Podonomics

Yes, this is a podcasting blog and yes, I’ve focused alot on social media this week, but trust me, it all comes full circle. Here are some additional news items that caught my eye this week.

• One in 3 Canadians read a blog. Not just that, but baby boomers are spending time on them as well. My only gripe is that the article called blogs “web diaries.” Please, please don’t call them online diaries. Doing so removes the seriousness as to why businesses should consider blogs as a communications tool. Use the Wikipedia definition for blogs instead.

• EMI now accepting music submissions from aspiring, unsigned artists. The reason? It’s because the emails of EMI employees are being clogged by attachments that are MB in size. Why don’t you tell us the real reason, EMI? That you’re finally recognizing that social media actually works and that you may just find your next million dollar talent in a sea of no-names. Hope you’re kicking yourself in the foot regarding Napster.

• WOMMA’s Ethics Assessment Tool. By way of For Immediate Release (#185), I found out that the Word of Mouth Marketing Association has developed 20 questions that you can ask contractors, agencies and all personnel to identify, avoid and eliminate unethical word of mouth tactics. This is definitely needed in light of the Walmart and lonelygirl15 fiascos.

Yesterday, the TSX took a nose dive, losing the most points in a single day since April 2004. The reason? The Minister of Finance announced that income trusts would be taxed the same as corporations.

Why is this an issue? Two of Canada’s biggest corporations announced about a month ago that they would become income trusts. By becoming income trusts, these corporations would save billions of dollars in taxes.

Of course, the government got scared because that would mean a loss in revenue for them, so changes had to be made. With the announcement that income trusts would be taxed the same as corporations, many people started pulling their money out of income trusts trading on the TSX. On top of that, the 2 corporations are now putting their conversions to income trusts on hold.

What does this have to do with social media? Everything.

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Here’s what I’ll be doing this month. You’re more than invited to attend. Some of these sessions are held over the phone, while others are in person.

If you make it to any of these events, make sure you give me a shout out. That way, I can put names to faces.

November 2, 2006 @ 8pm EST

4 Keys to Big Business Success

Free Teleclass I’m hosting with Kim Castle of BrandU
Register here

November 15, 2006 @ 8:30pm EST

How to Use a Podcast to Fill Your Sales Funnel, Increase Profits & Attract New Clients (All Without Doing Anything Technical)

Free Teleclass Hosted by The Blog Squad
Register here

November 16, 2006 @ 9:30am EST

Buzz on a Budget - How to Use Social Media to Attract New Clients & Boost Your Business

1580 Bayview Ave. Toronto hosted by Women In a Home Office - Leaside Chapter
Register here

Quick question for all the Wordpress fans out there. I notice that my fingers can be quite verbose and some of my posts turn out to be epics.

How can I type them up so I make only a few paragraphs visible and provide a more link for people to read the longer post on a separate page? Is this a plug-in? If so, which one?