Merry Christmas from RQ!

We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with your loved ones!

RQ sponsors Makami College graduation ceremony

RQ was a proud corporate sponsor for Makami College massage therapy graduates during their ceremony on November 16, 2012. "These grads have worked so hard and it's unfortunate that many of them can't afford even the price of their graduation tickets," says Zelisko, who attended the event at the Fairmont Hotel McDonald. The evening included dinner, a full ceremony and dancing afterwards. "It was a really great feeling to be able to help these grads out - we wish them all the best in their careers as massage therapists!"

RQ creates helpful HR publication on Succession Planning

Here's our partner Kamea Zelisko with one of the latest HR publications from the Government of Alberta. We are very proud to say RQ researched, wrote and designed this magazine which will undoubtedly help businesses of all sizes get started in their Succession Planning efforts. It offers some great info and useful tips. If you'd like to see more download Succession Planning: Retaining Skills and Knowledge in Your Workforce.

Top 4 marketing tips from the 2012 presidential debate

By Kamea Zelisko

I’m not going to lie – as a marketing/communications professional I’m a bit jaded. I see marketing in everything – from the food I buy at the supermarket to the current Gagnam Style music/dance fad.

But at no point in time were my marketing ears more perked than during America’s first 2012 presidential debate. While many of us want to believe the candidates at the event were just speaking from the heart, the reality is they have probably the world’s best crack team of public relations/marketing professionals behind them. So I figure why not take this opportunity to learn from them? With that, here are some of the main marketing tips you can take away from the 2012 presidential debate:

1. Key messaging. In public relations and marketing it’s crucial to know what your key messages are and how to effectively communicate them to your audience. Both of the candidates related their key messages well. Mitt Romney’s was “Create Jobs,” while Obama’s was “Balanced Approach.” While you may not know these are called key messages, you know that’s the overall feeling you got from their debate points, right? Well, that’s the point of key messages. But I have to say, all politics aside, Romney did a better job at pushing his key message, at times just adding the words “create jobs” when it wasn’t even appropriate to the topic (i.e. when discussing housing). Understand your target market, find out what key messages they respond to and just repeat them as many times as possible (without being too redundant) in your public relations and marketing efforts.
2. The psychology behind PR/marketing. Did you see the way Romney smiled (also referred to as the “debate smile” by www.urbandictionary.com)? How about the way Obama appeared to speak thoughtfully by slowing down his speech? These and more are all part of PR/marketing. Marketing is selling, and selling includes creating a great first impression in all you do. That includes body language, facial expressions, tone of your voice and your messaging. Understand the psychology behind your target market and adjust all your public relations and marketing efforts (e.g. sales pitches, website content, advertising, etc.) accordingly.
3. Know your facts. The last thing you want to do is look like you don’t know what you’re talking about when selling or pitching to your clients. During the presidential debate both candidates were able to conjure up important facts and numbers to reinforce their points. Take the time to know as much about your industry as you possibly can so you’re prepared to relay those facts to your clients when the time comes. This is an ongoing process as things constantly evolve, and although it can be time consuming it’s time well spent. I recommend putting aside a few hours a week to read news articles, etc. so you can stay caught up on the latest in your industry.
4. Be confident. No one wants to work with someone who seems unsure of what he or she is doing. Did you see the way the candidates spoke to each other? The air of charisma and leadership they put forward? Try to emulate that yourself. Remember, you are an expert in your field – if you weren’t you wouldn’t have gotten this far in your career. Take your experience and education and put your best foot forward in your public relations and marketing efforts!

RQ Creates helpful videos for job seekers

RQ was on location yesterday at the Alberta Government's Make the Most of Your Future bootcamp. We shot some informative videos for the Careers in Oil and Gas Online Career Fair to be held on October 16 &17. 

Why Use YouTube for Marketing?

*This is part 5 in an 8-series blog about social media marketing. Visit our YouTube Channel to see related vlogs and more.

By Kamea Zelisko

In a world where everyone wants information as quickly and efficiently as possible, YouTube is a perfect fit.

Want to know how to change a tire? Go to YouTube. Want to know how to fry up the perfect steak? Yup, YouTube. This video sharing platform is even becoming an increasingly popular place to get the news.

YouTube is the second most popular search engine by Google, getting over 80 million visitors per month.

When you think about it, that number of visitors shouldn’t really be surprising. I mean, when you’re scrolling through your Google or Facebook newsfeed what’s going to catch your eye more? Boring text or an interesting visual such as a photo or video? Most people in this day and age pass plain text by, and they will pass by your content too if you don’t make it visually engaging.

Since YouTube was bought by Google in 2006 the benefit of using it to promote your business online is even more powerful, because if you have a video on your website you’re automatically bumped up in Google’s search results.

There are many other benefits to using YouTube for marketing. Here are a few of them along with some tips on how to make the most of this platform:

1.              Become an expert: Informational and how-to videos about your company’s products or services can be a great way to help build your reputation as an expert in your field. They key here is not to directly try and sell your products or services, but to inform your audience about what it is you do. In other words, sell them on you, not your company.

2.              Cross platform promotion: Once uploaded on to YouTube, your videos can be easily shared to other online platforms, including your website, blog Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. It’s a great way to cross promote your company and different social media platforms and distribute your videos to more websites. Just remember to ALWAYS include your contact info on your YouTube Channel and at the bottom of each video you post so people know how to find your products and services!

3.              Build Community. I’ve spoken about this before and the same thing goes for YouTube – social media is all about building online communities. Posting your video on places such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or MySpace can create conversations and build relationships on your different platforms, which can turn into business relationships in the future. Just remember not to push your product or service on your trusted network. After all, they always have the option of deleting you as a contact.

Kamea Zelisko is a marketing expert with Red Queen Creative Group. For more information visit http://www.redqueencreative.com.

RQ helps support Edmonton Food Bank

RQ Creative's Kamea Zelisko was at the Heritage Days Festival all this long weekend supporting Makami College as they offered free seated massages to all the participants in an effort to help raise funds for the Edmonton Food Bank. "This is such a fun event," says Zelisko, who shot some event videos for the massage therapy school. "I absolutely love this festival, it's so great, and these massages are so nice for all the attendees - they get to relax while helping those who need it in Edmonton, what could be better than that?"

The difference between Facebook and Twitter

By Kamea Zelisko

 *This is part 4 in an 8-series blog about social media marketing. Visit our YouTube Channel to see related blogs and more.

There are a lot of online social media platforms to choose from these days, and it can be a little overwhelming to know which ones to use when and why. So in this blog we will discuss the difference between the different social media platforms and how they can be used more effectively.

While Facebook and Twitter are easily the most widely used social media platforms they are very different in their purpose and use. Here are some ways they differ:

·      Facebook is used mainly for entertainment in the form of social networking, while Twitter is a micro-blogging site consisting of short, informative posts connecting companies and organizations, usually by including links.

·      While Facebook is used more for personal, long term connections, Twitter is more for real-time conversation, and is much more detached. If you want the latest news updates, go to Twitter. If you’re looking to get into a conversation about a news piece, go to Facebook.

So how do you make the most of these two very different platforms? Well, by using them for what they do best.

Many people will advocate using applications such as Seesmic (formerly ping.fm) or Tweetdeck to post the same status to multiple accounts simultaneously. While this tool can be used in certain cases, and we will discuss those in a future blog, it’s best not to use it for Twitter and Facebook for the most part. Here are some reasons why:

·      Mass posts such as these can appear to some to be spam. They don’t take a lot of time or thought and it shows.

·      On Facebook you have the luxury of more characters and if you post directly links appear as thumbnails that attract more attention. For example, your Facebook network is probably made up of a lot of friends, coworkers, etc. While your Twitter is mostly made up of people you have never met. These two audiences deserve to be addressed in different ways.

·      If you post on Twitter separately you can direct message someone in a post. You can also tag a company or person in a Facebook post if it’s done separately as well.

·       

See? It’s worth it to take the extra couple of minutes to post on each forum separately.

There are many other ways Facebook and Twitter vary, including advertising options and metrics to measure the effectiveness of social media campaigns. We will discuss those in a future blog as well.

Before I briefly go into other platforms I just want to point out one thing: Although most people have their preferences when it comes to Facebook vs. Twitter, the truth is they are both equal, just used for different things. For a great list of the pros and cons of both Facebook and Twitter visit http://www.twitip.com/twitter-versus-facebook.

What is Linkedin?

Linkedin is unlike any other social media platform out there. It is specifically and only used for professional networking opportunities. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, you and other users post only your academic and professional credentials. You then connect with current and previous co-workers and look for business and/or employment opportunities. Business owners can also create company Group and Pages to gain members and keep them informed on you and/or your company’s activites.

How to use Linkedin:

When using Linkedin keep it professional. There is the option to link your Facebook and Twitter posts directly to Linkedin. Whether or not you do is up to you and the kind of posts your putting on those venues.

What is YouTube?

YouTube is a video sharing website used to share, upload and view videos.

How to use YouTube:

YouTube has become the second highest search engine behind Google, meaning it’s one of the first places people go to find out information on most topics. This makes it a great social media opportunity. Videos are also an interactive and lively forum for transmitting information, increasing their popularity as a search engine. YouTube is a great place to post promotional videos (hopefully that go viral) as well as how-to videos to display the expertise in your field. Uploading these videos can greatly helps increase your social media traffic and be a great way to increase hits on your website too so it’s recommended you put videos on your website and links to your YouTube Channel on your website as well.

Google+:

Google+ is the Internet mogul’s social networking creation. It links all Google products such as Gmail and Google Maps so you don’t have to sign into different services to share your information. It’s much like Facebook in that you have a newsfeed (known as a Stream) but you can censor who you want to see which posts by separating your contacts into different circles. It offers other services such as the ability to engage in video and group chats, and the option to create your newsfeed based upon your interests.

How to use it:

Google+ can be used the same way as Facebook to promote your business.

The effectiveness of this platform is still to be shown so I wouldn’t have it on the top of your social media campaign just yet.

Kamea Zelisko is a marketing expert with Red Queen Creative Group. For more information visit http://www.redqueencreative.com

How to Get Started in Social Media

By Kamea Zelisko

*This is part 2 in an 8-series blog about social media marketing. Visit our YouTube Channel to see related blogs and more.

Setting up effective company social media accounts are a bit different than personal ones and there are some tricks involved. So even if you know how to technically set up these accounts or already have social media accounts for your company, you may still want to watch this video to get some interesting pointers that can help make your social media efforts more effective.

The first thing you want to do to get your company started in social media is set up your accounts. Here is a list of some of the major sites that you should start with. There really is a vast number of social media sites out there worldwide, and we'll talk about that in a later blog regarding this topic. But in North America these are the sites you'll want to focus on first:

• Twitter
•  Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Google+

• YouTube

Setting up these accounts is really quite easy. The sites take you through the set up process step-by-step. For that reason I'm not going to go through the steps here. However, be aware that setting up these accounts takes time, so block off a couple hours for yourself to ensure you aren't rushed and you do it right the first time.

I will however give you some pointers to help make your accounts more effective:

1.    Be sure to make your company accounts in your company name, not your own. This may seem like a silly tip but it can be overlooked. Remember your company social media account is a separate entity from you as a person. For example, use your business email instead of your personal email to set up all of your accounts. If more than one person will be managing your social media be sure to set up your sites with an account that can be accessed by all those involved.

2.    Be informative. Fill out the company information on each site. Usually this includes your company name and location, what if anything you specialize in and your contact information - including your website!

3.    Be concise. Nowhere is being concise so important as on social media sites. Don't write long paragraphs describing your business. Keep it short, sweet and informative so people can understand what your company is about in mere seconds.

4.    Decide how you want to connect with your audience. Before you go out there trying to get followers or fans, be sure you know how you want to connect with your audience. This is a particularly important if you have more than one person in your company doing your social media posts. Your answer to this question will vary considerably depending on the way you feel comfortable communicating. It may also depend on your company size, culture and the type of industry you're in. A personal trainer, for example, would more likely have a more personal approach in their social media efforts, maybe discussing some personal fitness goals and meal tips in a more casual manner. On the other hand, a large oil and gas corporation or municipality would more likely take an arm's length approach, discussing the news and events in their industry. However these aren't rules that are set in stone. Social media is for the most part still undiscovered territory, so keep your mind open to possibilities when it comes to how you communicate.

5.    Start posting. Once you have set up your account and know how you want to communicate, start doing some posts. Some companies do 15+ posts a day while others only do one or two. The number of posts you choose depends on your time, your audience and your personal preference. The important thing to remember here is not the number of posts you do, but it's the quality of the posts and how they market your business and hopefully attract followers, fan and potential clients. We will offer some tips on how your can do higher quality posts in an upcoming blog called Tips for Quality Social Media Marketing.

RQ supports launch of Cowboy Wild!

Finbarr Wilson and Kamea Zelisko from RQ Creative were there to support friends and authors Sandra Shields and Dave Campion during the reading and book launch of Cowboy Wild at The Art Gallery of Calgary. We're so proud of you guys!

Why Should You Use Social Media Marketing?

By Kamea Zelisko

As a marketing and communications company, we often get asked the question, “Does social media really work?” So we’ve decided to address this issue in a series of upcoming blogs about the topic.

This first blog will be an introduction discussing why you should use social media in marketing your company or organization.

Because social media is such a new medium of advertising and it has evolved so quickly its understandable people would question its effectiveness.

Also, it’s somewhat difficult to measure its effectiveness and gauge that against other forms of advertising. And for business owners who are already tight on time, as most of us are, engaging in these seemmingly wishy washy marketing efforts can seem like an additional task that you just don’t have time for.

Metrics are available to measure the effectiveness of social media, which we will discuss in a future blog. But for now, I think we can make the case by pointing out just a few of the literally hundreds of examples of its effectiveness:

·      Politicians have been elected and ousted by social media

·      Books such as 50 Shades of Grey have been gone on to be best sellers after being published on websites and as e-books.

·      Every day people are cultivating relationships and sharing their thoughts and ideas via social media.

And in reality, getting started isn’t too arduous or time consuming at all. Just like anything, you can work it into your every day routine.

And if these points haven’t convinced you, then maybe this point will –  if you don’t engage in social media, your organization looks dated.

Just as in real life, online impressions make a difference, and social media isn’t going away anytime soon. If a company or organization doesn’t have a website and/or Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and Google+ accounts, they appear out of the times, and for a business owner, that is not an impression you want to make.

If you don’t know how to get started, stay tuned for our upcoming blog offering some great tips on setting up an effective social media program for your organization.

Ok now back to where we were – So let’s say I’ve convinced you. You’re going to go out there and set up your social media accounts. Then what? Companies often ask how it works and more importantly, how it can make them money.

As humans we are naturally drawn to each other. We love to create communities. This is exactly why social media has become so popular. It was built to help connect people and foster relationships. Only this platform has a bonus to it – you are able to interact with thousands of people you would normally not get the chance to otherwise.

So like anything else, you get what you put into it. Use social media just like you would network with people in real life. Interact with your followers and fans, start up conversations and take the time to build relationships with them. Over time, just as in real life, the relationships you create and foster online can turn into working relationships.

Social media is a complicated subject matter, and we will cover some topics in more depth in our future blogs for those of you who would like to DIY. But if you find you just don’t have the time to put into it yourself, you can hire a professional instead.

Red Queen offers packages that we can tailor just for you. We do everything from strategic planning to every day posts that can help get you Twitter Followers, Facebook Likes, YouTube Views and web page visits. Check out our website to find out more.

As I mentioned this is just the first in an 8-part series we will be doing over the next little while. Here are the topics you can watch out for in the near future:

•                How to Get Started in Social Media

•                5 Tips for Quality Social Media Marketing

•                The Difference Between Facebook and Twitter

•                Why Use YouTube for Marketing

•                How to Get Fans, Followers and Views

•                Easy Ways to Use Multiple Social Media Accounts

•                How to Measure its Effectiveness of Social Media

And of course if you have any questions or suggestions on topics we should cover, just let us know!

Our blogs are now on video! Check them out here: www.youtube.com/user/RedQueenCreative/videos

RQ @ the Global Petroleum Show!

RQ Creative was on hand during the 2012 Global Petroleum Show held at the Calgary Stampede's BMO Centre June 12 & 13. There were tons of exhibits and so many interesting projects on the go! If you have a chance you should come by and check it out!

RQ participates in Calgary Enerflex MS Walk

On June 3, 2012 RQ partner Kamea Zelisko participated in the Enerflex MS Walk in Calgary. "A close friend of mine was recently diagnosed with MS," says Zelisko. "She's young and a new mom, and it really hit home for me. I want to participate in this walk to support her and the thousands of others who are affected by this terrible disease."

Zelisko finished the 5 km walk with some of her close friends and her niece Kayla. "It really felt great," she says. "I will definitely be participating again next year."

Red Queen Creative's labour market expertise

By Finbarr Wilson

Red Queen is a marketing and communications company. We do a number of things, including writing, editing, photography and design, which you may already know. But did you know we’re also Labour Market Experts? 

If you don’t know what labour market experts are the term may sound almost academic and may even conjure up images of the nerds from The Big Bang Theory sitting at their desks all day working on Excel documents.

Sure labour market information includes numbers, like statistics and unemployment rates, that may happen to sometimes go in Excel documents. But it’s a lot more than that. Labour market information takes a variety of information about our working (and non-working) population and makes it practical, looking into the future and planning for workforce needs.

Most people don’t think about things like demographics and industry needs, but this information is important and is becoming more important in the coming years. Why? Because in case you haven’t heard or noticed, we have an aging population. We have a huge number of baby boomers that are set to retire over the next 10 years. Given the demographics of people who watch blogs like this, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say these baby boomers are your parents or bosses. And guess what? When they leave who is going to replace them?

Information like this can help prepare our workforce for future needs. Governments can introduce programs targeting key workforce shortages, schools will know what kinds of programs to develop or focus on for the future, small businesses can stay ahead of their competition by starting their succession plans. Job seekers can find information on what kinds of jobs are in demand so they have a better chance of being gainfully employed.

Take the oil and gas industry here in Alberta for example. This industry is facing major labour shortages in a LOT of occupations. If you haven’t heard about it visit the Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada website, that recently released a report revealing the oil and gas industry will need to increase its workforce by over 70% by 2021.

If no one fills these positions oil and gas will not be produced or shipped, which means major economic effects across North America.

And with Canada, particularly Alberta, bracing for another economic boom, our advice to you, whether you are a student, an employer or a job seeker, would be to start checking out labour marketing information before it hits.

Here are some great resources to check out:

•  A great new LMI web page at http://www.labourmarkettrends.com/ covers all aspects of about labour market news in Canada.

• The Government of Alberta has a great site: Occinfo.com. This site offers tons of information for job seekers on where the jobs are, details on the jobs and even pay. You can search jobs by title, interest, subject or industry.

•  The Government of Canada releases a Labour Force Survey every month. The survey covers employment and unemployment numbers broken down by province and industry.

•   Each of Canada’s industries has its own labour council, and they churn out some excellent LMI. Find your sector council here http://www.councils.org/sector-councils/list-of-canadas-sector-councils/. 

•  And of course, there are newspapers, chambers of commerce and even workmates. 

Why you should hire a graphic designer

By Kamea Zelisko

For a lot of new business owners, doing the ton of little things that go into starting up a business can be not only an exhausting endeavor, but an expensive one too.

Sure there are places you can cut corners. You can do your own admin stuff like writing cheques or writing up financial statements, but there are definitely places where cutting corners just to save money will hurt the chances of your business succeeding.

And doing your own graphic design is definitely one of these areas.

Just because you know how to ad Clip Art to a Word document does not make you a designer. Graphic design is a skill that delicately mixes technical and artistic skills and it takes years of education, (and more importantly experience) to get it down pat.

If you’re still skeptical, just do a quick Google search for “Bad Logo Examples.” You will see pages upon pages of bad logo designs pop up.

But it’s not just your logo that will need designing. Once you have one, you will also need basic promotional items like business cards and company stationary such as letterhead. I won’t even get into other promotional items such as posters and newspaper advertisements, I’m sure you get the point.

If you don’t have the experience and skills of a graphic designer and you try to make your own promotional items, there is a high chance you will make your marketing materials look cheap and cheesy. And the result of that? Your company looks cheap and cheesy.

In fact, even if you have some design experience, I recommend you still hire an outside source who is not so closely involved in the project – they can help provide an outsider’s perspective which will ultimately help convey your marketing message more effectively and efficiently.

There are many hungry graphic designers out there to choose from, so do some research and you should be able to find one who has the style and budget that matches your requirements.

View this post and other of our videos on Red Queen's YouTube Channel.

How to edit your own marketing materials

By Kamea Zelisko

There’s really no way around it – if your business is going to do any marketing at all – whether it’s a website or an advertisement – you’re going to need editing services.

A spelling error on a poster or website really makes a bad first impression – it can make your company look unprofessional and kind of shady even, so when it comes to your marketing materials, it’s important to catch any spelling and/or grammatical mistakes before your materials get published.

Not a great writer and/or speller? Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. While hiring a Writer and/or Editor would be the best choice, we realize that’s not always a possibility for all business owners. So if you’re going to do your own editing, here are some quick tips to help your company’s marketing copy look professional:

Spell Check it.

Spell Check is a great starting point to help minimize spelling errors (and even some grammatical ones). So make it a point to add a quick Spell Check to all documents before doing anything else.

Read, re-read, and read it again.

Like we said above, Spell Check can be a great starting tool, but it is not the end all and be all of editing. If it were, Editors would no longer exist.

Spell Check may catch the big mistakes, but wrong words can still be left in the copy (e.g., “He” instead of “The). And because Word is an American program that has still neglected to add the Canadian spelling choice to its program, you will end up with the American spelling of numerous words (e.g. Theater vs. Theatre). This is enough to drive any cold-blooded Canadian absolutely nuts.

So once you’ve done your Spell Check, be sure to read your copy over and over and over again (three times at least). Also, here’s a great tip – read it out loud. This really helps to not only point out spelling mistakes but also fix grammatical errors and improve the overall flow of the copy.

Pass it Along.

Once you’ve poured over the copy until your eyes have blurred over and you know you are no longer useful in your editing role, pass the copy along to someone else who is capable of making any spelling, grammar or content edits it may need. If you have more than one person who can fill this role, then pass it to them person as well – the more eyes the better.

Sometimes mistakes are inevitable.

Even Editors know that mistakes can still get through the editing process, so if you’ve taken all these steps and your copy goes out and there are still mistakes, don’t beat yourself up about it. Editing is a skill that is learned over time, and during your journey you will pinpoint your own editing strengths and weaknesses and be able to fine-tune your editing skills as you go.

The value of a low paying photo project

By Finbarr Wilson
The goon in Blade Runner was right. There is nothing worse than an itch you can’t scratch. Trouble is, I had an itch for 17 years.

In 1993, I picked up my old 50-year-old Leica camera and took a few shots while I was a private in the Calgary Highlanders, a land reserve infantry unit for the Canadian Armed Forces. The photos were surprisingly good, but nothing ever came of it.

Years passed. Then a decade fell away, and all I ever did was take the occasional peak at the several dozen prints I had taken and my half-baked idea. In each aging photo I could see the outline of a truly interesting project. But the photos were always slipped timidly back into their folder.

I knew something was missing. I knew this project wasn’t over. The trouble was I didn’t have the foggiest idea of how to make money by completing the series.

Going back to the Calgary Highlanders would mean starting from scratch. It would mean a whole year of shooting. It would cost thousands of dollars, include long hours and there would be nothing in return. Because let’s face it, there are no Life magazines around willing to spend $30,000 on a year-long project. Today photojournalism is a “shoot and scoot,” affair full of  head shots and hockey games. As for the art world, I knew well enough that my sense of irony had not yet reached the all-consuming heights deemed a prerequisite.

Still ... there it was. The people, the unit and the images would creep back into my mind. It was like a lost friend I had left behind with misgivings.

I really don’t know when I cracked and why I cracked. But one day, I packed all the old photos up, wandered down to the armoury and popped the question. “Could I photograph the Calgary Highlanders for a year?” I asked the commanding officer. Oddly, he said “yes.”

And that was it. My itch was gone. A year-and-a-half later, I am much, much poorer, and I’ve only earned just over $500, which doesn’t quite offset the $10,000 in my expenses. But was it worth it, you ask? Definitely – because I scratched the itch.

Trust me, if you have an itch, pay the money, spend the time and scratch it. You will never sleep better than the day you say, “Ahhh ... you know, what? I think it’s done.”