A Letter to Bloggers from Maple Leaf Foods + Giveaway!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED - A WINNER WILL SOON BE ANNOUNCED!

I first met James Clarke, from Maple Leaf Foods, in October 2010 at the She's Connected Conference in Toronto. I think we hit it off :) and so when the idea for Bliss at Home came about last month, I contacted him to help me out with a sneak peak behind the relationship between Brand and Blogger. Thanks James for all of our conversations over the past 4 months - I appreciate your input and what you gave me to giveaway {look for it at the bottom of this post}!

Please help me welcome him to Shasher's Life {clapping heard from coast to coast}...

A big THANK YOU to Shannon for co-hosting Canada’s first Bliss at Home and for asking me to contribute!

My current role managing the social outreach program at Maple Leaf Foods has afforded me a unique perspective into the ever-evolving relationship between brand and blogger. One thing that has become clear to me in my time in the role is that both brands and bloggers DO indeed want to work together; and rightly so, as there are many ways in which both parties can collaborate to equal benefit.

Just remember to be patient when working with brands and to keep in mind that social media remains a new and scary thing for most companies. Like anything new, it will take some time before the majority of companies move to a model of 1:1 engagement with the blogging community in place of the more common structure whereby this relationship is managed exclusively through a 3rd party agency. Rest assured, however, that this shift has begun and will result in many new opportunities for you to connect and work directly with your favourite brands going forward!

At Maple Leaf Foods, for example, I am happy to report that we are starting to actively connect with Canadian bloggers and social influencers from across the country. I am also very excited for the upcoming launch of our new outreach program, which is specifically designed to connect social influencers, like you, directly with our company and brands.

Whether you’re interested in learning something new by attending one of our live, in-person events or Tweetups, trying out one of our new products by signing up for our sampling program, or sharing your opinions with our marketers and product developers by joining our advisory panel - there will be many ways to connect!

If you’re interested in learning more about this program or just want to say hello, feel free to send me an email james(dot)clarke{at}mapleleaf(dot)com or contact me on Twitter @jamesclarkeCA

Looking forward to connecting!

James

James Clarke - Manager, Digital Marketing | Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Now about that GIVEAWAY!!! 
{Canada Only}

If you'd like to WIN $100 {arv} worth of coupons for Maple Leaf Foods grocery products, like FREE Olivieri Pasta, FREE Tenderflake product, FREE Canada Bread product and so on.... all you need to do is...

* Subscribe to Shasher's Life via the feedburner reader of your choice

For Extra Entries....

Extra Entry #1: Follow me on Google Friend Connect

Extra Entry #2: Subscribe to Shasher's Life by Email 

Extra Entry #3: Like Shasher's Life on Facebook
Extra Entry #4: Like Maple Leaf Foods on Facebook
Extra Entry #5: Follow Shasherlife on Twitter and tweet this giveaway, "#WIN a $100 {arv} worth of coupons for Maple Leaf Foods product http://goo.gl/fb/dNpoi via @shasherslife "
Extra Entry #6: Follow James Clarke on Twitter
Extra Entry #7: Share this entry on any social networking, bookmarking, contest site or blog

For everything you do, please leave a comment with the link.  **All entries will be verified.**

This contest is open to those 18 & over within Canada ONLY. The giveaway will run for one week, from Feb 24 to March 10. The winner will be chosen by Random.org on March 10 at 11:59pm (EST) and will have 48 hrs to respond before a new winner is drawn.

Good Luck!