The Biggest Marketing Challenges for Small Businesses | Duct Tape Marketing

May 4, 2017May 4, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

I’ve written about marketing for small business for years and spend enough time with business owners that some might consider me an expert on the topic. In order to ensure I stay on top of trends and provide you with the most current information and tips, I continue to conduct my own research and get as much current data as possible to provide for you. I recently reached out to my friends at Alignable to get a pulse on what the biggest marketing challenges for small businesses are today and today I’d like to share a few of these insights.

More than 75% of the respondents of this survey had 1-5 employees and serve a mix of local, regional, and national customers. 22% of those polled focused solely on B2B, 19% on B2C, and 53% targeting both.

Yes, Americans Are Willing To Pay For News | CBS News

May 3, 2017May 2, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

A battered news industry can find some flickers of hope in a survey that gauges public willingness to pay for journalism, as long as its leaders plan judiciously.

A little more than half of American adults regularly pay for news, through newspaper and magazine subscriptions, apps on electronic devices or contributions to public media, according to the Media Insight Project, a collaboration between the American Press Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Here’s Why The PR Industry Is Failing | Fast Company

May 2, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

It’s hard to say an industry is failing when it’s growing seven percent annually, and its ranks have swollen to nearly five professionals to every single journalist, a ratio that’s more than doubled over the past decade.

But when it comes to the current state of the public relations industry, it is.

If you have any doubt, just ask a journalist. Or just follow a few on Twitter and Facebook. You won’t have to wait long to hear them complain about bad practices in the PR industry.

Does that mean PR people are the problem? No. These same reporters will quickly point out specific publicists upon whom they rely and respect.

So what’s the problem?

Why You Can Never Find a Dinner Reservation for 7 P.M. Online | Bloomberg

May 2, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Nick Kokonas was a successful derivatives trader in Chicago who also liked to eat out. But when he met chef Grant Achatz in 2004, he discovered two things fast: the world of restaurants hadn’t kept up with the technological advances that had altered the world of finance, and the failure of restaurants to adapt to optimizing its seats the way airlines had done was a potentially giant business opportunity.

So he quit the trading floor, went into business with Achatz, and within a few years their Chicago restaurant Alinea had three Michelin stars (the highest ranking) and a list of “world’s best” awards. While Achatz cooked, Kokonas formed Tock, a different approach to restaurant reservations.

Four Fundamental Problems Bitcoin Startups are Attempting to Address | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

May 1, 2017April 30, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Cryptocurrency sounds suspicious just by moniker. Cryptography is like a more imposing form of the word “security”, and cryptocurrency can be difficult to wrap one’s mind around. It’s an exciting and volatile new form of currency that has millennials asking themselves whether it’s time to invest.

Banks and venture capitalists don’t like uncertainty, so why is Goldman Sachs rapidly investing in Bitcoin related startups and business ventures? The answer is to stay ahead of the emerging trend (even the IRS is saying Bitcoins are taxable). Cryptocurrency is a very real phenomenon that is starting to show itself in our everyday lives. There are strong odds that you’ve shopped somewhere this week that will accept Bitcoin as a source of payment. That snowball effect has given away to some interesting startups trying to solve fundamental problems related to currency.

3 Trigger Events That Could Make Your Current Business Structure Obsolete | Entrepreneur

May 1, 2017April 30, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Over the course of running your business from day to day, I’d imagine that examining the merits of your company’s business-entity structure rarely makes it to the top of your to-do list. And yet, the truth is your business’ legal structure can weigh pretty heavily on your financial future. It can affect everything from liability issues to tax bills and even financing opportunities.

If you suspect your current structure isn’t meeting your needs, you owe it to yourself to look into the options. And if you’re reading this, you’ve probably already chosen a business structure at least once in your life. Even so, it’s worth reviewing the five primary structures before we dig into why you might want to change things up.

Your Body May Actually Speak Louder Than Your Powerful Words | Life Hack

May 1, 2017April 30, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Most people know “the look” that seems to be universal with mothers. As a child, when you were out and getting up to no good, all you needed was that long stare from your mom to stop you dead in your tracks. You knew immediately that you would be grounded for about twenty years when you got back home – and no words even needed to be uttered! That was the power of nonverbal communication.

Whether you realize it or not, something similar occurs in everyday life. And by learning more about it, you will be able to create better interactions around you.

How Much Do Cats and Dogs Remember? | Live Science

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

Pet cats and dogs can remember the location of their food bowls and sometimes even how to perform tricks or find their way home. But just how good (or bad) are these fur balls at remembering the minutia of their days?

It depends on how useful those memories are to them, evolutionarily speaking, experts told Live Science.

Take free-roaming dogs, for example. About 75 percent of the world’s dogs aren’t pets and don’t live in human homes, said Monique Udell, an assistant professor of animal and rangeland sciences at Oregon State University. A memory that helps dogs excel at scavenging can help them survive on the streets, Udell said.

Lessons in Running the Family Business From Charles Bronfman | PROFITguide.com

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

The Bronfman family looms large in Canadian lore, thanks to its ownership of Seagram Co. Ltd., which traces its roots to 1924. Seagram grew from a distilling company into a multibillion-dollar conglomerate with stakes in the entertainment industry, before a failed merger in 2000 led to its unwinding.

Charles, son of founder Samuel, was born in 1931 and held multiple roles in the family firm, becoming co-chairman in 1986. Over the past few decades, he has focused on philanthropy; he co-founded Birthright Israel, spearheaded Heritage Minutes and started the Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine in New York.

How Uber Plans to Make Flying Taxis as Cheap as Ridesharing | Inc.com

April 26, 2017April 25, 2017 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Reeling from weeks of multiple public relations crises, Uber on Tuesday successfully changed the topic when it revealed its ambitions to use electrically-propelled flying vehicles to transport riders to their neighboring cities quickly and cheaply as soon as 2020.

Through this effort, which is called the Uber Elevate Network, the company envisions scenarios wherein commuters could fly from San Francisco to San Jose in just 15 minutes at the same kind of pricing they pay now for UberX rides of similar duration. Ultimately, the company hopes to reduce the pricing further by using autonomous flying vehicles.