Archive May 12, 2023

BE A THERMOSTAT, NOT A THERMOMETER

By in Human Resources, Self Improvement, Work Tag , , ,

by Lara Hogan As I’ve learned more about how humans interact with one another at work, I’ve been repeatedly reminded that we are very easily influenced by the mood of those around us. It’s usually not even something we do consciously; we just see someone using a different tone of voice or shifting their body language, and something deep in our brain notices it. If you’ve ever attended a meeting where there were some “weird vibes,” you know what I’m talking about. You couldn’t quite put your finger on it, but something about the energy of the room was off—and that…

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Employee-Driven Content: A 4-step Framework on How to Get Started

By in Content Marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing Tag , ,

by JASON BRADWELL for B2B Byte You’ve got to invest in more content. “Damn Jason, what is this - 2005? We’ve been creating content for years!” …to which my response would be… “Sure. But when did you last create good content?” If the recent phenomenon that is ChatGPT has taught us anything, it’s that we are on the precipice of a huge acceleration in the publication of mediocre marketing collateral. Particularly on blogs. Volume is no longer the aim of the game. Dialling in on doing less that says more must become the new normal. And a great way to do this is by investing in employee-driven content. Here’s a…

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The Anatomy of a Solid Sales Demo

By in Sales Tag

by How To Grow, on Substack “Show me your recorded sales demos, and I’ll tell you everything that’s wrong about your business.” - Confucius I keep getting questions about sales demos, so this week I’m going to open the vault and share a bit more. Components of an effective demo A demo is where *everything* about your business comes together: Your product Your messaging Your positioning Your packaging Your “offer” Your competitive strategy etc. etc. etc. Last week, I wrote about why your demos underperform when you ONLY focus on them as a “product” or a “sales” thing. This week,…

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The 6 Risks of AI Content

By in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Content Marketing, Information Technology Tag , , , ,

by Ryan Law for Animalz There are already plenty of use cases for generative AI in marketing. Industry and article research. Getting to first draft faster. Creating content briefs. Brainstorming titles and headers, angles, and introductions. Programmatic SEO, at a scale and sophistication previously hard to imagine. Repurposing content from one format to another. Personalizing ABM campaigns. These use cases have risks associated with them. There is the risk of factual inaccuracy and hallucination. Risk of copyright infringement and legal challenges. Risk of Google penalization. Risk of mediocrity and pumping out a ton of content that doesn’t help the bottom line.…

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Unlearn what you’ve learned about content marketing.

By in Content Marketing, Marketing

by SEBASTIAN CUERVO AND RONNIE HIGGINS for 42 Slash If you want to succeed in the new era of content marketing, the first step is to accept a painful truth: the playbook everyone has been using for more than a decade is inadequate for addressing the needs of today.  Sure, some of the tried-and-true strategies and tactics that gave rise to content marketing’s dominance over the last few years will remain. SEO and email are far from dead, too. But the game has changed tremendously.  What’s changed:  The tyranny of platform algorithms:  We are at a different moment of the internet…

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How To Nurture a Culture of Documentation in Remote Teams

By in Business Management, Human Resources, Training Tag , , ,

by Remote-Work.io Here's your ultimate guide to creating, maintaining, and following a robust documentation culture in remote teams. How to nurture a culture of documentation in remote teams Humans are terrible at data storage! It's obvious that we'll one day forget the things we know today. This makes it even worse for teams. Because employees are a vital part of every organization. The truth is, employees will eventually leave. And when they do, the knowledge they contributed to you will be lost forever. That's why every organization needs a robust documentation culture. It's not just for remote teams. All sorts of organizations…

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How to (Appropriately) Qualify Leads for Enterprise Sales in 2023

By in Revenue, Sales Tag , , , ,

by Jason Bradwell Last week, I was trawling through one of the seemingly hundred-plus Slack groups I’ve joined when I came across this question in a #AskMarketing channel: “We’re seeing a significant drop in ROI on Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads. What’s your approach to increase inbound lead gen in 2023?” Ah. The million-dollar question. And it got me thinking. If you spend any time following B2B marketers on social media (especially LinkedIn) then it is almost a certainty that you have come across the argument that building a strategy around the collection of marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) is a waste…

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Your Passwords Suck (and How To Fix Them!)

By in Human Resources, IT Security, Work Tag ,

by National Cyber Passwords…we all have them…lots of them!! So many different logins these days and everyone can’t be the same. Why not? Because if one gets compromised, then they all get compromised. Amazingly enough, in 2021, the most used password was 123456.1 This should tell you that many people don’t give their passwords much thought. But does it really matter any longer? With Multi-Factor Authentication becoming a regular component of extended protection of one's user account access, are passwords still important?  YES. No matter how you look at it, a strong password can make things more difficult for an attacker…

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A Two-Minute Burnout Checkup

By in Business Management, Human Resources, Self Improvement, Work Tag , ,

by Chris Bailey for HBR Burnout is devastating. A few years ago, deep in the throes of it, I found myself grasping for tools or frameworks to help me get to the other side. If you’re facing a similar situation, let me share a few things I wish I had known earlier. First, I’ll outline the basics about the signs of burnout and the aspects of our work that tend to cause it. Second, I’ll share a two-minute burnout checkup I created to monitor my own mental well-being and to make sure I don’t reach the point of burning out…

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A masterclass in pricing psychology

By in Sales Tag ,

By Peter Ramsey at built for mars Take up for Netflix's ad-supported subscription was initially slow. The Wall Street Journal reported that only 9% of new signups opted for it, and of those who were happy to watch ads, 43% had downgraded from more expensive options. So Netflix made a simple design tweak: to 'hide' one of their most popular packages. The result: sign-ups to their ad-tier doubled. This case study demonstrates a masterclass of pricing psychology, and how simple changes (reliant on data and experimentation) can significantly alter the course of your product. Although before we start, I want to be clear about something: what you're about to see…

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