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By Heather Beaumont

All Charged Up & Ready To Go

According to Statistics Canada, over 80% of Canadians own a cell or Smart phone.

Mobile phones are an important part of many people’s lives. We constantly check our phones for calls, text messages and for those of us with Smart phones, we’re looking for email updates.

Cell phones have made it a little easier for most of us to reach out and touch someone we care about. They help us to feel connected to family, friends, loved ones and even our work.

With cell phones, we communicate with each other more often. We can now slip away from that colleague in the next cubicle to find some privacy; make that all-important personal phone call; contact friends when we’re running late; immediately connect with a loved one when we think of them.

The most maddening thing about cell phones, other than fixed-term contracts and upgrade options, is that customers have to remember to keep their phones charged. Otherwise, there’s the inconvenience of running out of juice.

Some shopping malls have solved the problem by providing their customers with charging stations. And more recently, a local mall began loaning portable chargers to its customers.

Visitors can stop by Guest Services where they’re supplied with a portable charger. The chargers’ service an iPhone or an Android – and they’re free and available on a first-come, first serve basis. Customers can walk freely through the mall, browsing, shopping and snacking to their hearts’ content while charging their phones.

It’s a little thing. But it’s the little things that mean a lot. What are you doing to make your customers’ lives a little easier?

Photo by Heather Beaumont

Stand Out With A Rock Star LinkedIn Profile

Every few seconds, each day, individuals and companies are posting profiles to LinkedIn. The LinkedIn networking site currently adds value to the professional profiles of 12 million Canadians.

Founded in 2003, the online business network boasts close to 400 million members worldwide.

LinkedIn provides members with free and convenient opportunities to showcase their value to the business community; stay informed about industry developments, and connect with customers, colleagues, suppliers and future customers.

At a recent Ellevate Network Toronto event, Jennifer Urbanski, Account Executive, Marketing Solutions for LinkedIn offered her expert suggestions to new and experienced profile owners.

Whether you’re writing a profile to establish awareness of your company or personal brand, take note of the following key steps and put your best digital footprint forward on LinkedIn.

Upload a professional photo. Images are 14 times more likely to be viewed.
Make a lasting impression, personalize your background image.
Assist searchers, customize your LinkedIn URL with your name; company name or professional skills, ie. www.linkedin [dot] com/in//contentmarketer
Create a compelling headline to inform readers what you do and how you can help them.
Identify your business community, ie. Writing and Editing.
Write an authentic, three-paragraph summary. Indicate career highlights in the first paragraph. Provide details about your current position in the second paragraph, and describe hobbies and interests to make yourself more memorable in the third paragraph.
Add Rich media photos, video and presentations to appeal to visual site visitors.
List 10 skills so you don’t overwhelm readers.
Endorse others; ask for recommendations; share updates, photos and long form posts. Engage with connections to showcase your expertise and stand out.

Photo by Heather Beaumont

Adapt and Thrive

I grew up in a family where seasonal holidays, family vacations, birthdays and other milestones were recognized as Kodak moments.

My first camera was a portable Kodak Instamatic with a handy wrist strap. I remember picking up the processed prints a week after dropping a roll of film off at the store. I’d hold my breath anxiously waiting and wondering how many prints had actually turned out.

It’s been years since I dropped a roll of film off at the local Blacks store.

These days, I take more photos than ever before with the camera on my cell phone.

Digital technology and Smart phones have left a negative imprint on camera, film and processing and accessory sales.

Blacks’ brick and mortar stores, once humming with customers, closed last August.

Today, customers can find Blacks online to make connections with staff; discover craft ideas and order prints for cards, calendars, photobooks and keepsakes.

Digital technology, the changing retail market and shifting consumer needs have forced Blacks and other retailers to change. In marketing, this is known as the product adaptation strategy. The objective is to get customers to take another look at a traditional product.

What are you doing with your business right now to ensure that future and current customers will stop and take a second look at your offering?

If customers are aware of your product, that’s the first step in the sales cycle. So, go on, take another step toward your customers. Distribute fresh content and engage them.

Photo by Heather Beaumont

So, What’s Your Brand’s Story?

It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you’re selling, your brand has a story to tell.

Curated content engages customers and entices them to experience your product offering. So your brand can become a part of their story, too.

You’re more likely to entice customers to sample your product offering if they can connect with your values. When you tell your story, you build trust by communicating your brand’s values.

Author Simon Sinek (The Power of Why) says people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. People want to do business with brands that believe in the same things they do. Brands that reflect the world they want to be part of. Most importantly, these days, people want to do business with brands that inspire them.

What motivates you to do the work that you do? What do you hope to accomplish with your product? Communicate your philosophy, your mission and your corporate responsibility to your customers through your story.

Tell customers your story and enhance their emotional connection to your brand.

When customers engage with your product, you help them to create new experiences. And those experiences will enrich their lives and inspire them.

Together, your customers and your brand can make a difference in this world. That’s the power of story.

Photo by Heather Beaumont

Library Books & Vending Machines

The Toronto Public Library’s plan to loan books through a vending machine, at Union subway station, begins a new chapter in the city’s library service.

More than a quarter million people flow through Union Station each day. It’s one of the busiest subway stations in the Toronto transit system.

Digital technology makes it easy for the library’s 1.3 million cardholders to bypass their local library and download books for work, school or recreation.

Fortunately, library administrators are invested in remaining relevant. They know it’s important to make books available wherever their customers happen to be.

As a kid, I was introduced to the Toronto Public Library with a visit to a bookmobile. Over the years, the research and lending service has evolved into a community hub with educational events and programming. The library is constantly innovating and businesses and entrepreneurs need to be doing the same.

Today’s consumer is time-pressed. And loyalty is on short supply. Ask yourself, how can you offer a product or service to your target audience in a way that makes it more convenient for them. Meet customers where they are and they’ll take notice.