The power of online connections

I had a feeling akin to that of which Charlie must have felt when opening his Wonka bar. Instead of hoping for the golden ticket, I held my breath wondering if what I held in my hands would live up to my childhood remembrances. I took a bite and whooped with excitement… I had found it after ten years of searching and longing.

What inspired such emotion you may ask? Would you believe me if I said an ice-cream dessert? You see, there is a history here. Growing up, my favourite treat on a hot day was called Snack and Half. Think of vanilla ice-cream sandwiched in between soft oatmeal cookies in a coating of thin milk chocolate. Heaven in a wrapper. 

This wonderful ice-cream could not be found in the small town where I grew up. It was such a treat when I would visit the big city and I could find one at the corner store and indulge. Fast forward a decade when it seemed suddenly my indulgence was nowhere to be found. I searched high and low in several convenience stores in several cities to no avail.  Not one store even knew of it or even remembered carrying it. After many years I finally gave up, but still fought off my cravings and nastalgia.

Every so often I still get a craving, as I did last night. I decided to search online to see if I could find out whatever happened to my much loved Snack and Half. The first link I came across made me laugh in surprise and amusement. It was a blog where several people, just like me, told their stories of this ice-cream and begged others to tell them where they could find it. Following one suggestion I visited my local Sobey’s store and after almost giving up, I found a replica made by Chapmans hidden at the bottom of the freezer. I rushed back to the car, tore open the package and sighed as I drifted off to a far away summer day and the satisfaction of the perfect snack (and half).

I constantly marvel at how life has changed and how incredibly powerful a tool the internet has become.  Information is literally at our fingertips  24/7; especially with the growing popularity of data plans on cell phones. I am endlessly Googling to find answers to my questions and solutions for my needs. What a powerful feeling and what powerful potential of being connected to so many people in so many places.  The power to bring an ice-cream treat back from the past and make this girl smile with satisfaction.

Social marketing fun facts

Social networks, online communities and blogging are the new face of technology and communication today. To give you a glimpse of how social media is gaining momentum in this information age, here are some fun facts gathered by Kanishka Surana for you to ponder.

• If Facebook were a country, it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia
• 20 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute
• Years to reach 50 million users: Radio (38 years), TV (13 years), Internet (4 years), iPod (3 years)
• Facebook is the largest photo sharing site, with more than 10 billion photos uploaded as per February 2009
• The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
• 1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
• 1 out of 8 couples that married in the US last year met via social media

 

It’s all in the spin

I have always found it interesting how you can spin the same situation two different ways for totally different outcomes. It’s all in the presentation.

To illustrate, I’ll give you an example of how a friend of mine turned a potential $500 cost on her newly aquired rental property into a very low-cost opportunity. The rental property came with ever-so chic 80′s wallpaper and stencilling that begged for a makeover and updating. Knowing this would be a necessary expenditure in order to market and rent her property she had budgeted several hundred dollars for her contractor to complete the task.

Skip ahead to a potential renter who calls and is looking for an apartment and would like to move in pretty quickly. This person happens to be a professional painter who finds painting relaxing and enjoyable. My friend reasons it would potentially be much less hassle to have the tenant move in, start collecting rent and give them a $500 discount on rent to complete the updating themselves. That is reasonable, but has she really come out ahead? She is still paying $500 for the same renovation.

What if she were to spin it, however, and present the situation in a different light? She would tell her potential tenant that yes, she would be be able to accomodate his request of an earlier move-in, and she would honestly explain that in order to do so the contractor would not have enough time to paint the apartment. If the tenant would be willing to paint the apartment himself, she would be happy to cover the cost of the paint.

The tenant is happy that he is able to move in sooner, the apartment gets the update it so desires and my friend has saved $500 in wallpaper removal and painting costs. A true win-win outcome.