Monthly Archives: May 2012

0

Alfalfa: My New Natural Picker-Upper

|

With two (wonderful) kids, their social lives and my busy schedule, last winter was quite the challenge! I discovered Alfalfa on the shelves of my pharmacy. 100% natural homeopathic syrup. 2 teaspoons in the morning and off I go!

I recommended it highly for Moms and Dads juggling with 1 000 things to do on a normal day!

Have a great day

Vous êtes comme moi? Les enfants, leurs vies scolaires et sociales, ma vie professionnelle et pseudo-sociale, j’ai connu une grosse fatigue l’hiver dernier. J’ai découvert Alfalfa en pharmacie un peu par hasard. Un sirop 100% naturel (homéopathique). 2 cuillerée le matin et c’est parti!

Je le recommande vivement pour vous parents, experts en jonglerie de mil et une responsabilités quotidiennes!

Et une bonne journée à tous

1

Why We Should Pay Attention to These Women

|

I was asked to moderate a fine group of women entrepreneurs May 17 at Webcom Montreal. I enjoyed hearing their stories during our prep meetings. Each of them have their own unique journey and their reasons to go online. The common driver for them all: Passion. I mean really, we’ve been hearing left and right how it’s important to have a mix of smarts and passion into what we do but there’s nothing more convincing then when entrepreneurs walk the talk.

Starting with our two pure e-commerce entrepreneurs: Karyn Climans, Owner of Tail-wags, offers whimsical helmet covers that fit over any type of helmet used for sporting activities, Tail Wags empowers children and adults all over the world to individualize their helmets, thereby encouraging the use of those helmets. In this age of tech start-ups, Karyn exemplifies the true entrepreneurial spirit. She started out in her basement (remind you of someone?), does everything by hand (100% Canadian made) and is one of Canada’s most influential advocates on safety. Sophie Guinet, co-owner of Mini-bulles, offers a selection of decoration and accessories items -from birth to adolescence- from the best European and Canadian kids’ designers. Sophie has now launched her own collection, the “Triplettes”. One visit at her site and you know you’ve stepped in a world of soothing comfort and high quality standards.  You could tell from speaking with her that she loves what she does. Family is at the heart of her mission.

Now, for our social-sharing stars. Cassandra Girard, founding partner of Buyosphere. Who doesn’t know Buyosphere? As their slogan suggests “Fashion suggestions from real people”, this social platform empowers buyers to find what they want by asking their peers. And it works! Cassandra is a long time veteran in the tech start-up community and she knows that tenacity and determination are key to her success. Lifestyle and entertaining expert Kim Vallée launched At Home with Kim Vallée five years ago.  Kim shares stylish living inspirations, time-saving tips and great finds to busy women from her office in Montreal but the scope of her blog is global. She is very saavy when it comes to detecting new trends in e-commerce and shopping ideas. Her distinctive feature is in the way she stages her finds all in colour and elegance.

They had lots to stay about their business, the future of online stores, the buying behaviour, etc.. Here are some of the highlights.


Facts

E-commerce has gone through more changes in the last year or two than it has from its beginnings back in the 90′s.

  1. Today, launching an e-store takes a few hours with tools such as Etsy
  2. Remember when we used to say that the Web si empowering customers, making them more informed? This has never been truer with tablets and smartphones giving them the leisure to decide in the spur of the moment.
  3. Mobility pushes the limits of space and time. Customers are always connected and e-stores interact with them at all times.
  4. Social platforms are amplifying this phenomenon. In fact, product information found across social networks weigh more than the products themselves!
  5. Women, women and more women are taking that route.
  6. The online communities play an increasingly important role in spreading the word.

E-commerce Today : Four Success Factors

  • Social

Our panelists agree that their active presence on social networks is key. Sophie talks of the community that has shaped around her store, Karyn nurtures the proximity with her customers through twitter and her blog, Kim IS a social network with 65 000 monthly unique visitors to her site and nearly 3 700 fans on Facebook, and Cassandra talks of the many sharing features on the site (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin) to get the word out on the latest nifty finds.

  • Storytelling

Social isn’t an end to a means. As is having a transactional site or a catchy name.  The distinctive offer remains the main driver and how to best represent the product or service attributes? Our panelists agree: Storytelling. With the creation of a new product or a new line, comes a story, an anecdote, a legacy perhaps. And this is a differentiator, according to Sophie. Today, there are way too many products to chose from. Telling a story around it, adds value to the product and can be a decisive factor. To illustrate :

  • Visuals

High quality photos and  illustrations are a must today, says Kim. People have become more sensitive to visual content and online stores must meet these high standards in order to stand out. That’s why so many are turning to social image-sharing sites, such as Pinterest. Recent study shows that this is the new trend

32% of online buyers in North America have made a purchase as a result of seeing an image on a social image-sharing site, such as Pinterest

  • Work-Life Balance

Another trigger that has contributed to the growing number of women in e-commerce start-ups : the personal-work life balance. For Sophie, managing an online boutique has allowed her to spend more quality time with her family. This has not stopped her from showing creativity and extending her product line because as she says, she’s always tuned in to her customers’ needs.

  • The Physical World

Let us not forget that customers buying online are not digital beings! Our entrepreneurs make it a point to meet with their customers regularly at physical touch points.  Sophie, in collaboration with other Montreal creators,  organizes events in public places to show her latest product lines and chat with her customers. Having a virtual boutique is not enough, she adds, you must go out there. Kim even talks of stores that have started online and now have extended their activities offline, i.e. in retail outlets or coffee shops.

Last piece of advice ?

“Be transparent in your offer, the more information you provide on you, your brand, the better”,

“Shopping remains an emotional experience so build stories and proximity with your customers”

“Passion always. It will transcend online!”

“Be always aware of the upcoming trends and changes in customer behavior. Managing an online business is managing a business. The same rules of thumb apply in both worlds.”

And another one that Karyn has just reminded of and that I rarely see mentioned: “Together, we are stronger…We need to help and support eachother so that everyone thrives.”

Please leave your questions or comments below and our entrepreneurs will gladly answer them.

Thank you, ladies for your insight and wishing you continued success !

Ca vient, ça vient…

4

A look back at LBM Panel – WebcomMtl

|

As previously announced, the panel I moderated at Webcom featured Location-based marketing (LBM) evangelist, Aaron Strout (@aaronstrout) and four of our Canadian thought-leaders on the subject – Sebastien Provencher, Laurent Maisonnave, Mohamed Kahlain. We discussed the future of LBM and how/if Canadian businesses should invest more of their ad dollars.

Here are some key take-aways :

In retail, a distinction should be made between location-based and geo-fencing: one is active, the other passive. One requires the user to engage with the business by checking-in with its mobile device (see my post on the leading check-in application Foursquare), the other requires that the business triggers a text message to a customer entering not a specific location, but a defined geographical area, assuming that the customer has opted-in this feature. This is an important touch point for ALL businesses.  Let’s say you’re entering a pharmacy in downtown Montreal located near one of your favorite retail outlets. If you have activated ge-fencing on your mobile phone, that retail outlet may inform you, as you’re entering the pharmacy, of a special event happening at that moment. This is a great opportunity for businesses to tap into : spontaneous buying, thanks to proximity marketing.

As Sebastien pointed out, local marketing has been around for a long time. For years, storefront advertising and community events and forums helped advertisers spread their messages across neighbours’ fences and into consumers’ homes. What’s different today is mobility. Smart phones have allowed for speedier exploration and buying decisions. Mohamed talks of the new revolution when referring to the 4th P – the Place –  (for more info:  Mediative’s White Paper). Not surprisingly. A look at these statistics and one can understand why mobile marketing is  the primary focus of businesses:

> 80%+ of online consumers use their web-enabled devices to research where to make offline purchases

> 41% of offline retail sales in 2011 (estimated) were web-influenced

> 55% of smartphone owners use their devices frequently while shopping in stores

What about LBM? The market is ripe for LBM also, as the number of mobile users, social network and LB power-users are on the rise.

New study conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that about 74% of smartphone users use location-based services to find out information about what’s around them. In addition, one in five (18%) are checking in to local businesses with geo-social services.

LBM for non-location businesses?

A third point that stood out and that may dissipate the belief that LBM is only for retailers or storefronts: non location businesses, such as TV stations or consulting firms, are also leveraging the potential of Location-based marketing, in a non-selling way. Aaron mentions how USA Today is using a Foursquare branded page to leave tips at locations across the US which  highlight “hidden treasures”.   When a person checks into a location, they get a tip that then drives people to the USA Today website to learn more, positioning USA Today as a helpful expert. See the excellent post from @arnoldmcp on Location as being more than check-ins.  Location marketing here revolves around gamification or rewards as Getglue demonstrates, where users can “check-in” to a show. There is no selling involved, just hints and tips, yet businesses are using this as a way to get to know their customers better.

Key benefit or why should part of marketing dollars be invested in Location

Data, data, data.  This is our last but not least nugget that should create excitement in the advertising community : location data is a real-time, day-to-day, minute-to-minute scoop into customers’ buying habits. When a consumer checks in, we get data, when a consumer leaves a tip, we get data, when a consumer becomes the mayor, we get data. If you claim a business, you get access to a statistics page that show how influential the customers are. Foursquare then suggests to potential customers to reach them via twitter, and based on check-ins data, these are your best customers. Never done before! So it’s not just data but actionable data for advertisers. This spells out l-o-y-a-l-t-y.

This is not to say that TV ads are over. Far from it. Actually, geo data is being used by agencies in their TV programming. Laurent has developed an application for its customers that monitors and analyzes the tweets that are being shared on The Survivor show for instance. These tweets are geo-tagged with the city or the district and this is where it gets interesting : combining traditional media with local data to better cater to geo-sensitive customers. Laurent believes that TV commercials quickly customized to local audiences will be the upcoming trend. See his excellent post on social TV and LB advertising.

All this said, there is perhaps one key factor that may be slowing down the adoption process is fulfillment. Providing local payment features with smart phones is what’s missing from the equation. Geo-couponing apps and virtual stores (see how Well.ca is disrupting retail) are beginning in Canada, where customers scan the item they want and check out on their phone.

Main challenges ahead

  • for geo-fencing: getting users to turn on their mobile devices while still respecting their privacy
  • specifically for non-location businesses, figuring out where customers are going to be
  • at the end of the day: making location a end-to-end pleasant experience

I’ll end this post with one of Aaron’s many quotes that stay with me, taken from our first interview : “If I’m going to take the time to check-in and cross-post on Twitter or Facebook, you should give me something in exchange.” Checking-in to a location, like any other consumer-driven action,  must be of high enough value to users.

So back to our question: Should we invest more ad $$ into LBM?
Check out WebcomMTL Tweets in Summary of this panel and questions from the audience.

 

2

#LBM Panel May 16 #WebcomMT

|

What to expect from a panel on Location-Based Marketing? Best practices, defining terminology but this is only the beginning.

Let’s see…How about the following nuggets: tapping into geo-location consumer data, getting a precise picture of in-store traffic at a given time, analyzing tips left by customers, using location apps without actually having a location to promote, traditional media (TV) wanting a piece of this geo-tagging pie. Join us! Yours truly will be moderating this four-guest panel, @AaronStrout @zelaurent @Mkahlain @sebprovencher at #WebcomMTA quoi peut-on s’attendre d’un panel sur la géolocalisation? Les meilleures pratiques, la vulgarisation des termes. Ça s’est pour l’entrée.

Le plat principal:  l’utilisation des données de consommation, une vue précise du traffic en magasin à un instant donné,  l’analyse des conseils laissés par les clients, faire de la géo-localisation sans avoir une localisation, les media traditionnels qui commencent à s’intéressert de près aux données géo.  On vous attend! Je modérerai ce panel de quatre experts: @AaronStrout @zelaurent @Mkahlain @sebprovencher à #WebcomMT

0

How social is #Linkedin?

|

I had someone tell me just yesterday that you cannot toy with Linkedin, that it’s not another social network but a professional one with a strict user agreement policy etc…Does this imply that social networks are not “serious” engagement points. Then why allow content sharing across social platforms including Linkedin?

Let’s face it, from the moment we chose to have our blog posts, tweets, and facebook comments fed on to Linkedin, we are sending out a strong message: “Current and future employers, partners, clients, let me introduce you to my world and this is what I have to say about it. Here’s to hoping you will come to appreciate me for who I am AND my professional credentials”.

I don’t know about you but my social feeds are quite eclectic. I can tweet on the latest tech gadget, a formidable classical musical piece or write a post on retail customer care . This says a lot about who I am. A programmer may code in Python yet tweet on his latest wine-tasting expedition, does that make him less of a coder? I think we all know the answer to that. Yet, I’m sure people refrain from having their tweets shared on Linkedin for that reason. Heck, if HR really wants to know who YOU are before hiring you, they’ll find out what they need to know on most social platforms.

In short, online professional networks have evolved, they are part of the social landscape. Time to face the music. Be yourself!

Agree/disagree? Please write. I’d love to read contrasting views on this!


Dernièrement, j’ai eu un échange de mail façon “veille-nouvelle école”. On me mettait en garde de ne pas prendre Linkedin à la légère, qu’il s’agit après tout d’un réseau de professionnels sérieux et encadrés de règles strictes, etc.., que ce n’est pas un autre réseau social. Est-ce dire que les réseaux sociaux ne sont pas des plateformes sérieuses?  Alors pourquoi ouvrir les portes de part et d’autre? Pourquoi permettre aux flux de contenu de passer de la sphère sociale et à l’ile aux professionnels? En d’autre mots, pourquoi offrir aux utilisateurs la possibilité de lier les comptes Facebook/Twitter (entre autres) au compte Linkedin s’il s’agit de deux réseaux si différents??

Allez, à partir du moment où l’on choisit de faire savoir à notre communauté Linkedin ce que nous tweetons, on envoie un message clair: “Chers employeur actuel/futur, partenaire, client, je vous présente mon univers et voici que j’en dis. En espérant que vous viendrez à m’apprécier pour qui je suis ET pour mon parcours professionnel”

Je ne sais pas pour vous mais mes fils sociaux sont très éclectique. Je peux tweeter sur le dernier gadget techno, ou une pièce musicale qui m’a enveloppée ou encore écrire un billet sur ma dernière expérience client en magasin. C’en dit beaucoup sur ma personne. Un programmeur java qui tweet sa dernière expédition vignoble dans les Côtes du Rhône, et qui l’affiche sur linkedin perd-il en crédibilité? Je pense qu’on connaît la réponse. Pourtant, on observe une certaine retenue vis-à–vis du partage de feed sociaux sur Linkedin. Vous savez, si les RH veulent en savoir plus sur un candidat, ils n’ont qu’à se servir!

En bref, les réseaux professionnels en ligne ont évolué et font partie du paysage social, qu’on le veuille ou pas. Alors soyez authentique!

D’accord/Pas d’accord? Ecrivez-moi si vous partagez ou mieux encore si avez un avis contrasté sur le sujet!