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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 26, 2016 7:10 PM
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This article includes a compilation of 20 business consulting WordPress themes available for free download.
Who may be interested in this type of product? We are sure that business owners and financial advisors, who want to promote their projects online and draw more customers and more money, as well as professional and amateur designers who want to save time and effort, will appreciate the showcased freebies.
Moreover, all the free WordPress themes listed below were developed by reputable companies and incorporate all the latest features (like responsiveness, parallax effect, clean layouts and so on) that any decent website needs to meet today’s expectations....
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Rescooped by
Jeff Domansky
from Organisation Development
March 26, 2016 3:36 PM
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3,124 leaders provided their input for the Global Leadership Forecast 2014|2015, presented by DDI and The Conference Board. This vast amount of data brought us to 18 initial findings, with more to come.
View a snapshot of the data, and explore key questions on the path to organizational success by utilizing our Leadership Development Road Map.
Via David Hain
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 26, 2016 12:48 PM
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For many people, even the thought of public speaking can lead to panic. The crowd. The lights. The dreaded Q&A session. It's a lot to deal with. But allowing these apprehensions to silence our voice can be crippling to our careers. If we want to be seen as smart and articulate professionals, we need to walk the walk and talk the talk. After all, our intelligence is often best conveyed not in what we say but in how we say it, according to a recent study from the University of Chicago. Rather than keeping quiet to avoid saying something foolish, it's important that we're actively identifying ways to overcome self-doubt. To help get you started, check out this infographic from the folks at WriteMyEssays. They've compiled some awesome speaking habits designed to make you sound smarter....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 26, 2016 12:21 PM
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Leadership presence is the elusive secret of successful leadership. If you’ve got “IT” you radiate a magnetic effect that comes from being authentic and inspires people to you.l And, if you have “IT” your presence opens the door to greater leadership responsibilities. Increase your leadership presence by taking a look at the video, “ultimate” infographic, and bonus material....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 26, 2016 11:50 AM
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Elementary school finger painting teaches us that there are three primary colors—red, yellow and blue—that combine to make three secondary colors—orange, green and purple—and (plus or minus some black and white paint) every other color imaginable. That’s six basic colors. But there are seven colors in the rainbow, our most important color symbol. So, basically, purple is subdivided into purple and more-blue-ish-purple. Who the bananas made that decision?!? And why? The short answers: Isaac Newton. And Ancient Greek philosophy. Um, what?...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 25, 2016 11:03 AM
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It sometimes looks as if the hyperlocal space is owned by commercial “pureplays” – the Yelps, Angie’s Lists and Weddings.com. These are the sites that most often seem connected to their often very vertical communities – and pull in the revenue, as documented in the new Borrell report. News sites grind out their duty coverage of local arrests, fires and traffic snarls, but how often do they capture what’s special about their towns and stir up communal sprit? And even if they do achieve that, how often do they reap new revenue from their enterprise? 30A succeeds at both. Founder and CEO Mike Ragsdale sees 30A as far more than a website. “It’s a network, it’s a brand,” he says. 30A has plenty of new about the Santa Rosa Beach communities along the Gulf Coast of Northwest Florida, including the occasional story that might not sit that well with visitors who reach for too many cool ones (“Spring Break Safety: Sheriff, Seaside Take Stand Against Illegal Activities”) But it’s also three retail stores, 30A Radio, 30A Weddings.com and 30A VideoTours.com, and more....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 25, 2016 2:07 AM
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" Jumping the shark" is an idiom popularized by Jon Hein that was used to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality, signaled by a particular scene, episode, or aspect of a show in which the writers use some type of gimmick in an attempt to keep viewers' interest, which is taken as a sign of desperation, and is seen by viewers to be the point at which the show strayed irretrievably from its original formula.
Ever wonder where this great expression came from? "Jumping the shark" is an idiom popularized by Jon Hein that was used to describe the moment in the evolution of a television show when it begins a decline in quality, signaled by a particular scene, episode, or aspect of a show in which the writers use some type of gimmick in an attempt to keep viewers' interest, which is taken as a sign of desperation, and is seen by viewers to be the point at which the show strayed irretrievably from its original formula. The phrase is based on a scene from a fifth-season episode of the sitcomHappy Days when the character Fonzie jumps over a shark while on water-skis. The usage of "jump the shark" has subsequently broadened beyond television, indicating the moment when a brand, design, franchise, or creative effort's evolution declines....
So the question today is: Are consumers still cashing in on coupons? We’ll look at the latest research, the impact of digital coupons and whether consumers still care about their coupons.
According to a report by Invesp, 59% of consumers will use a digital mobile coupon while shopping in 2016. An Inmar 2015 Shopper Study shows while overall coupon redemption is down 13%, digital usage is up. Macy’s, Target and other retailers are experimenting with Near Field Communication (NFC), Wi-Fi or GPS using iBeacons to deliver coupons. Jupiter Research estimates by 2020, beacons will be used to distribute around 1.6 billion coupons to smartphones annually, up from just 11 million this year.
Digital coupons appear to be reducing the impact of coupon fraud and research also shows consumers spend between $10 and $50 more if they get to use a digital coupon. Coupons as E. coli crisis management tool? Seems to be working at Chipotle where the company is rebuilding customer confidence after losing $72 million in the last quarter of 2015 due to its E. coli crisis. 58% of consumers prefer to receive their coupons, discounts and promotions by email says a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The report has eight key findings with insight on everything from mobile preferences and loyalty programs to coupons and social media.
Via Douglas G Hall
While there are concerns over the cost of integrating Beacon technology at the Point Of Sale, it offers an attractive opportunity to retailers as a means of engaging with consumers in-store, opines the report. And, though previous research anticipated that consumer adoption would be limited to iPhone users, the last 18 months has seen a spate of activities enabling beacons for Android users, making it a far more attractive option for retailers.
The report ends by forecasting that, by 2020, beacons will be used to distribute around 1.6 billion coupons to smartphones annually, up from just 11 million this year....
Via Douglas G Hall
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 24, 2016 4:11 AM
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This blog post is all about examples of great emails—emails that are so effective, inspiring, and compelling that readers couldn’t resist the urge to engage with them. Each email is an opportunity to generate leads, further educate your prospects, close customers, and support your evangelists. It’s a chance to move the reader out of their inbox and onto a path to read more, subscribe, sign-up or buy. Email marketing can be an incredibly valuable communication channel for your business. To drive real results—results measured in dollars and cents—an email marketer has to send emails that add value to the readers and benefit their own business. The three emails below were all sent by HubSpot customers and achieved OUTSTANDING results. There will be context on why each email was so successful individually, but it’s worth pointing out two things that all of them have in common...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 24, 2016 3:32 AM
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Wondering how to use Medium for business? Want to use Medium to engage with prospects? Medium’s Letters feature lets you communicate directly with prospects so you can build meaningful relationships with them. In this article you’ll discover how to use Letters on Medium to nurture leads....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 24, 2016 2:37 AM
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In 2015 F500 there are 9 corporations who do not use any of the social media platforms or tools examined in this study. These include: - A-Mark Precious Metals
- Berkshire Hathaway
- CenterPoint Energy
- Franklin Resources
- Icahn Enterprises
- Liberty Interactive
- Old Republic International
- PBF Energy
- Wynn Resorts.
Key findings of this study include: - In 2015, 103 corporations (21%) had corporate blogs, down 10% from 2014.
- Twitter is more popular than Facebook (78% vs 74%).
- Glassdoor (87%) has joined LinkedIn (93%) as a popular business tool.
- The use of Instagram has increased by 13% pointing to more interest in visually rich platforms.
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 23, 2016 2:54 AM
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I write quite a bit on social media and also happen to be an avid user of it. So, does that make me an expert on the topic? I might have more knowledge than the average social media user, but I’m still learning. The social media landscape is ever changing. All it takes is for Facebook or Twitter to make a single change and what works today, might not work tomorrow. However, I do research my suggestions and only speak to what has worked for me and my company. I’m also very particular about where I get advice.Here’s a rough checklist that you should quickly run in your mind when you encounter any self-styled expert on social media (or on any topic for that matter)....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 26, 2016 6:46 PM
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Picture quotes are one of the most pinned images on Pinterest.
The more visually striking your picture and quote combination is, the more shareable it will be. People can use them on social media, turn them into printable wall quotes, or download them as desktop wallpaper — that’s maximum visibility for you or your brand.
So whether you want to take your graphics to the next level or create your own for the first time, let’s go through some ways you can do the same for your quotes using some of the most eye-catching examples on the web....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 26, 2016 2:54 PM
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Some days you just want to put your feet up, eat buffalo chicken nachos, and watch Netflix -- and not even good Netflix, but some crappy movie that you're only watching because you've given up on being productive and are complicit in filling your brain with dim-witted, mind-numbing entertainment. But hey, sometimes that's what it takes to recharge your batteries. A nice little brain vacation.
Of course, when you've got a deadline looming, or a big presentation coming up, and your coworkers (and/or customers) are depending on you, taking a brain vacation isn't really an option. In such cases, when you can't afford to lollygag, you need to be able to silence your inner couch potato and get your head in the game. You need to be able to dig down deep, find your inner strength, give 110%, and ... look, I'll admit it: Motivational speeches aren't really my thing.
So in lieu of writing you one, I've found 16 of the greatest motivational speeches from across the worlds of business, sports, entertainment, and more. And while the messages vary greatly from speech to speech, they can all help you get in the right frame of mind for tackling your next big challenge.
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 26, 2016 12:26 PM
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What’s the deal? Is HTTPS important or not? The idea of HTTPS has always been a good one, and most leading businesses implemented it a long time ago. However, somewhat recently, Google announced that HTTPS is a ranking factor. Obviously, that got SEOs talking about and debating the subject. At the time, it was a very small ranking factor, affecting less than 1% of global searches. Even now, it’s not a big factor. However, security is something that Google takes very seriously, and it’s likely to become more important in the future....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 26, 2016 11:58 AM
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The first ever TV ad was for Bulova watches and was broadcasted in 1941 on American screens. But do you know how digital marketing started? Commercially available desktop PCs started to enter homes only in the 1980s. And in the 1990s, web 1.0 platforms and the internet started to take shape. Soon enough Google and Blogger were founded in 1998 and 1999 respectively. And online marketing has evolved rapidly ever since. As per Adobe’s 2013 survey of marketers, 76% respondents believed that marketing has changed more in the past two years than in the last 50. But only 9% believed that their digital marketing is working. That’s sad. The good news is that you can perform your marketing much more efficiently. You need to observe the digital landscape intently and adapt to fulfill your audience demands. I’ve put together 11 alarming statistics to help you adjust your online marketing strategy for 2016....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 25, 2016 11:18 AM
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Today companies choose who to work with based on who has become part of their buying journey. Your ideal clients are doing independent research and looking for information to help them make an educated choice about how they will spend their money and ultimately they will choose the company/person who has assisted in their buying journey. The good news is that you can find these ideal clients, build a relationship with them and establish yourself as a trusted expert on LinkedIn. Here is a daily LinkedIn social selling plan broken down into three manageable steps to help you effectively and efficiently manage your lead generation activities each day on LinkedIn....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 25, 2016 3:06 AM
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If you’re a social media marketer – you would be familiar with the feeling of working endlessly and still feeling like you have a ton of work left to do. How do you overcome this? The first step is to give yourself a break. After that, however, it’s time to start looking at ways to work smarter, rather than harder. Tools and extensions have been growing rapidly over recent years and there’s a good reason for it. Content plays an important role in social media marketing – without good content, there’s nothing to market. You could pour hours, days or weeks into your marketing campaign, but no good content means no leads. It is the first step to connecting with your audience and most marketers don’t have the time to create the content themselves. If you’re one of these marketers, here’s a list of 8 tools that let you find and share great content and help with time management:...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 25, 2016 1:10 AM
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For demonstration purposes, let’s consider an article from the Atlantic Wire about a family who searched for “Pressure Cookers” on Google who were later visited by the police. In the rest of this post, I will describe a few templates and techniques to help you annotate curated content. Here are a few examples along with the pluses and minuses of each technique. As we dive into each technique, I’ve created this handy 2×2 to help you determine which annotation strategy is right for you....
According to Marketing Blog, digital coupons are driving Omni-channels and mobile sales. The following statistics and trends, courtesy of Invesp, will give you more insights into the incredible potential of digital coupon marketing.
A total of 16 billion coupons were redeemed in 2014. By 2019, this will have grown to 31 billion coupons, of which 1.05 billion will be mobile coupons. In 2015, about 57.5% of U.S consumers used digital coupons while shopping. This will grow to about 59% by the end of 2016.
Despite the fact that only 48% of U.S companies will use mobile coupons, up from 36.5% in 2014, statistics indicate that 55% of consumers use mobile while searching for coupons, and 83% of all digital coupon users will use mobile by 2016.
According to Mobile Commerce Daily, 62% of smartphone users are extremely likely to use coupons. An eMarketer report about digital statistics found similar figures in 2014, predicting that at least 70% of mobile users will hunt for online coupons by 2016...
Via Douglas G Hall
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 24, 2016 4:17 AM
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Keeping up to date with the latest social media logos can be a challenge. And even once you’ve found the correct logos it can also take some time to understand the brand guidelines: - How much spacing should be around the logo? - What colors should I use? - What size should be it be? etc, To help you save time, we put together this resource to keep you updated on the latest social media logos. Alongside the most recent logos for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more, we’ve also included the key guidelines for the usage of each logo as well....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 24, 2016 3:42 AM
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Repurposing is a common best practice among the most effective content creators: you can be much more efficient and prolific if you take a single idea and turn it 15 different ways rather than trying to come up with 15 brand new ideas. Ideas are super hard to come by, and when you get a great one you have to grab on with both hands and squeeze as much value out of it as you can. If you’re not sure what I mean by “repurposing,” think of it as taking a great idea and building off it to create something completely new. Kind of like IKEA Hacking, but for marketers. Repurposing comes in three different flavors: - atomization, which is breaking a single asset up into smaller pieces; - aggregation, which is pulling smaller pieces together into larger long-form assets; and - amplification, which is using the themes & messages of your core content to create related pieces that build the strength of your brand’s connection to the idea/topic overall. We’ll dive into each option separately so you can think about which method or methods makes sense for your content mix and marketing team....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 24, 2016 3:18 AM
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The old adage that “perception is reality” is particularly true in online reputation management. Practitioners know that what’s said online, true or not, frequently influences the public’s perception of their client. Online image cultivation and maintenance has become part of almost all public relations practice, and practitioners continually strive to keep up with what people think about their client. However, despite ever-increasing PR research sophistication, the core tenet of image management stays the same: a practitioner must know and understand what others are saying about their client. Handling criticisms is part of any good PR practice, and those teaching PR tell students how a practitioner responds to criticism is important because it can help foster a relationship with an aggrieved public. However, there is a trend in image management that turns this philosophy on its head. In the past few years individuals and, increasingly, organizations have turned away from the PR practitioner and embraced the lawsuit as the most effective means to control, maintain, and cultivate online image.... These cases demonstrate a problematic trend in online image management. While some defamation lawsuits are probably necessary, the expense of lawsuits and the potential for negative media attention are liabilities for any person or organization. The use of non-disparagement clauses in contracts is equally problematic because it allows organizations to squelch criticisms rather than engage with critics. Because of this, PR practitioners need to know four things when dealing with online defamation issues:...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
March 23, 2016 3:07 AM
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Have you ever wanted to go a bit crazy with your blog strategy? You know, try something a little left of center to see if it will get better results? Every now and then it pays to go off the beaten path. While conventional wisdom certainly has its place, there are many instances where defying it can prove just as valuable. For these 11 bloggers, going against the grain was exactly what they needed to drive results. If you’re thinking about ruffling a few feathers in your next blog post, take a look at how these men and women did so in a way that protected, rather than compromised, the success of their blogs:...
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![7 Speaking Habits That Will Make You Sound Smarter [Infographic] | Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/FLtaTU3pwR5YAohI1xqclDl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
Lots of creativity and some very smart looking free WordPress themes for consultants. If you're thinking of a redesign of your website or blog, check these out.