AIMS Canada

Member Profile: Meet Mark Graham from Right Sleeve

Post by: Eden Spodek

This is the sixth post in monthly series – The AIMS Member Profiles  – in which AIMS volunteer and blog correspondent Eden Spodek interviews and profiles  AIMS members.

Mark Graham – an entrepreneur with a passion for technology, launched Right Sleeve in 2000, a non-traditional promotional products company. He joined AIMS in May 2006.

What have you done to make Right Sleeve stand out in the crowd?

The traditional promotional products industry has never had a great reputation. As barriers to entry are low in this field, many distributors lack the sophistication seen in other industries. As a result, buying promotional merchandise is not typically ranked as being an enjoyable experience for most marketing buyers.

It was this consumer experience that I focused on from the beginning. I wanted consumers to view us as the knowledgeable, fun people who sell interesting promotional items that people will actually use. This is why we use the tag line “friends don’t let friends buy bad promo.” From the start, we have focused on establishing a strong emotional connection with our client base.

We promote these values online:

·   We have created an informative, yet fun and irreverent website that make people think “hey, this isn’t like any other promotional site I have seen before”.

·   We have used technology extensively to distance ourselves from the competition. All web content has been built in house so we control the look and feel.

·   We are very open and honest. Our blog offers a look into the philosophies of the company.

·   In June, we are launching a Web 2.0 application that will allow consumers to see view pricing, order online, rate products, share products on Facebook, and see what others in the B-to-B community are ordering for their events.

What inspired you to take the company in this direction?

I love how technology connects consumers. I am fascinated by web commerce and how the consumer of today wants to be in charge vs. having someone else tell them what to do. We have always wanted to create a transparent site that gives consumers control.

Is there a direct correlation between embracing technology and sales?

Absolutely. Nearly 90% of our sales can be related to our website in one form or another. Our orders are managed through the backend of our website.

Member Profile: Meet Charlotte Riley from a.c.riley communications.

Member Profile: Meet Charlotte Riley from a.c.riley communications This is the fifth post in monthly series – The AIMS Member Profiles  – in which AIMS volunteer and blog correspondent Eden Spodek  interviews and profiles an AIMS premium member.

Charlotte Riley – a marketing and online content writer, editor and SEO expert – hung out her shingle and launched a.c.riley communications in August 2004. She joined AIMS in January 2007.

What have you done to build your company’s brand/your personal brand and what advice do you have for AIMS members looking to do the same?

As an independent, I'm solely responsible for my brand identity. I am fully accountable for every piece of writing I send out. The acriley.com Web site had to reflect that accountability and commitment to my clients. My photographs and self-portraits became an integral part of my site, and I wrote copy that provides visitors a glimpse of who I am. So there is both a visual and textual referential story.

It came down to going beyond expectations. Always delivering more. Knowing that you are fully responsible for not only your own experience in life, but your clients' experience with you. Now, almost all of my business is word-of-mouth.

Advice?
• Understand your brand/corporate DNA. Then live it.
• Celebrate what makes you different.
• Deliver a better product. On time.
• Your word is everything. Always keep it.
• Never, ever, let your customer down.

a.c.riley communications specialty is audience-focused content. What makes it unique and how do you differentiate yourself from other writers/content producers?

I tend to take a more holistic view of the process, not just my copywriting part. I've been writing specifically for the Web for the last seven years, so I think I've got an innate sense of what works and how to create fluid copy - keywords and all!

My specialty is creating credible and engaging content that sounds completely natural. Online copy has to hold up a mirror to your target audience and reflect the way they speak, their values and ultimately what they are looking for. The words have to connect emotionally with your audience.

I noticed you have what appears to be a blog on your website but you call it a b(abble)log and swear you'll never write a blog…

You caught me - it really is a blog! But, I never wanted to have a "cheese sandwich blog" ("I had a cheese sandwich for lunch today. The bread was stale, but the pickles made up for a lot.") In a world of millions of blogs, it is hard to be truly unique, but b(abble)log is a collection of tips and hints for SMEs, articles or blog entries that catch my eye, my take on copywriting and marketing, and the odd rant.

Volunteer Profile: Meet Eden Spodek

This post marks the start of a new feature on the AIMS blog - A Monthly Volunteer Profile. Once a month we'll do a short post and feature one of our volunteers. The questions won't be long, the idea is to provide a quick snapshot of information and put some faces and names to the 50+ volunteers we have helping out at AIMS.

Eden Spodek has been sending in regular profiles of AIMS members for a few months now. Since Eden is an active volunteer on our blog correspondent team and had the idea to start this new feature I thought it was only fitting that she be the first of our volunteers profiled...

Name: Eden Spodek
AIMS member since: January 2000
Volunteer role: blog correspondent
Current job: corporate web producer, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Oldest bookmark: Canada411
Favourite website: my blog - Bargainista :)
I don't know how we did without: computers, the Internet, e-mail, RSS, iPods, Google
I wish we could do without: spam filters

What is the biggest challenge you see facing internet marketers today?
Cutting through the clutter - it's a challenge for communicators and marketers alike.

Would you like to get involved as an AIMS volunteer? Email me at klagden@aimscanada.com

Are you a volunteer who would like to be profiled? Email Eden at espodek@gmail.com

Member Profile: Tessa Mintz from Uthink/Studentawards Inc. Part 2 of 2

Member Profile: This is the second in a two-part series with Tessa Mintz from Uthink/Studentawards Inc. Part 1 was posted last week.

This is the fifth post in monthly series – The AIMS Member Profiles – in which AIMS volunteer and blog correspondent Eden Spodek interviews and profiles an AIMS premium member.

Tessa joined Uthink/Studentawards Inc. – an online advertising, market research data collection and scholarship management services company in the youth marketplace – as Director, Client Services in 2002 and promoted to VP, Account Management in 2004.

Q: What distinguishes university students from other niche markets and why do corporations find this demographic so appealing?

A: University and college students, or those who are university and college-bound, will be the leaders and high earners of tomorrow.  Building relationships with this group can have different advantages for corporations and other organizations (not-for-profit, government etc.): brands can build loyalty through demonstrating student support; organizations, universities and colleges can access the market for recruitment purposes; government and not-for-profits can harness the energy of the group for volunteerism and fund-raising initiatives.

Q: What do you think is the biggest benefit of marketing to a niche audience? Q: If you had to choose one aspect of niche marketing to demonstrate its value, which would you choose?

A: Having a niche market means that you understand what makes that market tick. You understand what’s relevant and important in aggregate to the market and can drill down to each member of that niche community. This market insight not only allows you to carefully and thoroughly craft a message, to elicit best response, but also allows you to understand the best channels to reach the niche.

Q: What has been the biggest challenge marketing to potential partners?

A: Our biggest challenge marketing to potential partners has been convincing them that an online strategy is more efficient and effective than traditional media, in this market. We have exceptional response rates because we are niche marketers with a large and self-renewing community; for some partners it remains a challenge to convince them to move to the online space.  We are able to use our great track-record and consistent successes to demonstrate to potential partners that this is not a risky shift – it is more of a risk not to be in the online space for this niche market.

Q: In your current role, what has been your biggest accomplishment and why?

A: My biggest accomplishment has been my ability to put my stamp on customer service – for me, this encompasses meeting the needs of both our youth and corporate communities to the best of our ability.  This is the hallmark of our company, and coupled with our exceptional results and analytics, keeps our customers coming back over and over

Member Profile: Meet Tessa Mintz from Uthink/Studentawards Inc. Part 1 of 2

This is the fourth post in monthly series – The AIMS Member Profiles – in which AIMS volunteer and blog correspondent Eden Spodek interviews and profiles an AIMS premium member.

Tessa joined Uthink/Studentawards Inc. – an online advertising, market research data collection and scholarship management services company in the youth marketplace – as Director, Client Services in 2002 and promoted to VP, Account Management in 2004.

Q: Why are students attracted to studentawards.com and how do you keep them engaged?

A: Students join the studentawards.com community to find money for school; we are the leading online source of Canadian scholarships, bursaries and awards, as well as a fun destination for student “money-for-school” offers for all kinds of students, that don’t require them to be a “brainiac”.  What’s more, we take the work out of the search: we match each student’s unique profile with our up-to-date database of awards, putting them one click away from information and applications.  Students come to our service because their friends tell them to, plus they are finding us in all kinds of places on the web.

We keep students engaged by regularly updating their personal mailboxes on studentawards.com with new, relevant offers and we send them email alerts about relevant opportunities and upcoming deadlines – we do the work, they reap the rewards.

Q: Uthink maintains different websites for English and French students (studentawards.com and boursetudes.com respectively). Is the language the only difference or do you interact with English and French differently online, and if so, why?

A: Where content is applicable, we present it on both the French & English websites; plus, we make sure that the uniqueness of the Quebec education system is taken into account to ensure relevancy to the target when putting info onto boursetudes.com.

Q: What has been the biggest challenge marketing to a youth audience?

A: The biggest challenge for marketers to this demographic is to keep the message relevant, honest, and upfront.  Also, it is very difficult to build sustaining relationships with a group of people who constantly change their direction and their contact information. Adult assumptions are mostly wrong. With every survey we do, we are astounded with what this demographic considers “hot” and what is not.

Our approach to this challenge has been communicating with transparency and integrity – and has resulted in a trust relationship with the studentawards.com brand.  We make sure that every message our members see from us honours this trust and gives back in some way.

Stay tuned for Part 2 next week…

Member Profile: Meet Justin Cook from BorderWare Technologies Inc.

Posted by Eden Spodek, AIMS volunteer and blog correspondent...

This is the third post in monthly series – The AIMS Member Profiles – in which AIMS volunteer and blog correspondent Eden Spodek interviews and profiles an AIMS premium member.

Meet Justin Cook from BorderWare Technologies Inc.

Justin joined BorderWare as their Internet/Web Marketing Specialist only two months ago. Previously, he was Online Marketing Specialist at SAS Canada for five years.

Q: What is the biggest change you've seen in e-mail marketing as a result of growing threats to online security and privacy over the past year?

A: What I’ve seen is a complete shift in how marketers view and plan their e-mail campaigns. Marketers as understanding that ‘batch and blast’ tactics just don’t produce the same return as highly relevant targeted emails ‘conversations’.

We’re starting to see the true ramifications of even a relatively small number of ‘report spam’ infractions, and the need to create email content that is truly valuable to our subscribers (opt-in subscribers that is, not just a rented list).

Q: What advice can you offer to other AIMS members about overcoming some of these challenges?

A: I would recommend the following for anyone planning their e-mail campaigns:

1.    Ask: “Who reads or will read our marketing e-mails?”
2.    Ask: “Do they perceive value in our e-mail content, that it can actually help them perform their job better?”
3.    Build a working opt-in process, and highlight it on every page of your website.
4.    Build a working opt-out process; make sure it’s very easy to opt out if people want to.
5.    Get authenticated.
6.    Don’t spam.

Q:  In heading up BorderWare's SEO and SEM campaigns, what are your objectives and how will you measure success?

A:  With SEO, our goals are to increase awareness of BorderWare’s incredible technology. Aside from BorderWare being my employer, I truly believe that they have an ‘elite’ anti-spam and e-mail security solution. My objective is to ensure people know of BorderWare’s superior offerings when they search for e-mail security or spam related terms.

With SEM, the primary goal is to increase conversions and ROI. We’ve set aggressive targets for an increase in lead generation this year.

Q:  In your current role, what has been your biggest accomplishment? Why?

A: I’ve been at BorderWare at very short period of time, but in my role as an online marketer I’ve had a few decent accomplishments:

•    I’ve helped a number of small businesses climb the SERPs (search engine ranking positions), to attain high – if not top – positions in Google, MSN and Yahoo!.

•    I optimized the website and sales process for an apparel company, resulting in a 400% increase in overall sales.

•    Coming from a web programming background, I created a very flexible content management system, enabling content owners to easily modify site content, post events, etc.

I still have much to learn in online marketing (we all do, I believe), but I’m very excited to be in this very dynamic profession, constantly finding new ways to more effectively turn web and e-mail users into leads and customers.

Do you have any questions for Justin? Add your comment/question below...

Q&A with Emily Rayson - one of the original founders of AIMS

Back in the summer I did a Q&A with Andrew Keyes and Jay Aber. I had intended to interview Emily Rayson but the weeks kept sliding by and it didn't get done. Eden Spodek, an AIMS volunteer who contributes regularly to the blog jumped in and found some time with Emily. Thanks Emily for your patience. And thanks Eden for getting this done. At long last...here is the Q&A with Emily Rayson...

Emily Rayson grew up in the Internet world, starting in 1992 with one of Toronto’s first New Media agencies, The Bulldog Group. You can still see some of her work in the marketplace today – the Famous Fast Lane at Famous Players movie theatres was one of the first of its kind in Canada. From there she went on to become General Manger of PointCast, an independent consultant, Co-Managing Director of Grey Interactive, and Managing Director of Organic. She enjoyed continued success each step of the way. After a couple years off spending more time with her family, Emily stays involved in the industry by consulting on projects across various industries.

Q: When you started AIMS in 1996, did you think about what the industry might look like in 5 or 10 years? How does it compare now?

A: One of the reasons we started AIMS was because things were changing so incredibly fast and we couldn’t possibly be in all places on our own. We were all with what I like to call ‘poor’ companies and there wasn’t room in the budget to attend most conferences, to buy a lot of the research, to explore all the new and emerging trends that were cropping up almost on a daily basis. And even if we did have the financial resources, we certainly didn’t have the time to digest it all. So a few of us decided to get together once a month and share what we had learned, where we had learned and to begin to think about what it might mean – both on an aggregate level for everyone and on a micro level for me and my company.

Although things have changed significantly since those early days, I think a lot of the basics are still in place today. We all still question what advertising model to use, what content should we publish, how should we brand and market it, and what other ways can we monetize it. The fundamentals remain the same building blocks we used 10 years ago.

Q: What has surprised you the most in the past decade?

A: One of the biggest surprises for me has been development of the devices or the appliance market. I don’t think I could have imagined getting the Internet on my cell phone, on my Blackberry, on my TV, on my fridge (Yes, that’s available too!) and on my computer. I definitely never thought I could access the Internet unless I was connected to a wall socket somewhere.

Another big surprise to me is that, even after the tremendous downfall of the industry and the exodus of many talented people, the Internet can still capture the imagination of so many people.

Q: Which of the current trends do think will have biggest impact in online marketing 10 years from now? Which trend do you think is over-hyped? Which trend do you think is under-estimated?

A: I think we’re still evolving the appliance, and delivery to these appliances, of the Internet. Cell phone technology continues to evolve, wireless appliances continue to mature and with that, comes opportunity to get your message out in exciting, new ways. That means that the online marketer, as in the past, needs to remain current with new appliances but also needs to look ahead on a continual basis. There is no telling where the next ‘digital’ marketing opportunity will arise and someone in your company needs to be on the constant lookout for it.

I think all trends are worth watching and should never be underestimated. For instance, VoIP is not a reliable phone service offering today but I’m pretty sure they’ll work out their kinks and get it right in the next 24 months. At the other end of the spectrum, kids today can hold 35 simultaneous IM conversations without getting confused. What does that mean to marketers as they grow up and become the first generation to really have grown up with the Internet at every touch point?

Its 10 years later and really, the job remains the same – stay as current as possible, share ideas and knowledge amongst yourselves, and continue to learn and apply that knowledge as it makes sense for you and your company.

Member Profile: Meet Deborah Clifford from Canadian Controlled Media Communications (CCMC)

This is the second post in monthly series – The AIMS Member Profiles – in which AIMS volunteer and blog correspondent Eden Spodek  interviews and profiles an AIMS premium member.

Deborah is responsible for online business development at SCOREgolf.com (part of CCMC a sports marketing firm she joined last April). She works with media buyers developing online campaigns for clients who either want their brand associated with golf or, whose customers are avid golfers.

Q: What is SCOREgolf.com's mandate?
A: Our mandate here at SCOREgolf is to be the definitive golfing voice to avid Canadian golfers, bringing the most relevant content to both sport and industry news as well as products. We also promote exclusive golf travel, linking golfers to destinations featuring premier golfing and top-notch resort experiences.

Q: You recently launched a secure members site, why?
A: We want to segment our audience and provide a special set of content and services for more avid and involved readers. We haven't officially started the program but we've launched a secure application to ensure we can associate a user's saved data to the right person. Without this capability, the value of the tools planned for the secure site will diminish.

Q: What strategies have been used to encourage visitor conversion?
A: Over the winter, we will be adding the columnists to the Insider area and other premium content offerings we think will appeal to our most loyal and interested users. We expect that the content proposition will be the main reason people will sign-up. We will tease visitors on the public site with snacks of content available only on the secure site, coupled with an immediate call to action to register.

Q: Tell us about SCOREgolf's recently-launched golf travel section?
A: We have a set of advertisers who are specifically interested in golfers who travel...the section/club is designed to provide content value for those so we can sell access to this specific segment of customers.

Q: How is this section differentiated from the Golf Course and Golf Resort Guides?
A: The golf course guide is aimed at golfers looking for local options to play (up to one hour from the primary residence). The resort guides are facilities with hotel or lodging onsite and aimed at golfers who are traveling.

Member Profile: Meet Marcus Daniels from AME Learning Inc.

This is the first post in a new monthly feature we're introducing - The AIMS Member Profile.

Each month AIMS member and volunteer, Eden Spodek from the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan will interview and profile one of AIMS premium members. We thought this would be a good way to get to know members and talk about some of the online marketing work our members are doing.

Eden's first interview is with Marcus Daniels, Vice-President of AME Learning Inc...

Meet new AIMS member, Marcus Daniels, who joined AIMS in September. He was recruited by AME Learning Inc. to start-up, develop and manage the online training side of the business last year.

Prior to joining AME in 2005, Marcus ran an eBusiness and software development company in Montreal.

Q: What is the biggest change you've seen in the eLearning industry in the past two years?

A: The eLearning industry in Canada is showing consistent growth, especially in the content development area. The biggest change over the past two years is the demand for rich interactive content, such as online simulations and games, is greatly increasing.

Q: Why don't you tell us about the new suite of eLearning products AME is launching this month?

A: The AME training method is a proven hands-on simulation that rapidly makes non-financial professionals financially proficient. We're launching four specific products in November based on our core foundation program targeting the corporate, government, and academic markets. Sales professionals, marketing managers, and executives can all benefit from our program by learning how to communicate in financial terms, make better business decisions, and improve company profitability.

Q: What eMarketing strategies is AME using to launch these new products?

A: Search marketing will play a major role in launching our new products.

Beyond revamping our corporate website and incorporating e-commerce capabilities, we're exploring the use of various social media tools such as starting specific blogs and a wiki in our learning management system.

Also, we're in the process of evaluating various online partnerships.

Q: What have been some of the challenges?

A; The key challenge for us is to create compelling marketing campaigns to three diverse markets:

• B2B

• B2G, and

• B2C

Q: How will you measure the success of the campaign?

A: I'll be looking at different metrics depending on the type of campaign, but I'm most interested in conversions and subscription growth. Being bottom line driven, customer acquisition costs will be another key metric in order to optimize our campaign spend.