a peek inside the fishbowl

Subtitle: What To Do With All Of The Crusts Your Kids Won’t Eat in the Weeks Months to Come

I like to eat my crusts. Maybe that’s why I hate it when they come back home to me, like some kind of crazy shape-shifting boomerang. I send a sandwich to school – BAM – it comes back as a mangled and sad version of its former self.

HELLO CRUSTS, I DO NOT LIKE SEEING YOU HERE.

It shows a lack of respect for me, Master Lunchmaker, as well as for starving children around the world. If it bothers you, and you are tired of nagging your kids about their crusts, you should know that it’s OK to give in. Just do it. Make your crusthatin’ kid happy and cut the geedee crusts off their sandwich with a very sharp knife before packing it in their lunchbag. Be careful not to get too much mayo/jam/ham/whatever along with the bread, because THEN you can:

1. Stockpile them in the fridge and create the basis of your emergency food supply. If you’re lucky, the power goes off and you can make your kids eat a whole plateful of crusts because THEY WILL HAVE NO CHOICE.

Just kidding.

1. Stockpile them in the fridge, and when you collect enough of them, whirl them around in your food processor and make breadcrumbs. Use them wherever breadcrumbs are called for in recipes i.e. in casseroles, burgers, fish cakes etc. Keep unused breadcrumbs in the freezer.

2. Add seasoning to your plain DIY breadcrumbs and use them instead of your regular Shake n’Sodium, er, I mean, Shake n’Bake.

3. Cut up crusts into cubes and use for the turkey stuffing.

4. Cut up into cubes and toss with a little drizzle of olive oil. Add garlic and dried herbs to taste. Lightly brown in a skillet or in the oven. Voila! Croutons! Add them to soups and salads. (This is especially good with leftover baguettes. Doubly-so with Art-is-in garlic bread.)

Isn’t it great? You CAN get kids to eat their crusts after all! Heh.

I really should be saving this post for when I’m more coherent. This is all just spilling out of my brain and I haven’t even had a proper breakfast yet. :) 

Yesterday’s post was about a great pitch I received from High Road Communications on behalf of their client, Mark’s, formerly known as Mark’s Work Wearhouse.

Mark’s is in the midst of a giant rebranding. What used to be a work-clothes for men (think jeans, coats, boots for men in the trades) has been moving towards something more fashion-friendly for women.

There was a comment in that post that made me recall something I feared when I was tapping it out, as well as the pitch policy: I don’t want to appear ungrateful. I am VERY grateful to be here, to have the luxury of spilling my thoughts and ideas to you every day, sharing my photos, my projects, as well as my successes and failures. I’m grateful for the friends and connections I’ve made. I’m also grateful that after the years I’ve put into this website it’s turned into something that makes some money. As I said in the comments of yesterday’s post: the revenue I earn gives me the freedom to write about all kinds of great stuff that readers benefit from. If my patrons weren’t here, I’m not sure I could be.

And of course I’m grateful that PR firms have deemed me “influential” enough to give me cool freebies from time to time.   

Question: do you or do you not believe that bloggers should be compensated in some way for their time … whether it’s by way of merchandise in kind or some other arrangement?

 A blogger’s time is valuable, is it not? Our connections, our readers, our reach … they all have value. They are more valuable than most people realize. I don’t want to undervalue my worth. Women tend to do that a lot, don’t you think? The buck stops here.

If you are a blogger, you MUST recognize that if a public relations firm sends you a can of soup or a bottle of fabric softener, they’re not doing it because they’re trying help you, they are cogs in a great big business. They want to fulfill contracts to their clients. They want to make money.

There is nothing wrong with refusing to blog about that $1.49 can of soup. Bloggers, you don’t owe anyone anything, but you DO have to remain true to yourself. If you’re okay about giving Big Soup Company free advertising – that’s ok. I do it too sometimes. I’ve bought and blogged about things as mundane as cereals I’ve bought and loved and wanted to share my findings with you.

It’s a strange world we’re navigating here, isn’t it? But while we are all feeling our way around this new way of communicating, many bloggers are beginning to feel that marketing folks are taking advantage of our desire to (a) be helpful (b) share information with our readers.

Companies seem to have no problem spending thousands of dollars advertising in the major media but many expect  bloggers to promote their products for free. Advertisers are interested in bloggers not just because they consider them cheap marketing, but because bloggers are influential and can often reach a tightly defined niche market that companies could otherwise not reach. 

Bloggers – through the relationships we have cultivated over time – have more authenticity and have cultivated more trust – than an expensive television commercial or print ad.

More and more marketing folks are embracing social media, and it’s taking awhile to learn how to do it well, but yesterday’s event was a great example of great social media outreach.

I already described the lead up. The actual event was a hoot.

I arrived at the brand new Mark’s store at South Keys, was pleasantly greeted, and given a wee tour of the store. They’ve done their research and it shows in their products. For example, they carry footwear (including boots) which is resistant to salt stains. Coats are warm but not bulky. (I got to test one out in a GIANT in-store freezer. HILARIOUS. It honestly felt like winter. But will the freezer get much use during the cold half of the year? Won’t it be just as effective to step outside?)

The “innovations” as they call them go on and on: wedgie/panty-line-free underwear, shirts that don’t need ironing (!), non-pilling soft sweaters … etc. But it isn’t just practical, it’s stylish too. The boots and shoes really surprised me with their cuteness, and they have a lot of clothing that would transition well from the casual office to evening too i.e. washable silk tops.

ANYWAY, the entire afternoon was really lovely. It was star treatment, not just for me but for a whole gaggle of local bloggers. We all had our hair and makeup done, got some one-on-one guidance from a stylist who helped us pick out something to wear (I felt very dorky having conversations with strangers about my “trouble zones” – ack), and then we had our photos taken by a professional photographer.

Here’s one of mine:

We got to keep the clothing, so everything in the photo now has a special place in my closet. :)

I felt great when I walked out of the store – shiny and new again.

From a business perspective – wow – did this event ever work for them.

1) They were easily able to educate a whole bunch of women about their new products AND make them feel great about themselves and their look.

2) These women – who love to share online with their respective networks – shared their excitement with untold hundreds of likeminded people. We were all twittering madly before, during and after the event. We’re all blogging about it now too. Mark’s has arranged some VERY good PR here. (I also wonder, what if it had backfired? What if we had all hated it? It would be a PR nightmare. Mark’s took a calculated risk and won.)

3) Result: we’ve collectively endorsed Mark’s – made them cool again to a valuable demographic of post-secondary educated working moms who hold the pursestrings – and piqued the curiosity of a legion of similar people who, no doubt, are going to head over to Mark’s at the next available opportunity.

All this was probably for the price of a full-page magazine or newspaper ad … which wouldn’t have been nearly so effective. You see, it’s about marketing to a niche (narrowcasting), instead of marketing to a larger audience (broadcasting).

What about you? Whether you were there or not – bloggers and small bloggers and non-bloggers – do you see what I’m saying here? :)

I get lots of email from PR and marketing folks. It seems that I get more of them with every passing month. They’re all essentially the same: would you be interested in writing about our product/service/amazing new thing?

I posted a pitch policy in response to the onslaught… a small thing to stem the tide of email that was flooding my Inbox. I got the idea from Kate Trgovacand I’ve been happy that other bloggers have written up their own.

The pitch policy has worked – more or less. I think I’m getting fewer bad pitches. When I do get one, sometimes I send a quick note back to the sender with a link to my pitch policy, other times I slap my forehead and hit delete.

The top reasons why pitches get deleted:

• They’re for events in TORONTO. Dear sender, I’m in Ottawa. And it’s written all over this website. Marketing people: do your research.
• They’re for products which aren’t a good fit for me (or you) and I couldn’t give a fig about: like presliced frozen pizza, on a new easy serve tray! Marketing people: do your research.
• The senders are angling for placement for their client, and not giving me anything in return. I get tons of emails about snazzy clothing, food, electronic gadgets, stuff for kids etc. I won’t write about it if I haven’t tried it myself. And you know what? I really don’t feel like giving big companies free advertising. Because if I wrote about it here, that’s exactly what it would be … hundreds and possibly thousands of dollars of advertising. Why would I do that for a corporate giant?

All these bad and misdirected pitches have made me jaded and cynical. It’s so rare that I receive a smart, fun and well-planned pitch that when I DO get one it makes me feel happy that someone is LISTENING TO ME and FINALLY GETTING IT.

Enter exhibit 1. This arrived in my Inbox a couple of weeks ago:

Hi Andrea,

My name’s R*** and I work on Mark’s at High Road Communications. I think you know E*** S***, who I work with, through the powers that be the Internet ; ) We’re holding an event I wanted to see if you would like to come out. We’re throwing a ReMark’s so some folks can check out the Fall/Winter 2010 clothing line and Mark’s innovations for staying warm and dry as it’s about to get chilly – even though it’s mega hot right now, you know it’s coming soon! : )

It would be great if you took a look at the invite I’m about to send you and let me know what you think and whether or not you can come. We’re setting up personalized, one-on-one appointments where you can try on pieces from Mark’s Fall/Winter 2010 collection and meet with representatives from Mark’s who can tell you about their innovations. Perhaps even more exciting, we’ll have a hair stylist, makeup artist and photographer in store to capture your complete Mark’s Over!

The invite also includes a questionnaire about your personal style so we can determine how Mark’s collection best fits with your wardrobe and lifestyle. We want to make sure the event is as perfectly tailored for you as possible. So, if you are interested in coming out, please take a moment to fill this survey out.

Please let me know if any you’re available to join us Wednesday, September 15 at the Mark’s store in South Keys (see the invite for exact address and directions). Would love to have you out!

Also, let me know you don’t want to hear about this kind of information or events from me. I don’t want to be a bother!

Thanks and hope to hear from you soon!

R***

Here’s why it’s good:

1) It’s a good letter. I really hate form letters. Especially ones that start with DEAR MOMMY BLOGGER. Form letters are the email version of a cold call delivered by a script-reading telemarketing person who interrupts your dinner. This is personal. The sender has taken a bit of extra time with this, which I appreciate and I feel warm and fuzzy within the first 30 seconds of reading it. The sender – a young lady – is personable and nice. I like nice. Extra points for good humour.

You know what’s really interesting? It probably doesn’t take too much extra time to write a personal note, and if it has good results, why aren’t all marketers doing it?

2) It’s an intriguing idea, with major social media cred. I have been dimly aware that Mark’s Work Wearhouse has been trying to change its image from one of lumber jackets and steel-toed boots to something a little more urban and stylish for men and women. They’ve been undergoing a rebranding of sorts, but I haven’t been inside a MWW (now known as MARK’S) for some time. I’m a curious cat who likes good clothes. So they’ve got me there.

3) They are offering me something fun: a personalized, one-on-one appointment where I can try on pieces from their Fall/Winter 2010 collection … along with a hair stylist, makeup artist and photographer in store. Hook. Line. Sinker. Good bloggy outreach almost always appeals to a blogger’s vanity. It’s true. We like getting special treatment: behind-the scenes, previews, snacks, screenings … these kinds of promises are like carrots in front of our noses.

Geez, the bunch of us who’re going to this event have ALREADY started talking/tweeting about it. This is marketing gold.

All in all, an excellent example of great blogger outreach. Don’t you think?

Anyway, I have to cut this particular rant short for now. My “Marksover” makeover is HAPPENING TODAY. I’ll be tweeting the experience as it unfolds and writing it up afterwards. So stay tuned for part two!