Why you should be interested in Pinterest

Posted on February 14, 2012 by capecodpr

It seems there’s something new around every social media corner. Of course the “classics” like Facebook are here to stay, but there’s a relatively new player on the scene that seems to be taking the social sphere by storm, with more than 200 million users already.

Pinterest.com is a social catalog service. It’s a very visual way to post collections of things you love — from dream home ideas to favorite foods to cool products (these are a few of my “pins”). Like Facebook, Twitter, blogs and all the rest, you can follow people and they can follow you. But why should we care?

Well, in my opinion, it’s one big soap box, and the technology allows you to easily share things that are interesting, in 3-D fashion. Pictures are worth a thousand words, right?

If you are a business owner, or a blogger even, Pinterest is a great way to share your products and services, and drive more traffic to them. That being said, it seems logical that the best fits for this kind of promotion are people in a “visual” industry, like photography, fashion, art and graphic design.

Pinterest is also a great way to share and find links to unique products. These are things you might not come across in a regular Google search, but rather, through the good old word of mouth marketing that social media provides through shares and likes. Kind of like when a product hits Oprah’s list, interest skyrockets and you could find yourself selling out of something that few people knew about before.

As it goes with the delicate balance of your personal vs. your business life in social media, you shouldn’t just pin all your products or business interests, because you’ll come off as nothing more than a big spam catalog. Let people in on some of your general interests and likes, because, well… it makes you more real and “pinteresting.”

Pinterest is technically invite-only, but if you want to check it out and start making some boards and posting some pins, send me an email at tracy@tracykanderson and I’ll send you an invite….while they last!

They’ve got a day for everything…today, we salute peanut butter.

Posted on January 24, 2012 by capecodpr

Did you know that January 24, 2012 is National Peanut Butter Day?

Yes, it’s true. So, a couple of factoids, followed by a great recipe to celebrate, if you’re in the mood:

It takes more than 500 peanuts to make a 12 ounce jar of peanut butter
90% of all American households have peanut butter in their pantry
The average person eats more that three pounds of peanut butter a year (Americans as a whole consume 700 million pounds of peanut butter annually)
60% of the peanuts in the US are grown in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. Half are used for peanut butter.
Women and children prefer creamy peanut butter, while most men go for chunky (I guess they don’t like their peanuts the same way they like their women…drat.).
Peanuts are technically legumes (like beans), not nuts.
Peanut butter is a good source of protein; two tablespoons provides more than 10% of the daily recommended value
Peanut butter was originally developed in 1890 by a doctor in St. Louis as a remedy for bad teeth!

And now (drum roll, please….), my favorite peanut butter-based recipe. This chicken satay with peanut sauce is from the Food Network, courtesy of Tyler Florence. It’s also yummy with flank steak, shrimp, seared scallops or as a sauce with tofu and vegetables.

View the recipe

Happy National Peanut Butter Day, y’all!

I think Pandora can actually read my mind…and I love it!

Posted on January 18, 2012 by capecodpr

Just unpacking groceries, planning some meals for the week and grooving out to my own
Pandora mix… and the last set felt like it was literally channeled through me. It was:

Time Out of Mind, Steely Dan/Gaucho
Below the Beams, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals/Nothing but the Water
Got to Get You Into My Life, The Beatles/Revolver (Remastered)
Lovely, Sara Haze/My Personal Sky
Set Fire to the Rain, Adele/Adele 21
Talking About, Susan Tedeschi/Back to the River
Billy Joel, Big Man on Mulberry Street/Kohuept
Many the Miles, Sara Bareilles/Little Voice
(Night Time Is) The Right Time, Ray Charles/Ultimate Hits Collection
Ruby Baby, Donald Fagen/the Nightfly

Start with a little Donald Fagen (via Steely Dan); end with a little Donald Fagen. Actually, “The Nightfly” has been one of my favorite albums (do people still say albums?) for a long, long time. This little music-while-I-make-meatloaf experience was great!

I guess the new “Pandora One” gives you all this without ads for a monthly fee, but my free version is just fine. Happiness!

What’s your Pandora hit list?

Still in the New Year spirit?

Posted on January 12, 2012 by capecodpr

I am.

But instead of making resolutions, I thought – why recreate the wheel? This new year, it occurred to me as I entered that familiar space of making better habits, setting new goals and even attempting to reinvent myself, a great place to start would be to quantify some of the things that I already know make me feel good. And then do more of them!

When I started, I intended to just make a list of ten, but it wasn’t enough. Lucky me! So here’s my Top 20, in no particular order. Made me feel grateful just writing it. Even the simple exercise of putting it on paper has got to be a good thing, right?

What are yours?

My Top Twenty “Feel Goods”

Laughing really, really hard
That energized feeling I have when I know I can make s#%t happen
This scene: mountain getaway, light snow fall, invigorating hike, followed by fire blazing, food braising, board games, red wine and relaxation
Being in dance class
When a child achieves something, and you can feel their genuine pride
Completing a work project that was really challenging
Cuddle time with my 8-year old son
Writing something smart and witty, or saying something brilliant in a meeting
Television that makes you laugh out loud and simultaneously appreciate the great writing (for me, it’s 30 Rock)
Cooking a great meal
A shower and a glass of chilled white wine after a day in the sun and water
Giving to someone who really needs help
The perfect cup of coffee: not too strong, cream, 1 sugar. Maybe even a hint of cinnamon. Sorry, I’m a little bit of a pansy when it comes to coffee. But I love it so.
Waking up ready to tackle to world (or at least the day)
When my cat climbs on my chest and gets right up in my face for some love
Opening up my vegetable or fish share and basking in it’s fresh and local glory
Friends that really get me
Camping and cooking outdoors
Water views
Amazing songs that make you smile, dance, groove out, etc. (the content of which is fodder for another post)

Would love to hear your top 20. Post ‘em here and maybe you can inspire someone else.

Happy New Year!

Snappy email signatures for Mac & Gmail users

Posted on January 5, 2012 by capecodpr

How good are your Googling skills?

I for one, have become a pro, because honestly (who am I kidding?), it’s often the fastest way to learn something new. Not that web searches can replace things like good old fashioned smarts and common sense, but sometimes you just know that someone else has already figured out what you want to know.

Today’s post is about one of those times. I wanted to add clickable social media icons to my email signature, and it turns out that the process for doing this is different across pretty much every email platform. Apple Mail — my baby — is user friendly in many ways, but customized html email signatures is not one of them. Alas, I was lucky to find this YouTube video (after crafting some brilliant Google search phrases, of course) from MacFusion.

Easy as 1, 2, 3… or as my son would say: Easy, Peasy Lemon Squeezy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pO25YE-g2eM

Now of course this only helps the Mac folks…. there are some good resources out there for more mainstream email apps like Gmail. Again, this might take some serious Googling prowess (you’re getting my sarcasm, right?), so here’s another link to share the love for Gmail:

http://www.labnol.org/internet/gmail-html-signatures/13727/#article

Thanks for geeking out with me!

Music Today, not Marketing…

Posted on December 19, 2011 by capecodpr

Ok, so I just had one of those experiences that’s worth writing about.. at least for me.

I have been a James Taylor fan for more than 30 years (and I’m only 43), and thanks to my best friend Sarah who writes for the Boston Globe, I scored an invite to see him act, of all things, out in the Berkshires in the Colonial Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol.

The show was good, but the best part was getting invited backstage to meet JT. We hung out in the dressing room that he shared with his wife Kim (also in the show, with their twin boys) for a good 10-15 minutes, and had some nice chit chat. So very cool. He is warm, unassuming… and tall!

But the purpose of this post is to list all those B-list songs of his I really love. Anyone on this same wavelength? I did manage to blurt out in a less than articulate fashion: “Summer’s Here is my favorite song of yours!”… but on the ride home Sarah and I played more JT and mused about the other lesser-known songs that are on our hit list, too. Not that I don’t dig “Your Smiling Face”… but these are way cooler.

So here it is for anyone who cares: My personal Top 10 JT song list! (other than Summer’s Here, in no particular order other than alphabetical):

1. First Day of May

2. Ain’t No Song

3. Everybody Has the Blues

4. His blues-y version of Jingle Bells

5. Let it All Fall Down

6. Letter in the Mail

7. I Will Follow

8. Me and My Guitar

9. Shed a Little Light

10. Sweet Potato Pie

Runners up: Traffic Jam, Walking My Baby Back Home, Whenever You’re Ready, and yes, Your Smiling Face!

Mix CD for Christmas, anyone??

Hi, everyone!

Posted on December 9, 2011 by capecodpr

Well, “everyone” might just mean myself, as this is my first blog post and no one knows about it. Yet.

I am embracing WordPress. Really, a powerful platform. And since I blog for my clients, I thought it made sense to blog for myself, too.

What you will find here:

Things I think are funny
Occasional insights that may or may not pertain to marketing
Cool photos and links

What you won’t find here:

Endorsements
Sales-y stuff
A repeat of all the things that are already on my website

See you soon, I hope!

-Tracy