Thursday, November 24, 2011

The Little Things Count

How are you talking to your clients? Not when you’re vying for work from them, not when you’re in meetings, not at fancy dinners with wine flowing, but when you have to do the mundane, ickier tasks involved with keeping a business viable ... like billing, or reminders of invoices unpaid, or notices of fee hikes or deadlines missed. The small, possibly petty stuff we all hate but which falls into all our lives regardless.

I ask because I was prompted to ask myself the same question the other day, when a letter arrived in the mail from my doctor. I am notorious for missing appointments ... I seem to have too many online calendars with bits recorded here and there—plus I never seem to check them—and I had missed one with this doctor. Instead of the usual “You are a moral degenerate and we will make you pay” letter I could have been sent, I received something quite different.

It said,

“Dear Ms. Turner,

We notice you missed your appointment on November 3, 2012. We hope that you are well and that nothing unfortunate occurred that caused you to miss the date. We look forward to rescheduling with you, but we must also advise you that in the future, we will have to charge you for the appointment unless your absence is a result of an emergency. We hope you understand and sincerely hope everything is okay. Please call us with any questions or to let us know of any changes in your health.”

I almost called just to find out who wrote the letter to let him or her know how excellent it was. It wasn’t my doctor, but the effect of the letter was to make me like him more. And to vow never to be late for an appointment again, let alone miss one without explanation.

How’s that for effectiveness? I was thoroughly chastened, yet grateful for it. My doctor now has a less problematic patient, and his operations will run more smoothly. The letter made me realize how random (and rare) courtesy and humanity are undervalued business advantages that we could all afford to think of as much as possible in our own practice.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Friday Wisdom (and Sanity)

Hugh McGuire featured a great poster in his Tumblr blog wayyy back in the summer (hello ... minus 6° C today in Ottawa!?) that Craig sent to me just this week. The advice is from Ira Glass.

I’m clawing my way back from maternity leave and it can be tough to believe I still have a brain sometimes. Or at least the kind of brain I need to switch on again (because maternity leave brain is a multitasking wonder). I’ve always been impatient, but I wonder if our culture of hyper-immediacy diminishes still further our capacity for practice and resolve. The long game still matters, and a little calm and time to put first a toe in, then a foot, and so on is probably okay when it comes to getting back to whatever important work you’re/I’m doing.

Of course, this poster is really for people more immersed in creative arts than me, so for all you writers and artists out there, this one’s for you (via Hugh ... and Ira).

Monday, August 08, 2011

Market Research On Poetry? Really?

Isn’t it time someone did a little market research about poetry?

We thought so too.

The ways in which readers find new books of poetry have been changing for years. We’re working with the Literary Press Group, with support from the Ontario Arts Council, to try and learn more about how readers find and choose the books they read. Even better, we’d like to hear from readers about how they would like to be able to find books.

This link will take you to our survey. If you’re a poetry reader, we’d love to hear from you. The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. If you wish, you can enter to win special prize packages of recent Canadian poetry titles. Please note the survey closes on Friday, August 19.

If you’re a blogger, editor, author, association member, or anyone else with an interest in helping to spread the word, we encourage you to pass the link along through a blog post, Twitter or Facebook post, or other mention. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at anytime for additional information or if there’s anything we can do to help out.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Family and Friends

Lots has been going on here at Turner-Riggs headquarters. For one, you may know that we have a new intern: Georgia Kate Riggs was born early at just over five pounds in ... February. Your thank-you card is coming if you sent us something! Thank you!

Though she is amazingly gentle and as low impact as a baby can be, Georgia’s arrival was (a) early and (b) coupled with spinal surgery for me. And we have a three-year-old. And I wasn’t done work. And I needed to get my driver’s license. It was all a bit crazy, truth be told.

I finally went on mat leave in April while Craig continues to drive the bus (have you checked out Canadian Bookshelf yet? It’s still developing, but it’s already a thing of beauty. More on that in another post).

Before I went, though, we had the great opportunity to work with Elizabeth Hay on her new website, timed to sync with the launch of her bestselling new novel and one of the season’s major releases, Alone in the Classroom. We worked on the site with our friend Don Aker from AgencyZed, and hired the design talent of Aires Almeida at Operativ. We built it in WordPress with some special AgencyZed sauce added in.

For us, in addition to the usual priority of developing a site that really felt right to Liz in terms of look and feel, we wanted to see how much we could play with WordPress to make it accommodate features an author would appreciate. Turns out a lot: we were pleasantly surprised by how flexible and extendible WordPress is. We were able to provide automatic linking to event and news items for Liz, to incorporate some nice display widgets for covers and FAQs, and to whittle down the back end of the administration so it’s nice and easy for her to change or add things herself whenever she feels like it.

She’s happy, we’re happy, and it was a dream to work with not only an author I have admired for years but also a lovely, warm woman we now consider a friend.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Blogging Basics

Got a resolution to start a company blog or just be better at updating it? Here are a few tips to help you with your goal.

Tip #1: Write for your audiences.

The first thing to do is figure out who you want to target in your blog. Once you’ve narrowed down and listed each audience, ask questions like:

* What information might help them in their lives/work?
* What kind of expertise can we share with them that matches up with their needs?
* How much time do they have to read the blog? (The answer is probably not much—so think about that in terms of frequency and length of post.)
* What kind of information would they find unhelpful? (Two likely answers are overly product-pushing posts or posts that don’t relate to their needs.)

Tip #2: Define what goals you want your blog to achieve.

For example:

* Interact with current customers
* Gain new customers
* Increase sales
* Increase word-of-mouth
* Keep products top-of-mind
* Build brand image
* Increase brand loyalty and equity

Knowing your goals will help you determine your content strategy.

Tip #3: Define a personality for your blog, and write in that voice.

The rest of your site is likely all about making sales, so don’t go overboard in this area in your blog. You don’t want to come across as a mercenary salesperson hitting your audiences over the head with product after product push. Words that come to mind for a possible personality for the blog are:

* Friend
* Peer
* Ally
* Helper
* Expert

If, through your blog, you help your audiences do their jobs better and feel knowledgeable, they will be more disposed to buying your products, in large part because they will trust you and like you. This doesn’t mean you can’t highlight products you think are wonderful for your audiences—it means do this softly and in the context of other helpful information. Don’t make every post product-related.

Tip #4: Engage your audiences when possible through interactivity.

Think about incentives and the ways in which you’d like your audiences to engage with your content (e.g., discounts, contests, promotions). It’s fine to have the bulk of posts concentrate on good content alone, but try to regularly include ways your audiences can participate (and “win” though doing so). Make sure to repeat such incentives or contests on social platforms like Twitter and Facebook (if you’re up and running on these potentially helpful sites).

Tip #5: Tie your blog to overall business strategy and the social actions you want to inspire.

Think about seasons and cycles when designing content. Think about the products you really want to highlight. If you want to gain fans and followers, design a contest with great prizes and make a condition of entering “liking” your company on FB or following on Twitter. If you want to inspire a commenting culture on the blog, make your audience comment on a post to enter the contest.

Tip #6: Write out a Blog Blueprint—including your thoughts on Tips #1-5.

Keep this handy when writing each and every post. It’ll keep you on track for content—you’ll be ahead of the game in ensuring you make your blog helpful and attractive to your target audiences.

Friday, January 07, 2011

What a 2010 and Here’s to 2011

Turner-Riggs had our busiest year ever in 2010; beyond busy, it was the most fun we’ve ever had in this racket! Two huge reasons for this were the scope and challenge of the files we worked on, and even more, the excellent relationships and collaboration we enjoyed with our clients and colleagues.

Without you, it would literally be Turner and Riggs facing each other every day slogging through the to-dos. We’d have to talk to each other cordially and make water cooler jokes. As it is, we still face each other but mercifully the view and silence is interrupted by our deep engagement with you on our laptops and on our phone calls. And you often call Riggs away to far-off places, providing still more relief.

In short, you complete us.

Seriously, there is not one client, colleague, or partner we don’t appreciate from the last year—you make us work harder, better, and with great interest. We thank you and look forward to lots more collaboration in 2011.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Till the New Year

Photo credit: Scott Clark

Hello friends, clients, and colleagues,

Hopefully just like yours, our office will be closed officially Monday, December 20th, and back up and running Monday, January 3. We’ll kick off the holiday with our toddler’s Montessori Christmas concert tomorrow, which will most certainly be derailed by the just-announced participation of our former babysitter (and ECE student) who so terrifies said toddler he goes hysterical every time he spots her in our neighborhood. It should be good.

Wishing you much more serenity that we will achieve this holiday, and just as much laughter and joy,

Kiley and Craig

p.s. No, that poor boy in the pic is not ours.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Grinchy Grouchy Weekly Geekly Final Five

Photo credit: Mel1st

I’ve been feeling all warm and fuzzy this week so it’s time to nip it in the bud and get all rigid and unforgiving with a final installment of the regular column I’ve updated so fastidiously (!) all year: Weekly Geek. I’m going to answer five queries I hear all the time, sometimes from across the room, so I can forevermore just whip this URL over to the questioner. Without further ado:

When do I use ...

Every day vs. everyday: Use every day very literally, as in “It rained every day that week.” Use everyday as an adjective to describe a mundane or common occurrence: “It was an everyday sort of meeting—no VIPs in attendance, nothing major on the agenda, and nothing I couldn’t back out of.”

Any time vs. anytime: Similarly, use any time literally, as in “Is there any time for us to grab a quick bite?” Meanwhile, equate anytime with whenever: “Call me anytime.”

I am deathly afraid of being rapped on the knuckles if I don’t put two spaces after a period ...

Don’t be, unless you’re in school and they insist on it in the style guide they’re using. You won’t find that double space anywhere in a published article, book, or work written by a professional writer. Trust them. Personally, I wince when I see that gaping space and find it hard to make it to the next sentence.

What’s the difference between or and nor?

If you have neither in the sentence, use nor (think two n’s). If you have either in the sentence, use or.

What do I do with periods and commas when I’ve got meddlesome quotation marks to deal with?

Put them INSIDE the quotation marks, Craig, if you live in North America—which you do (e.g., Her colleague mumbled “tyrant,” then fled from the room ...). Putting them outside is a British thing.

Toward or towards?

This is another NA/British thing. Toward is North American and towards is British.

Ho ho ho! There, it’s out. Now I’m loose as a goose and at one with the universe.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Talking About My Gasperation: A Fix for The Giller Dilemma

By now most of us have heard that Johanna Skibsrud’s Giller win this week for The Sentimentalists has provoked heated controversy. Countless Tweets and blog posts have offered opinions on whether or not Skibsrud’s publisher Gaspereau Press is right to limit the available copies for sale to those they can produce by hand—roughly 1,000 copies per week—in their in-house print shop. The company has reportedly rejected offers from other publishers to collaborate on a commercial printing that would put more copies in stores more quickly.

The debate goes something like this: those who commend Gaspereau’s stand applaud the press for its commitment to high standards and craftsmanship; those who don’t criticize the publisher for failing to seize and leverage the rarest of moments for one of its authors. (See Tasha Kheiriddin’s recent National Post column and Nic Boshart’s accompanying comment for an illustration of both points of view.)

The argument is fuelled, especially within the book trade, by the knowledge that the opportunity provided by the “Giller effect” (the term used to describe how a win like Skibsrud’s can massively increase sales) can be fleeting. The spotlight is on Skibsrud and her book right now, but readers are fickle, Christmas is coming, and the shelves are loaded with readily available alternatives to The Sentimentalists. For Skibsrud, right now is an incredible but shrinking window of opportunity that won’t be served entirely by the always-on eBook edition.

Here’s an idea for the hopper: why not continue to print the handmade editions for which Gaspereau is so justifiably famous and collaborate with another publisher or printer to put a second, commercially printed edition into the market quickly? Maybe even attach a modest premium to the price for Gaspereau’s handmade editions, and/or look at other manageable enhancements (signed by author, anyone?) for those beautiful handmade books. This would respect (even highlight) the publisher’s commitment to craft and further differentiate the value of its original edition for readers who want it, while also allowing the press to meet its responsibilities to its author and her would-be readers by ensuring the book is more readily available across the country.

Above all, why not put the focus back where it belongs? On Skibsrud’s and Gaspereau’s fantastic achievement in writing and publishing a very fine book. And on many more readers discovering it than either of them could ever have dreamed.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Faces and Voices Still Matter

As we all pour hours of our time into Tweeting, Facebooking, and optimizing our websites, it’s worth remembering that we—and our companies—are still basically human. A slick and chatty personality on the web is wasted if you can’t back it up by being courteous and friendly when it comes to the good old traditions of face-to-face contact and phone conversations. Done well, such personal—arguably more intimate—brand touchpoint opportunities can inspire otherwise hard-won trial and loyalty.

Three recent interactions with local companies prompted this post:

Company: Three Bakers and a Bike (1281a Wellington St, Ottawa, 613-729-6236, no website I could find)

Experience: With negative time left to pick up stuff for my son’s birthday party, I was dismayed and panicked to learn at the Three Bakers’ cash register that I couldn’t pay with a credit card for the gorgeous cupcakes I had ordered. Cramming my hands into my pockets, I found a $10 bill amid 500 other crumpled bits of paper—not enough to cover the cost. Before I could check my socks or ask to wash dishes, the owner calmly took my $10 and wondered if I might come back sometime to cover the rest of the bill.

She had never met me before. I thought of her with every bite of delicious cupcake at the party, rushed back the next day to pay her the outstanding amount, and now visit Three Bakers and a Bike whenever I need dessert.

Company: Flowers Talk (1305 Wellington St, Ottawa, 613-321-0592, website under repair)

Experience: My mom’s been fighting a flu for a while. I haven’t been able to go chicken-soup-and-magazine her since our son’s just come off a bad virus (nothing like sick kids when you’re self-employed!) and I’m pregnant and trying desperately to avoid coming down with something this season.

I called Flowers Talk and spoke to a lovely woman who helped me pick out a bouquet and then lingered with me on the phone to perfect the message for the card—double-checking spelling and asking me if it would be okay to add “love” with my name at the end (it was). She so obviously cared about my gesture coming off right, and made sure she could do everything she could at her end to ensure that. Sending flowers is a pretty personal thing, and they get that at Flowers Talk.

Company: Town Restaurant (296 Elgin St, Ottawa, 613-695-8696)

Experience: With a great old friend coming into town for the night, we were excited to get out and try a new restaurant—and had heard Town is pretty special. Sadly, it was a Friday when I called to make reservations and they were booked solid. This didn’t stop the woman on the phone from patiently answering my questions about the menu, checking if we might be okay with bar seating, and getting us onto a cancellation list so she could call me if space unexpectedly opened up. She made me really want to try Town another time—and we will. Contrast that to the couple of other hot spots I called where the people I spoke with who triumphantly declared they were full for the evening and then raced off the phone.

As much as I love a good brand experience on the web, I gotta say that these three offline interactions have stuck with me in a uniquely resonant way.

Friday, October 29, 2010

So (See Last Post) Let’s Watch Some Already!

It’s Friday. It’s Hallowe’en (soon). Yesterday’s post, and the one we did for Canadian Bookshelf that mentioned Big Night, made me jones for some movie action. Too busy for back-to-back High Fidelity/Big Night in their entirety, but not too busy to indulge in a couple of scenes here. Which I’ll keep going to whenever my brain stops today. Enjoy!

High Fidelity—Monday Tape

Big Night—Risotto and Spaghetti?!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Canada Reads Top 40 List and How It Circuitously Made Us Want to Reread/Rewatch High Fidelity

We just posted a little piece on Canadian Bookshelf that wondered how we can stretch our memories for great Canadian books ... Why is it we have a longer recall of amazing movies? Maybe the visual impression gets locked in our brains more easily ... Thoughts?

Go to CBC’s site to help them whittle down their list of 40 to 10.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

If You Love Canadian Books ...

You’re going to love Canadian Bookshelf. A project spearheaded by the Association of Canadian Publishers (ACP), Canadian Bookshelf will be an online discovery and discussion platform for Canadian books, and it’s coming soon. The most apt description we’ve come up with for Canadian Bookshelf is of a “virtual library-meets-community-bookstore stuffed to the rafters with Canadian books and content—complete with face-out display racks and friendly cues to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.” It will make Canadian books and authors easier to find, and thus more widely read by audiences everywhere.

The browse panel on the Canadian Bookshelf homepage.

Please check out our pre-launch blog at www.canadianbookshelf.com, and sign up for news and an invite to our private beta release.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Critiquing Our Culture

“I sit here as a government representative for film and television in the province of Alberta and I look at what we produce, and if we’re honest with ourselves ... I look at it and say, ‘Why do I produce so much shit? Why do I fund so much crap?’”
Alberta Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett speaking at the Banff World TV Festival in June to a roomful of Canadian actors and industry professionals (see his defense of his comments)

“What credibility would a list like this have if it didn’t include the absurd figure of Michael Ondaatje, our very own poet laureate of pretentious, purple prose, our king of cliché, a sorcerer who has improbably managed for decades now to pass off his distinctive brand of inert slop as somehow being possessed of a “literary” value only detectable by prize juries, time-serving academics, and a handful of supine reviewers.”
Alex Good and Steven W. Beattie in the National Post’s Don’t Believe the Hype: 10 Overrated Canadian Authors

Talk about sizzle, especially (or because of) the dog days of August! Talk about fightin’ words.

I must admit, my reaction to both stories—Blackett’s poorly articulated and contextualized comment and the National Post’s daring to venture into the overrated game with The Guardian and the Huffington Post (who respectively skewered their own British and American authors)—was of shock, dismay, and a knee-jerk disdain for such blasphemy. I cheered when I heard Canadian actor Peter Keleghan’s able handling of Blackett during the CBC Q debate with the two (listen to the August 25th, 2010, episode it was on); Keleghan was so much better prepared, informed, and eloquent. And I huffed and puffed and felt injured for the top Canadian writers Good and Beattie pilloried in the Post. Writers like Ondaatje and Michaels and Coupland—the poor things. Okay, so I know how successful and well-received they’ve been; but .. c’mon, they’re human, and it would hurt anyone, reading that.

I sat on my indignation for a day and then I reappraised it. I realized my reaction was founded in defensiveness and a misplaced urge to protect. The fact is, a more controversial, polarized critical/review environment engenders a more active, changing, exciting cultural environment. The provocative critiques of Canadian TV content and writers got the kind of mainstream attention that Canadian arts/culture can always use more of (along the lines of “any news is good news”). And a strong culture can support dissension and harsh critique; it is a confident culture—not a defensive one where people like me get upset when it’s called into question in any way that isn’t gentle. Gentle, polite coverage of our books and TV shows and industry, coverage where nothing is unexpected or rankling, does no one any good.

Perhaps best of all, criticism like Blackett’s allows intelligent, well-spoken people like Keleghan to judiciously discuss the real challenges the TV industry faces and to press for change. And Good and Beattie open the door to in turn be assailed by others’ strong opinions (and to publish, the next day, their list of Underrated Authors).

Thoughts?

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Just for Laughs

Even at Turner-Riggs, where we’re all serious and diligent, we take the odd break and even laugh sometimes (at others). In that spirit, and because it’s summer for Pete’s sake, here are a couple of links we found funny this week. With the first, the trick is to refresh the screen once you’re there. Enjoy.

What the f*ck is my social media “strategy”?

Truth in ad sales