| TRENDING STORIES IN BUSINESS & MARKETING | | | | | | | ALL STORIES IN BUSINESS & MARKETING | | |
| 5 Key Trends Supercharging Today's Digital PR | |  In 2012, Social Media will move beyond growth to saturation. This means that digital public relations is changing quickly. Recently, I had an opportunity to speak about the opportunities and trends in digital public relations at the PR News Digital Summit. Here's a quick look at what I think social media saturation and mobile growth mean for public relations this year. 1. Beyond the Second Screen: 24 Hours of Screens According to Comscore's recent social media study, the social media category as a whole is on the cusp of becoming the dominant form of online content; it accounted for 16.6% of Internet time in 2011. And this year it is expected to surpass portals as the most engaging online activity. Engagement is the key word there. Social media saturation coupled with the rapid growth of mobile, tablets and connected TVs mean we are beyond the second screen -- we are now at more than 24 hours' worth of screens per day. There are even apps to influence your dreams! People are constantly connected and consuming media, which sounds daunting but it is great news for media creators. And now PR professionals are not soley pitching the media, but they too are media creators. 2. Think Like PR People. Measure Like Mad Men. This means online media formarts are converging. "P.O.E.M." (Paid, Owned, Earned Media) is now really the future. (Paid being advertising and sponsorships. Owned being content created by brands/corporations. And Earned being press placements and media partnership). Earned and Owned have always been sexier than Paid media because they are inherently social (and usually free!). But Advertising has always been immediately measurable and metrics drive the budgets and digital strategy. Lucky for PR Professionals, the measurement tools for Owned and Earned are getting better and better. Just look at how much the Facebook Insights product has evolved since it launched. The future of media strategy is the best of all three: Paid, Owned, Earned. And pubic relations professionals can lead the strategy. They have the most experience in strategic communications, cross platform media and rapid response. The future is to think like PR people but measure like Mad Men. 3. Find Your Peeps. These Are The New Influencers Once upon a time the Internet was populated only by early adopters. They were passionate about the new technologies so they created forums to share their passions. They had the biggest microphone on the Internet. It seemed predominantly male and mainly dedicated to Apple products.. They became lovingly known as fanboys. Now, more and more people around the world have access to the Internet or mobile technologies. And everyone is passionate about something. We each have opinions and preferences and now we have social graphs that are growing. PR professionals need get on board with their peeps. Find the people who are most passionate about what you're doing. These are the new "influencers." The next great influencers campaigns will not be about trying to get a celebrity to retweet you, but tapping into your base. 60% of Facebook users surveyed by digital agency Beyond said they'd be willing to post about a product if they were given a discount or free trial. Now that will be influence. And you can find your peeps much more easily with the rise of niche networks such as Tumblr -- now reaching more than 20 million monthly users -- and Pinterest, which just passed 12 million monthly users. These niche social networks are creating mini communities for everything related to topic, brand and subject. Your peeps are there. Find them and engage. 4. The Rise of Fanwomen All great marketers know that reaching the female demographic is key to campaigns. This has been one of the phenomena of Pinterest's rapid growth -- the high percentage of females on the platform. Females have always been a powerful audience for print and TV;. study after study shows they have the buying power in the majority of households. Now they too are online; they have communities and they have influence. 5. Small Teams FTW! An age-old complaint within the PR industry has been lack of budgets and small staffs. That's likely not going to change anytime soon. But there are new ways PR executives can make their small teams more powerful with fewer resources. First, embrace the machine. "Automation" is no longer a scary word. Companies such as SocialFlow are developing algorithmic tools to share content to social media channels based on relevance. PR professionals are still responsible for developing the messages and strategy, but now the algorithms tell us when the messages are relevant to the conversation. It just like trying to get your company into a trend piece. Second, take meetings and ask for what you want. There are many smart people and companies working to develop new products to help manage and measure social outreach. Don't look at these requests for meetings as a nuisance. Take the meetings. Give these developers your list of complaints and have them go think about them. Likely they'll come back in six months with a product that was developed with your wants and needs in mind -- maybe even with a discount for the service. Finally, maximize the media hits you do get. Did you get a spot on the Today show? Good job, but not a job well done. Not until its been shared everywhere. If your CEO is backstage, snap a photo in the green room and share it on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook. Check in on Foursquare. Once the video is on the Today website, get it on your blog, YouTube, Facebook and everywhere else. Because, increasingly, if it didn't happen on the Internet, it didn't happen. |
| FoundersCard Gives Entrepreneurs VIP Treatment | | Thursday, February 16, 2012 11:00 PM | Veena Bissram |
|  The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. Name: FoundersCard Quick Pitch: FoundersCard is a membership community providing networking and exclusive benefits for entrepreneurs and innovators. Genius Idea: Providing entrepreneurs with ongoing access to benefits, discounts, networking events and amenities that meet their needs. If top executives at large companies and investment banks have access to benefits and networking opportunities, then why don't entrepreneurs? That's the question that lead Eric Kuhn to start FoundersCard, a membership community for entrepreneurs and innovators that provides its members with exclusive benefits, discounts, amenities and frequent networking events that meet their needs. "I wanted to create a community that allows entrepreneurs to have access to amazing and great opportunities," Kuhn told Mashable. "FoundersCard is a community that helps them by giving them access to ongoing support and the opportunities that they deserve." Members receive a sleek, silver personalized card in the mail and can take advantage of all FoundersCard benefits from popular travel, lifestyle and business brands around the world. A few of the most popular brands include Virgin Atlantic Airways, Apple, Zip Car, W Hotels, Qantas Airways and St. Regis Hotels. FoundersCard also hosts exclusive monthly networking events for its members. January's event was in Las Vegas, and this month members will meet in San Francisco. "It can be lonely being an entrepreneur or a founder, so we wanted to give them a chance to connect with each other, share experiences and meet on a personal level," says Kuhn. To give back to the entrepreneurial community, FoundersCard members can also create their own benefits and deals from their companies for fellow entrepreneurs. A FoundersCard membership costs $495 per year with a one-time fee of $65. Although most members are referred by existing members, interested entrepreneurs can inquire about membership on the FoundersCard site. There's an application process that focuses on the member's company and his or her commitment to the entrepreneurial community. Interested in becoming a member? The FoundersCard team has provided a code for Mashable's readers to purchase a membership for $295. To obtain this deal, just type in the code "FCMASH12 on the FoundersCard website. Launched in 2010, FoundersCard is self-funded and currently has 5,000 members around the world. Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today. |
| 5 Paradoxes Shaping the Future of Mobile Commerce | | Thursday, February 16, 2012 9:19 PM | Igor Faletski |
|  Igor Faletski is the CEO of Mobify, a web platform that optimizes ecommerce and publishing sites for mobile and powers more than 20,000 sites. Remember when it took 23 clicks to find movie showtimes on your mobile phone? While that may seem like an eon ago, in reality it's just been a few short years. The mobile evolution has been advancing at a break-neck pace. "Mobile is ramping up faster than any other technology we have seen in the past," says Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins. Mobile web adoption is happening eight times faster than traditional web adoption in the late '90s. With that growth comes a new set of user behaviors and consumer trends. What's the reality when it comes to the new mobile commerce landscape? Here are five facts that will have striking implications for the future of mobile commerce. 1. Customers Spend More Time on Their Mobile Devices Than Desktops. My company powers about 20,000 ecommerce sites. The average desktop order in 2011 was $95.19, and the average mobile order amounted to $96.92. The difference of $1.73 per order may appear small, but that 2% increase in average cart size can dramatically affect a company's bottom line. While multiple factors contribute to this data, the most important may be the power of the tablet, which has quickly emerged as the third digital screen in consumers' lives, in addition to desktops and smartphones. Adobe's Digital Marketing Insights report looked at data from 16.5 billion visits across more than 150 retailers to find that the average order value when shopping on a tablet was $123, compared with $102 on a desktop. IPad users generally have higher education and higher income than general internet users. The same Adobe study found that tablet owners more often fall in the 18-34 age demographic, and that 29% have an annual income over $75,000. The group has proven a lucrative customer segment for retailers. Beyond the demographics, the iPad's interactivity (aka touchscreen) may make shopping easier than desktop, despite the smaller screen size. A 2011 study reported that 52% of tablet owners prefer to shop online using their tablets, while 40% preferred using a traditional computer. The moral of the story for retailers? Tablet users are a key customer group and their influence will surely grow through 2012 and beyond. 2. Mobile Shoppers Are More Focused. While it may seem counter-intuitive at first, the average keyword search on mobile for both Android and iPhone is roughly double the length of the average desktop search. But searches don't take longer on mobile because the devices are harder to use, but rather, because mobile searchers and shoppers are task-focused and more specific in what they're seeking. Microsoft reports that 70% of PC search tasks are completed in one week, while 70% of mobile search tasks are completed in one hour. Mobile searchers have a sense of urgency not seen as often in traditional search methods. This difference has very real implications for both multi-channel retailers and ecommerce retailers. Mobile users are looking for information or assistance to help them make sourcing and buying decisions right at the point of sale: 88% of consumers searching on a mobile device will make a purchase within 24 hours. As savvy retailers understand, mobile shoppers need to be able to simply research products and quickly make a purchase. Therefore, there should be as little extraneous content included on mobile commerce websites. In contrast, a full desktop site is packed with brand-related content, community interaction, company information and detailed research methods. Mobile, on the other hand, is lean, mean and clean. 3. Click-Through Rates Are Higher on Mobile than Desktop. While smartphones and tablets are still in the relatively early stages of adoption, they are already showing persistently higher click-through rates for search advertising. A Marin Software study found that consumers are more likely to click on search results ads when using smartphones or tablets than when using a desktop or laptop. Actual click-through rates in Q4 2011 measured 1.25% for smartphones, 1.31% for tablets and 0.95% for desktops and laptops. Performics reported that mobile click-through rates were 45% higher than desktop through the end of 2011 and January 2012. Click-through rates on search advertising are tracked closely because they're important indicators of the intention of the searcher. Higher click-through rates are associated with searches of a commercial or consumer nature and translate into a more valuable consumer for both advertisers and retailers. That more valuable consumer is now on mobile and tablet. 4. Mobile Shopping Peaks at Night. We tend to think of mobile as synonymous with "on-the-go," and picture the mobile shopper browsing or shopping during commute times. However, it's social media activities and email, not online shopping, that dominate commuters' time. When we consider mobile vs. desktop, we see that hourly trends vary based on device type. According to data from Google Mobile Ads, searches from computers mirrors time spent at work, while tablet usage spikes dramatically at night. And people searching on their mobile phones overlaps both periods, growing steadily throughout the day and peaking at 9 p.m. While both tablets and smartphones can viewed as "lean back" devices, smartphones alone are used on-the-go throughout the day and evening, including time at work and time at home. 5. The Importance of the Mobile Web. Yes, we're living in an app culture. Yet the power of the mobile website (i.e. a site reached by browsing, not via an app) tends to get overlooked amidst all the hype. Consider that 30% of all social media traffic originates on mobile devices. Of that traffic, over 42 million people accessed social networks via their mobile browsers in 2011, while 38.5 million accessed via mobile apps. Marketers need to see that, with the exception of certain niches like gaming, the mobile web is still essential and apps additional. The mobile web is bringing in business for all customers, whereas apps can be viewed like loyalty programs for repeat customers. Apps can be a big part of a mobile strategy, but are best for repeat customers who already know the brand and have downloaded the app. Unless your business exclusively deals with repeat customers, it's best to start by tackling your mobile web presence and augment your mobile strategy with apps. Looking Down the Road By 2015, more U.S. Internet users will access the web through mobile devices than through PCs. And sales of smartphones continue to exceed all other types of computing devices combined, including tablets. Canalys reported that 488 million smarthphones were shipped worldwide in 2011, compared with 415 million "total client PCs," including 63 million tablets. Finally, tablet ownership in the U.S. nearly doubled this past holiday season (mid-December to early January). The macro trend is clear: The variety and complexity of connected devices will continue to grow. There's no doubt that 2012 will be an fascinating and innovative year for mobile commerce. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, -bilge, Matt_Brown |
| Pixable Brings the Hashtag to Facebook Photos | | Thursday, February 16, 2012 5:03 PM | Sarah Kessler |
|  Photo-sorting app Pixable is bringing the Twitter-style hashtag to Facebook photos. The startup's core service sorts images from your Facebook and Twitter feeds into piles such as "Top of the Day," "New on Twitter" and "New Profile Pics." Now you can tag the photos in these categories with hashtags and see them in your Facebook Timeline. A new Facebook Timeline integration will show activity on the app within modules on user timelines. Photos with hashtags show up in a separate module in your timeline that functions like an album collection organized by sentiment rather than event. Using the new feature, you can sort the photos you view on Pixable -- from both you and your friends on Facebook and Twitter -- into piles such as #cute, #nyc, #friends or #birthday both within the app and on your Facebook profile. Other Pixable Facebook Timeline modules include a roundup of favorited photos each month and a general log of app activity. So far about 1.5 million people have installed Pixable on their iPhones and 300,000 have installed it on their iPads. About 20% of them log in every day. "People are treating this more like a photo inbox," explains Pixable co-founder Andres Blank. "The photos that really matter come to you, you don't have to go on a hunt." While focusing on photo consumption rather than broadcasting is what distinguishes Pixable from other photo apps, it also puts the app at a disadvantage when it comes to growing its numbers. Hashtags are Pixable's first broadcasting mechanism. When you add one to a photo, it can be Tweeted, Facebooked or shared with the rest of the community. Users can also browse public photos by hashtag. |
| Klout + Gamification = Extra Perks for Influencers? | | Thursday, February 16, 2012 4:34 PM | Todd Wasserman |
|  Badgeville, a gamification platform used by Samsung, eBay and Dell, among others, is integrating data from Klout to help brands identify, reward and promote its most influential brand advocates. Formed in 2010, Badgeville provides a plug-and-play solution for brands who want to increase engagement and reward loyalty via badges, tokens and other types of online prizes. Kris Duggan, CEO of the company, says with the Klout integration, marketers who run the programs will be able to see how influential participating users are. "So if you're a Samsung brand manager, you can already see which user is commenting the most because we already offer that kind of behavior insight," Duggan says. "What we haven't been able to show is what their Klout influence is." What will brand managers do with that information? Duggan says anything they want, though possibilities include giving preference to users with higher Klout scores. For instance, if an electronics retailer wanted to give its top users platinum status, they might require a Klout score above 40 to keep that status and maintain whatever discounts it afforded. That idea isn't new. In 2010, the Palms Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas created a "Klout Klub" which let high-ranking users get special perks. More recently, Chevrolet arranged for three-day loans of its 2012 Sonic to those with a Klout score of 35 or higher. However, it remains to be seen whether consumers will be willing to swap their online influence for extra perks. The partnership is Klout's latest attempt to monetize its rating system via a partnership. In November, the company linked with a startup called Wahooly that offered equity in other startups to Klout users with scores above 45 if they discussed the startups in social media. What do you think? Is it fair to give people with higher Klout scores preferential treatment? Sound off in the comments. |
| Why AOL Ventures Is Targeting Early Stage Startups [VIDEO] | | Thursday, February 16, 2012 3:15 PM | Mashable Video |
|  AOL Venture, the venture capital arm of AOL, is one part early-stage investment firm and one part incubator of new and unique AOL products. The focus on seed and series A rounds is unusual among corporate investors, and founding partner Mike Brown, Jr. says it is because the fund is focused on helping entrepreneurs succeed early on and building AOL's reputation in the early stage community. Though relatively young, AOL Ventures has already assembled an impressive portfolio of investments, including participation in rounds with startups like Bit.ly, About.me, OpenX and NewsCred. Watch our interview with Brown, Jr. to find out how AOL Ventures got started, what types of companies they're looking to invest in and why strong management teams are so important. This Venture Studio Classic was originally released on June 28, 2011. Follow Venture Studio, in association with Mashable. The show is hosted by Dave Lerner, a 3x entrepreneur and angel investor. To join Venture Studio's Facebook page, click here. More Recent Episodes of Venture Studio: Tech's Next Bubble: Where Will It Come From?/a> When Should You Go All-In on Your Startup?/a> How One Pioneering Investor Kick-Starts Early Stage Companies/a> |
| 4 Characteristics of a Winning Social Enterprise Strategy | | Thursday, February 16, 2012 1:42 PM | Bill Kalma |
|  Bill Kalma is VP of technical services at Model Metrics, an enterprise cloud computing services company. He focuses on the effective scoping, management and delivery of CRM projects from a technical perspective. What is the social enterprise? Traditionally, the term has referred to an organization's social mission of philanthropy, charity or furthering a noble cause. However, in the past few years, Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, has used the phrase to define organizations that are pioneering a new level of connectivity within the corporate world. Made possible through cloud computing, the social enterprise mirrors personal social networks like Facebook that leverage the social grid to share information and ideas. Businesses are extending this familiar model to establish a similar synergy between their employees, customers and business partners -- thus, employing a new social enterprise.?? The value of the social enterprise is simple. It allows customers to get closer to their favorite brands, offers them a voice when they have something to say (good or bad) and encourages them to make better buying decisions. For companies, it magnifies the voice of the customer, allows them to identify macro trends, improve their customer service, maximize sales through new channels and even improve employee satisfaction.?? The social enterprise is a strategy, not simply a single system or idea. It impacts an organization's culture, processes, systems and bottom line. Leveraging social media in the enterprise is new to many, but time is ticking for those who haven't developed a social enterprise strategy -- chances are competitors have a head start. The cost of not taking action could be high. The social enterprise strategy is different for every company, but the following characteristics require consideration. The social enterprise is:? 1. Internal and External Connectivity within an organization, between employees, departments, regions and divisions, is key. Improved communication benefits every company, no matter the size, and must be carried from the CEO all the way down to entry-level employees. Connectivity also aids in tactical communications related to business processes, on-boarding new employees, and building a culture of teamwork. Private, internal social networks revolutionize internal communication and collaboration by facilitating conversations and idea sharing, and by providing a forum for asking and answering questions. Unlike email, questions and ideas can be posed to a broader, non-specific audience so that responses are invited from and available to an entire group. Participation in external, public social networks is also a requirement of the social enterprise. By establishing a persona on public social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, a company can manage its brand where consumers are spending most of their time. Person-to-person recommendations, which today often disseminate through the social grid, are a major influencer in buying decisions among consumers. Be careful not to dismiss these channels as only consumer-centric either; YouTube marketing strategies for B2B customers often include customer testimonials, product demos, fun topics related to an industry and viral video contests. 2. Personal ?In the age of the social enterprise, every consumer gets a voice, and companies can address consumer issues proactively rather than reactively. Public social networks are filled with consumer comments, questions, issues and opinions about the products they use. As companies tap into these networks, they can get a clearer picture of their customers and create customer social profiles. By listening to their customers, they can identify issues to resolve and turn potentially dissatisfied customers into advocates. Best of all, this can be done in real-time.?? Monitoring social networks may seem like a daunting task, but social monitoring tools, such as Radian6, continuously monitor social profiles on thousands of social networks, allowing companies to mine customer ideas to enhance their products, services and messaging. The data captured builds a repository of individual issues, but also identifies macro trends in consumer sentiment, industry conditions and brand strength.?? However, awareness of your consumer's opinions, expectations and issues is not enough. Successful incorporation of this knowledge into an organization's operation requires a call to action, which will require a strategy in itself. For example, Gatorade established Mission Control to monitor social networks. As a result, Gatorade has been able to track media performance; monitor sports landscape; track sports trends and buzz; track brand attributes; monitor online discussion; and perform proactive social media outreach. 3. Contextual ?The personalization of the social enterprise, internally and externally, requires consumers, partners and employees to converse on the topics that are meaningful within the context of what they are doing. Customers looking for information to make an educated purchase or solve a problem need timely and relevant data. If they can't find it, they may move on to your competitor. Smart businesses build customer social networks.? By building customer social networks, businesses can provide customers contextual information, answer questions and field suggestions in an open forum. Social communities have been credited with being able to satisfy human social needs, including the ability to communicate, connect, contribute and create. To be effective, communities need to be updated and managed, but the effort required to govern them is far outweighed by their impact. Take Starbucks, which has done an excellent job building communities with its mystarbucksidea.com initiative.?? Contextual social interaction creates a sense of relevance for both employees and customers. Customers feel valued and important when their voices are heard, they experience assistance, or they have an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge by helping someone else in the community. This interaction resonates deeply and facilitates loyalty. 4. Mobile ?It is difficult to talk about the social enterprise without including mobility as a primary characteristic. Social interactions cannot realistically be limited to captive audiences sitting at desks. The prevalence of smartphones and tablet PCs has reached an all-time high, and that trend will continue. Social enterprises are embracing mobility and are establishing a strategy for mobile devices, but they are also revolutionizing the way we work with them.?? As they incorporate the social enterprise principle, companies are embracing mobility by establishing device strategies, challenging the status quo, and arming their employees and customers with the power of mobile information.?? Consumers have high expectations for the products they use. It is no longer enough for systems and applications to be functional; they must also be intuitive, self-serving, and even fun to use -- no matter the task.?? In theory, the characteristics of the social enterprise are absurdly simple, but they can be enormously complex in practice. A company will not see the value of becoming a truly social enterprise by adopting only a single strategy, but rather, by creating a balanced approach, suited uniquely to its needs. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, tumpikuja, fotosipsak |
| Scientific American Publisher Launches $49 Online Textbook | | Thursday, February 16, 2012 1:22 PM | Sarah Kessler |
|  The publisher of Scientific American and Nature is stepping into a new genre with its first digital textbook, the company announced on Thursday. Principles of Biology, already in use at three California State universities, is a web-based introductory text. At $49, it costs about three times less than its typical paper counterpart. It stands out from both Nature Publishing's collection of scientific journals and magazines, as well as from similarly priced digital textbooks. Publishing Director Vikram Savkar, who left Pearson to head up Nature Publishing's new Nature Education division in 2007, says the publisher's goal is to make high-quality original science textbooks that incorporate its large library of scientific research. Whereas most publishers convert their traditional books to digital ones through a third-party book maker, Nature Publishing built its first textbook to be digital. "Ebooks have always been about putting a pdf of traditional books online," he says of other digital textbook makers, which include companies such as Kno, Chegg and CourseSmart. "What we've developed is a textbook. It's not a reader, we're a publisher." The book includes text and diagrams one would expect from any version of a biology text as well as data sets and research articles from the publisher's archive. Nature Publishing hired about 75 experts to contribute "modules" that can easily be reordered by teachers rather than chronological chapters. There are a few features that aren't typical of digital textbooks, such as questions that test comprehension throughout the text and a quiz at the end of each chapter that can help teachers understand class progress. But basically, Principles of Biology is just a book. What Nature Publishing has managed to do, however, is make it a very practical book. Because it's web-based, it can be accessed on any device with a browser. It's cheap. It can be arranged to fit the syllabus of individual teachers. And Nature Education can update its web-based pages in a jiffy if, say, someone figures out how to decode the human genome halfway through the semester. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, atreides64 |
| Mashable Publisher Platform Adds 14 New Content Partners | | Thursday, February 16, 2012 12:33 PM | Adam Ostrow |
|  Mashable is delighted to announce that 14 new publishers have joined the Mashable Publisher Platform, our editorially curated syndication offering that brings content from select publishers to our site. Since introducing the platform at the Mashable Media Summit in November, we've been able to add a diverse mix of content from our initial launch partners to Mashable, from ways to bring your Instagram photos to life, to how to control your dreams with your iPhone, to advice on how journalists can best use Pinterest -- our partner content goes deeper into the topics you care about most. With the new partners we're adding today, we're excited to bring you even more perspectives on emerging areas of technology like online video, social games, web culture and even outer space. Here's a look at whose selected content you can expect to start seeing on Mashable: MIT Technology Review: Identifies emerging technologies and analyzes their impact for technology and business leaders. Tecca: Shows you what's hot in the world of technology, why it matters, and how it works with your lifestyle. TabTimes: Helps you select, buy and use the best tablet devices, accessories, apps, platforms and services for yourself, your department and your organization. Space.com: The world's No. 1 source for news of astronomy, skywatching, space exploration, commercial spaceflight and related technologies. TechNewsDaily: An exciting new and accessible source of technology news and information for non-geeks seeking to learn about the cool gadgets, powerful software and unavoidable technologies of everyday life. GigaOm / NewTeeVee: Linking the worlds of entertainment and technology, the go-to source for professionals in the consumer electronics, content delivery, and content creation. InnovationNewsDaily: Reports on futuristic technologies, innovations, disruptive ideas and cool gadgets that will shape the future, and explain why it all matters and how it will affect your life. BusinessNewsDaily: A new and comprehensive resource for people planning to start a business or who are in the startup process, plus time-strapped small business owners and their staffs. The Daily Dot: Reports on the most important and relevant topics from within, applying tried-and-true principles drawn from community journalism to the growing cultures of the Internet. Geekosystem: The mission of Geekosystem is to unite all the tribes of geekdom under one common banner. Tubefilter: The leading authority in the episodic web series industry, covering the content, its creators, cast and the people that make it all come to life. Gamezebo: Features reviews, previews, walkthroughs, news for the latest and greatest in casual (and not-so-casual) games on the PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android, and Facebook. The Jane Dough: The go-to site for news, insight and commentary on women in the business world. The Mary Sue: Hopes to be a place for two things: highlighting women in the geek world, and providing a prominent place for the voices of geek women. As a reminder, when you're reading an article from one of our partners on Mashable, it will be denoted in the byline. You'll also have an opportunity to follow that publisher on Twitter, "like" them on Facebook or check out more of their content through the publisher module we attach to each of their articles. You'll also see our publisher's Twitter handles appearing on article links tweeted from Mashable accounts. Our partner content will complement the original reporting created by our editorial staff, which consists of our growing team of more than 40 journalists in New York, San Francisco and around the world. If you're interested in joining our editorial team, be sure to check out our current job openings. |
| 3 Ways to Bridge the Communication Gap Within Your Tech Company | | Thursday, February 16, 2012 11:34 AM | Aaron Stibel |
|  Aaron Stibel serves as senior vice president of technology of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp, the leading provider of credit building and credibility solutions for businesses. He holds a BS in computer science from Johns Hopkins University. Engineers vs. ad operations. Product vs. public relations. Often, the "geeks" of the office operate differently than other departments. The question is how to bring them all together. Paul Glen and Maria McManus of Leading Geeks recently presented "7 ways for geeks and non-geeks to get along," a valuable lesson for all technology and business leaders. The presenters -- one geek and one non-geek -- took turns describing what frustrates them about the divide, and presented ways to mitigate the behavior. As a consultant, I have worked in well over 30 organizations and this "us against them" mentality is rather ubiquitous. However, it doesn't need to be. It's time to end this Mars vs. Venus struggle. Easier said than done, I know, but in today's tech company culture, it's not impossible. End the battle by improving company culture. Here's how. 1. Hire the Right People We all attempt to hire the right people, but constructing a great office culture is more than just finding the able. It's also about finding the willing. Business folks (specifically product) should understand the difference between simple JavaScript enhancements and complex implementations, and be willing to learn if they don't. And engineers should have some business experience; if they don't, expose them to it. Both sides need to understand the why, not just the what. Company culture must allow for this type of mentoring. 2. Be Partners It is common practice to treat colleagues as customers. However, this practice can fail for business teams. First, the customer may not always be right. Often, knowledgeable engineers can help shape product. Second, when customers don't get what they want, they can become disgruntled customers. It's better for both groups to be partners. Business and technology must feel a shared ownership of the project. This relationship creates compromise where there was strife, prioritization where there were missed goals, and understanding where there was anger. 3. Motivate the Team This has nothing to do with trust falls and three-legged obstacle courses. Instead, have engineers sit in on strategy meetings where product is born. This way, engineers have knowledge of the "why," and their incentives are aligned with the business team. Then, when projects start, move physically. Place engineers and QA at team tables during implementation. Consider sitting product, design and project management right there with them. All team members hear and see all issues. Encourage engineers to go to call centers to meet the folks on the customer front line. Have sales people attend development meetings. And finally, place executives in the trenches with product and technology. Whether it's pizza at 4 a.m. or a brief strategy meeting in the CEO's office, it's a team effort -- from first year grads to the very top. You may recognize this culture -- it's a startup, after all. But this aspect of startup culture is not only for new businesses. Any organization, large or small, old or new, can adopt this cooperative approach. The organization I work for has seven offices, over 500 employees and a history that covers three centuries. Too big and too established need not be a barrier to culture change. While the "us against them" mentality is not easy to eliminate, try spending more time integrating technology and business and less time teaching your team members how to play nice together. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Spiderstock |
| |  |  | | | TOP STORIES TODAY TOP TOPICS | |
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home