As reported on CBC.ca, as Canadian live longer and face tougher financial choices in their golden years, fewer than a third of respondents in a new survey plan to be fully retired by 66.

Sun Life Financial's annual Unretirement Index poll, released Wednesday, found that only about three in 10 Canadians surveyed said they plan full retirement at that age.

To read this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xoKBqA

Rebecca Corliss has written an excellent Blog on Hubspot.com discussing B2B options using Pininterest.

Here is a link to her Bog. I highly recommend any b2b business manager or owner to read:

http://bit.ly/zq2UTe

As published in the Washington Post, in this economy, more and more companies are re-evaluating their current IT infrastructure and going back to basics to cut costs and save energy.

Even though technology is fast and ever changing, CEOs, CIOs and IT managers need to ensure their companies are technologically efficient in addition to being technologically advanced. Lack of energy efficiency costs U.S. companies more than $28 billion annually, according to a report conducted by 1E and the Alliance to Save Energy, a non-profit organization that promotes worldwide energy efficiency to achieve a healthier economy.

Companies could save millions of dollars by instituting a few, easy-to-implement energy fundamentals.

To read some tips to save your business more money, click on the link below:

http://wapo.st/yhFP8Q

Search engines like Google traditionally rewarded sites that were linked to by other trusted sources. The idea being that the more times a page or site is linked to , the more likely it is that the community considers that page an authority. Link building through social media provides your brand and your site with references and authority in much the same way, social media allows people instead of only websites to effectively vote for valuable content. Their tweets, Likes and shares provide trusted signals to search engines saying that this is a good website or page.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/zd6RMJ

Good news for those small businesses eager to try and find another way of being a part of the the social media collective. Last Friday, Twitter announced that they’re rolling out a new advertising solution that will help make it easier for businesses to set up an account on their own and amplify their messages on the social network.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/wGzvx9

As reported in the Calgary Herald, How do you maintain your privacy online?

It's a big question this week, thanks to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews and the outpouring of opposition to the federal government's proposed law, which would give police the power to obtain subscriber information from Internet service providers without first getting a court order.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/wQq9XF

A study by the Chartered Institute of Marketing revealed that out of nearly 1,000 marketers surveyed, a third reported that social media was not effective at all.

The research reveals that large businesses were not using social media on a daily basis, suggesting that many businesses are unaware how social media works and how to leverage it in order to see positive return on time and investment.

To read more of this article by Computer Business Review, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/AsgtDN

As reported on BusinessInsider.com, social networks have made advice easier than ever to get. Every survey suggests these opinions are trusted far more than brand messages. All this is dramatically altering consumer behavior. More than 75% of consumers now say they ask their friends before making purchase decisions. Market power continues to inexorably transfer to consumers, just as they are irrevocably changing the way they make decisions.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://read.bi/zwTzVp

As reported by Marketing Week, because more brands are turning to the social media space, convinced that it can yield a cost-effective return on investment, the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) has undertaken a major benchmarking study, with the aim of helping marketers to measure their campaign’s success against its industry standard.

To read this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xMn90V

As reported by Mashable.com, marketers creating campaigns centered on hashtags need to be cautious. Hashtags can easily turn into flashing targets that scream, “Hijack this brand!” In the past few weeks, McDonald’s launched a hashtag campaign that was promptly hamburgled, and then Research In Motion’s #BeBold campaign was similarly brandjacked.

Fortunately, there’s a way to avoid these types of situations. Hashtag campaigns happen all the time without any press coverage, usually because there’s no horror story. Here are nine ways to prevent your brand from winding up in a story about social media mishaps.

To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:

http://on.mash.to/wz9xnW

As reported by AdAge.com, Apple is once again slashing the minimum amount it charges advertisers to run a campaign on its iAd mobile ad system and boosting the amount it pays mobile app developers, Ad Age has learned.

Advertisers will now have to spend just $100,000 for Apple mobile campaigns running in iPhone and iPad apps, down from a previous $500,000 threshold and a significant reduction from the initial starting price of $1 million in 2010, when Steve Jobs unveiled Apple's first ad product.

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xZYMbT

I ran across a Blog by Mike Thimmesch of TheCustomerCollective.com about what it takes to be a good host while working your booth at a tradeshow.

Mike’s Blog got me thinking. You see, I am a sales & marketing consultant to the trade show industry and I have seen both good and bad exhibitors at my shows. I find the ones that complain the most are the ones who just show up, sit down while talking to prospects and are more interested when the show will be over for the day. These complainers tend to not do pre-show marketing or planning not any follow up after the show.

To be successful at your next show, treat it like you would for a one-on-one meeting with your best client. For some more tips, click on the link below to read Mike’s Blog:

http://bit.ly/ziBkZu

Canadian Business has an interesting article quoting a survey by the Certified General Accountants Survey of small business owners. 26% claim to have had some sort of internal fraud committed against their business. I would suspect that the majority of this would be inflated expense claims.

Does your business have procedures in place to prevent internal fraud? If so, let us know what safeguards are in place.

To read this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/wGiSMF

As reported in the Globe & Mail, Statistics Canada is planning to change the way they calculate the Consumer’s Price Index (CPI). While most Canadian’s don’t even know what CPI is, they should. These changes will affect many things such as CPP and more which directly hits a Canadian pocketbook.

To read this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xORMaT

As a person who consults to the tradeshow industry, my clients and I have been incorporating social media more and more into our marketing efforts before, during and post show. We also see many of our exhibiting clients signing up with Twitter and Facebook accounts. These progressive exhibiting companies are realizing the benefits on incorporating social media into their exhibit marketing efforts.

I ran across this Blog by Kevin Miller of the Frost Miller Group who discusses this very topic. To read Kevin’s Blog, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xdaIAP

As reported on Reuters.com, since online advertising is expected to be number one by 2016, major news organizations such as CNN, New York Times and others are having a hard time converting their traditional advertising clients to the web.

To read this article, click on the link below:

http://reut.rs/ACEWTj

Chloe Morrison has written an interesting article on Nooga.com discussing some non-traditional marketing strategies that businesses are trying. Consumers are bombarded with thousands of ads a day, so trying to “stand-out” takes innovation and strategy.

To read this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/y8bzVV

In Todd Hirsch’s article on Business2Community.com, he makes a great point that inbound marketing to a business website is very important for all businesses. I do disagree with him that his assessment that tradeshows are on the way out. I personally believe that the best way to market your business is by face-to-face events like a tradeshow, conference or any other networking events. A good website and a good plan for a tradeshow go hand-in-hand.

To read Todd’s article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/yjtTr8

As reported on BusinessMirror.com, BRICs and sports will help global advertising revenues to grow in 2012, according to an updated report by MAGNAGLOBAL, a division of IPG Mediabrands. The study furnished this columnist revealed media owners’ revenue growth for 2012 to be slower than previously projected, but still resilient.

For 2012, media owners’ advertising revenues is forecasted to grow by 5.0 percent to $449 billion, 1.5 percent below last year (6.5 percent).

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xpTobl

As a sales manager, do you sometimes find it frustrating to motivate your team? If so, these tips may help you get over that frustration.

To read these tips, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xxIq8y

An excellent article by Peter Novak in Canadian Business discusses Bell Canada’s recent “Cause” marketing campaign called “Let’s Talk” which discusses mental health issues and awareness in Canada.

Many of us have been personally touched by someone in our lives with a mental illness. Does Bell Canada really care or are they in it for the profit?

To read this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/AarVFV

As a Canadian business person, I was proud that a Canadian company, RIM became a market leader in wireless- mobile technology. However, it is the dramatic fall of RIM and their headline product – Blackberry over the past year that everyone is talking about. Did it have to be this way? No. What are the lessons we as business people can learn from the RIM downfall?

Mashable.com has an excellent article on the lessons learned. To read, click on the link below:

http://on.mash.to/zi064P

Global financial uncertainty and slowing job creation made Canadians feel less optimistic about the economy last month, according to a Royal Bank of Canada survey.

Less than a third - 32 percent - of Canadians felt positive about the outlook for the economy over the next year, down from 43 percent in January 2011, and from the 56 percent who were positive two years ago, the poll showed.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://reut.rs/xqIJs9

The over-hyped Groupon IPO in my opinion is not off to a fantastic start after reporting a quarterly loss despite pending over $157 million on marketing.

To read more on this AdAge.com article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xtXaEq

The Globe & Mail has an interesting article today that discusses the lack of skilled workers are stopping Canadian companies from growth.

I can attest that that is the case in Alberta where I happen to live. If you are a welder, pipe fitter, heavy machine operator or any other person that has a trade certificate, you have your pick of jobs right now.

To read this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/yVTbS0

It is not surprising that Canadians are moving in droves to Western Canada where the economy is stronger and jobs are much more plentiful. After all, I made the big move to Alberta in 2001!

To read more of this article in the Winnipeg Free Press, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xUcusu

As a professional advertising sales person since 1989, I knew the day would come when online advertising spending would outpace print advertising. I suspect this to be the norm from 2012 moving forward.

To read this Blog by Larry Bodine, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/witt1i

I recommend that every small business to set up a business page on FaceBook. I have three of them for my homeowner websites businesses:

AlbertaHomeOwner - http://www.facebook.com/AlbertaHomeOwner

BCHomeOwner - http://www.facebook.com/BChomeOwner

OntarioHomeOwner - http://www.facebook.com/OntarioHomeOwner

The price is certainly right and some are even saying that the price is too cheap.

Check out this article on TheStreet.com:

http://bit.ly/y9iH6p

As reported in the Business Standard, cannot resist your urge to tweet or check emails? Don't get surprised, as a new study has found that checking email and social media is more addictive than cigarettes and alcohol.

US researchers who carried out an experiment to test the will power of 205 people, aged 18 to 85, in the German city of Wurtzburg found that most of them were more likely to give in to urge to tweet or check email than other cravings like drinking or smoking.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/wx5Do7

IT World has posted 8 CRM trends to watch. It is interesting how CRM technology is evolving and helping sales professionals like me easier access to client information which makes our job more efficient.

To read, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/wPJPX4

As reported on OyeTimes.com, what is up with the Canadian economy? We have been told since 2008 that Canada has been in good shape compared to the rest of the word. However a recent online poll conducted by the Economic Club of Canada may tell a different story.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/A7s5eo

As reported in the Miami Herald, why pay to advertise on Facebook when you can create a page for your small business at no cost?

That’s the question that a small business owner and avid BizBytes 101 reader asked recently. To find the answer, BizBytes turned to Jennifer Batchelor, social media strategist at Miami-based Zubi Advertising.

To read this Q&A session, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/A6WvHd

There are a number of ways for a brand to participate and engage with active, watchful communities which allow the acknowledgment of organized concurrence through retweet and answer. Brand pages on other social media platforms are not about the brand, but about branding. Twitter's distinction offers a mix of solutions to be manipulated for the brand experience.

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

 http://bit.ly/ybSnv1

These days, every business needs to utilize the power of social media in order to compete successfully. The huge popularity of social sites has made them a superior way to connect with customers and to network with others in your field or industry.

There are lots of businesses and individuals who are struggling with how to incorporate Social Media and it can all turn into a big mess very quickly if it is not set up and maintained professionally and efficiently.

Whether you outsource your social media management or manage it in-house, in order to have the best success, planning your strategy carefully, and documenting it, is key.

Below are seven essential framework components for an effective social media marketing strategy.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xpTVXJ

There are a lot of sales management teams that struggle with the idea of cold calling and may hesitate to adopt this method as part of their sales process. I often get asked whether I think it is viable in the modern world.

To this question I answer, "absolutely, without question." It is just a matter of the manner in which you carry out the cold calls. I think that is really critical to determining whether or not to adopt this process, as you cannot approach all cold calling in the same way. The days of the sales rep cold calling in an old-school kind of way, whether it is heavy-handed, manipulative or high-pressure oriented, don't work in the modern business world.

To read more of the Blog, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xH79JS

In reality, CRM is a discipline, and CRM software is the tool you use to scale that discipline up and automate its data management aspects. It's a tool. Use it right and find success. Use it wrong and you might as well be pounding on your engine block with a hammer.

CRM applications are generally not the sources of the problem -- it's those pesky humans, who have remarkably unfettered imaginations when it comes to finding ways to misuse or underutilize their CRM applications. Here are three recurring misuses of CRM that are head-slappingly common.

To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xcMyxm

Lisa Apolinski in San Diego has penned a Blog on the habits of a good trade show manager. I am quite sure I possess each one of them!

To read this Blog, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/yD5PNN

As reported in Canadian Business, Yellow Media (TSX:YLO) says it will keep its Canpages online phone directory business but streamline its print operations and cut jobs as it continues to focus on Internet services.

"From an online and mobile perspective, the Canpages brand will continue to exist," Anne-Sophie Roy, with Yellow Media's investor relations department, said in an interview Wednesday.

Roy wouldn't say how many jobs will be lost or which of the city directories Canpages publishes across Canada will be eliminated as the Montreal company's Yellow Pages directory becomes its dominant print directory.

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xpYqzs

As reported on Info World, Salesforce.com will include some new analytics capabilities at no additional cost with the Enterprise and Unlimited editions of its CRM (customer relationship management) software, following complaints from customers who argued that the features should have been used to fill long-standing gaps in the products' core functionality, not sold separately.

Salesforce.com Chief Operating Officer George Hu announced the change in a blog post due to be posted late Tuesday.

"We got it wrong, and we sincerely apologize to our customers," he wrote. While Salesforce.com initially considered the analytics capabilities to be an entirely new product, "feedback from customers clearly show they view these features as enhancements to our current functionality."

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xLs4WR

As reported in the Financial Times, in terms of the progress of its business, Facebook’s figures suggest that its advertising base has yet to develop as far as many of its supporters had hoped – though it has already achieved strong profitability.

At $3.71bn last year, its revenues were below the $4bn-$4.5bn range anticipated by most analysts. Nevertheless, it represented growth of 88 per cent from a year before, with advertising income growing at a slower 69 per cent and higher growth from the payments and other revenues that now account for 15 per cent of revenues.

To read this article, click on the link below:

http://on.ft.com/xoH43D

As reported in Canadian Business, the Canadian economy appears to be on a long-term trend toward less dependence on the United States, according to a new study by TD Economics.

The study, released Wednesday, found that Canada's economic reliance on the U.S. in terms of share of exports and GDP has dropped steadily over the last decade.

To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xVTvoY

The world is full of people trying to tweet, like and link their way to prosperity. Years from now, we'll all look back at how much time everyone wasted trying to get ahead with social media and think, that was a real "fools rush in" moment.

In case you don't get the reference, it means this: nobody ever got anywhere by doing what everyone else is doing. Nobody. And that includes you.

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/wIU1lb

2012 seems to be the year of Content Marketing. It’s everywhere. When you have global organizations such as Coca Cola committing their strategic and marketing resources to content marketing, it’s a significant enough shift to warrant a deeper look. To me, it seemed like a repackaging of the term “Social Media Marketing”, so I thought to investigate and share some of those findings here.

Content Marketing is a fairly recent term used to describe “the creation and sharing of content in order to engage current and potential consumer bases”, which is really just a lofty way to say intelligent content development.

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/xh2miW

Although nearly one-half (48 per cent) of Canadian CEOs believe the global economy will decline even further in the next 12 months, they are optimistic about growth for 2012, according to a survey by PwC.

Canadian CEOs believe their organizations have been less affected by global turmoil than leaders in other countries. For instance, while the sovereign debt crisis was cited as the key global issue to affect Canadian businesses, 38 per cent of the 130 Canadian CEOs surveyed said the crisis had an impact on their operations this year, compared to 56 per cent of the 1,258 CEOs polled worldwide.

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/wAMMbV

A whopping 96 percent of Google‘s $37.9 billion 2011 revenue came from advertising, but who is putting all that cash in Google’s wallet?

Google is best known for its web search product, which has completely overturned how we research and find answers. But the search itself is only the basis upon which its golden empire has been built. Advertising based on search, as well as banner advertising on websites touches nearly every industry. It even created the jobs of the search engine and display marketers, whose responsibilities include understanding Google AdWords and Adsense, as well as navigating the strategy behind bidding and maintaining ad campaigns.

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/yGWnlS

For so many years, despite all the radio friendly stats Arbitron throws out stating the number of radios per household, the percentage of people who listen to radio and consumers listen through long stopsets none of those statistics have helped radio increase (as an industry) its revenue share with advertisers. For what seems like decades, radio has only been able to muster up about 7% of an advertiser's budget.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/AsQZUp

As reported in IT World Canada, Salesforce.com customers are sounding off about the fact that an upcoming Analytics Edition of the CRM (customer relationship management) software will have an additional price tag, saying that the functionality it includes should be part of their base subscriptions.

The company announced Analytics Edition, which will be part of its Spring 2012 release, last year. Analytics Edition will include several capabilities, such as joined reports, data "bucketing" and cross-filtering, according to an official blog post written in December.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/zVSlsK

For small to midsized businesses, just 18 to 24 months ago, mobile extension of IT tools was still considered an extra, even a luxury, due to its complexities and costs. Today, the emergence of tablets and advanced handheld devices, apps aplenty, and technologies like HTML5 that offer integrated solutions has changed all that and 75% of U.S. small and midsize businesses are planning to purchase tablets in the next 12 months. Mobility is no longer just an option –it’s a must-have.

To read more of this blog, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/wJaa42

The Super Bowl has always been a social event, but during this year's battle pitting the New York Giants against the New England Patriots, getting social will happen on screens and the sofa.

Analysts say this year is a turning point for social media's incorporation into the biggest mass-media event of the year, and advertisers are taking note. 

"The trend in social media with the Super Bowl has been building over the past two or three years," said Tim Calkins, professor of marketing at Northwestern University. "This year, we're really seeing it go to a totally new level where marketers are making social networking a core part of their Super Bowl efforts." 

Glen Gilmore, a social media strategist and professor of digital marketing at Rutgers University, said companies have begun to realize that social networks aren't just for kids anymore. "There's a recognition among big businesses that social media is the new marketplace that they've got to be part of the conversation." 

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

http://on.msnbc.com/yWSflC

Small-business budgets are tight, and executives are scrutinizing marketing budgets like never before. As proof of their value, marketing teams have traditionally pointed to successes like how website page views have grown by 200% in the past month, or how campaign response rates increased from 3% to 8% last quarter.

Those metrics might look good on paper, but do they matter to the business?

To read the rest of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/yvtu3J

Attending trade shows and marketing events are an investment into your company. You want to make sure that you are getting as much as you possibly can from the experience. Instead of going to the trade show hoping it will generate some additional business for your company, you should set very clear goals for yourself.

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/yLuuLa

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has signalled his government will bring forward “major transformations” to the country in the coming months — in areas such as the retirement pension system, immigration, science and technology investment and the energy sector.

Of those reforms, Harper said, getting a grip on slowing the rising costs of the country’s pension system is particularly critical.

In the wake of Harper’s speech, it now appears that the Conservative government could be poised to gradually change the Old Age Security system so that the age of eligibility is raised to 67 from 65.

To read more, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/Ae8qhL

The Canadian index of leading economic indicators was up 0.8 per cent during December 2011, according to Statistics Canada. 

The rise in the authoritative index, which measures government expenditure, domestic demand and exports, among other indicators of economic health, follows a 0.9% increase in November.

The December increase exceeded forecasts made by economists that the Canadian Composite Leading Indicators Index would increase by 0.6 per cent, showing the strength of the Canadian economy.

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/wKad6C

As reported in the Toronto Standard, Over the last four centuries, Canada’s entrepreneurs have helped to drive our economy forward, but how many of us can actually name who these individuals are or what they did?  

In a new book, Canada’s Entrepreneurs: From the Fur Trade to the 1929 Stock Market Crash, editors J. Andrew Ross and Andrew D. Smith, provide a stimulating overview on the history of Canadian entrepreneurship. We talk to postdoctoral fellow at the University of Guelph, J. Andrew Ross, about some of the characters that have shaped Canadian business.

To read more of this article, click on the link below:

http://bit.ly/wzDwqa