Tag:

help

Sheryl Sandberg reportedly used Facebook resources to help embattled Activision CEO

by Loknath Das April 21, 2022

written by Loknath Das

Meta is reportedly investigating whether Sheryl Sandberg broke company rules in her dealings with a publication that was reporting on Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who she was dating at the time. According to a new report in The Wall Street Journal, the Meta COO used company resources to help kill negative reporting about Kotick. Meta is now reportedly conducting a “review” of her actions and “whether she violated the company’s rules.”

According to the report, the British tabloid MailOnline was pursuing a story based on allegations made by a former girlfriend of Kotick’s, and a temporary restraining order she had received against him. But Sandberg and Kotick worked together on two separate occasions, in 2016 and in 2019, to strategize on how to “persuade the Daily Mail not to report on the restraining order.”

The report states that Facebook and Activision staff were both directly involved in the effort, and that there was concern internally at Facebook that the story would “reflect negatively on her reputation as an advocate for women.”

The Wall Street Journal report also questions whether Sandberg inappropriately wielded her influence as Facebook COO in her dealings with the MailOnline management. One of the paper’s unnamed sources states that Kotick “told people that Ms. Sandberg threatened the Mail in 2016 by saying that such an article, if published, could damage the news organization’s business relationship with Facebook.”

In a statement, a Meta spokesperson denied Sandberg had “threatened” MailOnline. “Sheryl Sandberg never threatened the MailOnline’s business relationship with Facebook in order to influence an editorial decision,” the spokesperson said. “This story attempts to make connections that don’t exist.” Kotick told The Journal he “never said anything like that.”

The MailOnline never published its story on Kotick, who has recently faced scrutiny over his handling of allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct at Activision. The company was acquired by Microsoft for $68.7 billion in January.

In a statement, Activision’s board of directors said that it had done a “thorough investigation” into “an incident in 2014,” and that they have “full confidence in Mr. Kotick’s leadership.”

“The Board has been aware of the circumstances reported involving an incident in 2014. Around the time of the incident in 2014 , Mr. Kotick notified the senior Independent Director of the Board, has subsequently updated the full Board and has been fully transparent with the Board. The Board, through its counsel Skadden Arps, has done a thorough examination of the facts and circumstances of the events, satisfied itself that there was no merit to the allegations, and notes that they concern a personal relationship that has nothing to do with the business of the Company. The Board continues to have full confidence in Mr. Kotick’s leadership and his ability to run the Company.”

[“source=engadget”]

April 21, 2022 0 comment

Blogging

Could starting a blog or posting regularly to LinkedIn help or hurt my career?

by Loknath Das January 13, 2020

written by Loknath Das

Dear Sam: I enjoy writing, even though my job is more technical. Friends, who also are just starting in their careers, have recommended that I begin blogging or posting to LinkedIn. Is that a good idea or could it hurt my career as I look to climb the ladder? — Dan

Dear Dan: Blogging can undoubtedly lend credence to your areas of emerging expertise. I would perhaps question the ‘why’ behind the desire to blog or the suggestion by your friends to start publishing your thoughts. Are you trying to position yourself as a future consultant? Are you seeking to represent yourself with an increased presence for an upcoming job search? Blogging should be entered into with some forethought of who your audience is, what views you are expressing and what the purpose is behind your efforts.

Also, I would want to make sure that anything you publish is thoroughly reviewed and proofread as the strength of your written communications will be evaluated just as much as the content of your messages. Lastly, be sure you don’t mind your thoughts following you for your entire career. For instance, let’s say you use a specific software package at work or have a particular affinity for a certain technology tool, and, in your blog, you state your preference. Now, fast forward five years and that other company could come calling with an offer for an interview and, just maybe in their vetting process, they will find your brand preference from an earlier writing you forgot about; do you see the dilemma? I want you to be very thoughtful about what you publish, for obvious reasons.

If you are seeking to blog as a job seeker, that can be a great way to demonstrate subject mastery. I have seen lots of job seekers use LinkedIn’s post and article capabilities to share professional wisdom. Hence, don’t think you necessarily have to develop an entire platform exclusively for your thoughts; you might be able to do the same thing on an already existing platform with an embedded audience. If you don’t think blogging is the right direction for you at this juncture in your career, instead perhaps join groups and follow companies of interest on LinkedIn and be an active contributor to those digital discussions. Of course, you will want to follow the same rules in terms of representing your professional candidacy at all times with any comment that you make, but this can be a softer entry into the publishing arena.

In brief, a blog could help you in these five ways:

Establish you as a thought leader in your space.
Promote your candidacy for new opportunities.
Establish you as a teacher and as a possible team leader.
Expand your network and opportunities to connect with peers.
Build your presence on professional powerhouse platforms like LinkedIn.

Beware, however, as a poor blog could hurt you by illustrating what you don’t know, showing a lack of prowess when it comes to writing skills, alienating a potential company of interest if your views differ, and even, perhaps, showing an inconsistency of follow-through if your blogging is sporadic. Hence, I encourage you to start if you evaluate you have the expertise, time and knowledge to deliver thoughtful messages regularly. If not, then perhaps use comment features on other blogs and company posts as a way to reinforce your emerging expertise. Happy writing!

[“source=oregonlive”]

January 13, 2020 0 comment

Education

CodeIndia will help govt get meaningful computer education to schools

by Loknath Das November 30, 2019

written by Loknath Das

delhi, delhi schools

The Department of Science and Technology announced its pilot project at a school in Delhi. (Representative image)

How necessary coding has become for education is evident from the fact that over the last couple of years, apps have sprung up both on iOS and Android to make coding fun. While more children are taking to coding in the West—each profession now demands basic computer skills—in developing countries, skill development has been linked to traditional fields like driving, masonry, etc. Thus, the effort by the principal scientific advisor of the government to introduce coding in schools is a positive step in preparing children for jobs of the future. The Department of Science and Technology announced its pilot project at a school in Delhi. Under the programme, kids would be taught skills like creating cartoons, introduction to creative computing using scratch, creating websites, CERN CMS data workshop, Python language, built-in functions and modules, as well as how to build projects.

The initiative is undoubtedly expected to prepare a workforce for the future— World Economic Forum highlights that artificial intelligence specialist, blockchain specialist, and big data analyst are some of the likely professions of the future. But, there are some concerns that the government needs to address beforehand. Reports from ASER highlight that even after a decade of widespread use of the web, schools in rural areas still lack the requisite infrastructure. So, in 2010, while only 8.6% of children were using a computer, this had fallen even further to 6.5% in 2018. If the government is serious about changing the dynamics of employment, it must bring about a change in rural areas. Making computers available will be the first step, but imparting advanced education is also essential. Coding is as vital in the 21st century as writing was in the 16th century.

[“source=financialexpress”]

November 30, 2019 0 comment

Internet

What is the right way to ask neighbours for help on the internet?

by Loknath Das May 5, 2019

written by Loknath Das

Small trees, shrubbery beds and tables and chairs with city buildings in the background

‘I find myself impossibly moved by the sight of community gardens.’ Dalston Eastern Curve in London. Photograph: Alamy

Viral internet content, whether meme or catastrophe, burrows into our minds, because that is its way. But occasionally, rather than being replaced by something meaner or madder, a piece of it will set up home there, put the kettle on, never leave. And then I must work out… why.

A man in Philadelphia screenshotted and tweeted a post from nextdoor.com, a request from his pregnant neighbours for meals and favours. It included recipe ideas, their food preferences, and the detail that they’d leave a cooler for meals outside the door. The Sun headlined its piece on the Twitter thread, “YOU WHAT!?” continuing, “Fury as deluded millennial couple expecting baby ‘ask strangers to chip in cooking and cleaning’ because ‘they’ll be tired’.’’ A thousand more “YOU WHAT!?”s abounded, and a familiar kind of internet fury was unleashed, that heightened outrage, a brief sugar high.

This is what fuels the internet, of course, and many friendships, too – the mean bliss of mutual hatred, a linking of arms to form a community of righteous anger. And community is the thing that I kept coming back to, when, the following night, the couple’s cooler turned up in my dream, and the following week, when I found myself contemplating one of their recipe ideas for my tea.

I’ve written before about my own experience of Nextdoor, the website where neighbours are encouraged to share gardening recommendations and information about lost cats, a place that fosters a synthetic (if often warming) sense of community, in a time when such a thing is rare. Having spent time on this site, the pregnant couple’s request felt familiar, if only for its mundanity. But it jarred with the world beyond their doorstep for a number of reasons, the most obvious being the scope of the favour they were asking. They’d exposed themselves as needy – they’d asked for help, but… they’d asked wrong. Which makes you wonder, doesn’t it, what would be the correct way? When you are living far from family and those who love you, what is the correct way to ask for help?

When I first read it, I chuckled, I did. But as I swam deeper into the reactions my sense of unease grew, shifting quickly into a glum sort of hopelessness. I was lucky never to have to ask for help when I had a baby. It arrived in Tupperware, on tube trains, balanced carefully on laps. When I was going into labour, my friend cleaned our windows. When I was a week into a hospital stay and couldn’t bear the idea of company, my mum silently delivered meatballs then drove away again, an hour each way. Later, another friend took the baby while I had the most magical haircut of my life, an inch off the ends, spread thickly over an afternoon.

The question comes sometimes when sick or in need, “What can I do to help?” But often the true reply is gritty and dirty and dull, and few are prepared for honesty here. That exchange of love is only possible when you’re surrounded by people who know you. And today, few of us are.

These poor pregnant sods were vilified for asking for the benefits of a community. It became increasingly clear that reader outrage was based in disbelief that such benefits were a possibility. Which makes sense – it’s difficult to grasp the idea of physically taking part in such openhanded compassion, in part because we get so little respite from individual striving, and in part because the idea of community today is so nebulous and scarred.

It’s spring now, and I find myself impossibly moved by the sight of community gardens, thorn-strewn and blooming, and so departed from the rest of cities’ public spaces. Those spaces, now colonised by private money, and growing, it seems, into well-swept metaphors for the state of community today. A state where 2.4 million adult British residents report chronic loneliness. And yet, many are talking all the time, into the internet, where the possibilities of intimate connection are advertised like wartime propaganda.

There is little understanding that many of these communities are based in words, not action. It’s no wonder that Nextdoor couple got confused – like other internet spaces, they seemed to expect that if they clicked in the right place, their order for love would arrive before 9am the following day.

The international reach of this Nextdoor post has proven that today we’re all neighbours. Sometimes social media works in our favour, by aiding real conversations and providing entertainment in the dark, and sometimes it feels as if we’re pouring our entire selves into a beaker, only for it to turn immediately into steam.

But we shouldn’t deny the many possibilities for connections here, nor let the policing of favours get in the way of kindness. Real communities are often irritating, grabby of time, and require the dirtying of hands, but they are also nourishing. And they are also home. If we’re serious about ending loneliness, a neighbour shouldn’t have to ask for help – we should already have offered.

[“source=theguardian”]

May 5, 2019 0 comment

Blogging

Miramichi, N.B. man blogging about his fight with colorectal cancer to help others

by Loknath Das March 19, 2019

written by Loknath Das

Image result for Miramichi, N.B. man blogging about his fight with colorectal cancer to help others Dave Gillham is fighting for his life, yet unselfishly trying to spare others the same terrifying battle.

Just before Christmas last year, the 35-year-old father of two from Miramichi, N.B. was diagnosed with stage 4 colorectal cancer.

The diagnosis was a shock for his young family, given the belief that colorectal cancer typically does not affect young adults

“You will find yourself crying for no particular reason, for no other reason than you are scared and worried about what is going to happen in the future I suppose,” said Dave, who has a three-year-old daughter and a three-month-old son with his wife, Lori.

“It is incredibly scary when you start to think about the future … It is very overwhelming,” said Lori.

Lori says her husband is staying positive and bravely sharing his story to try to help others.

“I would just rather focus on the positive,” said Dave.

While undergoing chemotherapy, he is blogging from his hospital bed about every aspect of his treatment, hoping to inspire other young men who may be experiencing symptoms to get rectal exams.

“I think that it is not too common that guys my age are willing enough to speak out,” said Dave who said he was inspired to help others because people from Miramichi have been so supportive of his family and even held a benefit concert in his honour.

“Ultimately if I can help save the life of another gentleman being brave enough to say, ‘Hey get a check done,’ and if they can catch it earlier, maybe they can have a better diagnosis than myself,” he said.

According to Barry Stein, the president of Colorectal Cancer Canada, the disease, once believed to impact primarily people over 50, is now a reality for young Canadians.

New research shows roughly 1,500 young adults in Canada every year are developing the disease. Some, he says, are even in their 20s and are being diagnosed in the advanced stages because their doctors did not recognize the symptoms

“Don’t ignore your symptoms. If there is a problem, speak to your doctor about it. Don’t let them brush you off because there may in fact be an issue that has to be checked,” he said.

Stein said symptoms include rectal bleeding, abdominal pain and changes in bowel movements. Lifestyle, such as diet, may account for the increase in rates among younger adults.

Colorectal Cancer Canada is asking all provinces to consider following the United States’ lead in lowering the recommended screening age from 50 to 45.

Dave was never screened but hopes his blog will encourage others who may be experiencing symptoms to get checked.

“Go get checked out. Don’t hesitate and don’t be proud about what’s downstairs. Go and get it done,” he said.

[“source=globalnews”]

March 19, 2019 0 comment

Online Marketing

Internet Marketing Company, fishbat, Shares 5 Ways to Help Grow Your Beauty Brand Through Effective Social Media Strategies

by Loknath Das February 5, 2019

written by Loknath Das

Image result for Internet Marketing Company, fishbat, Shares 5 Ways to Help Grow Your Beauty Brand Through Effective Social Media Strategies PATCHOGUE, N.Y. /PRNewswire/ — As part of their ongoing effort to teach companies how to self-promote, internet marketing company, fishbat, shares 5 ways to help grow your beauty brand through effective social media strategies.

Think the beauty industry is too saturated for your brand to make an impact on social media? Think again. Your beauty brand can grow its following and increase awareness by leveraging proven social marketing strategies.

In a crowded industry, it’s essential that your beauty brand produces compelling content to drive awareness and generate likes, follows and shares. This may sound like a daunting task, but do not be intimidated – the visual-heavy beauty industry was made for social media sharing.

Read on for 5 ways to grow your beauty brand through effective social media marketing.

Show Them How It’s Done
Tutorial videos and how-to’s should be a staple of your beauty brand’s social media content and for good reason. Not only do they show your beauty brand’s products in action, but they also deliver the added value of educating your viewers on how to use your brand’s products.

Conciseness is key when it comes to creating tutorial videos for social media. Rather than share a twenty minute video demonstrating a full face of makeup, consider creating several shorter videos showcasing specific products. “How to Create a Cat Eye,” “How to Make Your Lips Look Fuller,” and “Contouring 101,” are great examples of the kind of short-form tutorial videos that your beauty brand should be creating. Be sure to make your video titles descriptive by including your brand and product names.

Don’t limit your brand to tutorial videos exclusively. How-to infographics showcasing your beauty brand’s products are also a useful way to extend your brand’s messaging and increase awareness.

Utilize User-Generated Content
Utilizing user-generated content is an effective way to grow your beauty brand. Create a unique hashtag for your brand and encourage your followers to use it to showcase themselves in photos and videos using your products. Not only can this content be repurposed to fit your brand’s social media channels, user-generated content also organically advertises proof that your products are effective. If you have the time, add a personalized comment on each user’s tagged photo your followers will appreciate your brand interacting with them!

Give It Away
Social media contests and product giveaways are a unique way to reward your beauty brand’s existing followers and generate new ones. Promote contests that require entrants to perform several tasks to win such as following your brand, tagging a certain number of friends in the comments of the contest post, and liking the contest post itself. Frequently hosting contests and giveaways will introduce your beauty brand to a steady stream of new social media users, thereby creating organic engagement. Be sure to post complete terms and conditions to your beauty brand’s website.

Be Influential
Partnering with social media influencers is an effective way to promote your beauty brand. Much like user-generated content, influencer campaigns show off your products in an appealing, organic way. Finding influencers that align with your beauty brand doesn’t have to break your budget. Very often the influencers with smaller followings, frequently-called “nano” or “micro” influencers, deliver higher engagement rates than those with millions of followers, since their audience is targeted.

Don’t Overlook Memes
Breaking up your promotional content with clever, relatable and inspirational memes is a great way to foster community within your following and create a personal connection with your users. Memes are an opportunity for you to share your beauty brand’s unique voice and give your followers a break from being marketed to.

About fishbat
Digital Marketing Agency fishbat is a full-service online marketing firm that takes a holistic business approach to their clients’ digital marketing programs. The fishbat team understands the importance of business principles just as well as the nuances of the latest digital technologies. fishbat offers every digital marketing service available from digital marketing research and planning to brand development to website and asset creation through social media management and search engine optimization programs – all custom calibrated for both B2B and B2C businesses.

[“source=prnewswire”]

February 5, 2019 0 comment

Online Marketing

How Your Offline Efforts Can Help Your Online Marketing

by Loknath Das January 14, 2019

written by Loknath Das

Story image for How Your Offline Efforts Can Help Your Online Marketing How Your Offline Efforts Can Help Your Online Marketing from Promotion World (press release)

Online marketing has practically become the main way people advertise their products and services. Just think about it for a second – how much time do you spend, per day, browsing the web, and how much time watching TV? Just compare and contrast YouTube and Facebook ads, SEO, pop-ups, banners… with TV commercials and real, physical banners. In fact, it seems any and all IRL marketing is falling to the wayside. We, however, would argue something a bit different.

Namely, the very fact that offline marketing has become less popular in the past several years means it has become something of an untapped market. While the online marketing market is becoming oversaturated, offline can give you some room to manoeuvre, and to actually enhance your online marketing efforts.

Utilize AR and VR

Saying that technology is progressing rapidly is pretty much a cliché at this point. Still, that doesn’t make it any less true. And one of the best and most evident points where this can be seen is tied to AR and VR functionality.

Augmented and virtual reality sets and elements have slowly but surely been carving themselves a piece of the advertisement and marketing pie. Namely, companies like IKEA, for example, have developed apps that tie their products with AR. Here is how they work. You get the appropriate app, or access a feature on their website, with your phone. Then, the product you want to buy, let’s say, a couch, will be superimposed over your phone’s screen, while your actual phone will be directed at your living room. You can then see how the piece of furniture will fit in your room, understanding its shape and size, as well as its colour.

And there is good reason why this is happening. First of all, AR and VR is just fun. The possibilities are limitless, and just being in another world (or augmenting your own world) is exciting. Couple that with a bit of shopping or original marketing, and you got a recipe for success. Not to mention the fact that this is still new and unique tech that will still advance and move forward greatly.

Offer consultations and demos

You should go out there, and offer some samples, or live consultations. So, if you, for example, own a bakery, going around town and offering samples is a great way to get people to become familiar with your brand and your work. If you, on the other hand, own a small accounting firm, handing out free advice and consultation (by setting up a booth in a high-traffic area) can serve as a unique and effective way of getting potential buyers.

Make an event of it all if you can, let the word go out you are handing out free stuff and professional advice. Getting good event banners and setting them up around town, or contacting the local newspaper, will surely get the ball rolling.

Try out guerrilla marketing

Guerrilla marketing is a special type of marketing, relying solely on originality and on your creativity. It is based on unconventional methods that are very cheap, but that can give you great results. It’s all about going out in public and creating a unique experience in the minds of potential consumers. Guerrilla marketing is only limited by your imagination. Still, searching for some inspiration can help push you into the right direction. One of the things you can do is set up scavenger hunts, set up a flash mob, making interesting flyers and stickers, and distributing them around your city…

Network

You should network as much as possible. In fact, learning how to network may be one of the most important things you can do if you want to stay in business. Now, we are not saying you should schmooze and flatter people you don’t like. What we are saying, however, is that you should actually get to know people who are tied to your line of work. You can make business contacts, partners, as well as get quality advice. But, more importantly it will let people know you exist.

Creating contacts can lead to anything from a simple recommendation, to a full-blown goods and services contract that can keep you in the black for some time. People will learn that you are not just an abstraction, a simple brand and a company, but actually a person behind an enterprise.

Seek out conferences and trade shows, get a booth (or even a speaking deal) arranged. You can promote your goods and services, and get to know some people. Often potential clients attend these things, and this may prove to be the perfect opportunity to make an impression on a lot of people. However, keep in mind that you will most likely need to pay for this booth, and that the speaking opportunity will most likely be free. Think of these things as marketing investments, which they, for all intents and purposes, actually are.

Conclusion

Offline marketing can help boost all your marketing efforts and strategies. It’s a segment many companies nowadays sacrifice in order to invest more resources into online advertisement. However, you can see amazing results with things like the uniqueness of guerrilla marketing and the newest AR and VR technology. Networking with people, handing out samples, actually showing that you exist in the real world, all of this can help you stand out and get your name and brand out there.

[“source=promotionworld”]

January 14, 2019 0 comment

Internet

Xiaomi Plans to Enter US Market Next Year, Says Ties Will Help Avoid Trade Tensions

by Loknath Das July 4, 2018

written by Loknath Das

Xiaomi Plans to Enter US Market Next Year, Says Ties Will Help Avoid Trade Tensions

HIGHLIGHTS

Xiaomi is set to enter the US next year
The company is considering the US market “very attractive”
Xiaomi’s Senior Vice President Wang Xiang confirmed the development

Xiaomi is aiming to enter the US a long time after gaining success in India and China. The company also recently entered Europe and the UK. The Beijing-based smartphone maker that sells its Mi and Redmi range of handsets is reportedly in development to foray into the US market as early as next year. The latest development emerges in the midst of hindrances faced by Chinese companies, including Huaweiand ZTE, that are seeking their market expansion through the US market. Xiaomi notably launched its online store in the US to sell its accessories back in 2015, however, none of its smartphone models have so far formally been available in the country.

Senior Vice President Wang Xiang confirmed Xiaomi’s plan to Reuters. Xiang said that the US market was “very attractive” and the company is adding engineering resources to make its handsets compatible with US carriers. “Next year we hope we can do something there,” the executive told the news agency.

In December, Huawei announced the plans to expand its presence in the US and set to bring the Mate 10 as the first model on AT&T. But the deal between the Chinese company and AT&T suddenly collapsed in January and in March, Best Buy even stopped selling Huawei devices through its retail stores in the country.

Alongside Huawei, the US Department of Commerce in April banned American companies from selling components to ZTE for as many as seven years. The ban was imposed on the Chinese telecom equipment maker for allegedly violating the terms of sanctions violation case. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also blocked China Mobile from offering its services to the US telecom market.

Xiaomi’s Wang believed that the trade tensions between the US and China introduced “uncertainty” but downplayed their impact on plans for the US market. Xiaomi already has relationships in the US market, such as Qualcomm and Alphabet, and these should help the consumer-facing company avoid the political resistance faced by Huawei and ZTE. He also highlighted that the company already has a large number of engineers and investors from the US.

While Xiaomi’s arrival in the US is yet to take place, the company has already expanded its presence widely in the key European markets. It kicked off its operations in Spain late last year and tied up with CK Hutchison in March this year to step into other European markets and the UK. Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun also recently showed the interest in entering the US market after the initial success in the western world through the Europe and UK debut. “We’ve always been considering entering the US market,” Jun was quoted in a Wall Street Journal report in March. “We plan to start entering the market by end 2018, or by early 2019,” he had added.

According to a recent report by research firm Strategy Analytics, Xiaomi was the fourth largest smartphone vendor in the world with whopping 125 percent annual growth in the first quarter of 2018. The company is also the most dominating vendor in India, leading the market with 30.3 percent market share, as recently reported by IDC.

[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]

July 4, 2018 0 comment

Online Marketing

These 5 tips will help you crack the code of online marketing

by Loknath Das February 17, 2018

written by Loknath Das

Online marketing is a vehicle that carries your business forward and establishes a connection between your business and your customers. It envisages an emotional journey that predicts the future of your business (more often than not in today’s scenario).

Someone rightly highlighted the importance of digital marketing with these words, “Brands which fail to establish an emotional connect with the millennials will be outshone sooner or later by the ones that do.”

And it is not the big brands that are making digital marketing count. It is the smarter creed of startups and small-scale enterprises that have successfully cracked the code of digital marketing.

What can you as a business learn from them? Well, here are some of the key metrics that I’ve figured out. Take a look at them, and how you can succeed at the game of digital marketing –

Content marketing

In words of marketing prodigy Seth Godin – content marketing is the only marketing left.

Take a look at the trends for the past few years. You will get to see that brands that have invested in creating top quality content have managed to create powerful presence in the market.

One of the examples of effective content marketing comes in the form of Leadpages, a company that deals in designing customisable, landing page templates, and also provides testing services. Thanks to their powerful content marketing efforts, Leadpages were able to get their customer lifetime value to customer acquisition ratios quite high.

In words of the company’s CEO Clay Collins, “A content team of four people could outperform an 80+ person sales team at most companies.”

Here’s what they focused upon as part of their content marketing strategy –

Popularising their blog by creating beautiful, useful and compelling content

Spreading marketing resources such as e-books, case studies, infographics and courses

Conducting weekly webinars to build a community for spreading their content

And the results? Leadpages has become a multi-million dollar company, and one of the fastest growing companies in the US.

Video marketing

If we talk about the trends, video marketing ranks right up there in the present scenario. YouTube and live video streams have become the next big thing in marketing.

As per statistics, companies that leveraged video marketing to good effect were able to grow 49 percent faster than the companies that did not.

Just like content, you can leverage different types of videos in marketing. Starting from engaging and funny videos to creating tutorials – there’s a lot that you can do as part of your video marketing endeavors. And, thanks to the rise of live video streaming, it has now become easy to keep your community engaged and hooked by sharing live story videos and what not.

Lowes Home Improvement is one of the most prominent names when it comes to pocket-friendly, and successful video marketing.

Social media marketing

‘We don’t have a choice on whether we do social media, the question is how well we do it.” – Erik Qualman

Social media keeps us connected to the world. Over the past few years, it has become a lot more than just something that people use as a pastime. In fact, studies show that social media plays a massive role in user’s buying choice, with customers being 71 percent more likely to purchase a product based on social media referral.

As they say in the marketing world, ‘social today is not just a tick in the box, it’s bread and butter for a brand’s survival.’

The best example of cost-effective social media marketing campaign that worked really well – Know Your Lemons – Worldwide Breast Cancer! In this unique campaign, the organisation encouraged women to stay safe against breast cancer by checking their breasts regularly and looking for early physical warning signs. Using a standalone member’s page on Facebook, they were able to raise their fundraising target by 317 percent using just a smile ‘donate’ call to action.

As you can see, you don’t have to break your bank in order to succeed at social media marketing.

Search engine marketing

The good old SEO – you would have heard about it for sure. It is a mix of different practices that are used to get on top of results in search engines. How could a list of cost-effective marketing strategies be complete without SEO.

It is the oldest form of digital marketing, and still ranks right on top when you talk about getting results. With the right SEO tactics you can eventually gain limitless traffic to your website. And, it won’t cost you a dime. There are plenty of tutorials and online courses available that can help you master the art of SEO.

In fact, you can hire professional services for the same that will cost you much lesser as compared to any of the other services.

Remarketing

Lastly, we are going to focus on one area that’s fairly less discussed i.e. remarketing. Targeting users who have already visited your website, remarketing lets you tempt potential buyers who had left your website for some reason or the other.

It works based on cookies – the trail that users leave while visiting your website. With the help of these cookies, you can easily target social media accounts of users, or any other websites they visit, to display your ads and increase the chances of them getting converted.

Though it falls under paid marketing, the ROI is pretty good. Hence, you can expect to get a lot more than you are investing; making it an easy, quick way to boost your business sales with online marketing.

Do you have something more to add to this list? Share in the comments, and we’d love to know about it!

[“Source-yourstory”]

February 17, 2018 0 comment

Internet

How Chessable’s Scientific Teaching Methods Can Help You Improve at Chess

by Loknath Das February 6, 2018

written by Loknath Das

How Chessable's Scientific Teaching Methods Can Help You Improve at Chess

HIGHLIGHTS

Chessable is a two-year-old online chess learning startup
It offers free and paid interactive chess books to help you learn
It is beginning to build a loyal base of learners — beginner and advanced

Chess is one of the world’s oldest board games with no shortage of players and coaches online and offline. There’s a wealth of chess books and computer programs that can help you learn the game and hone your skills. Chessable, a two-year-old startup believes that it offers something unique — a razor-sharp focus on teaching chess.

Chessable does not let you play against other players or the computer. It features interactive chess books — both free and paid — and tries to make sure that you improve at chess, no matter what level you’re at. Its approach to this is rooted in science and certain fundamentals of learning new skills. It aims at teaching chess via spaced repetition. Once you learn a set of moves, it prompts you to revise them after a few hours. If you remember the moves you won’t have to revise it for a relatively long time, but if you don’t, it’ll teach you those moves again and schedule a revision a short while after. This is similar to some of the methods Duolingo uses to teach people new languages and its efficacy has been established.

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Chessable also has a fun points system to give you a sense of accomplishment for learning moves, a daily streak to keep you hooked to learning, and you can also earn rubies in game that let you preserve your streak for longer if you miss out a day or two, among other things. This gamification tactic is well-known in the free-to-play game industry and has even been used to great effect by apps such as Snapchat. When you combine this with chess books from experts that help you raise your game, you begin to see why Chessable is beginning to develop a significant following.

David Kramaley, the co-founder and CEO of Chessable, told Gadgets 360 over email that his friend (and later, co-founder) IM (International Master)) John Bartholomew really liked the idea of a chess education startup but the path was far from smooth. He told Gadgets 360: “At every point, if the feedback was completely negative (no one used it, I was ready to fold). However, I’m a fairly optimistic person so it’s quite possible quitting was never truly an option.”

chessable learn Chessable

Kramaley first came across Bartholomew’s YouTube channel when it had just 3,000 subscribers and he was impressed by Bartholomew’s ability to teach chess. He felt that the two could make a good team and the two agreed to meet for a demo of Chessable. “I honestly went to him with a self-critical point of view, wanting him to like it but at the same time wanting his honest opinion of my MVP. Fortunately, John loved my demo and my ability to recite some extremely complex Chess Theory, and we went from there,”

“I also had great difficulties improving my own chess, to the point I felt there must be some truth to the commonly held knowledge that adults are not able to improve at chess as well as kids. I’ve always found it a great joy to learn new things and I have always improved,” Kramaley said. “Failing to improve at chess time and time again, despite using the existing learning tools, indicated to me that there is a gap in the market for a site that would exclusively focus on learning and improving at chess. Concentrating on the learning would be our first and most important differentiator from the competition,” he added.

Dr. Tim McGrew, chairman of the Department of Philosophy at Western Michigan University in the US, has seen a big improvement in his game after he added Chessable to his training regimen. Dr. McGrew is one of the few chess players to actually improve their FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation) rating in their 50s, as he achieved an elusive 2200 rating in 2016 after he started using Chessable. “Conventional wisdom isn’t altogether wrong. Chess is a game that depends a great deal on mental flexibility, memory, and internal ‘clock speed,’ and these are factors that heavily favour younger minds,” Dr. McGrew told Gadgets 360 over email. “All else being equal, there is no way that someone at age 50 can learn and retain as much information as he could at half that age.”

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t improve your game once you are older. “Just because one’s mind isn’t as flexible or one’s memory as retentive as it used to be, it does not follow that one cannot improve in those departments. Memory, in particular, can be assisted by intelligent use of spaced repetition,” said Dr. McGrew, who’s been playing chess from a very young age, adding that Chessable provides just that. “…once you see it, the idea is so obvious that it’s rather shocking no one had done it before. The beauty of the idea is that the server keeps track of what you need to review for you, so that you’re reminded to review things you didn’t even realise you needed to review.”

chessable powerups Chessable

Dr. McGrew, who came into the spotlight briefly in 1997 for spotting a move that would have allowed Garry Kasparov to draw a game that he resigned against IBM’s Deep Blue computer program, thinks that if you take Chessable’s review process seriously, you could “master an entire new opening system in a minimum time span and with maximum retention”. He said, “It isn’t going to give you a photographic memory. No system of review can do that. But I’ve found myself learning and retaining more patterns, more variations, here in my fifties than I ever did back when I was in my twenties and studying in an unsystematic way. And I’ve used what I’ve learned on Chessable to reach the National Master title.”

While Dr. McGrew was one of Chessable’s early adopters and remains one of its most dedicated users, the startup couldn’t have succeeded if beginners and intermediate players didn’t find it just as useful. Kramaley said Chessable has focused on offering something for chess players at every skill level. “Since we’ve been working with an incremental approach, we could not cater for everyone straight away. Initially the site was heavily oriented towards intermediate players and above (but not masters),” Kramaley explained. “Slowly, with the work we’ve been doing, we’ve been adding features and content that helps cater to more beginning players as well as masters… For instance, at the end of last year we launched 1001 Chess Exercises for Beginners, a great book that is suitable for anyone who at least knows the rules of chess. If they go through this book I am confident they’d come out the other end as intermediate players.”

The site also has books for experts such as Hyper Accelerated Dragon by IM Raja Panjwani, one of Canada’s top chess players, and 100 Endgames You Must Know that’s geared towards advanced players such as Peter Newhall, a 37-year-old from Minnesota, USA. Newhall told Gadgets 360 via email that the book has helped him feel more comfortable going into endgames, something he wasn’t as good at as opening games.

“Previously I had tried reviewing chess openings with my own Chessbase files and with Chess Position Trainer. Both should work in theory but in practice I simply wouldn’t do the studying. Neither interface was fun or felt that easy to use. However, with Chessable I’ve studied openings almost every day since they started and currently have a 530-day studying streak,” Newhall, who runs the day-to-day operations of a web design and development company, said. While earning points, rubies, and maintaining a daily streak might seem like something that experts may frown upon, Newhall is among those who’ve found it to be very useful.

chessable review Chessable

Newhall’s rating has gone up from around 1800 to 1950 since the time he discovered Chessable thanks to John Bartholomew’s YouTube channel. He explained: “I would say my game has definitely improved. However, I’ve been studying in other ways too the past couple of years so it’s hard to say what’s made the biggest difference.” Chessable wasn’t the only method of study for him, but it remains one of the factors that helped him raise his game.

“I am never caught completely off guard in the opening any longer and at least have some idea what to do even in lines I’ve reviewed but haven’t played before. However, I do not play super sharp openings where one can be winning in the opening at my level very frequently. So I still need to play well the rest of the game — knowing my openings better is not an instant ‘magic bullet’ or anything like that,” Newhall added, describing his style of play and what has helped him improve his ranking. “I have definitely noticed that I probably get the type of position I want 90 percent of the long games I play. It is very nice to go into a game at any time and feel confident you will not be losing or much worse after 5-10 moves in the opening. It takes a lot of initial pressure off and I can ease into the game better without immediately feeling like I have no idea what’s going on,” he said.

Getting into a game and not feeling completely lost or being caught off-guard is something that many casual players strive for and Chessable does offer tools to help you avoid that. As Chessable’s co-founder Kramaley puts it, “I guess in short, Chessable is a tool suitable for all, what matters is what course you choose once you are inside. Our goal is to keep adding new courses so that there is something for everyone.”

It’s clear that the users are behind the product, but Chessable is committed to growing only at a sustainable pace. Kramaley said his previous startup Sharkius failed because he expanded it too soon, and a prominent US-based VC told him that “chess is a market where it pays to remain lean”. That is why Chessable, two years into its journey, only has a full-time team of four, with four more working part-time. While staying lean gives Chessable a longer runway, it comes with its own challenges as new features take longer to implement. However, with around 1,500 weekly active learners and 20,000 unique visitors per month, Chessable does appear to be on to something. At the moment, most of the people using Chessable are based in US, UK, and Germany, and around 3 percent of them are from India. Kramaley says the site still has some work to do before pushing for international growth but he expects that to happen sometime in 2019.

chessable kasparov Chessable

Chessable makes money from pro subscriptions at $10 (roughly Rs. 640) per month, or less if you pay yearly. Pro subscriptions offer the ability to find and focus on moves that are difficult for you, and removes lots of limitations on the free tier. The startup still makes about half of its revenue from subscriptions and the rest from selling interactive chess books. The startup also has an interesting “lifetime” subscription tier at $300 (roughly Rs. 19,000) that gives you access to all pro features for as long as the site’s around.

Chessable hasn’t yet become profitable but Kramaley says that at some point in 2018, he expects Chessable to cross over into the “default alive state” as Y Combinator’s Paul Graham puts it – “Assuming their expenses remain constant and their revenue growth is what it’s been over the last several months, do they make it to profitability on the money they have left? Or to put it more dramatically, by default do they live or die?” Chessable has raised two rounds of funding, “so we are completely ok for years to come”, Kramaley tells Gadgets 360.

Chessable does not have any apps but it works very well on desktop and mobile browsers that we’ve used. Kramaley, in his email, says, “Ironically this past month I’ve had some of the worst internet for a while… in the south of France. Chessable works pretty well still; if you can put up with the odd page not loading here and there. We’ve used current (non-app) technology as well as possible to allow for poor connections and if can find more ways to optimise it we will.”

The users whom we spoke with over email feel that Chessable does have some room for improvement. Newhall told Gadgets 360: “The one area I’ve always wanted Chessable to improve but it hasn’t yet is to have an export feature. I know it is coming but for a player like me, who mainly has my own opening lines on the site to review, it is tough to have to manually keep Chessable and my own .pgn files up-to-date and matching on my own.”

chessable books Chessable

PGN files are widely used to record chess moves and you could think of them as the mp3 of the chess world (everyone uses them). “Especially strong players have their own routine figured out long ago and it always involves Chessbase and .pgn files. They are less likely to switch to something like Chessable since they already have a routine that works for them on openings,” Newhall added.

Dr. McGrew on the other hand said that there are more forms of study that the site could support. “I think there is room for the introduction of some new study methods – all founded on the same learning science that shapes everything they do at Chessable – that would increase the extent to which the system not only trains memory but also activates the more deliberate analytical section of one’s mind,” he added. He would also like the site to implement some more methods to create new training programs. “I’d tell you what those methods are, but I’m saving them to tell to David Kramaley in the hope that I can persuade him to implement them before someone else does.”

[“Source-gadgets.ndtv”]

February 6, 2018 0 comment