AIMS Canada

Canadian Revenue Agency bets on geo-location software

Submitted by Jonathan Spencer, Thorsteinssons LLP...

New GST rules announced in the federal budget remove GST from subscription-based web services sold to non-residents who are not registered for GST. Proving you are dealing with a non-resident has been a problem.

The Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) has just released a bulletin (GI-034) outlining their assessing policy. The CRA will generally accept an online self-declaration by customers that they are not registered for GST. The CRA will also generally accept an on-line self-declaration by customers that they are not residents of Canada, along with their complete home address as proof of residency, provided it is supported by a comparison of the customer’s declared home address with the billing address, or a comparison of the customer’s home address with the location of the bank that issued the credit card used to pay for the purchase.

The CRA will also allow suppliers to use geo-location software to verify whether the declared home address is correct. This is a useful tool, but not without its problems. The ITAA (Information Technology Association of America) published a report in 2002 outlining the problems with geo-location software as a tax compliance tool. While some vendors claim to pinpoint customers to within 50 miles, dynamic IP addressing means the software must be constantly updated to be accurate. Problems with wireless access and POP (point of presence) call-in numbers mean users can be miles from their actual location. As a result, geo-location software is not a panacea and must be relied on with caution for Canadian GST compliance.

Ultimately, the most serious issue will be archiving the residency of the site’s customers. The CRA can assess up to four years back, or more if they suspect fraud or negligence, so retaining data in a secure manner that support the residence of customers for tax purposes will be a key aspect of Canadian website operations.

© Jonathan Spencer, Thorsteinssons LLP
jdspencer@thor.ca

Job Postings

Summaries of new job postings for this week are below. Full postings can be found on our website

Web Producer-Writer

The e-Marketing group of the National Marketing & Communications Department of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Toronto is seeking an energetic and creative individual who is interested in establishing his/her mark in the interactive communications medium of the web, working within a professional yet progressive environment.  The Web Producer – Writer, one of two such roles, provides web content development and web production strategy and solutions to the partners and staff of firm.

For more information and HOW TO APPLY : Please go to our website at http://www.pwc.com/ca and follow the career links.

Business Development

Our client is an established full-service IT/Web Development company, specializing in online marketing and learning. For the past ten years, they have helped numerous profile clients build their businesses with innovative and customer-centric communications programs. They offer a suite of customer-focused marketing solutions that leverages customer data to increase acquisition and retention efforts. If you are really good at selling and understand the business we would like to talk to you. The money and the downtown office culture are great.

Please call me up. Randy Quarin mailto:quarin@iqpartners.com, 416 599 4700 (222).

Reception and Research

We’re a small office of passionate people trying to build the best recruitment company in the city.  We love what we do – and we have fun doing it.  Now we’re looking for a Research & Reception Mastermind to join us!  Sure, the role may be entry-level – but it’s the most important job in our company!  As the front-line face to IQ PARTNERS, you’re the first person most of our clients and candidates meet.  And who you are and how you treat people is critical for our long term success.  Please send your resume to mailto:apply@iqpartners.com.

Marketing & Communications Intern

Looking for an entry-level mar/com role where you can learn on-line marketing?  This might be the one.

In this role, you will independently apply everything you know about online and traditional communications and marketing. You’ll be responsible for everything from: SEO, monthly E-Newsletter, Media Relations, Website content including RSS & Blog, Research and Analysis, Corporate Communications as well as Coordinating and Planning.

Please send your resume to mailto:apply@iqpartners.com

Conversion Rates: Canada vs. US

AIMS member Robert Mendelson, Executive VP at Select Blinds Canada sends in the following question...

We operate a website marketing goods to Canada, and have a sister operation in the US doing the same in that market. We have noticed a lower conversion rate north of the border, even though both sites are very similar and use very similar marketing tactics and strategies. Wondering if anyone else who has a site serving both sides of the border has noticed the same?

Interesting question...anyone have some perspective? Please add it using the comments link below...

Take a moment to thank a volunteer

We had another great AIMS event this morning. Robert Kozinets, Jennifer Evans, and Lee Dale spoke about building online communities.

In his introductory remarks AIMS President Bruce Powell put up a slide that included all our volunteers, over 50 of them! Seeing that slide really reinforced how strong the AIMS community is - members, volunteers, sponsors - a lot of smart people helping out in all sorts of ways.

I wanted to give a loud shout-out to the registration folks, this team of people arrives early (7:30am!) to take care of all the on-site logistics. They handle the registration table, catering, answering questions about AIMS, and they stick around after everyone has left to help clean-up. If you know any of these folks please say thanks next time you see them...

Rebecca Muller - Publicis
Leesa Butler - Divine Lab
Lisa Chang - Yenius
Lynn Shannon - Rogers
Katie Dolgin - IQ Partners
Alice Mann
Marinna Mann

Constructing a Link Building Strategy

Posted by Helen M. Overland, Search Engine Marketing Specialist, non~linear creations...

Since the recent firestorm over paid links on Google Engineer Matt Cutts' personal blog, it seemed like a good time to visit link building.

More and more frequently recently, we are finding companies asking for help with link building. For those of us who are very familiar with the topic, this may not be the most fascinating topic. However, for those (most marketers) who are not savvy link builders, understanding the link building process can present a real bottleneck.

As search engines continue to value links as a ranking factor, more and more ambitious marketers are launching link building campaigns. The real roadblock that many people seem be running into is the basic understanding of how to go about link building effectively. Here are a few simple tips for creating a simple, but effective link building campaign.

First and foremost - you must identify your market. In general, visitors arriving at your site from an average link may not be as targeted or action-oriented as those arriving from a search query (link marketing is really more contextual in nature), and so it is absolutely vital that you understand WHO your customer is, and WHERE they might be online.

For example, a website that is targeting chefs may look to an industry association, a quality ingredients supplier, a trade magazine, etc. Links from such sites are not only subject-related to your website, but more importantly, they target the intended audience where they may actually be online.

Second, it is important to understand that "free" links can be more effective than paid links. Obviously, if someone recommends your site to your target market, that link could be more valuable than a paid link at the side of an article on a high profile website. If a link has the weight of positive opinion behind it, the traffic it refers could be your highest converters.

Third, provide something worth linking to. You may believe your snazzy new site is worth linking to, and maybe it is, but what is the incentive for someone to actually add a link? Links are generally not gained "simply because you have a website" - this is usually not enough of an incentive for most people to create a link to you. You may find it easier to offer something "link-worthy", such as a whitepaper, article, interesting blog post, joke, video, or freebie. Offer something of value to the people arriving at your site, and generally, people may be more willing to link to it.

Fourth - identify the Influencers in your niche. You can frequently do this just by searching for your industry keywords and seeing what comes up. You don't have to get links from all the high-ranking sites, as was practice a few years ago. Simply identify the pages that may have the most value for your business, and try to get a link.

When it comes to actually requesting a link, there is no one tactic that is best for every site. The most appropriate tactic for gaining the link will depend both on your site and the site you are approaching. For some sites, you can simply email and politely request a link. For others, a phone call is the best tactic. Still other sites are best approached with a physical letter on company letterhead. As a marketer in your specific niche, you may already have a good idea of how the influential sites in your space should be approached.

Bear in mind that a link is best valued by the traffic that it brings, not by the "search engine brownie points" it might (or might not) be worth. The best tips are to identify and target reputable sites, and try to make sure that your site will offer value to the audience of the linking site.

AIMS Member Survey - We're Looking for Answers

We want to get to know you and tap into your thoughts, opinions, and ideas about AIMS and our activities. So we prepared a short survey. And to make the offer a little sweeter there's 30 gigs of incentive. ...everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a draw for a 30GB video ipod.

Understanding the membership and what you'd like to see from the association goes a long way to helping us plan events and other initiatives so please take a few minutes to answer the questions. The questions are straightforward and don't require any complicated mind bending thought (I promise!).

Click on the link below to complete the survey:

http://survey2.delvinia.com/wix2/p58415109.aspx

A big shout out and thanks to our volunteers on the research committee!

The process started with a good brainstorming session and then Lucia Kuzminski from Outlook Research took care of writing and carefully finessing the questions. I had no idea how much goes into making sure each question is worded so that it's clear, ranking scale is appropriate, and the text isn't leading in any way. Thanks to Lucia's efforts we'll be able to draw reliable conclusions from the final data.

Ted Doering of Delvinia stepped in to handle the technical logistics in terms of survey programming and hosting.

The rest of the team is Candice Weber from Cesart, Heather Sanderson from Random House, and Tanya Stambolic from mmarketing inc. All adding their thoughts and input along the way. And thanks to Candice for putting together the rules and regs.

Thanks to the team effort we'll have a lot of really useful information for planning future events and activities.

Now it's your turn. Please take a moment and complete our member survey. Who knows...you might be the lucky winner of the 30GB video ipod!

Here's the link again - http://survey2.delvinia.com/wix2/p58415109.aspx

The survey is being hosted by Delvinia - a digital agency that leverages insight, innovation and technology to help clients deliver superior digital customer experiences.  For more information please visit www.delvinia.com.

Volunteer Profile: Meet Mirabel Palmer-Elliott

AIMS member and volunteer, Eden Spodek started the Volunteer Profile as a regular feature on this blog. Meet Mirabel Palmer-Elliott...

AIMS member since:  2003
Volunteer role:  Board  member, Chair Marketing committee
Current  job:  Group Director, Audience Development, Rogers Publishing  Digital & Interactive
Oldest bookmark:  Alta  Vista - does that tell you how long I've been in this industry?   ;-)
Favourite website:  Chatelaine.com for recipes.
I don't know how we did without:  Google for finding anything  fast. According to my son when he was 8  years old: "Mum, you can Google your way out of anything!"

Would you like to get involved as an AIMS volunteer? Email me at klagden@aimscanada.com

Are you a volunteer who would like to be profiled? Email Eden at espodek@gmail.com

 

Read all about… Online Communities

Posted by Tamera Kremer, AIMS member and volunteer, Director of Client Service - Thornley Fallis/ 76design, and founder Wildfire Strategic Marketing...

In advance of the AIMS event on Wednesday, we thought we’d share what members are reading, sharing and learning about online communities from the AIMS del.icio.us Resource Library!

Read all about…

Growth: MySpace dominates Social networks aren’t just for kids Social networks next phase

Volunteering: Web-based volunteering grows

Behaviour: Targeting social behaviour The verticals of social networks

Strategy: Growing a community - iVillage

Job Postings

Summaries of new job postings for this week are below. Full postings can be found on our website

Graphic Designer

Core responsibilities:

• Design and produce graphic assets, create animations, and develop online communications with creative integrity and brand relevance
• Adapt creative concepts from other media into effective, compelling online designs
• Work with the Manager of the Interactive Department and the Design team to define visual ideas and concepts
• Present concepts and work in progress to Clients in a dynamic, proactive manner

If you have a post secondary education, meet the above skill requirements and have two to three years experience, forward your resume, and your top three pieces of work, quoting reference number INT07D. BBDO Windsor: One Riverside Drive West, PO Box 2235, Windsor, ON N8Y 4R8, Fax: (519) 258-0275 jobs@bbdo.com

Interactive Developer

Core responsibilities:

• Develop and maintain a web site and other interactive elements using content management application and original code base
• Efficiently build and optimize code for Web pages
• Use Adobe Photoshop to slice and optimize images for the web
• Work with QA Specialist to identify, troubleshoot, and resolve issues with the Web site, perform unit/functionality testing to ensure the Web site functions across all supported browsers, platforms and operating systems

If you possess a post secondary education, meet the above skills, and have two years work related experience, forward your resume with salary expectations quoting number INT07B. BBDO Windsor, One Riverside Drive West, PO Box 2235, Windsor, ON N8Y 4R8, Fax: (519) 258-0275 jobs@bbdo.com

Director of Interactive Media

As Director of Interactive Media you will envision the entire learning experience: the theme and look, the content and the specific tools. You will provide the leadership to complete the project, fearlessly evaluate the end-experience, and initiate post-production solutions.  You will interact with clients, manage and build the Interactive Media Department, and coordinate Internal Resources.

Check us out at: http://www.creativeop.com. Please send your resume to: mailto:hrdept@creativeop.com. For a more detailed description of this role, please visit our career page at: http://www.creativeop.com/profile/careers/workingatco.aspx

Building Brand Communities: Using online tools to nurture your community Part 2

Sara Scurfield, AIMS volunteer and Online Program Manager at Advantex Marketing got the inside scoop from Lee Dale, founder of Smack Inc. on his ideas for the upcoming AIMS event on April 25th “Building Community” This is part 2 of 2...(Part 1 is here)

SS: What are some of the emerging trends in online tools? How are they being applied to community building?

LD: Chevy was experimenting with consumer created content and suffered the consequences of not having a toolset that would allow their community members to come to their own defense. Basic tools like commenting and ratings could have given community members a voice, supported a healthy debate on the issues, and allowed competing perspectives to be voiced and understood. But this still doesn't help us build a community. These are a variety of tools that support interaction, but don't collectively engage a community. In order to take the next step, marketers need better access to their community members, to understand a member’s role, and potential benefit to a community.

Using sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, last.fm, Amazon, and more, users have the ability to make lists of friends. Some of these sites allow the user to tag friends with keywords, write descriptions, or see degrees of separation between the user's friends and other people. But what we don't see on any of these sites is the ability for users to categorize their friends in a way that is easily trackable by marketers. Who are these "friends"? How close are they to one another? Is a friend someone you've just said hi to three times at the water cooler? Or someone you would trust to make business decisions on your behalf? If marketers can define the relationships between users on their site, then they can determine what level of influence a user has on others. With this level of understanding, marketers can see who the key contributors toward community building are, and better enable those contributors to fulfill their role within the community.