kyle mcneil talks facebook and blogs

By: Tad | Published: May 24, 2011 · 1 Comment

I met Kyle McNeil a few years back through various entrepreneurship circles.

He invited me to connect a few times but I was so busy and didn’t know him well enough to prioritize things. And then we ended up attending a weekend workshop together and had a three hour drive of bro time back to Edmonton. I felt really refreshed by Kyle’s genuine openness and curiousity. He spoke about how much he was loving blogging and getting into it.

And the more I got to know him the more I was curious about his approach to blogging and facebook. So I asked him if I could do a blog interview. He agreed and the interview follows.

what do you see as the three biggest mistakes people make on facebook?

a) throwing up quotes and ideas from other people. As good as they are, we can all find the Napolean Hill quotes from Think and Grow Rich on our book shelf. In an authentic age, un-original content is the equivalent of spam. My hope is these people will get real and share their “real” with others.

b) thinking being “authentic” includes being completely irrational and potentially rude. For example swearing and complaining as a regular dose of content to share with others is not cool! I’m not suggesting to sugarcoating life if it’s tough. But instead of swearing and complaining, to be respectful and authentic in writing something like “today I’m disappointed and angry, because … ” and take some responsibility for the situation or circumstance. There’s enough static out there, facebook is an opportunity to lift others up with our words.

c) being the pushy sales guy or woman, but on facebook. It’s scary to me when the only thing people post are discounts and sales for their business, completely by-passing the fact that facebook is a place for personal interaction.

what do you see as the three biggest mistakes people make on their blogs?

a) they don’t write often enough! Ironically enough I’m personally guilty of this, but also contributing to a second blog (Beneath The Cover), gives me some fudge room right? The dream of “I’ll blog when I get more time” just isn’t good enough, because that day will never come. Good reminder for me too!

b) it’s either WAY to long, or WAY to short.

To long — means they’re not getting to the point, often getting lost in the details, and pushing readers away. A good rule of thumb is 500 words or less.

To short — in my opinion this means bloggers are trying to cast their fishing line, but they’re provided no bait for their audience to clamp on to. Just because Seth Godin writes in 70 words or less, doesn’t mean it will work for you. People want something with substance. It’s hard to do this in 2 sentences. A good rule of thumb is at least 300 words.

where are the top three places or ways in which you have found facebook most useful?

a) having people keep up with me. Lately people that I haven’t talked to in months have a context from where I’m at in my life, and entrepreneurial pursuits because they follow me on facebook. I think that’s just amazing, and accelerates the depth and quality of our actual conversations.

b) the feature for setting up events and inviting people to them on facebook is really smooth! Especially events that are more focused around socializing. It’s so easy to invite people, handle rsvp’s answer questions on the group wall, etc.

c) creating a personal connection, or deepening the connection with new friends, clients, and/or prospective clients. It’s amazing to log onto facebook and learn how Maria is holding up in the New York snow storms, even though we haven’t talked in weeks, or how Leslie (a new client from Hawaii) is finding results through her blog and proactive nature, and being able to celebrate with her by pointing it out on my wall.

where are the top three places or ways in which you have found blogging most useful?

a) creating an ongoing reference point (housed in a static url) where people can go to uncover something of value to them. For example my friend John was feeling blocked in his blogging/writing process, and found my blog post “Blogging for Introverts & Why to Start” and left this comment …

Kyle, thanks for this post. It really helped me get unstuck last week as I was working on a new blog. The accuracy was uncanny — it’s like you somehow knew a lot about me… anyway, I’m still waiting on the increase in hot dates and coffee requests. That comes soon, right?

It’s amazing that we can add value to someone without even being there!!

b) Relationship building on auto-pilot – people can build relationship with us while we sit on a hill, spend time with friends or sleep. 24/7 people can learn about you and connect to your business, dreams and life! And they can do so at their pace and on their time.

c) sharing my authentic voice and message with those who want to read, with a simple click of the “publish blog post” button. That’s the biggest one. There’s a direct correlation between when I started blogging 22 months ago, and 1) the size of my network now and 2) how much my network “knows me”, which is huge, because I believe business and life is all about relationship(s).

d) another HUGE one, is building an audience. Blogging is a magically leveraged, personable, and interactive way to grow, and deepen the relationship we have with our audience. I know you only wanted the top 3 Tad, but this one HAD TO make the list

give me a list of all the different ‘types’ of blogging formats you can imagine. sometimes people get stuck on ‘what kinds of things should i post?’ and they all become essays and people stress over what to write?

Here are a few:

* video blog post
* Q&A style blog post (like Tad is doing right now)
* sharing a story or experience (my favourite type to write)
* proposing an idea and asking for feedback
* providing an update about your life or business
* posts between 300-500 words
* posts for different personality types – this is big more high level, but good to know about, because it ramps the blogging process up.
* “how to” blog
* gratitude or appreciation blog directed towards other people.
* the “get real and authentic post”, like this one I wrote about my dad and I …

One of the biggest things, is ONE idea per post, otherwise it confuses people. We’re all loaded with content and info, so give people one thing!

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

| Categories: becoming a hub, Social Media - Tags: authenticity, becoming a hub, marketing 2.0, online marketing, social media, stories

Fifty Two Kick Ass Blogs to Inspire Your Blogging

By: Tad | Published: April 28, 2011 · 3 Comments

Sometimes people ask me ‘what’s a blog?’ or they feel stuck and uninspired in thinking a blog has to done in only ONE way.

Well, here are fifty blogs I’ve collected from friends.

I asked them all: “What is the most kick ass blog you know of. Not one that’s ‘okay’ or ‘cool’. One you read all the time. One you often forward to your friends. One that inspires the hell out of you.” And these are the fifty I got (with some of my own additions) divided by category. The comments next to them are from the people who sent them in.

Blogs are a powerful social media tool, powerful in positioning you as an expert and helping you become a hub and building trust.

Who knows – you might just find your new favourite blog in here!

Nine Recommended Business & Career Type Blogs:

www.whitehottruth.com
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ – my absolute favorite is Seth’s Blog – mostly because it is always short, sweet and to the point – his comments always totally relate to topics I’m interested in, he’s very quotable,and his site is beautifully laid out for referring back to older posts – I like everything about it and refer people to it all the time. Thought provoking blogs that give new perspectives on crowd psychology, being an individual, and “different” marketing. And the guy can get more thoughts in a paragraph than most people put in a book.
www.springwise.com
www.ridiculouslyextraordinary.com
www.puttylike.com always inspire me to actually get off my ass and do cool/important shit.
http://www.copyblogger.com/ – Copyblogger. It’s lucid, informative, focused, and often funny.
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/
http://heartofbusiness.com/blog Mark Silver
www.getknownnowblog.com Suzanne Falter-Barns
http://www.trendwatching.com

21 Recommended Personal Blogs:

http://www.explorationsoftruth.com/ my friend Ted has a lovely blog about his dances with life and truth. I love his candor, and he always makes me feel less alone with my struggles.
http://www.postsecret.com/
www.thxthxthx.com . Brilliant, simple, funny, thoughtful and all about thankfulness.
http://www.starkravingmadmommy.com/. Being a mom, I’m biased about my preference. I love sassy mom blogs like this. I understand that there are a lot of amazing people out there doing amazing things but I think I prefer to read about them in full scale articles. For my daily dose of something to accompany my coffee I greatly prefer those who can eloquently write about the things I wouldn’t dare say out loud, or those who can lend nobility to making mistakes, being human, and learning from it along the way.
http://www.50datesin50days.com/ – is socially relevant
http://mimismartypants.com/ – The parenting this woman does blows my mind, PLUS she is awesome. I love this blog.
http://sexgeek.wordpress.com/ – awesome sexuality resources for poly and kink, really interesting person. wish she updated more.
http://inharmonyastrology.blogspot.com/ – best astrology ever. thorough, accessible, relevant.
http://www.vergepermaculture.ca
http://zenhabits.net/ – Leo’s got inspiration and living a beautiful life down to a regular 200-500 word blog post. 1. My heart sang when I first saw his minimalist lay out and clean design. 2. His excellent writing about letting go of stuff, and simple living speaks to my soul. 3. And he walks his talk — he has a policy of “copy free” for everything he writes, meaning “go ahead and use it however you want” (he believes in the art of giving and receiving). And, finally when he sends his newsletter out his links don’t include any tracking – a minor point, but sort of floored me and reminded me that you can let go of the “rules” that no longer suit you and pare down to what really matters for you.
http://whipup.net it’s a crafting blog but it has ongoing amazing ideas, projects and links to tutorials and more for kids and adults.
http://www.saidthegramophone.com/ – New, off-the-beaten-track music every single day, and wacky little stories.
http://earthbagbuilding.wordpress.com/. I spent hours reading it and watching all the videos yesterday- ridiculous, but awesome.
www.breaktheillusion.com
http://www.kunstler.com/blog/
http://artofmanliness.com/
www.stevepavlina.com. Personal Development for Smart People. He is brilliant and talk about things people would rather sweep under the carpet. He has over 2 million subscribers to his blog and he did it by just being straightforward, no SEO gimmicks or anything.
http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/
http://chrisguillebeau.com/3×5/
http://wiselivingblog.com/
http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/
http://www.centsationalgirl.com

Five Funny Blogs:

http://firesidelolocausts.tumblr.com/ – Eccentric, hilarious commentaries about pretty much anything. Some of it could be a bit notsuitableforwork.
www.questionablecontent.net – Web comic
http://the-comique.blogspot.com/ Fantastically unique and humorously tragic:
http://sleeptalkinman.blogspot.com/
http://wwtdd.com makes me land others laugh every day

Five Food, Local Food and Farming Related Blogs:

http://thecoolvegetarian.com/blog/home/
www.101cookbooks.com
http://www.kevinkossowan.com/
smittenkitchen.com and 101cookbooks.com – They’ve both changed my cooking life. Not even kidding.
www.hitchhikingtoheaven.com – she’s a fab writer and insightful as hell and I love that she started off with something completely different – the universe took her to such a cool place “I named this blog “Hitchhiking to Heaven” because what I meant to write about was the quirky, unexpected stuff we encounter along the road to a thoughtful, satisfying life. Then — surprise! — what I encountered was a lot of jam and jelly”

Ten Political Blogs:

http://www.racialicious.com/
http://www.albertadiary.ca/ – David Climenhaga’s Alberta Diary – he is a very experinced journlaist and political activist who takes you behind the scences of power making in this province, very smart, witty and always very relevant for those who seek to understand the context of politics in alberta.
http://daveberta.ca/ is probably the single best, fair and balanced look at Alberta politics on the interwebs. Wherever you fond yourself on the political spectrum, that blog will provide you with some great information on what is happening in your province and how your tax dollars are being used or misused.
www.itsgettinghotinhere.org dispatches from the youth climate movement
http://feministing.com/
http://spacing.ca/
http://goodintents.org/blog
http://detroitblog.org/ detroitblog has some of the best stories anywhere of what it’s like living in a dying city:
http://simple-green-frugal-co-op.blogspot.com/ – It’s not fancy or incredibly well designed but it has my absolute favorite content:
http://www.thinkersjam.com/

So, what’s YOUR favourite kickass blog?

(please share the URL and why you think it’s so amazing below)

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

| Categories: becoming a hub, Social Media - Tags: becoming a hub, blogs, building trust, conversations, marketing 2.0, online marketing, social media

soul filled cafe – very cool business building blogging strategy

By: Jaime | Published: April 11, 2011 · 5 Comments

Here’s a strategy that can take your blog from Deadsville to being a bustle of activity, connect you with key hubs and influencers in your scene, build your credibility and trust with your people – and ultimately get you more of the kinds of perfect clients you’re wanting.

You’ve likely already heard of my dear friend Alex Baisley and his work around helping people create a wonderful, eclectic and sustainable lifestyle. He’s brilliant. So, when he started raving about a woman named Heather Gray . . . I paid attention.

And then, as strange things in life occur, I found myself in Brooklyn (close to where she lives) a few months later, sitting next to her at a beautiful little vegan and amazing food restaurant/cafe. And she told me a bit about her work in helping people to slow down, get really clear about what they want and then craft a lifestyle out of that.

And one of the marketing and community building ideas she had, had to do with her blog. It’s one of the most practical and innovative ideas I’ve heard in a while. So I thought I’d interview her for you and let her explain it herself.

What is the Soul Filled Cafe?

The Soul-filled Cafe is a guest blog event series hosted at my website soulfilledlife.com/the-cafe

I launched the guest blog events as a way to feature other coaches and cool people I know to share their expertise with like-minded others. By inviting them to be available to answer questions through out the day, there expertise really shines and the post gains depth.

I also quickly realized that these blog events made a great way for other coaches to interact with each other. So I see the “cafe” as a virtual place where “experts gather, share and connect. “ It’s a departure from the “Dear Abby” type of expert posts, where the expert knows everything and you are invited to come with your issues and ask questions anonymously. This is a “virtual cafe” where you have a conversation and get to know the expert and share yourself as well. Building a coaching business (or any solo-venture) can involve a lot of time alone, talking with a mentor or working with clients, so a great benefit is that this creates a nice virtual hang out to meet other experts and get great information.

What’s the structure? How does it work?

I post an article or video from a guest expert at my blog in the morning and for an entire day people are invited to “stop by” and ask questions, share comments and interact with the guest and each other (all via the blog comment section).

Where did you come up with the idea?

In January 2010, Sarah Robinson of Escaping Mediocrity (www.escaping-mediocrity.com) hosted a month long blog series with a different guest every day. There was tons of interaction at her blog, and each guest would pour out great information through the questions from the blog which helped to bring the article they had shared to life. I loved it!

Borrowing her idea, I hosted my first “guest blog event” with Cherry Norris (The Hollywood Dating Director, hollywooddatingdirector.com) in February 2010, which was perfect for Valentine’s Day. She was great about “experimenting” with me. I use google analytics to track the stats at my website, and there was a nice spike of traffic on the day of Cherry’s guest blog.

I know a lot of cool people, so through out 2010 I continued to host a new expert once a month, and they were called “Guest Blog Events” (very exciting name).

In November, I hosted Alex Baisley, from the Big Dream Program and he has a magical way with words. During the blog conversation that day, he commented that he was excited to be hanging out at the “Soul-filled Cafe” The name stuck!

In 2011 I have been playing around with more regular spots. In February I hosted a week long event called “Rejuvenate Love” with back to back days of experts. And starting this month (April) I am hosting weekly guest events.

The whole thing has become very streamlined, so it’s gotten easier to implement. And it’s become a great place to invite cool people I meet to be spotlighted.

What’s the response to it been?

It’s been great! As I mentioned I get spikes of traffic to the blog on the day of these events (200-500 visits on that one day). So there are lots of people who “stop by.”

However, only a fraction of the people that “stop by” actually submit a question or comment. I think there is a “getting comfortable factor” with communicating or sharing yourself through a blog. I hope I am helping to break down people’s barriers and that they will go on and share themselves at other blogs. I know for myself, the more I comment at blogs, the more fun it is.

To help with this I’ve been starting to “educate” a bit when people sign up for the Soul-filled Cafe updates. I share how to use “disqus” (the comment system) and recommend that they register, with their name and photo so we “see” them and encourage them to share about themselves and interact with the other commenters. Just like you were at a real “cafe” hanging out with cool people.

The response from the experts has been really nice too. Without exception, everyone has said that the experience has been both fun and informative. I’m always floored by how generous they are with sharing amazing information via the blog conversation and I love seeing them in their zone of expertise helping others. Such a gift.

This seems like a brilliant idea on how to use a blog. What are the three biggest mistakes you see most people make with their blogging?

#1 Not blogging. I have some clients and peers who are “shy” about getting a blog going. And they are wonderful writers with wonderful ideas — so it’s not that – but it’s a fear of being “seen.” (Funny thing is once you get into it, then you switch to, “how can I get more people to see this?!”)

#2 Blogging ONLY because someone told you it’s good marketing. Great recipe for a boring blog. I’ve seen blogs that feel more like a string of articles or uninspired posts. Maybe google likes them, but if people are not “hanging out” and really reading it, it feels yucky to me.

#3 Not being creative with blogging. Some people don’t like to “write” and they think, well I won’t blog. But your blog could be video posts, or if you enjoy taking photos you could do a “photo” a day post, or you can highlight other people and stuff you like. So many ways to create fun, regular content. Get creative! And make sure it’s something you love doing (because you’ll want to do it regularly.)

What are your three biggest things you’ve learned about blogging?

#1 It is good marketing (just don’t have that be the only motivation.) Without a blog, my website would be dead in the water. I can’t imagine not having one now.

#2 Just get started! When I look back over the content I’ve created, mostly over the last 3 years, I see how it has helped me to articulate my core message. So just get started! There will be gold even in those first posts.

#3 Don’t be a lone wolf. Add the energy of others into your blog. Either invite people to post on your blog, interview someone, or post at other people’s blog. 1+1 = 10 when it comes to blogging. I’ve definitely experienced that.

What has been the impact of the SFC on your business and income?

The only way I can answer that is with the goolge analytics. It has created 10x’s the traffic to Soulfilledlife.com which has led to at least doubling my list size, which has led to new clients. It’s also led to some fun JV projects and some new income streams that way.

How does the SFC fit into your bigger marketing picture?

It’s become a big part of my free content piece. It also brings new communities to soulfilledlife.com via the experts. And then there is the “who knows who” factor: people respond to you because someone they like is at your blog.

If someone else wanted to start using this model – what would be your three most important pieces of advice?

1) Start by reaching out to the people you know will say yes. People you know well and people who just like you already.

2) Don’t have the guest post be about “selling anything” My intention is always to create a great experience for people out of the day and learning opportunity. I see the events as a “touch” point for the guest. I know that new people will discover them and want more (and people from their community find out about my business too. A win/ win) It also makes the guest event fun and spontaneous too. Wonderful conversations have happened out of my blog, simply by coming from a place of “giving.” And as a result more people know and trust me and the guest.

3) Don’t aim for just the “Big Names” There are so many people doing cool things that have expertise to share. I find that those who may have a smaller followings can be some of the best guests, because of the enthusiasm they bring to the event.

What’s the next level of this going to be for you?

Right now the Soulfilled Cafe lives at a page and a string of posts.

What I am working on is creating some branding and a separate website for it (though linked to Soufilledlife.com). My vision is to have some sponsorships and a “cafe” shop where I could feature products from the experts. I recently registered “soulfilledcafe.com” –actually it was funny, the day I went to register it, my hosting service informed me it was “free” — I still have no idea why, but I thought it was a cool sign.

| Categories: becoming a hub - Tags: becoming a hub, blogs, building trust, conversations, marketing 2.0, trusted advisor

how do YOU use blogging and social media to create the Know, Like and Trust Factor?

By: Tad | Published: March 10, 2011 · 42 Comments

Today I’m being interviewed by my pal Bill Baren (pictured right) about how I use social media and blogging to build the Know, Like and Trust Factor in my business.

And it had me wondering – what do YOU do?

What kinds of things do you post in your blog or on facebook?
Have you come up with any super cool strategies that have worked to help you grow your business?
What things have you posted that have had the biggest response?

Leave any brilliant ideas below and let’s see what we can all learn from each other.

I promise to compile all of these ideas and put them together in a blog soon. Just check back or subscribe to my blog on the top right of this page and you’ll see it soon.

| Categories: becoming a hub, Social Media - Tags: authenticity, becoming a hub, blogs, building trust, marketing 2.0, online marketing, safety, social media

sexy nerd girl

By: Tad | Published: February 25, 2011 · 1 Comment

My pal Mike Fly (pictured right) is an improvisor and TV producer in Toronto.

I met him through improv circles when he and I dominated the competition in a performance of Catch 23. Bam. P’wned the newbs. Mike became known for his Improv Monologue Project where improvisors were given some props and put in a location and the camera got turned on and . . . bam. You got what you got. I recorded one a couple years ago but alas the project was retired before it could be made.

But now he’s got a new project that is a pretty wild example of social media in action.

It’s called Sexy Nerd Girl. It features a friend of mine (and brilliant improvisor) who plays the character Valerie LaPomme (pictured left). She has a facebook profile (under her fake name Valerie). She’ll be tweeting. She’ll be blogging. She’s a fictional character played by a real person – engaging with real people.

So the audience will actually become a part of the story. The audience will shape the character. The audience is actually the show.

This is a fun and amazing example of Marketing 2.0 in action.

Marketing 1.0 is: “I talk at you”. It’s bill boards, brochures, business cards, radio ads . . . you have no chance to respond.

Marketing 2.o is: you engage in a conversation with your crowd. It’s blogs, facebook, twitter, surveys. It’s back and forth. It’s community building.

You can bet your bottom dollar that one day there will be merch to buy – but right now they’re building up their crowd.

They’re doing this with a fictional character (weird! fun!) but you can and should be doing this same stuff with your business. Are you using social media as well as you could? Think blogging, facebook, video blogging, twitter. Eventually they’re creating an internet tv show. Could you do the same for your business? Why not create a monthly 30 minute internet tv show. Be creative. Your crowd is looking for content. Why not give it to them in as many ways as you can?

AND they’re also applying another modern day tactic – ‘crowd sourcing‘. Instead of relying on one person or foundation for money – they’re going to the masses. And couldn’t you do this with your business? You want to grow you list? Why not ask people directly to spread the word. This video is a beautiful example of making a direct ‘ask for the money’ and building a case for why you might want to.

Check out the video below. You might just be inspired to give them a few dollars yourself.

| Categories: Arts Marketing, becoming a hub, Case Studies of Inspiring Business, Funny, Great Ads to Learn From, Social Media - Tags: becoming a hub, blogs, marketing 2.0, online marketing, social media

Love Letter Marketing Lessons

By: Tad | Published: February 22, 2011 · Leave a Comment

A few months back I met a lady named Chris Kay Fraser. She was working on a project that I thought was pretty amazing and I blogged about it (click here to read it). Once it was done, I asked her some questions about the contest from the business and marketing side.

What she did is a brilliant example of word of mouth marketing (she created something remarkable and ‘talkable’. And it’s a great example of the beginnings of ‘becoming a hub‘. Seriously – watch out for this project in the future. Big things coming. And it’s just a great example of an inspiring business.

Here’s what she had to say.

Thanks for inviting me back to your blog to answer some more questions about the “Love Letters Aren’t Just For Lovers” campaign. It’s nice to be back!

For those who didn’t read my original post, there’s background on my website here, but in a nutshell, I recently got really inspired by the idea of love letters.

I decided to launch a Love Letters Aren’t Just For Lovers campaign, as an extension of my business Firefly Creative Writing. I ran a series of free love letter writing workshops, hosted a large love letter contest, and created a love letter reading event for some of the participants, and then, last week, I launched the final stage – a love letter e-class. It’s been a beautiful whirlwind of love!

Here’s a little about what I learned…

1) What was the response to the contest?

Oh my goodness Tad, it was unbelievable!

I received a constant stream of letters through the fall, from all over Canada, as well as India, New Zealand and the UK. I received letters to babies and grandparents, sisters and mentors, tennis partners, old friends. One woman write to her childhood horse. One wrote to the colony of raccoons that had lived outside her window when she was a girl, who made her feel less alone. One wrote to her breasts, the morning that she was going in for breast-reduction surgery.

The volume, and the depth, of the words of love that rolled into my mailbox was astounding.

Mainly, word traveled through word-of-mouth and facebook posts. I also bought some facebook ad’s and some google ad’s to carry the message further.

2) I noticed you added a jury prize vs. just the top three – why was that?

Well, this was interesting… On the night that the jury met, we had no idea how we’d judge the letters. To be honest, we all felt it was incredibly counter-intuitive to choose favorites. The jury members are all veterans of my writing workshops, were writing is never judged, but rather deeply appreciated, so these jurors had all built their abilities to deeply hear and love writing, rather than approaching it with a sense of competition or critique. Suddenly we had to pick favorites, and we were all a little thrown.

I could feel the nervousness rising in my living room as they settled in. After a little warming up and some red wine, I had them each write down their favourite three letters, and then they took turns telling (and often passionately defending) what was on their list.

Two things became immediately clear. First, they all had different tastes. Many letters were discussed. Second, there were three letters which rose quickly to the top as unanimous favorites.

The top three – Letter To Baby, Dear J and To My First Love – were on almost every list. Statistically, there was no question – these were the jury’s choices.

However, no one would have walked home satisfied with only three letters to honor. So, I had each of the juror’s choose their own special favorite.

In the end, it was a beautiful and very natural process. We hated to leave anyone out, but I was mostly pleased with the decisions that were made.

Also, I was able to honor more of the letters in the public reading I hosted on February 13^th here in Toronto, and more still in the letters I bought the rights to use as examples in the Love Letters Aren’t Just For Lovers e-class.

3) how, if at all, do you think this contest will help you make more money and grow your business?

It’s funny, Tad, I feel a real resistance to answering this question! Hunh! I think it’s because the project was born out of a moment of innocence and inspiration; I kinda hate to cast it in the light of gain and capital. But, capital is the currency we live within, and this is a marketing website, so let me see…

1. Fundamentally, the campaign carved out safe space for me to connect to people’s tenderness. This is what my work is based on – connecting to tenderness. Of course, people tend to feel a lot of resistance to that! I hear from people all the time that the reason they didn’t sign up sooner for a workshop or correspondence class with me was fear. And yet, they almost always wish they’d conquered that fear earlier.

Through the one-off workshops and the contest, and even the reading, I allowed people to step past their fear, into that tender space, in small, not-too-threatening ways. Although I didn’t plan it, I’d imagine that the “foot in the door” phenomenon was happening – I made tiny, positive connections with people who might later take the next step, and sign up for a workshop or correspondence class, or one-on-one coaching.

2. It also gave me a hip, grippy way of explaining what I do. Take you, for example. I met you in October at one of your networking events. You asked what I do, and I, typically shy to talk about myself, mumbled, “I teach creative writing” Hello: boring! You glanced over my shoulder to where appetizers were being passes out. I almost lost you. Somehow, though, the conversation wound around to the love letters, and your eyes lit up. “I am running a love letter contest”… That’s worth listening to. You were back.

3. Finally, I did turn this into a product. I distilled all of what I learned through the fall into my first purely on-line class, a seven week self-guided journey in writing love letters, available through my website. In the e-class I’m aiming to translate some of the warmth and safety I created in the love letter workshops to an on-line environment. The contest, workshops and reading were all free-of-cost, but the e-class is $40. I’m proud and excited to share it.

4) favourite part of the process for you?

To answer this question I need to get personal.

I’m a dweller of the deeps. I feel things in passionate and sometimes-devastating ways. I have a hard time, often, living in a world of small talk. I’m always trying to get under the surface.

This contest gave me the opportunity to feel deeply, every day, and to connect to others from that place. From the empathy and sadness I felt when I first read “Letter to Baby”, which tells the story of the author’s journey into first-tine conception and miscarriage, to the joyful nostalgia of first love that bubbled up in “Dear J” and “To The One Who Got Away” (all of these are available to read here) – I was swimming in a deep sea of joy, angst and truth-telling. I love it down there.

5) biggest lessons?

Ah, just this:

Do what you love.

Do what you love.

Do what you love.

This project was an incredible amount of work, mental, financial, emotional. I spent hours replying to letters, answering questions, figuring out new html code, acquiring contest prizes, organizing the jury… Oh, the list is endless. And yet here I am, on the other side of it, and I wouldn’t trade one minute.

It may not have been practical in a purely financial field (yet… The e-class is available to anyone in the English-speaking world with an internet connection…) but it let me be myself, no compromises, doing what I do best. This, to me, is the epitome of self-employment.

Thanks again, Tad! Your interest and enthusiasm was one of the strong winds that helped move this project forward, into the right hands and hearts. You are an amazing weaver of community and I’m grateful for it.

Ever warmly,

Chris

www.fireflycreativewriting.com

If you’d like get cool posts like this in your inbox every few days CLICK HERE to subscribe to my blog and you’ll also get a free copy of my fancy new ebook “Marketing for Hippies” when it’s done.

| Categories: Arts Marketing, becoming a hub, Case Studies of Inspiring Business, word of mouth - Tags: authenticity, becoming a hub, building trust, marketing 2.0, safety

7 marketing lessons from the egyptian uprising

By: Tad | Published: February 3, 2011 · 30 Comments

You might have heard – Egypt is having an uprising.

And rumour has is that it’s all because of this one video recorded by Asmaa Mahfouz.

Asmaa is a woman so tired of injustice and the lack of basic human rights in Egypt.

In his book “The Soul of a Citizen” Paul Rogat Loeb argues that social uprisings are never about one person.

Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. came out of social movements and were supported by them. The story of these people creating the movement is just that – a story. And I suspect that this is true in Egypt. There are likely circles within circles that we can’t even begin to understand from outside the of that region.

But sometimes years of community building, coalition building and education can be sparked into flame by unexpected things.

So . . . here’s the video that’s being credited with starting the uprising we are witnessing today. Here’s the spark.

And it has some powerful things to say about marketing I want to lift up.

Because marketing can be terrible – it can be gross, contrived, exploitative and leave people with less self esteem than they had when they turned on the TV. But, at its heart it can also be a beautiful and uplifting thing. It can be about ‘getting the word out’ about positive things. It’s about communicating our messages clearly. It’s about getting people to change their habits that our destroying the world. Marketing can be an art and as Ton! Cade Bambara said, “The goal of the revolutionary artist is to make revolution irresistible.”

I believe that all of the solutions to our environmental and social justice problems in the world exist already – but if no one knows about them – functionally they don’t exist. And getting people to hear about them – and be willing to try them out is, I would suggest, a marketing issue.

Imagine a world in which strawbale homes, permaculture design, holistic health and local, organic food were normal. Marketing should be about making good things seem normal – not the about making the status quo seem good.

This world requires us to speak up and be ‘out’ about what we’re doing.

Here’s a disturbing thought: what if Asmaa has never done this video? What if she’d been to shy or scared? What if she’d never tossed out that spark? Do you see how different the world could have been?

And what if your work is this kind of a spark for another community. Perhaps not as dramatically. Perhaps not with as much global attention. But if you have a spark in your hand and you don’t give it to the world – there are many others who won’t move. Asmaa threw her spark. Millions moved. What we give to the world not only sets us free but can set them free as well.

Seven Marketing Lessons from the Egyptian Uprising

Lesson #1: Social Media is Powerful – The Egyptian government cut access to facebook very early in the uprising – because they saw what it could do. These days, when something strikes a chord, it is spread fast. And this is how word of mouth works with everything – business, personal or activism. People talk to each other and spread gossip.

Social media has given us a more powerful platform to do this. When this video hit, it was spread fast. All over Egypt. And it had an impact.

If your business, NGO or cause isn’t engaging deeply in social media – you may be missing out. You may be making it very hard for people to spread the word about what you do. Facebook events, online video, blog posts, tweets etc. are all incredibly easy for people to share with others. Make the good things you’re doing easy to share too.

Lesson #2: Speak to the Why – More powerful than her just talking about WHAT she is doing and HOW – she focuses on the WHY she is doing it. And repeats that again and again. When you can clearly articulate the why and uncover the point of view behind what you’re doing you will reach people in ways you never thought possible before.

Lesson #3: Be Real – This is a crap quality video. Let’s be real about that. It breaks all the rules of good online video. The lighting is okay, the quality is bad, she’s against a wall. Meh. Sometimes ‘high production values’ can actually hurt you. Don’t believe me? Imagine this same video being done Hollywood style – with her in make up, special effects etc. Don’t you feel how much less powerful that would be than he just sitting down and speaking from her heart with the web cam she has?

And she’s real about how she sees the situation. She calls her government and the security forces out as corrupt. Most entrepreneurs are terrified of taking that kind of stand – about anything. She’s 100% authentic.

Michael Drew (who’s put 67 out of 67 books he’s worked with on the NYT best seller list) argues that we are no longer in an economy that wants hype – we’re in a civic cycle that wants (and craves) people to be real with them.

Lesson #4: Speak to People’s Values – Ask yourself, ‘what’s most important to me and my crowd?’ Notice her appeal to men’s honour and dignity. Her appeal to have them come and protect her, ‘if you’re really a man’. She speaks to what matters most to them as people. She appeals to their values and gives them (fiercely) a chance to step into an even deeper integrity.

Lesson #5: Ask for Something – So many ads don’t make an offer. So many fundraisers don’t ask for the money. And here Asmaa is beautifully, shamelessly and powerfully asking them to come out on January 25th. She must repeat it a dozen times. She’s not coy about it. She’s to the point. She repeats it. Again and again. And then she ends with it.

If we want to change the world – we need to start asking. We need to not only start asking – but start asking big. We’ve gone far beyond the point of trying to lead a horse to the water to get him to drink – we’re now faced with the epic task of trying to lead entire herds of horses to the water.

Just educating people is not enough. Just speaking passionately about issues is not enough. We need to ask. We need to give people simple things they can start with. And how simple is her ask? Come join her protest. It’s not without risk – but it’s simple. It’s focused.

Lesson #6: She Voices Their Thoughts – She’s real with people about what else they might do and reminds them that those aren’t options. “Want to stay at home and watch this on the news?” she says. And you just KNOW that most of the people watching were thinking that. “Don’t think you’ll make a difference?” Any good copywriter will do this when they write an ad. They anticipate people’s concerns and speak to them directly. A good sales letter will read more like a conversation. A good author will do the same thing. It’s a more gracious and effective way of communicating to acknowledge you’re not speaking to a void. What are your people afraid of? What might stop them from doing something that could not only help them – but their community? Speak to that. People need reassurance that they will be safe – or at least that staying where they are is less safe than moving.

“And the day came when the risk to remain in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to bloom.”

- Anais Nin

Lesson #7: Tell a Story - She starts this video off with a story of the last protest they did and how only three others came. She’s real about it. And the story is engaging. We need to get better at story telling. When people get passionate they tend to rant and lecture. But we need to tell stories that speak to people’s hearts. That help them get back in touch with what’s most important and dear to them.

Asmaa Mahfouz recorded and posted this vlog on January 26th, after an eventful Tuesday on January 25th, the first day of the revolution. She describes what she saw and urges people to continue and join her after Friday prayers, on January 28th.

What other lessons do you think we can all learn from this?

| Categories: Marketing for Social Change, Political Context for Marketing, Social Media - Tags: authenticity, marketing 2.0, online marketing, social media, stories

so you think you can build a snowfort?

By: Tad | Published: February 2, 2011 · 2 Comments

One of my favourite people in Canada is Andrew McMartin of the PINE Project.

And he just shared with me a brilliant example of authentic Marketing 2.0, becoming a hub and community building: a cross Canada, snow fort building competition.

People are invited to submit pictures and a story to them () by Thursday evening at 9pm, and we’ll judge them all up based upon a variety of factors including:

Size and scope
Detail
Functionality
Creativity
Story associated

Consider the marketing benefits of something like this for the PINE Project.

it gives them super fun and amazing content to share on their blog

it helps them advance their own mission of getting people outdoors and reconnected to nature

it creates ‘buzz’ and that’s good for word of mouth marketing

instead of them selling TO people and doing a one directional marketing pitch – they’re engaging the community to do something together.

this exact event could be run annually, sponsors could be gotten etc. Done well, this event will grow every single year reaching people they would never have reached which will help them get more people to their events. Think about your own business – what are the things you get spontaneously inspired to do that others might actually enjoy doing too?

Ways this could be made even more amazing for next time:

get amazing prizes that this kind of crowd would love (if it’s an outdoorsy crowd – think MEC gift certificates/shopping spree, think free outdoorsy workshops, think ‘a weekend in a beautiful cabin in the mountains etc).

more advance notice – people never check their facebook event invitations. You need to have those things up 6-8 weeks before the event for it to be most useful.

create a kick ass poster that can be used as the photo for the facebook event

show photos of the best snowforts from last year

create a form where people can register their teams and create team names, choose a mascott etc. And down the road – they could have a competition in multiple cities run by local organizers and the website could handle team registration for them all too.

invite people to submit 2 minute videos of their fort and the creation process.

host a live snow fort competition at a local park and get media to come out to it. And film it and post it on the blog. Maybe even make it a multi day event so people don’t have to try to build it all in one day. Serve hot chocolate and have a bonfire to get warm at. The local, live competition is vital because most of the PINE Project’s workshops are local.

at the end of the competition send people the final report but also a special offer to attend one of their upcoming paid events.

For more info on the contest go to:

http://www.pineproject.org/snowfort-competition/

| Categories: becoming a hub, Case Studies of Inspiring Business, event promotion, Marketing for Social Change - Tags: authenticity, becoming a hub, marketing 2.0

the cool vegetarian blog

By: Tad | Published: February 2, 2011 · Leave a Comment

A nine minute video. I met Jeff Golfman almost 15 years ago in California.

We lost touch for a while but then got back in touch recently. He spoke about how he’d been raw vegan for so many years and I could feel his passion around it. He was looking to shift careeers but couldn’t figure out what or how. The threads he knew were fitness and the whole vegan and vegetarian world.

I suggested that he might start a blog and he made it clear that he didn’t want it to be another blog of recipes or the ‘science’ behind why a plant based, raw diet is better. The theme of having a great lifestyle kept coming through.

“So, create a blog about that.” I suggested. “And call it The Cool Vegetarian.” Watch the video below to see the results of this latest case study.

Jeff wasn’t sure exactly what a blog was or how to use it (if you need a primer on what a blog is just click here)

And, even better – go check out his site:

http://thecoolvegetarian.com/blog/home/

| Categories: becoming a hub, Branding, Case Studies of Inspiring Business, Niche Marketing, Social Media - Tags: becoming a hub, blogs, building trust, marketing 2.0, niche, online marketing, pink spoons, relevance, stories

building a community with love letters

By: Tad | Published: November 24, 2010 · 4 Comments

While in Toronto, I met a woman named Chris Kay Fraser and she told me about her project where she was inviting people to send in love letters of all sorts.

And she’s having a love letter contest that ends this week.

You may have heard about Post Secret – the project where people were invited to send in their anonymous secrets on post cards. It started small, but word spread and now it’s grown an entire community of people fascinated with and touched by the sharing of very real and vulnerable secrets.

Well, Chris has started a similar community around Love Letters. This is a great example of becoming a hub. Sometimes, in the beginning, you do the work for free to build up the community and later you find ways that it can also feed and sustain you.

I asked Chris to send me the story of how it started, what the response had been and where it was going and here’s what she had to say . . .

Here, as promised, is the link to the love letter project.

http://www.fireflycreativewriting.com/love-letters

Of course, any help promoting it would be beautiful! It’s a 100% not-for-money-just-for-the-love-of-it thang.

Love letters love letters love letters. Here we go…

The love letter project started around a campfire. It was late at night, my birthday, the last beautiful weekend of the summer. A group of close girlfriends and I started talking about letters — the big letters of our lives — the ones we’d received from lovers, the ones we’d written but never mailed, the ones we kept in our bedstands, the ones we threw out and then regretted it. We talked about the ones we’d sent each other over the years.

All of a sudden, I realized — this is everything I care about. I’ve been teaching small, cozy writing workshops for years, helping people put what’s inside outside. I am constantly working towards creating nourishing, inspiring spaces for people to recognize the power of their own words. These letters, it seemed, held that power, undiluted.

It grew from there. Over pancakes the next morning, I asked the girls if they thought it would work to run a workshop in love letters. They loved the idea, and we discussed what elements the workshop would need, and how I’d have to make it safe. Soon, it became an e-class, and then a contest.

The response has been stunning! Right now, I’ve run three out of four packed-out love letter writing workshops, which I put on for free as a gift to my community. I’ve received dozens of love letters from around the world. I’ve also appointed a jury, from some of my most committed students, to judge the contest. Everyone from my mail-man to a 19-year-old girl in New Zealand have entered.

The ripple effects are perhaps the most beautiful part. I’m often hearing from people who find themselves writing letters they never thought they’d write, and then sharing them. One woman told me that she had used her husband’s computer to scan in a love letter she’d written to herself. Late that night, he found it and read it, and he was so touched that he wrote her another love letter, which she found tucked into her laptop when she got up.

You can read many of the letters that have come in, and some words about the jury, on my website, www.fireflycreativewriting.com/love-letters.

I’m not sure what the full scope of this project could be. Already it’s grown further than I’d imagined. January 1st I’ll be launching an e-class on love letter writing, walking participants through the penning of six new love letters. We’ll write to our lovers (past, present, or imagined), our friends, our long-lost’s, our vexations, our favorite places, ourselves. It will be a warm and colorful call to get our hearts on paper, in all their mysteries and layers.

I’d also like to organize a public reading with my contest winners, or at least the local ones! And, I’m dreaming of a “Love Letter Garden” on my website where folks could post their love letters, and comment on one another’s.

On a personal note, I’m also writing a love letter every week for the fall and winter. I’m not publishing these, I’m not even always mailing them, but I’m diligently creating pages of love, staying connected to the things and people who make my heart thump.

That’s the project! So far, it’s been nothing but fun. I’m so grateful for that campfire, back in August.

(I should write a love letter to it…)