For the morning of May 11, 2011

7 Reasons Replacing a Website With Social Media Is Stupid http://flpbd.it/IBcQ

I don’t agree with all of these, but it is probably my age – How to Hire a Social Media Expert http://flpbd.it/GyMi

How to Overcome the Overwhelming Nature of Social Media Marketing http://flpbd.it/Olx2

Google Announces Movie Rentals And Music Service http://flpbd.it/ESc3

3 Big Reasons Why Social Media Marketing is Essential for Your Business http://flpbd.it/arFe

How to Build a Free Social Media Monitoring Dashboard http://flpbd.it/7Rgg

Half of UK businesses ban social media at work http://tnw.to/18Din

Microsoft: We Promise Not To Screw Up Skype http://Dthin.gs/6018R8W4

As Twitpic Signs Picture Agency Deal, Mobypicture Hands Control Back http://tcrn.ch/myxik4

These may be reoccurring blog posts if I share a bunch of links again. If you want to follow me between 7am and 8am PST you can find me sharing useful links I find.

In a Facebook status of their own Facebook announced the new way of tagging friends in posts. They have now dropped the at symbol. It does not appear this works yet for Page, but I’m sure that is coming soon.

They’ve made Facebook a little bit more advanced today and now when you go to tag a friend all you have to do is start typing in their name. You don’t have to add any symbol or weird text, just start typing their name and it should appear in a drop down below. They demonstrate in this three easy steps guide in the picture.

Tagging your friends is fun and cool so that they know when you mention them. There is a social aspect to it, you both know when you’re talking about each other and other people can see that you are talking about a specific person. That being said there is a bigger meaning for Facebook I believe. I don’t think they’re doing anything bad with this, I think they are collecting the data. Collecting the data in the sense that they want to figure out which of your friends you interact with most, how you interact with them, and what you’re saying to them. Not for any evil reasons, but for innovative reasons. So they can possibly improve Facebook down the road.

Go head over to Facebook right now, and tag a friend.

A lot of businesses don’t think that they can actually be social, therefore they give up quickly. Or they don’t put in the time. This example shows how a small little business found social in what they do.

I love to think how I can make any business social. I like to come up with ideas about how they can drive traffic to Facebook and Twitter, how they can have conversations there, and how they can become the most likeable business in their niche.  So when I saw with this pizza joint was doing, I thought it was wonderful. Not only for followers of the pizza joint, but how this pizza joint was thinking outside of the box.

photo © 2009 Thomas Quine | more info (via: Wylio)

Here is what they propose: as a busy delivery evening was about to take off, whoever managed their Twitter and Facebook account got on their and posted a similar message to this ” whoever takes a picture of our delivery van while not in our parking lot and posts it on our Facebook wall will receive a free pizza.”

This instantly creates a social challenge for everyone who follows them on Twitter and Facebook to go out and try and find their delivery van. This is genius because every time one of the people that follows them posts a photo of the delivery van it would show up in their timeline as well and therefore show up to all of their friends. What better advertising is there than that, you have people posting photos of your delivery van with your company name plastered all over.

I can’t comment on how well this campaign worked, but it sounds great and is very creative. So if you ever think you don’t have an idea worth doing, just give it a shot and see how it goes, and if you need help that’s why I’m here.

Have you seen any other creative Facebook campaigns, from small local businesses? Let us know below.

Potentially this proposal was saying that if someone wanted to complain about your business or something that is associated with it they would come to your Facebook Page or Twitter account to do it. People would basically come right to you to complain.

photo © 2009 Aitor Calero | more info (via: Wylio)

They say this is a threat because what business wants their customers complaining on their page for all other customers to see. Agreed, but I see this is an opportunity and I will tell you why, with an example first.

Years ago before Social Media and potentially the Internet, if a person wanted to complain about your business they would just tell their friends and maybe their friends would tell their friends and so on. Yes the process was a lot slow back then, but no where in there do you have the opportunity to possibly fix the issue from the businesses point.

The reason I say this is an opportunity is because now with Social Media, a business has the opportunity to respond to a complaint, publicly, and show that they want to right a wrong. They want to change that complainers opinion of the business and they want everyone else on that page to see that they reached out to this customer to help them.

You see this humanizes your business, you show to your customers and everyone else that you are real people just like them that want to help. I’m telling you, if I see something like this I’m much more likely to go back to them in the future knowing that if I do have a problem they would be more likely to help fix the issue.

What is your take. Do you see this as an opportunity or a threat.

I wont write to much about everything that he discussed but I will break some of the main points in to Parents and Students.

Students

The biggest things I think Jesse was trying to explain to students was 1) most students Facebook profiles are public and 2) the consequences of posting certain things. He speaks about how almost every employer will Google potential employees before even calling them for an interview. Another point he makes is the risks of these networks, although most of these threats have been around since the early days of online chat rooms.

From the sounds of it the students he presented to during the day actually learned something from what he had to say, some even scared.

Parents

I attended the parents awareness meeting later in the day, which was to make parents aware of what their kids might be up to online. Granted, Jesse didn’t know exactly what they kids were posting, but he shared that within a few Google searches he could see the entire network of people around the North Peace Secondary School in Fort St John. He again shared some stories about teenagers who got caught up in scandals that either wound them up dead or is serious trouble.

It seems like parents were starting to understand these networks and what their children might be up to. Jesse also offered some methods of handling students accounts, it being built on trust.

My Take

Okay so I probably didn’t capture the meeting very well, but I think a lot of it was showing off some of the scaring things about what kids might be up to on Facebook. What I was a little disappointed about was the lack of the positive sides. I understand the shock factor and how it may be the only way to scare people into being smarter online, but I truly believe there is a positive side to students using Social Networks.

I wont get into the story of how I got a job through Social Media, but I will let you know about a scenario which happened at one of my workshops a couple weeks ago. A couple highschool students were in attendance and I wanted to let them know about the positive things they could do with Social Networks. I explained to them about the fact that no matter what your interests are or what you want to do after highschool, chances are someone is talking about it online. I shared that if they were to join those communities, get to be a trusted person amoung those people and build yourself a positive Social Media footprint, than the opportunities just might start coming quicker. Now I explained this a little better to them and I could tell they were taking it in. Their eyes widened as they though about the possibilities.

My point is, yes there is a downside to these networks for students, but there is also a huge positive side. It is just showing students and parents that it is there. A person wouldn’t walk around naked in the street, because someone might see them, if they knew that about the Internet do you think they would still do it?

Business aside, I’d love to work with some of the local schools about working with students to understand some of the beneficial things they can use Social Networks for. That aside though, what is your take on Students using Social Networks and how should parents handle their children on these networks?

photo © 2004 Steve Jurvetson | more info (via: Wylio)

With the pace that technology is moving shouldn’t we possibly be showing students how to use Cloud tools that are out there to prevent losing any of their work in the first place. I certainly remember being taught to save every 5 minutes in school, but aren’t we past that now.

Rather than working with only a local copy of your work and backing it up every so often, why not store it in the cloud and edit it there. In my opinion storing files in the cloud is the safest place for them, outside of confidential files of course.

Cloud Tools

Below is a list of common Cloud based tools that can be used to store and even create files and documents online in the cloud.

Dropbox: This is one of my personal favourites. Any account is free for the first 2gb’s, but you can get more storage by recommending to others, I’m up to about 5gb’s now. You can not only access your storage space on any web browser, you can also mount Dropbox as a disk on your computer and have it act as if it were any other folder on your system. This can be done on as many computers as you want. It also stores the contents of your storage space locally so you can access it offline and then it will sync as soon as you get to an Internet connection. Dropbox offers a lot more features that I will cover in the future.

SugarSync: This is a more recent find that I never actually used. It appears to be much like Dropbox but instead of having the ability to mount as a disk it has its own desktop application. It does automatically start you off with 5gb free.

Amazon Cloud Drive: This is the newest contender to the game, that I know of, and offers up 5gb’s free. From what I can tell it can only be accessed via web browser, but supposedly comes with an Amazon Mp3 management system built-in.

Google Docs: This solution isn’t for file storage, but can definitely be useful. Google offers you the ability to import or create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc, supporting all the common formats. Documents can be accessed from any computer with your Google account, and is great for those who don’t have programs like Microsoft Office.

Others: There is of course probably more options out there. I believe Microsoft has some sort of solution as well for their Office products.

The Cons

There are of course downsides to cloud solutions like the ones mentioned above. Right off the bat many people will think there are security risks as well as the chance of losing content, but when it comes to these companies things are pretty safe and secure. They strive on being the most reliable and stable solutions. The biggest downside to these solutions is having no Internet connectivity. Certainly there at times and places that we won’t have Internet, but with the rise in more places offering WiFi and the spread of 3G cell service there aren’t many times when we aren’t connected any more.

Wrapping It Up

So to finish off I would encourage people to try out some of the Cloud based storage solutions I have mentioned above. Once you get in the habit of using them you will wonder how you ever lived with out them. This isn’t of course just a students solution, it can be used by anyone, but I thought for students and schools alike it might be a solution that has a very practical use.

The thing that makes blogging so good is the personality and I’m not suggesting to take the personality out of blogging. I’m suggesting taking your everyday life out of blogging.

photo © 2006 Josh Hallett | more info (via:Wylio)

This might explain why I have two blogs. WithMedia.ca and KyleWith.com.  This one of course is for all the technical stuff I want to talk about. Most of it pertaining to social media, technology and gadgets. And on my personal one being about, well, my personal life.
So if you are currently writing a blog about life, about your every day journey, but want to expand that, expand your community, expand your readers. Then I suggest looking at your blog posts and finding your niche, finding that one thing that you talk about that doesn’t directly involve you.  Figure out the topic that you are an expert in.
Then what I suggest is that you focus on that topic. I’m not saying give up writing about your personal life; do what I do and start a new blog.  What I’m saying is give your readers what they want to read, become the master of that topic and soon enough you’ll be getting more Google juice than you can imagine.

If you look at all the top blogs out there today, ProBlogger.net  being a good example, they don’t put much of their personal life on their blog. Darren from ProBlogger has a personal blog somewhere else where he discusses his family and his journey through life and keeps ProBlogger for all blogging topics.

So in conclusion, if you really want to be serious about blogging, find your topic and consistently write about it. Take your everyday life out of it but keep the personality, then you’ll be on a path of success.

What is a blog camp? It is when an informal meet up and conference meet in the middle. Of course it is for bloggers, want to be bloggers or just anyone who is interested in blogging and social media. It is a relaxed atmosphere with structure, but nothing set in stone.

A few days ago I was even asked to give a presentation at the camp on Social Media. I’m still not sure exactly what I will talk about, but I think I will talk about how, though Social Media, I ended up with a sweet job and then lead into what bloggers, people or businesses should be on Social Media communicating with people talking about their topics.

The Details:

• When: Saturday, April 2, 12:45pm – 5pm – Dinner & Drinks to follow
• Cost: I don’t know, probably only $5 so we can pay for the location
• Where: Oh that hasn’t been decided yet, check back though.

What I have here though is the first video I have created with my iPad 2. I used the Front Facing camera, which is the lower quality camera on the iPad. It is only VGA. So I recorded it directly on the iPad and opened it with the iMovie App. The iMovie App is limited, that is for sure. I wanted it to do the simplest for of editing like splitting clips but it can’t do that. I will give it credit though for allowing me to see the audio levels and dub the video with an audio track.

The other problem I have with the front facing camera is how it records in 4:3 , which is no longer the norm for YouTube. I would much rather everything Apple made record in 16:9. Web Standards, Apple!

I don’t think I will be recording video with my iPad in the future, I’ll just stick to my iPhone 4 or Kodak Zi8.

The Culprits

Like I mentioned and as many of you know I like using WordPress, it is definitely the blogging platform of choice. It has a slick backend or dashboard for its users to develop, maintain, change and write content. Actually it has a fairly decent editor for creating new content and I used it for many years. One day though I thought I would try out a desktop client.

MarsEdit was the one I started using, frequently. It is simple, manages all my sites, has Flickr integration and full HTML capabilities. The only photo © 2007 Cheon Fong Liew | more info (via: Wylio)
down side is it doesn’t really have a WYSIWYG editor, so most of the time I don’t do much formatting.

The Situation

I got to using MarsEdit so much I almost never went to the WordPress Dashboard. I have MarsEdit on all my computers and have it running most of the time, because I also use it for a quick HTML editor for writing on other sites beside my own.

So as I was sitting at my desk at the office shortly after 5pm I was thinking about finishing a blog post I had written on my laptop back at home. I had written it on MarsEdit of course, but on that computer. I started to get the idea that MarsEdit needed to create a cloud solution that would allow me to store drafts in the cloud so I could access them from any computer. I even went as far as thinking that I could use Evernote for this type of thing. Then I realized what I had forgotten.

The Solution

What I had forgotten was that not only does my WordPress sites host the content I create they can also create the content. They can create the content on my site, in the backend, which is on the Internet, which I can access from any computer with a connection. So theoretically, I could write a post on one computer, save it as a draft and finish it on another at a later date. Yeah, this is when the lightbulb went on in my head.

I was looking for solution to a non-existent problem or I was creating a problem for a solution. Either way, MarsEdit can save to the cloud, my cloud, my website actually.

So as you can see there is no real point to this post other than the fact I have mental blocks that make me go in circles.

Although this does show that I in particular what everything on Internet. For the most part I don’t want to have to store any documents on my computer anymore. What about you?

What do you think?

She has reached such popularity that some people who don’t even know her first name will stop her on the street and try to order more jams.

All year round my mom is collecting the materials and making more jams. She will scour the store for the best deals on the mason jars as well as watch for fruit to come on sale. She has even gotten to the point where she has basically built a celler, which is cool and dark, to keep all that she makes.

So how do I fit in, well first, after seeing her success I just wanted to grow her business into something real, not just found at the craft sales. But with my love of cooking as well, and if you hadn’t of guessed my mother is my biggest mentor, I too wanted to try my had at the preservatives but not the jams and such that she makes. No, I want to make the jelly spreads.

To help me understand the process of jarring stuff my mother helped, well actually she did most of the work as she too had never really made jelly.

We were making Red Pepper and Garlic Jelly.

To make the jelly we had to finely chop up 2-cups of red peppers and 3 cloves of garlic and mix it in with vinegar, sugar and pectin.

The hardest part for me was to remember how long it had to boil and skimming off the foamy bit once it was boiled.

What we did find, was that once the mixture was boiled our recipe instructed us to quickly pour it into the preheated mason jars but when you do this all the peppers float to the top. We found that if you let it cool for a moment or two you have a better chance at evenly dispersing the jelly in the jars.

Now what can I make next.

Apparently this mentality is rare among people and it makes me sick. I have always toyed with actually posting about my bad experiences because I don’t want to seem like a negative person but today I have two examples of bad customer service to share with you.

The first event happened to a friend of mine who was trying to make a reservation at a restaurant. She wanted to make a reservation for so many people, which was fine, but when making the reservation the manager of the establishment informed her that if anyone did not show up she would be charged for that missing seat. And maybe this is the policy of the restaurant but the manner in which he dealt with the situation upon the second response was not, in my mind, a very thought out move. Either you can read the full story here.

The second event of lack of customer service comes from my local Quizno’s and if you know where I live then you know the one I’m talking about. There was a time when you could go into that Quizno’s and walk out with a good sandwich but not anymore and I like Quizno’s sandwiches.

After having to poke my head into the back storage room to get someones attention I was finally helped and I got the same sandwich I have got there for 7 years. A Prime Rib and Peppercorn. After getting my sandwich without as much as a thank-you from the staff I thought my sandwich felt lite. Sure enough when I opened it up there was barely any meat on the thing. Having gotten these for years I know there should have been more. The sad thing is this has been the case since a new owner took over. I don’t know if the staff just don’t know any better or if this is a cost saving way to make more money. Regardless I’m not happy.

You know I can look past most crappy customer service and I understand the strain on employers to keep good people but somewhere along the way people need to buck up and do better.

Thanks to Ernie’s Sports Centre in Grande Prairie for hooking me up with a wicked Specialized Camber Pro 29er for the series.

I explain all about the series on YkOnline.ca here but the bottom line is I want to spend all my time on a bike traveling around.

This was one of two videos, check out the other one here.

I don’t know what it is about me or the bike seats but (haha pun!) we never get along and afterwards I’m always walking a little funny. Yes, we can make jokes about this but seriously where is my doughnut cushion!

Hopefully this condition is only temperately.  

While the events of this weekend have not dramatically changed the way I live my life they have left an impression, just like many times before, that will not be soon forgotten.

I was once again reminded that life is not easy and will always be a challenge. I was also reminded once again of the strength of the person closest to me, my mother. Without a doubt I know that not many would be able to handle what she has gone through throughout her life. I praise her for her strength and thank her for it, as that same strength also lies deep within me.

Keep moving forward.

Instead of nicely groomed double wide trails where everyone can nicely pass everyone else, we have barely single wide trails that if you’re not careful will bounce you right off you snowmobile. We also don’t have endless amounts of fields to use, we have lakes but we need to first get to those lakes. And unlike almost anywhere south of Yellowknife (or rather the NWT) we can drive our snowmobiles on the city roads (except for one part).

Our trails are groomed and cared for, they have been forged through the bush from decades of use. There are unwritten rules that snowmobilers follow when in the city. Things like don’t break a new trail and move to the side if you can to let someone pass. Of course there are speed limits in town, where aren’t there.

I guess I just wanted to show that snowmobiling in and around Yellowknife isn’t a manufactured activity. It was born from the roots of hunters, fishermen and trappers and we adopted it. It’s awesome. Lake are our highways and trails are our streets.

This is just a quick video to give you a small idea about what snowmobiling around Yellowknife is like.

With this new account within the company we need more talent. Or more so, I need a new awesome co-worker to come work with us on the many projects we have going on.

We are looking for a Digital Account Manager to join our web team here in Yellowknife. Basically it is the same thing as I’m doing. This person would be managing the build of websites from the initial client contact or RFP writing to the design, development and delivery. Additionally they would be managing Social Media Campaigns and helping with digital and web strategies.

Working with the KELLETT team is a lot of fun and one that I’m proud to be apart of. The team is made of our fearless leaders and then a mix of designers, developers, managers and copywriters. Needless to say, when you need to brainstorm something the KELLETT team has enough experience and knowledge to find a solution for everything. I have come to learn that nothing is out of the realm of possible at KELLETT, I’ve already gotten to do many things I never thought I’d get to do.

Then there is Yellowknife, where the job is located. Yes it is in Northern Canada but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have everything you could ever want and more, because it does. All the big name stores you need with great local shops with awesome customer service. Oh yeah and our backyard it huge. Endless lakes and wilderness. Boating, fishing, hiking, biking, camping, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, skiing and kite surfing are just some of the endless activities you can do within seconds of downtown Yellowknife. Trust me, this place is great and I’m proving it on YkOnline.ca.

If this job – full description here – sounds awesome – because it is – and it sounds like something you could do, contact Bill Kellett, our president. He’s a cool guy, he’s on Twitter so tweet him or email him.

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Now get off my lawn you crazy kids!