A hundred years ago, the first filmmakers built their own movie cameras and recorded the world’s first motion picture images. These pioneers correctly predicted that their business would change the world. Making the ‘dancing shadows of light’ on the silver screen would soon be regarded as the highest art form, a powerful new communication tool called cinema. Storytellers from around the world experimented with length, dialogue and genres, and eventually a common narrative form appeared, and an entire new industry emerged to repackage man’s archetypal myths on silver nitrate. Human brains need emotional narratives the same way our human bodies need nutritious food. Today we live in another great age of change – web media is a powerful new tool that’s quickly transforming our lives and changing the way we do business, and the way we tell stories. But the more things change, the more they stay the same. All… Read more »
Posted in: article marketing, business storytelling, Future Technology, Interactive, Personal Blog, Photography, Social innovation, User Submitted Content, Web Marketing
Taged with: Battleship Potemkin, constructing meaning on the web, Rudolf Arnheim, Soviet Constructivism, storytelling
It’s October already. September was a blur, but there was one day I did manage to get out to my parent’s farm in time to help harvest honey. We brought in one hundred and forty honey supers in one day. Here I am helping my brothers harvest their honey crop. The harvest is late this year, and beeing out in a ‘yard-of-bees’ on a chilly September morning isn’t much fun – the bees were miserable! But the mist covered scenery is breathtaking. I love this particular beeyard because its centered in an old apple orchard. Its a trip back in time to when local farmers planted fruit trees and made their own home cooked pies and preserves. Now here in a very old field, far from any major highway there are a half dozen hundred year old trees and their children, and their forgotten fruit lies all around the perimeter… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, article marketing, business storytelling, Canada Blog Friends, Friends of Smojoe, Personal Blog, Smojoe Clients, User Submitted Content, Web Marketing
Taged with: brand story, business storyteller, design, Duo, marketing blog, Nora Camps, strategy
MILESTONE This blog now has 100 posts. I just crossed the line. I’m reminded of a conversation at WordCamp09 where a guy said ‘You’re not a blogger until you have 100 posts.’ I started this portal in June 2008 to help sell my intangible goodness. This 100th blog post affords me the perfect opportunity to reflect back on my own progress as a freelance writer, blogger, web content producer and thinker / organizer that specializes in helping others find a marketing path in the age of earned media. I taught myself and learned empirically the Smojoe Code of compound link building and ‘how to make keyword sandwiches’. Readers of every description have watched and read along as Smojoe gave birth to Lenzr and everyone can see what that business is becoming… This blog is one of the best places to glean rare inside looks at traffic stats and issues. Will… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, business storytelling, Friends of Smojoe, Lenzr, Personal Blog, Search Engine Marketing, Smojoe Clients, Smojoe Events, Social innovation, Web Marketing
Taged with: A Counting Exercise, Bell Globe Media, Deb Lewis, Greenwashing, Jadac, LifeCapture Interactive, Nestle Pure Life, Peter Miskimmin
Somebody put me on the list and I got invited to the YYZ LIVING magazine second issue launch party at Ultra Supper Club on Queen St West on Thursday 16 June 2011 evening 8pm. It wasn’t hard to get invited to this event, everyone was there. The evening started at 8pm upstairs on the white paint of the Ultra patio which had just come into shade cast by taller brick buildings west on Queen St. The food was tasty. The free drink was orange juice and champagne w strawberry The two bartenders on the south bar were overworked from the start. It was a nice night that actually got warmer when the sun went down. It was downright steamy later. This highly anticipated party did indeed bring out some interesting people from the world of fashion art and media, and this really was an almost perfect evening for an outdoor… Read more »
Posted in: Actually sharing secrets, Canada Blog Friends, Fashion Blog, Friends of Smojoe, Personal Blog, Search Engine Marketing, Smojoe Clients, Social innovation, Toronto, Video
Taged with: bartenders, Lisa Charleyboy, Mario Miotti, patio, rooftop, The wine Ladies, Toronto, Ultra Supper Club, YYZ Magazine, “FREE”, “PB $TYL$”
Something unusual happened on Tuesday 31 May 2011 - I went out after work! I went out to see Keisha Chante and Casie Stewart rock the Pepsi Throwback Event at Revival, on College St. Casie Stewart does it again, and Keisha Chante was there too. They went on stage and spoke to the assembly at around 7pm. Keisha told everyone to get twittering. Casie Stewart thanked all her friends for coming out. Look in the picture, do you see how she’s looking directly at me. You can see that right? Do you follow me on Twitter? @roberrific This is someone else’s tweet and i show it here because its good storytelling – perfect use of twitter – ‘excited for the #PepsiThrowback Retro Party tonight! Looking forward to seeing @TheSpoons, @KeishaChante, and @CasieStewart!‘ Casie warned us about tonight in her blog, then she asked for input in What Do You Think… Read more »
Posted in: Friends of Smojoe, Personal Blog, Toronto, Video, workshop
Taged with: 80s music, Casie Stewart, College St, John Leschinski, Mark Pavlidis, Pepsi Throwback, Raymi The Minx, Revival, The Spoons, Tweetagora
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 »
Once again City Events steps up and builds a better mousetrap – a networking event that’s also a competition! Deb Lewis consistently designs and presents world class events that are extraordinary. And she’s even better when she teams up with other events industry veterans. Jeffrey Musson is President of three Information Technology (IT) companies, including a wireless product “start up” and an accomplished entrepreneur with 10 years experience in achieving corporate goals through operational excellence and solid financial performance. . Jeff is well known for his ability to effect change through simplifying complex challenges and by motivating staff, along with peers, to meet desired business outcomes. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated success in directing business development with progressive responsibilities, strategic business planning, marketing and contract negotiations with affiliated partners. Jeff received his LL.M. in ADR, at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, in 2007, but he was friends with… Read more »
Posted in: Friends of Smojoe, Future Technology, Mobile software, online business, Personal Blog, Smojoe Events, Social Media, Toronto
Taged with: Adam Ben-Aron, Adil Dhalla, Alex Mackay, City Events, Deb Lewis, Epixome, Gary Puppa, Jeff Musson, My City Lives, Pushlife, Ray Reddy, Social Media, social technology, Vayyoo Connect
I’ve been real busy laying down the bricks and mortar part of Smojoe’s unique social media marketing business – I’ve set up shop inside another, larger and more established web marketing company located in building 58 of the historic distillery complex south of Eastern Ave and Parliament. Last month I bought two new computers for a new office space inside Jib.ca. I hired two new staff members, and have launched eight photo contests on Lenzr.com in less than sixty days. Smojoe recently merged minds with Jib.ca to offer a much wider spectrum of web marketing services. Now we have the capacity for more advanced strategy and execution. The planning is the fun part for me. I love dreaming up the story funnels that are relevance volcanoes from which the multimedia lava rock of photos, videos and hot script will spew forth as memes that compel social interaction. This is the… Read more »
Posted in: Friends of Smojoe, Lenzr, Personal Blog, Social innovation, Social Media, Web Marketing
Taged with: Age of Earned Media, business to business, buzz marketing, David Shephard, Deb Lewis, Innate Media Group, Jib, Lenzr, Will Webb
Earlier this summer, Smojoe whitened his smile with advanced cosmetic dental surgery. BEFORE & AFTER Dr. Natalie Archer DDS, the Toronto dentist that sponsored the Kids in Action photo contest on Lenzr generously offered to fix my yellow smile using all her wisdom and expensive machinery. It wasn’t entirely free, but I didn’t have to pay full freight either. Seven anterior all ceramic crowns for my teeth 1-4 (upper right first premolar) to 2-3 (upper left canine) across top front of mouth cost $6800, before taxes, but of course I didn’t pay that much… Complete with six YouTube videos and seventeen original pictures, Smojoe’s dental make-over is a detailed chronological account of what exactly happened inside Rob Campbell’s mouth at Rosedale Family Dental Care on June 12th to June 30th, 2010.
Posted in: article marketing, Friends of Smojoe, Personal Blog, Smojoe Clients, Social Media, Toronto, Web Marketing
Taged with: cosmetic dentist, dental surgery, Dr Natalie Archer, Sherbourne Medical Center, Toronto dentist
Channing Smendziuk is Miss Teen Canada 2010 Miss Teen Canada World Winners press release gives insight into the action-packed week of activities, events and experiences that culminated in a dazzling night, the Grand Finale on July 17th. Congratulations to 17 year old Channing Smendziuk from Brandon, Manitoba. She’s the 2010 Miss Teen Canada-World. The girl is tall and beautiful, and smart and funny; she’s a very good blogger who finished with a score over 8.0 in the blog component of the pageant. Be sure to check the MTC-W facebook group for more news and updates about Channing’s most recent adventures, and her follow her challenges at the Miss Teen World pageant in Houston Texas. After that climactic event, and in company with all of the agents and producers choreographers photographers and web storytellers that she meets abroad, Channing will be traveling all across Canada as part of the pageant next… Read more »
Posted in: Charity Event, Fashion Blog, Friends of Smojoe, Interactive, Personal Blog, Photography, Smojoe Clients, Social Media, Toronto, Web Resource
Taged with: beauty pageant, Blog Army, bloggers, Cynthia Loewen, Jaya Pham, Michelle Weswaldi, Miss Teen Canada, Shelby Gobbo, Social Media, Thrinh Theresa Do, Twitter and Facebook, world