Zombies - Where's my instruction manual???

So it happened. The apocalypse is upon you. You did everything in your power to prevent it, but sometimes all the good intentions in the world aren't enough.

First things first. DON'T PANIC! We have no time for that silliness. When the herd of undead are headed your way, running around like a headless chicken only serves to make a bad situation worse.

Deal with the problem at hand and get to a safe location. Now - let's see what is in our emergency kit.

Supplies: The first thing you need is THE PLAN (tm/c).  I'm not talking about the plan in your head - this should be written down. The apocalypse isn't going to wait for you to be standing there so we need to make sure that your employees know what is going on. What is on your emergency plan might be specific to your business, but there are a few things that should be on every plan:

The Zombie Apocalypse and Public Relations

When the world goes to hell in a
hand-basket, will you be ready?

The zombie apocalypse is only one outbreak away.

When it happens, I have a plan.

And that plan goes into effect as soon as the first report of a zombie outbreak happens.

• Rush out and buy all the parts I need for my Jeep so that we’re not stranded on busy highways where hoards of zombies are simply buffet line of a cruise ship.
• I’ll also be making a stop over at Walmart to pick up any supplies that we’ll be needing. You know, the important stuff like food, water and camping gear.
• Get weapons. Lots of guns and swords (and a crossbow, of course).

I’m sure that I’ll have plenty of time to actually prepare once the zombie hoards start invading.

Right?

Social Media Marketing - The ZEN method

Zen of Social Media Marketing

 Many people believe that since they already know how to use Facebook for their personal profiles they are perfectly capable of using Social Media in their business. And I guess that is true to a point. There isn’t anything ‘hard’ about using social media. But ‘using’ and ‘successfully using’ social media to grow a business are two very different things.

The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Kabani is a perfect tool to make sure that you're using social media successfully for your business.

When it comes to ‘successfully using’ social media, you need to understand more than just how to post or to like. You have to understand the selling process, how it works traditionally and how social media is different than traditional advertising practices. To cross the social media line with traditional marketing can be more damaging than not marketing at all.

With Friends Like These

photo credit: daniel_iversen via photopin cc

Today's business world is tough and awfully competitive. So when it comes to Facebook we have a perfect opportunity to spy on our rival businesses and to flat out steal their posts. We can use their posts against them, see how they are running their social media campaigns and find out what they are up to! This is prefect! It's just like finding the other team's play book the night before the big game.

There is even a great way to protect yourself from others seeing what you're up to on Facebook. As Buzz Bishop of cyberbuzz points out, if you create a fake page you can follow all your competitors without them seeing that you are following them.

And I guess in some ways I can see the point. Because of Facebook's referral ads, there is a chance that suddenly there will be a post on someone's wall saying that your page Likes your competition's page. Facebook has basically advertised your competition directly to your fans.

And that is just horrible!

Except that it really isn't.

Why I LIKE to see SHARES

In a world dominated by likes it’s easy to get caught up on a high like count instead of focusing on the more important aspects of Social Media.

Jumping through hoops

Bob and Doug McKenzie rocking Touques
Photo from Wikipedia, owned by MGM

I’ve lived in Canada for 5 years now and I’ve embraced the culture. I use specific measurements like ‘wack’ or ‘Skiff’ (Wack being lots and Skiff being just a little – often used when talking about the amount of snow on the ground.), I have to have my Timmy’s coffee in the mornings and in the winter I wear a Touque. A touque, for those who don’t know, is a knit cap and referred to as a beanie in the states. It can sometimes have ear flaps or a pom-pom on top of it.

Now, I will admit that a touque is a good idea when it’s -35 degrees outside, but it’s more than just a knit hat. It’s a fashion statement and a true piece of Canadian culture. So not only have I embraced it, but I’ve also decided to have fun with it.

Mars Fever - 7 Minutes of Terror

The challenges accepted and conquered that allowed Curiosity to land on Mars.

This is a fantastic piece of advertising. It shows the challenges that this team had to get past in order to land Curiosity on Mars. More importantly - it makes the viewer want to see if it works. This is a worst case scenario. This can't possibly work, but we're trying it anyways.

I was too young to remember it originally, but it's like Star Wars Episode 5: The Empire Strikes back: