IT Companies Need to Learn to Work Together, Say Digital Leaders

The Information Technology industry is underperforming in Nova Scotia. That was one of the bold statements made at the recent Digital Leaders Summit in Halifax.

Put on by Digital Nova Scotia, the voice of the IT industry in this province, the summit brought leaders from business, academia, and government into one room to discuss export-driven growth.

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Email Campaigns Essential Part Of Marketing Strategy

Last month Halifax hosted the annual conference of the American Association of Port Authorities and wasn’t it a first class event! The Cunard Centre was packed with delegates from throughout North America, and from as far away as Brazil and Africa, for a week of business sessions and Maritime hospitality.

Since my company sells IT services to seaports and given that a large part of our export marketplace was coming to our home town, it was natural that we would be a sponsor. We needed to prepare for this conference in advance because we wanted to make sure we had plenty of visitors to our booth and events.

My colleague Alexandra Fricker, an expert in Internet marketing, took the lead in that regard and came up with a very effective blend of online and traditional marketing, and I was blown away by how effective it was.

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Internet Marketing is Easy and Accessible, and Brings Measurable Results

What is Internet marketing, who uses it, and what happens to businesses who don’t use it?

These are questions I recently asked Alexandra Fricker. Fricker is a ten year marketing veteran, and my business associates liked her so much they hired her. That’s right; I came back from vacation last week and there she was!

And I thought, before sending her to help clients with their Internet marketing strategies, why don’t I see if she can help me out. So I put her to the test, and I must say she came through admirably with her answers to my questions.

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Hey, I just won a $7,000 Prize

Guess what, my entry won this contest! Worth $7,000 of free marketing from Starshot (Microsoft).

The contest was:

Write a brief synopsis between 500 and 1500 characters on why Windows 7 is a great business opportunity for you.

What I wrote was:

We are an IT consulting firm, and the only company based out of Atlantic Canada that belongs to Microsoft’s Partner Excellence Program. So we are always looking for ways of leveraging our respective brands to find more consulting work for us, and licenses sold for Microsoft. One such way is via a monthly technology column I write for the largest newspaper in the region. In October, right around the launch of Windows 7, I wrote a column on Windows 7 that was well received. I then put this article on my blog (see http://blog.nicomit.com/index.php/2009/10/windows-7-is-about-simplicity-and-responsiveness/), and now I have old-fashioned and viral marketing at work!

And what we won is:

What can $7,000 in marketing services do for your business? It can mean more demand generation, more event and telemarketing campaigns, a marketing program designed specifically for your business—quite simply, more chances to find new customer opportunities!

Landing Pages Keep Your Website Working Even If You Are Not

Now is the high-tide of the year,
     And whatever of life hath ebbed away
Comes flooding back with a ripply cheer
 ─ From What is So Rare As a Day in June, by James Russell Lowell

There is something about June that makes living in Nova Scotia worthwhile. The browns of late winter transformed to greens and our spring cleanup out of the way, we can now look forward to warm lazy summer days.

But while things start to slow down for you, there is no reason for your website to hold back. To keep it working effectively for you all summer, you can do a bit of website “spring cleaning” by setting up landing pages.

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