Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

Some jobs of note include:

• The Zoomba Instructor
• The Beachbody Coach (really??)
• The Cloud Services Coach
• The Big Data Architect

Check out the INFOGRAPHIC below for the full list.

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

It is obvious that the now 30 year-old creator hasn’t led an average life. Spending time running a multi-billion dollar company while acquiring a range of other businesses is not the usual pastime of a college drop-out. If you are wondering just how this billionaire stacks up against your average young professional, take a look at this infographic from Mashable and see what sets Zuckerberg apart from the rest.

This week’s story comes from a recent fundraising management school graduate working in PR.

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

Over the last few years, there has been a noticeable influx of the local food movement on social media. Prime examples being the 100K diet, eating-locally, and the “felfie” (Farmer Selfie). People have taken something that has existed for centuries (farm to table consumption) and modernized it with a relatively new concept (social media). We all know those friends on social media who spend hours snapping pictures of their fresh food finds, tweeting about trips to the market and sharing farm-to-table recipes on blogs. It is clear this trend has really taken off!

Depending on what day you do your shopping, here are a few suggestions of farmers markets around the city:

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

Some of the most compelling social media metrics lie in the patterns of user engagement, specifically the differentiating factors between adult and adolescent usage. In PR, we consistently refine our messaging in order to ensure that we hit the right targets as we share newsworthy information. Remember, there’s no sense in sharing information with a demographic that has no interest in receiving it.

With that in mind, check out the below infographic from Next Advisor outlining some of the ways adults differ from teens in the social world. Some interesting takeaways to consider the next time you tweet or post on behalf of yourself or your brand.

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

Although taking full advantage of Twitter can be difficult, it is important to understand the ins and outs to reap the full benefits for you and your business. In this Infographic below (created by Fuseworkstudios) you will learn how to maximize your tweets with a few simple tips!

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

If you send me a press release as a .pdf instead of a .doc, know that you are not one of my favorite people. #prtips

— R.L. Nave (@rlnave) April 29, 2014

Learn to write well. Short paras, short sentences & clear language. #PRTips

— Aneela Rose PR (@AneelaRosePR) April 29, 2014

Remember, successful #PR is not about what a journalist could do for you, but what you could do for them #PRtips

— Slack Communications (@SlackComms) April 29, 2014

Don’t forget to LOVE UP the wonderful people who are ALREADY in your business world. #PRtips

— Melissa Cassera (@casseracomm) April 27, 2014

Always pick up the check. People won’t remember what they had for lunch, but they’ll always remember who picked up the check. #PRTips

— Cyndy Hoenig (@CyndyHoenig) April 26, 2014

The optimum length for a sentence appears to be about 14 words. Write concise sentences with these tips! http://t.co/L6x5UNUewy #PRtips

— Brock Communications (@TeamBrockComm) April 25, 2014

Become comfortable in uncomfortable situations. #PRtips

— nicole (@Nicole_Kmiotek) April 25, 2014

If possible, compare your #PR progress against your competitors. Is there anything you could try and replicate/avoid? #prtips

— Slack Communications (@SlackComms) April 25, 2014

Coordination of effort takes much more energy to achieve than duplication of effort. But duplication takes much more energy to undo. #PRtips

— SwarnerGroup (@SwarnerGroup) April 24, 2014

#PRTip for Press Releases: Get to the point and fast! Don’t make it hard for the reader by hiding your message within the body copy.

— Whitefoot PR (@WhitefootPR) April 30, 2014

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1. All employees involved in the social media component of the crisis communication plan must be trained to handle the technology (social media apps on smartphones, tablets, etc.) and manage messages relevant to the audience and situation.

2. Interaction between the organization and audience might be limited during a crisis because of the immediacy in posting messages, however, having an employee monitor comments posted by the public to gauge concerns is important.

3. If your business has nothing to do with the crisis at hand, be quiet. Is anyone really paying attention, anyway?

4. Consider taking a few days off from your normal editorial calendar. You want to be empathetic and stop promoting your product during a crisis.

5. Be alert and up to date on current news.

The power of Twitter was evident a year ago with many tweeting real-time, up-to-date information on the Boston Marathon Bombings and is active this week for the anniversary of the event. With the hashtag #BostonStrong which has been mentioned more than 2.3 million times since the event, the crisis has been overcome but is not forgotten.

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Twitter has proven to be a leader in real-time news generation with information being posted by professionals, organizations and individuals alike. It is important to remember that although technology has enabled us to act quickly on information sharing, we must still act with heart and compassion.

Are you using Twitter to your full advantage? Check out this INFOGRAPHIC outlining some tips for making the most of your Twitter experience!

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Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

With the rapid evolution of technology and social media, keeping  up with changing marketing and PR trends can be a full- time job. Lucky for us, there are some great conferences in Toronto that will  update us on the latests and greatest in the PR and marketing fields.  So, if you are looking to brush up on some of your skills, here are our top conference picks for 2014:

Social Media Marketing Conference | April 29, 2014

Social media evolves at such a quick pace it makes it very difficult for companies to keep up with changing platforms. The Social Media Marketing Conference, provides insight into the social media world and how companies are diversifying their interaction with audiences.

Digital Media Summit | May 7, 2014

If you are into social media or digital marketing, this is the conference for you. Focusing on the digital side of branding and marketing, the Digital Media Summit introduces ideas that are hugely relevant to today’s changing media environment. Featured speakers include: Umang Shah (Director, Social Strategy, Walmart), Mike Tippet (Hootsuite) and Creighton Burke (VP, Mobile Strategy, Live Nation)

The Art of Marketing | May 28, 2014

With guest speakers including: Malcolm Gladwell, Marc Ecko, Denise Lee Yohn, Matthew Dixon and Scott Stratten; this years conference is sure to be an educational one. Taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, this one-day event brings together some of the most renowned thought leaders in the marketing business.

Ideacity | June 18-20, 2014

This three-day Conference is ram packed full of thought provoking idea makers. Ideacity brings 50 of the most creative minds together to present to a highly engaged audience. Past speakers include: Jake Andraka (6-year-old cancer researcher), Carl Dietrich (inventor of a flying car) and Joseph Coughlin (Director of MIT’s AgeLab).

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

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The original video for the oscar-nominated song was released in November of 2013, making big news for being the longest music video ever; a title previously held by the King of Pop, Michael Jackson (for the song ‘Ghosts’). The energetic dancing video, 24 Hours of Happy,  is shown on its own website and features the song in 4 minute loops for a full 24 hours. The video highlights dancers of all shapes and sizes; male, female, young, old, and even some celebs including: Steve Carrell, Kelly Osborne and Magic Johnson to name a few. A regular length video was released around the same time.

We can all agree: Pharrell has had quite a year topping the charts with hits like ‘Blurred Lines’ and ‘Get Lucky’, but this video has become a beast of its own. As of late, the style of the video has been replicated and used to highlight countries and cities from around the world. Hop on YouTube and you can see ‘Happy’ videos from Dublin, Bermuda, Berlin, France, Hong Kong, Kiev, Jamaica, Cambodia and many others. Loads of local businesses are going to great lengths to get a spot in their city’s version of the video.  Two of the most impressive videos have come from Jamaica and Bermuda. They are beautifully done and  showcase tourist hot spots in a gorgeous light.  ’Happy’ is no longer just an upbeat song, it has become the ultimate marketing tool to showcase your country, city or business. Take a look at Bermuda’s and Jamaica’s renditions below:

Pharrell seems to be embracing the various parodies of his video, tweeting them out and showing gratitude for all the support. A big thanks goes out to Pharrell, for bringing a little bit of happiness into all of our lives.

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

During last year’s Super Bowl, fans and social media enthusiasts alike experienced two major unexpected events. The first was an epic power outage during one of the most watched sporting events in the world and the second (happening only 10 minutes after the first) was a revolutionary tweet from Oreo.

This past Sunday during Super Bowl XLVIII, millions of viewers were glued to their televisions and social media accounts. Companies world-wide were waiting, praying, hoping that they would be granted the opportunity to experience an “Oreo Moment”. Instead of waiting on the sidelines, JC Penny took matters into their own hands. It started with a series of misspelled tweets around the time of kick-off. Immediate speculation of a account hacking began to circulate until the U.S. company tweeted the reasoning behind the erratic tweets: mittens.

JC Penny has recieved mixed reviews from this social media stunt. Yes, the brand’s name is out in the news and all over social media but is it true that any publicity is good publicity? With the influx of tweeting during major sporting events and the increased importance of tweeting in real-time, we have to wonder if the risk always outweighs the benefit. We think that Oreo nailed it with their originality during this once in a life-time event last year, however we don’t know if attempting to create your own moment has the same impact. We would like to hear from our readers: Do you think live-tweeting and taking the risk that JC Penny did worked? Here at EDPR the debate is still up in the air but they definitely got us talking. Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Social media has been around for quite some time now, but that certainly doesn’t mean everyone is fully comfortable using it. Check out today’s #FilmFriday and learn some helpful tips from EDPR founder, Cory Stewart, on how to up your social game!

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

As PR professionals, hearing about a media crisis generates great deal of conversation in the office; heated debates of how we would help a client bounce back. Below you will find our solutions for the Biebs!

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1. Apologize and seek self-help

Bieber has obviously upset a lot of people as a result of his behavior. It is time to apologize and work on being a better role model. We think a short direct statement, no longer than five sentences, should be released indicating that he is sorry for his recent actions and he plans on seeking help. This would show a level of maturity and poise from the superstar that would help to quiet the critics.

2. Get out of the pubic eye

The public has seen a lot of Justin Bieber lately and very few of the reasons for this have been positive. We would advise the Biebs to try his best to disengage with the media for a while. Get off social media (it seems to only make matters worse), diminish public appearances  and  lay low for a while. Make the public aware of the time you are taking to better yourself.

3. Get the Help

Bieber’s career can be far from over, but in order to sustain himself he needs to get things together. Whether there are behavioral issues, drug issues or something else going on with the young pop star, his talent and showmanship is undeniable. It is one thing to say you are working to better yourself and it’s another to put the time and effort in. If Bieber does the work, great results can be achieved.

Known for his work with charities, going the extra mile for fans and winning the hearts of boys and girls worldwide, the majority of Justin Bieber’s career has been positive. We know Bieber can bounce back from his indiscretions if he plays his cards right. Bieber should seek whatever help and guidance needed to make good, positive decisions in his personal and professional life. 2014 has not seen the end of Biebs, we just hope he can turn it around soon!

Here are our Top 10 PR Pro Tips for this week, selected from Twitter. Remember to submit your own PR pro tip using the hashtag #PRTip or #PRTips. Your tweet could be featured here next week!

From Beyonce to Vine, we certainly had a lot to say in 2013. As an ode to the year gone by, we wanted to share some of our top articles. Check out the top 10 below:

1. Just Ask Beyonce: Why Traditional Publicity Is On The Way Out 

2. How Mayor Rob Ford Could Have Saved Face During “Crack-Gate”

3. Our Top 10 Halloween Costume Predictions For 2013

4. 10 Steps To Eliminating That Pesky Writer’s Block

5. A Vine Love Story: Curtis Lepore and Jessi Smiles

6. How To Pick The Best PR Agency For Your Business

7. Making An Impact: How A Charity Or Non-Profit Can Benefit From Public Relations

8. The Benefits Of Hiring A Boutique PR Firm Or Agency

9. How Diverse Is Your PR Language? Check Out The Most Overused Words

10. 9 Quick Tips For Aspiring PR Pros

SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS 2014 from 2 FACTORY on Vimeo.

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This week we’re explaining the importance of using FourSquare as a lucrative marketing tactic for your shop, pub or restaurant and how to get the most out of it. As with the other social media networks we’ve covered in the previous posts, each platform must be suitable for your business. Since FourSquare allows users to check-into physical locations, it’s obviously necessary to have a customer-service oriented business. FourSquare has had most success in the realm of retailers, bars, restaurants and the like. If you’re not using FourSquare for your business yet, here are a few reasons why you should start and how it will benefit your business.

Statistics:

Over 1.5 millions businesses are on FourSquare
Over 40 millions users worldwide
Over 4.5 billion check-ins a day

• FourSquare makes it easier for your business to be found: If a user is looking for nearby places to eat or shop or get their dry cleaning done, your business will pop on the map if they are in the vicinity. By listing your business on FourSquare, the app has done the work of promoting your business. Offering discounts on your FourSquare account can also greatly increase the chances of your business getting more customers (we will go more into detail about FourSquare campaigns below).
• Promote your FourSquare account onsite: When a potential customer walks by your business and sees that you are on FourSquare, you have already increased the chances that your business will be visited by that customer. Since using FourSquare as a marketing tactic for business is still relatively new, users can look forward to being a valued customer to your business, especially if they will be rewarded. If they check in enough times, they can become the mayor of your business. When someone becomes the mayor of a business on FourSquare it means they have the most check-ins out of anyone else at that particular business.
• Reward system: This idea ties in closely with the previous one. A lot of the times businesses will promote a discount on their storefront if you check in using FourSquare.  Create a contest or some sort of reward every time a user checks in to your place of business. You can also gain new customers by having a “newbie” reward. When a person checks into your business for the first time ever, they can get a free cup of coffee, for example. Or you can offer your customers with frequent check-ins a 15% discount on any item, depending of the nature of your business. This generates revenue for your business while engaging your customer – and every customer loves to be rewarded with free gifts or discounts. When you combine this campaign with promoting it on your storefront, you increase your chances of having your business succeed that much more. The beauty is that the customer puts in minimal effort by simply tapping “check in” on their app, and they are being rewarded for it. However, in order to offer specials and discounts you must become a verified business on FourSquare, see below.
• Become a verified business: In order to become a verified business, you must create a business account with FourSquare. If your business is already listed on FourSquare (a customer may have added it in order to check-in) you can claim it as your own business. You simply search for the business name, enter your phone number, and FourSquare will call you with an automated machine asking a few questions regarding the business. On that same page, you will also be provided with a verification code that you will then enter into your phone. After that, you can access your business’ FourSquare account, review statistics and check-ins, demographics, and manage campaigns.
• Users can connect their Foursquare account to Facebook and Twitter: Depending on whether their social media profiles are linked to their FourSquare, every time a customer checks into your business, it will show up on all of their social media accounts. Not only do their FourSquare friends see their check-ins, but now all their followers on Twitter and friends on Facebook also see them checking into your business. The promotional work is being done for you by your customers. But, once again, rewarding them with specials will only make your business that much more successful. If a users follower notices that the person who checked in to your business received a 15% off coupon just by checking in, others are much more likely to visit your business in order to get the discount too.
• Know your customers: One of the best parts about using FourSquare for your business is that you get to know your customers on a more personal level. You can view their profile photo, their latest check-ins, reviews that they’ve written, their badges that they’ve earned, etc. With FourSquare’s analytics tool, you can also track who’s linking their check-ins with their Facebook or Twitter pages.

To learn more about how to claim, create or manage your business on FourSquare, visit their how-to page.

Sources

http://www.htmlgraphic.com/the-importance-of-foursquare-for-a-business/

http://beeliked.com/resources/how-to-use-foursquare-for-business/

http://scorephoenix.org/2013/09/importance-foursquare-local-businesses/

https://foursquare.com/about

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Last week we wrote about different ways your business or brand can get the most use out of Instagram. This week we’re tackling one that is sometimes slightly more difficult for a brand, as it depends highly on the product and type of business you are promoting.

Many businesses create a Pinterest account because it is one of the many widely used social media platforms. It seems to have become a belief that as long as your account is present, you have a presence in the social media world. This is not true. Many businesses either do not use Pinterest correctly (as well as other social media platforms that we will cover in the next few weeks) or they do not use it at all because they do not see any or enough feedback. Here are ways to use Pinterest in order to get the most for you brand, product or business.

1. Determine your audience: While Instagram is devoted to just images (which can cover a wider scope of businesses and brands), Pinterest is a combination of images and content. It’s also important to remember that Pinterest is a social media platform that caters to DIY crafts, recipes, design tips, fashion, etc. Determine the type of product you are promoting or the nature of your business and whether or not your audience would benefit from your boards/pins. For example, a furniture designer could boost their popularity by pinning images of their past, current or future design projects. One board could be devoted to furniture they have designed, while another board could be devoted to simple, low-cost design ideas for interior spaces. By doing this, they are simultaneously promoting their brand and giving design tips to their followers without appearing to be pushing sales on a specific product.

2. Pinterest takes time: Just like most social media networks, you need to devote a lot of time and patience in order to create meaningful and quality content that will draw attention and get re-pinned. There is no quick and easy way to get thousands of followers and re-pins, so it’s important to be realistic and manage your time accordingly.

3. Stick with a familiar username: If you have a specific username that you have used for your Instagram or Twitter accounts, make sure your Pinterest (and other social media accounts) are the same. If the username is unavailable, alter it (for example a number at the end or a dash in the middle) but keep the name the same. By using your business or brand name for your username, it will be much easier for your customers to find and follow you. When your content gets re-pinned, then your brand or business name becomes visible to a much larger audience.

4. Link  accounts: If you already have established Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts, be sure to link those accounts to your Pinterest. Your followers that are already on Pinterest can now follow you and have access to more of your content.

5. Give your pin boards descriptive names: Boards function as a virtual pinboard where your business or brand can share their latest ideas, designs, etc. Using descriptive names makes it easier to organize your pins and, consequently, your ideas as well. Cluttered boards with mismatched or irrelevant pins are an eye-sore, which could hurt your brand’s reputation by driving away potential customers. Narrowing your boards even further (for example, to specific colours of a certain product) can make it easier for your followers to find a design in that specific colour.

6. Re-pin and follow: Possibly the most important part of Pinterest (we just love alliterations), re-pinning and following businesses or brands similar to your own helps to promote your own business. Re-pinning also helps to get your business’ name out to customers as well as potential clients. If you own a textile company, you could use Pinterest to target a specific designer you would like to work with and re-pin their images. This helps you to network and open up communication between businesses with which you could potentially collaborate.

7. Curating content beyond your brand: This blurb goes hand in hand with the one above in regards to re-pinning. You can devote one specific day a week where you select a unique idea, product or design beyond your brand and re-pin it onto your specific board. You can choose something simple and catchy, such as “Friday Fashion Find.” By curating these unique designs and products, your business is viewed as knowledgeable and up-to-date in the field.

8. Be creative: We’ll keep this one short and sweet. Pinterest is all about creativity! If your pins come off as too serious or are blatantly trying to drive sales, you will lose your followers and your customers’ interest. Pinterest users want to see real people behind the business or brand. By portraying this aspect of reality, or real people behind a business, it enables your costumers to relate more to your product.

This week, we’d like to introduce you to Ryan, the fashionable and fabulous man behind the lifestyle blog, I’m Mr. Fabulous!

Ryan Massel (a.k.a. Mr. Fab) began www.immrfabulous.com nearly three years ago, and quickly achieved national recognition. Awarded “Best New Blog” (2011) and “Best Humour Blog” (2011 & 2012) in Canada, he continues to receive acclaim for his witty and unique perspective. Ryan travels the world covering lavish parties and events, always seeming to get the inside scoop. He engages readers with his charm and shares his belief that we all deserve a moment to feel fabulous.

What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

I went to school in Regina, Saskatchewan, and spent my summers on the farm. When my grade 12 English teacher Ms. Lewis gave me a mercy pass, I thanked my lucky stars, and decided formal education wasn’t for me.

Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

Growing up, I saw my family fall into the expected. A firefighter, a government worker, a plumber; all very talented but not the direction I saw myself headed. I’ve always wanted to make people laugh, and share fun stories that might inspire people to choose the path less taken. Forge their own story in life and be who and whatever they want to be!

What is the best part of your day-to-day?

My emails are always the best part of my day. When I wake up and see a dozen sitting there, I open them like a stack of presents; anticipation and joy for whatever’s inside. An invite, a compliment, it’s always something new and it’s always exciting!

What’s the most challenging?

Every time I share a story, it’s a bit nerve-wracking. Will they like it? Is it well written? Who will read it?… Over 750 posts in the last 2.5 years and I still dread a flop.

If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for yourself?

I’ve always wanted to host my own tv show. Maybe it’s a game show, talk show or morning show. I would also reluctantly date a Kardashian just to get the camera on my face.

How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life?

I live a life of not letting obstacles get in my way. No ticket? No problem!!  Heck, I’ve even worked at a catering company to get access to a party I wasn’t guest listed for. Where there’s a will, there’s a way – you’ve just got to get creative!

What is the most memorable moment in your career?

Every day new opportunities present themselves, and my most memorable moments grow. Being flagged over by Tom Moran, the lead designer for J.Crew, at his show in NYC so he could ask my opinion in his S/S14 collection made me pinch myself. Or there was the interview turned carnival-games competition with famed country music singer Paul Brandt. Anytime I meet a celebrity and we laugh through an impromptu selfie photo shoot I think about how amazing my life is. I know I’m a lucky guy and I feel grateful everyday.

Do you support any initiatives or charities?

If your charity involves giving the best life possible to children, sign me up! I’ve done charitable work supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, and for the good people at ivebeenbullied.ca. Our youth need mentors in their lives who motivate them and let them know that the world is their oyster!

Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

Being 65 and fabulous, making the most of every opportunity!

Just for fun: if you had to pick one app in the whole APPVERSE, what would it be?

1 app!? Since I’ve never been one to stick to rules, I have 4.

This guy ^ is overly excited to be a guest-blogger
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Contributing to blogs is a great way to build your writing resume and get your work featured in front of a larger audience. Guest-blogging can also be a great opportunity to drive traffic to your own site while offering meaningful content to another blog at the same time. You can build your credibility, create great references, and build networks all while improving your writing skills. If you’re just getting started, here are a few tips to become a successful guest-blogger.

Research: When guest-blogging, you need to do your research in order to find the right blog to contribute to. You will write more meaningful articles when you are truly interested in and knowledgeable about a topic. Research topics that fit into  your niche or industry and figure out which blogs would be a good match for the content you will be writing. When you focus your content on a specific topic that you know, your chances of becoming a well-known guest-blogger in that targeted field are that much higher.

Write your best: When you’re contributing to someone else’s blog, you are writing for their established audience, brand and voice. Adhering to the blog’s particular writing style and voice can also help you to become a more fluid writer by being able to adapt writing styles that are different from your own. If your guest post on the blog is successful and gets many viewers, you have boosted both the blog’s popularity and your own popularity as a writer.

Read the guidelines: This is extremely important to do before you start writing. However, if you’re a procrastinator, then it’s especially important to read the guidelines before you send off your finished piece to the blog. Failing to follow certain guidelines of the blog could make you appear disrespectful in that you did not do your research and read the rules. Always be mindful of the rules established for guest-bloggers. One slip up could damage your reputation as a guest-blogger, which will make it difficult to get more opportunities in the future.

Read the blog: This seems like a total no-brainer, but it still needs to be noted that it’s important to read the blog to white you’re contributing. Do not contribute to blogs you found five minutes ago just to get publicity and your writing out there. Follow the blog for a few weeks (if they post often) or a few months (if they don’t post as often) to really get an idea of the style, tone and viewpoint of the blog. If you’re not interested in the blog, how can you contribute your writing to it if you wouldn’t read your own article? Seems silly, right? So read the blog!

Establish goals: Before you decide to contribute to a blog or become a guest-blogger, decide where you want the guest-blogging to take you. Do you want more viewers on your own blog? Do you want your writing to be made available to a larger audience? Do you want to establish yourself as inventive or as a leader in your industry? Decide what you hope to gain from guest-blogging and set out to achieve those goals by finding the right outlets/blogs.

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Whether you’re a business that’s just starting out or a well-established brand releasing a new product, having an active social media presence is vital for today’s market. Recognizing the importance of social media and having an executable social media plan is necessary in order to have a successful social media campaign/presence. Simply having an account that’s there but is idle most of the time is not enough. Here are seven ways your brand or product can effectively use Instagram.

Determine whether or not your type of business is visual: Instagram is all about visuals and telling a story through images. If you think your brand or product is not at all associated with images, keep brainstorming and get creative. We once saw a car wash company like every image that had the hashtag #haboob during one of Arizona’s severe dust storms last summer (by the way,  A haboob (Arabic: هَبوب‎ “blasting/drafting”) is a type of intense dust storm carried on an atmospheric gravity current. Haboobs occur regularly in arid regions throughout the world. Wikipedia). They also posted before and after pictures of dust-covered cars coming out squeaky clean after the wash. Although, sometimes you must come to terms with the fact that your business is not (or should not) be visual and that Instagram may not be the right outlet. For example, if you own a funeral home, it would be fairly inappropriate to have an Instagram account to promote your services.

#Hashtag: Using relevant hashtags in the caption of your photo helps to spread your message even further. It enables your product to become visible to a much larger audience beyond just your followers. We have to note that the keyword there is ‘relevant.’ Viewers/Followers will know you’re spamming them if you use too many hashtags and irrelevant hashtags. It would be in poor taste to post a photo of your restaurant’s new dish (yes, pun intended) using hashtags about a recent tragic event. Make sure they are targeted to your specific audience.

Photo Contests: Creating a photo contest on Instagram is the perfect way to engage your followers and potential customers. Make sure the prize is relevant and will entice your audience. Create a hashtag specific to your brand’s contest, for example #’X’companyPhotoContest, and remember to engage with your followers who entered the contest. A good way to do this is to post their image on your brand’s Instagram account and mention them in the caption. You can also comment on their photo thanking them for the entry and wishing them good luck. People love contests and they love to be rewarded – it’s important to show your customers you love them!

Follow me, Follow you: The title of this is fairly self-defining. When you get a follower, follow him/her back. Be cautious, however. Don’t bother following back the spam accounts that promise you thousands of followers within minutes. Similar to our previous post about effectively gaining followers on Twitter, you want quality followers who will be genuinely interested in your story and your product or brand.

Track image analytics: There are tools available for you to track likes, comments, followers, etc. on your Instagram account. Try BlitzMetrics or Curalate.

Be creative and fun: Instagram is a great tool for a business’ marketing campaign, but for the public, it’s a fun outlet used during downtime. If you appear too serious and dull, you won’t engage your followers. You can post fun photos of your employees at a company function (just make sure they’re sober and you have their consent, of course) or of a typical day in the office. This gives your business personality and makes the customers see that there’s real people and real life behind the scenes.

Sneak-peeks: If you’re designing a new product, take a short video or a photo associated with the product and post it as a teaser for your customers. If your Spring 2014 Fashion Line includes pieces that all incorporate a specific fabric, give your audience of hint of what’s to come by uploading a photo of that fabric.

Stay tuned for next Tuesday when we cover how to get the most out of Pinterest for your brand or business.

(Source)

“In Internet slang, a troll (/ˈtroʊl/, /ˈtrɒl/) is a person who sows discord on the internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community…either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.” (Wikipedia)

It’s inevitable: you will encounter an internet troll at least once in your life, especially if you are a frequent blogger, tweeter, vlogger, person of interest etc. There are people out there who lurk in the shadows behind their computer preying on individuals who voice an opinion or present an idea that is different from their own. Nothing you say or do will stop them from making nasty comments.

There are varying levels of internet trolls that you should know about. Some produce harmless, negative comments that might annoy you or anger you, while others threaten harm or even death. How do you differentiate between the trolls, and when should you react?

Aggressive troll: If you’ve ever scrolled down to the comments section on YouTube (it’s a guilty pleasure), you will find the worst of the worst when it comes to internet trolls. This type of troll is easier to spot. They use profanity, racial slurs, wish death upon the author of the content, bodily harm, harm to their family or employees, and other violent things. Don’t let this type of troll get to you. Trolls survive off of defensive, over-emotional responses, and they feed on those victims who respond that way. Don’t take it personally. Let’s use an example:

Anonymous writes, “This blog post sucks. I hope all your fingers get broken and you never get to write again because you clearly have no brain function to produce decent ideas. I also hope you get in a car accident that permanently disables you because this planet has no use for you,”

Ouch. Your heart is racing, you have never read such awful things being wished upon you, and you want to respond emotionally because you don’t deserve such a fate. Stop. Breathe. No matter how nasty the comment is, don’t take it personally. Chances are you have never met this person in your life and you never will. You have three options on how to deal with the comment: erase and forget about it, ignore it, or respond politely.

“Thanks for the feedback. What sort of topics would you like me/us to cover in the future?”

If the troll responds with more aggression, you can ignore it. If there is no constructive criticism, you will gain nothing from it. Remember that you are not posting content online in order to preserve or defend your sense of self. You’re posting content that represents your ideas, your opinions, your product, your creativity, etc. Not everyone will agree, and that is ok.

The troll trying to change the world: You will come across this troll by voicing your satisfaction with a certain product, company, political or religious stance. This troll will come out of nowhere and attempt to make you feel embarrassed about your personal opinion by stating facts that support the opposing view. They may or may not include any curse words or racial slurs. Respond in a passive, emotionless way. Thank them for their input, state your own facts if they’re questioning your brand or product, ask how it could be improved, and move on.

The fake profile troll: This troll will create an account on a social media site posing as a somebody else or somebody you might know. They will try to get a rise out of you by spreading rumors, sending vicious messages, threats, and posting inappropriate photos where they may tag you. This could be a difficult troll to ignore, but ignoring them is your best weapon of defense. Do not argue with them, and certainly do not threaten legal action as that can only worsen the situation. Block that person from your own account and continue to do so even if they keep making new profiles. Trolls eventually tire and go onto the next victim when the current one isn’t giving in. The only way you will win is by remaining calm and collected – or at least appearing so.

Sources:

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/How_to_deal_with_vile_nasty_comments_online_11553.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troll_(Internet)
http://www.webroot.com/us/en/home/resources/tips/pc-security/you-cant-win-an-argument-with-a-troll
http://www.business2community.com/blogging/how-to-handle-nasty-comments-on-your-business-blog-0570591

Google yourself: Carefully search through every result that comes up in each different tab (Web, Images, Video, etc) and target what you want to remove from the search. Sometimes a nasty comment you posted on a Youtube video will come back to haunt you as the first result on the video search. If your Google account is linked with your Youtube account, all you have to do is remove the comment. Otherwise, retrieve your login information, sign into that old account and remove the comment.

Facebook: If you don’t want your Facebook page to show up when you’re searched, it’s extremely easy to hide it without deactivating your account. Simply go into your privacy settings, and turn off the feature that asks “Do you want other search engines to link to your timeline?” If you want to be extra sure that it won’t show up, change your username that shows up on the address bar, which is oftentimes set by default as your first and last name.

Old Accounts: Don’t worry about your old Myspace account: they went ahead and did the work for you. With Myspace’s rebranding, all of the accounts that were under the “Classic” Myspace have been erased. Your angsty teenage blog posts are gone forever (which can definitely be a good thing). If you have any other accounts still showing up, try accessing that account by retrieving your login information. Once you’re in the account, you can delete it. If you can’t remember your login information and have no way of retrieving it, simply contact the webmaster or customer service on the site and talk to someone about getting the account deleted.

Bad publicity: If someone posts an unflattering picture of you or writes something that would damage your reputation, you can send them a polite e-mail asking to remove the content. Do not make any legal threats, as that could make the situation worse. If the person or site still refuses to remove the content you can contact Google’s content removal page and submit a request to have a specific search result be removed. Although the content is still there, it won’t show up on Google. The only issue with this, however, is that it could still be visible on other search engines. But if the content is truly awful or gives out your personal information, you’ll go the extra mile to get it removed.

Don’t use your name: For future reference, keep the blogs or accounts that you want private under an alias. If you comment on videos or blogs, make sure that’s anonymous as well. 5 years down the road you could regret that one angry comment about an article you disagreed with.

Sources:

http://www.wikihow.com/Ungoogle-Yourself

http://www.waysto.com/ways-to-ungoogle-yourself/

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Un-Google_Yourself

This week, we’d like to introduce you to our very own EDPR team member, Vivian Kwong! Vivian has been expertly assisting EDPR with a number of duties including contributing to our daily blog, mastering our Twitter presence and working on account management. Sadly, we’re sending Vivian off to McMaster for another year of school – but look forward to having her back for special events throughout the course of next year!

What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

I am a Junior Publicist intern at Embrace Disruption PR! I am currently still in school, about to go into my 4^th year of undergrad at McMaster University. I am studying a double-degree in Multimedia and Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour.

Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or any shell for that matter)

Lover of life, foodie, shopaholic, thrill seeker, perfectionist. I’m okay being labeled as any of those things! I am a true believer in living for the moment and experiencing all I can at least once. Life passes by too fast to do anything but.

Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

I have come a long way in choosing a career path. I always had an interest in fashion, social media and public relations. It didn’t occur to me until recently that I can make a career out of it!

My inspiration comes from the things and the people I surround myself with. When I look at successful individuals, I like picturing myself in their shoes. When I’m in the city, I am always looking up at the big company names. Everything around me pushes me to work harder toward the life I want for myself. I think it is important to always have something to strive for.

What is the best part of your day-to-day?

My favourite part of my day-to-day is being faced with new challenges. I love going to work knowing I will be tasked with something different and will be learning something completely new. Another favourite is reaching out and connecting with all kinds of people through social media!

What’s the most challenging?

The most challenging is keeping on top of everything. A lot of the times, I will have multiple things to do at once, but this is also why I love doing what I do!

If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for yourself?

I see myself juggling a family and a successful career doing what I love. That and travelling lots, obviously.

How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life?

I love change and I see constant disruption as a must. It’s a necessity, especially when it comes to work because it keeps things moving forward. I can get bored very easily so I’m always on the lookout for something new and inspiring!

What is the most memorable moment in your career?

I am still pretty new to this, but the most memorable moments come from seeing the immediate effects of my work. Whether someone liked a blog post I wrote or responded to my tweet, it’s these small thrills that get me excited about what I do

Do you support any initiatives or charities?

I am a big supporter of animal rights. Being responsible for another animal’s life is a privilege that is often disregarded and it’s not fair that animals have to suffer for our inhumanity. I would love to work with organizations like Mercy for Animals Canada and Animal Justice Canada in the future!

http://www.mercyforanimals.ca/

http://www.meetup.com/animaljustice/

Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

I see myself well-travelled, surrounded by loved ones, and hopefully, able to look back on my life without regret. I will probably be laughing about something silly with my significant other at a local coffee shop, and just enjoying the small, invaluable moments.

Just for fun: if you had to pick one app in the whole APPVERSE, what would it be?

INSTAGRAM. I can spend an abnormally long time choosing between two filters that look the same and get wildly excited when someone likes my photo. I am completely aware of this little obsession of mine.

So, you’ve signed up for Twitter after hearing what it can do for you and/or your business. Now what?

One issue most Twitter newbies face is not having an audience – followers. You may have a great message, but what is the point of that message if it isn’t reaching the right audience? Here are some tips on how to get more followers, and, most importantly, how to keep those followers!

Get rid of your TrueTwit validation service

TrueTwit works by reducing possible spammers and bots from following you by sending out direct messages (DM) to all the people who request to follow you. Your potential follower then has to click on a link inside the automatically generated DM that takes them to a website where they type in a Captcha in order to follow you. It’s a headache and a complete turn-off for potential followers. If President Obama’s Twitter account doesn’t have TrueTwit validation service, there is no reason you should have one either.

Don’t set up automatic DMs

There is nothing more impersonal than receiving an automated message after following someone that goes something like this: “Thanks for the follow. Don’t forget to like our Facebook page, visit our website, listen to our music, buy our album, and worship the ground we walk on”. We know you didn’t personally send that message, and we’re slightly offended that you’re asking us to put in effort when you didn’t. Which brings us to the next tip:

Socialize 

It’s called social media for a reason. If you get a new follower, send them a personalized tweet thanking them for following you. This encourages interaction, which is a key component for successful tweeting. Retweet (RT) tweets you find interesting, and thoughtfully respond to questions other tweeters ask. An involved tweeter is a happy and successful tweeter. Also, be sure to check out Twitter parties to find like minded people in your areas of interest!

Be interesting 

Twitter is all about engaging people and exchanging news, links, articles and ideas. But in order to stand out, you need to be unique. Your followers don’t really care that you just went shopping. Be witty about it! Tell them about a great deal you got at a certain store or how you had to fight off a little old lady to nab that last adorable pair of $20 Steve Madden stilettos (hey, it could happen).

Follow people

Don’t expect to magically get thousands of followers overnight just by sending tweets. Getting followers takes time and patience. Follow those who you find interesting, whose topics you can relate to, and those who will ultimately help to boost your account’s popularity. If your followers enjoy your tweets, they will RT to their followers, and so on.

Reward your followers

This is especially important if you own a business. To really get your followers engaged, start a contest or provide them with unique value. Although giving away an iPad  might be exciting, it’s more exciting to be given exclusive information for an upcoming pop-up sale, exclusive (valuable) coupon or a loyalty benefit. This also gives you the perfect opportunity to ask your followers to RT your tweets, and it promotes your name/brand. People love being rewarded, particularly if they’re already invested in (or love) your products.

Share your @username

Include it in your e-mail signature, in your LinkedIn profile, on your website, and on any other social media network that you use.  

Update your bio

That ‘About Me’ section is more important than you think! It’s your potential follower’s first impression of you, so you want it to stand-out. Include a recent headshot of yourself, your company’s logo or something that pertains to what you will be tweeting about. Nobody likes that default egg picture.

Have fun!

Sometimes we forget that Twitter is also a means for entertainment and not just for work. If you explore the network, you will meet more people with similar interests. You will find the process to be very rewarding once you’ve settled in and become a regular Tweeter.

Sources:

http://www.twitip.com/7-ways-to-be-worth-following-on-twitter/

http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/10-ways-to-build-a-large-quality-following-on-twitter_b12298

http://www.bitrebels.com/social/how-to-keep-your-twitter-followers/

Don’t be fooled by articles and advertisements that promise earning thousands of dollars a week by blogging. You might be tempted to dramatically quit your day job and start earning six-figures by blogging full-time from a St. Lucian beach, but the truth of the blogging business could not be further from this ill-conceived notion.  Check out these 8 tips that can help you work towards your dream of earning a solid income from blogging.

1. Set yourself up for failure

We put this at the top of the list not to discourage budding bloggers, but to prepare them for the reality of the business of blogging (note the distinction between that and the hobby of blogging). As of 2013, there are more than 239 million blogs combined on WordPress, Blogster, Tumblr, LiveJournal and Weebly (snitchim.com). This number excludes the blogs on Blogger, Posterous and Blogsome. There is a lot of competition out there, and only a handful of the 239 million are earning at least some profit. Simply having your blog online isn’t enough to generate revenue and a sustainable source of income. Treat it as you would a start-up business. You need to put effort into making it grow. It will either take-off or flop, and expecting riches quick is unrealistic.

2. Choose your niche wisely

We’ve visited countless cooking blogs, fashion blogs, beauty blogs, and the soccer-mom blogs who manage to squeeze in just enough time between diaper changes to blog about the experience. The truth is that many of those blogs will fail because the market for that topic is over saturated. If a broad topic such as fashion is your true passion, focus on a particular detail and grow from there. For example, instead of blogging about fashion, you can instead dedicate your entire blog to Denim. Once you delve deeper into this one particular subject, you have the potential to become a well-known (and respected) denim blogger.

3. Quality vs. quantity

If you go around commenting on every random blog you can find, telling them to visit your own blog, chances are you’re not going to get a good following. Don’t expect to gain hundreds of followers in a short period of time, either. Blogging takes time, but finding your target audience is more time-consuming than the writing process itself. Research blog topics that are similar to your own and take the time to read their posts. If you are genuinely interested in their work, make productive comments and follow them. By doing so, you have a higher chance of attracting a quality target audience who will also be genuinely interested in your posts. Remember to also spend a good amount of time looking in your back-end analytics, this will give you a realtime indication as to what content is meaningful to your readers.

4. Use social media (duh!)

Having an online presence is a key factor in having a successful blog. If you already have a solid following on your blog, start a Facebook and Twitter account (if haven’t already done so). If you already have a good following on Twitter and Facebook or other networks and are just starting a blog, use those networks to promote your blog. Be persistent and be patient. Tweet, re-tweet, and repeat. Follow the right people on Twitter, and be an active member of all your social network communities – it’s a great way for you and your future or existing fans to connect and spread the word.

5. The money-maker 

Although to some this may seem like selling out, if you’re looking to earn money off your blog, having advertisements is a good way to do so. If your blog has enough traffic, you can offer up space for Google Ads or other content providers on your site for a reasonable fee (just make sure it’s brand safe!). Also, have a look into affiliate links within both your posts, and in the form of ads.  And don’t forget: search engine optimization (SEO) is a great way to optimize your posts to be more search-engine friendly, and Google offers various tools you can use to help your blog with attracting more visitors (such as Google Trends and Analytics). It takes a lot of work, like any business. If you’re in it for the long haul, the work will eventually pay off.

6. Reach out to PR agencies 

Contact agencies that fit in with your particular blog topic. For example, if you have a travel blog, reach out to agencies that specialize in tourism, hotels, travel, etc. If you write them a good pitch, you can potentially receive free samples or one-night stays at hotels in exchange for publicity on your blog. Be forewarned, PR agencies worth their salt will want to know some of the analytics behind your blog, so know your unique monthly visits (not page views) along with your demographic!

7. Don’t forget the art of writing!

What it all comes down to is that blogging is about writing. You can’t expect to have a successful blog if it has no substance. Good writing takes practice, so don’t get discouraged if your thoughts aren’t being translated the same way via text. Keep writing and you will find your own distinctive writing voice.

8. Make an editorial calendar 

Aside from all of the above, your blog needs two main things in order to succeed: regularity and reliability. In order to stay organized and on top of your posts, make an editorial calendar for yourself. Write down ideas in advance and make clear, organized notes for when you plan to publish each post. It’s difficult to come up with a new subject on the spot every day or every other day. It’s much easier to think of a few different ideas and put them in a queue for publishing on your blog.

With all these in mind, happy blogging and good luck! If you do end up getting rich, don’t forget to take us out for a drink or two

Sources:

http://www.nydailynews.com/jobs/real-money-blogging-article-1.1396145

https://www.mint.com/blog/how-to/turn-your-hobby-into-a-money-making-career-0713/

http://snitchim.com/how-many-blogs-are-there/

• Gaining feedback on service, events and menu items.
• Promoting and showing off menu items.
• Sharing specials.
• Recruiting.
• Monitoring reputation.

To find out how PR agencies (like us) can help with your restaurant’s social media strategy and execution, please send us an email, we’d love to hear from you!

Check out the full list below, along with a handy guide on which social networks to use for each tactic

Earlier in the year, we wrote a blog post outlining how to better your restaurant’s publicity: you can find that piece by clicking here.

When it comes to brand awareness and fundraising, charities and non-profits are faced with a daunting task these days. We’re seeing a shift in the demographic of donors, making it extremely important to target new audiences in order to expose them to organizations they may not be aware of.

In today’s congested world of advertising, it’s hard to make noise among a sea of ads and direct mail campaigns: geared to draw interest and new supporters. Younger generations aren’t taking the time to read through the extensive materials an organization puts together, and they’re certainly not consuming content in traditional ways. It’s important to embrace the disruption happening within this market, and one way to do so is with effective public relations.

PR is often considered an add-on to non-profit campaigns, as many organizations have not had a chance to see its true effectiveness. Having worked recently with organizations like The Starlight Children’s Foundation and Pants Off For Prostate Cancer (click to see image galleries of events EDPR assisted with), we at Embrace Disruption PR have a firm grasp on how to execute a strong non-profit PR campaign.

Here are a few of the PR tactics we use to build awareness for non-profits in order attract a new wave of donors and supporters:

Publicity

Perhaps the most traditional of tactics, publicity can help get your organization in top tier news outlets. Whether it’s to publicize an upcoming event, or shed light on a touching story – PR firms and agencies can assist in getting you on your market’s top television shows, newspapers and magazines. It’s important to note: publicity doesn’t end with securing stories in traditional outlets, it should be inclusive of blogs and other content sources. In today’s landscape, fewer and fewer people are consuming content in it’s physical format – they’re looking online. Think about your research habits – you’re more likely to examine topics that matter to you through online tactics like search engines, blogs/websites and social media, right? That brings us to our next approach.

Social Media

Building meaningful relationships with like-minded influencers and supporters online can prove to be invaluable. It’s probable that many of your supporters are already actively online, talking about your brand or cause. You should be part of the conversation too – always go where your audience is. PR firms can use their established relationships with influential people online, and also build new relevant relationships to help promote and publicize your organization in one of the world’s most digestible content formats. Remembering that the exposure rate for social networking can be endless, having a strong social strategy and presence can be detrimental to building your organization’s awareness.

Blog

If your organization (or PR firm) isn’t blogging regularly, they should be. What better way to control your messaging and communicate to audiences beyond your traditional reach. Showing up in search engines more prominently with quality content can make the difference between a new donation, ticket purchase or even volunteer (elements non-profits can’t ever have enough of).

Sponsorship & Partners

Oftentimes, PR agencies and firms represent or know a variety of businesses that are actively looking for ways to align themselves with charities or non-profits that are meaningful to their organization. Finding opportunities to create special benefits, in-kind donations, sponsorships, conferences, races, galas, and contesting are definitely within the realm of a PR firm’s abilities.

Ambassador Campaigns

Another fantastic addition to your public relations efforts includes securing notable individuals and celebrities to act as spokespeople for your non-profit organization. Most PR firms have strong relationships with talent and talent management, which allows them to identify perfect matches for your publicity engagements or public service announcements. PR pros will often find opportunities to place these spokespeople within media (both traditional and non), as well as in speaking engagements and at events.

With millions of impressions garnered through traditional and non-traditional PR tactics, we’ve managed to build out incredible campaigns for our non-profit clients. If you’d like to chat more about what we can do for your organization, please don’t hesitate to send us an email or call us at (416) 963.9857 – we are based out of Toronto and our reach is nationwide.

This week, we’d like to introduce you to Viral, Social, and Authentic Marketing (which he calls Un-Marketing) expert, Scott Stratten!

1.    What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

Professional Ranter. Sheridan College in Oakville, ON Canada

2.    Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or
any shell for that matter).

Author, Speaker and kind of a big deal on fairly irrelevant social media
sites which inflates my self-importance.

3.    Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

Trying to stop people from being “sold” ways to market their business wrong.
Ever since I saw a friend do a cold-call immediately after he told off
someone for cold-calling him.

4.    What is the best part of your day-to-day? 

That I have no idea what day it is. Not looking forward to the weekend,
because every day is awesome and has it’s benefits.

5.    What’s the most challenging?

That I have no idea what day it is.

6.    If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for
yourself?

Less hair, more books, three more ulcers.

7.    How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life? 

Disruption is my middle name. Well, it’s William, but it’s Latin for
“disruption”. My entire being is meant to disrupt the ways people do
business.

8.    What is the most memorable moment in your career?

Seeing my first book on a store bookshelf was amazing.

9.    Do you support any initiatives or charities?  

No Kid Hungry (http://www.nokidhungry.org).  We have too much to not give children
even a little.

10.    Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

Resenting the fact that I didn’t start a family band.

11.    Just for fun: if you had to pick one app in the whole APPVERSE, what
would it be?

PokerStars. I have a problem.

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first direct (a UK-based financial institution) recently released a study that identified some of the social personalities that are prevalent in today’s online world. You have “The Ultras”, those who check social streams dozens of times per day; “The Deniers”, who insist that social doesn’t rule their lives – but would lose their cool without it; “The Dippers”, who go in and out of their social profiles irregularly; “The Lurkers”, pretty self explanatory; among many others.

Check out this entertaining and perhaps revealing look at what’s becoming a bit of a dirty little habit for some in our connected society.

Now more than ever: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ (among others) are the dominant place for consumers and advocates alike to engage with your brand. It’s so important that these destinations fully reflect your company in a seamless way, and maintain the consistency of your current web and offline materials.

Lucky for us, tentsocial has put together a blueprint that outlines almost all of the specs you’ll need when designing creative for your social-sphere. Have a look below, and be sure to bookmark this post – you never know when you’ll need this helpful infographic again!

So what do hashtags mean for you and your business? Well, there will be the usual #Imustfitinasmanyhashtagsaspossible friends you may have to scroll through, but it will also open up new opportunities for businesses to track their products.

With the new Facebook hashtags, businesses can promote a certain hashtag for fans to use when discussing a product and can follow the conversation in a separate pop-up window. Rest assured, if your privacy settings are share with “friends only” than your hashtags will not be shared in the pop-up window.

According to Facebook’s Greg Lindley, there are more features coming, ”Hashtags are just the first step to help people more easily discover what others are saying about a specific topic and participate in public conversations.”

‘We’ll continue to roll out more features in the coming weeks and months, including trending hashtags and deeper insights, that help people discover more of the world’s conversations.”

It looks like Facebook’s hashtags are going to be similar to the way they are used on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, but with an opportunity to go over the 140 character limit. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement that is the hashtag, but it’s good to be mindful of how many you use and when, whether you are a business or not. A good rule of thumb for businesses are to use the hashtag when it’s relevant and never more than two or three at a time.
Sources;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2340891/Facebook-introduces-hashtags-following-steps-Twitter-Instagram.html#ixzz2WCofoYnW
http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/facebook-marketing/facebook-hashtags-for-brands/

It appears that fans were upset (to say the least) at the final episodes of the season, but what we found particularly interesting here at EDPR was the amount of fans outraged at the spoilers! If you couldn’t watch the episode on TV the night it aired, you were forced into utter seclusion from all social media forums, or risk spoiling the episode, which happened to a vast majority of viewers. This is just another example of how social media is a huge part of our daily lives.

Below is a video, courtesy of BuzzFeed, of 12 Signs You Might Be Addicted to a TV Show and the TV show featured is none other than The Game of Thrones. Enjoy!

If you are new to LinkedIn, you probably know how overwhelming it can be. It’s one of those places where you are scared to make a mistake because really, there are potential employers and head hunters on there you need to impress. Or, if you’ve had LinkedIn for some time now, perhaps you need to beef up your profile with your newly acquired skills.

LinkedIn is a tool that needs to be updated regularly, so you remain relevant. Here are some tips to help you in creating the best LinkedIn profile that fits your style, industry and accurately reflects all that you can do!

1. Job Title (Headline): Whether you are a student, assistant, intern, consultant or CEO, you should accurately state what your present position is, or what you are capable of. It is acceptable to put your job title, example: Public Relations Assistant at (insert organization here). Or you can try a catchy title that will set you apart from others, such as “Social Media Engager”, but make sure you are in fact everything your headline suggests.

2. Summary: This will determine whether a potential employer will continue to scroll down to your resume or not. This summary must show your personality, your achievements, your education background and job experience all in a couple of sentences! What you say in your summary should all be backed up by the rest of your profile.

3. Past Job Experience: Don’t be afraid to showcase your achievements in the workplace. Remember that this profile is showing potential employers what you can do, so don’t be shy! There should be your title, organization and a description of what that job entailed. Keep it brief and to the point. There is a add on for projects completed. This is a perfect chance to showcase your talent.

4. Education: This is an important aspect, because you need the credentials to back up your experience. Some organizations are looking for that formal training, where others are more concerned with your experience. There is a section where you can add your courses, this is a great idea because it shows potential employers what exactly you did to earn your degree, diploma or certificate.

5. Skills: Choosing a select amount of skills that you are FULLY functional with is a good call. This shows your strengths and the value you would bring to an organization. However, this can also be a damaging thing if you select way too many skills, leaving the potential employer feeling unsure if you are aware of exactly what your skills are -no one is perfect!

6. Profile Photo: Undeniably one of the most important aspects of your profile is the photo. This allows the potential employer to see who you are and a glimpse at your personality. Stay away from photos that show too much skin, have other people in the photo, or show alcohol.

7. Recommendations: Don’t be shy in asking a previous employer or coworker to endorse you on your LinkedIn profile. This adds credibility to you, so potential employers know that others agree with what your profile says about you!

8. Engage: By regularly using LinkedIn to discuss articles of interest in your line of work, joining industry groups or charity organizations makes you an industry influencer. And who wouldn’t want to be that?

What’s your official job title, and where did you go to school?

You can call me an Online Reputation Strategist. I’m a freelancer now, though previously I was Co-Founder and Chief Strategist at #engagementlabs.

I’m an M.A. graduate in Media Studies from Concordia University.

Elevator pitch. Describe yourself in a nutshell (or sea shell, or any shell for that matter).

I’m a senior social media strategist who first cut his teeth as a digital activist.

Innovating in the trenches with groups such as Indymedia and Adbusters in the 90s, I gained a deep understanding of what makes corporations and governments vulnerable to social media crisis and, conversely, how to adapt their communications to create productive exchanges with their stakeholders.

In my career so far, I have overseen the sale, design and management of millions of dollars’ worth of social media projects for clients in the Fortune 500, the resource and energy sectors.

I have also just published the #Social Survival Manifesto, an eBook that warns corporations about the risks of doing social media poorly or not at all. It is available for free download here:
http://socialdisruptions.com/socialsurvivalmanifesto/

Why did you pursue what you’re doing now? What was the inspiration?

I have always been passionate about social innovation and social change. For a long time, I worked with green and fair labour projects for little to no money. I definitely put in my time earning good karma. As corporate social media communications started to go mainstream, I saw an opportunity to work with larger clients without selling all my values down the river.

I sincerely believe that social media has hard-coded certain expectations and values into its culture that force corporations and institutions to behave more responsibly. I am more than happy to be the bridge between citizen and activist demands and corporations that need to maintain their reputation and a constructive dialogue with their stakeholders. This is essentially my sweet spot.

What is the best part of your day-to-day?

I love teaching and storytelling. When I get some time to myself to draft a strategy for a client or do a training session with a group, I’m at my best.

What’s the most challenging?

The most challenging part of my job is when strategies go ‘live’ and when I have to reaffirm the right way to do social and fend off backseat drivers. This kind of education is tricky because tensions run high when real interactions start to happen.

If you took a look in the cliché crystal ball, what do you see for yourself?

For the next while, I have a lot of skills-transferring to do. This means training and capacity building with new teams that want to build big budget Online Reputation campaigns. There is early talk of a book deal arising from my Manifesto and I am flirting with several agencies to see where I might fit best as a partner. Maybe I will feel like starting up my own social media outfit later but not for now.

How do you embrace disruption in your work and personal life?

My area of expertise, social media as applied to corporate reputation management, is disruptive in itself for most of my clients and event the PR firms I work with. I guess I am at ease being a disruption facilitator though I try to smooth the edges of these transitions for the uninitiated.

At home, my kids are pretty disruptive too and I continuously learn how to live with more and more chaos in my surroundings.

What is the most memorable moment in your career?

Convincing Canada’s oil and gas lobby to open up to questions and answers with the public through social media. Pioneering project, good budget and very hot topic. It was a colossal learning experience for me and my team!

Do you support any initiatives or charities?

I love crowdfunding and microcredit initiatives like Kiva.org. Everyone should give it a try. It’s easy to participate and you can keep tabs on your community investment and reinvest in others. It’s the best mix of gamification and global development and does not feel anything like a typical charity.

Tell us what you see yourself doing at 65 years old.

Writing from the woods somewhere, teaching some courses at a distance. Doing manual work, mountain biking, skiing and keeping fit. Spending time with grand kids. Doing work, but only for good causes.

Just for fun: if you had to pick one app in the whole APPVERSE, what would it be?

Evernote! Can’t imagine how I lived without it. My daily planning is there, my random ideas and my grocery lists, all travelling neatly from device to device. Priceless.

• Be sure to tweet links to interesting content
• Ask! “Please Retweet” has a 51% success rate.
• Stop talking about YOU. Only 1.5% of tweets contain self-reference
• Instructional and entertainment based content get the most attention

All these and more in the image below:

On the eve of his return to Earth earlier this week, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield racked up one more first before leaving the ISS, the first music video filmed in space! Check out the video above for Hadfield’s version of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity.”

Clearly, the two biggest cogs in the social media machine are blogging and contingencies. Good blog content gets noticed and shared. It’s also one of the biggest drivers of traffic to your company’s site. When it comes to contingencies, this includes unscheduled posts (such as Oreo’s Superbowl ad) as well as damage control/emergencies. The more pre-planning you can do, the less overall impact these events will have on your company and strategies.

Finally, don’t forget about engagement. It’s always good to have fabulous content but you need to get out into the social media-verse and share it, discuss it, and build relationships with like minded individuals. The great thing about social media is that it makes our world smaller and more connected; you just have to commit yourself to building those relationships. 

Check out the infographic below for more helpful tips to budget your time.

(Image Source)

Since its inception, LinkedIn has been a destination for professionals to connect and share achievements, while proudly displaying a working copy of their online resumes.  LinkedIn announced Wednesday May 1^st that users can now include visual representations of their work, allowing for companies and potential co-workers to see achievements even before making contact!

This addition means that photographers will now be able to upload samples of their work; video editors can upload films or commercials they have worked on and fashion designers can put their sketches on display. Not only will users be able to upload these images, video and/or presentations from their own computers, but they will also be able to link to content from other sites while providing detailed descriptions and explanations as to why the visuals were included.

With the inclusion of the new Personal Portfolio section of LinkedIn, people will also be able to ‘like,’ comment and ‘share’ all uploaded materials. This will definitely come in handy when trying to scout talent: just locate a candidate’s LinkedIn resume and share the examples of their past work with the team. Members of the same professional communities can also offer their peers feedback and suggestions on their work.

Sources

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/05/linkedin-professional-portfolio/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2418429,00.asp

http://mashable.com/2013/05/01/linkedin-visual-profile/

The following INFOGRAPHIC from Go-Gulf.com shows how companies structure their social media teams &  what they are using their social media for. Here are some of the more startling facts we uncovered:

• The majority of companies are simply piling social media responsibilities on top of their workers regular duties, with teams of >3 people in charge of social media.
• Only 5% of companies are ‘highly satisfied’ with the social media for their company, yet about 3/4 of them are NOT planning on hiring dedicated social media people
• Most companies are using social media to garner brand awareness so they use the # of likes/followers/subscribers/etc to measure how well they are doing, rather than looking at engagement.

Hany came to talk about the innovative work they’re doing at Ribbon in order to make the purchase conversion higher within the social networking space. If you’re a retailer, or even someone who’s selling product independently online – you NEED to check out the cool stuff that Ribbon is doing. As good as Hany’s presentation was, there was one thing that really stood out to us:

Jealous of @hany for scoring a super-short twitter handle #cmto13 pic.twitter.com/d0CRF8ZwYo

— Cory Stewart (@coryjstewart) February 21, 2013

@coryjstewart you should see the amount of spam at-replies I get

— Hany Rashwan (@hany) February 21, 2013

Then came bit.ly’s Brian Eoff  who chatted about the BitCoin – something he claims is worth it’s weight in gold. Brian was clever enough to send some of his gold to a lucky audience member (to the tune of $50 worth). The one thing that really stood out to us from Brian’s presentation was:

RT @TessaSproule: It's not how big your data is, it's how you use it. Big data only important as the insight u get i #cmto13

— EmbraceDisruption PR (@EmbraceDisrupt) February 21, 2013

After that came Trendrr’s Mark Ghuneim who spoke to the value of social TV.

@markghuneim: “You don’t have to watch TV alone anymore” — Trendrr quantifying 2nd screen interactivity data #cmto13

— Jan Jekielek (@JanJekielek) February 21, 2013

Stages of #socialTV: Passive (old), Persistent engagement (now), Perceptive (future-your TV "knows" your likes/habits) @MarkGhuneim #cmto13

— Tessa Sproule (@TessaSproule) February 21, 2013

How many out there are binge viewers? What are you binging on? It's been Mad Men and Breaking Bad for me #cmto13

— Cory Stewart (@coryjstewart) February 21, 2013

Sadly after Mark’s presentation we had to duck out – but can say without a doubt, we’ll be back next year. We’ll leave you with something that we thought was really stand out about the conference – a LinkedIn wall. Yes, every single attendee who had a LinkedIn profile was on display near the entrance. Genius? We think so.

Genius idea to have a LinkedIn wall at the conference. Can you spot me? #cmto13 pic.twitter.com/xbtKM4RPkN

— Cory Stewart (@coryjstewart) February 21, 2013

Sysomos took a moment to create a quick INFOGRAPHIC outlining some of the highlights from the entertainment industry’s biggest night, and here’s some of their findings:

• There were 403,862 total red carpet tweets
• Jennifer Lawrence was voted best dressed female
• Anne Hathaway was voted worst (we have to agree)
• #Oscars was the hottest hashtag with over 800,000 tweets
• Women tweeted over double the amount of Oscar content of men during the evening

Check out the full INFOGRAPHIC below:

What a day! Before we begin, we must say that this was one of the best conferences we’ve had the pleasure of attending. The best part? Being able to hear from so many different speakers, thanks to the 7 minute time cap on each person.

We arrived at 8:30AM and picked up our name tag. Interesting fact: any name tags that had a blue circle on them indicated that the person/company was hiring.

FYI:

All my social media peeps – Adobe is hiring (to the tune of 200ppl) in Canada! Check them out! #cmto13

— Cory Stewart (@coryjstewart) February 21, 2013

We were then treated to a lovely breakfast: complete with fair-trade coffee, bagels, fruit and croissants – followed by a prompting by super-host Gavin McGarry to get seated. It must be said that this isn’t Gavin’s first time at the hosting rodeo, and he did a superb job honing in the audience and keeping the pace of the conference (all while injecting selections of his quick wit and sarcastic humour).

We felt it necessary to call out the wifi password – as it definitely set the tone for the duration of the day:

Ha! Check out the wifi password for #cmto13 pic.twitter.com/Frp3YyBnJ8

— Cory Stewart (@coryjstewart) February 21, 2013

Up first was Roel Vertegaal, Director of the Human Media Lab, Queen’s University to talk about paper tablet technology. We snapped a quick video for your viewing pleasure (apologies for the shaky hands – too much fair-trade coffee!)

Here you can see Roel holding the tablet in his hand:

Corey Vidal (from YouTube fame) came soon after – offering up some sound advice for getting your brand out there in the Youtube space. Corey stressed many amazing points, a couple of them being:

Measure of success on @YouTube isn't necessarily view count, says @coreyvidal. Track + value audience engagement + your influence #cmto13

— Tessa Sproule (@TessaSproule) February 21, 2013

#CMTO13 Corey Vidal quote of the day "youtube is not really a job it's a lifestyle" I didn't even know it was a job.

— Frank Falcone (@frankfalcone) February 21, 2013

Soon after came Deborah Hall, Head of Mobile, Torstar Digital (one of our favourite clients). Deb spoke about the future of mobile, and how important it is to remain disruptive in the space.

Mobile marketiing should have some emotional connection – 70% of social marketing is mobile! #cmto13

— Cory Stewart (@coryjstewart) February 21, 2013

It became quite clear that DISRUPTION was the theme of the event, and you can imagine our delight!

Loving the overwhelming theme of #disruption at today's #cmto13 – our brand name is no coincidence

— EmbraceDisruption PR (@EmbraceDisrupt) February 21, 2013

Then came the entrepreneur lunch with the folks at Torstar Digital where we were treated to a spread of sandwiches, drinks and sweet treats! We got to meet some pretty innovative people, and fingers crossed we’ll be speaking with some of them in the near future!

About to start our #entrepreneur lunch at #cmto13 pic.twitter.com/yhADPq8R83

— TorstarDigital (@TorstarDigital) February 21, 2013

All in all, it was a fantastic morning of technology, innovation and disruption. By 1:30PM we were salivating at the thought of the afternoon’s speakers (inclusive of companies like Ribbon, Bit.ly and SavvyMom Media), and we can’t wait to share what they had in store!

Stay tuned as part two is coming your way tomorrow afternoon!

In a world where interconnection is quickly becoming the norm, CrossMedia Toronto is here to showcase how to make the most out of crossover in platforms to build the best business and outreach possible. The showcase will present 26 of the most innovative firms from gaming to marketing, television to mobile. The event, which takes place tomorrow, February 21^st from 8am-6:30pm at the Bram &  Bluma Salon, will feature speakers, demos, case studies and networking opportunities for attendees.

The speakers for CrossMedia Toronto represent leaders in their fields and include:

• Roel Vertegaal, Director of the Human Media Lab, Queen’s University
• Erik Martin, General Manager, reddit.com
• Veronika Sonsev, CEO and Founder,inSparq.com
• Jamie King, Founder, VODO
• Veronica Holmes, President, Digital, ZenithOptimedia Canada
• Andrew Macdonald, General Manager, Uber Canada
• Mark Ghuneim, CEO/Founder of Wiredsetand Trendrr
• Rhonda McEwen, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
• Brian Eoff, Data Scientist, Bitly
• Jeffrey Remedios, President and Co-Founder, Arts & Crafts
• Peter Vessenes,  Chairman & Executive Director, Bitcoin Foundation
• Rob Segal, Co-Founder, Get Set Games
• Deborah Hall, Head of Mobile, Torstar Digital
• Paul Kontonis, GM, Magnet Media Originalsand Chairman of the Board of Directors,International Academy of Web Television
• Ipsa Desai, Strategic Partnerships, Google
• Adam Clarkson, User Experience Lead,Chartbeat
• Corey Vidal, Founder and President, ApprenticeA Productions
• Hany Rashwan is the co-founder & CEO of Ribbon
• Asif R Khan, Founder & President,TheLBMA.com
• Tony Walsh, Founder, Exec. Producer & Creative Director, Phantom Compass
• Paul Sparkes, Executive Vice-Chairman and Co-Founder, Difference Capital
• Laurie Mirsky, President, 3DPhacktory
• Jeff Brenner, Co-Founder and CEO, Pressly
• Minnow Hamilton , Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder, SavvyMom Media
• Ross Davies, Director of Member Engagement, BBM
• Gavin McGarry, Co-Founder, Jumpwire Media

While this may seem like an impossibly long list for a single day event; CrossMedia Toronto is using a ‘quick fire’ method of presentation. Most of the speakers will have only 7 minutes to present their material to the audience. We’ll be posting a full run-down of the event on Friday, so keep your eyes peeled.

Here’s some more deets incase you’re interested in joining us there! 

What: CROSSMEDIA TO

Who: 26 top Digital Media & Tech Companies

When: Thursday February 21^st, 2013 8am – 6:30pm

Where: Bram & Bluma Salon, 789 Yonge St.

Why: Showcasing innovation & the future of crossover advertising and promotion

With the recent news of Burger King being hacked, followed by Jeep and MTV – we find ourselves wondering who’s next?

Incase you’re not familiar with the scenario, we’ll break it down for you:

Burger King Twitter Hack

The Damage

The hacker took over the account, changed the display picture to the McDonald’s logo, and posted some of the following tweets (Image via):

It was revealed that BK’s password was “whopper” (creative right?). Burger King later acknowledged the rogue tweets:

Interesting day here at BURGER KING®, but we're back! Welcome to our new followers. Hope you all stick around!

— BurgerKing (@BurgerKing) February 19, 2013

and released the following statement to media:

“We have worked directly with administrators to suspend the account until we are able to re-establish our legitimate site and authentic postings. We apologize to our fans and followers who have been receiving erroneous tweets about other members of our industry and additional inappropriate topics.”

The good news? Burger King saw a jump of 100,000 followers over the course of the day. Is it worth the headache? Time will tell!

Jeep Twitter Hack

The Damage

The hacker posted odd tweets, including mentioning luxury brand, Cadillac. The account has since been tamed, but looked something like this (Image via):

Cadillac later responded to ensure tweeps they were not involved:

Just to clarify, Cadillac is not connected to the hack of the @Jeep Twitter account.

— Cadillac (@Cadillac) February 19, 2013

MTV Twitter Hack

The Damage:

The hacker made promises to return Jersey Shore, changed the brand logo to BET, and continued on a wild tweeting rampage (Image via):

UPDATE: Reports are saying that MTV hacked their own twitter in promotion of their new show, Hacked. Good one, MTV..

1. Change your passwords regularly. And change them to something obscure that has nothing to do with the product you sell. Random numbers, letters, and symbols are your best friend. We change our passwords every month—that will probably change to every two weeks in light of this development.

2. Have procedures in place to stop an attack in its tracks. Create a fail-proof social escalation policy that can end something like this before it gets out of hand. Have the assets you need on hand to be able to restore the images on your profile.

3. Minimize the number of mobile devices that can access the account. If you look at all the apps that can access your account, you should know for certain where they’re all coming from and what their purpose is. If you’re unsure about any of them, ax them.

4. Make it mandatory that any mobile phones that link to corporate accounts are password protected. That way, if you leave your phone at, say, a Burger King and you’re signed into your brand’s account, no one can have easy access to it. Similarly, make sure that if you leave your computer at, say, a Burger King, it’s not logged into any accounts. Password protect everything that allows access to accounts that are password protected. Thinking about the computer I’m typing on, if I were to leave it somewhere and some swarthy character logged onto Facebook, they would be able to wreak havoc on about six different accounts (none of which are my personal account). That’s pretty scary when you think about it.

5. Change your passwords every time someone leaves the company—whether or not it’s amicable. Don’t trust people. There’s too much at stake here.

If you had to guess, which brand do you think is next – or do you think the hacker is done their dirty work?

In the age of social media and online communities, some of the other music award shows have changed their voting processes to include digital downloads and online popularity but The Grammy Awards remain a process where eventual winners are nominated and eventually determined by members of the Recording Academy, the music industry equivalent of SAG. Semantics aside, Activ8Social has created the winners list for the big awards of the night based on online presence and popularity.

Image via Msn

Best New Artist

• Actual Winner: fun.
• Social Media Winner: Frank Ocean

Song Of The Year:

• Actual Winner: “We Are Young” – fun.
• Social Media Winner: “Gangnam Style”

Record Of The Year:

• Actual Winner: “Somebody That I Used To Know” – Goyte
• Social Media Winner: On YouTube plays, Gotye; followers, TSwift

Album Of The Year:

• Actual Winner: “Babel” – Mumford & Sons
• Social Media Winner: Again, online following got this one ‘right’ too!

Any restaurant professional knows that empty seats are like idle dollars waiting to be made – and it’s important to operate as efficiently as possible. PR can make those empty seats full in a matter of ‘media hits’ by effectively positioning the restaurant into public view.

How, you ask?

There’s several tactics to making sure the restaurant in question gets favourably placed in the media. Any PR pro worth their salt will work with the GM, the executive chef, and perhaps the concierge to ensure they get a full grasp of the restaurant’s offerings.

PR pros have even been known to conduct ‘secret shopper’ visits to see exactly what the ‘secret sauce’ (media angle) of the restaurant really is – and build on it.

From showcasing the establishment’s chef on a popular breakfast show, to facilitating special promotional events, to getting a respected reviewer into your restaurant –  a PR pro’s skills can make the desirable happen!

What else, you ask?

Well, coverage is great – but it’s important to get the right coverage. PR pros can sift through their extensive contact lists and cater pitches to target the right people and the right outlets for your delicious restaurants to start making delicious profits.

That’s not all though, social media should also be high on your PR person’s list as a fantastic way to generate some organic buzz around the restaurant. Skilled pros will have tactics to create content for the standard Twitter & Facebook, along with Instagram, Pinterest, and even Tumblr!

Remember: innovation is of the utmost importance. If you work with an agency that has a focus on doing things ‘differently’ – you’ll most definitely see the results you desire.

We know the restaurant industry is insanely competitive, and guess what? So are we.

The entire Internet is abuzz today with the second inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama. Every one of my social media feeds is wall-to-wall Obama, from what everyone is wearing, to the performers and celebrities/politicians in attendance. The theme for the Inauguration (which also happens to fall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day) is “Faith in America’s Future” and if the crowd in this picture (below) from the National Mall is anything to go on, young and old alike believe that the re-election of Barack Obama will mean good things for the future of their nation.

The 57^th Presidential Inauguration is live streamed both on television and the Internet simultaneously, with no delay in the Presidential address reaching the ears of the world. In the time before there was a television in every home, and a computer in pretty much everyone’s hand, the White House had to wait days or weeks for their news and mandates to reach the people, delaying timely communication that government strives for. Luckily, we’re living in the Internet Age of ‘instant gratification’, where users voice their opinions and share their thoughts immediately – sometimes to a fault!

Obama is #5 on the list of Twitter users with the most followers

Obama’s team seems very keen and knowledgeable on the use of social media and the effect it has and will continue to have on the President’s second term in office. This year’s Inaugural Address seemed full of quickly quotable anecdotes that convey a strong ‘untwist-able’ message. Hats off to the President’s publicity team, and here’s to 4 more years!

Check out the toddlers Mark Zuckerberg knew before 1999.

After addressing the fact that a Facebook phone was “not the right strategy” in an early interview from 2012, most predicted today’s event would talk about new and improved search features within Facebook’s UI.

The first version of Graph Search focuses on four main areas — people, photos, places, and interests. You’ll be able to type queries (examples listed below) to help access the content you’re truly looking for.

People: “friends who live in my city,” “people from my hometown who like hiking,” “friends of friends who have been to Yosemite National Park,” “software engineers who live in San Francisco and like skiing,” “people who like things I like,” “people who like tennis and live nearby”

Photos: “photos I like,” “photos of my family,” “photos of my friends before 1999,” “photos of my friends taken in New York,” “photos of the Eiffel Tower”

Places: “restaurants in San Francisco,” “cities visited by my family,” “Indian restaurants liked by my friends from India,” “tourist attractions in Italy visited by my friends,” “restaurants in New York liked by chefs,” “countries my friends have visited”

Interests: “music my friends like,” “movies liked by people who like movies I like,” “languages my friends speak,” “strategy games played by friends of my friends,” “movies liked by people who are film directors,” “books read by CEOs”

The Graph Search beta starts today. Go to www.facebook.com/graphsearch to get on the waitlist.

The roll out is going to be slow so Facebook can see how people use Graph Search and make improvements.

(Source)

Some interesting insights:

• 40% socialize more online than they do face-to-face.
• There are more devices connected to the internet than there are people on Earth.
• People spend an average of 6.75 hours month on Facebook.
• Facebook is accessed by 7,000 different devices every day.
• 11 accounts are added every second to Twitter.
• Since 2012, 12 BILLION minutes have been spent using Pinterest on the web.
• Every second 1 new user joins LinkedIn.
• 30% of videos account for 99% of all YouTube views.
• 74% of brand marketers saw an increase in website traffic after investing just 6 hours per week on social.

All this and more in the INFOGRAPHIC below:

- 66% of social users made purchases on Black Friday/Cyber Monday as a direct result of social interaction

- Recommendations of social users are 2 times as likely to lead to a holiday gift purchase

- 52% of users are willing to pay more for a brand they trust

- Brands are only responding to half of the posts they receive (jeesh!)

Read all this and more in the festive image below:

A Modern Twist on an Ancient Art Form

Once a user garners access to the site they are met with ‘shelves’  of available or soon-to-be-opened Baboos. The designs of these Baboos should look familiar; they are the digital representations of ancient Russian nesting dolls. Each Baboo is full of layers (commonly 3-5) that a user can go through to unlock exclusive content such as mp3s, videos, pictures and more from their favourite singer or movie. Currently the site has 5 Baboos available while there are 16 more waiting to be ‘filled’ if enough people ‘want’ the content.

But what does a user have to do to get this exclusive content? Simple really, just answer questions related to the artist and/or your Internet usage habits. These questions may seem simple but really, they provide the artist, their management or marketing team (in the case of brands/movies) important information about their fans to best tailor content for them or connect to them better in the future.

Key to Success Nested Within the Site Design

One of the critical success factors for the Baboo model is user engagement and traffic. The best way to have fair market data is to have a large sample of the market complete the survey. Baboo ensures the brand has that large sample by requiring a user to share the Baboo on their Facebook or Twitter to access the last layer of any Baboo. This serves two purposes, lets other fans out there know that their favourite musician or brand has exclusive content out there waiting for fans to unlock it and, it raises awareness for Baboo itself, hopefully meaning more musicians and brands will use it in the future.

What do you think: would you use Baboo if it meant exclusive content from your favourite brands?

These messages show the fans that the cast members do see messages of support and appreciate them. Trending topics are amazing because they bring a certain topic or events to public attention and offer opportunity to find out more about it by clicking on “Why Is This Trending?” or visiting WhatTheTrend.com

Social Media Gives Fans an Inside Look on Set

The Glee fandom is notorious for getting inside looks of the set during the filming of upcoming episodes. It is often said that the best thing to happen to the Glee cast & crew was the invention of phone cameras & Instagram. The biggest addicts of the popular photo-sharing application include: Lea Michele, show creator Ryan Murphy, and Chord Overstreet. Fans eagerly await pictures from the actors whenever they tweet that they are on set.

Twitter & YouTube meant an early Christmas for Glee Fans

Recently, the Glee crew welcomed Hollywood director/choreographer Adam Shankman back into the fold to direct their Christmas episode, “Glee Actually” (due to air December 13^th on FOX) and this resulted in a constant flow of pictures for the fans. Sharing these photos from set helps build hype for the episode and entices fans to tune in to see the story behind the snapshot; how is Artie Abrahams, apparently confined to a wheelchair, up walking around? What brings Damian McGinty back to the world of Glee after his arc ended last season? Mr. Shankman has done a pretty good job winding up the fans to get them to tune in. Let’s hope that translates into higher ratings for the show when the episode airs.

Fans are also able to get in on the action when the show decides to shoot on location (instead of their usual soundstage). Filming locations are usually pretty easily accessible and fans in the area usually head over to the location to find the set and get the scoop on upcoming storylines. Scoop that is disseminated almost instantaneously via videos, pictures and blog posts (thank you Mr. Smart phone). This is exactly what happened for the Christmas episode when Glee filmed at Bryant Park’s outdoor skating rink in NYC. For 11 hours: cast, crew and fans gathered to watch as fan favourites Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) filmed their duet for the holiday song classic, “White Christmas.” Fans were live tweeting the happenings from their phones, giving everyone on the internet the ‘In’ on what was happening, offering multitudes of photos and videos chronicling every second.

Perhaps show runners and security don’t like that fans are providing spoilers all over the Internet but they don’t seem to try and stop it all that much providing enough information for posts such as this.

And don’t think for a second that the cast & crew are oblivious to what the fans share out. On the red carpet for Trevor Live this past Sunday Adam Shankman referenced a video taken of him dancing on the ice with Chris Colfer. He also talked about how he loves the fans enthusiasm for the show and that he gets to interact with them via social media on a daily basis.

Being a part of the of the fandom myself,  I often stop and think about what the show must look like to the casual watcher. The major plot twists and seemingly crazy song performance choices must seem even more unexpected to those who haven’t known they were coming for upwards of a month. Social media has afforded us so many amazing opportunities in the past few years – thanks to twitter, I’ll never miss another beat.

Start early

If you know work is going to be required during your time off, set yourself up for success. There’s always ways to prep yourself, whether it’s to-do lists, or preliminary email drafting – doing this will help you keep your head above water.

Map out your days

If you’re headed to engagements and dinners, try to set aside a dedicated time in the morning to accomplish your tasks. If you take a couple of hours at the start of your day – you can successfully relax and enjoy the duration (with the help of your smartphone).

Schedule your social

No one wants to spend their holidays looking for content to tweet or writing blog posts – make sure to plan ahead by crafting a few posts, scheduling a few tweets, and using your smart phone for reactive social networking. Trust us, this will be a lifesaver, and will help relieve that sense of obligation.

Buy your gifts online

Something that will save you SO much time. Try checking out sites like Amazon or Well.ca to get something for each of the people on your list. You can even have everything gift wrapped, so the items arrive at your door ready to give away.

Remember to have perspective

Your work will never be done, regardless of how much you have on your plate. Take into perspective what’s really important – and seize the time you have with your family. Work will always be there when you get back to it, so fulfill obligations to clients or customers – and put the rest on hold. You (and your family) deserve it.

Happy holidays!

Hilarious, yes – and also extremely clever. You see, Outer Layer changes this sign regularly to reflect different quirky sayings and viewpoints directly from both their staff and product lines. To give you perspective: this is the store that offers products like Anne Taintor magnets/postcards, Kikkerland head massagers, and a variety of kitchy fun gifting options.

The real stand out here is that with signs like these, it almost begs you to come and explore what the store has to offer – while making a statement about the personality of the people and products that dwell within. In short: a fantastic way to convert foot traffic into purchasers.

Now: it simply wouldn’t be right of us to not relate this to digital marketing. It’s simple really, we all have an opportunity to create digital signs just like that of The Outer Layer. How you ask? By translating your brand in similar ways through Facebook and Twitter. It’s important to note that a clever post on a social network knows no bounds – and has potential to spread just about anywhere. So we challenge you – take a page from The Layer’s book, innovate and have fun with your brand messaging (whatever your format), it’s amazing where a little effort can take you!

Recently PRDaily released this article based on a recent study examining digitally mature companies. The results are very telling, and further enforce just how important embracing digital (and disruption) is.

Check out this INFOGRAPHIC recently posted on Mashable:

Not every CEO should be online—and few of them are embracing social media, according to a report by CEO.com and Domo.

The report found that only 9 out of 19 Fortune 500 CEOs registered with Twitter were active (a tweet within 100 days of the survey), a mere two CEOs had more than 500 friends on Facebook, and zero Fortune 500 CEOs were on Pinterest.

I have been fortunate to work directly with CEOs who are social offline. They are charismatic, well spoken, and lifelong members of the nonprofit fields that they oversee. However, neither of these CEOs had an online presence worth sharing.

So how do you take an engaging figure and bring them online?

Here are eight tips to help you:

CONFRONT PHOBIAS

CEOs, presidents, and members of senior management can have phobias regarding social media. If you’re lucky, they have private accounts and have a sense of the various forms of communication.

Regardless of their experience, you must further educate them about the benefits and risks of pursuing this form of communication professionally. Find and share accounts of other CEOs. Encourage your senior leaders to follow these conversations and show how they drive support for an organization. It is easier to overcome a phobia when someone else is leading the way.

EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF PERSONALITY

Teach your senior leaders the importance of adding personality to their online image. They must be comfortable with sharing some emotions or reactions publicly if this is going to work. If they cannot agree to take sides on issues that are relevant to your mission then this may not be the mode of communication for them.

FIND AN OUTLET

Just as you decided which social media resource was appropriate for your organization, there is not a standard platform for CEOs. Discuss goals, time commitments, a support network, approval process, and personal interests with your CEO.

Some CEOs are more suited for the brevity of Twitter, while others require a blog to state their views. If your CEO prefers photos of his work, you might consider Tumblr or an Instagram account like Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.

TRAIN AND EXPLAIN

Once you’ve agreed upon a social media platform, both of you must commit to training. Set aside time for one-on-one tutorials, behind closed doors to protect any egos. Supply draft posts for review until your CEO—and you—feel comfortable sharing them publicly. Remember that social media training should be a continuous learning experience.

DEVELOP UNIQUE ANGLES

Some CEOs may think they don’t have any updates to share. Impress upon them that this is about providing insight into their character as well as enhancing the organization’s brand. Your CEO has a unique view of your organization and can provide an insight that can assist with a goal of transparency.

SHOW YOUR DIRTY HANDS

Social media is the perfect opportunity to shatter the image of a stuffy CEO stuck behind a desk. I frequently shadowed my CEOs when they ventured from the office—which was often—to photograph them engaging in our missions and gather information for future posts. Above all, the ensuing updates demonstrated the connection between the organization’s leader and the mission our followers supported.

STRESS THE 24/7 NATURE OF SOCIAL

Your CEO should be available to answer questions from the public and participate in dialogues. If you are ghostwriting for your CEO, he or she may need to become accustomed to approving posts that you run by them day or night.

FORGET LEGAL

Unless the legal department reviews all of your posts as part of your social media policy, trust your CEO just as he or she trusts you. Your process should determine the level of review you will need to perform. If you ghostwrite the posts based on discussions then a quick review with your CEO is appropriate.

Brian Adams consults with nonprofits, including Komera Project, regarding communications strategy. I am the former senior director of communications at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. A version of this story first appeared on the author’s blog.

LISTEN

Before you start anything (whether it’s a new campaign or you’re just jumping into the ‘socialsphere’), it’s important to know what your audience wants. Spend some time watching your networks and understanding the people within them. This will help when deciphering your strategy and execution.

ENGAGE

There’s plenty of different ways to engage people in social – popular methods such as prizing and contesting are often used by brands to build their following. That said, it’s important to remember that the types of followers and ‘likes’ acquired with contesting may not be the kind of people you’re looking for. You want people who are genuinely interested in you, your business and your brand – it’s important that your efforts reflect and attract this.

RESPOND

“Go big, or go home!” continues to be the motto here at EDPR, and it should apply to you when approaching social. Respond to EVERYONE, address problems quickly, and remember that being on Twitter or Facebook is kind of like being at a 24-hour cocktail party (without the cocktails, and with EVERYONE watching you). Be smart, social and approachable and remember: don’t just talk about yourself.

BE GENUINE

Transparency is key both in life, and online. Don’t underestimate people, and try to lure them with cheap tactics (ie. contesting) – because any savvy person will see right through you. Not to say that contesting is necessarily a bad thing, but it’s one piece of a very large apple pie. Oh – and never lie, it will come back to haunt you. Things you say online are forever, and even after deleting, you never know who snagged a screenshot.

HAVE FUN

The beauty of social media is it’s name – it’s social. You should always have a good time, while incorporating your witty, funny, fabulous personality (or your brand’s) into everything you do/post/tweet.

There’s nothing more annoying than liking a brand or product’s Facebook page, and finding out that they’re in the habit of posting updates more than 3 times a day. Or worse:

HOSTING CHATS ON FACEBOOK

This was the case earlier this week, when one of my favourite brands decided to host a chat on Facebook with their spokesperson taking the lead. What resulted was approximately 15 status updates from the brand IN MY NEWS FEED over a 2 hour span.  If you’re a Facebook user of any capacity, you know how annoying this can be. Also, the brand in question appeals to an older demographic than what I would fall into. Guess what that means? Generally speaking, an older Facebook user tends to have a lower amount (100-200) friends and likes on the social networking site. This would mean that the majority of their news feeds would be inundated with posts from this brand. What does that lead to?

UNLIKES

Needless to say, there’s definitely an unwritten list of best practices when using Facebook as a brand. Check out this INFOGRAPHIC outlining some of the brand “+” and no-no’s for Facebook conduct:

Today one of my Facebook friends (we’ll call her Erin) decided to do something really genius. She is in the process of creating a brand identity for her fashion company and found herself stuck on choosing between 4 different variations of her logo. Rather than hum and haw about which version looked best to her, she took to Facebook and enlisted the opinions of her friends.

Social is starting to play a really key factor in a lot of start-up businesses, and Erin has quickly recognized it’s importance. By throwing out her work into the ‘social sphere’, she was able to garner several opinions (mine included) – but more importantly, she got perspective from the people who matter most. You see, likelihood is that the demographic of her product(s) is closely aligned with that of her Facebook friends. Her eventual consumers are undoubtedly going to be people just like those in her friends list.

Obviously not every company can take advantage of this grass-roots approach due to confidentiality, etc. But what Erin demonstrated today was knowledge that testing your market is paramount to gaining perspective and achieving greater success. Having people with a vested interest in us only a click away provides such a unique opportunity to grow, evaluate and dominate within our independent ventures.

Today Erin reminded me just how powerful social can be, and what an integral part it plays in the businesses of the future. Food for thought!

Have a peek at these crazy statistics for Facebook. It’s insane to really dive into some of the data that’s out there right now. Do you think we’re all obsessed with Facebook? Are we dependent upon it? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Fast Company (one of the only magazines I still buy a paper copy of) recently asked social industry leaders what they thought were the fundamental rules of social media. I loved how they presented the information found (pictured below), and these 5 really resonated with me:

#5. As monetization attempts to go up, consumer experience goes down. In my experience, it’s really important that social remains social. Not only does turning followers into dollar signs always backfire, but long-term relationships aren’t sustainable if you’re always looking for a buck.

#12. Not everything will work, and that’s fine. Embracing failure is such an important part of social. Be sure to test out your efforts on a small-scale before launching social campaigns – it’s ok to make mistakes if you’re learning what the consumer wants.

#14. EVERYONE’S an influencer. Whether a person has one follower, or one million followers – they’re still influencing someone. Remember that social is a public arena – and everyone can see everything.

#15. If fans distribute your content without permission, offer to help. This should be a no brainer, as a large part of this community is all about sharing content. It’s obviously preferable that your content is the stuff that’s being shared, and that turns into traffic, new fans, and new followers!

#35 Think past vanity metrics like followers. This can not be stressed enough. Quality over quantity – followers can be bought, but smarts and great content are the valuable metrics.

Image Via Fast Company

1. How did you get started as a ‘mommy blogger’? I actually started my blog over a couple years ago after my mom suggested I try it.  She already had a “dog blog” and since she knows I’m passionate about writing, thought it would be a great fit.  Writing has always been a creative outlet for me, and the chance to share my thoughts with other people from all over was intriguing and motivating!  I was home with my two young kids and had the itch to start writing again, so what better way than to base my blog on what’s most familiar to me; my family.

2. How did you build an audience, and how long did it take?  My blog was casual and slow in the beginning, as the first year was just odd postings here and there since my kids were so small and demanded so much of my attention and time.  I actually only had a few followers during that time! Once I started posting regularly and joining blog hops, I saw a steady increase in my audience and it was encouraging to see my blog growing and attracting different people from all around the world.  Being active in the blogging community is key in gaining traffic and building an audience.

3. You do a lot of reviews and recommendations on your site – was this always the objective?  Not at all actually.  When I first started my blog, my daughter had just been diagnosed with a severe peanut allergy and it was a way for me to express my thoughts and feelings about that, and connect with other parents going through similar experiences.  As my kids got a little more independent and I could focus on my blog more, I started posting my thoughts on favourite products I use in my own home.  I’ve always loved sharing with friends and family products that I love and have made a positive impact in my everyday living.  If you find something good, why not share it, right?  I noticed other bloggers were working with companies on reviews and once I started reading more into it and learning about it, felt it would be perfect for my blog.  I wanted to share family friendly products to my readers and present them with my honest opinion on them.  I want my blog to be a place people can trust and feel confident in knowing that the reviews presented are 100% my own honest opinion of my experiences with the products.

4. Do you work with companies/brands to expose their products? What happens if you don’t like something?  The one thing I love, is introducing readers to companies/brands that they haven’t heard of before, have heard of but haven’t tried or have wanted to try but needed to know an opinion first.  I’ve worked with so many companies who have AMAZING products that I would have never known about otherwise and am now in love with that deserve the exposure.  So many people will read a review and comment similar to, “Wow, I’d never heard of this (company and/or product) before but am now intrigued and want one or want to learn more!”.  It’s a great feeling working with companies who are doing something wonderful and deserve the recognition.  Fortunately, I have not come across a product for review that I’ve had a completely negative experience with (knock on wood), but if that were to happen, I would simply let the company know my thoughts first before posting a review and leave that up to them whether they’d still like it posted or not.  I would never post a negative review without alerting the company first.  I prefer to keep an uplifting atmosphere on my blog and introducing positive products that will compliment any lifestyle and family.

5. What do you enjoy most about being a mommy blogger?  I love the connections and friendships I’ve made with people, like other fabulous bloggers, as well as relationships I’ve built with some wonderful companies.  I am so fortunate that I’m able to be home with my kids, while pursuing my passion of writing and staying socially connected.  Social media is such a great platform for being involved with others and keeping up with our world as it evolves and my blog allows me the freedom to be with my family while doing something enjoyable for myself as well.  The possibilities with blogging are endless and there’s so much to explore!

6. What advice do you have for aspiring mommy bloggers? Be unique by being yourself.  Write about what comes easy to you and what’s most familiar in your life.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help either.  Bloggers are extremely generous in offering advice to others and I’ve learned a lot from my fellow blogger friends.  Also, be involved!  If you’re involved in social media and supporting other blogs, you’ll find your blog will benefit as well.  Establishing those relationships with others is important to keeping your blog active and gaining support.

Remember to check out Brandi’s blog: Yee Wittle Things, and follow her on Twitter!

Check out Hollis’ reasons for not embracing the digital natives:

1.  They’re not mature enough

2.  They may be focused on their own social-media activity

3. They may not have the same etiquette–or experience

4.  You can’t control their friends

5.  No class can replace on-the-job training

6.  They may not understand your business

7.  Communication skills are critical

8.  Humor is tricky business

9.  Social-media savvy is not the same as technical savvy

10. Social-media management can become crisis management

11. You need to keep the keys

I’m obviously biased. But I think it’s safe to say that most (if not all) of these reasons can be avoided by following proper hiring procedures. Quite frankly, someone at any age can instigate a lot of these risks. As I said before, I’m not 23. However, my 23 year old self would want to send a pretty expressive letter to little Miss Hollis, reminding her that this kind of ageist behaviour is disgusting.

Side note: Anyone remember how old Mark Zuckerberg was when he INVENTED the world’s most popular social network?

Hmmm.

It’s irritating to think that some of the older generation business leaders who may not quite grasp social media yet will read Hollis’ article – and make hiring decisions based on her (in my opinion) ‘faux’ content .

Soon after (to my delight), article #2 appeared: “Why millennials should handle your social media” by Lauren Rotherin. Lauren is a 23 year old community manager (imagine!) and she had a few counter points for little Miss Hollis DeVille:

1. Millennials are creative.

2. Social media isn’t new to us.

3. We are trustworthy, despite what Thomases might think.

4. Our age doesn’t necessarily reflect our maturity.

5. Our individualism is good for your business.

The reality is: we can’t make assumptions about a generation, and close doors before we’ve opened them. Take a look at the world today, many of the movers and shakers in the tech and startup world are in their 20s! I feel like I’ve made my opinion known, and even writing this post has further infuriated me with each sentence I’ve typed. So to close I politely say: Hollis, you’re an idiot.

UPDATE – CHECK THIS INFOGRAPHIC OUT, HOLLIS:

I get a lot of questions from beginners about twitter, and stumbled upon this article originally published on 12 Most (written by Susie Newday). If you’re looking for tips and tricks on how to start using your twitter account, read the 12 steps below for some great advice. Additionally, this can give you some useful reminders on how to optimize your twitter presence more effectively.

I tried Twitter for the first time when it was less than a year old. Someone on an online forum was raving about how much they loved it, so I joined. Honestly, I could not understand the attraction. A week or two later, I gave it up because I still did not “get it.”

Fast forward three years to when I started blogging. Twitter was already popular and any self respecting blogger was on Twitter. So I opened another account and started tweeting. It wasn’t easy to catch on and there was a bit of a learning curve, but suddenly, a few weeks later, I found myself addicted.

Although Twitter has been around since 2006, there are still many people out there who are not yet tweeting and for whom the attraction of twitter is still a conundrum. Here are 12 useful tips for the Twitter newbie or wannabee:

1. Choose the shortest Twitter handle you can

Tweets are 140 characters long and your Twitter name is part of those 140 characters. You want to leave room for your own messages as well as making it easy for people to reweet your tweets.

On the other hand, if the name people will remember and associate with you is a bit longer (like mine), the extra few characters may be worth it.

2. Get an avatar

When you join twitter, the avatar that comes standard is the dreaded Twitter egg. Get rid of it as soon as possible and replace it with a picture of your own. For personal accounts a face avatar is probably best. Brands usually use their logos. Try to make your avatar something people will remember.

3. Leave room for retweets

One of the things people want you to do with their tweets is to retweet (RT) them. When you retweet, the whole tweet gets published along with the original tweeter’s Twitter name and the letters RT in the beginning of the tweet. That means if your tweet was 130 characters, your twitter name can’t be more the 8 letters long including the @ sign. The general rule is to make sure you leave space for at least 20 characters.

* Bonus tip: If you do run out of room and there is a part of the original tweet that is not necessary, you can put PRT (partial retweet) in the beginning of a retweet to save some space.

** Bonus tip 2: Use a URL shortener like Tiny URL or Ow.ly to shorten links in tweets.

4. RT (retweet) wisely

Don’t forget that whatever you RT ends up on your Twitter timeline. If you retweet 20 links in the span of 3 minutes, your followers are going to have a lot of noise on their timeline. Retweet comments or links that you really like or think have value.

5. Find followers

Until you have followers and are following enough people, not only is Twitter going to be boring, your comments and links are not getting to a very big audience. A good way to find people who might interest you is to look at who the people you follow are following.

You also do not have to follow everyone who follows you. There are differences in opinion as to whether proper etiquette is to follow anyone who follows you (aside from obvious spammers of course) — in the beginning it might be tempting but later on it might get noisy. There are ways to deal with the noise though. (See build lists below.)

6. Interact

There are celebrities and famous people who only tweet their links and comments and don’t interact. That might work for them but won’t for most people.

Generally speaking, the point of Twitter is to interact and by doing that you are able to grow your potential audience exponentially. People with whom you have interacted are more likely to retweet something you would like tweeted. They are also potential offline contacts as well.

7. Don’t be afraid to interrupt, jump in and give your two cents

Unlike in real (offline) life, on Twitter it is not only NOT rude to jump into a random conversation, it is actually expected. It’s kind of the point of Twitter.

8. Be careful where your @ goes

When you are tweeting someone or replying to a tweet, your tweet will start with the Twitter name (including the @ sign) of the person you are tweeting to. In this case, only the person you are tweeting or someone who is following both you and the person you are tweeting will see your tweet.

If you would like other people to be able to see and join your “conversation,” write your comment first and then put the person’s Twitter name in the middle or the end of your tweet. That way, it is open to anyone following you.

9. Learn your options

You have quite a few options when you tweet. You can just tweet, which basically means you are posting an update that all your followers can see.

You can tweet to someone specific. You start the tweet with that person’s Twitter name (which starts with @). That tweet will only be seen by the person you are tweeting or people who are mutual Twitter friends.

You can tweet to someone specific but put words in front of the person’s Twitter name. Anyone can then see that tweet.

You can tweet multiple people at once by using all their names with a space separating each of them

You can retweet.

You can reply to a tweet.

If more than one person is mentioned in a tweet you can reply to all.

You can block a user who is a spammer or someone you don’t want.

You can block a user and report spam.

You can send someone who is following you a DM (direct message). (If you are not following them back, they will not be able to reply to you through a direct message.)

These are the basic options. There are more. Take time to learn them.

10. Build lists

Once you have more than a handful of followers, there is no sane way to keep up with Twitter unless you have lists. The lists are useful to help you break down people in different groups like friends, people who followed me, family, clients, funny people, fellow niche bloggers and so on.

The best time to start making lists is when you are first starting out. You can create groups and add people to the lists as you follow them. Make sure you realize that lists are public unless you mark them as private.

Another good tool to get the most out of your lists is a platform like TweetDeck, Hootsuite or Seesmic. All those platforms let you see a few columns simultaneously and make it easier to follow the action. All the platforms have pluses and minuses so research them before you decide which is best for you.

11. Be careful of opening links in direct messages

This is probably a no brainer, but there are lots of spammy direct messages. As in email, sometimes direct messages get hacked as well. So unless you know a link is okay, don’t open it in your direct messages.

12. Twitter is addictive

Plain and simple, Twitter is addictive. Now, before you jump in, this is your last chance to run away.

Proficiency in any skill is not built overnight. Twitter requires an investment in time, to learn the ins and outs, find quality people to follow as well as to grow your own followers.

I’m not sorry that Twitter is part of my life. In fact I find it to have many advantages, both personal as well as professional. I don’t think you’ll be sorry either. (After all, where can you get answers to almost any question in a matter of seconds at any time of the day?)

How many of you are Twitter addicts? How many Twitter newbies?

Are there any other tips you would give people who are just starting to use Twitter?

The first two speakers hit the stage after lunch!

Gini and Geoff spoke a lot about measurement and use of data to discover the true value of our digital efforts. It was amazing to see how many people were not aware of Google Analytics. Gini did a fantastic job stressing it’s importance, and rightfully so – Google Analytics is necessity online.

Next up, Tim Burrows from the Toronto Police. Tim really stole the show with great laughs, and candid conversation. It’s safe to say that Tim definitely improved all of the attendee’s perception of the Toronto Police force.

Scene stealer, Tim Burrows

Next came a quick briefing on The Remix Project – a fantastic initiative helping youth in Toronto to flourish in a variety of artistic positions while providing coaching and mentoring.

Finally, yet another scene stealer hit the stage to close out the conference – Film Friday’s Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary’s insights and outlooks on business and social media were so enlightening and refreshing.

He made one statement that I thought was incredibly bold, yet compelling:

Gary’s site has tons of videos and keynotes that are worth watching, check it out here. 

FInally, 2 of my favourite pics from the day:

Me and speaker/online buddy Amber Mac

Cool vintage taxi parked outside of The Fairmont Royal York during the conference.

Hope you enjoyed the brief rundown, and I’ll definitely recommend that you attend this conference next year. It was worth it’s weight in gold due to it’s fantastic speakers, content, and level of engagement.

All in all, a ton of fun – and just what the name Social Mix should entail.

The button creation in action

As you may know, Embrace Disruption helped celebrate the launch of the new social movement called ‘The Pin Button Project’ in Toronto last weekend.

The Pin Button Project came from a stroke of genius by its creator, William Craddock some many months ago. While assisting at a gallery opening for the CLGA, William met someone who had identified a particular displayed archive button to have great personal meaning. After a lengthy and tearful conversation with the individual, it struck William that the thousands of buttons in the archives’ inventory could tell untold stories from many generations before.

Then came the AHA! moment, and William vowed to create a website where anyone could come and view buttons from the past to share their stories and comments. The launch on Friday, June 29, 2012 brought out crowds of people (from as far as Brazil!) to check out the buttons in person, view the new website, and even create their own buttons! This fall, The Pin Button Project will strike again with a larger exhibit highlighting the comments and stories that were shared over the summer – stay tuned for details.

Check out The Pin Button Project – you can comment, share or even sponsor a button!

For more photos, head to The Pin Button Project’s Facebook page.

Have you seen any stand out Pinterest contests/promotions? Share them in the comments!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 26, 2012

TORONTO, ON – While most PRIDE attendees will be spending their weekend parading Church and Wellesley St. – an underground movement will begin for The Pin Button Project, an interactive website and gallery exhibition launching this Friday June 29, 2012 at the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (CLGA). The project is an online gallery exhibition that features pin buttons from the archives’ vast collection, and invites visitors to share their personal stories and interact with the hundreds of pin buttons collected over the CLGA’s history.

For decades, buttons have symbolized political statement pieces worn by the masses to spread awareness during specific campaigns worldwide. Since its original design patent in 1896, the simple communication abilities of a single button have survived the test of time. Specifically for the LGBT community, buttons have been used for a variety of reasons ranging through forms of protest, to conveying messages without use of the spoken word. Creator William Craddock comments, “The Pin Button Project is about sharing history through the display of photographs of pin buttons that represent a range of causes, events, organization, and identities from our various pasts. It’s about provoking memory and inviting individuals to share their memories with others. It’s a place for discussion about the past – and about the present. And it is, of course, a place to look at and enjoy all of the visual appeal that these buttons from the past have to offer.”

The CLGA has a history of providing ground-breaking innovative exhibits to the Toronto art scene: The Pin Button Project marks a new online initiative to spread awareness and content. Dennis Findlay, VP of the CLGA remarks: “I have two major hopes for the site. First, that its existence allows these archival objects and the discussion around them to extend the reach of the CLGA across Canada, and even beyond. Given the limitations of access to the CLGA by individuals outside of Toronto, it’s important that we work to extend channels of communication and engagement with our fellow Canadians. My second hope is that the project, by engaging visitors in telling their own stories and sharing their opinions, that we will collect a wealth of diverse histories and ideas that help us to better know and remember the past. Our history books and documentary films are often filled with colourful accounts by our communities’ prominent figures, but I hope this website opens up these accounts to the stories of everyone else, those who weren’t necessarily on the front-line on a rally, but who may remember carrying a placard in the back of the crowd.”

The Pin Button Project launches on Friday, June 29^th, 2012 with a public reception at the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives (34 Isabella St., 3rd Floor) from 6:00 to 9:00pm. Complimenting the launch will be interactive button design stations and social media integration – providing a true multiplatform experience for all guests. For more information, visit http://www.pinbuttons.ca.

About The Pin Button Project:

The Pin Button Project is an online interactive exhibition and oral history project featuring pin buttons from the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives. Viewers engage by asking questions, stating opinions, and sharing their own stories.

About Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives:

The Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives was established to aid in the recovery and preservation of LGBT histories. Its mission: to acquire, preserve, organize, and give public access to information and materials in any medium, by and about LGBT people, primarily produced in or concerning Canada. To support this function, the Archives also maintain significant non-archival collections, which include a research library, international subject files, and an international collection of queer periodicals. It is the CLGA’s mandate to make this information available to the public for education and research. Over the years, the CLGA has helped hundreds of people – students, artists, journalists, lawyers, filmmakers complete numerous projects inside and outside of the LGBT community.

Website: http://www.pinbuttons.ca (official site launch: June 29, 2012)

Twitter: @PinButtons

Facebook: http://facebook.com/ThePinButtonProject

For interview requests or high-res photography, please contact:

Cory Stewart

Embrace Disruption Promotions

cory@embracedisruption.com

647.638.1586