One of the things we frequently run at Bonsai are introduction workshops to social media. While social media is no longer “new” from an audience angle, like anything you will always have people that are just finding themselves in it. And for them, it can be a scary place. There are a lot of platforms; a lot of strange terms; and not a lot of hands-on user guides in simple English. One of the biggest “fears”, if you like, is…

Welcome to a new episode of Sunday Brunch, where we talk about your questions on social media, marketing, business tips, entrepreneurship and more. Today’s question is from Erica Allison, owner of Allison Development Group, a strategic public relations and marketing firm located in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Allison asks: “Is there a general protocol for promoting or tweeting your archived posts?” Thanks for the question, Allison, and I hope the video helps. If you have a question, you can send it…

2010 was an interesting time in the evolution of social media. It was the year that many people got used to the real-time statusphere. It was the year that location-based social software really started to socially map out the “real world” and encourage face-to-face connections. Next generation social collaboration tools like Quora made a splash. There was a ton of positive hype and emotion about social media. Some of it was justified. A lot of it was overblown. 2011 is the…

What’s your goal? What’s your aim when it comes to social media? Or defining who you are? Or building your brand (personal or otherwise)? Or growing your blog? Do you have targets? Do you have a measurement point of where you are now (or where you were at the start of your journey) to where you want to be in 3, 6, 12, 18 months or more? What’s your end goal? What do you need to be seeing as a…

“When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.” – Dale Carnegie. When you close a deal, what’s your next step? When you sign the contract, shake the hand and file the paperwork – what comes next? Is there a next? Or simply a next customer? Businesses talk a lot about ROI, or return on investment. They look at the man hours, financial costs, ad spend and more to get a customer…

Third-party social media dashboard Hootsuite rolled out its new social analytics package overnight, and it’s a pretty sweet addition to what was already my favourite Twitter and social media platform. While Hootsuite already had a basic analytics package in place (with extended information for premium account users), the new social analytics option is a whole new ball game. Not only does it allow you to grab full analytics from your main social accounts – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ping.fm, WordPress.com, etc…

Though I try not to use this blog too much for self-promotional needs, I just wanted to give you a heads-up on some of the stuff that’s been happening behind the scenes. Some you might be interested in, some not – and feel free to skip today’s post and come back tomorrow when normal scheduling has been resumed if you wish. So, on with the heads-up. Revamp of the Bonsai Interactive Website Over at Bonsai Interactive Marketing, we’ve just unveiled…

Welcome to a new episode of Sunday Brunch (with special guest Phantom the cat), where we talk about your questions on social media, marketing, business tips, entrepreneurship and more. Today’s question is from Dorina Ene, Media Planner at Springer and Jacoby Romania, a media and advertising agency. Dorina asks: “Why is social media so important to brands? Do you think that only using social media can raise awareness?” Thanks for the question, Dorina, and I hope the video helps. If…

Fact – 87% of consumers would switch brands to deal with companies associated with good causes. 87%. That’s a whole lot of customers to lose if your business isn’t one that’s involved in good causes, either locally or nationally/internationally. Of course, making sure you support causes the right way is key too – no-one likes a bandwagon jumper, especially when it comes to helping people. It’s something that coffee company Maxwell House clearly understands with their Brew Some Good initiative….

My friend and business partner Troy wrote a great piece yesterday about whether or not technology has improved or hindered our communication skills. It’s a timely topic with some awesome comments, and well worth the read. It reminded me of something that happened a couple of years ago, that was a perfect example of the point Troy makes. My wife had taken me to Niagara Falls for my 40th birthday, and it was truly amazing, awe-inspiring, majestic – all these…