There is nothing like a good story. And what really makes a good story is a good storyteller.

March 20th is World Storytelling Day. A few of us in Calgary thought we should get together and tell some stories. As a result, we are hosting the event at

• Melrose Cafe on 17th Avenue SW.

The theme this year is Fortune and Fate.

Do you have a story you can tell? Come and tell us a story.

We will listen. And then we will tell a story as well.

You are welcome. It’s free.

At least the event is free – you have to buy your own drinks.

First on deck is Eugene Stickland:

• Playwright
• Columnist
• Poet
• Writer
• Great storyteller

Very cool!

First, let me be clear about what is meant by “search engine optimization”. The objective of SEO is to have a page on a website rank on the first page of search engine’s results after a query is completed. Below is a screen shot showing the results of a search on Google for the phrase, “business laptop”. As you can see, our client is listed second in the natural or organic results. Ignore the results showing in the light yellow box – those are paid ads from Google AdWords. You can also see that there is tremendous competition for this keyword phrase – there are over 6.1 million competing websites.

While working on this campaign our contact at LinkedIn mentioned that I was a veteran because my LinkedIn ID is less than 1,000,000. In fact, my ID is #439,374. Pretty cool.

But I didn’t know how to get this number without asking someone at LinkedIn. I was also curious about when I joined LinkedIn.

Here are the steps that you can use to find your LinkedIn ID # and the date you started.

Finding Your LinkedIn ID Number:

• Login to LinkedIn
• With your mouse, hover over Profile

• Now look way down to the bottom of your browser
• You will see the URL show up in the grey area on the left side

• The long number in the middle is your LinkedIn ID. As I mentioned, mine is #439,374

Finding Your LinkedIn Start Date:

• Make sure you are logged into LinkedIn
• Go to the top right corner of your browser
• Hover over your name
• Click on Setting
• Login again
• You start date is beside your picture and under your name
• My start date is April 5, 2004 – I remember the day well

But most people don’t know that you can “optimized” the URL of your public profile on LinkedIn. And it isn’t easy to figure out how to do it. But I will say that if you know the right steps it is easy to do.

The steps to change the URL are as follows:

1. Log in to LinkedIn and choose Edit Profile

2. Click on Edit beside the URL under your picture

3. Scroll down and look on the right hand side for Your Public Profile URL

4. Click on Customize your public profile URL
5. In the box enter: your-name
6. Click on Set Custom URL
7. Click on View Profile from the main menu
8. Check to be sure URL is correct under your picture

My profile isn’t perfect but it is pretty close to having the sections and content that I recommend to most of my clients. See: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffxnelson

One of the primary owners of Bitstreams.ca is Bob Kirkby. He has started a variety of companies over the years. 27 years ago he started Alberta Computer Cable. In a nutshell, Bitstreams.ca sells the products made by Alberta Computer Cable.

Last week I dropped by his production facility and was able to capture Bob on video talking about CAT5 cables. These are the cables that connect your computer to the wall, i.e. to the Internet. In other words, everything you do online goes through this cable. With more and more programs and data being stored in the Cloud, these cables are more critical than ever. In the video, Bob explains that network cables like these can become damaged and drastically reduce the performance of your connection to the Internet. The solution – replace the cable. Have look at the video below.

If you are experiencing a slow connection to the Internet, you may want to have a look at your network cables and replace them.

Also take a look at Bitstreams.ca for all your needs related to buying network cables, custom computer cables, power and HDD cables, serial cables and Smartphone accessories.

One of our clients, LGFG Fashion House, is looking to establish a strong presence on LinkedIn Answers. They sell custom made business suits to elite customers in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Frankfurt. In Answers they search for questions related to “business suit” and “business attire”.

One of my questions was how could they do one search – instead of multiple searches – and find all the questions related to both keyword phrases.

I did some research on LinkedIn and this type of search is possible. See: Searching for Specific Results. To search for both queries you need to add a capitalized OR between the phrases. e.g. “business suit” OR “business attire”. Note that the quotes help to refine the search to business dress suits and filter out business legal suits.

]]> http://anduroblog.com/2013/01/searching-for-multiple-keyword-queries-in-linkedin-answers.html/feed 0 http://anduroblog.com/2013/01/searching-for-multiple-keyword-queries-in-linkedin-answers.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=searching-for-multiple-keyword-queries-in-linkedin-answers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/anduroblog/vWyr/~3/ptrcATsR9ds/optimizing-your-christmas-delivery-route.html http://anduroblog.com/2012/12/optimizing-your-christmas-delivery-route.html#comments Thu, 20 Dec 2012 18:25:55 +0000 jeff http://anduroblog.com/?p=1974 Every year we deliver a gift to our customers. This year for our customers in Calgary, we bought chocolates from Papa Chocolat.

Bernard Callebaut has been making chocolates in Calgary for year. We love his ch0colates and we love to promote Calgary-based companies.

One of the issue at Christmas time is what is the best route to use when delivering presents as we have customers scattered all over Calgary.

A quick search on Google turned up MyRouteOnline. We selected the addresses of our customers from our database and created an Excel spreadsheet. Then we uploaded that to MyRouteOnline. No installation of software is required – just upload and optimize. Then pay $6.95 to get a copy of the optimized list sent to your email and you are done. Except for the deliveries which is taking me the better part of 2 days.

Merry Christmas!

The main thing to remember when creating eNewsletter content is to send information that creates value for your customer. It’s not about you – it’s about them. If it isn’t, it becomes just another irritating email. They’ll send it whirling into their trash, a waste of their time, your time and your money. Not good for anyone.

_________

Hi Jeff,

I’m wondering if you could help me out. I wanted to know if you could recommend some good articles to read on best practices for email marketing. I’m trying to up our readership number with our e-newsletter that goes out monthly. I have a few articles that I’m reading, but thought you might have some good recommendations?
Here’s my list of 10 best practices for sending out newsletter:
1. Use a catchy Subject Line – People are busy – and they’re inundated with email. Make sure your e-Newsletter stands out with a relevant, attention-grabbing Subject Line.
2. Have about three to four headings with a short paragraph under each topic and add a link to more detail on a website or blog – Your readers are going to skim your e-newsletter – break it up into sections so they can easily find what’s important and interesting for them.
3. Include social media sharing buttons either in the email or more likely on the web page – make sharing very, very easy – You want them to pass it on – make it easy for them!
4. Be sure there is an Unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page – Don’t make it difficult for them to unsubscribe – if they don’t want to hear from you anymore, respect that.
5. Include links on the side to the company or organization creating the newsletter.
6. Check for spelling – often you have to copy the content and check using Word – Proofread – read it out loud – never send anything out that hasn’t been proofread by you and someone else. Typos and grammar mistakes leave a bad impression.
7. Don’t put the person’s name in the Subject or in the body – always looks like spam to me.
8. Ideally, have a link at the top of the newsletter to an online version of the newsletter (but not critical) – Give your audience a choice of how they would like to read it. A current online version should always be available on your website, with an archive of past issues.
9. Use social media channels to let people know about the newsletter page on your website or blog – Spread the word – it can only help you.
10. Test, test and test. Not just with yourself be sure to send to one or two other people whose opinion you trust. – Fresh eyes are always a good thing.

For more information, research the companies that offer the software for creating and distributing eNewsletters.

One method is to look at resources related to each of the companies that have the software:
www.exacttarget.com
www.icontact.com
www.constantcontact.com
etc.

If you’d like to do some additional research on your own, search for “email best practices” and “newsletter best practices”:

http://www.icontact.com/static/pdf/Email_Marketing_Best_Practices_iContact.pdf
- this one looked pretty good

http://econsultancy.com/ca/reports/email-marketing-best-practice-guide
- download the SAMPLE – some good points

http://groundwire.org/resources/articles/writing-newsletters-best-practices
- good points

http://mashable.com/2011/08/31/email-newsletter-best-practices/
- usually articles on Mashable are good

http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/html-css-techniques/20-email-design-best-practices-and-resources-for-beginners/
- very technical but some very good points
- and there is a long list of resources at the end of the page

Hope that helps. Remember, when creating your content, it isn’t about you. Repeat after me – It’s about them – your customer.