25 Things about Moi - Facebook style

I haven't done a good ol' fashion chain letter in a while so was pleasantly pleased when Andy tagged me on Facebook.

I have received them via blogging in the past, which was also fun, however, very difficult to include close friends and family members (as they didn't have an outlet to share).

With Facebook, that has all changed! So if I tagged you, it means I want to learn more about you. Here was my response, because heck, not everyone is on facebook as well you know!

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Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. "When a man dwells in his mind on the object of sense, attachment to them is produced. From attachment springs desire and from desire comes anger."
2. I am super excited for spring (End of May, beginning of June in particular)!
3. I thoroughly enjoy watching The Hills and The City.
4. I want to kick a field goal.
5. Love to randomly sing songs inspired by words of recent conversations.
6. Knows to always take a deep breath - it makes a world of difference
7. Am terrified of rodents and birds.
8. "I know I would die if I could come back new"
9. Am thinking of one day becoming a sommelier
10. Favourite place in the world is Spry Point, PEI.
11. I love my family and friends dearly.
12. Wonders what the men two floors above the Gap in the corner office of Bay and Bloor do?
13. Want to design my own line of women's golf clothing.
14. Loves a good rockin' tune first thing in the morning.
15. "Hard to have and then have not"
16. Loves a good cup of coffee
17. Truly enjoy the pleasures food brings to the palate.
18. Tries hard not to 'hate'
19. Get really frustrated playing golf...but still loves it.
20. Got my first Barbie at the age of 31.
21. I can't scream
22. Believes there is nothing like listening to a well produced album
23. I can't stand cleaning the washroom and emptying the dishwasher
24. Loves to sleep to the sound of rain against the window
25. Strives to be a better person

My iBook G4

With the wifi now set up in our house, it was time to dust off the good 'ole iBook G4.

I took it out of its fancy black case and noticed right away that it was heavier than my work laptop, it was missing three of its corner rubber stands and the keyboard is now a dull yellow.

But I am not deceived by its degrading looks or its lack of the latest and greatest programs. It is still a great machine and worth using while at home in front on the television or while Mark is busy on the other house laptop.

So, don't get rid of yours just yet (if you were considering it). It can actually still fit your ever evolving online lifestyle. Below is how mine has.

1. Most if not all of the programs I use on a daily basis are online. So, as long as I have a strong connection and an Internet browser, I am all set. Google docs continues to be my main source for word, excel and powerpoint files, I use gmail for my email, flickr for my photos (I even use an online editing tool) and of course, meebo for chatting. Of course, delicious and facebook are two other key applications I use - All are online.

2. My laptop no longer travels. With a iPod touch and a blackberry in hand, there is no need for me to break my back and carry a laptop with me to and from the office or when I am out and about town. I am connected 24/7. (But if you call, no guarantee I will answer).

3. Mark and I manage and store most, if not all of our music and photos on an external hard drive. With them being cheaper than they were years ago, you can purchase a drive with super large memory. We use this to share files we cannot pass online and more importantly, as a back up. There is no need to store large items on my laptop anymore.

4. Work VPN. Need to work from home? Most offices have VPN access so as long as your files are stored on your office network, location access is limitless.

If you have still decided to throw out your old laptop or computer, try these possible money-making environmental tips first.

A) Try to sell it on craigslist or kijiji. You never know what people need. (NOTE: many parents look for old laptops for their kids who too are only accessing online programs).

B) Give it away to a friend. Post in on your facebook profile or on twitter...again, someone may find value in your old technology.

C) Can't find someone to take it? Make sure to recycle it. I believe Best Buy and Futureshop offer recycling programs free of charge.

NOTE: A, B, and C include coffee machines, blenders, toasters...basically anything you plug in.

Searching for a home, via Toronto

Mark and I are house hunting.

It is exhausting and to be honest, somewhat painful.

In the current economic conditions, it is definitely a buyers market - but that does not necessarily make things easy. Although housing prices have decreased, this down market is still new so realtors and buyers have nothing to compare it to in order to negotiate.

With that said however, the pursuit of our dream home is still alive. If you are interested in purchasing a new home, check out these great online resources to help keep your sanity in check in the midst of making one of the largest purchasing decisions of your life.

1. Realtor.ca - use this listing to search out homes in the hoods you want to live in. If you haven't been to mls.ca in a while, check out the new site. It has way better mapping (Microsoft VE map) and search criteria that gives you a better search experience.
2. Realosophy - this is a great tool to let you figure out the neighbourhood home data, area stats, entertainment etc. in your area. If schools are important to you, this site has a fantastic mapping and listing of the schools in that area as well as their EQOA report. Learning more about how the school rates will make or break your purchase (at least for me).
3. Are you a commuter? Use this site to figure out just how you may have to get to work if driving is out of the question.
4. Don't know how much you can afford? Want to figure out what your monthly payments will be? Check out your bank's mortgage calculators. Most of the banks have them and provide the real deal numbers to help you make sure you don't go house poor.
5. The CMHC has some great tools to help keep you on the right path. Although this can be exhausting, it is worth your while to go through. The best tool is the Life-cycle of your home.

Wedding Planning in a Recession

I have read quite a few articles and emails the last little while regarding wedding planning in a recession.

This actually surprised me quite a bit since planning for a wedding or really anything of grand expense should be done carefully and should be affordable depending on your money situation.

But, nonetheless, the topic is (indeed) more relevant today than it was last year.

So, with that said, and after planning a wedding less than a year ago, here are some of the budgetary tricks I learned to keep us on budget, manage expenses and get the most from your buck (web style of course!)

1. Set a budget and share it with your significant other. Use Google Docs so both of you can access your documents wherever you are and make sure you have the most up-to-date budget on hand. (If any of you are interested, I build a lengthy excel spreadsheet for couples to plop in numbers so you can play around with pricing and see what it will actually cost you - just email me.)

2. Research. Make sure to do a lot of research on the goods you are putting on your registry, invitations, costs of vendors, make-up etc. This of course, can be all done online. It will save you time. Be sure to email vendors any questions and costs and negotiate via email. This also lets you have a paper trail on what you have negotiated.

3. Get on email lists. Many bridal companies have email lists where they will send you the latest information on what they are carrying. More important, they will send you information about their sales which are typically first come first served.

4. Read blogs and forums. Learn from others how they are creating their dream day on the cheap. I subscribed to about 10 bridal feeds, many which gave me great ideas on things I can do myself or alternatives to expensive options.

5. Search our photobloggers and videobloggers. This is a great alternative to the often pricey wedding photographers and videographers out there.

PS. Movie poster at the top of this post was designed by my little brother (we had our wedding at an old 1920's movie theatre). Interested in your own? Ping me.

Email No-No's

I get a LOT of marketing emails. I don't mind really, it keeps me up-to-date with great case studies, how companies are using email and of course...some great deals.

But, in the last little while, I have seen a lot of email marketing no-no's (on the consumer end) - so as a reminder, here is a link to the CMA email guidelines as well as some other tidbits not necessarily listed.

1. Email is the same as a phone call or text message. It better be relevant if you are sending it.
2. Relevant - that means, the offer is for the person you are sending it too (I just got an email for an offer not valid in Canada - ergh).
3. Manage Data - if someone doesn't want to get an email from you, that means DON'T SEND THEM EMAIL. Make sure you have clear unsubscribe opportunities every time you send an email.
4. Rendering - make sure the email looks good in multiple email clients. (I received an email that did not render in gmail at all. I couldn't make out the offer so I deleted it and marked it as SPAM as I didn't recognize the sender)
5. Get Recognized - that means make sure you have a solid contact program. Manage your audience's expectations so they know how often and why you send out emails.

H&M Dressing Room

On a recent visit to H&M.com, I was pleasantly surprised by the great number of engaging interactive elements on their site.

1. Fashion Video - a video of the latest designs H&M will be releasing for the season. You get to hear from their Head of Design and Tim Blanks of style.com. Also, you can subscribe so it automatically gets delivered to you.

Why is this relevant? H&M prides itself on offering the latest trends right off the runway for bargain basement prices. The moment they stop doing this, they become like every other lower-end chain store like a Reitman's or Smart Set.

2. City Guides - this is just a fun video store guide to some stores (including H&M of course) in three major cities (London, Rome and Australia to date). A great part of this is that you can download the addresses of the stores (albeit in PDF format).

Why is this relevant? You see two beautiful girls in H&M clothes. Again, showcasing style in a major city - not just a simple easy-to-miss outfit. (NOTE: One fix, I would do a podcast version for people to load on their iPods so if they really want to follow on their trip, they can).

3. Dressing Room - A fun interactive map where you can try on some of the latest fashions from H&M. The look of the model is fully customized (geez, can get scary when inputting real measurements).

Why is this relevant? Some people just don't feel comfortable sporting the latest trends? Some won't even bother trying them on. But, with an interactive doll and mix and matching clothes, no harm is done.

Wheel of Responsibility

Mark got this great "Wheel of Responsibility" from his sister this past Christmas. We haven't used it yet, but it is sitting right on our blackboard alongside our bills to pay, dates to remember and this week's grocery list.

I took a look at it again and thought - "wouldn't this be great for work?"

I work in a large organization and my main role within eBusiness is to develop enterprise-wide online strategies. This involves finding solutions that affect numerous businesses, people and processes and of course, figuring out who is and/or will be responsible for what.

The latter, is the hard part.

Why is this hard in the online world?

1. Although you may be an expert for very knowledgeable about online - many of your colleagues may not be (heck, if you work in online, that is why they hired you) - so, may be reluctant to claim responsibility.
2. In the Social Media world, you are in it for the long haul. If developing a community, you got to be there day in and day out. Most tactics are not fly-by-night or quarter campaigns. They are ongoing, hopefully for many years.
3. The Unknown. If implementing new online campaigns for the first time, there is a fear of the unknown result. No one in the industry has done this before, so am I on the right track? Have I done this right?
4. Repeat. In many of the past failed social media tactics that several F500 companies experimented with in previous year got a lot of press. If your tactic sounds similar, someone may not want their name associated.

So what is the best way to claim or have someone claim responsibility?

1. Educate. Make sure those whose names need to be associated with your work are well aware of the strategy or tactic. Make sure they are comfortable with what you are proposing.
2. Examples. People feel comfortable if another company has attempted and better yet, succeeded at a similar approach.
3. Excitement. Create excitement around new ideas to get buy-in to accept responsibility.
4. Your track record. Make sure your track record shows successes. Done it before somewhere else? Have your past campaigns been successful? Have you build trust amongst your peers and leaders?

By the Numbers

Numbers
Originally uploaded by DHJ.V

I had 60 posts last year. Terrible (enter head shake here). Less than half of what I had in 2007 and less than a third of what I had in 2006. Sorry!

I have a lot of excuses, some valid, many not...I will try to make more of an effort this year fo' sho'

Surprisingly though, my visitor rate did not drop significantly. It is just a percentage or two lower than last year.

Why?

1. Content - Posts that I wrote years and months ago are still get great traffic...and comments (Search make up almost 60% of my traffic)
2. Participation - Keeping active on other community sites and blogs of interest always brings in new readers, even if I don't write anything new. (Referring sites make up almost 25% of my traffic)
3. Relevancy - many of the posts I wrote back in the day are still relevant (at least to someone) today.

So now what?

1. Get found - Posts should be search and keyword friendly...and of course, the voice of your audience.
2. Push to be relevant - Make sure to write posts that are a value add - today and for tomorrow.
3. Participate - stay active within your community and others. It is a great way to meet people and also draw the new reader or two.

NOTE: Check out the 'Advanced Segments' feature (in Beta) with Google Analytics. Great way to do some easier comparisons of segments.

TTC email alerts

I take the subway almost everyday. I take it to work, to yoga and to visit friends around the city. I get excellent use out of my monthly pass.

This morning, I read that the TTC will be offering e-Alerts.

"The information advises customers of the location of the disruption and informs them that shuttle buses have been put in place. E-Alerts is a subscription based service that allows customers to receive this information via email."

The TTC has started work on SMS text messaging, which is great for those who do not have email on their mobile devices.

This is a great step for TTC for providing customers with an extremely valuable service. I am fortunate that I can work from home on occasions where the subway is down so it is extremely valuable for me to know that 'my ride' is not working.

Also, it is a good 10-15 minute walk to the closest station. There is nothing worse than walking to the station and finding out that the subway is not working.

Some cons? There are a few...but can be easily negated.
1. The TTC offers an RSS service. When I signed up for this service a while back, I thought that it would provide me with up-to-date information on issues with the TTC service. It didn't. Or, it was too late. When an alert system is provided, it needs to be just that - an ALERT. I hope their e-Alerts don't fall under the same routine.
2. We are all the same. The e-Alerts tell subscribers all the issues with the TTC service. This is not that valuable to me and becomes SPAM-like since I only take the Yonge Subway line (for the most part). Learning about an issue with a bus route in Etobicoke provides no value. Options or preferences would have been nice.

Where I was in 08 and Where I will be in 09

1.26.08 - Thumbs Up
Originally uploaded by invisibleElement

Here is a list of the top 3 communities I visited in 2008:

1. Chowhound
2. All Recipes
3. Etsy

My prediction for the top 3 communities I will visit in 2009:

1. All Recipes
2. Baby Centre
3. Canadian Parents

Here is my list of my top 3 digital marketing accomplishments in 2008:

1. Small wins and lots of presentations that showcase the potential and benefits of online
2. Developing a large email strategy
3. Starting the groundwork on implementing social media.

Here is my list of my top 3 digital marketing goals for 2008:

1. Implementing a large email strategy
2. Piloting a social media strategy
3. Learn from analytics - lots of analytics.

Where I was in 08 and Where I will be in 09

Here is a list of the top 3 communities I visited in 2008:

1. Chowhound
2. All Recipes
3. Etsy

My prediction for the top 3 communities I will visit in 2009:

1. All Recipes
2. Baby Centre
3. Canadian Parents

Here is my list of my top 3 digital marketing accomplishments in 2008:

1. Small wins and lots of presentations that showcase the potential and benefits of online
2. Developing a large email strategy
3. Starting the groundwork on implementing social media.

Here is my list of my top 3 digital marketing goals for 2008:

1. Implementing a large email strategy
2. Piloting a social media strategy
3. Learn from analytics - lots of analytics.