editor, Author at Mediastreet

In News

How to Grow Your Business Using IGTV Marketing

June 24, 2020 No Comments

Looking for a guide to grow your business with IGTV marketing?

Instagram TV (IGTV) can be used by brands to boost their businesses even during the outbreak of COVID-19.

Corporate sales have plunged in the world but there are still chances for your brand to survive. This is easier by using social networks’ marketing features just like IGTV.

Video-sharing platforms are on the rise and almost all social platforms have the ability to share your videos as posts and stories.

In this post, I’m going to introduce IGTV’s usefulness for brands and the ways you can use it to grow your business.

This is particularly useful for the current financial recession we’re suffering in the wake of the coronavirus.

First, it’s good to look at top social media apps/sites/features related to videos to know how different IGTV is. Here are several important video-sharing features on different social networks:

YouTube: The #1 video-sharing platform

YouTube is certainly the top social platform for sharing videos. With up to a whopping 2 billion monthly users, YouTube can provide the greatest audience reach for your video content.

Almost all queries in Google will have several results from YouTube pages. This has made YouTube a great opportunity for video marketing.

This is why many brands try to share their branded videos on YouTube. Learning and entertaining can also be easily provided using both the site and app of YouTube

YouTube video specs

Recommended dimensions: 426 x 240 (240p), 640 x 360 (360p), 854 x 480 (480p), 1280 x 720 (720p), 1920 x 1080 (1080p), 2560 x 1440 (1440p) and 3840 x 2160 (2160p)
Video length: up to 15 minutes
Aspect ratio: 16:9 (auto adds pillar boxing if 4:3)

It should be noted that you can request for longer video length limitation and wait for YouTube confirmation.

YouTube the number one streaming platform IGTV

TikTok: Fastest-growing video-sharing app

TikTok is a Chinese video-sharing service that has recently hit one of the highest installation rates among social networks.

TikTok has almost 800 million active users and a great majority of them are Gen Z. So it’s the best opportunity for drawing the attention of teenagers.

TikTok video specs

File size: up to 287.6MB for iOS users and 72MB for Android users
Video length: up to 15 seconds
Video dimensions: 1080 x 1920
Recommended aspect ratios: 9:16, 1:1, or 16:9

TikTok’s video-sharing feature is now accessible only using smartphones, although its web page will show some popular videos.

TikTok the fastest-growing video-sharing app IGTV

Check out this post if you’re looking for the best TikTok tools.

Facebook: The #1 social media platform

Facebook is undoubtedly the largest social media service with around 2.5 billion users from across the world.

There are different ways of sharing videos on Facebook:

Regular videos
360 video
In-stream video ads
Carousel video ads
Cover video

So Facebook has provided marketers with a variety of choices. This is why around two-thirds of US businesses use Facebook’s video advertisements.

Facebook video specs

Aspect ratio: 9:16 or 16:9
File size: up to 4GB
Video length: up to 240 Minutes

Facebook has a whopping 1.6 billion visits each day which makes it unrivaled among all social networks.

Instagram Stories and posts: Best for sharing your moment

Before IGTV, Instagram launched other video-sharing features. Pictures or videos of your moments can easily be shared using regular posts on Instagram.

Instagram regular posts video specs

File size: up to 15MB
Video length: up to 60 seconds
Max video width is 1080 pixels wide

Although this is very short, you can upload several video clips and pictures in a single post.

Instagram Stories and posts best for sharing your moment IGTV

Instagram Stories is also a fantastic feature by which you can share your videos.

Instagram Stories video specs

Instagram story dimensions: 1080px by 1920px.
Aspect ratio: 9:16
Video length: up to 15 seconds
File size: up to 4GB

In Stories, you can upload several videos to be displayed as a slide show. Stories will automatically disappear after 24 hours.

Instagram Stories has another type of video feature that is very popular among social users. Live videos are the most authentic means of interacting with users and showing them behind the scenes.

The length of Live videos on Instagram Stories can be up to 1 hour. This feature can be accessed using the Instagram app just by clicking on Your Story.

Why IGTV marketing?

Now that we’ve introduced several famous video sharing features you might ask what differences exist between IGTV and these apps.

IGTV is actually a separate video sharing application which its main capabilities are accessible using Instagram apps and the web page.

IGTV was first released on the 20th of June 2018 and is now so popular that it is being used in 30 languages.

IGTV video specs

Video length (common users): 15 seconds to 10 minutes
Video length (larger accounts and verified users): 15 seconds to 60 minutes
File size (10-minute videos or less): 650MB
File size (60-minute videos): 3.6GB
Size of cover photo: 420px by 654px (11.55)
File type: .MP4
Video size: 9:16
Video thumbnail/cover image: .JPG
Minimum frame rate: 30 FPS
Minimum resolution: 720 pixels

Instagram has also provided some updates on IGTV since its initial release.

For example, from 2019, you can create one-minute previews of your videos to be shown on your profile and your followers’ feed as well.

This will greatly help you to be discovered and encourage your audience to “watch the full video on IGTV”.

Also, one of the best tools Instagram has offered is the “IGTV series feature”. Using this feature you can arrange your content like a collection to be released on a regular basis.

Considering all these features, IGTV marketing is a must in the world of digital and it would be hard to find a good alternative application for it.

Tips to use IGTV marketing

Video marketing is now a very competitive means of brand awareness and, therefore, you need to have a plan for it. IGTV marketing is a great option for you to generate more leads and convert them into sales.

Here are several tips which can help you grow your business using IGTV:

1. Define a video style for your brand

A lot of accounts on Instagram are constantly broadcasting content and it might be difficult to get ahead of this competition.

A unique style in content generation can significantly help you make your IGTV videos stand out.

Your tone of voice, background colors, video format, cover photos, and many other things give your IGTV videos a style. If you want to make your audience remember your brand, you need to think of a creative and unique style.

For example, Nivea has made a beautiful theme on its IGTV page just using a minimalistic background and a logo:

2. Republish your live videos using IGTV

Instagram live videos can’t be always so well-organized that your message is conveyed completely and accurately.

Also, not all your audience can watch it online so you need to republish your content to reach maximum views.

IGTV is a good choice for modifying and curating your live videos. Try to record your live videos, edit them, and share them using IGTV to repeat your message.

3. Make announcements by Instagram Stories

You can make an announcement for your IGTV videos by Instagram Stories in order to get maximum exposure.

Actually, many people won’t watch full-time videos because they’re always in a hurry. This is why you need to encourage them somehow.

Try to outline your IGTV videos’ content and share it in Stories to draw the attention of your audience.

You need to create a sense of urgency so that they feel they’ll lose an important thing if they don’t watch your full-time videos.

IGTV tip - make announcements by Instagram Stories

4. Create specific IGTV Series

One of the most important factors in digital marketing is consistency. A regular social presence is a must that will make your audience remember your brand.

This is why many brands use social media schedulers to have an automatic posting procedure. Instagram IGTV videos can also be scheduled using a Series feature.

Fortunately, you can create an IGTV Series in three different ways:

Instagram app
IGTV app
Web page

If you haven’t already created an IGTV Series, you can “Create Your First Series” in all these three ways.

Then, select and add your videos to a specific IGTV Series. Try to define a focused and goal-oriented series to be able to manage them well.

You can also “Post a preview” of your videos to your Instagram feed to promote your IGTV content using 60-second previews.

5. Include influencers in your IGTV plans

Nowadays, one of the most effective techniques for growing businesses on social media is influencer marketing.

Many brands try to promote their social content with the help of influencers. Your IGTV videos can also get maximum views if you collaborate with influencers.

First and foremost, you have to think of finding niche influencers and then choose those who are better content creators. This can bring authenticity and help you appear like a thought leader.

6. Take advantage of user-generated videos

Despite many beneficial aspects of video content, they’re very expensive. You need to set aside a considerable marketing budget along with a lot of time and effort.

One way of reducing expenses is by using your followers’ content. Sharing user-generated content is a good way to have authenticity in content marketing.

You can ask your followers to create videos based on your style and contribute to your page. You can then edit these videos and share them as a separate IGTV Series.

You will get higher rates of engagement and reduce your costs by sharing user-generated videos on IGTV.

7. Cross-promote your IGTV videos on other networks

Apart from promoting IGTV videos using previews and Instagram Stories, you can use cross-promotion with other social services.

First of all, you can “Make Visible on Facebook” to cross-promote your Instagram content, especially IGTV videos on Facebook.

If you want to post your IGTV videos via Facebook you need to go to “Where Your Video Will Appear” and choose IGTV and also your Facebook Page below before clicking on Post.

IGTV tip - cross-promote your IGTV videos on other networks

It’s good to have callouts to your IGTV channel from:

Twitter
Email newsletters
Facebook Page

You can also use “Copy Link” in your IGTV video menu and use the URL anywhere to share the video outside of Instagram.

Last but not least try not to republish YouTube videos on IGTV without editing the format of the videos, because they don’t look quite right!

Final word

I have explained the main aspects of IGTV marketing for your business. Of course, you should try to learn your competitors’ tricks and techniques too. Look out for the types of hashtags, style, video lengths, scheduling, etc. This will help you reach your audience more effectively.

By Tom Siani

Guest author: Tom Siani is an online marketing expert with more than 4 years of experience in the digital industry. He is also collaborating with some well-known brands in order to generate traffic, create sales funnels, and increase online sales. He has written a considerable number of articles about social media marketing, brand marketing, blogging, search visibility, etc.

Sourced from jeffbullas.com

In News

Seven creative exercises to help you create even when you’re remote

June 23, 2020 No Comments

By Danny Bluestone

So you’re working from home, spending too much time on Zoom calls, feeling a bit frustrated and that normal creative business – design workshops, ideation sessions, design sprints – has had to pause. Time to think again. As someone who leads a remote-first agency that specialises in service design and UX as well as web application development, I know first hand that creativity and collaboration don’t just happen in person.

And I can unequivocally state that running design sprints and collaborating with clients is entirely possible, even when you’re 100% remote. It’s just different. A strong design process helps alongside a ‘design thinking’ mentality. So do the right tools and professional experience. But we all need a little fun, too, to create those creative sparks, so here are six exercises that we use with our clients to inspire our design process. See our seven creative exercises that we have been using before and during the pandemic to successfully deliver products and services to clients.

Goal visualisation

A good one to start with, usually at our kick-off workshop, is goal visualisation. In this, each participant takes a moment to think about the difference the project could make.

You can do this in lots of ways – sketching, keywords, bulleted lists or an inspiring piece of writing (I haven’t yet seen it done in interpretative dance, but that day may come). It shows each person’s perspective on what the project should achieve and helps get people excited about the project.

Stinky Fish

Great name, great exercise, especially for your kick-off workshop. In the Stinky Fish exercise, participants share any risks about going ahead with a project. (The idea is that if they’re not aired now, they might fester and become, you guessed it, stinky!)

Stinky Fish is a great way to confront any obstacles or concerns, bring them out into the open and address them. (It’s also an opportunity to check if there is indeed a good reason not to proceed.)

Crazy Eights

Crazy Eights is a fun, fast exercise that gets participants to sketch eight ideas in eight minutes. All they need is a piece of paper (that you can later hold up to your webcam) and a pen (if you’re doing this remotely, something bold, like a Sharpie, shows up well on-screen). Divide your sheet of paper into eight boxes, start the timer – and go!

Because of the time constraint, Crazy Eights is an excellent way to get people to capture their ideas without hesitation. There isn’t time for self-editing or shyness – it encourages everyone in the room to get stuck in right away!

Sketching exercises

Lots of people think they can’t draw and might find sketching intimidating. But everyone can, certainly well enough for UX design workshops. Sketching exercises are fun and by sharing their sketches onscreen with tools like Miro, reluctant participants can gain confidence in bringing their ideas to life whilst creating documentation that will help drive the project forward.

Ideas pitching

Ideas pitching gives each participant a chance to pitch their concepts and designs to the rest of the group. Participants can then vote on the best elements (using show of hands voting if you’re on Zoom), or converge solutions together or in pairs in Zoom breakout rooms.

Replay

And the last one is really handy too – a Replay exercise runs through the key goals from your kick-off workshop, or refreshes your team on the personas and scenarios that have been developed. It’s a fun and quick way to bring everyone up to speed, or to ensure they’re back on the same page – we often use it at the start of a workshop.

Remote working tools

Now that you have the seven excercises its time to ‘tool-up’! You can collaborate effectively, even if you’re working remotely, with a pen and a few sheets of paper. But there are more sophisticated tools, too. At Cyber-Duck, we use whiteboard apps like Miro and Mural to collate digital post-it notes, perform card sorting and more. Tools like Sketch Cloud and Invision help us walk clients through design prototypes and get feedback, while Airtable makes sharing research data easy. (Get a full rundown of all our favourite tools in our remote-first design sprints white paper – it’s free.)

Conclusion

We’ve successfully storyboarded, mapped personas, and developed service design blueprints, all remotely, all in collaboration with clients. That’s why I can reassure you, from a company that’s worked remote-first for some years now, that remote creative collaboration isn’t just possible – it can be really effective. You just need to have proven process, the right tools – and a good idea of what you’re doing.

By Danny Bluestone

Danny Bluestone, co-founder, Cyber-Duck

Sourced from The Drum

In News

Good Design Vs. Good UX Design

June 23, 2020 No Comments

By Esther Pomerantz

The idea of a product that is aesthetically pleasing being one that has a good user experience is a common misconception.

When you hear the term “UX Design”, you might conjure up mental images of well designed websites, apps or interfaces. You might picture their beautiful color palettes, engaging animations, or fresh layouts. While these aspects certainly can contribute to a great user experience, the idea of a product that is aesthetically pleasing being one that has a good user experience is a common misconception.

An interface that is well designed from a visual point of view will not necessarily be one that will provide a good user experience. In fact, often times a product will be designed a certain way in order for it to be visually appealing, yet this design will actively hinder the user’s experience.

Take the Apple Magic Mouse.

While it certainly is designed well from a visual point of view, with its sleek, minimalistic design, it is not designed well from a user experience point of view. This is due to the fact that the re-chargeable mouse features a lighting port on its underside, making it a real challenge for the user to charge the mouse while using it. The lightening port was likely placed where it was in effort to compliment the design, yet this placement makes the experience of charging it frustrating.

Another example of this phenomenon is this air fryer.

Although its modern look does look nice from an aesthetic point of view, if we take the user experience into account, it becomes evident that it is not designed well. Since the icons on the screen are not labeled, it can be difficult for the user to determine the actual functions of each option. While the icons were likely unlabeled to improve the look of the product, this lack of labeling can interfere with the experience of using it.

Yet another product that is not designed well from a user experience point of view is this cat mug.

While the mug is certainly cute and creatively designed, its ears are positioned in a way that can poke the person drinking from it in the eyes, making it a user experience failure. Although the ears were added to the mug in order to make it look better, their positioning actually hinders the experience of drinking from it.

These examples illustrate that while a product may be designed well in that it is aesthetically pleasing, it can, in fact, be designed quite badly from a user experience perspective. Additionally, while a design decision may have been made in effort to make a product more visually appealing, this decision can ultimately render the product a user experience bust.

In essence, the purpose of UX design is to design products in a way that helps users be more successful at carrying out the things they are trying to accomplish. A product’s beautiful design will not be valued by its users if there is something getting in the way of them using it the way they want to. When designing products, we therefore want to ensure that the users are able to accomplish their goals in the optimal way, even if that way might not be the most aesthetically pleasing option.

By Esther Pomerantz

Sourced from UX MAGAZINE

In News

The pandemic revealed the importance of digital accessibility

June 23, 2020 No Comments

By Heath Thompson.

A full one-third of the globe is currently sheltering in place at home, a number so staggering that it’s hard to truly comprehend. As COVID-19 rips through our healthcare systems, upends our social connections, and transforms our economies, there’s a significant, fascinating, and long-overdue side effect at play. The world, at last, is understanding the critical role played by digital accessibility.

In a matter of weeks, hundreds of millions of us have turned to the internet as our sole source of commerce and communication. Working from home and sheltering in place, we now order our groceries online, we fill our prescriptions online, we speak to our colleagues and our bosses online, we socialize online, and we seek out entertainment online. But imagine if we couldn’t log on and click to order milk or bread, if we couldn’t read the text of an online coursebook, or if the flashing video of a film or commercial caused us physical harm?

This is the crisis that the nearly 61 million Americans who live with a disability have to be prepared for every day. With the coronavirus, as online access becomes the single most important form of connection and survival in our lives, that grave challenge is at last apparent.

The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed 30 years ago this July, and it laid out strict regulations and guidelines for providing equal access to public spaces for all Americans, including those with disabilities. But public spaces are not limited to just buildings and sidewalks; they also exist on the internet and in the digital realm. And while our nation has done commendable work installing and adapting to the physical needs of access, it still lags behind significantly when it comes to accessibility online.

In a 2019 study, Web AIM, which runs accessibility analyses of top websites, found that more than 99% of websites violated some aspect of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, standards set forth by the Worldwide Web Consortium, which are considered the gold standard for determining accessibility.

These include low contrast text, missing text alternatives for images, buttons without text, and empty links. For web users with auditory and visual disabilities, these amount to online dead ends. They block navigation and they serve as a barrier to access and vital services.

For many people with disabilities, leaving home is difficult. Digital accessibility allows those with disabilities to telecommute. And it’s good business, too. It opens up employment opportunities and guarantees livelihoods. It allows those who cannot drive to a doctor’s office to speak to their doctor on the phone or via video chat. Sound familiar? Suddenly, we are all homebound, and we are all in need of access to goods and services online. Suddenly, we all understand the reality that Americans with disabilities have been grappling with for decades.

And solid accessibility online doesn’t only serve those with auditory or visual challenges. The most critically at-risk sector during this global population is our elderly population, for whom staying home can literally mean the difference between life and death. But older Americans struggle in navigating the internet in their own ways. Tiny text, unclear links, and auditory input that is overwhelming or unclear can also block their access. Good digital accessibility will serve them as well, and it’s vital we ensure that it’s a priority for all websites.

Before COVID-19, online accessibility was moving forward, but at a crawl. The pandemic has shifted it into higher gear, which is an ironic and a welcome silver lining. Telecommuting, once an occasional option, has proven itself to be a potential long-term solution for many global companies. Online commerce, once an alternative to brick-and-mortar retail, has revealed itself, through its convenience and scope, to be a preferred way of shopping for millions of Americans, and it will likely only continue to expand after shelter-in-place laws are lifted.

So, for nearly every business, digital transformation is moving faster, and for those who had not yet taken the time to perform a full accounting of their website’s accessibility level and begin a design overhaul, it’s now a do-or-die topic.

And most critically, there is a new empathy in play for the need for digital access. Before COVID-19, it was easy to understand why a person in a wheelchair might need a ramp to enter a building, but the reality of a homebound person struggling to click through a government site to pay taxes felt obscure and out of reach.

Now, that struggle—which is just as difficult, important, and pertinent in our society—hits closer to home. We’ve all been able to experience what it feels like to not be able to do the basic things that, only a few short months ago, we all took for granted. Let’s take those lessons as we recover from this pandemic and apply them as building blocks to the better, healthier, and more accessible society we will build moving forward.

Feature Image Credit: Pekic/Getty Images

By Heath Thompson

Heath Thompson is the CEO of AudioEye

Sourced from Fast Company

In News

How to Start a WordPress Blog: 5 Steps To Follow

June 22, 2020 No Comments

Sourced from Blogjunta.

Blogging is a great hobby. With blogging, people learn a lot.

Consistent blogging dramatically improves learning, reading, and writing skills of the blogger.

Aside from that if blog is maintained efficiently, it also pays a lot. Many bloggers had already left their jobs and doing full time blogging to make a living.

I will discuss top successful bloggers and their achievements in our upcoming but right now I’m going to discuss how to start a WordPress blog step by step.

If you are a passionate writer and want to share your thoughts with large audience, then you must start your own blog. To get easily started, WordPress is the best platform to start blogging.

So, let’s start how to start a WordPress blog.

5 Steps to Start a WordPress Blog

1# Find Niche

Blogging niche is one of the most important things, newbies usually ignore. I have seen many people who are highly motivated to start their own blog, but they don’t explore the right niche. They just follow successful bloggers and their blogging niche instead of starting a blog in which they are passionate and expert.

To start a blog, you first need to find your niche. Let’s say you are expert in finance, and you love to write on it. So, it highly recommended that you should start your blog on this niche.

2# Buy a Domain Name

This is second important step while starting a blog. A good domain greatly represents the niche. As I said, if you are going to start a finance blog, you need to find a domain name which can easily be assessed that it is relevant to money or finance.

Fincyte.com, a top small business blog, has list best tips to find a good domain name. It is worth reading. Read it and find your perfect domain name.

3# Purchase Web Hosting

Web hosting is also important because when you start your WordPress Blog, you will host your website data and files on the web hosting.

Currently, there are dozens of companies offering great web hosting services. However, I recommend you buy a domain name and web hosting from same domain registrar and web hosting company. It’d be easy for you to manage your domain as well as hosting at one place.

I was reading a blog on Voucherist.com, a good website for vouchers and promo codes. They have mentioned some good domain registrars and web hosting companies. You should read it. It will help you to decide from where you should buy your domain name and hosting.

Note: If you are a beginner and want to save money, you should try to explore coupon code before buying a domain and hosting. GrabHub.co.uk is a great place to find such coupons and promo codes. Similarly, you can also read about other best coupon sites here.

4# Buy a WordPress Theme

For starting a blog, a good looking and elegant WordPress theme is necessary. At beginner level, you can start with free version themes already exist in WordPress directory. But I suggest you buy a premium WordPress theme for blogging.

Premium themes are great because they have awesome features and they look gorgeous. Further, the author of the themes usually upgrades themes and you will receive updates accordingly.

From Themeforest.net, a leading website for WordPress Themes and Plugins, you can buy a good WP theme for blogging.

Check out this resource Best WordPress Themes for Blogs by SmallBizProducts.com. this resource will help to choose the best theme. If you ask me, I suggest you buy a NewsPaper WordPress theme. It is not only good looking but also offer great pre-built demos.

5# Install WordPress

After purchasing domain name and hosting, the next step is to install your WordPress blog on it. Check this guide on how to install WordPress on Cpanel by WPBeginner. They have mentioned step by step guide on how to install WordPress and WP theme via Cpanel.

Check out this video, it will also help you to install WP.

Wrapping Up

These are basic steps to start a WordPress blog and I have tried my best to explain it in easy manner. The attached resources will help you a lot to find the right product and services to start your own blog.

By Salman

Author Bio: Salman is a regular contributor at fincyte.com. He often writes on business and tech topics. Check out his recent blog on best productivity apps.

Sourced from Blogjunta.

In News

Building a website: What type is right for you?

June 22, 2020 No Comments

By Mark Pickavance

Making the right choice now may save you time and effort in the future

So you’ve decided to build a website. But what sort of website do you need exactly? Knowing the answer to that question before you dive headlong into designing and building will save you a lot of time, effort, and possibly headaches later on.

Websites can perform a variety of functions, and often require different technology and coding, as well as different infrastructure for web hosting.

Things you need to consider are the type of audience for your website, how many visitors the site is likely to get per day or week, whether the website is likely to be used on non-standard devices like electronic kiosks, or whether you need to integrate with external systems for things like address look-ups or drop shipping.

To help you determine what type of website you might need, we’ve taken a look at some of the more common types.

1. Main business website

Nearly every business has a website or should have if it doesn’t already. Some major companies may have more than one website, but in those cases, there will be one main site, the one that comes up first in search results when you enter the name of the company into a search engine.

Sometimes also known as a brochure site, a business’ main site should present all the information you’d need to know about its products and services. It should also offer quick and easy methods for making inquiries about sales, support, or marketing.

Larger companies that have different divisions or offer a wide variety of products and services for multiple markets may have different sites for each of those areas on what’s known as subdomains. For example, if the main site is at www.domain.com, a subdomain would be something like subdomain.domain.com.

In those sorts of situations, the main site would only have a few pages at what is known as the top level, with most of the links going to the individual subdomain websites. Doing it this way means the structure of the main site is less complex and it easier to find the information you’re looking for.

2. Create a blog

Blogs first appeared in 1997, just a few years after the Internet was created. Originally, the term was weblog because blogs were, and still can be, a web log or online journal of the blog author.

Although there are still many blogs that are written by individuals, these days blogs have expanded in their size, scope, and range of topics. Many companies have a blog on their main website, which is often like a news section. And many blogs are focussed on a particular topic and can have multiple writers contributing articles.

Blogs that are focussed on a particular topic, for example, technology or fitness, become attractive to advertisers as they can target specific audiences that are interested in their products or services. Advertising income means that a blog can become a business in itself, hiring writers and spending money to maintain and improve the site.

Another type of blog that has emerged in recent years is the vlog, or video blog, which works in a similar way to a traditional blog except that the medium of communication is video instead of writing.

Because blogging is so popular, with many people seeing it as a way to earn a primary or supplementary income, there is a huge number of tools you can use to create a blog. There are many free blogging platforms, such as Blogger or Tumblr. Or you can build your own blog using free website builders like Wix or Weebly, or the most popular blogging tool, WordPress.

All of the services listed above will take care of web hosting for you so you don’t have to pay for it yourself. However, WordPress can also be self-hosted if you’d like more control over the hosting environment.

3. Product and services affiliation

Advertising is one method that a website can use to bring in income. Another is through what’s known as affiliate marketing. You take a product or service you like, create content on your website that promotes it, and then every time the seller of that product or service makes a sale, you earn a commission.

How this happens is that the seller provides you with an affiliate link. Every time a visitor to your site clicks on a link to the seller’s website using the affiliate link, your site ID gets recorded on the seller’s website. If the visitor continues to complete a successful transaction, a percentage of the sale is recorded against your affiliate ID.

This may sound like a route to easy money, but unfortunately, it’s not. Once you get everything set up and your site has a steady stream of visitors, it can be. But getting to that point doesn’t happen overnight.

You first need to build up a certain amount of content to attract visitors. Then you need a way of letting people know you have the content they might be interested in. This could be through word of mouth or an active social media campaign, or you might have to pay for advertising. And once you’ve got people to visit your site, you’ve got to earn their trust so they keep coming back, which means providing quality content.

All of this can take a long time to achieve. The rewards can be great, but many people believe that direct selling is a more reliable way to earn income from a website.

4. E-commerce website

A site for selling products and services is known as an e-commerce site. Many e-commerce websites would have been started by businesses that originally sold from a physical location and then branched out online to reach more customers. Nowadays, there are many businesses that only exist online.

There are many different avenues to selling online. You can create listings on well-known auction and shopping sites like eBay or Craigslist. Or you can choose to create your own website with a service that specializes in creating e-commerce websites, such as Shopify or BigCommerce.

If you’re looking for more control over your website, including the web hosting and technology used, you can build a website with an existing shopping cart framework like Magento or OpenCart. Alternatively, you can build something completely customized from the ground up, which would require specialized knowledge and would be more expensive.

Whichever method you choose, you need to ensure that your catalog can be searched easily so people can quickly find what they’re looking for. And once the customer has found what they want, ordering and completing the transaction should all happen smoothly. This will leave the customer with a positive impression and make them want to come back to buy again in the future.

If you choose an existing e-commerce platform, most of these considerations will have been taken care of already. But you might not have as much control over how the site looks or functions. Building a site yourself may give you that control, but will be more expensive.

5. Support systems website

We mentioned subdomains earlier when discussing the main business site. Subdomains, or even completely different domains, can be a good idea for a variety of different reasons. Here are a few of those.

Brand identity

Some companies own many different brands and the brands are often more well-known than the parent company.

For example, Ben & Jerry’s is owned by a company called Unilever. Unilever has its own website, as does Ben & Jerry’s. It wouldn’t make sense to house the Ben & Jerry’s brand under the Unilever website because people wouldn’t necessarily associate Unilever with the ice cream maker.

Unilever also owns so many different subsidiaries that to try and fit them all into a single website would make the website hard to use for visitors, and even harder to maintain for the business owners.

Pure support

Many businesses, particularly those with a large number of customers, or those that exist solely online, will have separate websites just for their support services.

Customers usually need to log in to their account to access support, and then they’ll have a variety of different methods at their disposal. Help desk tickets and 24/7 online chat are two popular methods, but support websites will often also have large libraries of help documents or FAQs.

Lead generation

If you have a new product or service that you need to promote, creating a stand-alone lead generation website can ensure it has the maximum impact.

Often just a single page, lead generation websites may look radically different from the main website of the business. Their primary aim is to lead the visitor to some specific interaction, whether it be filling in a contact form, or adding their email address to a mailing list.

Other website types

We’ve only really scratched the surface of all the different types of websites that exist. But many are variations on the ones we’ve covered or could have features from several different types.

Social media websites could be viewed as being larger, more complex versions of blogs. Gallery websites for artists and photographers are similar to e-commerce websites but may not necessarily sell anything online.

Then there are other different types like online learning portals, sports websites with results and team information, news websites, and sites for presenting data about the weather or stocks and shares.

One thing that all good sites will have in common, though, is that they must have interesting content, and the content must be presented in a way that is easy for site visitors to access. That means having clear and logical navigation, along with pages that load quickly.

Check out our guide to the best web hosting solutions

Feature Image credit: Photo by Igor Miske on Unsplash

By Mark Pickavance

Sourced from tom’s guide

In News

I Now Have the Perfect Setup for Zoom Hosting and Blogging – 4 Monitors!

June 22, 2020 No Comments

Sourced from Renes Points

These are interesting times to be a travel blogger and a frequent floater (I cruise – a lot) who does not fly and visit lounges or stay in hotels or get on cruise ships. I have to admit I am getting more than a little bit stir crazy but understand staying home is the wisest choice for my family.

The one mega upside of being stuck at home is time to do an endless list of projects that I have had on my “to do list” as well as a number of things my wife has wanted help with. I blogged a few weeks back about my mega computer upgrade that was FAAAARRRRR overdue. Having used it for a while now I have to tell you I am simply thrilled. But it was missing a few things.

Enter some of my old technology! 🙂

I friend of mine, when I was lamenting of only have one monitor (an HP Pavilion 27″), asked me if I had some old tablets laying around.

I said, “sure – who doesn’t nowadays“.

He said, have you heard about “Spacedesk“?

Oh my – hello sweetness!

This little program let me use my old 10″ Samsung 10″ Tab as well as my very old Samsung 8.4″ Tab as two extra monitors (oh and I picked up another HP Pavilion 27″ as you can see above).

The result, as a blogger, is I can have the blog up and running for posting, Flipboard up and running for constant news and travel updates, the BoardingArea home page up as well as Twitter for updates.

Perfect!

It also affords me a bunch of other perks when not in “blogger land” if you will. I host a bunch of ZOOM meetings and this setup allows me to host ZOOM on one monitor (and my USB HD Webcam sits nicely on top of my 27″ monitor and slides side to side) and use another tablet logged into the ZOOM meeting as a vanity monitor to see what I am really broadcasting. The other two I can use to have info I am using during the presentation as well as the last one for media shares.

Again – Perfect!

Lastly, when I am neither blogging or ZOOMing I have a sweet setup for my financial life. I can have my financial software and trading platform up, stock quote streaming on another, CNBC on another screen, and a browser on the 4th screen.

All of this I have been able to create using a bunch of older tablets that were sitting on a shelf collecting dust. Yes, I did have to get a few things like:

Down angle micro USB cord

A Tablet holder

A phone holder with USB C down angle cord

But these were minor costs to be able to create such a user friendly and efficient multi-screen experience for all aspects of my current stuck at home life.

What do you think? Have you been updating your home tech during the COVID mess? Are you as ready as me to get back to travel once it is safe to do so? – René

Sourced from Renes Points

Rene’s Points For Better Travel, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc. has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Rene’s Points For Better Travel and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

In News

A Complete Guide to Using Social Media for Your Small Business

June 19, 2020 No Comments

By Anders Hjorth

Social media has revolutionized human relations and transformed the way we communicate. It has created a new type of celebrity thanks to the power of personal branding.

And businesses are increasingly realizing how direct person-to-person relations via digital channels can be beneficial to their sales and marketing.

To master this new type of business communication, most companies could use a bit of social media advice and some digital marketing tips. So, we’ve gathered a collection of social media tips for business in this article.

They’re easy to understand, easy to execute, and should prove valuable for any small business social media marketing operation.

8 effective social media tips for your small business:

Learn about your audience
Choose your primary and secondary social networks
Use a mix of hero, hub and help content
Repurpose your content
Leverage inbound marketing and partnerships
Set up social commerce
Evolve your content from articles to video to live
Plan and automate

8 social media marketing tips for small businesses to try

Whereas social media marketing has become an advanced marketing discipline where experts compete for excellence and for outstanding results, it’s also a playground where any business — big or small — can make a difference for itself.

The following social media marketing tips can be implemented by practically any business. (Take special note of Nos. 4 and 8, which are our favorite social media tips on this list.)

1. Learn about your audience

One of the great benefits of social media is the access to market data it provides. Social media platforms are data-driven platforms designed to tailor advertising to their users. In the process, they provide access to some of that data to businesses.

As a business owner, you’ll get access to the social media metrics you need to steer your business, but you’ll also get insights into your audience that you can use for a social media audit or for defining your target market.

How to put your audience insights into action:

While running your social media activity, you’re constantly learning more about your audience. However, you can gather audience insights for a marketing plan in a more structured way.

Define your target: First, define what characterizes your target market. Perhaps you have several segments with different characteristics you can outline.
Estimate segment sizes: Go to Facebook audience insights and enter the characteristics for each segment to gather an estimate of the audience size.
Learn about their media consumption: Identify which publications your audience reads, what they watch, and who they listen to and follow on the internet by looking up their media preferences with SparkToro.

2. Choose your primary and secondary social networks

There are so many communication opportunities via social media marketing that you can easily spread your efforts too thin. By choosing one primary social network where you concentrate your efforts, you’ll get the biggest return on investment.

Other networks can be part of your small business social media strategy as secondary networks that you utilize in a more opportunistic way.

How to select your primary social network:

Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to pick one social media network and stick with it. Here’s one approach.

Analyze the options: Analyze the user characteristics of the various social networks via information they share with you. Make a list of candidates for your primary social network.
Compare with your target audience: Compare and contrast the characteristics of the users on each platform with the characteristics of your target audience to find the best fit.
Evaluate your strengths: You probably have more affinities and more reach with one or more of the social networks on your list. Objectively evaluate your strengths on each platform.
Apply weights: Set up a simple spreadsheet where you can score each social network on attractivity, audience fit, and strengths. You can weight each score to account for the most important elements. Then pick your primary network, and mark the others as secondary. Build your social media strategy around this primary social network.

3. Use a mix of hero, hub, and help content

Google has a challenge. Its advertisers were brought up with search marketing but were not necessarily educated on how to use Google’s other great advertising channel: YouTube.

Google therefore created a conceptual framework for working with YouTube. This framework helps define the role of video content, which by nature is more expensive to produce and distribute.

Whether you plan to use video or not, the YouTube strategy playbook — which uses the three Hs of “hero,” “hub,” and “help” — can be of great use when planning social media activity for your business.

How to establish your content mix:

Creating a mix of content with the three Hs is very focused on the hero content, or the driving elements of your business’s storyline that you want your broadest audience to see. Let’s look at what you need to do to establish your content mix with this in mind.

Content audit: The first thing you need is an overview of your existing content and events that can be used in your content strategy.
Brainstorm: The fun part of the process is the brainstorming and idea-testing for your hero content. Aim to find a unique and remarkable content idea that resonates strongly with your audience and emphasizes your brand’s differentiation.
Plan around the hero content: Some of the other content you use in your social media strategy can be built around the hero content. Other content pieces act as “hubs” and will simply help your brand stay top of mind. And “help” content is more traditional company information that you place around and between the more story-driven hero content.
Build a content calendar: The three types of content come together in a social media content calendar, which helps you stay organized and share your content in a consistent and effective way.

4. Repurpose your content

If you’ve followed our second tip, you may be wondering how to best utilize your secondary social networks. You may also be overwhelmed by the thought of needing to publish content to your social networks multiple times a week.

This is why content repurposing is an important strategy. A publication has a limited life span on social media, and in order to generate a return on your investment in a piece of content, you need to maximize its usage.

How to thoughtfully and effectively repurpose your content:

The initial version of your content should be optimized for your primary social network. Subsequent versions can be formatted to suit other networks, perhaps using a more visual angle, a different perspective, or simply different text.

Optimize for your primary network: The first time you publish a piece of content, it should be optimized for your primary social network. Each social network has its own ideal mix of image, video, text, emojis, and hashtags.
Adapt to secondary networks: You will likely need to make changes to the format of your content when publishing it on your secondary social networks. Perhaps you’ll only use parts of the content you prepared for your primary network.
Republication: One piece of content can typically be presented several times to your primary audience. This is useful as you never reach 100% of your followers with one post since everyone is online at different times. Using different text and images for subsequent publications is a good way to make sure your content doesn’t appear stale or repetitive.
Repurposing: Content in which you have invested significant time or money can be repurposed at a later stage. Perhaps you can update a survey you ran, provide a new editorial angle, or redo the graphics. A good way to organize the use and reuse of content is to build a social media content calendar.

5. Leverage inbound marketing and partnerships

Inbound marketing is an approach by which you create and publish content that will drive interested users closer to your offering.

It’s a structured process using planning, scoring, and automation to manage long customer interaction processes. It’s a great approach to marketing for small business, especially in the B2B space.

How to put inbound marketing into action:

Inbound marketing is about using content to drive users to your offering without reaching out to them with advertising.

Analyze the user journey: Users travel through various stages before they become prospects for your offering. You first need to identify what questions the user is asking before they’re ready to move to the next step in the user journey.
Create and publish content: With the stages of the user journey in mind, create content that corresponds to each stage, and think of mechanisms that will bring the user to the next stage: Newsletter subscription, whitepaper download, webinar registration, etc. This is the stage where you’ll actually use social media platforms to publish your content and engage with your audience.
Automate the funnel: One of the aims of inbound marketing is to create an automated lead generation process. It uses content and publications on social media to generate interest and subsequently works like a content relationship management tool. You’ll need a technical solution such as HubSpot or Salesforce Pardot to pursue this approach seriously.

6. Set up social commerce

Users can be strongly influenced by social media but may not be used to buying products there. There is, however, a rising trend of social commerce on social networks like Instagram and Pinterest.

Facebook also recently launched its Page shops, adding e-commerce functionality to business pages on its platform.

How to use social commerce in your social media strategy:

Social commerce is a shortcut from social media to e-commerce. It can be an interesting opportunity for companies with strong social media activity and the possibility to sell online.

Prepare product information: In order to sell online via social media, you need the same information as for any other e-commerce activity: product titles and descriptions, images, prices, and an order fulfillment solution.
Choose your platform: If your primary social network has e-commerce functionality, go with that platform. If it doesn’t, consider trying one of the leading social commerce platforms: Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook.
Build the e-commerce functionality: It’s fairly easy to set up social commerce. Products and prices can be entered individually or as a product feed so your shop is up to date.

7. Evolve your content from articles to video to live

When you first consider content for your social media marketing plan, you might think about articles and images.

But video content has become accessible to small businesses now that platforms like the Facebook Live Producer empower you to create professional-looking live video content. You might even want to make video your hero content, as we saw in tip No. 3.

How to make smart use of video:

All you need is a smartphone with a good camera to start producing live video. We also recommend adding a good-quality microphone or headset.

Plan your video content: For video content, you need to create a title, write a script, and find the right filming location with good lighting and an appropriate background.
Test-run your video: To overcome the fear of looking silly and get used to speaking to the camera, do at least one test run. A teleprompter software tool can be helpful as well.
Set it up as an event: You can create video content for later publication or create a live event. Whichever you choose, make sure to build awareness before publication to drive more views and more engagement.

8. Plan and automate

Running social media activities is about efficiently using resources. The best way to organize any social media activity is to plan ahead and automate as much as possible.

There are a number of simple social tools to help with automation that each perform specific tasks, or it can be done using a more complete social media software suite that covers all of your automation needs.

How to plan and automate your social media activity:

If you’ve built your content mix using tip No. 4, you may have started using a content calendar as the nervous system of your social media strategy. Now, all you need to do is connect your primary and secondary social networks to your content via automation.

Define your primary social network: As described in the first tip, you should first define your social network set-up and decide where primary content goes.
Build your content calendar: A content calendar is a key component of a social media strategy. Build your calendar by placing the hero content first and scheduling supporting content around it. You will likely have a regular flow of hub content, and the amount of help content you produce will depend on your business activity and commercial calendar.
Automate publication: Bring it all together with automation software that allows you to connect your content to your social media accounts. Schedule posts to each of your social networks in advance, keeping your content calendar moving like a well-oiled machine.

The best social media tools for small business

Social media automation tools will help your business automate the implementation of your content strategy. In the tips above, we’ve mentioned various tasks for which these tools are useful: in implementing a content calendar, automating publications, and planning ahead.

Let’s look at a few tools that work in different ways.

1. Later

The core functionality of Later is to build a visual content calendar and schedule image posts to Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Later’s visual overview of the calendar is one of the best we’ve seen.

The content calendar view of Later is visual and well adapted to planning Instagram posts.

2. MeetEdgar

MeetEdgar is great for getting the most out of your content. It’s the content repurposing, recycling, and automation champion.

A unique feature of MeetEdgar is the automatic creation of post variations submitted for approval.

3. Sprout Social

Sprout Social is one the best and most complete social media management tools covering the entire spectrum of automation, management, research, and reporting functionalities for your social media activity.

Sprout Social provides a wide variety of reporting options, including content performance across the social media channels you are using.

Learn from what you do and focus on where you win

Most social media activity only pays off in the medium to long run, which can be frustrating to businesses looking for quick wins or a rapid return on their investment.

But some of the above tips are sure to generate value for your business even in the short run as they can help you focus on what’s essential and what tasks are the best use of your time.

Focus your efforts, optimize your content output, plan ahead, and automate where you can in order to get the most out of your small business’s social media strategy.

By Anders Hjorth

Sourced from the blueprint

In News

How to stop Instagram from tracking everything you do

June 19, 2020 No Comments

By Matt Burgess

There are some things you can do to limit Facebook’s web of surveillance, but not much

Instagram is a massive money-maker. Parent company Facebook doesn’t release figures on how much money the division makes but reports claim it generated $20 billion in advertising revenue in 2019 alone – that’s a quarter of Facebook’s entire yearly revenue. Or, to put it another way, more money than YouTube makes for parent company Alphabet.

At the heart of Instagram’s financial success is two things: advertising, the Stories feature it nabbed from Snapchat is now filled with it, and the data that powers all that advertising. There’s a lot of it.

Instagram, through its integrations with Facebook, uses your personal information to show you adverts that it believes you’ll be mostly likely to click on. This information comes from what you do within the app and Facebook, your phone and your behaviour as you move around parts of the web that Facebook doesn’t own.

First off – everything you do on Instagram is tracked. Almost every online service you use collects information about your actions. Every thumb scroll made through your feed provides it with information about your behaviour. Instagram knows that you spent 20 minutes scrolling to the depths of your high-school crush’s profile at 2am.

The data that Instagram collects isn’t just for advertising. The company uses your information – for instance, what device you use to login – to detect suspicious login attempts. Crash reports from your phone can help it identify bugs in its code and identify parts of the app that nobody uses. In 2019 it ditched the Following tab, which showed everyone the public posts you had liked.

Other than deleting the app completely there’s very little you can do to stop Instagram tracking your behaviour on its platform, but there are things you can do to limit some of the data that’s collected and the types of adverts you see online.

Delete (some) of your data

Want to see the information you’ve given Instagram? Head to the app’s settings page and tap the security option. Here there’s the choice to see the information Instagram has collected about you and download it. If you tap on ‘Access Data’ you’ll be able to see all your password changes, email addresses and phone numbers associated with the account, plus more about how you use the app.

In total there are 25 different categories of information that are collected – these range from interactions with polls that you’ve completed in people’s stories to hashtags you follow and changes to the information in your bio. Instagram’s access tool can be found here.

While it’s possible to see all of this data, there isn’t a lot you can do with it. Your search history can be deleted through the Security menu options, although when you do so you only delete it locally. Instagram and Facebook still know what – or who – you have searched for. “Keep in mind that clearing your search history is temporary, and that searches you clear may reappear in your history after you search for them again,” Instagram says.

It is also possible to delete the contacts that you may have uploaded to Instagram from your phone – this includes names and phone numbers. Uploading your contacts allows Instagram and Facebook to provide friend suggestions but also builds out its knowledge of your social activity.

This Instagram page shows whether you’ve uploaded any contacts and allows you to delete them. Deleting them will not stop new contacts being added to your phone from being uploaded. The setting can be turned on or off through the settings menu on iOS or Android.

The option to download your data includes photos, comments, profile information and more. This has to be requested through the Security menu.

Location

You probably use Instagram on your phone. By default, Instagram’s location gathering abilities are turned-off by default but you’ve probably inadvertently turned the feature on while adding your location to a post or story.

To change this – or at the very least check if you’ve given it permission – you need to visit the settings on your phone. It can’t be done through the Instagram app.

On Android, navigate to settings then tap on apps and find Instagram. Here you can see whether you’ve given it permission to access your location, microphone, device storage, contacts and more. You can turn these settings on and off, allowing Instagram access to your location all the time, only while you’re using the app or to completely deny it.

If you own an iPhone, the process is similar. Tap your way to the phone’s settings, go to privacy and then location services and find Instagram. Here you can choose whether location tracking is on all the time, when you’re using the app or off completely.

Control ads in stories

As Facebook has tried (successfully) to make more money from Instagram, it has filled it with adverts. What you see is all powered, technically, by the parent company. Facebook is the ads server for Instagram and the two are inseparable.

Instagram shows you ads based on what it and Facebook think you like. This is based on what you do while on Instagram (e.g. liking posts from particular brands) but also what you do on websites and services not owned by Facebook. Facebook’s Pixel is a tiny piece of code that’s on almost every website you visit and collects information saying you have visited it. The Pixel gathers data about your activity online and links it to an identifier and that helps decide what ads you’ll be shown.

It’s just one way data is collected that feeds into the company’s bigger advertising machine. “Advertisers, app developers and publishers can send us information through Facebook Business Tools that they use, including our social plugins (such as the Like button), Facebook Login, our APIs and SDKs, or the Facebook pixel,” Facebook’s data policy says. This includes what you buy and the websites you visit.

So what can you do about it on Instagram? The controls are limited. Within the app, though the settings tab, you can see your ad activity. This shows you the ads you have engaged with – such as commenting on posts, liking or watching the majority of. There’s also links out of the Instagram app that explain adverts on the platform within the settings tab.

If you don’t like an individual ad it is possible to hide it by tapping the three dots that appear next to the ad and tapping hide. It’s also possible to report an ad if it could break Instagram’s policies.

To really attempt to control ads on Instagram, you need to go to Facebook. Here it’s possible to change preference settings, which will apply to Instagram as well as Facebook. There are no ad preference settings for people who only have an Instagram account and not a Facebook account. The company says it is working on building controls within the Instagram app.

Facebook’s ad preferences page is a mine of information. It shows what Facebook thinks your interests are, companies that have uploaded information about you, how ads are targeted, ad settings, and ads you’ve hidden. To change the adverts you see you need to spend a short amount of time on this page working through the settings.

Some key choices that can be made are in ‘Your Information’. Here you chose not to see ads that are based on your employer, job title, relationship status and education. The businesses section allows you to stop businesses who have uploaded information about you from showing you ads. And ‘Ad Settings’ stops Facebook products showing you adverts based on information that’s collected from other websites and services you visit.

For any of this to apply to Instagram, the company says your accounts need to be connected. “To make sure your ad preferences are applied, connect your Instagram account to your Facebook account,” it says.

Delete Instagram

If you’re just fed up with Instagram in general you can delete the app. You can’t delete your Instagram account from within the app – we’re not sure why – but instead you have to visit this page. From here it’s possible to delete your account. “When you delete your account, your profile, photos, videos, comments, likes and followers will be permanently removed,” the company says. Or you can temporarily disable your account. This can be done here.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Images / WIRED

By Matt Burgess

Matt Burgess is WIRED’s deputy digital editor. He tweets from @mattburgess1

Sourced from WIRED

In News

Why Teams Don’t Cooperate

June 19, 2020 No Comments

By Lisa Earle McLeod

I recently spoke with a CEO who expressed frustration with the lack of cooperation in his organization. One incident in particular stood out. A smaller product group within his firm landed a new client. After the deal closed, it was revealed that another (larger) product group was calling on the same client.

Instead of collaborating, both teams pursued the business on their own. While the niche product group did close business, the larger team did not. The result was a relatively small sale, a lot of internal he-said-she-said, and a less than united company in the eyes of the customer.

Had the teams collaborated, they could have provided a more robust solution, behaved as joined forces, and potentially won a much larger deal. The client even commented, “Don’t your people talk to each other?”

Improving cooperation is an increasingly urgent challenge for leaders. When location-based teams left the office to work remotely, social interactions that may have once fostered collaboration evaporated.

Why didn’t the CEO’s two teams communicate? After all, they work for the same company, collaborating could have increased their scope and reputation. Failure to collaborate cost the firm revenue and potentially damaged their rapport with a major client.

Most companies have their own stories about silos; be it between two product divisions, HR and Finance, or Operations and IT. The larger the organization, the worse it gets. Lack of collaboration and cooperation stymies innovation and has a chilling effect on morale. Longer-term it can plummet customer engagement and brand reputation.

In my experience, silos are rarely rooted in malice or even turf defending. Emotionally and psychologically, humans are hardwired for collaboration and connection; we simply cannot survive (in any sense of the word) alone. Being a human is a team sport.

More often, a lack of collaboration is the (unintended) result of misaligned systems. Leaders who want to break through silos to create cooperative, united, purpose-driven organizations, must address the root causes. Unfortunately, in most large organizations:

Systems point people inwards, to concerns about themselves and their department, instead of outwards, towards teammates and customers.
Systems reward individual achievement instead of collective impact.
Systems push the immediacy of financial results instead of steadfastness of strategy and purpose.

Below are three common barriers to collaboration. We’ll start with the most obvious and move to the more insidious.

Compensation drives self-orientation

A team that gets compensated only on their own product line is hardly set up to collaborate. The same is true for any team that is commissioned or bonused solely on department-based metrics. For example, in the situation described above, if the team was compensated for overall company performance (in addition to individual performance) they may have been more incentivized.

Yet there’s also another, less obvious sign of self-oriented compensation in the earlier story: the sales team was exclusively paid when the deals closed. There was no incentive for client retention, referrals, client satisfaction, or even the effective use of the solution. This drives the team’s mindset to think self-first.

What to do instead:

In addition to individual performance compensation, add group performance and customer retention into the compensation mix. Discuss these shared objectives as often as you do individual targets.

Metrics are internally focused

When success or failure is defined by internal-only metrics, customer-impact is absent from the conversation. When a team or individual thinks: How can we hit our targets? they look inward. When leaders ask, How can we make a difference to customers? people think more holistically.

Inserting the impact on customers a lens for decision-making broadens the horizon, instead of each group focusing on their own metrics, the entire group is working towards helping customers.

How to change the frame:

Include customer success metrics as part of the overall organizational narrative. Here’s the difference: Internal metrics are: revenue, profitability, conversation rates, pipelines, etc. Outward looking metrics are things like customer satisfaction, net promoter scores (NPS) and customer retention. Make these outward looking measures as present and important as internal sales, financial and production targets.

Short-term success is prioritized over longer-term impact

One reason people don’t cooperate is because they don’t feel like they have time. An organization who defines itself by the team’s ability to hit quarterly targets is always going to feel the urgency of the short term. Organizations who define success by the ability to make a sizable, lasting impact on their customer-base think more long-term.

Where to point your team:

Tether the team to a belief in something bigger than themselves. Belief that customers are out there, and they need your company to help them seize opportunity, grow their businesses, or reduce risk (or whatever else your solution helps them do) prompts more innovative and noble thinking than the drumbeat of simply hitting today’s targets.

Lack of collaboration doesn’t happen by design. It happens by default. The traditional framework and language of business points us inward, towards short term self preservation which stymies collaboration.

Here’s what we know: Organizations that point themselves outward, who declare a bold customer-driven purpose as their North Star and foster a customer-driven culture to make it happen, get better results. They’re more innovative, they have better customer advocacy, they’re better places to work, and ultimately, better financial results follow.

Feature Image Credit: Traditional collaboration assumes physical proximity, virtual teams need new mindsets. GETTY

By Lisa Earle McLeod

Sourced from Forbes