Almost every day, I talk to online marketers or web professionals who feel as though their professional--and sometimes even personal--lives are spinning out of control. As they struggle to meet their responsibilities in the workplace, at home and to themselves, they begin to feel increasingly that they are not doing well enough in any area of their lives.
The world that we live in is a challenging one. New technology means that more and more companies are dealing in global markets and across different time zones, and even local retail customers are no longer prepared to settle for 9-to-5 service. For today’s workers, these things mean greater opportunities for flexible working patterns than ever before.
Flexible working provides advantages for anyone who wants to maintain a better work/life balance, particularly those of us who work in busy web and online marketing environments. These advantages might include decreasing "dead" time due to long commutes; better fulfilling their roles as parents, partners or caregivers; recovering some sense of a social or personal life; or simply fitting their work schedules to their natural body clocks to become sharper or more productive. Greater flexibility can also allow employers to become more competitive and gain better results, creating a win-win situation for all.
If you think that a revision to your working patterns could tip your work/life balance in the right direction, then speak to your employer. You could be doing yourself and your employer an enormous favor! To learn more about how large and small companies have implemented flexible work arrangements, check out the Results-Only Work Environment site at www.gorowe.com.
Do you utilize flexible work arrangements in your company? If so, how is it working for you and have you found that it has increased your productivity, creativity or results?
Lisa Kirschner
Managing Editor, Content 911
Managing Director, Flair Interactive Services Inc.
Have you ever tried mind mapping? If not, I highly recommend it, whether you're a content strategist, business analyst, web manager or online marketer.
Mind mapping is a technique used in problem solving, for decision making and as a study aid. It's a superb way of generating creative ideas. Essentially, you begin with a single idea or topic that you want to develop, then brainstorm to incorporate subtopics and sub-subtopics and so on. All of these are connected but--because you are not thinking in a linear way--you tend to be more creative than in a traditional brainstorming setting. Mind maps are incredibly useful tools and the end result is something highly visual, so they can be a great way to simplify otherwise complex plans or concepts.
When using mind maps at home to work out problems or come up with ideas, it may be perfectly adequate to create them using pen and paper. In a work or group environment, however, the product of the session needs to be properly recorded and perhaps even presented at a later stage. This is where mind-mapping software can be particularly useful, since the results can be printed and shared.
There are many mind-mapping software packages available, and most allow exports to Microsoft Office and Adobe applications to make sharing the documents extremely easy. If you want to try before you buy, find software providers online that offer a free 30-day trial.
If you've never tried mind mapping before, get your creative juices flowing and give it a try!
Lisa Kirschner
Managing Editor, Content 911 Blog
Managing Director, Flair Interactive Services Inc.
In the B2C environment, most customers tend to do a bit of online research before actually placing an order, and the same is equally true--if not more so--with B2B customers.
This means that--even if your company uses marketing automation tools that allow you to identify potential customers and provide you with insight into the goods or services in which they are interested--you could risk either scaring them off or letting the lead go cold if you don’t time your follow-up communications just right.
In the same way that you might check with your spouse before ordering something for your home online, corporate decisionmakers often need to seek approval or discuss with others before placing an order--even if the value of the order isn’t huge. Calling a B2B prospect within a few hours of the prospect’s visit to your website, therefore, is unlikely to generate a sale.
In terms of the best time of day to follow up, experts believe that after 3:30 p.m. is most productive, because even though customers might not actually place an order at this time, they are generally more open to arranging a telephone appointment for the following day. Perhaps surprisingly, Mondays are the worst day of the week to follow up and Fridays are far and away the best.
Timing, as they say, is everything, and that is never truer than in the world of online B2B marketing!
Warm regards,
Lisa Kirschner
Managing Editor, Content 911
Managing Director, Flair Interactive Services Inc.
Finding work/life balance in today’s busy and highly competitive world could never be described as easy. For most perfectionists, however, it is downright impossible. I see this play out every day when I'm working with busy web and marketing managers who have huge To Do lists and virtually no personal lives.
Although many people tend to think of being a perfectionist as a positive thing, true perfectionism can be extremely counterproductive. Not only does the need to attend to every last little detail waste unnecessary time and lead to tasks and projects taking MUCH longer than they need to, but it typically means that perfectionists end up allowing work to eat into their own personal leisure time. And even worse...once the job is finally complete, the perfectionist may feel that he or she has not completed it well enough, leading to intense feelings of frustration and low self-esteem. This can lead to a downward spiral of negativity and a lack of motivation at work and at home.
Striving for excellence is something that can benefit ourselves and our employers, but there is a world of difference between this and trying to achieve the impossible. As human beings, we are not built to be perfect; trying to achieve perfection is a certain road to unhappiness. By all means give everything your best shot, but know when to stop because your best really is good enough!
If you're a perfectionist and you're trying to do too much or get everything PERFECT in your web site or online marketing initiatives, it's time to sit back, take a deep breath and...LET IT GO.
Strive to remember the Pareto Principle--basically aim for 80% perfection and don't sweat the other 20%. There will ALWAYS be something that you can do better with your web site and online marketing campaigns: more content that you can write, more pages that you can add to your site, more marketing campaigns that you can run...but do your best and aim to do just ONE thing at a time (and do it well!). When you free your mind of clutter and focus, you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish. Complete that single thing well, and THEN move on to the next thing on your list.
Until next time,
Lisa Kirschner
Managing Editor, Content 911
Managing Director, Flair Interactive Services Inc.
So are you hearing a lot about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) today?
Flair's hosting partner, Siteground (which is against these pieces of legislation), has a great video that explains why they're opposed to this controversial legislation:
http://blog.siteground.com/stop-censorship/
As a content manager and author, I have mixed feelings about SOPA, which is the U.S. House bill, and PIPA, which is the U.S. Senate bill. Both of these bills are mainly aimed at overseas companies, but U.S.-based companies and individuals would also feel the impact.
If I have to choose one side, I oppose these pieces of legislation due to the proposed ability to shut down or block sites and domains (by actually accessing domain registry records), the proposed ability for the government to force advertisers and others to cut off funding to companies in question, and some other penalties and proposed solutions.
HOWEVER, as an author and content manager, I am also VERY FIRMLY opposed to unauthorized piracy of any kind of content (articles, music, videos or any other content) without the explicit written content from the copyright holder. Still, I think sending an individual user who has sung one of their favorite artists' songs in a FB post or YouTube video to jail for five years is a little ridiculous.
PCWorld also has a more objective article about this:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/248298/sopa_and_pipa_just_the_facts.html
Seems like we could have avoided all of this if the government noticed the rampant unauthorized use of content about 10 years ago. There has to be another way...
I don't think that these bills will pass in their current state, but I also don't think that this debate is over (nor should it be). Unfortunately, I suspect that artists (the people whose creative genius inspired them to create such works of art) will end up being the ones who suffer either way--not music companies, corporations, newspapers, magazines, hosting providers, search engines and directories, or Internet companies.
What do you think of SOPA and PIPA? Let us know!
Lisa Kirschner
Managing Editor, Content 911
Managing Director, Flair Interactive Services Inc.
According to Morgan Stanley, mobile marketing is the fastest growing industry in the history of the Internet.
It’s really no surprise. Today, consumers are becoming more dependent on, and active with, their mobile phones. In fact, 96% of adults own cell phones--37% of which are smart phones. With statistics like that, it’s only natural that businesses key in on the mobile marketing revolution that’s sweeping the Internet. Don't assume that because you have a B2B business, you shouldn't tap into this lucrative market. Remember, businesses are run by PEOPLE--people who use mobile devices for personal AND business tasks.
Mobile marketing--by definition--is a set of practices that enables organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network. (Mobile Marketing Association)
In other words, mobile marketing brings your products or services to your customers or clients in a much faster way than traditional marketing methods. Even simpler yet: mobile marketing is any form of marketing that involves using a mobile phone or device to participate. It may take on the form of a text message promotion, email, social media campaign or even face-to-face interactions--all with one goal in mind: engaging the customer to take some type of action.
How are you using mobile marketing in your business today? Or if you're not using it yet, what's stopping you?
Lisa Kirschner
Managing Editor, Content 911 Blog
Managing Director, Flair Interactive Services Inc.
As 2011 comes to a close, we at Flair are getting slammed with frantic calls from potential clients who want to know why they've seen a decrease in traffic to their site during the last few months. While Google's Panda update (a change to their algorithm earlier this year) may not be the cause of all traffic changes, it's certainly had a huge impact on many sites and businesses this year.
SEOMoz has released a great video entitled "How Google's Panda Update Changed SEO Best Practices Forever." Anyone who's grappling to understand Panda and what it might mean should take a few minutes to watch this video.
Contact us at Flair Interactive if you need help understanding how your site ranks, why you have those rankings, how Panda has impacted you and what you can do about it.
We also frequently work with new startups who don't have any previous rankings and want to increase traffic to their sites as quickly as possible. (However, keep in mind that it's best to look at SEO as a longer-term effort than a quick band aid.)
We look forward to helping you with your SEO and online marketing needs in 2012.
Lisa Kirschner
Founder and Managing Director, Flair Interactive Services Inc.
Managing Editor, Content 911 Blog
Before you begin adding customization tools to SharePoint to create a solution for your business, you must understand your company’s business problem. In this article, I cover a few important areas you need to address before you look at technology...
via www.cmswire.com
Hear, hear! I couldn't have said it better myself!
In this CMS Wire article, author Jennifer Mason is really just providing a gentle reminder that "You have to know where you're going in order to figure out how you're going to get there" or "Don't put the cart before the horse."
This is a problem that I see businesses struggling with all the time. I've had dozens and dozens of conversations with clients who really want to select a technology language or tool before they've really determined what they're trying to do.
Study this article carefully if you're planning to customize SharePoint or any CMS. You'll save yourself lots of time and frustration, and your end result will be better because you've taken the time to think through your business goals carefully.
Lisa Kirschner
Managing Director, Flair Interactive Services Inc.
Managing Editor, Content 911 Blog
Looking for a new email marketing program for your startup or SMB?
There are dozens on the market that are geared toward small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs). If you don't have time to sift thorugh all of their web sites and compare features, use this handy comparison chart and awesome video reviews by Top Ten Reviews:
Top Ten Reviews - Top 15 Email Marketing Vendors for SMBs
This site will save you a lot of time and help you narrow down your short list. We at Flair have worked with a number of these vendors over the years, including Constant Contact, Vertical Response, iContact and others--so let us know if you need help with your email marketing efforts.
Happy reading!
Lisa Kirschner
Managing Director, Flair Interactive Services Inc.
Managing Editor, Content 911 Blog
Most of my clients tell me at the beginning of a project that they'll write all of the content for their web sites, landing pages, blogs, newsletters and other online marketing efforts themselves. I always take this piece of info with a grain of salt, because it usually never happens. Deadlines come and go, clients promise that the content is "almost done," but it never comes to fruition. Nine times out of ten, they eventually hand off all of the content development to us here at Flair.
Have you ever wondered why even seasoned marketing professionals and writers struggle with writer's block? Why is that a task that seems like it should be much easier than more technical tasks always falls by the wayside and takes a long time to get done?
In my experience, it can happen for a few reasons. First, most people tend to underestimate or OVERestimate the amount of time needed for content development. They might set aside too little time in the beginning, start getting into it and realize that it's a much bigger job than they had anticipated...or they might keep putting it off because it's turned into a gargantuan effort in their mind. In either scenario, better project planning, time management and a "just do it" attitude can help.
But what about when it runs a little more deeply than that? What if you're feeling unmotivated due to the nature of the content that you're writing? If you're employed as a writer at a large company and you need to feed your family, you might just need to suck it up and do it anyway (sorry--but you're a pro, right?).
However, if you're self-employed or a change agent at your place of employment, you should be taking this opportunity to ask, "Why are we producing these massive amounts of uninspired and uninspriing content? How on earth do we expect to sell our products and services if there's no passion in what we're communicating to our audience?"
There are numerous books and articles out there about bringing life back into your online content by focusing on engaging your audience and telling a story. I recommend Ann Handley's Content Rules in particular.
Karl Staib also provides some practical tips in "6 Ways to Supercharge Your Writing" on his popular Copyblogger blog. Check it out...and then step back to evalutate how you can reenergize your writing time and your content.
Lisa Kirschner
Managing Director, Flair Interactive Services Inc.
Managing Editor, Content 911