Marketing is expensive and inevitably necessary if you are frequently losing your clients. However, new research has identified a psychographic trait that increases brand loyalty.

Millward Brown recently analyzed BrandZ’s 2008 database and discovered that digital consumers (online buyers/information searchers) have stronger relationships with brands than non-digital consumers. In other words, make it easy to find and research your brand online, and you will increase your chances of getting loyal followers.

This loyalty trend proves true in all categories whether airlines or grocery stores. However, the strength of loyalty varies depending on the category. Examples include:

• 93% stronger for Airlines
• 48% stronger for IT Hardware
• 45% stronger for IT Software
• 22% stronger for Body Care
  
• 17% stronger for Cars
• 12% stronger for Fast Food
  
• 9% stronger for Banking
• 7% stronger for Grocery Stores
  
• 5% stronger for Soft Drinks
• 5% stronger for Motor Fuel

So if you want to likely increase your customer loyalty numbers, target Web users. Invest in a good website. Leverage social media.

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POLITICS
Sheeple (n) - Submissive citizens.
Slacktivism (n) - Activism without all the activity.

ETHICS
Spitzer’d (v) - Getting caught in an amazingly epic feat of hypocrisy. Such as being a married government official who publicly champions family values and anti-corruption reforms while simultaneously spending ridiculous sums of money on prostitutes.

THE ECONOMY
201(k) (n) - What’s left of a 401(k) after a recession.
Cashtration (n) - A person who is cash poor, possession rich, but not wanting to sell those possessions until their value returns in the market place.

ENVIRONMENT
Ecoflation (n) - The increased cost of doing business due to the rising concerns over eco-consciousness.

TECHNOLOGY
Blackburied (adj) - The feeling of being overwhelmed by the constant flood of emails and work from your mobile device.

SOCIAL NETWORKING
BlackBerry prayer (n) - The hunched over posture common amongst those absorbed in mobile device usage, reminiscent of the pose of one deep in prayer.

PERSONALITIES & RELATIONSHIPS
Framily (n) - One’s circle of close friends who feel like family.

STRESS & LIFE
Retox (v) - To consciously go back on your promises to quit drinking or smoking.

STREET SLANG / OTHERS
Commit suey (v) - To eat way too much Chinese food that results in a queasy feeling.

Learn how to speak the rest of 2009 by reading the complete dictionary.

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The world is full of good opportunities but great opportunities are typically rare. And when they come, it is worth postponing something that is important in order to do something that is more important.

This summer I postponed blogging here at KentShaffer.com. And I invested that time into developing a new commercial real estate listings website called AcreScout. AcreScout allows real estate agents to add their commercial properties for free. And user friendly tools make it easy for businesses and organizations to search for commercial real estate for sale or for lease.

Eventually, there will be more blog posts here.

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More people are going online for news. And this trend is causing industry leaders to reconsider how they do business. Arthur Sulzberger, owner of The New York Times, has even gone as far to say,

I really don’t know whether we’ll be printing the Times in five years, and you know what? I don’t care either. The Internet is a wonderful place to be, and we’re leading there. (source)

The Newspaper Association of America reports Internet ad revenue grew 18.8% for newspapers in 2007. But despite this online success, total advertising revenue (including online revenue) still decreased 7.9% in 2007.

The newspaper recession is a good reminder that when culture and economies change, industries may have to change their methods, as well.

[via Editor & Publisher & TechCrunch]

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• Using a 24″ monitor rather than an 18″ monitor can save you 2.5 hours per workday or equivalent to 76 workdays per year.
• Widescreen is best for text editing tasks.
  >> Two 20″ monitors were 44% faster at text editing than one 18″ monitor.
  >> One 24″ monitor was 52% faster at text editing than one 18″ monitor.
• Dual monitors are best for spreadsheet editing tasks.
  >> Two 20″ monitors were 29% faster at spreadsheet editing than one 18″ monitor.
  >> One 24″ monitor was 26% faster at spreadsheet editing than one 18″ monitor.
• Overall, increasing screen size increases productivity. However, these productivity gains max out and begin to decline once the screen becomes too large. The research shows a 30″ monitor as less efficient than a 26″ monitor but more efficient than a 24″ monitor.
• Screen space also affects the amount of satisfaction obtained from the work.

For a PDF from NEC with research highlights, visit their website. NEC also offers a free online tool to calculate how much you or your company can save by changing your monitors. Their research shows that a company of 250 employees can potentially save $2.3 million per year by upgrading their 17″ monitors to 24″ monitors.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

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The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.

Knowing the rules does not guarantee greatness. It only rescues you from failure (assuming you follow them). But when you reach the point when you know the exceptions to the rules - that is when to break the rules or go against tradition or trends - then you are likely to achieve greatness (assuming you have the guts to pursue the exceptions).

Attaining such wisdom has nothing to do with age but everything to do with the maturity of your knowledge. And such maturity is gained by passionately pursuing opportunities to learn from the wisdom of experience. Continually read books, blogs, and articles so that you might learn from the failures and success stories of others. Find a mentor. A good mentor can give you a lifetime of experience in a matter of months. If you do, you will gain wisdom beyond your years.

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Heart is what separates the good from the great.

Natural ability will make you good. Big budgets will make you good. Fantastic marketing will make you good. But it takes heart to be great. Greatness lies in diligence, perseverance, and drive. Greatness lies in the intangibles.

Heart is never content but always pushes you to a greater level. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, explains:

Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life.

Just because you experience a sales success or management success or any success, don’t trade your heart for contentment. Greatness does not come in the leap of one sole success, but it comes from the inching forward of one success after another.

Heart is not about comparing yourself to others but about comparing yourself to your past. It is about constant self-improvement. There will always be someone smarter than you, stronger than you, and faster than you. But your heart will determine how you measure up in the long run. Your heart is your key to greatness.

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• Most Important Tasks (MITs)
  At the start of each day (or the night before) highlight the three or four most important things you have to do in the coming day. Do them first. If you get nothing else accomplished aside from your MITs, you’ve still had a pretty productive day.
• Inbox Zero
  Decide what to do with every email you get, the moment you read it. If there’s something you need to do, either do it or add it to your to-do list and delete or file the email. If it’s something you need for reference, file it. Empty your email inbox every day.
• Wake Up Earlier
  Add a productive hour to your day by getting up an hour earlier — before everyone else starts imposing on your time.
• Eat the Frog
  Do your most unpleasant task first. Based on the saying that if the first thing you do in the morning is eat a frog, the day can only get better from then on.
• 80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle)
  Generally speaking, the 80/20 Principle says that most of our results come from a small portion of our actual work, and conversely, that we spend most of our energy doing things that aren’t ultimately all that important. Figure out which part of your work has the greatest results and focus as much of your energy as you can on that part.
• Time Boxing
  Assign a set amount of time per day to work on a task or project. Focus entirely on that one thing during that time. Don’t worry about finishing it, just worry about giving that amount of undivided attention to the project. (Variation: fixed goals. For example, you don’t get up until you’ve written 1,000 words, or processed 10 orders, or whatever.)
• Batch Process
  Do all your similar tasks together. For example, don’t deal with emails sporadically throughout the day; instead, set aside an hour to go through your email inbox and respond to emails. Do the same with voice mail, phone calls, responding to letters, filing, and so on — any routine, repetitive tasks.
• Time Log
  Lawyers have to track everything they do in the day and how long they do it so they can bill their clients and remain accountable. You need to be accountable to yourself, so keep track of how much time you really spend on the things that are important to you by tracking your time.
• Write It Down
  Don’t rely on your memory as your system. Write down the things you need to do, your schedule, anything you might need to refer to, and every passing thought so you can relax, knowing you won’t forget. Use your brain for thinking, use paper or your computer for keeping track of stuff.
• Monotasking
  We like to think of ourselves as great multitaskers, but we aren’t. What we do when we multitask is devote tiny slices of time to several tasks in rapid succession. Since it takes more than a few minutes (research suggests as long as 20) to really get into a task, we end up working worse and more slowly than if we devoted longer blocks of time to each task, worked until it was done, and moved on to the next one.
• Unclutter
  Clutter is anything that’s out of place and in the way. It’s not necessarily neatness — someone can have a rigorously neat workspace and not be able to get anything done. It’s being able to access what you need, when you need it, without breaking the flow of your work to find it. Figure out what is “clutter” in your working and living spaces, and fix that.
• To-Don’t List
  A list of things not to do — useful for keeping track of habits that lead you to be unproductive, like playing online flash games.
• No
  Learning to say “no” — to new commitments, to interruptions, to anything — is one of the most valuable skills you can develop to keep you focused on your own commitments and give you time to work on them.
• Purge
  Regularly go through your existing commitments and get rid of anything that is either not helping you advance your own goals or is a regular “sink” of time or energy.
• Timer
  Tell yourself you will work on a project or task, and only that project or task, for a set amount of time. Set a timer (use a kitchen timer, or use a countdown timer on your computer), and plug away at your work. When the timer goes off, you’re done — move on to the next project or task.

Currently, I use a combination of “Timer” and “Time Log.” I use SlimTimer to track how much time I spend in seven different areas of my work day. And each area has a minimum goal of time for me to invest.

So how do you get things done? What methods have you found that actually work?

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That is why it is vital to have great design because those who know nothing about you will judge you by your appearance. Aesthetics are a powerful thing. Whether graphic design or product design, your appearance shapes how others perceive you.

Amateur design is not credible. It can come across as cheap or inexperienced or even as a scam. But great design gives its viewers a taste of what to expect. Great design communicates your brand. It is relevant to your target audience. It’s believable. It’s professional. And its style is appropriate. Not only does great design increase the credibility of first impressions, but it also adds value to your existing customers’ perceptions.

Your design is your credibility. You can’t stop people from making assumptions, but you can create an image that produces the right assumptions.

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Because people are growing less trusting of advertising and direct messages from companies, it is important to try to create relationships with your target audience. Relationships build trust. They tear down misconceptions, doubts, and stereotypes. And they do so because they make the unfamiliar familiar.

Of course, not just any relationship will do. You must be authentic. Be transparent. Accentuate your desire to meet their needs with your product or service. If money is your priority, it will likely show and compromise the relationship’s authenticity. But if the customer is your priority, customers will notice and begin giving you the priceless gift of their trust.

People are most loyal to companies they trust. When trust becomes increasingly scarce, it makes earning it all the more valuable.

[via The Experience Economist & The Consumerist]

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