The Three Ds That Can Save Your Business

Where can I find organic growth and beat my competitors? At its essence, that’s the question that drives every business. It’s not an easy question to answer, especially given how complicated things are (Big Data, large global organizations, fast-changing customer behaviors, disruptive technologies). And throw into the mix the anemic growth plaguing many economies in the world today.

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We have a point of view on this (you can read the full white paper I co-authored: Discover, Design, Deliver: 3D Marketing & Sales for Above-Market Growth) and it comes down to building and linking up your three “Ds”:

1. Discovery: Building a data advantage by pulling in relevant data sets, analyzing the data at high speed, turning it into relevant business insights, and then delivering those insights to the decision makers so they can take meaningful action. The discovery needs to be based on a thorough understanding of today’s customer decision journey, and uncover segments whose journey you can reshape. Only 30 percent of companies believe they understand their customers’ needs and have a clear sense of where growth will come from.

2. Design: Creating business strategies, processes, pricing programs, products, and experiences that the brand delivers to customers. Design strategists start with learning what customers care about, how they truly behave, what their needs are, and what influences them. Fed by a continuing stream of insights, strategists in business units rapidly learn what is and is not working, innovate new solutions, assess their economics and feasibility, and then work with the frontline on implementation.

3. Delivery: Getting the right offering to each customer across a complex range of online and offline channels. Orchestrating the tailored delivery of products and offers across marketing and sales channels requires operational excellence and organizational agility

Linking them together is the critical component here. It’s not enough to have a great analytics team if their insights never make it to the front lines. And it doesn’t matter if your sales organization is out of this world if they trying to sell products that customers just don’t want. That breakdown was obvious in a survey we did recently. Almost 50 percent of companies said their customer database doesn’t help them make decisions. In addition, fewer than 20 percent said that the way they capture insights contributes directly to sales effectiveness.

As companies build capabilities in specific areas, they also need to have an eye towards how to fine-tune the entire organization to take advantage of those capabilities. It’s a little like when coach Herb Brooks chose the US ice hockey team for the 1980 Olympics. He didn’t select the best players; he chose the best players who played best together. The result was the “Miracle on Ice,” when the US team beat its Soviet archrivals and went on to win the gold medal.

This 3D model places equal emphasis on individual and team excellence. Companies need that kind of double strength if they want to beat their competitors.

So, what is holding back your organization from being 3D?

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Author / INFLUENCER: David Edelman

I Am Leaving Social Media BY: JOEL COMM""

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Click Here to Start Your Freedom

What I’m about to say is not going to go down easy. It won’t be easy to digest. And I’ll probably lose a few fans by speaking my mind.

That’s okay. I’m not afraid of controversy. And frankly, someone needs to say it. I’ll be the one to say it, and I accept the consequences of whatever happens as a result.

When I survey the social media landscape, there are some alarming trends that have become increasingly disturbing.

I’ll explain my reasoning, but the end result is that I am leaving social media.

I know, it seems bizarre for a “social media expert” to make such a seemingly abrupt tactical move. It may appear that way, but let’s take a look at what is happening in the social space.

1) The social media space is controlled by a few major players who are after one thing… your data. Facebook, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn and Pinterest are all about numbers. How many people can they get to provide as much personal information as possible so they can sell you more stuff by releasing personal information to third party advertisers? We are all commodities to be marketed to. Facebook can put privacy controls on their site, but who are they kidding? They know way more about you than they would ever want to admit publicly.

2) While some conversation takes place on the social sites, there is more noise than ever before. Twitter is littered with fake accounts and bots. LinkedIn users who you never met plead for endorsements of their products or services which you never heard about previously. Facebook is an endless parade of feel-good sayings and photos of cats. Millions of posts, shares and tweets go out each hour, but the ratio of posting to listening continues to broaden. In the words of Pink Floyd, “Is there anybody out there?”

3) Social media has made it incredibly easy to be rude to other people. Insults, put-downs, and outright meanness has become a staple of the social culture. Whether the discussion centers around politics, religion, sports, entertainment, lifestyle or any other subject, people have been desensitized to basic human kindness just because they can’t see or hear the people at their keyboards on the other end of the fiber cable.

4) Other people have endangered their future careers or relationships by playing out their personal drama on social sites. Are we so far gone that there is no thought of the kind of information we share publicly without concern for how that information may come back to haunt us in the future? It seems to me that discernment is a quality severely lacking in the social space.

5) From a business perspective, everyone, their grandmother and their dog is now a “social media expert.” There is NO value in the label any longer. It is now synonymous with “I haz a twitter account.” I use the phrase on some of my pages just because I know that people will search for the term. But I choose to refer to myself as a “New Media Marketing Strategist.”

6) Spam spam spam spam spam. So many are using social sites as little more than billboards to sell their products or services. This has become so prevalent that the majority of us have become blind to all streams of data, assuming that we are going to be bombarded with advertisements.

Am I culpable in this charade? Yes. After all, I wrote the world’s most popular book on using Twitter for Business. But that was several years ago.

That’s why I must leave social media.

Now don’t get me wrong. Social sites have some great benefits.

I enjoy connecting with family and friends.

I enjoy making new friends and sharing content with them.

I enjoy posting photos of my own life, especially when I encounter a tasty meal or catch my cat doing something cute.

I confess that I enjoy feel-good quotes and infographics.

I know I am giving up a great deal of privacy, yet I continue to post, like, tweet and share.

It’s a daily obsession. I’m connected at my computer and on my mobile devices. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t updating my status or commenting on someone else’s.

That’s why I’m thinking of leaving social media.

Of course, social sites have become a primary source of news for me. After all, I don’t believe any of the mainstream media are the least bit trustworthy. Their whole purpose is to sell toothpaste.

So while accuracy on social sites can be a stumbling block, at least I can be relatively certain that while what I am reading may not be factual, it’s at least not being propagated by Proctor & Gamble.

Citizen journalists are slowly transforming the way we receive and interpret current events. But who directs the conversation? Millions of people all striving to have their voice heard? Is this what freedom of speech has come to? Let’s face it. It’s a beautiful mess.

That’s why I wonder if I can get away from social media.

But up pops a “like” from something I just posted. It’s followed by an encouraging comment. Then comes the holy grail of social approval, the “share.”

Do I live for the approval of others? Is my ego so fragile that I crave the pavlovian response of warm fuzzy feelings that result from a like, comment, share, favorite or retweet?

Do you?

What if Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus ceased to exist? Would the human race survive without the habitual behavior we have become accustomed and addicted to in just a few short years?

It’s for this reason that I must leave social media…. even if for just a few hours.

But I just saw a new “Walk off the Earth” video on YouTube. It’s very entertaining and I want to share it with you.

And I just happened to catch my cat in the cutest pose. I’ll want to post that. Perhaps I’ll instagram it at the same time that I pin the picture of the bacon purse I saw on that humor site. I’m sure you’ll all want to see it.

And someone posted an article that I have a very strong opinion about, so I guess I’ll engage and leave a comment.

To make matters worse, the people that I know, like and care about won’t stop posting. It wouldn’t be right for me to ignore them, would it?

In the time that I’ve written this post, I’ve left social media. But now that this article is over, I think I’m ready to jump back in. I’m over it.

Nobody really escapes social media.

The online world has become a meaningful, yet flawed, method for interacting, dialoguing, engaging, debating, sharing and experiencing our world and our relationships with others in real time.

It’s not perfect, but it’s the world we live in. I believe it is possible to disconnect, and the day may come where the negatives of social media truly do outweigh the benefits.

But for now, I feel no different than the five-year old who threatens to “run away from home” and doesn’t get any further than three houses down the street. I’m back. And I’m not going anywhere.

Did you miss me?    TweetMe

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This Is The Usually Absent Secret Ingredient of Content Marketing""

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I believe these things:

- The best content is content that people cherish, not content that people tolerate.

 The best content is content that people want, not content that companies think they need.

- The best content is content so useful that people would pay for it if you asked them to do so.

- The best content is a Youtility.

More and more corporations and individuals are starting to espouse and adopt this philosophy, to which I say “thank goodness” and “it’s about time.”

All too often, however, I find that they (and perhaps you?) are missing the secret ingredient of content marketing success….COURAGE.

Content marketing success isn’t about marketing, it’s about courage (tweet this)

- It takes courage to give away something of value without expectation of immediate return

- It takes courage to trust that your customers and prospective customers will reward you with attention and sales and loyalty at some point in the future

- It takes courage to play the long game, not the short game

- It takes courage to create a true Youtility and resist the temptation to put a coupon in the middle of it

- It takes courage to measure impact via correlation and surveys instead of click stream and definitive ROI

- It takes courage to interact with and assist people on a one-to-one basis, because as Gary Vaynerchuk has said: “giving a shit doesn’t scale”

- It takes courage to be a farmer instead of a hunter

Before rushing into a brainstorm session to figure out what nifty content marketing execution you and your company can make, consider whether you have the courage (and the culture that serves as the petri dish for that courage) to stay the course?Because consumers aren’t stupid; they can smell fear a mile away

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   Author: Jay Baer    CONVINCEandCONVERT

I Used The Giant Samsung Phone That Apple Wants To Kill — And I'm Never Going Back To A Tiny Screen Again """

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When I first started using Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3, almost everything about its enormous size annoyed me. I couldn’t text with one hand. It barely fit in my pocket, or didn’t at all. I felt silly holding it up to my ear to talk on the phone. It was the least subtle or elegant phone I’d ever seen.


Even my friends were horrified. I’d plop the Note onto a table or I’d whip it out to take a picture, and anyone I was hanging out with would double-take.

“What is that thing?!” they’d gasp.

I quickly learned that people who don’t write about tech for a living have never heard the term “phablet” — a phone / tablet hybrid, which is what the Note 3 is. It clocks in at a whopping 5.95-inches long and 3.12-inches wide, which is about the width of a Pop-Tart, with a couple extra inches tacked on, length-wise.

Large-screen phones are well on their way to becoming the “next big thing,” even though many people still think that they’re ridiculous-looking. Analysts estimate that nearly one-fourth of smartphones shipped world-wide in the third quarter of 2013 had displays of 5 inches or more, with that number set to increase (giant phones are especially popular in the burgeoning Asian market).

Rumor has it that even Apple is planning an upgrade for iPhone 6, from its four-inch display to something bigger. If a big-screen iPhone happens, it will be because the Samsing's Galaxy phones proved that consumers want big screens. Thus the prospect of a big-screen iPhone 6 is the No.1 threat to Galaxy
The Beginning
I’ve been an Android person for several years now (I initially switched from the iPhone for price reasons when it broke between upgrades, but I stayed for the customization and integration). I’ve been using a phone with an average 4.3-inch display. But now, having switched to the humongous Note 3 for several weeks, I don’t want to go back to a small-screen phone ever again.

Eventually, other less-obvious pros started becoming apparent. In general, the camera on the Note 3 kicks ass, but even if it wasn’t inherently light-years ahead of my old camera, it would still benefit from the huge screen. Not only could I frame each shot much better, but it was easier to put the camera’s focus on exactly what I wanted. I really stepped up my QuizUp game because, with so much screen real-estate, it was nearly impossible to flub a quick tap and press the wrong answer. If I was a Flappy Bird fan, I know that I’d have a much easier time keeping the creature aloft and I’m sure the Candy Crush experience would be divine.

Even something as simple as scrolling through my Twitter feed was a more enjoyable experience with 5.7-inches of reading room. Oh, and did I mention that my Snapchat art became a lot more ornate? (Samsung’s Galaxy Note phones come with the “S Pen,” a sort of stylus on steroids, which lets you make detailed drawings on the huge screen, among a million other things.)

Once I started using Swype (an Android keyboard that lets you type without lifting your finger between letters), I actually mastered using the Note one-handed and was texting twice as fast. I feel like I could write a novel on the Note 3, or at least a Business Insider article.

At first, answering phone calls on the Galaxy felt like the most awkward thing ever, because it looked like I was holding a brick up to my head. But guess what? Bricks are exactly the right length to extend between your ear and your mouth! I swear, when talking on the phone with the Note 3, each call was clearer.

To anyone who says that they wouldn’t like using a big phone before ever trying one, I urge you to reconsider. A huge phone like the Note 3 provides an amazing overall experience. Everything a little phone can do, a big phone can do better, besides fitting in your pocket. After using the Note 3 for several weeks, I can confidently say that that tighter fit isn’t even remotely a game-changer.

CONVERTED
To anyone who says that they wouldn’t like using a big phone before ever trying one, I urge you to reconsider. A huge phone like the Note 3 provides an amazing overall experience. Everything a little phone can do, a big phone can do better, besides fitting in your pocket. After using the Note 3 for several weeks, I can confidently say that that tighter fit isn’t even remotely a game-changer.

At this point, I’m downright rabid about how much I love using Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3. Every time I have to go back and do something on my tiny-tiny phone, I balk in horror at how small everything looks, frantically wondering how soon until my next Verizon upgrade so I can buy one to use permanently. In short, I fell in love. You may think that the nearly 6-inches look foolish at first, but, trust me, bigger really is better.

If Apple doesn’t actually end up releasing a big phone this year, it’s going to be left in the dust as more people decided switch to Samsung and others to get their big-phone fix.

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Source: BusinessInsider      Author: Jillian D"Onfro

HOW TO STAY UP-TO-DATE ON SOCIAL MEDIA FOR BUSINESS TRENDS"""

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In the past ten years, social media has changed the way that businesses communicate with their audiences. Research shows that a significant number of people use social media to follow their favorite brands. According to a survey conducted by The Social Habit, 53% of those who follow brands on social media show more brand loyalty. This medium of communication has proven very effective, and also very dynamic. Shifts occur so often in the world of social media that whole websites exist just to keep track of them all. If you’re convinced of the power of social media for reaching audiences, yet are a bit befuddled when it comes to how to keep up with it all, then this guide is for you.

why social is great for brands

Needless to say, B2C commerce has changed a lot in the past decade. For a long time, brands depended largely on traditional advertising mediums, celebrity endorsements, and other gimmicks to get their message in front of potential customers. Then, they’d initiate the hard sell in order to close the deal. While these tactics still have their place in the business world, today’s consumers desire information and two-way communication more than ever. Consumers want to know all about the products and services they’re spending money on, and they expect brands to oblige them. Social media facilitates this by creating a platform for exchanging ideas. Information flows freely and easily across social media platforms, and allows brands to reach a large number of people with little effort. It puts everyone on a level playing field. Whether you’re a mom and pop shop or a multi-national corporation, you can reach your audience using the same technology. Social media is also free to use, and you can’t get more cost effective than free.

The downside to all of this is that since social media is so accessible, literally anyone can create a Facebook page and call themselves your competitor. Also, as mentioned above, social media is ever evolving and sometimes difficult to keep up with. Terms like “social graph” and “sponsored tweets” often pop up literally overnight. Staying ahead of the curve can seem daunting, but there are a number of ways to effectively keep on top of social media for your business.

track blogs

There are a number of great blogs that will keep you up to speed when it comes to social media for business. Social Media Today brings together news and commentary about all things social media, and also related topics like content marketing and blogging. Social Media Examiner is another helpful source of social media marketing information. TechCrunch and Mashable are both highly respected blogs about internet and technology trends. The best way to keep track of these and other blogs is to sign up for an RSS reader like Feedly or Newsblur. These user-friendly platforms allow you to track multiple RSS feeds, therefore keeping you in the social media loop.

Follow The Right Accounts


Using social media to stay on top of social media is pretty intuitive, and also quite effective. If you know who to follow on Twitter, then you’ll have pretty much all the news you need in your Twitter stream. Social Media Examiner, TechCrunch, and Mashable all have Twitter accounts, as do notable social media mavens like Jeff Bullas and Heidi Cohen.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts is a great tool for keeping your ear to the virtual ground. All you do is enter the keywords you would like to track (e.g, social media for business, social media trends), and you will receive regular emails with the top results for your keywords. You can choose the frequency of the emails, and also control how many results that get returned to you.

attend conferences and expos
Catching up on news from the convenience of your home or office is great and all, but nothing beats going straight to the source. Conferences and expos give you the chance to do just that. Plus, they give you a chance to network with social media insiders and other business owners. Annual conferences like the well-known Search Marketing Expo (SMX) usually feature high profile speakers and guests that are on the cutting edge of social media trends. If you or your company have a vested interest in social media, then attending at least one conference a year is a worthwhile investment.

local meetups

If you can’t afford a conference this year, or if you simply prefer not to travel, then attending a local business meetup might be a better choice. Meetup.com has tons of meetups to choose from depending on your location. You can also contact your local chamber of commerce to see if they’ll be hosting any meetings about social media, or see if any professional advertising or marketing organizations have chapters in your area (e.g, the American Advertising Federation).

intra-office updates

If you have a team of people involved in your business’ social media efforts, then it’s a good idea to hold regular meetings so that everyone is on the same page. It’s a good time to talk about the company’s digital marketing campaigns, as well as update each other on news and tidbits. This is also a good way to clue other team members in who may not know much about social media marketing.

Social media is booming, and it certainly shows no signs of slowing down. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ allow brands to share information and increase customer engagement on a whole new level. Luckily, you have lots of ways to stay on top of the latest social media developments, though the best way to learn will always be to dive in and try it for yourself.

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