Posts Tagged ‘Greg Canty’

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Who does the world think you are?

June 19, 2013

Facebook advertisingApparently I’m someone who is interested in Adult Fantasy Games, the odd bet and I wouldn’t mind driving the new Volvo V40.

I’d like to go on holidays to Tuscany after needing the help of a Retail Consultant and playing some more adult fantasy games!

LinkedIn AdvertisingWhen I get serious I’m interested in ERP (excuse my ignorance but I have no idea what that is) for small business, a white board device for waking up ideas and I might even like to earn some extra money.

When I’m done with all of that I might like to find a new  file sharing platform while I take on my one year diploma course in Corporate Governance with DCU.

Finally I might be interested in switching to UPC.

Interesting person!!

Social Media Advertising

This is a sample of the advertising that is being targeted at me across Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

With all of the different social media platforms it is possible to do some very specific targeting with your advertising campaigns.

Facebook – this probably has the biggest targeting capability as it can focus on your location (as precise as towns), age, personal status and declared personal interests.

For the advertiser  it works on either a pay per click basis (you only pay when someone clicks your advert) or on impressions (the number of times your advert has been shown).

You set a daily budget and you also have the capability of setting a maximum amount per click. The big limitation with Facebook advertising is that most people are in a very social frame of mind when they are using the platform so it probably isn’t great for “heavy” topics.

With Facebook you can also enjoy an element of what I call “endorsed” or “trust” advertising – where you see an advert and it declares that one of your friends likes that brand/product. If you want extra oomph from your page posts you can invest a few bob to push them out to the people who have liked your pages and their friends.

We have found it to be quite effective for many of our clients.

LinkedIn – the targeting capability for advertisers is really good here with options around location (just country so far), age, seniority, the size of the company the person works for, job role, sector and you can even target Groups that have been set up. This also operates on a pay per click basis (these are quite expensive) – you set the maximum per click and a daily budget.

I haven’t used it yet for clients but I have experimented with it for Fuzion – we have won some business as a result.

Twitter ADvertisingTwitter – advertising on twitter is still in it’s infancy and my feeling is that targeting will be more difficult because a user provides limited information when they set up their account. However if you read the blurb twitter reckon you can target by gender, geography and special interests (it must track the content of your tweets  or maybe who you are following to assess this – it might be tricky to target the huge number of users on twitter who lurk and never tweet). You have a choice between promoting your account or pushing your tweets into peoples twitter feed).

We haven’t used twitter advertising for any clients yet.

Collectively across all platforms there is a lot of information and capability that can help you target customers – the skill is knowing who your customer might be and using the targeting tools to attract their attention.

For the record when it comes to me other than a trip to Tuscany (off there next week!), Facebook marketing and pulling my hair out with Sky last Christmas the world just doesn’t know me at all.

I definitely have no interest in adult fantasy games… (al least that what I keep telling everyone!)

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion 

Fuzion with offices in Cork and Dublin in Ireland provide Social Media Consultancy and Training services.

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Posted in Advertising, Facebook, LinkedIn, Motivation, Online Advertising, Social Media, Web Marketing | 2 Comments »

Music, Work, Life, the Universe and some other bits in between ..

June 10, 2013

Greg Canty & Brendan Canty

“Do you fancy hanging out for the day?” Brendan suggested on the phone.

It’s a miracle …both my 24 year old son Brendan (check out his cool video/music production business Feel Good Lost) and yours truly had a day when other halves and work did not get in the way!

Charles Fort - Kinsale

The sun was shining, we bought ice creams and headed off in the car in the direction of Kinsale and turned the music up loud ..

We chatted about music, work, life, the universe and a few bits in between.

We did the coastal walk from Charles Fort as far as we could go until nettles got the better of our bare white legs – shorts were not a good idea for that stroll!

Brendan Canty - Feel Good Lost

I watched as my son, this young man walked ahead of me …how did he end up being 24 so quick?

We chatted some more about music, work, life, the universe and a few other bits in between.

Catch of the Day - Kinsale

“I’m starving” he declared … how about that guy on the bridge past Kinsale on the way to Garretstown who goes fishing a few days and then sells what he catches the other days?

Catch of the Day didn’t disappoint as we sat in the glorious sunshine on the wooden bench and munched down the Haddock, Hake and chips …. the wait was punishment (we were famished!) but so well worth it.

We chatted some more about music, work, life, the universe and a few other bits in between.

Brendan Canty

We moved onto the Speckled Door pub on the way to the Old Head of Kinsale and Brendan bought the drinks … we enjoyed a pint of Murphy’s and Bulmers respectively out the back as we looked out over the incredible view of Kinsale and watched a few young couples play with their kids (I remember when he was that young). It’s a pity Ellen (my fab daughter) couldn’t be with us today.

We chatted some more about music, work, life, the universe and a few other bits in between.

Last stop was the incredible Old Head … Brendan took me to a spot at the side of the cliffs. We stumbled upon two girls sunbathing topless and tried to walk past discreetly – I was so discreet I slipped and fell on my backside (big red face)!!

I politely stood up and continued on my way pretending I was all “cool”…

Old Head of Kinsale

We sat and watched over this stunning view and pondered… we listened to and watched the birds (different types!) swoop in and out of the cliff face.

We watched the waves roll into the cliff face and contemplated how the thousands of years of activity has eroded the rock. The water was crystal clear.

We chatted some more about music, work, life, the universe and a few other bits in between.

Eventually it was time to go … we drove back to Cork and went back to our other lives.

We had the greatest father and son day, we didn’t quite drive a JCB but we did chat about music, work, life, the universe and a few other bits in between.

Thanks Brendan …let’s make sure we do that again sometime soon x

Greg Canty is a dad and a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Family, Friendship, Parenting, Personal development, Tourism | 4 Comments »

Ken..Thanks for the flowers

June 3, 2013

Flowers in the window

It was a funny day in the office.

First of all William from the Ambassador Restaurant arrived with gifts after returning from a holiday. He brought us a “Fuzion” scroll and a little oriental tea pot – he went to a lot of thought and bother. It was incredible to see a client thinking about us in that way.

Later Ken Buckley from Buckley Fine Art arrived with chocolates and an impressive bouquet of flowers – it was a thank you because he felt he really got a lot from the PR training course that we ran and wanted to show his appreciation …wow, what a day of  kind gestures!

As it turned out we had to go to Killarney for a few days working on a few different projects – I asked mum could I pop the flowers that Ken had brought up to Gran Ellen who was staying in the Bons Secours Nursing Home on the Lee Road. Gran was funny about flowers (someone else always deserved them more than she did) and she hadn’t been well recently so I wasn’t sure if she was up to accepting them or even a visit.

Mum reckoned she would appreciate them and it would be ok to visit as long as we didn’t stay too long.

On the way out of town we popped into the nursing home to see Gran – she brightened up when she saw us and she immediately insisted that one of the nurses brought a vase for the beautiful flowers. In the end it took two vases and Gran Ellen wanted the curtains pulled open wide so that she could see them in full glory on the window sill.

We had a quick chat with her. Visiting Gran was always special – she was always bright and in good form and you always left her feeling better than when you came in.

A few days later during a meeting with William from the Ambassador restaurant my mum called to say Gran had slipped away (I’m glad it was William I was with – great guy).

When we went to see Gran Ellen laid out peacefully the flowers were still in full colour adding life to the room.

If Ken from the Buckley Fine Art Gallery hadn’t brought us those flowers I wouldn’t have got to see Gran Ellen that last time – I sent him a message on Facebook about what a huge gesture the flowers turned out to be.

Many months later my mum called to say that some money had been left to her and her brothers and sisters from Gran’s estate and she insisted on giving me, my sister and brother an amount from this.

As always, mum insisted and we thought long and hard about what to do with this money. We wanted to do something special with it, something that would always remind us of Gran Ellen.

“How about buying some art?” We would have it forever and it could be passed onto the next generation.

Night Skating - Brian Smyth

Night Skating – Brian Smyth

On a cold winters day with snow on the ground Dee, my daughter Ellen (it would be hers eventually!) and yours truly headed to town and picked out a beautiful painting with a real nostalgic feeling to it by Cork artist Brian Smyth that now hangs in a special place over our fireplace.

Everyone who visits is told the story about a great woman and how a kind gesture can come back to you further down the line – guess where we bought the painting?

Gran, we miss you and Ken …Thanks for the flowers

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Ken Buckley has an art gallery in Kinsale, County Cork – The Gallery Kinsale

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Posted in Friendship, Personal development, Positivity | 8 Comments »

Jobbridge and some very reckless loose tongues

May 30, 2013

I couldn’t believe what I was reading on twitter..

Jobbridge rant

Here was Pat Phelan, a self professed “good guy” (from his own twitter bio: @patphelan: CEO @TRUSTEV, from a long line of Citog’s, friend of Bill and Bob, hates bad coffee #happy #goodguy) having a wild and totally unfounded pop at me/Fuzion trying to create a job opportunity utilising the JobBridge scheme and take another careful step forward with our business.

I was amazed that someone so prolific online could be that careless and loose with his opinions and make such a reckless and damaging accusation – I don’t believe Pat knows the first thing about Fuzion. He certainly has never been through our door and has never had dealings with any of our team.

I took issue with him about what he was tweeting – he clearly has issues and an opinion about Jobbridge but has no right to throw muck at Fuzion.

Fuzion and Jobbridge – for the record:

Jean was the first person that we brought in as a PR intern. She was an extra person on our team and once the period was up we were delighted to give her a full time job. We then added Aisling to our Dublin team and after some initial training and some relevant experience under her belt she was poached by Edelman PR. We replaced her with Niamh who will also be made full time – again she was a raw graduate who has now clocked up valuable experience.

The advert that you saw us tweeting about in the above post is with the intention of trying to extend the team even further, which is risky business in the current climate. Through incredibly hard work and with the help of the Jobbridge scheme we have been able to add new members to our team all the way throughout the recession – we have never reduced anyone’s wages either, which if I say so myself is quite an achievement.

That is 3 new jobs in Fuzion – the Jobbridge scheme has allowed us to accelerate our expansion and create jobs and provide valuable experience for people.

We have also added other members to our team outside of Jobbridge.

Scambridge

I then came across the Scambridge website – their rationale for creating this dedicated website (fair play lads with your effort at #positivity) is stated as follow ” The Scambridge website and campaign was initiated after we received an overwhelming response to the article below by Socialist Party / United Left Alliance MEP Paul Murphy which was published on the Politico.ie website”

I will admit that from my experience someone, somewhere will always take advantage of any initiative, which can wreck it for others – some employers will exploit and take advantage but surely don’t tar everyone with the same brush – this scheme in my view is a win/win.

Even more Twitter abuse

I then found myself taking even more abuse on twitter about our recruitment drive:

I find some guy called Squid (lovely name) @squidlimerick taking a pop at the same advert “@GregCantyFuzion using a scheme that discriminates against people with certain disabilities. #jobbridge“

This gets better …I am not actually trying to create a job but I am apparently discriminating against people with disabilities. Mr Squid, when you get a chance please take a peek at some of the successful work we have done for charities in Ireland.

And then I find another really prolific social media guy on the 28th May telling people to start clicking on the Google Adverts of companies who are taking people on through Jobbridge – thanks Damien..was that a pop at Fuzion?

Damien Mulley rant

Damien Mulley: “I’d never advocate doing this: Googling Cork companies that use JobBridge to avoid paying staff. Then clicking on their ads. Clickity”

Why would you put out such a tweet? 

So Fuzion are exploiting, discriminating and we deserve to be financially punished for our attempts to stay positive, expand our business and use a legitimate scheme in the spirit it was designed.

My head is spinning at such begrudgery, cynical, defamatory and financially damaging attacks – this is some of the stuff I really hate about certain people.

Thankfully not everyone is like this and I for one will hang onto my outlook on life, drive on and try to keep having wins and Yes, create new jobs and give people valuable training and a start they may not have had otherwise.

#Positivity

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Design firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Business Planning, Google Adwords, Irish Economy, Positivity, Recruitment, Training | 48 Comments »

Does your customer have their teeth stuck in a bad habit?

May 29, 2013

Dentist

I’m sitting in the office on a gorgeous May summers day and the sun is streaming in the window.

Unfortunately I can’t enjoy it because my mouth is throbbing after getting a tooth removed after an emergency visit to the dentist.

After every round of dentist visits I promise myself that I will get into better habits and maintain regular check ups (I know this is really important) but every time I manage to find good reasons not to make those appointments – the thought of voluntarily going for a check up and cleaning is always one that I manage to avoid.

My hate and fear of the dentist visit (my guy is an old neighbour and really good) stems back to a brutal public dental school system when I was growing up in Cork – those memories still haunt me to this day!

The result …I end up having an unpleasant “emergency” visit every few years where some drastic action is needed and on this occasion I lose a tooth, which should never have happened.

Bad habits, in fact any habits are hard to break and in any business we find ourselves not making a sale but often trying to change a habit that someone has their teeth stuck into!

I must change my bad habit …I wonder what my dentist could do to help me?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design firm with offices in Cork and Dublin, Ireland

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Posted in Customer Care, Marketing, Personal development | 3 Comments »

Creating a Wow

May 26, 2013
Love Actually

Will I wrap that sir?

We better bring some wine with us…

I stood in the Wine Buff off licence, browsed through the sections and  eventually selected a nice bottle of prosecco.

The really nice guy in the store commended me on my choice as he wrapped the bottle with care in a sheet of purple crepe paper and then placed it in a brown paper bag.

We arrived at our friends house and we handed over the bottle …hmm, this bottle was something extra special just because of the little sheet of purple paper that it was wrapped in.  I could see it in his face.

He seemed to place it away from all the other bottles that had been brought…maybe this was a bottle to be enjoyed in private and not opened at a party?

In truth the bottle was probably no better than all of the others lined up but it had a piece of purple crepe paper wrapped around it that made it stand out, that made it special, that gave it a special “wow”.

I hope they enjoyed it ..

Can you do something simple in your business to create a wow?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Check out a previous post – Are you throwing away the wow?

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design firm with offices in Cork and Dublin in Ireland

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Posted in Customer Care, Marketing, Packaging, Retailing | 3 Comments »

Murphy’s “When it Rains it Pours” and other Freebie Guilt

May 26, 2013

Murphys, When it rains it pours

Both myself and Jonathan received our reminder at the same time on our phones while working in the office..

“You have one day to redeem your free pint of Murphy’s“

This is part of the very clever “When it rains it pours” campaign being run by Murphy’s. It works in a really simple way – you register for the APP and when it rains the kind brewery give away a thousand free pints!

When you log onto the APP you claim your pint and you are then given four days to redeem your free pint.

The free pints are available from participating pubs and the APP gives a listing of pubs as well as a convenient “pubs near you” guide. You reclaim the free pint by showing the barman your phone and they give you a unique code that you enter on your APP.

We are both Murphy’s drinkers, it was late on a Friday afternoon after another busy week so why not!

On the way over we had a chat about “free” stuff and how it makes you feel..I always feel like a skinflint when I’m not paying for something.

I feel mean and I feel like an inferior customer when I’m not handing over money. I feel strange when I hand over a discount card and I even feel slightly awkward when producing a voucher to pay for something in a restaurant. Whenever I claim “free” stuff or I end up using a voucher I always feel I should buy something extra so that I don’t feel as bad!

The last time I tried to use the APP in a bar that was listed in the scheme they told me they knew nothing about it. Embarrassing!

As we were ordering our pints we had our phones armed and ready and we tentatively asked the barman if they were doing the Murphy’s scheme …”sorry we don’t do that here“. Ground…open up and swallow me now!

Already feeling like a skinflint and a little red faced, I just paid for our pints and decided I wasn’t going to use the APP anymore – its just too embarrassing.

The initiative is a really clever one that should be great at building customer loyalty and one that also helps to recruit new customers. Due to poor execution (Sorry Heineken – get a sticker or POS for participating pubs and make sure the staff know about it it – make sure the pubs listed on the APP are actually participating) it instead just becomes a phone gimmick that runs the risk of making customers feel bad.

I’m sure this was a million miles away from the great original intention when the scheme was devised.

With any voucher, scheme or discount initiative you are using in your business it’s important that the execution is simple and efficient, your team are fully informed and there is no risk that a customer is left feeling guilty, inferior or with a big red face!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing and PR firm with offices in Cork and Dublin.

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Posted in Customer Care, Marketing, Training | 8 Comments »

If that doesn’t work …get out of there!

May 20, 2013

Escape

That was another incredibly busy week, meeting with clients, attending client events, dealing with stakeholders, meeting prospects, running training programmes and dealing with the every day things associated with running a business.

I meet people from so many different walks of life working in organisations and companies in private, public and non-profit sectors and with my social media activity I interact with many people on a regular basis.

This week in particular, whatever was in the air I seemed to meet a lot of incredibly “frustrated” people.

People who feel no one listens to them, people who feel its impossible to get anything done, people who despair of their organisation because it is choking with politics, people who were bullied out of jobs by colleagues, people blaming colleagues for things that went wrong when in fact they put them under so much pressure they couldn’t perform, people who are insecure so they play games to protect their own positions, people who are hostile to visitors and people who can play a huge part in making significant changes but ….once again feel this is impossible with people busy playing politics who will block all positive initiatives.

Not one of these people were giving out about money – all of them wanted to contribute and enjoy and long for the satisfaction of making something happen.

If that’s you then start making some noise, keep pushing, let your voice be heard, push for the right things to happen, speak up when they are not happening, challenge  the rubbish, encourage working together as a team, talk about making a difference, make the political “players” uncomfortable (they want to make a difference as well) and push them towards doing the right things and at least go home on a Friday with a feeling that you have had a good week.

If that doesn’t work …get out of there!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design firm with offices in Cork and Dublin in Ireland

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Posted in Bullying, Ireland, Motivation, Personal development, Positivity, Teamwork | Leave a Comment »

He won’t answer the phone

May 19, 2013

forgive

I asked him how his son was getting on. We were both sitting in his workshop as he opened up to me. I think he needed to.

“I could tell you he is getting on great but I really have no idea. We’re heartbroken” he told me.

“We haven’t spoken to him in over a year. He won’t answer the phone but that doesn’t stop us calling”

The tears flowed from his eyes as he explained to me that it was all down to a simple misunderstanding and since then their son, a normally warm and generous young fella (I can vouch for that) just won’t talk to them.

I’m sure in time that phone will be answered ..

Is there a call you need to make or one you need to answer?

Life is way too short …go on, do t!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Family, Personal development, Positivity | 2 Comments »

Snap into it

May 17, 2013
Bueller

Anyone, anyone, anyone?

“Snap out of it” I had to tell myself.

I do a lot of social media training and consultancy both directly for  clients and as part of organised courses for the Enterprise Boards and the Digital Marketing Institute.

I use a suite of materials to deliver this training including some very detailed notes that cover the whole area including blogging, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and some of the other emerging platforms and trends in social media.

In the last few weeks I have found myself delivering a huge volume of training and on this particular day I found myself delivering a module to a client group in the morning and a similar programme in the evening to a group of SME’s as part of training for one of the Enterprise Boards.

Facing into delivering the same material on literally the same day and feeling really tired my motivation level had dropped.

I started to question myself as I drove to the hotel:

Was I getting bored with my own material?  

Would I be able to deliver a good session?

I was wallowing ..

Hold on (big conversation with self!)…you have been crafting your training materials for a few years, you have continuously improved the programme, you not only understand the material intimately but you know how to deliver it in a way that keeps the group engaged and learning – Besides you know you are passionate about this whole area.

This group of SME’s have signed up for the programme, they have given up their evenings to learn about something that could make a big difference for their business and you know you can show them how, in a really practical way.

After giving myself a few virtual slaps in the face and a big kick up the bum I managed to change my gears and open that door – “who wants to tell world about how great their business is?”

We had a great session ..in fact it was the best reaction to a session that I had in the last few weeks and after it I was buzzing.

What you get from any group at a meeting or a presentation is often down to what you bring in the door with you ..your frame of mind, your attitude, your belief, your energy and your enthusiasm.

Snap into it ..

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion with offices in Cork and Dublin offer social media training and consultancy in Ireland

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Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Marketing, Motivation, Personal development, Positivity, Social Media, Training, Twitter | 5 Comments »

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