The Blog - Where Business Collides with Human Nature

This survey says 71% of employees are dissatisfied and looking for a new employer. What might seem apparent as an easy fix would be to improve the skills and knowledge, to be more “hirable”.

Working and taking classes simultaneously should be simple enough. Cut out a little TV, hide the Xbox, stay healthy, ignore home maintenance for a while and get a study buddy. Do not tell the boss about any interest in self-improvement, taking classes and the commitment to study… the boss would likely not appreciate your goal of “escaping” from the company. (Or so you tell yourself)

Full time students have a similar issue but in reverse. It seems the whole day is taken up by classes and studying. How would anyone have the time to also be an intern, have a job or even do volunteer work in an industry of interest?  (Some like to drive an Uber or Lyft with flexible hours, but that too takes time.)

No time to study --- have to work.
or
No time to work --- have to study.

If you think it is time to get out of the trap, improve your skills and do not expect magical handouts, get ready to invest in studying. (And maybe for a few letters behind your name.)

If you are a student and see the writing on the wall of the future trap you too will fall into, get ready to immerse yourself into work that gives you experience.

Whether you are a professional or a student, leadership development, becoming a PhD, a journeyman electrician, or an amazing insightful awesome consultant... it takes more than just showing up.

This infographic may be helpful.

"Working and Studying Together, Can it be Done?"

One of the most crucial skills a marketing professional can master is segmentation — dividing a potential audience into groups and pinpointing with whom the marketing message is most likely to resonate. In fact, in today's fast-paced world, segmentation proves to be more vital than ever.

Buyers make split-second purchasing decisions, especially when they're shopping online. Segmentation helps the right message reach the right person with plenty of time to spare.

As you continue to hone your marketing skills, make sure segmentation is at the top of the to-do pile.

Video is not a new concept. It has been one of the key startup marketing ideas for years. However, while in the past, video was simply an afterthought in a brand's marketing campaign; today, it is an essential element of all successful growth hacking - especially for startups.

But what is so important about startup video marketing? Here are the top nine reasons why all startups need video marketing in 2019:

Average ecommerce conversion rates are only 2 to 3% across all sectors and devices, which means the vast majority of shoppers are leaving without making a purchase. Each of these empty-handed departures provides an opportunity for savvy marketers and business owners to substantially increase revenue.

For instance, for a business with 10,000 daily visitors and an average conversion rate of 2.5%, increasing conversions 0.5 points to 3.0% would generate an extra 50 orders a day. With an assumed average order value (AOV) of $100 those additional orders result in $5K of added daily revenue, or more than $1.8M annually.

A marginal increase from 2.5% to 3.0% may not seem worthwhile to pursue, but the aggregate effect over the course of a year can be astonishing. While larger companies benefit most from increases in conversion rates due to scale, businesses of all sizes can profit from incrementally improving conversion rates over time.

Regardless of how much traffic your site receives or what your AOV is, these elements are fundamental to increasing ecommerce conversion rates:

As far as the subscriber issue "Should a guest author first be a subscriber to be considered?" I get many unsolicited article submissions from people who are not regular readers of my blog. It is very annoying. I wish more would subscribe to my newsletter, rather than dropping by with a guest post and leaving (especially if it's not useful to my audience). But that's not usually how it works.

More often than not, I get emails with article submissions and proposals from people who barely read my blog.

You may celebrate Christmas or you may celebrate for many other reasons in December. Saying "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" is your choice and as it comes from the heart, you make someone's day. 

Christmas (Holiday) cards in the snail mail can be a delight. They can be artistic, thoughtful, relevant, and include photos to show 'the latest' status.  I love those pop-ups cards!  It takes time to lick a stamp, an envelope and manage to get them in the mail. In our new world of digital, a Christmas card in the mail is more valuable than ever. (Not everyone agrees though, as you will read here.)

Then email became the mechanism of choice. Anyone can send out an image with a few words to millions of people, in an instant, at a very low cost.  And so companies small and large do just that.  The Christmas (Holiday) card email is a task and the staff checks it off as done.

Some will pay to use a tool like eCards2go but it takes more work and more cash. Jacquielawson.com has been around since 2000 and brings some unique creativity to holiday (Christmas) cards but again, it is difficult to click one button to send to many. 

Fortunately, stock photo websites have a plethora of Christmas (Holiday) images. You can get generic greeting images or an unusual photo to bring a smile.

To help consider the how and why of Christmas holiday emails, here are a few notes and resources.

We were all taught basic playground etiquette growing up. These life-lessons aimed to keep us out of trouble and provided us with some basic rules about respect and how to resolve conflict.

However, when it comes to achieving business success, playground lessons don’t always apply. Negotiation skills, such as those taught in the best negotiation skills training, must now replace the old playground tactics. While you can still maintain friends in business, as you could at school, it is smart to prioritize the best negotiation strategy while considering consequences and foreseeing outcomes.

Here are five playground lessons that do not apply when negotiating -- and the new counter-lessons you can use to ensure negotiation success.

Do you ever feel like there aren't enough hours in the day and you don't have enough time to finish everything? If you do, you're not alone. It even has a name that started showing up in scientific studies around the turn of the century: time famine.

What is time famine, and what can you do to hack your schedule and find more time in your day?

Almost every everyone carries a cell phone in his/her pocket. When one speaks of cellphones, the conversation turns immediately to mobile applications. Amongst the clutter of many apps, products, and services, it is often difficult to keep on top of things. The more options there are to choose, the harder it is to manage.

What if your email client could organize your emails in folders without having to do it manually? What if you could get a notification every time your competitor made a change on their website? What if you could track all hashtags related to your business? Thanks to automation services like IFTTT and Zapier, you can do all this.

“Anyone can do it” – is probably true. “Anyone” can be a great success selling MLM products, while singing on American Idol, be a bestselling author, or be successful after being rejected on Shark Tank.

Is it possible to get 1,000,000 purchases of a product?  Possibly, but the list of considerations below have to line up perfectly and good karma will be needed.

The get rich quick plan to sell 1,000,000 may require:

20,000,000 views at 5% conversion = 1,000,000 purchases
  or
10,000,000 views at 10% conversion = 1,000,000 purchases

What does it take to investigate, search, dig and 'spy' for new information  about a prospect? AeroLeads has an answer that looks promising.

Search and Add prospects and leads at AeroLeads to get their Verified Email addresses and Business Phone Number. Find business emails of decision makers with title, location and company emails with phone numbers, address etc.

Dr. Oz has talked about it and Wikipedia offers information about Chronotype and  Circadian Rhythms. You can find a quiz here to learn about your specific Chronotype. While you have heard people say they are a "night owl", there are actually four different Chronotypes:

Dolphin, Lion, Wolf and Bear.

Which are you?

By understanding your chronotype (or the chronotype of your staff), you can adapt and improve your energy levels, improve relationships and 'get more done'.

According to clinical psychologist and sleep specialist Michael Breus, your genetics can tell you when it’s the perfect time to do just about anything.

Try using some of the tips and techniques listed below to power through your energy lows and come back out on top. (though I am unsure about a giggle break and watching kitten videos.)