For Those Now or Soon Facing Working at Home

Changes in How We Work & Seek Coping Solutions with Corona Virus Stresses & Risks

Make Calls Over Wi-Fi

Does your ‘new’ home office have spotty cellular connectivity? Verizon, AT&T and all the other U.S. carriers offer Wi-Fi calling, which allows you to make calls over your wireless network with your phone number. In fact, testing a while back showed that call quality was great over Wi-Fi. On the iPhone, you can enable Wi-Fi calling by going to Settings > Cellular > Wi-Fi Calling. On Android, go to Settings > Networks & Internet > Mobile network > Advanced > Wi-Fi Calling. If this trick doesn’t work for you, you could also try a cellular signal booster.

Position Your Webcam Smartly

Since we are all on video chat now, just remember: Keep a light source on your face (try to avoid sitting with a window behind you.) Frame your head and shoulders in the shot (keep the camera lens at or above eye level—and use a cardboard box to prop up the laptop if necessary.) Lift your head up…your chin will thank you. Finally, grab a microfiber cloth and wipe off the lens from time to time.

Kill Notifications During Chats

During video calls—especially if you are sharing screens—no one wants to see your notifications or hear those dings and rings. So - MUTE! In Windows 10, go to System > Notifications & Actions and turn them off. On MacOS 10.8 Mountain Lion or later, click the three lines in the top right corner, then swipe down, then turn on Do Not Disturb. Just don’t forget to turn your notifications back on once the call is over.

Slack Like a Pro

Don’t let Slack rule your life. Starring your most important chats and channels (top left) puts them at the top of your sidebar, so you don’t have to dig. Enable notifications for them by tapping the gear icon, then Notification Preferences. (Also adjust your overall notification settings in Preferences.) To jump between conversations, hit Ctrl-K (Cmd-K on Macs). Forgetting important messages? Click three dots on a message and hit “Remind me about this.”

Fix Your Wi-Fi

Having Wi-Fi issues? Plug directly into your router with an Ethernet cable. Don’t like being tethered? Move your router to the center of the house to spread the signal. Choose the faster 5GHz network if possible. If your router is over five years old, get a new one. Consider a mesh network like Eero—it uses multiple nodes to kill dead zones.

Track Your Time

Ah, working from home, aka the black hole of time. Time-tracking apps such as Toggl and Clockify (for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and the web) let you count your minutes and hours, so you know when to quit or take a break. Input your projects and calls, then view a graph of where your time went. I prefer to go low tech, by writing it all down on a piece of paper.

Update Your Email Signature

You know where you aren’t reachable right now? That landline sitting in your ‘new office’. Update your email signature with the best place to reach you via mobile phone and chat services, like Slack, WhatsApp, Skype, Zoom, etc. Link your contacts to all that you and they utilize. Add a little note like “Currently WFH; reach me at [Insert info here].” In Gmail, click the gear icon, then Settings, then scroll down to the signature. In Outlook, go to File > Options > Mail > Signatures.

Author: Joanna Stern – 3-24-20 - WSJ’s Stern offers fixes and advice on Tech frustrations. Visit WSJ daily Tech News Briefing podcast

Pat Dwight

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What’s Your Crystal Ball Tell You?

The survey ‘nuggets’ below reveal a ’50-thousand’ perspective of predicted global business trends projected beyond 2020. See if your industry is likely to prosper or falter.

New Technology Adoption

The top five strategic industry drivers through 2022 are all technology related. Global growth and the new technologies that define it will spur business growth, job creation and demand for specialist skills.

Big Data Availability

According to investment plans of companies surveyed in a “Jobs Report”, 85 percent of respondents will likely expand their big data analytics adoption of both users and providers by 2022.

Advances in Mobile Internet

Smartphones abound; a recent trends study reveals that two-thirds of the global population represents mobile subscribers (which has the greatest reach of any technology). This dynamic is certain to result in life-enhancing services and expand greater access to education and health services.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence is already used to increase efficiency, improve productivity and performance in manufacturing, technology, healthcare and numerous other industries. A new AI global study reports that 80 percent of executives believe AI will help their business either achieve or sustain a competitive advantage.

Cloud Technology Advances

According to the stated investment intentions of 2018/19 companies surveyed, 72 percent of respondents will likely expand their adoption of cloud computing by 2022. This step will make businesses more agile, collaborative, efficient and scalable while reducing costs.

National Economic Growth/Shifts

Combined with technology, socio-economic trends will also affect business growth through 2022. National growth trends will have the greatest impact in the aerospace, supply chain/transport, infrastructure, mining and metals industries.

Prosperity in Developing Economic Growth

Enabling access to technology and education is expected to contribute to the expansion of the middle class. Research predicts this growth will have the greatest effect on aviation, travel/tourism, chemistry, advanced materials and biotech, and global health/healthcare.

Education Expansion

Increased access to education is a consequence of technology adoption along with the expansion of the middle class. The industries projected to be most affected by this socio-economic propensity are aviation, travel/tourism, mining, metals, and professional services.

New Energy & Technology Innovations

Decarbonization, emerging markets and resilience will continue to propel increased demand in renewable energy worldwide. And, advanced computing power, new energy supplies/technologies will drive business development in countless industries.

Middle-Class Expansion

Estimates predict the global middle class will likely double by 2020 and triple by 2030. This impetus is attributable to urbanization and will drive greater access to education, technology and opportunity.

Looking into a crystal ball is always speculative; however, given the information from these recent studies, the future looks bright! HQZ Experts continues to examine evolving technology trends that offer new opportunities to our own business as well as those of our clients. Let’s talk about what’s in your crystal ball.

   Sources: Deloitte; Flatworld Solutions; Pew Research

Pat Dwight

Call us and learn more - Contact Pat Dwight: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call: 949-454-6149.

Digital Marketing Etc.

The path to reaching business goals works better using a digital marketing strategy. Why? Doing so helps you save money, evaluate vital data from which to make better decisions, and build customer trust. How so? Because it’s more affordable, flexible, and easier than traditional marketing approaches. Regardless of size, industry or geography, digital is necessary for growth and staying power today and tomorrow. The topics below define why.

Costs Less

Digital marketing uses targeted research and analytics to quickly determine which approaches are working well and which aren’t. Most digital marketing channels are less costly from the start and help you avoid overspending on underperforming campaigns.

More Opportunities

Digital marketing gives small businesses more opportunities to compete, improve brand awareness, and build an audience. That’s because it closes the gap between large, medium, and small companies and benefits each range with many of the same resources ... it’s about what you offer, not how tall your building is.

Measures Program Results

Single attribution (first touch/last touch) is the method of measurement used by most marketing teams. The theory: it takes an average of seven touches to convert a cold lead to a sale and puts the highest value on the first or last touch. Traditional marketing stats are much more difficult to measure say on the ROI of a print ad than it is to measure that of a digital ad given the print ad audience is much broader. Digital marketing targets specific audiences and can see which advertisement prompted which sale. Imagine.

A/B Testing Works

Experimenting with all aspects of a marketing campaign — A/B testing the location of an email, sign-up, call to action, the color of a promotional banner, a subject line — is much easier to analyze more quickly on digital feeds. Simple changes can be tracked and used to target customers more effectively. The results of A/B testing can improve targeting of print ads too. Example: if a company targets the same audience on a search engine as it does in a print magazine ad, the message will be effective for both.

Mobile Marketing Engagement

Mobile marketing is changing the way we all ‘view’ the world. According to Global Web Index, more than eighty percent of internet users own a smartphone, and ninety percent of the time spent on their smartphone is devoted to applications. Mobile marketing — from email and social ad design to SEO to branded apps —you to reach users in their comfort zone. Great concept.

Analytics Reveal Biz Models

Measuring digital analytics helps companies make informed decisions about where to invest their resources and improve efficiency. Gathering numbers from traditional marketing channels is a manual process, while most digital platforms, including social media and marketing automation, have built-in analytics dashboards with all data automatically available.

Digital Is Personal

Tech marketplaces have led customers and buyers to expect individual, personalized attention. “Click To Tweet” Digital marketing eliminates the “one size fits all” marketing approach by delivering better insight into segmentation. Using customer behavior tracking results to personalize outreach creates the ideal customer experience because you are reaching the RIGHT audience. It also increases trustworthiness, loyalty and a growing team of brand advocates. Which is the whole point.

Email Marketing Is Best

We always assume that our digital marketing strategy caters to the audience’s preferences. Fact: seventy-two percent of people prefer to hear from brands via email. And, email marketing sets targeted messaging right in front of customers and prospects. When automated, “trigger emails” can be sent automatically based on customer activity and personalized interactions … if you utilize that resource.

Building Social Media Trust

A “friend referral” instantly makes a company seem more trustworthy to prospects. Digital advertising leverages social media to make “likes” and other online reviews visible to friends of your customers. And, recommendations highlight your company thereby routinely building a positive impression and likely trust.

SEO Promotes Your Brand

Stats show that eighty-one percent of B2B purchase cycles begin via a web search. That’s likely why search engine optimization (SEO) has the best return on investment of any digital marketing channel right now. For a company to be seen, it must show up on the search engine’s first page. A solid SEO strategy is vital to improving your company’s search engine ranking.

Digital marketing works! Any of these approaches can move your marketing outreach forward. HQZ Experts can help you evaluate your options and implement a strategy to better marketing practices … give us a call (949-454-6149) and we can help you get started.

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Promo Landing Pages - Your Marketing Engine

Marketers know the fundamentals of Home landing page best practices: 1) Relevant and Compelling copy, 2) Top-right form placement, and 3) Social presence. The following simple actions can also boost your page conversions. 

Speak to Their AOI

The old one-size-fits-all content doesn’t work today. To achieve real engagement in your landing pages, use lively content that speaks to this audience (area of interest), as if they are a new friend and you are getting acquainted. Define a message based on what you already know about them—mention things they relate to such as their work or industry or even hobbies then define how you share common interests.

When you set yourself apart with text that doesn’t sound like it just came out of a jar, more times than not they will stop and read on … because you are different! And, they know that your attention is aimed at them.

Up Your Image Game

Humans process visual information way faster than reading text. That’s why it pays to spend more time choosing images that appropriately impact for those you are pursuing. Rather than show them a picture of your product, your headquarters building or company President, consider who you really want to attract – then use images that appeal to them. If you spark an emotive response that they relate to, they will stop and check out the message.

Use Forms or Not

With more buyers using mobile devices and social media platforms, it’s harder to stay connected. Meaning forms may not be the best way to capture data anymore since people don’t really want to fill out a form ‘right now’.

There’s a bunch of non-intrusive ways to gather prospects’ information that capture registration and lead information through social media channels. By integrating your paid ad campaigns with your marketing automation tool/CRM system, you capture the data you need without hassling your prospects or redirecting them to another “Form” page. And, when prospects aren’t required to fill out form fields up front (yet know that their information is being collected), they appreciate the shortcut.

These tips can be fixed right now; if you do you’ll start seeing more responsive results very soon. So, before you send out your next marketing message, think critically about your landing page. Ask yourself:

• Is the image really impactful?
• Is my text personalized and targeted?
• Have I minimized the number of form fields?

Do some or all of these things and you’ll begin to notice high-converting campaigns. And by testing and optimizing each element as you go, you can push your conversions even higher. Happy landings!

Pat Dwight

Call us and learn more - Contact Pat Dwight: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call: 949-454-6149.