Previously Published to News Break One year into the pandemic and our world is becoming the ultimate ghost town. We’re seeing a massive exodus from the West Coast, businesses closing doors, and workers being laid off in numbers from those that had never been laid off before. Tech says there’s an app for that but so many fail to listen! In an annual Kong survey, more than 400 senior technology decision-makers were polled across a broad range of US and European industries, the general consensus was that if businesses refused to modernize, they’d be next to be featured in the Smithsonian. According to the 2021 Digital Innovation Benchmark report, 51% of tech leaders expect a majority of businesses to go under, or be acquired, by 2024. These leaders went so far as to state that companies lagging in digital innovation may live only three years — and, that’s if they rush to do something now. In fact, nearly 89% of respondents went on to explain that by creating new digital experiences, businesses could easily combat the challenges faced by the pandemic and that these interests should serve as critical to their organization going forward. In 2020, only 75% of respondents […]
Who relocates during a pandemic? | Robert Half reveals new trends in the Jobs Industry
Previously Published on News Break In case you haven’t noticed, our economy has been re-opening since the introduction of vaccines. People are traveling again. Others are looking for work. And, hiring managers are back on the scene, recruiting for their latest openings — yet, so much of our regular hiring processes have changed. Last month, one company reported that more than 29% of working professionals would quit their job if not allowed to continue working remotely and that 62% of long-term employees preferred employers that offered work from home opportunities in the future. Most have reported that working from home made them more productive, allowed them to focus on quality and that they were less stressed due to a more meaningful work-life balance, despite a deadly pandemic knocking at their front doors. Robert Half, the World’s first and leading staffing agency, was also busy conducting their own studies, surveying more than 1000 workers, aged 18 and over, on the topic of relocation. More than 1,000 human resources managers were also polled, selected from companies in 28 major cities across the US. The study showed that 51% of employees surveyed would strongly consider relocation should their company offer more long-term opportunities […]
The Benefits of Onshoring to Small Businesses and How Biden’s Plan is Right on Time
Previously Published to News Break If you’re a small business owner or contractor, get ready! According to Clutch, a leading source for B2B research, ratings, and reviews, “80% of businesses plan to outsource in 2021, citing the ability to save time, grow their business, and work with other experts across industry.” In fact, taking a number of losses in 2020, many businesses have been forced to rethink operational efficiencies and have been looking for new ways to optimize existing business structures. As entrepreneurs, we see things differently than our colleagues or peers in the workforce. We often make excuses when things don’t go our way, and very often we feel a sense of loyalty to our weakest links. Sometimes, we do this to the detriment of our own wallets, rewarding those that were there with us from the beginning — whether they actually do anything meaningful, or not. In some cases, we feel the need to pay them a salary before we even pay ourselves — even if we wear damn near every hat under the sun and they sit around waiting for our business. Likewise, we tend to exert more energy towards tasks that pay little to nothing, stealing […]
LG and Google Partner, Bringing Stadia Gaming to OLED | Could outperform Xbox, PS5 in Global Gaming Markets
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ON NEWS BREAK The cost of cable surged in 2020, despite the increase of bodies at home during the pandemic. In fact, a majority of service providers will continue this trend on into 2021, as many have reported that they will increase monthly service plans by 30 a month in some cases. People are cutting chords, and minimalists are downsizing. TV manufacturers are scrambling to think outside of the box. Companies like VIZIO are expanding their platform for sports-dedicated programming. Advertisers are finding a more effective means for getting their messages out. And, LG has been focused on bringing Stadia Cloud Gaming to their webOS Smart TVs in late 2021. Set to offer immersive 5.1 gaming experiences to audiences on lockdown, LG announced a partnership with Google on January 11th that would allow LG to natively support Stadia gameplay via webOS and Google TV, making them the first TV manufacturer to support extensive gameplay exclusively on-screen. Smart TVs running webOS 6.0 and webOS 5.0 will be the first to receive Stadia services later this year. “Supporting Stadia on LG TVs is our commitment to customers that gaming is an increasingly important feature expected by LG TV owners,” said […]
Digital Advertising, Trends & Revenue | What to expect in 2021
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ON NEWS BREAK “The shift to online spending and the massive increase in audiences for media during the pandemic has driven a new reality for advertisers,” addresses Nev Hasan, Executive Director of Agency Sales at Foxtel. According to Nev, three out of four Australians (76%) report that they are willing to be interrupted by ads in exchange for free options when streaming movies and television shows.” In fact, the total average view time on streaming services such as Tubi and Crackle have shown an increase of 242% on average year-over-year (YoY). He continues by saying that from August of this year, “IAS Research in Australia shows 85% of consumers have access to a connected TV device, with 78% of consumers increasing their consumption of streaming content and 49% signing up for new services.” This comes from a newly-released study conducted by SpotX just last week. SpotX is considered to be the leading video advertising platform for multi-screen monetization and is thought to be shaping the future of TV, on behalf of well-known content and media owners across the globe. “As we move further into the connected decade, incumbents and new entrants alike will invest in the future of […]
Could this Smart Mask be a game-changer, as children return to the classroom?
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED ON NEWSBREAK Slated to be the “World’s First Nex-Gen Technology Mask,” NFL Hall-of-Famer, Champ Bailey, has teamed up with Modern Radio, Inc. to launch an Indiegogo campaign for the scaled production of a new wearable that could have our kids back in the classroom much sooner than later. Using next-generation technologies, this smart mask would do more than stop airborne particles from infecting the student body. Once adopted, it would monitor the personal air quality and temperature of each student, tracking daily use and compliance across the greater K12 environment. Such data would aid teachers in maintaining a healthy space for our children to learn, as they return to brick-and-mortar classrooms across the country. Winning the 2020 Global Innovation Award at the ATP Cyber Health Tech Conference in August, Modern Radio has been actively working to test and develop the smart mask for optimal integration. The first concern was with safety. They wanted to be sure that the mask would work effectively with no adverse reactions that would otherwise contradict the purpose of being worn. We have heard so many horror stories about how masks worsened — and even created — long-term health conditions for people, who were […]
Could reinventing family fun serve as a lifeline in Chuck E. Cheese’s current bankruptcy case?
PUBLISHED ON MEDIUM Home. Where a kid can be a kid. Growing up, a kid was a kid when climbing through plastic tubes, jumping into a lagoon of colorful balls, happily watching animatronics malfunction, eating pizza, and — of course — exchanging our hard-earned tickets for spider rings and bubble gum wristwatches. Over the years, our favorite birthday venue would transform before our very eyes, serving a newer generation and doing away with our bless-ed jungle gyms — all while adding touch screens into the mix. And, then… COVID struck. Amidst national shutdowns and closures, Chuck E. Cheese would go on to see its greatest transformation, yet. Concerned that virus would linger on the surfaces of old tickets and gaming devices, the company decided to go contactless and instead target families at home, while relinquishing the torch to good old Pasqually through the launch of a secondary pizza and wings business. Although many locations would remain open, capacity would be limited throughout the pandemic. Overhead remained. And now, the entire franchise is facing bankruptcy. Protecting customers at the pinnacle of the pandemic Initially, most Chuck E. Cheese locations remained open but shortened their business hours to abide by local laws […]
“That ain’t ours!” Company falsely claims Amazon partnership at product launch
Yes, they really tried Amazon! Sorry, folks, a stationary bicycle made by the exercise gear company, Echelon, has no affiliation with Amazon and is not being sold as an exclusive “Prime Bike” to Amazon members.
Consider SEO & SEM Bones, Social Media the Soul That Embraces
PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED TO TMC NET’S MAD MARKETER In a globalized economy and a world where customer relationships are everything, businesses are finding that “branding socially” is still the most effective means of retaining valuable customers and in acquiring new ones. Traditionally, high ranking sales professionals found that they did well by keeping in regular contact with those in their Rolodex or their top-secret black book. To keep in contact with hundreds of people on a daily basis — holding one on one conversation with everyone in that Rolodex – was a difficult and even impossible task to carry out. As the digital world exploded, this all changed. Now, we can keep thousands of people in the loop at once. We can interact as a group, and short conversations are now the norm. With social media, we can carry many short, private conversations at once. The downfall is, however, that many traditional business models aren’t up to speed and they’re throwing thousands of dollars away just to find no return on their marketing investments. Social media influences our lives, whether we want to admit it or not. It can influence us for the better. It can influence us for the worse. […]
What LinkedIn’s Profinder Taught Me About Sales and Customer Service
Initially, it started off great. I made new clients, Forged new partnerships… and, even got a ton of referrals. But, I also found a lot of rejection and a lot of people that didn’t care enough to respond. For every 1000 connection requests I sent, 50 would reply and only 45 would actually speak.