As I was having lunch at my kitchen table, I felt a sudden odd tremor...yes, the table was actually shaking for several seconds. Hmmm...an earth tremor? Of course no one expects them, especially in our neck of the woods (although the last one happened a couple of years back).  To confirm that I was not going nuts, I went to the most reliable instant news source I could find. My computer to check my Twitter and Facebook updates. Yes, within 20 seconds of it happening, people were posting on their Facebook and Twittering.

Just now, I received an Instant News Alert from the local radio station (20 minutes after the fact). The Globe and Mail Twitter feed had it about 10 minutes after the fact.

So, there you go. The people report the news as it happens.

Oh, by the way, Reuters is reporting that the #earthquake was a magnitude 5.5.

And that is how my world was rocked today.

For years we have known that people are motivated by many things other than money. In fact, the only time you should be rewarding people with money (incentivising is the buzz word) is when you are only asking them to perform rudimentary tasks.  Such as following simple rules like observing the company's safety precautions or filling out forms correctly. Basic stuff. For anything else more complicated (like rewarding high performance), money is a poor motivator. In fact, it actually causes performance to suffer.

Of course, don't take my word for it: watch the following video and you will be both captivated (the illustrator is amazing) and the content is impressive.

12 Expert Google Search Tips

Who doesn't want to find things faster (like where did I leave my BlackBerry THIS time.) Here are 12 handy tips for better Google searches.

1. Explicit Phrase:
   Lets say you are looking for content about internet marketing.  Instead of just typing internet marketing into the Google search box, you will likely be better off searching explicitly for the phrase.  To do this, simply enclose the search phrase within double quotes.

   Example: "internet marketing"

2. Exclude Words:
   Lets say you want to search for content about internet marketing, but you want to exclude any results that contain the term advertising.  To do this, simply use the "-" sign in front of the word you want to exclude.

   Example Search: internet marketing -advertising

3. Site Specific Search:
   Often, you want to search a specific website for content that matches a certain phrase.  Even if the site doesn’t support a built-in search feature, you can use Google to search the site for your term. Simply use the "site:somesite.com" modifier.

   Example: "internet marketing" site:www.smallbusinesshub.com

4. Similar Words and Synonyms:
   Let’s say you are want to include a word in your search, but want to include results that contain similar words or synonyms.  To do this, use the "~" in front of the word.

   Example: "internet marketing" ~professional

5. Specific Document Types:
   If you’re looking to find results that are of a specific type, you can use the modifier "filetype:".  For example, you might want to find only PowerPoint presentations related to internet marketing.

   Example: "internet marketing" filetype:ppt

6. This OR That:
   By default, when you do a search, Google will include all the terms specified in the search.  If you are looking for any one of one or more terms to match, then you can use the OR operator.  (Note:  The OR has to be capitalized).

   Example: internet marketing OR advertising

7. Phone Listing:
   Let’s say someone calls you on your mobile number and you don’t know how it is.  If all you have is a phone number, you can look it up on Google using the phonebook feature.

   Example: phonebook:617-555-1212 (note:  the provided number does not work – you’ll have to use a real number to get any results).

8. Area Code Lookup:
   If all you need to do is to look-up the area code for a phone number, just enter the 3-digit area code and Google will tell you where it’s from.

   Example: 617

9. Numeric Ranges:
   This is a rarely used, but highly useful tip.  Let’s say you want to find results that contain any of a range of numbers.  You can do this by using the X..Y modifier (in case this is hard to read, what’s between the X and Y are two periods.  This type of search is useful for years (as shown below), prices or anywhere where you want to provide a series of numbers.

   Example: president 1940..1950

10. Stock (Ticker Symbol):
    Just enter a valid ticker symbol as your search term and Google will give you the current financials and a quick thumb-nail chart for the stock.

    Example: GOOG

11. Calculator:
    The next time you need to do a quick calculation, instead of bringing up the Calculator applet, you can just type your expression in to Google.

    Example: 48512 * 1.02

12. Word Definitions:
    If you need to quickly look up the definition of a word or phrase, simply use the "define:" command.

    Example: define:plethora

Angela Pause: The Evolution Of Sex from Ignite Waterloo on Vimeo.

Ramy Nassar: A Reverse History Of Pranks from Ignite Waterloo on Vimeo.

Alex Matan: How To Solve An Accordion In 45 Seconds from Ignite Waterloo on Vimeo.

Erica Waugh: In A Roundabout Way from Ignite Waterloo on Vimeo.

It was my birthday and my sweetheart had forgot to make reservations at my favourite Friday Night dining/dancing and live music establishment; The Groove Kitchen.

When he called, they were booked solid as the place is hopping on Friday nights. They have great food and the house band (The Usual Suspects) totally rock the joint. My man was a little worried - he knew my heart was set on that particular establishment.  The best The Groove Kitchen could do, they said, was if we came early - at 6:30 pm - had our dinner then at 8:30 pm we would have to give up our table. No worries, we could stand at the bar (which is so often the case at busy, fun bars).  So he booked the early table. (All along I had assumed he had reserved a table a long time ago, but that's another blog!)

Meanwhile, I had been on The Groove Kitchen's Facebook site to see who else might be playing that night. I posted a message on their Facebook site saying I was thrilled to be spending my birthday night at their establishment.

Of course, the sweetheart confesses at that point that we had a reservation but not for the whole night. No worries, I said, we will still have a blast. (Especially since he was the designated driver!)

When we arrived at The Groove Kitchen, we and another couple were the only people there.  But, what the heck, it was early in the night.  When we told them we had a reservation and it was my birthday celebration, Jillian, who was behind the bar said "Oh, it's you. I saw your post on our Facebook page and I immediately called Matt (Matt Storch owns the place and is the lead singer/musician in The Usual Suspects) and Matt said there was no reservation in Angela Pause's name, so I got worried we would disappoint you by being booked up!"

Reassuring her we did have reservations, but under a different name, and only for part of the night, Jillian breathed a sigh of relief. She sat us and we proceeded to have a wonderful night. The upshot - we never did have to give up our table. We ordered food, drinks and more drinks and whoever had booked the table before us either didn't show up or didn't care. We danced the night away to some fantastic music.

But, how did Facebook save the day?  By taking the time to look at their Facebook page (what the heck, just by having a Facebook page for their business shows they are smart marketers) the owners of The Groove Kitchen could keep a highly interested fan (who has a network of FB friends who also have disposable income and more friends) feeling as though she mattered. Through our Facebook posts we "made friends" and shared a common goal: to keep me happy and the Groove Kitchen successful. 

I am sure that Jillian of The Groove Kitchen made sure we were happy because she knows the power of social media marketing. Not that I would have ever said anything bad about the place (hey, we should have reserved much earlier in the week) but now I feel even happier about the Groove Kitchen Experience.

And that's what it's supposed to be about - Having a Good Experience. 

Well done, The Groove Kitchen. You made Facebook work for you.  Oh, I also booked a dinner reservation for six for another Friday night.  I want to share The Groove Kitchen experience with my friends.

Moral of the Story: If you have an establishment that would do well by having happy, satisfied customers who want to share their good experience, put up a Facebook profile for your company. 

After years of thinking about what's the world's best brand (best meaning most recognizable for what it stands for), I had a flash of insight.  It's the Nobel Prize.

Somehow a small committee of Europeans have created a brand so powerful that it changes the lives of people.

I am going to think on this some more. Especially in light of the stunning announcement that Barack Obama has received the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009.  Is this the New Coke?

I just got back from three days at the cottage up at Bear Lake, near the entrance of Algonquin Park.  It's beautiful up there at this time of year (well, every time of year is beautiful when the cottage is on a lake up in the Algonquin Highlands) and the smell of Autumn mixed with the smell of smoke from the wood stove, mingling with the scent of an early Thanksgiving turkey in the oven just made everyone feel happy and content. While it's a true cottage, it is about as rugged as small town living - in order from my BlackBerry to pick up a signal, I have to canoe out into the the middle of the lake. There could be worse things, eh?

The cottage is situated on a well populated lake, although at this time of year the cottagers are few and mostly are pulling docks and boats from the lake. There is a lot of work to be done closing up a cottage; but no one is busier than the chipmunks. Or so I learned.

Within minutes of arriving, I was gazing out at the pleasing vista, taking in the awesome foilage colours when I felt a slight weight on my Blundstone boot (I love those boots, but that's another blog!). I looked down and saw a chipmunk standing on my left boot.  Now what is remarkable is that I didn't scream. Everyone who knows me, knows me to be skitterish of woodland creatures. And cows. And horses. Okay, anything other than a cat or a dog basically sends my primordial senses on major alert. While I am not scared of big business deals, ugly court cases, having someone throw a punch at me (I'm a fan of boxing as both the sport and as exercise), little furry animals who run up onto my boots scare me.  Except for this little guy. This chipmunk was fearless. And he definitely had me pegged as a "friendly."  This could explain, I thought, the bag of peanuts in the family cottage. He knows I am a Human With Peanuts.

Over the course of the next few days, three chipmunks and one small red squirrel made themselves known as the "resident creatures".  The kids named them - Thomas was the fearless chipmunk, the one who would take a peanut from you hand, or your mouth (not me! I am too chicken to let a potentially lethal chipmunk get that near my face) and finally, he would crawl up your leg, into YOUR POCKET and nibble on whatever peanut stash you had at the time. We all adored him.

What fascinated me was that I was not squeamish by what is essentially a cute rat crawling up my leg. I was charmed. This little guy actually made me feel good! You can't help but smile or laugh at its boldness and its cuteness. It's quizzical expression, fuzzy tail, quickness, adorability and phenomenal ability to make people give it 45 peanuts in a row,  made me think about marketing of all things - how can you translate a chipmunks charm into marketing success?

Now, keep in mind there were two other chipmunks hanging around. Equally cute (although one had a shortened tail no doubt the result of a predator tangle gone wrong  and the other one a scar down it's side, which again reminded us that not everything thinks chipmunks are anything but dinner), these other two guys were far less bold.  They wouldn't come right up to to you and grab a peanut.  Hence, they didn't get as many peanuts as Thomas.  In fact, Thomas got so many peanuts, he had to make regular runs back to his den to store them all. Cheeks chock full, he would try and stuff one more until there was no more room. Then off he would go, divest himself of his booty and quickly return for more.

Did we think him greedy? No.We thought him clever. We thought that he was so bold and cheeky without being threatening that he deserved more peanutes. He entertained us, made us laugh, made the whole process of giving peanuts to a varmint fun.

Then Mr. Red Squirrel arrived.   Now on any other day, Mr. Red Squirrel would have easily made the #1 spot on cute factor.  He was slightly larger than chipmunk, but clearly not of the adult of variety of squirrel. A squirrel teenager, I suppose.  But Mr. Squirrel soon became the bully. He chased away Thomas, yet he he was too squirrely to come and take a peanut from our hand. He wanted the nut to be sure, but not willing to put the work in. No body really liked Mr. Squirrel. He became the threat to our happy chipmunk experience.

I got to thinking: How can a chipmunk - a rodent the size of a small salami - convert me (an admitted scaredy cat) into allowing it to crawl up my leg and take peanuts from pocket?  What is he doing right that other chipmunks (or squirrels) aren't doing? I came up with this list (okay, I was helped by a couple of glasses of a very nice Pinot Noir from Niagara.)

1. Thomas the chipmunk was friendly- he made doing business with him (giving him peanuts) non-threatening and fun. I trusted him.
   
2. He presented a pleasing appearance. Everything about him was easy on the eyes and made me feel good.
3. He was bold. He took risks in order to get my peanuts.
4. He never bit me.
5. He ate what he could, stored the rest and came back equally enthusiastic every time.

Now this is where I transplanted my chipmunk adventures to business philosophy. It may have come from a tiny woodland creature, but it applies to the bigger world as well:

1. Be fun to do business with and be trustworthy
2. Be easy on the eyes - by that I mean your marketing - make it look good all the time.
3. Be brave, be bold, take risks in order to attract my business.
4. Don't bite me - or give me bad customer service
5. Be happy to do business with me every time, all the time. Not just the first time.

So, that's what I am going to work on - being more like Thomas the Chipmunk. Except I won't work for peanuts.

I am in my local LCBO (which in Ontario is the only place you can legally purchase over-taxed wine and spirits) and I see there is a promotion for a new brand of red wine called "Sibling Rivalry."  Without even tasting it, I felt the bile rise in my throat.  This reaction was based on my ever-growing disgust at the "dumbing down" of wine labels with cutesy names.  Did it start with "Goats do Roam" and extend through a litany of other ridiculous names like "Little Black Dress" and "Girls Night Out"? Where will it end? Well - it ends here.

I have had enough of it. (Well, not enough of red wine, just ridiculously named red wine.)

I have decided to apply my discerning eye for good literature to wine labels. If it is too cutesy for me, I won't buy it. Too bad if the wine is delectable, I will never know. I am damn tired of the Dan Browns of this world creating wine names.  (The Da Vinci Code quite possibly being the worst book I have ever read.) 

I am quite old enough to have decades of wine tasting experience behind me. I am not slouch when it comes to identifying a good wine thanks to the company I keep. (My brother in law owns a restaurant where the wine list is carefully selected and offers illumination into so many varieties and styles that it has become a place of worship.)  I am sophisticated enough to drink a wine that has a label in French, Spanish or Italian (or anywhere else for that matter).  I know the grape varieties well enough to determine what will match my mood, if not my food.  But I cannot under any circumstance serve my friends a wine labelled "Sibling Rivalry." It's just too stupid.

Please, stop with the faux clever names.  It doesn't make your wine any more accessible. Just more annoying.

Today I decided to install the Blog module on my website. I am a huge fan of Content Management Systems, especially modular ones. Everyone knows that things change, therefore so should your website. Currently I have blog called Pause for Thought http://angelapause.blogspot.com/  but I am wondering if I shouldn't migrate it to my company website. This one. So what I decided to do is test it...see which one a) inspires me to blog more regularly and b) which blog better suits my purposes as a freelance professional writer and marketer.