscribers in 2008 to over 4 million. For bargin hunters or those on a budget – this is a great way to access all sorts of deals from restaurant coupons, to spas, to cooking classes and so much more. Read the rest of this entry »

After all this time it is now common knowledge that I began my career in the fashion business. One of the great things about fashion is the SHARING – of trends, styles, colors, fabrics, brands, prices and price points, purchases, retailers etc. Long before technology was a basic daily necessity – fashion was one of those products that was spread via print, tv, radio and of course – most of all word of mouth. Samples sales in New York City were the name of the day and in the many years I spent there – that hot information came via word of mouth. No texts or emails – maybe a phone call from a landline with a cord attached (lol) – but it has been a long standing industry where the SHARING of its many facets – help build many of the top brands we all know and love today. Read the rest of this entry »

It is amazing how quickly the news media has leaped into social media – while may businesses and corporations still lag behind in hesitation . I read most of my newspapers online now – 3 to be exact and tend to go to several of the sites – where I used to subscribe to magazines. I do admit that there is something great about a beautiful print magazine. My favorites continue to be Vogue, home decor magazines and of course food. Some magazines have been extremely successful in integration of offline and online, Bon Appetite is one that has a robust site and Facebook fan club. Read the rest of this entry »

This concept began a few years ago with one of my favorite books on the digital world and social media – Groundswell. The concept of social computing behavior is understanding who your target market is and then how they like to communicate. For example -there are the early adapters or influencers who are the leaders – using the newest technology – then there are those – that are spectators – who might like to read blogs  -but don’t comment yet they too are engaged. Creating platforms that focus on the variety of people and they way they like to connect – is how you are going to – connect.create.cultivate – a relationship with your customers. Read the rest of this entry »