A Life Untold & Uninteresting

The Real World Still Exists

This is a follow up to my previous post;

A variety of new Twitter features have made it even easier to find people in your neighborhood, city or region.  Twitter lists allows you to create a group of  people in a similar niche, or geographical area. Now with geotagged tweets that process is automated.

The release of Foursquare to a bunch of new cities takes interacting on online spaces and connects it with offline.

Social networks are realizing that online tools serve one purpose – to make connecting offline easier.

We  are starting to really see Jeff Jarvis’ ideas of hyper-local come to fruition (he focuses on the news industry, but I think there are ramifications beyond that).

But still a lot of people are just realizing that you can no longer hide behind the Internet.

The word ‘social’ is in social media for a reason.

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Succinct

Social Media is just a tool to get your audience motivated to do something in the real world.

I’ve  known and practiced this philosophy for a while, so its not a new concept. I  just finally figured out how to express it.

What do you think?

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Conversation or Broadcast?

A number of  companies in London Ontario have started talking about social media and subsequently offering their services in the field.

While I’m glad to see a broader understanding of what social media is and how it’s useful for business and marketing, I’m also disappointed by some of the thoughts and attitudes coming from these companies.

First and foremost; social media is about creating a relationship with your customers. Bottom line. You can use it to sell them something, or find out what they think about your product, but that’s all a result of having a dialogue with them and earning their trust.

Instead of  focusing on the message, or the tools, or the audience; focus on engagement, reputation building and an ongoing rapport. When you do that you’ll have a successful social media agency.

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Cartoon Explanation

This drawing by Hugh Macleod has done the best job of explaining the whole reason for the internet:

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Social Media Training – Free Guidance Courses

In my first few weeks at rtraction I have already given several presentations on social media at various events.

On Tuesday November 10th I will be providing a free introduction to social media for businesses. This will be a elementary session that will attempt to answer the what, the why and the how. No prior experience is expected, but all knowledge levels are invited to attend.

The course is going to be offered from 9 to 10:30 AM in the boardroom at the base of the Talbot Towers (148 Fullarton St London)

For more information and to attend please register here

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Write or Die!

Today I’m going to review the web app “write or die“, in which I tell the computer how many words I want to write and how aggressive I want it to be. Apparently words are erased If I don’t meet these goals. For interests sake I’m going to write this review using this app, so what you read will be my thoughts as I use it.

Overall seems like it would or could be an interesting tool. However the thought that I’m competing, not against my own mind, but a computer clock, adds an even greater sense of urgency.

The design is nice; simple and clean, free of all distractions. No reason at all that I shouldn’t be able to finish this post with lots of time to spare.

But here I am, feeling nervous already, like I’m not going to make it and at any point all my words, my hard earned text, is just going to disappear into the ether, because I didn’t meet an arbitrary goal or a certain number of words within a specific time. In fact I can’t remember what goals I set. I have no idea if I’m ahead or behind. If the next words I type will last only a second before being erased before my very eyes. I seem to type faster, as if its not my mind that limits how much i can produce, but the speed at which my fingers move.

But here I am! I’ve made it to the end and retained my sanity, or at least kept it at the same level it was before. And despite making me feel incredibly anxious, I think that this application has great potential. I might even use it again.

As long as it promises to turn a blind eye every so often.

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Employment Announcement

I’m pleased to announce that starting today I have joined the team at rtraction as a Social Media Strategist!

This is a great opportunity for both myself, rtraction, and businesses in Southwestern Ontario. There is now a full fledged social media agency that can take care of all your new media needs. My job description is still being finalized, but I will be primarily helping clients to understand and apply themselves to social media platforms.  We also have some training courses planned for later in the year.

As many of you know, this is a space that I have been heavily engaged in for many years. I don’t want to blow my own horn too much (I’ll leave that for the guys at rtraction), but my involvement in Podcamp London, LOLA and the upcoming SMarts Conference, illustrates how much I “get it”.

If you have been wondering how your company or brand should take advantage of this new space, but have been holding back, be sure to drop me a line

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How a Newpaper Article Failed Me

The other day as I was browsing through the dead tree version of the newspaper (that I get delivered to my door because then I can then mulitask between real world and the online world) I came across a small blurb about a marketing company in Toronto that had released an ebook about the growing “blurriness” between different forms of communication (email, social networks, television etc).

My interest was piqued, so I browsed over to their website to purchase the book (My assumption was that I would have to pay for it, I didn’t expect a marketing agency to understand the concept of The Long Tail or Free). I’m not going to link to the site because what I found was a shocking example of incompatablity and shoddy marketing.

The only reference to the ebook is an ad at the top of the page with the paper’s title. No indication about what it is, or what you might get once you click.When you do click you’re screen is graced with a popup. That loads a flash player. That gives you an animated book.

What is wrong with this picture:

1. Closed, inaccessible system – there is no way to download this book, save your place or deep link;
2. Arcahic methods of delivery – relying on old school marketing methods in a newschool environment;
3. Insulting UI – Popups and flash players may have looked good on the whiteboard, but its not how people browse the web.

If you are going to use the internet’s method of distribution, first learn how the internet distributes information.

The only people who read that paper did so because they saw the same newspaper article I did and made a huge effort to get it. And again I realised the folly of relying on the newspaper industry to provide me with content quickly and easily.

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Working From Anywhere

Since I’ve started to work more on my own, due to my unfortunate termination, I’ve realized the benefits of being able to work anywhere.

While I have an office set up at home, it is nice to be able to leave for somewhere else. That way I’m not distracted by the many things there are to do around my house. So instead I grab my MacBook, notebook and phone and head out, usually to a local coffee house.

In my opinion, the best thing that any entrepreneur or freelance consultant can do is learn to work anywhere, at any time. I’m sure this is nothing new to most people, but it has made the world of difference to me.

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Security Concepts: Job Interview

Update July 2010: Well I gave them the benefit of the doubt, but this company has repeatedly failed to improve their standing in the community, or reign in their employees. I strongly urge any prospective employee to reconsidering pursuing this company as an option.

Update November 2009: Since I wrote this post I have had a chance to visit the new Security Concept offices on Wellington St. While what follows is an accurate representation of what I experienced in July 2009, I can honestly say that the company has changed many of their practices since then. I would urge you not to judge the company on my experiences alone.

It’s taken me a bit of time to get to the story of my job interview on Monday, but I promised.

Like I mentioned, I totally forgot about applying for this job, which should have been warning sign number one. The interview was scheduled for 2:30 at 149 King St, the corner of King and Richmond in downtown London. The company was Security Concepts, and they claimed to be an authorized ADT dealer. When I called to confirm the interview I was told I was interviewing for a sales position, warning sign number 2.

So at 2:20 I parked at Covent Garden Market and started looking for the office. It took me a while because it was hidden in a rundown building, between two nicer looking office towers. There were temporary signs throughout the building directing me to the Security Concepts office, warning sign number 3.

I walked through the door into a room 10 ft by 10 ft with about 15 people in it, there was a women sitting behind a crappy looking desk who directed me to another room when she heard I was there for an interview. Warning sign 4.

There were 17 other people in that room, all there for an interview, that was going to take place as a group.

There was a man in a Security Concepts polo shirt giving a powerpoint, no, reading a powerpoint presentation about the company.

We had to go around the room and introduce ourselves and tell our work experience. You could tell that any hopes, dreams or ambitions that anyone in that room had ever had were long gone.

Polo shirt man filled us in on the details of Security Concepts. Did you know that they give you the security system?!?! All you pay is the $99.99 activation fee and then your $34.99 a month afterwards!! And for each system you as a rep sell, you earn $200! Most of their salesmen sell at least one a day, working 5 days a week, thats $1000 a week, or $52,000 a year.

“That’s more money then some of you have ever made”

Warning signs 5,6,7,8……

Then we had to pull out our resumes and on the back give a number, 1 being you don’t want to work with them and 10 being you really did. Then write a paragraph about why they should hire you.

Polo shirt man left the room and would return to do one on one interviews. Before he did that he asked for a show of hands for how many people could start today. He acknowledged one particularily anxious man with a nod and a “thank-you”

I took this as my cue to leave.

Update:

Since I wrote this post I received comments from people on their way to interviews who have thanked me for sparing them the trouble. This was because I ranked quite high on Google searches for Security Concepts and job interviews.

I sent an email to the company informing them of this, and offering my services. They decided to take it upon themselves to comment on my blog. I applaud this move, but they failed miserably.

Security Concepts still has no credibility as an employer. They’ve hid behind anonymous comments, and have engaged in a “he-said, she-said” battle. Never mind the fact that their SEO and SEM is horrendous (or non existent)

Update: Well I thought that the comments to this post were bad enough….Apparently some employees have decided to attack me personally (click to enlarge).

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