podcamp Toronto

One week to podcamp toronto #pcto10 and it is truly amazing to see this come together from the hard work of a few people. Over 900 people have registered last time I checked. I picked out the sessions I plan to attend and am crossing my fingers that they won’t conflict, and I can get a seat! Happy we are a sponsor and able to support podcamp toronto 2010.

to register for podcamp toronto

http://2010.podcamptoronto.com/register/

Our sponsor blog post

http://2010.podcamptoronto.com/02/08/sponsor-spotlight-zenpeak/

sessions that I am planning to attend – what about you?

http://speakerrate.com/talks/2094

http://speakerrate.com/talks/2109

http://speakerrate.com/talks/1963

http://speakerrate.com/talks/1997

http://speakerrate.com/talks/2100

http://speakerrate.com/talks/2055

http://speakerrate.com/talks/2096

http://speakerrate.com/talks/1984

First, I’m on my way to Kitchener Waterloo to the Total Woman Show this weekend to meet some great business people and to talk and share the excitement of what’s happening in Waterloo with zenPeak.

What’s it all about?

If you’re trying to figure out how to use 140 character status updates like twitter in your business, or wondering what role social networks like facebook can play in your success, then  get yourself a spot at podcamp Toronto. You won’t regret it… but act fast!

PodCamp Toronto 2010 is a FREE “unconference” bringing together professionals and hobbyists from Toronto and the surrounding area to explore the cutting edge of new and social media. If you are an online content creator – hobbyist and professionals – who are building communities online in a variety of ways, then PodCamp Toronto 2010 is for you. Share ideas, discuss theories and learn lessons from an audience of experts. Network, network, network. All are welcome.

I’ve attended the past few years and this year we  took the step of zenPeak being a podcamp Toronto 2010 sponsor.

How important is this “unconference”? Consider that you will be exposed to many leading edge players doing great things in digital media, marketing etc. and they are ready to share what they know. Unlike many conferences which are venues for a lot of corporate shilling this is truly a learning environment that is laid back, with little time wasted. Sessions are short and the rooms are packed.

You will likely bump into some kids from junior high school doing interesting things, as well as top global leaders in social media.

Its about a lot more than podcasting but given that Youtube is the #2 search channel after google, it wouldn’t hurt to learn ways to use video in growing your business or getting more out of the activities you are passionate about! Sign up here

unemployment by gender

Suze Orman shared some great insights on CNN last night about how men differ from women in looking for work. Male unemployment is significantly higher, and she attributes a few reasons.

(1) men look for a new job at their old salary level – women will take lower paying jobs to earn money

(2) women are paid less and thus employers save money by hiring women, and

(3) men turn job hunting into a full-time effort, or take time off, rather than settle for a lower paying job like women

The conventional modern wisdom was that you would have many jobs in your career vs. having a job for life. It looks like that is changing for men and women.The new reality is men may go from job to contract to partnership to contract to business to job to job. Today, don’t bet on one job after another.

Imagine going to an interview with loads of experience (most of which is quickly outdated) competing with someone younger and cheaper.

You will likely strike out.

Why? The interviewer knows that you will be chronically unhappy at a fraction of your previous pay. The person interviewing you  is likely to be closer in age to the younger and cheaper candidates. Union and Government jobs may be an exception.

So what is the answer?

The solution is to change your approach and by that I don’t mean buy a franchise or start a business. The new approach is to…

• shed your pattern of job hunting and stop applying online for dozens of jobs. Spend your time each day on the 1 or 2 jobs in your “sweet spot”. Stop applying to those online jobs that aren’t 100% on target for you. And when you find a job that is a perfect fit, pick up the telephone and start calling the company to get an interview asap
• stop going to job networking events, filled with other jobseekers – go to events every night and on weekends like special interest meetups etc. – anywhere that career or jobs IS NOT THE FOCUS. Never say “I’m looking for a job”  If the subject comes up, and you think you can help someone, or someone they know,  talk for a few seconds about… “What I Can Do For You” and then shutup.  Be in demand and be busy. and of course get enough contact info. for follow up.
• build a unique “What I Can Do For You” resume for each opportunity follow up. see here
• Learn how to “Create Your Own Opportunity”

“Mancession.” The term may spur a few smiles and snickers, but for thousands of men, it is no laughing matter. For the first time in economic history, the male unemployment rate has surpassed the female unemployment rate. The December 2008 unemployment rate for men was 7.9 percent, versus 6.4 percent for women. The U.S. economy lost 2.956 million jobs in the last year, and a full 82 percent of pink slips have been handed to male workers. This translates to more than two million unemployed men in America compared to about 460,000 jobless women. The worse news for men is that the gap in jobless rates between men and women has been increasing for the last eight months and may continue to do so. – Bright Horizons

The revolution is underway but I’m not sure it will fully hit in 2012, maybe a bit later, but for career opportunities, the timing is now!

There is a school of thinking that we tend to overestimate short-term impacts of change, meaning 1 year, and underestimate long-term impacts meaning 10 years plus. If this is the case, after 10 years of broadband mobile at mainstream consumer pricing… your life will change big time. The Internet took 10 years from the mid-90s to shakeout weak businesses and weak business models, as broadband internet access became affordable and deliverable. It takes time, and this is a complex landscape.

According to Silicon.com While until recently the mobile apps market had been dominated by the mobile operator, now there is greater competition between handset companies, operators and application developers who are all wrestling for control of the users’ mobile experience – and their cash. As a result, there’s now fierce competition for domination of the mobile apps space.

Revealed: The apps you’ll have on your phone in 2012

1. Money transfer
2. Location-based services
3. Mobile search
4. Mobile browsing
5. Mobile health monitoring
6. Mobile payment
7. Near field communication services
8. Mobile advertising
9. Mobile instant messaging
10. Mobile music

Of particular interest to me, is the convergence of location-based technologies and solutions with all delivery channels inc. mobile. I look forward to some innovative uses of interaction that enhances consumer experiences as we are driving or moving about. Also the issues of privacy and security will continue to challenge the raw potential of location-based mass customization in marketing, content delivery, commerce and communications.

Pour yourself a hot toddy and reflect on…. “What I Can Do For You!” in this new mobile-centric world. Could this be a career path for you?

Coming out of this economic collapse, many Internet business processes and business models for small and mid-size business will take shape and REPLACE past efforts – In other words, bye-bye printed Yellow Pages AND bye-bye online Yellow Page type portals.

Proximity marketing (geo-marketing, location-based marketing) is going to be big as new applications using GPS or cellular location technologies empower mobile devices and PCs. This means that an SME operator, even with just one location, can spend her money reaching, engaging and transacting with her target market, without buying a yellow pages ad.

It’s basic stuff, and it will drive the need for more talented people who can create and execute Search Marketing campaigns.

If you are looking for a great career path this is one of the best!

Thinking about a career in Internet Marketing? Your timing is good!

Wal-Mart beat K-Mart and Sears because they invested in data-rich marketing and merchandising technologies. Companies that think only 10% of marketing budgets should be online are in for a shock to their core! as they play catchup for years to come.

SEM is part of Internet Marketing; a growth industry that is about to explode. This all began with a handful of visionaries like Dr. Ralph Wilson back in the mid-1990s. It has taken 15 years, inc. a few business shakeouts, to bring us to a point of complete transformation.

Social and economic changes usually take at least 10 -15 years, and are often under-estimated in depth of their impact because the growth and retrenchments are only easily recognizable looking back in hindsight, with a “time lapse” perspective. And the future?…

A top “peak performer” career path for the future is VP of Internet Marketing, with the future responsibility of managing 90% of a company’s marketing dollars AND… demand for senior-level marketers will continue to be high. A broad expertise in Internet Marketing web, social networks, and mobile is rare!

If you have been paying attention to the terrible condition of newspapers in North America, you have to ask yourself is this just the economy? and when business picks up, the advertisers and subscribers will return?, or is it a major transformation?

We are inside the transformation, so its hard to see it. Today’s generation has always been plugged in and online. It is no longer cute or charming to be a luddite and announce you don’t use a computer or a mobile device. You will just get shrugs and blank stares.

Digital, interactive, on-demand, high-definition, data-rich media is where its at. Newspapers and newsmagazines are in decline, with just a few destined to survive in some fashion. They are slow, labor-intensive, high-wage, energy gobbling, analog industries with an insatiable desire to cut trees and burn fossil fuels, just to drop printed pages on your doorstep. Much of the information they deliver is stale (sports scores, stock listings) and their strategic knowledge of their readers (preferences and behaviours) is almost nil or dependent on surveys, and is rarely granular, actionable business intelligence.

From an advertiser’s point of view, the content isn’t really important but rather the ROI of Marketing. Can Internet Marketing deliver ROI? Yes, and Search Engine Marketing is a key component.

So now we come full circle back to the prospects for a career in Internet Marketing. Yes, your career prospects and your timing are both excellent!

If you are in the game of registering people and collecting their emails, setup a facebook page and direct your traffic to it. No worries, people don’t have to be signed up at facebook to see your page OR TO ENTER THEIR DATA!

I discovered this by accident when I have been unable to get into FB this am. and popped one of my pages.

Then it dawned on me… some folks don’t need a microsite or blog unless they are restricting access pending a registration.

OK so maybe its not for everyone but a useful tool.

All the work and preparation to setup the meetup, invite people, pay for it, create content will fall on your shoulders. Don’t expect to share the work – the committee system doesn’t work and that’s not what meetup members want. If you are prepared to be subject-focused and not your product or company focused, the meetup will be a success!

At the end of every meetup, its time for one minute of democracy. Ask group members about how its going? And, when would they like to meet next etc. Get some feedback. That will help you run a better meetup with higher levels of satisfaction. Every member gets to rate the meetup – you let them leave with the feeling that they are getting great value but also participating in the direction of the meetup group. When they get home, an email from meetup is waiting for them in their inbox, asking them to rate the meetup – What’s the last thing they remember?

What companies want to prevent is the short shrift – unfair attacks that are allowed to gain strength, or legitimate complaints that fall on deaf ears – a neglected unhappy customer who starts to influence a lot of others, because they aren’t feeling the love.

Instead of spending money on “buzz” marketing where people fake interest in a product or service, or instead of camouflaging a corporate voice in an online network, how about showing pride and stepping into the fray in a transparent fashion.

Here is a link to a flickr album that has been viewed by 379,000 + people.  It has pictures of a dirty Wal-Mart store. Are all Wal-Marts dirty? – no.  Hmmm Its hard to tell from the comments.

http://tinyurl.com/6mutkr

Next post, I’ll start a series on which Social Networks companies should use, why and how.

Facebook pages have been out for a month or two. I have two fan pages; one for Frank Sinatra and another for Stevie Ray Vaughan. Both pages have music that I love. Fans can listen but can’t copy the tunes (which I paid for).

Facebook provides information on who your page fans are. For example you get stats on daily traffic; unique visitors, page views and stats on usage of FB apps in the page. You also get stats on fan sex and age.

So here is what I have learned about my  two fan pages.

The Frank Sinatra page  has over 500 fans and they are split 45% female 55% male, with 55% of fans between ages 18 to 24! That surprised me! and another 21% between ages 25 and 34.

Only 7% of Sinatra page fans are above age 35! If you assume that Frank Sinatra has timeless popularity, I would guess this reflects the age distribution of Facebook.

The Stevie Ray Vaughan page has been up a week and has 87 fans.   This page skews heavily to male with 93% male and 7 % female fans. The age distribution is a little older with 17% above 35 years of age, and 66% between 18 and 35 (vs. 76%  for the Frank Sinatra fan page)

By looking at the networks of the fans you can also get a geographic metric – for example, my Frank Sinatra page has a lot of  fans from Turkey. (this you have to do  on your own – not a facebook stat)

Here is the point. If you want to drive traffic to your facebook page, and from there have a "call to action" on the web etc. – you will know about your present Facebook page fan base, and you can use Facebook advertising to target your advertising.