I agree that bookmarks are a relic. Workona (http://workona.com/) might be of interest to you. It combines tab groups with resources (our term for bookmarks). But unlike regular bookmarks, resources can be grouped, ordered, or reorganized easily. They display important info at a glance (favicon, page name, type of object like GDoc). They won't open a duplicate tab if one is already open, and you can even
replace your open tabs with a different set of resources (you choose which ones). Oh, and you can share them. So, bookmarks but redesigned for modern work. Would love to hear what you think if you decide to try them.
I've been lucky enough to be a beta tester for Workona and once I decided to go all in with its usage, it was a game changer. If you do work on the internet, or are guilty of having a million tabs open at once, I'd highly recommend trying it.
I like the author's use of the word "modesty", but maybe "humility" is really what we're looking for. Modesty means balanced and moderate, but sometimes leaders need to take feedback without trying to balance it (i.e. defend themselves). Take their lickings, so to speak. Those are the times that true growth happens.
MARKETING SPECIALIST (entry-level position) -
We’re looking for a driven individual to create content—primarily written, with some visual components—for our popular software suite. Your responsibilities would include creating compelling and search-optimized content, along with analyzing results of marketing campaigns to develop actionable recommendations.
Requirements: - Strong writing skills - Attention to aesthetics and detail - Willingness to take initiative and quickly learn new skills
Recommended experience: - Copywriting & editing - HTML - Basic web design - Bachelor's degree
An interesting anecdote...when I was in middle school, an account exec for McDonald's came to speak to our class. He told us that in our local market, McDonald's Corp wasn't convinced that the TV and radio ads were having a significant effect on buying behavior. So for one day, they pulled the ads in that market. They found that sales absolutely plummeted in that day, so they scrambled to reinstate their regular ads and all was well. Of course this is anecdotal evidence, but it made a big impact on my middle-school mind :) Everyone thinks they're not affected by advertising.
Just to touch on one of your points, we've actually found that most people who talk about us on social media are those using or looking for free accounts. There are certainly exceptions to the rule, but the overwhelming majority are people who don't want to pay a cent for the product. We still love those people, but they don't pay the bills. And like I mentioned in the blog post, a pretty significant sample of users confirmed that most who discover us through social media are on free accounts.
Like I wrote, we won't be abandoning our social media efforts anytime soon. But we are taking another look at how much time & effort we invest in those channels.
That's a great point. But Facebook is starting to stonewall business owners with promoted posts, and the value of the channel seems to be dipping lower and lower. So business owners work to build up these audiences, and then they're charged a premium to get any eyeballs. At this point, a simple website and a good SEO expert might be a better long-term investment.
I'm sure there are some small, local companies who can't afford to/don't have the expertise to manage a website, that can leverage social media for promotions, sales, and general brand awareness. But those are also the people who tend not to measure ROI, so who knows? This was a really interesting article on the subject, if a bit biased: http://www.fastcompany.com/1760849/does-social-media-have-re...
It seems to be a self-perpetuating cycle from social media "gurus". Audi's manager of social media says "Today the equation to measure that doesn't exist" when asked about measurable results. So he (and much of the industry) claim that they just don't know, but it's probably doing something, and it can't hurt, right? So their clients/supervisors are scared of missing out and they continue to approve these gimmicks that, in my opinion, aren't very effective.
The article quotes Frampton as saying, "I have been accused of having a huge ego." Asking for proof would be admitting to himself (and her) that he can't realistically bag a swimsuit model.
Good point. Craigslist is a hotbed of spammers and phishers, especially in the housing section. They employ some pretty transparent tactics: amenities that are too good to be true at the given price point, pictures that you can easily reverse search, etc. They're looking for people who won't ask too many questions.
The author cites several studies to back up those assertions. Agreed on the positive stereotype bit, though--I think people rely far too much on anecdotal evidence simply because the way that people talk is difficult to distill and quantify.
Women can bring different skills to the table; for example, they tend to possess more developed language skills and to be far more engaged in social media. Women are also more likely than men to talk through problems. Those seem like valuable skills, especially in a money-strapped startup environment where everyone wears several hats.
I was also expecting something different, but I like the overall tone of "Women are welcome here, and they're welcome to speak." I think a lot of tech companies get the first one right, but they don't know how to communicate the second point. With study after study showing that women speak less when surrounded by men, promoting the event woman-to-woman sends a powerful message.
1) Your public speaking will be more polished and compelling if you think of your speech as a story.
2) If you have some vital points to make, draw a picture on a notecard that will remind you of what you need to communicate. It doesn't matter if your picture is simple or complex, it just needs to get the message across to you. Then if you freeze up, you can look down and relax--no awkward pauses as you squint at several lines of notes.
Wow. I don't know if I should be impressed or pity the guy. Mike says, "Everyone who wants to work in a startup should do this," which I don't agree with. But I think every job-seeker should read this piece and pay attention to 2 key points:
1. Amar leveraged his own internet real estate by publishing blog posts about Vidyard's marketing and then tweeting at the founders to let them know about his work. He essentially provided some flattering, well-written, and useful consulting work to Vidyard.
2. He was honest about his desires, expectations, and willingness to work. When his initial email was written off as just another form letter, he went above and beyond to ensure his real feelings were heard.
These tactics are within the reach of every reasonably intelligent person. Good read.
This. TechCrunch can be useful but it's almost Twitter-like in its update speed, so even a positive write-up gets drowned out by the next hundred blurbs.
I think part of the problem is that IE is the browser of choice for the Dept. of Defense. If you've ever worked for the DoD, you know that updates, etc. take forever because of security concerns. I wonder if that relationship informs IE's decision to hold back on their browser capabilities.
I dunno, I think businesses realize that reach comes at a cost. In FB's case, however, they interpreted the cost as the time, effort, and resources that it takes to build a fanbase and pump out relevant, interesting content. Now they have to pay more to reach people who've voluntarily said, in essence, "I want to read/see your stuff." It feels a bit like a bait-and-switch.