Posts in Category: Thought Leadership
How to Get SEO Clients? 11 Experts Chime In – Published on Agency Analytics
Believe it or not – my team has been extremely successful in signing up clients with some offline tactics. The most successful offline medium for us has been Yellow Pages. We focus on companies that run full page advertisements on YP, and then search the company on the web to make sure it has a website. Yellow Pages is a great lead qualifier because it costs thousands of dollars for a full page ad (depending on the location). If a company can spend that amount of money on a print ad, they probably have funds to improve their online presence and SEO, which in most instances has better ROI.
So, we create a list of decision makers (or marketing contacts) at these companies, and reach out to them with comparable analysis of their spend on Yellow Pages vs. website SEO, with details around what impact the same dollar amount would have if spent on SEO. Our initial plan was to use this technique for local businesses, but it worked so well that we scaled it to generate leads across US. The only catch is that most of the times you are dealing directly with business owners or traditional marketing folks who have little knowledge of digital channels. So, there is a lot of hand-holding. But, it’s all worth the effort.
via How to Get SEO Clients? 11 Experts Chime In – Agency Analytics Blog.
The Top 20 Ways To Naturally Generate Backlinks in 2016 – Published on Inet Solutions
Infographics + Memes & Visual Messages
Jasmeet Sawhney, CEO of YibLab, had two solutions to inbound links generation – one for B2B companies and one for B2C companies:
Generating inbound links requires businesses to constantly create a mix of different types of content that their audience would love to share. But, there are two specific types of content that perform the best for our B2B and B2C clients:
Infographics (for B2B companies) – The best way to generate inbound links for our B2B customers has been infographics. In a world where everyone is overwhelmed with content, getting a visual summary of a topic along with some stats is a treat. That’s exactly why infographics are so popular, and have extremely high re-publish rate. The SEO value of infographics embedded on relevant external sites is immense, which is further amplified by loads of referral traffic.
Memes and visual messages (for B2C companies) – Memes, animated gifs and text messages on a graphical background work extremely well for companies trying to engage their customer audience. These are simple and cheap to create and get shared a lot. Of course, the graphics and messaging have to be relevant to the product or service the business is selling. Memes and visual messages that mix in humor perform even better and get reposted a lot.
via The Top 20 Ways To Naturally Generate Backlinks in 2016 | Inet Solutions.
Big Data’s Big Deal is HUMAN TOUCH, not Technology – Published on LinkedIn
LET’S START WITH DATA DELUGE (WHICH, BTW, IS NOT THE PROBLEM):
We all know – there is data everywhere. In the past couple of years, the world has generated more data than the prior civilization put together. Whether it is content posted on web and social media, data transmitted from sensors in cars, appliances, buildings and airplanes, or streamed to your mobile, television or computers, we are surrounded and overwhelmed by data. Advancements in technology are the main driver of this data deluge, but similar advancements have taken place in the technology to collect and store data. This has made it economical for organizations to build infrastructure to store and manage large sets of data. But, the real problem is deriving value out of this data and making it useful. This is where most of the stagnation is today. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), only one percent of the digital data generated is currently being analyzed.
THE DATA REVOLUTION IS ABOUT INSIGHTS:
Everyone agrees there is a big data revolution happening, but it is not about the volume and scale of data being generated. The revolution is about the ability to actually do something with that data. What used to take millions of dollars to first build the infrastructure and then hire really smart and expensive individuals to analyze data, can now be done in thousands. It all comes down to using the right set of new age technologies and implementing right set of rules (read algorithms) to deliver answers that weren’t possible earlier. This is where the new age data computation and analysis shines. We have come a long way to leverage machine learning, graph analysis, predictive modeling algorithms and other techniques to uncover patterns and correlations that may not be readily apparent, but may turn out to be highly beneficial for business decision making.
There have been vast improvements in how and what type of datasets can be linked together to capture insights that aren’t possible with singular datasets. An example that everyone understands is how Amazon links together shopping and purchase history of customers to make product recommendations. Along with linking of datasets, improvements in visualization tools have made it much easier for humans to analyze data and see patterns. These technologies are now making inroads into all types of disparate use cases to solve complex problems ranging from pharmaceutical drug discovery to providing terrorism alerts.
via Big Data’s Big Deal is HUMAN TOUCH, not Technology | Jasmeet Sawhney | LinkedIn.
Big Data’s Big Deal is HUMAN TOUCH, not Technology – Published on AnalyticsWeek
I have been involved in marketing analytics work for some years now. It requires me to regularly talk to CXOs about their big data challenges, and their plan to leverage this data to improve business decision making. I am constantly surprised how much misconception exists among executives. All of them read about new technologies and platforms coming out of Silicon Valley that magically clean, organize, analyze and visualize data for them. As if, they just have to implement some technology, press a button, and insights would start flowing.
This is a myth. There is no such (magical) technology-based analysis. Period.
Big Data’s big deal is not about technology platforms – it is rather about appropriate human interface with data technology.
I am myself guilty of selling big data solutions under the facade of technology and platforms. In many ways, I have contributed to this misconception about Big Data technology. So, I hope you believe me when I tell you – Big Data’s big deal is not about technology platforms – it is rather about appropriate human interface with data technology. Let’s not continue to speculate that technology platforms would save the enterprise from all data problems. I have seen the most advanced technology platforms that exist today. There is only one thing I know – these platforms would serve no purpose if we don’t have trained data professionals who know three basic things – business/domain knowledge, analytical experience, and ability to embrace new data technology.
via Big Data’s Big Deal is HUMAN TOUCH, not Technology – AnalyticsWeek.
Increase Profit Margins: Tips From 30 Small Business Experts – Published on Direct Capital
Jasmeet Sawhney is a serial entrepreneur who has been in digital marketing and social technologies for over 10 years. He has helped both startups and large corporations in their branding, product marketing, and lead generation efforts.
I think the single best way for small business owners to increase their profit margins is…
A 30-20 rate increase.
Every year, we analyze revenue generated from each distinct solution area. The objective is to identify offerings where we can increase our rates by 20 percent without losing the customer. We then select accounts that generate 30 percent of our total revenue across these identified solution offerings. Sometimes, this means that one of our clients may get the same service at a lower cost than the one we identify for rate increase. We have not lost a single customer because of this strategy.
via Increase Profit Margins: Tips From 30 Small Business Experts | Direct Capital | Blog.
How to get better ROI out of your social media sharing? – Published on LinkedIn
We all share content on one or more social networks. In fact, social sharing has become one of the most common activities on the web. There are some who get a kick out of sharing everything in their life (“I just took a shower with chilling cold water!”); some feel connected when they share; some want to stay relevant within their circles; some want to build their credibility; and there are others who do it for various vague and valid reasons. But, very few understand how effective their sharing is, and how can they improve.
sharing comes with an expectation – that your connections and followers will react. If there are no reactions, incentives of sharing are diminished, which leads to decreased sharing.
No matter what you do for living, I can bet you have limited time. When you are active on social networks, it can take away good chunk of your time depending on how addicted (or dedicated) you are to building your presence. But, it is not hard to see that everyone’s social content does not get equal engagement. And, that is fine for most people. If all you want is to share your personal pictures with friends and family, you don’t really need to count likes and comments. But, even then, sharing comes with an expectation – that your connections and followers will react. If there are no reactions, incentives of sharing are diminished, which leads to decreased sharing.
via How to get better ROI out of your social media sharing? | Jasmeet Sawhney | LinkedIn.
12 Hiring Tips For Your Early Stage Startup
Startups live or die based on their ability to attract talent. All other factors that can affect startup success are secondary. This is even more pronounced when you are an early stage startup (read ‘resource constrained to the extreme’) as you have little or no room for bad hiring decisions. Having said that, everyone makes hiring mistakes and it is a process that you hope to get better at with experience. If you are like me and most other entrepreneurs, you would dump conventional wisdom and techniques, and build your own set of hiring rules that are driven by your unique style and situation. Over the years, I have been involved in several startups and here are some of the things I have learned in hiring during early days of the startup (i.e., first 2-5 employees).
LinkedIn Groups for Sales Success: Your Secret Weapon – Comment on SmallBizTrends
Hi Margie,
Thanks for providing the tips. Totally agree with the value of LinkedIn groups. They help with leads, but also help users build credible connections and thought leadership. But, I think the LinkedIn group experience requires improvement. I would love to know how you tackle some of the issues I face:
1 – If you are a member of multiple groups, email digests feel like a spam and most people I talk to have turned them off because they simply cannot keep up with them
2 – There is a lot of promotional/spam discussions that puts people off
3 – It is extremely difficult to reach discussions that are relevant to a user – total lack of filters (part of the problem is people who just post random stuff)
4 – There is a bias towards discussions that are active even if they are old (even though there are few active discussions – they get most of the comments) – most other ‘relevant’ discussions go unnoticed
Can you please share your thoughts on how you are solving these problems today? Also, what other improvements would you like to see in LinkedIn Groups? Please share..Thanks!
- JASMEET SAWHNEY
Did you know that people who participate or engage in LinkedIn Group discussions get an average of four times as many profile views?
LinkedIn Groups allow you to connect with thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people. Many more than you could connect with via your first-level connections.
Using LinkedIn Groups for Sales Success
There are over two million groups on LinkedIn, with a focus on a variety of topics. These include:
- Corporate
- College alumni
- Nonprofit
- Trade organizations
- Conferences
- Industry-specific
- Interests – such as skiing or animals
The Light Within — A Professional Context — Published On Medium
It is the light within, hiding deep beneath our skin
It holds our destiny, shapes our lives
It strikes more often than we realize
It brings us to extremes more often than we like
It makes us low and high, losers and winners, it is the light within.
————————————————————————————-
It takes us far and beyond, below and under
It turns impossible into possible, possible into impossible
It drives us to excellence, leaves us doomed, it is the light within.
It propels us to achieve the unachievable, drowns us in mere existence
It transports us to heights of happiness, and wells of sorrow
It cultivates completeness, and shoves us to hollowness, it is the light within.
via The Light Within — A Professional Context — This Happened to Me — Medium.
9 Ways to Design Brand You – LinkedIn Group Discussion
You are the CEO of your own company – YOU Incorporated. In today’s fast-paced, competitive and interconnected world it is vital to have a unique powerful and personal brand in order to stand out and be memorable in the eyes of others. Think of some…
via 9 Ways to Design Brand You | LinkedIn.