AIMS Canada

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.

The Definitive List of French-Canadian Social Media

Post by SearchEnginePeople.com

You can’t spend more than a day in the world or search engine optimization without being exposed to the social media mantra: you have to get your site exposed on Digg, Slashdot, Fark, Netscape, etc.

Have to.

And why again? To gain fame or customers? No. To get links. Links, links, links. Tons of them.

With reciprocal linking schemes out of the door, playing the social media card has become the way to build links for a site.

When we put up a story, an image, a video, a tool, a whatever, with the strong hope, desire and intention that it will attract and build links, we call that content linkbait. Some find it a dirty word, some find it a misnouner. Others find that is a time tested rebranded technique.

Whatever you call it and however you may feel about it; it works.

Why target the French-Canadian market

If your business in any way operates in Canada, you’re working a market that contains within it a unique, virtually untapped, because unaddressed, market. French Canadians, most of which are located in the provence of Quebec.

5 million plus users. Among the top Internet users with one of the highest rates of growth for use from any location. Top penetration of broadband access — where broadband access is of course the key enabler for online buying.

In other words, a huge market that often doesn’t get communicated with in its own language on the Internet.

And of course, just like English is used in Canada and the United Kingdom, to name two places, so French also is used world wide. Not just in France, an Internet superpower in its own rights, but also in Belgium, many parts of Africa and even by more than 2 million in the USA, for example.

Targeting the affluent French-Canadian market also means targetting a worldwide community of Francophones.

Digg the Fuzz about Nuouz

Want to target the French-Canadian market? Post your linkbait on Digg, Reddit, Netscape — the whole shebang. Puzzled? I hope not. Francophones are not isolationists by nature; they too use those major English sites.

But yes, after that they also use pure french sites.

...

Read further: English version, French version

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

Building a Strong B2B Online Community

Posted by Michelle Tampoya, Digital Marketing Manager at Scotiabank and blogger at Mish's Playground...

One of the sessions at the upcoming April 25th event about building online communities will discuss whether communities can work in a B2B environment. As we lead up to the event I thought I'd get the conversation started with some thoughts on B2B versus B2C communities.

There really isn’t a huge difference between B2B and B2C communities.

Instead of groups of individuals, B2B communities consist mainly of customers and suppliers.  The make-up is the same, they share a common interest and want to be able to meet and connect with and help each other.

With that said, B2B online communities should share the same traits.  Forums, blogging, podcasting, etc. can be used to connect not only to your customers but a place where they can connect with each other.

I can see the ROI being similar to that of B2C, you learn more about how to improve your product or service, generate best practices and increase loyalty.

For more information of building online communities, check out this podcast on ‘How to start a B2B community’ as well as some existing B2B communities.

Sharing feeds on Google Reader

Posted by Kathryn Lagden, AIMS Canada...

Heard a great way of using Google Reader this week.

I was chatting with Steve Mast, VP and Managing Director of Delvinia about the challenges of consuming so much information. Blog feeds, podcasts, enewsletters, facebook messages, twitter feeds - it all leads to A LOT of information to digest in a day.

Steve shared with me that in his office everyone uses the 'share feed' feature of Google Reader. Each person is listed in his reader and just like his regular feeds he can see when there is a new post someone in the office is sharing. This struck me as a great way to cut through a lot of clutter and read the most relevant and topical information. Because after all, even the most prolific reader can't possibly keep up with all the blog feeds in our industry.  As Steve said, if someone in the office is sharing the post they obviously think it's worth reading.

What do you think? Do you use a reader? Have you tried the share feature?

Brand Community, Communities, and Social Network Analysis

Posted by John Schneider...

Considering that the next Aims meeting is going to be on Communities. I thought that this information from Gerry Mcgovern might be of interest to many.

His company developed a ten stage process for developing and building a brand community. Here are the ten steps:
1. Content Building
2. Informing
3. Interaction
4. Profiling and traffic analysis
5. Generating advertising
6. Centralization and loacalization
7. Transactions ( non secure payment)
8. Ecommerce and fulfillment
9. Online dynamic trafficking and customization
10 Online brand community

I am not in total agreement with this ten stage process but it is good starting point for discussion. Part of the Informing stage should be to do a good job at Brand seeding. More about Brand seeding here.

FOR those of you interested in exploring the concept of Brand community there is a good Wiki on this topic as well.

Mind you if you want to learn more about Brand community it might help as well to read Don Tapscotts new book Wikinomics.

I read the book and was quite impressed. I was a little disappointed that he didn'€™t discuss more about Network Theory.

Then there is Social network analysis which views social relationships in terms of nodes and ties. Nodes are the individual actors within the networks, and ties are the relationships between the actors. This definition from Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network

So if you are going to learn about communities then you should learn about complex networks and Social network analysis in your attempt to unearth the nature of the community or network that you are dealing with. Hope this helps those of you who are new to the topic of Communities and  Brand Communities.

RBC’s Next Great Innovator Challenge – lessons from their online program to connect with the banking customer of the future

AIMS blog correspondent Brian Moran recently sat down with Steve Mast, Vice President and Managing Director of Delvinia Interactive, a strategic digital agency that focuses on humanizing the digital customer experience for its clients.

RBC asked Delvinia to create and implement the online strategy for the RBC’s Next Great Innovator Challenge. The aim of the challenge was to gain client insights from university and college students by inviting them to share their views on how today’s teens will influence the financial services industry of tomorrow.

"The RBC Next Great Innovator Challenge was a way of gaining deeper insight into our younger clients.  In order to encourage participation and maintain a connection with this group, we employed some new and innovative tools.  The blog in particular, was very effective at keeping participants informed and engaged throughout the competition."
                        -- Nelson Torrao,  Program Manager, Applied Innovation, RBC Royal Bank

BM: Tell us about the Next Great Innovator Challenge.

SM: In addition to the client insight, RBC wanted to learn more about how to develop new products and services for youth and the best ways to connect with this audience. They brought us the Innovator Challenge concept and we developed the online strategy and components to implement the program.
Those components included:
·       Website and digital video
·       Blog (the very first blog from a Canadian financial institution)
·       Virtual agent to guide people through the website
·       Innovator quiz
·       Links to external resources
Participants were invited to form teams and submit unique and innovative ideas by January 26, 2007. The top five teams will present their idea to the judging panel. The top team will win $20,000, second place will take home $10,000, third place will receive $5,000, fourth place will receive $3,000 and fifth place will receive $1,500 during an awards ceremony held in Toronto at the end of March.
Most importantly, the top teams have the opportunity to share their ideas and meet top business leaders. For students who are about to enter the workforce, this exposure and networking opportunity could prove invaluable.

BM: How did the Innovator Challenge start?

SM: RBC understands that companies must be innovative and think ahead to be successful. They wanted to do something out of the ordinary to learn about the best ways to connect with youth.

The purpose of the program was to listen to youth, find new ways to connect with youth and gain insight with this group by asking for their ideas.

Tell me about some of the strategies for the program.

We had three main strategies for the campaign.

1. We wanted to generate pre-campaign buzz. RBC spoke to the universities and told them about the challenge. They embraced the challenge and encouraged their students to participate.

2. We wanted people to register for the program.  Registration began September 18, 2006 and closed October 31. That only gave us about six weeks for teams to register. RBC created pre-registration excitement so we could maximize the number of people registered within the six- week period.

3. We wanted to keep participants engaged. We accomplished this by developing a blog and encouraging readers and participants to post their comments. We also set-up email support for people involved in the challenge.

BM: Why did you use an online initiative for this campaign?

SM: Most university and college students live and communicate online.  RBC wanted to reach them where they live so, we decided to use a website, a blog and social marketing tools to reach the audience, create dialogue and keep them engaged.

BM: So how did it turn out?

SM: We expected about 50 teams to enter the challenge. By the time registration had closed, 269 teams had signed up for the challenge. Here are our final numbers:
·       Registered teams: 269
·       Registered students: 927
·       Participating schools: 45

BM: What are some of the challenges you faced during the campaign?

SM: The technology used to power the blog and the postings had to tie into RBC’s technology platforms. It had to undergo extensive testing to ensure that it didn’t jeopardize the security of RBC’s existing systems. This required a large amount of time and resources that we did not anticipate. 

BM: Any lessons you’d like to share with AIMs readers?

SM: 1. Build your social marketing tactics into your strategy.

When deploying any new marketing tactics get all stakeholders – from legal counsel to policy makers to the information technology department – involved early. Tell them what you’re planning to do, seek their input and get buy-in right from the get-go. That way, when you face challenges, you’ll have the resources available to deal with those challenges. 

2. Try to anticipate some of the challenges you’ll encounter and deal with those challenges proactively.

For example, if your site includes a blog, make sure you have a clear policy on what –
and what not – can appear in the postings. That way, you’ll be better able to deal with issues as they arise.

3. Build extra time into your plan because implementation will take longer than expected.

When you’re breaking new ground and implementing new disruptive technologies you’ll face issues that you don’t anticipate. Issues will take longer than expected to resolve. You won’t be able to move as fast as you’d like. The best way to deal with these unexpected challenges is to add extra time into your timelines.   

4. Get an internal champion.

You’ll face many roadblocks. An internal champion will pave the way and help you connect with people such as policy makers and legal that can move things forward. When you’re breaking new ground, you’ll need all the help you can get!   

BM: Any other insights you’d like to share?

SM: Using the technology behind social marketing such as blogging tools is relatively easy. However, it’s not about using the latest technology for its own sake. It’s about using that technology in a humanizing way to create connections – it’s about using technology with a purpose.
I think we sometimes get caught up in the excitement of the technology – how easy it is to use, what it can do for us and how good it looks. We need to:
·        Not lose sight of the purpose of the technology 
·        Always go back to the business problem and objective
·        And above all, keep focused on the customer
In the end, I think we accomplished what we set out to do which was to bring the real world and the practical world together through networking, collaboration and innovation. 

Podcasting: Hype or Opportunity?

Thanks to Sanj Selvarajah, AIMS member and volunteer for sending in his thoughts on podcasting and the questions he wants answered at our upcoming event - "Should Your Company Be Podcasting?"

"I'm debating whether podcasting would be a worthwhile initiative to suggest to my company's marketing department to pursue here in Canada.

According to a Forrester report released in April 2006, only 1% of online households in North America genearlly download and listen to podcasts.  I expect the upcoming AIMS event will answer questions such as provided the lack of adoption for podcasts, is it worth it for businesses and marketers to allocate resources to such an initiative, when other online initiatives may target more users and result in greater ROI?

There's a lot of hype over podcasting and I suppose podcasting is not for every company.  I'd like to know what things an organization should consider before launching a podcast.  Can we have some examples where podcasting has NOT worked and why?"

share2006: Great Holiday Card and The Years Most Viral Videos

Mitch Joel and the folks at Twist Image have put together a holiday card that surprises, entertains, and engages. It was fun to receive and even more fun to share.

The front of the card asks, "Kathryn, how do you ask a ninja for free hugs?" On the inside of the card I'm invited to visit and share at www.share2006.com.

If you find yourself with 15-20 minutes over the holidays and need a good laugh you should definitely check it out. You'll find some of the years most viral videos. Remember the evolution of dance? Or the Ninja's definition of podcasting? It was a lot of fun watching some favourites again and finding a few I hadn't seen before.

You can vote on your favourite videos, add comments, and of course share the fun with others. Kudos to the team at Twist Image for this brilliant way to share some fun and celebrate the holidays.

CaseCamp SecondLife – My remote virtual experience

CaseCamp Second Life made its debut last night. Space was limited and unfortunately I was not one of the ‘chosen’ to attend. However, June Li came to my rescue and offered to webconference me in to her computer as she did receive one of the coveted spots.

So there I was conferenced in to June’s computer and listening to the audio via her speakerphone. If you thought attending an event in a virtual world was strange try seeing it seeing it through someone else’s avatar eyes! (Did I mention I left the festivities of a holiday party early in order to attend this event? My friends did agree that leaving to attend another event in a virtual world was the most unique ‘have to go’ excuse they’d ever heard).

I was glad I’d cut the holiday festivities short as the presentations were interesting and I certainly felt like I was participating in something completely new and unique.

• Doug Walker from the World RockPaperScissors Society (RPS) spoke first about how the RPS society has experienced amazing growth, all through word of mouth and viral marketing. (We only ended up hearing about half of the presentation as it took a few minutes to figure out the audio and how to make the presentation slides clear).
• Michael Seaton from Scotiabank (and AIMS board member) talked about how Scotiabank engaged with Ottawa hockey fans and substantially increased its brand awareness in the area.
• John Wall talked about how AccuRev optimized a Google Adwords campaign. (We missed part of this one due to audio glitches)
• Eli Singer gave a great overview on a successful campaign the World Wildlife Federation ran in Toronto recently. Using Flickr, Youtube, and hundreds of black balloons the campaign garnered a lot more publicity than originally anticipated.

I have to admit that I still prefer the in-person CaseCamp but I was glad June made it possible for me to attend the Second Life version. Of course it’s still all so new that at times the technology does seem a little clunky, especially to noobies. And I’m…or should I say Trixie Malone (my Second Life avatar) is definitely still in the noobie phase!

Thanks to Bryan Person, Kate Trgovac, CC Chapman, and Eli Singer for organizing this event.

There are lots of photos on flickr if you're interested. Here is one I took: