A number of months ago, the Vancouver coffee scene started buzzing when a local coffee giant traded insults with a customer who posted a negative comment on her coffee blog about her experience with his brew.

Unfortunately from a PR perspective, this argument went on, not behind closed doors as it may have in the past, but on the Internet in the presence of, well, everyone in the free world.

As a result, the coffee shop owner took more heat from blog readers for the verbal abuse he’d leveled at the amateur reviewer than he did for the supposed quality of his coffee (this coffee house has such a loyal following that I doubt one poor review could hurt business).

In an age where Web 2.0 technologies have broken down geographical and economic barriers, encouraging instantaneous, unidirectional communication among strangers who never meet face to face, it’s no surprise that discussions online can become heated faster than a professional espresso machine can steam milk. Nonetheless, this particular coffee shop owner can be applauded for one thing: he joined in the conversation.

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I often write website copy for entrepreneurs in the start-up phase — folks with tight budgets and DIY attitudes.

This market is interesting because usually these guys and gals are not trained marketers. Therefore, though they generally understand the need for a professional website designed to sell, they’re not always aware of the level of skill it takes to develop website copy that effectively promotes their products and services.

As a result, as their businesses morph and they quickly find themselves with professionally developed websites that no longer reflect their current venture, they frantically try to keep up on their own, re-writing some of their website copy themselves. They’ll remove a phrase here and add a sentence there, assuming it won’t make a difference.  Read more...

“Are you on Facebook?” This, coming from a colleague I bumped into in the street. I had asked for his contact information, to set a date to talk business over coffee.

I admit this particular social networking website has yet to draw me in, even though I get one or two emails a week saying I’ve been added as a ‘friend’. That said, I do recognize the value in this form of communication (which sits under the umbrella of ‘social media’). A quick search of Facebook produces a number of well-known retailers who have caught the bug — Target, Martha Stewart, and Starbucks all have pages on the site. This clearly indicates that there are, at the least, branding opportunities to be had there.

But what if you’re a smaller retailer? Are social media applications like Facebook relevant to your business? Read more...