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Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Want 'Right' Swipes on Your App? Here's How to Make Your App a Star.

Want 'Right' Swipes on Your App? Here's How to Make Your App a Star.

Looks like users are "swiping right" (saying "yes") on app usage: Some 70 percent of Americans are adding a new app each month, increasing the number of apps per user to 80 or more, according to app-market insights firm App Annie.

According to TechCrunch, the nearly $86 billion app industry is on the track for record growth in several key countries, including heavily populated China, India and the United States.

In other words, apps are smoking hot. But, like Tinder photos, they're definitely not all created equal. And entrepreneurs and small businesses that understand what consumers want and need can better position themselves to create an app that isn't a one-day wonder. Below are several ways to do that...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/309456

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by Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com

Why These 3 Resume Mistakes Make You Look Out-of-Date in 2018

Why These 3 Resume Mistakes Make You Look Out-of-Date in 2018

Studies show employers are literally getting thousands of online applications for their open positions today. Thanks to technology, it's never been easier to apply to a job. Unfortunately, that creates a nightmare for recruiters. Narrowing down hundreds of candidates to the few they should interview is tough. Looking through tons of resumes makes even the most accomplished recruiter blurry-eyed. Over time, they start to see patterns in resume designs and begin to make assumptions about candidates based on what they see. 

"People hear what they see." - Doris Day

Studies show seasoned recruiters spend about six-seconds (yep, only six!) skimming your resume to decide if you even make the first cut. In particular, several design blunders send the message you're using an outdated resume format. Not only do these mistakes make it harder for recruiters to read and understand your skills and experience, it also gives them the impression you haven't done your homework and aren't up-to-date on the latest job search techniques. All of this sends a negative message that can get your resume in the circular file a/k/a trash can.

1. A fancy script font. That Times New Roman font someone told you to use to make your resume look, "classy and intelligent" is extremely tough to read. Any font with curly-tailed ends might look nice, but it actually slows down reading comprehension. Stick to a clean-lined font like Calibri to make your resume more readable...

https://www.inc.com/jt-odonnell/want-your-resume-to-look-current-in-2018-dont-make-these-3-mistakes.html

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by Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com

Use These Web Design Tricks to Grow Your Business Exponentially

Use These Web Design Tricks to Grow Your Business Exponentially

Growing any business is, well, tough business. You've got your hand in every pot while simultaneously wearing every hat. You're worrying about marketing strategies, product creation and growth plans, all in the same day.

With so many ongoing tasks, it can be far too easy to let a little thing like digital presence fall by the wayside. However, that would be a grave mistake.

The Harvard Business Review recently conducted a study on what exactly makes people want to complete a purchase from a particular website, and the results were a resounding "trustworthiness." By making consumers feel safe, comfortable and at ease when they visit your online destination, you stand a much higher chance of not just encouraging them to complete a purchase, but convincing them to become longtime users...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/309034

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by Idham Azhari

Monday, February 26, 2018

5 Advertising Strategies for Entrepreneurs Coping With Facebook's Revised News Feed

5 Advertising Strategies for Entrepreneurs Coping With Facebook's Revised News Feed

Facebook's News Feed is very much a moving target these days. In early January, the company tweaked the News Feed to emphasize posts from friends and family. In practice, that means that users will see fewer organic posts from brands and publishers. More recently, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the platform will highlight more local news.

Some have speculated that Facebook's identity crisis will cause a downward spiral. Business owners might want to consider advertising elsewhere while Facebook figures out what it wants to be. That may be bad news for some. Startups in particular have become adept at using Facebook's ad-targeting capabilities. But as I've been arguing for some time, Facebook is a poor vehicle for advertising messages, especially video. With these latest News Feed changes, ad prices are likely to rise...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/309152

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by Muhammad Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com

The Do's and Don'ts of Asking for a Raise


The Do's and Don'ts of Asking for a Raise

Everybody wants to get a fair paycheck for the accomplishments they have achieved. In the ideal scenario, your boss notices your achievements and gives you a raise. However, in the real world this is not really the case and you need to stand up for yourself and ask for a raise. Unfortunately, this is not a very easy situation and can be very stressful. For this reason, we have put together the do's and don'ts of asking for a raise.

1. Don't compare yourself to co-workers

Never say that your coworkers' salaries are higher than yours and that is why you deserve a raise. When you talk about others' salaries, it means you are gossiping in the workplace and this is not professional at all. Even if you think you deserve a higher paycheck than someone else, keep it to yourself because you never know whether the information you have heard is correct. Instead, talk about your accomplishments and why you think you deserve getting a raise.

2. Leave emotions out of it

Don't try to emotionally blackmail your boss. Everybody has personal problems that they need to deal with. However, the needs of your children or the hospital expenses of your parents don't mean you deserve a higher salary. Therefore, don't try to arouse pity for yourself using your personal problems. Give your boss a valid reason for a higher salary...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/309424

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by Muhammad Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com

Thursday, February 22, 2018

7 Things You Can Do To Build An Awesome Personal Brand

7 Things You Can Do To Build An Awesome Personal Brand

The term branding has long been relegated to companies, but today almost every individual has a personal brand. Not many of us have consciously cultivated these brands, but they exist nonetheless. A digital footprint in the sands of time and space crowd sourced by friends, colleagues, and bosses. According to an AVG study, 92 percent of children under the age of two already have a digital footprint.

The question is no longer IF you have a personal brand, but if you choose to guide and cultivate the brand or to let it be defined on your behalf. Here are seven ways to start building an awesome personal brand.

Start thinking of yourself as a brand

What do you wish for people to associate with you when they think of your name? Is there a certain subject matter in which you want to be perceived as an expert or are there general qualities you want linked to your brand? Once you understand how you wish your brand to be perceived, you can start to be much more strategic about your personal brand. This doesn't mean you can't be human. On the contrary, as Michael Simmons writes, authenticity is key in the digital age. A strong personal brand can yield tremendous ROI whether you are working with an organization or leading one. Here are some examples of individuals who have built up authentic and powerful personal brands: Michael Port, John Bates, Mike Michalowicz, Dave Kerpen, David Meerman Scott, John Jantsch, Dave Carroll, and Barry Moltz.

Audit your online presence

You can't mold perception without first understanding the current status. In other words, Google GOOGL +0.92% yourself and setup alerts for your name on a regular basis. Have a fairly common name? Consider using your middle initial or middle name to differentiate. Cultivating a strong personal brand is just as much about being responsive to what is being said as it is about creating intellectual property.

Secure a personal website

Having a personal website for yourself is one of the best ways to rank for your name on the search engines. It doesn't need to be robust. It can be a simple two to three page site with your resume, link to your social platforms, and a brief bio. You can always expand on the website with time...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/shamahyder/2014/08/18/7-things-you-can-do-to-build-an-awesome-personal-brand/#39447b753c3a

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by Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com

Your Competitive Advantage Is Not Your Product -- It's Your Story

Your Competitive Advantage Is Not Your Product -- It's Your Story

Ken Schmidt, former director of communications for Harley-Davidson, sat down with Entrepreneur Network partner C-Suite's Jeffrey Hayzlett to discuss how in order to create demand while restoring a brand's image, you have to be not just different but original. They also discussed how companies need to be at the forefront of the marketplace and how they can achieve that by controlling the narrative, especially when looking to restore their image...


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Wednesday, February 21, 2018

These Are 6 Red Flags That You Shouldn’t Take The Job

These Are 6 Red Flags That You Shouldn't Take The Job

The average job hunt takes the better part of three months, according to job search platform TalentWorks. That's a long time to have your mind focused on how to land the interview, prepare, and make the best impression to get hired. So, it's no wonder that, once there, many job seekers overlook red flags that they may not be courting the greatest place to work.

"It is important for people to slow down and realize that it's a two-way interview, because the job is only going to be a great experience for them if it's a good fit," says Carisa Miklusak, CEO of recruitment automation platform Tilr, based in Cincinnati. And there are often a number of clues about the job, company culture, and leadership if you just know what to look for, she says. Here are six red flags to watch out for...

https://www.fastcompany.com/40531646/these-are-6-red-flags-that-you-shouldnt-take-the-job?partner=feedburner&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+fastcompany%2Fheadlines+%28Fast+Company%29

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by Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

How An Odd Macadamia Nut Milk Company Caught Walmart's Attention Without Doing Any Marketing

How An Odd Macadamia Nut Milk Company Caught Walmart's Attention Without Doing Any Marketing

Milkadamia, a milk alternative made by nut farmers in Australia, can be found on the shelves of 5,000 American stores, including Walmart. But the company behind the product didn't make repeated calls to buyers or bang on any other doors -- retailersasked them to create the product for them.

And the reason why is simple, according to Jim Richards, CEO of Milkadamia maker Jindilli Farms...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/309196

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by Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com

Monday, February 19, 2018

3 Leadership Strategies That Will Help Your Business Grow

3 Leadership Strategies That Will Help Your Business Grow

All my life, I've loved fixing and improving things, whether I'm tinkering in the garage or revamping a company's strategy. That love is what brought me to NCR in 2005, where I was tasked as CEO with fixing an unsustainable business model.

NCR was losing its market share and hemorrhaging revenue. The company's most valuable asset was Teradata, a data warehousing software that had little to do with NCR's business. And the company lacked the strategy or infrastructure to adapt to the technological changes sweeping the world. There was a lot to do.

Now, over a decade later, NCR has transformed itself into an industry leader with an eye to the future. To get there, we had to make several adjustments to the way things had been done for decades. It wasn't easy, but we made the changes necessary to thrive. Here are three things I did that can help you fix your company...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/308482

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by Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com

Ten Things Never, Ever To Do -- Until After You Sign The Offer

Ten Things Never, Ever To Do -- Until After You Sign The Offer


Dear Liz,

I just got an email message from the recruiter "Jane" who is working with me in my job search.

Jane also left me a voicemail message but I haven't listened to it yet. From her email message I can tell she's angry at me.

Jane is upset because I changed my LinkedIn profile to say that I accepted the job offer I got yesterday.

In her email message she said "You shouldn't update your LinkedIn profile until you actually start the job."...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2018/02/17/ten-things-never-ever-to-do-until-after-you-sign-the-offer/#78b7aef42849

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by Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com

Thursday, February 15, 2018

12 Big Interview Mistakes HR Pros Don't Want To See A Candidate Make

12 Big Interview Mistakes HR Pros Don't Want To See A Candidate Make

Hiring a new employee is an important decision that companies don't take lightly. With so many skilled candidates out there, every little detail counts — and one small misstep on the applicant's part could ruin their chances of getting the job.

As professionals with extensive hiring experience, Forbes Human Resources Council members have been through their fair share of job interviews, and can easily spot key red flags that might disqualify a candidate from the position. We asked 12 of them to share a frequent mistake they've observed during the hiring process, and explain what a candidate should do to avoid making that error in the future...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2018/02/14/12-big-interview-mistakes-hr-pros-dont-want-to-see-a-candidate-make/#1979c0f446e5

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by Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com

Blockchain engineers are in demand

Blockchain engineers are in demand


Demand is off the charts for blockchain talent, and the capital is waiting to back it up. More than $3.7 billion has been raised through ICOs in the United States alone. Blockchain-related jobs are the second-fastest growing in today's labor market; there are now 14 job openings for every one blockchain developer. And as Nick Szabo, the developer who coined "smart contracts" pointed out there is an extreme "$/knowledge" ratio in the blockchain space, where capital by far outpaces talent.

Today, Toptal, a marketplace for on-demand tech talent, is publicly launching their blockchain engineering talent vertical out of private beta. In today's software development landscape, Toptal represents about 50 percent of on-demand engineering labor by revenue.

Requests for on-demand blockchain talent are skyrocketing. Last year, freelance talent marketplace Upwork saw blockchain rise to the fastest-growing skill out of over 5,000 skills in terms of freelancer billings —  a year-over-year increase of over 35,000 percent. These requests span ICO advisory services, engineering projects and overall blockchain consultancy. 

Since January 2017, the demand for blockchain engineering talent on Toptal has grown 700 percent and 40 percent of the fully-managed software development projects requested in the last month require blockchain skills. By diving into the requests Toptal sees, we can start to paint a better picture of the blockchain development languages and knowledge areas increasing in demand.

The first is Hyperledger Fabric implementation, an open-source enterprise blockchain framework. The second is Ripple development, a payment protocol used for distributed processes for remittances, payments, and exchanges. The third is smart contract development with a concentration around Solidity, a smart-contract programming language for Ethereum Virtual Machine.

Taso Duval, Toptal's founder and CEO, thinks this sheds some predictions on blockchain development at-large.

"Different types of contracts are going to be disrupted first," he said. "Disruption will be in places like asset management, or deals being made that require complex contracting. Payments are so complex, and to work at scale, require the sign-off of not just central banks, but also governments. Payments won't come first. Contracts don't need such a sign-off, since they are a lower barrier to entry. There are less regulatory hurdles, so we will see the contract space get disrupted first."

Toptal's launch of blockchain engineering talent in its freelance talent marketplace could be a double win. On the one hand, it could help with blockchain ecosystem development overall by cross-pollinating blockchain development projects as on-demand engineers take knowledge from one project to another. Moreover, it could grow the blockchain talent pool overall through Toptal's engineering skill development program, which helps their existing engineering pool get up to snuff on blockchain.

Toptal's blockchain engineers are working on projects like the Hashgraph, which addresses scalability issues, and with large public companies like SinglePoint on blockchain integrations. The variety of clients using Toptal for their projects, and theirr completely remote workforce spanning 100 countries signals the further development of blockchain engineers with actual applied experience — Toptal even lets their clients hire them for a contract-to-hire fee.

Toptal's talent structure aims to also grow the network of skilled blockchain engineers overtime. They co-designed a test and training curriculum with top engineers in blockchain that they use to train their existing network of engineers. In fact, Toptal sees growing the talentforce in blockchain as integral to their business today and the only way to meet growing demand. They screen and accept the top three percent of engineers to their talent network, and are interested in training their existing network to be skilled with blockchain.

The founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, thinks "core developers and researchers should be employed by multiple companies or organizations…[and]…the knowledge of the technical considerations behind protocol upgrades must be democratized, so that more people can feel comfortable participating in research discussions and criticizing protocol changes."

Vitalik's vision of the market is a reality reinforced by more projects, implementations, and companies demanding blockchain than there are engineers available to work on them...

https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/14/blockchain-engineers-are-in-demand/

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Virus-free. www.avg.com

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

15 Tips, Hacks and Tricks to Get the Most Out of Google Photos

15 Tips, Hacks and Tricks to Get the Most Out of Google Photos

Many of us have thousands of photos and videos on our phones, and although it's so easy to take them, it's less clear how to keep them organized and transfer them to other devices.

In the age of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, you don't need a cord to backup your photos. You don't even need to be near your computer. And you certainly shouldn't be emailing them or messaging them to yourself. There are simpler, more streamlined alternatives, such as Google Photos...

https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/308944

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by Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

The power of shared beliefs: Market what you believe, not only what you do

The power of shared beliefs: Market what you believe, not only what you do

For decades, marketing has been a volume-driven game — more emails, more ad placements and bigger billboards. The goal, of course, is to capture increased numbers of eyeballs for brand messages and to achieve a supersaturated share of mind.

But today, volume-driven messaging is dropping in importance in favor of customer engagement, genuine dialogue and alignment with customers' beliefs and values. What it comes down to now is how we engage with customers and convince them that we share a set of beliefs and are all moving toward the same goals that will benefit everyone.

For proof of the power of shared beliefs, consider these dominant brands:

  • Apple — Apple customers firmly believe that Apple is always going to release the most innovative products and that they themselves will be more innovative, creative and cool for using them. For the legions of Apple faithful, this is not just a point of view or opinion, it's an unassailable conviction. And as Winston Churchill said, "One man with a conviction will overwhelm a hundred who have only opinions."
  • Disney — Yes, they have movies, toys and theme parks galore, but the overriding sentiment among customers is that Disney and its properties exist to provide joy. The movies and venues are merely vehicles for sharing happiness with family and friends. That's a very powerful and intergenerational belief, and it's one which sells lots of tickets, as well as reservations and logoed goods.
  • Nike — Nike is more than just a maker of shoes. Nike customers are convinced that the company believes in the power of sports and is doing everything to advance that power and release each athlete's potential. Hence customers who also believe in the power of sports have become incredibly loyal to the Nike brand, literally "voting with their feet" time and again with each repeat purchase.

Driving the shared belief dynamic

So, how can progressive marketing organizations truly share beliefs with customers? Clearly, you must continue doing everything you can to service customers, including being able to scale your marketing activities. But just as important is doing whatever it takes to authentically communicate the company's core beliefs through every marketing channel, organizational function and customer interaction.

This means that all people across the business, from sales and marketing to support, customer advocacy and fulfillment, must be on the same page with those core beliefs. Why? Because you have to be in a position to consistently and constantly communicate to customers not just what you do, but also what you stand for — whether it's enabling innovation, promoting happiness, unleashing athletic potential, or, in my company's case, empowering marketers to be successful.

When this happens — and if you have ever visited an Apple Store, Disney World or a Nike outlet, you know that it can happen — customers get that you stand behind your beliefs and gain a clear picture of where your company is going. And when every person in your business is steeped in the same company beliefs, they can engage in relevant conversations with customers around those shared beliefs, as opposed to just a tactical "Am I solving your problem today?"

Also, when customers believe with you, it becomes significantly easier to do all the things a company wants and needs to do. Service disruptions generate fewer hard feelings. The peaks and valleys of annoyance are shorter. And an incident here and there has less impact because customers know your company is in sync with their beliefs. In short, you are not just a vendor: You're a partner.

Rally around the customer

We all know that a business succeeds or fails based on how much value it delivers to customers. Connecting with customer beliefs is an increasingly critical way to deliver value. There is no single touch point that can communicate everything that your business is about. It must be communicated over time, all the time, by everyone in the company.

Because marketing is normally responsible, directly or indirectly, for a customer's first encounter with an enterprise, it is up to marketing to lead the charge and be responsible for every touch point along a customer journey.

Marketing needs to step up and ensure that every employee is:

  • Immersed in the beliefs of the company and able to communicate those beliefs appropriately in every customer encounter.
  • Able to know more about everything — from the industry to the company to customers — and approaches each day with that in mind.
  • Cares more about customers and their situations than whatever is going on in the business — because it isn't about us; it's about our customers.

As more buyers choose to buy based on their beliefs and choose to walk away from other brands based on those same ideals, businesses will have no choice but to pay attention to the values of their audiences and work to fulfill them...

https://marketingland.com/power-shared-beliefs-market-believe-not-234131

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by Idham Azhari


Virus-free. www.avg.com