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Facebook introduces a Messenger plugin for business websites
Facebook Messenger is coming to businesses’ own websites. The social network announced today the launch of a new customer chat plugin into closed beta, which…
Research: Shifting the Power Balance with an Abusive Boss
Executive Summary When confronting an abusive supervisor, employees often assume they have two choices: confrontation or avoidance. But new research suggests a third option: Targets of abuse can flip the script, shifting the balance of power in their favor when bosses make life miserable. As subordinates gain leverage over time, they can strategically influence supervisors to stop […]
Do You Need a Formal Degree, or Will a MOOC Do?
Executive Summary We all know that in the modern economy, we can’t just stop learning. But how to keep educating ourselves is a complicated question. Is it a worthwhile investment to get a formal degree, like an MBA or PhD? Should you take a more targeted approach, with a short-term executive education program? Or perhaps DIY […]
Data From 3.5 Million Employees Shows How Innovation Really Works
Executive Summary The variables that make for a successful innovation program are independent of whether the company is seeking disruptive or incremental innovations. It doesn’t matter whether they’re asking for process or product innovation, what industry the company is in, or even, for the most part, whether the company is large or small. That’s according to […]
Is It Healthy to Have More Variety in Your Emotions?
How often do you feel happy, enthusiastic, amused, inspired, or calm on a given day? For more than a decade, researchers have been uncovering a link between positive emotions and better health, particularly for women. But there’s a catch. Beyond how much positive emotion we feel, more recent research has found that variety matters as […]
Why Retailers Should Retire Holiday Shopping Season
Executive Summary It’s time that retailers re-think their approach to the holiday shopping season. It no longer makes sense to rely on disproportionate revenue from the holiday season to make up for softness in sales during the rest of the year. Customers don’t want retailers to dictate their shopping schedule; wealthy customers are getting used […]
How to Write Catchy Email Subject Lines: 17 Tips
No matter what they say, people do judge emails by their subject lines. In fact, 47% of email recipients decide whether or not to open an email based on subject line alone. That’s why it’s so important to craft subject lines that are compelling enough to get people to click through. While they may seem […]
30 of the Funniest Tweets About Social Media We've Ever Seen
There are a lot of things to be negative about on the internet today. And between cyberbullying on Twitter, fake news on Facebook, and too many weight loss tea ads on Instagram, it’s easy to feel jaded about social media in particular. In fact, we surveyed more than 3,000 people around the world, and one-third […]
To Solve a Problem, Stop Thinking About It – via @HarvardBiz
When you’re trying to come up with a creative solution to a problem, you might be tempted to buckle down and focus until you solve it. But recent research shows that taking breaks at regular intervals leads to better outcomes. Set a timer for a certain amount of time, say, 30 minutes. When it goes […]
Forming Stronger Bonds with People at Work
Executive Summary The pressure of tight deadlines and the pace of technology mean that fewer Americans are finding friendship in the workplace. But connecting with others at work shouldn’t be a nice to have. Research shows that having high-quality connections can help us be more creative, resilient, and even live longer. To connect, you need […]
How to Gain Credibility When You Have Little Experience
Executive Summary To be successful, young workers need to be seen as credible before they have had the opportunity to build expertise from the ground up. It’s an incredibly difficult obstacle for younger workers in their first job to overcome. But there are five activities that young professionals can do to jumpstart their career trajectories: leverage your research […]
How to Help Teenagers Manage Risk
Teenagers. We’ve all been one at one time or another, and we probably remember how fraught those years were. Growing up is risky, there’s no way around it. But why did we, as teens, get pulled toward taking dangerous chances in the first place? And, now that we’ve grown up, how can we help the […]
Calculating the ROI of Brand Awareness on Social Media
Share Proving the ROI of social media is a complicated task for any organization. But it gets even trickier if your organization is primarily using social to achieve business objectives that aren’t directly tied to revenue—like brand awareness. Brand awareness is obviously crucial to your bottom line (if people don’t know about you, they can’t […]
CEOs Explain How They Gender-Balanced Their Boards
Executive Summary Despite more evidence about the benefits of the increasing the number women on boards, 2016 saw a decline in the percent of women on U.S. corporate boards. Considering how much influence CEOs have over board appointments, they can do a better job of advocating for getting more women on the board. Interviews with […]
127 Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Video Marketing [Infographic]
Do you remember when the music video for “Gangnam Style” was everywhere? Seriously, it felt like everywhere on the internet, TV, and radio, you could find Psy dancing to the infectious hit song. What you might not remember about “Gangnam Style” is that it was record-setting: Back in 2012, it was the first video on YouTube […]
We Need to Talk About Uber.
Y’all. I don’t even know where to begin. Have you ever had one of those weeks, or maybe even long weekends, when you genuinely disconnect from or simply don’t have as much time to pay attention to tech news? But then, you come back from that brief reprieve, only for things to look kind of […]
Want to Be a Better Marketer? You Should Be Keeping Up With The Kardashians [Video]
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Source: HubSpot Want to Be a Better Marketer? You Should Be Keeping Up With The Kardashians [Video]
When Giving Feedback Through Video Conference, Project Warmth
It can be awkward to give constructive feedback to someone who’s not in the same room as you, but if you manage remote employees, you’ll have to do it. Set up a video conference, and be sure to position your camera at eye level; any lower will make it seem as though you’re looming above […]
How Successful Solopreneurs Make Money
Dorie Clark, a marketing strategy consultant, answers a burning question: how do people make money off of what they know? She outlines the options for experts who want to monetize their knowledge. Clark explains, using herself and other successful solopreneurs as examples, how to earn revenue from public speaking, podcasting, e-books, and online courses. She […]
The Key to Campbell Soup’s Turnaround? Civility.
Executive Summary The best way to truly win the hearts and minds of people, and generate huge returns for your organization and its stakeholders, is by leading with civility. This means spending a considerable amount of effort acknowledging people’s contributions, listening better, respecting others’ time, and making people feel valued. Research has shown that prioritizing civility can […]
The “Smart Society” of the Future Doesn’t Look Like Science Fiction
What is a “smart” society? While flights of imagination from science-fiction writers, filmmakers, and techno-futurists involve things like flying cars and teleportation, in practice smart technology is making inroads in a piecemeal fashion, often in rather banal circumstances. In Chicago, for example, predictive analytics is improving health inspections schedules in restaurants, while in Boston city […]
How U.S. Hospitals and Health Systems Can Reverse Their Sliding Financial Performance
Executive Summary Since the beginning of 2016, the financial performance of hospitals and health systems in the United States has significantly worsened. This deterioration is striking because it is occurring at the top of an economic cycle with, as yet, no funding cuts from the Republican Congress.The root cause is twofold: a mismatch between organizations’ […]
Why Is CEO Pay Rising? Maybe There Aren’t Enough Good CEOs
Executive Summary Rarely do people ask, “How many people can actually run a large, publicly traded company?” The answer to this question is critical in determining whether CEO pay is excessive, because an important part of the value equation for any CEO position is how many well-qualified executives make up the labor pool of viable […]
What Makes People Cooperate with Strangers?
Human beings are among the most cooperative species on the planet. Yet it’s not always safe to cooperate with a stranger. What if they don’t have your interests at heart? The ability to decide when to cooperate is an important skill for our survival. That’s why we’ve evolved to turn to our social groups for […]
The Real Reason Superstar Firms Are Pulling Ahead
Executive Summary Across industries and across countries, a small number of “superstar” firms are pulling away from the competition. But why are these companies doing so well? One answer shows up in study after study: superstar firms are succeeding in large part due to information technology. However, superstars aren’t succeeding because of IT per se, but because […]
Blockchain Could Help Us Reclaim Control of Our Personal Data
Executive Summary It’s a strange world we live in when large companies such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion are able to store huge quantities of our personal data and profit from it in a way that doesn’t benefit us. And when those same companies lose our personal data and make us susceptible to identity theft, […]
How We Used the Pillar-Cluster Model to Transform Our Blog
If you haven’t already noticed, the HubSpot Blogs got a makeover this summer. And while your last makeover might’ve included a new wardrobe or hair color, ours was different. We revamped blog.hubspot.com from the inside, out with the help of topic clusters. And yeah, the beautiful new homepage design, easy click-to-tweet buttons, and video modules help, […]
Address Biased Comments at Work Carefully
When someone at work makes a comment that sounds biased, and you’re not sure if they’re being prejudiced or not, it’s hard to know how to deal with the situation. Before you speak up, think about what you really want to achieve — an apology, punishment, repentance? Is it enough for the bad behavior to […]
All the Cool New Products (and Massive Shade) You Missed at the #MadebyGoogle Event
As a rule, San Francisco is beautiful in October. Yesterday was no exception. Outside of the famed SF Jazz venue, it was sunny, with a just-right amount of crispiness in the air. But inside the venue, there was shade — lots and lots of shade. The event had many names, ranging from the “Google Hardware […]
How to Make the Most of a 30-Minute Phone Interview
Hiring good people can be difficult, time-consuming, and costly. If you’re in a constant cycle of hiring, I don’t have to tell you about the time warp it can cause — but what about the cost? The more interviews you do, the more you spend. And the more time you spend absorbed in lengthy interviews […]
Why We're Starting a New Podcast That Has (Almost) Nothing To Do With Our Company
There are more podcasts available today than anyone could possibly consume. More than 10 billion episodes were downloaded on Apple devices alone in the last year. These days it seems the only thing as plentiful as podcasts are podcast producers complaining about how hard it is to get theirs discovered. And yes, that includes us. […]
How to Hire the Best-Fit Freelancer for Your Next Project
So you’re ready to start looking for a skilled freelancer to help your project (and productivity) take off? Whether you’re engaging a freelancer for a small project or looking to bring them on for a longer engagement, here’s what you need to consider to find and hire the best freelancer for your project. How to […]
Snapchat Ads: The Complete Guide for Business
Share With more than 166 million daily active users watching 10 billion videos per day, Snapchat has a highly engaged audience that’s simply too big to ignore. In this complete guide to Snapchat advertising, we’ll look at some key ways to use Snapchat ads to connect with fans and build your brand on this powerful […]
Research: Why Employer Support Is So Important for Transgender Employees
Executive Summary Research, including five years worth of interviews and surveys with transitioning workers, suggests that senior leaders cannot neglect the importance of promoting a larger culture of support during and after the transition process. In fact, perhaps the most important thing employers can do to ensure the success of a gender transition is to […]
The Definitive Facebook Marketing Guide for Business
Share Once a social network’s number of users climbs past a billion (yes, that’s billion with a “b”), it becomes impossible to ignore—especially for marketers. Facebook is well past that figure, with a whopping 2 billion users as of June 2017, including about 183 million daily active users in the United States and Canada (compare […]
How to Design Your IT Organization for Constant Evolution – SPONSOR CONTENT FROM DXC TECHNOLOGY
By Glen Robinson, Emerging Technology Advisor, Leading Edge Forum, DXC Technology We have moved from the Internet era in the early 2000s to the cloud era today; however, we will soon transition into the Matrix era – the Matrix being the term the Leading Edge Forum (LEF) uses to describe the intersection of multiple game-changing […]
The 14 Coolest Beer Label Designs You've Ever Seen
While it’s certainly important for a beer to taste good, there’s no denying that packaging has a big influence on people’s buying decisions. Ten years ago, a lot of breweries found they could get away with soliciting a friend to design their beer packaging. Not anymore. With so many beers competing for attention on the […]
The Charles Bukowski Guide to Effective Copywriting: 5 Tips
Copy is writing that compels. It connects with a specific audience, inciting emotions that drive action. It reads like a comfortable, personalized email but appeals to the masses. Copy enables sales on a grand scale, which begs the question: How do you write effective copy? Copywriting is a technical craft. Practice, practice, practice makes perfect. […]
No, Really, Stop Using Public Wi-Fi
Using free, public Wi-Fi networks comes with a number of serious security risks, yet many of us do it anyway. To minimize the chance of having your money or financial information stolen, follow these steps. First, if you’re on public Wi-Fi, don’t shop online, log in to your financial institution, or access other sensitive sites. […]
How to Get More Out of Social Media—Tips from an Expert
Share If you’re building a social media strategy it can be hard to know where to start—or how to make it pay off in the long run. In this episode of the Hootsuite podcast, we chat with digital marketing expert Amber Naslund about how to get the most out of your social strategy. Amber is […]
Three Steps to Say “No” Gracefully
Yesterday, a friend asked me if she could borrow my car to run a long-distance errand because my little car gets better mileage than her big one. I wanted to say no; switching cars on an already busy day felt like a hassle to me. But I didn’t say no. Instead, I hemmed and hawed […]
Managers, Give More Praise Than You Think You Should
It’s one of the toughest jobs of a manager: giving feedback. Many bosses find it stressful and difficult — but that may be because they are focused on offering criticism and correcting mistakes when they should be providing positive feedback. In fact, recent research shows that people see leaders as more effective when they give […]
What Is Active Listening? Here Are 6 Phrases to Demonstrate It [Bookmarkable]
A few weeks ago, I had an alarming revelation: I’m a crappy listener. That came to light when someone important to me pointed out that I don’t seem to have any interest in what he does for work. “Your eyes just glaze over whenever I talk about my job,” he told me. I couldn’t deny […]
22 Brand Style Guide Examples for Visual Inspiration
When it comes to building a memorable brand, it’s all about consistency. When you’re shopping for your favorite cereal or coffee at the grocery store, you want to be able to spot it from a mile away. The best brands stick in our brains because their presence is defined by the repetition of the same […]
Singing in a Choir Can Boost Your Mindfulness
The physical and psychological benefits of choral singing have become crystal clear in recent years. Less certain is precisely why joining voices in song is so powerful. Is it connection with a like-minded community? A sense of shared purpose? The thrill of creative expression? While all of those surely play a role, new research from […]
Before a Difficult Conversation, Prepare for Multiple Scenarios
When you need to have a tense conversation, don’t try to wing it. You can’t know how the discussion will go, so think through a few possible scenarios ahead of time. What if your counterpart gets upset and cries? What if they get angry? What if you get interrupted, or need to finish the conversation […]
The 4 Key Ingredients of a Perfect Social Video
Share If the perfect social video were a cake, what would go into making it? We talked to Hootsuite’s in-house video expert, Derek Saddler, to find out the four key ingredients you need to bake a delicious piece of content. Bonus: Download our free guide that shows you how to 10X your social media performance and beat […]
Your Content Strategy Needs More Consistency
If I told you that content creation is a vital part of every company’s marketing strategy, your response would probably be a sarcastic “Well, duh. Thanks for that cutting-edge insight, John.” That’s because most of us know how important content is to our inbound marketing and our brands — both our respective company brands, as […]
How to Get More Done by Doing Less
Productivity is generally thought of in terms of, “How do I get more done?” If we’re lucky, we work in teams and environments where that perspective is at least softened by combining it with a measure of efficiency or impact, but even then we don’t fully escape the rat-race-like pursuit of more. In fact, we […]
If You Rush Your Decisions, Ask Yourself Why
Making decisions too quickly makes you more likely to end up with short-sighted or superficial solutions. But if you take too long to decide, you might miss opportunities. How do you strike a balance? Try to retain a sense of urgency while also taking time to reflect. Think about what’s trapping you in your too-quick […]
How Your Brain Stops a Bad Day from Making You Hate Everyone
Everyday life is filled with events that evoke emotional highs and lows—like celebrating a friend’s birthday, getting cut off in traffic, or even stubbing a toe. Amid all these ups and downs, how do we remain clear-headed in our judgments? Remarkably, feelings about one situation rarely color our first impressions of new people or situations […]
Finding the Best Search Terms for Your Business: 10 Tools and Tips
Despite the ever-present advice that long-tail keywords are king, many businesses still struggle to strategically use them to get content to the top of organic and paid search results. The truth is, tackling these long-tail keywords feels hard when you know you’re up against the giants. I know. I worked with many startups before I […]
Gestalt Psychology and Why It's Essential for Good Design [Video]
[unable to retrieve full-text content] Source: HubSpot Gestalt Psychology and Why It’s Essential for Good Design [Video]
Make Achieving Your Long-Term Goals More Fun in the Short Term
Achieving a long-term objective, such as getting in shape, paying off debt, or switching careers, takes persistence. Recent research has found something that can help: incorporating immediate benefits into your pursuit of longer-term goals. Make the short-term activities fun. If you want to work out more, select a fitness class that you enjoy. If you […]
Words and Phrases to Ban from Your Social Media Vocabulary
Share Have you ever cringed at something a brand or business said on social media? Often, small words can make a big difference in how brands are perceived. Language is powerful and has a huge impact on the sentiment your content expresses. Nobody—not even a social media marketer—is perfect, so it’s understandable that a company’s […]
8 Experiential Marketing Campaigns That Will Give You Serious Event Envy
Work events are really hit or miss. Let’s be honest: How many times have you found yourself anxiously fidgeting with a paper napkin in the corner of a stuffy networking happy hour? That’s why I was not only relieved, but also surprised and delighted, when I attended a holiday party that featured a live, interactive […]
How to Raise Kids Who Are More Tolerant Than You
During the last presidential election season, I visited a dear friend. In her front yard, I saw a sign for a candidate whom I vehemently opposed. “Are you kidding me?” I thought, in a moment of disbelief. I knew my political views were different from those of my friend, and I have also known her […]
Are Micro-Influencers Or Macro-Influencers More Effective? [Infographic]
Chances are, if you spend time on Instagram, you’ve come across influencer posts on the platform. You know the kind I’m talking about — featuring a product or service, usually with the hashtag #sponsored or #ad in the caption. These influencers typically have hundreds of thousands of followers — or, in the case of people […]
Watch for Signs of Stress on Your Team
As a manager, it’s your job to watch for signs of stress on your team so that you can intervene before someone disengages, gets sick, or needs to take a leave. Keep an eye out for the warning signs: Does someone on your team seem overly tired or constantly overwhelmed? Have they been unable to […]
Can Self-Compassion Make You Better at Public Speaking?
Do you remember the last time you spoke in public? If you felt afraid, you’re not alone. In a recent survey, more Americans said they were afraid of public speaking than being robbed—or even dying! But if you’ve tried to “imagine your audience in their underwear” to quell your fears, you may need a new […]
6 Social Media Ad Mistakes Brands Need to Avoid
Share We all make mistakes, but when it comes to your social media advertising efforts these seemingly innocent blunders can end up costing you—a lot. I spoke with Hootsuite’s social ads expert Gabrielle Maheux to find out what the biggest social ad mistakes are. Continuing reading to learn how you can avoid these mistakes—and save […]
18 Personal Websites to Inspire Your Own
List of Blogging Websites HubSpot.com WordPress.com Squarespace.com Medium.com Wix.com Typepad.com Tumblr.com Ah, the job search. Some refer to it as a full-time job in itself. Others compare it to dating. And several cats over at BuzzFeed think it just plain sucks. But it doesn’t have to be that way. When you’re applying for a job, you’re […]
5 of the Coolest Bots of 2017
In case you haven’t already heard, bots are the new black. Seriously. The new strategy of providing 1:1, instantaneous assistance to users and customers is proving successful for brands across industries. And although we’ve rounded up AI and bot use cases for you as they relate to productivity and marketing, we wanted to round up […]
Stay in Touch with Your Remote Workers to Catch Potential Performance Issues
One of the challenges of managing people from afar is having a good sense of how they’re performing. Virtual workers may be more prone to loneliness and loss of motivation, which can result in compromised performance. Since you don’t usually get the opportunity to pick up visual cues or have impromptu conversations with remote employees, […]
7 Examples of Email Signatures That Drive Conversions
Email is still the workhorse of digital marketing. In fact, the number of emails sent and received per day total over 205 billion, according to The Radicati Group Email Statistics Report. There are no other marketing channels as effective and efficient as email — but there still might be a use for email your team is […]
Three Keys to Happiness at Work
We all spend a large part of our lives at our jobs. Yet how many of us are bored or frustrated at work, whether unhappy with our company’s goals, stressed from overwork, or dealing with toxic coworkers? Don’t we deserve better than that? The new book How to Be Happy at Work makes the case […]
You're Pregnant! Just Kidding. Here's the News You Missed This Week.
Sometimes, I wonder if the internet can be boiled down to a single sentiment: “Oops.” That was certainly the underlying theme of some major news items this week, like the one our headline alludes to — more on that below. After all, the digital landscape is a setting that can be described at once as […]
Why 2017 Is the Year of Bots [Video]
Last week, while I was using a website’s chat feature to get some much-needed customer service, I realized something shocking: I couldn’t tell if I was chatting with a human or a bot. Before 2017, my notion of bots — and chatbots, specifically — was that they could only provide canned, basic responses before escalating […]
Stay-at-Home Parents, Show Hiring Managers You’re Ready to Return to Work
When you’re ready to go back to work after being a stay-at-home parent, you often have to combat unfair stereotypes and myths that could penalize you as a job candidate. The hiring manager may be wondering “Do they really want to be here?” or “Do they have child care figured out?” Proactively allay these concerns […]
Google Acquired a Team From HTC and It Surprised No One
Late last night — at least, here on the East Coast — a formal announcement was made that, if you’re as obsessed with the business of mobile as we are, didn’t exactly come as a surprise. The word: Google had acquired a team from mobile electronics company HTC in a $1.1 billion deal. When the […]
How to Deal with Toxic People at Work
Odds are you’ve had to work with a difficult or even detestable person. That boss who takes pleasure in calling you on a Sunday to push a deadline up on a major project. The coworker who never gives you quite enough information to succeed in a team assignment. The continually dissatisfied client who proclaims his […]
Which Blogging Tips Get Results? [New Survey Data]
When it comes to business blogging, how much time do people put into creating posts? How long are their articles? What goes into them? How often do they publish new content? How do they promote their posts? Do they measure the results? The answers to any and all of the questions deliver interesting insights on […]
Should You Even Bother With Bots? An Expert Weighs In [Video]
If you’re a human with internet access in 2017, you’ve probably talked to a bot recently — even if you weren’t fully aware of it. With over five billion monthly active users on messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, the current tech landscape is set for a veritable explosion of chatbots and AI-based […]
If a Colleague Has a Bad Attitude, Find Out Why
If you work with someone who isn’t a team player, it’s tempting to shun the person for not chipping in when they should. But you’re better off reaching out to that person and making a connection. You can start by approaching your colleague with friendly questions, rather than accusations. You might ask “What else is […]
How to Ask for a Promotion (and Have Other Tough Conversations With Your Boss)
Last year, my colleagues launched a tool called The Next Five to help people navigate through those times in their career where they’re feeling kind of stuck. You know — when you’re just not sure what the next step is on your career path. And while many of us think about this stuff from time […]
Thanks Live Chat, Messaging Will Take It From Here
Automation is a funny thing. Too little is the enemy of efficiency. Too much kills engagement. Think about email. Automated email nurturing campaigns were the answer to individually following up with every single person who downloaded a piece of content from your website. In the name of efficiency, marketers queued up a series of emails […]
How Modern Life Became Disconnected from Nature
It’s hard to overstate how much good nature does for our well-being: Study after study documents the psychological and physical benefits of connecting with nature. People who are more connected with nature are happier, feel more vital, and have more meaning in their lives. Even in small doses, nature is a potent elixir: When their […]
Pursue a Second Career — Without Having to Leave Your First One
Do you dream about changing careers but worry that the costs of switching are too high — and that the possibility of success seems too remote? Instead of plugging away in your current job, unfulfilled and slowly burning out, do both: Keep your current job while pursuing your new career. You don’t have to forgo […]
A Step-by-Step Guide to Hosting a Successful Twitter Chat
Share Hosting a Twitter chat lets you better engage with your followers and customers on Twitter and build community among them by using some of Twitter’s conversation-friendly features. Twitter chats are a great way to grow your social following, generate valuable discussions and feedback, and demonstrate thought leadership. Done right, they generate lively conversations and […]
20 Awesome and Free Stock Photo Sites for Social Media Images
Share If you’re a social media marketer, you know how difficult it can be to find the perfect image to accompany a post. We all know that photos are one of the most important components for boosting engagement, but unless you’re willing to pay for it, finding a great one can be seriously time-consuming. That’s […]
Can You Cultivate a More Secure Attachment Style?
When people are uncomfortable with developing intimacy and closeness in their relationships, can they work to overcome this? The tendency to distance yourself from others is characteristic of an “avoidant attachment style,” which research traces back to childhood. When caregivers are available to respond to children’s needs, attachment theory says, children develop a secure attachment […]
6 Interview Questions to Assess Emotional Intelligence
Despite what you might have come to believe after sorting through the internet’s seemingly bottomless slew of articles on the subject, emotional intelligence is more than just a buzzword. The ability to empathize with others, build lasting relationships, and manage emotions in a healthy way has been proven time and time again to be one of the […]
How to Create a Pillar Page
Like the magnificent architectural wonders that hold up The Pantheon in Rome, pillars will help you hold up your blog’s architecture, too. You have to build them yourself — but we promise it takes less time and effort than building them from marble or concrete. In this blog post, we’ll dive into everything you need […]
When Your Team’s Performance Is Mediocre, Address It Immediately
What do you do when someone’s work is OK but not great? The toughest test of a manager isn’t dealing with poor performance — it’s addressing mediocrity. Don’t let lackluster performance fester. Start by showing how mediocrity negatively affects your team, the organization, and its customers. You could, for example, have middling employees listen in […]
How to Run a Successful Facebook Contest: Ideas, Tips, and Examples
Share It’s an understatement of epic proportions to say there’s a lot of activity on Facebook every day. This biggest of the social networks has climbed to more than two billion users and 70 million Business Pages. So, how can your brand stand out from the crowd? According to a poll conducted by the Content […]
The 27 Best Instagram Accounts for Design Inspiration
Instagram has become a finely curated destination for gorgeous photos, videos, and visual content that all clamor for the best Likes and comments. It’s as if the urge to visit a modern art museum can now be satisfied from the comfort of our own homes — or bus seats, or lunch breaks. That is, if […]
How Diversity Makes Us Smarter
The first thing to acknowledge about diversity is that it can be difficult. In the U.S., where the dialogue of inclusion is relatively advanced, even the mention of the word “diversity” can lead to anxiety and conflict. Supreme Court justices disagree on the virtues of diversity and the means for achieving it. Corporations spend billions […]
13 Things You Should Never Say in a Job Interview
I never used to understand what people mean when they say that they “interview well.” How was that possible? If you’re too prepared, your answers sound robotic, and if you’re too unprepared, you start most answers with a long sip of water to gather your thoughts. Now, I understand (or at least, I think I […]
Don’t Let Resentment Build for High Performers on Your Team
Everyone wants star employees on their team. But research shows that high performers can create resentment among peers, especially if they garner more resources than others. As the manager, it’s your job to reduce tension and assuage concerns. Emphasize how having high performers on the team is good for everyone — their expertise, experiences, and […]
Can Meditation Lead to Lasting Change?
Mindfulness meditation is everywhere these days. From the classroom to the board room, people are jumping on the mindfulness bandwagon, hoping to discover for themselves some of its promised benefits, like better focus, more harmonious relationships, and less stress. I too have started a mindfulness meditation practice and have found it to be helpful in […]
The Internet Had a Busy Week. Here's What You Missed.
The drama of this week’s Apple event is hardly over. Despite many of the announcements having been leaked in the days leading up to it, the tech world is still positively a-Twitter about what was unveiled, and what will come of it. Many are wondering if the iPhone 8 models are really that different from […]
Before Your Next Job Interview, Rehearse in Character
“Be yourself” is horrible advice for someone going on a job interview. That’s because you are literally auditioning for a new role. Take the time to craft your “job interview character” by making a list of the qualities a successful candidate should convey. And then rehearse. For example, if you tend to be shy, expand […]
Use Ratings Carefully in Your Performance Reviews
More and more organizations are ditching ratings and forced distributions in performance reviews. Of course, if you’re required to rate your direct reports, do as your organization dictates, but don’t let the static number speak for itself. Some employees may be disappointed with a 3 out of 5 rating, for example, thinking it means they’re […]
What We Can Learn from a Mindful Emergency Room
Some months ago, I was working a busy evening shift in our emergency room (ER). I had just stabilized a very sick patient and approached a physician colleague to refer the patient to him for admission to the ward. The dialogue that ensued was a perfect example of conflicted agendas: I needed to provide comprehensive […]
To Get Out of a Creativity Rut, Change Your Habits
Creativity can fade when you get bored or discouraged at work. To get your creative juices flowing again, change your habits: Make an effort to try something new every month. Meet new people at work. Talk to new clients. Look for intersections — places where your department’s work overlaps with another’s. Volunteer for a cross-functional […]