Author: Bonnie Harris

19 Feb

Posted at 07:24h in Digital Marketing, Social Media by
Smartphones have changed the way we socialize and process news, entertainment and advertisements. Vertical video is undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to reach the hyper-stimulated, visually hungry consumers of today. According to Breadnbeyond, a startling 57% of video play worldwide occurs on mobile devices. With this shift from desktop to phones, the need to transform how we present our businesses to suit the mobile format is greater than ever. Videos are no exception.

Video orientation matters.

Social media platforms, like Snapchat and Instagram, have accelerated the rise in the once frowned upon vertical video. Research has shown that 94% of the time, people hold their phones vertically. Videos created to fit that orientation simply capture more attention because they take up the full screen. They also create less opportunity for distraction and require no extra movement – however minimal – from the user. As insignificant as a simple turning of the phone may seem, it can destroy an ad’s chances of success. A Mediabrix study revealed that only 30% of people turn their smartphones sideways while watching horizontally oriented videos. What’s more, people presented with horizontal video ads only watched 14% of the ad. The majority of that little time was spent searching to close the ad. Vertically oriented video ads, however, were watched completely 90% of the time. People obviously want their information in a fuss-free format.

It makes sense.

16 Jan

Posted at 17:36h in Project Management, The New Entrepreneur, Time Management by
Dr. Mik Kersten, CEO of Tasktop, recently published a book titled Project to Product: How to Survive and Thrive in the Age of Digital Disruption with the Flow Framework. In his book Dr. Kersten discusses The Flow Framework - a new approach for connecting the business to technology, which bridges the gap between business strategy and technology delivery. Dr. Kersten discusses three vital epiphanies he had that revolutionized how he thinks about software delivery. In this excerpt, he discusses these epiphanies and how his revised angle of attack benefited his business.

19 Jun

Posted at 09:40h in The New Entrepreneur by
It’s hard to build a loyal client base for any business, but new businesses definitely have a long road ahead of them. Without a long-standing reputation, it can be hard to gain the trust of potential clients. That’s why it’s so important to build solid relationships with every single customer you receive so as to ensure that they stick around and improve the overall reputation of your business. Let’s talk about some smart client retention techniques. Solve a problem in the industry. The world of business can be brutally competitive. You can either stand back and let rival companies overtake your business, or you can be brave enough to take the lead in your industry. There are only so many potential customers to go around in your specific market, so you need to attract consumers who are currently buying similar goods to yours from your competitors. That’s the key to client base growth. But the only way you’re going to achieve this is by solving a problem that consumers face when they buy goods or services from your competitors. Perhaps the price is too high, or perhaps they’re not getting a completely ethical service.

14 Jun

Posted at 18:43h in The New Entrepreneur by
America is the land of opportunity and nothing proves that more than the entrepreneurial spirit of small business owners. But as any business owner can tell you, the path to a successful business is long and not without its share of difficulties. Small business owners often dedicate their lives to their businesses. While big corporations are still asleep in their beds, small business owners are already tolling away to meet their sales goals for the day. The demands of running a small business often require owners to stretch their resources, like time, money, and manpower. So, having resources to show them just how to do that are essential. Resources for Success Small business owners often walk a tightrope in allocating resources and trying to find the right formula to keep their business profitable. Those resources aren’t always obvious. With over 50% of businesses in the U.S., the small business world is a competitive one, so finding the right information to help make your business a success critical. Fit Small Business was designed with the small business owner in mind. Their site is an encyclopedia of information for business owners that answers questions about everything from how to start a small business to how to expand their brand. Owning a small business can feel like you are navigating the open sea alone. That’s why Fit Small Business has real tips from small business owners included in all their content, giving business owners the guidance they need from others that are on the same journey.

11 May

Posted at 14:59h in The New Entrepreneur by
A lot of business owners are still really intimidated by SEO and the general difficulty of it. They just don’t understand all of the technical mumbo-jumbo and they also don’t have the time to devote to it either. The truth is that SEO is now no longer difficult. It’s really easy and if you have the right mentality and the right commitment then there is absolutely no reason why you can’t go on to experience a huge amount of success. Any business owner can become a master of SEO, and this is especially the case when you have the right tools at your disposal. Is SEO That Hard? Those who are not familiar with website development may hear the words “Google algorithm” and instantly feel uneasy. Sure, the algorithm is complex and it is really difficult, but there is no reason why you can’t go on to be successful with it. The truth is that sophisticated algorithms don’t actually need a sophisticated strategy, and it’s really easy for you to go out there and achieve positive results. Google wants to provide the best online experience and if everything was as hard as you think it is then they wouldn’t be able to do that - purely because nobody would have a clue how to get started.

08 May

Posted at 07:07h in Time Management by
There are three important factors that come together when determining the success of a project. These are, of course, quality, budget, and time. In this post, we are going to deal with the latter. After all, time management is one of the most difficult things that for any project manager, especially when scope creep kicks in and things go wrong during the project lifecycle. After all, it is difficult, if not impossible, for a project to run exactly as you expected it to when you finalised your project plan. With that in mind, read on to discover some of the best time management tips that will help any project manager, no matter what type of project they are working on. Achieve scheduling success There was only one place to begin, and this is with scheduling effectively and creating plans. One of the main reasons why project teams fall behind is because they are not working efficiently. If you did not create a schedule for your entire project team, then it is impossible to work efficiently because people will be working on the wrong tasks. Even worse, there are occasions where two people end up working on the same thing because there is a lack of direction and clarity regarding who does what. You can find templates for this online, which will make this incredibly easy for you. You should make the most of these templates because once everybody knows what they are supposed to be doing and when it will be a lot easier for you to stay on track.

20 Feb

Posted at 08:15h in Digital Marketing, The New Entrepreneur by
B2B digital transformation demands a lot of businesses. Rapidly evolving technology has forced companies to adapt quickly without always knowing the outcomes. For B2B marketers and new entrepreneurs, it's important to understand not only the definition of terms like IoT and blockchain. We need to understand how they may impact businesses in the near future.  G2 Crowd, the world’s largest B2B software and services review site, has identified digital trends that look beyond buzzwords and industry jargon. AI, blockchain, and IoT are actual tools driving change in today’s technological landscape. In this post we turned to Aaron Walker, Senior Research Specialist for G2 Crowd focusing on software development and cyber security technologies, to help walk us through how these technologies work.    

What is B2B Digital Transformation? 

The term “digital transformation” can mean a lot of things. The trends outlined here are classified across AI, digital platforms, and IoT-related concepts. Integrating new technology related to these trends is not a simple process. Companies and managers must identify the proper fit in order to complement their business’s operations, strategies, and objectives. It’s easy to get distracted by AI-powered tools or blockchain-based applications, but the tools' actual benefits depend entirely on successful adoption. Powerhouse corporations like GE are already demonstrating ideal digital transformation practices. While their stock value took a hit, earning the title of worst performing stock of 2017 and losing about 40 percent of its value, the company appears to be successfully evolving to focus on the future by investing in AI and IoT.  Despite being well over a century old, GE exemplifies the prototypical example of enterprise-scale digital transformation. The company has embraced SaaS-based subscription models to help bridge a gap between industrial markets and emerging technologies. Predix, their new digital platform, is linking commercial appliances and manufacturing endpoints to IoT automating the supply chain and driving greater efficiency for the organization. 

Where does Artificial Intelligence fit in?

15 Feb

Posted at 12:16h in Digital Marketing, News by
Artificial intelligence has been changing the landscape of our world since its introduction in the 1950's. It has already made a significant impact in tech industries. Now it's now permeating across verticals ranging from medicine to education.  One sector that has made significant advancements with the aid of artificial intelligence is the online translation industry. In fact, AI is impacting translation in a multitude of ways. This is of importance to marketers who are facing increasingly demands for multi-lingual campaigns.  You may already have an idea of this. If you’ve ever translated a phrase or a sentence using a program like Google Translate, you’ve encountered a form of artificial intelligence. As AI transitions from the more rigid, rule-oriented Narrow AI to the human-like AI of Deep Learning more complex processes like eLearning translation and intuitive machine translation are happening faster and more accurately than ever. Here are the ways in which AI is impacting translation and why it will be a fixture well into the future: