It's of course not quite this black & white. Some situations are easier to solve than others, but if you can celebrate the fact that there is always something to learn, challenges will become your friends.
Sunday 30 June 2013
Life's challenges
Everybody has challenges in life; at work, at home and everywhere in between. By solving problems, we get stronger and wiser.
But there are people who when presented with issues, completely change direction and choose not to face them. Those refusing to do so, or expect others to solve these for them, don't learn but stagnate. And they find they face the same problems over and over again and perhaps even make the same mistakes again.
It's of course not quite this black & white. Some situations are easier to solve than others, but if you can celebrate the fact that there is always something to learn, challenges will become your friends.
It's of course not quite this black & white. Some situations are easier to solve than others, but if you can celebrate the fact that there is always something to learn, challenges will become your friends.
Monday 24 June 2013
A little bit of kindness - goes a long way
Came to the doctor's this morning with flu symptoms. Fever, body ache, lethargy - you know the rest.
It's a busy surgery, with 8-10 docs and I'm only a semi-regular; if there is such.
This morning I got a smile and was greeted with my own name. As miserable as I felt I couldn't help but return the smile and it stuck with me for moments afterwards. Suddenly I felt a lot better.
Such a small thing, calling people their name and letting off a smile, yet it goes such a long way.
When would you say your chances are good at winning?
'New elections are coming up in a few months [in Goslar, Germany which became famous of recent by turning off streetlights after midnight in order to save money]. For financial reasons, Goslar will be consolidated with the neighboring town of Vienenburg. Junk [the incumbent Mayor] plans to run for mayor again.
A curious article brought to my attention by Michael Wade of Execupundit. More at German Communities Forced to Find Creative Ways to Reduce Debt - SPIEGEL ONLINE
His chances are good -- so good, in fact, that the opposition has opted to not even field a candidate.'Now those are good odds. Clearly.
A curious article brought to my attention by Michael Wade of Execupundit. More at German Communities Forced to Find Creative Ways to Reduce Debt - SPIEGEL ONLINE
Sunday 23 June 2013
Blogging is (still) on the rise
Rand Fishkin has been monitoring the growth of web marketing fields by looking at five different sources including Google Keyword Trends, LinkedIn, Simply Hired, etc.
Compared to May 2012, Blogging (or blog/ bloggers) presented one of the biggest surprises:
More at The Growth of Web Marketing Fields - Rand's Blog.
Compared to May 2012, Blogging (or blog/ bloggers) presented one of the biggest surprises:
'I would have guessed that blogging was a more mature field and that we wouldn't see 3x growth between early 2012 and today.'Either there are more blogs around, or people are more open about disclosing these on their public profiles and resumes. Or perhaps, a bit of both.
More at The Growth of Web Marketing Fields - Rand's Blog.
Saturday 22 June 2013
Taking the mickey out of North West
One would think that after apple, no sorry Apple, Sunday, Harper 7 - just to name a few - celeb baby naming couldn't (really couldn't possibly) get any worse. I was wrong.
Enter North West. And wonder no longer, why the web has erupted in jokes, including this one:
More at: Kim Kardashian, Kanye West's baby name North West inspires jokes, spoof Twitter handles - NY Daily News
Enter North West. And wonder no longer, why the web has erupted in jokes, including this one:
More at: Kim Kardashian, Kanye West's baby name North West inspires jokes, spoof Twitter handles - NY Daily News
Google Trends - Hot Searches Visualised
If for nothing else but to get a vague sense of the sheer volume of searches that are occurring every second, check out Google's visualisation. Mesmerising for a second or two...
Google Trends - Hot Searches
Google Trends - Hot Searches
NB. Nigella Lawson is a rather popular search term at the moment. Most unfortunately this time people aren't searching for her recipes, rather for details on how the domestic violence story unfolds between her, and her husband, Charles Saatchi...
Wednesday 19 June 2013
The Most Important First Step in a Sales Process
The best client meetings I have ever had always started with a closed laptop and and an open notebook with pen in hand, ready to take notes. 'So tell me a bit about your company and your objectives with xyz (related to discussion). I know we briefly touched on this on the phone, and I also researched your website, but it would be great to recap.'
And that helps to identify what Mark Suster coined the most important first step in a sales process, or as he coined it 'pain'. Or in other literature often called as Need, or Client's Need.
"It’s a reminder that unless your prospect has a need to solve a problem they are not going to buy a product. Customers sometimes buy things spontaneously without thinking through what their actual need is. But often there is an underlying reason for a purchase even if the buyer doesn’t bring it to the surface." (Suster)
And if you can identify that, you are more likely to have a successful meeting outcome - for both sides of the table.
More at The Most Important First Step in a Sales Process | LinkedIn
And that helps to identify what Mark Suster coined the most important first step in a sales process, or as he coined it 'pain'. Or in other literature often called as Need, or Client's Need.
"It’s a reminder that unless your prospect has a need to solve a problem they are not going to buy a product. Customers sometimes buy things spontaneously without thinking through what their actual need is. But often there is an underlying reason for a purchase even if the buyer doesn’t bring it to the surface." (Suster)
And if you can identify that, you are more likely to have a successful meeting outcome - for both sides of the table.
More at The Most Important First Step in a Sales Process | LinkedIn
Tuesday 18 June 2013
A milestone - Seth's Blog
Seth Godin, author & marketing guru, on the 5000th blog post.
"My biggest surprise? That more people aren't doing this. Not just every college professor (particularly those in the humanities and business), but everyone hoping to shape opinions or spread ideas. Entrepreneurs. Senior VPs. People who work in non-profits. Frustrated poets and unknown musicians... Don't do it because it's your job, do it because you can."
More at Seth's Blog
"My biggest surprise? That more people aren't doing this. Not just every college professor (particularly those in the humanities and business), but everyone hoping to shape opinions or spread ideas. Entrepreneurs. Senior VPs. People who work in non-profits. Frustrated poets and unknown musicians... Don't do it because it's your job, do it because you can."
More at Seth's Blog
Monday 17 June 2013
Something is really wrong with this: Boston parking space sold - $560,000
Boston parking space sold - $560,000
Two adjacent parking spots in Boston are auctioned for more than half a million dollars, almost double the average price of a home in the region.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22910579
Two adjacent parking spots in Boston are auctioned for more than half a million dollars, almost double the average price of a home in the region.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22910579
#thepantoneproject
Any of us who ever got a DSLR knows the initial urge as you take the beautiful charcoal black, deliciously heavy equipment into your hand, that you must, you really must become a pro. It subsequently fades for most, but in those first few days, weeks, or perhaps months we are all on the lookout for a project that could keep us engaged and motivated.
Now here is a clever idea from Chicago based photographer, Paul Octavious. This one is iPhone based, but still, a great project to get you going.
Get the 100 pack Pantone Postcard set, match the colours with that of the background, and start snapping.
Here is how the pro Octavious does it:
Would you be surprised to learn that it has caught on? Here is how others have fared:
Will you try it?
Now here is a clever idea from Chicago based photographer, Paul Octavious. This one is iPhone based, but still, a great project to get you going.
Get the 100 pack Pantone Postcard set, match the colours with that of the background, and start snapping.
Here is how the pro Octavious does it:
Would you be surprised to learn that it has caught on? Here is how others have fared:
Will you try it?
Sunday 16 June 2013
Uninvited hairy passenger
Admittedly this happened a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn't resist sharing it.
My uninvited hair passenger:
Looking my uninvited hairy passenger in the 'eye'...
Courtesy of Bondi Junction, Sydney, Australia.
#RedTape Tower, Obamacare Regulations
A picture is worth a thousand words...
See it here: Cultural Offering.com: Stealth exchanges
See it here: Cultural Offering.com: Stealth exchanges
China, the next Supercomputing Superpower?
I can't help but applaud China's decisions of pushing R&D and investing into technology. Sure they have a long list of issues to deal with on their soil, but this leap is admirable.
"The most important thing about this system is that it not only has a top performance, it also has a substantial investment in technology,” says Dongarra, a computer science professor with the University of Tennessee.
That matters a lot. Supercomputers are the test bed for many of the computing advances that we now see in everything, from the multicore processors in Apple’s iPhone to the futuristic networking technologies in Google’s data centers.
It wasn’t supposed to get this close. Five years ago, the U.S. was on track to build a supercomputer on par with the Tihane-2. The plan is still to someday build these “exascale systems” — machines that are 30 times as powerful as Tihane-2 — but by 2010 the recession intervened and funding never materialized, says Horst Simon, Deputy Laboratory Director at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “At the same time that the Chinese have made this big step forward, the American investment is stagnating,” he says.
More at: China Could Supplant U.S. as the Supercomputing Superpower | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com
China’s Tihane-2, the world’s top supercomputer. Photo: Jack Dongarra
"The most important thing about this system is that it not only has a top performance, it also has a substantial investment in technology,” says Dongarra, a computer science professor with the University of Tennessee.
That matters a lot. Supercomputers are the test bed for many of the computing advances that we now see in everything, from the multicore processors in Apple’s iPhone to the futuristic networking technologies in Google’s data centers.
It wasn’t supposed to get this close. Five years ago, the U.S. was on track to build a supercomputer on par with the Tihane-2. The plan is still to someday build these “exascale systems” — machines that are 30 times as powerful as Tihane-2 — but by 2010 the recession intervened and funding never materialized, says Horst Simon, Deputy Laboratory Director at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. “At the same time that the Chinese have made this big step forward, the American investment is stagnating,” he says.
More at: China Could Supplant U.S. as the Supercomputing Superpower | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com
Saturday 15 June 2013
Leadership - what not to do
A thorough list of what not to do:
- Applying a lower standard to yourself than to your followers.
- Not doing what you say you will do.
- Leading from behind.
- Knocking down straw men.
- Relying on speeches instead of actions.
Sunday 9 June 2013
Today is the day!
Read this first. Than get up and do whatever you need to do today!
Jagged Thoughts for Jagged Times: 35 - Nicholas Bate:
Jagged Thoughts for Jagged Times: 35 - Nicholas Bate:
Saturday 8 June 2013
Retargeting works - Twitter is opening up its inventory
At first we sold digital advertisements at a fixed CMP (Cost Per Thousand) rate. Than as more companies developed ecommerce platforms, we all started looking at clicks/ click through rates (CTR) and conversions.
Under pressure from marketers to drive campaign efficiency higher, we got smarter and applied technology to narrow in on the clients' target market. By location (IP address), time, database information (such as email client logins) and more recently by demonstrated behaviour.
Enter retargeting. We started serving ads with products and services that people have just researched and in-market for. We blatantly re-messaged them and, surprise surprise, people noticed it. Outrage ensued. Battles over privacy meant regulation (in some countries) over cookie usage, alerts and messaging.
The storm (more or less) settled and Facebook allowed retargeting about a year ago. Now, a little over three years since they opened advertising up for the first time, and Twitter is prepping an online ad exchange to rival Facebook's. Twitter Exchange, 'TWX' or thereabout. (Abbreviation is speculation only!)
Why? Because retargeting works. And it works extremely well in driving conversions.
Twitter, great plans!
And Twitter- do allow dynamically served creative messaging (opposed to static ones, like those currently on Facebook). That's one way to ensure a stronger (>200%) CTR, as well as better conversion rates. And Twitter, that right there is what it's all about.
Under pressure from marketers to drive campaign efficiency higher, we got smarter and applied technology to narrow in on the clients' target market. By location (IP address), time, database information (such as email client logins) and more recently by demonstrated behaviour.
Enter retargeting. We started serving ads with products and services that people have just researched and in-market for. We blatantly re-messaged them and, surprise surprise, people noticed it. Outrage ensued. Battles over privacy meant regulation (in some countries) over cookie usage, alerts and messaging.
The storm (more or less) settled and Facebook allowed retargeting about a year ago. Now, a little over three years since they opened advertising up for the first time, and Twitter is prepping an online ad exchange to rival Facebook's. Twitter Exchange, 'TWX' or thereabout. (Abbreviation is speculation only!)
Why? Because retargeting works. And it works extremely well in driving conversions.
Twitter, great plans!
And Twitter- do allow dynamically served creative messaging (opposed to static ones, like those currently on Facebook). That's one way to ensure a stronger (>200%) CTR, as well as better conversion rates. And Twitter, that right there is what it's all about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)