Six ways to deal with negative reviews

Many business stay offline because they fear the negative review. Is there a case to be made for the benefit of a negative review? There is. Consider the following six concepts regarding negative reviews.

Freedom

Allowing consumers to give a negative review is a statement of our belief that within certain parameters freedom of speech is a healthy thing. As we know, that can be misused or legally thwarted. For example: Should a company be allowed to threaten a consumer with disparagement for a negative review? As recently as 2015, this was a common practice. Read more →

Amazon may seem to be taking over the world. They are moving into many industries other than the product search and distribution of their Amazon Web Services (AWS). Now Amazon is entering other industries: healthcare, grocery and physical retail stores. These areas will increase what is already a noticeably large digital footprint.

In addition, Amazon is offering up things like AI-as-a-Service and gesture-based computing. Further, the recent acquisition of the genomics startup Grail, allows Amazon to develop application of its machine learning base with healthcare. Read more →

The awakening of the sleeping giant – China!

The famous French General, Napoleon Bonaparte, remarked about China — “There lies a sleeping giant. Let him sleep! For when he wakes he will move the world.”

China is awakening.

One indication of China’s new alertness is the desire to no longer simply imitate the technology of other nations, but to innovate new technology of its own. Christina Larson writes for Wired about her experience of going to Beijing to visit Kai-Fu Lee, a venture capitalist focused on artificial intelligence (AI). Her visit, in October of 2017, was interrupted briefly by what seemed to be a quick slip through a wormhole, leaving Ms. Larson in the Beijing of the last century. It was not a real wormhole, of course. Nor a time machine. It was something far more prosaic – an elevator. She took the wrong one. Read more →

“Afternoons are the Bermuda Triangles of our days”

Daniel Pink provides this great descriptive of sluggish afternoons in his provocatively titled LinkedIN article, You’re more likely to screw up in the afternoon.

Here’s how to stop afternoon errors. How severe is the problem? “Across many domains, the trough represents a danger zone for productivity, ethics, and health.”

How to stop afternoon error? “Go home early!” This is doubtless not a good idea. Let’s agree that typically people are more productive in the morning than the afternoon. “But doesn’t it simply have to do with the amount of sleep we got the night before?” Yes. But there is something more deeply responsive to the habits of our typical sleep schedule. Something called the circadian cycle. Read more →

Multitasking is not a skill to add to your resume, but rather a bad habit to put a stop to.

–Larry Kim, Warning: Multitasking is Killing Your Brain

Even the ancient Romans knew better: “A man who chases two rabbits catches none.”

MIT neuroscientist Earl Miller points out that the human brain is designed to focus on one thing at a time. Those who try to multitask are actually switching from one task to another as rapidly as they can. Producing overload!

Read more →

Instead of killing bacteria, turn it off!

Apparently, there is close at hand the ability to reprogram bacteria. This is significant because people tend to develop resistance to antibiotics. The antibiotics are effective at killing the bacteria. But the body tends to resist the antibiotic making it no longer effective.

Solution? By reprogramming the DNA of the bacteria to turn the gene off, there is no need for the antibiotics in your body, or the potential of the body building resistance to the antibiotic. Read more →

What is the test of loyalty?

My mom saved green stamps. That was a long time ago, so I was just a kid. But I got it. When she made a purchase, she was rewarded with sheets of stamps. She pasted these in a book and when she had sufficient number of books, she turned them in for a nice toaster. Or some other kitchen appliance.

Yes, I know. Green stamps are dated. In fact, I went to look for a picture of “green stamps,” and all I came up with were markers about being eco-friendly. Green. Of course! I settled for a girl and her dog. Subtle. But lots of loyalty! Read more →

Properly Marketing your Website

Your website should be more than a business card. Business cards have the bare essentials – a statement of your name, address, & phone number. That helpful card is what you (used to) hand to someone who asked, “What do you do?” As you gave your well practiced 1-2 minute explanation, you deftly reached into your pocket, took out your business card and offered it to your questioner. Your potential customer.

More Time

But deep inside, you wish you had more time to really give a proper explanation of the services and products you offer. Your elevator pitch hardly scratches the surface. It’s that key Cornerstone Content that you’d really like to pass on. When the meeting happens at your website, you have the upper hand! There is every opportunity to be fully prepared. To answer the question fully. To give that potential customer your Cornerstone Content. Read more →

“It’s not nice to fool the Internet Searcher!”

Right up there with “fake news” as a current-event irritant, are “fake reviews.” No one appreciates being fooled with something fake, especially when decisions are hanging in the balance. So we appreciate the research of BrightLocal in publishing their annual Local Consumer Review Survey-2017.

Published since 2010, this year’s sample of consumers queried was 1,031 US-based consumers, who provided answers to 18 questions in October 2017. The report includes graphs which compare the result of 2017 with that of 2016 and 2015, offering a helpful view of how trends have changed over time.

Greatest benefit would be obtained, along the path to Five-Star reviews, by reading the original report. However, as the survey provides a helpful list of key findings, this review of the review will focus on some of those key findings, adding personal opinionated comments.

We assume three key factors for each reader: Read more →

Our World is Smaller through Transport Accessibility

In our current existence on earth, it is necessary to have transportation. Whether by air or land or sea, the world is on the move to be a part of the rest of humanity.

Eventually, we will all have electric vehicles (EV). This will happen soon as each auto maker rushes to join the current trend. Alongside the move to EV’s, there has been a gradual change to AV’s – autonomous vehicles. No driver needed, thank you!

So I imagined just how the AV experience would play out. There are benefits. And maybe some challenges that will arise. But think with me about the benefits. Read more →