It’s been a crazy week for me because I finally launched a Canadian Wedding Blog – Champagne Sweets.

I had always wanted to start a wedding blog, but never really had the time, however things changed after I got married.  During my planning process, I became increasingly frustrated with the lack of wedding blogs for Canadians that were fresh and current.  Don’t get me wrong, there are a few really great ones – but not as many as there in the states.

I invite you to check visit Champagne Sweets, follow Champagne Sweets on Twitter and Like Champagne Sweets on facebook.

Thanks so much and have a great day!

Valerie

I remember one teacher at McGill in my Public Relations class who always said one thing about anything we ever did.  What’s the point?

What is the point of anything we do?  It’s a great question and any business, small or large, has to ask that question every single time they publish something.  So what’s the point of this post?
Great question, it’s about goals.  (which is a great tie into “what’s the point”)

Goals are mandatory.  Your Social Media strategy HAS to have; a goal, message, timeline and results.  Without having these essential things, you are just shooting darts at the wall hoping that one day you’ll hit a bullseye.
I recently read an article on ragan.com and Danielle M. Cyr, director of social media & senior PR account manager for Co-Communications, pointed out the 5 things your social media strategy can’t live without!

They include:
1. Quantifiable goals
2. Key message points
3. Clearly defined roles
4. A timeline
5. Success metrics

It’s easy to incorporate these 5 key things when you are promoting an event or product – we know what the point is.  However it gets foggy when it comes to everyday posting.  Just having a twitter account doesn’t fulfill the goal of being in social media (that is not a goal).  Growing a business, getting more clients, increasing awareness… these are goals that will give you and your business tangible results.

What is the point? What is your goal? How will you define success?

It’s time to set up your goals and objectives and to ask yourself “what’s the point” every single time.

You can read the entire article here on ragan.com

I recently read a blog post about how small business owners have really embraced outsourcing and they are outsourcing for everything.  I think that’s great.  Actually I think that’s amazing.

Things like accounting, a lawyer, a graphic designer… these are all things we really need and most of us can’t do this ourselves because we aren’t trained in those fields and we want to make sure we are doing it correctly.  Some business owners are even starting to learn more about social media by hiring a agency (hint, hint!) or they have started to outsource social media community managers (now one of the top growing professions in the world and those with experience are in top demand).  It’s great, because like I said, if you aren’t trained in it… it’s not as intuitive as you might think.

So my word of caution…. and this is marketing 101, when outsourcing make sure the beginning of your outsourced relationship is teaching your brand philosophy to the company that is doing the work for you.  There is nothing worse than hiring someone to run your marketing and social media and they completely miss the mark by posting something that just doesn’t fit.
Spend the time to teach before they run away with your brand and make you look bad.

Those are my 2 cents!

Wedding Wednesday Tip:

Image from Wedluxe.com

If you haven’t already heard, this Sunday, Toronto will be host to the very first Wedluxe Wedding Show in Toronto. 
They already have a great lineup of vendors and sponsors, I know Toronto couples will surely find what they are looking for at this show!

Enjoy!

It has been a wild 4 years since Valerie Windsor PR first opened its doors!  Although we are still new compared to most agencies, 4 years in social media is like a lifetime.  We are proud to have been one of the first social media and public relations agencies that specializes in the wedding industry in Montreal and in Canada.

Today I am so excited to announce that we are expanding and are now excepting new clients for 2012!

Please email me personally at: valerie (@) valeriewindsor.com
Looking forward to working with you!

Have a great day & Happy New Year!

Valerie

Well it’s January 2nd – so I may be a bit late in saying this, but Happy New Years!

I am a true believer that if you set a goal, eventually it will come true.  Everything in life takes hard work and dedication and for those of us who have done everything in our power to make it work, may 2012 be as successful as 2011 (and even more).

Happy New Years!

I first want to thank all of you who wished me well on my wedding day.  It was a few weeks ago and it took place here in Montreal.
Although I don’t share too much of my personal life in social media – I was happy to share this with you.

The official photos are on their way, I’ll let you know where you’ll be able to see them in the future.

Until then, thank you so much for the love and support you have given me through a very difficult yet rewarding 2011.

-Valerie

What I’m about to say may shock you.  You are most likely posting way too much on your facebook fan page. Yes, you.

It’s now at the point where facebook has become the new email spam.  All of a sudden we have companies and small businesses that are very capable of running a fan page, but they post 3-5 new things a day – yes in 1 day.  That means I , the fan page fan, see the same company post repetitive things (usually the same thing) over and over again all day long.  The most unfortunate thing is that most of time, it’s just another inspiration and not anything that is actually from the companies themselves or of real use to me. (coupon fan pages have a veto here because they are constantly getting new info that most people want)

What shocks me is that company doesn’t really see that they are hurting themselves more than anything else.  Little do they know, people are “hiding” posts by them – which is as huge as un-liking the page all together.  They are no longer receiving updates or even important information from the company – things like product announcements, events, and even contests are gone unnoticed by the masses because that fan page has abused the power of a post and they have ultimately become spam.

So what’s the rule to posting?
I don’t think there is an actually rule, but think of it like emails.  You would certainly tune out or unsubscribed if you got an email with almost the exact same thing 4 times a week from the same company, right?  Well that pretty much applies to the facebook fan page too.

Posting a few things a week that is unique and new will get you that engagement ratio you want including insightful comments and likes.

So next time you are about to post something – look at how many things you’ve posted already this week… and if you need more that 1 hand to count…. then I wouldn’t post.

Just my 2 cents.