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Greater Success Women Need To Be Better Negotiators

People that negotiate better than others tend to have greater success in life. That’s true to a point. Because, if a man and a woman have equal skills as a negotiator, in general, women tend to get the shorter outcome. For that reason, women need to be even better negotiators.

… I asked what challenges she has when negotiating. She said, “none – I never have anything to negotiate.” After I probed by saying, never? She, replied, “I took my brother once to help me negotiate the purchase of my car. I figured the dealer would take advantage of a woman alone. But my brother wasn’t any good. He just said yes to everything the dealer said. He didn’t know anything about negotiations. I might as well be alone.”

Negotiation Awareness:

Most people don’t realize when they’re negotiating. Negotiation occurs when you’re attempting to achieve an outcome. Anytime you’re trying to get someone to embrace your beliefs – you’re negotiating. Some consider that influencing. But in reality, it’s a negotiation.

As you’re most likely aware, my motto is, “You’re always negotiating.” That means, even when you’re engaged in the influence process, you’ve most likely had prior interactions that shape how you address someone. Those previous interactions were negotiations. You exchanged in the give-and-take process that’s influencing how you currently interact with someone of likemindedness or appearance.

That’s important for women to remember when they’re negotiating. If they possess a shackled mindset, they’ll be less efficient when negotiating. Instead, women must look at the situation and think, I’m free to be who I am. My past is not my present. And I will not allow old thoughts that hindered my progress from slowing me down. I will become stronger and move more boldly towards my future. Then, learn more about how to become a better negotiator.

Know Your Assets:

There were several factors about negotiations that the lady I was speaking with didn’t recognize.

She didn’t recognize that she’s continuously negotiating. That means being aware of where one action will lead and how it will impact the next step. Planning your steps will give you insights into what you’ll need as you engage them.

Since she thought she never negotiated, there were no contingency plans for situations she might encounter. Always plan how you’ll act and react before entering into situations. Women should consider how their gender might cause others to treat them. The more import the outcome, the more one should plan.

Her brother was an asset. His presence gave her unforeseen leverage. But since she didn’t know how to use it, she forewent that advantage. Sometimes, having the right person with you in a negotiation adds value to your effort. As a woman, consider how you might employ seen and unseen leverage in your negotiations.

When negotiating in what might be an awkward situation, consider allies to enlist to strengthen your position. Look for those that have skills that will offset those of the other negotiator.

Know Your Negotiation Counterpart:

Negotiators have different styles of negotiating. And some have differing thoughts about negotiating against women. To understand the type of negotiator you’re dealing with understand their mind.

Women have built-in advantages in most societies. And that’s their gender. In general, most men don’t think women can negotiate effectively. A woman can make that ill-thought a man’s peril. And that’s the hidden advantage. Women can take advantage of men’s perception by luring male counterparts into negotiation traps. Then, she can spring it before he realizes he’s trapped.

Some women are relieved when they negotiate against another woman. Don’t fall prey to this thought. As a woman, it can be tougher negotiating with some women than some men. Some women believe they have to be tough to be respected. And they won’t cut you slack because you’re the same gender.

Mock Negotiations:

Before engaging in what might be a tough negotiation, practice. Do so in mock negotiations. Everyone can benefit from them. But women can gain more enormous benefits by practicing with male counterparts that might act like those that she’ll face at the negotiation table.

Never discount the value of practicing. And never neglect the importance of mock negotiations. They can simulate real-life reality before it becomes that.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Direct Marketing – The Ups and Downs of Marketing Direct

Direct marketing remains a powerful media channel. Yet, in today’s multimedia environment some question the value of direct marketing. The best way to pin down the truth of that sentiment is to look at the advantages and disadvantages of direct marketing vs. digital marketing.

Advantages of Marketing Direct

• Remains an effective and popular media channel. In a survey of marketers, 57% said they considered print media such as white papers and research reports effective. Besides its effectiveness, it’s also still popular. For example, 61% of marketers use white papers.

• A workhorse media channel that educates, brands, and more. The bread-and-butter of B2B marketing consists of educating potential buyers about complex products and solutions. You have research reports, brochures, and data sheets, to name a few. Marketing direct also offers a cradle-to-grave solution that includes branding, lead generation, and customer nurturing.

• Tailored content to targeted audience. Marketing content comes in various forms to address prospects’ needs in any phase of the buying cycle. So B2B marketers can easily tailor their information to a specific audience. Why is that important? It’s essential because it ensures you provide relevant, useful and timely information your prospects want and need.

Disadvantages of Marketing Direct

• Social media’s explosive growth will crush marketing direct. Trends clearly show growth in online and mobile media consumption. Meanwhile growth in marketing direct shows no growth. We may have reached an inflection point, with digital media being the preferred way to engage prospects.

• Decision makers don’t have time to read. Today’s marketing makes reading optional. Media-rich tools like blogs, micro-blogs, SlideShare, Vimeo, You Tube, photos (Pinterest) and infographics, deliver marketing messages quickly and easily, while entertaining you.

• Real-time marketing can’t be beaten. Social media’s growth in part depends on its instantaneous messaging and responsiveness. You can post a social media tweet or post and have it reach your target audience in seconds. Customer engagement with social media is unrivaled.

Go with Tried-and-True or Up-and-Coming?

In nutshell, marketing direct clearly remains a stalwart. It’s effective. It’s efficient. And it’s still highly consumable in the B2B space.

On the flip side, growth in digital marketing shows impressive growth. It’s catching on fast. Given this backdrop, rather than throwing your eggs in one basket, you can benefit from combining marketing direct and digital.

Combining them helps smooth out the ups and downs of both for maximum effectiveness. The synergies of these two offer more than either channel can deliver on its own.

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20 Newsletters Every Marketer Needs To Stay Ahead Of The Curve

“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”

Humans without ambition – Goodbye and Goodluck!

I am a serious marketer and I want to make it big. 5 Years down the line, I want to groom myself into one of the biggest guys in digital marketing a.k.a. ‘The Wolf’. I restlessly ‘çrawl’ the web for intelligent marketing blogs and consume knowledge liberally. I do not mind sharing my learnings with people who respect time and money.

Know the dynamics of the entire marketing funnel, like the back of your hand.

Read ahead. May the Force be with you.

1. NeilPatel.com

Specialization: Thought leadership

Neil Patel is the co-founder of KISSmetrics, Crazy Egg and Hello Bar, three tools that nearly every SaaS marketer knows, as well as the founder of Quick Sprout, where he helps businesses drive more traffic and make more sales online. Neil also actively consults, invests, blogs and speaks all over the world; in short, he knows what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur.

Analytics: Whatever be the topic, the most striking feature of Neil Patel’s blogs is his love for analytics, which is so obvious in his posts. Neil primarily focuses on analytics to understand customer behaviour to improve conversion rates by tracking the right business metrics.

Actionable: As an entrepreneur, Neil is continuously experimenting and developing new and cutting edge Internet Marketing tactics, while working with some of the biggest brands in the world. All of this experience is reflected in his blog/newsletters. So what Neil offers in his blogs is practical marketing solutions rather than untested hypothesis.

This newsletter will give you practical advice on inbound marketing, It will give you data driven customer insights, it will help you leverage analytics to drive growth, it will guide you towards controlled automation and above all it will give a strong perspective to think about marketing in general. Do not miss out on this newsletter!

Most Shared Article in 2015: How To Use Growth Hacking To Attract and Retain Customers (1.4K Shares)

2. Search Engine Land

Specialization: SEO + SEM + Local Search Marketing

Search Engine Land is a news and information site covering search engine marketing, searching issues and the search engine industry. SearchCap is a daily email newsletter recap of search engine news. It provides a summary of what happened in search at the end of each business day. This includes all stories from Search Engine Land posted that day plus headlines from sources across the web.

SEM & SEO: Subscription to this newsletter will keep you updated on the latest developments in Google and Bing ads, whether they’re tweaking Product Listing Ads, adjusting Enhanced Campaigns, or changing the way ads display on various platforms. This newsletter will also keep you updated on the latest news or how-tos from best SEO practitioners and thought leaders..

Search Engine Land is launching a new industry awards program called “Landy Awards” that will recognize individuals, agencies, and internal marketing teams within the digital marketing community who have demonstrated excellence in executing organic and paid search marketing initiatives. And SEMPO Partners with Search Engine Land for the Landy Awards which will be held on September 30, 2015 in New York City.

The subscription will also keep you updated on the latest news about local search marketing, including tips to help small businesses, franchises and community locations be more visible in locally relevant search results.

Another cool feature about SEL is that they post search engine news stories throughout the day so that the users are informed the instant a new story appears. This is perfect for the content marketers who wants to keep up on everything as soon as it happen.

Most Shared Article in 2015: It’s Official: Google Says More Searches Now On Mobile Than On Desktop (10.7K Shares)

3. Content Marketing Institute

Specialization: Content Marketing + Brand Marketing

Founded by Content Marketing Evangelist and author Joe Pulizzi, Content Marketing Institute, can be described as a blog for brand marketers. The blog and newsletter features some of the best guest bloggers and thought leaders in content marketing space. The newsletter is known for its quality original content.

The blog and newsletter features a post a day written by Pulizzi and other industry leaders who discuss everything related to content, strategy, and tips for hiring. There’s also a weekly round up of current events going on in content marketing, so that readers can learn about the kinds of content other people are putting out. This newsletter is the be-all end-all in content marketing, and a serious source of research and stats.

Resources: Content Marketing Institute also offers many free resources including blogs, webinars, and archived podcasts that you can use to build up your personal knowledge and expertise.

Subscription to this newsletter keeps you updated on one of the most authentic and authoritative opinions in content marketing space.

Most Shared Article in 2015: How to Write Content That Engages Mobile Readers (3.8K Shares)

4. MWWPR

Specialization: PR

What makes MWWPR an essential subscription for a marketing professional is their expertise across practice areas and disciplines and their experience in crafting solutions & strategies that make their clients more competitive.

Comprehensive Coverage: This is the only newsletter which covers the PR related exhaustively. It discusses everything from consumer lifestyle marketing to LGBT marketing, presenting left-brained technology with right-brained content for a well-rounded offering, you won’t find elsewhere.

Research: This newsletter is an authority on PR related Research, insights and strategy. It discusses several meaningful insights and practical ways to develop highly effective communications strategies, using a mix of qualitative and quantitative research.

Strategy: It helps you arrive at the strategy behind targeted communication plans and activating consumer behaviors vital to your business – product purchases, brand recommendations and long-term engagement of key stakeholders.

This newsletter will give you a practical understanding of building working relationships with media, analysts, and other influencers that drive the market conversations. It provides you with all the latest information and skills needed to work with influencers to create your own communities, do original research, events and build partnerships. As a marketing person you need to understand and manage PR, in order to move up the ranks, try MWPR, you will not be disappointed!

5. Marketing Land

Specialization: Digital marketing + Martech

Marketing Land is a news site covering internet marketing, social media, mobile marketing & more. This is a sister site of Search Engine Land. This newsletter keeps you abreast of the latest interactive marketing news, views and how-tos. Each email newsletter will round up everything that Marketing Land has published on the topic in the previous week, including links to news stories and columns by expert practitioners.

Very well classified: This newsletter covers a wide range of topics from Display to search, from mobile to analytics. The topics of the newsletter are very well classified and gives the user the choice to select the topics of his/her choice. This is one of the few big blogs/ newsletters to cover niche topics like Retail, Marketing industry, Martech etc. This is one of the reasons why you should subscribe to this newsletter.

Hottest news: Marketing Land’s newsletter covers the latest developments and techniques in the complex marketing ecosystem. This newsletter gives you the first mover advantage with the latest updates and lets you leverage the upcoming products & tools to your brand or client’s advantage.

This newsletter consistently comes up with fresh, original and shareable ideas and is the one-stop shop for digital retail news and stats, expert opinions, how-to guides and actionable insights. Consider this as your marketing newspaper and subscribe.

Most Shared Article in 2015: What The Unofficial Death Of Google+ Means For Marketing (7.2K Shares)

6. Adweek

Specialization: Brand Marketing

What is the must-read publication for all executives at the largest advertising agencies? I wouldn’t think twice before saying that the answer is AdWeek. A publication which covers strategy, data and branding tailored for CMOs and top marketing professionals. Adfreak, the official blog of Adweek, is an excellent repository for brand marketers and exclusively covers the best and worst of advertising, branding, designing and content writing.

Brand Marketing: Subscription to this newsletter would keep you updated on a wide range of topics related to branding and advertising. The topics covered are essentially at the intersection of advertising, media and technology.

Viral Content: AdFreak is a collaborative effort by AdWeek staffers to chronicle all the latest and greatest campaigns in the ad world. Unlike the straightforward style of AdWeek Magazine, AdFreak presents its contents in a comical, sarcastic manner mildly reminiscent of the great Defamer. One can’t be expected to keep up on all the latest ad campaigns, and that is where AdFreak excels.

Adfreak is a daily blog of the best and worst of creativity in advertising media marketing and design and is a must-read news for marketing, agency, creative and advertising professionals.

Most Shared Article in 2015: What Is Branding? This Thought-Provoking Video Tells You in Just 2 Minutes (11.1K Shares)

7. Marketo

Specialization: Content Marketing Strategy and Marketing Automation

Marketo blog specializes in providing scalable marketing automation solutions. Although this is

targeted at enterprise level clients with large marketing/sales teams and large budgets this blog offers some really cool insights into a content marketing strategy that scales. Marketo blog offers loads of shareable content about marketing.

Now, moving the leads through the marketing funnel can be done faster by integrating ReadyTalk’s reliable webinar solution with Marketo

Marketing Automation: The Marketo blog is one of the most well-designed and thorough marketing sites out there. Marketo blog specializes in Marketing Automation, but is also an excellent source of content on categories such a s modern marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and social media, and every blog contains multiple images that complement the text. The content is fun to read, informative and educative at the same time.

Creative Content: Of all the blogs and newsletters discussed till now, marketo stands apart. They are creative in the way they present their content and their blogs have a viral appeal.

Automation and data are the two overriding themes of the Marketo blog. With a healthy emphasis on email, this blog gets at the heart of modern marketing. Automation will continue to be more important in marketing, so start digging in now.This newsletter is a must for all those who intend to scale their marketing efforts and i.e. practically every marketeer.

Most Shared Article in 2015: How to Integrate Social Media and Blogging from The Art of Social Media (2.9K Shares)

8. Unbounce

Specialization: Landing Page Management and Conversion Optimization

The Unbounce blog features tons of great scientific tips on building amazing web pages that are optimized to collect and convert leads.

Subscription to this newsletter gives you a very good analysis of different landing pages, it provides multiple examples of different landing pages and actionable information on what is good and what is worth testing/changing.

Data Driven Analysis: Unbounce presents content that is supported by scientific evidences and examples. It is all about conducting scientifically sound marketing experiments to build landing pages that convert. All of their posts provide a short critique after each example that can give you some A/B Testing ideas for your landing page.

Best Practices for design testing: For A/B testing, it’s often effective to start with starkly contrasting designs. Once one design wins out over the other, you can start to narrow down your tests with each iteration. This newsletter provides massive amount of useful information on best practices for designing tests.

Most Shared Article in 2015: 32 Ways to Squeeze Leads Out of Your Next Marketing Campaign (7K Shares)

9. Inbound.org

Specialization: Ultimate guide to growth hacking.

Absolutely. This community is full of awesome, friendly, knowledgeable people who legitimately want to help you. Their newsletter provides some of the best business/marketing advice can be learned from other founders.

Awesome community: Regardless of your current role/position you should always join a marketing growth hacking community. Any place where marketers, growth hackers, and founders congregate to discuss is where you need to be and there is no better place than inbound. This newsletter gives you a quick snapshot of the most popular discussions.

Traffic generation: The focus of this newsletter is a bit narrow, it specializes in growth hacking techniques particularly on how to get highly qualified prospects to your site.

Inbound is an amazing community of bloggers, marketers and enthusiasts passionate about non-paid channels like SEO, social media, content marketing, conversion rate optimization etc. Don’t think twice before subscribing to their newsletter.

Most Shared Article in 2015: Today, Facebook announced they’ll be adding a new feature to Messenger that allows you to send money (9K Shares)

10. Marketing Profs

Specialization: Marketing Education & Research

MarketingProfs is an online resource and community for marketing professionals. It provides its members with information via newsletters, blog posts, training and seminars. It is a multi-million dollar company today that serves a community of more than 492,000 entrepreneurs, small-business owners, and professional marketers at the world’s largest corporations. Their newsletter is reflective of all this knowledge and serves as a guide to practical marketing insights, lessons, perspectives, and know-hows.

Knowledge upgradation: It is essential for any marketer to keep abreast of the latest developments and updates in marketing and there is no better newsletter for this than Marketing profs. Marketing Profs is one of the best places for guest posting and naturally attracts good articles.

Wide Range of Topics: With 23 categories of content to choose from, you could spend hours a day reading MarketingProfs. And that doesn’t take into account the podcast, in-depth marketing guides and video tutorials.

This newsletter offers real-world education for modern marketers through training, best practices and research. A must subscription for all marketers.

Most Shared Article in 2015: 2015 Will Be the Year of Video Marketing (3.1K Shares)

11. Convince and Convert

Specialization: Content Marketing and Social Media

A Practical and actionable marketing blog. To the point, crisp and insightful. No wonder Convince and Convert is presently ranked as the #1 content marketing blog in the world, the #3 social media blog in the world, and the #18 overall marketing resource in the world. This is one of the best newsletters for B2B content marketing information.

Killer guest bloggers: The list starts with Jay Baer, founder of Convince and Convert and one of the most innovative thought leaders in this space, known for his consistent & quality content.

Case studies: Their newsletter and blog posts focus on case studies which will help you get better at social media and content marketing through audits, creation of strategic plans, setting up and configuring metrics and tracking.

Convince and Convert is an award-winning blog and comes out with a daily email newsletter called “Definitive”, and the weekly “Social Pros” podcast for social and content professionals. ‘Definitive’ is one of the most sort after newsletters in digital marketing space.

Convince and Convert also provides consultancy services and works with some of the biggest brands in the world. Their newsletter and blog is, therefore, reflective of their experience working for dozens of brands and agencies to bring best solutions to their social media, content marketing and digital marketing challenges.

All of this makes Convince and Convert, one of the best practical and actionable marketing newsletter. Do subscribe.

Most Shared Article in 2015: Why You Should Be Building Trust, Not Traffic (2.6K Shares)

12. Quick Sprout

Specialization: SEO + Link Building + Affiliate Marketing

The Quick Sprout newsletter, comes from one of the most popular thought leaders in Digital marketing Space, Neil Patel and is a must-subscribe for all business owners. If there is one reason for subscribing to Quick Sprout newsletter — that is to never miss a new post. Such is the importance of these posts. Every post is insightful and has practical applications.

Data driven Insights: The content of Quicksprout tends to revolve around entrepreneurial lessons related to online businesses. What makes this blog so special is that it is open about showing real data to validate the information they provide. Seeing real website traffic numbers, conversion rates and growth data is what makes this content so special.

Although Quicksprout specializes in SEO, it has a variety of articles on online marketing and some awesome social media marketing articles.

Awesome infographics: But what differentiates QuickSprout’s content from the rest of the content on the web is it’s use of infographics to explain data driven insights. Such insights help in explaining stuff real quick, this is probably what brings the newsletter it’s 35K subscribers!

Expertise: Neil Patel is an expert marketer and he puts out some killer blog posts that help his audience really get an in-depth grasp on topics like SEO and content marketing, usually a piece that is neglected by lots of ecommerce companies.

Subscribe to this newsletter before you miss out on another article!

Most Shared Article in 2015: The Ultimate Guide to Hashtags (4.6K Shares)

13. Mashable

Specialization: Social Media + Tech + Business

If you are a marketing professional who wants to stay ahead of the curve, then you can’t miss out on the Mashable newsletter. Here’s why.

There are 3 key features which make Mashable newsletter indispensable and the reason this newsletter tops our list.

Wide range of categories: Mashable has mainstream audience spread across techies, marketers, business professionals, and casual social enthusiasts. So they make sure that every blog post has a broad appeal. Mashable newsletter keeps you updated on a wide range of related categories and gives you a good macro picture.

Fresh Content: Mashable always prefers to be in the first group for any piece of news. They consider second hand news to be completely unworthy of publication. Of all the things, they do not compromise on freshness of content!

Viral content: The Patented algorithms of Mashable ensure that you don’t miss out on any content that is going viral. This newsletter keeps you updated on the biggest stories before they become big.

For content marketers staying ahead of the curve means survival. Don’t miss out on this newsletter.

Most Shared Article in 2015: Facebook reaching out to users who might be suicidal (17.8K Shares)

14. Entrepreneur

Specialization: Entrepreneurship + Business

Alert: If you don’t subscribe to this newsletter, you will miss out on some really good quality content!

Entrepreneur magazine is known for its awesome content and amazing contributors. Their ability to attract highly skilled writers, thought leaders, and innovators is one of the reasons why they rank on this list.

Good Quality Content: Entrepreneur mag has a very targeted niche audience. This gives them an advantage to be highly selective about their writers and contributors. They know their audience really well and publish tailored quality content.

Targeted Content: Articles covered in this newsletter pertain more to the aspiring entrepreneurs and early stage ventures, focusing more on topics related to technology and growth strategies. This is especially useful for marketers interested in growth hacking and viral marketing.

Good Categorization: This newsletter clearly categorizes its content into specific topics and lets you choose from these topics. You could subscribe to all the topics or go for particular ones.

From Money & Finance to Growth & leadership, this newsletter covers everything related to entrepreneurship and is a must for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Most Shared Article in 2015: 10 Success Habits That Will Dramatically Improve Your Business (40.4K Shares)

15. Buffer

Specialization: Social Media + Content Marketing

Although the newsletter from Buffer blog specializes in providing good quality content on social media, it also focuses on productivity, life hacks, writing, user experience, customer happiness and business. This makes it indispensable for content and social media marketers.

Social Media: The content of this newsletter as well as its blog is intended towards promoting buffer application,a social media management tool. Naturally the newsletter is social media centric and is a great repository for articles on sharing, creating, analyzing and converting with social media.

User Education: One of the primary reasons for the popularity of this newsletter is that it believes in providing content that educates + motivates readers to take action and still has that viral appeal. No wonder they have succeeded in growing to a 41,231 newsletter subscription base.

This newsletter comes in the form of both a blog and daily newsletter and will give you the ins and outs of scoring big on social media. Their posts will help you maximize your return from social media platforms by educating you on how to measure your performance. While they may not post as often as other blogs, their posts are thorough, detailed and data-driven. Buffer newsletter is full of all the best social media tips, tools, experiments, and advice.

Most Shared Article in 2015: The Psychology of Facebook: Why We Like, Share, Comment (9.9K Shares)

16. HubSpot

Specialization: Inbound Marketing + Sales

This newsletter provides you with the latest Marketing Tips, Trends, and Best Practices in digital marketing space. Known for their actionable content, they cover a wide range of topics that include SEO, blogging, social media, lead generation, email marketing, lead management, analytics, and more. Above all, you can’t mention content marketing without mentioning HubSpot. These guys literally wrote the book on it.

HubSpot software is a sophisticated Marketing platform which helps you in managing Inbound Marketing and Sales. HubSpot maintains specialized blogs for Marketing, Sales, Agencies and Web design.

HubSpot Academy is a blog intended for user education and provides resourceful guides on everything related to Inbound marketing and sales. It provides detailed user guides on topics from Keywords to Call-to-actions.

When you are stuck for ideas, need answers to specific marketing questions, want content to use as reference and to understand new concepts and ideas, spend time on their newsletter! This newsletter provides awesome content on everything related to Inbound.

Most Shared Article in 2015: Do You Really Need That Exclamation Point? [Flowchart] (10.7K Shares)

17. Moz

Specialization: SEO + Inbound Marketing

When we are talking about Moz, there are two things we need to know before getting into the details of their newsletter. One ‘The TAGFEE Code’, two ‘Rand Fishkin’.

The TAGFEE Code: It essentially drives everything Moz does, everything they create and cultivate – their software, content, corporate culture, and relationships. They’re all a direct reflection of their mission to be as Transparent, Authentic, Generous, Fun, Empathetic, and Exceptional as possible. Same goes with their blog and newsletter.

Rand Fishkin, The Wizard of Moz: He’s founder and former CEO of Moz and co-founder of Inbound.org. An active blogger, Rand regularly writes on SEO, content, search, & social on the web, from his multiple blogs. Known for his ‘Whiteboard Friday’ lectures, Rand is today the most sort after thought leader in Digital Marketing space.

Moz Top Ten: Almost everything Moz does with marketing seems to be spot-on and their email newsletter is no exception. Instead of pushing their agenda with tons of their own posts, the Moz Top Ten pulls a bunch of great posts from around the web and shares them with its audience.Their posts cover covers the best stories on inbound marketing, SEO, and social and this is one weekly newsletter people look forward to reading.

Get this Newsletter now! I mean now!

Most Shared Article in 2015: The Web Developer’s SEO Cheat Sheet 3.0 (10.6K Shares)

18. Social Media Examiner

Specialization: Social Media in/and business

Social Media Examiner, the world’s largest online social media magazine, designed to help businesses discover how to best use social media tools like Facebook, Google+, Twitter and LinkedIn to connect with customers, generate more brand awareness and increase sales.

Amazing case studies: Subscribing to their newsletter gives you an update on the amazing research and case studies on social media presented by SME in their blog. This blog is go-to resource for most things Social Media. They cover a wide variety of information and have some have an array of extensive articles and case studies on Facebook Marketing!

Social Media Experts: Social Media Examiner blog is one of the most important blogs dealing with social media, new updates and features, and the usage of social media in business. Want to hear what’s new on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +, etc? Subscribe their newsletter and you will never miss anything related to social media.

They work with top social media experts to bring you all the news you need to optimize content marketing with social media. Their articles in the newsletter will help you integrate social media into your content marketing strategy.

Most Shared Article in 2015: New Facebook Terms: What Marketers Need to Know (12.1K Shares)

19. KISSmetrics

Specialization: Web Analytics with a focus on ecommerce and SaaS

Everything apart, these stats alone make a strong case for you to subscribe to this newsletter.

– 350k visitors a month

– 82% of web traffic is from the blog

– 70% of leads from blog (15 sales reps)

– $100k-$150k a year spent on blog (infographics, content, content promotion)

– Estimated ROI of $900,000

Data Driven Insights: This newsletter provides you with the most authoritative and scientific methods to optimize your marketing based on metrics and covers this topic in depth. Although this newsletter specializes in Analytics, it is an excellent source for data driven insights on other topics such as Branding, copywriting, E-Commerce, Marketing, Social media, Design, Twitter, Facebook etc.

Customer Insights: As the tagline suggests ‘Google analytics tells you what and Kissmetrics tells you who’, this newsletter provides insightful infographics, Data visualizations and cheat sheets on customer behavior and psychology.

Numbers and data don’t lie — they tell you what is working, what isn’t and how the business responds to testing and changes. Your ability to decipher analytical data and use that information to make changes in your business decides your success or failure. This is exactly what you get out of this newsletter. We highly recommend this newsletter for everyone into digital marketing, especially for budding SaaS and E-Commerce companies.

Most Shared Article in 2015: The Ultimate Guide to 150+ Google Analytics Resources for 2015 (3.5K Shares)

20. CopyBlogger

This newsletter is a preeminent source on using content to market a business and is ‘the’ destination site for SMBs for tools and techniques on content marketing. This newsletter gives you the solutions you need to succeed in improving traffic, links, subscribers, and a profit-generating website.

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Success Factors in a Global Network Marketing Business

How to Discover the Love, Innovation and the Entrepreneurial Fitness Required in a Global Network Marketing Business

Forward

To everyone that is doubtful of hope – this is for you!

Let’s begin. A few short weeks ago, unbeknownst to me, I had the privilege of meeting someone on an airplane bound for Adelaide, Australia; who would lead me onto an exciting path of discovery. We momentarily chatted at the back of the aeroplane on my way back from Nadi, Fiji; in a chance meeting in which I would say ‘yes’, I would like to hear more about the business model that had established her recent financial freedom and success (more to come on this encounter with an interview in the later chapters).

Eager to progress my knowledge, I spent the next 4 weeks researching the industry, the organisation, the people behind it and the sequences and processes to their wealth. The learning curve was exponential – and this is my reflection. At this point in time, I was coincidentally completing my final MBA capstone research project in Adelaide, so I took the opportunity to research her discussion with me in depth and convey the message across to my followers from an Australian scholarly point of view. I had no idea about the industry, albeit little rumours here and there to complement my somewhat biased and disappointing initial online research. I found nothing positive but like an underworld that nobody truly knew about – it intrigued me because I felt that something was right.

The bastion for wealth had its scent in the air. This could be its last refuge – I thought. I had to form an immediate action drill to advance a pincer movement onto this burgeoning interest. It was now or never. I wasn’t sure if it was the timing or the opportunity – the right thing to do though was to jump first and ask questions later. This is the later part of that quick equation that transpired in my entrepreneurial mind. This educative curiosity from an Australian scholarly perspective is now alive in the words that you will feel and as we go through the journey together; towards health, wealth, a great life with grand relationships and most importantly learning about the chances to glow youthfully throughout the adventure. This enlightenment was my beginning into a new and evolving industry. A new road was carved and you may feel the moments morph around your own personal experiences or fantasies. I dived immediately into the books and into the school library; the search for the golden nugget had begun. Line by line, word for word, dissecting the information and honouring the objections with gratitude. My hope is that this communicated knowledge helps novice beginners similar to myself, take that intriguing next step towards calculated risk taking, growth and most importantly, self-discovery through the facts.

I hope that you gain some business value in my research and that this value inspires you to create your own decisions when the time comes for you to approach your own destiny!

In Gratitude and Thanks.

David.

Chapter 1

Introduction to Network Marketing

Network marketing, multi-level marketing, direct sales, referral marketing, pyramid selling etc, the names are endless. For the purpose of simplification we will adhere to this business model simply as network marketing for ease of navigation, and understanding throughout the book. All of these names; simply exemplifies a unique marketing strategy for the sale of products or services where the revenue of the network company is derived from a non-salaried workforce selling the company’s products or services. Pretty simple system – just made complicated to confuse the novice beginner like myself.

1.1 History – How Did It Start?

By accident to be honest. This is how the story goes and it all starts with an ingenuous idea conceptualised in 1930 by a man called Carl Rehnborg. Carl was an American businessman who lived in China between 1917 to 1927. Carl observed the benefits of using supplements in a diet that could be beneficial to a human beings health. According to Amway publications, Carl’s study became the ‘ample opportunity to observe at close range the effects of an inadequate diet’. With the knowledge he attained in the nutritional literature, he then started to envision a dietary supplement that would assist proper body functioning in any sort of diet. Carl then decided to go back to America to start his own company out of his learnings in China. He founded his company called The California Vitamin Company. In 1939, he renamed the company to Nutrilite. Carl utilised his friends to sell the vitamins but things initially looked disappointing. The vitamins were piling up on the shelves, unused and forgotten. It was heartbreaking for Carl. Until an idea lit up in his mind, to develop a kind of selling by informing people about the product. He shared the vitamins to more of his friends, to the friends of his friends and so on. You can see where this is going right? Alas – network marketing was born!

The business model grew further when Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos became the distributors of Carl’s products. The three noticed a phenomenal increase in sales. KABOOM… !! Network marketing was unleashed into the world. They later set up a competing company (because competition is good in a capitalistic economy) called Amway and they also bought a controlling interest in Nutrilite in 1972. In 1994, Amway took over full ownership and is one of the largest network marketing companies in the world today.

1.2 How Do They Get Paid?

As the business world innovates and disrupts, network marketing compensation plans evolve to attract new recruits and customers. It is a very simple strategy for expansion to capitalise on the available market share. It is different for every network marketing company just as there are different salaries for different corporations. However the most common is the commission based on the two revenue streams. The first stream of compensation can be paid out from commissions of product sales. The second stream of compensation can be paid out from commissions based on recruiting similar minded distributors. The amount of compensation varies between network marketing companies. I would have to study every single company in the world to understand this – alternatively I can study the success stories because success always leaves hints – in the results.

Chapter 2

Demographic Examples

Let’s look at some quick examples of the people who have seen the opportunity and taken the leap. Here we witness the amazing stories of different individuals who have tasted the recent fruit of success in network marketing – becoming phenomenally wealthy.

2.1 Teacher

Sarah Robbins always dreamed to become a teacher. So she became one. She thought she could now have all that she wanted with a limitless appetite for continuous personal growth and development. However, the economy stumped in the US of A, challenging her thoughts on the economy.

She had heard of the Rodan & Fields products. She then decided to join so she could earn an extra income and expand her personal development at the same time. Unexpectedly, with her initial goal to earn just a bit of extra income, she earned more than she thought, even more as a teacher. Her career in network marketing grew and she decided to focus on it rather than her teaching career. She was earning six figures at a very young age. She joined the millionaires club and becoming the first distributor to be inducted into the Rodan & Fields Hall of Fame. Sarah continues to educate people on the benefits of network marketing and benefits of its wealth through her unique educational style.

2.2 Writer

Eric Worre, an ordinary writer spent 30 years working in network marketing once he saw the light. He spent most of his 30 years as a distributor and eventually became the president of his own networking company – The People’s Network. He then decided to retire as a distributor and continued his journey in network marketing as a coach and helped network marketing novices, organizing sales presentations. He then wrote ‘Go Pro – 7 Steps to Becoming a Network Marketing Professional’ in 2013, to reach and educate more network marketing aspirants. It has sold more than 1.5 million copies and has been on six best-sellers lists on Amazon.

2.3 Single Mother

Donna Johnson is an example of a network marketing miracle. A single mum who did not have anything before she started in network marketing. No college degree – just an ordinary swimming coach in a little American town. With her determination to succeed, she now earns more than $1 million per year and is the leader in one of the top network marketing companies, Arbonne. She is now one of the biggest earners in network marketing and has a bed and breakfast business in Jamaica amongst other entrepreneurial ventures.

2.4 Government Worker

Rebecca Simon is a modest mother who was brought up in one of Adelaide’s toughest suburbs. She recollects how she would travel to work every day and sit at an uninspiring desk job, knowing deep down inside that she was capable of more. Today she is building her own resort on an exotic south pacific Island – just three years after she started in network marketing. More on Rebecca’s inspirational story later on in the book.

Chapter 3

The Feminine Revolution

40 years ago, when the empowerment of women took off, many loved their new found independence and the opportunity to dress in a suit and drive off to a esteemed corner office. Things have changed a lot since the 70s and 80s, today she is just as happy to pull on comfortable yoga pants and skip the travel to the office altogether. Instead of tolerating negative office stigma and glass ceilings, modern women are heading towards the unique opportunity to be their own CEO, have control with no limits on their annual income. Some other reasons why network marketing industry is proving to be amazing for the ladies are:

Drum roll…
3.1 Work – Life Balance

Being burnt out today is no longer the exception, it is the norm. People have to put up with inflation, rising food prices, cost of living, raise families and commute sometimes for hours to get to, and back from work. The amount of work to be taken home is also increasing, teachers working to plan their workloads weeks in advance and project managers working extended hours to launch projects on time. You have heard it before and again, the balance has gone out of whack but some refuse to accept the truth.

3.2 Environment

Most career women have worked in team environments and enjoy the collaborative and interpersonal communication that goes with it. It is no surprise that the network marketing industry has exactly that and for most women joining the industry, it is this support and collaboration that they miss the most from a usual 9am to 5pm, sit in the corner and do your work routine.

3.3 Choice to Choose

Network marketing gives women the freedom to choose who they would like to work with as business partners. They choose who they recruit, who they work with and who they would rather not. This choice to choose is empowering and exciting at the same time for women in the industry.

3.4 Global Empire at Your Fingertips

You drive around cities and towns nowadays and still see the for lease sign up again at the shop that closed around the corner. You wonder why some businesses prefer the old way of doing businesses in a time where digital disruption is taking stores online. The brilliance of network marketing is that apart from an initial modest start-up fee, there are no overheads, no garages for stock keeping, accountants, legal advisers, etc, you get the idea. The brilliance with network marketing is that most if not all the work can be done from your mobile phone or laptop computer. Your store is online!

3.5 Cool Rewards and Incentives

There are hardly any places left in the world where a large corporation hosts large global events that also reward women for trips, cars, gifts, holidays etc, all whilst developing women business capabilities and personal development. Name a lady who doesn’t like to be pampered from time to time with absolute luxury?

3.6 Glass Ceiling

With 82 percent of the network marketing industry made up of women, more and more are rising to the top, claiming multi-six- and seven-figure annual incomes. The world is your oyster in this industry for women and those that grasp the opportunity are confirmed with a gift, and if utilised, become extremely wealthy. No glass ceiling in the industry. Effort equals reward!

3.7 Freedom of Time

Let’s face it, we all need more freedom, money and time. Where else can you get that? In the industry business partners are told to work at least 2 hours per day to grow their businesses. That’s an average of 8 hours from Monday to Friday. If done correctly this is all one needs to sustain a healthy and wealthy lifestyle from passive income brought in by the industry. Freedom has the allure to pull and no one will ever say no to an opportunity to get more!

And, finally, perhaps the most important reason of all…
3.8 Authenticity

The network marketing business model thrives on the values of femininity such as nurturing support, collaboration, and authenticity – all of which are inherently feminine traits that are easily transferrable into the business model. The more women show up as their natural caring selves, the more successful they become in developing long term substantial relationships in growing their teams and customer base.

Chapter 4

The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

The worlds middle class is becoming much larger, the worlds education system is being made more accessible and demographics from the poorest suburbs on the planet have made that extraordinary leap from third world country struggle – to developed world multi-millionaire. Let’s have a look at some examples.

4.1 The Gift of Adversity

Studies and research have proven time and time again that those from minority, ethnic or migrant backgrounds go that extra mile to achieve their goals in life; if given a small and fair chance to give an opportunity a ago. With that attitude and hunger in network marketing, most if not all, go on to become extraordinary wealthy, becoming multi-millionaires and leaders. There is just something magical, mystical, unknown and empowering about enduring as an underdog from one of those aforementioned backgrounds. Turning adversity and challenges on its head can be the source of generational wealth for years and years to come. Let’s research an example of a network marketing company that is capturing this driven demographic.

4.2 Kyani

Kyani is a global network marketing giant who has successfully positioned itself for global dominance in developing countries to assist the worlds growing middle class. A new starter but safely past the initial 10 year start up survival phase, and rapidly expanding into some 60 plus different countries over the short space of time, Kyani doesn’t limit its sales in developed economies but has strategically given interest to the worlds developing nations such as Honduras, Guatemala, Kazakhstan and Slovakia to name a few. You only have to grab a copy of Kyanis annual network marketing magazine to see proof of the overflow of the minority demographics from countries such as Korea, Turkey, Hungary and the Philippines who are being inducted into the 7 figure salary clubs. Most had disadvantaged starts in life and were from the ordinary occupations such as soldiers, hairdressers and tradesman.

Let’s look at some life examples.

4.3 Les Brown

African American global inspirational speaker, Les Brown didn’t have the best start in life. In fact it was horrible. However, he turned that pain around and become an inspirational example of hope for the world. Les Brown often refers to another historic global icon Ralph Waldo Emerson in his speeches who coined today’s existence as the ‘age of self-reliance’. Les Brown champions unorthodox underdog mental motivation and entrepreneurship – qualities that are found in those that are from minority, migrant and ethnic backgrounds.

4.4 Robert Kiyosaki

From a military and Japanese Hawaiian background – Robert Kiyosaki, the award winning Rich Dad, Poor Dad writer; has proven that network marketing success and wealth is not reserved for any demographic. Success can be achieved by anyone, and from any background.

Chapter 5

Global Icons in Network Marketing

Now, let’s look at some well-known global figures who have aligned their businesses with the network marketing industry.

5.1 Warren Buffett

The man needs no introduction as a philanthropist and investor and usually sits in the top 3 of the richest people on the planet. He is valued at nearly 70 billion USD and owns Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire Hathaway owns three network marketing companies, Kirby, World Book and the Pampered Chef. To this day Warren Buffett calls purchasing these network marketing companies – the best purchase he has ever made!

5.2 Richard Branson

A man that also requires no introduction. One small branch of the Virgin Group that often goes unmentioned is Vie at Home, a network marketing company formerly known as Virgin Vie. Vie at Home made over $60 million of profit in its – first year maiden of existence! Ouch!

5.3 Donald Trump

Yes, no political affiliations here but when asked on the David Letterman show: What would you do if you lost everything and had to start over from scratch? Trump replied – “I would find a good network marketing company and get to work”.

5.4 Bill Clinton

In 1997, Bill Clinton endorsed network marketing in his remarks to the Direct Selling Association. President Clinton stated that ‘You strengthen our country and our economy not just by striving for your own success but by offering opportunity to others… Your industry gives people the chance, after all, to make the most of their own lives and to me that’s the heart of the American dream’.

5.5 Jim Rohn

One of the worlds pioneers in personal development and network marketing. Today remains one of the founding fathers of the personal and professional development movement and mentored motivational leaders like Tony Robbins. Jim Rohn found the light and opportunity within the network marketing industry and within 6 years – turned his fortunes around to become extraordinarily wealthy, by the age of 32.

Chapter 6

Summary

With our brief history and introduction lesson complete, we will go from a beginner to more advanced network marketing challengers and the strategies that will equip the beginner early in the journey. We will unearth deep scholarly research to help structure your leadership for both, the local and the rising global markets.

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Can Non-Profits Be Profitable Businesses?

There continues to be confusion among non-profit organizations about what the term “not-for-profit” really means and how to best conduct the “business of the business.” It definitely does not mean that an organization has a license to go broke! Technically speaking, there are several different categories of non-profit organizations, but the one most commonly referenced is the community-based charitable non-profit, or 501(c)(3). The key word in the 501(c)(3) designation is “charitable.” This simply means that the organization is providing a service to the community that is considered to be worthwhile, within IRS guidelines, and therefore deemed tax-exempt. As I have mentioned many times previously, this exemption is a privilege and must be treated as such.

Also, remember that the organization must first be formed under the laws of whatever state it will operate. In other words, an organization (usually a non-stock corporation) is first incorporated and then it applies for a non-profit designation from the IRS. For the purposes of this article, we are talking about small to medium-sized community-based organizations in the Non-Profit Sector, not churches, hospitals, educational institutions, or government-funded agencies.

I am often asked if it is okay for a non-profit to make a profit. The answer is yes. I am also asked if a non-profit needs to be run like a business. The answer is yes again. But there are distinguishing features between the for-profit sector and the non-profit sector and it is important for the non-profit organization to understand the differences in order to remain in compliance with its IRS designation.

I work with a number of non-profits who are facing real financial difficulty, especially in the last few years, with the recession and the down economy. It is important to distinguish these uncontrollable economic setbacks from the philosophical and policy-driven directions that a non-profit has chosen within the guidelines of its mission. For example, if a rural community-based health clinic is not charging enough in fees to meet its expenses, then it must be subsidized by donations to offset the loss of revenue or, plain and simple, it will go broke. This should not be a difficult concept to grasp: if a non-profit does not have more money than expenses, then it is in financial trouble. Yes, just like a for-profit, a non-profit must cover its expenses. However, any push for a typical non-profit to greatly exceed its costs with revenues is likely to be perceived by its members as going against its charitable mission. Conversely, owners of a for-profit are extremely interested in maximizing their profits.

So, if you ask me if a non-profit should be run like a business, my answer must be yes and no. Yes, there are many basic aspects of the organization that must be run like a business; but, no, there are distinctions within a non-profit that must be viewed differently than a typical for-profit business. Using the rural health clinic example again, if the mission of the clinic is to provide health care to all individuals regardless of their ability to pay the full fees, then its services must be subsidized by other means, such as donations, which is probably exactly what its mission states and probably the key reason it was granted its charitable status by the IRS in the first place.

Over the years, I have consistently urged board members to take their non-profit responsibilities very seriously. However, caution must be exercised if a board begins to find no difference in operating like a for-profit business. This is potentially one of the most difficult facets of a non-profit board to grasp. Not every aspect of a non-profit can be run like a business – and most non-profit board members come from the for-profit sector – so it is understandable for the board member to attempt to apply the business skills they practice every day to the non-profit whom they have agreed to serve.

I do not have any problem with that frame of mind if it can be moderated. In fact, the majority of the “business” practices do, indeed, apply equally to non-profits and for-profits. Things like board responsibility, conflict of interest policy, the need for good record-keeping and proper accounting, adherence to human relations issues, rules, and regulations; the list goes on and on, but the point should be clear. Unfortunately, too many non-profits falter when it comes to running the business of the business. There are three immediate reasons that come to mind as common challenges among all non-profits:

1. Board members often leave the business of raising the funds to operate the non-profit to the executive director and other staff, but the expertise and interest of the executive director lies within the skills of implementing the actual mission of the organization. Fundraising becomes a major frustration.

2. Increasingly, board members do not have adequate time to provide the service that a proactive board requires and fundraising is not enjoyed by very many people, so it does not get done; nor does the board usually push for a business-like approach to running the organization.

3. Executive directors and non-profit staff excel in the mission of the organization and do not typically have strong business skills, nor anyone readily available to assist them. Disagreements on business issues often arise between an “all business” approach and a “not at all business” philosophy among the staff.

Whenever I look into the inner workings of a non-profit that is having trouble with the business of the business, I can almost always determine that the root cause falls into one of these three areas identified above.

Where is the proper balance and how does a non-profit find it? Well, it depends a lot on the non-profit and its mission, but the staff and board need to work together to identify the nuances that best fit its operation in order for the organization to remain viable and sustainable. If agreement cannot be found, executive directors become very frustrated and will ultimately leave the organization. Likewise, hard-to-find board members become less and less engaged. Nobody enjoys volunteering to oversee an organization that is in constant financial challenge.

I recall my very first board meeting at one non-profit. I asked why there was no financial report on the agenda and if I could have a copy of the budget. Honest to goodness, the executive director told me that the organization did not have a budget and actually argued with me that it was not necessary. To make matters worse, the majority of the board members told me they agreed with the executive director! I remember considering getting up and walking out the door right then and there! Seriously. True story. I spent the next several months concerned and frustrated. I forced the board and the staff to act more like a business when, perhaps, I should have spent more time teaching the reasons why change was imperative. Ultimately, the executive director had to be terminated for lack of carrying out board directives, which is always a shame.

Somewhere along the line, an accountant friend on a non-profit board expressed an interesting line of thought to me: “money is good; no money is bad.” We all laughed at his comment but it is amazing how many times over the years I have remembered what he said. Obviously, it is true. If the non-profit has no money, the focus of the staff and board is thrown into crisis mode, the mission of the organization becomes secondary, and every day is a struggle. This is exactly the same for a non-profit as a for-profit, so if the very basics of the enterprise are analyzed, a non-profit is very much a business and it had better be acting like one or it will cease to exist.

To be fair to the naysayers, the nuances of the non-profit must be determined and guided by policy. Back to the example of the rural health clinic, if no subsidy in service fees for certain clients of the clinic were required, then there would be no need for the non-profit charitable status because the organization would be operating as a for-profit and definitely not providing a charitable community service. This distinction is not obtuse and must be clearly understood by the staff and the board.

In summary, every organization in the Non-Profit Sector must follow basic business practices or it will not be able to sustain its operation. And, importantly, every charitable organization must remain true to its mission or it will lose its non-tax designation. These are basic issues for boards and staff to figure out and implement. In the end, it will always be about running the business of the business.