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askanaroace · 8 months
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This year, after realizing there was no Aro Day, a team of aromantic warriors decided to organize the first Aromantic Spectrum Visibility Day on August 25th!
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In celebration of the first Aromantic Spectrum Visibility Day, the Carnival of Aros would like to hear about your experiences! To participate, write a blog post or create content related to the theme – any platform is acceptable as long as it is public and has a link. We have provided some prompts below, but you can write about anything you want surrounding aromantic visibility/ASVD. Then, submit the link in the comments below or through an email to [email protected].
If you don’t have a way to host your submission, email it to [email protected], and we’ll take care of it for you. Submissions are due August 31, 2023 end of day whatever your timezone. A round up post with all of the submissions we receive will be posted after that.
The Prompts:
Did you mark this day? How so?
What kind of expectations do you have for our new holiday?
What would you like to see done for future ASVD celebrations?
What does it mean to you to have an Aromantic Spectrum Visibility Day?
How do you think you might have been impacted if there was an Arospec Day when you were questioning or noticing you were different from your peers?
What ideas do you have to spread awareness and increase visibility of ASVD?
What gives you pride about being aromantic that you want others to know?
What’s something about aromanticism you would like to teach others in honor of Aromantic Spectrum Visibility Day?
We’re looking forward to seeing everyone’s thoughts! Hope everyone had a fantastic Aromantic Spectrum Visibility Day!
Further ASVD points of contact can be found across the web:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aromanticspectrumday/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/arospectrumday/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aromanticspectrumday/ Profile: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084223555690
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apacbusinesstimes · 18 days
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Growing Smarter: Andrew Coppin’s Vision for Agriculture with Farmbot Monitoring Solutions
Agriculture is the primary source of income and the economy in most of the countries in the world. Agriculture helps in economic growth by employing people, promoting the industrial sector, and contributing to national income. Agriculture is one of the largest export industries in Australia which contributes billions to the nation’s trade balance. 
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Australian farmers face many challenges, including climate change, drought, poor soil, water resources, pests, low capital, lack of laborers, and many more. Agriculture consumes around 70% of the water used by humans and among that 60 % is wasted due to a lack of monitoring which consumes farmer’s time. Hence the problem of water supply management goes unnoticed and needs a solution for the proper utilization of resources to provide sustainability and increase productivity in agriculture. 
In this article, we discuss the journey of Andrew Coppin who is an inspiring and passionate entrepreneur, founder, and CEO of Farmbot Monitoring Solutions. The company delivers hardware and software solutions to farmers across Australia. The company is focused on the vision “to provide visibility and control over water assets to contribute to a more sustainable and stable water supply in the future”. This helps farmers cost-effectively improve profitability and productivity.
Andrew Coppin: Founder & CEO 
Andrew Coppin is a passionate entrepreneur with 9 years of experience in founding Agritech companies. He has completed his education at Edith Cowan University in the stream of business and commerce. He started his career as a Senior financial consultant at Mclnotosh and later worked as an Executive Director at Patersons Securities Ltd. Andrew founded Coppin & Partners in 2009 which provides investment services and advice to clients. He was a head of wealth management and Managing Director & CEO at WilsonHTM Investment Groups. Later he was a Non-Executive Director at Timezone Froup International and Chairman of The CEO Institute. Andrew has also worked as a President for the Australian Agritech Association and a Council Member of The Australian New Zealand Agritech Council.
Andrew has experience in cattle stations with his family and merging that with a career in financial markets focusing on the agricultural sector. He is passionate about innovating new solutions to improve agriculture and help farmers to increase productivity, profitability, and sustainability. Andrew with his passion and experience founded Farmbot Monitoring Solutions in the year 2014, which is a remote monitoring solution for the agricultural industry.
About Farmbot Monitoring Solutions
Farmbot Monitoring Solutions is an agri-tech company that was established in the year 2014. The company was founded by Andrew Coppin and its headquarters is located in New South Wales Australia. Farmbot provides farmers with a smart, cost-effective, and easy solution to manage water resources. 
The products and solutions of Farmbot are easy to install and use, the SaaS platform will gather all the data points through the unique IoT device which helps farmers get real-time information about their water assets including water levels, alerts, and trends. The reports are sent to farmers via SMS and e-mails. The data gathered is used for predictive analysis, to improve management, production, and resource allocation. Thus the proprietary technology by transmitting data provides real-time reports which in turn helps farmers improve their business by making the right decisions.
Farmbot has designed and manufactured multiple products to help farmers manage their water assets. Some of them are Farmbot, Xtend, Lite, Pump Control, Rain Guage, Wireless through sensor, Diesel Level Sensor, Camera, Water flow sensor, Liquid Fertilizer Sensor, Safety Chick-in, Line pressure sensor, etc. All these are easy to install with simple steps of 15 minutes and time-savings through real-time alerts which helps for short and long-term planning. The data-driven mode will provide farmers with insights into their water usage and identity areas to save money and increase efficiency.
Farmbot offers affordable, near-real-time satellite communications which improve profitability and productivity by refuting about 70% of the operational cost.  It also improves animal welfare and carbon emissions by $1 a day. Farmbot provides solutions for sustainable agriculture outcomes along with maximizing profit.
Visit More : https://apacbusinesstimes.com/growing-smarter-andrew-coppins-vision-for-agriculture-with-farmbot-monitoring-solutions/
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dingyuxi · 3 years
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hello, sam! are you doing well? i have been trying to make gifs for the drama community but i feel like the outreach is so less and as much as i know i should make and learn them for myself, it does get disappointing. i don't know what to do. could you recommend some tips?
hi! doing great thank you! ahh don’t beat yourself up too much, it’s definitely hard to get yourself noticed. especially with what the like to reblog ratios are like these days in tumblr. I can try and give a couple tips and pointers on what I’ve found works for me, but unfortunately there’s no real science to it (I struggle every day figuring out what the masses want to consume, they confuse me to no end with some of the things they choose to give notes to) anyways…let’s dive right into it:
Use some of generic tags for dramas: kdramaedit, kdramadaily, cdramaedit. a lot of people and network/source blogs will check these tags daily and reblog/queue from there.
Going hand in hand, joining some networks like kdramaspace, kdramanetwork, cdramanet, etc. will help get your work to a boarder audience
Interact! Whether that be through network chats, in the tags of posts your reblog from other content creators, sending them DMs/asks, we have such a small community that making some connections and friendships with people can help get your work noticed by more people. Friends tend to support each other after all right?
The easiest way to get your blog kick-started is to gif a currently airing, relatively popular drama. For kdramas at this moment your best bet would be doom at your service. Of course never feel pressured to gif something you don’t like! But if you’re watching and enjoying a drama that’s got a large fanbase, there will be more people checking the tags and looking for content of their favorite scenes. once you establish yourself a little more, your other sets of less popular dramas will gain some traction too (since I find you generally will accumulate new followers for new shows if you gif them consistently and people want to see more)
on the opposite side of the spectrum, if you’re the only person giffing a show you can also get some attention as the sole gifmaker
Queuing/scheduling your sets to be reblogged to your blog at different times of the day to increase visibility across different timezones can also help
Consider opening yourself up for requests! Ask people to send stuff they want to see giffed. You can tag these posts with the drama name you’re looking to take requests for so that watchers of that show are aware
And at the end of the day, gif what makes you happy. I know everyone says gif makers shouldn’t do it for the notes, but we all know notes are our only real source of validation and marker of “success” on this site. but don’t beat yourself up too much either if your sets aren’t getting the numbers you think it deserves—because the issue is likely not on your end at all. have confidence in your own work and it will help you push forward 💖
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novelfarmer9 · 3 years
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Word press Ideas, Strategies, And Assistance Straight From The Specialists
Wordpress gives bloggers using a terrifically valuable mode of efficiency that could be used to make incredibly readable, handy internet sites. There is no question the huge recognition it has acquired across the globe. The true secret, nevertheless, is always to read on the following information in order that you can also take full advantage of this product. Ensure that your wordpress blogs site plenty as quickly as possible for the guests. This is important, being a website that collisions or requires too much time will discourage your end users from going to it. managed wordpress hosting will put your end users in a excellent mood whenever they appear there on a regular basis. Look into other themes for your personal Word press blog site. Positive WordPress comes preinstalled with some exceptional designs, but there are many far more possibilities available. Many are free and then there are top quality themes also. These superior designs are really well designed and let you add more advanced elements in your blog site without difficulty, for example e-trade plugins. Include valuable backlinks on your footer. The footer is found at the bottom of your own website. Most sites include contact info, copyright laws info and hyperlinks to other web sites within the footer. By which includes valuable info inside your footer, you can boost the revenue, referrals and traffic to your web site. Take time to log from the web site once in a while. Go back and look at it as a visitor. Doing so could enable you to see something that you are lacking when you find yourself recorded in as being an administrator. This method will not acquire very long, nevertheless it should set your mind relaxed that everything is working how it needs to be. Always remember to correctly set-up your WordPress page's timezone. Beneath the Standard Configurations site, spend some time and be sure that your timezone correctly signifies where you dwell. This can be very significant as the days and times are posted with your articles. Without having the right day stamp can leave you in a time warp. If your have opened your Wordpress weblog for remarks, make sure you monitor and moderate the responses. You do not want any unsuitable remarks to look on your blog which can be offensive for your followers. If you reasonable incoming feedback, you can delete spammy and nearly anything you do not want to showcase in your viewers. If you want to have got a landing page since the front page of your own internet site, you can expect to initial need to have to create a "home" site after which a second web page for your blog site. Next, enter into Reading through Adjustments and click on the stationary webpage stereo button. Opt for your home webpage to the front page as well as your blog site webpage to the posts site. Should you be new to WordPress, explore the dashboard of the Word press set up as soon as possible. It might feel overwhelming the very first time the truth is that dash board, however with just a little time you'll get it straight down. Don't be scared to kind in a few examination articles and internet pages to discover how points function. Work with a protection wordpress plugin. Maintaining your website secure is important, and there are numerous plugins around which promise to perform just that. Try out a wordpress plugin you really feel you can trust. Wordfence is a superb decision. It includes a firewall, does malware scans, blocks any destructive systems, which is cost-free. Try to handle your comments. Nobody wants to check out junk. Don't enable the junk within your blog's review portions escape hands. Attempt to get rid of junk e-mail fully or, no less than, ensure that it stays to a minimum. Use a wordpress plugin that can cut down on junk. Remove any spammy that slides through inside your comments. Have you been fed up with clutter in Wp? You may disable select bins in the site. To accomplish this, make use of the key called "Display screen Options" situated upon the Wp home window. Decide on it for the decrease-lower menus that allows you to move on or off of boxes you would like visible. Use the Evergreen Article Tweeter plug-in to enhance your site content instantly. It may be a chore to decide on which content to retweet daily, so let the computer software practice it for yourself rather. After you have it set up, you can practically set it up and tend to forget it and after that enjoy the site visitors it produces. In order to increase visitors to your own website, you ought to host your Wp weblog inside your web profile as opposed to using Wp.com because the variety. When you set up Wp your self, you may have more control over what features you may put in and customize. Any visitor is going to be measured as targeted traffic with your site rather than in Wp.com's domain. When you have yet to place Wp to good utilize in your writing a blog characteristics, postpone no further. Now you have received a good volume of tips and insights on utilizing Wordpress to your benefit, grab the chance and acquire moving. You are certain being pleased together with the outcome.
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arya-usa · 3 years
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How to successfully outsource for your small business?
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Over the years IT maintenance and development costs have skyrocketed. That’s why it is no brainer to fathom, why companies outsourcing their IT needs to third-party vendors that help them to save a hefty amount without lagging behind the competition.
Large corporations like DuPont cracked a deal with Computer Science Corp. and Andersen Consulting for a whopping $4 billion to manage its IT.
But this trend is simply not being followed by only big companies but small and medium scale businesses are also chipping in and catching up with the trend and taking up advantage of IT outsourcing companies, smaller and mid-cap companies hiring third party vendors for web development, digital marketing, customer support, human resource, etc.
There are thousands of companies out there in the market but blindfolded pick and choose any company to handle your IT operations could cost dearly and there are a handful of companies in the market which actually stand up to the expectation of clients. Our visionary team at Aryavrat Infotech puts collective effort to deliver the project beyond the client’s expectations.
Our holistic approach sets the stage for your product and services to keep you one step ahead in the market.
In this fierce competition where every company seeks attention through overly hyped marketing, we focus on delivering the project which cuts through all the noise and becomes the center of attraction through quality and ability.
Why you need to outsource
Reduce monthly expenses
Training your employees always costs a large chunk of your monthly budget but outsourcing can not only save you money but allows you to gain more productivity via experienced resources. don’t need to spend to develop extra infrastructure.
Team size
When a particular project is outsourced you don’t need to hire or recruit people of a specific skill set which does help you to keep your team size small.
The small team requires less workspace and eventually brings down the monthly expenditure. Around the clockwork in all time zones, you can assign the work, sit back, and relax.
Support Issue
Providing 24*7 support is a tough ask for a small and mid-cap firm but it plays a crucial role as well in business growth.
Having an offshore support team can be very handy & easier to handle. Language barriers can be easily overcome.
Services that we offer at Aryavrat Infotech Inc-
IT services (web – Mobile – Enterprise solutions )
Digital Marketing ( SEO, SMO, PPC)
Customer support ( BPO team )
Human resource ( staffing Case study)
Digital Marketing
We have worked on a score of digital marketing projects (SEO, SMO, PPC) and various others for well-recognized firms.
Our thorough research and white hat SEO practices do help to achieve organic rankings and increase visibility search.
On-page off-page optimization and google result tracking and some other important practices attract the bulk of leads and a higher conversion rate than any of our competitors in the market.
We bring the ideas into the state of being whether it is a tiny or long-term project we give equal importance to each one of them.
Our team at Aryavrat has worked on plenty of projects ranging from short to long term projects.
Web Development
Every company wants its strong appearance in the digital world whether in the form of a website or a mobile application; we have a team of experienced web developers who manifest the client’s imagination into reality.
Aryavrat concentrates on making web applications and websites which can get along with all modern browsers and devices.
We focus on providing an intuitive user experience through our websites and applications.
We are living in an era where technologies are changing at a rapid pace so the user requirement, that is why content management is essential for a website, we make sure to update and maintain the website timely.
The functionality of an app plays a significant role in attracting potential customers, so an agile approach is needed to align the web and application engagements with larger business demands.
Mobile Application Development
We here at Aryavrat Infotech develop highly impactful mobile applications with unparalleled design and execution.
We build advanced and robust mobile applications to bring ideas from conception to completion.
Our Mobile App Development for:
Banking sector
Healthcare sector
Food sector
Travel sector
E-commerce sector
Education sector
Logistics sector
We always believe in making impactful and transformative solutions for our clients and take every challenging project to the chin.
We have developed innumerable Mobile applications and Web Solutions for platforms like Android, iPhone/iOS, using a wide range of technologies like NodeJS, Angular JS, Kotlin, PHP – Symfony2, MYSQL, Oracle, Magento, Drupal.
Customer Support
As they say in the customer support industry “your mess for less” so choosing an inexperienced and less capable team can create a mess.
We have an excellent team of customer support executives who are available 24/7 to lend support. Separate team for each process to improve accuracy and quality.
Available for all timezone and geographical locations.experienced blokes in every single team to counter technical difficulties.
Human Resource
Human resource plays a crucial role in recruiting a highly talented team that determines the success or failure of any project.
Our recruitment team has years of experience in recruiting highly skilled individuals for a number of organizations. whether you need a small team or an entire department we have got the bases covered. whether you need a full-time employee or on a contract basis, our team puts all-out effort to meet your requirements in no time.
Our work speaks for itself, The Success story of one of our client’s product named flex force-
“Flex Force is all about Integrity Staffing Solutions is one of the largest industrial staffing firms in North America. and they really took the time to test all aspects of a very complex system.
I have both web and mobile app development and again both were excellent.”
How you can avoid outsourcing failures
Unclear Expectation
Before heading in rightly assessing the project requirements and scope in a comprehensive manner, hazy objectives or unclear expectations could lead to a deadlock so it’s important to have a clear vision of the project.
Lack of Communication
Time to time dialogue between client and partner is really essential for the success of any project, sometimes lack of communication leads to delays in the timeline and various other issues that can badly affect the project.
Detailed Service Level Agreement (SLA)
SLAs are an integral part of any outsourcing contract before making any commitment with your partner to pen down all the benchmarks and sign a detailed contract to prevent any misconception in the future.
A detailed contract with the service provider lays out all the services that a client is expected to receive. Apart from the services and responsibilities of a service provider, an ideal SLA should include the metrics to measure the quality and services.
Low on Budget
Cost and quality go hand in hand, having high expectations but low on a budget don’t go well, you will always have to compromise on either side.
Right Outsourcing Partner
In order to find out the most suitable partner check the past track record and choose the one who has handled or worked on a project which is similar to yours, lack of expertise in the required field can be disastrous so making the right choice, in the end, matters the most.
Why we are the Best –
❏ With a well-coordinated team of highly experienced and fresh minds, Aryavrat address every requirement with a different mindset.
❏ Aryavrat tries to walk in client’s shoes in order to understand the needs regardless of their domain, geographical location, and organizational specifics.
❏ Profound expertise in Software development, staffing, human resource, and customer support reflects in our work,
❏ Aryavrat has years of hands-on experience in managing and carrying out intricate projects of IT services and digital marketing.
❏ Whether you are a newbie or a well-established company. Our services will empower you to reimagine the way you do digital.
Area of Expertise
RFID
Every organization regardless of its size faces difficulties to manage its human assets but RFID fits perfectly to administrative prerequisites. RFID is intended to help you to deal with your workforce. With this anywhere anytime, Separate repository for storing all the input and employee data.
Transparency using Desktrack
Employee Monitoring Software like Desktack helps to maintain transparency within the team. Helps to generate invoices based on working hours. You can track everyday progress by using an activity tracker. Allows tracking of every single activity by an employee.
Conclusion
We have catered to many prominent brands across the world; client satisfaction does matter the most to us, skilled designers, developers, HR, and excellent support staff; we pride ourselves on having the individuals who breathe life into the ideas; That’s why we have the highest client retention rate. our offshore software development services help to turn your ideas into result by a Trusted IT outsourcing company
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yourlocalseo-blog · 2 years
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November 2021 Shouts
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Random November 2021 Shouts to Keep You Sharp !
11/11/2021
- Google has now new tools for publishers to activate first-party data - Another search engine has launched: You.com. It appeared in public beta - Yelp has introduced a new scrollable homepage feed featuring local restaurants - Professional Profiles are a new tool on Twitter that will enable your business to have a unique and clearly defined presence on the platform - 2021 has been a year of high expectations and unprecedented developments in digital marketing - The EU’s General Court in Luxembourg has upheld antitrust regulators' nearly $3 billion fine from 2017, involving Google Shopping search - SMBs losing supply chain war to Amazon, Walmart (WaPo) - Apple launches "Business Essentials" device management for SMBs - NRF predicts ~10.5% holiday sales growth this year, online up to 15% - Facebook kills some interest, identity ad-targeting (NYT) - SMS marketing boosts revenue for local restaurants
11/10/2021
- Holiday shopping is starting earlier
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- Expected scarcity due to supply-chain challenges
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- More support for local, small businesses
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- How to avoid duplicate content issues with unique local landing pages for multi-location businesses - Why citations still play an important role - The importance of competitor research - The challenges of managing Google Business Profile at scale - Email marketing is essential to any industry and doing a routine clean up can be beneficial to your company’s data reports and conversion rates - The holiday season is prime time to hit quota and set your team up for months to come
11/09/2021
- Today, the platform has over 1 billion monthly users and brands are using TikTok ads to reach them - Global marketing can be complicated — and we're not just talking about scheduling a Zoom meeting across 4 different timezones - Celebrating National Entrepreneurship Month… - How will personalization and customer experience drive how organizations build and maintain their brand equity? - Who will consumers trust with the protection of their first-party data? - Google My Business Is Changing Its Name, Again - Facebook for Business Is Now Meta for Business - Desktop Version of Page Experience Update Slated for February 2022 - Google Maps Reaches 10 Billion Play Store Downloads - Data is useless unless it helps companies make smarter decisions, improve customer experience, and enhance business outcomes - Google Maps has more than 10B Android installs (but only a 3.9 rating) - Nearly 84% of email is opened on mobile devices, with the iPhone leading the way - In October, the FTC notified major US brands that "misleading use of endorsements could lead to major financial penalties." - Companies in nearly every industry seek to use data to make better decisions. But the need for better data in decision-making is just half of the challenge
11/08/2021
- GMB Rebrands to Google Business Profile: What Does it Mean for Local Businesses? - Agility in business is nothing new - Businesses have always needed to be agile—experimenting, adapting, and changing—to succeed - The difference today is the speed and scale of change required - Different ways to increase marketing velocity by focusing on optimizing and becoming more agile in your approach - The importance of centralizing work in one place for better visibility and alignment - The need to automate workflows and standardize campaign processes to save time Read the full article
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anywhereconsulting · 3 years
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Distributed Series - How to create a remote company culture
This article is part of the Distributed series.
Employees tend to stay with companies that they know and understand. If people can’t understand how the business operates, they tend to fall off and leave the company. Having a clean, transparent and straightforward work environment helps employees to feel integrated into the team. Transparency defines everything here, so let’s start with that one.
Transparency is a must to be implemented across every, literally every aspect of your company.
It helps businesses with an in-office team as well, where all the business decisions and management are transparent, and everyone knows where the company is at. However, it is a must for distributed teams for one simple reason: there is no office. There’s no space which is visible for everyone and where everyone can walk into. You have an online space only. You are in ‘work-mode’ when you open up your company’s Slack channel, or you open up the company’s email on your laptop – even if you are still in your PJs on the couch. You have to have a transparent setup for everyone, so they will know what’s going on from the minute they log in.  
Transparency can be implemented in various aspects: from project workflows, business processes, business decisions to finance.
Some companies have a public online channel where the management discusses current business issues and new alignments for the future of the business. Anyone, even the newcomer trainee can join the channel and check the conversations happening there. Some other companies have a simple, transparent formula on how they calculate salaries and everyone is aware how much others get, plus how much the company earns actually. Even some others have a transparent dashboard on how many leads they have and how the sales are going – again, anyone, even the newcomer trainee can see it. It gives zero room for business owner bullshit on how the company’s performing when it is visible that it does not perform as it should be expected. It also gives a considerable relief to owners and managers that everyone is aware of the situations. So it also helps new team members to integrate into the system and retain their jobs with the company. After all, they know everything, they feel the whole business from day one. Throw in some in-time earnable distributed company shares, and on paper, it is their business too. 
If transparency is the glue for integration, then clear processes are the structures for an integrated system, and simple workflows are the interior design setup for your business.
Clean here means one thing: straightforward and transparent. Everyone knows what to do, why to do it, how to do it, who’s doing it and who’s responsible for the delivery. Rules are simple too: visible, clear solutions for everyone and nothing is overcomplicated. 
Transparency together with simple, clear workflows will bring you distributed business culture, which will help you to hire, integrate, retain and motivate your team members.
 How to align common goals 
Keeping everyone on the same page is essential for every business. There are three types of goals for every company: 
Longterm goals: here goes all the financial goals and annual plans. We are speaking here about corporate strategy. 
Milestones: these are certain limits that you can accomplish and exceed to achieve the long-term goal(s) of your business.
Short-term goals: these are more like reports, small achievements, daily project management task accomplishments also goes here.
 First off, before you can make sure everyone is aligned with your goals, you have to define these goals for yourself. Make sure you have a solid business plan with a strategy you can execute. I rarely describe a strategy with more than a year lifespan. Anything that has more than a year lifespan, I call it the dream. You don’t know where the market is heading, everything changes so quickly, and so many variables are unseen for you – so there’s no point wasting time on 5-10 years plans. However, if you can define a clear annual plan with fixed milestones to achieve, you are off to go. Establishing your business strategy is highly personal, you have to know your business and your capabilities. In this book, I hope I delivered you some insights on market research, product positioning and branding, and organization structure, but these are all general information not tied to your particular business. 
Once the plan is ready, please make sure it is transparent too. Please share it with every member of your team so they can see you have an idea and they are in the same boat as you. Make sure the milestones are also shared when achieved and celebrate achievements. There are three rules on how to align goals. 
Make the goals transparent so everyone can feel they are in the same boat.
Yes, even financial results and planning. Make sure all of the plans are visible to everyone. You can create a digestible document that is shared across your team and can be commented on by everyone. Who knows, a team member might have some great addition to your longterm plans!
Share updates on progress. The easiest way to share it: a weekly progress report and a monthly strategy report. These reports can be written in a template, which you should update every time. In the weekly bulletin, share the progress on individual projects, the actual cash flow of the company and the teamwork schedule, focusing on sprints, time-offs, new hires and layoffs and also share new sales prospects and results. In the monthly report do the same but on a grander scale. Don’t focus on the smaller projects and reports but report on how the milestones are and how far you come with the annual plan achievement. These reports are amazingly crucial as they are getting an update for everyone on the progress of the goals. 
Celebrate and get feedback. Every time you achieve a goal or reach a milestone, celebrate it with the team. If you fail to reach the goals, gain input from everyone. 
Having clear goals help you to get everyone on the same page, and it boosts morale and productivity. No one wants to work for a company that doesn’t have plans, or it is secretive about results. Transparency helps you to reach your goals, and even further, it helps you to improve your strategy via team insights and feedbacks.
  How company culture increases productivity
Productivity is based on motivation and self-management.
We have talked about motivation, where each employee has to know the goals of the company, set personal goals and have a drive for success to achieve the goals. Self-management, however, is different, it is less based on personal purposes, rather than individual skills. Self-management is the employee’s capability to organize their work efficiently. As a distributed business owner, you probably hired the best talents who have a great organization and self-management skills, but as the key leader in the company, you can also enhance their skills via implementing rules to the company.
First, you need to think about the needs of a remote employee. Then how they achieve better self-management. If you are working remotely, you don’t have an office with all of its parts: fixed location, daily routines, sort-of-fixed working hours. While most of these parts can be changed for the good, there are some that have to stay attached. A recurring daily routine, for example, enhances productivity, and while traveling is possible while you are working, a fixed location could also be beneficial. Fixed working hours are the things of the past, so no one stresses on this while working remotely. The primary challenge can be the issue of not working and finding the perfect work and life balance. As you don’t have an office and a fixed schedule is harder to maintain, you end up doing more work on your terms. 
As a manager of a distributed company, you can enhance productivity and self-management via implementing rules that respect the needs of your distributed team. Some rules you should follow: execute recurring routines, shut down the ‘office’ on weekends and stop tracking time but start tracking progress.  
There are some mandatory recurring events for any distributed business.
The first should be the weekly kick-off call with your team, where you discuss the week’s main sprint, tasks to achieve and the to-do-list for everyone. Also, that is the time where everyone can ask for feedback or help. Make sure the call is a recurring call every week at the same time. Only change the call’s time when it is necessary.
Have end-of-the-day reports from everyone, a quick catch-up on what did they work. Have a set recurring time to do the report as well, no later than 7-8 pm for everyone’s timezone – this makes sure, everyone closes the computer at 7 or 8 and only work after that if it is super necessary or they are behind tasks. If it is required, discuss this individually with everyone, some prefer to work late at night instead of working in the mornings.
Have bi-weekly and monthly team stand-up calls, to discuss the company’s goals on a grander scale. Whatever other calls or reports you have, the key here is the consistent recurring style: don’t change the scheduling and repeat the process. It gives a bit of structure to everyone and helps them to organize their remote lifestyle around the fixed time calls and reports. 
Those who work remotely, actually work more than those who work from an office. Some find it hard to set a manageable work-life balance and tend to overwork themselves. While working is excellent, overworking isn’t – it messes up with our biological clock and productivity. As the manager of the team, you can help them to drop the keyboard by implementing a rule for non-working. The most commonly used practice is no working on the weekends, only if it is necessary. Also, make sure no one works on the national holidays and birthdays. Having holidays is also a crucial part, make sure everyone spends some weeks on time-offs. 
Connected to time-offs, please stop tracking time. There are two reasons to track time in general: track working hours for those who get paid by the hour and track the amount of time spent on specific projects so you can get an idea how different projects and tasks need time. Tracking time to get paid doesn’t work. First off, timesheets can be cheated. Second, those time tracking software that makes a print screen on your screen once in a while to monitor your work? Those are horrible. They kill motivation because they destroy the very first element of a relationship: trust. Don’t use them. However, there are time tracking tools, where the hour spent on they can track projects and tasks. Those are highly useful, and you can use them to track the length of projects. They can help you to assign and delegate responsibilities and plan out your resources. 
Implementing productivity rules help you to work better and more efficiently. However, as a remote company, working collaboratively and efficiently, your best help will be the constant use of asynchronous workflows.
This article is part of the Distributed series.
My name is Peter Benei, founder of Anywhere Consulting. We solve problems for growing businesses with specialized marketing solutions. To read our case studies & learn more about our work, click here. Connect with me on LinkedIn or book an appointment here.
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bby-calum · 7 years
Text
The First Time - Shawn Mendes Imagine (smut)
request: shawn mendes imagine smut about making a promise not to have sex when you get together because you want to wait till marriage but he comes home from tour and you just can't help it
a/n: this is the longest thing i’ve written so far - i hope you like my first shawn mendes piece of writing (its so smutty oh my god)
word count: 2469
masterlist: (x)
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Growing up in a religious household meant your parents had a strict set of rules for you to follow: no alcohol, no staying out past curfew, always saying grace before eating, church every Sunday, and, most importantly, absolutely no sex before marriage. You had given them your word, and so far you had stuck to it.
Shawn had found it a little difficult to get used to at first. The two of you had done other sexual acts with each other, of course, but Shawn ached to feel your wet walls around his cock just once. He had begged and pleaded on many occasions. “Just the tip,” he’d say. But always, he respected your decision.
If you were honest, you weren’t very religious yourself, but you kept up the customs to keep your parents happy. They had stressed the importance of waiting until marriage heavily when you were growing up, and your mother always knew when you were lying.
After months of being apart, talking only through phone calls and facetime, you were waiting in the driver’s seat of Shawn’s Jeep outside of the airport, wanting to stay away from the herds of fans waiting outside the gate for him. It was easier for both of you this way, your reunion would be private, away from the flashes of paparazzi cameras and screams of teenage girls. He’d finally trusted you enough to drive his beloved car, despite having been dating for almost three years. The car was big on you; the seats looked huge as your tiny frame sat on the leather, the steering wheel was much larger than the one you were used to in your retired Volvo from back home.
You were like a giddy child, high on sugar, as soon as you saw him stride out of the exit, pushing his trolley of suitcases in front of him. You scrambled out of the door, slamming it shut behind you as he reached the car. You didn’t need to say anything to each other. He wrapped his arms tightly around your waist, yours around the back of his neck, hung across his shoulders. He squeezed tightly, his head nestled into the crook of your neck, and lifted your feet off the ground.
Inhaling his scent that had been missing from your life for the past four months, you stroked the back of Shawn’s head, smoothing out his tousled hair. He lowered you back down letting your feet touch the floor and cupped your face in his hands. Pressing a kiss to your pink lips, he became aware of the paparazzi that had followed him outside.
“Hey you,” he said, unable to keep the smile off his face. “Let’s go home.”
Shawn drove home, complaining of how much he’d missed being behind the wheel. His hand reached over the Jeep’s console, finding a familiar spot on your thigh, a place he loved to rest his hand while driving. He glanced over at you, the same smile still on his face. You placed your hand on his, rubbing the back of his palm with your thumb as his fingers played with yours.
“God, I missed you so much, honey,” he said, focussing his eyes back on the road ahead. “So fucking much.” “I just can’t believe you’re finally home.”
Shawn pulled up in the driveway of the house you had bought together at the end of last year. You slipped your key into the lock, turning it to open the door while Shawn retrieved his bags from the back of the car. He left his suitcases at the bottom of the staircase, shutting the front door behind him as you slipped off your shoes.
One of his hands was on your cheek, the other on your waist. Shawn pulled you closer to him, breathing in deeply as he kissed you passionately. Your lips found a rhythm, tongues dancing together as you kissed. Your hands were on his pecs. Through the material of his t-shirt, you could feel his heart beating, pounding against his chest. He deepened the kiss, pushing you up against the wall. The hand that was on your waist tugged at your t-shirt, pushing the fabric up to reveal your skin. His touch on your bare skin made you moan quietly. Shawn smirked, still kissing you.
You had missed him touching you, kissing you, holding you. Late at night while he was gone you’d lie in bed, thinking of him, wondering what he was doing right at that moment. Wondering if he was alone in a hotel room in a foreign country, thinking of you too. Wondering if he thought about touching you the way you thought about touching him.
Sometimes, if timezones permitted, he’d phone you in the deep of the night. He’d tell you of all the things he wanted to do to you once he was home. You heard his muffled moans, the faint slaps of his hand pumping his cock, as he spoke to you on the line, his voice deep and strained. Playing with yourself equally as hard, you wished it was him that was touching you. His fingers were so much longer than yours, he could reach places you couldn’t. They were thicker than your own too, so he could stretch out your walls easily, making your body shudder with pleasure. You could only imagine what it would feel like to have him thrust inside of you with his throbbing cock. You talked about it together often, discussed it in detail how it would feel for both of you. Often times, he’d describe your sex in so much detail over the phone, you could almost feel him inside of you there and then.
“Come upstairs,” you said quietly, breaking the kiss. Guiding him up the stairs, you held his hand as he trailed behind you, silenced and stunned by the mental plan he had made in his head of all of the things he was going to do to you now he was finally home to love you in the bedroom. He stared at your behind, smacking his lips together at the sight of your pert ass moving as you walked in front of him.
Gently pushing him onto the bed, he lay in the middle, propped up by the mass of cushions at the headboard. You clicked the door shut, leaning against it and exhaling as you watched Shawn shift on the mattress to find a comfortable position. The faint outline of his hard on was visible through his grey sweatpants. He rubbed his crotch, his eyes never leaving you, as you bit down on your bottom lip. He jerked his head, motioning for you to join him on the bed.
The silence between you both was sexy, making you crave one and other even more. You straddled him, the weight of your core on him forced a deep moan out of his mouth. The kissing resumed and Shawn toyed with the hem of your shirt, wanting to remove it but not wanting to break the slow kiss you were sharing. You removed it for him, sensing the debate he was having with himself.
Kissing Shawn’s neck was his weak spot. He was a sucker for you nibbling on the skin of his neck. He especially loved it when you left love bites, the purple marking your territory. He let his head roll back into the comfort of the pillows, a loud moan coming from his mouth as your crotch rubbed against his. This time it was you who was smirking as you continued kissing and nibbling his neck. His hands rubbed up and down your thighs, his grip tight against your skin. As you peppered slow kisses along his jaw, Shawn sat up. He flipped the two of you over carefully so that you were lying beneath him. He undid the button of your jeans, followed by the zipper. His hand dipped inside your pants as he kissed along your exposed collarbone. The pressure of his long fingers against your middle made you revel with pleasure.
“Oh God, Shawn.” “Yeah, baby,” he murmured into your skin, his fingers working wonders on you as he touched you through the material of your lace panties. “So wet for me,” he rasped. “So fucking wet, baby.” His breath hitched ever so slightly as you palmed him through his pants. His cock was hard, swelling at your touch. “Take off your clothes,” you told him.
Once his clothes were heaped in a pile on the floorboards, he helped you out of your jeans, leaving a trail of kisses up your thighs. He nipped at your clit gently with his teeth through your panties, the pleasure making you gasp. He shoved the delicate lace to one side, giving him easy access to you. The pads of his fingers played with your exposed clit.
“Shit,” you breathed. Your fingers tangled themselves in Shawn’s curls as his tongue lapped up your juices. He increased the pressure of his tongue. “Shawn,” you cried. You felt dizzy from pleasure. His hearing was suppressed as your thighs tightened around his ears. Arching your back, you let out another moan as Shawn reached up a hand to play with your breasts.
Shawn’s head came out from between your legs. His eyes were dark with passion and his breath was heavy. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. His lips found yours once more and you could taste yourself in his mouth. He traced your entrance with his finger before pushing his forefinger inside of you. You groaned into his mouth as he pushed another finger inside, and then another. Three of his fingers were pumping inside you, his fingernails scratching lightly at your walls. Shawn leant on the elbow of his free arm, his bicep bulging, the vein in his forearm prominent. You steadied him, one of your hands left his hair and rested on his shoulder as he worked his fingers in and out of you. Faster, faster, faster.
His fingers felt so good inside of you, you were almost at your peak already. “Shawn,” you gulped. “I’m gonna come soon.” He removed his fingers, not wanting this pleasure to end just yet. “Straddle me again,” he instructed in a low tone. You did as he said, making sure to remove his boxers for him after removing your own underwear. His dick slapped up against his chest and you sat, legs either side of his hips. Helping you, Shawn’s hands guided your body as you rubbed your wetness against his cock. He moaned your name loudly. “Fuck, honey.”
“Shawn,” you whispered, gaining his attention. “Yeah, sweetheart?” He watched your hips roll as you continued grinding on him. “I wanna-” Your voice was quiet. Clearing your throat, you said, “I wanna have sex.” “What?” One of his hands left your hip and tucked your hair behind your ear. “I thought we were-” “We were waiting yeah,” you finished for him. You stopped the grinding and leant forward so your face was closer to his. “But I can’t wait any longer. I wanna feel you inside me. I wanna do it, Shawn. I want to have sex.” “Baby, are you sure?” You nodded. “Okay then,” he said after a while. “As long as this is what you want.” You nodded again. “I’ll, uhm, I’ll go find a condom then.”
He left the room, heading to the bathroom where he kept an old box of condoms, just in case this day ever arrived. You lay back on the bed, aching for him. There was a pang of guilt, you felt it in your stomach, as you remembered the promise you had made to your parents. But you were a grown woman now, and you could make your own decisions. You didn’t have to follow mum and dad’s rules any more.
Shawn returned, the condom already half rolled down his dick. He clambered over you, pushing his dick closer to your entrance. He was hesitant. “Are you sure?” He asked again. “Just tell me if I hurt you, okay?” He kissed your forehead. “Please tell me if you want to stop.”
“Shawn. Baby,” you reassured him. “This is what I want.” He swallowed, followed by a nod. “Okay,” he kissed your mouth. “Okay, I’ll go slow.”
He’d done this before, it was obvious in his technique as he pushed his cock gently inside of you. Your hands gripped tightly onto the bed sheets as the new sensation took over your body. “Just the tip,” Shawn chuckled. You smiled at him softly. “You’re okay?” You nodded once again. “Just go all the way in. Please.” He pushed into you further, until he bottomed out. His girth stretched you, making your left knee jerk up as you winced slightly in pain. Your sharp intake of breath left Shawn with a concerned look on his face. “I’m okay, Shawn,” you said. Your head hit the pillows when he started thrusting slowly. You closed your eyes as he quickened the pace. “Oh baby,” he moaned. “I knew it would be good.” He was panting. “I didn’t know you would feel this good.” You made a strangled noise as he hit your g-spot. “You like it?” “So… fucking… good,” your breaths were quick. His hand grabbed yours and he pinned it above your head.
It was incredible, better than anything you had ever imagined during your late night phone calls to him. The thrusting continued for a while. He’d rub your clit with his spare hand, his thumb flicking at you felt so good. He left hurried kisses on your neck, behind your ear and along your jaw.
“H-honey,” Shawn gasped. “I’m gonna come. I’m gonna- oh.” With that, Shawn moaned louder than you had ever heard him moan before. His forehead was covered with a sheen of sweat, matching your own sweaty body. His thrusts became sloppy as he poured into the condom. You felt the heat inside of you, your stomach was in knots. It was like time had slowed as your body jerked from the pleasure of the orgasm running through your body. You screamed Shawn’s name.
Shawn collapsed into you, his body weak from his climax. The two of you lay there for a while, trying to catch your breath back. He pulled out of you slowly, rolling onto his back beside you as he removed the condom carefully. You stared up at the ceiling together. “Fuck,” he finally said. His head turned to you as you rolled onto your side to face him. “Fuck indeed,” you grinned. His hand reached up to you again, stroking your hair. You closed your eyes, replaying everything in your head, just as Shawn pressed a gentle kiss to your forehead.
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riichardwilson · 4 years
Text
How would an SEO agency be built today? Part 1: Consumers and trends
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The pandemic put everything to a halt. Then, it forced people and businesses alike in the beginner’s mind. The Zen concept hints at a seeming paradox: as you know more and more about a subject, you tend to dismiss other possibilities.  
What follows is a quest of shaping choices for the near future in a three-part piece that highlights a core question — How would you build an SEO Company agency in 2020? 
We’ll explore the complexity of the topic, mapping key touchpoints that create the agency landscape, from assessing current trends on consumer behaviour, to how key partners of an SEO Company agency have changed:
Consumer and business trends that are emerging and transforming the way people interact. (part one)
The current SEO Company agency business model and its in-depth analysis. (part two)
The possibilities ingrained in thinking about what a reshaped SEO Company agency of 2020 and beyond looks like. (part three)
We’ve designed this series as a business exercise for SEO Company agency leaders and their current struggles because we’re committed to supporting agencies push through uncertainty. 
You can use the learnings, tools, and insights that follow, together with your team, and optimize your strategy in the actual context. From Gartner’s Hype Cycle and Business Model Canvas, to an interactive section that lets you build a new type of SEO Company agency from the ground up, you’ll go through various frameworks, some more familiar than others. 
Let’s begin!
How customers look in the current context 
Since March 2020, we continued to see consumer behaviour changes, new online practices, and a global outlook that is still concerning. With anxiety factors about health and finances fueling uncertainty and high unemployment rates sweeping the world, we need to keep a close eye on the way people shop, live and consume now.
Tracking demand and looking at year over year search trends, with Google Ads data as source, remains an accurate way to understand what changed for good, and what is just a fleeting trend depending on the short-term pandemic impact. 
After all, if we put the consumer psychology lens in place, we mustn’t forget that people are more prone to evaluate essential and non-essential goods and services for daily use right now, showing more risk-aversion than usual. 
Worry drives demand, as financial issues are far from being resolved. Look at top searches in the US as of July 2020:
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Following this thread, pragmatism is the driving force, as many consumers will not get back to “normal” anytime soon — a study by the Cambridge Group even coins new profiles whose core is based on immediate COVID-19 response such as Panicked Millennials (focused on household finances) or Pragmatists (focused on reducing non-essential spending).
Yet, a look at search data shows the insights in-between: more discretionary or non-essential goods are starting to bounce back in segments such as “athleisure” clothing or home entertainment, although the industries remain affected.
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Even the way people look at entertainment keeps shifting, choosing to spend leisure time close to home or in a safe manner: 
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On the other hand, because some people still work or spend most of their time in their houses, together with family and close friends, the home improvement segment continues to grow: 
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While commute and travel budgets have been put on halt for most information workers, remote work seems to be here to stay. It’s what constant demand for building a home office points towards, anyway:
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And a constant, rising demand for car rentals and safe, private mobility in general:
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Consumer intent reveals an acceleration of shifting channel preferences with a focus on online operations, although macro studies show anxiety levels regarding brick and mortar easing a bit. For instance, the Deloitte State of the Consumer Tracker confirms an increasing tendency in trust levels to shop in stores (49%), go to restaurants (32%) or stay in a hotel (34%) at a global level. Of course, the numbers remain low.
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That’s why a prolific avenue is to challenge the macro-level studies with search data — it’s where the relevant insights dwell, helping you discern between lasting trends, spurs of the moment, and important shifts in consumer interest that influence business operations as well. 
What trends are emerging that might impact SEO agencies?
Having looked at the state of consumers today, which can prove a certain degree of familiarity for your SEO Company team, it’s important to take this next step — look at the state of businesses and how consumer shifts generate new trends that impact the whole chain.
To pick the most relevant ones for an SEO Company agency, we’ll employ a different lens: Gartner’s Hype Cycle. In short, the framework proposed by Gartner enables you to critically assess the promise of emerging technology through these phases:
Innovation trigger: although there’s no commercial viability yet, there’s a lot of interest in the potential of a new technology. Take AI for example, everybody’s talking about it.
Peak of inflated expectations: More publicity and a few success stories, but mostly struggles and failure. The promise of AI to change the world as we know it, right?
Trough of Disillusionment: Interest decreases and investors drop, as the technology fails to deliver the initial promise. Only a few developers insist.
Slope of Enlightenment: Second- and third-generation products appear as the technology begins to stabilize and show other use cases that prove to be viable. Machine learning and deep learning have strong usability segments, far from the initial scifi scenarios. 
Plateau of Productivity: The technology is applied across sectors and markets, and assessment criteria for viability are clearer now. Machine learning adoption rates continue to steadily grow.
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What emerging trends can impact the current agency landscape, beyond the trough of disillusionment?
 Remote working as a viable company set-up
Even before the pandemic hit, the rise of remote working was visible. If the trend seemed to be somewhere between experimenting and a productive framework, with its acceleration due to COVID-19, remote work is becoming a big part of the new normal.
Recently, we’ve seen geographical constraints move to timezone ones, especially for synchronous companies that do most of the work together. The challenge remains to innovate both at the level of technology and business processes to transform workflows, while also maintaining a strong organizational culture. In addition, that means a different way of doing recruitment, supporting career growth, or enabling social connections in a team. That’s what Remote: office not required explores, presenting how Basecamp designed a remote-first company with all the advantages and struggles.
It’s clear that the trend is here to stay, reshaping such things as telecommuting, client relationships or individual and team productivity.
No-code is filling the gaps of “Software as a process”
Software companies, in their bid to acquire more users, have started developing highly personalized solutions, influencing a business process from start to finish. That’s why, we’re seeing a shift in thinking about software — not just a tool, but a string of actions that dictate a certain business framework and a specific market segment. For instance, tools like Zapier or Integromat allow for a high level of business flow customization, while Jupiter is a CRM dedicated to the beauty industry. 
If we consider this business need for fast implementation and high customization, one particular trend stands out. No-code, a movement where people without programming expertise build websites and flows, like connecting two systems, using drag and drop interfaces, is growing past the early days of inflated expectations. 
Transforming the traditional software development flow from “business specifications” to “software implementation”, no-code essentially implies less time and money spent on coding, and more resources for optimizing business processes (marketing agency, sales etc.) and discovery.
Think about helping, let’s say, an AC installation supplier set up a customer management system personalized with an automation solution for qualifying leads and scheduling visits, without human intervention at every step. Or building a custom feature on top of Hubspot, to satisfy your agency specialized flows. And with no focus on the technical resources, but the process design.
Businesses (SMBs and Fortune 500) are willing to experiment more in the digital environment
Talking about discovery and experimentation, the pandemic forced both small businesses and large corporate companies to look for alternatives, as digital became a primary channel for the whole funnel. If a marketing agency or sales backlog was available, the pandemic months were the time to review it.
It’s no wonder that the search for “Shopify” exploded since April-May, as more businesses needed to sell online:
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Digital-first frameworks have accelerated, or as a McKinsey report puts it, “we have vaulted five years forward in consumer and business digital adoption in a matter of around eight weeks”. This creates a window of opportunity for creativity and innovation, as more and more business processes move in digital environmens: from optimizing digital infrastructure to pivoting client management and communications, rehashing customer journeys, and even identifying new segments, niches or markets that are no longer out of reach.
That also means a plethora of data needs and a way for SEO Company agencies to leverage their know-how. 
Search and discovery fragmentation
In the US, more than half of the consumers start their buying journey on Amazon, instead of Google Search, statistics that you’re probably familiar with. Google is also aware of this trend, which makes them continue to develop vertical aggregators like Jobs or News. And that is only one part of the search equation that goes beyond a “box and the 10 blue links”, being now more dependent on behaviours than anything else.
With the fast digitization of businesses after COVID, the trend of search and discovery fragmentation is accelerating at a higher rate, challenging businesses to respond to these channel shifts while thinking more about touchpoints and a buyer quest than a seamless, singular journey. Can this be the birth of a new innovation trigger?
Business networking is not what it used to be
The pandemic drastically impacted business networking, as events are not possible in person, a trend that will probably last longer than expected.  The first wave of responses was to move to online events, virtual summits and a variety of webinars, but there’s also the question of informal talks and sales meetings that need to be rethought in order to maintain the quality of interaction.
As with remote work, the geographical boundaries are not a concern anymore for finding vendors or connecting with peers, which leaves a lot of room for creativity in designing new networking processes. What will the pitch look like in another few months? Or the sales meeting? Or the agency community meetup? Probably another innovation trigger is shaping here. 
Summary
From a critical assessment of consumer macro-trends against search data, to the way business trends have accelerated in the current context, we’re starting to paint a picture of the new agency landscape. Which are here for good and which are just a trigger in the Hype Cycle? That’s an open question for you and us both.
Here’s a summary of what we’ve seen so far in terms of Consumers and Trends:
How customers look now: 
Unemployment rates and health concerns remain high, causing anxiety and making people reassess what is essential and what is non-essential for daily living.
Many consumers will not “get back to normal” as pragmatism is still the driving force for buying something new. Yet, some discretionary or non-essential goods are starting to bounce back, as caution levels waver.
New consumer profiles are emerging, as they also shift channels of consumption. Online-first pragmatists and panicked millennials are concerned with health and finances, while there is a shy recovery of “brick and mortar” consumption.
Entertainment continues to grow in the home-related areas or in the safe outdoors.     
What trends are emerging that might impact SEO Company agencies? 
Remote working is a viable company set-up that challenges business operations and organizational cultures.
No-code is filling the gaps of “Software as a process”, enabling businesses to explore tech solutions fast, with lower costs, while optimizing their processes. 
Businesses (SMBs and Fortune 500) are willing to experiment more in the digital environment, as consumers dictate new sales and marketing agency funnels.
Search and discovery fragmentation continues to accelerate, posing the challenge for businesses to rethink buyer journeys.
Networking is not about events anymore and can be the next big innovation ground.
We’ll continue this series, based on researching our SEO Company agencies community with a thorough analysis of their business models now and what the shifts in 2020 can inspire for reshaping the next-level agency. You can sign up here and be the first to receive the following articles in the series, once they’re live. 
At SEOmonitor, we’re committed to helping SEO Company agencies navigate uncertainty, so we adapt our solutions to the current context. Search Trends, the Client Health Tracker or the Reporting board are just a part of our specialized tools and resources.
We’ll get through this together!
Discover an SEO Company platform designed just for SEO Company agencies:
Learn about our solutions
About The Author
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SEO Companymonitor’s mission is to help digital marketers overcome the challenges by developing innovative technologies that can make the most out of the available data and deliver insightful and reliable reports. SEO Companymonitor is committed to empowering those who want to move the SEO Company industry forward. Acquire, manage and retain more customers for your SEO Company agency with daily rank tracking, SEO Company forecasting and a unique solution for (not provided).
Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co
Delray Beach SEO
source http://www.scpie.org/how-would-an-seo-agency-be-built-today-part-1-consumers-and-trends/ source https://scpie.tumblr.com/post/628412705957691392
0 notes
scpie · 4 years
Text
How would an SEO agency be built today? Part 1: Consumers and trends
Tumblr media
The pandemic put everything to a halt. Then, it forced people and businesses alike in the beginner’s mind. The Zen concept hints at a seeming paradox: as you know more and more about a subject, you tend to dismiss other possibilities.  
What follows is a quest of shaping choices for the near future in a three-part piece that highlights a core question — How would you build an SEO Company agency in 2020? 
We’ll explore the complexity of the topic, mapping key touchpoints that create the agency landscape, from assessing current trends on consumer behaviour, to how key partners of an SEO Company agency have changed:
Consumer and business trends that are emerging and transforming the way people interact. (part one)
The current SEO Company agency business model and its in-depth analysis. (part two)
The possibilities ingrained in thinking about what a reshaped SEO Company agency of 2020 and beyond looks like. (part three)
We’ve designed this series as a business exercise for SEO Company agency leaders and their current struggles because we’re committed to supporting agencies push through uncertainty. 
You can use the learnings, tools, and insights that follow, together with your team, and optimize your strategy in the actual context. From Gartner’s Hype Cycle and Business Model Canvas, to an interactive section that lets you build a new type of SEO Company agency from the ground up, you’ll go through various frameworks, some more familiar than others. 
Let’s begin!
How customers look in the current context 
Since March 2020, we continued to see consumer behaviour changes, new online practices, and a global outlook that is still concerning. With anxiety factors about health and finances fueling uncertainty and high unemployment rates sweeping the world, we need to keep a close eye on the way people shop, live and consume now.
Tracking demand and looking at year over year search trends, with Google Ads data as source, remains an accurate way to understand what changed for good, and what is just a fleeting trend depending on the short-term pandemic impact. 
After all, if we put the consumer psychology lens in place, we mustn’t forget that people are more prone to evaluate essential and non-essential goods and services for daily use right now, showing more risk-aversion than usual. 
Worry drives demand, as financial issues are far from being resolved. Look at top searches in the US as of July 2020:
Tumblr media
Following this thread, pragmatism is the driving force, as many consumers will not get back to “normal” anytime soon — a study by the Cambridge Group even coins new profiles whose core is based on immediate COVID-19 response such as Panicked Millennials (focused on household finances) or Pragmatists (focused on reducing non-essential spending).
Yet, a look at search data shows the insights in-between: more discretionary or non-essential goods are starting to bounce back in segments such as “athleisure” clothing or home entertainment, although the industries remain affected.
Tumblr media
Even the way people look at entertainment keeps shifting, choosing to spend leisure time close to home or in a safe manner: 
Tumblr media
On the other hand, because some people still work or spend most of their time in their houses, together with family and close friends, the home improvement segment continues to grow: 
Tumblr media
While commute and travel budgets have been put on halt for most information workers, remote work seems to be here to stay. It’s what constant demand for building a home office points towards, anyway:
Tumblr media
And a constant, rising demand for car rentals and safe, private mobility in general:
Tumblr media
Consumer intent reveals an acceleration of shifting channel preferences with a focus on online operations, although macro studies show anxiety levels regarding brick and mortar easing a bit. For instance, the Deloitte State of the Consumer Tracker confirms an increasing tendency in trust levels to shop in stores (49%), go to restaurants (32%) or stay in a hotel (34%) at a global level. Of course, the numbers remain low.
Tumblr media
That’s why a prolific avenue is to challenge the macro-level studies with search data — it’s where the relevant insights dwell, helping you discern between lasting trends, spurs of the moment, and important shifts in consumer interest that influence business operations as well. 
What trends are emerging that might impact SEO agencies?
Having looked at the state of consumers today, which can prove a certain degree of familiarity for your SEO Company team, it’s important to take this next step — look at the state of businesses and how consumer shifts generate new trends that impact the whole chain.
To pick the most relevant ones for an SEO Company agency, we’ll employ a different lens: Gartner’s Hype Cycle. In short, the framework proposed by Gartner enables you to critically assess the promise of emerging technology through these phases:
Innovation trigger: although there’s no commercial viability yet, there’s a lot of interest in the potential of a new technology. Take AI for example, everybody’s talking about it.
Peak of inflated expectations: More publicity and a few success stories, but mostly struggles and failure. The promise of AI to change the world as we know it, right?
Trough of Disillusionment: Interest decreases and investors drop, as the technology fails to deliver the initial promise. Only a few developers insist.
Slope of Enlightenment: Second- and third-generation products appear as the technology begins to stabilize and show other use cases that prove to be viable. Machine learning and deep learning have strong usability segments, far from the initial scifi scenarios. 
Plateau of Productivity: The technology is applied across sectors and markets, and assessment criteria for viability are clearer now. Machine learning adoption rates continue to steadily grow.
Tumblr media
What emerging trends can impact the current agency landscape, beyond the trough of disillusionment?
 Remote working as a viable company set-up
Even before the pandemic hit, the rise of remote working was visible. If the trend seemed to be somewhere between experimenting and a productive framework, with its acceleration due to COVID-19, remote work is becoming a big part of the new normal.
Recently, we’ve seen geographical constraints move to timezone ones, especially for synchronous companies that do most of the work together. The challenge remains to innovate both at the level of technology and business processes to transform workflows, while also maintaining a strong organizational culture. In addition, that means a different way of doing recruitment, supporting career growth, or enabling social connections in a team. That’s what Remote: office not required explores, presenting how Basecamp designed a remote-first company with all the advantages and struggles.
It’s clear that the trend is here to stay, reshaping such things as telecommuting, client relationships or individual and team productivity.
No-code is filling the gaps of “Software as a process”
Software companies, in their bid to acquire more users, have started developing highly personalized solutions, influencing a business process from start to finish. That’s why, we’re seeing a shift in thinking about software — not just a tool, but a string of actions that dictate a certain business framework and a specific market segment. For instance, tools like Zapier or Integromat allow for a high level of business flow customization, while Jupiter is a CRM dedicated to the beauty industry. 
If we consider this business need for fast implementation and high customization, one particular trend stands out. No-code, a movement where people without programming expertise build websites and flows, like connecting two systems, using drag and drop interfaces, is growing past the early days of inflated expectations. 
Transforming the traditional software development flow from “business specifications” to “software implementation”, no-code essentially implies less time and money spent on coding, and more resources for optimizing business processes (marketing agency, sales etc.) and discovery.
Think about helping, let’s say, an AC installation supplier set up a customer management system personalized with an automation solution for qualifying leads and scheduling visits, without human intervention at every step. Or building a custom feature on top of Hubspot, to satisfy your agency specialized flows. And with no focus on the technical resources, but the process design.
Businesses (SMBs and Fortune 500) are willing to experiment more in the digital environment
Talking about discovery and experimentation, the pandemic forced both small businesses and large corporate companies to look for alternatives, as digital became a primary channel for the whole funnel. If a marketing agency or sales backlog was available, the pandemic months were the time to review it.
It’s no wonder that the search for “Shopify” exploded since April-May, as more businesses needed to sell online:
Tumblr media
Digital-first frameworks have accelerated, or as a McKinsey report puts it, “we have vaulted five years forward in consumer and business digital adoption in a matter of around eight weeks”. This creates a window of opportunity for creativity and innovation, as more and more business processes move in digital environmens: from optimizing digital infrastructure to pivoting client management and communications, rehashing customer journeys, and even identifying new segments, niches or markets that are no longer out of reach.
That also means a plethora of data needs and a way for SEO Company agencies to leverage their know-how. 
Search and discovery fragmentation
In the US, more than half of the consumers start their buying journey on Amazon, instead of Google Search, statistics that you’re probably familiar with. Google is also aware of this trend, which makes them continue to develop vertical aggregators like Jobs or News. And that is only one part of the search equation that goes beyond a “box and the 10 blue links”, being now more dependent on behaviours than anything else.
With the fast digitization of businesses after COVID, the trend of search and discovery fragmentation is accelerating at a higher rate, challenging businesses to respond to these channel shifts while thinking more about touchpoints and a buyer quest than a seamless, singular journey. Can this be the birth of a new innovation trigger?
Business networking is not what it used to be
The pandemic drastically impacted business networking, as events are not possible in person, a trend that will probably last longer than expected.  The first wave of responses was to move to online events, virtual summits and a variety of webinars, but there’s also the question of informal talks and sales meetings that need to be rethought in order to maintain the quality of interaction.
As with remote work, the geographical boundaries are not a concern anymore for finding vendors or connecting with peers, which leaves a lot of room for creativity in designing new networking processes. What will the pitch look like in another few months? Or the sales meeting? Or the agency community meetup? Probably another innovation trigger is shaping here. 
Summary
From a critical assessment of consumer macro-trends against search data, to the way business trends have accelerated in the current context, we’re starting to paint a picture of the new agency landscape. Which are here for good and which are just a trigger in the Hype Cycle? That’s an open question for you and us both.
Here’s a summary of what we’ve seen so far in terms of Consumers and Trends:
How customers look now: 
Unemployment rates and health concerns remain high, causing anxiety and making people reassess what is essential and what is non-essential for daily living.
Many consumers will not “get back to normal” as pragmatism is still the driving force for buying something new. Yet, some discretionary or non-essential goods are starting to bounce back, as caution levels waver.
New consumer profiles are emerging, as they also shift channels of consumption. Online-first pragmatists and panicked millennials are concerned with health and finances, while there is a shy recovery of “brick and mortar” consumption.
Entertainment continues to grow in the home-related areas or in the safe outdoors.     
What trends are emerging that might impact SEO Company agencies? 
Remote working is a viable company set-up that challenges business operations and organizational cultures.
No-code is filling the gaps of “Software as a process”, enabling businesses to explore tech solutions fast, with lower costs, while optimizing their processes. 
Businesses (SMBs and Fortune 500) are willing to experiment more in the digital environment, as consumers dictate new sales and marketing agency funnels.
Search and discovery fragmentation continues to accelerate, posing the challenge for businesses to rethink buyer journeys.
Networking is not about events anymore and can be the next big innovation ground.
We’ll continue this series, based on researching our SEO Company agencies community with a thorough analysis of their business models now and what the shifts in 2020 can inspire for reshaping the next-level agency. You can sign up here and be the first to receive the following articles in the series, once they’re live. 
At SEOmonitor, we’re committed to helping SEO Company agencies navigate uncertainty, so we adapt our solutions to the current context. Search Trends, the Client Health Tracker or the Reporting board are just a part of our specialized tools and resources.
We’ll get through this together!
Discover an SEO Company platform designed just for SEO Company agencies:
Learn about our solutions
About The Author
Tumblr media
SEO Companymonitor’s mission is to help digital marketers overcome the challenges by developing innovative technologies that can make the most out of the available data and deliver insightful and reliable reports. SEO Companymonitor is committed to empowering those who want to move the SEO Company industry forward. Acquire, manage and retain more customers for your SEO Company agency with daily rank tracking, SEO Company forecasting and a unique solution for (not provided).
Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co
Delray Beach SEO
source http://www.scpie.org/how-would-an-seo-agency-be-built-today-part-1-consumers-and-trends/
0 notes
laurelkrugerr · 4 years
Text
How would an SEO agency be built today? Part 1: Consumers and trends
Tumblr media
The pandemic put everything to a halt. Then, it forced people and businesses alike in the beginner’s mind. The Zen concept hints at a seeming paradox: as you know more and more about a subject, you tend to dismiss other possibilities.  
What follows is a quest of shaping choices for the near future in a three-part piece that highlights a core question — How would you build an SEO Company agency in 2020? 
We’ll explore the complexity of the topic, mapping key touchpoints that create the agency landscape, from assessing current trends on consumer behaviour, to how key partners of an SEO Company agency have changed:
Consumer and business trends that are emerging and transforming the way people interact. (part one)
The current SEO Company agency business model and its in-depth analysis. (part two)
The possibilities ingrained in thinking about what a reshaped SEO Company agency of 2020 and beyond looks like. (part three)
We’ve designed this series as a business exercise for SEO Company agency leaders and their current struggles because we’re committed to supporting agencies push through uncertainty. 
You can use the learnings, tools, and insights that follow, together with your team, and optimize your strategy in the actual context. From Gartner’s Hype Cycle and Business Model Canvas, to an interactive section that lets you build a new type of SEO Company agency from the ground up, you’ll go through various frameworks, some more familiar than others. 
Let’s begin!
How customers look in the current context 
Since March 2020, we continued to see consumer behaviour changes, new online practices, and a global outlook that is still concerning. With anxiety factors about health and finances fueling uncertainty and high unemployment rates sweeping the world, we need to keep a close eye on the way people shop, live and consume now.
Tracking demand and looking at year over year search trends, with Google Ads data as source, remains an accurate way to understand what changed for good, and what is just a fleeting trend depending on the short-term pandemic impact. 
After all, if we put the consumer psychology lens in place, we mustn’t forget that people are more prone to evaluate essential and non-essential goods and services for daily use right now, showing more risk-aversion than usual. 
Worry drives demand, as financial issues are far from being resolved. Look at top searches in the US as of July 2020:
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Following this thread, pragmatism is the driving force, as many consumers will not get back to “normal” anytime soon — a study by the Cambridge Group even coins new profiles whose core is based on immediate COVID-19 response such as Panicked Millennials (focused on household finances) or Pragmatists (focused on reducing non-essential spending).
Yet, a look at search data shows the insights in-between: more discretionary or non-essential goods are starting to bounce back in segments such as “athleisure” clothing or home entertainment, although the industries remain affected.
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Even the way people look at entertainment keeps shifting, choosing to spend leisure time close to home or in a safe manner: 
Tumblr media
On the other hand, because some people still work or spend most of their time in their houses, together with family and close friends, the home improvement segment continues to grow: 
Tumblr media
While commute and travel budgets have been put on halt for most information workers, remote work seems to be here to stay. It’s what constant demand for building a home office points towards, anyway:
Tumblr media
And a constant, rising demand for car rentals and safe, private mobility in general:
Tumblr media
Consumer intent reveals an acceleration of shifting channel preferences with a focus on online operations, although macro studies show anxiety levels regarding brick and mortar easing a bit. For instance, the Deloitte State of the Consumer Tracker confirms an increasing tendency in trust levels to shop in stores (49%), go to restaurants (32%) or stay in a hotel (34%) at a global level. Of course, the numbers remain low.
Tumblr media
That’s why a prolific avenue is to challenge the macro-level studies with search data — it’s where the relevant insights dwell, helping you discern between lasting trends, spurs of the moment, and important shifts in consumer interest that influence business operations as well. 
What trends are emerging that might impact SEO agencies?
Having looked at the state of consumers today, which can prove a certain degree of familiarity for your SEO Company team, it’s important to take this next step — look at the state of businesses and how consumer shifts generate new trends that impact the whole chain.
To pick the most relevant ones for an SEO Company agency, we’ll employ a different lens: Gartner’s Hype Cycle. In short, the framework proposed by Gartner enables you to critically assess the promise of emerging technology through these phases:
Innovation trigger: although there’s no commercial viability yet, there’s a lot of interest in the potential of a new technology. Take AI for example, everybody’s talking about it.
Peak of inflated expectations: More publicity and a few success stories, but mostly struggles and failure. The promise of AI to change the world as we know it, right?
Trough of Disillusionment: Interest decreases and investors drop, as the technology fails to deliver the initial promise. Only a few developers insist.
Slope of Enlightenment: Second- and third-generation products appear as the technology begins to stabilize and show other use cases that prove to be viable. Machine learning and deep learning have strong usability segments, far from the initial scifi scenarios. 
Plateau of Productivity: The technology is applied across sectors and markets, and assessment criteria for viability are clearer now. Machine learning adoption rates continue to steadily grow.
Tumblr media
What emerging trends can impact the current agency landscape, beyond the trough of disillusionment?
 Remote working as a viable company set-up
Even before the pandemic hit, the rise of remote working was visible. If the trend seemed to be somewhere between experimenting and a productive framework, with its acceleration due to COVID-19, remote work is becoming a big part of the new normal.
Recently, we’ve seen geographical constraints move to timezone ones, especially for synchronous companies that do most of the work together. The challenge remains to innovate both at the level of technology and business processes to transform workflows, while also maintaining a strong organizational culture. In addition, that means a different way of doing recruitment, supporting career growth, or enabling social connections in a team. That’s what Remote: office not required explores, presenting how Basecamp designed a remote-first company with all the advantages and struggles.
It’s clear that the trend is here to stay, reshaping such things as telecommuting, client relationships or individual and team productivity.
No-code is filling the gaps of “Software as a process”
Software companies, in their bid to acquire more users, have started developing highly personalized solutions, influencing a business process from start to finish. That’s why, we’re seeing a shift in thinking about software — not just a tool, but a string of actions that dictate a certain business framework and a specific market segment. For instance, tools like Zapier or Integromat allow for a high level of business flow customization, while Jupiter is a CRM dedicated to the beauty industry. 
If we consider this business need for fast implementation and high customization, one particular trend stands out. No-code, a movement where people without programming expertise build websites and flows, like connecting two systems, using drag and drop interfaces, is growing past the early days of inflated expectations. 
Transforming the traditional software development flow from “business specifications” to “software implementation”, no-code essentially implies less time and money spent on coding, and more resources for optimizing business processes (marketing agency, sales etc.) and discovery.
Think about helping, let’s say, an AC installation supplier set up a customer management system personalized with an automation solution for qualifying leads and scheduling visits, without human intervention at every step. Or building a custom feature on top of Hubspot, to satisfy your agency specialized flows. And with no focus on the technical resources, but the process design.
Businesses (SMBs and Fortune 500) are willing to experiment more in the digital environment
Talking about discovery and experimentation, the pandemic forced both small businesses and large corporate companies to look for alternatives, as digital became a primary channel for the whole funnel. If a marketing agency or sales backlog was available, the pandemic months were the time to review it.
It’s no wonder that the search for “Shopify” exploded since April-May, as more businesses needed to sell online:
Tumblr media
Digital-first frameworks have accelerated, or as a McKinsey report puts it, “we have vaulted five years forward in consumer and business digital adoption in a matter of around eight weeks”. This creates a window of opportunity for creativity and innovation, as more and more business processes move in digital environmens: from optimizing digital infrastructure to pivoting client management and communications, rehashing customer journeys, and even identifying new segments, niches or markets that are no longer out of reach.
That also means a plethora of data needs and a way for SEO Company agencies to leverage their know-how. 
Search and discovery fragmentation
In the US, more than half of the consumers start their buying journey on Amazon, instead of Google Search, statistics that you’re probably familiar with. Google is also aware of this trend, which makes them continue to develop vertical aggregators like Jobs or News. And that is only one part of the search equation that goes beyond a “box and the 10 blue links”, being now more dependent on behaviours than anything else.
With the fast digitization of businesses after COVID, the trend of search and discovery fragmentation is accelerating at a higher rate, challenging businesses to respond to these channel shifts while thinking more about touchpoints and a buyer quest than a seamless, singular journey. Can this be the birth of a new innovation trigger?
Business networking is not what it used to be
The pandemic drastically impacted business networking, as events are not possible in person, a trend that will probably last longer than expected.  The first wave of responses was to move to online events, virtual summits and a variety of webinars, but there’s also the question of informal talks and sales meetings that need to be rethought in order to maintain the quality of interaction.
As with remote work, the geographical boundaries are not a concern anymore for finding vendors or connecting with peers, which leaves a lot of room for creativity in designing new networking processes. What will the pitch look like in another few months? Or the sales meeting? Or the agency community meetup? Probably another innovation trigger is shaping here. 
Summary
From a critical assessment of consumer macro-trends against search data, to the way business trends have accelerated in the current context, we’re starting to paint a picture of the new agency landscape. Which are here for good and which are just a trigger in the Hype Cycle? That’s an open question for you and us both.
Here’s a summary of what we’ve seen so far in terms of Consumers and Trends:
How customers look now: 
Unemployment rates and health concerns remain high, causing anxiety and making people reassess what is essential and what is non-essential for daily living.
Many consumers will not “get back to normal” as pragmatism is still the driving force for buying something new. Yet, some discretionary or non-essential goods are starting to bounce back, as caution levels waver.
New consumer profiles are emerging, as they also shift channels of consumption. Online-first pragmatists and panicked millennials are concerned with health and finances, while there is a shy recovery of “brick and mortar” consumption.
Entertainment continues to grow in the home-related areas or in the safe outdoors.     
What trends are emerging that might impact SEO Company agencies? 
Remote working is a viable company set-up that challenges business operations and organizational cultures.
No-code is filling the gaps of “Software as a process”, enabling businesses to explore tech solutions fast, with lower costs, while optimizing their processes. 
Businesses (SMBs and Fortune 500) are willing to experiment more in the digital environment, as consumers dictate new sales and marketing agency funnels.
Search and discovery fragmentation continues to accelerate, posing the challenge for businesses to rethink buyer journeys.
Networking is not about events anymore and can be the next big innovation ground.
We’ll continue this series, based on researching our SEO Company agencies community with a thorough analysis of their business models now and what the shifts in 2020 can inspire for reshaping the next-level agency. You can sign up here and be the first to receive the following articles in the series, once they’re live. 
At SEOmonitor, we’re committed to helping SEO Company agencies navigate uncertainty, so we adapt our solutions to the current context. Search Trends, the Client Health Tracker or the Reporting board are just a part of our specialized tools and resources.
We’ll get through this together!
Discover an SEO Company platform designed just for SEO Company agencies:
Learn about our solutions
About The Author
Tumblr media
SEO Companymonitor’s mission is to help digital marketers overcome the challenges by developing innovative technologies that can make the most out of the available data and deliver insightful and reliable reports. SEO Companymonitor is committed to empowering those who want to move the SEO Company industry forward. Acquire, manage and retain more customers for your SEO Company agency with daily rank tracking, SEO Company forecasting and a unique solution for (not provided).
Website Design & SEO Delray Beach by DBL07.co
Delray Beach SEO
source http://www.scpie.org/how-would-an-seo-agency-be-built-today-part-1-consumers-and-trends/ source https://scpie1.blogspot.com/2020/09/how-would-seo-agency-be-built-today.html
0 notes
fandomwriter39-blog · 7 years
Text
We all need company - 10th Doctor
The Doctor sighed, boredom flowing through him. He had no idea where to go next. He had visited thousands of incredible places, but none could entertain him just the slightest. He looked down at the levers, buttons, cables and who knows what else that made up the control panel of the Tardis. Unconsciously, his hands followed the pattern of his most common destination: the Earth. Although he had not been there in a while, he still didn't need to think at all what to do to direct himself right towards the blue planet. How long had it actually been since he last came? A month? A year? Or maybe even a decade? He held close to no notion of time, due to the radical timezone changes he overcame in each of his journeys.
In less than three minutes the Tardis swiftly touched land. He breath in nervously. Taking cautious steps towards the door, he took a hold on it and considered whether he should go out or not. Finally deciding he should, he swung the door open, letting the fresh air fill his lungs.
London. Beautiful old London. A grin made its way on his lips. How he had missed that city. For him, it held nothing else but good memories. Sometimes bizarre, of course, but always nice memories.
As he began to happily walk down the streets, he observed every little detail of the life in that buzzing city. It couldn't have been long, it was just as he remembered it. He reached some of the main streets, packed with shops and pedestrians, and that was right when he saw it. A clothes shop, nearly identical to the rest surrounding him, but the Doctor would've recognised it anywhere. That's where he met Rose. In a different form, yes, but he hadn't forgotten it. His previous smile fell, remembering how alone he had been since she had left. Usually, he'd find a companion in a matter of days, but that had not been the case this time. He kept on walking, his mind racing with thoughts like it did so very often. Neither him, nor the girl typing on her phone noticed each other, and they ended up colliding. Shocked by the impact the girl tumbled back, on the verge of falling down, but the Doctor reacted fast enough to catch her before that happened.
"I'm so sorry, I should've been looking at where I was going." Started the Doctor.
She shook her head. "It's okay, I should've payed more attention too."
The Doctor stared at her in awe. She was the most beautiful woman he had met: piercing (y/e/c) eyes, incredible (y/h/l) (y/h/c) hair, and a perfect smile that left him so lost he didn't even hear what she had said.
"Sorry, you were saying?"
The girl chuckled. "I said I'm (y/n). You?"
"Oh, I'm the Doctor."
She looked at him confused. "The Doctor? Surely you must have a name to go with that?"
"Nope. Just the Doctor."
She eyed him suspiciously. "Thing is, you don't really look like a doctor to me."
"I don't?"
"No... I wonder what you really do."
"I could tell you all about it." The Doctor said with a grin.
"Then I'll be happy to listen."
Usually, he wouldn't be so bold as to tell anyone about, well, about all he knew and had lived. But there was something about (y/n) that made him feel like he could trust her. She had a special something, and he could notice that.
          ~ ~ ~
As usual, his instinct hadn't failed him. They went to a nearby café to grab a drink, and the more the Doctor told (y/n) about all the different worlds, creatures and bizarre things that existed, the more her eyes shone with excitement.
"Well," (y/n) began after hours of listening to the Doctor's fascinating stories. " Now that I know of all this, I don't think it's possible for me to stay here any longer."
The Doctor couldn't contain his happiness when he heard those words. He wasn't going to be alone! Without a second of hesitance, he took (y/n) by the hand and dragged her back to the Tardis. "I'll show you the wonders of time and space!" He exclaimed, earning a laugh from (y/n) and a weird look from all the pedestrians.
           *time skip*
With a soft buzz the Tardis touched land. During the journey (y/n) had been running around the whole of the peculiar spacecraft. She observed everything with the enthusiastic and hungry eyes of a little kid on Christmas day. Whatever she came across with she asked about it, and the Doctor was more than happy to answer every single one of her questions.
She now glanced nervously at the door. She took careful steps towards it, then turned to look at the Doctor, as if asking for permission. He simply nodded, and (y/n) built up the courage to open it.
She was met with the most dazzling landscape she could've imagined. Everything was ice, at least to where her eyes could reach. The curve of the horizon was way more noticeable than in the Earth, which made her think that the planet was quite smaller. In certain areas the ice had melted to create lakes and rivers, and the glow of orange fish-like creatures could be perceived from underneath the surface. Looking up, the sky unraveled before her, with the brightest blue she had ever seen. Chubby clouds sprawled through the vast fields of the colossal dome, painting it with sheeps and cotton candy floss.
"Where are we?" She let out the question as a sigh.
"If we are where I wanted to take you, which I think" He stopped mid-sentence and looked around him. "we are. In that case, welcome to Hielvania!"
She repeated the name in her head, archiving it in her new file of 'weird things I've discovered today'.
"Everything's ice but, I don't feel cold. Just a chilly breeze, but nothing else." She realised.
"That's because of the Tardis." (y/n) gave him a look of disbelief. "Once you've stepped in it, you gain the ability to bear with any planet’s weather, understand their language..."
"Wait, I can understand any language?"
"Of course! It'd be quite difficult to travel through worlds without that ability."
"That's... That's amazing."
Their conversation was cut short with an icy gust of wind. They turned to look at the direction of the air, and were met with a strange little creature. It couldn't be more than 20 inches tall, made entirely out of ice. The whole of its body were angular shapes, somehow like a diamond that had been stretched, and the head was finished in a pointy stalagmite. It had jet black eyes, big enough to cover around half of its face, but there was nothing else. No nose, no ears and no mouth. Regardless of this, they were able to hear its voice.
"Hello foreigners. What brings you to our planet?" It was the most melodic sound (y/n) had heard. She felt it inside her head, fluent and clear like flowing water. She could only look down at the creature with amazement, leaving the Doctor to talk.
"We're just visiting. By the way, where's everyone?"
They felt a pang of sadness emanating from the small Hielvanian.
"Most are hiding. Some are trying to help, but with no use until now."
"You're at war?" That was the last scenario the Doctor could've imagined. Hielvania had always been well known for being one of the most pacific planets. It was a place for the study and observation of stars, an area for peace, solitude and reflection. It was unthinkable that any hostile situation could occur, moreover because of how fragile the planet was.
"Who's attacking you?" (y/n) intervened.
"We don't know... It's nothing specific, it's not an army. It has no distinct form, we couldn't see it coming. It does nothing, but whoever or whatever gets close is melted."
"Let's see it then." The Doctor said, determination showing in his voice.
It didn't take them too long to reach it. They could easily tell they were near because of the increasing heat. They hadn't been able to create too much of a mental image of the object with so little descriptions, but it would've been of no use: whatever they had imagined wasn't as terrible as what they were about to see.
At first it could have been described, simply, as a giant ball of flaming rocks. But the more you looked the more clear it became it was anything but that. Hurricane-like forms made up its entire surface, reassembling the planet Jupiter, but scarlet red and bright orange in colour. Nearly half of it was buried in what had previously been ice, which was now a full lake. This only grew larger, as the area of molten frost around it increased in width.
(y/n) gasped in realisation. "If this continues, the entire planet will disappear."
"There's nothing we can do. We have no weapons. There's no other choice but to accept our future." The crystal being stated.
"No... No, that can't be!" She turned to look at the Doctor alarmed. "Doctor, there must be something we can do!"
The Doctor remained quiet, clenching his jaw as he thought of any possible solution. Staring absently at the spherical inferno, he saw for merely a second a hint of a metal object that gave him the answer.
"That's it! Oh, it was so obvious, how did I not remember their existence? Then again, it's been centuries since they were last used."
"Since what was used?" The Doctor completely ignored (y/n)'s question, his mind rushing with thoughts.
"The opening is visible, so maybe we stand a chance. We only need to calculate the exact moment or else..."
"Calculate what? What are you talking about?" She tried exasperated. He seemed to snap out of his trance, because he looked at (y/n) with a triumphant smile.
"That's a Dalek spacecraft." (y/n) coked her head, completely confused.
"Quite an old machine, they used it mostly for war purposes." He continued explaining. "The interior is made of a special metal that can endure incredible heats. It has some kind of fumes from where the hot air comes out."
"But, I don't get it. Why would they attack Hielvania? It's a pacific planet."
"Because the entire globe is in itself an enormous observatory. They see almost everything, working as an alarm if any danger gets close to alert the rest. Without it, thousands of galaxies that depend on it will be weak, exposed for an invasion."
"That's just cruel!"
"I know. The only way for this to end is to get in and turn the damn thing off."
"Sounds quite dangerous." She commented as she took a glance at it.
"It has an entrance. Close to impossible, but you can still reach it even when the fumes are on. Look right on that spot, don't you see anything?" (y/n) squinted her eyes on the direction he was signaling, and in the end she managed to distinguish some kind of tunnel. "We'll use the water as our ally. The air won't reach us as easily in the water."
"And once we're in?"
"Uhhh, we defeat them."
"You got any weapons?"
"I got this." He grabbed his sonic screwdriver, grinning widely.
"Works for me." She said with a shrug. Diverting her attention back to the Hielvanian, she kneeled down to its level. "We're gonna save you all, so don't worry."
The poor creature wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or worried. It made what could be a nod, and then (y/n) and the Doctor approached the flaming spacecraft.
"This will be how we'll enter." Said the Doctor once they were beside the lake that surrounded it. "Every 30 seconds the fumes release the clouds of heat. That's their way of keeping the barrier and not overusing the machinery. We'll swim until we're beside it and wait. When we see the fumes stop, we only have those 30 seconds until they start again. In that time we need to reach the entrance, open it and get in."
"Won't we be affected by the heat remaining?"
"Not really. You'll feel it, obviously, but we're protected by the water, it's way less effective in it."
"Then let's do it."
First challenge they faced was the two minutes long distance between the shore and he flaming capsule. Unlike the outside whether, the water really felt like one could've imagined: not just cold, frigid, making (y/n) yelp when she first touched it. It slowly got better, whether it was because they got used to it or because it really grew warmer. When they arrived beside it they were able to feel the waves of heat rubbing against their skin. They began circling it until the Doctor stopped abruptly, pointing at the round metallic door glimpsing behind the fire.
"At the count of three we go in, okay?"
"Okay."
He observed one of the fumes for a while long, and when (y/n) least expect it, the countdown began.
"Three..." She frowned, clenching her jaw as she prepared.
"Two..." Instinctively, the Doctor reached for her hand, as both tried to forget what would happen if the tiniest thing went wrong.
"Now!" He leaped forward, dragging (y/n) with him as they tried to run as fast as they could, while the water that reached to their hips slowed them down. They dived under when they entered the hot barrier, and in no time (y/n) began to feel her skin itching and blister. She fought back the pain as they reached the door and waited for the Doctor to open it. She could feel the sonic screwdriver buzzing even underneath the water. A click was heard, and they took it as cue to push it with all their might. It left a space wide enough for both to enter, and they didn't waste their time. Repeating the action, they then pulled the lever down, securing themselves inside the tunnel. It was strangely calm there. It was wide enough for two people to stand beside each other, with a ramp on the right side and steps on the left. They could see the other door at the end of the corridor, and as they advance towards it they slowly began to hear noises coming from the inside.
"What do we do now?" Asked (y/n), sweating profusely due to the heat emanating from the walls.
"We have to play with the surprise factor as our main advantage. This isn't too big either, so I don't expect too many Daleks. Twenty tops."
"Still a high number considering we're two."
"We don't need to fight them. In fact, we shouldn't. If I remember correctly, the control panel is in the centre, and there must be a button to turn this off."
"Wouldn't be of too much use. The moment they notice it's not working they'd turn it on again." She deduced. "We need to get rid of them, whatever the way."
"Every Dalek spacecraft has what is called a safe button. In case of an emergency, using it would transport them directly to their nearest territory in a matter of minutes."
"Then that should be our objective. Press it and run out immediately."
The Doctor nodded. "I'll enter, you stay by the door and watch my back."
"I think it'd make more sense if I go."
"It's too dangerous, I don't want to put you in danger."
"It's less likely they'll see me." Her companion insisted. He sighed resigned, then moved to direct the screwdriver at the entrance. Another click, and they slowly moved it, trying not to make a noise.
"It's the green one." The Doctor whispered after scanning the vault-like space. With careful steps (y/n) moved through there. It was relatively small, and she reached the desired location in no time. The Daleks had been completely oblivious to her presence, but the moment she reached for the button and pressed it, a loud alarm was activated. All their attention was shifted to (y/n) while she escaped. The creature closest to her extended a metallic hook, pulling her away from the exit. She yelped by the sudden movement, while the Doctor run towards her. With a strength that came from the pure instinct of saving her, he broke a nearby pipe, yanking it from the wall and positioning himself to use it as a sword. He was well aware that little could it do against the Daleks, but he was desperate, as he saw from the corner of his eye a screen that showed the minute and a half they had to escape.
One of the Daleks made the first movement, shooting a laser beam towards him. Protecting himself with the pipe, he observed as it hitted it and then bounce off into another direction. "That's it!" He thought excited. He waited for the next Dalek to shoot, then moved the tube in a certain angle, directing the beam back to the Daleks. Another try later and this time it went directly into the Dalek from which (y/n) was struggling to free herself. The creature opened his grip, and (y/n) run towards the door, followed by the Doctor. They only had time to jump out of the second gate, and right then the flaming spacecraft dissolved, leaving behind the enormous lake it had created.
Only when they were standing back in land surrounded by all the curious Hielvanians they allowed themselves to calm down and steady their breathing. The exhaustion of the events only made (y/n) fall asleep instantly, the last thing she felt was the Doctor lifting her to take her somewhere to rest.
             *time skip*
(y/n) woke up inside the Tardis. Confused by her surroundings at first, but in a matter of seconds she remembered all that had happened.
"Hey, you're awake." The Doctor said when he turned to look at her.
"Have I dreamt all this?" She asked confused, recalling the past events.
"No, it's all been real." He gave her a comforting smile, sitting beside her. "It's already midnight, let's go outside again. I'm sure you don't want to miss this."
She complied reluctantly, not letting go of the blanket she'd had over her while slept.
The planet was just as she remembered: vast extensions of ice and water. But it was so much more breathtaking now.
The night was pitch black, with no moon lighting the sky. But there was no need for one. Millions of stars covered it, little dots of pure white light in the distance. And with the sky, the entire surface shone with it, reflecting its magnificence. They were surrounded by the fairy lights of the universe, and it felt like they were floating right in the middle of that infinity.
(y/n) was breathless, as the Doctor guided her through the maze of stars and they sat some distance away from the Tardis, surrounded by them all.
"This... It's just... There no words to describe it." She murmured, afraid that if she talked any louder everything would shatter like fragile crystal.
The Doctor could only hum as an answer, just as mesmerised as she was. They were in complete solitude, the endless void that was the space surrounding them, but the last thing they felt was loneliness. The absence of any sound was completed by their presence, and no words where need to understand each other perfectly. Happiness filled every single part of them, and they felt that exact moment could be forever. Regardless of this perfect situation, the Doctor knew better than anyone that nothing lasted forever, but until that happened he'd enjoy her company as much as he could.
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Close: Head of Product Marketing (100 % Remote) - American or European Time Zone
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Headquarters: Remote-First URL: https://close.com
About Us
At Close, we're building the sales communication platform of the future. With our roots as the very first sales CRM to include built-in calling, we're leading the industry toward eliminating manual processes and helping companies to close more deals (faster). Since our founding in 2013, we've grown to become a profitable, 100% globally distributed team of 43 high-performing, happy people that are dedicated to building a product our customers love.
TL;DR: We are seeking a Head of Product Marketing that will be instrumental in defining our product and market positioning and will take ownership of growing our customer base and platform adoption through a wide range of marketing efforts. This position will lead the Product Marketing function within the organization—an incredible opportunity to shape the brand and future direction of our product and company.
This position requires a highly motivated individual with previous experience leading product marketing and GTM strategy, and who is comfortable in a fast-moving  environment. The successful candidate will be customer-oriented, self-motivated and results-driven.
About You
You have a knack for understanding people. You ask a lot of questions. You’re decisive.
As Head of Product Marketing at Close, your primary job is to understand our customer— what motivates them, what makes their job difficult, and what simply delights them. You will take these constant and ongoing learnings and deftly apply them to the way we position our brand and product to the world. After all, product marketing is at its very core, “people marketing”. 
Your previous experience creating successful go-to-market plans (from high-level strategy down to tactical execution) will enable you to oversee the rollout of all new products and feature updates.  
Sometimes you’ll be looking at our product marketing from a high level view—say, determining our key objectives for the quarter or the year. Other days, you may be down in the weeds yourself, writing landing page copy or working with others on the marketing team to run A/B conversion tests on site. You’re comfortable—and happy—doing both.
What you don’t know, you’ll openly admit, but then you’ll get to work figuring it out (asking others for help and/or digging deep on your own). Your self-motivation and a relentless drive to learn/do more are appreciated by all. You pride yourself on being a “clever thinker”.  You’re comfortable talking with and working alongside our product, sales, development, and customer success teams. You understand your critical part in the overall machine, graciously accepting thoughts and feedback from others while offering your own expertise where you can. You pride yourself on being “overly communicative” -- keeping everyone up to date with the latest product marketing wins, losses, and initiatives.
You are comfortable working remotely as part of a small team, with a high level of autonomy. You can devise your own schedule and effectively manage your workload based on the biggest opportunities and company objectives.
When you’re in the wrong or make a mistake you can admit it. You can articulate why it happened and how you’ve learned from the experience. 
You are in a European or American timezone.
Above all, you understand that your success—and our success—hinges on the satisfaction and loyalty of our customers. 
About The Role
You will be responsible for championing the features and benefits of the Close sales platform through our marketing messaging and market positioning. You’ll work closely with Danny (Director of Marketing) and our motley crew of marketing crushers. 
Just some of the things that will come across your [metaphorical] desk…
Main KPIs
Product marketing impact on new trial signups (On-site testing and website updates, email marketing campaigns, increase inquiries from software review and industry sites)
Product adoption (free to paid + user activation within app)
Product launch/update success metrics (per launch)
“Product superstar, that is what you are…”
Develop messaging, positioning, and competitive differentiation of our products in the SaaS/sales market. Own all on-site messaging. Devise the go-to-market strategy for all product launches and feature updates. Oversee the tactical execution of each GTM strategy.
Stay on top of the latest trends and tech advancements in the sales and CRM space. Communicate these learnings across the organization, including to our Product, Customer Success, and Development teams.
Identify new verticals and areas for business and product expansion. Champion all marketing efforts that relate to these growth initiatives.
Corner the market[ing]
Own the product messaging in all of our marketing campaigns and corresponding collateral, which may include, but is not limited to, email, social media, blog posts, sales enablement content, and landing pages.
Dive deep into our customer acquisition strategy and execution, driving new trial sign-ups via smart, empathetic product/feature messaging and content. Must be comfortable devising and executing tactics to bring customers down the sales funnel.
Work closely with the marketing team to ensure that these brand and product value propositions are communicated consistently across everything we do.
Work alongside Product and Customer Success teams to identify key verticals, customer personas/roles, and geos for nuture/expansion. Define and produce the content for SEO-optimized industry-specific landing pages, CRM comparison pages, paid/display ads, other marketing materials, to effectively reach these cohorts.
Identify marketing website tests and updates to increase visitor conversion rate (visitor to trial signup). This includes, but is not limited to, A/B testing via copy and messaging, videos/images, and modifications to page designs.
Work alongside the marketing content team to identify middle and bottom of the funnel content opportunities such as product-focused white papers, blog posts, videos, and more.
Develop, nurture, and execute on partnerships with other vendors in the B2B SaaS and product space (online co-promotions, co-branded content, event sponsorship, etc).
Champion our customers via the collection and production of testimonials, case studies, and customer profiles (determining the best way to showcase them -- images, video, etc).
Generate verified product reviews from our customers for product comparison and online community websites like Capterra, G2Crowd, and Quora. Monitor and ensure our visibility on these, and other, SaaS review/comparison sites.
Requirements
4+ years experience working within a tech or SaaS organization (extra points if B2B, extra extra points if you can show a correlation between your work and company growth during your time there)
2+ years in a product marketing role, with a track record of successfully taking products to market (devising and executing a GTM strategy)
Strong passion for product and ability to ‘speak the same language’ as Product and Development teams (“Scrum, Agile, Javascript, APIs, sprints”, etc, etc)
Project management expertise—can coordinate and juggle a variety of projects from conception through production and ensure alignment with other internal teams (Product, Customer Success, Sales, etc).
EXPERT command of the English language (written and verbal), with the ability to write in a wide variety of styles. Must be a copywriting pro—masterfully creating short, value-packed, relatable content to drive new conversions.
Foundational knowledge of common marketing analytics and campaign management platforms (analytics, popular ESPs, ad networks, social platforms, etc)
Bonus points for the following skill sets:
Front-end coding (HTML/CSS/JS, GitHub)
Design and video (editing, Photoshop, graphics creation, etc)
Familiarity with SaaS finance and reporting 
Why Close?
100% remote (we believe in trust and autonomy)
Culture video 💚
2 x annual team retreats ✈️ (Lisbon retreat video)
Competitive salary
7 weeks PTO (includes company-wide winter holiday break)
1 month paid sabbatical after 5 years
$200/month co-working stipend
Paid parental leave (10 wks primary caregiver / 4 wks secondary caregiver)
99% premiums paid for excellent medical and dental coverage, including an HSA option (US residents)
401k matching at 4% (US residents)
Dependent care FSA (US residents)
Our story and team 🚀
Glassdoor Reviews 
At Close, everyone has a voice. We encourage transparency and practicing a mature approach to the work-place. In general, we don’t have strict policies, we have guidelines. Life-work integration is an important part of our organization - we believe you bring your best to work when you practice self-care (whatever that looks like for you).
We come from 12 countries and 16 states; a collection of talented humans rich in diverse backgrounds, lifestyles, and cultures. Twice a year we meet up somewhere around the world to spend time with one another. We see these retreats as an opportunity to strengthen the social fiber of our community.
This team is growing in more ways than one - we’ve recently launched 10 babies (and counting!). Unanimously, our favorite and most impactful value is “Build a house you want to live in.” We strive to make decisions that are authentic for our organization. At Close, we have a high care factor for one another, in making an awesome product and championing the success of our customers.  
Interested in Close but don't think this role is the best fit for you? View our other positions.
To apply: https://jobs.lever.co/close.io/b20e7900-057d-4c81-bf19-aef763169db1?lever-origin=applied&lever-source%5B%5D=WeWorkRemotely
from We Work Remotely: Remote jobs in design, programming, marketing and more https://ift.tt/2GfRZ5D from Work From Home YouTuber Job Board Blog https://ift.tt/2RCWxrS
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myallywynn · 4 years
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The changing landscape of shipping in global trade – The India Perspective
Good luck struck me in 1997, when I started my journey in Shipping as a Customer Service Executive, later moving into Sales, and subsequently, into Procurement and Product Management for US and Canada.
I have witnessed, first hand, the digital evolution of the industry.
For those of you who are not aware of vintage shipping and the way it was done, there were dot matrix printers, churning out continuous sheets of bills of ladings and they were individually signed.
Slowly, there was a shift to laser printers (which were much easier to manage) and today, the entire process is online.
I remember colleagues who had joined earlier than me, engaged in telex releases and spending long hours on faxing of documents. As a customer service personnel, I had to attend calls and manually acquire and provide information on sailing schedules, ocean rates, onboard confirmations, etc. – many of these details later moved to websites and then, to IVRS.
Customs documents gradually progressed from full manual processes (manual filling of forms) to electronic application and submission of custom documents – thus reducing the time and effort related to arranging of such documents at designated sites.
Introduction of DPD has eased the congestion at CFS along with facilitating the consignee with immediate receipt of the goods.
I have seen Desktops give way to Laptops and today, we see Tablets and Smartphones which I consider to be one of the biggest and most visible technology developments.
1997 was the year that I was introduced to mobile phones – the big bulky handsets in those days replaced the VHF we used, to communicate from the office to the port or to the Captain on the ship.
From websites for information to smartphone apps for realtime information, communication channels in shipping have seen tremendous changes – more so in the last decade.
Global trade is the backbone of any country’s economy – we can say that the GDP growth of any country is directly proportional to its EXIM and shipping is one of the major contributors to this trade. This industry is never on holiday or emergency leave.
The word “global” says it all and people associated with Logistics/Shipping work according to the Timezone of their Trade.
The APL name (my previous company), is synonymous with the Transpacific Trade, was the biggest carrier to and from the USA, and USA Trade is governed by the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC).
In order to ensure a shipment was within the guidelines of FMC, given the time difference between our countries, it meant sleepless nights so that you are not delaying shipments the next day.
With the devastating 9/11 situation and increasing threats, trade to the US was to be governed by further vigilance and so, they mandated the AMS or ACD filings (that meant that all containers prior to loading from the final port of call to the USA, have to be approved by US customs to load on vessels). This approach was later adopted by Europe and then, China and recently, India.
Execution of global trade is not only about maintaining the integrity of schedule but also needs a lot of discipline. As stated above, strict adherence to the regulatory framework of the country to where the shipment belongs – as well as (this is more recent) on sustainable practices is now the norm. Climate change has forced many bodies to impose regulations for reducing the carbon-print over the oceans.
The changing landscape is also more due to changing geopolitical equations.
Traditionally, global trade was seen as exports into America with China always leading the charge. However, in 2019, the USA imposed trade restrictions on imports from China. This compelled US retailers to shift their sourcing dependency from China to newer markets in Asia. Trade benefits of this were seen by the increase in exports from Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia and India.
As global trade becomes competitive, with customers demanding details about every aspect of their shipment, shipping lines, forwarders and all related teams need to constantly innovate and come up with new tools and techniques to streamline and smoothen the supply chain.
There are many common platforms like which give the customer access to schedules and a booking platform for multiple carriers. We also see freight platforms which are making it convenient for customers to do a comparison on rates and product offerings across a plethora of service providers.
The dynamism of the shipping industry is very obvious with technological advances as well as the forward and backward integration that have been adopted over the years.
We see global shipping lines entering into financing of shipments and during COVID-19 pandemic, expanding their offerings to even road logistics in India. For example in India, Maersk has joined hands with Jindal Stainless Ltd, to optimise the flow of containerised imports and exports between JSL Jaipur and Vizag Container Terminal.
As things stand today, a lot of manual intervention in activities is getting eliminated. The new catchphrase today is Robotics Process Automation (RPA). RPA is a powerful tool that can help to link data from various sources, reducing manual intervention, giving greater accuracy and accelerating tasks in Supply Chain, Demand Planning, Invoicing and Billing.
Presently, disruptive technologies – IoT, Blockchain transactions, the Digitalisation of the 21st century, have completely changed the way global trade was earlier done, creating the need for an up-skilled workforce.
The Make in India initiative is another attraction for global manufacturers to relocate their facilities into India. We have seen the Foxconn initiative to manufacture Apple phones in India, and it is predicted that many of the automotive giants will follow through.
As Mr Modi said, “We have got the skills, talent and determination to do something. we want to give the world a favourable opportunity.” The 2020 initiative of “Atmanirbhar” or self-sufficiency and self-reliance is also a step forward to what India plans for the future. It is not alienation or isolation but working towards starting with self-sufficiency, moving to economies of scale and then exports.
Another recent development is the ONE Country ONE Tax structure, the implementation of GST (Goods and Services Tax) in 2017 and the inking of new trade deals with Japan including in fields such as civil aviation, trade, science and technology, and skill development, strengthening of the service and logistics sector, India is definitely making strides to enhance its global presence and the message is clear – there is a marked effort to shift from any external dependency.
India has the right mix of ecological balances to produce the right spices and seeds, technicians and engineers to get into manufacturing, artisans from generations to cater to the handicraft industry, designers for the apparel industry and an improving inland roadways and waterways infrastructure to ensure smooth sailings and global trade.
The only concern on Self Sustainability is it could upset the way global business and trade was earlier operating with factory-nations of exporting countries, having relocated factories at importing countries and thereby, contracting global trade volumes.
A recent example is that of India imposing restrictions on imports from China due to the current geopolitical tensions between the countries. The curb on imports of tyres from China is getting the German car-makers worried. At the same time, from the shipping lines perspective, there could be serious inventory (container) constraints in the coming months.
The past few years have also seen a major contraction in the number of carriers (Shipping Lines) – there were once 16 main shipping lines to today, due to the mergers and acquisitions, the number has been reduced to a “Big 6“ who control 80% of the Ocean Trade.
Lately, we are also witnessing a downsizing in the number of global forwarders through mergers and acquisitions. New players are entering the mercantile marine ventures like global e-commerce giants (Amazon), that are setting Global Terminal Operators (DP World / APLMT) into backward integration from core business digitalisation, rendering traditional business houses redundant if they are not upgradable.
If you ask for my opinion on working in Shipping, I will say that it is for those who love to work at all times to match the global time arrangements – it is for those who empathise with the customers, who consider the latter’s business as their own – to me, this only enhances your spectrum.
Visiting your customer’s factory can give you greater insights into the importance of the timeliness of deliveries and the impact on the production lines.
One also gets an understanding of the shipping workforce – the seafarers, who face all odds at sea, including piracy, weather changes and the recent pandemic-related challenges; the pandemic has also given us insights into the efforts of the port workers, who also faced all odds to keep trade moving.
Shipping provides you with a multi-national character, due to the fact that you have to deal with a “global community”. It grooms you into an individual who will have empathy towards the customer requirements at both ends – India and the Trading Partner.
It gives you many opportunities to provide out-of-the-box solutions as there are many facets to shipping and logistics than just moving cargo from one end to another (remember the impact this industry had and still has during the pandemic). It helps you develop an eye for detail in every aspect related to shipment and global trade. Empathy towards colleagues working out of the office or the mariners out at sea.
Even after over 20 years here, I can still say that I am learning.
The skill sets one attains in this dynamic industry are numerous and continuous. As I continue into forwarding even today, the learning curve does not stop. Each project makes you strive to excel and evolve, resorting to more learning.
Shipping is an industry, which is as vast and deep as the ocean, you can never proclaim yourself as having all the knowledge of this industry, as it is continuously changing and thereby, you are continuously learning.
  Kuljit Anand is a highly experienced and versatile Shipping & Supply Chain Professional based in Mumbai, India with 20+ years of experience in the industry.
The post The changing landscape of shipping in global trade – The India Perspective appeared first on Shipping and Freight Resource.
from Moving https://www.shippingandfreightresource.com/the-changing-landscape-of-shipping-in-global-trade-the-india-perspective/ via http://www.rssmix.com/
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cutesummerout · 6 years
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Agile: Killing Brains
Agile the process which has been accommodated by all large or small company is actually killing engineers brain. Do not believe me, but once you read I guarantee you are gonna agree with me.
“Agile Manifesto” is one sided story from the point of view of Product Owner without caring about the team who is responsible for delivery, i.e. the development team.
In this article, agile and scrum has been used alternately as needed. The article covers development team’s difficulty across industry at small, medium or large scale. Also how the agile has been twisted in the name of adaptive project environment to maximize the delivery.
Now let read once more the so called “Agile Manifesto” the killing mechanism.
Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
Now in the light of above 4 lines of agile manifesto, let look back the responsibility of each role in agile team and how they have evolved.
Product Owner:
Clearly expressing Product Backlog items;
Ordering the items in the Product Backlog to best achieve goals and missions;
Optimizing the value of the work the Development Team performs;
Ensuring that the Product Backlog is visible, transparent, and clear to all, and shows what the Scrum Team will work on next; and,
Ensuring the Development Team understands items in the Product Backlog to the level needed.
The Product Owner may do the above work, or have the Development Team do it. However, the Product Owner remains accountable.
Development Team:
They are self-organizing. Noone (not even the Scrum Master) tells the Development Team how to turn Product Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable functionality;
Development Teams are cross-functional, with all the skills as a team necessary to create a product Increment;
Scrum recognizes no titles for Development Team members, regardless of the work being performed by the person;
Scrum recognizes no sub-teams in the Development Team, regardless of domains that need to be addressed like testing, architecture, operations, or business analysis; and,
Individual Development Team members may have specialized skills and areas of focus, but accountability belongs to the Development Team as a whole.
Scrum Master [The obsolete role]:
Ensuring that goals, scope, and product domain are understood by everyone on the Scrum Team as well as possible;
Finding techniques for effective Product Backlog management;
Helping the Scrum Team understand the need for clear and concise Product Backlog items;
Understanding product planning in an empirical environment;
Ensuring the Product Owner knows how to arrange the Product Backlog to maximize value;
Understanding and practicing agility; and,
Facilitating Scrum events as requested or needed.
Threat / Development Team Extra Burden:
The scrum master is an obsolete role. Almost 90% agile team does not have the role. So at least one responsibility of scrum master is passed over to development team since the team is the one responsible for delivery. Which is causing extra burden to development team:
Ensuring that goals, scope, and product domain are understood by developer.
“The Product Owner may do the above work, or have the Development Team do it“. However, the Product Owner remains accountable. There is a big difference between being accountable (product owner) and doing it by spending hours (development team).
Most of the backlog items are just one liner. Which might be understandable to product owner due to his product knowledge but not for development team. In the name of clear requirement, development team receives some phone, slack and email communication. And responsibility of clearly noting down requirement by gathering information shared, is passed over to developers.
Processes, tools and comprehensive documentations are not as important as working software, but documentation becomes P1 for developer when working software break at production after few cycle due to some missing edge case consideration. Developers has to spend more time even extra hours finding what has been asked in the name of requirement vs what has been delivered. Who is right, who is wrong and a follow up escalation about quality and standard.
Also “comprehensive documentations” might not be important at the beginning of product development but that becomes more important along with increasing complexity and size.
Also documentation is very important in consulting model. Correct document is being used as a tools of contract negotiation by forgetting agile manifesto “Customer collaboration over contract negotiation”.
“Responding to change over following a plan” is being used as a tool of “forever changing requirement” which lead development team to work in a support mode. By support mode means task is defined by priority and service level agreement, not by sprint planning and predefined priority before sprint starts.
Absence of separate QA team or even absence of role swapping among team for 2 individual taking care of development of QA role, results developer to be responsible for end to end testing process as well. This leads to missing business scenario, edge case consideration and frequent post deployment issues.
Peer Review: To mitigate post deployment issues new term has been introduced in many scrum in the name of buddy review or peer review. Which does not solve actual problem of role swapping “QA vs Development” but add additional burden on individual team members.
One of the main guideline of scrum was collocated team and easy communication. Which is way different from offshore onsite model of consulting work. In most cases product owner is an onsite member and majority of development team is at offshore. The easy communication causes time and effort with different timezone, extra hours of effort and exhausted buffer time of project delivery. This the biggest mistake of agile. Product knowledge and actually working unit are not collocated. To overcome this high level of documentation is needed, which is again not priority in agile.
All above extra burden is not being considered during sprint planning since “Working software over comprehensive documentation”. Which leads extra working hours for development team.
With more passing sprints, the project grows in size of complexity, client manager gains the accountable for codebase and project documentation. So development team gets additional responsibility of code standard and documentation standard, which is against “Working software over comprehensive documentation”.
Daily Standup sucks: Everyday progress towards delivery is being tracked via 15 mins meeting. Which is nothing but a tug war of 8 working hours. How much achieved, was the progress worth 8 hours, are the tasks are in correct state, are the task status updated daily with current situation. In case of unwanted technical difficulty or new team member addition to the team, extra hours spend for knowledge transfer is not being considered as working hours. These unaccounted extra hours put burden on development team.
The contribution of unwanted guest [Client Manager/Project manager]:
The role of project manager is not the same as scrum master. Since the role of scrum master does not exists anymore in most of the scrum environment, client manager or project manager play the role of partial scrum master.
In consulting mode of work, client manager is the unwanted guest in scrum. He is neither scrum master, not product owner. But he plays the role of associated product owner during sprint planning and scrum master during daily standup with a point of view of billing rate. The role itself is a conflict of interest within scrum.
Client manager point of view is always aligned with hourly spending on resources including consideration of different billing rate of onsite and offshore member. In typical onsite-offshore consulting model, within development team member ratio 1:5 and billing rate is 4:1.
Client manager becomes part of scrum and calculates daily progress with his spending of per hourly resource cost (development team).
The final words:
For development team, everyday update in daily standup, no breathing time between sprints, extra overhead along with sprint activity, does not give scope of quality or innovative development. The whole agile process has been developed from product owners point of view of getting early measurable delivery with accountability of daily billing rate, additional support work in the name of changing priority and ever changing requirement in the name of adaptive project environment are killing developers thinking process. The process is designed to kill individuality and individual’s ability of creative thinking. Each resource is being treated as a tool of input billing rate and output delivery with 2-3 weeks of breeding time.
Some additional Quote I heard during my so call agile experience:
I need accountability of every hour I am spending for you.
If X can do a work in 2 days why Y can not.
The project documentation should be in such a way that, a resource could be replaced with 1 week.
Do you think this task would take 1 week of time, I can complete and give you in ½ day.
Why you need buffer time, each hour comes at a cost.
The post Agile: Killing Brains appeared first on B U Z Z G R A B.
from https://www.buzzgrab.com/agile-killing-brains/ from http://buzzgrab.blogspot.com/2018/01/agile-killing-brains.html
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android-for-life · 7 years
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"G4NP Around the Globe - Zooming in on Action Against Hunger"
Every dollar and minute count to further your cause and focus on your mission. We’re pleased to highlight nonprofits who were able to make greater impact with fewer resources by using Google tools—from G Suite to Google AdGrants–made available through Google for Nonprofits (G4NP) at no charge.
Varying in size, scope, and timezones, these nonprofits from around the world share one thing in common: utilizing the G4NP suite of tools to help their specific needs. G4NP offers nonprofit organizations across 50 countries access to Google tools like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Ad Grants and more at no cost. This week, we’ll take a look at how the nonprofit Action Against Hunger utilizes these tools to increase productivity, visibility, and donations,  in order to improve lives in  the communities they serve.
Action Against Hunger
In 2016 alone, Action Against Hunger provided nourishment to over 1.5 million starving children(1). In order to save lives with nutritional programs, Action Against Hunger looked to Google for aid—not for food, but for technology. Action Against Hunger now utilizes five Google technologies that have drastically improved their ability to save lives around the globe.
Raising Awareness with  Google Ad Grants & Analytics
For major international emergencies, like the Ebola outbreak or the South Sudan famine, Action Against Hunger needs a way to inform people and recommend ways to get involved. With Ad Grants, the nonprofit activates targeted keywords relating to the crises to drive people to their page and empower them to take action. Google Analytics then allows them to track their effectiveness and adjust accordingly to increase engagement and improve their fundraising techniques. With this data-driven strategy and the tools’ ability to optimize campaigns, Action Against Hunger has nearly doubled funding year-over-year. In fact, Ad Grants brought 158,000 people to their website in the past year alone, raising $66,000 which is equal to treating 1,466 hungry children.
Ad Grants brought 158,000 people to their website in the past year alone, raising $66,000 which is equal to treating 1,466 hungry children.
Increasing Productivity with  G Suite
When working with a global network and managing hundreds of programs abroad, collaboration and communication are key. After experiencing unnecessary latencies in their operations, Action Against Hunger has since adopted G Suite which streamlined their workflow. The nonprofit is especially fond of Gmail, Hangouts, and Drive where Action Against Hunger employees can message each other quickly, share files securely, and collaborate on Docs in real-time—avoiding duplication of efforts and saving time.
Fundraising with One Today & YouTube
To drive donations and expand awareness to broad audiences, Action Against Hunger uses One Today, a Google app that allows users to easily donate $1 or more towards causes they care about. Campaigning on One Today on World Food Day in 2016,  Action Against Hunger raised more than $1,200 in support of their cause with each dollar going directly helping those in need—the equivalent of feeding 1,000 hungry children. Additionally, Action Against Hunger creates and shares content on YouTube to reach their global audience, and is  beginning to use the YouTube donation cards to further increase donations. The large exposure and website referrals from both YouTube and Google+ helped Action Against Hunger raise over $20,000.
Using Google products Action Against Hunger gained extra time and energy to focus on what really matters: feeding the hungry.
To read more aboutAction Against Hunger’s story and learn how they used Google tools so effectively, visit our Google for Nonprofits Community Stories page. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more inspirational stories about nonprofits using technology to help their cause.
To see if your nonprofit is eligible to participate, review the Google for Nonprofits eligibility guidelines. Google for Nonprofits offers organizations like yours free access to Google tools like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Ad Grants, YouTube for Nonprofits and more. These tools can help you reach new donors and volunteers, work more efficiently, and tell your nonprofit’s story. Learn more and enroll here.
Footnote:  Statements are provided by Nonprofits that received products as part of the Google for Nonprofits program, which offers products at no charge to qualified nonprofits.
Source : The Official Google Blog via Source information
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