AIMS Canada

AIMS group on Facebook!

According to the Globe & Mail, “a year ago, Canada represented about 5 per cent of Facebook users. Today, that number is closer to 11 per cent, at a time when the site is adding about a million new users a week.”

With number like these, by now every AIMS member has heard about the social network Facebook, and you likely already have a profile set up. Now, thanks to our member Heather Sanderson, AIMS also has a Facebook group! By signing into your Facebook account and searching for AIMS Canada, you can join a group of fellow AIMS members in discussing online marketing, sharing ideas and questions, learning about upcoming AIMS events and more. (If you don’t have an account set up yet, you can sign up for free at www.facebook.com and set up your personal profile to get started).

This group was created by Heather Sanderson of Random House of Canada. As well as researching and promoting the use of social networks, Heather has been actively using Facebook to seek out unique and niche marketing opportunities, to promote events, and to reconnect with friends.

Member Profile: Meet Mark Graham from Right Sleeve

Post by: Eden Spodek

This is the sixth post in monthly series – The AIMS Member Profiles  – in which AIMS volunteer and blog correspondent Eden Spodek interviews and profiles  AIMS members.

Mark Graham – an entrepreneur with a passion for technology, launched Right Sleeve in 2000, a non-traditional promotional products company. He joined AIMS in May 2006.

What have you done to make Right Sleeve stand out in the crowd?

The traditional promotional products industry has never had a great reputation. As barriers to entry are low in this field, many distributors lack the sophistication seen in other industries. As a result, buying promotional merchandise is not typically ranked as being an enjoyable experience for most marketing buyers.

It was this consumer experience that I focused on from the beginning. I wanted consumers to view us as the knowledgeable, fun people who sell interesting promotional items that people will actually use. This is why we use the tag line “friends don’t let friends buy bad promo.” From the start, we have focused on establishing a strong emotional connection with our client base.

We promote these values online:

·   We have created an informative, yet fun and irreverent website that make people think “hey, this isn’t like any other promotional site I have seen before”.

·   We have used technology extensively to distance ourselves from the competition. All web content has been built in house so we control the look and feel.

·   We are very open and honest. Our blog offers a look into the philosophies of the company.

·   In June, we are launching a Web 2.0 application that will allow consumers to see view pricing, order online, rate products, share products on Facebook, and see what others in the B-to-B community are ordering for their events.

What inspired you to take the company in this direction?

I love how technology connects consumers. I am fascinated by web commerce and how the consumer of today wants to be in charge vs. having someone else tell them what to do. We have always wanted to create a transparent site that gives consumers control.

Is there a direct correlation between embracing technology and sales?

Absolutely. Nearly 90% of our sales can be related to our website in one form or another. Our orders are managed through the backend of our website.

Are You Using LinkedIn Effectively?

Post by Helen M. Overland

Lately I've been receiving what can only be described as a flood of LinkedIn invitation requests as more and more professionals set up accounts on the service. With the amount of buzz going around about LinkedIn, it seems like just about everyone wants to get in on the "facebook" of business.

Given that inviting a new contact to your LinkedIn network is almost as common nowadays as emailing each new acquaintance, it begs the question... are you actually using LinkedIn to effectively build your business? Or are you kind of wondering what it's actually for?

Here are a few tips for making LinkedIn begin to work for your business:

1. You can only really interact with people who are 3 degrees removed from you, or closer. That means that you can only interact with people who are contacts of your friends contacts.

If, when you sign into LinkedIn, you seem to hear the emptiness of crickets chirping, it's not that LinkedIn is empty - it could just be that there are few people in your network. If you are only connected to 10 people, and they are all only connected to an average of 10 people, etc, then there may be as few as 1,000 total people you can contact through LinkedIn. The easy solution is to add more contacts to your network. (For example, as I write this, I have 40 carefully selected contacts in my network, but have access to over 2,000,000 people).

2. Get Recommended - just about everyone has at least a few happy clients - so try to get them to recommend your service in the "Service Providers" Directory. Other people can also recommend your business and increase your overall score. When people search for a service you provide, a high number of recommendations in LinkedIn may help make the sale easier, and have a positive effect on your bottom line.

3. Consider Answers - Asking and answering questions can also be a good way to connect with other people. It can be amazing what kind of people you can speak with and what kind of connections you can make simply by answering (or asking) a question. Perhaps a potential client is looking for your expertise and asks a question - you can address their concerns and supply your business as a solution immediately. Sometimes answering questions that are not as targeted, but are asked by interesting people, can help you begin to forge new alliances. It can be amazing what a little give and take can do.

If you're not interacting fairly regularly with your LinkedIn network, it's possible you may be missing out on a great deal of opportunity. Hopefully these little tips have helped somewhat in beginning to explain what you can do with LinkedIn.