Erin Bury's random musings

Whether you’re ready or not, Christmas is coming. It’s is my absolutely most favourite holiday in the world, and I think I have more Christmas cheer than Elf and the Grinch (after his heart explodes) times ten. I love the music, holiday parties, and the atmosphere in the malls (not the lineups). But more than that I love buying gifts for people. So last week Kevin and I were sitting around talking about what we each wanted for Christmas. Last year I got him Xbox Kinect; he’s used it approximately three times. Before that I got him Rock Band (he claimed it would be good for parties), it’s now in my parents’ basement gathering dust. 

That’s when I realized that we don’t need any more things (mom, if you’re reading this, I still need a new vacuum cleaner). We’re in the generation that’s always pining for the newest, best, shiniest thing, and sometimes it’s good to sit back and realize how lucky we already are, and that if I put one more dress in my closet it might spit it back out at me. So when The Heart and Stroke Foundation approached me to help promote their Calendar Lottery with the Pay it Forward campaign I thought it fit in perfectly with my desire to forego the material for the charitable this holiday season.

They’re launching their Calendar Lottery again this year - the calendars are only $25 each or 3 for $70, and 100% of the net proceeds help fund life-saving Heart and Stroke foundation research. You have a chance to win three daily cash prizes of $5,000 all year long, while supporting heart disease. It’s a cause that affects 1 in 3 Canadians, and a cause close to my…well, you know. Heart disease and stroke is also the number one killer of women, taking more women than all cancers combined. 

The idea behind the campaign is if you get a calendar you give a calendar and pass it on. It really is the gift that keeps on giving! Oh and the calendar features photographs taken by 12 amateur photographers from across Ontario, so you’ll actually want to hang it on your wall. I have five sets of two calendars to give away - one for you, and one for someone you think deserves to have their day brightened, or someone who has touched your life in some way. To enter the contest either send a Tweet with @theHSF & #Giftandwin (with my Twitter name @erinbury at the end so I see it) or leave a comment on this blog post telling me who you would Pay It Forward to with a calendar if you won, and why.

For anyone who doesn’t win a calendar, and even if you do, consider supporting The Heart and Stroke Calendar Lottery further by buying a calendar at heartandstroke.ca/calendar. And since I know you want to help support The Heart and Stroke Foundation raise as much as they can this holiday season, help get the word out about the “Pay it Forward” campaign by Tweeting using @theHSF and the #GiftAndWin hashtag. You can also support them on Facebook. 

And for the record, Kevin and I have decided to donate to several charities and spend time volunteering in December instead of giving each other gifts. Hey, if the Heart and Stroke Foundation can pay it forward, so can we. 

*Note - all winners must be residents of Ontario.

There are certain brands you just grow up with. Barbies and Disney come to mind, but usually coffee companies do not. But for me, one of my fondest childhood memories was taking my dog Shadow for a walk with my dad, a Tim Hortons coffee in hand. No, it wasn’t my coffee (kids can’t have coffee silly) but rather my dad’s candy-like concoction with four creams, three sugars. Back then I thought all coffee tasted like dessert - boy was I in for a shock when I tasted a black cup of coffee…and I still have to have it with copious amounts of milk and sweetener, the slightly healthier alternative to my dad’s favourite.

Now that I’m older I think it’s only appropriate that I’ve remained fiercely loyal to Tim Hortons. After all, it’s Canada’s brand, as patriotic as beavers or Bieber. I used to go to Tim Hortons after the bar when I was home from university for late-night sandwiches (it was the only place open late in our small town); I once ate nine Timbits in a sitting before I realized just because they’re small doesn’t mean they’re zero calories; and I regularly grab an extra-large coffee on the way to work. I defend against people who say Starbacks, or as I call it “tar,” is better, and I regularly try their new menu items - and yes, the lasagna is good. I promise. 

So when Tim Hortons approached me (little old me! Fan since I was seven years old!) to hold a contest promoting their new specialty coffees I was excited. I was more than excited actually…in a sad and likely misguided way I feel an executive at the company has been following my loyalty over the years and is now finally creating the role of “Official Timbit Tester” just for me, and this is my first initiation into the company. 

But back to the specialty coffees. They’ve added lattes, mocha lattes and cappuccinos made with premium espresso starting at $2, available now in Ontario and December in the rest of Canada. You can also get shots of espresso (I’m looking at you entrepreneurs who are addicted to caffeine), tea lattes, flavoured lattes, and flavoured latte supremes.

The best part is, I have two $25 Tim’s gift cards to give away, and I want you to win one. Since it’s my contest on my blog, I’m not doing a random draw. No way, I’m making it more interesting. I want you to tell me your favourite Timbit/donut flavour in the comments, along with the new specialty beverage you most want to try. The first two people to list the same fave donut flavour as me win. Unless you are related to me or live with me, in which case you are disqualified for having inside intel. Hopefully you have good taste…and good luck!

Also, since I know you’re all huge Tim Hortons fans like me and Tweet about them on a weekly basis, they have a new official @TimHortons Twitter account. Follow them and they’ll DM you a Timbit…okay maybe not, but a girl can dream.

*I learned a great Tim Hortons fact today: it serves eight of every 10 cups of coffee sold at quick service restaurants in Canada, and two billion cups of coffee a year in North America. 

**No, I wasn’t paid to write this post. I just really, REALLY love Tim Hortons. 

In the past few years it’s become a necessity for small businesses to use online tools for their business, regardless of whether it’s a web-based company or not. Social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and blogging have become the new pillars of a company’s marketing plan, supplementing or even replacing traditional marketing channels like direct mail.Today, your company is judged more on its website or reviews on sites like Yelp and Google Places than on your advertising efforts.

Your company probably already has a Twitter account, a Facebook Page, and a blog (and if not, what are you waiting for?). But those aren’t the only tools that will amp up your marketing plan and keep you on top of online trends. And it’s not all about marketing – it’s about optimizing your website and making sure your customers have a streamlined purchase process. Here are a few sites and tools you should be using that can make your online efforts more effective, and some suggestions on how to make them work for your business:

Instagram – Sure, you’ve heard of Flickr, and you probably shared photos of your last vacation on Facebook. But the newest trend in photos is real-time sharing. Instead of snapping a photo, uploading it to your computer and posting it to your social sites, app Instagram lets you do it all in one fell swoop. Available on the iPhone, you can snap a photo, add filters and immediately cross-post to Facebook, Twitter, your blog, etc. The app also has social features – you can follow other users and like/comment on their photos. If you have a product with a great visual, or you just want to share pictures of life around the office, Instagram is a great way to do it quickly and easily. 

99Designs – When you’re first starting your business, you can’t always afford to have a web or graphic designer on staff. But it’s important to have a well-designed logo and website – no 90’s style graphics allowed. That’s where 99Designs comes in. It’s a crowdsourced design marketplace that connects you with designers around the globe for affordable design services. You can use 99Designs to source designs for print and packaging, Wordpress themes, web design, logo design, banner ads, and more. It’s an affordable way to get custom designs for your website, blogs, or social profiles without hiring someone full-time or on contract.

Unbounce – You probably have Google Analytics installed on your website to track your visitors – where they come from, how long they stay, and the bounce rate (how many visitors immediately leave). If you’re looking to increase your conversions, Unbounce is a DIY landing page platform that can help you create, publish and optimize landing pages. Whether you’re looking to A/B test your homepage or create pages for specific campaigns, Unbounce provides a template that allows even the most non-tech savvy business owner to create landing pages in minutes. It provides analytics so you can track campaigns, and plans start at $25/month. 

Square – The idea for Square came from watching an artisan turn away a customer because he wasn’t able to accept credit cards. The Square Card reader allows anyone to accept credit card payments on their iPhone. The reader and application are free, and it charges a 2.75% fee per swipe for all credit cards. While it’s not a marketing tool, it does mean that you can accept payments for your products wherever you are – conferences, the bus, walking down the street – using only the application and reader. The tool isn’t available in Canada yet but will be shortly - until then, Payfirma is a great Canadian alternative. 

Marketing your small business is important, but so is making sure your website and purchase process are streamlined and effective. These online tools will make sure that you’re a leader, not a follower, when it comes to adopting online tools for your business.

This post is brought to you by American Express Canada. Check out their new Amex for Business Canada Page here and stay tuned to catch the finalist stories in the Take Off with American Express contest.