4 Questions You Must Answer to Develop Your Marketing Strategy | Duct Tape Marketing

March 30, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Developing a marketing strategy for your business can be tough, especially if you don’t know where to start or what to focus on. I’ve found that if I get stuck while putting together my own strategy, or a marketing strategy for clients, I just need to refer back to the four questions below to help guide the way. I hope they help you get started down the right path as well.

Why do you do what you do?

I know I’m not the first person in business to discuss the value of identifying why it is you do what you do, but here are my thoughts nonetheless.

When I talk about the “why,” I mean your personal “why.” How are you trying to change the world? What wrong are you trying to make right? What gaps are you filling?

The Internet Will Stay a Pretty Ugly Place for the Next Decade, Study Says | Mashable

March 29, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you thought that the internet had a chance of becoming a nicer place at any point in the near future, it might be time to give up hope.

“Harassment, trolls, and an overall tone of griping, distrust, and disgust” will stay the norm on the internet over the next decade, experts told the Pew Research Center in a new report.

The Pew Research Center and the Imagining the Internet Center at Elon University surveyed about 1,500 technology experts, scholars, corporate practitioners and government leaders in July and August 2016 for the study, and the results are pretty demoralizing.

Forty-two percent of respondents thought the internet would stay the same sometimes less-than-pleasant place over the next 10 years, while another 39 percent said they thought the internet would become a more negative environment. Just under 20 percent of experts thought the internet had any chance of getting better over the next decade when it comes to harassment and trolling.

Samsung’s Sleek S8 Has Curved Screen, Facial Recognition | Bloomberg

March 29, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Samsung Electronics Co. knows it needs to get its new flagship smartphone right. Apart from making sure the gadget won’t cause bodily harm, the company packed it with a plethora of new features: taller, curved screens, encrypted facial recognition, deeper display colors, system-wide voice control and the ability to turn into a desktop computer.

The Galaxy S8 comes in two sizes, a standard 5.8-inch display model and a Plus version with a 6.2-inch screen. Both are larger than the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the lineup’s main competition until Apple Inc. rolls out its 10th-anniversary iPhone later this year. In line with smartphone trends, Samsung’s new devices feature slimmer bezels alongside the display and are curved on all four corners. Pre-orders will begin soon after the unveiling, ahead of the S8’s April 21 release. It comes in five colors: midnight black, maple gold, coral blue, arctic silver and orchid gray.

Pandora Just Released Its Spotify Killer, And It’s Surprisingly Impressive | Fast Company

March 29, 2017March 29, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In a way, opening the new Pandora app feels like running into an old friend. For one thing, I haven’t been using Pandora much for the last few years, opting instead to binge on music via Spotify, SoundCloud, and vinyl, dipping into Pandora only rarely. But just like someone from an earlier phase of life, Pandora seems to know me and we pick up right where we apparently left off: listening to Slowdive, the dreamy English shoegaze band from the 1990s. I didn’t ask Pandora to take me down this road, but it suits my mood just fine on this chilly March afternoon.

Of course, Pandora has always been able to dive into a personalized radio station like this. But now the app has a new trick: Its brand-new on-demand music subscription tier, built to rival Spotify and Apple Music, is layered seamlessly on top of its famous people-and-data-powered playlisting engine. Pandora Premium is here. So far it sounds pretty good, but I can’t help but wonder whether or not it’s too late.

Feeling Stuck in a Rut? Here’s How to Burst Out and Thrive | Entrepreneur

March 28, 2017March 27, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Anyone who has ever started a business has faced fear. A little bit actually can be a very positive catalyst. But when fear overwhelms your ability to make decisions, it can become paralyzing and leave you feeling stuck. That’s a sign you need to take action and restore the sense of confidence you once had.

When we’re young, we think we’re invincible. We can do anything (just ask my teenagers!). Yet for many of us, that confidence and self-assurance erodes over time as we get older. We wake up one day confronted by thoughts we can’t shake: “I can’t. I shouldn’t. I couldn’t possibly.” We start to question our choices and ourselves. We second-guess our gut instincts and overthink things.

Experimental Luminaries | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

March 28, 2017March 27, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

You might have been able to tell that we weren’t completely sure what to call these. Viride is so unique and interesting that we haven’t even gotten a name for them yet. Goula / Figuera Studio, which designed Viride, calls it a collection of “experimental luminaries”, which brings together two common objects found in homes—artificial lighting and flora. Knowing that oftentimes flora needs natural light to thrive, which is not always available in homes, Goula / Figuera Studio decided to solve that need with a specific design object that not only highlights home plants, but also ensures that it gets the lighting it needs.

Scientists Have Some Wild Ideas for Solving Our Big Bee Problem | NBC News

March 28, 2017March 27, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

The world’s bees are in big trouble — even more than you might have realized.

Last year the U.S. lost a mind-boggling 44 percent of its honeybee colonies. Certain bee species — including the rusty-patched bumblebee and Hawaiian yellow-faced bees — are on the brink of extinction. Even “Buzz the Bee” disappeared from Honey Nut Cheerios boxes earlier this month because General Mills decided removing the familiar mascot could help spotlight the problem.

A world without bees wouldn’t be pretty, and not just because we’d miss their buzzing on lazy summer afternoons. Bees play an indispensable role in pollination. About 75 percent of our major crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, reproduce only with the help of bees and other pollinators.

Uber Self-Driving Cars Back on San Francisco Roads After Arizona Crash | Fortune.com

March 27, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Driverless vehicles operated by Uber Technologies were back on the road in San Francisco on Monday after one of its self-driving cars crashed in Arizona, the ride-hailing company said.

Uber’s autonomous vehicles in Arizona and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, remained grounded but were expected to be operating again soon, according to a spokeswoman for the company, who refused to be identified.

“We are resuming our development operations in San Francisco this morning,” she said in an email.

10 Best TED Talks To Help You Make Hard Decisions | Life Hack

March 27, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

From the moment we get out of bed, we have to constantly make decisions. Some decisions are smaller and some are bigger. The main reason why we sometimes have trouble making decisions is that we worry about the consequences. We are afraid of making bad decisions—and perhaps we should be.

While choosing a less-than-healthy lunch option may not do much damage, picking the wrong major at university or the wrong career path may have a disastrous impact on our lives.

We have put together a list of the most viewed TED Talks about decision-making, where professionals and successful people share their insights about the topic. These talks will help you understand some of the important factors contributing to a good decision, the thinking process behind decision-making, and a lot more.

Why Do Songs Get Stuck in Your Head? | Live Science

March 24, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

There are some songs that just beg to become embedded in your brain. “It’s a Small World.” “My Sharona.” “YMCA.”

Even a die-hard Village People fan is bound to get a little annoyed the 70-millionth time “It’s fun to stay at the Y, M, C, A!” screeches through their skull. But why are sticky songs — earworms, as they’re known — so hard to dislodge? And what kinds of songs are likely to get stuck in our brains, anyway?