FridayFavourites

FridayFavourites
Where did the week go? I.O. 
A roundup of I.O. events and commentary. A look a query intent. Neuroscience. 
And, WordPress savvy with MaAnna Stephenson on the Midweek Zap.
Thank you Mick Sharpe for the inclusion.

Originally shared by Mick Sharpe

I.O., I.O., It’s off to work…

Obviously the announcements from the Google Conference are filling the stream at the minute with a lot of thought and commentary coming from all quarters. If you want to pick up on some of the excitement then take a look at Talking about the latest from Google's conference! (https://goo.gl/qKgol3) with martin shervington and Travis Taylor enthusing about the changes and new features such as Photos, Android TV and Now on Tap. An appraisal of the opportunities for businesses to take advantage of the ecosystem.

Ana Hoffman shares some thoughts in “Now on tap” to help you with what you need in the moment, anywhere on your phone (https://goo.gl/9t9jok). The first steps on the way to having a truly helpful personal assistant right at your finger tips. Things are definitely moving apace. Thanks Ana.

There was still some worry about the lack of mention of Google+ in some areas of the presentations but I liked Stephan Hovnanian’s always sensible take in More affirmation that the bigger picture for Google+ has been about the connective data, not the social network that's supposed to "beat" any other network. (https://goo.gl/zmGzfi). The title pretty much sums it up but always wise to keep in mind Stephan’s advice. Whatever you’re here for - concentrate on the important stuff and remember that Google+ exists primarily as a means to gather more data about us, in order for Google to give us what we need!

Almost missed this but you may also want to take a look at I/O Break (https://goo.gl/KQ9cZ5). Kristin Drysdale, Ben Fisher and Mark Traphagen discuss the event and even bring in some wider discussion on Collections and maintaining your disposable razors! There really is a mine of information on this platform.

Enough of IO for the moment and on with the rest of the week. Randy Milanovic continues to deliver some great content in 5 Reasons Why Business Leaders Need to Be Social (https://goo.gl/HK0SYV). Randy hits the nail firmly on the head when looking at the main reason why some most business leaders are not using Social Media directly - it’s fear rather than a lack of time. This fear is surprising given the attributes of most business leaders.

Selling things online? Then you need to watch Query Intent, Capture And Conversion In E-Commerce (https://goo.gl/dMKIel). Even if you’re not selling you need to watch this. Denver Prophit Jr., David Kutcher and David Amerland go deep into the Intent based approach that can really make a difference to your bottom line. You know there will be no fluff from the two Davids and this is full of sensible advice of how to satisfy your potential customer. Essentially this is what any e-commerce site needs to do. It will be a paradigm shift to many but there really is no getting around the change in approach needed to succeed in the ever more connected online world. Know yourself and your customer intimately!

Fond farewell

The time has come. Our favourite infotainment show The Mia Connect Power Chat is taking a break for while. Join Mia Voss and a host of other #BatPackers for The Hiatus Show - The Mia Connect Power Chat (https://goo.gl/fWU5UJ) as they celebrate the relationships forged through the show and Google+. I’ll miss the Friday hijinks and mishaps Mia but looking forward to seeing what else is cooking. Thanks for all the fun.

Wordpress Wisdom

Always good to have a refresher on WordPress best practices and you can’t go wrong with this episode of the Midweek Zap - WordPress: Care & Feeding (https://goo.gl/0Hifch). Zara Altair and MaAnna Stephenson dish out the rapid-fire tips relating to backup, plugins (those to avoid and those worth seeking out), DDoS attacks and Schema Markup. MaAnna also points out that the days of easy, cheap DIY are well and truly over. Cheap hosting will trip you up, sooner rather than later. If you’re running a WordPress blog then do take the time to watch and absorb.

Thinkers corner

I’m always conscious of doing a good job and kick myself if I don’t quite manage to hit the mark (my mark, it has to be said, is often too high!). Two pieces highlight the importance of putting in the effort and not just dialling it in. Writing Content Truly From You And For Them What They Need [and] What You Truly Care About (https://goo.gl/V7cZhh) from Gina Fiedel of Fat Eyes Web Development uses a recent photo post to illustrate how easy it can be to get drawn into the content for numbers game when, in reality, little value comes from it. Always better to put a little bit of you into every piece and dig deep to make that relevant to your audience. Sometimes difficult, but then the good stuff often is. As ever click through to the article for the full #GinaExperience

Gina’s article was catalysed from Danny Brown’s short, but incredibly sweet Be proud of every single word (https://goo.gl/L4tWsf) that highlights the sad world we create when driven by the pointless numbers. It seems clear from the comments on Danny’s blog article that the vacuous numbers game has permeated much business thinking. Don’t we all have a responsibility to combat this?

And finally…

You’ll know by now that I’m a fan of ReachConnectUpliftWomen’s short, information-packed videos. In Neuromarketing and persuasion to increase your sales? (https://goo.gl/CZQIpR) Lany Sullivan talks with Mani Saint-Victor about the 4 areas of persuasion that you need to include in any sales pitch. It makes perfect sense when you appreciate that in most cases there will be many types of people that have a say on the value of your proposal.




Have a great weekend wherever you are

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Created by Mick Sharpe of Bitingedge