Tomorrow evening at Tattoo Rock Parlour, there is a fundraiser event for the relief efforts of the Japanese citizens displaced by the Tsunami. JapanQuakeTO is a one night event and we are happy to be involved in helping raise awareness by donating a RIGHTSLEEVE prize pack.
• BUILT lunch bag – unbranded
• RIGHTSLEEVE metal water bottle
• RIGHTSLEEVE leather notebook
• RIGHTSLEEVE 1 color/1 location Men’s Medium Tee
• RIGHTSLEEVE military cap

Approximate value of gift pack is $75.00 retail

It’s a great opportunity to do some good as well as connect and network with local social media and start up peeps. There will be entertainment and lots of amazing raffle prizes.
For more details, please visit http://japanquaketo.ca/
Tickets are on sale online until 3 pm and then there will be some limited tickets sold at the door.

We’re excited to be supporting TwestivalTO again this year. For the uninitiated, Twestival is the world’s largest grassroots social media fundraising initiative. We’re involved in the Toronto event as that’s our home turf.

We will producing 100 limited edition T-shirts for this year’s event on March 24 at The Fifth. If you are one of the lucky first 100 people through the door, you will be the proud owner of one of these shirts.

To make these shirts really special, we need your help. We are asking that you tweet @RIGHTSLEEVE what #TwestivalTO means to you and we’ll take the best and print your handle and tweet on the back of the shirts. You will be part of history

Interested? We need your tweet by March 18 at 10am so we have enough time to design and print the shirts.

Here’s a little video to get you in the mood.

ps. in order to get your hands on one of these limited edition beauties, you actually need to be one of the first 100 people in the door at TwestivalTO (whether you tweeted at us or not).

I had the honour of presenting at PodCamp Toronto on the weekend.

PodCamp is one of North America’s largest unconferences for the new media community. While it’s hard to teach an audience of uber web experts about social media, I focused my presentation on how we have been able to apply the principles of social media to a business operating within a very traditional industry (promotional products).

Our constant challenge is fighting the spectre of commoditization, so we have always placed a priority on ways to connect with our customer base on levels other than price and pure product. Here’s how we have done it.

Giving your product a higher purpose using social media

Highlights included presentations by ….

Satish Kanwar, How to build a product in 99 days

Dave Fleet, 20 Social Media Trends for Business in 2011

Mark Evans, Core Messaging

PodCamp, see you in 2012!

I recently attended the PPAI Expo in Las Vegas (the largest promotional products convention in the world). I conducted a number of education sessions on social media and the opportunities this presents for distributors and suppliers in the promotional products industry (all of these lessons also apply to any company operating in a traditional industry).

I have included all 3 presentations below for your reference. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment or contact me directly.

1. Ten No Nonsense ways social media can be applied to your business

I came across this question on Quora and it resonated with me as I’m often asked at social gatherings about “the latest and greatest swag”. After 13 years in this industry, I admittedly cringe when asked this because it’s a tough question to answer. Why? Because it depends on the audience.

For everyone’s benefit, I wanted to post my answer. I love this topic as so many people have differing opinions. Please share your thoughts below as I’d love to know about the most effective swag you have ever distributed.

Question: What are the most creative word-of-mouth swags that you’ve ever received?

Getting swag right can be a tricky thing.

On one hand, you can hand out the latest and greatest swag – the stuff that everyone is talking about (and inevitably gets copied by everyone else and you start seeing it at trade shows and conferences everywhere). Examples of this include: USB keys, hand sanitizers, “I’m not a paper cup” knockoff mugs … even mouse pads in their day were red hot. There is nothing wrong with these items, but they lose their “uniqueness” fast.

On the other hand, you can stick to enduring products that stand the test of time. Let’s consider the humble T-shirt. Everyone gives away T-shirts, yet most people still love T-shirts and will loyally wear them provided the design is tasteful. The key here is presentation and design. Our experience has demonstrated that most people would prefer a well designed T-shirt than a cheesy flashing bauble that loses its utility after a few uses. Take a look at WordPress’s excellent online merchandise store (not a client) and you will see quality, tried and true styles vs logo toasters and the latest “it swag” bandied about by the swagerati.

This is not to say that everyone should make T-shirts at the expense of other promotional items. The main point is that sometimes the best swag is the stuff that has the most utility and is well designed and presented to the end consumer.

Happy New Year!

We thought we’d start this year off with a smile.

Alexandra (18 mos) gives these crazy popular sunglasses the thumbs up. (While it may appear that she is tweeting in this picture, she’s in fact playing with a pen caddy from our showroom).

Kids these days …

I’m a book nerd.

After finding my bedside table empty of books (this picture was taken about 8 months ago), I went out to my Twitter and Facebook communities and asked people about the books that have “blown their minds”. I quickly received a list of several excellent suggestions. I have compiled the master list here  for everyone’s benefit.

If there are any books you would like to add (or discuss any of these suggestions below), please feel free to post a comment.

The Corrections

Take Their Breath Away

Convergence Culture

Socialnomics

The Road

Whatever it Takes

Zeitoun

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

E-Party

The On Demand Brand

Engage or Die

Born to Run

Three Day Road

City of Thieves

Infinite Jest

Fiasco

1491

The Help

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Killing Yourself to Live

Sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs

Cloud Atlas

Why Did I Ever

This is Where I Leave You

Thanks to everyone that responded. I really appreciate it!

2 weeks ago, I participated in a panel discussion on social media for B2B sales and marketing professionals. The panel received the following comment from a participant who wasn’t convinced of the value of social media within the B2B marketing environment. I thought I would open this up to the community to get your views.

“I do not [live my life on Facebook] – and neither do most people I know. Neither do most of my clients. The idea that the head of marketing for GE wants to look at funny facebook entries, and engage in banter, and look at the hotel room view I am in is ludicrous. Plus, to be honest, I do not have enough time to spend with my wife and grandchildren as it is. I have no desire to invest myself in this kind of friending. We need social media webinars that discuss in real detail how to use the medium to reach serious business people who need customer service – NOT friends and messages on a wall.”

I was interested in the reference to the marketing head of a global corporation, as though this suggests that serious marketing professionals use social media differently. In light of this, I wanted to dig deeper and reach out to people who work for large corporations to get their views on how they use social media to make purchasing decisions.

Specifically:

- What social media platforms do you use to make purchasing decisions?

- Do the personal interactions so common on social networks help/hinder the sales process?

- Is the Facebook wall a waste of time for you?

- What content are you drawn to as a B2B buyer?

- Anything else?

Thanks so much …

image source – www.penn-olson.com

We are really excited to be a finalist for PPAI‘s Web Award Competition (Marketing/Branding category). This is the industry’s most prestigious awards gala for promotional products companies operating in the online space. The winner will be announced at the PPAI Expo in January 2011.

This has to be reason #1. Thank you Twitter