However Malcolm from the Connect IT Conference at Ryerson asked me to contribute a blog post so I took the time to convey some of my learnings from the past few months on business model innovation and shared them on the conference blog.

The blog post shares some of my personal lessons learned from startups and innovating business models using the Business Model Generation Canvas and as well the biases of the entrepreneurial personality.

You can find the post below
Balancing Entrepreneurial Bias Through Business Model Innovation

I would love to hear your thoughts and you are more than welcome to join me at the conference this Thursday.

For more information visit: Connect IT Conference

Should your company be engaging through social media?

In my eyes it is a simple answer.

Would you fire your customer service department? PR team? Cut off the whole customer satisfaction department?

The fact is, your customers are talking about you through social media. They are asking questions, creating community groups in your honour or bashing you and rallying others to action.

Why would you not engage them?
The truth is that if you don’t, someone else will.

So why wouldn’t you engage in social media?
Maybe if no one is talking about your company, product or services, you would find it harder to make a case.

In my opinion, if no one is talking about your product, you have bigger issues in your business.

Marketing is simple, it is a battle for familiarity in the minds of customers so that they may be more likely to purchase when it comes down to the decision point.

If you aren’t doing all you can to engage your customers. Someone else will.

Photo credit, Leo Reynolds

I came across this interview from John Nese of Galco’s Soda Pop Stop in Los Angeles and it absolutely lit up my eyes with excitement. Not because of his website (it is nothing more than an eyesore) or his (nonexistent) social media strategy but rather the innate passion and sense for storytelling that makes for winning small businesses and great social media strategy. John’s passion for unique sodas with diverse tastes such as cucumber, rose and every variant of root beer and cola just captures your attention and calls you to explore what he has to offer.

Galco’s Soda Pop Stop is the perfect case for a small business that could thrive through social media. I have seen similar cases in the pets and baby industries and it is amazing how these communities explode and become advocates for the business. Of course the roadblock for small businesses is time, resources and a plan to put together any kind of campaign.

I would hate to see Galco’s watch this one from the sidelines as they have so much potential. Do you know any small businesses that have an equally passionate community?

If they send me over an email at daniel@orangerhinomedia.com telling me why they have the most passionate community, I will offer to take them out for lunch and get them started with a sound social media foundation from me and the boys at Orange Rhino Media.

Who are your favourite small businesses using social media?

Here is the run down, you buy a coffee or any beverage from Second Cup for the person standing behind you in line and they will donate $5 to SickKids! The call to action is simple but it is a way of giving back in a small way which together can make a difference.

Tomorrow I will be dropping by my neighbourhood Second Cup at John and Queen, so please come out, bring a friend and buy a coffee for the greater good.

Click here to find out Where’s the Good in My ‘Hood?

It seems Facebook Advertising is growing up and it comes as no suprise that Facebook is now also profitable.

I have been impressed in the results with several of our clients and through the presentation they show many interesting case studies with advertisers as broad as Proctor and Gamble and Papa John’s.

This weekend Toronto is getting together with some of the smartest technology, startup and marketing folks to party for a good cause.

I will be there and I would recommend you join us. It is a hollywood party to tie into TIFF and I may or may not be rocking a red bow tie, just saying.

More information after the jump:

Just $20 gets you on a boat, partying with the social media community, listening to fabulous local DJs, eating free food and enjoying drinks whilst taking in the beautiful sights of a night time cruise down Toronto’s harbour front. A $20 ticket for an incredible night to remember.

Meal Exchange estimates that it takes only $28 for them to mentor a youth leader and distribute 35 meals. With 100% of the proceeds going directly to Meal Exchange, we have an unbelievable ability to feed a lot of people, desperately in need. The more tickets sold, the more meals can be provided. We have an amazing opportunity to make a huge difference in our own community.

We’re looking to the Toronto community to help us reach our goal of $5000.

$5000 would facilitate 178 youth leaders and over 6250 meals being distributed.

We’ve only raised $ 2,620.00 so far – just over half way there. We need your help Toronto!

Help us spread the word – tweet it, facebook it, blog it. We’ve sold 200 tickets so far – lets get another 300 people to join us and make it an epic evening.

If you haven’t bought your ticket – do it now! http://www.amiando.com/TorontoTwestival”

Also if you are a student enter the code STUDENTPASS and it’ll get them in for a $5 donation however it is a 19+ event.

See you there

Click here to grab your ticket!

I am always fascinated when people claim that a certain online channel or medium is better or more effective than another. I take a tool agnostic approach and prefer to only use a tool if it fits the specific role needed to contribute to the integrated campaign, rather than which one is better.

Today I came across two interesting articles that piqued my interest.

An article from Inside Facebook which revealed Worldwide Facebook Mobile Usage Up 300% in Last 12 Months and a study that revealed that More Viewers Watching TV and Web Simultaneously, Study Says.

The common thread is that I have heard frequently from people with the advertising background, that mobile has better conversion than social and that TV still has more attention share than online.

The problem is that these channels are not competing with each other as we have previously thought.

The 19-24 demographic have grown up attached to their cellphones and social media is not going to change that. However what they are doing with their cellphones is changing. Mobile access to social media is probably the biggest evolution I have seen in the last few years. With the shift in accessibility, social media is no longer just a channel for people that spend all day in front of a computer. With the big push from Facebook to become more accessible to cellphone users they are making it easier for Facebook to become a more integrated and richer part of their social interactions, which can be seen in the 300% jump in mobile interactions.

Secondly in regards to TV vs online, I have always thought the comparison was ridiculous. The modern reality is that people do not consume media in silos. In fact with our hyperactive consumption habits I would argue that I would struggle to identify time where I watch TV without either accessing the web via my smartphone or netbook simultaneously.

Communications in the digital age forces us to break down the silos previous enforced.

If you are devising an online strategy don’t look at which are the top 5 of anything but rather look at what your message you want to convey is and be prepared to dip your toes in many buckets.

The medium is not the message, the message is medium.

Photo credit, Travis Isaacs

via the Onion

For those of you that haven’t experimented with the newly aquired Friendfeed, you only have to look as far as the new Facebook Page Twitter integration to see the value in Facebook’s new investment.

Facebook have attempted to make companies more likely to use Facebook as the platform of choice by making it easier to post to both Twitter and the Page from Facebook.com.

They have nabbed some of the know how from the FriendFeed guys who have managed to develop smooth integration with several platforms.

Now page administrators can simultaneously post status updates, photos, links, notes and events to both Facebook Pages and Twitter.

For anyone managing an integrated social media campaign this is a great added feature, to test the waters and extend the reach and engagement in both Facebook and Twitter.

I have been doing a lot a reading lately on some awesome abstract ideas on consumer behaviour but the tough thing about academic studies is that they are outdated before they are published.

So I am on a crusade to conduct a wholly unscientific test to analyse the evolving consumer behaviour of the generation Y demographic.

What I am looking for is about 4 people to participate in a 30 day experiment submitting short journal entries on purchases they make.

What I specifically want to look at, is how familiarity and or resonance with the brand affect the decision making process taking into consideration the value of the purchase and the role of marketing and or branding in those decisions.

The journal will be conducted from a public posterous blog and I would welcome interpretation and or analysis alongside the study.

If you would like to get involved please fill out the form below:
Consumer Behaviour Study – Submission Form

Photo credit Joe Shlabotnik