Erik Qualman's Blog, page 487

Propaganda Video Aimed at Social Media CEOs

Viral Threats

 

The Islamic State (ISIS) released a 25 minute propaganda video completely singling out social media CEO’s Jack Dorsey and Mark Zuckerberg. The video was found by Vocativ’s deep web analysts via the Telegram, which has been notoriously used by ISIS in the past. The video was released in response to both social media platforms removing violent material and other content that promoted terrorist behavior.

 

The video depicts ISIS hacking into over 10,000 Facebook accounts and nearly 5,000 Twitter profiles and posting Islamic State propaganda. In response to the event Zuckerberg said, “If we have opportunities to basically work with governments and folks to make sure that there aren’t terrorist attacks then we’re going to take those opportunities and we feel a pretty strong responsibility to help make sure that society is safe.” Within the last six months, Twitter has suspended over 125,000 accounts connected with ISIS, but according to Consortium director Veryan Khan, “the bounce back for the Islamic State will be fairly effortless.”  (Source MSN)

David Bowie’s New Series

 

Yup you heard that right. This past week, Instagram kickstarted a mini series inspired by David Bowie’s final album “Blackstar”. The pop culture idol was a huge proponent of the Instagram project quoting it as, “an exciting new platform to explore interpretation of and storytelling within his music.” The Insta series was created to reposition the social media platform with a new demographic of users. The creators stated it’ll take the audience “on a journey of evocative images inspired by the moods suggested in the album’s music, lyrics and artwork.” The series will premiere tonight at 8 p.m. and will last for the next three weeks, with a new episode being released every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. So lace up your dancing shoes and boogie on over to Instagram for some much needed Bowie entertainment. (Source TheNextWeb)

 

A Match Made in Heaven

Wanna know the best way to get more Tinder swipes? According to Tinder’s analytics, job professions correlate with swipes. The top three professions for men are pilot, entrepreneur and firefighter (go figure). For women they’re physical therapist, interior designer and founder/entrepreneur. So if you’re looking for love consider changing your profession to one of these top careers. You can thank us later for the brotips. (Source TheNextWeb)

[image error]

Mobile App Development – Decoding The UX and UI

The universe of Internet is going crazy with a cascade of mobile devices coming up every other day. Nowadays, no web developer will be interested in developing apps that are device centric or specifically oriented for desktop. We need to revolutionize the existing app design trends to move ahead and design apps that are scalable across multiple platforms.

Since mobile apps have become the most potent tool for gaining access across multiple users all over the world. Being a UX/UI Mobile App Development Company, cannot emphasize enough on developing an app which is not only pleasing to the eyes, but comes loaded with features too.

When we talk about developing a mobile app, it is vital to take care of UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface). One has to research and understand the target market before going ahead with any app development project. Regardless of the time spent in designing an application, if you fail to place your focus on user interface design, it can adversely affect your app’s credibility and result in ‘bad user experience’. This can be a direct result of bad user interface which is why it is crucial to follow an app development approach that will aid in designing better user experiences.

Whenever a new app comes up on Android, developers soon make it available for Windows users as well as iPhone etc. and even vice versa. There are times, when web developers do not place any importance on user feedback or track audience impulse before releasing an app on all available platforms simultaneously. An app designer needs to adapt a particular app’s UI and UX for some other platforms while keeping consistency in all frameworks that have been used to develop the specific app. A good company usually provides Free UX/UI Analysis for app development projects; especially when there is a need for adapting UI/UX designs across multiple platforms.

There are a few tips which can help you enhance your app’s UX and UI ad help reach out to the most active user base.

1. Adaptable UX: Different users have different needs and expectations from an app; hence, it is a waste to develop a UX which is designed just to fit all. An app should be intelligent enough to gauge users’ preferences and take advantage of the information that it collects on its users to offer a customizable experience.

2. Avoid Bombardment of Notifications: Being careless with regard to app notifications can make your app come across to be a needlessly attention-seeking burden on your mobile. Users do not wish to be blasted with notifications all the time. Even if your notifications’ UX is great, no user would want to see your app’s notifications ALL THE TIME.

3. Search Interface is needed: Having an extremely good looking app that has no content is a complete waste of time and bandwidth. At the same having tons and tons of useless content is again a waste of space. A developer needs to think like a user and create a customizable search interface and filter that offers ease of use and gives out most intuitive results.

4. User Onboarding experience: New users need a welcome message from your app! A good onboarding experience will give out a good impression of your app. Although, the new user on-boarding experience should start as soon as the app is launched for the first time. New users shouldn’t be greeted with empty screens and direction-less designs.

5. Improve UX Design: As a designer, there is always room for improvement on your app. Even the best of the designed apps can have areas that need improvement. Even if your app is performing perfectly, there is no harm in taking stock of things once in a while and tracking potential opportunities for further growth.

An app needs an updated and developed UX and UI for its users to offer the best. Remember, the most successful apps are often the ones that are most simple. Your target audience wants an app that loads up instantly and offers results within a span of seconds and does both these things in minimum possible time frame and minimal clicks.

[image error]

The Ultimate Socialnomics Guide to Topple Your Competition in 2016

There are several different ways to topple your competition. There are also variations on those different ways. And, there are different ways to combine the methods to topple your competition. Have I lost you yet? Good. We are on the same page.

For this lesson in toppling, we are going to keep it simple. We are going to look at three strategy areas. Each of these areas is an article (at least!) in and of itself! However, I’m not here to write a book…yet. So, we’ll look at one aspect of each of these strategy areas in order to give you a cohesive path that you can follow.

But, this is iterative. Once you follow down this path, you need to follow the next iterative path and continue to build, grow, and engage. Confuse? Don’t worry. Let’s just get started and eventually this will all sink in, ok?

Expanding on the build, grow, and engage, we are going to look for action steps that augment those strategies:

Build It… with your blog.
Grow It… with the ranking of your site (blog).
Keep It Going… with attractive graphics and media.. keeping the attention and curiosity going.. keeping it focused on YOUR brand!

The reason that I use the phrase “strategy group” is because there are many more aspects and many more components that could be included in each of these three strategy groups. An easy example to use to demonstrate this is #3 Keep It Going. Within that strategy group, you would want to add email marketing, engagement, community building, and so many others! We are only looking at graphics and media (for now) to keep in simple (and give you room to add the other strategies as you go!).

Build Your Brand with Your Blog

Currently the word blog has a meaning and use for millions of social media communicators around the world. A little over a decade ago the word did not exist! With that there are probably three types of people who are reading this right now.

Group 1: You have a blog and you believe you have it covered. Good for you!
Group 2: You have a blog (technically speaking, as in it is installed somewhere on the web), but you are not quite sure what to do with it.
Group 3: You do not have a blog at all. This is the case because either a) you don’t think you need one; or b) you don’t know where to start.

If you are in Group 1, you may be tempted to skip ahead to the next section. I’m not going to stop you (like I could, right?). However, you may want to skim over some of the resources that we included in this section, just to see if you are on the right track.

For those of you in Group 2 and 3, you are in the right place and we have some links and tips for you. Even if you are a part of the group 3 that doesn’t think you need a blog, you will likely want to check out some resources. I mean, you do want to topple your competition, right? That is why you are still reading, eh?

Today, writing a blog is like keeping a personal journal or a diary of decades ago, but with one major change! The diary was not to be broadcasted! The blog post goes out to everybody. Your blog must be interesting and readable. It may be your expertise includes being funny. Maybe it is about being informative. Maybe newsy. It is about finding your voice, when it comes to blogging. But, that “voice” needs to appeal to your audience, as well.

You may be wondering why I’m writing as if the blogging is personal, when this article is focused on toppling your competitors. That was intentional. You see, there is a lot more transparency going around, even in business, than ever before this time. That doesn’t mean that you have to approach it that way, but it is worth considering. As a part of finding your voice, you will want to define what it is that represents your brand. That includes things like:

Tone – level of “warmth,” etc.;
First-person or Third-person;
Academic, professional, or personable;
Frequency of blog posts, etc.

It is very important that you consider these things prior to blogging (or prior to a change in your blogging strategy). It is helpful if you list this out and collaborate with your partners. You could even poll your audience if you are more on the side of “personable.” That way, when you move forward, your blogging is consistent. Another thing to add to your list is frequency.

Even if you are a business, sometimes the “personal touch” appeals to your audience even more than the professional voice. Consider all angles and find what works for your business!

Ok, ok. This can seem like the more I write about blogging, the more complicated it starts to sound. Remember I called this a strategy group? This is an area that is not self-contained within this section, but allows for growth within itself, as an area of strategy (we still have two more to cover!). So, let me leave this section with a list of helpful resources for you to bookmark and work through as you start (or improve) your blog and blogging:

On Blast Blog (this blog has tips galore on how to blog… including ideas for topics);
LinkedIn’s Best New Tool: Professional Publishing Platform (maybe you want to blog on LinkedIn exclusively instead of a WordPress business blog);
How to Create a Successful Blog Based Business (oldie, but goodie, and great for those of you just starting out and who need the basics.. then head over to On Blast Blog for more topics on blogging. Be sure to read up on the social media tips here on SocialNomics.net!).

Grow Your Blog with Your (SEO) Ranking

In order to topple your competitor in 2016, you need traffic to your site. You need consistent traffic and you need to create a buzz around your brand! Unfortunately, it is not one of those things where you build it (your blog) and wait and success just happens. You have to make it happen! There are many ways to do that, but we are going to focus on the SEO part of the strategy in this section.

Every blogger and business owner wants their website to be seen by more people. The question is how do you get your content to show up the most often in search engine results (SERPs)?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the answer. So, with that, let’s go over a few things that will help you to do well, for starters. There is much more to SEO than what is listed here, but for you newbies, this is a start in tactics to get you starting to rank in Google, Bing, and other search engines.

Create Quality Content

Ranking high in search results starts with the basics: produce content that is worth reading. Blogs are your best bet for SEO because text is search engine friendly, right off the bat. Expanding on what we started in our first strategy group, here are some of the desirable features for your blog, as it relates to SEO. The best blogs are:

Clear and concise;
Authoritative;
Interesting;
Include visuals (next section).

In the past, there have been various guidelines regarding ideal length for posts. While often times experts say that 850 words is ideal, the real truth is that length doesn’t matter as much as quality. You can get that opinion from hubspot and from bufferapp.com. The fact is that quality content will always win regardless of length. This means if you can effectively share your expertise in 290 words, you’ll rank higher than someone who pretends to know what they’re talking about in 1,100 words.

So, you are asking yourself, “What is she doing with this exceeding long post? It is not exactly 850 words!” That is where we come into a group of posts that are more like guides. These are the types of articles that garner the bookmarks and “go to” place for a wealth of information. There are blogs that may have more of these “guides” than other blogs, but generally, the guides are not posted daily.

Define Relevant Keywords

If you’re writing a blog about dogs and your article is specifically discussing Yorkies, it’s likely you’ve stumbled on relevant keywords organically. However, it’s important to check keywords for several reasons. On WordPress blogs, there’s a plugin called Yoast SEO that is very effective in checking your keyword usage. Before that step, you need to know what keywords you plan to use. This involves doing some keyword research. Don’t let that term scare you, though. Keyword research is simply defining your topic.

Start by writing a list of broad topics related to your blog or business. From these broad topics, narrow down a niche. An example of this would be if you blog about Social Media, a specific sub-topic would be “Getting More Followers on Twitter.” Use the Google Adwords Keyword Planner to get an idea of how many people are searching for your article’s topic. The more searches, the more competition there will be for clicks. However, if you’re an expert, you’re in luck! Keyword research often reveals potential SEO goldmines. Use it wisely.

Sound confusing? That’s ok. Remember, this article may be a sort of Ultimate Guide, for starters, but there is room for growth in each strategy group.

The most important thing to remember is SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. The best search engine rankings are a result of hard work, dedication, and time. It doesn’t take forever to see results, but by being strategic in your approach, you will get quality traffic that loves your digital presence. If you have reached that point, you continue what you are doing and watch that traffic and success grow!

Keep Your Audience and Keep Them Coming Back with Media

Content must be both attention grabbing and attention holding. Use your anecdotes or examples to liven a post. Add interest with compelling photos or infographics. Stick with the key message of your article and results will follow. But, don’t forget that your key message could also use the help of some images, slideshares, videos, podcasts, and any appealing media piece that complements your message.

Using media will grab your audience and keep them coming back for more!

Shareability

It may be a made up word, but “shareability” is crucial to SEO success (and technically belongs under that category). We added it to the “Keep Your Audience” section because it has a lot to do with the images/graphics. Be sure to include images that look great on social media. Coupled with your top quality content, the more people who find your website useful the higher it will rank in searches.

Where do I get the graphics?

Now, where do you get those wonderful graphics? There is a great tool, Canva, that lets you design some of your own creations and even purchase some ready-made graphical components for about $1 or so. (You can even upload your own images and photos, too, for free.) You can obtain stock photos at places like 123rf.com. Looking for videos that are ready-made? Check out BigStock (which also has photos).

If you are feeling completely lost on how to design graphics or what to do with the videos that you have purchased at BigStock, you may want to hire a designer, videographer, etc. Fiverr may be a place to find some inexpensive labor, but you also need to be careful that you receive the quality that you want.

There are other options, too.

Recently, I was introduced to the concept of crowd-sourced design. At first it was confusing to figure out how that works. I mean, I get crowd-sourcing, in general, but how does it work with graphic design?

Fortunately, Rahul Aggarwal, co-founder of Designhill, a crowd-sourcing design company, was willing to explain it to me. He explains the process better than I can and tells us a bit about his company:

The idea with the crowd-sourced method is that you let the graphic professionals do what they do best! Describe what you are looking for and let multiple designers sort of compete for your bid. Each artist presents his or her graphic example to meet the description that you have provided. You look through each of the graphical elements and choose the one that you want. This saves you time and money!

In the past, if I wanted professional graphics, I had two options. I could go find a designer, based on brilliant work that I found online and hire them. That would cost me hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. It also cost me in time, trying to use words to describe what I was looking for, in my design graphic. Fortunately, when I have gone that route, I have been pleased with the results. However, if you are going to spend, at the minimum, hundreds of dollars, you should be happy with the results.

Pulling it All Together

Whew. You made it. You read the ultimate guide to toppling your competition in 2016. But, then, this is only scratching the surface with the three strategy groups and only a few aspects of each. Don’t worry. You have come to the right place.

Socialnomics is chock full of tips and especially those social media tips that you need to complete the picture! So, in pulling this together, be sure to bookmark this site, subscribe, and visit often. You won’t regret it!

[image error]

4 Social Media Mistakes That Can Sink Your Business

(Image Source)

Any smart business owner knows social media can build your company’s brand, increase networking, and sales. But many people don’t realize how fragile their business’s social media structure can be. If managed correctly, it can take your company to the next level. When mismanaged, however, one slip-up is all it takes to do irreparable damage to the reputation of even the biggest corporations. Fortunately for you, other companies have already made big mistakes from which we can learn from. Here are the four most common, preventable social media mistakes that could potentially destroy your business.

1) Not having a definite social media strategy

Posting content online at regular intervals is one thing and saturating your target audience with an overabundance of posts, tweets, status updates etc. can definitely put them off. This is where you need to define a social media strategy that works in-sync with your brand and business.

Get started on building a clear social media strategy by starting with the following pointers:

• Thorough research and knowledge about your target audience, their interests and needs.

• Find out which social media platforms are suitable for your business and which ones are frequented by your target audience the most? Don’t focus on just one channel.

• Know how to make the most of your social media platforms. What may work on Twitter won’t work for your target audience on Facebook. Again, the things that will get their attention on Instagram may not work in your favor on Pinterest and so on and so forth.

• Make sure that you know your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) as they will be vital in helping you inch towards your social media goals.

• Know when to schedule your posts. For this, create a comprehensive calendar and make it a point to post content when your target audience is most likely to view them and interact.

• Hire someone to handle your company’s social media accounts. No one likes to talk to a robot. They want to interact with your brand/business in real time, especially when they have a question and want a quick response.

• Analyze your strategy from time to time and make changes if the need arises.

All these pointers will lead you to have a social media strategy that will ultimately work in the favor of your business/brand.

2) Not responding to the target audience on time

The crux of having a social media presence is to engage with your target audience on a one-on-one basis. Whether it is handling their complaints, answering common questions, or even replying to comments posted to your business’s profile/page, you need to respond almost immediately.

A timely response to your target audience or customers will always help if you’re getting a lot of flak from them or when you need to negate rumors. A late response of any unacknowledged response can be taken as a negative response and could damage your business’s image in the long run.

Basically, your target audience should feel that they can easily reach out to you 24×7 and are not answered by a robot. This will open the channels of user-engagement and also lead to building a trusting relationship with your customers.

This takes us to the next point.

3) Not gaining the trust and confidence of your target audience

There is nothing wrong in thinking of social media platforms as tools to sell your business. But in the pursuit of increasing your business’s or brand’s visibility, you shouldn’t overlook the fact that it is after all, a platform, where you can directly interact and engage with the target audience. Therefore, it’s important to gain trust and build the confidence of your target audience before they start interacting and engaging with your business or brand. Here are some of the ways you can go about it:

• Nothing works better than content when you want to build trust on virtual platforms. Use the 80/20 rule, which is to ensure that about 80% of your content should consist of engaging and informative posts, which your target audience wants to need whereas 20% of the posts could be more promotional.

• With too much noise and information overload in the digital space, even the best of the marketing efforts can go in vain. This is where social media influencers enter the scene. These expert, well-connected individuals can help spread the word about your brand and business, leading to a win-win situation. They can be thought leaders, bloggers, industry experts, celebrities, social celebrities and brand advocates, who can help you link with and build relationships with a wider audience.

• Embrace transparency. We have already talked about handling customer complaints and queries. Apart from this, you can look forward to greater transparency by maybe uploading a video of ‘a day in your workspace’ or time lapse videos related to an interesting process or even interesting mockumentaries that make people laugh and at the same time, let them know what your business is all about.

4) Not making the most of trending topics

Breaking news headlines, pop culture or plain silly things that we think about, anything can become the trending topic on social media. Trending topics are searched by your existing and potential target audience worldwide and drive traffic to your social media profile(s). This step also leads to an increase in the number of views, shares, likes, clicks and even conversions.

Aligning yourself to trending topics is all about posting the right thing and at the right time to cash-in on the opportunities abundant on social media. Not doing so can inevitably lead to your brand or business lagging behind competition as it won’t get as much visibility on the social media space.

Here is how you can make the most of trending topics on social media platforms:

• Stepping up the trending topic game. It is true that trends are not easy to anticipate, at least in advance. However, it is not impossible either. Start by thinking of all upcoming events, special days, festivals on an international scale and work on creating the trending topic. For instance, around Valentine’s Day, you can work on topics that speak volumes about the day of love or for Easter you can get people talking about the most unique Easter egg they have made. Alternatively, you could create a topic on the much-discussed “death” of Jon Snow on HBO’s Game of Thrones.

• Using the trends to curate and create content. When you know the trending topics on social media channels, you can either jump in the conversations or use them to create and curate content to be posted on your business’s profile. When you create content that revolves around recent trends, you can definitely attract views and generate more engagement on the profile.

Make sure that the content you generate provides a fodder for thought for your target audience or simply entertains them. To make your task easier, you can take the help of a number of tools available especially for this purpose.

• Checking posts on sensitive topics. Never make the fatal mistake of capitalizing on sensitive topics just to draw attention to a Tweet or Facebook post. You never know when things can spiral out of order and lead to a controversy. Things like this tends to give your business a bad reputation and once it goes viral, there is nothing you can do about it and many a times, even public apology can’t undo the damage to your business’s repute.

Conclusion

Focusing on these essential social media mistakes will work in your favor when you want to take your business to new heights. Learn from them and create a stellar social media plan, which will definitely give your business or brand the required push.

What is your take on social media faux pas committed by businesses? Have a first-hand experience you want to share with us? We are all ears!

[image error]

Bill Gates Sides with FBI

Bill Gates Sides with FBI

Since last week, people have been discussing privacy when it comes to Apple and iPhones. After the FBI requested  Apple unlock the phones of the San Bernardino shooter and Apple refused, Silicon Valley companies have been chiming in and supporting Apple. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, isn’t quite agreeing with Apple though. In an interview with The Financial Times, Gates said, “This is a specific case where the government is asking for access to information. They are not asking for some general thing, they are asking for a particular case.” Gates said this is a good debate to be having. Always shocking when Gates goes against Apple #Sarcasm.. (Source The New York Times)

What to Say When Your Ex Updates His Facebook Relationship Status…

Wow. Facebook has redesigned their Like button giving you more options to show how you feel. Facebook has been testing out the reactions for a little while but now they are available to everyone starting today. Hold down the Like button to be given the option of Wow, Sad, Angry and Haha. For example for this post you would hit WOW. (Source Mashable)

The Next Generation Robot

Alphabet-owned company – quick reminder Alphabet is Google – Boston Dynamics, has had a lot of fun designing robots over the years. The company has recently revealed the newest version of Atlas. The newest Atlas is wireless but smaller than before. At 5 foot 9 inches weighing 180 pounds, Atlas is nearly 200 pounds lighter than before. Take that Jenny Craig. Atlas can be used indoor or outdoors and has sensors for balance. Check it out here. (Source Engadget)

[image error]

How Mobile Technology Has Literally Gone to the Dogs

Anybody who grew up with dogs can likely remember the pain and frustration of their pet running away, getting lost, or getting sick. Dogs are great communicators, but sometimes they aren’t so easy to read. Wouldn’t it be great if there were technology that could alert us when our dogs run away, or have some sort of medical emergency? Wearable technology has made significant strides in recent years, affecting all different facets of daily life. And now, amazing innovations in data networking and information technology are finding their way into the realm of pet care.

Mobile device usage has spiked dramatically in recent years. Content and information become ubiquitous as networked devices gradually become smaller and more portable. According to futurist and technological visionary, Ray Kurzweil, technology evolves at an exponential rate. This progress is perhaps most evident in what has come to be known as the Internet of Things (IoT). As common, everyday objects are imbued and embedded with computation and processing power, our physical environments become part of the ever-expanding web of networked data. IoT is connecting everything – from household appliances to wearable technology – to the web.

A somewhat new implementation of wearable, networked technology is incorporating our pets into the whole equation. This new paradigm – an Internet of Pets, if you will – offers innovative solutions that directly address the pain points of pet owners everywhere. Dog owners in particular will benefit from new items and accessories that help initiate man’s best friend into the new age of omnipresent, networked data. Activity trackers, messaging devices, and other useful items now come with embedded network sensors to strengthen the bond between pets and their humans.

Tracking seems to be the most sought after feature in the Internet of Pets space – especially in wearable tech for dogs. GPS enabled dog collars such as Nuzzle, Tagg, and DogTelligent afford people who have dogs (especially dogs who love to wander) a way to keep track of them. Other collars, such as Voyce and Fitbark, also keep track of dogs’ health metrics (heart rate, respiratory patterns, calories burned, etc.). And with wearable items like the Buddy collar or the smartphone controlled Disco Dog LED system, dogs can be lit up with miniature light displays to either prevent from getting lost, or just to look stylish, flashy, or downright adorable.

Some people are a little put off by the rise of mobile technology as well as the subsequent effects that it has had on our culture. We are really attached to our mobile devices these days, and in a way that alienates us from one another. But the Internet of Things also has infinite potential to help people, as well as their pets. One of the primary tenets at the core of IoT is that the screen or display monitor is not the only gateway to the Internet. As embedded technology becomes smaller and more ubiquitous, objects themselves become networked devices – connecting user communities as well as logging metrics and data for just about any purpose. The Internet of Pets is a logical extension of this phenomenon, with new innovations that allow us to track and monitor our dogs, keeping them safe and healthy.

[image error]

6 Communication Blunders You Should Avoid If You Want to Succeed in Business

The correct use of communication is critical if you want to maintain a positive reputation for your business and positive feelings toward your brand. So, what is this “correct” (or “proper”) use of communication? And, who is it that set him or herself up to be the expert of all experts when it comes to communication?

Avoiding Communication Blunders in Your Business

Instead of playing “King of the Hill,” as if we were kids running up and down a hill while tossing each other off the top, let’s sit down and discuss the topic of “communication blunders.” We could probably agree on those, couldn’t we? I mean, it isn’t like we have to come up with every blunder that ever existed, but if we can brainstorm some of the obvious blunders or the “biggies,” that will give us a start on what we should avoid!

Life is a journey. It isn’t like we have to start somewhere because we are already on the path. It is our responsibility to travel it to the best of our ability. –Deborah Click to Tweet

While we sit down in our little virtual, cyber circle, to discuss the blunders of communication and how we can avoid them, let’s take a look at an infographic that puts all of this in one spot. It was put together by 24hourtranslation.com and is shown to the left. This is a great way to remember and visualize some of what we are brainstorming, isn’t it?

Blunder #1: Lack of Clarity

Whether you operate locally or on a global scale, the things you say in person and the content you deliver must be clear, understandable and applicable to the current situation and audience. If it is muddy, confusing, or going in every which direction, is that something that you could define as “clear?” Well, neither will your audience. Your customers may walk away shaking their heads and saying that they have absolutely no idea what you are selling, let alone what you are saying. Keep it clear! Sometimes that means a little of keeping it simple!

Blunder #2: Insensitive and Lack of Cultural Awareness

Good communication starts on an individual level. When interacting with friends, family and co-workers strive to maintain a calm demeanor. Do this even if the situation seems like it may be headed in a heated direction.

Keeping a clear head allows you to deliver your words in a way that diffuses tension and prevents conversations from turning into arguments. Who knows, your calmness may get you the reputation of being very diplomatic and your communication services will become desired in every situation, especially the tricky ones.

Should your circumstances put you in a position where you regularly communicate with people from other cultures, an open mind and a willingness to let go of preconceived notions averts embarrassing misunderstandings. Treat this as an opportunity to learn. This is an opportunity to embrace cultures that are different from your own. This open-minded attitude can help you to appreciate other cultures and the beauty of diversity.

Blunder #3: Lack of Detail / Broad Inconsistencies

Email, website content, marketing messages, and company presentations all need to be double-checked before being shared with a larger audience. Misspellings and incorrect grammar make you look unprofessional to colleagues and are equally damaging with your company’s target audience. Inaccurate information can lead to misunderstandings that frustrate customers or cause costly errors within the company. Sending duplicate messages should also be avoided, as this tends to make customers lose confidence in your company’s ability to provide good service. It may also cause you customers to wonder if you have any sense at all.

Blunder #4: Irrelevant Nonsense

Each message that you send to your customers must be unique and tailored to the audience of your chosen channels. Repeating the same message across all social media platforms creates a generic feeling that fails to engage your followers. Proper segmentation is also important when sending emails to guarantee that each market sector receives promotions that interest them specifically.

Have you ever had that case where you receive an email from a company, and you think that it is something really fabulous, and you may be interested? Then, five minutes later, you receive the exact same email, to the very same email address? All of a sudden, that templated email doesn’t seem quite as special, and it seems like irrelevant fluff that is randomly sent out to any and everyone.

Blunder #5: Incorrect Translation

Reaching an international audience requires translating content into local languages. When not done correctly, many awkward and bad results can occur. A garbled translation can make your message sound silly, lose its meaning or even be offensive. In contrast, good translations put international customers at ease by allowing them to interact with your company in the language they grew up speaking. Avoid translation blunders by choosing a good translation service or utilizing talented translators among your staff and vendors. Many times, that extra effort, even if you are not 100% perfect, will go a long way in building trust.

Blunder #6: Not Taking the Time to Care

Taking the time to avoid communication blunders saves you the headache of having to fix problems later on in your business relationships. The reputation you develop for your business now can stick with your business for years. Can you see how it is best to maintain good communication from the very start? This is the way to establish good relationships with consumers regardless of culture or circumstance. So, what is that sixth blunder? It is not taking the time to care enough to avoid these blunders!

In Summary

There you have it, six blunders that can destroy your company if not handled correctly (as in not making the blunders or correcting the blunders if they do happen!). But, don’t stop there. Take a moment to check out some other blunders, as listed in the infographic.

This isn’t rocket science. It isn’t impossible. It does, however, take some conscientiousness and some effort to be kind and courteous to others. But, at the same time, don’t beat yourself up if you goof. In the same way that you would extend kindness to others, extend that to yourself and take the moment to smooth over whatever communication blunder may have happened with the other company or person. People will likely appreciate your transparency and trust you even more because you were willing to take that extra step of kindness and intent. Blunders behind you and only that well-deserved success in front of you!

[image error]

Kalamazoo Uber Killings to impact Ridesharing?!

Kalamazoo Uber Killings to impact Ridesharing?!

Authorities charged accused Kalamazoo, Michigan, shooter Jason Brian Dalton on Monday with six counts of murder, two counts of assault with intent to commit murder and eight firearms violations. Within 5 hours Dalton was randomly driving and shooting suspects. Dalton even admitted as such to authorities.

In between shootings, Dalton, an Uber driver, was taking Uber fares. Many passengers suspected Dalton wasn’t all there, some passengers even fled from the car while others posted warnings on Facebook not realizing Dalton was a suspect. Uber is cooperating with authorities and turning over all known Data on Dalton. Dalton was a family man with a 4.7 average rating before this incident. This could have long term ramifications on ridesharing laws and regulations.

“Geofilters for All” said Snapchat

Do you have a corporate event approaching, a wedding, or a spontaneous flash mob planned? If you said yes to any of the above then Snapchat’s newest update will get your party started. In an attempt to further monetize its offerings Snapchat is enabling users to create and upload their own geofilters. Price starts at $5 and depends on several factors, including the distance and duration you want your geofilter to cover. Spaces range from 20,000 sq ft to 5,000,000 sq ft and duration can last up to 30 days or an hour. Designers simply upload their custom filters through the new portal and wallah! (Source The Verge)

Bringing Ads to Life..

Yup that’s correct. Foursquare is taking a new initiative by alerting businesses when their ads bring customers to store locations in real-time. Within the last two years Foursquare has been revamping its advertising offerings, bringing on new CEO Jeff Glueck, and producing a targeted ad-solution product. Using Attribution Powered businesses don’t have to wait weeks for data. Attribution Powered enables them to learn daily insights and fine tune their strategies. In an example showing off the technology Foursquare measured the effectiveness of a Super Bowl ad at “lifting” restaurant traffic. The result was a boost of in-store traffic by 12%. Now that’s data we can count on. (Source TechCrunch)

Today’s Holiday

Ruff ruff. In honor of February 23rd being International Dog Biscuit day we’ve found you the funniest video of puppies we could. WARNING: Video contains cute puppies performing adorable acts. Therefore do not watch near children unless you want to hear…Can we get puppy? Can we get a puppy? Can we get a puppy?

[image error]

How To Make Your Business Online Friendly

It is quite surprising to see how many businesses are online but do not know how to operate online. Take a look at most businesses websites and social media accounts. The majority of them is sparse and has no engagement going on at all. Their website is stale and their social media accounts have not been updated for months or even years or they are not engaging with people. It makes you wonder how they stay in business are if they even still in business.

Appearances as those described are business killers. If your business looks out of date or abandoned, people will look elsewhere for a business that looks more appealing and sparks their interest. I’m not sure of an accurate percentage, but I can confidently say that many businesses never grow due to this very reason.

Having a business that can stand out online by attracting its attended audience is key to success in today’s business environment. Many customers do their research and purchases online so it is crucial that your business is positioned to gain from being online.

You may be wondering how you can do this for your business. You are not tech savvy and you don’t really understand how to operate your business online. You just believe having a website and having social media accounts are enough.

Well having a website and social media accounts are a start, but I am going to show you how you properly use these tools as leverage to gain more business.

 

1. Interactive Website

Your website is your sales page. This is where people come to learn about your business in order to see if they actually want to do business with you. If you are not capturing their attention immediately and leading them to become a customer, your website is not doing its job.

What you need to do is have a website that speaks directly to your business’s target audience. You must know their problems and be able to communicate that you can provide solutions that will make their lives easier. The most effective ways of doing this is through videos, testimonials, and ebooks. These are interactive ways to show off your expertise while leading people into your business at the same time.

2. Engaged Social Media

Just posting up something on social media platforms and hoping for some engagement is not an effective plan, it is just hope. One reason businesses get no results through social is because they do not understand how to use social media. Therefore, you must know what you are doing so that you are not just wasting time when seeking to utilize social media for your business.

The key with social media is to know how your target audience communicates on it and how to effectively structure your information so that they will actually engage with it. This means understanding hashtags, following important conversations adding in your input, and sharing other’s information and not just your own information. Using social media strategically will greatly help to elevate your business as an authority amongst those who continue to use social media in the wrong way.

3. Automated Systems

This is an area where many businesses just do not properly understand or even actually know about. Hopefully, your business is currently operating with systems in place that makes your business operate as an actual business. The same has to be done when it comes to your online presence.

Automation is your biggest asset when it comes to being online. Your social media accounts should direct people to your website so that your website can do its job to produce sales. This means there is an automated process that moves people along to the desired outcome. Broken systems mean that you are not effectively converting people into customers. You are basically negating your business’s ability to sell online because you are not guiding people towards taking a specific action.

Your business’s success in today’s business world is dependent on having a great online presence. This means having an interactive website, engaging social media and having systems in place that lead to actual business being done online. Having these three criteria in place will lead to a business that successfully performs online.

[image error]

Ways Financial Institutions Use Social Media and Take Great Advantage of It

Financial institutions are not the friendliest of the places for people. They deal in serious business and want people to be serious with their lives too. Some people get in touch with financial institutions and bring changes to their lives whereas others make their lives worse than before. In any case, the connection between a financial institution and its customers is of a serious nature. However, this does not mean that these institutions cannot have online presence and that they have to feel left out from the online world.

Institutions that are forwarding loans and helping people with their financial matters can be just as friendly to their customers as other businesses are to theirs. They can use social media and form the basis of a relation that did not exist in the past. By using the power of social media these entities can not only have great online presence but also increase the number of customers they have. How these institutions are making use of the social media is no hidden fact if you look at some of the active ones on the internet. Here are some ways in which financial institutions are making great impact on their target market.

Communication Medium

Financial institutions are greatly using social media for having communication with their customers. In the past the customers came in contact with their banks, credit unions and other financial institutions only when they visited them physically, but that is not the case anymore. These institutions now have internet through which they can connect with their customers and keep them updated with the latest news and information. It does not matter how important or unimportant the shared information is, it just keeps them in the eyes of their customers and target market.

B2B Relationships

Social media opens great opportunities for businesses to connect with other businesses in completely unorthodox ways. Blogs are great ways for businesses to show the strength of their relations with their partners. For example, if you have blog you can use this blog to host content from your partners. This allows you to have a great PR in your field that is not only good for today but can play a huge role in the life of your business in future. Furthermore, content recommendation is another way for businesses to help each other out while creating more new customers.

Building Trust

The best thing that financial businesses can do with the help of social media is build trust by being present on the social media only. There has always been a gap between financial institutions and their customers in the past. It is a known fact that customers now like to go online and find information about businesses they want to do business with before making a decision. Blogs and social networking platforms play a huge role in changing or making their minds. Reviewing websites, YouTube reviewers and social networking platforms all serve as places for customers to see how trustable a business is.

Now, when a customer is looking for information about a financial institution and sees many websites talking about a particular business, he/she is convinced to do business with that business. The more there is talk on the internet about your business the more a customer will trust you for doing business. A rating above 3.5 on most reviewing websites is good enough for a customer to trust your company. If you are able to get a rating of more than 4 then you are surely going to win the trust of millions of customers around the world.

Finding New Customers

Social networking platforms have been created quite intelligently and with time they have become the best places for interaction between businesses and individuals. The concept of circles, communities, friends and followers has proved to be a great concept for businesses. What this means is that the target audience of a business is easy for that business to search and hit. A circle or community on a social networking platform means that anyone with a profile can put people under a certain category and talk to those people based on their interests, likes and dislikes.

If you are a business with social networking presence, you can target communities that are specifically for people who have financial issues and who would need your help. For example, many financial companies have used social networking platforms to get in touch with people who had bad credit or cibil score. By getting in touch with these people the business not only wins the loyalty of these people but also opens new ways for making new customers. This provides financial institutions with unlimited opportunities of creating new leads and making new customers without spending any money.

Diversified Communication

The best thing about communication through social media is that businesses are able to get in touch with their customers in way that is most effective. For example, videos are becoming quite a popular way of sharing information on the internet these days. Social networking platforms are introducing new features on their websites to facilitate video playing. Financial institutions can greatly benefit from this diversified communication. They don’t have to write text messages for their customers all the time. They now have the option of conveying their messages to their customers through interesting images and attention grabbing videos.

Listening

Proper actions can never be taken unless you have are doing the listening properly. Social media is not there for businesses to try to impress their audience with interesting and attractive ways of marketing. It is in fact a better medium for them to listen to their customers and work on things that they are lacking in. By listening to the customers i.e. what they think about your business, what they like and dislike in your services and products, you can improve your service and products to match with the needs and requirements of the customers. Furthermore, you can also know what your target audience thinks and likes about your competitors to improve your business strategies.

[image error]