Welcome to My Blog
How to Grow Your Business on a Budget [Free Ebook]
If only I had more budget, I could grow my business.
We’ve all had this thought before — but what’s actually holding us back? Is it the budget constraint, or an unchanging strategy that leaves no room for innovative ways to succeed?
There is no magical formula to growing a business on a budget, but inbound marketing and efficient customer communications certainly have something to do with it. You need to market your business to get new people through the door, and you need a great customer experience to keep them happy and coming back.
Without a great customer experience in place, you can miss out on real growth. So to help you attract and retain customers on a budget, we’ve created a new tactical ebook, How to Grow Your Business on a Budget.
In this guide you will learn how to:
- Target the right customers
- Build an online presence for your business to generate traffic
- Attract new customers without paid marketing
- Streamline the customer experience to keep them coming back
Ready to grow your business with better marketing and customer experience strategy? Download How to Grow Your Business on a Budget today.
PSA: Apple Pencil for iPad Pro available at Best Buy
Best Buy is currently listing Apple Pencil for iPad Pro as in-stock and available to ship within 1 business day for $99.99. Free standard shipping will get it to you around December 2, while upgrading to Express shipping ($20) puts it at your doorstep by this Monday. Apple online is still showing a 4-5 week wait and store inventory has been very limited.
Delayed shipping for Apple’s newest accessory has caused resale prices to skyrocket. If you haven’t yet seen Apple Pencil in person, check out our hands-on for an in-depth look.
Filed under: iOS Devices, Tips and Tricks Tagged: Apple Pencil, Best Buy, iPad Pro
Check out 9to5Mac for more breaking coverage of iOS Devices, Tips and Tricks, and Best Buy.
What do you think? Discuss “PSA: Apple Pencil for iPad Pro available at Best Buy” with our community.
Feature Request: Automatically activate emergency features on making a 911 call
We reported recently on an Apple patent application for a ‘panic mode‘ on an iPhone, where using a specific finger on the Touch ID sensor could do anything from locking down the phone to calling 911 and starting audio and video recording.
There are pros & cons to the idea, of course, with one 911 operator saying that a similar Blackberry function has resulted in “thousands and thousands” of false emergency calls, each of which have to be treated as real calls for help until demonstrated otherwise.
But if we waited until someone manually dialled 911, it seems to me that there’s merit in some of the other ideas …
For example, witnessing an accident or crime in progress can be a traumatic experience, and it’s not unusual for callers to be unable to provide an accurate location. Some provide only very vague locations – “somewhere on Main Street” – while others give the wrong location, each of which delays an emergency response.
If calling 911 automatically put a Speak Location button on the screen, you could press that button when asked for your location and have Siri tell the operator where you are, exactly as if you’d asked it ‘Where am I?’.
Interestingly, a note in AT&T’s Wi-Fi Calling service suggests that some 911 centers appear to have the capability to obtain your location electronically.
Similarly, audio and video evidence of a crime can greatly increase the likelihood of a successful prosecution. On ending a 911 call, the iPhone could ping and put a Start Video Recording button on the screen to prompt you to capture video. It would be sensible to put a prominent notice on that screen to record only if it doesn’t put you at risk.
Finally, in the case of a major incident, where it can be reassuring to let family and friends know that you’re safe, perhaps the iPhone could automatically identify those in the affected area and bring up a prompt to use a feature like Facebook’s Safety Check or pre-populate a text message with a ‘Just letting you know I’m ok’ message?
Do you think these features would be useful? Or have any other thoughts on 911-related functionality? Let us know in the comments.
Filed under: Feature Request Tagged: 911, Emergency, Feature Request, iOS, iPhone, Panic button
Continue reading more about iPhone, iOS, and Emergency at 9to5Mac.
What do you think? Discuss “Feature Request: Automatically activate emergency features on making a 911 call” with our community.
[Giveaway] Get MacX DVD Ripper and Video Converter for free (up to 1,000 free copies/day)
We’d like to thank Digiarty for sponsoring 9to5Mac today with a great giveaway of MacX DVD Ripper Pro. This popular software normally sells for up to $59.95 but this week you can get it for free via this special link. Digiarty are limiting this to 1,000 copies/day but it’s a full version of the software, though it won’t receive free future upgrades.
Why do you need MacX DVD Ripper Pro? Everyone has some optical media laying around but before we know it, we won’t own any optical drives to play it back. Apple hasn’t made a new computer with an optical drive in years (already without? LG USB DVD-R is $20 on Amazon or Epartsdom’s 2X BD-ROM reader for $43.50 if you’ve got Blu-Rays). It makes sense to pull all of your DVD and Blu-Ray movies, software, videos and music onto your Mac or network attached storage (NAS) before optical drives are gone.
MacX DVD Ripper Pro is a video converter for Mac which lets you convert MKV, M2TS, MTS, 1080P, 4K UHD Videos, AVI, WMV to over 180 video formats and 14 popular audio formats on Mac OS X El Captain and earlier. The preloaded 350+ profiles have parameters such as frame rate, bit rate, video size, and aspect ratio helping to resolve all video incompatibility issues for Apple, Android, Google and Microsoft devices, media players or editors. The built-in online video downloader, slideshow maker, video editor and recorder are helpful add-ons.
With the support of multi-core (up to 8) CPU and hyper-threading, version 4.6.0 delivers 36X faster speed to rip DVD (depending on your reader) while keep original quality.
Take this opportunity to pull all of your optical media onto your hard drives and SSDs, before it’s too late.
On top of that, the DVD Ripper for Mac promises to deal with all kinds of copy-protection obstacles, be it CSS, Sony ARccOS or Disney X-project DRM. So if you want to free rip the newly released DVDs like Inside Out, Furious 7, Avengers: Age of Ultron with multiple video, audio and subtitle tracks, the free Mac DVD Ripper does the job with hardly a glitch.
MacX Video Converter Pro –World’s Fastest Video Converter for Mac OS X
The giveaway version of MacX Video Converter Pro V5.9.0 is the world’s first media converter for Mac (El Capitan included) that takes advantages of the breakthrough hardware acceleration built into Intel Core technology – Quick Sync Video. It outputs video format 5x faster while sparing CPU space for faster internet surfing or online movie enjoying. While dramatically increasing the speed, it manages to keep high output quality, thanks to the utilization of high quality engine
Filed under: AAPL Company, Sponsored Post
Check out 9to5Mac for more breaking coverage of AAPL Company and Sponsored Post.
What do you think? Discuss “[Giveaway] Get MacX DVD Ripper and Video Converter for free (up to 1,000 free copies/day)” with our community.
Apple brings Personal Pickup to the UK today, following expansion to Australia and Canada
If you want to get your hands on a shiny new piece of Apple kit right away, but want to minimize the amount of time you have to spend doing battle with the crowds in an Apple Store, U.S. customers have long had the option of placing their order online and then going to a store later the same day or soon after to collect it.
Apple extended the option to Australia and Canada earlier this week, and has now done the same for the UK.
Personal Pickup is available for most in-stock Apple products. To check availability, select your item on the Apple website and then select the ‘Available for pickup: Check availability’ option. You’ll be prompted to enter your postcode to search for nearby stores, and can then see which ones show the product as ‘Available today.’
Once you’ve placed your order, it will usually be available for pickup within the hour, though Apple cautions customers to wait for the email telling them it’s ready.
Apple will remember your selected store and offer this first next time, with an option to search other stores if your chosen item is not available there.
Via Pocket-Lint
Filed under: AAPL Company Tagged: Apple Retail Store, Apple Store, personal pickup
Visit 9to5Mac to find more special coverage of AAPL Company, Apple Store, and Apple Retail Store.
What do you think? Discuss “Apple brings Personal Pickup to the UK today, following expansion to Australia and Canada” with our community.
Developers say Apple’s App Store policies make it unlikely we’ll see many pro apps for the iPad Pro
Developers of pro apps have long complained that Apple’s App Store policies are a barrier to them creating iOS versions of popular Mac apps. The launch of the iPad Pro has brought the issue front and center, with a number of developers sharing their thoughts with The Verge.
There are two key issues, they say. First, pro apps are expensive, and users want to satisfy themselves that they are worth the money before they pay. Free trials are the usual way to achieve this with desktop apps, but the App Store doesn’t allow them to offer the same option for iOS apps …
“Sketch on the Mac costs $99, and we wouldn’t dare ask someone to pay $99 without having seen or tried it first,” said Bohemian Coding co-founders Pieter Omvlee, referring to the app aimed at professional graphic designers. “So to be sold through the App Store, we would have to dramatically lower the price, and then, since we’re a niche app, we wouldn’t have the volume to make up for it.”
Second, where a developer supports a complex app over a long period of time, paid upgrades make that viable, something that isn’t supported by Apple on the App Store.
“Maintaining software is more expensive than building it in the first place,” FiftyThree co-founder and CEO Georg Petschnigg says. “The first version of Paper, we had three people working on it. Now we have 25 people working on it, testing on eight or nine different platforms, in 13 different languages.”
Developers say that while software giants like Microsoft and Adobe are able to persuade users to pay monthly or annual subscriptions, there would be resistance to extending this model to a whole range of apps.
For pro apps already ported to iOS, the same issues mean that there is not much incentive for developers to optimize for the iPad Pro unless they see widescale adoption of the device.
Animoto founder and CEO Brad Jefferson says […] the company is holding off, for now, on making a version of the app optimized for the large screen or the accessory Pencil of the iPad Pro […] “Let’s see what adoption of the Pro ends up looking like.”
Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: App Store (iOS), Apple Inc, developers, iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Pro apps, iPad Pro pro apps
For more news on iOS Devices, iPad, and Apple Inc continue reading at 9to5Mac.
What do you think? Discuss “Developers say Apple’s App Store policies make it unlikely we’ll see many pro apps for the iPad Pro” with our community.
Does IQ Matter in Business?
What determines success in the business world?
Is it your leadership ability? Negotiation skills? Unique perspective? What about your IQ?
While it’s likely that most businesses don’t require employees to take an IQ test as part of the application process, IQ tests and scores have long been used as a measure of a person’s intelligence and predictors of their success.
Although many would argue that it’s a trivial number, IQ scores actually do matter to some groups of people. For example, a child’s IQ score might affect whether they’re placed in a special education program, while someone who wants to join the military’s IQ score might affect whether or not they’re eligible.
But what about in the business world? Can a number on a scale from 0–200 accurately predict someone’s success in the real world? The question it all boils down to, really, is this: What measures real-world success, and to what extent does what IQ measures play a part in it?
What Does IQ Measure?
IQ stands for “intelligence quotient,” and it’s meant to measure a person’s ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.
That first part — the ability to acquire and apply — is key. IQ doesn’t measure a person’s general knowledge of facts and figures, like whether they know the capital of Russia. It’s meant to measure intelligence functions like problem-solving skills, pattern recognition, mathematical logic, and finding connections among verbal concepts.
For example, you might see a world analogy problem on an IQ test, like: “Kitten is to Cat as Puppy is to _____.” To solve this problem correctly, you’d need to understand the relationship between a kitten and a cat, and then apply that relationship to that of a puppy and a dog.
Other questions look for spatial reasoning skills. For example:
Image Credit: Pearson Clinical
(Don’t worry. I’m not testing you on this one.)
So where does the “quotient” part of “intelligence quotient” come from? From how IQ scores are calculated. The original IQ tests, developed in France in the early 1900s, were meant to help predict which children were most likely to experience difficulty in school.
IQ was originally calculated by dividing your “mental age” (measured by the test) by your actual age, and multiplying the resulting quotient by 100. That resulting number is your IQ score, and it’s compared to that of the rest of the population on a scale of 0–200.
While many tests have been developed since then, the major thing all IQ tests have in common is that they measure a person’s cognitive ability — but specifically their ability to solve simple and theoretical problems.
Many questions on an IQ test for how well a person can learn new information, for example. The test might do this by teaching the test-taker new information in a simple format, and then seeing how well they retain that information. While this works well for simple information like recalling word lists and retelling simple stories, Psychologist W. Joel Schneider warns that it’s difficult to design a test that measures retention of complex information (like a person’s memory what happened in a long, complicated board meeting) without the test being “contaminated by differences in prior knowledge.”
While IQ tests are still mostly used to study children, many have wondered aloud whether adult tests have a predictive power that’s useful in the workplace, too — particularly when it comes to hiring new people or predicting performance.
Does IQ Matter in Business?
The problem with relying on IQ, or even IQ-style, theoretical questions to predict business success isn’t with what IQ actually measures. In fact, cognitive ability is certainly important for many jobs. Rather, the problem is with what IQ doesn’t measure.
Your IQ score won’t tell you (or your boss, or your hiring manager) anything about your emotional intelligence, your creativity, or your practical intelligence, i.e. “street smarts.” As much as we sometimes wish they did, real business problems don’t always have a single right answer reached by a single method, and they aren’t removed entirely from outside experiences.
Real business problems — practical problems — require you to recognize the existence of a problem, seek out information to help solve it, gather various acceptable solutions, and evaluate those solutions in the context of prior experience and relationships. They also require you to be motivated and involve yourself personally.
While the cognitive intelligence and specific skill sets you might need to score high on an IQ test may correlate to some success depending on your job, there are other, sometimes more important ways to measure success in the business world.
If Not IQ, Then What?
One major example of an alternative indicator of success? Your emotional intelligence. This refers to your ability to identify and monitor emotions — both your own and others’. It’s critical for problem solving and relationship building in the business world. It doesn’t matter if you can stand up and recite the Fibonacci sequence on the spot; if you have trouble handling change and developing and managing productive relationships, you’ll find it challenging to find major success in many business roles.
While there’s still disagreement on exactly how much emotional intelligence contributes to career success, even the most skeptical studies find that emotional intelligence is “probably as valuable as your intellectual and technical skills.”
Another interesting measure of success? Something called “grit.” Studies at the University of Pennsylvania found that students who don’t have the highest IQs in their class but still received high grades share “grit” in common.
What’s that? Grit is less about cognitive ability and more about cognitive control; i.e. your ability to delay gratification in pursuit of your goals, control your impulses, effectively manage upsetting emotions, hold focus, and possess a readiness to learn, according to Psychologist Daniel Goleman.
What’s more, a 30-year study of more than 1,000 children found that cognitive control predicted success better than a child’s IQ, and better than the wealth of the family they grew up in.
There’s decades’ worth of research out there on the many factors that contribute to a person’s success, whether that means financial success, fame, or something else. We have an affinity toward measuring things — even things as intangible as intelligence.
To that end, I like the way Schneider puts it: “Our society at this time in history values the ability to make generalizations from incomplete data and to deduce new information from abstract rules.”
These deductions are what lead to scientific breakthroughs, and they serve as an amazingly helpful jumping off point. But that doesn’t mean your IQ score will tell you with much accuracy whether you — or your next hire — will be successful at a job.
By itself, a high IQ won’t guarantee you’ll rise above your peers. Success relies on much more than that.
What do you think: Do IQ scores have a place in the business world? What other skills do you correlate with business success? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
Apple acknowledges issue with some iPad Pros failing to wake or respond after charging
Apple has officially acknowledged an issue reported by multiple iPad Pro owners on Reddit and Apple’s own support forum, in which some units become unresponsive after charging. We’ve even happened upon a few dead iPad Pros at the Apple Store for which an Apple employee shyly asked us to avert our eyes while he did a hard restart.
Some users report that the device won’t wake after charging, while others who left it switched on say that the Pro fails to respond to either the touchscreen or the home button. The problem can be resolved by a force restart, and this is the action Apple recommends while it investigates …
Apple has posted an extremely brief support document.
To get back to using your iPad Pro, force restart it by pressing and holding both the Sleep/Wake and Home buttons for at least ten seconds, until you see the Apple logo.
Apple is aware of this issue and is investigating.
Some are suggesting that iOS 9.1 is the culprit, with the issue resolved by the beta of iOS 9.2. If this indeed proves to be the case, then affected owners shouldn’t have long to wait for a fix.
Photo: dailynewsgeek.com
Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: iPad, iPad Pro, iPad Pro charging issue, iPad Pro charging problem
Visit 9to5Mac to find more special coverage of iOS Devices, iPad, and iPad Pro.
What do you think? Discuss “Apple acknowledges issue with some iPad Pros failing to wake or respond after charging” with our community.
YouTube Ads: What Marketers Need to Know About YouTube Advertising
Do you post videos on YouTube? Want to know what makes a video ad successful? To discover how YouTube video ads work, I interview Derral Eves. More About This Show The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It’s designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with […]
This post YouTube Ads: What Marketers Need to Know About YouTube Advertising first appeared on Social Media Examiner.
Social Media Examiner – Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle
from Social Media Examiner http://ift.tt/217J61W
via socialmediaexaminer
13 Tried-and-True Lead Generation Ideas (And the Numbers Behind Them)
Filling the top of your sales funnel with leads is tough — especially when you’re relying on traditional methods. Sending cold emails and scraping together lists can be incredibly demoralizing, right? Most of those people don’t really want to talk to you … and they can be pretty hostile about it.
So what if I told you that you could still reach your leads quota using methods that actually add value to your prospect’s day?
This utopia of lead generation is, in fact, a possibility. To walk you through some of the different options, I’ve detailed 13 examples of modern lead generation methods below. And to prove they actually work, I spent some time reaching out to the companies to learn more about the results of each initiative.
Intrigued? Keep reading.
13 Lead Generation Ideas Everyone Will Enjoy
1) Collect and share success secrets from thought leaders.
Want to provide unique value in your content? Start by reaching out to a thought leader in your industry. By interviewing an expert to uncover their secrets, you’re proving to your potential customers that you’re dedicated to delivering the best advice that’s out there.
Below you’ll see Groove’s take on this approach through their interview with the CEO of Olark. The folks at Groove frequently interview successful founders and ask really specific questions that everyone can learn from. They then share those interviews with their potential audience on their blog.
“It’s impossible to understate how much I’ve learned from mentors, advisors, and others smarter and more experienced than myself throughout my career. Getting expert perspectives — culminations of lifetimes of experience solving the same problems I might be struggling with at any moment — has helped me bust through obstacles faster than any test or hack I’ve ever tried. Interviewing experts for the blog is our way of sharing that same experience and insight with our audience,” explains Groove’s Alex Turnbull.
The results: 38K unique visitors, 1,210 subscribers, and around 54 trial signups
2) Make awesome Help videos solving a real issue for prospects.
Help videos can solve a real problem for potential customers in a format that’s both entertaining and easily digestible.
A video hosting and analytics company, Wistia, has a whole series of help videos for companies that want to start shooting their own videos, and they’ve compiled all of those videos into a super useful learning center.
“Since we’re a video hosting platform, product-centric content would only apply to people who are already creating videos. The Wistia Library videos and written guides are a way for us to create value for people who may not have even gotten started with video yet. We want to offer a useful educational experience for everyone, at every experience level,” explains Wistia’s Alyce Currier.
“The downloadable resources aren’t just a way for us to gather leads — they’re a way to help people learn by doing by giving them the tools they need to get started right away. We believe that the lessons are much more likely to stick if the reader/viewer gives something a try right after they consume the content.”
The results: 15.5k video plays and 3,946 leads
3) Create a quiz.
Offering up a quiz to your website visitors serves as a creative, alternative way to learn more about them and obtain their contact information. The goal is to “bargain” the result of the quiz in return for a new lead, which can be very effective when done right.
A great example of this comes from Eastern International College. They created the following quiz to help students make a proper major selection.
“I do not believe in forcing marketing messages on anyone. I found the best, clearest place on our website, and a nice slogan ‘Take this short quiz to find out which program is right for you!’ This way, it is fully up to the website visitor whether or not they want to participate. If using the quiz for lead collection, be sure to inform the quiz taker (on the contact information form page) that there may be contact from your office if they submit their information,” explains EIC’s Karen Walters.
The results: 1,000 leads and growing
4) Provide best practices for a challenging tactic.
When you explore a new marketing tactic, you want to know what others are doing to have success with the same method. Compiling those best practices into a list is incredibly useful to the marketer looking to get started in a particular arena.
For example, Vero created a comprehensive list of best practices for email marketing, which aims to help their target audience make more money through email marketing.
“I decided to write that post after my keyword research revealed a serious gap. Nearly every post that ranked well for ’email marketing best practices’ was a link roundup or category page. Nothing truly satisfied the need for best practices on the topic. So I went to work collecting the best email tips I could find and was thrilled that the post gained traction so quickly. In short, I came across a problem and solved it,” explains Vero’s Jimmy Daly.
The results: 90,000 page views and 1,500 email addresses (over the last 53 weeks)
5) Show what’s working for you.
Writing a transparent post that pulls back the curtain on something you’ve seen success (or failure) with can prove to be really interesting to potential leads. Other companies going through a similar stage of growth — or approaching your size — can gain a lot of inspiration from posts like this, and ultimately avoid making the same mistakes.
Check out this report from LeadFuze below. In an effort to provide an insightful resource, they created this analysis of what worked (and didn’t work) for them each month.
“Our revenue reports help us get business from ideal customers because it shows that we can be trusted. We are putting it all out there, and so people’s guards are lowered and they feel less suspicious,” explains LeadFuze’s Justin McGill.
The results: 1,000 views, nine sales leads, one new paying customer and counting
6) Create a useful spreadsheet.
Compiling a spreadsheet of resources takes forever … so if someone else does it for you, it’s easy to see the value.
Heinz Marketing created a referenceable spreadsheet out of a really awesome infographic (a map of the marketing technology landscape) and made it available in return for an opt-in.
“Prioritizing the creation of this was simple. I knew it had tremendous value; that people would want it. For relatively little effort I could create something that both delivered on that value plus helped me begin new, potential relationships to benefit both parties into the future. It was a win-win,” insists Heinz Marketing’s Matt Heinz.
The results: 1,377 downloads (continuing to grow by 20-30 downloads per day)
7) Offer a deep-dive answer for a tough question.
You can find the answer to pretty much any question you can dream up on the internet. But how many really good answers are out there? Taking the time to create an in-depth, step-by-step article that answers a burning question for your prospect serves as an opportunity to generate a lead. After all, the company that provides the best answer will often get your business, right?
A great example of this method in action comes from the folks at Interact. In an effort to explain how to make quizzes, Interact created the following in-depth blog post which dives into heavy detail on how it’s done.
“We like to create content that helps marketers look good in front of their team. For example, with this post, we know that a lot of marketing teams are looking to get into quizzes right now, but there are lots of technical details associated with creating quizzes. We built a guide that arms the reader and makes them look super smart. Sometimes they return the favor by opting in for our product, ” explains Interact’s Micah Larsson.
The results: 1,100 leads and counting
8) Create a worksheet that simplifies a complicated process.
There are tasks in every business that are best suited by a worksheet. For example, a software company might use a worksheet to formulate a marketing strategy.
By providing a simple worksheet for people to fill out — and trading that worksheet for an opt-in — you can create a mutually positive relationship with prospects.
A great example of this comes from WP Curve. They created a template for reviewing your website’s design that’s focused on conversion optimization. You can take a look at how they did it below.
“Every time we ask people to sign up for our newsletter we get no conversions. If we create a long detailed, useful post about a particularly topic and add a valuable, related opt-in offer, it converts very well,” explains WP Curve’s Dan Norris.
The results: 8,160 views and 1,018 email opt-ins
9) Create a list of useful tools.
It’s easy to brag about the tools your company offers, but when you take the initiative and explore other helpful tools your audience could be using, it proves that you prioritize their success over your self-promotion.
In return, you are also attracting the kind of audience that is looking for solutions like yours, which could drive leads. Below you’ll find a great example of this in action from Socedo.
“We recognized that many of our most successful customers at Socedo have landing pages built to capture leads. We also noticed that tools list posts perform well for us. Combining those ideas, our plan was to provide value to our ideal audience, in a way that was still relevant to Socedo,” explains Socedo’s Aseem Badshah.
“We drove high traffic to our own landing page, and by including positive mentions of other brands in the post, we were able to capitalize on their promotion as well.”
The results: Three direct product signups
10) Compile examples for people to learn from.
Finding effective examples to learn from can be extremely valuable, but also very difficult. Compiling a list of best practices in your industry is an excellent way to drive prospects to your domain where they can opt-in.
Kapost put together “The Top 50 Content Marketers” as a resource to enable their sales to have more contextual conversations, while inspiring their visitors to opt-in.
“Marketers are hungry for examples of brands doing marketing content right, and the Kapost 50 calls out specific examples of excellent, strategic content year after year,” explains Kapost’s Anne Murphy.
“It’s a traffic and lead driver, but more than that, it provides opportunities for our sales team to engage current prospects with content examples from related industries and for customer success to share content wins with customers. Especially in B2B marketing, content should support each stage of the sales cycle from awareness to lead to close to advocacy, and the Kapost 50 does exactly that.”
The results: 1,042 leads and counting
11) Create a valuable email course.
A well-developed email course is like gaining access to a real class … for free. For busy marketers, this type of offer can prove to be really valuable.
This approach tends to work well for in-depth topics that really should be learned in a class-like environment. Check out the course from Buffer below. They give away 25 social media strategies in 25 days in exchange for an opt-in.
“Initially with our courses, we were looking for a way to repackage the content from our blog posts into more digestible bits. Taking a 2,500-word blog post and breaking down into a weeklong email series felt like a fun experiment to try! With the 25-day course, we realized there were a number of posts on the blog that all touched on specific, actionable tips — and this was some of the most common feedback we received after our initial courses in terms of what content people might like next,” explains Buffer’s Kevan Lee.
The results: 22,057 leads and counting
12) Host a giveaway.
Giveaways are one of the most successful forms of lead generation. However, a giveaway can lead to a bunch of junk leads and waste your time if not done in a logical way.
The trick? Make sure what you’re giving away something people actually want. For example, Ninja Outreach put together a giveaway of several software products that are super useful to their target demographic.
“The reason we do this is to generate opt-ins to the newsletter, so it’s a form of lead generation. Everyone who doesn’t win is a potential customer down the line. As people are sharing the giveaway they are inherently promoting the product . . . People are always so happy when they win, and often send us thank you emails,” explains Ninja Outreach’s Dave Schneider.
The results: 268 leads
13) Create a template to simplify an everyday process.
There are certain templates you use everyday in business — employee schedule, content calendar, market research sheets, etc. These can be a pain to build for yourself.
As a marketer looking for lead generation ideas, creating those templates for your customers is the perfect way to begin a strong relationship that can end in the prospect actually paying for your product or service.
Need inspiration? Check out the employee scheduling Excel template from When I Work below.
“Our ultimate goal is make scheduling easier for small businesses. We know that 90% of businesses use excel for scheduling so we figured we should create templates and tools to help make their current scheduling process easier . . . Our excel templates get our brand in front of potential customers without much time investment/habit change and allow us to soft sell to them for months to come,” explains When I Work’s Sujan Patel.
The results: Nearly 2,000 new leads a month (45K in total)
Have you experimented with any of these methods? What tactics have you found to be effective? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
How Resource Requests Made Me a Thankful PMO Manager
How Resource Requests Made Me a Thankful PMO Manager
By Kristyn Medeiros
Thanksgiving time always gives me the chance to take a step back and look at all the things that I am grateful for. Of course, I am thankful for family, friends, my health, and all the things that make my world go around. But beyond […]
from Project Management Articles – PM Hut http://ift.tt/217BCMz
via pmhut.com
Top 4 reasons you need scrum if you work with a remote team
The first time I heard about scrum was around 2009. I am usually not an early adaptor because I have seen so many hypes; stuff comes and goes. My suspicion was that Scrum would be one of those hypes. Software development companies suddenly all claimed to be agile and work with scrum. And in many cases this is marketing talk, not operational reality. But a couple of year’s back I decided to dig a bit deeper and found out that scrum is way more than a hype.
In his article ‘Scrum is a major management discovery’, Steve Denning explains the origins of scrum and why it should be applied to the whole company and not only to the software department. In Steve’s words:
“If there was a Nobel Prize for management, and if there was any justice in the world, I believe that the prize would be awarded, among others, to Jeff Sutherland, Ken Schwaber and Mike Cohn for their contributions to the invention of Scrum.”
At the basis of scrum lies the Agile Manifesto, a set of guidelines to drive team behavior. Steve translates this to broader management in an interesting way:
“If you extract the practices of Scrum from the esoteric vocabulary in which it is expressed for software developers (“sprints”, “burndown charts”, “product owner”, “scrum-master”) it comprises in essence the following core practices:
- Organize work in short cycles:
- The management doesn’t interrupt the team during a work cycle.
- The team reports to the client, not the manager:
- The team estimates how much time work will take:
- The team decides how much work it can do in an iteration:
- The team decides how to do the work in the iteration:
- The team measures its own performance:
- Define work goals before each cycle starts:
- Define work goals through user stories:
- Systematically remove impediments:
None of these practices is by itself new. What is new is doing all the practices together in a disciplined way of getting all work done.”
Although some people claim that Scrum is meant to be practiced with collocated teams, I am a strong believer in the power of distributed scrum. Of course, working with people in one office is ‘easier’. We’re creatures of habit and we’re social, so if we can work like we always did and talk to each other all day long, it feels more natural. With software development, it does help to have your team at arm’s length. But distributed teams are today’s reality. And I have not found a better process than scrum in a remote collaboration.
There are four reasons why scrum is the best solution to manage distributed work. And these four reasons hold true for any type of work, not only software development. For managing other types of distributed work, I have found ‘the Rockefeller habits’ to be the most effective process. A lot of elements are similar to Scrum. Let’s look at the four reasons:
1. You work in short cycles
Each ‘sprint’ takes 1-4 weeks (scrum typically talks about 2-4 weeks, but in my experience 1 week can bring wonders in some projects). In a remote collaboration, you don’t speak to each other regularly. You can’t see what your foreign colleagues are doing. If you have a big project and you organize that work as a long term big project with deadlines far ahead, you loose ‘grip’. With scrum, work is cut into small iterations. Each 1-4 weeks you plan the sprint, the team gets to work and you see results after the sprint. This enables the team to learn faster what does and does not work. It also enables the team to incorporate changes brought by new ideas and customer feedback.
For more general management, this is also very valuable. If you have a team of let’s say marketers, they have projects. Those projects may span many months. By cutting those projects into weekly iterations, you continuously have an orchestrated team effort to bring those projects to completion. And because you learn and implement changes along the way, the result of the project is better.
2. The team decides
As you see from the above list, several points state ‘the team decides’. With a remote team, it’s crucial that you move the authority for the results of your project to the remote team. You can indicate and discuss with the team what you believe needs to get done. But the team decides ‘how’ they’ll tackle this. I think this is a powerful management mindset. You have hired a team of experts. Those experts know their line of business. So you should let them decide how to complete your projects. If you bring your car to a garage, you trust the mechanic to fix it (because you probably have no idea how to do it yourself).
One ‘method’ that I often think about during my workdays is ‘monkey management’ as described by Ken Blanchard. Here’s an excerpt from ‘how we lead’ that explains well what monkey management entails:
“A “monkey” is the next move after two individuals meet, as illustrated here: Say you meet an employee in the hallway. He says, “Can I see you for a minute? We have a problem.” He explains; you listen; time flies. Twenty minutes later you know enough about the problem to realize you’ll have to be involved, but you don’t know enough to make a decision. So you say, “This is very important, but I don’t have time to discuss it now. Let me think about it and I’ll get back to you.”
The detached observer understands what just happened, but when you’re in the middle, it’s harder to see the big picture. Before you met your staff member in that hall, the monkey was on his back. While you were talking, the matter was under joint consideration, so the monkey had one leg on each of your backs. But when you said, “Let me think about it and I’ll get back to you,” the monkey moved squarely onto your back.
The problem may have been part of your employee’s job, and he may have been perfectly capable of proposing a solution. But when you allowed that monkey to leap onto your back, you volunteered to do two things that this person was generally expected to do as part of his job: (1) You accepted the responsibility for the problem, and (2) you promised him a progress report. Just be sure it’s clear who’s in charge now, your staff member will stop in on you several times the next few days to say, “Hi! How’s it coming?” If you haven’t resolved the matter to your employee’s satisfaction, he may begin to pressure you to do what is actually his job.”
3. The team measures its own performance
In scrum, a software development team measures its own velocity. Velocity as defined by the scrum alliance:
“In Scrum, velocity is how much product backlog effort a team can handle in one sprint. This can be estimated by viewing previous sprints, assuming the team composition and sprint duration are kept constant. It can also be established on a sprint-by-sprint basis, using commitment-based planning.”
Velocity is the key driver of performance for a software team. In most software tools that support remote software teamwork, velocity is calculated automatically.
For broader management, it’s useful to have the team members define their own KPI’s. Let them think what’s the most important impact they can have on your project and how to measure this. They can report progress in a sheet or system each week, which you then discuss in your weekly meeting. I always use a google sheet which has a kpi dashboard on top. Each team member can access this sheet so the whole team knows what each person’s up to.
4. Meeting rhythm
Scrum has a structured set of meetings. This excerpt from the scrum primer describes each meeting (I recommend the scrum primer to learn more about scrum):
Sprint Planning
Summary: A meeting to prepare for the Sprint, typically divided into two parts (part one is “what” and part two is “how”).
Participants: Part One: Product Owner, Team, ScrumMaster. Part Two: Team, ScrumMaster, Product Owner (optional but should be reachable for questions)
Duration: Each part is timeboxed to one hour per week of Sprint.
Daily Scrum
Summary: Update and coordination between the Team members.
Participants: Team is required; Product Owner is optional; ScrumMaster is usually present but ensures Team holds one.
Duration: Maximum length of 15 minutes.
Sprint Review
Summary: Inspection and adaption related to the product increment of functionality.
Participants: Team, Product Owner, ScrumMaster. Other stakeholders as appropriate, invited by the Product Owner. Duration: Timeboxed to one hour per week of Sprint.
Sprint Retrospective
Summary: Inspection and adaption related to the process and environment.
Participants: Team, ScrumMaster, Product Owner (optional). Other stakeholders may be invited by the Team, but are not otherwise allowed to attend.
Duration: Timeboxed to 45 minutes per week of Sprint.
In a remote team, this meeting rhythm enables the team to stay aligned. If you don’t schedule this, days or weeks may pass without alignment talks. This can completely derail your project.
For a non-software team, the Rockefeller habits uses a rhythm of yearly, quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily meetings to align your distributed management team.
Conclusion
Remote teams can be managed more effectively with a strong process. Scrum is by far the best process to manage distributed software projects. For other work, the Rockefeller habits offers a strong framework. There are four things that both methods have in common which are specifically well suited for distributed work: work is done in short cycles of 1 – 4 weeks which enables quick learning and adaptation; the remote team decides on ‘how’ they will get work done, moving the ‘monkey’ fully on their shoulders; the team (members) measure their own performance using velocity or other KPI’s; and there’s a scheduled meeting rhythm which enables the globally distributed team to continually align and progress towards its goals.
The post Top 4 reasons you need scrum if you work with a remote team appeared first on Project-Management.com.
from Project-Management.com » Project Management Articles http://ift.tt/1MY0xYn
via Project-Management.com
Jimmy Iovine & Mary J. Blige discuss Apple Music ad, curation, & more in new interview
Apple executive Jimmy Iovine and popular recording artist Mary J. Blige sat down with the hosts of CBS This Morning earlier today to discuss Apple Music. A couple of months back, Apple debuted a new TV ad for its music streaming service starring Blige along with actresses Kerry Washington and Taraji P. Henson. In the ad, the three stars described Apple music as the “Instant boyfriend mixtape service” and touted that the For You feature is the equivalent of having a boyfriend inside your computer.
In today’s interview with CBS, Iovine discussed the inspiration behind the ad, explaining that he believes women have trouble finding music to listen to (a quote some have found to be controversial). “Women find it very difficult at times – some women – to find music, …and Apple Music helps makes it easier with playlists curated by real people,” Iovine said. Jimmy touted that Apple Music playlists are created by humans, not by an “algorithm.”
For her part, Blige explained that being in the Apple Music ad meant a lot to her because Apple Music is the platform that she wishes she had built. When Iovine first presented it to her, Blige explained that she immediately wished she had done it herself.
Iovine went on to elaborate that he had a specific scenario in mind when thinking up the advertisement and Apple’s For You service. Iovine also noted that he originally wanted Oprah in the ad, but was unable to convince her.
I thought of a problem, you know: girls are sitting around, you know, talking about boys. Or complaining about boys when they’re hearts are broken or whatever. And they need music for that, right? So it’s hard to find the right music, you know. Not everybody has the right lists, or knows a DJ or something.”
Iovine also commented that Apple Music has “well over” 6.5 million paying subscribers, a number that Tim Cook initially revealed last month. Blige and Iovine then went on to talk about how streaming is the future of music. While Iovine noted that he initially wanted to work with Apple when he realized how ahead of the curve the company was in terms of digital offerings. Iovine has previously told this story.
You can watch the full CBS This Morning interview below:
Filed under: Apple Music Tagged: Apple Music, Beats, interview, Jimmy Iovine, Mary J Blige, Music, streaming
For more information about Apple Music, Apple Music, and Music continue reading at 9to5Mac.
What do you think? Discuss “Jimmy Iovine & Mary J. Blige discuss Apple Music ad, curation, & more in new interview” with our community.
How-To: Unlock iPad Pro’s full potential w/ iOS 9 features, third-party apps, much more
If you haven’t mastered iOS 9 and all its new tricks introduced in September, then it’s easy to find yourself using the iPad Pro as just a jumbo iPad Air or iPad mini. But new multitasking features like Picture in Picture, Split View, and Slide Over transform the iPad Pro experience and shine on the larger display if you know how to use them and which apps work. And while the iPad Pro doesn’t have 3D Touch like new iPhones, there’s a similar keyboard cursor gesture to now about. All that plus much more on unlocking the full potential of the iPad Pro below:
Before we dive in, many of these tips will apply to all iPads with iOS 9 while other features are limited to iPad mini 4 (7.9″), iPad Air 2 (9.7″), and iPad Pro (12.9″). If you’re comfortable with the bigger display of the Pro, however, it is able to present the most amount of content at once when multitasking.
Newly available in iOS 9, iPads support three multitasking features: Split View, Slide Over, and Picture in Picture. Not all features are available on all iPads however, and each works best on iPad Pro unless the display size is a deal breaker for you.
None of the new multitasking features are obvious, but Picture in Picture is the easiest to stumble upon. Play a video in a supported app, then press the Home button to leave the app and your video shrinks into a mini player and doesn’t stop. There’s also a new “two boxes and an arrow” icon on video players that support PIP. Tap it to continue watching your video within that app, or leave the app and take your video with you.
The Picture in Picture window follows you from app to app until you disable it, only going out of focus when you double click the Home button or swipe up with four fingers to switch apps. You can move the PIP around the iPad’s display, although it’s limited to the four corners for now. Activating the on-screen keyboard will push the PIP up so you can type, and you can even tuck the PIP out of view temporarily by pushing it off screen.
Tap the PIP at any point to view playback progress along the bottom, switch back to full screen, play/pause the video, or close it. You can also pinch to shrink or expand the size of the PIP, and the iPad Pro supports the largest version of any iPads.
Picture in Picture works on iPad Pro, iPad Air or later, and iPad mini 2 or later. The only hitch here is that video apps have to opt-in to support it. Built-in apps like Safari, Videos for iTunes movies and TV shows, FaceTime, and Podcasts just work, but your own videos in Photos and music videos from Apple Music won’t. Third-party apps like HBO NOW and Hulu are my favorites to use for Picture in Picture. Netflix and YouTube haven’t added support yet, but YouPlayer and Go Picture in Picture enable YouTube PIP on iPads with different approaches.
Split View is where iPad Pro really shines, and Picture in Picture works on top here too. This feature lets you run two apps side by side, and some apps actually look better as columns rather than full width apps on the big screen (like Twitter for example). You likely won’t activate Split View by accident though because the mode is hidden behind a screen gesture.
To activate it, swipe left from just right of edge of the display. A scrolling list of app icon tiles lets you pick which app you want to access. Tap the one you want to enter a mode called Slide Over. This presents supported apps over any other app and allows you to quickly use the secondary app then dismiss it.
If you want to use two apps side by side and both apps support Split View, you’ll notice a divider that you can pull a little to make both apps active. Use the secondary app in a 1/5th column view, pull it to the center to split the screen in half, pull it all the way to the right to dismiss it, or all the way to the right to let the secondary app take over the whole display. This works in portrait mode with 2/3rd and 1/3rd apps as well.
There’s also a grab bar at the top of the secondary app on the right that lets you switch to other Split View apps. If you click the Home button and open another app that supports Split View, you’ll notice the app one the right remains.
Alternatively, you can use iOS’s four-finger gesture to swipe between apps to change the left app without losing focus of the right app. Apps that don’t support Split View like Settings and Music will take over the whole display, but swipe on to Safari or other supported apps and Split View will return. It’s a pretty quick transition with the swipe gesture.
Slide Over works with the same iPads as Picture in Picture: iPad Pro, iPad Air or later, and iPad mini 2 or later. Split View requires iPad mini 4, iPad Air 2, or iPad Pro.
Several readers have asked about the lack of 3D Touch or Force Touch on the iPad Pro, especially one shortcut on the iPhone 6s in particular. Using the latest iPhones, you can press firmly over the keyboard to enter a trackpad-like mode for text selection and moving the cursor. This actually came to all iPads with iOS 9 in September and works extremely well on the iPad Pro, but it’s not super obvious until you learn it. Apple offers this set of instructions:
Turn your keyboard into a trackpad. Touch and hold the keyboard with two fingers until it turns light gray. Drag around the keyboard to position the insertion point. Lift, then touch and hold with two fingers to reveal the drag points. Move your fingers to select text. Tap with two fingers to select a word. Double-tap with two fingers to select a sentence. Tap three times with two fingers to select a paragraph.
While using the new iPad Pro on-screen keyboard, you may also encounter an annoying shift bug when trying to access the symbols above the new half-height num row. Basically holding the shift key and tapping a number key to access the above characters only works in search fields and mid-sentence where auto-capitalization isn’t activated. There’s a workaround for now, and using it has made me much more efficient at typing on the iPad Pro.
Using a Bluetooth or Smart Connector keyboard instead? Here’s a tip: hold the Command (⌘) key for a few seconds in each of your favorite apps to see what keyboard shortcuts are supported. Not everything from the Mac is supported on iOS, but iOS 9 adds a lot of functionality here and developers of App Store apps are doing the same. I’ve enjoyed testing a Magic Keyboard with the iPad Pro. Both charge with Lightning and the function keys including screen brightness, volume, and media playback all work great.
The same thing works from the Home screen when using a physical keyboard. My most frequently used shortcuts? Command Shift H to return to the Home screen and Command Tab which activates an app switcher just like the Mac’s. You still need to touch the screen to complete a lot of tasks that could be tied to a keyboard shortcut, but these make using the iPad Pro and all iPads with a connected keyboard much faster.
And if you’re using your iPad Pro or any iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard and a setup more like a laptop, you may want to change the display’s auto-lock time to something longer. By default, iPad displays will turn off after 2 minutes without interaction, which helps preserve battery life and increase security if you use a passcode. When using iPad Pro with a keyboard, however, I’ve noticed that I’m finding that 2 minutes is too aggressive. I’m currently trying out 5 minutes, which should be pretty reasonable, but you may consider 10 or 15 minutes better options if you’re reading a lot of content on the larger display without interacting with it. Only choose Never if you want to manually turn off the display with the on/off switch or by closing a Smart Cover or similar magnetic case.
The iPad Pro’s 12.9-inch display makes it ideal for using as a sketchpad, and Apple Pencil’s reliable palm rejection and minimal latency take the frustration out of using a digital stylus. So once you get your hands on an Apple Pencil, what next? Apple Notes is a great start. It’s built-in, syncs with iCloud to your iPhone and Mac and the web, and its pencil and pen tools are very realistic. Try the pressure sensitivity with the pen tool, then try shading with the pencil tool like a real pencil. While you can use Apple Pencil to draw anywhere sketching is supported on iOS, a number of apps have updated specifically for Apple Pencil including Adobe Sketch, Paper by 53, Pixelmator, and Procreate to name a few. Evernote and Notability have also updated for Apple Pencil if Apple Notes isn’t for you. Each app has a different set of tools within, so I recommend collecting a few. Apple Mail also supports sketching with its attachment markup feature, though I wish it was more widely available.
Gaming on the big screen with real gaming controllers is one of the many appeals of the new Apple TV, but the iPad Pro definitely holds its own in this space too. The same MFi gaming controllers that you buy for Apple TV, like the SteelSeries Nimbus (hands-on here) and others, will work with iPad Pro so you can buy one and use it on both screens. Throw on a pair of Bluetooth headphones and you’ve got a very immersive and portable experience without all the wires. Asphalt 8, a racing title, has been my favorite to play so far, and your progress is saved from iPhone to iPad to Apple TV. Even better, the iPad can do Picture in Picture over many games including Asphalt 8, so you can catch up on The Daily Show while racing around a track at 200 mph like a real iPad pro.
The iPad Pro doesn’t change the overall layout of the larger Home screen — instead keeping the same 5×4 grid as the iPad mini and iPad Air and revealing more wallpaper. If you’re like me and using the iPad Pro primarily in landscape orientation for the first time, you may want to throw one or two extra apps or folders on your dock. Smaller iPads can also add up to 6 icons to the dock, but I’ve always keep just 4 to match the portrait layout. Portrait is secondary to me on iPad Pro, however, so I’m using 5 apps in the dock now to match the landscape layout.
And if you’re planning on replacing a laptop with the iPad Pro, knowing about Safari’s ability to upload various types of files will likely be very useful. Apps tend to be able to do more than websites on iPhones and iPads, but if you prefer to use Facebook’s website until they update their iPad Pro app to support the full screen resolution, you can still upload photos directly from your iPad just like from a MacBook. This actually works better than through the app in my experience as it uses the updated Photos picker.
Uploading isn’t limited to just photos and certainly not limited to Facebook. The same process works with more complicated websites like Dropbox using text files and PDFs, although other file types like Pages documents and Pixelmator projects weren’t supported. You can actually upload files from Dropbox through the iOS app to Dropbox on the web with Safari using this process, or access your photo library, iCloud Drive, or other supported services.
Have any other iPad Pro user tips to fully unlock the potential of the larger tablet? Please let us know in the comments below!
Filed under:
How-To, iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: iOS 9, iPad Pro
Continue reading more about iOS Devices, iOS, and
How-To at 9to5Mac.
What do you think? Discuss “How-To: Unlock iPad Pro’s full potential w/ iOS 9 features, third-party apps, much more” with our community.
Announcing the best value fix or cash trade-in for your unused/old iPhones, iPads and other Apple products
If you’re like me, you have a bunch of old Apple devices sitting around that hardly get used. Whether it’s because they’re broken or they’ve just been supplanted by newer, better tech, they lose a lot of value EVERY DAY just sitting on your desk or in a drawer doing nothing. With the holidays coming up and lots of presents to buy, that’s a lot of potential cash left sitting on the table.
To get value out of your old or broken Apple devices, we’ve partnered with two companies we’ve long used ourselves and have a great relationship with to get value out of your unused devices.
For repairs, ifixyouri has long been our go-to for broken screens, dents, and other damage to our iPhones and iPads. Their site is easy to navigate, and they will immediately generate a UPS shipping label by email which you can print out and attach to your device and send it on its way. Repair turnaround is generally just a few days and cost is always significantly below what Apple charges. We’ve created a secure portal at 9to5mac.ifixyouri.com for our readers.
For cash trade-ins, we’re partnering with Myphones Unlimited who we’ve found to give the most (or very close to it) amount of cash back on iPhone, iPad, iPod and even Mac trade-ins. You’ll get an estimate on the site based on a few parameters and as long as your device matches your description, you’ll get a check back in a week. You don’t have to do much. They send you the box. You put your device in it and give it to UPS. If for some reason, the device doesn’t match the spec, you have the option of accepting less money or getting it sent back for free. Very little risk involved here.
We’ve put a CASH/FIX link in our header for easy access when you get those new devices or break your current ones. We hope you can take advantage of these services. Even better, if you are satisfied with and move forward with your cash trade-in or repair the service, we may receive a small commission — which supports 9to5mac.
Filed under: AAPL Company
For more information about AAPL Company continue reading at 9to5Mac.
What do you think? Discuss “Announcing the best value fix or cash trade-in for your unused/old iPhones, iPads and other Apple products” with our community.
Report: Apple now at over 100 million iPhones in use in the US
Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) is out with a new report today claiming Apple is now at over 100 million iPhones in use in the US. That means Apple has crossed 100 million active iPhone units since CIRP reported 97 million iPhones in use back in August, according to the research firm’s data.
CIRP uses its data to estimate that, of the 101 million iPhone in use during the quarter, around 58 million were iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, 4 million were iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, and the rest previous generation models (as pictured above).
The report’s data accounts for up to the end of the September quarter and notes that 101 million iPhones were in use according to CIRP’s data. The company gets its numbers “by analyzing data on iPhone buyers, their new model selection, and their prior phones, and overlaying Apple iPhone sales data adjusted to the US market…” A survey of 500 Apple customers to be specific.
CIRP also offered some insight on growth of the iPhone’s installed base, which it notes shows “Apple has fewer first time smartphone buyers to add to their base, and faces the challenge of attracting loyal Android users”:
This installed base grew on average 8% per quarter for the past eight quarters. In the September 2015 quarter, the installed base grew 4%, compared to 6% in the September 2014 quarter… “The data again shows that growth in the installed base of iPhones in the US has slowed,” said Josh Lowitz, Partner and Co-Founder of CIRP. “In previous quarters, we saw the installed base grow by as much as 17%, in the December 2013 quarter after the launch of the iPhone 5S and 5C. As the US market matures, Apple has fewer first time smartphone buyers to add to their base, and faces the challenge of attracting loyal Android users.”
It was back in 2011 that Apple first announced it had reached the 100 million iPhones sold milestone, while in January it confirmed it had officially crossed its one billionth iOS device sold. Apple doesn’t, however, offer numbers on active iPhones in use.
Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: 100 million, active, CIRP, installed base, iPhones, iphones in use, sales
Visit 9to5Mac to find more special coverage of iOS Devices, sales, and iPhones.
What do you think? Discuss “Report: Apple now at over 100 million iPhones in use in the US” with our community.
Facebook testing feature to hide posts from your ex after a breakup
Facebook announced today that a new feature rolling out soon across its mobile apps will allow you to hide posts from ex automatically (or hide your posts from them) when you change your relationship status back to single. You can also hide all traces of your past relationship from the public.
Now when you decide that you are never, ever, ever getting back together, the Facebook app will suggest that maybe it’s time to “take a break” and present several new options.
Among those other options are the ability to go back and edit any posts in which you’ve tagged your ex, either on an individual basis, or en masse. You can adjust your privacy settings to block your ex from seeing any of your posts, or set it so that they can only see posts they’re tagged in, or which are shared publicly or on a mutual friend’s page.
Finally, you’ll also have the option of automatically applying a new filter to your news feed that removes posts from your ex. This will also remove automatic prompts to tag your message them.
None of these settings will be announced publicly, and your ex won’t be told you’ve made any changes.
Facebook says these options are now in testing in the United States. They’re accepting feedback from users who try the function out and will be rolling it out to additional users soon.
Filed under: Apps Tagged: Facebook
For more news on Apps and Facebook continue reading at 9to5Mac.
What do you think? Discuss “Facebook testing feature to hide posts from your ex after a breakup” with our community.
Adele won’t be sharing her upcoming album ’25’ with Apple Music subscribers
Adele’s people have already tried to get her new blockbuster album, 25, into Apple Store retail shelves as physical CD volumes with no success, but she isn’t so keen on Apple Music streaming. According to the New York Times, Adele’s management has informed digital music distributors that 25 will not be offered for streaming, at least at launch. You can of course buy the album on the iTunes Store; preorders are up now.
Taylor Swift famously keeps her music away from most streaming services except for Apple Music, over an argument of artist revenues. Part of an independent label, XL Recordings, Adele has apparently personally decided that streaming is off the table. Other artists represented by the label appear in Apple Music so it’s not their typical policy to shun streaming music services.
It is likely that ’25’ will reach streaming services eventually but not being available on Apple Music at launch is a bit of a blow. Many had expected it to be a done deal with Apple heavily promoting Adele’s album online and on Beats 1 — host Zane Lowe aired a long interview with Adele on his Beats 1 show yesterday.
The new album is expected to beat recent industry records with estimated sales of 2.5 million copies in the opening week. The last album to achieve comparable figures dates back to 2004 when CD music sales were in their prime. The album’s leading track, Hello, is currently #2 in the iTunes Store singles chart.
Filed under: Apple Music, iOS, iOS Devices Tagged: Adele, Album, Streaming Music
Continue reading more about iOS Devices, iOS, and Apple Music at 9to5Mac.
What do you think? Discuss “Adele won’t be sharing her upcoming album ’25’ with Apple Music subscribers” with our community.