General

I just got some fresh news about the schedule for IMC - Internet Marketing Conference on September 16-18 in Vancouver (BC) Canada. Find some announcements below and even more on the Internet Marketing Conference (IMC) website.

This year the IMC conference features speakers from the three largest and most influential websites today: Google, Yahoo & Facebook. The IMC is also pleased to announce the following lineup of amazing keynote speakers:

* September 17: Google’s analytics evangelist Avinash Kaushik, and author of the best-selling book Web Analytics: An Hour a Day. Considered by many as the one of the foremost speakers in the field of analytics today. He has fantastic insight on how each website visitor should be treated as a valued customer and how to improve the performance of any website.

* September 18: Facebook’s newly appointed Canadian representative Louise Clements, will give the attendees exclusive insights and knowledge from Facebook’s active, and rapidly growing online community. Facebook is the fastest growing web-property in the world it is ranked number three after Google & Yahoo). By understanding how to use Facebook to market yourself & or your company, you will have the ability to better leverage this new and exciting social networking channel.

IMC Vancouver features in total over top 40 speakers from: Yahoo, Google, Bell Canada, Overstock, Aircell, BazaarVoice, Vancity, Tribalddb plus many more of the Internets top companies. Join us for the most exciting line up of speakers, workshops and panelists ever at IMC Vancouver 2009.

Social Media, Blogging, Email, iPhone, E-commerce etc. are some of the hottest, and most important, topics in Internet Marketing today. As the Internet grows in importance as a communication channel for your business, it important to understand how to move away of the diminishing returns that TV, Radio and Newspapers are delivering. Learn how to get your company to take advantage of this new, and rapidly changing, way that media is being consumed.

* IMC Vancouver 2009 will cover each of the important methods of marketing online in order to get the highest quality of traffic to your website.
* Learn the new industry best practices in converting more of your site visitors to: Spend more time on site, achieve better sales and user signup conversion, and better site engagement overall.
* IMC is a conference not only to get the best industry insight but also to meet and connect with those that are the writing the new rules of marketing in Internet Marketing today.

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Still don’t believe in SEO?

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Ah ah A lot of people did not quite understood when I created my job section on eMarketing 101. Monique from Boxcar Marketing sent me an article today that talks about the importance of creating a job board for your site. It is easy to do, takes little maintenance and drive a lot of traffic. What’s not to like?

Here is some of it:
Just because the economy isn’t doing so hot right now, doesn’t mean that every business is doomed to fail. But what it does mean is that we as publishers could really use a good brainstorm on how to build out our own business model in ways that are more profitable than costly.

One avenue that has been consistently popular with publishers is adding a job board to their website network. In general, websites that sell job listings are self-service and require very little maintenance from the publisher.

For the full on article: http://www.mequoda.com/articles/website-design/is-there-room-for-an-online-job-board-in-your-business-model/

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Our invitations for the francouver.ca launch party are out and we invite everyone in the Vancouver (BC) area to come and join us and celebrates our bilingual cultures. Here are the details and I hope you can make it:

Francouver.ca Launch Party
Saturday November 8, 2008 at 8h00PM
Anza Club, 3 West 8th Avenue

We are very excited to invite you to the francouver.ca official launch party, a brand new & useful site for the francophones & french speaking enthusiasts living in Vancouver. We invite everyone to this launch party because we want to celebrate our bilingual Canadian cultures. The francouver.ca launch party will be at the Anza Club on November 8 2008 from 8h00PM until late. During this party, there will be live animation, site presentation, music & more. Since it is a party, there will be a bar and lots of fun. Music starts at 8h00PM and later, you will able to dance on the greatest French songs (and others) from the last few decades.

Every francophone, french speaking, french culture enthusiasts & those who appreciate our bilingual country are invited to this unique event that is the beginning of a great adventure. We hope you are going to be part of it. Activities will be organized throughout the year so stay tuned for more on francouver.ca

Launch Party Details:
* francouver.ca Official Launch Party
* Saturday, November 8, 2008
* 8h00PM until late
* Door: $10 (Pre-pay online or at the door)

Anza Club:
* 3 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver

Music? Of Course! Bring your iPod! We take all special requests.

Reserve online now at francouver.eventbrite.com

What is Francouver.ca?
Francouver.ca is a personal initiative made possible by Alexandre Brabant, Mario Beaudoin & Diana Coulombe, which focuses on getting to know all francophones, french speaking & french culture enthusiasts living in Vancouver and giving them the ability to network and share their Frenchiness through a lot of activities. In order to do so, we want the site to become a facilitator for these exchanges. The site itself also works as an efficient promotional & communication vehicle for the various activities & events we will organize moving forward. We will also promote all the other events that are happening in the french community in Vancouver & BC as well as discuss important topics related to the community. The site will have a calendar of events, 2 blogs, discussion forum, monthly parties, summer & winter activities, sports teams, travel and more.

Sign-Up Online for Free at Francouver.ca:
Sign-Up Online now at francouver.ca in order to receive all the infos, news & events on the francophone community in Vancouver. This is your site and it is free: francouver.ca

Questions?
For more information, please communicate with Alexandre Brabant at or (778) 371-9988 or Mario Beaudoin at or (604) 228-8554

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Unlike most elections, this year is a little different. I have been asked by my dear friend Cendrix Bouchard from French CBC to be part of a TV show on RDI (Reseau de l’Information), which presents a few “undecided” Canadians from every province, to answer questions in a weekly interview and provide my impressions on the weekly progress that has been made in the current campaign. In light of such experiment, which I enjoy thoroughly, I would like to share something that has been sent to me with regards to the lack of funding by the conservative party in cultural events. I think it is hilarious (and shocking) and regardless of where you are coming from (French and/or English), I am sure you will find this clip delightful (make sure you turn the close caption on, from the bottom right corner).

If you care about the culture, here is something you have to watch:

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Boris Mann

Boris is a great man. Last weekend, while he was part of the stellar organizing committee of Northern Voice Conference 2008 on Personal Blogging, he celebrated his birthday. Of course we sang happy birthday, although I must admit, all these personal bloggers gathered for the occasion are better in blogging than singing. Nevertheless, we all appreciated the intense presence of Boris during the conference. He is so generous of his knowledge of everything that happens online. A quick get together with him and you will see that his passion is contagious. You will want to do more online just because he said so.

I had the pleasure you celebrate my last birthday with him. Boris was kind enough to give me the best gift an SEO guy can ask for: a Link. Of course I would do the same for you bud. You know how much I like you. So for those who are wondering what Boris does, please take a look at Boris Mann Consulting Services: Vancouver Internet Marketing Expert, Social Media Blogger, Drupal Specialist & Entrepreneur. Is this link love or what? You can also find a lot on his personal & professional blog about Social Software, VoIP, Home Networking, Web Development and Mac related items. Please let me know how much you like the packaging of your birthday gift. I could do a little more wrapping if you like. Enjoy responsibly.

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It is Valentines day and for the occasion, James, chief punk of Adhack, created a little assignment for his alphanauts (those are the people part of this secret society) to come up with an ad that reflects romance, sex or both.

The DIY (Do It Yourself) ads came in quite fast so here they are:

** Chocolate Love:
http://adhack2.com/public/detail/2444-1177
** M & Ms Valentine’s Ad --
http://adhack2.com/public/detail/2443-1177
** Potted Love --
http://adhack2.com/public/detail/1952-1177

Have a favourite? Share it! Email a link. Show it to friends. Blog it. Add it to your Facebook / MySpace page. StumbleUpon it. Digg it. Let the world know!

But now, Adhack is opening this up to even more lovers. Yes, that is right! Adhack is opening the gates to Adhack Alpha. Therefore, if you are in love, or think love is a good thing, here is what you can do:

1 - Invite friends to join Adhack. We’ve created a welcome page so they get the skinny: http://adhack2.com/public/welcome

2 - Make an ad. We’re getting more interest all the time. So we’re going public. Nuts to this ‘private alpha’ business. We’ll rock with what we got.

And public means we’ll be selling the ads. You may make some scratch. You may earn glory. You’ll only know if you make an ad.

3 - Official AdHack Materials, like a Press Release, below, if you need to describe AdHack to anyone.

Have any other suggestions? Contact James at

Here is some more about Valentines day, Chocolate, Sex and everything in between:
Chocolates and Sex in Valentine’s Day Advertising
(http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/2/prweb699003.htm)

Chocolates for your love on Valentine’s Day? Some people say chocolate is an aphrodisiac. But according to research, 6 out of 10 women prefer chocolates to sex. Can this be true? AdHack, a community of designers, photographers and creators, is spicing things up this Valentine’s Day with a racy advertising for chocolate lovers.

Vancouver, BC (PRWEB) February 14, 2008—Chocolates for your love on Valentine’s Day? Some people say chocolate is an aphrodisiac. But according to research, 6 out of 10 women prefer chocolates to sex. Can this be true?

Perhaps the Scots know best. According to the Scotsman, they prefer sex over chocolate.
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Sex-and-the-Scottish.3766459.jp

Is it because European advertising is sexier than North American advertising?

If Valentine’s is about love, romance and feeling sexy, why are the advertisements so boring?

Love is never boring.

That’s why the AdHack community decided to spice things up this Valentine’s Day.
AdHack is a community of designers, photographers and creators who are pushing the advertising envelope.

Have a look at the “Chocolate Love” ad created by AdHack member Giant Ant Media.
http://adhack2.com/public/detail/2444-1177

The Assignment:
Create an ad for the best romance item ever received.

The Chocolate Love Ad Concept:
Giant Ant Media says “Pretty simple. We wanted to make a connection between chocolate and romance, and chocolate as an aphrodisiac but without using people. By using the chocolates, the video is still racy, which we wanted, but not crude and still retains a ‘cuteness’ about it. This video could work as an ad for a chocolate company (Purdy’s/Lindt), or even for a brand that sells ‘romantic’ goods (Oh My/Kama Sutra).”

“Chocolate Love” is a short, stop-motion animation, shot on a light box. 367 Frames.

See for yourself: “Chocolate Love” ad by Giant Ant Media
http://adhack.com/chocolate-love-on-valentines-day/

About AdHack
AdHack is a web-based marketplace for advertising creative. Anyone can create an ad. Anyone can buy an ad. AdHack acts like an eBay for ad creative, connecting ad buyers and ad creators. Learn more on the public site at http://www.adhack.com

AdHack is currently in a private alpha rollout. For more information contact James Sherrett: 604-788-1502 or

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SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization, just launch a section on YouTube where they put all their videos from various sources. You will find videos there from many people sitting on the Board of Directors where they talk about SEMPO, SEMPO Institute, SEMPO Research & Marketing and all the other SEMPO committees. These are the leaders shaping the Search Engine Marketing industry worldwide and it is very inspiring to hear them speak about their respective responsibilities as part of SEMPO. I selected this one for your review, where SEMPO Director Dana Todd talks about SEMPO and the SEMPO Institute.

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I have been receiving newsletters lately from ForestEthics, a non-profit organization that focuses on preserving endangered forest in Canada. In their last few emails, they were fiercefully attacking Sears Canada for their environmental policy with regards to the printing of their well known and heavy catalogues. Since 1880, Sears has been famous for their catalogues, but now it is 2007 and Sears must face this new era of climate change and recognize their role in it. They produce around 425 million catalogues every year - and the paper is coming from Canada’s Boreal Forest.

Change can happen. A few months ago month, Forest Ethics got a new commitment from Victoria’s Secret for adopting a more sensitive environmental policy with the printing of their catalogues.

Forest Ethics Activist Campaign against Victoria’s Secret in 2004:

See more about it on VictoriaDirtySecret.net

I personally love to support these initiatives. What is the link with Search Marketing? I think Google has brought up an environmental solution to an economic problem by allowing customers and suppliers to meet online as opposed to a paper-based support. It seems like more and more people are making this analogy with regards to search marketing. I hear it everywhere now in each Online Marketing conference. Not only will you get a better return on your advertising investment by doing Search Marketing, you will also save trees and the environment in the same way. What’s not to like? I can’t wait to see major companies like Sears Canada, who are selling thousands of products, adopting search marketing best practices with thousands of search terms. 

Now it is Sears Canada’s turn to adopt such environmental policy. As such, since the holiday season is just around the corner and so is their first International Day of Action on the Sears Campaign - you are invited to protest! On Tuesday, December 4, people across Canada and the United States will be taking action to tell Sears that they’re on our collective naughty list and it’s time to be nice to our Endangered Forests.

People are gathering in Vancouver (BC):
In Vancouver, we will be gathering at the downtown Sears outlet at 701 Granville St. from 12:30-1:00PM to send a message to the department store giant to stop cutting Canadian forests for their catalogues. Please call 604-724-4307 or send en email to Neil Monckton: neil{at}forestethics.org, if you can join ForestEthics on Dec. 4 over lunchtime at the Vancouver Sears outlet. Details are below:

Date: Tues., Dec. 4
Time: Lunchtime, 12:30-1:00PM
Location: Sears Canada, 701 Granville St. (northeast entrance at Georgia and Granville)
Contact: Call 604-724-4307 or email to RSVP

Tell Sears you don’t want a Wishbook, but that we’re wishing they would stop destroying Canadian forests! For more info, please contact Neil Monckton, ForestEthics Senior Organizing Associate - British Columbia. If you can’t attend the Vancouver event, please consider staging your own action at your local Sears outlet.

Remember: there are alternatives to reach your audience without printing catalogues and destroying our forests. Thanks!

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I hope you can read this in its original format. People don’t like any form of interruption advertising. Here is an excerpt from the press release:

Une étude réalisée par Australie et Ipsos met à jour le peu d’estime que portent les consommateurs français à la création publicitaire. Selon cette enquête, 79% d’entre eux trouvent la publicité “envahissante” et 65% la qualifient de “banale”.  Critiques, les Français sont aussi méfiants. La moitié jugent la pub “dangereuse”. Le nombre de publiphobes a d’ailleurs augmenté (30% contre 25% en 2004). Le phénomène est tempéré par Jean-Marc Lech, coprésident d’Ipsos, qui affirme dans une entrevue pour le magazine Influencia, que “ce n’est pas un phénomène militant”.

La recherche révèle par ailleurs que la perception de la pub est influencée par la pratique d’Internet. “Les gros consommateurs d’Internet sont les plus critiques (35% de publiphobes), bien qu’il soient accros de la consommation”, note Vincent Leclabart, président d’Australie. Ils trouvent la pub sur le Net ennuyeuse (73%), terriblement envahissante (94%) et très agressante (77%). Seulement 20% la jugent convaincante. Les Français sont particulièrement virulents envers la publicité télévisée. Ainsi, 90% la jugent envahissante, et 57% l’estiment banale et agressante.

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You may have heard the news last month about Facebook opening profiles to search engine indexing. It may be a good time to take a second look at your profile and polish it to make sure it won’t offend anyone.

Now, since I saw my Facebook profile indexed in Google as well as in Yahoo over the weekend, I can confirm that it is likely that your Facebook profile may have been indexed as well. Don’t wait a second and Google yourself right now and see if it is there. It should appear on the first page of search results.

What does this mean to you?
Since your Facebook profile is now indexed, anyone can Google your name and access it. Because of Facebook popularity, it is likely that your Facebook profile may appear on the first page of search results and thus get a fair share of the traffic from Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). But, unlike your LinkedIn profile, which is generally speaking more professional & polished, your Facebook profile contains a wider variety of content that is prone to interpretation. There are elements in most Facebook profiles that I would not want prospective clients to know for instance. Therefore, it would be helpful for you to review it carefully and remove any controversial items that may have been posted by you and/or your friends or any information that may be wrongfully interpreted. Tell your friends to be careful when they post content on your wall as well as pictures of you in different contexts or settings that you do not appear at your best (!) or for a business-type audience.

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Emanuel Krebs from ToughtPatterns.ca made an impactful post 2 days ago for the international day for the eradication of poverty, which included an easy-to-understand video on web 2.0 opportunities.

Emanuel Krebs, Blogger, ThoughtPatterns.ca

Emanuel pinpointed embarrassing stats in our humanitarian effort and what would be needed to solve major challenges in the developing world. As part of his well documented article, he mentions that whereas technology will not solve the problem, it can greatly help. As an example, GiveMeaning.com, an online fundraising site emphasizing creative fundraising ideas and other unique forms of charity donation has gained a lot of momentum in the last year. If you are not aware of GiveMeaning.com and how start ups like this one can help solve our biggest challenges, please check it out and step in.

Here is the clip on the power of Web 2.0 Applications:

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Every Monday morning, I get a newsletter that I truly look forward to receive: The Monday Morning Memo from the Wizards of Ads. Unlike everything else I receive through various sources, The Monday Morning Memo from the Wizard of Ads offers a unique experience in our customers’ brain where Roy Williams dissects the human nature needs, behaviors and give us ways to better connect with our customers with an increased understanding of what they really want to satisfy. In most cases, customers’ needs go way beyond what they would say to define it. You need that extra layer of understanding in order to adjust your offer accordingly. This newsletter is awesome and I heartedly recommend it. 

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The Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) and members of SEMPO Canada, announced today it is launching its first ever salary survey of in-house search engine marketing professionals. The survey is open to all in-house SEM professionals whether or not they are currently SEMPO members. Organic and/or Paid-Search, in-house professionals are all invited to take the survey.

The 20-question survey can be accessed here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=DZCiIcuGHhZtJqv7NrjTrQ_3d_3d

Respondents have anonymity when taking the survey. SEMPO is running the survey through October and possibly will continue it into November. Results of the survey will be published in November.

Among the data trends SEMPO hopes to gauge are the overall salary range of SEM jobs, from entry level to executive; salary variations by geographic markets, the total compensation package beyond salaries, such as bonuses, benefits and perks; SEM staffing levels within enterprises, and SEM budget levels. 

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Last week, I had a little chat with Brian Hauk, the publisher of BC Contacts Directory. BC Contacts Directory is an easy to use, regularly updated British Columbia, Canada business directory and marketing software package which can save you time and money finding clients, distributors, business partners, suppliers and investors. It can also help you create mutually beneficial relationships with other organizations offering complementary services or products.

BC Contacts Directory Screenshot

As part of this conversation, Brian was kind enough to give me access to the trial version of his software. I must say that I was quite impressed by the ease of use of his BC Contacts software and I seriously consider purchasing it in the near future. It would definitely help me contact a variety of businesses to work with in Vancouver and BC. Check it out when you have a minute and feel fee to contact Brian Hauk for more information: brian at BCContacts.Net or 778-834-9424.

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