Did you know that the 23 million small businesses in America account for 54% of all U.S. sales? Did you know that small businesses provide 55% of all jobs and 66% of all net new jobs since the 1970s? While big business has eliminated four million jobs since 1990, small businesses added eight million. Why the focus on small business today? It’s National Small Business Week in the United States and to commemorate the occasion, I partnered with Cox Business…
Disruptive Selection: Nature’s Way of Weeding Out the Average Business
Disruption! It’s everywhere. I live in Silicon Valley where many say that the terms disrupt and disruption have become buzzwords. Pundits believe that the word is losing its promise and impact through the acts and examples of entrepreneurs and businesses that misuse the word to describe intentions rather than associating it with a desired or natural effect. In some of the startup meetings I attend for example, digital disruption is actually a stated business objective. Instead of “killing it” or…
Tune in with Twitter TV
Have you ever watched TV while using a laptop, smart phone, or tablet? Wait, why am I asking. Of course you have. Thatâs what we all do now right? So I guess the real question to ask is how often do you use Twitter vs. Facebook while watching TV? In many ways, Twitter is becoming a bona fide second screen experience while watching television. And in many ways, TV may also serve as the second screen to those engrossed in…
Be a Tool: Properly Resource Your Enterprise for Social Media
Guest post by Danna Vetter, VP, Consumer Strategies, ARAMARK Youâve heard it all before. You do your research. You write the strategy. You set the goals and objectives. You train your community managers. You go live in two weeks. Facebook announces Timeline. You kick [insert EVERYTHING]. There is only one thing that can be done in situations such as these â control what you can control. As marketers, we have all come to rely on these external social platforms, of…
Getting Back to Basics: Why Brands are Getting it Wrong in Social Media
Question: What is your #1 advice for social media strategists and managers? Answer: Stop talking about social media Type âsocial mediaâ into a Google search bar and youâll find roughly about 4.7 billion results in .30 seconds. Next, try âsocial media conference.â Youâll see something along the lines of 1.2 billion results in .25 seconds. Social media is important but Iâd argue we arenât celebrating it for the reasons we should. Instead, we are forcing social media to conform to…
New Digital Influencers: The Coming Youthquake
Elements of inspiration that went on to become my new book, Whatâs the Future of Business, Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences Blame it on the youth they say. Indeed, thereâs a great assumption that the future of technology falls in the hands of emergent generations. The youth of today will someday represent the majority of consumers, employees and citizens. Thatâs always the case, but what we donât yet fully appreciate is just how different young adults think today. We…
Part 2: The Broken Link of Social Customer Service
Part Two. An edited excerpt of What’s the Future of Business, Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences In Part 1 of this series, The First Mile: The Broken Link of Social Media Customer Service, we reviewed the opportunities and challenges that face any business seeking to engage customers in social networks. To become customer-centric requires a culture that supports customer-centricity and an active investment in defining the first mile experience. The first mile of customer engagement is a post-commerce or…
The First Mile: The Broken Link of Social Media Customer Service
Part One. An edited excerpt of What’s the Future of Business, Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences For all that social media is doing to change business for the better, itâs not yet enough. Interview any executive and ask them what their priority business goals are for 2013 and Iâm sure youâll see some element of customer-centricity on the list. Yet the challenge that exists for any organization trying to get closer to customers lies in the definition of…
The Imminent Shift from Social to Digital Engagement
How do you define engagement? No matter how you define it, engagement is something that we most likely underestimate. Engagement symbolizes the touches that occur in various moments of truth and this should completely change not only how you engage someone in each moment but also how the inside of your company works with one another to make it frictionless and experiential. Whether a customer stands on the stage of awareness, consideration, purchase, or post purchase, touch points open and…
It’s The End of Business as Usual in Japan
I’m so excited. As I type, I’m moments away from heading to SFO to visit Tokyo for the first time in years… Shortly before the official launch of What’s the Future of Business, I spent several weeks writing new chapters for The End of Business as Usual. Why? I’m proud to announce that it’s finally the End of Business as Usual in in Japan! The new book features new content specific to the Japanese economy. But that’s not all. It…
