I run a copywriting company, so you’d think someone applying herein would take the time to spell check, but I’ve received some applications which make the spelling below seem downright sophisticated. Though sadly, none of my applicants have ever sent a headshot like this one….

Resimay

To hoom it mae cunsern,
I waunt to apply for the job what I saw in the paper.
I can Type realee quik wit one finggar and do sum a counting..
I think I am good on the phone and I no I am a pepole person,
Pepole really seam to respond
to me well. Certain men and all the ladies.
I no my spelling is not to good but fi nd that I Offen can get a job thru my persinalety.
My salerery is open so we can discus wat you want to pay me and wat you think that I am werth,

I can start emeditely.  Thank you in advanse fore yore anser.
hopifuly Yore best aplicant so farr.

Sinseerly,
BRIAN

PS : Because my resimay is a bit short – below is a pickture of me.

Employer’s response:

Dear Brian ,
It’s OK honey, we’ve got spell check.
See you Monday.

There’s a cool event happening in Montreal tomorrow night, which you should definitely check out if you’re in the marketing world, or are looking to get into it.

The people at Ometz have put together a panel of marketing industry experts, who will both speak about their experiences, and answer questions.  It’s a chance to meet Experts in PR, Brand Management and E-Commerce.   Hear about their firms, Industry trends, and how you can get noticed as a job seeker.

The Marketing Industry evening’s panel of speakers includes Andy Nulman (Just for Laughs ex CEO), Robert Hoppenheim (Vic Park), Derek Cassoff (McGill Alumni), Monika Dygut (La Senza), and  Glen Eisenberg (Precision Advertising).

For more info visit http://www.ometz.ca/event/marketing-industry-information-evening-832/

This past November, I was lucky enough to travel to Toronto to work with the amazing people at the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and be part of the Run for the Cure 2010 video. Despite my preference for remaining behind the camera, I’m very proud to have been a part of this video, and to speak up and share my story. You can see me featured in the video posted below:

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure is Canada’s largest single day, volunteer-led fundraising event dedicated to raising funds for breast cancer research, and education and awareness programs.

For more information, please visit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
You can also pre-register for the next run; October 3rd, 2010.

I got my H1N1 shot early because I’m asthmatic, which is the good news. As with every shot, there’s always the chance of some side effects. Well, I was one of the lucky ones who got some flu-like side effects, which would have been fine, except I’m asthmatic, and it went to my lungs. To make a long story short, I ended up in the hospital last week.

This is me all masked up, making my best really annoyed to be here face.

After a while, the venolin and o2 gave me some relief, and I was in a more friendly and playful mood. (I was also likely a bit high from all the ventolin.)

Then had to go on pretnizone, a steroid i affectionately refer to as the devil. It does excellent work, but it has unpleasant side effects. BLEH!

Despite my little ordeal, I’m feeling pretty lucky. My brother in law’s uncle got H1N1 and has been in the hospital on a respirator for 2 weeks. Now THAT is scary.

I’m still rather weak and wheezy, but getting better daily.

Social Media Revolution: Is social media a fad?

Revenue and profitability for an affiliate is heavily influenced by the affiliate programs with which you choose to partner. Top performing affiliates understand this correlation, and carefully weigh their business needs against an operator’s program before committing money and effort to promoting a brand.

Tip 1: Choose a Strong Brand
An overwhelming majority of affiliates join an affiliate program based on a brand’s reputation. The Income Access survey found that 88% of affiliates cited reputational factors as the most important factor in their decision to join a program. There are two influential factors that determine the strength of an iGaming brand: (1) the player-facing brand the affiliate program promotes and (2) the affiliate-facing side – the affiliate program itself. Savvy affiliates tend to evaluate each of these before entering into a business relationship with an operator through its affiliate program.

Tip 2: Choose a Brand that Fits your Business Model
The decision to actively promote an affiliate program should hinge on whether that program can meet the unique needs of your business model. The Income Access affiliate survey found that super-affiliates look for three criteria before choosing to promote a program: (1) reliable tracking software, (2) competitive commission structures, and (3) promotional materials.

Tip 3: Robust Tracking Software
As an affiliate, you rely on software to track your referrals, calculate your commissions, and provide transparent reporting that you can use to monitor campaign performance. So before actively promoting a program and investing in your relationship with a brand, it’s important that you ensure their affiliate software supports all these functions.

Affiliate marketing is all about tracking referrals from one party to another, so you want to ensure that software powering a program can provide tracking reports that meet your business needs. The Income Access survey found that higher earning affiliates were much more likely to compare reporting metrics across campaigns. Advanced tracking metrics can help increase earnings because affiliates can compare, analyze and better understand changes in campaign performance.

You should also ensure that the software includes the marketing tools that will help you both save time and optimise your campaigns. For instance, if you use PPC advertising, it will be important that the software is capable of tracking and reporting on players referred, deposits, revenues generated by each Adwords ad and which types of players are coming through on which keywords.

Tip 4: Competitive Commission Structures
To be competitive, commissions need to be lucrative and suited to specific products/promotions. For instance, while the Income Access survey found that over 90% of affiliates work often with revenue share, about 32% of affiliates used cost per action (CPA) and cost per click (CPC) commission structures. This is because many affiliates require a hybrid commission structure to support their business model.

Just as different incentive structures work better for promoting different products, every affiliate has their own promotional methods. Getting the most out your relationship with an affiliate program requires that commission structures are compatible with your business model and promotional needs.

Tip 5: Promotional Support
There are two sides to promotional support that an affiliate requires: creatives and the software tools to manage those creatives. In addition to new promotions, an affiliate program should provide up-to-date creatives. These will support you in effectively publicizing new player promotions, and regularly changing creatives will help combat the effects of banner-blindness.

Similarly, you should look into whether the software includes tools to help you geo-target users with relevant creative. For example, showing users from different countries banners that are in different languages, or feature different promotions is a great way to build your own brand’s reputation as a source of relevant information. That, in turn, helps with conversion rates.

When you join an affiliate program, you are entering into a business relationship that will have a direct impact on your earnings. Evaluating the brand and the resources it offers will allow you to choose the right affiliate program to partner with. After all, a brand that is in-tune with an affiliate’s own brand will complement that affiliate’s business and enforce the rapport of trust that affiliates build with their players, ensuring long-term profitability.

Facebook has agreed to let a third party advertisers use your posted pictures – without your permission.

Here’s how you can protect your files in 5 easy steps:

1. Click on SETTINGS up at the top where you see the Log out link.
2. Select PRIVACY. Then select NEWSFEEDS and WALL.
3. Next select the tab that reads FACEBOOK ADS.
4. There is a drop down box, select NO ONE.
5. Then SAVE your changes.

]]> http://www.bishinspeaks.com/protect-your-facebook-files-5-easy-steps/feed/ 4 http://www.bishinspeaks.com/cloudvertising-at-third-tuesday/ http://www.bishinspeaks.com/cloudvertising-at-third-tuesday/#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:48:53 +0000 Bishin http://bishinspeaks.com/?p=275 Last night was a special summer edition of Third Tuesday Montreal. There were three presentations, in the style of Pecha Kucha (20 slides, 20 second each, for a total of 6min 40sec) featuring CT Moore, Julien Smith and Sylvain Grand’Maison.

CT Moore is an old friend and colleague of mine – who also happens to be a fun and engaging  speaker – so I thought I’d pass on his presentation. The topic of his presentation was Cloudvertising: Social Media and the Future of Online Advertising, and it explored how social media will shape the way that online ads and marketing campaigns will be targeted.

This is the Ustream recording of the appearance, with the Powerpoint presentation below.



Cloudvertising: Social Media and the Future of Online Advertising
View more presentations from Ct Moore.
]]> http://www.bishinspeaks.com/cloudvertising-at-third-tuesday/feed/ 2 http://www.bishinspeaks.com/simmer-down-now/ http://www.bishinspeaks.com/simmer-down-now/#comments Mon, 04 May 2009 16:28:45 +0000 Bishin http://bishinspeaks.com/?p=207 Enough with the hysteria, people!

I can’t say I’m surprised when I see advertisements in which companies are trying to use the present economic climate to their advantage. I was expecting the onslaught of money saving ads, pushing of hybrid cars and changes in interest rates. But it’s getting laughable.

I was scrolling through my Google reader this week when the following paid advertisement popped up:



Come on! This has gotten downright hokey.

I can’t even imagine how advertisers are going to use the new Swine Flu to make money…

Swine Insurance?
Organic Pork Free clothing?
47 new recommended vaccines for your baby?
Pig repellent?

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