editor, Author at Mediastreet

In News

How PepsiCo Targeted an Audience That Will Transform Your Marketing

August 10, 2018 No Comments

Teachers are the latest demographic marketers want to reach. Use these 5 strategies to successfully connect with this influential audience.

PepsiCo has had its share of marketing mishaps in recent years–perhaps most notably the widely vilified ad featuring Kendall Jenner handing a Pepsi to a cop during a protest. The 2017 commercial spawned such an internet backlash that it was pulled from programming one day later.

But Pepsi has also had some major successes, namely with the PepsiCo Recycling Rally campaign launched in 2010. This project has been so successful that it earned the company a Gold Honor in the MarCom Awards in December 2017.

For this award, PepsiCo created a campaign to teach K-12 students about recycling in their schools. They focused on marketing to educators and reached a new demographic via a program that is still going strong more than eight years later.

Educators are increasingly being recognized as a valuable audience to target. They make up a significant portion of the general population, have high participation rates in a number of sectors, and are sophisticated shoppers who respond to marketing that includes independent research and facts.

There are several marketing strategies brands can employ to effectively connect with educators.

1. Join forces for an important cause.

Many companies already include corporate social responsibility as a major part of their marketing strategies, and teachers are more willing to support brands that will add value to their students’ lives. PepsiCo used recycling and sustainability efforts to teach children about how to protect the environment. To follow PepsiCo’s lead, find a cause that represents a common interest between your company and educators.

2. Make it a competition.

Stir up educators’ competitive spirit with a contest in which classes or schools go head to head for a good cause. Everyone loves a little competition to make things interesting. A contest builds unity and teamwork within a class or school and gives teachers something concrete to work with as they attempt to get their students excited about school projects.

A great example of this is the Box Tops for Education program, which lets students collect box tops from food and other products and turn them into money and prizes for their schools.

3. Give them some extra incentive.

To encourage students to participate in these competitions, it’s important to provide teachers with incentives they can use to entice students to get involved. These could include tickets to an amusement park, a class pizza party, or a movie day in class. A great example is Pizza Hut’s Book It! program, in which kids earn free pizza for hitting a reading goal each month.

Motivation plays a huge role in how a student engages (or not) with a subject. These extrinsic motivators are especially powerful in changing student behavior and engagement, emphasizing skills, or encouraging certain behaviors. When used properly, they can be powerful tools for winning a child over to a school subject like reading or a civic activity like recycling.

4. Ease the lesson-planning burden.

Teachers are always looking for new materials to incorporate into their classrooms, so providing an educational component to your program or partnership will increase the chances of teachers wanting to take advantage of it. This aspect can also teach students how business and community service go together.

A major element of CSR is looking beyond the company’s bottom line and engaging in causes that further the social good. In the end, these efforts serve as good PR for a brand and encourage sales, but that’s not the main point. Companies tend to have resources that individuals lack, giving them the capacity to fund charities, sponsor community athletics or arts programs, and support local cultural or educational initiatives. Educators are eager for this support, especially when it comes with additional classroom tools and strategies.

5. Be selective with your audience.

First-grade teachers need different lessons and incentives than high school English teachers. Research what your demographic wants, as it will be challenging to find an overarching theme for different age ranges. Determine what type of teacher your company can most effectively connect with, and focus your efforts there.

Educators are a powerful force in society, and their influence is far-reaching. (I’m proud to say I’m a former public school math teacher myself!) Joining forces with teachers can elevate your marketing strategy, but you need the right methods to connect in a meaningful way. The tactics above will help you effectively partner with people who play an important role in shaping the minds of future generations.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Dave Kerpen

Founder and CEO, Likeable Local@davekerpen

Sourced from Inc.

In News

7 Things To Avoid If You Want To Become A Successful Photographer

August 10, 2018 No Comments

By JasenkaG

While we all know that there is no universal recipe for becoming a successful photographer, there are certainly some pitfalls that every photographer should avoid. Since the market is so saturated nowadays, analyzing your approach and reevaluating your business can be the first step to improve what’s problematic and increase the chances of success.

The following 7 things might be the main factors that are preventing you from reaching your full potential as a photographer:

1. Not Taking Criticism Well

There is no personal growth without the ability to take criticism well. In the case that you often find yourself defending your photos, you are not doing yourself any favours since you’re inhibiting the learning process.

There are no limits to skill levels when it comes to art – you can become better and better every day if you’re willing to listen and learn. It’s great to accept what people have to say with grace and use their critique to grow, especially if they are seasoned photographers.

2. Obsessing Over Gear

No matter how important it is to have the right gear, it’s not true having all the latest and greatest gear makes you a better photographer. It’s always your creativity, your knowledge and your way to deal with challenges that matter the most.

Many photographers are guilty of using gear or lack thereof as an excuse for bad performance. The sooner you realize that your kit is only a tool, the sooner you work harder to hone your skills and learn some new tricks.

Photo by Jacob Owens on Unsplash

3. Being A Cliché Photographer

There are countless cliché photographers out there because it’s so easy to be this kind of photographer – you just need to replicate common ideas and concepts and use common settings. It doesn’t pay off to be another cliché photographer because you cannot stand out if you’re just like everyone else. In order to be truly successful, you should specialize in one or two genres, not more than that. A photographer who’s an expert in 10 different genres simply doesn’t exist. You have to discover your calling.

4. Not Using Social Media

Maybe 10 years ago it was still acceptable not to have Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts, but this doesn’t work anymore. You have to be active on social media so that people can understand what your business is all about and what’s the best way to reach you.

However, even if you have a profile on every social network you won’t get too far without learning and applying proper marketing strategies.

Photo by Seth Doyle on Unsplash

5. Having Money As The Main Goal

If money is your only goal, photography is most probably the wrong career for you. If you choose a certain genre just for the money and not because you’re truly interested in it, you are setting yourself up for a really bad time. Photography is an art form and if you’re not passionate about it, you can’t get truly good at it.

6. Quantity Over Quality Approach

One amazing photograph means much more than 50 mediocre ones. Instead of showcasing too many images in your portfolio and making your customers bored, you should always pick the most superb ones. With time and practice, the amount of great images will increase in your portfolio.

Ultimately, the goal is to show off a brief yet powerful portfolio that will blow your customers’ minds. It’s really hard to achieve this but it’s certainly not impossible.

Photo by Wang Xi on Unsplash

7. Not Having Repeat Customers

Repeat customers are in a way more important than new customers, because these people are so happy about your photography that they decided to come back for more. This also means that if you’re not having any repeat customers, there’s something wrong with your business model.

The most common reasons for not having repeat customers are either quality of service or lack of communication with customers. You should figure out what the problem is and fix it. The good way to do so is to constantly seek feedback from your customers.

Photo by Ian Dooley on Unsplash

In case some of these mistakes look familiar, you may want to consider taking a different approach to photography. Even some small changes are a useful initial step towards more success in photography.

17 Top Content Marketing Experts You Should Be Following

August 10, 2018 No Comments

By Ben Jacobson

Your audience’s favorite platforms and content formats are continuously changing, with micro-this and in-depth that. Influencer marketing is taking over more and more each year, and you can’t keep track of how you’re supposed to be doing it.

And don’t even think about organic social media reach — trying to achieve that often means facing a bottomless pit of theories, advice, and case studies.

My point is that content marketing moves fast.

How can you stay up to date on our industry when books, training, and even the blog posts on Google’s page one become outdated so quickly?

Look to the experts.

Industry influencers will always be talking about what’s happening in content marketing, on social media, the conference circuit, and their own platforms. Plus, you can simply observe what they’re doing and how they’re reacting to industry changes inside of their own businesses.

Here are 17 thought leaders worthy of your attention, so you can keep your content marketing strategy fresh and effective.

Shane Barker, Digital Strategist, Shane Barker Consulting

Content marketer, e-commerce expert and influencer marketing consultant Shane Barker has always worked on the big online marketing strategies confusing businesses most.

He’s specialized in digital reputation management, social media, and influencer marketing, always an early adopter. And when it comes to influencer marketing strategy, he’s diving in deep at the moment.

On his blog, he breaks down topics like influencer relationship management, going beyond surface tactics like sending pitches and ways to get noticed to teaching marketers how to build strong long-term relationships.

Elsewhere, you can find him partnering with some of the most helpful marketing brands, like SEMrush and Bitly, on content helping their own audiences with influencer success.

Follow @Shane_Barker on Twitter

Read Shane on Search Engine Journal

Brittany Berger, Content Strategist

Brittany Berger creates content for SaaS companies and entrepreneurs, but unlike other content experts, she wants you to create less content.

Berger teaches how to repurpose existing content instead of writing from scratch every time.

Berger’s YouTube channel is full of jokes and high energy, and her guest content on other marketing blogs brings the same personality-filled advice on content marketing.

Follow @ThatBBerg on Twitter

Lilach Bullock, Founder, Lilach Bullock Limited

If you have trouble tying content to measurable results in your business, you need Lilach Bullock.

She is all about using content to generate leads that convert and uses a number of ways to help you do so.

Beyond her services as a consultant, Bullock offers coaching, speaks at conferences frequently, and has a premium membership group which marketers and business owners can join at any time to start learning together.

Follow @LilachBullock on Twitter

Gini Dietrich, CEO, Arment Dietrich

Gini Dietrich is one of the first experts you think of when considering the intersection of PR and marketing/digital media. She is the CEO of Arment Dietrich and also runs the Spin Sucks blog and Slack community for modern PR pros.

In addition to her frequent online educational content, she also publishes fun features like Gin and Topics roundups and will be one of the more refreshing and engaging speakers at your favorite marketing conferences.

Follow @GiniDietrich on Twitter

Barry Feldman, Owner, Feldman Creative

Barry Feldman of Feldman Creative has been an industry expert in social media and digital marketing for decades.

SaaS companies can improve their content marketing strategies by following his blog, his guest posts, or his Content Matters podcast with Orbit Media’s Andy Crestodina.

All marketers and entrepreneurs should consider his latest book, “The Road to Recognition”, a must-read. It’s full of lessons on building your personal brand and establishing expertise on behalf of yourself or your company.

Follow @FeldmanCreative on Twitter

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs

This digital marketing pioneer and best-selling author can likely be found speaking at your favorite marketing events this year (or any year). You’ll definitely want her insights on empowering ridiculously good marketing, always delivered with good cheer.

Follow her now so you don’t miss any of MarketingProfs’s co-sponsored research with Content Marketing Institute, such as B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends.

She also just launched a new email newsletter called Annarchy, which she promises to fill with writing advice and “high-spirited shenanigans.”

Follow @MarketingProfs on Twitter

Louis Grenier, Content Lead, Hotjar

Louis Grenier helps SaaS companies with marketing in multiple ways, but there’s one thing they all have in common. He helps uncover truths in marketing, as ugly as they may be.

In his role as content lead at Hotjar, he creates amazing resources around the truth in data, analytics, and feedback. This take on best practices is definitely worth a read.

He also runs the Everyone Hates Marketers podcast, where he addresses all the BS in the industry with experts like Seth Godin, Oli Gardner, and Noah Kagan.

Follow @LouisSlices on Twitter

Benji Hyam, Co-founder, Grow & Convert

Benji Hyam is building his agency Grow & Convert with thoughtful transparency that serves as its own lesson in entrepreneurship.

He and co-founder Devesh Khanal have been documenting their strategies and pivots while growing a blog, launching an online course, and finding the best fits as a fast-growth agency.

In addition to learning from Grow & Convert’s journey itself, you’ll also want to read all the success stories they publish on their clients and other businesses trying their content promotion and marketing strategies.

Follow @BenjiHyam on Twitter

Larry Kim, Founder, MobileMonkey

Founder of the PPC software company WordStream and now Facebook Messenger marketing platform MobileMonkey, you can find and learn from Kim’s advice about anything business in his prolific columns on Inc, Medium, and elsewhere. He publishes content daily about business, technology, and entrepreneurship.

Not sure how Messenger marketing fits into the future of your own strategy? Kim is doling out free tips about this constantly, as he’s currently in the midst of a multi-month marathon of webinars, Twitter chats, and more to help marketers make the most of this channel.

Follow @LarryKim on Twitter

Read Larry on Search Engine Journal

Arnie Kuenn, CEO, Vertical Measures

Arnie Kuenn is the CEO of Vertical Measures, a top digital marketing agency that also offers training and resources for other marketers.

He’s also written a great book on integrating multiple marketing channels, “Accelerate“, which is a guide to combining search, social, and content.

You’re most likely to interact with him at a marketing conference, where he continues to teach the best ways to balance and integrate paid and organic tactics.

Follow @ArnieK on Twitter

Jason Miller, Head of Content and Social Media Marketing, LinkedIn Sales & Marketing Solutions EMEA

With extensive experience in multiple areas of marketing, Jason Miller can help you with your entire inbound funnel.

In his bestselling book, “Welcome to the Funnel“, he covers how to pair social and content.

As a highly requested speaker, these days you can learn from him at one of your favorite marketing conferences. Be sure to try and find all the rock music references in his presentations – or his book, for that matter.

Follow @JasonMillerCA on Twitter

Julia McCoy, Founder, Express Writers

A prolific writer and serial entrepreneur, Julia McCoy has scaled her content agency Express Writers to nearly 100 writers.

With so much marketing power on the Express Writers team, they’re able to produce tons of valuable resources for content marketers: frequent blog posts, a podcast, and the lively #ContentWritingChat Twitter chat.

In addition to the agency’s services and free resources, McCoy has also written two books on content strategy and offers a six-week course on mastering practical content marketing skills that will get your strategy into shape quickly.

Follow @JuliaEMcCoy on Twitter

Read Julia on Search Engine Journal

Sujan Patel, Co-founder, Web Profits

Sujan Patel does everything, from creating content constantly to running an agency and growing multiple SaaS companies to jumping out of planes.

Aside from his actual advice and content about marketing, the SaaS teams he advises have built products that empower marketers and make their jobs easier, like Mailshake, LinkTexting, and Quuu.

Start following him by catching up on his blog, trying one of the tools he partners with, or binge-watching a playlist of his marketing advice on YouTube.

Follow @SujanPatel on Twitter

Shayla Price, B2B Marketer

Shayla Price is an ecommerce and SaaS expert whose content marketing work you’ve seen in Leadpages, Kissmetrics, and Shopify Plus. You can also read her work in publications like Inc. and Entrepreneur.

In addition to reading her advice on social media, email, and content strategy, watch what she’s doing with her own work for new ideas, such as creating helpful audio notes using Anchor.

Follow @ShaylaPrice on Twitter

Joe Pulizzi, Founder, Content Marketing Institute

Joe Pulizzi is one of the content marketing leaders you can thank for its popularity today. As the founder of Content Marketing Institute and author of content marketing handbooks such as “Content Inc.” and most recently, “Killing Marketing”, he’s had quite a bit of influence on the industry.

In 2017, he left Content Marketing Institute to focus more on his nonprofit organization The Orange Effect Foundation, but you can still catch him speaking at Content Marketing World to absorb some of his wisdom.

Follow @JoePulizzi on Twitter

Jason Quey, Founder, Growth Ramp

Jason Quey helps entrepreneurs and startups get marketing right, whether that’s with influencer marketing or content promotion.

Previously VP of Marketing and Operations at Codeless Interactive, Quey now focuses on his own SaaS product, Growth Ramp, which is currently in pre-launch beta, loaded with features to help marketers save time on content promotion.

Follow Quey to watch how he helps his customers and clients and to get motivated by his expert roundups, looking at how your other favorite marketers do things.

Follow @JDQuey on Twitter

Joanna Wiebe, Creator/Co-founder, Copy Hackers/Airstory

Joanna Wiebe is the master of SaaS copywriting and go-to for conversion-optimized content. The collection of in-depth Copy Hackers resources is practically its own free startup marketing curriculum – not to mention Wiebe’s content on other websites, so you’ve likely gotten her help with something before.

Take some time to brush up on your copy skills in her free Conversion Copywriting 101 course, or just watch her next Tutorial Tuesday. Each and every Tuesday, Wiebe spends her lunch hour offering tons of free copywriting help through the weekly webinar series, often bringing on co-hosts from other companies for even more expertise.

Follow @CopyHackers on Twitter

Stay Fresh with a Follow

These experts represent all areas of content marketing, all working with different types of businesses and clients in different ways.

By reading their writing, following them, and watching how they use content in their businesses, you’ll be able to easily stay inspired and strategic in equal measure.

More Content Marketing Resources:

By Ben Jacobson

Sourced from Search Engine Journal

In News

Make Something You Deeply Care About (Even if it Sucks)

August 9, 2018 No Comments

By Thomas Oppong

The world thrives on progress. Progress is transformational. It changes and improves millions of lives globally.

The world needs more creators, not consumers.

We have come this far because a few bold innovators and creators chose to create, build, make, do, or start something.

It’s your turn to share your best work with the rest of us.

You don’t even have to change the world but it matters that you create. That you show up.

Great discoveries often evolve as slow hunches, maturing and connecting to other ideas over time.

Never miss an opportunity to show up and share. Make something no matter how small is work.

Work that matters. Work that creates lasting value. Work that brings out the best in you. Work that makes you creative.

The alternative (waiting to be picked or waiting for world to align in a way that permits you to share your work with the rest of us) is hardly worth pursuing. It kills dreams.

The alternative slows progress, and hardly moves the needle.

If you want choose to write a book, start writing. Not because it will sell, but merely because you can.

Today, more than ever, attitude, grit and commitment to a process trumps background, genes, and talent.

It’s easier to choose yourself and make something of value. It’s never been easier to decide to be responsible for your own work.

Pick yourself, and keep making art until you are so good they can’t ignore you. Waiting just doesn’t pay. Choose your future. Choose your reputation.

Action begets outcome. Outcome begets action.

Rinse, lather and repeat and you have momentum. You’ll become unstoppable.

One of the secrets of happiness is creation.

I don’t know about you — but I am happiest when I am stuck in the “flow” of creating or in a “flow state” as psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says it.

Brett & Kate McKay of The Art of Manliness explains, “…when you create instead of consume, your capacity for pleasure increases, as opposed to your need for it. Being a creator gives you a far more lasting and deeply satisfying happiness than consuming ever will.

Choose your audience and start serving!

Who do you want to serve? What information or art do you possess that can be refreshed, repackaged, remodeled, reinvented and rebranded?

Choose to be your authentic self, let go of who you think you should be to be who you are. Choose to create and share your work everyday.

We are more like Einstein, Leonardo, and Mozart

What if what the world really needed was you? What if your ideas mattered but they were getting lost because you forgot you can create?

Everyone of us is creative. Creation is not rare. We are all born to do it.

If it seems like some of us are better at it than others, this is because it is part of being human, like talking or walking. It needs practice. Choose to be a creator and you will get better at it.

And when you do, pass it on to your kids, friends, colleagues, and people you come across. Celebrate your kids’ creativity, even if it doesn’t make sense right away.

The world needs you to contribute. Build things. Share your authenticity.

We need employees who invent things. Writers who inform, educate the rest of us with their creative work. Entrepreneurs who create things, and freelancers who design things.

People with creative capacity and technical literacy who choose to share their side-projects with us, even when it’s not perfect.

We need people who are brave enough to start side projects they deeply care about and stay-at-home dads who write amazing novels. We need more creators, not more consumers.

Start living a life of adventure and experiment boldly. Creation means taking an active role in the world instead of a passive one. Making an impact, and creating your world instead of consuming it.

Give yourself time in your life to wonder what is possible and to make even the slightest moves in that direction.

By Thomas Oppong

Sourced from The Good Men Project

In News

Embarrassment can make you a better designer

August 9, 2018 No Comments

By uxdesign.cc

The human brain is a formidable machine.

Get yourself doing the same task over-and-over-and-over, and your brain will start shaping itself around that task.

If you’re an interface designer, chances are you’ll build a special eye for type sizes, alignment, color tones. If you’re focused in UX, your brain will likely be stronger in skills like systematic thinking, flow definition, hierarchy, and consistency.

The same applies for spotting errors.

The evolution of thoroughness

As you start your design career, finding mistakes and inconsistencies is a fun little exercise you do every now and then.

It’s exciting.

Each pixel off, you’re able to notice makes you feel more powerful. You feel entitled, sometimes even a little arrogant; after all, you are now able to poke holes in other people’s work. That’s an interesting superpower to have.

A few years in, your brain becomes even better at it — and you finally learn to use that skill for good. To create stronger work. To check yourself before sending out a deliverable to your team. To make sure everything you deliver is flawless, consistent, and thoroughly QA’d.

Fast-forward a decade, and your brain is completely transformed. Finding inconsistencies isn’t a conscious process anymore — it’s second nature.

You see patterns and flaws others don’t see.

You do it invisibly, without noticing or talking about it.

You do it simply because you can’t not do it.

Seeing flaws others don’t see — photo by Bryan Colosky

Embarrassment gets you there faster

Honestly, the only way for you to learn from your mistakes is when someone catches them — either you or someone else. When no one catches an error, it’s like it never existed in the first place. You don’t learn anything from errors that went unnoticed.

Catching an error or inconsistency in your own designs is nerve-wracking. You feel powerless. You rush through to correct it, but the damage is done: you are already starting to question your own abilities as a designer.

Now, having an error caught by someone else is a thousand times worse.

It’s embarrassing; even destructive.

But it’s necessary.

(I’m talking about self-awareness, not someone else trying to actively shame you for a minor design inconsistency. That’s just wrong.)

Embarrassment plays an important role in shaping a bulletproof and inconsistency-free design skillset. The self-consciousness you feel when someone catches your mistakes becomes fuel to doubling your attention next time you are sending work out for other people to review.

The worse you feel, the more effort you’ll put into being more thorough and more attentive to details next time around — to avoid going through that negative feeling again.

The more your pride is hurt, the more your thoroughness builds.

This article was originally published on uxdesign.cc.

By uxdesign.cc

Sourced from TNW

In News

UX/UI Designer Requirements — 5 Ways to Make A Difference

August 9, 2018 No Comments

By Trista liu

5 practical requirements to make you a better UX/UI Designer. Not just about design tools or resources, they make you more qualified to your designer job requirements.

While I was starting this article, I contemplated the board, trying to find a more appropriate entry to begin — should I make a list of UI UX designer requirements. Such as, “which books about design you should read?” or “which design blogs you must follow”. Or I can simply focus on the details instead of form a border perspective to talking about. Since there are already plenty excellent essays discussing about UI UX Designer Requirements from a big picture, I would like to suggest some practical tips and principles which may make a UI UX designer more qualified.

Obviously, mastering an efficient prototyping tool is a must

I am not going to tell you which prototyping tools you should choose, whether Mockplus or Axure. But you need to find the most suitable one for you. Time and practice r will take until you find the faster, simpler and smarter one. Meanwhile, your good design competence and rich specialized knowledge are required and advanced during your search.

A serious note for you, trying every prototyping tools before you made your decision. Just give them all a shot then you won’t miss, then stick to your favorite one and master it. So the UI UX designer requirements here is to practice more prototyping tools even though you already has one, it may surprises you beyond your imaginations.

Designer’s Toolkit: The Best Mockup & Wireframing Design Tools & Apps for UI/UX Designers

Supposing you were a real user rather than just a UI / UX designer is a big help

By “supposing” i mean shifting your mind into a real user. This kind of role reversal may build a shortcut to improve your design. Every UI / UX designer should stick with the principle that design with knowing its intention. Product derives from demand, this golden rule still works. If possible, trying to build a lasting and friendly connection with your user. It is very considerate for there are might plenty questions they will encounter during the application period.

Moreover, your user would even appreciate it more if you have always been kind and skillful when communicate with them. And in turn, they will stick to your product and give you timely and valuable feedback. You are the winner finally. Do remember the Do’s and Don’ts of User-Centered Design. So the UI UX Designer requirements here is being nice to your user and being as one.

Changing a little bit of your way of learning may works like a charm

First, a question-what is the book you recently read? If your answer is a book about design or just a design magazine. I would like to offer a book list you might be interested.

And there they are:

Art as Therapy by Alain de Botton

The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp

Interaction of Color by Josef Albers

The Good Creative by Paul Jarvis

Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon

Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace

Drawing Ideas by Mark Baskinger and William Bardel

Yes, they are more about arts and philosophies rather than teh design itself. My recommendation there does not mean you should just drop your design books such as Designing Design or Interaction Design. The fact is that design requires aesthetics, not only from the visual aspect but also from the connotation side. You just need to learn more. So the UI UX Designer requirements here is going to a library and buy some books. Then sit quietly and start reading.

Designer’s Books: The 10 Mind-blowing Best User Experience Books in 2017

Stop hanging out only with your designer friends will spark your inspiration

The term “confirmation bias” exists not only in psychology & cognitive science field. It actually is overwhelming in our daily life. We all tend to agree with people who agree with us. We prefer hang out with people share similar worldview. However, your view narrows as you limit your field. Meeting people with different perspectives draws a more completed and balanced picture.

Openness is an endless inspiration source which serves an important trait of a great designer. For example, when you design a food app, just get together with your best foodie friend. He or she will definitely provides you valuable advice which in result, will boost you work. So the UI UX Designer requirements here is hanging out with non-designers or with anyone who holds different beliefs, challenges you and brings new perspectives.

Learning from the best will make a difference

Human being is social animals, then just be as one. Do not against your nature to be a lone wolf, trying to do things “ in a pack ”. You must have been through this period, no matter you are a famous UI UX designer already or a new comer of this field, you must have learned from the best, and you are going to do with that. It is like climbing a mountain, you look at the peak and keep climbing, and finally you became the “ peak ” of some others. Learning from the best is a good a way helps you to absorb the wisdom and turn it into yours. So the UI UX Designer requirements here is to being modest and learning to learn.

I hope you enjoyed the read and even your light benefit from my article will courage me to keep writing. We all may found ourselves feeling insecure sometimes. However, i am not going to give up easily. I am not obligated to win , but i am obligated to keep trying. This requirement is for you and me both.

A note: The link of the books. Please check the following if you are interested:

Art as Therapy by Alain de Botton

The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp

Interaction of Color by Josef Albers

The Good Creative by Paul Jarvis

Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon

Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace

Drawing Ideas by Mark Baskinger and William Bardel

Originally published at www.mockplus.com.

By Trista liu

Sourced from HACKERNOON

In News

Five Ways To Break Free And Build Your Brand Outside Of Your 9-5

August 8, 2018 No Comments

By Patrick Colvin M.S.Ed, PHR, SHRM-CP

What do you want people to think of when they read or hear your name?

More and more professionals are asking themselves that question. Why? Because they realize that a strong personal brand is the ticket to new and exciting opportunities in both private and professional life.

Strategically, personal branding is a no-brainer. On average, employees spend about four years in any single position. When you know you’re going to be looking for a new job in the next several years, there’s something intensely valuable in having your reputation precede you.

More than that, personal branding gives professionals the opportunity to pursue their deepest passions without having to ditch their day job. The trouble, of course, is figuring out how to build a brand when half your day is spent at work.

How To Break Free Without Breaking Out

Workers often feel as though their current employer has taken them hostage. Especially for those who are interested in crafting a personal brand, the idea of building and maintaining a persona outside the office seems daunting.

Worse, personal branding can seem downright disloyal. It’s important to remember that this isn’t a zero-sum game. Personal and corporate branding don’t have to be at odds with one another. In fact, the stronger an employee’s own brand, the better they’re able to strengthen that of the company.

That one insight will pay dividends in creating time and space to develop your brand. If your management can see how your brand impacts their bottom line, you’ll find all the support you need. All that leaves, then, is the work. How do you hold onto that 9-to-5 and build a personal brand at the same time?

Here are 5 tips to get you started:

1. Build your online presence: We’re living in a digital world, and there’s just no getting past the need to construct a digital foundation for your personal brand. Start with a simple, yet professional website. Supplement it with a fully built-out LinkedIn profile, Twitter account and Facebook profile.

2. Share your offline presence: As crucial as digital media may be, there’s no substitute for real-world connection. Start attending as many industry meetups and conferences as possible. Strike up relationships offline, and then maintain them online. This will increase your name value in the field.

3. Speak in public: Branding is leadership. If you want people to follow (i.e., pay attention to) you, then you need to point beyond yourself to the deeper truths about your industry. There’s no better way to do that than to stand up in front of a hundred of your peers and deliver a compelling vision for the future.

4. Write a paper: What speaking accomplishes in terms of presence, publication does in terms of reach. Online publication is great, but print is even better. The gravitas of a trade journal or industry magazine won’t just help your resume; it’ll establish you as a thought leader in the eyes of your colleagues.

5. Collaborate: Look for opportunities to partner with others in your field. What can you do together to move your industry forward? How can you work with others to highlight issues and develop solutions? These questions will help you create the synergy you need to raise your personal brand to the next level.

For the most part, you can tackle these without infringing on the company’s time. When you can’t, show your company why it’s in their interest to send you off or give you space to write. If you can build a strong brand that shines a favorable light on your company, that will always be an easy sell.

Get To Work

The “trick” to building a personal brand isn’t cracking some esoteric code or finding the perfect niche angle. Strategy is important, and marketing skills help, but the key is this: Have something to say and the courage to stand up and say it.

So, build out your online profile. Get out there, and start meeting people. Stand up on stage, and deliver your ideas with conviction. Write them down for others to read. Collaborate with leaders in your industry. Do the work; put in the time. Build a strong personal brand, and people will have something to think about when they read or hear your name. Your reputation will go before you in ways you’ve never even dreamed. And, best of all, you’ll never run out of options in life.

Feature Image Credit: Shutterstock

By Patrick Colvin M.S.Ed, PHR, SHRM-CP

Strategic HR Business Partner| Workplace Investigations Expert| Termination Risk Analyst

Sourced from Forbes

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From Bootstrapped To Boardroom: Tips And Benefits For Operating Any Business Like A Fortune 500

August 8, 2018 No Comments

By Scott Southron

In my previous article, I highlighted the big picture benefits of operating a maturing startup business more like a publicly-traded corporation. This article provides the financial rationale and a detailed roadmap any company can follow to transition from a more entrepreneurial style of management into a more standardized, data-driven operation — without losing the disruptive spark behind what created our success.

When I joined FreeConferenceCall.com almost four years ago, the 13-year-old company was wildly successful but was facing three key issues common to entrepreneur-led companies that grow organically but inevitably reach a point where a lack of operational structure begins to impact long-term growth:

1. The company was run on a purely cash basis, making it difficult to determine an accurate financial position or effectively forecast receivables and payables.

2. The company structure included more than a dozen separate LLCs operating outside the scope of the parent company.

3. The finance staff had grown with the company and reached the limits of their ability to move the company forward.

Step One: Historical Audit And Conversion To Accrual-Based Accounting

Our first step in updating operations was converting all the books to an accrual system and conducting a historical audit of the last three years of company performance. That process took just over a year and included:

• Hiring a full-time consultant with industry expertise to manage the process and ensure we had the bandwidth to stay focused on running the business

• Engaging a well-known, national accounting firm with the expertise and credibility necessary to “certify” the audit results.

• Creating a new role for a director of finance with telecom industry experience and letting go of several long-serving employees who lacked the skills necessary to evolve with the company

The goal of the audit process was to create a baseline set of numbers we could use to create our first annual budget and profit and loss statement. As a telecom provider, that required the creation of a historical database of every minute of network use by rate, location and carrier for a global business that has carried more than two billion calls and is used in more than 195 countries. With that baseline complete, we added marketing and sales performance data as well as customer acquisition rates, new product investment models and employee hiring and staffing information.

Step Two: Standardize Forecasting And Measurement Across The Organization

Once the historical data collection process was complete the next step was looking forward through organization-wide forecasting. Although the finance team was accustomed to using forecasting tools, most of the company leadership had managed their departments by instinct and hands-on experience. To get to a single company-wide forecast, the finance team had to first socialize the results of the audit then teach product development, sales and operations management how to forecast. Once forecasts were complete, each department created goals and began consistently measuring performance against a consistent data set — in this case, the audit.

Step Three: Launch of External Reporting

With three years of externally audited results in place, the company was now able to provide the data required to be included in key industry analyst reports. Since that first report, we have moved up further as price pressure and new technology platforms put immense pressure on some of our competition.

Lessons Learned

Making business decisions based on a single source of audited data has improved our business in countless ways. Beyond the softer metrics of increased credibility, brand awareness and ease of hiring, we also learned some lessons in three key departments that enabled us lower costs while continuing to provide the same level of service.

1. Customer Service: Our network usage information reviewed against call center trends allowed us to revamp our staffing models while maintaining the same exceptional level of customer service. We now have a staffing model based on seasonal trends, which has reducing personnel costs by 25%, enabling us to invest in automation software that reduced customer wait times and further increased overall customer satisfaction metrics.

2. Sales and marketing: Our new data helped us determine our average revenue per customer leading to a completely new approach to customer acquisition. Knowing exactly how much we could spend to secure new customers, we stopped investing in complex enterprise pitches, decreased the size of the sales team and refocused our activities on online and viral marketing. The changes meant we no longer needed a long-lead sales staff and empowered our online marketing team with exact metrics for our search and pay-per-click programs.

Over time, we have continued to drive costs out of the system while consistently growing our customer base.

3. Product development: In this case, our new information confirmed what we knew to be true: Our customers want a streamlined, secure and reliable service at a great price. While many of our competitors invest countless dollars developing “bells and whistles,” we have continued to focus on security and stood by our commitment from day one that we would never sell customer information. In today’s age of data breaches and increasing federal regulation, this investment continues to support our customer’s peace of mind and drive our robust enterprise customer sign-ups, making it money well spent.

Although getting through the process outlined here took us the better part of two years, it has paid off immeasurably in operational efficiencies and company-wide accountability to a single set of metrics. The process also revealed some areas for improvement in our leadership and reporting structure. Stay tuned for my next article reviewing tips for building the leadership team necessary for long-term success.

By Scott Southron

Chief Financial Officer at FreeConferenceCall.com, leading our Financial operations, Sales, Customer Care, Legal and HR operations.

Sourced from Forbes

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How to get the most out of paid and organic search

August 7, 2018 No Comments

By Dan Walker

I’m often challenged by clients on how to do more with less. Particularly, how to grow their brand and performance online while spending less money. We’re always looking for efficiencies within paid search – dropping the CPCs over here, improving the ads over there – but to drive true efficiency, organic and paid channels need to be integrated. We find step changes in efficiency by working together, not against each other. So how can two channels that should work hand in hand, but often don’t – paid search and organic search – work together to drive efficiencies and performance improvements?

While there are differing factors to determine rank for PPC ads and SEO listings, both share the same space. When both channels are at the top of the page, it makes sense to consider whether your investment in paid search is driving incremental revenue, or whether it’s simply cannibalising your organic revenue. Key tactics to do this include trade- off analysis, PPC bid adjustments based on organic rankings and using PPC ad copy testing to inform metadata and page titles.

While there are differing factors to determine rank for PPC ads and SEO listings, both share the same space. When both channels are at the top of the page, it makes sense to consider whether your investment in paid search is driving incremental revenue, or whether it’s simply cannibalising your organic revenue. Key tactics to do this include trade-off analysis, PPC bid adjustments based on organic rankings and using PPC ad copy testing to inform metadata and page titles.

There are, however, certain limiting factors to take into account:

The organic data from the paid search query may not be 100% reliable;
As we can’t look at data on an individual impression level, weighted correlation needs to be used (in the same way that you need to weight average position by impression before you find the average across multiple keywords).

This leads nicely to my next point. While in almost all cases other metrics will take precedence over this, it can be useful to take organic average position into account before pushing bids on a keyword that is competing against high position organic results. This can be done in a few ways:

Opening the report on a keyword-by-keyword basis;
Using AdWords Scripts to label keywords with the average organic position pulled using the paid organic query API call;
If you have a paid SEMrush subscription, you can use a script to label keywords pulled from its API.

A final way, I’ve seen success in aligning paid and organic search to holistically drive better performance using PPC ad copy testing to inform wording for metadata and page titles. The theory is that keywords which drive users to click through from ads in the search engine results page (SERP) results to the website will help increase click-through rate across the site. We’ve seen this approach deliver great results across multiple clients to help drive customers through to the next stage of the marketing funnel.

If you’re looking to drive efficiency you should really be looking to integrate your channels, and follow a methodology of letting them work together to achieve more with less. Key ways of approaching this are to test different positions for the PPC ad, measure the paid and organic sales and revenue holistically to consider organic position when optimising PPC bids. You should also look to use winning messaging from PPC ads to inform metadata and page title wording. While you might have differing goals for paid and organic search, when both appear in the same space, it’s worth measuring both channels together to ensure spend isn’t wasted.

By Dan Walker

Sourced from THE DRUM

In News

When Rebranding, Don’t Forget These Eight Aspects

August 7, 2018 No Comments

Sourced from Forbes

Many companies have rebranded their well-known business without developing the success that they assumed they would find. Businesses need to tread a fine line when attempting a rebrand, and must exercise careful consideration when creating a new persona that customers will resonate with.

In the excitement of entering a new phase, brands can forget to ensure that their new message and style emotionally and intellectually appeal to the target audience. They may also jump ahead too quickly with changing logos and slogans, losing customers who are suddenly unsure what happened to the company they were keeping track of.

So what do you need to know? Below, eight members of Forbes Communications Council share some of the elements that are absolutely crucial to watch out for when rebranding, and how they can be handled with care. Here’s what they had to say:

Members discuss a few aspects to remember when considering a rebranding.Photos courtesy of individual members.

1. Balance Between Innovation And Consistency

I think brand evolution is critical. However, it is so important to consider and keep key elements that retain part of the identity at the same time. I believe finding the balance between innovation and consistency is the best way to move forward long term. – Sunny Landeros, Jetex

2. Don’t Be Casual About It

Too often, when someone suggests a “rebrand” to Marketing, they are thinking on a superficial level: change the logo and jingle. Branding is a powerful tool to connect with your audience and should be treated that way. The target audience, reputation of the company, style and voice should all be considered when thinking about a rebrand, not just colors and fonts. – Beth Shivak, Union Bank & Trust

Forbes Real Estate Council is an invitation-only community for executives in the real estate industry. Do I qualify?

3. Remember Who You Are While Planning

When rebranding, it can be common to get wrapped up in defining a “new you.” While refreshing your image is important, it is equally critical to hold on to your unique value proposition and maintaining fidelity to your core mission/values. – Colby Reade, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust

4. Consider The Emotional And Intellectual Appeal

Brands must appeal to both the emotional as well as intellectual drivers of your target personas; all too often an organization focuses on “what” and “how,” and forgets the “why.” Even more important is recognizing how to develop a self-selecting conversation for your messaging which should progress your audience through context, problem, promise, as well as the difference — how does your solution uniquely deliver on this promise — and the enabler — what are you offering to accomplish this. – Brian Anderson, POPin

5. Clearly Articulate Your Reason For Rebranding

Ensure you can clearly articulate why you are rebranding: Will the rebrand provide additional benefits to the customer? Expanded service? Centralized customer service? Another consideration is the time it takes to complete a rebrand. It will take many exposures to seat a new brand in someone’s mind, so try co-branding for a time and slowly move to the new look, so that people have enough time to get accustomed to it. – Caroline Lyle, TMW Systems

Sourced from Forbes

editor

Teachers are the latest demographic marketers want to reach. Use these 5 strategies to successfully connect with this influential audience.

Sourced from Inc.

1. Not Taking Criticism Well

2. Obsessing Over Gear

3. Being A Cliché Photographer

4. Not Using Social Media

5. Having Money As The Main Goal

6. Quantity Over Quality Approach

7. Not Having Repeat Customers

Further Reading

By JasenkaG

Sourced from LIGHT STALKING Illuminating Your Passion

Shane Barker, Digital Strategist, Shane Barker Consulting

Brittany Berger, Content Strategist

Lilach Bullock, Founder, Lilach Bullock Limited

Gini Dietrich, CEO, Arment Dietrich

Barry Feldman, Owner, Feldman Creative

Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs

Louis Grenier, Content Lead, Hotjar

Benji Hyam, Co-founder, Grow & Convert

Larry Kim, Founder, MobileMonkey

Arnie Kuenn, CEO, Vertical Measures

Jason Miller, Head of Content and Social Media Marketing, LinkedIn Sales & Marketing Solutions EMEA

Julia McCoy, Founder, Express Writers

Sujan Patel, Co-founder, Web Profits

Shayla Price, B2B Marketer

Joe Pulizzi, Founder, Content Marketing Institute

Jason Quey, Founder, Growth Ramp

Joanna Wiebe, Creator/Co-founder, Copy Hackers/Airstory

Stay Fresh with a Follow

By Ben Jacobson

Sourced from Search Engine Journal

We are more like Einstein, Leonardo, and Mozart

By Thomas Oppong

Sourced from The Good Men Project

The evolution of thoroughness

Embarrassment gets you there faster

By uxdesign.cc

Sourced from TNW

Obviously, mastering an efficient prototyping tool is a must

Supposing you were a real user rather than just a UI / UX designer is a big help

Changing a little bit of your way of learning may works like a charm

Stop hanging out only with your designer friends will spark your inspiration

Learning from the best will make a difference

By Trista liu

Sourced from HACKERNOON

By Patrick Colvin M.S.Ed, PHR, SHRM-CP

By Patrick Colvin M.S.Ed, PHR, SHRM-CP

Sourced from Forbes

By Dan Walker

Sourced from THE DRUM

Grads of LifeVoice: Finding Your Drive: When “Good Enough” Isn’t Nearly Enough

Read more in When Brand Strategy And Corporate Culture Collide

Sourced from Forbes