Scholar's Choice - Permission Marketing

I am a strong believer in Permission Marketing and the practice of having email recipients opt-in to your distribution lists. So I am always impressed when I find those practices working. I had been receiving emails the whole month of December from Scholar's Choice an educational toy and supply store at least twice a week it seemed like. They let me know of upcoming discounts and special evenings where I could save even more on products such as Playmobil and puzzles. Often I would just delete them as I wasn't interested that week and sometimes it felt like the frequency of the emails was a little strong; although forgivable seeing as it was December and Christmas was right around the corner.

This leads me to today as it is Boxing Day in Canada; the day that all our retail stores offer amazing discounts on their products very much like Black Friday in the United States. I woke up and chatted with my wife a little bit about if we were going to brave the stores and get some deals. I turned to her and said "Let me go see if I got an email from Scholar's Choice yet." Sure enough there it was. They had met my expectations and delivered the relevant information that opted in for.

That right there is an email marketer's dream!!! We want our recipients to value the information we are sending out, for it to have value and meaning in their busy day with something they can act on. Kudos to the Scholar’s Choice marketing team!! The only thing I can think to suggest to them would be to possible segment their lists and messages based on how people shop with their business; online versus brick-and-mortar. If I am known only to shop in-store, then an email about an online deal isn't as relevant to me and the same would be true vise-versa.

What emails do you look forward to recieving and their absence you would notice? 

Could I go vegan?

I find myself suddenly rethinking the meal choices I make for myself and especially for my family. Lately I've been more willing to spend an extra $1 or so at the grocery store to buy meat that is free of antibiotics and hormones, but is it enough?

Last night my wife and I watched a video on the NutritionFact.org website called "Rooting the leading causes of death" and it was pretty eye opening as well as humorous. Here is the link:
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/uprooting-the-leading-causes-of-death/

It got us thinking we should consider a plant-based diet. But how easy will it be for someone who has grown up on meat as a part of their diet all their life. Part of the problem is that we have also grown up with the idea or lies that it must be part of a complete diet. It is hard to know what to believe so we want to ere on the side of caution. But first I think we need to completely understand what this decision means.

Obviously we will be eating less meat at home. But what about when we are out and about, how easy will it be to find restaurants. (Especially since myself and youngest daughter are picky eaters as it is.) Another concern is when eating at a family members home, or them eating at our place. Will we constantly have to justify this life choice? And how much do we influence this on the kids. (I am not even sure if 'influence' is the best word to use.)

Needless to say this will be an interesting journey and I can't promise how far we will make it down. But our health and the health of our kids is worth the fight.

Inspiring Young Canadian

My six-year old daughter has been singing an unfamiliar song a lot lately. She often sings songs repetitively so I've trained myself to drown them out but a few words in her song broke through that filter and caught my attention. International... Space... Station.

I had to stop doing what I was doing and listen a little closer. I heard her correctly so this required a few questions, the first being ‘What are you singing?’ She was learning a song at school for the year end performance. That answer was followed by her knowledge that a Canadian astronaut named Chris Hatfield was commanding the International Space Station right now.

My first thought was what an amazing role model Chris Hatfield is. Years ago at Conestoga College I actually got to meet him at an event and remember being impressed back then by what he stood for. Now a whole generation of young Canadians can be inspired by his example and can keep the dream of space exploration alive. Truly his reach is international so it is more than Canadians he is inspiring, but we get to experience that extra pride as a nation for his achievements.

The second thought is what a great social media marketer Chris Hatfield is. If you haven't been following Chris Hadfield's tweets you should be. He has been sharing amazing photographs of our planet and they are really something everyone should see. I can see my house in this one. He's done an amazing job creating visibility for the Canadian space program through his pictures on Twitter. And as well with the song I have now been exposed to that he sings with The Barenaked Ladies “Is Somebody Singing” which can be viewed on YouTube video down below. Commander Hatfield put a lot of thought of what he was planning on tweeting since he only had one chance to bring up any needed props. It is a great idea for companies to have a social media calendar and plan ahead; so kudos to Chris for showing us how its done.

Have you seen any images from the International Space Station? Do you have any favorites?

Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg

I had just finished reading the most amazing book to my two daughters (6 and 3) and had to write a quick review of it. The book is 'Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg' by Gail Carson Levine. It was published back in September of 2005, and currently it is available in hardcover, paperback and audio CD. We borrowed our copy from the library but I can foresee us buying this book.

The story begins when a new fairy without a special talent, Prilla, comes to Never Land and she tries to find her purpose. A hurricane strikes the island and the magical egg that keeps everyone from aging breaks during the storm. It is up to a team of fairies to restore the egg and save the day.

This book really expands the character and world of Tinker Bell from the Peter Pan story and movie from the 1950s. The author, Gail, does amazing job at expanding the mythology of the Disney Fairies that goes beyond their natural commercial appeal. We find out where the dust comes from that gives the fairies flight. That fairies are at risk of dying if children stop believing in them. And that there is a dragon that lives on the fabled Never Land.

I am a huge fan of the television series LOST and my girls are a little too young to be introduced to that show. So imagine my delight when in the book, the island is revealed to be a character too with LOST-like qualities. It decides who gets to come to its shores and it moves and morphs to help our heroes on their quest. Plus anyone who is a fan of the Desmond episode 'The Constant' from season four will have a special appreciation for Prilla. (I'm stretching it a bit with that example.)

Because it is about fairies, this book is primarily targeted towards a younger female audience. But I found it comparable to stories like The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings so I think a lot of Dads would enjoy this story. Characters are thrown together to solve a problem while facing impossible challenges and making personal sacrifices. It is a basic premise that works wonderfully in this story.

I'm also excited to learn that there is a sequel, "Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand" by the same author. The girls and I have found that book at the library and are currently reading it. I'll let you know if it lives up to the first book.

What books have you read to your kids that you were surprised you really enjoyed? 

Return to Facebook

Today I have made my return to the social media heavy-weight; Facebook. Based on previous posts you might find this hard to believe or maybe the writing was on the wall.

Recently our Facebook expert at work moved onto new challenges and suddenly I was the person they turned to with a question about the site. I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about and therefore couldn't answer them. That was the first moment that made me think that I should stop ignoring Facebook as it was now offering a new learning opportunity as a digital marketer.

Then today I was listening to the Facebook announcement about their updated News Feed and I saw a lot of potential as a digital marketer. My first thought was that it resembled Google+ quite a bit, which is a format I really like, and the second thought was that my current knowledge of Facebook is going to be 100% useless now. Best to get back on the wagon.

So bottom line I reactivated my account and started rebuilding my friend list. Who was the first person I added? Our previous Facebook expert of course: Shaminda Attygalle - Host of the Digital Marketing Lounge. I can't wait to begin understanding Facebook again for Marketing purposes and for keeping up-to-date with family and friends.

What do others think of the updated News Feed? How many social sites should one be on?

Update to 'Buying a tablet'

At the end of October last year I was listening very carefully to all the news coming out about the latest tablet computers. Mainly they were the Apple iPad Mini, Google Nexus 7, and Microsoft Surface RT. I was weighing all the pros and cons of each based on my needs.

Well the winner, as I speculated in October, was the Google Nexus 7. I didn't want to spend too much which eliminated both Apple and Microsoft, plus I was excited to try out the Android operating system.

Here are three immediate observations I have made.

1) Appreciate Google products more
My favorite new tool is the Google Calendar believe it or not. I love how I can set  up appointments on the tablet or on any desktop computer I was logged into and it would sync up between the two. The same can be said for Gmail and especially the Google Play store. I can find an app on my desktop computer and download it and it will automatically be on the Nexus 7 the next time things sync up.

2) Tablets are a gateway to a smart phone
I don't own a cell phone (here is why) but after being introduced to tool such as Google Now I have started thinking about it more and more. The following video features how Google Now works on the Google Nexus 4, their mobile phone from LG, but the Nexus 7 can do most of the same things (where there is WiFi). I love how intuitive Google Now is and I can just imagine all the ways it could make life easier and more organized if you had it everywhere you go.



3) It is still an iOS world
Apple still owns a huge share of how people perceive tablets. At work when coming up with an app, the primary consideration was making it available on iTunes. When Vine came out from Twitter it came out on iOS devices first and there is currently no word on when it will be coming out for Android. Other than that I find the app stores comparable for what I am looking for. Any apps that weren't available just weren't compatible with the tablet screen and not the operating system it was on. And in those cases there were suitable online solutions that worked just as well.

One other quick thought is that I have found that a tablet can't 100% take over as your main computer. I am currently typing up this blog post on my desktop computer with a keyboard. I can't imagine writing this on the tablet, but I have observed that this could just be a generational issue. It really is better at consuming content versus creating it. However there are Bluetooth keyboard docks out there that could make that easier.

What do other tablet owners think; did I make the right choice? 
How important is the operating system compared to the hardware?

Adobe Kuler

In in the process of trying to figure out how to update my blog with a fresh look, I decided to start with figuring out what the color scheme should be. I knew right where to go. I had stumbled upon Adobe Kuler before when helping my wife figure out colors for her blog - The CraftyCucumber.

I was presently surprised to see a new feature of the Adobe site; the ability to upload a photo to create your color themes. You simply import an image and it pulls five colors from the image for you to consider. You have the option to select different moods: Colorful, Bright, Muted, Deep and Dark. Select the one you like best or you can create something custom by selecting what colors you prefer from your image.

This photo was literally taken at the side of the road. 

I am planning on incorporating an old, favorite picture of myself as part of the new header so it only makes sense to borrow colors from the image.

This Adobe Kuler tool made this part of redesigning my blog so easy and now I just need to figure out how I want to use each color.

I have my color theme saved on the Adobe Kuler site, which I called "Side of the Road"  and I welcome others to check it out and please let me know what you think.

Try out the Adobe Kuler tool and let me know what you think of it.
How have others started a site redesign? What tips would you be willing to share?

My first Star Wars toys

Who doesn't remember their first Star Wars toy?
For me it was a few action figures at Christmas time which in no time grew to a couple dozen figures and a few play sets. At the time I don't think I really appreciated the pieces of pop culture I was playing with. I probably didn't see and really appreciate the movies until ten years later in life.

Now I have two daughters who are more interested in Rainbow Fairy books and Disney Princesses than sci-fi adventures in a galaxy far, far away. My youngest promises that she will watch Star Wars with me, and I intend to hold my three year old to that promise but not for a few more years.

So in the meantime I turn my attention to my nephew. We just celebrated his first birthday and I wanted to be the first to give him a Star Wars toy. Two stuffed vehicles, the Death Star and a Tie-Fighter, found on ThinkGeek and a ABC board book my wife found at a book store have become his rite of passage gifts.

He probably won't remember receiving these toys down the road, so it is a good thing I'm not going to stop there. Just wait until you see what we're going to get him for Christmas. 

What Star Wars toys did you own? Where else can you find great geeky gifts for young ones?

"Go" - My 2013 Goal

I mentioned two posts ago when discussing New Years Resolutions that I had one for myself. It isn't a list of items that I want to accomplish it is more of an attitude change that I hope will spread throughout all aspects of my life. Ready, set,...

“Go”
My wife told me that on some of the blogs she reads that people were adopting a word for the year. Some of them were: “Together”, “Reflect”, and the ever popular “Simplify”. I thought that this was a really cool idea so I decided to come up with one of my own. For me “Go” is perfect as it can be applied in so many different ways. It can be a reminder to keep moving, either from from one project to another, or to move your body and get some decent exercise.

Ways I want to apply the ‘Go’ attitude

1. No more excuses for anything. There is a solution to every problem so don’t give up on finding it, keep going.
2. Try new things, go new places, and learn new ideas. If an opportunity comes up, I need to act on it. I can’t be afraid of it, I need to embrace it and find a way to learn from it.
3. Share more. In this blog, with my family, and with my job. I can't hold back my thoughts or ideas any longer. This will take practice but will yield great returns.

Wish me luck as I start my "Go" journey.

Facebook Envy

I am reminded this weekend of the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ reason why I took myself off of Facebook a year ago. The information was no easier hearing it in person than it was reading it online. I’m not going to rant too much about that, but I find the timing interesting as there have been some recent news articles and news videos about Facebook lately that don’t make me regret* my decision to take myself off the popular social media site. 

*Actually I have only one regret which I explain below.

A term for everything
It seems that I was not alone in experiencing various emotions when using Facebook writing and reading posts. It turns out there in now a term for it; Facebook envy. There are a growing number of people who are getting depressed and sad when they are reading about the lives of their friends. Those producing the content on Facebook seemed to be a bit immune to this problem unless of course no one was responding and liking what they were posting about.

What to do about it
Taking yourself completely off might not be a perfect solutions for all users. Some days I wish I still had access to the site from a pure professional perspective I want to understand better how the site could be used for demand generation. But I suspect that most people use the site for personal reasons. They have to determine what it really means to cut themselves off.

Not too late to keep or start your resolutions

Who doesn't struggle at keeping their new year's resolutions? Who says that you have to start them in January too? February is just as good a month, so if you have broken some resolutions already don't give up hope. I'm going to share some tips on how to help keep your resolutions this time.

#1 Write them down - Studies have shown that your resolutions will have a better chance of being met if you record them in some fashion. Post them on your blog, keep a copy in your wallet or post them on your fridge. This way you have something to reference and you won't forget what your goals are for the year. 

#2 Be very specific - Make sure you add important details or timelines. For myself that could be finishing a project by a certain time. This adds in some something you can measure so you'll have a clearer idea of how well you are doing.

#3 Share them with others - By telling people your intentions increases the odds you'll stick with your resolutions. If people know you're trying to lose weight they won't offer you that extra piece of cake. Or your lovely wife will help maintain your 'To Do List' for around the house and keep you on track.

What resolutions do you try every year but fail? What resolution is new this year?

I have one major one which I plan on sharing in the next post.