I hope you will take a moment to visit www.lifeinclarington.com and read the Fall 2009 issue of Clarington’s Neighbourhood Magazine online!

Read the articles, visit our advertisers, try the recipes and check out the Clarington Calendar of Events!

Enter to win a SanDisk Fuze 4GB MP3 Video Player! And enter our “Guess Me! Win Me!” Classic Car Contest!

via Facebook | Inbox – Life in Clarington Fall 09 issue!.

Create an email that you use exclusively for social media.

1. Track success
2. Filter/do social media communication once/day
3. Take action/update database/delete

Plan to communicate.

1. Blog regularly
2. Be interesting
3. Optimize your feeds

Be where your customers are.

1. Survey your customers
2. Setup presence on most popular social media spaces
3. Automate with feed from your blog and supplement where appropriate

Participate regularly.

1. Be social / interesting.
2. Update your status regularly
3. Interact with your friends.

Never stop.

1. System to stay current
2. Where else should you be?
3. Reserve your name in all promising social media spaces

To be notified of upcoming events on this topic, please subscribe. If you’d like one-on-one training or support, please call 1-800-579-9253 and set up an appointment.

I hope you will take a moment to visit www.lifeinclarington.com and read the Fall 2009 issue of Clarington’s Neighbourhood Magazine online! There are articles, recipes and Clarington Calendar of Events plus you can enter to win a SanDisk Fuze 4GB MP3 Video Player and enter a “Guess Me! Win Me!” Classic Car Contest!

Ontario Chamber of Commerce is doing a short, business survey.
Deadline: Friday, September 11, 2009 (5:00 pm). 

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) is assessing how prepared members are in the event of a major business disruption resulting from a catastrophic emergency, such as a pandemic, massive power outage and the like.

With the recent onset of the global swine flu, or H1N1 virus, and the coverage it is receiving in the world media, the OCC would like to know how you feel about reaction to H1N1 and how prepared you are to keep your business on track during such an emergency.

We will use the results of the survey to improve on strategies that will assist business with their emergency preparedness, including the promotion of the OCC’s Pandemic Planning Toolkit, developed following the events of SARS and the power blackout which is available for download at occ.on.ca/pandemic-planning-tool-kit

Are you prepared for a major business disruption resulting from a catastrophic emergency, such as a pandemic, massive power outage and the like?

With Feedjit Pro you get an array of real-time tools that let you watch your traffic in real-time and get alerted in real-time when important events occur on your site.

Find out more about Feedjit Pro.

http://www.DurhamLIVE.com
for Durham Region by Durham Region.
Promote events and your business.
Create a group. Tell your friends.
Make it yours!

Think Facebook is just the latest computer fad for teens? Think again. Fast, free and friendly, Facebook is revolutionizing the way smart organizations market their products, services and events. What would it be worth to your organization to tap into over 200 million regular users, half of whom log on daily?

Facebook allow businesses and other organizations to have a presence on Facebook with videos, photo albums, Flash pieces, games, discussion boards, and many other things that would help facilitate activity, conversation, and user interaction. Users can add themselves to your Facebook Page as fans, write on your wall, purchase products, learn about special promotions, upload photos, and join other users in discussion groups. You can send updates to all your fans whenever you like. And you can add applications to your Page and engage Facebook users with videos, notes, links, Flash content and more. In short, pages can help you socialize with the Facebook user, garner brand affinity, and build relationships.

Feed that hunger. Lunch and learn online with writer Heather M. O’Connor from the comfort of your own office. In these one-hour webinars – or lunchinars — you can taste-test the basics of writing:
• press releases
• web copy
• 30 second introductions
• taglines/slogans

It’s easy. All you need is a phone and a computer connected to the Internet. After registration, you’ll receive a telephone number to call, and a webpage link to click on.

Heather M. O’Connor is a successful freelance writer. She served three productive years as the Promotions and Marketing Director for the Durham Home and Small Business Association (DHSBA). During that time, through the use of good promotion, snappy press releases and a targeted media list, attendance at DHSBA’s monthly networking meetings skyrocketed from an average of twenty entrepreneurs to over a hundred – the association outgrew its venue twice.

Heather has given a number of seminars on promotional and web writing. Visit her website at www.merlinwrites.com.

What’s on the menu?
Sample these four great lunch-time webinars

RELEASE ME: How to write a killer press release

Wednesday, April 15, 2009 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

It’s short. It’s sweet. It’s punchy. And if you do it right, it’s news. A well-written press release piques an editor’s interest enough to assign an article or news item, while still delivering all the goods for a cut-and-paste story.

Freelance writer Heather M. O’Connor takes attendees through the ingredients: a catchy headline and sub-headline, the correct format, an all-purpose boilerplate paragraph – and a news angle. She also explains how to develop a successful list of media contacts and the etiquette of communicating with them.

Tickets available at http://lunchinars.ning.com/events/release-me-how-to-write-a

SPINNING A GOOD WEB: Writing for the Internet

Wednesday, April 22, 2009 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

What’s the difference between writing for print and writing for the Internet? Plenty! If you want your website to capture visitors instead of sending them clicking, you’d better figure it out. After all, your competition is only a mouse-click away.

Heather M. O’Connor knows all the tricks. Sign up for her crash course in effective web-writing. You’ll discover:
• How people “read” web pages
• How to make space work for you
• Words that carry their weight
• Why less is more

Tickets available at http://lunchinars.ning.com/events/spinning-a-good-web-writing

PERFECTING YOUR 30-SECOND INFOMERCIAL

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

First impressions count. When you’re networking, you get 30 seconds to introduce yourself and ‘wow’ them with your business, product or service. Can you do it? What do you say?

A good infomercial sets you up as a confident professional, and sets you apart from your competition. Let Heather M. O’Connor show you how to write and polish your 30-second introduction. You’ll cover:
• Why you?
• Power words
• Different intros, different markets

Make your first impression a good one.

Tickets available at http://lunchinars.ning.com/events/perfecting-your-30second

SHORT, SWEET AND SASSY: Designing great taglines

Wednesday, May 06, 2009 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Finger-lickin’ good. Snap, crackle, pop. Good to the last drop. Good taglines are memorable – even timeless.

Finding strong words — the right words — to describe your business takes creativity. Shortcut the process with Heather M. O’Connor. She’ll help you explore the recipe for a powerful tagline.

Tickets available at http://lunchinars.ning.com/events/short-sweet-sassy-designing