So you’re a local business owner. You might have a web site (or at least thought about building one). By now you have a Facebook profile and some of you might even have a Twitter or Linkedin account. But how do you gauge the success of your social media efforts?

You’ve probably spent hours updating your profile(s), tweeting and cultivating a following. If your social media efforts are to get your product/service the exposure it needs, you’ve probably spent a lot more time and the average business owner this might seem to be a little overwhelming.

Before you hire a local specialist to set you straight or steer you in the right direction. Here are a few handy resources that might save you hundreds of dollars, maybe, even thousands of dollars in this process.

If you don’t have a website start a free blog using Blogger or Wordpress to help spread your message. These free content management systems allow you to post daily content changes, instant copy corrections, easy link management, landing page creation and optimization and accessed from any location with an internet connection. Once you’ve registered a free blog get writing. (see Content Design)

If you have decided that you want a little more customization than the free blog can offer. I suggest you go all the way and think custom. With custom blogs you'll have to do a little more work and obviously a minor monetary investment. Trust me it’s not as hard as you might think or as expensive. I set this blog up for $128.00 including domain, hosting and the theme.

First, you have to buy a personalized vanity domain name (www.yourbusiness.com) and a hosting plan to point your domain. Most plans include email addresses, tech support and many other features.

After you have purchased a hosting plan contact their tech support and have them walk you through setting up Wordpress or Joomla on their server. Reputable web hosting companies should do this for you. Once your blog is setup on a server take some time and get familiar with the different setup/config options in the backend.

Choose from thousands of free themes that suit your style or if you want to purchase a custom theme for your blog check out themeforest.net. There you can buy custom templates with a variety of options, styles and levels of useability including ecommerce.

Although these themes take full advantage of their content management system tools. Some may need you to read extensive tutorials. The tools in these themes which are similar to those found in a word processor, require no advanced HTML or programming skill, and help organize the extensive amount of content found on a typical web site.

Here are the basics; The two main types for organizing the content are Post and Pages. Categories are used when you wanted to describe a post in more specific terms allowing for a broad grouping of post topics. There is an alternative method for integrating custom post types and taxonomies, that I’ll cover on a future post about custom taxonomies.

Posts are entries listed in reverse chronological order where as Pages are static and are not listed by date. In my experience and something that I failed to do in setting up my blog was to set the custom Post Permalinks.

If you want to analyize traffic to your new blog add google Analytics to your custom blog. I will explain more about Google Anayltics in a later post.

Extras: Tweak your custom blog by using plugins, sidebars and widgets. You can add Polls, Rating, SEO tools, Twitter feeds, Facebook Likes, Gravatars, Guestbooks and Geotagging to just name a few. All at the click of your mouse.

So that is a brief outline on how to start your very own blog. Happy blogging!

I was surfing the web today trying to find information on the municipal elections that are coming up in my local area and I landed at www.durhamregion.com. I came across a story written by a Jillian Follert ‘The Facebook effect: how is social media impacting Durham elections’ and 'Lights, Camera, Action: Oshawa candidates take message to the screen'.

There are so many great stories and conversations on the web today but what baffles me is that once I finished reading the column I had to login to rate/comment on what I had just read. Ok fine, most big online newspapers make you login, but what really surprised me was that I couldn’t share the article. I scoured the page looking for any mechanism to share it on my Facebook wall or tweet it.

“Intuition is the supra-logic that cuts out all the routine processes of thought and leaps straight from the problem to the answer.” — Robert Graves

My immediate thought was technology has changed the news, or more to the point how news is distributed on the internet, yet durhamregion.com seems to be so late to adopt or implement it properly.

I visited other sites (East of the City and Durham Parent) owned by the same company and found none offered any sort of sharing to either Facebook or Twitter. East of the City for example is touted as Durham Regions premier lifestyle publication. So why have publications like these forgotten the reader?

Since my last post, sites like Durham Parent have undergone tummy tucks to fixed, tightened, flattened and reshaped their online presence. If you are a first time reader or an avid follower you might be in awe of their complex, full featured CMS site. Unfortunately all of Durham Parents improvement seem to take place below the belt. Recent changes to the web portal look as though they’ve gone a little overboard and in my opinion it looks as sterilized as a baby’s bottle.

In Jillian Follert's article she even explains the fundamental purpose of social media:

“Social media is Internet-based platforms that allow people to contact large numbers of other people in quick fashion. These include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, blogs and podcasts.”  – Jillian Follert

Although traditional publishing companies have become late adopter’s of social media. These locally produced publications have turned to social media by creating their own personal Like/Fan/Twitter accounts. It seems Print Editor’s have finally started experimenting with different touchpoints. But, they still don’t get it. And YES, I could spout off a long list of things these media companies need to start doing. From the outside they’re starting to look a little ridiculous to other media savvy organizations.

WEB 1.0 – Publishing pre-formatted pages through a CMS
WEB 1.5 – add Relationships, Taxonomy and Metadata
WEB 2.0 – add Audience Data and Mobile Strategy

Here’s the trick: The trick is applying social intelligence to allow brands such as theirs to mine data streams (threads) from there friends and followers. Enabling publications and online publications to be at the centre of content discovery by allowing them to leverage information while keeping the conversation relevant to their audience.

This process is referred to as Content Velocity (Sales, Content, Audience Development).

Insight: How does the average business owner take advantage of this insight? Well it can appear a little daunting at first. It starts with a plan and setting some goals. It may take time to develop a following, but interaction is the key. So start small, drive the audience back to your content and share using social affinity icons (Facebook Share for instance).  

Take a few tips from the pro’s: Brands need to know who their audiences are and who has the most social resonance (like we can see online) with specific content. Finding their advocates by determining what content best matches their brands audience can be hard. Sure you can poll them, ask them to supply content ideas, offer prizes and giveaways to develop traffic or by finding brand ambassadors outside your organization to do the work for you -There are so many online resources.

Obviously social media is a hot topic right now, but thats only one facet of a businesses market reach. Social media allows talent prospecting like on Linkedin, product placement and feedback like Facebook and Twitter, or sharing a unique video message on YouTube.   

Sure Newspapers’ and Magazines’ are trying to exploit trends, they’re trying to capitalize on online technologies and inspire social commentary. To what end? Most publications haven’t figured that out yet so they do what comes naturally - They just keep publishing.

I love to write for instance about BIG local media and their publications. It’s about content consumption. But, It has been brought to my attention that my choice of narrative style might actually be taking away from the salient points I am trying to make. Seems as though my criticisms stand out more than my solutions. I guess like most of you I have become a member of their self-disparaging reader base.

Print might not be dead, but the producer’s of print have to develop content in a way that will increase its effectiveness to the ordinary online user. With a web first component, editorial enhancements, collaboration based and focusing on engagement – feedback plus sharing equals ROI.

If you’re a parent and you live in Durham Region it’s about finding the right resources. Well the tools are changing; technology, user experience, portability and content that keeps subscriber’s subscribing. Durham Parent from cover to cover is filled with permissive narrative of self identity and has become quite an albatross in our community.

What does that mean? In the last four years Durham Parent has become a veritable sounding board of the editors inabilities. Her lack-luster attempt at creating an authoritative publication on everything the ‘editor’ needs to know.

Now in it’s thirteenth year Durham Parent is still missing relative content and heart. Why does Durham Parent have an audience? What is Durham Parents strongest asset; Content creation? Distribution? Brand energy (to get people into stores)? Or it’s sales efforts?

"I focus on what's really important in life. Quality rather than appearance…ethics rather than rules…integrity rather than domination…knowledge rather than achievement…serenity rather than acquisitions." – Dr. Wayne Dyer

I get asked all the time, why do I write about traditional media so much? Let’s just say I feel really confident that what I’ve learned is very valuable to some.

My time spent with your Durham Region media company gave me great insight. I often use their publishing model and practices as a lesson of what NOT to do! “If the BIG media company can’t get it right, hell what do you have to fear” – I often say when telling a ‘solopreneur’ to publish themselves.

So before I hear from the opposition let me explain why I have chosen Durham Parent as my latest blog post. On August 17, 2010 I emailed a former colleague and mentioned that I would be focusing on Durham Parent as my next topic. A little heads up so to speak.

I picked Durham Parent primarily because out of all the other publications it is the most viable and needs the most help if it wants to survive. I don’t want to be the negative voice of reason. But as someone who follows most of the local ‘rags’ I am astonished that this particular publication out of all the Dynamic Publishing products it consistently sells and brings in a much needed (although squandered) revenue stream.

Durham Parents sister publications; East of the City, Durham Business Times, Durham Trade and Commerce, CIRCA are among some of the worst managed, worst written (relevant content) and worst received publications in Durham Region.

I will be taking a look at some of Durham Parent’s most recent advancements made to their dot com site, social media campaign, its voice in the community and its current distribution model.

When you make a choice, you change the future. – Deepak Chopra

Durham Parent’s web 1.5 efforts and new social media marketing (SMM) campaign looks as though someone finally lit a fire under the editors ass. Coincidence? Maybe. So why are publishers their own worst enemy? They think like marketers not as publishers.

DP Dot Com

Many companies like Dynamic Publishing go after inexpensive “custom newspaper” CMS solutions only to find after implementing and a lot of headaches, it still doesn’t do what they want or need. These solutions may use proprietary database structures in order to create an up-selling opportunity when the newspaper contacts them for support. Such as their www.durhamparent.com site, but their biggest blunder is trying to bring value to the online advertiser.

After nearly two months of beta and RC stages, Vivvo 4.5 is now officially released. It is available for purchase and download, including the new theme (shown below).

Facebook: LIKE it or NOT

I could write an entire blog on social media but, I’ll leave that to the experts. In Durham Parents case Facebook like it or not focuses on community building and sharing information with friends and contacts. Their newly created (August 2010) Durham Parent LIKE/FAN page is in its infancy. With a meager following just in the double digits, we will have to see if the editors’ exploits can actually create some sort of Return On Investment (ROI).

Editorial authenticity: Why we as a society eat it up

What is the transcendent purpose or motive behind Durham Parent? Profit or Purpose? The truest ultimatum game motivated by self interest. Durham Parent is marketed to the sojourners depicting social preferences, doodads and thingamobobbers. But does the existence of Durham Parent in the world (Durham Region) change others when the consumer’s of news have changed their definition of what constitutes news and who can be considered a "news pro"?

A colleague commented in a recent conversation “Well it's been a while. So things may have changed (Durham Parent). But I found the editorial to be a bit schmaltzy. I would have liked to see some harder hitting parenting issues and a more contemporary look. That's just me. If something doesn't catch my eye I don't normally take much more time with it.

Through entertainment, humor, reflection and connection as Garth Riley stated in one of his video segments. What draws you in as a reader, wether it be a column or a blog post. The Topic? The author? Or the insight?

“The roots of empathy come from the knowledge and strengths in humanity. Empathy of
caring has two perspectives; taking and the other is emotion. Shared emotion is in one role model; Altruism, Empathic actions.” – ***

Like consumer products these publications are welcome in your home. Do you subscribe to Durham Parent like the latest dieting craze? Well if you don’t you’re in good company. Long gone are the days of decisive parenting. Now it seems modern books and publications like Durham Parent offer parents no more security.

Sustainable change

Well it doesn’t have to take an environmentalist to tell you the impact publishing has on our community. But thats not the direction I am taking with Durham Parents haphazard distribution model. Every month 50,000 printed copies are bundle dropped or inserted into your local newspaper. Regional Durham Parent wastefully attempts to connect with it’s targeted audience.

My two cents…

Step one: Drop the printed circulation to 25,000 newspapers, fine tune it’s circulation and redirect the money saved by reinvesting it into the web site. Pay freelance/editorial writers more (and on time), support community bloggers (social journalist) and create an online HUB for everything ‘Parenting’ and then market the shit out of it.

Step two: Down the road drop the printed circulation to 12,500 newspapers, pinpoint the circulation to high traffic areas and fire the editor (is she really the Brand Ambassador you want). Hire a virtual assistant and have 10 key contributing editors (for a percentage of the editor’s salary) in place, support community blogger’s by corporately sponsoring their posts and pump even more $$ into online development. Mine the ‘nuggets’ from the online content and reprint it in the newspaper product and then of course, market the shit out of it.

Step three: Get rid of the newspaper altogether – introduce a semi-annual print supplement. Once you have built it, they will come. Try introducing pay walls and have enough traffic to warrant National Advertisers and then keep marketing the shit out of it.

In the end you’ll have saved a few trees, reduced your carbon footprint, drastically reduced costs, published content in real time and have created an online dynasty. All built by a few exceptional sales reps and content providers.

Durham Parent Gone Wild: Choices, Motives and Irresponsibilities

There’s no mystery to solve! The fraud of Durham Parent is not in it’s efforts, or it’s editorial line-up but in the editor herself, but I digress.

But come on… Thought leader? Solidarity through compassion? Agent of change? Or just an ordinary soccer mom? Her Durham Parent is more like parental guilt and absolutism. The most thoughtless, and pettiest of all cultural engagements.

Journeys Inside the mind of a soccer mom (click to view)
Published July/2010 Durham Parent
(Posted then removed then activated again on Sept 8/2010 on Durham Parent web site)

• “My daughter, however is a different story. Here are some nuggets from the last week to prove that I am in trouble as she gets older:
• I walked into the the bathroom to find her (the editor’s 6 yr old daughter) singing: “The party don’t start ‘til I walk in.”… See you later iTunes. (Kesha)
• As we walked into the movie theatre she remarked to her friend: “We look sexy.” The parents behind me had a good laugh… …Too much Lady Gaga
•  And the piece de resistance? “Mommy, can you get my fairy wings I wanna dance to Miley Cyrus’s I Can’t Be Tamed and Katy Perry’s California Gurls… Goodbye YouTube.
• Six going on 14…” – written by the Editor of Durham Parent

May I suggest some parental guidance over what your children view online? Call me crazy.

I know, I know, the only dispute is how the hell to fix it? Like any consumer product most haven’t been tested so hasn’t the irreverent content, head scratching opinions and its impact on the community. Polling all Durham Parent Reader's.

Modern parenting is based on relationships, resources, communication and education. Believe people when they tell you who they are and what they stand for. So why is Durham Parent coming from the wrong side of the tracks on issues and apparently a little crazy at times?

Hmm… Ask the editor.

In my opinion Durham Parent has a hard time keeping content fresh after the freshness seal has been broken. At least baby’s can scream and throw up, we just have to read with awe.

Here are a list of some authentic blogs you might find entertaining and educational:

What do you think about the these types of publications? Any comments? Please add your voice in the box below.

Well if you’re a woman pursuing someone else’s dream. Circa magazine’s take-me-as-I-am-approach write or wrong hits the nail right on the head. So what DO women want? Circa magazine's second edition hit the streets and it reads like one of those after school specials we've all watched! If this publication doesn’t grow legs it’s doomed. Why can’t Circa find it’s footing in Durham?

• Who is the woman of the new millennium?
• Who do you believe her to be?
• Who do you WANT her to be?
• Most importantly….Who does SHE WANT TO BE?

Circa’s second edition is definitely lacking. Let’s face it this horse has come up lame. The creators have to find a new marketing/editorial model to hitch their band wagon to because it seems a little repurposed to me and my criticisms are based on Circa’s disappointing attention to detail. I guess I should tread lightly on the lack of authenticity, charm and wit. Which leads one to wonder where’s the personality, the magic, and the artistry.

This entire magazine looks bleak. I'd love to hear their side of it, if they ever stop blaming each other. It wouldn’t surprise me that on the next cover there is a giant star burst which reads “FREE PRIZE INSIDE” – to entice readers.

I agree that it is lovely to look good and feel good and sometimes retail therapy helps. But women would not try to make themselves happy with all of that….you need to find happiness within. The magazine doesn't interest me….may as well buy ‘Style’ magazine or ‘Cosmo’. – ST

CIRCA Magazine vs. Blogher

Sure Circa magazine's free and yes maybe it's just that the way we read magazines is long overdue for a change. Or maybe the business model is just so fractured the publishing company and the creator of magazines needs to provide a service if it’s going to make money.

Then I happened upon an amazing blog site for women—in the form of the website BLOGHER.com. Wow. Real women. REAL problems. And they don’t involve wrinkles, hormone therapy, or misinterpreted quotes from some of feminisms’ founding, card-carrying members.

Circa magazine has to stop slip screening on “what woman want” and produce something worth reading. Circa’s latest issue is as racey as red polish in summer, white after labour day, and stripper pole dancing for exercise. What could be crazier?

While BLOGHER deals with issues that DO affect the large percentage of women over 35 in North America, like children experimenting with illicit drugs, like the heartbreak of infertility in your prime child-bearing years, like the death of your spouse in the prime of their lives;  Circa treats these issues like dirty little secrets.  I feel like the cover of the magazine should have a 1950s date on it.

Quarterly supplements like CIRCA magazine should get women out of their homes, out of their comfort zones.  Instead, small minds from small towns spout about false issues that not only do not concern women with half a brain; but also, for women dealing with real issues, can be downright insulting.

So in my opinion Circa needs to shed it’s redesigning your interior, unloading the burden that haunts your life or choosing your next bra. Circa magazine's apparent editorial policy and the editors greeting appears that this publication has left the murderer in charge of the crime scene by cover up a preverbal hornets nest within. So this vote for irreverent… strength is double-edged when it comes at any price; editorial loyalty, market segmentation and ultimately behavioral variables to mimic normality.

Circa magazine is a dreary broker of fake it until you make it.

Circa’s obligatory messaging. What’s the lesson? Today’s marketer’s have to give up control, they need to be transparent and share the same values and ethics to promote mass collaboration. Be entertaining! It’s getting more and more difficult to compete with growing broadband culture and print supplements like CIRCA have to adopt Social Commerce in light of their dwindling distribution models.

Circa’s devastatingly simple “Look on the bright side we all get off track; we don’t always say thank you, or pay your bills on time, or wash that sink full of dishes” reeks of falseness.

On BLOGHER some women talk about how they CAN’T pay their bills because their child got sick and the hospital got all the money (U.S. obviously). Women on BLOGHER get off-track after they leave an abusive husband, give birth to a still-born baby, and they aren’t going to the salon weekly to get their finger nails buffed.

Circa please don’t try to impress people if you’re not going to do your best. Role up your sleeves, get those finger nails dirty and celebrate your (limited) victories.

BLOGHER just keeps going, gathering together a community of women who have real (hard won) victories.  Who have figured out life is not some sorority they’re pledging. Where is Circa’s sense of self, emotions, pleasure and pain, dreams? Is Circa even relevant anymore?

We all have a story too share, some of us have been able to successfully market our lifes’ journey into a commodity; personal appearances, speaking engagements, lifestyle seminars – or a best seller. Magazines that use the medium for propaganda, selling sisterhood using push marketing has become big business over the past few years.

Women, it’s your life. Your life. It’s important, it’s bigger than ever, and every door is open. Which one do you want to walk through?

Related posts:

CIRCA Magazine: Local Magazine publishing industry is fierce in Durham

CIRCA Magazine: Loyalty at any cost

What do you think about the these types of magazines? Any comments? Please add your voice in the box below.

Circa’s Premier Edition hit the streets and drop locations around Durham Region this past May. Polling all women: did you read it? What do you think? Does it appeal to the femme fatale, the super-mom, the sex kitten, the driven corporate climber in you? Well, after reading some snippets, I too can say… I’m not afraid of storms, but I certainly am afraid for the future of feminism.  Is this journalistic fluff honestly what women want to read? I’ll let you decide for yourselves.

It certainly is…pretty. Glossy like the nail polish that can help women off the road of worry. If your nails are done, Circa supports that the rest of your life will run smoothly too. Back to the cosmetic reference; at first glance I had a kind of  ‘Avon Calling‘ feel, or maybe the journals that drug companies pay hospitals to put in the waiting rooms, but I guess as ‘retail-magazine-disguised-as-lifestyle-journals go what else are you expecting? Oprah? Come on.

Circa Magazine: Loyalty at any price is a second glance at the marketing of these types of magazines’ to the public and the image they portray. By no means am I trying to complicate the simplistic message associated with the publication by exuding any negative energy; but turning the pages on this sugary confection is an act that leaves your teeth coated long after you’ve finished digesting the contents.

Editorially speaking Circa is well-written in an easy-to-understand kind of way. The encouraging tales, whimsical adventures, and subtle endorsements could, I suppose, captivate some readers. It successfully depicts a segment of our diverse community and I say hey – ‘Let’s do lunch.’ If you are lifestyle-focused then look no further. Circa is a veritable field guide for women looking to present themselves in a certain way, and who lack the true originality to forge forward in life making their own rules and steering their own ship.

If content is King, Circa’s attempt at dispelling the ‘myth’ surrounding fibromyalgia (which many professionals dismiss as a psychosomatic condition that allows a woman who does not want to be a productive member of society a kind of ‘catch all’ diagnosis); even the list of symptoms and the coy Marie Curie quote that ’sound bite’ the article hint at the basic simplicity of the premise of the article. Did I read the whole thing? I didn’t have to. The handy checklist of symptoms and the “Nothing in life is to be feared” quote summed it up for me.

“Haha yeah but a lot of women are like that!…its not generalizing women it’s just fun. If we made a show about business women with knowledgeable things to say all the time it wouldn’t be a hit!… It just shows what women want… drama, fashion and sex… every girl likes it because they want girl friends like that!” – CP

The institutionalizing of “One is not born a woman, one/she becomes one” by  Simone de Beauvoir (adapted) who was known as the “Spirit of Seriousness”, and was one of the most pre-eminent French existentialist philosophers and writers of her generation. Simone de Beauvoir is considered the mother of the post-1968 feminism movement, and most notably as a leader in fighting the oppression of women through liberation. By choice, she never married or had children. She died in 1986 and became as complicit through her writing as the women she herself criticized in society as a whole. She sought to radically overturn the perceptions of women but never lived up to the promise of her aim. Simone de Beauvoir’s best-known work: The Second Sex.

“As a woman (with an IQ over 130) I too was angered. Is this what my age-box gets? Jesus Christ. It’s like reading “Elevate” another horrendous lifestyle magazine about feeling and looking good–on the surface.” – CB

She would probably be rolling over in her grave today if she only knew she’d be quoted to inspire sales as a figurehead for the mantra, “CIRCA’s reader has an obsession with shopping and shoes.” Hmm, a stereotype in itself, isn’t that denigrating woman and equating misogynistic views? Or at least making the assumption that all woman, on some level, are poorly-read-sex-and-the-city-heads with little thought goings-on other than the colour of their next lip-gloss. But, I guess that is why third wave feminism (1990 until recently), embraces contradictions and conflict. – aren’t we all ‘Humanists’?

On a personal note I spent this past summer reading the writings of Pema Chödrön. Pema Chödrön is an ordained Buddhist nun, and has been touted as the modern day equivalent to Simone de Beauvoir. The goal of Pema Chödrön’s, work is the ability to apply Buddhist teachings in everyday life. Watch YouTube Video.

As women increase their purchasing power throughout the world, they’re unleashing a major change in society starting with the way they learn about and consume products. Women are the primary users of social media and while there are women out there using social media to really challenge the boundaries of what women are ’supposed’ to do/be/make; others are using it as a soapbox to spout off beliefs about women that would make Sarah Palin proud.  Even the editors’ greeting and picture have a certain Palin-esque ideal–that glossy, made-up surface that hints to depth within. In reality, there is no ‘within’.

Funny story; I once told the Editor of Circa the story of “The Lotus Flower” during lunch. She was so taken with the story that while on vacation she had a Henna symbol of a Lotus flower tattooed on her right hip-buttocks. Now reading Circa she’s probably had it covered over with a smiley face which reads “Have A Nice Day!“

Circa stacks up to what it’s supposed to be–advertising that will have you chasing the ideals and values that make you work to spend your hard earned dollars on lip-gloss, anti-aging products, shoes and accessories.

This is what a ‘Humanist Looks Like’

CIRCA Magazine: Local Magazine publishing industry is fierce in Durham

Note: Download the original rate card and you will see not only did they misquote Simone de Beauvoir, they even spelled her name wrong. If they intentionally adapted it from “One is not born a woman, ‘one/she’ becomes one” they should have still accredited her. File Created 02/09/10

What do you think about the these types of magazines? Any comments? Please add your voice in the box below.

So if you think that your clients, friends and family aren’t “tweeting”, “friending” or “blogging”, then you are kidding yourself. Why is Social media so effective and why are advertisers turning to Social media marketing? Three reasons that are particularly attractive to small business and other entrepreneurs: low impact/annoyance factor, cost effectiveness, and a viral spread of information. Plus, people are more likely to trust information from their friends than information from strangers. Socialnomic theory has taken us from Word of Mouth to World of Mouth. This study of social mood can transform your understanding of how our society works and its effects on social behavior.

The New Oxford American Dictionary has chosen ‘unfriend’ as its word of the year. To ‘unfriend’ means to remove someone from your friend list on a social network like Facebook or MySpace (and we extend that to a similar pattern of “unfollow”  in Twitter). “Defriend” came in as a  close rival, but unfriend takes it one step further by employing a more active and abnormal “verb sense” of the word ‘friend.’

Traditional media can’t afford to turn their backs on the power of Social media marketing anymore. This recession is unlike any other because, with the rise of social media, it has led to a change in the way consumers shop for products. Brand loyalty can no longer be taken for granted and everyone within your organization is now a marketers whether they realize it or not. Newspapers as we know are still a little slow on ordinary aspects of social media and demonstrates their lingering reluctance on the part of papers to fully embrace social media. Here is a few ways Newspapers have turned to social media; Twitter headline feeds, Acquiring providers of social media services, Creating more online events to attract readers, Promoting and monetizing user-generated content, Story-based communities, Collaborative outsourced news services, Customized delivery, Branded communities, Publishing APIs and of course Social journalism.

What they have to figure out is; What is the ROI of Social Media? Or how can they measure the ROI of social media? While marketers continue to debate the value of social media consumers know that social media is an important factor in choosing products, whether marketers are there or not. Consumers trust each other more than marketers and after all when they lay down their hard earned dollars they want to be sure that the brand promise exceeds their expectations. They want marketers to be on Twitter if they have questions and brand loyalty has to be continue to be earned as the product moves through the life-cycle.

Traditional media reluctance to adopt Social marketing: Explained as one of Aesop’s Fables

Fables are stories that impart a moral or practical lesson so lets have a little fun.

As a Social journalist I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to get my point across in this blog post. I remembered from my childhood some of the fables my mom would tell me. Aesop’s Fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today. Most popular Aesop’s Fables; The Fox and the Grapes, The Tortoise and the Hare, The North Wind and the Sun, The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Ant and the Grasshopper are well-known throughout the world. My favourite “The Monkey and the Cat” better know as “The Cat’s Paw“.

The Publisher: The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Publishers’ only until a few years ago (2007) were forced to release their strangle hold on the newspaper industry. Although readership may be declining, unique users are on the rise this past quarter. Publishers’ that once dismissed the impact social marketing would have on their bottom line have welcomed it with open arms. Publishers so entrenched with print held off with worried anticipation the new role the internet and social media would have on their industry. Publishers’ are refocusing their efforts to capitalize on these ‘new’ social marketing consumers.

“Wolf! Wolf! Come and help! The wolves are at my lambs!” – The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Director of Advertising/Creative Director’s: The Grasshopper

Directors’ hearing rumor’s of this emerging phenomenon called social network marketing empower their staff to get involved. But the eventuality is unless they completely embrace social marketing and not leave it entirely to their front line, they might find themselves out in the cold as the fable suggests.

“Why not come and chat with me,” said the Grasshopper, “instead of toiling and moiling in that way?” – The Ant and the Grasshopper

The Editor: The Fox

Editor’s need to use and understand social media as a way of life. Editors need to draw life from their social media efforts. Editors’ use social media marketing to transform their tarnished news room dictatorship persona’s for a more softened philanthropy online one. Editor’s are loosening their grip on Editorial Policy and allowing more of a convergence with the advertising sales department (very unheard of a few years ago). Unfortunately their pasts are right behind them, and the fruits of their labour are just out of reach.

“Just the thing to quench my thirst,” – The Fox and the Grapes

Note: Please stop using “quotes”! Your “narcissistic pontificating of virtue is getting boorish!” – Craig Waterfield!

The Advertising Sales Rep: The Hare

For Advertising sales reps Social media has given them a new way to promote themselves and their sales efforts very inexpensively. What they need to figure out is how are they going to present themselves online. 70% of their content should comment on your industry and be relevant to what they are doing in it. 20% of their content should provide the links to their blog, website, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin account or wherever else you may be promoting yourself. 10% should be personal.

“Take your time!” he said. “I’ll have forty winks and catch up with you in a minute.” – The Tortoise and the Hare

The Politician: The Ants

Just like in the corporate world, social media has created a two-way conversation between politician and voters. Local politicians are also finding that social media is quickly becoming a place where change can actually happen. Politicians use Social media marketing to announce the issues, promote press releases, and as a new way to reach citizens. Social media allows Politicians the mean to interact directly with the public. Gone are the days when the only way to find information about a local election or politician was through lawn signs, public access TV, or local newspapers. Now, if a candidate doesn’t have a social media presence, they are at a disadvantage.

“You danced last summer, said the ants in disgust. You can continue to dance.” – The Ant and the Grasshopper

The Business Owner: The Tortoise

The best marketing campaigns advertiser’s have today is social media. Business owner’s are turning to Social media to promote their own campaigns to independently promoting their own products through their own social networks. With traditional media It’s hard to get a sense of belonging from a newspaper or magazine. Advertiser need to incorporate Social marketing and traditional media marketing into their repertoire . Social marketers learn a great deal from the direct feedback they get from their customers.

“Though you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race.” – The Tortoise and the Hare

Traditional Media: The North Wind

Even if traditional media does their own Social media marketing entirely in-house, it takes the investment of time, knowledge, overhead and creativity to do it well, and those things equate to money. So, despite what some may think, social media is not free and therefor from a business perspective, needs to be measured against return, just like traditional marketing.

“The North Wind first tried his power and blew with all his might, but the keener his blasts, the closer the Traveler wrapped his cloak around him…” – The North Wind and the Sun

10 Ways to Cut Through the Social Media Noise and Be Heard

1. Simplify Your Message
2. Find Your Space
3. Use Appropriate Channels
4. Spread your Message
5. Get Help
6. Appeal to Ego
7. Cut the Clutter
8. Appeal to primitive Instincts
9. Use Keywords
10. Stick to one Point

Now I want you to think about every Social media service you’ve ever interacted with. I want you to think about five people that were really memorable and made you happy. If you have a moment, share those stories in the comments below. If you don’t have a story, share five Social media experiences you wish could be improved.

Sources: mashable.com, socialmediaexaminer.com

Recently I have ruffled a few feathers! Some of you have commented that my blog seems a little skewed against traditional media. But that’s not entirely true, it is just based on my own opinion and good old fashion criticism. But, as much as I criticize I hope to offer maybe a little insight as well. If you surf the internet you’ll find tons of opinions written by various authors on pretty much every subject. – Don’t fret, I have started six more blog posts with topics such as Creativity, Social Networking, The Power of Facebook: Groups vs. Fan Pages and lastly Hitting the Campaign Trial.

I’ve got no strings To hold me down To make me fret, or make me frown I had strings But now I’m free There are no strings on me – Pinocchio.

I have to admit I love Google Analytic’s. It is only one of a variety of APIs that I use to monitor traffic to my sight. To my surprise it seems as though my blog has become quite popular with a certain Media Company. In the past two months of having my web site live it seems that Metroland has visited my site some thirty-three times. Sure I have invited some of my friends and former colleagues to read my posts. But holy cow!

Metroland from Mississauga to Oshawa and locations in between seem interested in what I have to say! Maybe I am on to something?

Dreamer’s and other People

You see, I worked in the Newspaper industry for nearly five years. I learned the ins and outs quite quickly. I voiced my opinion regularly. I became close friends with management, worked long hours (in the beginning) and tried to extend myself past the confides of just one particular office.

Just over a year ago I left their employment and after taking the summer off to tend to some unsightly business (associated with my former workplace). I eventually restarted my very own business. Voila, Procreator was resurrected.

I liked working on special projects. I worked for a subsidiary of your local Newspaper who’s sole purpose was to create and market ‘specialty products‘ from monthly Newspapers, quarterly Magazines and even Trade Show’s. I liked working with my team for the most part and I was passionate in a place were passion was squashed. I stuck my neck out or so I’d like to think, I fought for the little guy and I never babied anyone.

And therein as the bard would tell us, lies the rub

My goal for obvious reasons was to create for my business it’s own online identity and choosing to use a blog style format for my site made good sense. I found myself for the first time in my life with something to say! Don’t laugh! My friends would be killing themselves laughing right now. Me? Something to say?

I have always been outspoken, maybe a tad too out spoken and somewhat of a trouble maker. But I like to refer to it as passion! I love design and all things artistic. I believe children should be allowed to use their imaginations daily rather than being plugged into Video games. Whatever happened to imaginary friends anyways?

I love what I do so much! I often tell people I’d do it for free and I have. I don’t look at what I do as work, and I have often told people that I don’t work for a living… I create a living!

Onto My Rant

My time spent working in the newspaper industry afforded me the opportunity to learn many valuable life lessons. I still keep in contact with a few close friends. Seemly caught up in the bog of the newspaper industry. I’m amazed still to this very day how corporations mistreat, denigrate, and how these individuals fates are tied to a sinking ship. But what bothers me the most is when hard working individuals, especially in sales, aren’t appreciated. Or rewarded! Or given the kudos they deserve and to get anywhere it seems you have to adopt this dog-eat-dog mentality. I guess the truth hurts!

What happened to the the old adage ‘the cream always rises to the top‘. I don’t want to sound jaded, I believe this much to be true; the strong will survive, the haves will always have and that the table is definitely set from the top down and the good guys always finish last. But what I disagree with mostly is this self empowerment some take on as a means to distinguish themselves and their actions as some sort of heir of bureaucracy. These individuals pretend that they are better then their coworker’s because of some unwritten rule that their name comes first on the masthead.

I guess the reason I am writing this blog entry is because in this last year I have eye-witnessed the truest form of man vs. man. Self-preservation.

Last week I was visited by a close friend of mine. Man did they tear a strip off me. Some ‘people’ within the office confronted her because they didn’t like my portrayal or my experiences of which I wrote about in one of my blog posts. Wow, did it take some explaining. But as usual my friend and I came to terms. They also explained to me the cost of being my friend and how certain people have treated them, quite possibly because of our friendship. It blew me away actually how some in their office get away with childish behavior, rude comments and the games certain individuals play.

But this got me thinking… On the weekend I fired off an email. Maybe I shouldn’t have. Maybe I am just poking my nose into something I shouldn’t have. Or maybe I was giving the bully’s exactly what they wanted. I thought I had to defend a friend and since I am the bad guy already! So be it!

What is the lesson in all of this? Stand up to those that try to keep you down. Flex your muscles. My hats off to those that chose the high road! Those that resort to childish antics are just that, childish.

• Visit Robin Sharma’s insightful blog

Outside my front door tulips bulbs have sprouted through the ground and the greenery in our gardens have finally awaken from their winter slumber. As the summer warmth grows I look forward to the scent of rose’s in the air. Corny, but we should all take the time to stop and smell the rose’s. Here is something I have adopted as a gift of kindness for friends and loved ones, I give a rose bush. Try it, it reaps benefits that are incomparable.

A few years ago I had a monument made for my mothers garden on her 60th birthday with this inscription – All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today. How fitting of a testament.

With summer fast approaching, actually right around the corner. I am looking forward to a lucrative season. But what would summer be if it were all work and no play, right! I spend my summer’s enjoying family barbecue’s. Swimming pools become an oasis from the summer heat and of course the laughter of children is all around. There are plenty of day trips, camping outings and of course visits to local patio’s for sipping Mojito’s and Margarita’s with close friends. Durham Region offers up so many wonderful things to do and this summer my girlfriend and I plan on making the most of what Durham has to offer. Equally as importantly I plan to spend more time on the water sailing lake Ontario with my father, something I haven’t enjoyed in many years.

How do you plan to spend your summer? Do you become a weekend warrior? Do you hit the road to cottage country? Do you  spend a little time sitting on the dock of the bay? Do you cast-off and go fishing or recreational boating? Are you a sun worshiper flocking to one of our many beaches? However you choose to spend your summer,  surround yourself with those who mean everything to you and remember; ‘laughter is our own ray of sunshine that we share with others’.

Here is a list of items I keep in the trunk of the car:

• Two fishing poles and tackle
• A back pack containing a couple bottles of water, dried nuts and other non-perishable food items.
• Sunglasses, sunscreen and bug repellent
• Digital camera
• Peanuts and bird seed for nature walks and trips to the zoo
• A large blanket or towel
• Knife, fork and utility tool like a Leatherman
• Road map

An adventure awaits you and it all starts now! Remember plan for fun but expect the unexpected. Always have a First Aid kit handy. – Have a fun and safe summer!

A few years ago I was consulted on the redesign of the Durham Business Times (DBT) by Dynamic Publishing. Redesigning a newspaper makes good sense, these Newspapers reinvent themselves with every issue so why shouldn’t they keep up with the ‘times’. In my experience these publications rely heavily on routine, there is lukewarm support, they don’t like change and editors who talk a good game about wanting to do right by the reader and try to justify how they spend their time really don’t know what real change could do for a publication.

Redesigning DBT: The design process

I started researching, trend spotting and I put myself into the hearts and minds of the readers’. I asked myself a few questions; How easy are these publications to read? How could this redesign captivate a new audience? How could this redesign push some of the hardened rules newspapers have adopted? How could I use all the ‘psychology’ that designer’s have to successfully re-brand an outdated publication?

The new design should have balance, contrast, proportion, and simplicity.

When I started redesigning Durham Business Times with the help of the editor, I was immediately confronted with what I could not do. It had to look different but only modestly so I came up with 10 different designs for the front cover; from the very conservative, to the more lively magazine-style that we have all see today. It was an up-hill battle to say the least. In my opinion, influencing change was impossible, you are looked at as an anarchist but the goal was to give the freelance reporters, photographers, designers and editors better tools to do better journalism.

A ‘Newspaper’ should look to it’s web site for design cues. It should be navigated like a web site, need only traditional eye movements, spreads should be designed with high visual appeal and the covers should be artfully done. After two months sweating it out, offering advice, creating a vision – the clashing of heads (typical difficulties associated with implementing something ‘new’) ground the design process to a halt. I conformed. I placed my better judgment aside and did what they asked – I thought of the old adage, ‘the customer is always right‘, right?

“Make ours, look like theirs”

The end result of our Durham Business Times redesign, after months of work was to change the publication’s design to mimic XPress, a subsidiary of Gulf News in Dubai. Although this decision at the time was our last resort. Durham Business Times took on a newer, hipper look. We even borrowed the slogan “The Face of…” and adopted it as our own.

“Good design is copied, Great design is stolen.” – Pablo Picasso

Durham Business Times most recently, just this past issue, went through yet another simpler face-lift. If you have the opportunity pick one up. Read it! Share your thoughts! These Newspaper’s need to hear your opinion. Inside the paper you will find contact information for the Publisher. A word of advice, if they truly listened to their readers, their paper will be more compelling, interesting, relevant, informative, efficient and entertaining.

A Theory on Relativity

What is missing from these types of publications? Relative content! A theory on relativity reaching the vox populi and how these types of publications disassociated themselves, they isolate readers and serve an underlying editorial agenda. The medium has become acquainted. How are these types of publications going to survive? Simple, they need to increase their reach, they must build value for their advertisers, and thus find new streams of revenue. They need a ‘Soul’. Niche publishing, like Durham Business Times and other publications should be a ‘Soul’ provider, that’s right, I said ‘Soul’ provider. They say that “the eyes are the window to the soul” – I often wonder what their view would be like?

Knowledge transfer

Knowledge transfer can be comprised of many different factors. But in the this case it applies to how valuable knowledge, skills, expertise, and experience is to the reader base. Editorially speaking, it helps build a legacy that will be vibrant, relevant and sought-after by it’s followers’. Have these products met the challenge? What more can they do to contribute? These are questions that we should all be asking ourselves because, as business owners and entrepreneurs we need information sharing. Focusing on opportunities to apply successful approaches to knowledge transfer and succession management within and across Durham Region.

Magazines as a manifesto

Lets face it! Local magazines like East of the City and Durham Trade and Commerce might be fabulous, they need a lot of work to save themselves. They need to dig deep, find a new audience and deliver addictive content. This May 2010, will bring yet another Regional magazine produced by Dynamic Publishing. CIRCA – For reader’s that have an obsession with shopping and shoes, or something like that. In my opinion, Retail Magazines like these, disguised as lifestyle magazines dupe advertiser’s to there true agenda. The almighty bottom line!

Now, this is not the end of the information technological onslaught. It is not even the beginning or the end of the new technologies. But, perhaps, it is the end of a naive beginning. – Winston Churchhill (adapted)

Why are these types of magazines the worst at engaging a community? The answer; An advertiser’s target audience, of course, must actually read the magazine for an opportunity to see the ads being run. But the frequency, the length of time, and how many pages they get through have nothing to do with how engaging the advertising is going to be. “Real engagement is the consequence of any marketing or communications effort that results in an increased level of brand equity for the brand.”

Remember promotions are bait and protocol is always difficult. I guess it will come down to the sales reps placing their clients needs first over their own. It’s unfortunate that new ventures like these haven’t developed an online assets. Will online readers be willing to pay for content in the future? Business models for news print have been changed in efforts to integrate online with printed. Are the current models working or do they have to be modified even broader? Have they made the right choices?

• The 18-29 year old age group prefers to get their local news via television 67%, the Internet 27%, local newspapers/magazines 39%, and radio 22%.
• Ages 30 to 49, television 60%, Internet 24%, local newspapers/magazines 33%, and radio 21%.
• Ages 50 to 64, television 63%, Internet 12%, local newspapers/magazines 45%, and radio 14%.
• Those 65 years and older show 69% for television, 4% Internet, 53% newspapers, and 13% radio.
• So if CIRCA is targeting 20% of a demographic (women aged 36 to 54) with a circulation of 25,000, it’s reach within the community will be approx. 7.4% of the market.

Source: Title; GarciaMedia, Knowledge Transfer; Canadian Federal Government Stats, I would like to thank Dynamic Publishing and anyone else I may have forgotten. Statistic by; MPA, Magazine Publisher’s of America

Our topic of discussion will be on SEO, and why it is so important to be ranked. Search Engine Optimization is crucial if you want to be found on the internet. How do you do this? You should building a matrix by increasing links, write effective content (keyword density), include META tags (Keywords you want to target) and study your analytics. By doing these things you can increase your website’s ranking in most of the popular search engines.

Ten SEO Techniques all top web sites should have

1. Title Tag
2. Meta Tags
3. Proper use of Heading Tags
4. Alt Attributes on Images
5. Title Attributes on Links
6. XML Sitemap
7. Relevant Content
8. Link Building
9. Social Media
10. A few SEO Don’t – Flash and Splash

If you are a owner of a website or blog then I would strongly recommend optimizing your website so that it ranks higher in search results.

• Identify how many unique domains are linking to a page, subdomain, or to your entire website
• Analyze your competitors to see what they’re doing successfully and how you can emulate their success
• Judge the quality of potential links to your site
• Find specific link acquisition targets
• Measure the success of viral marketing and link bait campaigns

Video: Titling, time and spread

Should you Host or Post? Embed video from your site or 3rd Party sites; such as YouTube, Vimeo, MetaCafe, and DailyMotion. There are some clear advantages of these big video sharing sites including:

• Easy to upload video
• No bandwidth costs
• Lots of traffic
• Easy to share (embed, email to friends, rss feeds, etc)

Today sites like ‘Google’ do not search video content as a means of ranking. Let me explain, in your video you say “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!” Because video content is embedded and search engines work on keyword searches you would have to have your video monologue transcribed so that search engines could find the Meta information that corresponds with your video topic. These services do exist, but for now you have to rely on titling, time and spread.

Create a ‘catchy’ name for your video, something your intended viewer’s would search for.  Keep your video under 10 minutes, as people don’t have all day to watch your ‘vlog’. Use a 3rd party video sites; such as YouTube, Vimeo, MetaCafe, and DailyMotion. Use meta tags and RSS features from your site.