What is national pride? Can you pinpoint it? Is there a standardised definition to which we all adhere?
I don’t know if I can define it; but I know it when I feel it.
It’s that moment… that lump in the bottom of your throat; a stray tear falling from the corner of your eye; that feeling of your heart swelling in your chest. Usually those moments come in a group – someone starts singing O Canada in the back of the crowd and slowly the entire throng joins in; it’s those moments of shared joy (I hate to be stereotypical, but let’s use Olympic hockey as an example); or political relief (I’ve lived through my share of Quebec referenda – there’s nothing like that mixture of pride and relief you get when you’re in the middle of it all.)
But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It can be that moment when you’re standing by the banks of a river, admiring the beauty of the Canadian landscape; it can be the simple joy of hearing your favourite song by your favourite Canadian band (Sloan, look ‘em up!); or it can be the smile that seeing the world’s coolest flag flapping gracefully in the wind.
Canada Day is upon us and the maple leaf will be out in full force. While July 1 is the one time when we allow ourselves to be unabashed in our celebration of being Canadian, that doesn’t mean our pride doesn’t run deep.
I used to look on with envy at our friends south of the border. I loved driving through small-town USA and seeing the Stars and Stripes hanging from every porch and wondered why we Canadians didn’t do the same. It was a wonderment that bordered on lament.
But since then, I’ve discovered that our Canadian pride is uniquely Canadian. Polite, reserved, but no less fierce. We may not be ostentatious about our displays of national affection, but those feelings run deep.
And why not? There’s so much of which to be proud. Our cultural mosaic mentality allows people from all races, religions, and creeds to hold fast to their history whilst becoming an integral part of our future. In general, we’re a tolerant lot and we believe in supporting each other (hello universal health care and social programs!). Sure, we have our nutbars on both sides of the spectrum, but for the most part we ascribe to a rhetoric over violence approach to bridging our differences.
This, in part, is why the Amway business opportunity works in Canada. Regardless of where you’re from, who you are, or what you believe, there’s an opportunity for you. Effort, talent, and dedication are found within all people, so there’s an equal opportunity for success.
As mentioned, we’re a supportive group, which also lends itself well to the community nature of the business. Success through helping others succeed – it may not be uniquely Canadian, but it certainly meshes well with our national identity.
Now I open it to you. What does being Canadian mean to you? When do you feel national pride and how do you display it? And, if you’re affiliated with Amway Canada, do you agree that the business opportunity has a certain flair of Canadiana?
Happy Canada Day everyone. I’m going to take the liberty of speaking for everyone here at Amway Canada in wishing you a happy, healthy, and safe long weekend! And to our neighbours to the south, I wish you the same for your Independence Day.
As you likely know, there was a little incident following the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals. But, as the perpetrators of the riot are finding out, there’s an important lesson to be learned about the power of social media.
And that is: don’t do anything you don’t want seen by millions of people in the blink of an eye (or the click of a mouse).
According to Facebook’s own press room, there are more than 500 million active users. Remember the album 50 Million Elvis Fans Can’t be Wrong? Then what do you say to the 568,962,485 people who have watched Justin Bieber’s “Baby” video (as of 11:47 a.m. on Monday morning…)? Or the 11,041,882 people who follow Lady Gaga on Twitter?
So while these cowardly punks may have thought they were safe in the anonymity of a crowd of 100,000 Vancouverites (and other visitors) who were roaming the streets disappointed by a victory party that never happened, they forgot one thing:
This isn’t 1994.
That was the last time Vancouver had a Stanley Cup riot, but so much has changed now. Before, there was just the odd security camera, some still shots, and eyewitness views; now, it’s pretty much impossible to buy a cell phone without a camera (trust me, I know… I tried), and social networking has allowed people to shoot, upload, and broadcast to the world in a matter of seconds.
Anonymity is hard to achieve with thousands of cell phone cameras linked to Twitter feeds and Facebook profiles; and it’s a lesson that businesses need to take to heart.
Here at Amway Canada, we try to inform and entertain both here on the blog and on our various Facebook channels (Amway, Artistry, and Nutrilite – just in case, you know, you want to check them out) and our Twitter feed. But, most importantly, like I’ve promised since Day One of this blog, I’ve been as honest as humanly possible on all of our social media networks.
Not only is it the best policy – for business, it should be the only policy. After all, one lie, one slip-up, one mistake, and it’s everywhere. And one negative experience can snowball faster than you can imagine – and, unfortunately due to the nature of the Internet, that snowball often moves faster than the truth.
Whether you’re a small business owner or a multi-national conglomerate, people are expecting to interact with business in a much different way than even a decade ago. And if they don’t like the interaction, they’ll let people know about it. The challenge is that instead of just a small circle of friends who hear about your bad experience, now it’s re-Tweeted ad nauseum, posted on a Facebook wall and ‘liked’ repeatedly, and even posted on your own message board in perpetuity!
That’s the power of social media. It can be used for good and ill. The best defence? Being honest. If there’s a message that needs to spread throughout the world like wildfire, it only makes sense that it should be the truth.
That’s what we’re trying to do here. And it’s a lesson we all – from the teenager posting off-colour comments to his friends to the businesswoman who snaps at a customer in a 140-character Tweet – need to take to heart.
Your thoughts? And how carefully do you manage your on-line presence? Do you treat it as a brand? Do you regularly monitor your name? Your business? The comments are open!
In light of the recently extended Nutrilite Canadian Championship (rain washed out the finale – literally — and the final game now will be played on July 2nd) and the upcoming Canada/Ecuador friendly, our focus has been on the present – and the elite ranks of Canadian soccer.
However, as soccer continues to grow in prominence in Canada, we’re also committed to nurturing our future – and Amway Canada’s IBOs have a wonderful opportunity to support grassroots soccer, while exposing their business to their communities.
The Nutrilite Active Start Soccer Festivals are exciting events designed to promote physical activity, fun, and sportsmanship, while bringing the community together. As part of our affiliation with Canada soccer, IBOs have the opportunity to set up booths at these community events. One IBO, Shaun Guthrie, recently did just that in Red Deer, AB and shared his experiences on his blog.
I took the opportunity to discuss this event with Shaun and find out what the event means to him and his business. Here are a few of his thoughts:
“I believe the value of the event, while not only promoting the Nutrilite brand, is being able to promote your own business and have a face to the Nutrilite brand,” Shaun said, explaining that response to the booth was overwhelmingly positive. “The worst — and this isn’t even that bad — is one lady figured that fruits and vegetables have the same content in them that they had 20-30 years ago and figured nothing has changed.
“We tried to explain a few things but she wasn’t having any of it which was fine, she was entitled to her own opinion.”
It’s not just about building awareness of the brand and improving recognition – there’s also the opportunity to get NUTRILITE products in people’s hands right away. “People wanted to buy product right then and there but we didn’t have enough,” he said. “So we were able to collect names and numbers from at least 10 people that wanted to place an order right away. My wife is following up with all of them so we should see some positive client results.”
The events also give IBOs a chance to explain the benefits of supplementation and answer any questions that potential customers may have. Shaun added that he was pleased by how candid people were about their own nutritional habits.
“[We were] able to serve on behalf of Amway and Nutrilite and educate people on the benefits of eating healthy and making sure we supplement where required,” Shaun said. “Many people opened up to us and mentioned they did not eat right, didn’t have time to eat right, made poor choices, felt they were not getting enough out of what they were eating, etc… So education was big.”
In addition to product sales, Shaun added that events like this – and Amway Canada’s sponsorship and promotional events – are having an impact on the way people view the Amway business opportunity.
“One other positive outcome is [that] someone is actually interested in sitting down with us to get more knowledge about the business opportunity,” he said. “That’s just a bonus, but as indicated last week [in an article that we posted on the Amway Canada Facebook page], Canadians are looking for opportunity and it’s case and point right there.
“I think Amway’s reputation is [improving] and it’s the help of the sponsorship, commercials, and all other forms of communication [that Amway Canada is] doing.”
He concluded by saying he was looking forward to a long-term relationship with the local soccer association and is proud to be able to represent the Amway business opportunity and Nutrilite products through his independent business.
“I know next year we want to go back and build a relationship with that Red Deer Soccer association and make sure we are there again,” he explained. “Consistency helps build rapport.
“All in all Amway gives us the opportunity to be the face of the company for a day and its this opportunity that helps shed a new light, a positive light on the company and the brands it promotes.”
So there you have it. Nutrilite Active Start soccer festivals offer you another way to expose your business to the public at large – and see some real, positive results. It’s not too late to sign up. Simply email sales.ca@amway.com to learn more about the opportunities present through our Booth & Event Sales program. And please visit the Nutrilite Active Start Soccer Festivals page to find out when there’s an event in your neck of the woods. If you’ve participated in the past or are looking forward to participating this year, send us an email at facebook.ca@amway.com.
Finally, make sure you visit the Nutrilite Canada Facebook page. We’ll be posting more photos from Shaun’s event later in the day – and you can also enter for your chance to win a VIP Canadian Soccer Experience, which will send you and three guests on an all-expenses-paid trip to see the Canadian men’s national team in action! Make sure to “like” the page to get the latest soccer news, product updates, and health and wellness trends and information.
With the rise of tablets, portable access to Internet through Smartphones, iPhones, and the like, and the increasing comfort people have in accessing information through a screen, the table has long been set for electronic media to assume its place at its head.
It doesn’t mean I have to like it, though. That said, I understand it completely – and, in many ways, I think it’s a great opportunity or business.
I’m not a techno-Luddite in any way. I love social media and can talk for hours about its potential and benefits. I use an iTouch, I have a laptop, and I’m comfortable getting my media online. But I love my books.
There’s something visually appealing about books that just doesn’t translate to the digital world. Sure, they may be inefficient, wasteful of paper and space, and collectors of dust, but I absolutely love my bookshelves. I have about a dozen bookshelves at home, with boxes of books waiting in storage for that day when I can have an entire room dedicated to tall oak shelves, with one of those cool wheeled ladders taking me from side to side.
For some reason, I don’t see the same aestheic appeal of an e-reader.
And while Gutenberg may be rolling over in his grave right about now (that one ‘t’… Guttenberg is the guy from Police Academy – he’s well enough alive, although his career may be on life support), it’s pretty much where we’re going.
It’s not all bad. After all, technology has put a world of information literally at our fingertips. It’s forced us to become much more savvy about sourcing information (just because it’s out there doesn’t mean it’s true) and critical in our approach about knowledge. And, most importantly, it’s re-engaged people in reading. It’s sad to say, but most people are lazy. But when literally a world of differing opinions are at your fingertips, cross-linked and spoon-fed to you via “recommendations” and Facebook “likes” then you almost have to actively tune out to not be informed.
So how does this impact business owners? Is it good or bad? Well, I’m of the opinion that more information is always good. But it also places the onus on us to remain at the top of our game.
The information is out there, so how do you respond to it? Consumers are demanding so much more from their brands – they want instant access, information, and a relationship, and they want it now!
Of course, this plays to the strengths of Amway and its independent business owners. That high-tech/high-touch mentality has been a staple of our business. Social media has finally caught up to a social business.
So how has this move to on-line information impacted you? How do you use it to learn and grow, whether it’s for business or personal purposes? How has it changed the way you approach your brands? Do you feel it’s a boon or a bust for you, personally?
There are some exciting things happening around Amway Canada these days. And whether your game is on the pitch or on blades, you’ll find something to pique your interest.
First off, tonight marks the start of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. This is the fourth year of the tournament designed to crown Canada’s top club team. In addition to earning the Voyageurs’ Cup, the winning club will earn Canada’s berth in the CONCACAF regionals, en route to the FIFA Club World Cup.
This year, FC Edmonton joins the fray and will be facing off in a home-and-home against the two-time defending champion Toronto FC; the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps FC face off in the other two-game mini-tournament, with the winners of each meeting in a two-game series for the tournament crown.
We’ll be on-hand next week in Toronto for the Edmonton/Toronto game, and we’ll be posting photos and updates on both the Nutrilite Canada Facebook page and on the @AmwayCanada Twitter feed. We’d love for you to join in the fun and share your thoughts, photos, and experiences on both. We’re also using the #ncc2011 hash tag for Twitter updates.
But that’s not all! This week marks the start of the ISU’s World Figure Skating Championships in Russia. This, of course, is the competition that was to have been held in Japan, but was delayed due to the devastation caused by the tsunami and earthquake. It should be an interesting competition as the thrill of the spectacle and performances will be tempered by the heavy hearts we all still feel from the Japanese tragedy. However, one of the great things about sport is that it unifies us all and helps us to rally around a common cause. It won’t fix the problems in Japan, but the continuation of this tournament is a testament to the strength of the Japanese people and the skaters from around the world will honour those people with their efforts.
Again, we’ll be on top of this entire event courtesy of our sponsorship of Championship Figure Skating on CBC, presented by Artistry. We’d love for you to join us on the Artistry Canada Facebook page to share your thoughts on the tournament with fellow fans, and we look forward to Tweeting with you on Twitter!
Amway Canada and its brands are taking the sporting world by storm! We’d love to hear what you think about this in the comments section of this blog! And don’t forget to join us on the Facebook pages (including the Amway Canada Facebook page, where you’ll also get regular updates on these events – and the upcoming Compost Value Day we’ll play a part in hosting next week!)
What does 20 minutes cost? One less break? Skipping one sitcom on TV? But what can 20 minutes bring? To those participating in the 20-Minute-Makeover, those 20 minutes can have an incredible impact on the world around us.
In London, we’ve supported this event since it was brought to The Forest City six years ago. The concept is dazzling in its simplicity: companies around the city allow their employees to head outside at 2 p.m., arm them with garbage bags and gloves, and encourage them to clean up the area around their workplace for 20 minutes.
Amway Canada is on a major street, so the front of our building is subject to debris blowing off the road. And let’s not forget the fact that spring thaw has revealed all those hidden cups, wrappers, and other items that people have convenient left behind. It makes a difference. And the more companies you have working together, the more of a difference you can make.
More than the immediate results, the event helps you focus on the simple things we can do to promote our environment. Really, how hard is it to hold on to that losing Roll Up the Rim cup for a few minutes until you get to a trash can or recycling bin? That empty bag of chips isn’t going to self-destruct, so leave it in the car until you get home. And how much of that wrapped snack food is actually healthy? Maybe it’s time to swap the chocolate bar for an apple: better for the environment and better for you.
Now, what if that 20 minutes was stretched out to a few hours? The impact is exponentially increased. As part of London Clean & Green, Saturday marks Community Cleanup Day. Starting at 9 a.m., Londoners from all walks of life gather together to return some of the green back to The Forest City.
From parkland to residential neighbourhoods, citizens – supported by the City of London and local businesses – band together to undo the damage that we’ve done. Amway Canada’s been a part of this organization since its inception 16 years ago and, unfortunately, we foresee a long and happy partnership for the future.
I say unfortunately, because it’s sad that we even need to have events like this. It’s incredible to see the amount of garbage people just toss into their local parks, forests, and green areas. And the worst part is the motivation behind the behaviour.
I’d almost prefer that this was caused by willful and malicious destruction of our parklands. At least then you could understand the justification (not agree with, but at least understand.) Instead, we’re left with two less-than-flattering explanations: apathy and laziness. As I said above, how hard is it to hold onto your trash until you get home? Or to one of the many garbage cans dotting public parks and streets? It just seems that people don’t care – and that apathy is the hardest thing to fight.
I encourage you to learn more about Clean & Green! And if you feel motivated to start your own event, then more power to you! It would be great if you could contact your local municipal representatives, co-ordinate some businesses, and get people motivated!
Of course, it would be equally great if you simply stopped tossing trash out of your car windows, or dropping your cups while out for a walk. Combine that with maybe picking up the odd piece of trash you see on the ground and depositing it where it belongs, and we all can have an incredible impact on our community. Big or small, every action makes a difference.
Your thoughts? Comments are open! And we’ll keep you posted on our efforts both at the Amway Canada Facebook page and on our Twitter feed!
A goal is a goal is a goal, right? Well, next time you’re on the pitch or lacing up the skates, try turning around and firing one past your own netminder and see how popular that makes you.
The act still puts a “1″ on the ol’ scoreboard, but certainly not in the right place. So while striving for goals is important, you really want to ensure you’re shooting at the right net.
Like any business, we all set goals for ourselves and work throughout the year to achieve them. We want to align our goals with the overall corporate strategies so that everyone’s moving towards the same target — after all, that’s the benefit of being a team.
But sometimes goals aren’t so clear. Take, for example, the case of our social media efforts. I write this blog, oversee our three Canadian Facebook pages (and we’d all really like if you checked them out: Artistry Canada, Nutrilite Canada, and Amway Canada), and there’s also the Amway Canada Twitter feed.
There are so many objectives behind these efforts: we want to inform you about things happening at Amway Canada and with its brands; we want to introduce new people to the business opportunity; we want to provide a forum for people to share their stories, or ask questions; and — I’d be lying if I omitted this — we’d love for people to be so interested by the products and opportunity that they choose to get involved.
I think social media’s a wonderful thing for companies. It allows us to interact with people in a way that’s much more open and conversational. It allows people to interact with us in a way that, previously, was not even considered. I really believe in fostering that community and I hope you’ve found our efforts, to date, engaging, entertaining, and informative.
You may not agree with everything I say or write, but I hope I’ve been successful in creating an atmosphere where we can discuss and debate respectfully, and where peole can feel comfortable in asking questions, knowing they’ll get the best answer we can provide here at Amway Canada.
So I’d like to turn it over to you. What do you want to see from this blog and our other social media ventures? How can our efforts support your goals? How would you define success when it comes to Amway Canada’s social media opportunity? What would you like to see more of? Or what would you like us to add?
We’ve got some exciting things coming up on Facebook — not to mention the upcoming Nutrilite Canadian Championship, which we’ll be covering extensively on the Nutrilite Canada Facebook page (there may be a pretty cool contest coming up too, but you didn’t hear it from me…)
I’d love to hear your thoughts. And before I go, let me thank you for all your support over the last couple of years. I’m looking forward to the future and I hope you’ll help me define what that looks like. We’re all on the same team here, so let’s make sure we’re shooting at the right net!
Earlier today I read a notice put out by one of the social networks, of which I’m a participant. I’m going to give the site the benefit of the doubt and assume that they were trying to show care and concern.
But what came across was condescension. And, with that, I’d like to discuss the importance of not just what you say, but HOW you say it.
One of the great challenges in communications is finding a way to deliver the right message to the right audience in the right manner. Compounding that problem is the desire that many businesses have for trying to “sound smart.”
They’ll pepper their text with synergies, leveraging, and low-hanging fruit. It all ends up being empty text that’s counterproductive to the argument. In the wonderful book Fifth Business, Robertson Davies’ main character, Dunstable Ramsay, talks about the “plain speech.” The character’s father, a newspaper publisher, holds fast to that ideal, but writing simply and honestly continues to be a challenge for business. Many companies hold fast to the idea that big words make you sound smarter.
And that’s the great challenge with the social media revolution. Social media is all about the “social.” It’s about conversing with people without pretension. It’s about interacting and stimulating conversation – not sound bites, quotes, and biz speak. And it’s a 180-degree shift from traditional business communications ideals.
The flip side of this supercilious speech is intentionally or unintentionally underestimating your audience. You’ve likely heard of the horrible term “dumbing down” and that often leads to businesses overcompensating (see the big words comment above). After all, no one wants to be associated with dumb.
I think this was the problem with the aforementioned social media mention. I think they were honestly attempting to simplify what they had heard was a challenging concept amongst its users. But the terms they used and the delivery displayed a shocking lack of grace. To some, the words were innocent; to others, they could be read with contempt. And, as a business, you have to be aware of that.
After all, it’s not what you meant to say that’s important – it’s what your readers (and, by extension, customers) think you meant to say. Electronic media, whether it’s e-mail or social networking, is notoriously bad at nuance. Sarcasm can morph into anger very quickly; humour can get lost.
So how do you handle the written word? If you’re a business owner, how carefully do you examine not just WHAT you’re saying, but HOW you’re saying it? Are you strictly business? Do you believe that convivial is better?
Do you use the word “Synergy?” It’s OK… we can still be friends.
As a customer or a visitor to a site or an establishment, how important is the WAY that the business owner or staffer speaks to you when it comes to making a purchase? What do you get out of business communication to you? Do you have a preferred manner in which to be addressed: convivial or strictly business?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. The comments are open!
I know today’s Family Day, but I wanted to quickly take you back to Valentine’s Day for a moment to thank everyone who participated in the Send Artistry a Valentine contest!
We’ve got 381 entries and, let me tell you, there’s a lot of love out there. Some of you chose to talk about your favourite products; others released their inner poet; while many more shared their feelings on love, that special someone, and family.
So, on behalf of all of us, we’d like to thank you for your participation, kind words, and sentiments. I hope you’ve had the opportunity to spend some time with your family today and all of us at Amway Canada wish you the best.
And hopefully these will motivate you to make every day a Valentine’s or Family Day of sorts. We shouldn’t restrict the expression of the love and appreciation we have for our families and those special people in our lives to one or two days — but it’s a good place to start.
Early Sunday morning, you’ll find me at the glorious London International Airport preparing to board a flight that will eventually find me in sunny California for a Continuous Improvement conference for the week.
I’m excited about the conference. The flight? Not so much. I’m not afraid of flying — I just don’t believe in it.
I know there are solid scientific principles behind flight. I understand it conceptually, but I also understand that when I throw my 190 pounds in the air, I come crashing back to Earth (usually less-than-gracefully). So I have a hard time suspending my disbelief long enough to understand how gravity completely ignores a massive flying tube with hundreds of people just like me on board.
Now you won’t find me digging my nails into the armrests or hyperventilating during take off and landing. Generally I reveal my apprehension by being much quieter and less talkative than usual (and some would say that’s not a bad thing.)
Given the choice, I love driving places. Failing that, the train is always a wonderful choice. But California’s more than just a hop, skip, and a jump away from London, so the plane it is.
Maybe it’s a control thing. While I understand that flying is far safer overall than driving, with the latter, I’m behind the wheel. In a plane, someone else is at the controls and I can’t see what they’re doing. That, combined with the whole ignoring-gravity thing bothers me.
Now, I know many people who are nervous drivers. They avoid highways, sticking to the side streets, and they’re far more content letting someone else take the wheel.
So there’s my travel story. I’ve flown many times and I appreciate the hard work and dedication that all the flight staff, from the pilot to the guy who gets to guide the plane in for those last 50 feet on the runway. My father, who worked for 3M, travelled a lot in my youth, so the airport is not a foreign environment to me. In the end, I do it — but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
How about you? Many of you travel on business, whether it’s to meet with prospective clients, attend functions, or other activities. And then there’s personal travel – vacations to the sunny south, trips to Europe, and even day trips to a neighbouring town.
I turn it over to you: if you’re a less-than-enthusiastic driver/flyer, how do you handle it? Any tips or tricks? Is knowledge truly power and does understanding the process make it easier, or is ignorance truly bliss and you’d rather not know. Do you drink water? Chew gum? Listen to music? Read? Or just forget the whole thing and run Web conferences?
It’s a small world, but it still takes us a while to get from place to place. Whether it’s business or personal, how do you deal with travel?