Social Media’s Next Victim: Motrin
Nov 28, 2008 Advertising, Blogs, Branding, Consumer Brands, Marketing & Communication, Microblogging, New, PR
It seems I leave for a week and a “big” social media story drops. Now, a week late on the game, after EVERYONE has already written about it, I will join the fray. Here I am a “me too” in the Motrin game.
Being a mommy blogger and a marketing blogger I feel that I couldn’t NOT write about this hoopla.
For the uninformed, the basics: ( If you have heard all this before, skip to my thoughts on the subject.
“Some people in social media, particularly those on Twitter are championing this as the power of the human voice and are pointing to social media’s defining moment of influence. They may be right but this is not a corporate-sized Obama. This is the type of change we don’t need – nobody wins – moms are offended, Motrin takes it on the chin and other companies who were fence sitting now avoid social media like the plague.”
Of course the benefit of the discussion, the blogs, the comments, the and the tweets, (a-hem, the social media…) is that if companies are considering testing the waters – there are lots of places to learn the best practices and the lessons learned by others.
Popularity: 16% [?]
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Tags: Advertising, babywearing, mom, motrin, social media
He Sleeps! A Miracle
Nov 26, 2008 Family and Friends, New
I probably shouldn’t blog about this, it might jinx the situation. But I have to tell someone!
My three month old is sleeping in his crib. He has done this before, but this time he fell asleep all alone in his room. I am in shock! Talk to any mom and sleep is the biggest issue in the first year. The first question another mom asks you is “Is he sleeping through the night?”, “Does he nap?”, and “Are you sleeping?”
My first child slept well at night for about 6 weeks. Then from 4 months to 10 months he woke up every couple hours. I was tired, frustrated and willing to try any method to get him to sleep on his own. In the end, I think time was the only solution – a week before I went back to work full-time he began sleeping through the night again. Naps were also difficult with him. Unless he fell asleep nursing, in the car, swing or sling he didn’t sleep during the first 5 months. After that, I made it my mission to get him to nap in his room. I would rock him, nurse him, rub his back, pick him up, put him down, sit by the door, pace the floor with him and sing to him. Anything to get him to sleep, and more often than not the moment I left the room and closed the door he would begin crying.
Today, I put my second child in his crib. Awake. Clean diaper. Fed. I left the room and folded laundry in the next room. When I was done I looked in on him and he was asleep. That was 40 minutes ago.
If I wasn’t afraid it would wake him up, I would turn on some music and jump up and down singing!
Join me in hoping this happens again.
Popularity: 4% [?]
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Tags: baby, mom, motherhood, parenting, sleeping
Feed Troubles: Posts You Might Have Missed
Nov 26, 2008 Blogs
In the last week I have posted a few articles you may have missed if you are a subscriber (except for those of you who subscribe by email). Unfortunately, I had some Feedburner issues which seem to have been resolved now.
These are the posts that you have missed:
- li>My Top Web 2.0 Sites/a>
li>One Year and Counting/a>
li> Events: Planning for all Possibilities/a>
Enjoy!
Popularity: 5% [?]
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Tags: blogging, feedburner
5 Tips to Organization in Google Reader or How to Avoid Information Overload
Nov 26, 2008 Blogs, RSS, Social Media
Information overload is easy when you start subscribing to feeds in a feed reader. It seems everything is possible to subscribe to: news, searches, alerts, blogs, content on websites…And, why not! It allows the user to get the content without the hassle of visiting multiple sites. It is supposed to save you time. But when it is so easy to subscribe, you often subscribe to too much!
In July 2007, I wrote a post on RSS for beginners where I discussed the benefits of subscribing to feeds such as blogs or content on news sites, and some of the tools you can use to organize them. [If you want some helpful hints on what you can use RSS for - check out Parker's post on the Blogcampaigning blog.]
Now, one year and 200 subscriptions later, I have found myself for the 25th time having thousands of unread articles, reluctantly pressing the “Mark all as Read” button. So I decided to do a reorganization of my feed reader. Here are my tips to organizing your feed reader:
1. Delete blogs you aren’t reading
Over time you will subscribe to a lot of feeds, some you will read regularly and others you will find you skip more often than not, and indeed some you won’t read at all! To get rid of many subscriptions go into the Manage Subscriptions and click the trash can next to the ones you are deleting. Or, one at a time – just click “Feed Settings” and unsubscribe.
2. Create a “Must Read” folder
Which blogs do you regularly read? Check out “Trends” in Google Reader, it will show you the percentage of read items over the last 30 days for the feeds you have been reading. Pick your top 20 and move them into the “Must Read” folder
3. Use Starred Items and Tags
Save yourself time and effort trying to find articles later on. I use “Stars” and tags to save posts I might want to refer to later on. I categorize using tags to indicate what the post is about (Twitter, WOM, Facebook, consumer marketing, etc). I also use tags to show what I want to do with the post, for example if I want to print it out I tag it “print”, or if I want to use it for a future blog post I tag it “blog” and star it so I can easily find it later on.
4. Create feeds for frequently updated sites or infrequently read sites using AideRSS.
If you have hundreds of blogs that you read, as I do, you need a way to sort through to find the most valuable posts. This is where AideRSS comes in handy. Some blogs have 30-40 posts a day which can be hard to get through to find the gems. Plug the feed URL into AideRSS and it will show you the Best Posts, Great Posts and Good Posts (based on PostRank and engagement). You can then decide which posts you want to read – the best, the great, or the good ones. You can also choose to subscribe to this feed that you have created – so that you will ONLY get the “Great” posts in your feed reader. You can do this for multiple feeds. For example, I put all the blogs I subscribe to, that don’t fall in my “Must Reads”, into AideRSS. I subscribe to that feed – so I decrease the number of feeds by about 30%. AideRSS has some helpful videos on the site that explain the process.
5. Read and enjoy!
Start with your “Must Reads”, and if the other feeds get to be too much – you can press the “Mark all as Read”.
Popularity: 8% [?]
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Tags: blogging, google, google reader, guide, information, RSS
My Top 15 Web 2.0 Sites
Nov 24, 2008 Blogs, Consumer Brands, Marketing & Communication, Microblogging, RSS, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, social networks
In no particular order, these are my favourite Web 2.0 site. These sites allow us to collaborate, share, and communicate with others.
Facebook: I never would have reconnected with so many people if it weren’t for Facebook (perhaps that wouldn’t be a bad thing!) How else would I know that a former co-worker I no longer keep in touch with has had a baby, that a high school friend is a terribly annoying Zombie, and someone I only know briefly from University has an incredible need to invite me to parties I will never ever go to. Of course I also wouldn’t have met up with a few old room mates for coffee and been able to catch up with some other friends who continue to have lots of common interests with me!
>LinkedIn: LinkedIn is another social network, but this one is unique as it appeals to people interested in professional networking. You won’t find Vampires or Scrabulous on LinkedIn, but you will find professional groups, job postings, and the ability to connect with people in your field of expertise or future employers! Post your profile including your career history and start finding your network.
Flickr: A great way to share photos with friends, family and the world. Tag anyway you like, and receive comments from people who view your work. You can of course create sets/albums, and share your “photostream” on many social networks beyond Flickr. Flickr also allows you to make your albums private.
Del.icio.us: Not only can I now take my bookmarks to any computer I happen to be on, I can easily share with family and friends the links I think they will find useful. As an added bonus I subscribe to key “tags” that interest me: “wordofmouth”, “socialmedia” etc. My bookmarks used to be a long list of random unorganized sites, now they are categorized under multiple groupings making them easy to find when I need them.
Slideshare: Looking for inspiration? Want to share your brilliant presentations? Share slideshows with friends, colleagues or the world. You can also add sound and create your own “webinar”. Post your presentations on Slideshare then embed on a website, or share on social networks easily. Slideshare is great for collaboration, and sharing knowledge at the workplace ond beyond. If you have attended a recent conference (especially on tech) – there is a good chance the slides are posted here.
Google Reader: Google Reader is the bane of my existence and the love of my life. A plethora of information, and a suck of my time. It makes it so easy to subscribe to wonderful content…that I keep subscribing to more and more. Leaving me little time to read them! I have just recently re-organized and I think I have found a way to master the information overload. Watch for a future post. If you love blogs – I recommend Google Reader as your aggregator.
YouTube: Hours wasted here! I love YouTube. I have posted videos (of my son – for the joy of his grandparents), and I have watched videos, and taken my favourites and embedded them in my blog. How great is that, watch, create and share!
Books: Living Social: Being a book lover I immediately added the Visual Bookshelf application on Facebook. (now called Living Social: Books), Books: Living Social allows you to see what friends are reading and reviewing, catalogue your own books (want to read, reading, and have already read!) A great “social” way to find new books to read. Living Social also has other interests you can add to your Facebook (Myspace and Bebo) profiles: Television Shows, Movies, Beer, Video Games, Restaurants, Albums. And, they just introduced a new widget for your blog or social network
Google Docs: Google Docs which includes a Word Processor, Spreadsheet, Form creator, and Presentation program are perfect for collaborating at work or at school. Forget the messy “tracking” changes, or e-mails back and forth with suggestions for changes – make real time changes whenever you want in Google Docs. You can even work on the document at the same time as one of the other team members.
Wikipedia: Have you ever been at a party or a get-together and a random trivia question pops up. Invariably someone says “google it” and out pops a laptop or mobile device. Someone looks up Piranha eating habits, or the origin of the carnival, and likely one of the first search results is Wikipedia. The best example of the “wisdom of crowds” has to be the collaborative Wikipedia. Just look something up – or contribute.
Twitter: This is the social network / blogging platform I wish I had more time for. For the uninformed please read my Twitter 101 post. Twitter asks the question “what are you doing now?” and you “tweet” using 140 characters or less to share with your followers just what is on your mind. It can be as menial as what you are eating for breakfast, or as mind-blowing as breaking news. People share stories, news, links of interest, and opinions on everything from coffee makers to politics. Twitter has even become an avenue for businesses to offer customer service. Search for people in your neck of the woods or people that share common interests. I follow people all over the world!
Adium: I recently added Adium, a chat application for Macs to my computer. With Adium I can log into all my IM accounts with one program. I have it set up to log me in to MSN, ICQ, Gmail, and even Facebook chat.
Skype: My son would likely forget what Uncle Jeff and Aunt Kim looked like if it wasn’t for Skype. They live in another country and so it is rare that my three year old gets to see them in person. Skype allows them to see each other and chat for free! We also talk to his grandparents (and great grandmother) this way! His grandmother was able to read him a bedtime story from Nova Scotia. How neat is that! Hey, even Oprah is using Skype.
Friendfeed: Friendfeed allows you to bring all your “feeds” together. Create a newsfeed by sharing what you are doing on Twitter, Flickr, Facebook and others Web 2.0 sites. Follow your friends activities and comment on any of them! There are also “Rooms” where members can share on a particular topic. You can subscribe to your Friendfeed in an aggregator so you never miss a beat.
Wordpress: Where would I be without Wordpress, the platform this blog is built on!
Popularity: 8% [?]
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Tags: delicious, facebook, flickr, living social, twitter, youtube
One Year and Counting
Nov 19, 2008 Blogs, Marketing & Communication, Web Analytics
I completely missed my blogs anniversary! July 19th would have been my one year anniversary at www.MEGOagain.com. However, I was a bit caught up in being at the end of my pregnancy and the impending arrival of baby number two!
So, while I missed the one year mark, stay tuned I am going to work on a celebration for my 1 1/2 year mark! Perhaps my first contest is in order.
In the meantime, some brief stats (because as you know I love analytics!)
Visitors to my blog are from (in order of most visits):
Canada (Toronto, Halifax, Calgary, Vancouver)
US (California, New York, Georgia, Texas)
UK (London, Manchester, Birmingham)
India
Australia
Phillippines
France
Israel
Most Popular Search terms driving traffic to my blog:
mego
mego michelle
my eyes glaze over
facebook advertising
eyes glaze over
wii remote hacks
michelle kostya
Most Popular Posts:
Marketing Traditional Products, with New Technology
Did I mention my subscribers has doubled since January! Woot!
Now I just need to get more of you to actually get involved- comment and suggest new content for the site. Thanks for subscribing.
If you are new to the blog – you can subscribe by email (over there on the left hand column) or by RSS.
Popularity: 6% [?]
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Tags: anniversary, blogging, Michelle Kostya
Events: Planning for All Possibilities
Nov 17, 2008 Branding, Consumer Brands, Event Marketing, Family and Friends, Marketing & Communication, PR
As a marketer, I have planned and executed a number of events. So, I know the importance of:
-
(a) a contingency plan (planning for all possibilities)
(b) not getting your hopes up
But, I have to add something else to think about for next time:
(c) what happens if it goes too well?
I know that this should be in the “planning for all possibilities”, right? But it seems we tend to expect the worse and then be pleasantly surprised if it goes well? We bring two microphones, we take extra press kits just in case someone forgot to RSVP, we go over the seating chart 100 times to ensure there are no major blunders, and we consider the possibility that no one shows up.
I added (c), to my list of important things to remember the next time I run an event, on Saturday after I took my three year old to Playhouse Disney’s first anniversary party at Yorkdale Mall. I saw first hand that sometimes an event can go beyond our wildest dreams, and cause troubles just the same!
Let me set the scene, here is a picture: 
Make note this is mid- November in one of the busiest malls in the Greater Toronto Area, Santa Claus IS in the building, and it is raining*. * For the non-parents out there: When it rains kids go certifiably nuts. There is something in the air that makes them go berserk unless they are let out of the house to rampage with other little unbalanced erratic wing-bats in trainers.
Needless to say the mall would have been busy with the (early) Christmas shoppers and Santa viewers. Add the sanity seeking parents and you have a zoo. On top of this add those of us who specifically made a trip to the mall to see costumed characters – and you have something far worse…maybe a circus? Tigger, Poo and Darby were set to make an appearance for the little ones, it was advertised on Playhouse Disney, and on their website for the past two or three weeks. We arrived around 1:30 to find a stage surrounded by kids, parents and a parking lot of strollers. A sea of people set up in the middle of the mall. The Disney folks in their red T-shirts were desperately trying to corral the guests into a small space so that other mall visitors could get by – but their efforts were in vain. Parents wanted their little ones to be as close as possible, so they weren’t interested in following orders.
The celebrities came on and sang Happy Birthday and the Hokey-Pokey with the kids and the host, then they waved and said their good-byes. My son was pleased, he saw Tigger, Pooh and Darby. He received a colouring page, a poster of “Cars”, and his very own DVD. As we were walking away I saw the host and I felt inclined to speak to her. I realized by the look on her face that she was not only the host, but likely the planner and executioner of this event. She looked relieved, anxious, exhausted, exuberant, and beat down all at once. I knew that feeling. The “phew its over, that went well, but oh-my-god this part went wrong, and that part was totally off, my boss is going to kill me because why didn’t I think about that, and what if customers complain…but really I didn’t fall flat on my face so it isn’t so bad. Maybe…” I stopped and told her it was a great event and that my three year old was as happy as can be. She thanked me and told me they hadn’t imagined that this many people would have shown up. The plan had been to allow the kids to get their picture taken with the characters and essentially have some one-on-one time with them. But, they didn’t expect the onslaught of kids. So, they went to Plan B, which may or may not have actually been “planned”. They stopped doing pictures, and stuck with doing just the stage show.
Either my fluke or by plan – on all the ads and on the website they never promised pictures, or hugs, or one-on-one time with Pooh, Tigger and Darby. They simply said “come out and see Tigger, Pooh and Darby”. Under promise, over deliver. Kids arrived, saw their favourite characters and were happy. Imagine if kids came expecting a handshake from Tigger and then couldn’t get closer than ten feet, there would have been tears and screaming for sure!
The lesson here: Have a plan for your event going horribly (the microphone breaks, missing pages in press kits, and no one shows up), AND plan for the event going really well. Playhouse Disney got this right. Of course, the marketer I spoke to would have had hopes for her original plan, and when that didn’t work, it was likely rather disappointing.
Popularity: 10% [?]
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Tags: disney, Event Marketing, event marketing, events, family, kids, Marketing & Communication, playhouse disney
I Want to Work Here! : How Employers Will Lose Out in a Web 2.0 World if they Treat Employees As Easily Replaceable
Nov 12, 2008 Advertising, Marketing & Communication, PR, Social Media, word of mouth
Most companies act as though their employees are easily replaceable. Certainly, there are plenty of potential replacements out there, but what companies don’t realize (or ignore) is that there is a cost to the loss of every employee.
Costs such as:
- Recruitment costs (advertising, recruiter/hiring company, screening)
- Termination costs (administration)
- Training
Beyond these direct costs there are the internal resources required to recruit a new employee and the costs involved in covering the position while it is vacant (overtime or temp work). A company needs to consider the value of the time an HR and hiring manager need to spend screening and interviewing potential employees, as part of the cost of losing an employee. As well, it will be likely necessary to fill the shoes of the lost employee while the position is vacant – and this also carries a cost to the company.
Finally, and probably the least considered factor to cost is the decrease in productivity. A new employee takes time and training to get up to speed – to be able to be as productive and knowledgeable as the person they are replacing. According to a variety of sources it can take anywhere from 3 months to 12 months (depending on position and learning curve) for a new employee to become fully competent in their new role.
So, what does it cost to replace an employee? While it depends on the position, level, industry, and required skills – many studies have shown turnover has a great cost to business. For an $8/hour employee estimates range from $3500-$9000. Other sources provide these estimates:
- - It costs a company 30-50% of the annual salary of entry-level employees,- 150% of middle level employees,
- Up to 400% for specialized, high level employees.
If it costs so much to replace employees – why do so many companies treat employees as though they were easily replaced?
- - Many companies have never likely calculated what it actually costs them- It is left solely in HR’s hands
- They believe turnover is just par for the course of running a business
- They think the solution to end the turnover would cost more than the turnover itself
I have worked at many companies that have ignored high turnover due to the belief that there are a hundred people waiting in the wings to take the positions left by the exiting staff, and it seems too often it was the “little things” the company could have done to retain that top staff member.
Sure, money talks – but sometimes a great working environment laughs louder! This is what crossed my mind when I read these benefits for working at Hershey Canada (my notes italic):
Benefits and Perks of Working at Hershey Canada:
- – Of course. exposure to some of the finest chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products. drool, I hope they have a gym too- Health and Wellness Reimbursement program as well as other great employee benefits. check it! must be money towards a gym membership!
- Corporate social responsibility programs – because we should leave the world a little better than we found it ! Companies need to realize we spend 40 hrs a week (if not more!) at work – and we need to feel we are doing something for the greater good – not just selling consumer goods to the masses (although that can be fun too!) Gives me the warm fuzzies!
- Fantastic reward and recognition programs. A pat on the back often is the best glue to keep an employee happy, of course recognition through rewards and money help too!
- Flextime with required core working hours of 9:30 am to 3:00pm – subject to department approval Very nice
- Telecommuting – subject to department approval. Even better if you can work from home on those nasty winter days
- Summer hours from May to September – subject to corporate approval. Bonus!
- Working in a LEED certified and open concept environment. Sounds like a warm fuzzy environment.
Of course a job description is a selling tool for the company, perhaps it isn’t as fantastic as it is outlined. But on paper it certainly looks as if they are making an effort to do the “little things” that make work – less like “work”. There are of course “little things”, such as working environment, management style, and workplace culture that don’t make it to the job description. In the past, these are the things that the new employee finds out about once they take the job. In the near future however, companies beware, potential employees will be going online to find out the truth behind those “little things” that mean an awful lot!
Thanks to the onslaught of Social Media sites exist now, although none appear to have reached a high level of engagement to rate and share your experience at the companies you have worked for. It is only a matter of time before these sites become a regular part of the research process we take on when we go job hunting. We review books, television programs, movies, restaurants and consumer products online – why not the workplace! In the future before anyone takes a new position they will research it like they do purchasing a LCD screen – by reading and research online! Companies that treat their employees as replaceable will suffer when they find the hundreds of potential employees waiting in the wings are no longer there.
Sites to check out and rate your company!
Photos courtesy of Stock xchange.
Popularity: 12% [?]
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Tags: careers, criticat, employment, hershey, hr, jiibe, jobvent, recruitment, web 2.0
The Big Boo!
Nov 11, 2008 A Good Laugh, Family and Friends, Parenting and More
My family gets serious about Halloween!
Popularity: 5% [?]
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Bizarre Things Found on a Coffee Cup
Nov 10, 2008 Advertising, Branding, Marketing & Communication
Usually I stop at Tim Horton’s on the way to ‘nastics (gymnastics for non-parental types). Where I stop is determined by the number and age of the children in the car. If I have both of the kids the coffee shop must have a drive-thru. If I only have my three year old I won’t walk into Starbucks because it ends up being an expensive trip (coffee for me and a two dollar donut for him!).
I digress.
Today I had both kids in the car and the baby was fussing at every stop sign. So, I knew there was no way we could make it through the 15 car line-up at Tim Horton’s without ear plugs! But, I required coffee. I don’t know a mom who doesn’t arrive at the gym without one! Across the street was a Country Style with a drive-thru with no line-up – so we went there instead.
Sitting at gymnastics I notice on the cup it says ” I wish…knew my name”. Huh? What does this mean? Why is this on my cup? It isn’t a clever quote like on the Starbucks cups, and there is no explanatory URL in the immediate vicinity of the statement. Just that sentence, if you would even call it a sentence. There is something missing between “wish…” and knew.
I turn the cup and there on the bottom (no where near the un-sentence) is “A Proud Sponsor of Make A Wish”. Oh, now I get it. But couldn’t they put an actual wish? Even better a real sentence? “I wish Michael Jordan knew my name” – and the name of the child who made the wish (or a fake name…that would be fine too). Not only would it make sense, it would make the need for support more real to the reader. Or, just put the “Make a Wish” logo near the “Wish” – then I won’t go through life thinking the folks at Country Style can’t string together a proper sentence.
Maybe I am wrong. Perhaps it is really clever, because it forces people to examine their coffee cup for a reason for the incomplete sentence.
Just a random thought on a Monday.
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A Stock Issue
Seinfeld and Microsoft – I Still Don’t Get it!
Facebook Advertising
Popularity: 5% [?]
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