This week, Mia’s column talks about word-of-mouth marketing, and how sometimes the best tool in a small company’s PR kit are the referrals that come from ensuring customers walk away with a great tale to tell. She features Toronto-based jewellery designer and goldsmith Leif Benner, who built his business around maintaining strong relationships with both his clients and his creations. He recently launched a blog connecting his clients to the artistic process involved in crafting the rings and other jewellery he makes. As a result, Benner feels more connected to his customers and they feel more connected to him and his product. A small amount of effort, with a big return.

Check out her column every Thursday in Globe and Mail’s Report on Business.

Today I received a welcome Easter holiday treat at the office. Cupcakes!

The amazing treats from Eat My Words are the BEST Toronto has to offer. Having ordered cupcakes for birthdays and work functions several times before, I wondered why I hadn’t come upon this divine shop in my search for the best combination of flour, eggs, icing and all that is delicious. It turns out, that my online search for “cupcakes + Toronto” yielded a plethora of options, but none so amazing as this outfit which supports the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Eat My Words is clearly a great operation and the women running it have the marketing savvy to get Beyonce eating their scrumptious goodies. Everything about their branding is impeccable – but I doubt I would have found them online without knowing the name of their company. And while I am absolutely certain that well-deserved word-of-mouth must be attracting clientele in droves, this reminds me to never underestimate the power of search and the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

As information gatherers we know that it is rare to click beyond the first page of an online search, so it is critical for companies to be listed with prominence on the SERP. This is often done through Search Engine Optimization (creating a push-pull of references across the Web to help drive traffic to your website) and paid advertisement with a search engine to help promote your brand and increase your online presence.

Whatever your approach, keep it simple. Identify the key words your customers actually type into the search box and ensure those key words are used throughout your marketing materials, press releases, and website.

I promise you a smart online strategy can reap big rewards …. or I’ll eat my words.

Bit of brouhaha this week in Twitterdom after The Sunday Times ran a story that dismisses Twitter as the online equivalent of a high school cafeteria, filled with boring, gossiping narcissists who “lack an identity.”

If you haven’t read it, check it out, and then immediately read this great response. Because there, laid out neatly on your screen, is a cheat sheet version of the great social media debate. In one corner is the “waste of timers”. In the other, the “new world of connections” supporters.

Unfortunately, smack in the middle sits the PR and new media strategists who understand how integral social media is to a modern communications campaign, but who must find ways clearly articulate this value to the skeptics.

In my experience, social media critics like the writer at the Times fail to see big picture. Is Twitter full of iPhone fanboys and obsessive “who’s following who” comments? Absolutely. But so what? That’s hardly the whole story of Twitter. Effective face-to-face networking consists of 90 per cent small talk as people get to know each other, and about 10 per cent meat. And few see networking as a waste of time. Tuning in for a snippet of the endless online conversation misses the bigger point of site like Twitter, which is all about building deep, lasting connections.

Bottom line – it’s good to be skeptical, but when looking at social but it’s also important not to lose the forest for the trees.