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Digital marketing is a personalized blend of creative and scientific ideas paired with artistic collaborations that offer trackable steps. Before you get into tweaking the content of your page, though, you need to gain some insight on what’s working for you already and where improvements may be needed. This is where search forecasting can lend a helping hand!
What is search forecasting?
Search forecasting predicts what your organic traffic may look like. Every great SEO strategy begins with hard data, and it’s what should be molding your future moves so you don’t have to assume. Having a good handle on your data will allow you an outlook on what search traffic may look like for your business. You can use this to create a plan for any future campaigns. There are a few key details you should keep in the back of your mind when working on organic traffic conclusions.
1. Keep your eye on the right metrics
Keyword search is a critical component of every SEO strategy. You may get ahead of yourself and assume you know what key phrases will benefit your business most, but keep in mind that you’re better off pulling your data and actually having a look. Your research should include evidence or data about:
Estimated Search Volume
Keyword Complexity
Current Ranking Position for Your Biz (and the URL for that ranking for keyword relevance)
Intent of Your Search
CTR (click-through rate) Estimates
Knowledge of the quality and type of content ranking in your desired position
Your ranking position and related queries
2. Use tools! They’re your friend.
Tools can be a valuable part of any business owner’s arsenal of data, so make sure you’re using them! GSC (Google Search Console) is a great starting place. GSC will hand you historical, business-specific data to give you a look into what internal benchmark to begin with.
Google Keyword Planner is another resource worth noting. It does have questionable accuracy, however. A lot of the time, search volume data is inflated due to combined estimates with keywords that are phrased similarly, so take this data very lightly.
3. Think about your competitors and look at trends data
You should use competitive analysis when making your traffic prediction overall. Make sure you scan who appears on the page you want to be on and plug their URLs into keyword tools to see what their ranks are, negative and positive. This is where knowing “keyword difficulty” can really come in handy. Always plan to do better than your competitors to help your business naturally perform better.
Understanding the seasonal patterns of your business is also vital. Your business’s busiest time of the year does not automatically equate to high search volume. It’s essential to know what your search-to-sale lead time is looking like because this will have an on your search traffic predictions and the content strategy you create based on the predictions, as well.
Search forecasting allows you to locate internal resources, budget for your campaigns, and create valuable internal benchmarks. Knowing this information ahead of the game is critical, especially if your work involves enterprise SEO!
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Sometimes the most dire financial situations can lead to incredible outcomes.
Necessity is the mother of invention, after all. And look what we as a species have done with grinding, horrible poverty.
Oxtail soup. Lobster dinners. Beanie Weenies.
The most amazing things out of the ingenuity of people needing to scrape by never ceases to amaze. What has had the gold scraped off of it for me is how people who don’t need to scrape by still manage to capitalize, much to most of our detriment.
For instance, health insurance.
In times leading up to the conjoined monsters of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl—brought about by an unholy union of unsustainable monocultural farming practices, forcible disappearance of region-appropriate animal husbandry, and rabid stockmarket speculation— it was standard practice for hospitals to ask for cash upfront upon any procedure.
So when people stopped having money to seek out any kind of care, hospitals stopped having money to run themselves soon after. But what were they to do?
Marshal Darr illuminates the answer in his two-part series published on Stretch Dollar, and it all started at Baylor University Medical Center, in Dallas, TX.
Justin [Kimball] noticed a common denominator in many of Baylor’s unpaid medical bills — they belonged to local educators. To protect the hospital against further defaults, he piloted a program in 1923 where for $0.50 a month (which adjusts for inflation to be almost $7 in today’s dollars), local teachers could gain access to an up to 21-day stay in Baylor’s hospital, should they need one.
Eventually, more hospitals adopted this plan, sweeping the nation just like all the kicked up drought dust. Some years on, it was determined that a body with lofty ideals needed to hold these plans up… and then years later those bodies ripped free and became their own separate, for-profit entities.
“The commission tapped to oversee plan admission and adherence was rebranded in 1946 as “Blue Cross.” It would later become so powerful that it would sever ties with the American Hospital Association in 1972.
While all this was happening, another organization began to emerge with a specific focus on helping lumber and mining camp workers in the Pacific Northwest pool their money to cover physician fees. This concept was eventually formalized, and the first Blue Shield plan was launched in 1939 in California — eventually growing to become the National Association of Blue Shield Plans in 1948.”
Aetna showed up, these companies merged, Kaiser Permanente made the scene, and the rest is our bloated priced history, allegedly “Affordable” Care Act or no.
Despite alternative plans, tax loopholes, and ICHRAS popping up, businesses, small businesses, and employees alike are all kind of stuck with paying thousands of dollars to end up paying yet more thousands of dollars if anything actually happens.
It is worth noting that Stretch Dollar has a particular economic interest in disrupting health insurance’s relationship to employers as it is. But so do I and my, as of time of writing, freshly broken ankle. So let’s pull back from the past and look at where we are now.
In addition to more in-depth and unsettling graphs, a report for The Commonwealth Fund authored by Sarah R Collins, Relebohille Masitha, and Shreya Roy, pointed out:
“While media reports frequently highlight unexpected health care events and emergency room visits that leave people with lots of medical bills, our survey findings suggest that the source of much debt is simply care for chronic health problems. About half of adults with debt said it stemmed from treatment they received for an ongoing condition.”
“More than 6 in 10 people who lacked any type of health insurance said they or a family member delayed or skipped care because they couldn’t afford it. And among all those who reported skipping or delaying care, 57% said a health problem got worse as a result.”
According to the same report, about a third of all working Americans are in some form of medical debt as well.
Yeesh.
It’s bad, it’s getting worse, and sadly the stopgap measure that saved a hospital from collapse… just didn’t stop.
We can keep looking for ways to sever being an employer from being a healthcare arbiter (no one likes the paperwork, I know this). In the meantime… let’s all try and marry rich.
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A majority – if not all – of our lives nowadays revolve around our employment status and getting ahead of the rest. Jobs are easy to find but are getting increasingly difficult to actually obtain, thanks to ghosting and other horrible hiring tactics. Every company is coming up with more and more rules and regulations that only benefit them and not the employees.
Now coming from personal experience, I have left positions that I found no longer suited me in the hope of a better one like many workers do. We all just want to live happy and comfortable lives. So when we are on our way out of the door, we are thinking we are making the right decision.
Then we all apply to everything that interests us, meets our needs, and we have skills in. You’d be thinking well, all you need to do now is sit back and wait right?
That’s the problem though – we wait….and wait….and wait. Days, and sometimes weeks, go by and its radio silence from employers, so we apply to more positions in hopes that it was just a fluke. The cycle continues until a company decides that you fit what they need and they reach out.
Yay! We got an interview – that’s great. We go through the interview, they seem to like us, and again we wait…and wait…and wait.Silence.
The problem with this is companies are simply ghosting those that they don’t find qualified for a position. Not only is it incredibly rude, but it makes the potential employee feel invisible. I have applied to similar positions with credentials that meet the needs of those positions. 80% of the time, I hear nothing back.
It’s not just me either. Forbes reported in early 2021 that,
“An astounding 77% of job seekers say they’ve been ghosted by a prospective employer since the onset of Covid-19, with 10% reporting that an employer has ghosted them even after a verbal job offer was extended.”.
That number has steadily grown since then. Just the other day I had gone through three rounds of an interview process and I knew at the end I wouldn’t be getting the position due to some of the finer details not being expressed till later…I just had a feeling. That’s all fine and well, I won’t fit into every position perfectly – no one will – but at the end of the final interview, they asked If I had any questions. I told them I didn’t and I looked forward to hearing from them and then nothing. Ghosted. Okay, not so bad, I knew I wasn’t getting it anyway.
Another position for a very well-known company had me also go through several rounds of interviews and tests. They told me they were excited to have me on board and I would have a final meeting with the COO the following week. They sent me a Zoom conference link and everything. Prior to this, they also expressed that I was the only one they were interviewing and that I had the position in hand.
However, when the day came, the COO did not show up to the meeting. I reached out thinking I had the date and time wrong. They informed me that they would set up another one – that day came and went as well. I reached out again trying to understand and was completely ghosted. No emails, phone calls, or even acknowledgment of leaving me out dry. Then sure as the sky is blue, they reposted the position no more than a week later. I didn’t reapply.
Now, if I didn’t meet their requirements, that’s fine, I’m not hurt by that. If they went with a better fit that’s okay too. But no feedback was ever given to me about what they needed.
It may seem like a string of bad luck or maybe these companies were small and shady. These are reputable well known companies. Companies you see every day. I won’t name names as it won’t do me any favors, but how exactly does this all trickle down?
Let’s say I didn’t have the right degree for the job or lacked an extra year of experience before applying, but then I went and got that degree or the experience. Now, do you think I would reapply for a company that had ghosted me prior? Or respond to their request to fill out an application? I wouldn’t.
I wouldn’t touch the company with a ten-foot pole. I won’t be shopping in their stores. Now I can tell everyone who is interested in applying to them that they ghost people and don’t care about potential employees. Maybe out of sheer spite, I would apply and go through the process again, just to ghost them after an offer was given.
That would be petty and I wouldn’t actually do that, however, after speaking to other people in my age range facing the same problems, this is how they feel. They don’t want to give work for a company that doesn’t at least acknowledge someone who has applied for a position. Companies every day are being canceled and losing loyal customers due to ghosting. This is another avenue that needs to be taken seriously.
The right move would be to speak with your recruiting and HR departments. They are the front lines and the reason people are growing more upset. We even wrote about how HR was destroying your brand nearly 9 years ago! This is not new. What is new, however, is how new generations are handling ghosting.
I do not think most of us expect a full report of feedback from HR. But we do expect at least a thanks, but no thanks. Simply send an email saying you’ve selected someone else or you are not interested anymore, but thank you. This will go a long way in helping your company.
At the end of the day, ghosting potential employees hurts the company the most. Treat others how you expect to be treated and send that dang email.
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It’s officially been almost four years since COVID swept in and altered our lives forever.
During our pandemic era, several changes in careers and lifestyles all around the world shifted the way we live everyday life.
One of the most significant shifts occurred in the working world: In 2019, approximately 6% of Americans worked from home. Within two years, this number surged to around 18%, representing roughly 19 million additional remote workers.
However, as return-to-office mandates were introduced, they sparked controversy, particularly among employees who thrived in remote settings. Consequently, many workplaces have opted for hybrid arrangements, allowing employees to divide their time between remote work and office presence.
But as employees transitioned from their comfortable home setups to office environments, it became apparent that certain bad habits crept back into the workplace.
In response, a workplace etiquette industry emerged, aimed at assisting companies in preparing their employees for the office environment, as reported by CNN.
According to a survey conducted by Resume Builder, which involved over 1,500 business leaders, 45% of companies currently provide etiquette training to their employees, while an additional 18% intend to introduce it in 2024.
New York-based firm Beaumont Etiquette has experienced a notable surge in training requests from employers, reporting a 100% increase over the past two years.
When it comes to the skills employers prioritize in these training sessions, 78% of survey respondents identified “making polite conversation,” followed by 75% who chose “dressing professionally,” and 69% who highlighted “writing professional emails.”
While workplace behavior issues can arise across all age groups, younger professionals have encountered particular difficulties (as we’ve seen).
Many Gen Z individuals, who entered the workforce amidst the pandemic, have grappled with adapting to full-time employment and navigating corporate dynamics primarily through virtual platforms like Zoom or within sparsely populated offices.
To support these individuals, some employers initiated specialized training programs tailored specifically for entry-level employees. Notably, the Big Four consulting firms — Deloitte, PwC, KPMG, and EY — provide comprehensive soft skills training for incoming junior hires.
We have to add that workplace etiquette isn’t solely a concern for Gen Z; according to Resume Builder’s survey, only 10% of respondents indicated that they would exclusively mandate training for Gen Z employees, while 60% stated that it would be a requirement for all employees.
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Business greatness is paywalled.
For worse and for kinda better, we live in a completely different world for building and nurturing companies than even one generation ago did. Half a generation, even. I have a ten year old advertising degree, and none of my coursework included how to leverage TikTok because it did not exist.
And just as businesses are leaving behind the idea that happy, productive workers don’t necessarily need a physical presence in-office, so too are up and comers ditching the VC model of fundraising.
Customer first models are coming back for entrepreneurs who’ve decided not to play out ‘Shark Tank’ episodes, and just focus on building a good fanbase as their primary, or sole means of expansion.
“I strongly believe raising money through customer sales is the best option, and in a lot of cases, it should be the only option.
I don’t want to have to ignore a great startup idea because a handful of West Coast venture capitalists won’t deem it investable. “
Procopio went on to detail the three ways he’s made this work:
Turning services into products:
“Evolve your approach until your service becomes quicker, more cost-efficient, and can be performed by someone other than just you. Oh, and those people will become your employees. Then, as you automate their tasks away, you’ll elevate them into knowledge and managerial positions.”
I love the optimism on that last bit, but to be fair, not every employer is out to pump and dump personnel…probably.
Spinning a new company from an old job:
“The majority of new entrepreneurs are spawned from the ranks of corporate behemoths, where they’ve been doing the same thing long enough to see all the flaws, so they find the areas most ripe for disruption and then attack those areas with new ideas.”
This one’s my favorite. It comes with the added bonus of getting to wipe a big load of ‘I told you this would work’ all over every superior who shot down your ideas at your old job. And who doesn’t want that?
Last and most difficult is Starting From Scratch:
“There’s no roadmap, there’s no market screaming for your product, there’s no advisor or mentor who can come in and tell you how to get started. You’re not only making the product, but you’re making the market, the sales channel, and most of the rules.
It sounds great on paper. It’s freaking scary in real life.”
This is where your great idea, or your passion springing forth apropos of nothing in your life save your research will leave you. It’s hard for a reason, but without people making it through like this, where would we be? It can still happen.
Cards on the table, I didn’t know what VC was until I took a position in the crowdfunding space. I figured all businesses were built from slowly building customer interest until bigwigs took notice (and ruined everything). But even though this might still be an alternative strategy to leveling up LLC-wise for now, it’s not impossible.
“Any of these three customer-first methods can result in companies that could take VC or other public money later on, once they’ve established their product, revenue, and sustainability. In these cases, the entrepreneur winds up negotiating from a position of strength–and, even better, he or she will know exactly how to put those funds to work to get the massive return that all investors expect.”, Procopio finishes.
Consider starting from a position that puts you a little less ‘hat in hand’ if you’re not already connected enough to go the friends and family route, or ready to get into rooms on a regular basis.
Nothing says ‘I can be trusted with money’ more than showing that you can make it. On paper at least. Happy ramening, and good luck!
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I see people asking for a mentor all the time. I also see people lament the relationship with their mentors because the outcomes are not what they expected or wanted. One reason for this is that people are requesting mentorship when they really want an advocate.
Mentorship is a relationship that is about guidance, growth, and development. While professional mentors exist and can support you in achieving your career goals through sharing. Mentors guide and nurture. Mentoring relationships are an exchange between people.
However, when people ask for mentors frequently, what they really want is an advocate.
When you are seeking support or information, clearly identify your goals. What are you looking to achieve? What are your priorities?
When seeking professional development relationships, I find most people are really seeking advocates. They want someone helping them navigate professional next steps and advocating for them. This differs from a mentor relationship. If you want or need an advocate, ask for that.
A simple way to do this would be during a performance review or goal-setting conversation with your manager. While reviewing performance or setting goals, ask questions about opportunities and next steps you may be a good fit for. Ask how best to make that next step and ask who may be able to help assist and advocate for you to take next steps. It may be your manager. Your manager may recommend speaking to someone and help connect you.
If working with your manager does not seem viable or the best option for you, given your goals, search for someone who does what you may want to do. Ask if the person has time for an informational interview. Or, ask if you can ask a few questions. LinkedIn and networking events are great spaces for this.
You can also look at professional organizations or school alumni groups. If you have common experiences and/or interests, the person is more likely to say yes. This will help establish the relationship necessary for successful advocacy or mentoring.
I know asking for this type of assistance can be challenging, but it is worth the risk. In my experience, most people are willing to help, you just have to be willing to ask for what you want.
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Have you ever been rejected? If your answer is “no” you’re either lying or you haven’t experienced enough. While rejection has a negative connotation and, yes, it can hurt, it’s not necessarily an all-around bad thing. One can learn a lot from rejection.
Similar to hearing people say, “if it weren’t for that one relationship not working out, I wouldn’t have met my soulmate.” The same can be true in any facet. Though the relationship initially “rejected” that person, the outcome was far superior.
To be successful – meaning consistently successful and not just lucky – one has to become comfortable with rejection.
When I was first starting as a writer, I clocked 20 rejections on a short story before getting it published. Not only did it feel especially exciting to finally get that acceptance letter, but it taught me a valuable lesson that things aren’t just handed to you (an assumption that many people starting out wrongfully make).
Getting into that mindset early in my career allowed me to expect that rejection is part of the experience. It gives me a chance to form stronger ideas and come back with a better product as a result.
Here’s three ways to have your mindset see rejection as a positive.
1. Reframing “no”
Starting out as a young entrepreneur, it’s likely many people will tell you “no.” Take that, consider what may have caused the “no,” and figure out how to improve on your product or pitch.
Getting stuck on the “no” will define what comes your way. If you’re only looking at the negative, you’ll never seek the positive.
2. Persistence is key
This creates a trait that is paramount to the success of an entrepreneur: persistence.
If you’re not willing to be persistent, it doesn’t matter how good your product or service is, you’ll burn out right quick.
3. What’s meant to be, will be
Have you ever heard the phrase, “If that door doesn’t open, maybe it wasn’t meant for you”? If you’re getting a rejection, maybe that’s a sign that it wasn’t the right fit. I’m not saying that a “yes” is an automatic right fit, but, ultimately, you want to work with those who want to work with you. So if you keep trying to find the right fit, the door should open for you.
To recap: seeing the benefits of “no,” staying persistent, and finding the right door are the ways of making rejection work in your favor.
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If you’re living in the year 2023, you’ve been part of conversations digesting how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing our lives, especially work tasks with the advent of ChatGPT. You may love or hate the idea of the rapid proliferation of AI tools, but what we can all agree on is that the timing is fascinating, given the widespread Zoom fatigue, “post-pandemic.”
Will video conferencing be one arena that is so rapidly advanced that we can just send our bots into the meeting to conduct our business for us?
I could be dreaming here, but let’s talk about the various tools that could theoretically put the bots to work FOR* us, rather than AGAINST us.
*The caveat here is that middle management could be the most impacted by this scenario of streamlining meetings.
Let’s talk about the theoretical ways current tools can make it possible for us start letting the bots do meetings for us, then I’ll share tons of tools that could make it possible.
For now, they’ll all have to be duct taped together (figuratively), but for meeting haters, the bots are pretty badass.
1. Meeting preparation
If you’ve used ChatGPT, you know that you can ask AI to take walls of copy and turn them into streamlined, bullet-pointed, meaningful texts that are more useful than your gobbledy goop.
Imagine that you have a meeting today before end of business. You aren’t ready. But you could use Google Recorder to verbally put all of your thoughts into a transcript you can copy and paste into ChatGPT (or Bard, or other AI tools), and ask it to turn that text into a summary with an intro, bullet points, goals, and next steps.
You’d might be surprised that you can already do this with tools at your fingertips. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than an hour of penning your portion of the meeting.
2. Agenda setting
There’s nothing more annoying than a meeting without an agenda where someone drones on and on. And even with an agenda, efficiency can suffer, but AI-powered agenda setting tools can automatically organize multiple agendas, prioritize topics, set time limits for items, and keep everyone on focus.
Can you imagine a bot interrupting Jerry to try to make a point? “Jerry, your time has expired, it is now time for Lisa to begin her portion of this meeting, thank you,” then mutes him. Amazing.
3. Keeping it human
When someone speaks to you, you’re supposed to look at them. It’s human nature. Whether you’re neurodivergent or just plan on sleeping through meetings, it can be a challenge, even on video, to keep your eyes looking directly into the camera for politeness.
Nvidia has created an app to maintain eye contact so long as your face is on cam. It’s pretty self-explanatory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzpvO1nflw
Eventually, we may remove ourselves from meetings and use avatars, but for now, we probably have to physically be at the video meetings. So we can at least use this tool to offer the appearance of full attention.
4. Make captions do more than just caption
Most video conferencing apps now offer live transcription (which honestly is still hit or miss), and third party apps now take those transcription and offer post-meeting notes with speaker labels and everything. Some even offer sentiment ratings of the conversation and rank who spoke the most and least.
International collaborations have always had the challenge of language barriers, but with real-time translation technologies, the barriers disappear. Advanced AI algorithms can already provide instant translation of what is being said and create immediate captions in each attendee’s native language.
Further, in any of these scenarios, it is possible to mute the speaker and ask an AI app to read the captions to you aloud in real time as well. See? Duct tape a few tools together and you’re already in business!
5. Virtual meeting assistants
Virtual meeting assistants already exist to go to every meeting, interject with reminders, offer real-time suggestions, and facilitate smooth interactions. They can monitor discussions to identify key points being made, and offer contextual suggestions to enhance the decision making process.
These assistants can also handle admin tasks like sending relevant documents to attendees, schedule follow up meetings, and even fact check.
6. Virtual reality meeting environments
If Tim Cook or Zuckerberg have their way, we’ll all be wearing virtual reality (VR) headsets 24/7, and we’ll live in virtual worlds where we can have work meetings on the virtual beach and listen to virtual waves and have a virtual good time.
Jokes aside, AI combined with VR has the potential to transform our work meetings and make them more immersive to feel like a physical meeting space has been recreated. Spatial audio has made it possible to “walk” to a different spot in the same meeting room and hear someone “close” to you louder than someone far away.
The theory here is that video meetings could exist in a third dimension, with the idea of minimizing travel.
7. Deepfakes
We’ve already established that we can make an agenda from just our spoken word, and bots can keep a meeting on track, but under all of the aforementioned options, we still have to actually attend those meetings.
Currently, if there is enough video available of you, a likeness can already be made of it visually, and if enough audio is available of you, you can replicate the voice to be used in conjunction with video. It’s not currently the simplest process, but in the last year, it has become extremely accessible.
We interviewed “Ethon Musk” recently using a bot trained on his voice to take live questions and immediately respond.
Further, deepfake creation isn’t impossible, and doesn’t require a computer science degree, have a look:
Why not type up notes as a script, then send in your deepfake? Zuck won’t be happy that you’re not in the mEtaVerSe, but it means you don’t have to be in a meeting, so that’s pretty cool.
Tons of AI meeting tools you can already try out:
There is a lot of overlap in the AI meeting tool space, but each of these has different options, so take a peek at all of them, because one or two are likely going to fit your needs. But note, we haven’t added any deepfake or VR apps here, just AI meeting tools:
Magical – the calendar that takes meeting notes for you
Spoke – automated AI-driven minutes, video highlights, and search
Dive – putting meetings on autopilot with automated notes, seamless summaries, and action items
Hypercontext – manage team and 1:1 meetings with collaborative agendas, meeting insights, next steps tracker, real-time feedback, and integrated notes
Loopin – AI meeting assistant for customer-facing teams
Avoma – AI meeting assistant with revenue intelligence
Vidlogs – for remote teams to record, transcribe, translate, search and recall discussions, as well as share any of them
Laxis – personal meeting assistant with real-time transcription and meeting highlights, personalized templates and topic maps, insight extraction, and quotes
Tactiq – real-time transcription of your meeting that is automatically sent to all attendees
Vowel – host, summarize, search, and share video meetings without add-ons
Sembly – AI team assistant transcribes, takes meting notes, generates insights, and automates follow ups
tl;dv – records and transcribes, but also allows you to make quick clips of highlights so anyone can quickly catch up on meetings
Amy – meeting preparation in seconds, straight to your calendar
Superpowered – AI copilot for meetings with no bots, no recordings, just really high quality notes
Waitroom – AI powered time-boxed speaking and off-camera listening to shift the structure of collaboration
In conclusion, AI is transforming the future of video meetings, and while in 2023, we all still have calendars filled with Zoom calls, perhaps 2024 will offer a more accessible option to just send in bots with scripts in our place that look and sound like us. A gal can dream.
This editorial was first published here in May of 2023.
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Is remote work a viable replacement for work in office?
This is a relevant question in the workforce, sparked by the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Over the past few years, remote work has taken the term “popular” and ran with it. Many businesses, from small companies to large corporations, have hopped aboard the trend.
A lot of CEOs often express concern for the future of an dwindling in-office workforce that some believe is dwindling. There’s an idea swarming that ‘a remote worker is a lazy worker.’ I mean, sitting in the comfort of your home can’t possibly be an environment that promotes efficient work, right?
Well, let’s take a look at an evaluation performed by Harvard. The study is based on the changes we’re seeing in the remote workforce and gives an unbiased review of what patterns are showing. They gathered their information from ten large global organizations and Zoom, Webex meetings, and Microsoft teams. Results were collected from a variety of fields. Their analysis unfolded three major changes:
Remote meetings are more common/frequent
Remote meetings are more randomized
Remote meetings are smaller
Compared to results found in 2020, there were 60% more remote gatherings per worker, which is an average of five to eight meetings for each employee. Meeting lengths have also decreased by about 25% since 2020, making the new average 33 minutes. The average number of people in the meetings has also dropped by half from findings in 2020. This data is based on the number of meetings being held in a one-on-one fashion. 42% of the recorded meetings were one-on-one.
Something neat they were able to see was the number of meetings that were deemed as “spontaneous.” As of 2022, 66% of one-on-one meetings were not previously scheduled.
In comparison to 2020’s data, a unique picture is painted. Workers in 2022 didn’t become lazier or less engaged – quite the opposite. The study also showed that remote work interactions are mirrored in-person, one-on-one interactions. There are concerns that remote employees are missing out on important social events and interactions, but according to the data, they weren’t missing out any more than they may have before. Of course, this is data from only one study, but it’s interesting, to say the least. Harvard is known for conducting studies all across the board, but you can find plenty more on remote and hybrid work if you’re curious.
This story was first published here in spring of 2023.
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The following is the thoughts and analysis of Frank Williamson, the CEO of Oaklyn Consulting, a consulting firm that helps those with a business and/or nonprofits with a company’s sale, mergers, acquisitions, capital-raising, investor relations, succession, and other strategic corporate finance decisions.
Having a profitable business is no guarantee that you’ll one day be able to easily sell it. The pool of potential buyers for a business can vary widely depending on how unique your business’s products or services are and the specific profile of your business’s contracts, organization and ownership. Not only that, but wider conditions in the economy can affect the availability of capital in unexpected ways.
When a business has selective appeal in the market, a traditional “broad M&A auction process” isn’t necessarily a practical path to a successful sale. In my work as an investment banker for complex transactions, I instead often recommend to clients a highly customized process designed to reveal demand and pricing in a very thin market. That involves identifying prospective buyers or even a single ideal buyer, uncovering their motivations to do a deal and then making the business as appealing to them in as specific a way as possible.
This process is typically not a short one. It takes months at a minimum, and more advance planning than some might expect. But for sellers who finally connect with a buyer whose needs dovetail with theirs, it can be gratifying, not to mention financially rewarding, to go this route.
Here are some considerations for business owners to keep in mind when contemplating a potential sale of a niche business:
Finding the ideal buyer for the future of your business, not its past
The generic way of expressing the sale price of a business is to describe it as a multiple of that business’s earnings from the previous year. But this isn’t the way to calculate it. For buyers who only can see what a business has accomplished in the past, its value might seem quite low. But when a buyer has the imagination to envision the possibilities of your business combined with their business, the potential future earnings of that combination might be much higher.
Maybe your business has a locked-in supply contract that has helped you thrive over time, but could be much more valuable to the buyer — perhaps by leveraging this relationship into a new set of customers they previously weren’t able to access. This makes your business scarce and valuable to them, which is what every seller wants.
For any business, chances are there’s one potential buyer out in the world who is more fired up than anyone else. The seller’s job is to invest sufficient time and imagination brainstorming, perhaps in cooperation with an advisor, to figure out who that buyer might be. Understand the competitive landscape and consider any business that is adjacent to you, whether you’re looking upward toward customers, downward toward suppliers, or side-to-side toward competitors and complementors. Anybody who wins when you win, or loses when you win, could be a potential buyer.
Making your business seem scarce
Once you get a potential buyer fired up, you need to create some urgency for them — in other words, the opportunity to purchase your business can’t a forever option. Having other offers on the table is one way of accomplishing that, even if they’re not quite as enthused about the deal. Another way to drive the buyer’s interest is to be prepared not to do a deal at all.
If you feel you’ve found the one person who really wants to buy your business, it’s tempting to stop there and not explore any other options. However, doing that means that you have too little ability to walk away if the deal discussions don’t proceed as you hoped. In general, ignoring everybody else but your top prospect is unwise, since it leaves you without the ability to portray scarcity.
Pricing on the basis of sharing future benefits
It can be helpful to proactively quantify for the buyer what a potential business combination could look like. You want them to have a sense that by doing something together, you can beat the competition sooner or more effectively.
Whenever a company sells for a surprisingly high multiple of its previous earnings, the common denominator is that there’s something about the future, rather than the past, driving that value. Usually, the purchase makes something possible for the buyer that they couldn’t accomplish on their own.
Maybe combining the two companies makes some internal cost-cutting possible, or creates a new cross-selling opportunity. Sometimes, the purchase puts the buying company over a threshold to sell for a high value themselves. Whatever the reason, somebody has to run the numbers, understand the return on investment and be confident that there’s untapped potential. Taking the opportunity to guide this analysis will open new ways to talk about value.
Carefully understanding the buyer’s perspective
If your business does represent the missing piece of a puzzle for the buyer, they’re probably not going to tell you that outright. However, a buyer may be willing to communicate certain value goals that can be helpful in understanding the deal’s potential appeal to them. As the seller, you might be conditioned to focus on the value of your business, forgetting to ask why someone’s interested in you in the first place. The key is to ask that question, because understanding the buyer’s perspective can lead to a more open discussion about value.
If the biggest thing preventing you from moving forward with a particular buyer is that they don’t appear to have the cash to close a deal, consider this: You can accomplish a lot in addition to garnering cash at closing. Eventual sales start many ways, such as a joint venture arrangement. Also, don’t overlook that for the right deal, acquisition financing is not hard to come by. If a seller is potentially creating something bigger through the combination of their company and yours, that can be very attractive to investors.
Timing a deal that’s right for both sides
Most business owners have good intuition about the value of what they do. If you aren’t in a rush to sell your business and you’re comfortable with potentially walking away from a deal that’s not good enough, you have a great deal of bargaining power.
A recent client of our firm’s, a long-established and fast-growing company, is a good example of this strategy. The owner’s stance with private equity investors was that if the terms shifted, he would be happy to walk away. As it turned out, the terms did not shift during a multi-year negotiation, and the deal closed with the parties happy on both sides.
If you’re doing something that’s consistently valuable to your customers, then that group of customers and the service that you provide are probably also valuable to at least one other party. By being thoughtful and methodical as you consider prospects, then listening to them about their aspirations, together you might be able to find a way to help them grow naturally or do their work better. This kind of post-deal vision is what leads to the best at-closing outcomes when businesses sell.
About Frank Williamson
Frank Williamson is the founder of Oaklyn Consulting, a different kind of investment banking firm for small- and medium-sized companies under private ownership. Oaklyn plans and executes its clients’ most complex transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, capital-raising, recapitalizations, and lender and investor relations. Oaklyn supports businesses, investment firms, nonprofits, co-ops and partnerships. By working as consultants, not brokers, Oaklyn helps in situations where traditional investment bankers typically cannot.
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The following is the thoughts and analysis of Frank Williamson, the CEO of Oaklyn Consulting, a consulting firm that helps those with a business and/or nonprofits with a company’s sale, mergers, acquisitions, capital-raising, investor relations, succession, and other strategic corporate finance decisions.
It’s good to be the boss. Or is it? Despite the freedom that leading a company offers, the work of a small business owner can be exhausting — and might feel unending.
Owners who manage their businesses need to maintain a constant focus on keeping existing clients and employees happy, maintaining a pipeline of new prospects, and continuing to turn a profit, all on top of the various other little responsibilities that inevitably pop up. While they might aspire to do the serious long-term planning that might help to grow their business, it can be understandably hard to find the time.
As a result, some entrepreneurs begin to ponder whether being an employee wasn’t so bad after all — and how they might go about selling their business if they decided to take that leap. One option is to accomplish two tasks at once: finding a buyer for their company who would also hire them in a management role.
For a buyer who is already interested in the company, hiring a talented executive, or even an entire management team, might be an unanticipated bonus. It’s not uncommon for companies large or small to have gaps in their leadership team, and experienced people with deep industry knowledge aren’t always easy to come by.
Necessary steps for the owner
While a management team can contribute to the sales process by keeping the company running smoothly, the lion’s share of the work of selling an owner-managed business falls to the business owner — often in collaboration with outside consultants.
First, before they go too far down the road with a prospect, owners might need to do a mental check-in to make sure they’re truly comfortable with the loss of control that they’ll experience as an employee. Some people pursue company ownership because they don’t like taking orders, and as the boss, they’re as essential as they want to be. Returning to outside employment means that somebody else will be calling the shots, and the decisions made might not always be the ones the former owner would choose. As a list of serious prospects starts to develop, one important factor to consider is how well buyer and seller get along personally, since the sale would initiate an ongoing working relationship.
Owners can play an important role in making prospective buyers aware of their interest in being acquired. This can be made easier if they have a talent for networking or are already on a friendly basis with their competitors. They can also cast a net toward large clients or companies they themselves are clients of, either of whom might see the strategic benefit of a business combination.
Once conversations with prospective buyers begin, owners also need to participate actively in the sales process. This isn’t always as natural a transition as one might think. Although successful entrepreneurs generally don’t get to where they are without some sales abilities, not all of them are able to view their business with the necessary level of detachment to craft a compelling story to potential buyers. If they’re able to do that, owners can often be their business’s best advocate, combining a big-picture vision with important specifics drawn from their deep experience — including who their customer base would be and how their deal pipeline would work.
An experienced, well-oiled management team might be one reason an acquirer looks to buy a company. So, if an owner expresses a desire to sell the company, the most helpful thing team members can do is to think imaginatively about how they can contribute to the company’s ongoing success throughout the sales process. By working together as a high-performing unit, team members can help the company owner make a strong case for bringing them along as part of the deal.
After the sale
After locating a serious buyer and agreeing on the terms of a deal, the now-former company owner, maybe along with her management team, will be stepping into a new and unfamiliar work environment — one that could remain stable for years, or might be short-lived if the new owners are in the practice of buying and selling frequently.
The owner will likely be walking away from the sale with enough financial flexibility to maintain their standard of living, even if a new job is short-lived. That financial situation might not be true of other executive team members, so they should factor that into their decision to continue along with the owner in the newly combined company. However, if the conditions are right, a company sale could offer both the owner and executive team an opportunity to move into a rewarding new phase of their careers.
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Freelancers often bend over backward to accommodate clients, many times to the detriment of the freelancer. Bad clients are toxic. It’s never easy to say “you’re fired” to anyone, but as a freelancer, sometimes, you need to weigh the cash value of a client against your time, mental health, and sleepless nights.
Here are some reasons you can fire a client without feeling guilty.
1. Clients who aren’t paying on time
Clients who don’t pay or avoid you when there’s a problem need to go. You waste a lot of mental energy chasing down payments and juggling your bills. I know it can look like a bird in the hand kind of situation, but if your client isn’t paying your bill, the bird isn’t really in your hand.
My best clients have been with me for over five years. They consistently meet the payment schedule. Not to say there haven’t been glitches, but they’ve always taken the initiative to explain and got it fixed right away.
2. Clients who become more demanding without offering more payment
There are always jobs that need to be done right away or need more work. A client who puts demands on your time without compensation is hurting you. When you say yes to one thing, a short deadline, you’re putting other work off.
You may be able to deliver to other clients within their deadline, but if you’re tired and grumpy, will it be your best work?
High-maintenance clients who want to micro-manage are another type of client you may want to kick to the curb. At the very least, raise your rates to account for the extra time it takes to mentally deal with them.
3. Clients who don’t act professionally
You need to set good boundaries with clients who may be your friends. It’s hard to find that line, but if you don’t set up good professional rules at the onset, you’re going to find yourself doing more for a client out of “friendship.”
You’ll become resentful because you’re doing favors and not getting anything in return. Clients who violate contracts aren’t any better, regardless of any outside relationship.
It isn’t easy to fire a client. It’s your paycheck on the line. If you’ve got a bad client, think about the hours you waste worrying about them. Believe me, they are not spending the same energy. Use your energy to find better clients who appreciate you and your work.
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I was first published at age four, read the entire Nancy Drew series before kindergarten, joined the school newspaper in middle school, at age 10 was the only child in an adult writer’s guild working on a novel (and horrified everyone with my gruesome murder stories).
I moved on to competitive journalism and creative writing in high school, co-founded the Undergraduate English Association in college, and graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in English Literature.
Universities are ending English as a major
All of the above is to illustrate that I have a wildly biased view of English majors.
So it would not surprise you to learn I was shocked that schools like Marymount and St. Mary’s in Minnesota were eliminating English as a major, and others are in talks to nix entire English departments.
My dismay is not simply because future graduates won’t validate my own life choices and feed my ego by sharing a major.
No, the dismay is at what this tells the world – communication no longer matters.
And isn’t the timing marvelously perfect as writers around the globe chew their fingernails to the quicks, worrying that the dark cloud of artificial intelligence (AI) has finally found them and that ChatGPT will soon replace them (and probably eat their souls)?
For those just catching up, I promise the tools are not just novel toys, but legitimate business tools, just like the launch of Google as a search engine was a tool. It doesn’t replace, it augments.
But that’s in it’s current form, which is amazing at bangin’ out outlines, editing, and tweaking, but when you ask it to write a blog post, for example, it sounds like you hired someone offshore for $5 (you wouldn’t call it bad or good, just OFF).
I’m at an intersection about this
I find myself at this unique intersection where one direction I see myself on a typewriter in an off-grid cabin, furiously word slinging my way into a weird novel, while in the other direction, I am obsessed with technology and finding new and interesting ways to use tools like ChatGPT to augment my existing work.
Another intersection I find myself at is how incredibly innovative AI has become in a short period, and how threatening it could be to mankind, but that’s another editorial for another day.
Cutting English studies couldn’t be timed more poorly
So here we all are – AI went mainstream this year, even your mom has heard about it, and universities are annihilating English departments. I want to tell you why the timing couldn’t be worse.
Have you heard the job title “prompt engineer” yet? It’s already a six-figure job:
Wow – Anthropic (Google's latest $300M AI investment) is hiring a "Prompt Engineer" for $250k-$335k/yr + equity
No CS degree required, just have "at least basic programming and QA skills"
Luminaries like Sam Altman (CEO at OpenAI, the company that developed ChatGPT) are pondering prompt engineering:
writing a really great prompt for a chatbot persona is an amazingly high-leverage skill and an early example of programming in a little bit of natural language
(No, the irony is not lost on me that this tweet could use a little bit of that English major TLC – it proves my point.)
It’s 2023. We all blinked, and prompt engineering (aka prompt writing or prompt creation) is already a high-paying job title. Altman tips his hat to the skill it takes to write them. Yet English departments are disappearing.
Are you seeing the disconnect here?
Let me illustrate the power of prompt engineering
The tools I’m most enjoying today are:
ChatGPT (by OpenAI): An AI language model for natural language processing. Type in a prompt like “Tell me 3 facts about Montreal,” and it generates a single human-sounding response instead of a search engine which lets you choose from millions of results.
Bard (by Google): I asked this tool, “please describe Bard in under 10 words to a layperson,” and it said, “Google AI-powered large language model,” which isn’t super helpful to all readers but it is similar to ChatGPT – type a prompt, get one result that sounds human.
Midjourney – this AI text-to-art tool is so powerful that the free version had to be shut down since people really thought the Pope was wearing a puffer vest or Trump was in cuffs.
Prompt engineering is just the words used for getting bots to create a result you have in mind. It’s easier to illustrate visually:
Right now, I want you to imagine you’re sitting down to Midjourney for the first time, and you have a specific image in mind that you want it to generate. Maybe you want an image for your blog of a programmer.
You might type in “computer programmer at a desk.” Here’s what you would get:
But that’s not exactly what you had in mind, and none are the right dimensions. You wanted someone that looks more like you (maybe hispanic) and less bored, and it should be wider than taller.
So you try “happy hispanic computer programmer, sitting at a desk in a beautiful office –ar 3:2.” You’re keeping the wording simple as you learn what the tools can do (and “ar” just means “aspect ratio” so you can get the dimensions right).
That’s way better, and looks less like someone hacking space objects from a basement. And it almost got all of the hands right! But you’re hoping for a more specific look.
You try “happy hispanic computer programmer, sitting at a desk in a broody stylish office, ultra realistic, 135mm, –ar 3:2 –stylize 1000,” because you remember that was a lens in a photography class you audited 80 years ago, and read that “–stylize 1000” gives you a bit more granular control.
Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. You like the one on the bottom left, so you select that one to “upscale.” You then toss it into your photo editor, warm it up a bit, get the proper cropping, and voila, you’re a happy camper.
This extremely simplified version of prompt engineering is why folks are saying the following:
What if you had to do this with words instead of images?
If you’re a marketing professional, you’ll play with ChatGPT to perhaps generate CTA (call to action) alternatives, to make an email sound more casual, generate consumer survey questions, or fine tune blog post titles.
But that is where the English major powers come in – copywriters are paid well because they can not only write skillfully, but because they can look at what you’ve written or what a bot has written, and immediately know if it is good or not. Bots still can’t do that.
Fast forward to this week, and you might have heard that ChatGPT and now Bard can both do some coding for you (it’s made the rounds in meme land).
This is where prompt engineering gets tricky.
You can teach someone English, but without subject matter expertise, they won’t know if the answers generated by the bots are worth anything.
In the above example, you’d have to know some basics like aperture, or perhaps even art styles, and little “tricks” to alter dimensions – just typing in “computer programmer” doesn’t read your mind, you still have to put in info and the more specifics you feed the AI, the better the results.
But let’s say you are asking ChatGPT to do some coding for you, and you’re not a coder. You ask it to create a widget for your WordPress site that can scroll the current average for gas prices in three cities.
It immediately burps out a bunch of code. You look at it and think “neat!” and add it to your site. Your site is now broken, womp womp.
You (and I) don’t have the acumen to be able to look at that result with understanding, but a coder would have seen the first answer and told ChatGPT to try again because it’s calling the wrong thingamabop to the wrong thingamajig.
ChatGPT would say “I am sorry, you are correct,” and generate another attempt at code that would work. But a coder would see that it is still going to throw errors, so it tells ChatGPT what tweaks to make, and the code will now work. But it may take several tries.
Subject matter expertise will be required for prompt engineering. But so will creativity, critical thinking, and a mastery of language.
So I formally declare that we stop lamenting the end of English majors and begin celebrating how valuable that major will be in coming years!
This editorial was first published here in April of 2023.
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The holidays represent a stressful time for all, but at the center of that anxious nexus lies the average small business: artsy, evocative of attentive craft, and generally warmer than the local Walmart.
One would reasonably expect that such businesses would struggle to keep up with demand, which is why a relatively recent trend of misleading consumers about their order statuses is so frustrating.
Virtually every consumer can identify what makes a small business appealing in comparison to its larger counterparts, and where they fall short. Purchasing from a smaller business as opposed to something like Amazon is not without its drawbacks, namely in terms of shipping speed and efficiency. When a consumer makes a conscious choice to buy small, they are accepting that the product may take a long time to arrive but will be worth the wait.
All consumers ask, in return, is transparency and fair customer service. Judging by this concerning new trend, that is not what they are receiving when they purchase from small retailers.
Small businesses occupy a liminal space that comprises both the illusion of big-budget advertising and the homemade quality one often associates with a small operation. This means that the disconnect between what one sees in marketing materials – emails, Instagram ads, and even texts – and the actual services provided by the business in question can be quite substantial, so much so that one might even consider them misleading.
Chief among this subterfuge is the infamous tracking link, something that most small businesses will send once an order has been processed and shipped. In theory, actually shipping the product requires it to be moving toward its destination in some form; unfortunately, more and more businesses are pushing out the “Shipped” status days – sometimes even weeks – prior to the package leaving.
All the while, the business has to keep up with its online marketing. That isn’t something to fault, but if you’re sitting at home refreshing a tracking link (we all do it) and wondering why, for the eighth day in a row since receiving the shipping email, your package has yet to be picked up by a carrier, you wouldn’t be wrong in wondering why the company bothered to send the email at all – and that online marketing doesn’t do anything other than increase your resentment.
At first, this may seem like a one-off issue. You purchased an item during peak holiday sales, it was hastily marked as processed and shipped, and the carrier took an extra day or two to pick it up.
The problem with that logic is twofold: This is happening a lot more than circumstance would allow for, and packages are sitting unattended for a lot longer than a couple of days; it also doesn’t justify flat-out exaggerating an order’s shipment status.
Yes, this may prevent a one-time purchase from consumers who are in a hurry.
Yes, this may deter a few potential repeat customers who have no sense of delayed gratification.
But failing to communicate honestly and effectively with your actual customer base – the one that will return to you again and again – in favor of misleading incentivization tactics is the only surefire way to alienate your most loyal demographic.
Unfortunately, small businesses who engage in this kind of manipulation only further make a case for a wholesale shift to online retailers like Amazon, who – despite egregious human rights violations and soulless regurgitation of small business ideals – have the resources and financial support to offer reliable and honest communication and customer service. Regrettable as it is, that’s enough to sway the average buyer.
In no uncertain terms, lying to buyers about the window in which they will receive their purchases represents an erosion of trust that cannot be undone; it’s far better to simply explain delays without attempting to sugar the pill.
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It’s safe to say that times have changed over the last few years. We’ve all felt it, especially in our pockets. With the growing need for sustainable ways to earn money, many have turned to finding alternative ways to make ends meet. If you need a little extra moolah to put bread on the table, you may want to look into starting a side hustle! So, what is a side hustle?
They are commonly described as alternative businesses supplemental to a primary job. However, several have made the transition from part-time gigs to full-time jobs. I know what you may be thinking- ANOTHER job? Hear me out. Side gigs don’t have to be crazy difficult or hard to manage. Why don’t we go through a few options that might be worth your while?
1. Coaching
Coaching is a fun and interactive way to begin earning money.
Starting your coaching journey can be a bit overwhelming, so make sure you start small. It’s important to think about what you want your niche to be, and do research on your potential audience. Look into what your ‘competitors’ are doing, and brainstorm ways to implement your content. Once you have an idea of who your viewers are going to be, start engaging! Marketing your individual brand involves a lot of corresponding with others in your niche.
One of the most vital aspects of being a coach and actually making money doing it, is creating a community. Put time and energy into building a relationship with your new community, making sure you’re as authentic as possible. People like hearing real experiences and genuine stories. As long as you make authenticity the foundation of your coaching hustle, you’re bound to make a profit.
2. Day Trading
Day trading is another side gig that’s on the rise, and there’s a chance that you probably know someone who is trying it. Many people are attracted to day trading because of its unpredictability. This particular gig involves selling stocks, bonds, or security. There are a lot of highs and lows, but that’s one of the beauties of this type of trade.
Day trading can be profitable if it’s taken seriously, but you must be focused and diligent to succeed with this hustle. In order to market your day trading business, you first have to make sure that you’re able to move fast and govern every decision with logic. There are numerous resources specifying how to market your day trading business that are accessible.
3. Real Estate Investing
If you’re passionate about the financial market, this one may be for you!
Real estate is an industry that requires intensive research and study. It’s not a one-size-fits-all, nor is it for everyone. Starting out in real estate investment, you’ll need to do the dirty work before you can start investing. This usually entails beginning a part-time job in project management. The more you put into picking up knowledge on this industry, the more likely you’ll have success. If you’ve already gone through this process, you may want to put yourself out there!
For real estate investment marketing, you need to make sure you’re targeting motivated sellers. Hiring someone to create a landing page for your personal website is also a feasible option when you are marketing yourself. For this particular gig, you may even want to consider giving paid marketing a shot.
4. Content Writing
You may have heard that it takes a certain type of person to be a writer. While that may be true to some extent, you can achieve writing skills through practice. If you’re passionate about writing and content creation, listen up.
Content writing is a rewarding way to display your skills, build a portfolio, and gain knowledge. Different from copywriting, content writing is specializing in creating relevant content for businesses. Content is crucial for every business, and the market for this hustle is booming. If you’re familiar with content writing and want to take further steps, create a portfolio. Once you’ve created your portfolio, you can begin applying to job openings or even freelancing.
5. Thrifting
If you have an eye for fashion and what sells, thrifting and reselling can be an enjoyable side hustle. Made popular through websites like Poshmark, reselling has become a pleasurable way to make money while doing something you enjoy. If you’re serious about thrifting, why not make a side hustle out of it?
Marketing your thrift business can be done through showing positive reviews, as well as asking friends to share your posts. Don’t stop there, though! You could even advertise your service locally and get the community engaged.
Of course, having a side hustle can help bring money to the table, but it can also do so much more! You can build your portfolio and brand, strengthen your skills, and elevate your knowledge. Are you ready to take on the challenge?
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Brian Clark, founder of Further, reminds us that some are trying to change the narrative around AI, saying instead that it will augment work, rather than put people out of jobs.
A lot of people are spending millions of dollars developing AI tools. Clark says that positioning AI as an augmented tool for human jobs is a con job, as it is being developed to do things cheaper and quicker than humans can. Clark writes:
“It’s no secret that many public corporations and private firms alike are motivated by short-term profit over the economic security of their employees. But it’s a different story when you’re the owner of the company.”
According to Clark, it’s important to listen to the change in the narrative there is a shifting change in job loss much sooner than anticipated. What was once maybe thirty to fifty years out is actually right around the corner.
It’s time to start adjusting now to the future of work
Saying AI is just going to augment jobs is a lie we’re being fed to ward off panic. It’s suspected that blue-collar jobs are more at risk of loss or change. Fast-food and warehouse workers may be disrupted before the better-educated workers are. Seeing how you can’t walk into a McDonald’s without seeing an ordering kiosk, it seems likely.
Just as the factory system of the industrial revolution changed society, AI is changing work and society. Computers can process data faster than humans ever will, but there are traits humans possess that computers haven’t quite mastered yet. Economically, business owners can’t ignore the practicality of using AI to get more done using less money, but it may come at a human cost.
Those that do not have work experience in the technology field are given the short end of the stick or just a sorry excuse for ageism. “What they really mean is you cost way more than a younger employee.”
We should be thinking about the price we pay for creating AI to replace jobs.
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My friend Kathryn recently sold their family “legacy” business as she called it and knowing that she was the third generation to lead it, I was filled with awe and respect. Our company can almost claim voting rights, and while twenty years isn’t a ‘happy birthday’ I ever thought I’d be celebrating, it deserved the very big party we threw for it.
Every successful business owner at one time or another has been asked by a well-meaning acquaintance, to have coffee and spill the beans on how you did what you do and impart that hard won wisdom in a single sitting. We’ve always been pretty open to sharing what we know or have learned, but the longer we hold on, the harder it is to succinctly articulate what it is that got us through, other than too little sleep, a lot of hard work, and perhaps a little bit of insanity.
Owning and operating any business presents growth pains and struggles but one that has survived beyond 10, 15, and 20 years plus, has challenges unique to those in the legacy category. A study done by the Seattle, Washington economic development board interested in supporting the many businesses that shared longevity, stated that “changing marketplace: Increased competition, technological changes, shifting consumer preferences, and neighborhood change present challenges for almost every legacy business at one point or another.” It might just take 20 years in business for that to really register.
Officially started in 2002 as a small children’s garden party business, the idea was to bring the love of gardening to young children in the form of picket fenced gardens, complete with soil, flowers, games, a bounce house and instructor, for the low, low price of ultimate failure. It took a quick 6 months for us to realize we weren’t going to pay the rent with this convoluted prospect and quickly pivoted, and delved head long into the wedding industry by 2003.
Since the business predated Tiktok, Instagram, Youtube and Facebook, the marketplace as we knew it, was mostly printed ads in small publications and phone books, a couple of small industry magazines with their digital warehouse type listings and trade shows. Once considered out in the country, our small 11-acre piece of country is now surrounded by neighborhood communities both large and small. A changing marketplace is really a sustained mutation of the world at large.
Nothing stays the same and the older the business, the more you realize you need to anticipate the need to adapt.
Increased competition as the study suggests, was reaching a fevered pitch into what had been essentially a non-market of approximately 25 wedding venues north of Lady Bird Lake (at the time known as Town Lake) all the way up to and including the Georgetown area. We watched in utter disbelief as an estimated 350 venues popped up in the span of about 10 years in the greater Austin area and Dripping Springs proclaimed itself the wedding capital of the world with approx. 30 venues just inside a 3.9 square mile radius.
Technological changes swept us off our feet in rapid form. Our first website in 2004, was one that my brother taught me to create, it used Adobe Flash and had very limited information, about 8 pages, but it sufficed until we paid someone to make it more professional and meatier. That segued to the current WordPress site that my daughter has overseen for the past 6-7 years. We once saved documents on floppy discs, photos were processed, printed and saved on CDs and now images are saved by the thousands on our phones, stored on ‘clouds’ and backed up on hard drives, not cardboard boxes.
Landlines and flip phone cellphones with antennas, printed files, paper calendars and boxes of business cards shifted into wipe off boards, digital calendars, schedules, files, online recordkeeping and billing. Print media has for the most part, given way to social media, and while magazines are fun to browse, they are too expensive and offer too little yield for the little guys like us.
Shifting consumer preferences is only slightly slower than technology in advancing but trends and expectations continue to evolve. Once an outsider in the wedding venue space due to the prevailing thought that weddings should be held in churches and if not churches, certainly indoors like a ballroom, or country club. Perhaps due in part to our theory that God needn’t be boxed into man-made walls, the outdoor venue became the leader in at least in the Central Texas region.
Like fashion ins and outs, wedding trends reach every corner of the industry. Catering companies have met the needs of the dietary restricted, floral creations that once were limited to mainstay selections like roses and carnations are now designed using flowers available somewhere all over the world and within a key stroke’s reach. Ceremonies can be officiated by friends as well as clergy and judges, and there is almost no bounds to the likes, dislikes, colors, traditions and cultural embracing that weddings have afforded those who wish to explore.
In addition to the changing landscape bullet points that legacy businesses have traversed, I’d add specifically to the most recent two decades, two worldwide events that forever changed the landscape. The financial market crisis of 2007-2008, the greatest since the Great Depression of 1929, turned inside out, every pocketbook as we saw the cancelation rate soar 2-3 times the normal rate. However, at that time, there were far fewer venues than those wishing to marry so it created a seller’s market, and the so-called depression proof wedding market fueled the influx of new venues that exploded onto the scene. Little did the new venue owner realize that couples were not marrying as much as before, nor at the same young age.
The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic would turn the world upside down and business right along with it. Shut down for 8 weeks and another several months of economic downturn, uncertainty, scheduling and rescheduling 60 some-odd dates over the ensuing two years, the business was left battered and bruised and aided by the Paycheck Protection Program to keep us afloat. Many, many friends and their businesses suffered and folded due to the evaporation of revenue and the inability to regain what they lost. It was a lesson in humility, perseverance, endless grace and gratitude. We were fortunate to never lay off a single employee.
The legacy of our business in terms of its lasting impact remains to be defined by those who we have served, but we can unequivocally say that the lasting impact on each of us on the business side is still life changing, as our byline has avowed. Twenty years is a third of my life and a full generation of families that have planned weddings, school banquets, baby showers, family reunions, family photo sessions and celebrations of life with us. Our venue has nurtured countless vendor showcase open houses and together with the staff of our floral shop, hosted a plethora of costumed Halloween parties, Christmas parties, easter egg hunts, and fundraisers and currently even hosts a small church on Sunday mornings.
There is no one key or secret to lead a successful business for two years or twenty, no cup of coffee will help illuminate what determines an ultimate outcome, but appreciating that something bigger than ourselves must surely be at play, molding and shaping a gifted purpose not even we are privy to, in an ever-fluctuating societal landscape takes the wonder of a child, the risk tolerance of a teenager, the tired caution of a parent and the sage discernment of a grandparent, all the while marching forward to the next celebration.
And in all things, as our creed prescribes, doing so with love.
This editorial was first published here in March 2024.
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In the past few months, Google has introduced–and progressively tweaked–generative AI responses to search queries. Its accuracy has undoubtedly improved since its inception, but some concerns about its reliability remain.
According to Search Engine Roundtable’s Barry Schwartz, the AI mostly serves to summarize the main points of any search results. This can cause some page results–such as those not indexed by Google, or ones that have been locked behind paywalls–to be excluded from the AI summary, but for the most part, generative search tends to do fairly well in terms of summarizing basic information.
Per Google, the tool is admittedly “experimental” (and says so right at the top of the search page); this, coupled with the fact that users almost always have to choose to view AI-generated results (or click to expand an existing generative response), seemingly exempts this tool from the bulk of the criticism that most might feel compelled to levy. Skeptics, nevertheless, will notice a handful of issues.
Anecdote time: A few weeks ago, I looked up a phrase that appeared in a YouTube video that one of my students had shown to me–as I often do before incorporating such a phrase into my lexicon–and found that Google’s search results yielded nothing of substance (as I had suspected, the phrase was patent nonsense). However, the generative AI response referred to the phrase’s origin as “a tweet” from a specific user.
This is a problematic answer for two reasons: It is demonstrably false–the phrase clearly originated in the video, especially given that the tweet was posted well after the video aired–and it centered an obscure (like, 20 followers) account right at the top of Google’s search results, which could have unexpected consequences for some poor fella who, like me, found an internet non sequitur worth repeating sans context.
Either one of these problems would be bad enough on its own, but the concurrence of the two is what is troubling about Google’s AI. If this service is able to treat minor iterations of obscure information with the same level of reverence as top-of-the-search-results data, it still has a long way to go before it can be considered anything other than a supplementary resource–something that Google seems to understand, but should probably clarify in more certain terms.
It is worth noting that the AI result I mentioned earlier has been corrected in the past few weeks, and the X account that posted the phrase for which I searched no longer appears in the generative response (nor did the tweet in question seem to receive an undue amount of attention). This whole situation, then, is a gentle but firm reminder about the true place of AI in research: a helpful tool, but one that cannot stand on its own.
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There’s nothing new under the sun, sure, but déja vu within only a couple days is still unexpected.
The digital ink is barely dry on coverage of Reddit and Google coming together to train the latter’s AI on the former’s userbase. Now I get to play the same tune not even a full week later with the announcement that both Automattic companies Tumblr and WordPress are next in line to sign over their users’ creations and conversations to be bought by bots!
“We are also working directly with select AI companies as long as their plans align with what our community cares about: attribution, opt-outs, and control,”
“Our partnerships will respect all opt-out settings. We also plan to take that a step further and regularly update any partners about people who newly opt out and ask that their content be removed from past sources and future training.”
It’s a nice way of saying ‘We don’t care what our users want, and we have no power over what’s in the bot hopper if you haven’t opted out before this press release.
Notice that Automattic’s spokesperson said they’d ask for retroactive opt outs? And notice that between Tumblr and WordPress, two platforms heavily skewed towards creatives who stand to be hurt most by generative AI…this deal happened anyway? I’m far from the only one who did.
Critics of the move on tumblr had this to say:
Leidensygdom: Please be aware that the “opt-out” choice is just a way to try to appease people. But Tumblr has not been transparent about when has data been sold and shared with AI companies, and there are sources that confirm that data has already been shared before the toggle was even provided to users.
User Txtletale said: “[sic] all these ‘site X is selling your content to AI companies’ doesn’t mean your content was previously safe it just means that the platforms are seeing an opportunity to set themselves off as middlemen rent seekers and funnel off some of the unlimited VC-funded AI money “
Scathing stuff, but not entirely undeserved.
Artists have announced that they’re leaving the platform for greener pastures, but the reality is—as soon as whatever new platform they transfer to gets a big enough userbase, most likely the same thing will happen. Most models don’t work on any kind of subscription or donation model, and well…server rooms don’t keep themselves on.
Directly monetizing a base via outide partners isn’t new; but people who take time to make and share their art, especially as a means to earning their own living, are going to be extra raw about it.
Whether their ire will be worth stoking is up in the air. There’s not very much millions of users can or will do aside from taking individual protective measures. Access to data is nothing without the ability to wield it. We’ll see if this model of money making becomes a double edged sword or a coffin nail soon enough.
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A relatively new survey sheds some light on how much time Internet users are spending poring over search engine results, as well as the unsurprising revelation that they aren’t exactly thrilled to be doing so.
The survey–conducted and processed by Scorpion and Dynata, and analyzed by Search Engine Land–involved 1000 participants, a whopping 54% of whom admit that they find themselves browsing search engine results for longer periods of time–on account of looking through notably more results–than they did five years ago.
Fifty-one percent also indicated that they spent more time searching for services than they did five years ago, pointing to potentially confusing or disingenuous search engine results organization on Google’s side of things.
The usual frustration with ad relevance, prevalence, and positioning in searches is salient in the survey results, with only 12% of respondents saying that ads met their expectations when searching.
As Search Engine Land’s Danny Goodwin points out, this issue is largely predicated on a degradation of overall search result quality, which–despite the best intentions of AI and other search aides–ultimately falls on the consumer to spend more time verifying the accuracy of the results in front of them. Naturally, this is frustrating for the consumer; having to fact-check and compare what should be a simple search is something that takes a surprising amount of effort.
Of course, another possible rationale for this time sink and the ensuing dissatisfaction could be an increase in media literacy. As various generations have become more familiar with how search engines work–things like what indicates a sponsored post versus an organic one, and the value of prioritizing local, possibly hard-to-find search results over the most common ones–an increase in the amount of time spent looking for solutions was invariable.
On the flip side, even folks who want a simple, fast solution to a problem for which they search–the kinds of people who are eager for a quick and obvious answer right at the top of the results page–are finding themselves frustrated with the dearth of clarity afforded by things like AI-generated answers and sponsored content, forcing them to delve deeper into Google’s results.
At the end of the day, this is very much Google’s problem to fix, a process that will undoubtedly prove to be lengthy–and dissatisfying in the interim.
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Major food companies are coming under fire for allegedly misleading the public, with lawsuits addressing issues ranging from the appearance of products to the actual ingredients represented therein. Whether or not the pertinent litigation ultimately bears fruit, anyone working in food advertising should take note of what, exactly, has invoked the ire of American consumers.
The two primary facets of this uprising appear to involve food appearance and the makeup of products, and both look like they have steady–if ephemeral–footing in court.
The first issue, appearance, is mostly rooted in a dissatisfaction that Americans have been expressing for seemingly forever, and represents the disparity between a food product’s advertising and the reality of the product that arrives.
Fast food restaurants in particular have been subjected to this criticism in the past: Chains like Burger King and McDonalds show optimistic images of their menu items that, often enough, are far more appealing than the resulting product, and while any reasonable person will understand the difference between a retouched image of food and a mass-produced lunch item, one lawsuit argues that this minute difference has evolved into a vast chasm.
As The Hustle reports, that chasm is noted in a $5 million lawsuit regarding Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins, a product that–at least ostensibly–bears a Jack-O-Lantern face on the front. Per the lawsuit, the face in question is not adequately formed, and in many cases, the shapes of the candies themselves are not formed in any recognizable way.
While this may seem like a silly lawsuit at first glance, attorney Anthony Russo points out that “Today, it’s a $2 item — tomorrow it’s your vehicle, the next day it’s your home,” defending the $5 million price tag as a “message” to future advertising efforts.
A similar suit–a class action aimed at Cold Stone Creamery–alleges that the pistachio flavor of ice cream misleads consumers, elucidating that the “pistachio” part of the ice cream contains no actual pistachio products, instead relying on various flavoring and chemical combinations.
Interestingly enough, this particular suit has resulted in what U.S. District Court Judge Gary R. Brown refers to as an “etymological analysis” of food vocabulary, pondering whether a flavor is used as a noun–meaning that the source of the flavor, like pistachio or vanilla, is actually present in the product–or an adjective, merely lending its likeness to the description of the food item.
Regardless of the outcomes of these lawsuits, food advertising is clearly under a microscope; in light of inflation and other economic concerns, Americans are likely to be intensely critical of any food product that doesn’t match its advertising, and while some may argue that common sense should temper some of this resentment, the reality of the matter is that advertisers have an obligation to represent their products accurately and with utter transparency.
The list of companies who agreed, to the best of their abilities, to create “safe, secure, and trustworthy AI” is as follows:
– Adobe
– IBM
– Nvidia
– Cohere
– Palantir
– Salesforce
– Scale AI
– Stability AI
– Meta
– Google
– OpenAI
David also reaffirms that this is a voluntary decision on behalf of the companies, serving as more of a statement of good faith than a binding agreement; as such, no fines or penalties will be levied toward the companies for failing to meet the terms of the accords.
The stipulations entailed in these accords lay out a road map regarding development and testing to ensure that AI is both created and implemented responsibly. “In a press release, the White House said the companies have agreed to create internal and external testing of AI systems before commercial release, invest in safeguards to protect model weights, and share information to manage risks with governments, civil society, and academia,” writes David.
Purportedly, additional safety measures such as third-party reporting and assessment of AI tools, identification (via watermark) of AI-generated content, transparency regarding risks and solutions, and an ongoing dedication to identifying and resolving “societal risks” in particular are all part of the agreement.
These accords complement the current zenith of AI development, something that has arrived with a surprising lack of legislation regarding the use and propagation of AI products. While the Biden administration has worked across international borders to attempt to create guidelines and restrictions for AI, progress is reportedly slow. The commitment from the aforementioned AI companies is a strong step in the right direction.
Similarly, the Biden administration is responsible for creating an “AI Bill of Rights” blueprint, which–among myriad concerns–lists stipulations for data privacy and the option to discuss or interact with a human when AI is insufficient.
As AI tools and content become even more commonplace than they already are, bipartisan support will be crucial in ensuring that this blueprint’s criteria are met.
This story was first published here in February, 2024.
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New rules? Okay, Dua Lipa.
A recently introduced federal rule mandates that over 32 million small businesses across the nation must submit ownership information to a lesser-known agency within the U.S. Treasury Department, or risk potential penalties. However, a significant challenge looms: many of these businesses are completely unaware of this requirement.
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, which serves as the anti-money-laundering bureau within the Treasury Department, asserts its efforts to disseminate information about the new law. Using social media and seeking assistance from other government agencies, they aim to reach and inform the affected businesses. Despite these efforts, advocates for small businesses argue that additional measures are necessary to ensure widespread awareness and compliance.
Because of the significant lack of awareness, organizations like The National Small Business Association are taking action. In 2022, the advocacy group filed a lawsuit in efforts to challenge this sneaky law.
The Corporate Transparency Act, a comprehensive bipartisan law enacted in 2021, compels the implementation of new filing requirements. Congress aims to combat the use of anonymous shell companies and monitor the movement of illicit funds through this legislation. Effective as of January 1, the law establishes a beneficial ownership database and mandates that companies adhere to reporting requirements, submitting ownership details to FinCEN. These requirements align with existing obligations in the United Kingdom and the European Union.
According to an NSBA survey of its members conducted in November, approximately 47% of respondents admitted they were unfamiliar with the Corporate Transparency Act. Another 25% acknowledged knowing about the law but were uncertain if reporting was necessary. Only around 16% indicated awareness and a reporting obligation, while 12% were aware but not obliged to report.
Failing to submit ownership information to FinCEN can result in substantial criminal and civil penalties, including repercussions for senior executives. The agency emphasizes that willful non-compliance may incur fines of up to a whopping $591 per day for each violation.
In its inaugural month, FinCEN received approximately 400,000 filings. However, small businesses and state secretaries overseeing new company registrations argue that this figure represents only a fraction of the total entities obligated to file. They contend that FinCEN’s educational campaign has fallen short of effectively reaching the broader audience that needs to comply with the new requirements.
One factor contributing to the limited awareness, as noted by those involved with small businesses, is the relative unfamiliarity with FinCEN itself. Historically, FinCEN, a modest and somewhat obscure bureau, primarily interacted with banks and other financial institutions. They haven’t had a lot to do with small businesses at all.
The reporting requirements, excluding businesses with over 20 employees and numerous heavily regulated public entities, predominantly target small and private companies. This places a significant burden on these entities, many of which might lack the personnel and resources necessary to fulfill these obligations.
There’s a pressing need for compliance, especially among new companies, as emphasized by small business advocates and legal consultants. Entities established in 2024 face a tight deadline, with only 90 days to file after their initial registration. The earliest possible deadline is in early April.
In contrast, companies formed prior to this year have a one-year timeframe to submit their reports, as per FinCEN. These reports entail comprehensive information identifying individuals directly or indirectly in control of the company, encompassing names, addresses, and identification documents.
FinCEN is working to raise awareness of the rule, but is it enough? Share with a small business owner—you could save them some hefty fines!
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In a recent update, Google made it clear that their search results would not tolerate “generative AI spam”, according to Insider Intelligence. While this update would seem to cast a shadow on use of AI-generated content at all, the reality is much more nuanced.
In fact, Insider Intelligence’s Sara Lebow reports that this change will be generally positive for people who use AI “responsibly”, including employing AI for editing services or the creation of aggregate reviews rather than simply churning out content. In other words, anyone who uses AI to enhance customer satisfaction or site content at a reasonable, uninflated rate should be in good shape to continue best practices.
That said, some experts believe that any content that has been touched by AI may see some short-term side effects while Google “refines its algorithm”, writes Lebow, though paid search ads will benefit from a 12.4 percent increase–so it’s not all bad.
AI-generated content is, often enough, sufficient in meeting basic content requirements, and advanced applications can check some pretty convincing boxes. Unfortunately, this kind of content also tends to lack a human element, and AI responses are littered with inaccuracies. For these reasons, Google’s update seems to prioritize–and, ultimately, reward–writing that, regardless of AI influence, has been revised and updated by human beings.
It’s also worth noting that Google’s crusade here should serve to make search results less obnoxious in both the immediate and distant future. Per Lebow, Google “can identify content that summarizes existing content and websites creating content at an unreasonable scale,” comprising the bulk of undesirable SEO practices.
Google will similarly reportedly target site reputation and expired domain abuse, both of which entail dumping low-quality content at a high rate. This hits at the core principle that, again, Google appears to be interested in preventing: low-quality, possibly inaccurate, and generally useless information rising to the top of search results and polluting its own AI generation.
Simply put, using tools like ChatGPT to outline, streamline, and supplement what one would usually add to a blog or a FAQ is completely reasonable–after all, tools are meant to be used as such. Google’s changes will only affect inappropriate and egregious content farms, at least for now.
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“If you think you’ll be qualified in 2 years, you already are.”
What does that mean to you?
To Idit Muallem-Yedid, this phrase inserts the key that opens the door to freedom for those climbing to the top.
Currently a General Partner at Pitango, Muallem-Yadid stumbled upon her entry into the fund by chance. After leaving the startup she worked at, she found herself uncertain about her next career move. Coincidentally, while on the way to her honeymoon, she came across a LinkedIn advertisement for a course on mergers and acquisitions (M&As) offered by a law firm.
Muallem-Yedid noted during an interview by CTECH that she was possibly the sole participant who actually paid for the course, as others seemed to receive it as a corporate perk due to their affiliation with large companies. During the course, she found herself particularly interested in securing a job at a venture capital firm, and to her surprise, the organizers informed her that Pitango had recently contacted them. From that point on, her journey with Pitango began, and the rest was history.
Muallem-Yedid, 40, was born in Herzliya and is the youngest among four sisters. After serving in the army as a psychotechnical diagnostician, she pursued her studies in industrial engineering and management at Tel Aviv University.
“Upon graduating, I joined Amdocs, but I quickly realized that the corporate environment wasn’t for me, so I left within a year. Simultaneously, I pursued an MBA in entrepreneurship at Tel Aviv University. Following that, I began searching for a job and a friend informed me about a position at a startup. Despite them requiring three years of experience, I decided to submit my CV anyway, and unsurprisingly, I was accepted,” shares Muallem-Yedid, emphasizing an incredibly vital lesson.
“If you believe you’ll be qualified in two years, it means you’re already there. Take the leap and go for it. Additionally, companies should be mindful that the way they draft their job descriptions will inherently impact the number of women who apply.”
