Rnordman

Last month, Rahul Sood, the guy that launched Microsoft's investment arm Microsoft Ventures, left the company to launch a new stealth gaming startup called Unikrn.

He had been at Microsoft since 2011 and still says, "I love the company."

But when it came time to choosing email and office apps for his new company, he, like many others, went with Google Apps.

"Being a Microsoft fan I was initially all about choosing Office 365, but this would prove to be a difficult decision," he wrote in a LinkedIn Post explaining the decision.

"I really see the value in Office 365 - it's pretty awesome - we tried both Google Apps and Microsoft Office 365 - giving both 2 weeks of dedicated (forced) use. ...  After everyone had a chance to use both we came back with the same conclusion, Google Apps is the best solution for our company," he wrote.

The main reason: Gmail.

It was simpler to use, easier to search, and worked the same on any device. He calls Gmail, "the gateway drug to Google Apps."

Google also does one other thing better than Microsoft, he feels, collaboration. It's pretty easy for multiple people to work together on documents, fire up a video conferencing meeting (a "Hangout") or chat via Gmail and so on.

But the bummer is that nearly all of the other Office 365 apps are better, including Outlook's calendaring, he says, This is is especially true for Excel. Using his analogy, we'd say that Excel would be the gateway drug to Microsoft Office and Office 365.

We reached out to Sood and he explained, "I don't see any good finance person building real financial models on Sheets. I mean come on, you can't be serious. Excel is far and away better than anything out there."

He wants Microsoft to integrate Office 365 apps with Gmail. Better still, he wants Microsoft to offer individual apps as add-ons to Google Apps, so startups could buy them on a monthly subscription basis, too.

We're not so sure Google would love this idea. Remember in 2013, when Google banned two of Microsoft's YouTube apps? The second app was actually created in partnership with Google, but Google banned it anyway. The two companies butted heads over how Google would share its advertising data to its big rival, Microsoft said at the time.

Microsoft still remembers the experience and feels burned, we understand. Google probably isn't any more willing to share info about its Apps customers with Microsoft than it was to share YouTube ad data.

Still, one can hope.

Here's the full LinkedIn column on choosing Apps over Office 365, reprinted with permission:

Google Apps vs Office 365: A Startup Perspective

SEE ALSO: This 22-Year-Old Computer Whiz Figured Out How To Game Airlines — Now Orbitz and United Are Suing Him

Join the conversation about this story »

When Business Insider asked "Shark Tank" investor Robert Herjavec in October what his favorite investment from the show was, he said that without a doubt it was tacky Christmas sweater company Tipsy Elves.

About a month after investing $100,000 into the San Diego-based company for a 10% stake in 2013, Herjavec and his team met with the Tipsy Elves cofounders Evan Mendelsohn and Nick Morton in his Toronto offices.

"His background is in cyber security, so it's not like he has a huge manufacturing team," Mendelsohn says. "We never expected a lot of retail-specific guidance from him, but what's been really helpful has been a lot of the mentorship and high-level strategy." He says that Morton regularly quotes Herjavec now when discussing brand strategy.

Part of the reason that Herjavec enjoys working with Tipsy Elves is that he finds Mendelsohn and Morton sharp and self-sufficient. But the two business partners credit Herjavec with helping spark a massive uptick in annual sales. Tipsy Elves did $3 million in sales in 2013, and final 2014 sales are expected to be somewhere between $7 and $8 million.

The so-called "Shark Tank" Effect, the exposure gained from appearing before the show's 10 million viewers, undoubtedly helped, but we'll take a peek into what happened after the cameras stopped rolling and how Herjavec helped double sales in a year.

He made it a year-round company.

Herjavec and his marketing team convinced Mendelsohn and Morton that Tipsy Elves needed to transition from a specialized company that's active only about six weeks a year to one with a variety of offerings year-round, especially since a trend like wearing a tacky holiday sweater to a party probably won't last forever. "It hit home in Toronto. It was like, 'Yeah, guys, it's great you're growing, but what if...?'" Mendelsohn says.

Over the past year, Tipsy Elves expanded from 10 men's holiday sweaters sold as unisex to a wide variety of men's, women's, and children's clothing.

Other offerings include beanies, socks, jumpsuits, t-shirts, and officially licensed college sweaters — all with a lighthearted, irreverent Tipsy Elves touch.

In 2015, Tipsy Elves will be pushing t-shirts and accessories for events like Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, the Fourth of July, and Thanksgiving.

The idea is to make Tipsy Elves a brand with a unique, fun feel to it that will be centered around the December holiday season but active the rest of the year.

He improved its online sales tactics.

Over 90% of Tipsy Elves' sales are from its website. "Things like discounting strategies, up-sells, and calls to action that work in-person are also very relatable to our website and the customer experience we serve," Mendelsohn says.

One of these tactics is the use of a prominent tool in checkout that allows shoppers to round up their order to the nearest dollar, with the excess going to Save the Children. Tipsy Elves matches each donation.

He's promoted it relentlessly.

Herjavec, who is based in Toronto, has "a big brand here in the States, but he's probably known by 90% of the people in Canada," Mendelsohn says, laughing. He's used his celebrity up north to make the Canadian market a notable aspect of Tipsy Elves' success.

Herjavec went on a "Shark Tank" press tour in late 2014 and promoted Tipsy Elves more than any other investment, in time for the holiday season. He gave out sweaters to every audience member on Rachael Ray's show and personally sold them to New Yorkers in Union Square for a "20/20" segment.

And immediately following a "Shark Tank" update on Tipsy Elves' success in the current sixth season, the company sold as many units in one day as it did during its entire first year, 2009, Mendelsohn says.

Herjavec is also a LinkedIn Influencer blogger, and in a post about his New Year's resolution to give more time and resources to charity, he wrote about Tipsy Elves' partnership with Save the Children.

He's made valuable resources available.

Mendelsohn says that some entrepreneurs who go on "Shark Tank" don't realize that the investors often ask for unusually high percentages of their company because they are providing much more than capital. "They bring a wealth of experience and connections to your business," Mendelsohn says.

In Canada, Herjavec has helped secure Mendelsohn and Morton with a warehouse for Canadian orders, connected them with wholesale buyers, and provided his legal team to combat a knockoff company.

His financial and analytics team is also going to do a year-end review that will be used to develop specific strategies for 2015. It will include "things like where to cut costs, where to maximize profits, and [will] provide targeted introductions in areas where we could use the most improvement," Mendelsohn says. "This is high-level advice that would be difficult for us to afford independently."

Herjavec says that he knew immediately that he would serve as a mentor and guide to Mendelsohn and Morton, rather than have to run the company for them. "I didn't feel like I had to worry about them."

And ultimately, the Tipsy Elves partners have developed a friendship with the Shark, which has made the post-"Shark Tank" transition even smoother.

"I'm pretty busy, so I like to invest in people that I like to hang with," Herjavec says.

SEE ALSO: Why This Ugly Christmas Sweater Company Is Robert Herjavec's Favorite 'Shark Tank' Investment

Join the conversation about this story »

Measurement is the key to a successful marketing strategy, but many marketers, small business owners, and marketing agencies fall flat when it comes to understanding how to use those numbers to determine real ROI.

Fortunately, this is less of an issue than it was a few years ago. There are plenty of solutions and tips available to help you leverage analytics and data in a meaningful way. Here’s how you can use the data you already have to do more with your marketing.

Know What To Pay Attention To

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with customer data. After all, we’ve got website visits, customer actions, clickthroughs, signups, unsubscribes, and so much more to track. How can we actually make heads or tails of any of it?

Most of us can’t pay attention to all of it at the same time. But we can pick out the good stuff that really matters. What really matters to your brand? That might be the number of downloads a recent whitepaper has received, the number of clicks generated by a banner ad, or how many times people have tweeted your latest blog post. If you narrow down the data you’ve got to what really helps you make marketing decisions, you’ll have information you can actually use.

Use Digital Dashboards To Assess Data

Rather than logging into every account you need access to for this data, consider using a digital dashboard that houses all the measurable marketing data you need in a single location. For example, DataHero dashboards let you connect to your MailChimp, Salesforce, Eventbrite, HubSpot, and many other marketing tools so you can view and compare data across platforms.

Once you have a clear picture of your customers’ needs, wants, and habits, you can use that information to add some real oomph to your marketing efforts and even your social interaction.

Find out where your customers hang out the most and join them—on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook–wherever they are, you are. After you start interacting on social media, you can evaluate your data to see how well you’re doing.

Get The Right People Involved

If the people who actually need to take steps to improve marketing don’t have access to the data you’ve collected, how can you expect anything to improve? Make sure both sales and marketing are involved and are regularly logging in to your dashboard to look at the data.

For example, marketing can evaluate the effectiveness of subject lines by looking at the data on email opens. The subject line is your enticement; it’s your marketing hook. By sending out different subject lines to small groups of subscribers and examining the results, marketing can find the most effective line and use that for bigger mailings.

Sales, in turn, can see what kind of offerings most appealed to buyers, and use that to add value to followup communications. Working hand-in-hand, marketing and sales can fine-tune marketing efforts for brilliant results.

Do Something With Your Data

Having these marketing measurements is just half your job. Now you have to determine what you’ll do with the information. For example, if the data tells you that your pay-per-click campaign isn’t doing as well as your email marketing, that’s a sign that you need to pull out of your PPC investment and focus more on email. You can use the data to find sticking points on your website that are keeping visitors from making a purchase. A few tweaks to the copy, and you may see an instant boost in conversion.

To make your data actionable, each item (responses, queries, email open statistics, etc.) should be owned by one of the people who have access to the information. Don’t leave it in the black ether for someone to pick up and do on their own volition. Assigning ownership encourages accountability.

Data is only good if you do something with it. Create a strategy for what you will measure, use the right tools to make your data easy to assess, and then make a game plan for changes designed to improve sales, traffic, and marketing.

For some professionals, this year came and went with monotonous familiarity to years past. Same clients, same routine meetings and same stale office coffee. But if you’re a B2B marketer, the previous 365 days were anything but repetitious.

The nature of our industry is to disrupt the conventional way of doing things, so it’s no surprise 2014 outdid 2013 with new technology, new ideas and new performance standards. Along with the launch of our new site, we’ve documented and shared each new evolving trend with you. To ring in the New Year, we’ve decided to share the highlights of B2B marketing in 2014.

The Year of Intention-Based Marketing

Business.com CEO Tony Uphoff spoke to hundreds of media executives at the 2014 Business Information & Media Summit on the significance of programmatic and ad tech. In his talk, “Future Selling in B2B Media: Yes, there is a future”, Uphoff explained that the intention-based revolution was ignited this year and the 1,300+ ad tech companies in existence are proof of the new from-to shift in digital marketing. To take full advantage of intention-based marketing, Uphoff advised the four following steps:

1. Capture every data point possible to understand your visitor’s digital body language.
2. Leverage relevant, targeted content to reach the right customer at the right time.
3. Harness (all) data- from third party to your own, data is a must-have to fully optimize intention-based media
4. And finally, if you wish to reach targeted business buyers, you’ll need to embrace ad tech (programmatic included)

Embrace Programmatic

Kyle Brierley, Director of Media and Revenue Strategy at Business.com, dissected the intricate workings of this year’s number one buzzword: programmatic. Mimicking the stock market, programmatic buying allows marketers to buy ad space in an efficient, automated fashion. And this year publishers and marketers are realizing that programmatic isn’t just about utilizing low-quality, remnant inventory. If you aren’t yet a player in programmatic, first read his breakdown of this new exchange, then jump right into the programmatic marketplace.

Ditch the bad marketing habits

With a constantly shifting landscape, it’s easy to make mistakes in digital marketing. But when the Time’s Square Ball drops, make sure your New Year’s Resolutions involve ridding your marketing strategy of bad habits.

Sara Flick, Director of Communications and PR for ZOG Digital, comprised a list of digital marketing no-no’s. The catalogue of marketing sins included: using outdated goals, operating in silos, full reliance on automation, ignoring responsive design, and more. Check out the piece before you dive into 2015 campaign planning.

Out with the old, in with the new mobile metrics

Ever heard of the “fat finger problem”? It’s the problem of inflated click-through rates due to accidental clicks on mobile devices. This year, a new Nielson study revealed “click rates can have an inverse impact on ad engagement” CTR’s can no longer be the method of measurement for mobile performance. Why? Because it’s inaccurate. 20% – 40% of clicks are unintentional.

We said hello to more precise mobile metrics this year, and in our post Mobile Marketing Analytics: Which Metrics Measure Success?, we shared them with you. In 2015, start paying attention to Secondary Action Rates (SARs), Store Visitation Lift (SVL), and app activation rate.

Relevant content, retargeting, and programmatic aren’t enough

Although ad tech is indispensible in today’s digital marketing sphere, Betsy Scuteri, Business.com Senior Director of Marketing, reminds us that all the technology in the world is not enough to build a brand. Everyone should be retargeting, leveraging customer data, and utilizing programmatic advertising; but B2B marketers must go beyond all these. They must tell a story. In order to truly create disruption, brands must create emotion, deliver new customer experiences, and enlist brand ambassadors. These are the methods that truly create memorable and sustainable brands in 2014 and beyond.

I have a modicum of online reputation with the people who matter to me. I also have search locked down. It’s not the result of being on the web since 1993 either, it’s because I keep a core business and do just about everything else to build my reputation, to build my name recognition, to build my brand, and to really let the world know not only what I am selling but what I actually know and can do — for free.

I received an email from someone recently who told me, “I don’t work for free. I’m sure you don’t either.” Well, yes, actually, I do. And successful businessmen have “worked for free” since the dawn of business.

Traditional entrepreneurs, salesmen, and business owners have always served on boards, been members of clubs, non-profits, joined fraternal and sororal groups, faith communities, churches, conferences (mostly paid), have taken lunches, spoken at high schools, colleges, at the YMCA, and even volunteered to sit at fold out tables in order to hand out alumni information on behalf of their alma maters. And if you don’t then you’re a moron.

This list is not comprehensive. Actually, there were a few more in the list but I just ran out of time (I actually didn’t need to tell you that but I am working hard at being open, transparent, and knowable, and so should you, too).

Open Your Kimono!

You’re probably not a genius so you really need to get over yourself immediately. All of your black box proprietary “solutions” are probably commonplace and all that time you spend appending ™s and ®s everywhere is time better spent actually innovating, sharing, growing your audience, training up your future interns and employees, and actually letting people know what they’re paying for rather than trying to guess the card you’re holding. Show them your hand!

The majority of customers and prospects aren’t trying to figure out how to do what you are, they’re trying to find someone they trust, can afford, really like, and who can do it for them. You need to be that person and that person reveals himself through being accessible, understandable, available, and knowable. This is true whether you’re just selling yourself, Chris Abraham, or your company, Gerris Corp.

“But what about all my competitors? They’ll steal everything from me!” Really? I guarantee that the vast majority of your so-called competitors don’t even know you or your company exists. I used to be a professional photographer back in the transition from pre-Web to the Internet Age and the shooters who refused to put their images online were always the mediocre talent. Artists want to make art! And you should really want to do what you do (and if you don’t, if you don’t feel a vocation, you either need a reboot or you need to change focus and find that thing).

Hold A Class (For Free)

I have done free webinars for years. They only take an hour or so to deliver and drive me to create high-quality assets and training materials that I might not get to until compelled by an actual speaking opportunity. I have been lucky as other folks organize, promote, and produce the webinars I do but webinar software is cheap and easy. And, I can do presentations on anything I like, really — well, anything I am known for doing professionally. But there’s a lot of room for creativity.

Sure, it takes forever to put together the first deck; but as you go, it’s easier and easier. My webinars generally deal with social media marketing, online reputation management, search engine marketing, and blogger and influencer outreach. So, 80 percent of my content is reusable once I have done the first one of each. I refresh, customize, rebrand, and reskin them depending on for whom and to whom I am presenting. Easy.

Bonus: I have new content for my YouTube Channel and Slideshare collection every single time (and Slideshare is LinkedIn and YouTube is Google, right?). Double Bonus: I get a list of all the people who signed up for and attended every webinar I do, including name, affiliation, contact info, and email address. It’s an amazingly convenient way to prospect my future employees and clients by using Oprah Winfrey‘s Law of Attraction. So worthwhile, even if there are only 50 or so attendees, there are generally hundreds of registrants; and, if you do a lot of webinars, those numbers add up, especially if you work those lists through your sales channels.

Your first step? Well, you’re welcome to pitch Mike Moran at Biznology and Bob Fine over at The Social Media Monthly/The Startup Monthly. I do webinars for them a lot.

Be Ubiquitous (For Free)

Honestly, write a check to KnowEm and lock all of your social media profiles and domain names down. But that’s only the first step. I won’t go into it all now but social media engagement is not optional anymore, it’s de rigueur. I have so many SEO clients who are scrambling because their once powerful and influential sites are stumbling and ceding ground because they have not spent the sort of steady, consistent, time and attention on social media profiles they might have set up years ago but have allowed to become their social media zombie army at best or a social media ghost town at worst.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Go To A Conference

So many people (like me) only attend conferences if they’ve been invited to present, teach, or speak. There are really so many valuable conferences to attend so choose one or more in 2015 — not only for what the conference is about but also for the sort of people you’re likely to meet. The magic at any conference is at breakfast before, in the hallways during, maybe at lunch if you’re bold, and at the hotel bar in the evening.

Don’t sup on a lonely club sandwich in your room at night, join new folks or hunt down people you’re connected to via Facebook or Twitter and either tag along with them or be a hero and make some magic happen yourself and show them a good time. Hey, I have never been “asked out” by anyone who has attended a lecture or keynote I have given at a conference (I like to think it’s because they’ve assumed I was busy and not because I was super-lame) so if you see Chris Brogan or Geoff Livingston up there, see if they might be free for a drink or even to grab a bite before they fly back out.

Attend A Happy Hour (For Free)

Groups like the Social Media Clubs around the country and world are always hosting cool things, a lot of them are in the form of happy hours. DC PR Flacks are always hosting something in my town. There are a million of them. They’re hit or miss. They’re almost always worth it. Don’t go to collect cards, go to make one friend. Plus, you don’t have to stay long and (and this is a great secret) you don’t have to spend any money (you’re not compelled to drink, this is not a comedy or a jazz club, there’s no 2-drink minimum). Explore MeetUp, it’s a good place to start.

Do A Blog (For Free)

Before you start, blogs are like anti organ rejection drugs: once you start you can never ever miss a day for the rest of your life. But, other than that, have fun with it. It’s very rewarding, unless you consider it to be a life sentence, hate writing, feel oppressed by the very idea of it, or just fancy yourself too important to keep a blog (isn’t that like a diary?). If you have the resources, you can outsource the daily writing and population and just be the director. That’s just what Robert Fardi does with his gorgeous blog over at Insights by Unison; or, suck it up like Mike Moran does (he still writes all the time) but also recruit lots of adoring, loyal, and free writers like me to pad the rest of the week. Wink.

Do YouTube (For Free)

I am not a role model for this. While my YouTube Channel may very well have 923 videos, 3,454 subscribers, and 2,016,704 views, it’s an amalgam of travel memories, motorcycle rides, and webinars. You want to come up with a plan. You want to treat your YouTube Channel like you would your blog. I had it right at one point when I would endlessly create step-by-step desktop classes on how to do things in social media, tech, blogging, and social networking. I used Camtasia and took desktop capture videos of how to do things like blog on WordPress.com, TypePad, and so forth. WordPress.com – Step-by-Step Tutorial on How to Blog has collected over 941,343 views over the last eight years!

If I were to do it all again, I would spend ten minutes daily reflecting on my day, my experience, and my perception of the day in PR, marketing, SEO, and reputation. Like parenting, it’s about always being there, over time, consistently. Over time, I am sure I would have spent that 10-minutes/day answering questions, responding to comments, things like that. My two YouTube heroes are Olga Kay and Hickok45 — seriously (what does that say about me?)

Do A Podcast (For Free)

Have a face for radio? With the success of Serial, podcasts are back, baby! Start simple, bad, and cheap. Even the best podcasts ever produced sounded terrible if their archive allows you to go back to the beginning. Even No Agenda sounded terrible 600 episodes ago — and both Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak are consummate professionals.

Start doing some episodes on SoundCloud and get a habit started. You can always buy the right gear, set up the right room, and “buy” the right podcasting platform once you get a habit started. I think you can even set up SoundCloud for podcasts if you start your show and then apply for SoundCloud for Podcasters. Other than that, Amazon has a lot of books on how to podcast. Even Podcast Answer Man seems like he has some solid info.

In Conclusion (For Free)

Just remember that Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Pinterest, Google+, MeetUps, conferences, happy hours, YouTube Channels, podcasts, and even your blog, guest posts, and webinars are just modern extensions of the traditions schmoozing and community relations that your dad, grandad, and great grandad might have done at the Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus, Elks, Rotary Club, their Masonic Lodge, at Church, at the bar, through the Chamber of Commerce, over dinner, drinks, lunches, breakfasts, by joining boards, playing squash or the good old business golf game.

If you think of social and online engagement and sharing as an extension of all of these things then it’ll make sense. And, if you engage in doing webinars or sharing your smarts on YouTube, on Podcasts, and on a blog (yours or others’) then your work will not be ephemeral like it used to be when your dad and mom spoke to their communities but you’ll be able to share your webinar, video, audio and textual content online with many more than just those 50 people who attended your event when it occurred live.

Don’t get me wrong, it is a lot of work. I had to wake up at 6:20 a.m. in order to get this post done today. Like training for a marathon, you make the time even though you don’t have the time. Make the time starting today.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

All too often, I see businesses advertising their wares…but from their own perspective. They talk about their expertise and what they DO or MAKE, thinking that’s what people are buying. Of course, that’s not what they’re buying at all.

Hence my question — are you selling what your customers want to buy?

Confused? There’s a great story that illustrates this perfectly. A college professor stood in front of his classroom, holding a shovel. He told the class that their assignment was to write an ad, selling the shovel.

The students got to work and their ads talked about the virtues of the shovel – the hardwood handle, the forged steel blade, the balance between the blade and the handle, etc. The professor let the students go on for a while and then he stopped them and shook his head. He said, “Let me tell you the secret for selling this shovel. The secret is to realize that no one buys a shovel just because they want a shovel. They buy a shovel because they need a hole.”

No matter what it is you sell – you need to figure out what’s behind that sale. They’re not buying your service or your product. They’re buying what they get out of that service or product. When you miss that – you run the risk of not meeting that need and losing a customer.

Recently, I had a very unsatisfactory experience with a company that promised to “townhouse my house.” I think the reason they were so disappointing is because they didn’t really understand what their customers want to buy.

They believed that they were selling yard services like weeding, mowing and snow removal. As long as they could perform those chores satisfactorily – they thought I’d be happy. But I could buy those services anywhere.

What I really wanted to buy was the convenience of having someone else worry about my yard and just take care of what needed to be done. I wanted the confidence they would show up when they said they would, so I didn’t have to keep calling them back. What I really wanted was the peace of mind that I could just cross all those tasks off of my list – and my life would be easier because of it.

Ultimately – because they didn’t understand what I really was trying to buy – I stopped buying. I didn’t need or want their shovel.

So – how do you go from selling shovels to realizing that your customers want to buy a hole?

Ask better questions: Don’t just ask the standard intake questions. Develop a short list of questions that will trigger a conversation about the underlying need. Listen carefully and ask enough follow up questions so you truly know the root problem you are being hired to solve.

Hire an outsider to talk to your current customers: We have that Midwest nice thing going on so sometimes customers won’t be very candid when you ask for feedback. But, when you hire a firm to do that asking for you (or secret shop you), you’ll be amazed at what you learn. We provide this service for our clients and I’m always amazed at how much we learn.

Observe them in the wild: Watching how your customers interact with what you sell can be incredibly enlightening. They might use it in a way you hadn’t imagined or for a purpose you hadn’t considered. They may have had to create a workaround because of something that isn’t quite right. If you sell your products in a retail environment, hang out in the store and listen as people considering buying your product.

The real secret to knowing what your customers actually want to buy is to never assume. Don’t be fooled into thinking you know. Do the hard work of finding out and earn their loyalty for years to come.

The post Are you selling what your customers want to buy? appeared first on Drew's Marketing Minute.

In 2014 we saw the worst Ebola outbreak in history, the rise of the Islamic State, aggressive military actions by Russia in the Ukraine, and more.

Bad news felt like it was piling on nonstop. Sometimes it seemed there were so many awful things happening that it was hard to feel hopeful.

All that can distort your perspective.

Because here's the thing: if you take a look at the world in a different light, things aren't that bad. There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic.

At least, retired Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield (who has experienced a truly unique perspective on Earth) released an inspiring video — also a call to action — on his YouTube channel, titled "An Astronaut's Guide to Optimism."

"There are problems with everything and nothing is yet perfect but that shouldn't be cause to bemoan — that should be cause to achieve," says Hadfield, who is also the author of "An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth." He says: "Our world is a better place than we often claim it to be."

The whole video is pretty amazing:

Here are a few of the reasons to be hopeful, from the video:

• Literacy has been sharply on the rise for decades. In 1950, 55% of the world was literate, while in 2010, that number had risen to 81%.
• Life expectancy is greater around the world — this is the healthiest that people have ever been.
• Infant and maternal mortality rates have plummeted in last century, saving the lives of millions.
• Diseases like Smallpox and Rinderpest have been eradicated.

Hadfield also cites organizations making a difference, particularly the Gates Foundation. He talks about the importance of groups researching cures for malaria, delivering vaccines to children, and providing basic sanitation to those who lack it.

And of everything he cites, here's one that's surely close to him and is pretty astounding:

"In 100 years we've gone from filming the Wright brothers to landing a camera on Titan, a moon 800 million miles away."

That's pretty cool.

But that's not all. This isn't just inspiration, but also a call to action. Hadfield focuses mostly on the important work the Gates Foundation does, but plenty of groups do interesting work to make the world a better place. For anyone looking for some more space-related organizations, Universe Today highlights a few space charities worth consideration: Astronomers Without Borders, Uwingu, and Cosmoquest.

"Nobody changes the world on their own: it all starts with a resolution," says Hadfield. "What's yours?"

Take a minute and watch the video above — the YouTube star knows what he's doing.

SEE ALSO: Chris Hadfield's Amazing Speech On How To Conquer Your Biggest Fears

IN DEPTH: 23 Unforgettable Moments From Astronaut Chris Hadfield

Join the conversation about this story »

Like many of you, I am in the middle of the process of strategizing how to best achieve my 2015 objectives, which include optimizing results for my family, business, friendships, activities, and so forth. And when I look back on 2014, I think I did a decent job of improving results in each of these areas. However, if there is one thing that was a barrier to more success, it is the insidious habit of focusing on non-productive activities.

The subject of wasting time reminds me of the famous quote which opens Leo Tolstoy’s book Anna Karenina: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” I can probably guess what attributes make you a good marketing manager, sales executive or business owner – but I have a harder time understanding what activities make you unproductive. Heck, I have a hard time figuring this out for myself, but here is a list of the usual suspects:

• Surfing the Internet for information that has nothing to do with your business.
• Going to meetings that seldom accomplish anything.
• Producing reports that people don’t read or act upon. Good rule: If the information is not actionable, don’t report on it.
• Endless rounds of office conversation/gossip about people, sports, etc.
• Spending twice as much time on an activity to make the results 5-10 percent better.

By the way, if you want to understand the value of practicing intense focus on productive activities (FOPA), think about the last time you were heading off to a vacation. Perhaps you only had a day to accomplish 2-3 days’ worth of work so you ignored all distractions and plowed straight ahead. You probably felt pretty good about what you produced and a little voice inside you was saying: “Imagine how much I could accomplish if I worked like this all the time!”

This proves Parkinson’s Law, based on Cyril Parkinson’s observation when he was with the British civil service: that even a series of simple tasks tends to increase in complexity to fill up the time allotted to it. Conversely, as the length of time allocated to a task became shorter, the task became simpler and easier to solve. So instead of giving yourself two days to complete that white paper or finish those dashboard reports – lock your office door, shut off the phone and email, and give yourself only four hours. You’ll be amazed at how more you can accomplish with intense focus. This produces much better results than endless worrying about the project.

We all know of co-workers who brag about how hard they work and how many hours they put in – but if you analyze their results, they produce no more (sometimes less) than those who work fewer but more focused, hours. I’d rather be the former type of person, and spend the saved time with my family – I bet you would as well. And so my mantra for 2015 will be to spend as much time as possible focusing on productive activities (FOPA) and as little as possible focusing on that which is unproductive.

Carpe New Year!

Peter Gabriel, musician and founder of WITNESS, calls on tech companies to help make video evidence more usable in a court of law.

The post Peter Gabriel: Tech Can Make Video Evidence a Cornerstone of Justice appeared first on WIRED.

There are currently more devices connected to the Internet than there are people in the world. The Internet now connects a staggering 10 billion devices today. And this number will continue to grow, as more devices gain the ability to directly interface with the Internet or become physical representations of data accessible via Internet systems. […]

The post Are Enterprises Ready for Billions of Devices to Join the Internet? appeared first on WIRED.

Data pulled and analyzed across key marketing channels—such as direct mail, website, social, email, search, paid, and mobile—will be a powerful tool for building an effective marketing strategy in 2015.

There are more businesses vying for consumer attention on every marketing platform possible—especially mobile devices. The companies getting smart about these channels are collecting data on consumer behavior—such as product and service research, purchase habits, and social media interaction—and using that data to prepare a dynamic marketing strategy that connects with consumers and provides them with the right information to make educated, confident purchase decisions.

Here are 10 insights on the most important marketing channels for 2015, to help you shape a strategy that will keep your brand top-of-mind.

1. Seventy-one percent of consumers receiving a quick brand response on social media say they would likely recommend that brand to others.

Social media is for so much more than pushing products and services — it establishes your brand voice and provides a very personalized touch to customer service. When a customer raves about you online after receiving fantastic customer service, they are also indirectly marketing your business to their friends, family and all their other social media connections.

Source

2. The leading objective of paid search in 2013 was direct sales, followed closely by lead generation. The reverse was true in 2012.

No surprise here—companies are still pushing (and paying) to get that top spot on search engines. And they’re no longer just looking for leads—they’re strategizing around the direct sale. If a business can convert a visitor to a customer through an ad, there’s a lot less leg work for the sales staff, marketing gains incredibly valuable insight into what types of messaging attracts and wins new business, and the consumer can retain an entirely independent sales experience.

Source

3. Average U.S. click-to-open rates for email were 13.1 percent in 2013.

Email is still one of the most effective online marketing channels. The trick is making it worth their while. Create an email-based campaign that keeps in touch with your prospects or current customers, and use it to notify them of sales deals and educate them on relevant topics.

Source

4. Eighty-six percent of marketers routinely test email subject lines to optimize performance.

With consumer inboxes overloaded with newsletter subscriptions, deals, and everything else under the sun, marketers need to rely on creativity to stand out and entice people to open. Smartphones and tablets make it much easier to reach people through their inbox outside of the office or regular work day, but an email needs to be even more engaging to encourage attention after hours. Getting crafty with email subject lines and testing them with groups of customers can be a great start to see what works, as well as the time of day you are sending the emails to your mailing list.

Source

5. U.S. retail mobile sales were predicted to reach $56.72 billion in 2014.

Mobile phones are the new go-to way for consumers to research products, check prices and sales, locate stores, read reviews, and get in touch with customer service representatives. In short, mobile devices are the main way people connect with brands before making a purchase decision. This makes mobile one of the most important marketing channels for 2015, as it touches every aspect of the customer journey from start to finish. Mobile is only expected to expand in 2015, so be sure your business’s websites, landing pages, and content are responsive.

Source

6. Brands see as much as a 20 percent increase in conversions when adding location data to an ad.

Local marketing, baby—you can’t beat it. Knowing where to get something is almost as important as the crafty ad content itself. Consumers are more likely to click on an ad if they know it will provide essential product or service data and a way to get the item as soon as possible. Location also drives lots of search queries, so make sure your business’s address and information are current on search engines and sites like Yelp, Foursquare, and Google Places. Launching a local-based marketing campaign can help snag customers new to the area, or people who desire to shop local as a priority.

Source

7. More than 90 percent of B2B marketers consider webinars/webcasts, eBooks, whitepapers, and published articles to be either “very” or “somewhat” effective in achieving SEO and marketing objectives. Yet less than half utilize webcasts and only 20 percent create eBooks. 

There are lots of ways to use content marketing to fuel your marketing channels. Re-purpose a whitepaper into a SlideShare presentation, then send it out through social media. Or, expand the discussion around a published article on a live webcast, then share the recording on YouTube. When you get creative with the content you’ve already put together, you can increase the value of your initial investment and get more out of your marketing budget.

Source

8. A quarter of all B2B Fortune 500 companies use marketing automation, along with 76% of the world’s largest SaaS companies.

Marketing automation is one of the most effective ways to scale marketing communications and track the behavior of prospects and customers, which increases efficiencies and provides invaluable information on how your buyers interact with your brand and content. That’s why a growing percentage of top companies are leveraging marketing automation platforms, and why those who don’t are missing out on key insights and opportunities to increase ROI on their marketing efforts.

(Source)

9. 2.9 billion direct mail coupons were redeemed by customers in 2013.

Wow — that’s a huge customer response just from offering people a chance to try your product or service at a discount. Surprisingly, direct mail is far from a dead marketing channel, and is proving popular among adults 24 and younger. With so many tight budgets to manage, consumers not only appreciate a deal but are more likely to purchase from a business offering a discount.

Source

10. Companies spent over $20 billion on search advertising and $17.6 billion on display ads in 2013.

Marketers are still shaping online marketing best practices, but the pressure is on to get results by offering online deals, personalized search, and display ads relevant to consumer tastes. Also, customers now expect companies to meet their needs on demand and respond quickly to customer service issues or competing deals from other businesses. Getting into the minds and hearts of customers is critical when deciding where to spend money on search advertising, but it’s well-worth the investment, especially when you gather and use behavioral data to fine-tune your strategy.

Source

Cross-channel marketing is here to stay, folks, and quality content lies at the heart. By strategically creating and distributing content across these marketing channels, you’ll be able to deliver a consistent, relevant message to consumers — everywhere they go for information.

A new year means a lot for a sales organization: new quarter, new quotas, new prospects, and possibly new team members or leadership. It also means new goals to set, which can be difficult to uphold for an entire twelve months. Below are a few habits that sales leaders and reps should kick in 2015, and easy-to-implement ways to make sure these changes stick.

1. Accepting “Now isn’t a good time” from prospects

This is the easiest response for a busy or uninterested prospect to give to a sales rep. This is because the rep usually doesn’t know how to keep the conversation moving past this, other than to ask when a good time might be. Try these responses instead:

-When do you think you’ll have an idea of your timeframe?
-When do you want or need to see results by?

These two questions prompt the prospect to consider a definitive timeline, rather than replying next month or year.  Framing the questions by how to see results (and suggesting that your solution is what will yield results), you are giving prospects more of a reason to stick to a timeline.

2. Pitching before listening

When speaking with a prospect, it is much more productive to hear about the organization’s background and priorities before going right into your generic pitch. Try these tips to improve your customer conversations:

-Ask shorter questions, like “why?” and “could you explain that further?” to elicit more detailed responses from prospects
-Limit the amount of time you spend talking without asking a question (typically 20 seconds)
-Have an abundance of questions ready to ask each prospect. Focus on their business, pain points, goals and challenges.

This should help you frame your responses and how your product can help them.

3. Accepting excuses from sales reps

Excuses are toxic for the workplace. When sales reps aren’t accepting responsibility for poor or undesirable results, such as missed quotas or lost deals, it doesn’t allow reps to grow from the situation. Sales leaders must stop accepting excuses, and instead work with reps through failures to figure out what went wrong, but also what went well and how to move forward.

4. Creating and updating your own sales collateral

One of the many excuses reps might throw your way is that they don’t have the right collateral they need for a specific conversation. Your initial response might be, “Then you can make your own!”

This might not be the best solution, though. When a sales rep is spending 30 hours each month creating and updating sales content, 30 hours of selling are sacrificed. To fix this, ask your reps how often they use collateral created by marketing versus what they create on their own, and if the latter is greater than the former, a conversation between sales and marketing needs to occur. Remember that marketing doesn’t have a crystal ball that tells them exactly what collateral sales needs, so dialogue surrounding sales’ priorities and marketing processes would benefit both teams.

5. Using the same sales presentation for each prospect meeting

This may seem contradictory to habit #4, but your reps shouldn’t be using the exact same presentation for each sales conversation. Each prospect is different, and in today’s world of hyper-personalization, they expect a one-on-one, unique conversation. This requires a little homework; reps should know about the prospect’s industry, competitors, and general company goals and priorities. One way to do this is by creating a universal, on-brand presentation template that all reps can access and easily personalize, which will cut production time and improve meeting quality.

These five habits are ones that affect all sales organizations, but are also easy to kick by putting in a concerted effort to change sales processes. Some are short term, some may take longer to see results, but all will improve your sales culture and success. Here’s to starting 2015 as strong as possible!

A businessman walks by a homeless woman holding a card requesting money on September 28, 2010 in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty)

A pro tip for public policy advocacy groups: If you’re looking for attention, it helps if your problem appears massively huge and your solution impossibly cheap—preferably less than a cup of coffee a week.

Addressing this issue in a recent conference, the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness (CAEH) released a report declaring the issue of affordable housing in Canada to be “a national disaster, an epidemic, a crisis.” And the solution to this trifecta of doom? Why Ottawa simply needs to extract $2.04 per week from every Canadian. Coffee anyone?

Of course that initial $2.04 per week, after inflation and other escalators, works out to $44 billion spent on affordable housing over the next 10 years. And put that way, it seems a bit more daunting from a taxpayer’s point of view, especially when there’s very little governments can or need to do to fix Canada’s affordable housing crisis—other than get out of the way.

As with most social policy issues, it’s worth noting that homelessness and affordable housing are serious matters. Recent evidence reveals good results from getting people off the streets and into housing as quickly as possible, before tackling other problems, such as addiction or mental health. Even Ottawa now accepts the logic of what’s called Housing First.

But context matters. According to CAEH, the entire chronically homeless population in Canada is perhaps 4,000 to 8,000 people. Not to diminish the experience of living on the street, but is this a problem that warrants a $44-billion fix? And while the report focuses on convincing Ottawa to cough up the money to pay for a host of new housing options, the nub of the problem actually lies with other levels of government. The solution needn’t be any more expensive than changing a few laws.

At the provincial level, land-restriction policies such as the Agricultural Land Reserve around Vancouver or the greenbelt that surrounds Toronto need to be seen as deliberate efforts to limit the space available for new housing. While the declared reason for these sorts of policies is to protect farmland close to cities, the price is ultimately paid by the homeless. Declaring huge swaths of land off limits for development may mean cows within commuting distance of downtown, but it also artificially increases demand on the remaining land, leading to higher prices and rents, and fewer affordable housing options. Plenty of academic research proves a clear link between land-use restrictions and rising prices across all levels of the housing market. Want more affordable housing? Allow more houses to be built.

Municipal regulations are equally blameworthy for jacking up rents and denying low-income Canadians roofs over their heads. Consider rooming or lodging houses, which offer a room with shared facilities in a private home—a low-cost option for anyone on the knife-edge of homelessness, as well as for students and new immigrants. According to a report from Toronto-based social policy group the Wellesley Institute, “rooming houses are one of the most affordable private-market housing options for low-income tenants…. They represent both a step away from homelessness and a step towards stable and secure housing.” Rooming houses may be entirely consistent with a Housing First approach to ending homelessness, but they’re often at odds with local bylaws.

MORE PETER SHAWN TAYLOR:

• Canada’s outdated laws on overtime pay make absolutely no sense
• If you want a union, vote for it
• Do rich people make you sick?

Cities expend considerable effort banning rooming houses or attempting to regulate them into extinction. Toronto, for example, allows them in some parts of its downtown but not in its expansive suburbs, where large-lot homes are ideal candidates for conversion. While a few cranky homeowners may complain about the presence of such dwellings in their neighbourhood, rooming houses present an organic, market-based and highly effective solution to one of Canada’s trickiest policy issues.

So before anyone demands $44 billion from Canadian taxpayers to end homelessness, let’s first give the private sector a chance to fix this problem free of charge.

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As quickly as 2014 is coming to a close, 2015 will start with a bang, and before we know it, the trade show circuit will be a-buzz. Trade shows are an excellent opportunity to find new customers, meet new business partners and build new relationships.

Though there is plenty of value in exhibiting, so much work goes into planning and preparing for a trade show. You need to make sure your booth is interesting, informative, fun and staffed with team members with the right skills and personality to represent your whole company.

Trade shows can cost a lot of money; in addition to the price you pay for your trade show booth space, there are often travel expenses involved, as well as the cost of designing and building the booth itself.

However, your investments of time and money will be worth it if you exhibit optimally. You need to figure out how to keep your trade show booth “alive” even after the show is over.

Below are 4 tips and guiding principles to make sure you are maximizing the effect of your trade show booth.

Have an eye-catching display

This seems like it should go without saying, but if you want people to remember your booth after the conference has ended, you need to make sure your display is memorable on a number of different levels. First, all the basics must be done right; proper lighting, an open entry space and a visually attractive display are absolutely necessary. Next, you need to get creative to draw attendees into your booth space.

What about and interactive visual display? Or host a contest in your booth with prizes that gets people wanting to participate? Make sure your freebies are creative and are convenient to carry. Instead of handing out pens like the majority of other booths are doing at the show, why not try something a little more interesting? A memorable booth is the first step to making sure the people you meet at the show will remember you.

Include your social media information in your materials

No matter what you are handing out at your trade show booth, make sure that whatever you are hoping your attendee is bringing back to the office has more than just your basic contact information. It is possible that your potential customer wants to get to know you better before committing to making a purchase or putting in an order. Give your social media information – your Facebook page, your Twitter handle, etc. – so that your customer can get to know you comfortably.

Make your social media interesting and fun!

Now that you are bringing people to your social media pages, make sure they will stay there and hopefully visit again, or possibly even share the page with friends. To do this, consider posting photos from the trade show booth and ask thoughtful questions that will elicit more than one-word answers.

Link to photos of your booth on your website

Make sure that you are actively photographing your booth and the activity happening inside of it. Get pictures of people showing interest in your goods and/or services, asking questions, and listening to their responses.

On your website, add a link from your homepage to a new page with these photos and other interesting information about the booth. Consider a tagline including how many people stopped by, how many giveaways were taken, or how many new customers signed up.

Ask people if they’d like to receive your newsletter or other free information

One of the best ways to keep your trade show booth alive is to stay in touch with the people who came by to check it out. Ask people to sign up for your newsletter, or do a lottery drawing of business cards for a prize giveaway. Make sure people know why you want their email address and then they will be more likely to share it.

Your company has spent a lot of money on marketing at the trade show; make the most of the opportunities to stay in the mind of the people who’ve visited your booth.

Do you attend industry conferences? Would you like to create a greater diversity of content on a regular basis without a big jump in budget? Imagine these two scenarios:

Dan looks forward to industry conferences because they provide time away from the office and give him a chance to be inspired by industry thought leaders. He also gets to network amongst peers in the industry and depending on the event city and venue, maybe he has a little fun too.

Sandy plans her conference attendance according to topics and speakers. She identifies specific speaker presentations to attend and even liveblogs them for her company blog. Sandy networks with other professionals at the event and virtually through the conference hashtag and smartphone app. She compares each day’s efforts to her plan to ensure she’s effectively learning, getting inspired and networking – all while having fun.

Which one best describes you?

According to the 2015 Content Marketing Report from CMI/MarketingProfs, the top challenges for B2B content marketers included:

• Producing engaging content 54%
• Producing content consistently 50%
• Producing a variety of content 42%
• Lack of budget 41%

These are all reasonable obstacles to content marketing effectiveness and I have no doubt, you have experienced them yourself.

The good news is that all of these situations can be mitigated through the fine (and lost) art of liveblogging events.  I say “lost” because the number of liveblog posts from marketing and PR events has gone done significantly over the past 2-3 years. While that indicates a trend, it also means a significant opportunity to stand out.

The ultimate in pull PR. Beyond a full room, a row of livebloggers clickety clacking away on their laptops recording words of wisdom from the presenter can make the effort of creating and delivering a presentation all worthwhile. Coming out of an event with 4 or 5 articles about your presentation with zero pitching is highly motivating.

Tweeting vs. blogging. When I ask people if they will be liveblogging a presentation today, most think I’m asking if they’re going to tweet. Live tweeting is nowhere near the same thing as live blogging of course. It’s easier to push out a few quotes, statistics and tips from your smart phone than opening up a computer and writing an article in real time.

Is easier really best? It’s understandable why people would gravitate towards livetweeting. But that’s almost like saying it’s understandable why a tri-athlete would coast downhill on their bicycle vs. continuing to pedal.  It takes work to truly be competitive.

Why liveblogging is worth the extra work:  If you can only see a few feet in front of you, the world isn’t a very interesting place. If you can see beyond to the mountains, valleys and cities, it’s a whole different perspective.  That’s how I see liveblogging.

Benefits of liveblogging:

• Inspired content based on a presentation
• Presenters and their peers along with other attendees and the conference are inspired to share your liveblog post
• Learning liveblogging improves your writing
• Network with other bloggers and attendees who want to know why you’re typing so fast
• Liveblog content attracts links from other blogs and social shares from attendees following the event hashtag
• Liveblog content can fuel your own social content (including tweets)
• Liveblog content can be modular and easily repurposed in the future
• Liveblog content attracts mentions from brand newsrooms and brand social media shares
• Liveblog content attracts organic search traffic for months and years after the event
• Liveblogging prospective client, partner and employees creates a networking opportunity
• Demonstrates writing ability of the liveblogger
• Associates topical relevance of the presentation to the blog that publishes the article

Formats for liveblogging:

Transcription Post – documenting pretty much everything the presenter is saying. If the speaker is really good, this can work. More often than not, the presenter gets distracted or is non-linear. In those cases, it fails miserably.

Listen for Nuggets – With a little homework in advance, some of the liveblog post opening and close can be pre-written based on the presentation title, description and knowledge about the speaker. You can look up their past presentations on SlideShare to see if they’ve presented elsewhere on the topic recently. Then when the presentation is given, listen for highlights. Those nuggets of wisdom can then fill out the body of your post with added flavor of your own.

List Posts – Some presentations are perfect for list posts. More often, you can attend multiple presentations that hint at list-friendly content in their titles (10 ways to succeed at content marketing or 15 content marketing tools). Then you can combine the resources from multiple presenters into one blog post. A large list of tips, statistics and tools with short explanations of each item can become very sharable and attract links from other blogs.

Overview Post –  For some people listening to a presentation without doing anything else is the best way for them to experience the content. After the presentation is done, they write an overview summary of what the presenter talked about. These posts tend to be short, 300-450 words or so and include more personal observations and context.

Preinterview – Before the event, reach out to the speaker to let them know you will be liveblogging their presentation. Invite them to answer a few questions about their presentation in advance. This will spice up the liveblog and can create the bulk of the content. It’s also a great way to network with speakers who you might like to have a connection with for prospecting, recruiting or partnering.

Creating content at events is a great opportunity to support your own content marketing and networking efforts. It establishes credibility for both individuals and your brand.

Liveblogging consistently at an elevated level will position the blogger as a credible industry media source and inspire social media attention from other attendees, industry professionals and even competitors. At TopRank Marketing, we’ve been able to use liveblogging to create value for events in the form of media sponsorships that have covered the cost of employee attendance (not counting travel) at over 40 conferences.

Making liveblogging a part of your event attendance ensures a tangible benefit from the conference that can be shared with peers and superiors. If multiple people on your team can liveblog at a single event, you can capture content for days and weeks in the future. Does it take some planning and hard work? Yes it does. So does success in the world of social media and content marketing.

While you’re planning out event attendance for 2015, think about which persona (Dan or Sandy) will help you better achieve both personal and business goals. Think about how content creation at events can support integrated marketing efforts from social media to content marketing.

BONUS for speakers: If you speak at conferences, think about ways to incentivize the audience to create content around your presentation. For example, offering a free copy of Optimize to those that liveblog and for the best tweets during my presentations has skyrocketed my reach at some events. Instead of reaching 400 people in the room, I’ve had as many as a million impressions through social networks during the same 45 minute presentation.

To learn more about liveblogging conferences, check out these posts:

• 12 Tips on Live Blogging & Content Marketing
• Liveblogging Tips from #BlogChat

When you attend industry events and conferences, do you make a plan to create content there? Are you liveblogging or live tweeting? Or both?

Image: Shutterstock

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© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2014. | Your Content Marketing Silver Bullet: Liveblogging Events | http://www.toprankblog.com

My preferred title for this blog was “Hey LinkedIn, Take a Vacation” but I thought better of it. I like the people at LinkedIn and I didn’t want them to take it the wrong way. But, really? I like change but LinkedIn has rolled it out big time this year. If you’re not studying what’s happening on LinkedIn you’ll miss the big and the little stuff and have no idea what’s going on and where to go. LinkedIn members would be well served if LinkedIn took a week (or a month) off and went to the beach in order to let their members catch up with all the changes, big and small.

LinkedIn needs to remember a good portion of its members don’t like and can’t keep up with all of the techy updates. I know, they can’t slow down the engine but everyone needs a moment of pause to regain their traction.

Ahh, I digress. I have a love-hate relationship with posts and articles on the trends, top 10’s, and the best of lists that dominate our feeds this time of year. Regardless, I’m drawn in to read what the experts think, know who is talking about what and see what’s actually trending across the news and culture.

Comforted by knowing LinkedIn pretty well and the fact that I like most of the changes they’ve has introduced, let’s jump in and look at a couple of my favorite LinkedIn highlights and trends from this year.

Game Changing LinkedIn Hightlight: LinkedIn opened their publishing platform to all members. For those who are thought leaders, bloggers and full of unashamed views, creating and publishing long-form content helps all members find a larger audience and build a stronger platform.

The downside is that while everyone thinks they have worthwhile content, they don’t. I know this is subjective but some of what’s now out there is not great. Remember LinkedIn members, your Connections may be current or prospective clients. Write to share your expertise; not to show your ego or lack of real insight. Write well, be smart, make sure it’s been edited be ready to respond.

Trend: LinkedIn is and will continue to be a trusted content platform for professionals and thought leaders. Why? Check out this LinkedIn blog post, Social Selling Tips: Sync Your Strategy with These 11 New Insights.

Takeaway: Use content to expand what you deliver to other professionals. Know and share something your competitors aren’t. Start conversations when others aren’t. Posting, sharing, liking and commenting on content allows you do to do this in a simple and manageable way.

LinkedIn Highlight: LinkedIn’s mobile experience did get better, sort of. I know you think it’s less than great, I hear it all the time. Let me remind you – it’s an app. Apps by their nature are light versions of the real thing. Can it be better? Absolutely. I think it will. More than 45% of LinkedIn’s traffic now visits LinkedIn on one or more of their mobile devices. That will only increase moving forward and that means LinkedIn will continue to work on a more seamless customer mobile experience.

Having said that, remember, it’s only an app. You can’t really personalize on the app (you can on the latest version of the iPhone app) but not on an iPad. That’s a problem. Invitations should be personalized and missing the chance to get that right may cost you a great Connection that is turned off by your perceived laziness.

LinkedIn launched several new apps this year to better serve particular audiences and members. My friend, Andrew Bartels, refers to apps as channels. I like that and it makes sense. You will find an assortment of apps including LinkedIn, Connected, Pulse, Job Search, Sales Navigator, Recruiter and SlideShare. Is there an app for your device? Learn more at LinkedIn for Mobile. I have tested and used them all. I like the specific ones the best; i.e. Connected, Sales Navigator, Recruiter, Pulse and SlideShare. I prefer doing specific things on an app that is serving only one function.

Trend: Using LinkedIn via a mobile device will continue to increase in popularity and LinkedIn will need to make sure their members’ experience is strong, regardless of where they are logging in. The more LinkedIn can mirror their desktop version the better. Remember, big fingers on little keys causes mistakes. Unless you are really good with your phone or tablet, use your desktop for working on your Profile.

Takeaway: Do more connecting, staying in touch and engaging wherever you are. Be ready to start the conversation and be a part of a multi-timezone world. If you aren’t ready to respond when someone reaches out, they may be on to the next best person they can find.

LinkedIn Highlight: LinkedIn has made it easier than ever to edit your LinkedIn Profile. Now you can edit right in your Profile; no need to go to Profile >> Edit Profile, any longer.

Hover over any section and watch it turn blue. Notice your blue pencil and you will be able to edit as needed, quickly.

Trend: I think we will see LinkedIn become more intuitive in 2015. I think LinkedIn is already reasonably intuitive but I still hear folks say that they don’t think it us. Then again, if you’re not using it regularly, it probably looks different every time; especially since they have made a good number of changes over the last few months. The easier it is for someone to do something, the more likely they are to do it.

Takeaway: Your LinkedIn Profile delivers value for you to your network, to LinkedIn’s platform, to the search engines. There is no excuse not to keep your LinkedIn Profile fresh and up-to-date. Think big picture, not biographical sketch in under 50 words. Your LinkedIn Profile, if written correctly, will create new opportunities for you, even when you’re not logged on.

Near Misses: Rolling too much out too quickly with not a lot of explanation other than the LinkeIn blog (which most people do not read regularly). Even their blogging, which I so appreciate, is overwhelming and some people are annoyed with the constant tweaks.

With two people joining every second and more people contributing content to the conversation, there’s more noise than ever. LinkedIn will need to address that more globally since most people don’t realize they can control some of it through their Settings.

The march to upgrading is surely on at LinkedIn. We’ve noticed several features that used to be available for Basic members which are no longer available. Changing the Premium Memberships over and over didn’t help either.

Believe it or not, our blog will focus on your Profile again in early 2015. Why? There’s more to it than ever and although we’ve written a lot on this topic, it’s still the number one topic people ask us about. Your LinkedIn Profile shares you with the world every day, everywhere.

Join us in 2015 as we continue to dive deep into LinkedIn’s ecosystem and serve up more ways than ever to work better and smarter.

In 2007, the same day Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone and the same year Twitter debuted at SXSW, executive coach Marshall Goldsmith published a book called What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.

In it, Goldsmith makes the case that many of the behaviors that initially propel high-achievers up the corporate ladder are paradoxically the same ones preventing them from reaching the very top. Habits like winning too much (the need to win every workplace disagreement, even when it doesn’t matter), adding too much value (adding your two cents to every discussion), and goal obsession (becoming so wrapped up in achieving short-term goals that you forget the larger mission).

Early in your career, these behaviors demonstrate that you are driven. But the moment you step into a position of leadership, they become counterproductive.

Since Goldsmith’s book first appeared in print, another double-edged workplace habit has cropped up—one that would have been difficult to foresee when he first conceived of his book.

Failing to disconnect.

Like many of the practices Goldsmith identifies in his book, it is surprisingly hard to recognize the damage working excessive hours inflicts both on leaders and their teams.

In part, it’s because when you’re first starting out, working evenings and weekends gets you noticed. It is what differentiates you from less motivated colleagues, yielding early recognition and promotions. In this way, hard work becomes ingrained as part of your identify.

While working long hours is often beneficial to early career advancement, as you rise to a position of leadership, maintaining this practice can damage your career prospects.

For one thing, it’s because of shifting job responsibilities.

Early in your career, the primary measure of your performance is how well you manage yourself. But the higher up you go, the more likely you are to have a job that involves managing others. No longer are technical abilities quite as important. Now, success hinges on interpersonal skill.

What happens to our interpersonal skills when we work ourselves to exhaustion? Studies indicate that when we’re low on energy, we tend to misread those around us, typically in a more negative fashion. Happy faces appear more neutral. Neutral face start to look like frowns. What’s more, when we’re fatigued we find it harder to resist lashing out at perceived slights. Not only to do we incorrectly perceive the world around us more negativity, we’re also more likely to act upon that information.

Weaker communication isn’t the only danger of failing to disconnect. So is impaired judgment.

The more senior you are in an organization, the more frequently you’re called upon to make complex decisions. And when it comes to navigating uncertainty and negotiating risk, the research is clear: Decision quality plummets when we’re tired. The more choices you face, the more critical it is for you to restock your energy. Overwork and the sleep deprivation it fosters prevent you from seeing problems clearly and identifying creative solutions.

But perhaps the biggest hazard of failing disconnect once you arrive in a senior position is that your actions make it harder for your team to stay engaged. Why? Because suddenly, your workplace habits are no longer a personal matter. As a leader, your behaviors communicate expectations.

A 2010 study looked at what happens when employees are unable to psychologically detach from work during off-hours. Hundreds of employees at a variety of organizations were surveyed twice—once at the beginning of the study and then again a year later.

The findings were unambiguous. Not only were employees lacking work-free time off less invested in their job a year later, they were more likely to report emotional exhaustion and physical symptoms, like headaches and stomach tenseness.

To be sure, working long hours isn’t always a path to disengagement. As anyone who has experienced sitting in an empty office on a Saturday morning can attest, freely choosing to work on the weekend is a completely different psychological experience than being expected to do so.

Which underscores yet another reason disconnecting from work is vital to leaders’ performance: when laboring non-stop becomes standard operating procedure, it’s difficult for employees to feel like working hard is their choice.

What can we all do to make disconnecting easier? Here, a recommendation Goldsmith noted in his book nearly a decade ago continues to have value: think small.

Find one thing you can change about your behavior and start there. Most attempts at behavior change—from trying to eat healthy to adopting a grueling new exercise regimen—fail for the same reason: they’re too ambitious.

Rather than attempting to modify all of your work habits, find one modest change that you feel comfortable implementing. For example, try leaving your smartphone in another room when you get home in the evening, so that you’re not tempted to check your work email every time your smartphone appears in your peripheral vision.

Or, spend a few minutes learning how to program the emails you send in the evening to arrive first thing in the morning, so that you’re not sucked into a back and forth with colleagues at all hours.

Just as useful: Stop “trying to disconnect” and find an enjoyable activity to fill your time outside the office. Ideally, identify something active you’d like to master: take up biking, join a sports league, sign up for baking lessons. Not only can activities like these refresh your thinking and offer you the perspective that comes with distance, they also enable you to reframe your time away from the office in terms of gain instead of loss.

Rather than chiding yourselves not to work after hours, you are better off proactively engaging in activities you can look forward to doing.

It’s what behavior change experts know: Breaking a bad habit takes more than trying to stop. It requires finding something more appealing you can do instead.

The landscape for how to turn life science and health care technologies into viable companies has changed more in the last 3 years than in the last 30. New approaches to translational medicine have emerged. Our Lean Launchpad® for Life Sciences is one of them. But a new class of life science/healthcare co-working and collaboration space is another.

———–

The National Institutes of Health recognizes that Life Science/Health Care commercialization has two components: the science/technology, and the business model. The Lean Launchpad® for Life Sciences (the I-Corps @ NIH) uses the Lean Startup Model to discover and validate the business model.

The class provides Life Science/Health Care entrepreneurs with real world, hands-on learning on how to rapidly:

• define clinical utility before spending millions of dollars
• understand who their core and tertiary customers are, and the sales and marketing process required for initial clinical sales and downstream commercialization
• assess intellectual property and regulatory risk before they design and build
• know what data will be required by future partnerships/collaboration/purchases before doing the science
• identify financing vehicles before you need them

This user/customer-centered approach is a huge step in the right direction in the life science/health care commercialization. However, one of the bottlenecks in actually doing Customer Discovery for medical devices/health care is testing how minimal viable products work in-context. Testing hypotheses with doctors, patients, payers, providers, purchasing departments, strategic partners is hard. It can involve traveling hundreds of miles and can consume months of time and loads of money. Scheduling time to look over a surgeon’s shoulder in an operating room is tough. Getting time to brainstorm with payers or experts in clinical trials is hard.

It would be great if there were a way to first test these hypotheses and minimal viable products in a realistic setting locally. Then after a first pass of validation, take them on the road and see if others agree.

A new life science/healthcare co-working and collaboration space
It looks like someone is actually pulling this together in a life science/healthcare co-working and collaboration space in Chicago called MATTER.

Co-working spaces seem to be evolving into the startup garages of the future. It’s a shared work environment (typically a floor of a building) where individuals (or small teams) rent space and work around other people but independently. Yet they share values and hopefully some synergy around topics of mutual interest (same customers, or technologies). Incubators are designed for teams with an idea. They add mentors and additional services and some offer free space in exchange for equity. Accelerators take teams with fairly focused ideas and offer a formal 3-4 month program of tutoring/mentoring with seed funding in exchange for equity.

The MATTER co-working space will have five unique things specifically for life science/healthcare companies:

1. It’s focused exclusively on life science/health care (therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, digital health, health care IT, etc.)
2. Key stakeholders in the broader healthcare ecosystem will be co-located under one roof: entrepreneurs, universities, established companies and strategic partners, providers, payers, hospitals, service providers, associations, advocacy groups, government and more.
3. It will have a simulated procedure space that can be configured as an Operating Room, Emergency Room, Intensive Care Unit and other clinical/procedural settings. The space will include authentic lighting, equipment and other features that very closely resemble the look, sound and feel of these environments in the “real world”.
4. It will have a clinician and patient studio configurable as a doctor’s office or a home care setting to simulate clinician and patient interactions. It will serve as a test bed for software, services and other technologies to improve the clinician/patient dynamic as well as improving workflows in the clinic.
5. It will have a fabrication space where device startups can build minimum viable products and iterate on their designs while in the facility.

By building a co-working space that includes all of these stakeholders, MATTER allows startups (and companies) to get in front of customers and other members of the value chain first, before they leave the building.

The team at MATTER also realizes that facilities alone will not do the trick. In order to get the healthcare community to collaborate with each other to bring new ideas to market they will need some help to catalyze  the “co” part of co-working.

“The life sciences community is still warming-up to the value of customer development in the early stages of building new ventures”, says David Schonthal, MATTER Co-founder and Clinical Assistant Professor of entrepreneurship & innovation at the Kellogg School of Management. “Many of them aren’t yet clear on who their customer actually is – and as a result – what value they should be focused on creating. Essentially, through programming and content, we will need to teach many of our members the importance of understanding the needs of stakeholders and customers – we just aim to make it easier by bringing these people into the building.”

The procedure space and clinician and patient studio allow startups to test and demo medical devices, diagnostics, software and other technologies, with real clinicians, to validate hypotheses, their technologies, and discover the “unknown unknowns” that they wouldn’t learn until the product was used in a real clinical setting (meaning: after years of development and regulatory clearances).

But the real benefit for a Lean Startup is that unlike a traditional OR/ER, technologies/devices used in these spaces can be minimum viable products. They can be crude, non-sterile prototypes tested at any phase of their development (from sketch to machined parts), to answer any number of important questions that innovators might have about how, when, why and by whom a technology is used.

(Think of a startup building a diagnostic display designed for an operating room that discovered it was virtually unreadable and inaudible in the bright lights and loud sounds of a real operating room. Finding this out late in the development process can burn cash and time in a med tech company.)

MATTER is funded and supported by a broad range of private sector partners including established companies, providers, payers, service providers and others; as well as public sector support from the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago.

It Takes a Village
“This has been nearly a 4-year journey,” said Schonthal who prior to moving back to Chicago in 2011 had been working in healthcare venture capital in San Diego.

“One of the noticeable things about the San Diego health tech community is that it feels like a community. It has density,” he said. “People bump into each other, seek each other’s advice, make connections and collaborate on projects. In Chicago, despite having a lot of talent, companies and great research, we are a big, spread-out city. As a result we needed to design some of that density inside of MATTER so that serendipity can occur”.

Schonthal found that others in Chicago saw the vision. He enlisted the help of serial medical device entrepreneur Andrew Cittadine, biotech startup veteran Jeffery Aronin and Patrick Flavin and Steve Collens who was a major force behind the development of 1871 – Chicago’s digital co-working space. Together they recruited the support of the city, state and private industry who all agreed that frequent and early community collaboration to support young companies would be key to Chicago’s future in healthcare entrepreneurship.

Others Are Doing this As Well
MATTER is one of many organizations supporting life science/healthcare entrepreneurship across the country. In New York there’s Blueprint Health and Startup Health, in Denver there’s Stride and Princeton has Tiger Labs. Other incubators and accelerators in the health tech space include Health WildCatters in Dallas, RockHealth in Silicon Valley, Iron Yard in North Carolina, HealthBox Accelerator, Athena Health MDP in Boston and others. And probably the most important will be the Lean LaunchPad @ Life Science Angels class for early stage life science companies. Each of these has their own approach to supporting the creation of new ventures – but all are working to help young startups solve big problems.

Lessons Learned

• Our knowledge of how to efficiently turn life science/health care technology into companies is rapidly increasing
• Lean Methods are one such tool
• Healthcare co-working and collaboration space is another

The annual performance review is supposed to be a time to discuss and review performance, not salary.There are many companies that tie salary to performance reviews, and this is a huge mistake.

It ruins the whole performance review process, and creates a culture of fear and blame. My guess is that this is one of the biggest reasons why so many people hate performance reviews.

Performance reviews can be a great learning opportunity for employees, but if there is a salary involved, the employee isn’t paying attention to the feedback you’re giving them; they just want to know if they’re going to get a raise or not.

More often than not, tying salaries to performance reviews are used as an excuse to punish or even fire poor performers. Many companies think it’s a good idea to have a paper trail of why someone was punished or let go, for legal reasons.

I can understand that, but they’re still going about the performance review process the wrong way.

Companies love the pay-for-performance model, because it incentivizes employees to go above and beyond for them. I like the idea of rewarding good performance, and I like setting performance targets, but again, when you tie the performance review to salary, you create a bad experience.

There are other ways to negotiate a salary increase without necessarily relying on the performance review.

There are many questions you could ask in an employee engagement survey to see if employees feel like they’re being fairly compensated.

Why So Many Managers Like Pay For Performance

Most managers like pay for performance systems for 2 reasons

1. It’s tradition
2. It creates a “high performance” culture

The first point is the weirdest one to me, but I understand it. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks, and it’s easier to do what’s already there than to change the process.

This is the wrong mentality to have though, because if you want to create an environment of honest, valuable feedback, you need to remove money from the equation.

The second point is mostly based on flawed thinking about what truly motivates employees.

Yes, everyone wants a nice paycheck, but to build a high performance culture, you need more than just fancy bonuses. You need to be letting employees develop their passions.

Don’t Tie Compensation To Reviews

If you remove compensation from the question, you’ll have a much easier time conducting a proper feedback session.

Employees need feedback to grow, and are eager to learn from their mentors.

When salary is involved, employees get defensive, because there is an immense amount of pressure in the review process.

As leaders, we need to remove that stress, and focus more on developing employees.

I’ve heard arguments before that top performers need to be properly rewarded for their hard work. While I agree with that, what usually ends up happening is there are limits to how much someone can be rewarded financially, so no matter how amazing someone is, there is a limit to how much you can reward them.

Here’s a CultureTalk that we had discussing the appropriate way to handle employee feedback:

So then, the question becomes, how do we discuss salaries without performance reviews?

How To Negotiate A Salary

Here are some tips to keep in mind if you’re discussing salaries, that has nothing to do with performance reviews.

1. Do Some Research

First and foremost, find out what other people in the industry are making. Your company might be underpaying you, which is an easy way to ask for a raise.

2. Give Concrete Evidence

As an example, if you suggested an idea that is now generating the company an extra $100,000/year in revenue, I think it’s fair if you ask for a small raise. (sidenote: I’ve done this)

3. Take On More Responsibility

Volunteer to do extra projects if you can handle it. This will be a good way to show that you’re adding value, and deserve to be compensated.

4. Think Outside The Box

Maybe instead of asking for a straight salary increase, ask for other ways your employer could help you, like paying to take courses or sending you to a conference you’ve always wanted to go to.

How Would You Negotiate A Salary?

Feel free to share your tips with me on Twitter @JacobShriar or @Officevibe.

One of my largest assets is about to take a hit, and there's nothing I can do about it. In January, my United Airlines points will fall in value and I'll lose my elite status. Even if I kept it, it'd be worth less.

Rewards points, it turns out, are a lousy investment. Airline and credit card companies constantly redefine how and when you can use your points, and point inflation is rampant — larger and more pervasive than dollar inflation. Credit cards regularly offer tens of thousands of points for signing up, leaving the 1,300 miles accrued on a New York-to-Florida flight practically worthless. As airlines consolidate, they also devalue what your points can buy. My United points have been hit particularly hard: According to estimates by Brian Kelly, a.k.aThe Points Guy, they are worth an estimated 1.5 cents a mile, down from 2 cents a mile two years ago. Read more...

In 2014, apps changed the way brands interact with consumers – not only when it comes to traditional transactions, but by inspiring new ways for organizations to create value and trust. The shift in attention to apps is driven by a user base demanding ease of use, mobility, and quick benefit. In many ways, it’s users who are defining the future of mobile.

Until now, brands have kept up with the demand for new app development. As users evolve, so do their expectations. Supply and demand in the app space is higher than ever before; but the actual quality delivered doesn’t yet meet those expectations.

Mobile isn’t just a channel; it’s a behavior.

There’s a reason the mobile web wasn’t enough. Users interact with their phones in such personal, immediate and constant ways that the use of apps is a natural extension of their behavior, not necessarily for an additional promotional channel. Because of this, app users are looking for increasingly engaging experiences that deliver value. 

Growing app usage reflects this behavior – and high abandonment rates prove the point. App users are actively seeking out ways to further interact with great apps, but apps today aren’t living up to user expectations.

Across all apps, time in app increased 21 percent this year, but there was still a 60 percent chance that if a user didn’t return to your app after seven days, he would never come back.

Users are seeking out new and interesting apps, but aren’t waiting around to be wowed. In certain verticals, we’ve even seen the abandonment rate is higher (~23 percent) than the overall increase in time in app. The conclusion? Instead of producing more apps, it’s time to build better ones. 

Now, users want a bidirectional experience when interacting with apps – quite simply, they want an app that listens to them and optimizes accordingly. This means investing in creating truly personalized experiences and brilliant (and relevant) new features, but all with user expectations at the forefront. This year, we’ve seen the app industry rise and change rapidly, with users leading the charge and their experience at the forefront of what consistutes success.

Want more insight into 2015?

With 2015 right around the corner, the best way to prepare your mobile strategy is by learning from the important trends in 2014. In our free report, you’ll be able to read about the eight major 2014 findings (including vertical-specific data) and the five tips for planning in the next year.

The growth of digital marketing over the past few years has been nothing short of spectacular. According to Forrester’s latest digital marketing forecast, digital marketing spend in the US will exceed $100 billion in five years, it will be about $13 billion more than television advertising, and it will represent 35% of all US advertising spend.

There’s no longer any doubt that digital technologies are playing an increasingly important role in the path to purchase of both consumers and business buyers. This doesn’t mean, however, that all non-digital forms of marketing have lost their effectiveness. In fact, recent research indicates that traditional print-based marketing channels and tactics are still a vital part of the marketing communications mix for some kinds of companies.

The Nielsen Research

In September of this year, The Nielsen Company published a report that focused on what sources of information consumers use to make buying decisions. The Nielsen report acknowledged the growing importance of digital technologies in consumers’ path to purchase. For example, Nielsen expects that online sales of consumer product goods in the US will be 2.5 times higher in 2015 than they were in 2010.

What some people will find surprising is that Nielsen’s research also reveals that print marketing is still an effective component of the marketing mix for retailers. Nielsen found that today, more than half of all US shoppers use printed circulars to obtain product and sales information, and the use of printed circulars is nearly 20 percentage points higher than the closest digital marketing touch point – email. Based on its research, Nielsen concludes that print is not dead for retailers and that digital won’t be replacing print anytime soon.

The ABM Research

Research also shows that print marketing is still effective in the B2B space. Last year, The Association of Business Information & Media Companies (ABM) conducted an in-depth survey of almost 6,700 media end-users (readers, event attendees, etc.) to gain insights about how they are obtaining information to support business-related purchases. The survey focused on several kinds of digital and print media, and also included events such as conferences and trade shows.

The ABM survey found that 96% of end-users use both websites and print magazines to obtain business information. When asked what sources of information they use on a weekly basis, 73% of respondents said websites, 67% said e-newsletters, and 45% said print magazines.

ABM also asked survey participants to rate the importance of various sources of information in buying decisions. When asked about researching work-related purchases, the top three sources identified by respondents were:

• Websites – 65% of respondents
• Product information from manufacturers – 62%
• Print magazines – 48%

When asked specifically what sources of information were important for learning about new products, services, or suppliers, the top three information sources identified by respondents were:

• Websites – 80% of respondents
• Product information from manufacturers – 73%
• Print magazines – 69%

Key Takeaway

The growing importance of digital marketing channels and techniques is undeniable, but these research findings indicate that both consumers and business buyers are still using printed marketing materials to inform buying decisions. The evidence shows that potential buyers are increasing the number of information sources they use during their path to purchase. So, they are embracing the newer digital communication channels, but they are also continuing to rely on traditional, non-digital sources of information.

It’s also clear from these studies and other research that younger buyers are more likely to use and rely on digital communication channels. Therefore, it’s likely that, over time, non-digital marketing channels and tactics (including print-centric marketing) will become less important than they are today. For the intermediate future, however, print marketing will remain a useful and effective component of the marketing mix for many kinds of companies.

From collectivism

Up to thirty years ago most popular sports were exercised in group:
Football, soccer, basket ball, volleyball, sailing, rowing, …
All these sports required a team and collaboration in order to perform the sport and win the contests. Collaboration and group activity was the primary method to enjoy your spare time.

To Individualism

Since then the individual sports haven’t stopped gaining popularity:
Surfing, skiing, skating, windsurfing, snowboarding, paragliding, kite surfing, base jumping, …
All these new sports are about one person and his proper achievement: ‘Me Myself and I’.

Group sports are on the retreat whereas individual sports just increase in number of people exercising these sports. And those who don’t exercise: instead of watching TV shows they play games on their PC or console.
Instead of all the hassle of making the appointment to get together, people just want to excel in their favorite sport and the social part has become secondary.

Cultural change implies Selling change

As people have changed so much in their activities during their spare time, their buying will be different. Hence the selling needs to be different too.

In the good old days Sales people went to boot camps attended in large numbers in order to get training and exchange experiences.
The best example are the National Cash Register (NCR) boot camps established by its’ founder John Patterson.

Today the need for boot camps is long gone as training is feasible using on-line web seminars and the exchange of experiences is likely to happen using the very direct new communications channels from mobile phone, webinars, to texting and Instant Messengers.

Not solely the sales people have changed but also the buyers and decision makers who instead of visiting mass events like trade shows and conferences, will search and gather information on-line from their desk.
This change is upon you too.

Are you prepared for this change?
Are people really not interested in trade shows, conferences and boot-camps anymore, or is it just the economy?

A recent study from Salesfusion found that fewer than 10 percent of surveyed marketers believe their current lead generation strategies are effective, a startling figure given that businesses pour billions of dollars annually into various methods for acquiring leads and lead intelligence. While offline lead generation is by no means dead, the industry, like nearly everything else in the new millennium, is turning more and more to online development, with email dominating as the most utilized lead generation tool, according to the Salesfusion study.

Online Cheaper, Offline More Effective?

In general, online leads are significantly cheaper than offline ones, though fewer digital sales prospects end up being converted than those met face to face by an in-person representative. This phenomenon, however, can be chalked up to the fact that online conversion is a very new reiteration of the sales funnel, a swath of largely unexplored marketing territory that still requires research and time before all the differences between lead conversion in the offline world and lead conversion in cyberspace are well understood and the process can be perfected.

Lead Age: A Top Metric For Conversion

For example, one important distinction, the discovery of which has resulted in demonstrable industry improvement over the past several years, is time. Lead conversion on the internet has a much, much faster lifespan than otherwise similar offline customer trajectories. The positive: this means more fast-paced business and potentially a lot more opportunity for profit. The challenge: fast response and fast follow up for a fast turn around is crucial.

As early as 2007, InsideSales conducted a study which indicated that the odds of contacting a lead are 100 times greater when the initial contact attempt is made within 5 minutes compared to 30 minutes following inquiry submission from an interested online party. In terms of pushing leads meaningfully forward, time also plays a significant role in qualification.

In 2011 Harvard Business Review found that companies that attempted contact within an hour of the information request were almost seven times more likely to qualify the lead (defined in the report as “having a meaningful conversation with a key decision maker”) than the ones that waited just one hour more. And furthermore, those same fast responders were a whopping 60 times more likely to move the lead forward than the slow pokes that took a full 24 hours to make contact.

Despite this strong evidence of time sensitivity, HBR found that large numbers of companies were responding at a comparatively slow pace. But that was several years ago now, and the science of online lead generation is a quickly improving one. Last year, InsideSales reported that companies were responding an average of 39 hours faster since 2010, though many firms are still lagging behind.

CRM Advances: More Good News For Online Lead Gen

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software gets more advanced and savvy every day. People are forgetful and imprecise, but computers aren’t. Better understanding of online timelines means better outbound marketing. Automated lead scoring and emails to freshly generated leads, as well as plugged-in call centers with sales representatives waiting for the programmatic go-ahead to call a new potential customer (all in the appropriate time window, of course) comprise the profitable present of lead generation, as well as the promising beginnings of an even more advanced and efficient marketing future.

In addition to improved outbound methods, many companies are transitioning more and more to sophisticated inbound strategies. In a world with streaming video and really killer email filters, many potential customers are avoiding the majority of outbound marketing efforts, but by shifting their focus to production of high quality online content, many companies are finding new and innovative ways to catch consumer attention and draw in leads. With the number of digital consumers ever climbing, the internet has become, all in all, the perfect channel through which to realize favorable results at every part of the sales funnel.

Do you need to repurpose eBooks into other pieces of content? According to the Content Marketing Institute, 61% of B2B marketers rate webinars as the most effective content marketing tactic. Webinars are found to be the content piece that most efficiently converts leads into customers. Turning your eBook content into a webinar will help you gain sales lead, extend the reach of your content and give you greater authority. Marketo reports, due to the proliferation of mobile devices and tablets, online video is considered the second best influencer when making key decisions.

Now that you understand the importance of repurposing your content, here are the next steps you should take in transforming your eBook content.

4 easy steps that will help you transform your eBook content into a webinar:

1. PREPARE: First you must decide on your webinar agenda. You may want to begin by breaking down eBook topics and determining the amount of time you will spend on each. Try to keep it short and sweet. Most people are willing to listen for an hour – make their time count! According to Hubspot, you should be spending roughly 15-30 hours of work preparing for your webinar, minimum, to ensure you are prepared for success.
2. PRESENT: Many industry professionals use services such as Citrix’s GoToWebinar – an easy-to-use tool that helps you create, promote and host online events. Most webinars are best accompanied by a slideshow or video presentation. Webinar slides are a great way to add to your SEO strategy. Always use optimized keywords in slides titles, tags and description in the meta data fields.
3. PROMOTE: Get the word out there and make sure your target audience is listening! Use methods such as tweeting, LinkedIn posts, email newsletters, CTA’s and more to build awareness. You can also promote your webinar on your website and through the blog. Make sure to find out where your target audience is hanging out – find relevant blogs and forums you can get them talking about the event.
4. PRACTICE: Grab a friend and schedule a practice session for the two of you. Make sure you are able to see what’s on their screen so you understand what things look like on the other end.You should always have a backup plan in case of technical difficulties. On the day of the event, be early! Take the time to introduce yourself and welcome viewers as they come on the webinar to personalize your presentation.

Do you have any tips to add to our list? Let us know!

Slowing down is the last thing you want when you are trying to close deals. Remember that old adage, “You need to slow down to go faster?”  It applies here. If we slow down at the beginning of the sales process, and cover all the bases, the end of the sale should go smoother. That is why the best sales hacks happen at the beginning of the sales process.

Here are 10 sales hacks that take time in the beginning, but save time at the end.

1. Create an ideal customer criteria and use it to qualify leads

If you want a higher close ratio, find better prospects. Remember that the marketing department is evaluated on leads delivered.  You are compensated for deals closed.  Don’t waste time on leads that aren’t a good fit. If you want an even better criteria, use data to create it.

2. Manage your funnel

Make a little time everyday for the top of the funnel. The more qualified leads you have coming in the top, the more you are able to focus on leads with a shorter sales cycle or higher payoff. Let’s face it, with nothing coming in the top, you are likely to waste time on leads that won’t close. There are many programs to help you create and manage your funnel. Salesforce is just one.

3. Do your research

What do you need to know about the company, people or industry before you walk in? What has happened in the past that might make them wary? Why are they looking for this solution now? If you don’t have time to do the research properly, there are companies that will do it for you.

4. Understand your customer

You may already know what your customer wants to buy, but do you know what they want to achieve personally and professionally? When you know that, you can present information that is relevant to them.  It will simplify the discussion and keep the customer focused and more engaged.

5. Ask smart questions and listen…really listen

Give your prospects all the time they want to talk. They will probably tell you everything you need to know to close the deal if you let them. Write down what they say, don’t interrupt, and don’t plan your answer.

6. Make sure your solution is solving a problem

Tell your prospect if there is a mismatch and see if you can find a work-around. Ask the questions to determine if it is a good fit. Don’t avoid questions just because you don’t want to hear the answers.

7. Watch the client’s signals

Are you in step with them, or have you gotten ahead of them? If you get too far ahead, the sale will slow down.  Ask for clear action steps along the way, so the sale doesn’t get stalled. End each meeting with an agreement on your next action, and an agreed upon date. Send the next calendar invite.

8. Understand their buying process

What is your prospect’s timeline? Who will be involved? Who will be affected by the purchase? What processes will the purchase impact? How flexible is the budget?  Who approves the budget? Who will sign the contract?  Will Legal need to review the contract? Create a list of these critical questions and keep them in front of you.

9. Familiarize yourself with the buying checklist

With this list in hand, confirm that you have addressed everything on it.  Determine if there are any items on the checklist that you can’t address. Determine how important they are to the decision.

10. Prepare all the way through to the closing question

If you have done your homework, you will know what the closing questions need to be.

Get more sales tips in the RingLead ebook, Sphere of Influence Selling: An Inside Sales Approach to Crushing Your Quota.

Editor’s note: This post was written by Barrett Dastrup, a writer in the tech and business space. When he’s not writing you’ll find him listening to podcasts, reading up on digital marketing blogs, or learning how to cook. You can also connect with him on Twitter: @barrettdastrup.

The idea is simple. You want to increase marketing leads for your business, which means you need information, names, emails etc. And in order to get that information, you offer some form of useful content that visitors to your site would like to have. The only thing they need to do is fill out a form that asks for this information, click submit, and voila, the content is theirs. This concept is not new, and many posts have already been written about gated content. A recent post right here on BloggingPro even mentioned a WordPress Plugin, MailPoet, that helps you do just this.

But what does a service like MailPoet mean when they advertise “single or double opt in, your choice” as a feature? This is also very simple. After the user fills out your form and clicks submit, one of two things can happen. The user can be directed to their email where a confirmation email awaits. After clicking the link in this email, they are led to the promised content. This is called a double opt in process because the user is required to say yes twice.

The second option bypasses this confirmation step, and sends the user to the promised content directly after filling out the form.

Obviously, MailPoet is not the only service providing this type of functionality. You might consider Mailchimp for WordPress or the WordPress-to-Lead for Salesforce CRM. These options are especially beneficial if you want a painless process for visualizing the data that you pull in from your on page forms in a data dashboard.

So, now that you know all about single or double opt in process, which one is right for you and your needs?

This question is really best answered by clearly defining and considering your goals for the project.

If your purpose in gating content is to collect leads for an automated mailer you will be sending, the double opt in process might seem more attractive. You will have made it clear to the user before they fill out your form that by doing so, they will be added to an email list. But sometimes users won’t see or process that disclaimer. And users who aren’t aware of what they are getting themselves into, and that then begin receiving your emails, will view you as invasive and pesky.

If you, however, have a double opt in process in place, this problem will be avoided. Users who miss the disclaimer the first time around will most definitely see it when they are prompted to visit their email to confirm their decision to trade their email address on a mailing list for content. And can decline the option once they’ve understood more fully what it is they’re agreeing to. And users who knew exactly what they were getting into will have no problem going one more step in order to seal the deal. In short, the double opt in process ensures the quality of your list.

But what if you are collecting emails and information, not with any automated mailer in mind, but rather for the sole purpose of sales? You want your site’s visitors to provide their information in return for the useful, quality content you promised, and that’s it. End of transaction. You don’t want them to have to jump through one more hoop in order to receive what they thought they were getting, and for you to receive their information on your backend.

In this case, you might be better off with a single opt in process. That way, the user gets what they want and were expecting, and you do too. After all, you aren’t going to be constantly emailing them company newsletters and updates, so making sure they meant to give you their information is not as crucial. However, considering the quality of the leads you are getting should still be a priority, and if using a double opt in process seems to a good option to filter through poor leads, don’t rule it out.

There you have it, a quick overview of the single and double opt in processes, and the reason that each exists. If you have decided that gated content is the route you’d like to go (it isn’t always the best choice), make sure to sit down with your team and agree on the type of process you feel will be most beneficial in accomplishing your overall goals.

Testimonials are essential to effective inbound marketing and can create a connection with your audience before you ever speak. They also support social media marketing with “social proof”.

Reviews and testimonials are part of powerful word-of-mouth advertising. Some companies seem to instinctively know how to use testimonials to generate brand loyalty, create brand awareness and convert leads to sales. But it’s not instinct. It’s about strategy and implementation – like all good marketing!

I head up the website redesigns here at OverGo and I’ve come across a lot of great-looking websites and testimonials pages. But it’s not just about good looks! Let’s look at four companies doing it right and how what we can all learn from their success.

1. Enterprise

The well-known vehicle rental company uses testimonials to boost its fleet management reputation. Much like having an impressive person give a letter of reference, Enterprise uses the recommendations of its most influential customers to sway new prospects with a bandwagon approach. The message of the testimonials is that the company can handle the fleet of cars for these large companies so they will be able to do it for you.

One of the benefits of testimonial marketing is that there is no contractual guarantee implied. The Federal Trade Commission guidelines state that the ads must be true in that these are actual customer experiences. A client’s perception of service that is always accurate even if the real service parameters vary from client to client.

2. LifeLock

The Internet security company LifeLock uses testimonial text blurbs paired with video recommendations to get the greatest impact. Testimonials have the ability to deliver a marketing message without sounding dull or agenda-driven.

Even reenacted testimonials come off as natural. Research shows that marketing strategies with an organic feel have a competitive edge over those that seem staged. LifeLock is also very good at using only testimonials are on-point, reinforcing its overall marketing message.

3. Lockheed Martin

Commercial and governmental aerospace developers do not need to do business-to-consumer marketing. But that doesn’t mean they have no use for reviews! Lockheed Martin, maker of aircraft, satellites and robots, uses its testimonial marketing to recruit talented employees.

The employee testimonials emphasize diversity, a smart move since the company is attempting to enlist talent from around the globe. It has devoted an entire webpage to the topic that highlights communication from employees of various ethnicities and backgrounds.

4. ExxonMobil

Oil companies often have an uphill battle when it comes to improving public opinion. Rather than taking on environmental issues directly, Exxon uses its testimonial format to highlight its work with young eco-conscious engineers entering the field. Each encourages students to enter the chemical engineering industry and take on the challenge of creating sustainable, clean energy for the future.

5. Red Cross

In the nonprofit world, perception is as important as service to a charitable company. Transparency is both good marketing and federally mandated. The American Red Cross uses its testimonial messages to show the donor public that real people are reaping the benefits of the donations received. At gala events, the raw emotion associated with charitable services can make direct interaction uncomfortable for donors. Written testimonials are just as impactful but offer a cushion between philanthropists and benificiaries.

Takeaway

You might have an amazing website with testimonials sprinkled across in all the right places. But any old client or customer testimonials isn’t going to do. Every business should have a strategy behind their testimonials, showcasing only the ones that support their business goals and company culture.