New Media

Texting feels like it’s been around forever — years, anyway. In retrospect, it seems odd that until now, no cab company in big-city Vancouver (or in British Columbia, for that matter) had thought of letting their customers text them to get a pickup. Finally, the oldest cab company in the city (established 1911), MacLure’s Cabs, is the first to embrace the technology of texting for your ride.

By simply sending a text to “222 222”, including the riders name, pick up location and destination, a cab will be sent as quickly as possible. “This effectively takes out the dispatcher conversation” continues Mr. Poonia. Once a text is received by MacLure’s, an auto reply is sent confirming receipt and when to expect the cab to arrive.

“There are often times where it would be impolite to make a phone call, or even impossible due to too much background noise,” explains Mr. Poonia “This solution is fast, inexpensive and can be done virtually anywhere.” No phone call also means not having to wait on hold for a dispatcher, meaning the passenger has more time to do their own thing.

I suspect this will catch on pretty quickly, like how we already instinctively use our smartphones to pay for parking or check for the fastest route wherever we’re going. Works for me. Thanks, MacLure’s.

As anyone who knows me can attest, I drink a LOT of coffee. And I’m frequently to be found in cafes in Vancouver, reading, shmoozing or working with a steaming coffee mug in front of me. So this Easter-themed Hunt for the Golden Bean (not the golden egg — you don’t make good coffee with eggs, as I understand it) caught my attention.

It’s a fun and easy contest from Trees Organic Coffee and Roasting House where you can win some nifty prizes (A $25 gift card or a voucher for a slice of cheesecake) . Check it out!

This was a fun one. My recent profile on the top executive of YVR, published in BC Business magazine: Larry Berg, CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority:

The CEO has a touch of lingering laryngitis and an annual general meeting tomorrow to prepare for, but he talks in a charming, reassuring voice, assisted by lemon tea. With his white button-down shirt, blue paisley tie and glasses set on a face that might belong to your friendly neighbourhood hockey coach (indeed, Berg is a “huge hockey fan”), he has the look of a professional everyman.

Berg first joined the airport authority in 1992 as senior vice-president of operations, but his connection goes back a lot farther. He first arrived at Sea Island in 1960, when he was 13 years old. “I was here as an air cadet with 442 Squadron from Cold Lake, Alberta. I came here for two weeks of summer camp,” he says, recalling a time when the area still had a barracks and a mess hall. “Certainly, I never thought then that I’d be here heading up the airport authority one day.”

I’m a believer in social media marketing for business, not least because that’s how I often get referrals for my own SEO web copywriting and corporate communications business.

I was recently researching the cost of social media — what it takes to hire a blogger, run a Facebook campaign or get a social media marketer in-house. Gradually, the article evolved into How to Get Social Media to Work for Your Business, published on Techvibes. Here’s a little blurb:

Blogs are a popular (some would say critical) social media tool, offering the ability to boost brand and advertise deals to bring in actual sales. Remember that “funny” gets eyeballs and there’s no profit in “playing it safe”. The point is to get noticed.

Open Road Communications Ltd. are the Vancouver-based maker of social intranet software called ThoughtFarmer. The company derives 100% of its business from inbound leads to its website, with customer deals ranging from $10,000 to $200,000. The objective of their campaign was to boost the number of sales leads. They used a blog, targeted at IT workers and managers. It was funny, at least for IT professionals. And for $7,000 for an outside firm to set it up, it worked.

“Of those visitors, we can see that 474 then proceeded to our website,” McGrath explains. “At our typical conversion rate, those 474 visitors will result in about one sale, at an average sale price of $30,000. Our sales this quarter shatter all previous records and are a 270% increase over the same quarter last year,” suggesting multiple sales from the campaign.

 

My latest rant on why most companies using Twitter and Facebook to build business without having a blog are wasting their time.

If Twitter and Facebook are gateways to your website where customers can learn more and conduct transactions (read: sales) and you’ve got nothing there, it’s kind of pointless. It’s sort of like having a real store with decent signage out front, but when people come in, there are no labels on anything and no way for people to easily sort through all of your products. Imagine a Best Buy where all of the electronics are out of their boxes and you need to consult a customer service rep every time you think you want something… if you can find one.