Category: Accuracy

Why I Love Asynchronous Communication (a.k.a. Emails)

I love to write, and emails are a breath of fresh air.

No editing.
No fancy words.
No issues over length.
No need for profundity.

It has been almost five years since I left Bell Mobility to pursue a career in marketing, and one thing that has drastically changed is how often I communicate via email.

I miss the simplicity of it all.
I miss reaching out to my clients daily.
I miss the back-and-forth motion that builds connection.

At Bell, I had so many great relationships; I used email to build better ones along the way. It was just so damn efficient. Templates allowed the writing to take shape quickly. In mere minutes, I was sending off concise and compelling messages. Over and over again. Each email was re-read once, at most twice, and then sent so I could continue to the next case. It was a beautiful workflow, and it was all supported by Salesforce.

The strategy behind it? Starting, stopping, continuing. Perpetually. The true definition of email really—asynchronous. This is also marketing. For a later topic!

And by the way, I am trying to write more like Seth Godin. Also, finding my way back to my university days. My favourite professor and mentor, Paul Woodrow, graded an essay I wrote on the fallacies of Coca-Cola, commenting in tiny writing and bright green ink, “Swift and punchy, Chona!”

So begets my email manifesto –

I will always try to write swift and punchy. 

If I can remember to, that is.

Alas, I have a pop quiz for y’all.

I want you to decide which entry below is authentic, meaning not edited. And which one is “fake”, as in completely and utterly revised from its original style + tone.

How can you tell?
What gives it away?
Which is written better?

Ah, so many questions to ponder, but if only we had more time.

Off to bed, now, enjoy the exercise!

Entry 1

For all my years as a Corporate Account Manager at Bell, some of my fondest memories included writing emails. I loved how fluid and uncomplicated it was to craft messages on the spot without spending copious amounts of time editing. I would not mind working on some ideas to “wow” our current and prospective customers with something easy to read, memorable, and impactful!

Entry 2

I spent many years as a Corporate Account Manager at Bell, crafting friendly and professional emails. I thought it was so exciting (yup, I love communication!) to be able to write something on the spot that didn’t require any editing. It’s an art form really. Would love to work on some ideas to incorporate more emails into how we communicate with our customers.

We’re Tipping and We Need to Find Answers to Our Global Problems Soon

A United Nations report declares we have reached “a breaking point”.

So, what does that mean?

With almost 10% of the 8 billion people living on this earth suffering from malnutrition, 3 million lacking healthy diets, and climate change issues rising to the forefront, it is no surprise that we are in desperate need of a way to produce more food without harming the environment.

The report reviews a few critical ‘climate change impacts’ like reversing water degradation by choosing smart technologies and sustainable farming practices or sequestering greenhouse gases emitted during agricultural activities by employing regenerative farming principles.

And perhaps the most critical solution of all? Deploying technology to enable a more connected agriculture and food industry. In my opinion, we can become powered by data and collaboration, putting us in a better position to come up with answers to big global problems and, in the long term, create a more resilient economy.

Still, to make an impact today, we need to understand the challenges and realities that farmers face now. So your first stop is here.

Read the report – https://bit.ly/3nUtj9b

#savetheenvironment #sustainability #regenerativeagriculture #agriculture #foodindustry #growingpopulation #growthforgood #makingchangehappen

The Modern Farming Community

How the Fraser Valley’s Modern Farming Community Is Driving the Evolution of AGTech on a Global Scale

Divided by the Vedder River and Sumas Mountain, the Fraser Valley ranks first in BC’s AG-driven economy with over $1 billion in gross farm income generated every year. As a result, the region is quickly becoming known as the AGTech Capital of Canada. Characterized by a gentler climate in winter months and intensely heated summers, this new title comes as no surprise.

Local farmers are armed with more than ideal growing conditions, terrain, weather, and viable water sources, providing them with the groundwork to grow diverse crops, including many fruits and vegetables in high demand and exported across the globe. Plus, with proximity to educational and research institutions, the region is becoming an epicentre for production and innovation, developing and producing world-class agriculture technology, known as “AGTech”.

For example, homegrown agriculture and food tech companies Agrilyze and DirectFood.store are joining hands to advance the food supply chain and improve food traceability. Since 71% of Canadians say they need to understand where their food comes from, these technological advancements play a huge role in helping the region progress.

Still, looking toward the future, the Fraser Valley faces many challenges, ranging from the seasonality of production to labour costs and supply to globalization and more. And like other farming regions worldwide, one of the biggest dilemmas we have to confront or face dire consequences, climate change.

For this particular reason, the agriculture industry is examining the foundations of farming and re-evaluating traditional methods of planting, collecting, and selling crops. A modern approach has been imminent for decades, and today, as the Fraser Valley leads the way, we are witnessing our paradigm shift. The Modern Farming Community changes our framework, including policies and approaches, to redefine how we acknowledge our conditions as much as changing the tools themselves.

More so focused on building farming systems that create beneficial outcomes, such as increased productivity and positive changes in socio-economic and environmental conditions, the MFC benefits impact farmers directly, not to mention our entire society. The main drivers, in this case, innovation, sustainability, and reliability are helping to transform the agriculture industry one step at a time.

The transformation includes sharing our successes and encouraging those with access to technology to consider developing stronger, smarter, and more advanced processes that also go beyond our regular expectations. Simply “do more with less” and ensure our actions lead to a reduced negative impact on our planet.

Our mission then is to continue to deliver real and sustainable technology solutions that will empower our people and planet on a local scale to make a global impact. The MFC concept is now at the precipice of attention and more relevant than ever as the agriculture industry evolves amidst the current crises and a rapidly growing population.

Farmers today are asking how a more modern approach can and will create substantial change, change that will protect and enrich the soil, reduce water needs, and decrease energy costs, just to name a few aspects. And connected to this, knowledge has become a considerable part of the bigger picture. Yet, we are still enthralled by our romantic vision of the traditional farmer, wheat in the mouth, tractor driving into the sunset.

Nevertheless, the picture has become much more significant. It is now comprised of a repository of technologies, ranging from drones, robotics, vertical farming operations, GIS, and GPS to the application of AI, machine learning systems, and more. Our farmers and others worldwide are using AGTech to help overcome new barriers or obstacles concerning productivity and the overall efficiency of their land.

The onset of the AGTech movement or our Modern Farming Community is giving our farmers a choice – intensify innovative, sustainable, and reliable practices that enable more intelligent, precision technologies or face the fate of the worldwide population rising to 9 billion by 2050.

As the Fraser Valley’s farming community evolves, newer methods are being used to optimize farm output. This includes adopting modern technologies that save time and costs. And as we develop more answers and solutions, the question becomes – how can we amalgamate the MFC fundamentals (innovation, sustainability, and reliability) with pure, actionable knowledge to continue to drive the changes that we see today?

Without a doubt, technology has become the baseline allowing us to meet our current and future needs for food, fibre, feed, and fuel. Our Modern Farming Community is the beginning of our examination. We must recognize the state of our planet and invest in developing new technologies to confront our challenges head-on and headstrong, causing a ripple effect of change.

So, unleash the power of AGTech to solve some of the world’s biggest problems? Yes, indeed. After all, we are now relying on agricultural innovations to increase the production of major crops – why wouldn’t we use it to help define a whole new planet? The pursuit starts right here, in the Fraser Valley, the AGTech Capital of Canada.

AI

Strategy

According to Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms, authors of Understanding “New Power”, cooperation is “rewarding those who share their own ideas, spread those of others, or build on existing ideas to make them better.” This may be false. Cooperation is a tricky territory to navigate, especially within an environmental or technological domain. Still, a significant paradigm shift to consider – if we are moving forward, we must let go of ownership and authority to create a new wave of energy. This energy or humanistic data governance (AI) describes every interaction (digital and human) we make, and we should comply accordingly. As a writer, this can mean less writing. As a business owner, this could be thinking more dynamically. Energy is a force. It is in itself a superstructure.

New power models will always have limited influence and impact unless they are operating within a superstructure designed to play to their strengths. 

Governance

The idea of new power is not new. For centuries, humans have searched for ways to influence society, and it is no different today. One thing’s for sure, in environmental technology (purposeful applications that utilize digital environments to authenticate realities), a ‘superstructure’ is required to transform high-level ideas into physical products. We lose product direction without a proper process (energy) in place.

AI is fluid, though noninterchangeable and can digress. A physical product is a term best used to describe an outcome. In digital reality, a new power takes actionable items related to spatial and non-spatial information to influence a decision-making process, which leads to a result.

An example of this is a dream. So, on a larger scale (the dreamscape), new power (our human ability to dream) can affect human mentality (how we feel when we wake up), it can direct human conversation (self-banter), and ultimately, it can change the way we do things (feeling sad instead of happy). Product direction requires a dream, one that can be unlocked following precise steps, as if when you awoke from your dream you could remember every vibrant detail.

New power operates differently, like a current. It is made by many. It is open, participatory, and peer-driven. It uploads, and it distributes. Like water or electricity, it’s most forceful when it surges. The goal with new power is not to hoard it but to channel it.

Branding

I wouldn’t put it any differently. New power disables groupthink. The main distinction is that peers are not forced to agree with ideas, but rather can propose alternatives or contrasting ways to look at situations. Energy has a voice and the voice has a force. Individually, we can select bits and pieces then take what we choose to be the most vital outcome or result.

It is easy to hoard ideas, hence why we share ideas through various modes of communication (social media, ads, websites). At the moment where ideas surge (individual brands becoming a full brand suite), we can use the opportunity to address a group of topics so that a more specific and arguably necessary topic can arise (how do we take a humanistic behavioralist approach to products).

Digital branding takes us back to a commonplace, to a dream, in an abrupt fashion (it is constantly changing). The current social atmosphere lets us choose how our human mind responds to digital anomalies (do we create or does creation make us), and when we are rendered incapable of seeing (becoming incapable of interpreting data), we know that it is time to try a different strategy.

As new power models become integrated into the daily lives of people and the operating systems of communities and societies, a new set of values and beliefs is being forged. Power is not just flowing differently; people are feeling and thinking differently about it. 

Security

This is AI. Models, in essence, switching established paradigms into new sets of values and beliefs. It impacts people and precisely their emotions, behaviours and insights. We can sense the change; we just haven’t figured out how to contextualize it. Digital branding gives us the power of autonomy – it integrates into our daily lives, and it is the marketer’s responsibility to make the message loud and clear – we are not scared of machines, we are still in charge.

Final Documents

Hi everyone!

I worked on these two documents over the span of a year. They were presented during my second interview with I-Open Technologies and contributed toward landing the position! Have a read and I hope you enjoy them. Even though I won’t have as much time to work on Blox. Communications, I’m sure my new role will provide ample opportunity to develop and implement more exciting campaigns.

I won’t go on about the trials and tribulations of 2019, because there were too many. The year felt like a constant questioning of my best-fit existence.

This was me: So, there’s tape (and mind you, I’m pondering colour, weight and texture) on the middle of the ground and I must jump back and forth, from side to side almost every day.

In the end: I did make some spectacular connections (lol), some I hope will not expire AND I have exited on the other side (but which side of the tape, she said? L.) victorious, in my eyes.

Looking forward to fulfilling the role of Online & Digital Specialist for I-Open Technologies and their group of companies. Some keywords I hope to define and tackle – connection, automation and transformation … to the future everyone!

  1. Previous Documents Presentation
  2. Brand Strategy Presentation

 

2-Way Communication

*Featured Image by Kasimir Severinovich Malevich | Black Cross (1923)

Hi everyone!

Here’s a rant I wrote when returning from a run a little while ago. Sometimes these ideas get stirred around during physical activity, perhaps a cocktail tumbled by adrenaline, cortisol and/or endorphins. Needless to say, it doesn’t take much energy for me to produce content, as I’ve said this time and time again. What takes energy – and time – is pairing down said content, so that it makes sense to my audience and can relate to my work as a whole. Have a read (some major thesis edits were made) and tell me this: how would we A/B test to further quantify/qualify this as an experiment?

 abstract – italic (R) : Visual Transparency & Communication, what makes AI right-brained, Insight / bold (L): platforms, IT, ME, WE, US, UP sales, Currency / underlined words have DUAL meaning (typically analog vs digital

2-way communication is what we’re dealing with today. It is no longer multiple channels (which I think is still the way most dominant marketers believe it to be), but 2 separate, individually performing platforms that interact with each other, either knowingly or not.

So, say there’s Platform A and Platform B. An example of this idea is when I sat down to use Markeko’s FB Blueprint Exam Study Guide YouTube video. As platform A, I intentionally participated in communication. Markeko was Platform B and he simply took my need and fulfilled it. Now, the way this works as a 2-way communication experience is what I take from him is fed back in his direction. He may not know this, or need it, however, the point of the ‘internet of things’, is this interaction in existence.

IT (internet of things) is a thing in the air, in our system, online that is being dispersed, received, re-dispersed and transmuted into other forms. These forms utilize adaptive learning or my exploration of AI as a right-brained system. IT will impact our economy and the poverty line, because we will be able to apply it to everything (Visual Transparency/Communication). WE can begin (as marketers, social media specialists, art/creative directors) to imbue all of our work with this element.

IT is not a new element. Marshall McLuhan’s explorations of ‘medium as the message’ were done in the late 50s. But our society has changed, and we have not figured out a way to apply his concept to our new technologies. IT has been explored by many (think movies, books), but we (apparently) have a small percentage of geniuses, intellectuals and educated individuals with high IQ+EQ+PQ (Global Comprehension), so we have an enormous remainder of people left out externally.

We are all internally capable, but the ‘alone ability’ to read or decipher content and context using right-brained AI in today’s digital circumstance deserves more recognition.

The amazing proposition (GC) is that, again, we as marketers and social media specialists have both the ability and avenue to distribute this new form of technology, as we are catering to clients, businesses large and small, that require some form of interpretation for their business needs. We are developing their projects, campaigns and overall the content of their identity with purposeful motivation. Therefore, behind the scenes, each project or campaign where we can apply the maximum effects of visuality (Visual Transparency/Communication) will cause massive changes in branding, marketing and sales applications. This holistic approach will impact the general stream of Insight (Insight Selling – right-brained) and paired with Solution Selling (left-brained), we are fully realizing AI and what it can do, for society, culture and most importantly …

Humankind.

This is my notion of XE (Currency). High-quality work that only a true and talented artist can create, combined with that person’s ability to make the most abstract concepts and ideas, will turn them into (Visual Transparency/Communication) money. I say money (interchangeable with Currency/Insight), because we know WHAT this is – customers, clients, target audiences are accustomed to a high-level customer experience.

According to my findings – this service is enjoyable. They want to deal with us. They want to see our results. The whole experience, for both the Seller & Buyer is productive.

And then, it just turns into a pay-it-forward type of system. Pay me, I will pay you back, well now, let’s pay them, and finally, why not just pay the whole existing world? I am scaling the most minute, Critical Mass to create a huge tidal wave effect. Again, this effect is imbued, may or may not be intentional, but the point is, it will snowball toward to right direction, UP.

This is the way I built it. More equality, happier business owners, more enticing and vibrant ads, campaigns that focus on world change and not simply on reach vs influence.

I would love to present this idea to the CEO of Microsoft and see what he would have to say. The most brilliant thing I have experienced, just in the last week, is while studying for the FB Blueprint exam (September 2019), I’ve begun to learn these new terms, almost 100% analytical and in turn I am funneling my right-brained ideas into beautiful left-sided friction. Highly needed as my conscience purports many individuals disagree with anything termed right-brained. So then, let’s get measuring!

The below is more abstract, but perhaps you want to read it –

The strength of application lies in between ability (to develop sound) and our ability to apply (these concepts) to solutions (sight) that would impact our interaction with customers. I often develop concepts in sets of 2. I believe DUALITY is a great way to present information (internally and externally), because it provides CHOICE (to see and/or hear). And everyone likes to choose what they think is BEST for them. This is where my Seller & Buyer persona study began – choosing a WAY to communicate, to tell a story, to sell/buy a TALENT, that’s IT/ME/WE/US/UP!

And so, can you see how we hear things together?

Startup Development

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to break down the steps that were involved in developing a digital marketing startup agency. Now, I don’t have a formal background in business or marketing, so it’s taken me awhile to put all this information together. One thing I know about being a mostly abstract thinker is that, following a logical progression based on reasoning and detail is a lot easier than gathering data that is specific to a certain cause and effect. So, this is my attempt at quantifying and qualifying the work I did at VanWhistle Media. Note: I am no longer affiliated with the company. The reason why I left was that my creative vision did not align with the founder’s business style. The owner is always in charge – #winknudge! Jeremiads aside, I am now identifying with the title Creative Director because my work crosses over the walls of artistry into a very consummate dedication toward design and strategy.

If you have any feedback, I am all ears. Please reach out!

Duration: 6-month contract

Goal: To establish company through brand development and product awareness.

Outcome: Sizing market, understanding market potential and organizational design.

Milestones: 

  1. Startup Development (stages / discovery, strategy, implementation, mid-measurement *wider release required)
    • Concept & Research
    • Commitment & Traction
    • Software application – Pipedrive, Qwilr, Pomodoro, Canva, Basecamp, Ahrefs
  2. Sales & Marketing (stages / discovery, *heavy strategy, implementation, mid-measurement)
    • Working directly with company CEO
    • Development & Launch
    • Sales strategies and marketing approach – solution selling (action), insight selling (aim), prospecting methods and scripts, Letter of Engagement, Value-Based Price Sheets, Mom & Pop Store Spring Promo, Door to Door Mapping)
  3. Creative & Technical Writing (stages / discovery, strategy, implementation, early measurement *wider release and further market research required)
    • Strategic Development (responsible, transparent & accurate)
    • All creative and copy across multiple platforms
    • Campaign Creation – #ourlocalcrew (awareness/brand image), #targetaudience (definition), #thursdaytheory (attraction)
  4. Brand Development (stages / discovery, strategy, implementation *establishing workflow, process & guidelines)
    • Promote brand
    • Promote products/solutions
    • Buyer Persona and Market Research – Brand Concept Kit, VWM Complete Branding Package)
  5. Solution Development (stages / discovery, *heavy strategy, implementation, early measurement)
    • Website Revamp/Rebuild/Build (The Hub Concept)
    • 1st Meeting Form, Digital Marketing Plan, Value-Based Price Sheets
    • Media Kit, Digital Presence Business Model, Step by Step SEO Guide
  6. Content Creation (stages / discovery, strategy, early implementation)
    • Simpler & Larger, Passion & Efficiency, Seller & Buyer
    • The Hub Concept, Digital Collaboration
    • Digital Presence, Make Change Happen
  7. Art Direction (stages / discovery, strategy, implementation)
    • Communication style – branding, project documents
    • Design style – marketing & sales collateral, Media Kit, logos
    • Contract and proposal templates (100% original design and content)
  8. Project Management (stages / discovery, implementation, early measurement)
    • Coordination & Scope
    • Bottom-Up & Kanban
    • To promote and encourage incremental, logical change without triggering fear of change itself

#brand Campaign

Hey all!

Do we all love Grinch green? The original green colouring of the Grinch was inspired by a rental car. This reminds us that inspiration can strike from anything, that’s how easy it is to come up with new and innovative ideas. Just look, see & apply!

Started a new project focused on communicating some mainstay ideas relating to my business entity Blox. Communications. My aim is to further develop my use of transparent, accurate and responsible language. Hope you like this content, let me know what you think!

collage.png

#impromptus no. 2

Hey all,

It seems I’m always saying it’s been awhile…

This #impromptus was inspired by a late night stroll on social media. There are a ton of relevant ideas floating around LinkedIn and one particular video by Simon Sinek Inc. spoke about measuring success based on momentum. I relate to that idea, because my own work is based on the journey or process and the amount of energy, force, power or strength that can be gathered for my benefit or my clients’. Great value can be found when we step away for determined time frames, so that every element of the story can be reconsidered or put into context. For the type of artist that I am, I pound out content ad infinitum. So when I heard Simon hail momentum, I too thought – this is where I am. This past month, I’ve been learning to apply my work toward specific goals and a targeted audience, which is why I like defining my projects within campaigns. This allows me to compartmentalize content and I can begin to categorize my ideas. I’m sure in the future this will amount to greater output and ultimately quantifiable results, but for now it is accurate to say, I’m all about explorations.

_impromptus _ 11.16.2019 (1)

One thing’s for sure – if you’re losing sleep at night over your ideas, they are tied to your brain. Let them float away or they will never take full form or function.

With that said, goodnight!