To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement. I love MyBlogLog, and I use it everyday. I will miss it dearly. Kudos to Kole McCrae the Toronto writer who was the first one to rather cheerfully inform me that MyBloglog was ‘slated for Sunset’ as per Yahoo slide leaked from the Yahoo insider’s meeting on Dec 12th 2010. In case this is a surprise to you, ReadWriteWeb reports from “sources close to the project” that Yahoo will shut down MyBloglog next month. Kole was pretty chipper about it, but the news found me very sad. Smojoe uses MyBlogLog to, Fragment media in the ‘What’s New With Me?’ blog sidebar widget Collect stats and learn which keywords are driving traffic Find and monitor ‘blog friends’ Spread the relevance – don’t give away the whole story in one place, Rob Campbell is Roberrific on MyBlogLog. And Roberrific on Delicious. And I’m Roberrific… Read more »
Are you looking for an SEO expert to bring search traffic to your website? So is Deb Lewis of TorontoCityEvents.ca, and on Oct 12th she needs your help deciding who to hire. As more and more people shop online, and more and more businesses compete for their dollars, Search Engine Optimization experts are now an essential part of mercantile success. But just who are these guys? Why are these web geeks getting out of limousines in front of bank towers, and taking the elevator to the 65th floor to meet the executives of Fortune 500 companies? Why are these otherwise nerdy smelly socially awkward guys suddenly so special? Maybe it’s cause they’re each rather unique, self taught web wizards – that’s right, they sure didn’t go to school for this lore. No college or university can teach Search Engine Optimization, although some may try. The craft is a strange mix… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, Friends of Smojoe, Interactive, Search Engine Marketing, Smojoe Events, Toronto, User Submitted Content, workshop
Taged with: 9th Sphere, Innate Media Group, internet marketing, Michael Cloke, Paul Coulter, Rob Campbell, Romanz, search engine optimization, SEO, Spoke Club, Will Webb, Wolf21
When Alex Blom first told me about Freelance Camp coming to Toronto he planted a seed which germinated in my brain a few days later… I guess it sprouted when I finally navigated my PC browser toward the ‘Suggest a Session’ page on the #flcto website. At that time, I volunteered to share my knowledge about how and why I do what I do when I blog. I thought perhaps I’d explain what I’m trying to accomplish when I create my distinctive looking WordPress sites, along with all of the cookie crumb ‘info kibble’ that I plant in my sidebars. The program is called Pimp Your Blog. My proposal was accepted! So now I’m on the Freelance Camp Toronto 2010 website’s official schedule. I’m slated to present Pimp Your Blog on Sunday 1:30 pm in Track 4. The idea that Alex planted is now bearing fruit in my brain as… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, Canada Blog Friends, Lenzr, Smojoe Events, Toronto, User Submitted Content, workshop
Taged with: Alex Blom, Allan Janssen, Blogs Canada, Canada Blog Friends, Erin Bury, Freelance Camp, Jeff Waldman, Rachel Young, sidebar widgets, SMM, social relevance, storytelling strategy, Toronto, Wayne Lee
On September 15th 2010, in the middle of the Toronto International Film Festival in the heart of the city, Jeanne Lottie had a fashion party out behind her Pink House. It was a warm autumn evening in the downtown core and Jeanne Lottie’s invite only party opened its doors just after six o’clock. People entered through the front door and perused the merchandise on the main floor before making their way out back or upstairs… According to her plans, we gathered on the two tier wooden deck behind her Pink House at 32 Scollard Street and in the cool shade of a very large tree. There was white wine and finger food including cured meats and cheese nibbles, lobster purses, Japanese spring rolls and all manner of vegetable trays and dips. Jeanne Lottie has a hammock slung back there, and its easy to imagine how, on a hot summer day,… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, Fashion Blog, Smojoe Clients, Toronto
Taged with: Bourjois Paris, Canadian fashion designer, Jeanne Lottie, make-up artist, Party, Tamara Glick, TIFF, Trademark Image Consulting
Back when I was living in Kenora, Ontario in the spring of 2007, I was looking for new ways to make money online, and I explored writing articles on spec. When I changed hats and became a ‘web writer’ that spring, I dumped a lot of old TV proposals and strange pieces of original content into different article directories on the web. The content was already created, it was what was left over from a career as a screenwriter, documentary TV researcher. Because I could see the potential online, I was incentivized by very small returns at first… So I repurposed word files on an old writing computer and dumped them on the net under the user name ‘Roberrific’. If you do a search on that name today, you can see a massive database of content, a legacy of Grandpa’s secrets, Dumpdiggers, and ethanol and foam footware articles. There are… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, article marketing, Interactive, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Web Marketing
Taged with: article directories, beekeeper, Campbell's Honey, creating social relevance, freelance writer, Is Honey Good For You?, marketing with original articles, roberrific, son of a beekeeper, Triond
On July 1st 2010 the Lenzr serial photo contest website was officially one year old. Today it’s stronger and more popular than ever before as each session helps mature the site into a more effective web marketing tool. In the last year there were seventeen successful contests that collected just over five hundred pictures with headlines, tags and comments from about three hundred and seventy registered members. You can see all seventeen challenges in the Lenzr category on Toronto-Forums. Each sixty day contest period attracts about 4000 visits to Lenzr, with just over half of them unique. The average visit to Lenzr spans seven pages, and lasts over three minutes. Usability of Lenzr is continuously being improved On August 1st 2010 four new photography challenges were launched inside newly fashioned countdown-mechanism-equipped contest pages . Four Lenzr photo contests end Oct1st, 2010 and there’s more good information about all four August… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, Analytics Software, Friends of Smojoe, Lenzr, Search Engine Marketing, Social Media, Toronto, Web Marketing
Taged with: conflict photo contest, Lenzr, Rob Campbell, social media marketing Toronto, social relevance producer, upgrade
Let’s start this journal update with good news… As an online storytelling service, Smojoe likes to hand craft happy endings, and we’re especially fond of documenting Lenzr photo contests, especially when prize winners send in proud photography of themselves with their winnings. Slimmswitch won the Neuton CE6 battery powered lawnmower courtesy of a Toronto area grass cutting service. That’s a happy ending. The sponsor was thrilled too; they used the Lenzr platform to promote their solar powered organic lawn care business and used contest messaging to get their name passed around in social networks. Slimmswitch reports that the high technology lawnmower is flawless. It’s good, fast and really quiet. He’s been tweeting about it @LOCOHIPPO. So have I, and in keeping with my tradition of packaging top shelf ideas as fragmented stories, I’ve been putting a lot more resources on Fotki, and webshots. You can find more details there and… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, article marketing, Friends of Smojoe, Lenzr, Photography, Toronto, Web Marketing, workshop
Taged with: battery powered, grass cutting, lawyers, Lenzr, Ontario private school, Order of Canada, PEZ, photo contest, prize, Wikipedia
Thank you Jane Reeves wherever you are… It’s an honour to know Jane. Not only did she write a very flattering feature article about Smojoe at IABC PIC presents on May 12th for the IABC website, but she also truncated the bytes and put more pictures and links on her own blog. She fragmented her message and put another relevant segment of the story about Smojoe on the Jane Reeves Writes blog. Now add some discussion forum posts and a bookmarking service or two, and she will have assembled a powerful Story Funnel (with this Smojoe blog as the buckstop). Judy Lewis is another IABC member that Smojoe follows Smojoe will be attending attending Judy Lewis’s panel on Tuesday June 8th in the morning, at the IABC 2010 World Conference between June 6th and 9th. The event showcases the best of the best business communicators from around the globe right… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, article marketing, Friends of Smojoe, Interactive, Lenzr, Search Engine Marketing, Smojoe Clients, Smojoe Events, Social innovation, Social Media, Toronto, User Submitted Content, Web Marketing, workshop
Taged with: article, IABC, Jane Reeves, Ontario, portable toilet rentals, pr agency, seminar, Toronto
Once again, all participants in the 2010 Search for Miss Teen Canada – World beauty pageant must start and maintain a personal blog. That one single innovation has completely changed the landscape. Now the pageant pretty much advertises itself, teaches valuable skills, and lets the public share the excitment in real time. The model also shares links from contestant blogs with sponsors. Yes indeed, things have changed backstage at the beauty pageant, there’s a new category now; to win this pageant girls not only have to be seven shades of beautiful, but also, the successful finalist will have to be an exceptional blogger as measured in style, technical skill and original prose. So far the 2010 MTCW Blog Army (that link is to the index page) has recruited over 52 contestant blogs from all across Canada, and the writing is fantastic. Each finalist has plugged in live Twitter feeds and… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, corporate social responsibility, Fashion Blog, Friends of Smojoe, Interactive, Smojoe Clients, Social innovation, Social Media, Toronto, Web Marketing
Taged with: 2010, beauty pageant, Blog Army, blogging, case study, Casie Stewart, Miss Teen Canada World, Social Media
The 2010 Innovators Ball at the Ontario Science Center was a very exciting evening. I went hogwarts in there. There were young beautiful people in costumes playing characters from all the different Harry Potter movies. I love this picture of me and some girl I’m not even sure who she is no kidding I lifted this from a Deb Lewis Facebook photo album wherein I received notice I was tagged. Wow. Thanks. This is actually not what I look like, which is why I like it so much. May 6th 2010 was a mild evening outside, and a steamy hot night inside the cavernous spaces of the Ontario Science Centre at Eglinton and Don Mills. The event timeline started soft with quiet music, brighter lights and there was a commercial facet to the experience as several companies dispensed free fantasy genre products. Innovative ideas like a plant bi-product that removes… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, Charity Event, Interactive, Search Engine Marketing, Smojoe Events, Social innovation, Social Media, Toronto, User Submitted Content, Web Marketing, workshop
Taged with: 2010 Innovators Ball, Alan Mckenzie, Deb Lewis, exempt market dealer, Gary Schlee, Harry Potter, Innovators Ball, Lisa Charleyboy, Matthew White, Smojoe, Story Funnels to Buckstops, web developer Toronto, White Capital