MIXX Canada Conference Review Toronto by Tripti Ninan

Guest Author

Set in the gorgeous Carlu downtown Toronto, the MIXX Canada Conference had a great blend of inspiring and informative presentations, delectable food and fantastic company packed into a one-day session on March 27. I was greeted by friendly people and a well-organized registration area and coat check. Right when I walked into the breakfast area, there were acrobats playing twister to the right and a beautiful array of food in front of me. The breakfast menu was on the lighter side with a mix of croissants, danishes, muffins, bagels, preserves, cheese and frittatas as a protein option.

marketing now has to be more about attraction than distraction- if your product is authentic and good, customers will tweet, Facebook, etc about you and become your “fan” base.

I made some great new friends as the first lady watched my bag at the cocktail tables as I brought my food back. I connected with energetic and friendly people from Yahoo, Marketing Magazine, Top Drawer Creative, Tribal and more. There were displays and great giveaways set up by multiple sponsors like Kijiji, Acuity, etc. Eventually it was time to filter into the main presentation room and I ended up sitting at the Yahoo table with my new-found friends.

The day started off a little late and was MC’ed by Paula Gignac, the president of IAB Canada, who informed us this was a carbon-neutral event- all waste collected from the event was calculated and the equivalent number of trees would be planted by IAB. The day was set up to have about 2-3 sessions with breaks in between running from 7:30am to 4pm. Most sessions were followed by a Q&A session mediated by Gignac .

Filmmaker Jeff Rosenblum, the keynote speaker, was dynamic and magnetic as he caught our attention by introducing us to the evil men (Fred Flintstone) and evil corporation (Crayola) of marketing. The main message he was conveying is that marketing can no longer lie or fudge the truth about their products due to the power the consumer now have through social networking sites, providing good and bad reviews. It is finally time now to actually ensure you have good products and services by investing in R&D and professional development. He was followed by another very interesting presentation by Geoffrey Ramsey who complemented his topic about the top 6 Hot Digital trends. One of his insightful points is that marketing now has to be more about attraction than distraction- if your product is authentic and good, customers will tweet, Facebook, etc about you and become your “fan” base.

The main message he was conveying is that marketing can no longer lie or fudge the truth about their products due to the power the consumer now have through social networking sites, providing good and bad reviews.

Next Steve from TAXI showed us the interesting case study of Canadian Tire “House of Innovation” and how this truly has resulted in results for the brand and generated incredible publicity. His presentation seemed more spacey and not very connected at all times. Continue reading →

Monique Sherrett CEO, Boxcar Marketing & Internet Marketing Consultant for B’stro

Michael Zipursky

Monique Sherrett is the CEO (Chief Everything Officer) of Boxcar Marketing, a Vancouver-based internet marketing consultancy. Monique also serves as an internet marketing consultant for B’stro, a marketing and design company located in Vancouver and San Francisco.

Monique, you’ve been involved in the internet (and even internet marketing) since 1999, which is before most people even knew what the internet was. What kinds of work were you doing than and how does that compare to what you’re doing now?

It’s true, I remember when Google launched in 1998.

In my university days when my fellow Arts students were taking biology for their science requirement, I decided to take computer science and learned how to code.

My early web experiences impressed upon me the need to build an audience and respond to their needs, to use the tools available to ensure your intended audience finds your work, and to give back through participation beyond your own website. These remain great lessons.

I built my first website in 1998 for Jesse James Press, which was my first entrepreneurial adventure with, my now husband, James Sherrett. Jesse James Press was a small publishing company that we ran with two other English majors.

The second site I managed was Treeline, an online literary magazine. I was the graphic editor and also the wine columnist from 1997 to 1999.

Those early experiences really set the stage for the work I did for Raincoast Books as their internet marketing manager, including launching the first Canadian publisher blog and one of the first publisher podcasts in 2006, then handling community management and outreach for the Harry Potter titles.

My early web experiences impressed upon me the need to build an audience and respond to their needs, to use the tools available to ensure your intended audience finds your work, and to give back through participation beyond your own website. These remain great lessons.

What are the first few things (work/business/personal) that you do each morning?

Morning is my favourite time of day. I often get up early and work out at the gym. As a non-gym person, I like to be only partially awake when engaging in exercise.

Once I’m suitably awake with all those great endorphins from my workout, I grab coffee at one of my favourite shops and am online by 7:30-8:00.

Having a mix of East Coast and West Coast clients, as well as clients and partners in Europe means that I need to be tapped into what’s going on well before 9 am PST.

My first stop is usually Twitter, Google Reader, email then back to Twitter. Somewhere in there, I fit in filming and uploading to YouTube my 1 Minute Marketing tip for the day. My goal for 2012 is to post one per business day.

Next I check the Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages that Boxcar Marketing manages on behalf of clients.

And between meetings, phone calls, and more email, I work on writing and posting content or engaging on other sites depending on the day of the week.

Since there are so many social media sites and so many different things to do for each client, we use an editorial calendar to keep us on track. As Boxcar Marketing, Crissy Campbell and I set two priority outcomes each week for ourselves, plus we have weekly goals for each client.

Having a mix of East Coast and West Coast clients, as well as clients and partners in Europe means that I need to be tapped into what’s going on well before 9 am PST.

“We plan so we can measure, we measure so we can improve.” Knowing what success looks like for our clients means we can ensure we are staying on track by doing a little check in each morning.

You’re an Adjunct Professor at Simon Fraser University, you run Boxcar Marketing and consult for an SF based design company as well, what does your typical day look like?

There are typical weeks but not typical days. Because Boxcar Marketing’s approach to online marketing is about responding to people and interacting as much as possible, it means that the daily schedule we have in mind can quickly go out the window.

Setting the two priority goals for the week and keeping in mind our client goals means Crissy and I can adjust our schedules as needed. As one of my SFU professors used to say, “we’re aiming for results, not effort.”

On that note, my role as Adjunct Professor at SFU means that I also have to be flexible in where and when I work. In the Fall semester, I teach an undergraduate course in online marketing, PUB355, and I co-teach the marketing course for the Master of Publishing program. In the Spring semester, I supervise the distant education version of the undergraduate course and do some guest speaking in the other publishing courses.

Teaching is something that I really enjoy. I find it incredibly rewarding to see a group of people come into a class with a certain set of knowledge and leave 13 weeks later with even greater knowledge—and often as people I’d want to hire. Continue reading →

Fresh Event Alert: MIXX Canada Conference Series

Guest Author

In this exclusive one day conference, Canadian marketing professionals and entrepreneurs will have the chance to learn how to stay ahead of the crowd as the marketing race intensifies. Learn how to amplify your brand, how to magnetize the minds of consumers today, and how to determine the ROI for Social Media campaigns. Bring home with you the latest trends in marketing AND the advice of some keynote speakers including Jeff Rosenblum, (Co-founder of Questus), Geoff Ramsey (CEO and co-founder of eMarketer), and Randy Weyersberg (VP of marketing for Canadian Tire).

Date: March 27^th, 2012
Location: Carlu Theatre, 444 Yonge Street | Toronto, Canada
Website: http://www.mixxcanada.com

Fresh Event Alert: The National Business and Technology Conference 2012 Toronto

Guest Author

This prestigious event brings together 300 young leaders and numerous industry professionals from across North America to participate in interactive workshops, listen to inspiring speakers, compete in the Business Consulting Case and the Entrepreneurship Competitions, and enrich their networks.

Their goal is to inspire the next generation of Canada’s innovative CEOs, Founders and Leaders in the business and technology industry. This year’s speakers include Eric Gales (President of Microsoft Canada), Jordan Banks (Managing director of Facebook Canada), Michael Serbinis (CEO of Kobo), Peter Aceto (CEO of ING Direct Canada), and many more leaders in the business technology industry!

Date: March 23^rd– 24^th
Location: South Building of the Metro Toronto Convention Center, 222 Bremner Blvd. |Toronto, Canada
Website: http://nbtc.nspire.org/

Fresh Event Alert: The Multicultural Marketing Conference 2012

Guest Author

The third annual Multicultural Marketing Conference in Toronto, Calgary, and Montreal is dedicated to teaching audiences about marketing in the face of Canada’s ever-evolving ethnicity and culture. This great event, new in Calgary this year, will feature never-before-reported research, in-depth case studies and actionable insights into marketing to a more unfamiliar consumer.

Date: March 20^th– 23^rd
Location: Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary
Website: http://www.marketingmag.ca/microsite/multicultural-2012

FreelancecampTO Returns

Michael Zipursky

UPDATE: FreelanceCampTO has just notified us that there may be a change of venue. For full details visit their blog post on this here.

Just In: From Rachel Young of Camaraderie Coworking Inc.

FreelancecampTO returns for another stellar event

Building on the success of the first event, freelcancecampTO returns.

As a freelancer, access to professional development is limited, but on Mar 25 Toronto-area freelancers can learn from one another at freelancecampTO. It’s a camp-style event where attendees deliver the sessions, and everyone has something to teach.

Beginner level topics include:

Establishing a Niche Service
Legal Pitfalls to Avoid When Starting
The Small Business Web

And advanced level sessions include:

Social Media and Your Employment Brand
Sales and Marketing for Freelancers
Running a Freelance Translation Business Part Time

Steve Slaunwhite Keynote Address Continue reading →

Advanced Job Search Now Available

Michael Zipursky

We have always put design and usability at the forefront here at FreshGigs.ca. From the way jobs are listed to the job posting experience for employers.

And today we’re happy to announce that we’ve just released “Advanced Search” to make it even easier for professionals to find relevant job opportunities.

Here’s how it works:

On the main page of job listings you’ll notice a new link just to the right of the search box labeled “Advanced Search”.

Clicking on that link will open a box with several options to make your job search more relevant.

For example, you can now select the province and category of the jobs you want to search through. Of course, you can still use the search box. Advanced Search will however make it easier for you to sort through and find the most relevant jobs.

This is a new feature that we hope you’ll enjoy. We welcome your feedback and suggestions and would love to hear from you if you experience any issues with the new search or with ideas of how to make it or anything else on FreshGigs.ca better.

Happy searching!

International Speaker & Social Media Whiz Alyson Schafer

Michael Zipursky

Alyson Schafer is the best-selling author of 3 books on parenting and is a psychotherapist. She has spoken internationally and more recently at TEDxKids in Brussels. Alyson regularly appears in the media and is very active in social media.

Alyson, let’s start off by finding what you actually do as a psychotherapist and parenting expert?

Yes, I am a therapist by training, but I don’t see clients any more. Most of my work is educational in nature. I do workshops, speak or media appearances discussing parenting and discipline issues. I help parents understand how to manage behaviours without being punitive or using rewards. Its hard to know how to be effective without being mean, or being a door mat.

I am motivated because I have mission – not a career, otherwise I would have packed it in long ago.

The image of someone working in therapy and parenting is generally quite conservative. You’re a very active speaker and are involved in social media, why did you choose this approach?

I don’t think I am conservative! I have been an early adopter to technology and since most people know how important “word of mouth” “relationships” and “connections” are for business is just made sense to do that even more extensively on line.

How have speaking and the use of social media affected your career? Any tangible results?

I think my true gift is as a speaker. I love to entertain while giving people ah ha moments. When you speak its an IRL experience that helps “build my tribe”. But – I am limited by time and space IRL. Social media allows me to connect virtually with people and stay connected build my tribe with out limits and boundaries. Social media also allows me to point people to all my blogs, my registration pages, point them to a tweet chat I am hosting, links to other resources etc… I can’t imagine how my business would work without it, frankly.

What was the most difficult challenge you faced in building your business and how did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge for me was time. As an entrepreneur you have to be willing to work long hours and be willing to have patience to succeed. This is my 12th year in business, but the first 5 to 10 years were as much work with less recognition and remuneration. I am motivated because I have mission – not a career, otherwise I would have packed it in long ago.

You’ve received a significant amount of media coverage. For people that want to attract media attention to their own business or organization, what would be your number 1 tip for them?

For the uninitiated, start with the media outlets that are desperate for content. The small regional / local daily lifestyle shows have to come up with something every day. They don’t expect guests to be seasoned. Learn to write up an engaging chat sheet for the interviewer and submit it as part of your pitch. That will get you experience and experience helps you get bigger media venues eventually.

Social media allows me to connect virtually with people and stay connected build my tribe with out limits and boundaries.

How do you approach productivity? What challenges do you have in this area? How are you overcoming them? Any tips for others?

I just hired an assistant. Like many other self-employed people, I waited too long before having the nerve to do it. Keep asking yourself, “am I doing the activities that are the most fruitful to move my business to where I want it to go?” I just wrote up a business plan with goals for each quarter. It helps me focus so I don’t say “yes” to side projects that are “fun” but actually a distraction from the real direction I have. I just can’t squander my time anymore.

Do you have a good work-life balance? If no, why? If yes, how do you achieve it? What are you beliefs around this?

As a therapist I feel I have to walk to the talk. I wake early and I don’t watch TV at night. That’s how I make it work. Everybody has a lot more time than they think if they would just turn off the TV! Each morning I read for half an hour for my mind, and then do something for half an hour for my body; work out, run, yoga meditate – depends on the day. In the evenings when I am not speaking I do something creative. I take guitar lessons and I sketch. Parenting work comes to an abrupt halt from May to September, so for all the long hours and travel in the winter, I get the summer almost entirely off so I head to our cottage and also do an annual camping trip with my girls where I am off the grid all together.

Keep asking yourself, “am I doing the activities that are the most fruitful to move my business to where I want it to go?”

What is your favourite quote of all time?

“I am mistaking my way to success”

What is one thing that your coworkers, clients or friends may not know about you?

Boy, I tell everybody everything! I doubt I have any secrets. My latest personal ambition in to learn French. Not many people know that. C’est bon?

Fresh Canadian Event Alert: Entrepreneurship 101 Workshops in Toronto

Guest Author

Entrepreneurship 101 Workshops

Entrepreneurship 101 is a great series of weekly workshops, free-of-charge that introduce aspiring entrepreneurs to the basics of building a new venture. They feature lectures targeted at social innovators, technology and life sciences researchers and trainees. Want to get the basics down, such as funding, marketing, recruiting, and intellectual property? This is the perfect place to be.

Date: Throughout March-May
Location: MARS Auditorium, 101 College Street | Toronto, Canada
Website: http://www.marsdd.com/events/event_series/entrepreneurship-101/

Marketing Analytics and Insights with June Li

Michael Zipursky

June Li is the founder of ClickInsight Corporation, a Canadian web analytics firm that works with business owners and entrepreneurs to use the insight from analytics data to grow their business. An instructor at the University of Toronto and at the University of British Columbia, June teaches courses on…you guessed it, web analytics! June also speaks regularly for organizations and associations across North America.

What are the first few things that you do each morning?

When I worked in a more structured corporate work environment, I was always in the office by 7 am. My most productive time was between 7 and 9 am. Now, as there are evening networking events and industry meetings, things are more fluid. Because we collaborate internationally, with the time differences meetings occasionally happen at 6 am or 6 pm.

First thing I do is choose my top 3 to-dos for the day. Some days are fully dedicated to client work and others to running the business or working with the marketing and analytics community.

When do you first check your email?

Well, it’s not the first thing I do when I wake up! Usually just before I pick my to-dos for the day.

Do you have any tips for dealing with email?

Since our company email addresses are public, email spoofing is reality we have to put up with. Part of being visible. So setting up and maintaining good spam filtering rules is needed.

Client and project email is handled about every couple of hours and categorized. I encourage staff and associates not to mix topics and conversations without changing the subject line.

Email routing to folders is key for industry email. Reading is necessary to keep up with online marketing so I receive a lot of newsletters and alerts. I scan the subject lines once a day and delete the majority without reading.

Work-life balance takes constant work.”

What does your typical day look like?

We have client meetings at their offices, so when I am in the office, 8:30 to 9 am. A typical day is a mix of business development and client project work. Client work may involve customer research, market research, auditing web analytics implementations, making recommendations or training and coaching. In addition to business development, non-client work also includes contributing to the analytics and marketing community through the Web Analytics Association, Canadian Marketing Association and Emetrics conferences.

What’s the most interesting thing about your job? Continue reading →