I just created a profile on the website about.me to make sure you can always find me online.

The other reason to create a profile like this is that I do a lot of things online, and I wanted to have one place where I could showcase all of that, and help people to find out about it. I’m sharing this with you because you might be in the same position, and want to have one central hub that you can send people to (perhaps via an email signature or business card).

It’s pretty neat because you can customize it to match your personality or personal branding.

My profile is still pretty minimal (I’m working on getting everything up there that I’m proud of) but you get the idea in the screen shot below:

You can check out my profile here, or go ahead and secure your OWN unique URL now (for example http://about.me/YourName)

Have fun!

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What extra benefits did you get out of watching us talk about our upcoming workshop, that you wouldn’t have gotten if you just read the details below? Well, first of all you got to know us, the presenters, a little better. And, if you already knew us, you got to see us again, enjoying ourselves sharing our passion about online video. Hopefully that got you a little bit excited about our Power Session. If so, make sure to visit our session!
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Online Video for Business: Doing it Right the First Time

Today, 30% of internet traffic is video.
According to YouTube…
500 years of video are watched every day on Facebook.
Over 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter each minute.

Now that’s a lot of video!!

But by 2013, it’s estimated those numbers will increase 3 times…

90% of internet traffic will be video.

Are you interested in using online video to market and sell your business to social media savvy consumers?

Join Sociability for an Online Video for Business Power Session. This session is designed to be a focused and targeted presentation to convey the benefits of online video for business, with practical tips on how to do it effectively.

This session will include case studies demonstrating what effective online video looks like, as well as a practical educational component that covers:

• producing your own video with a minimal budget
• video shooting & production tips
• building a social community on sites like YouTube to help reach your target audience
• optimizing your video to be found in search

In this presentation, Terri Davies and Anthony Sanna of Sociability Online Marketing Strategies will showcase how businesses are successfully marketing online with video. Topics covered will include social media, video production, SEO & mobile marketing.

Esquimalt Chamber of Commerce presents Anthony Sanna speaking on eMail Marketing

BROWN BAG LUNCHEON -

Bring your lunch and learn about e-mail marketing!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012, 11:30 AM
Archie Browning Sports Ctr., 1151 Esquimalt Rd., Victoria, BC

Click here to register

No Spam Please: Building and Maintaining Your Business with eMail Marketing
Presentation Summary:

Email marketing is the simplest way for a busy entrepreneur to connect with potential business customers and the most cost effective way to build relationships with existing customers. Email marketing uses attractive, professional-looking email communications to stay in regular touch and build strong customer relationships. It’s better and more effective than regular email. Oh, and it can be a heck of a lot of fun!

In his presentation you’ll discover:

• The number one thing you can do to have more marketing fun
• How to create engagement with less time and effort
• Why teaching is more effective than selling.

The Presenter: Anthony Sanna has a over 20 years of marketing related experience that includes photography, video, design, writing, sales, customer service, standup comedy and driving a taxi. Anthony and his wife Terri Davies are partners in Sociability Online Marketing Strategies.They work with entrepreneurs and non-profits that are enthusiastic about marketing their organizations online. This involves blogging, social media set up and training, mobile websites, email marketing, and creating online marketing plans.

Here’s what’s different: 

• It’s all business women who are excited and passionate about what they do
• It’s being co-facilitated by me and my pal Juhli from Juhli Selby Social Media
• It’s hands-on – meaning you bring your laptop and follow along – ensuring you’ll leave further ahead!
• With Facebook, we’re starting from zero and building to “hero” -  jump in at whatever level you’re at!

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Take Control of Your Social!

Session 1: What is Facebook

Session 2: How to use your personal Facebook profile

Session 3: Facebook for Personal and Professional Use

Session 4: Use Facebook For Business: Business Pages and the New Timeline format

Session 5: Getting started with LinkedIn

Session 6: Getting started with Twitter

This series was previously restricted to West Shore Women’s Business Network members only. It is now open to all women in business – and at the same great price! Check it out….

I am honoured to have been asked to speak to a group on non-profits, organized by Volunteer Victoria, about using Facebook and Twitter to help them succeed in their endeavours (May 15th and 22nd). These courses are a little more advanced than your basic intro course. All the participants are expected to already have some experience “tweeting” and “Facebooking”.

Take a look at the descriptions below to see what we’ll be covering in the courses, and if you like, follow the links to register. As of this posting there are still a few spaces in each course.

Twitter for Non-Profits

Are you already using Twitter for your organization, but feel that you could use some new ideas and advanced tips on how to improve your engagement and overall effectiveness? Are you wondering whether your tweets are reaching anyone, or wondering if you’re tracking your progress effectively? All this and more will be covered in this fast-paced and engaging seminar by Terri Davies of Sociability | Online Marketing Strategies.

We will take a look at the following:

• tips for users who are already beyond the basics
• what’s new with the platform
• how to maximize your time
• what can you expect in terms of the ROI?
• how do you get engagement?
• how do you know what you’re doing is working?
• reporting: what factors should you be tracking?

Location: Cadboro Commons Conference Centre, University of Victoria

When: Tuesday, May 22nd, 9am-12pm

Cost: $119 (or $89 for Volunteer Victoria Member Agency)

Facebook for Non-Profits

Are you already using Facebook for your organization, but feel that you could use some new ideas and advanced tips on how to improve your engagement and overall effectiveness? Do you think you could use some pointers on how to make use of Facebook’s new Timeline format for fan pages? Are you wondering whether you’re making an impact, or tracking your progress effectively? All this and more will be covered in this fast-paced and engaging seminar taught by myself, Terri Davies.

We will take a look at the following:

• tips for users who are already beyond the basics
• what’s new with the platform
• how to maximize your time
• what can you expect in terms of the ROI?
• how do you get engagement?
• how do you know what you’re doing is working?
• reporting: what factors should you be tracking?

Details about the Event:

Location: Cadboro Commons Conference Centre, University of Victoria

When: Tuesday, May 15th, 9am-12pm

Cost: $119 (or $89 for Volunteer Victoria Member Agency)

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Seminars for the Pursuit of Business Excellence

As a successful business person, it can be too easy to get caught up in day-to-day operations to the point where we don’t spend time developing our business. The Building Momentum Series provides opportunities to reconnect with your pursuit of business excellence. Whether you want to further develop your skills or provide training for staff, this twelve-seminar series provides the momentum to manage your business powerfully and efficiently.

Sponsored by: KPMG

Online Marketing

Millions of consumers worldwide rely on the Internet as their source of information when making a buying decision. Victorians are no different. If your business is not found online, your potential customers or clients are most likely shopping elsewhere.

In this presentation, Terri Davies and Anthony Sanna of Sociability | Online Marketing Strategies will showcase how local businesses are successfully marketing online to locals. Topics covered will include websites, email marketing and social media.

Pre-Registration through The Chamber is required. Chamber members: $25 Non-members: $40 Click Here

Previous to this change, we’ve designed lots of gorgeous Facebook banners and welcome pages to greet first time Facebook visitors – and now the banners are disappearing completely (well, they are turning into a little square box), and the welcome pages will no longer be the first thing people see when they come to the page. Luckily, you can still direct people to your welcome page after they have first landed on your “Timeline”.

Here’s what the timeline looks like:

And now that you can put up posts in a chronological “timeline” you can actually go back in time and add posts, like Old Spice has cleverly done:

The biggest differences:

• A large cover photo that can be designed to showcase your business (within the parameters of Facebook’s new terms – for example, you can’t include your web address, or info about a sale you’re having.)
• Tabs will no longer be featured in the same way, so you must get creative if you have custom pages/tabs to promote
• If you have a custom landing page, you can no longer send your new Facebook visitors to this page as a default “welcome” page. This is where you need to get clever in pointing people to that page. We have ideas!
• Your fans can now send you private messages to get in touch, and vice versa
• You can edit posts, change the date, “pin” them to the top of the timeline, and highlight posts (full-width)

We want your business to thrive on Facebook, and this means your fan page needs to transition to the new Timeline efficiently and effectively. This is why we’re offering a special package until April 30th, 2012 that we know will give you the best possible start with Facebook Timeline.

Send us an email to schedule your appointment. We look forward to working with you!

Is your website as lonely as a small sign in the middle of the woods positioned far from any road? Or is it sitting next to the busy highway where everyone can see it?

I was delivering a workshop last week about online marketing, and it surprised me how few of the participants (savvy, middle-aged business owners) understood the basics of how search engine optimization works.

According to Wikipedia, Search engine optimization (SEO) is defined as:
“the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.”

To be fair, SEO wasn’t taught in their business classes back in the 80′s and 90′s. This video is an excellent guide to show you the basics of how search engines like Bing and Google work.

One of the most obvious ways that social media impacts search is that it is a mechanism for people to find out about your content. It’s the difference between your site content being “lost in the woods” where nobody will see it or sitting right along side a busy highway where it gets lots of traffic. For example, they may share it with friends in Google+ or bookmark it on a social bookmarking site like StumbleUpon.

Here are some social media SEO resources that I think you’ll find valuable:

Google’s ‘Fresh’ Update means consistent, current content wins!
StumbleUpon’s impact on your site’s traffic
Reasons to have a Google Profile

With all of the digital connections that are being made, many folks are choosing to meet their Twitter friends in real life. There are a number of Twitter users throughout Victoria who meet regularly, but unless you’re a morning person you’re probably missing out on those meetings.

Until now!

Welcome to the #yyj TweetUp After Work.

The #yyj TweetUp After Work is a place to meet real people and connect offline to foster real life friendships and build community. (This is not a seminar or tradeshow. It’s not a sales presentation. It’s not a spectator event like a concert or sporting event.)

Each month Sociability will be hosting a TweetUp event that starts at 530pm (for those of us out there who just “don’t do mornings” all that well.)

Here’s a great list of benefits of attending a TweetUp  via the Traverse City TweetUp

You can register and find out more on our meetup page. Click here for details and to register.

Looking forward to catching up, sharing ideas & making new friends!

One my favourite parts about delivering a workshop is the questions and feedback I receive.

Today one of the “ah hah!” moments I heard from one of the participants, was that she had previously thought computers and technology were destroying our relationships and creating a rift between the younger and old generations.

She told me that throughout my talk, listening to the examples I gave of small businesses using social media, she actually ‘got’ how computers (and the internet) are bringing people together. She left feeling excited about the possibilities of connecting with people online, and I think a lot less intimidated by the technology.

She no longer believed the myth that social media is only for the younger generations.

My reason for telling you this is not to convince you to attend one of my seminars, but to share with you some thoughts that have started to arise for me – and to hopefully get your feedback.

Do you feel that social media and the web are bringing you closer together with other? Or are your relationships eroding because superficial comments on Facebook leave you craving a deeper connection?

For me, I feel joy when I think of the communities of people I have access to via Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google +, YouTube, foursquare, UrbanSpoon etc…. the relationships I am fostering over time and space. I really enjoy posting a video that I found funny and sharing it for the enjoyment of my friends. Or finding out what my friend in Germany is doing this weekend. And I have also realized that these brief moments of connecting online are not in any way a substitute for long conversations and in-person hugs and smiles.

Hearing the laughter of a friend in real time as it bubbles through the telephone line or across the airwaves as we sit and drink tea will never be replaced with an “LOL”. But on the flip side, reading the comments on Facebook from my 83 year old Italian father-in-law who is across the country from me, is also something I treasure and allows us to connect in little moments that don’t elicit a phonecall.

In my life, I am finding ways to make space for all the various ways we connect and I am curious to hear how you’re doing it.

What is one example of a way that you are able to connect in this digital world that you feel helps build your relationships?

What concerns you about modern methods of communication?