featured8 - Mike Lynch – A Proper Technology Investor

Investors

December 25, 2018 0

Mike Lynch – A Proper Technology Investor

Michael Richard Lynch is a 51-year-old British businessman who graduated from the…

featured7 - What’s New for Niklas Zennström?

Investors

November 25, 2018 0

What’s New for Niklas Zennström?

NiklasZennström is a high-profile 52-year-old Swedish businessman who has two degrees, one…

featured5 - Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford – The Young Investing Duo

Investors

September 25, 2018 0

Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford – The Young Investing Duo

Alice Bentinck is a 31-year-old British businesswoman who graduated from the Business…

evernote second floor 2 - Top Start-Up Offices to be Inspired from

Startups

November 12, 2018 0

Top Start-Up Offices to be Inspired from

Your office is more than a workspace. It’s the central hub of…

Startups

October 25, 2018 0

LISP and its Advantages

LISP is a multi-paradigm computer programming language created by John McCarthy in…

featured4 - 6 Tech Venture Capital Firms to Ask Money From

Startups

August 25, 2018 0

6 Tech Venture Capital Firms to Ask Money From

The venture capital game has companies that offer initial capital, loans or…

Mike Lynch – A Proper Technology Investor

December 25, 2018June 29, 2018 Lambda AssociatesInvestors

Michael Richard Lynch is a 51-year-old British businessman who graduated from the University of Cambridge. He has been an investor and CEO of many important international companies, such as Autonomy Corporation, Invoke Capital, Darktrace, and more. He is also a member of the science and technology council of the United Kingdom due to his specialization in Natural Sciences.

The Beginnings

We know that the first company that Mike created was Lynett Systems Ltd, which was in charge of designs and audio products for music recording. Then, in 1996, he founded one of his largest companies, Autonomy Corporation, which ended up selling in 2011 for more than $ 11 billion dollars. Autonomy Corporation made several important investments such as software Verity, Zantaz, Meridio Holdings, among other programs and companies that paid off millions of dollars.

Business and Controversy

Autonomy Corporation was a multinational business software company. It had become the largest software business in the United Kingdom. In 2011 it was sold to Hewlett-Packard for $ 11.7 billion (£ 7.4 billion). After that, Mike was blamed by Hewlett-Packard for an asset write-off after the company’s purchase due to internal failures that occurred prior to the purchase-sale. Something that was verified as false time later, by an investigation of the Financial Times, where it was shown that the current owners of Autonomy were aware of the situation by the archived documents.

More Investments

Mike Lynch also invested on the cybernetic intelligence company, Darktrace, which was founded by a group of mathematicians from the University of Cambridge. Another of his creations has been Invoke Capital, a venture capital firm specialized in the area of technology. Lynch has managed to take more than $ 1 billion from Invoke to invest in emerging technology companies.

Invoke’s curiosity is that the firm does not charge any fees, and the money can be withdrawn if the person deems it necessary. Despite being an emerging company, the money that is necessary is spent on technological investments that are not yet ready to become businesses, but in the long term will pay off. In 2013 Invoke made an investment of $ 20 million in Darktrace, which happened to have a value of $ 120 million.

Reputation

Mike Lynch has been described by The Sunday Times as “the British Bill Gates.” Mike is also a board member of the Newton Institute and the Tech City Investment Committee. Currently, he’s supporting technological investment projects through his company Invoke.

What’s New for Niklas Zennström?

November 25, 2018June 29, 2018 Lambda AssociatesInvestors

NiklasZennström is a high-profile 52-year-old Swedish businessman who has two degrees, one at the University of Uppsala and the other at the University of Michigan. He is known to be co-founder, along with his partner Janus Friis, of Skype and Kazaa. Learn about his company and success.

What’s New?

Niklas created a technology investment company called ATOMICO. The largest investments this company made in the past are amazing, includingSkype, Supercell, among others.

His company has bases in London, Beijing, Tokyo, Istanbul, and Sao Paulo, which means he already has an international reputation. The company’s goal is to invest in technology companies to improve them. Atomico has more than $ 1 billion dollars to invest in technology projects.

Major Projects

Among the biggest creations of Niklas is Skype, which is a program distributed by Microsoft where you can communicate through video calls, all this with internet function. Created in 2003, it is currently one of the most used programs worldwide. Currently, the official owner of Skype is Microsoft itself, which bought more than $ 8,000 million dollars.

Another of Niklas’s major technological investments is Kazaa, which was an application through which files could be exchanged. Through it came to download a lot of music and movies, more than anything else. Its initial release was in the year 2001, and the last stable version of the application was in the year 2006. Another of Zennström’s investments was Joost, a means of distributing videos. Currently, Niklas is investing with the company Lilium, in a company on flying electric cars.

Reputation

Zennström is one of the biggest entrepreneurs in Sweden, so he was included in the Startup Hall of Fame in that country. In addition to being president of the European Technology Alliance, which aims to strengthen Europe as a technological center, so that it contributes to the economy and boosts jobs.

He also has been recognized by TIME Magazine as one of the most influential people of 2006. In 2011, the University of Oxford awarded him recognition for his career in the technological field. In 2013, he was also awarded the H. M of the King of 12th medal with a bright blue ribbon for significant contributions to Swedish society and industry.

We also know that the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 2013 awarded Zennström the gold medal for its “highly successful business achievements, creative innovation, high technical competence and exceptional leadership”.

Top Start-Up Offices to be Inspired from

November 12, 2018November 12, 2018 Lambda AssociatesStartups

Your office is more than a workspace. It’s the central hub of your creativity, your team’s passion, your business’s motivation, and your overall productivity.

Having a kickass office will help you attract the top talent, i.e. crème de la crème, of candidates out there and have them dying to work with you. We are sure that you agree than an awesome work environment and atmosphere helps to keep your team engaged, happy and efficient. There is no doubt about that, right?

We are not telling you to urgently call up your architect and tell him to design the next equivalent of Googleplex.

You need to find your own vibe, your own colours and your own balance of design innovation. Some offices offer in-house gyms take advantage of large metal garages, offer free lunches, sleeping pods and what not. But as a start-up, it is most likely that you need to keep your financial belt tight and cannot loosen the purse strings for such benefits.

No worries, there are plenty of ways for you to still create an inspiring, motivating and happy ambience without going way beyond your budget. See, we are here to help you. That’s why we have put together a list of start-up offices for you to be inspired from.

Go ahead and take a look:

Quirky

Quirky only in name, this company was launched in the year 2009. It’s risen above a number of challenges and has created an impressive quantity of products in less than a decade. You may have already seen their brands in large retail shops such as Office Max and Bed Bath.

Want to know something even more amazing about this young company’s achievements? In less than 3 years of its inception, it picked up all its employees and moved them in to a breath-taking new office space that is located on the second floor of an old warehouse on the Western side of Manhattan.

With plenty of space for seminars, workshops, meetings and opportunities to have a bit of fun, it’s the ideal work location space for a company with a culture like Quirky.

Foursquare

Now, that is one sweet office we wouldn’t mind working in! Foursquare is a location based social network focusing on mobile devices that lets users pin their current location and leave reviews or feedback for the places in question.

Situated in the heart of New York, the Foursquare office embodies the lively spirit of this enthralling city as well. To help employees release some stress and relax a bit, a recreational room was installed with foosball tables, ping pong games, and shuffleboards. Sign us up!

Spotify

In today’s day and age, who doesn’t use music apps such as Spotify?

It’s just another one of the many thriving tech start-up companies based in New York. The unique thing about this office’s design is that its employees took the initiative and created a space as per their requirements’. It has the greatest number of height adjustable desks in the city.

There is a dual level space that is outlined with open plan workstations, lots of seats and sexy workspaces with a dab of vivid colour here and there.

Etsy

If you ever wanted to work in the comfort of your living room, then you need to apply for a job at Etsy. A haven for vintage and crafts, Etsy has recreated its website in living room within its office space. Filled with bright colours, it is the ideal space for innovation and invention.

Gawker

An awesome blog covering famous media and news personalities, Gawker was founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers. Yes, they are also located in the Big Apple, i.e. New York.

Wow, this city really has awesome start-up offices!! With a Matrix style lounge space, there is also a huge deck space and has décor inspired by Steampunk. Want to see it for yourself? Go apply for a job or ask to visit!

Evernote

Do you use this app, Evernote? We are addicted! Phil Libin launched this brilliant app to help people take notes and to be more organised. Can you guess where their office is situated? Nope, not New York 😀 It’s actually located in Redwood City, California.

Would you believe they have over eighty thousand of square feet space in their premises? Oh, if you’re wondering about all those elephants that are everywhere, they’re part of Evernote’s branding. Hey, there are even low maintenance water conserving plants in the lobby!

Moo

If you need any kind of business card, fancy or simple, Moo is the place to go. This company designs and prints business cards and do all the hard work for you. Their headquarters are in London and have a large open floor plan with tables as work stations. Again, colours liven the space up and create an awesome atmosphere. Who doesn’t love colours now?

Buzzfeed

This amazing social network and entertainment blog comes up with the most amazing content! We are huge fans. Located in New York, it was launched in the year 2006 as a viral lab that has evolved to cover a huge range of topics. They have two floors, awesome views and yellow walls. Great way to keep the mood sunny and light, wouldn’t you say? We sure do!

Basecamp

This is a web software house situated in Chicago, another one of our favourite cities! They can rewrite rules and have brilliant design calibre. Their office looks like a contemporary hotel lobby with its sleek design. We love the professionalism it exudes!

Outbrain

Outbrain is a content agency that lets users amplify their content with the application of different widgets. There is a gorgeous mural by Puerto Rican artist Sofia Maldonado and is complemented by white, beige and grey furniture with bright accessories.

What do you think of all these office designs that we have mentioned? Have you fallen in love with them as much as we have? We sure hope that they inspired you to come up with your own unique office space.

6 Super Awesome Local SEO Tips

October 31, 2018October 31, 2018 Lambda AssociatesMarketing

The art of local search engine optimization is only booming and expected to continue in its upward trend due to the explosion in growth of smartphone usage and effective mobile connections.

When we talk about local SEO, we are ultimately referring to search results being produced on the basis of the researcher’s physical position. Let’s take an example, shall we? If you launch Google on browser and insert the term “best Indian fast food”, a bunch of suggestions will pop up that are in close proximity to you.

Most enterprises today, regardless of their size are benefitting from the magic of local search engine optimization. It’s an extremely cost-effective marketing channel to tap into for small or medium sized entities that do not have access to extensive resources as larger companies do.

However, the world of SEO is constantly evolving, and it is imperative to be consistently aware of the latest trends. Having said that, one thing remains common: search engines will create the most relevant search results based on the user’s location and search history. The good thing is that you recognise the importance of local SEO and are in the right place as we will share some few trips tricks to boost your ranking outcomes.

“Google My Business”

Now, if you own a business and want to attract customers near you, then “Google My Business” is going to prove to be quite a profitable tool for you. Don’t worry, it’s cost free and may not be as popular as Facebook or LinkedIn but will still bring strong exposure for your company. This is dependent on whether you have managed to optimize your website as part of Google’s three pack. provided your website is optimized as part of Google’s three pack. All you have to do is type in google.com/business and put your business space online.

Keep in mind Google has a number of strict procedures to verify that the business you claim to own is truly yours. The tech giant will send you a postcard with a PIN on it to your office address. When you receive it, just log online and enter the PIN details for verification purposes. The minute you gain access from Google to build your business page- make sure you fill out as many sections as possible to provide sufficient information to your prospective consumers.

Utilise Your Title and Meta Description Tags

These two brilliant description tags are a summary of your entire content. It gives the user an idea of what your content is about on the search engine result page and lets them decide whether to click on your content or not. The usual range for title tags varies from 50-60 characters whereas description tags allow 160-200 characters. Always fill this out as it’s a resourceful channel to hook in your consumer. Avoid going over the recommended ranges as you don’t want your text to be truncated in the SERP.

Publish Your Customer Testimonials

Who better to sing your praise than your very own customers? For instance, if you’re a rehab centre and had individuals successfully recover from their drug addiction- incentivise them to write about their positive experiences and share any forms of therapy that really resonated with them. Perhaps, you encourage them to own their addictions by making them listen to songs about addictions. Such online reviews will build trust in your customer pool.

Customize your “Google My Business” for Local SEO

This is your chance to let potential clients know you better. It is highly advised that you be as specific as you can and select the most relevant business category applicable to your commercial venture. Google likes those business pages that contain complete, concise data. To help you out a bit, let’s take an example of an Italian restaurant. If you truly desire effective optimisation, then this is what you do:

Publish your brand logo so your consumers can find you
Put up images of your office and your products
Post your opening and closing business hours
State what your accepted methods of payment are
Write a compelling business summary

Great way to boost your GMB Map listing is by using a citation building service to build relevant citations for your business.

Optimize Your Content

Consumers today devour an endless sea of information and actively search it for it themselves. It’s great if you have the time and expertise to develop fresh engaging content on a regular basis as that will really make you stand out on the local SEO map.

Transform your website into a trusted channel of information and become a solution provider. This way, you’ll ensure that potential clients don’t switch to your competition. Keywords are critical when designing and optimising your content. Don’t forget to use the Google Keyword Planner tool to get ideas about search volume and the degree of competition.

Recall Spam Conditions

As you have understood the power of local search engine optimisation, we’re sure that you will incorporate it into your marketing efforts and launch a local SEO campaign. There are a few things you must remember when doing this: Assess your ongoing local SEO techniques against performance and see if there is anything you can do better. In order to avoid being labelled as spam by Google, don’t make the following mistakes: Making lists for ineligible individuals, teams or places

Using your keywords in your business name field
Selecting the wrong category spam
Double check the guidelines and make sure you’re abiding by them
Wrong words in the business name field
Incorrect phone number added
Incorrect website address shared

We are confident that if you follow the tips given in this article, you will start getting ahead of your competition and improve your local SEO ranking position. There will be a learning period and do not forget that time is your friend.

Be patient and do not despair as you will not rank as Number 1 on Google’s SERP overnight. You might even have to experiment around a bit to see what local SEO tricks work for your business and what doesn’t.

LISP and its Advantages

October 25, 2018June 29, 2018 Lambda AssociatesStartups

LISP is a multi-paradigm computer programming language created by John McCarthy in the late 50’s. The acronym means “List Processing”. Its function is to separate the host identities of the network to which they belong, which it does with RLOC and EID.

Like FORTRAN, Lisp has changed a lot since its inception, and there have been a large number of dialects in its history. Today, the most widely known Lisp dialects are Common LISP and Scheme.

Rapid Development

LISP works with artificial intelligence (AI), and has always been in favor of the development of agile software since its inception. One of the reasons why LISP is especially suitable for AI is the fact that the code and the data have the same treatment (like lists). This makes it especially easy to write programs capable of writing other programs depending on the circumstances.

LIPS and Syntax

The interchangeability of the code and data also gives LISP its instantly recognizable syntax, as it was the first language to incorporate ANSI.Besides that, lists are elements that can be used as symbolic representation.

Other Functions

You have superior functions, which is applied to the members of an argument in the list, where the results are also collected as a list.

Storage

LISP has a storage system where the middle network is IPv4, one of its advantages that you can access multiple external sites without taking advantage of dual internet circuits such as BGP. The storage of LISP is done through the ITR and ETR routers, which is what the source and destination address would show, but not the host ID of each site. Thisgrants a high degree of security when accessing.

Repetitive

In addition, LISP has repetitive programming styles, where is used to confirm a result that throws a variable with initial value.

We understand that not everyone is familiar with LISP, but it is one of the most used programming languages in the world, with many easy-to-use solutions, very beneficial, and simple if you learn to use it.

How to Build an Awesome Visual Brand Identity

October 9, 2018 Lambda AssociatesBusiness Advice, Marketing

If you are looking for tips on how to build a super incredible brand identity, then you have come to the right place! But before we get started, do you know what a brand identity is? If not, congratulation as you are in the right place! We are going to break it down for you and simplify it.

Time to start that branding engine!

What is a brand identity?

Your brand identity includes all the marketing, promotional and communication materials you use to give it an image in order to sell it to your customers. This includes but is not limited to your chosen brand font, brand colours, logo design, tagline, slogan, and brand voice. It is the message or the promise you have made to your consumer and his perception of it.

Your brand identity can help you achieve top of the mind recall in your niche, product category or industry done the right way. Some recent studies tested a consumer segment and asked people what was the first product that they thought of when they hear the term headphones.

Most respondents stated Bose. It is evident that Bose has successfully created a powerful brand identity for its headphones. It is imperative that your brand identity remain consistent in its imagery, visuals, tones and colour patterns across all marketing platforms.

So, what are the steps to developing a kickass visual brand identity?

Know who your audience is

Identifying and understanding who your target market is critical to developing an effective visual brand identity. If you don’t speak in the same language as your client, then how will you get him or her to buy your product?

Ask yourself how old your ideal customer is or in what age bracket he or she would lie. Where does he live, what would his income be, his marital status, his profession and education level. Here, you’re ultimately defining demographic variables. See if your product or brand would appeal to a specific niche of people such as ethnicity or religion.

If you are having some trouble with this step, do not worry. Just go on your rival’s social media page and see whose present there. Who is an active participant? You will learn a lot about your prospective target market simply by the questions they pose, the content they share or what they tweet.

Define your value proposition

How can your product benefit your customer? What is it about your product that is different from its counterparts in its industry?

Are you a life coach? Then your perfect consumer would be a single, overworked mom who is stressed out and trying to find meaning in her life (apart from living for children). How do you illustrate your brand’s visual identity to let her know that you are available and approachable? Hey, you could design a brilliant website that contains testimonials from satisfied consumers. Do not forget to add a human element to such a section by adding photographs and images of happy clients.

Define your brand’s personality

Now that you have delegated your target audience and realised what your value proposition is, it’s time to face the first challenge: how do you convey your brand’s personality visually to the world? Traditional marketing mediums often took on the help of a brand ambassador to clearly communicate the brand’s persona. With the advent of the internet and technology, digital marketing faced new challenges. How could you add a human element and establish an emotional connection between the brand and the customer?

This is where colour palettes, design and brand font come into play. You need to utilise the right images to portray your brand’s personality, so you are able to attract the right people.

Tell your brand story

When you manage to come up with a brand story, feel free to share it over and over again. This way it will be strongly embedded in the mind of your consumers and help them remember your product story better every time they hear it.

Keep your brand identity simple

Hey, we believe in simplicity. Why over-complicate things? Try to get your logo designer to create a clutter free, minimalistic design that will not only be relevant to your customers but hook them in too. Keep thing simple and free from the clutches of marketing chaos.

Consistency is key

Yes, we did state this earlier- but as it is super important: we cannot stress it enough. How can you be consistent with your brand’s visual identity? Go for using the same size, the same filter, the same colour shades, the same brand font, and much more. This kind of uniformity allows the customer to recognise your brand’s visual identity as soon as he sees it and knows your correct page to follow on social media platforms such as on Google, Instagram and Twitter.

Talk in their language

Use social media platforms to start conversations, build engaging communities and enhance your brand’s reputation within your market segment. Do not go for direct sells. Answer all questions, ask questions and become part of questions. This format of content marketing will work wonders and reel in your desired customer group.

Be clear with your logo

As you build your logo, all your customer segments will link your logo to your brand and echo all their sentiments to it as well. Remember, your selected colours should be in sync with the message and promise your brand represents and not diverge from it.

Pick the right font and colours

Typography is key to your brand’s visual identity success. And they say a lot about the nature of your business. If you’re branding your dental clinic, choose a minimal font that is friendly and minimalistic.

Colours mean different things to different people. However, there are some generalisations. For instance, the colour blue symbolises placidity, loyalty and trust. The colour red is meant to represent a sense of urgency, passion and excitement.

Alice Bentinck and Matt Clifford – The Young Investing Duo

September 25, 2018June 29, 2018 Lambda AssociatesInvestors

Alice Bentinck is a 31-year-old British businesswoman who graduated from the Business School of the University of Nottingham. With Matthew Clifford, entrepreneur graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, both co-foundedof Entrepreneur First.

They started working as consultants at McKinsey & Co. Also, Alice and Matt are founders of the Code Fist: Girls program, where they offer free courses on systems programming for university women.

Image source: thememo.com

Their Empire

Entrepreneur First is a company located in London, which helps create emerging technology companies. It has helped create more than 70 companies that are valued at more than $ 400 million dollars in their first years. Entrepreneur First specializes in selecting people who have technical, ambitious talent who want to create new business.

To request the help of Entrepreneur First it is not necessary to have a business plan in mind, they also help to advise and create future business plans, and the application is evaluated on the technical talent.

The Program

The program has 6-month duration and it is divided into phases. The first phase is dedicated to forming the team with which you will work and identify the problem you want to solve. The second phase receives the theoretical training on risk capital and the investment area. The program ends when a project is submitted to a jury specialized in risk investments.

At the beginning, only graduates specialized in the area of marketing, technology, business, computer science, or engineering were accepted into the program. This policy of the company has been totally changed, and currently they do not require any title or profession to be able to choose to be a part of the program.

Image source: forbes.com

Partnerships

Recently, Entrepreneur First (EF) applied for acceptance for an EF program in Singapore. This was approved by the government of Singapore, which drives the development of statistics in the country, in addition to the construction projects of young citizens. Also, they have made investments with the co-founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman, valued at more than $ 12 million; then joining the board of directors of the company.

One of the creations of Entrepreneur First is the company “Magic Pony Technology”, a technology company that offers improvements for visual processing on the web and mobile phones.

We also know that Clifford and Bentinck received honorable awards for their work and entrepreneurship with Entrepreneur First, in 2016 they received the Order of the British Empire for their business work.

6 Tech Venture Capital Firms to Ask Money From

August 25, 2018June 29, 2018 Lambda AssociatesStartups

The venture capital game has companies that offer initial capital, loans or growth, to enterprising companies with future plans in order to obtain higher profits.

Startups are seen a lot in the United Kingdom and the United States, which is beneficial because it creates business networks for new companies. Lambda Associates is proud to showcase some of the best in the field.

ACCEL

Their main headquarters are in Palo Alto, California. Also has other venues in the US, London, India, and China. It was founded in 1983 by Arthur Patterson and Jim Swartz. This firm has financed companies that are now successful including Facebook, Dropbox, Jet.com, GoFundMe, Spotify, among others.

Actua Corporation

The company was founded in 1996 by Ken Fox and Walter Buckley, initially raising $ 40 million dollars to start the project of a venture capital on electronic commerce which was known at the beginning as Internet Capital Group, Inc. Their headquarters was in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Four years after its inception, in 1999, the firm had already raised more than $1billion in additional capital.

Advanced Technology Ventures

Abbreviated with the initials (ATV), it was founded in 1979 by Dr. Thaddeus F. Walkowicz together with Ivan Sutherland, George Kokkinakis, and Robert Loewy. The company has three locations, one in Waltham, Massachusetts and Palo Alto, California. Its capital was $ 1.8 trillion dollars. This firm came to invest in health and technology. They had supported different companies such as Sub-One Technology, Rive Technology, EndoGastric Solutions, Hydra BioSciences, and more.

Atomico Ventures

It’s an internationally recognized company founded by NiklasZennström in 2006. The company focuses on investing in innovative technology companies. One of its biggest investments has been the creation of Skype. Other important investments have been SoftBank, Supercell, and more.

Austin Ventures

It was founded by David Marquardt and John Johnston in 1995 and their headquarters are located in California. This company invests in technology and information technology. Some of the biggest investments have been Rocket Lawyer, Be Incorporated, Six Apart and more. They have managed the amount of $2,500M in funds.

Atlas Venture

It was founded by Michiel de Haan in 1980 with their headquarters located in Massachusetts. The purpose of this firm is to invest in creation projects on life sciences and technological information. Also, the’ve invested in more than 150 companies, including Surface Oncology, Unum Therapeutics, Adnexus Therapeutics, CoStim Pharmaceuticals and more. They have managed more than $ 1,000M in funds.

These listed companies are just a few of the massive amount of venture capital firms that exists around the world. But this is a good thing, because the financial stock market is growing exponentially, generating more jobs and increasing competition.

These types of activities demonstrate the control management, the good financial administration, and the detailed planning that should be proposed for a future project. If you have a potential millionaire startup project, don’t hesitate and contact them, you might get lucky!

What’s New in the World of Digital Marketing?

August 24, 2018August 21, 2018 Lambda AssociatesMarketing

Digital marketing can embrace several different methods and tools and as digital technologies evolve, these methods and approaches can change, and according to this Internet Marketing Agency in Scotland those looking to embrace digital marketing will need to ensure that they’re fully aware of the current trends, and how these trends could benefit its future marketing endeavours.

Video Continues to Allure Audiences

It’s no secret that social media is a worthwhile approach to digital marketing, but the content making the biggest impact is video content. To give a better idea of how popular video content is, we only need to consider the following statistics:

A billion hours of content is viewed on YouTube every day.
Facebook users watch over 8 billion videos every day.
Twitter’s videos are viewed by 82% of users.

When approaching video for the first time, it’s important to understand the different formats on offer. Some businesses may use the Facebook Live feature to promote an event or product launch, whereas others may be looking to offer guided tours using 360-degree videos.

It’s also important to ensure that when embracing video for digital marketing, we also need to consider what devices are being used to view videos.

More and more people are using their smartphone to access the Internet, so it’s important that the mobile demographic is catered to when creating a digital marketing plan. Similarly, it’s important to ensure that those using the desktop to access a platform aren’t being neglected.

EU Rules in Relation to Data Collection

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was introduced in May 2018 to allow citizen in the EU to have more control over their personal data. In layman’s terms, this means that any company collecting data on EU visitors will need their explicit permission before collecting data.

Should a website fail to advise users of the data being collected, it could face an EU fine that’s 4% of its annual turnover.

Although a business may be located outside of the EU, this doesn’t mean that companies in other countries should rest on their laurels. The Internet means that regardless of where your website is situated, you need to ensure that measures are in place to ensure that those within the EU are fully aware of what’s happening with their data.

Artificial Intelligence is More Relevant

The early guises of artificial intelligence may have been primitive when first introduced, but the technology has come in leaps and bounds. Companies are finding that employing chatbots to deal with everyday queries has become more cost-effective and can even help them produce stats to tailor their marketing endeavours further down the line.

Chatbots are being used in several ways, be it customer deliveries, or booking an appointment. Not only does this mean more time can be invested into other sectors of the business, but it also ensures that a customer is receiving an immediate form of contact, with many queries being resolved in the first instance.

Partnerships Between Apps and Website Are Integral

The reason why so many companies are pushing ahead in the digital marketing sector Is because of the modular way digital marketing can be used.

Special offers can be an alluring prospect to potential customers, so it makes sense that those looking to offer products and serviced build relationships with platforms that offer cash-back and loyalty incentives.

There is also the social network aspect to consider. Signing up for an account can be monotonous and frustrating, especially if a potential customer is on the move.

Making connections with social network sites like Twitter and Facebook allows users to use their social network information to create an account. This means a streamlined process for the consumer, while businesses will see an increase in new customer accounts.

Grabbing the Customers Attention is Vital

Those who are looking to make the most of digital marketing will need to ensure that there is some form of analytics in place to make use of customer data. The days of sending mass marketing emails to hundreds of people are long gone, with companies using the information at their disposal to create more tailored marketing strategies.

Tracing the customer journey is now an essential part of digital marketing and failing to do so could mean that a business is investing capital into the wrong strategies, which will only affect the bottom line of a business in a detrimental way.

To truly harness the opportunities available, a business must know when to approach a customer and ensure the marketing as well as the communication used is in line with the customer’s preferences and expectations.

Content is Being Reinvented

When approaching new platforms, it’s easy to dismiss other platforms thinking the more conventional websites are worthier of your time. For a business to be able to ascertain it captures potential customers, it’s important that it test drives some of the platforms available to them. However, this doesn’t mean that a business has to create content from scratch.

Evergreen content can be restructured in several different ways. For example, written content can be converted into immersive videos. Similarly, the content used for videos can be reworked into eye-catching infographics.

Becoming familiar with the options available ensures that the business isn’t missing out on new opportunities. Of course, there will be some websites and social network sites that aren’t a good fit for the goals of the business, but many are surprised by just how many options are available when it comes to sharing valuable content, regardless of the guise its presented in.

A Helpful Guide To Moving Office

August 24, 2018 Lambda AssociatesBusiness Advice

According to Secure Move Newcastle moving office, just like moving house, can be one of the most stressful things you have to do in life but with a little forward planning and some strategic thinking you could quite easily make the whole process a lot more fun than fuss.

Research

This is the best time to find out what you really want from your working environment. You might consider yourself to be a forward thinking out of the box trouble-shooter but this is not the time to limit yourself to your own magnificent ideas.

Go and visit the offices of existing high-end performers. See how they’re doing things differently to you and steal their ideas. Ask everyone you know who’s doing things differently and find out how and why. Stealing ideas is so much easier than thinking them up for yourself.

Employ experts in both office design and IT. You’re not just moving where you perform your business activities; this is a great opportunity for rebirth. Don’t hold back, this is a clean slate chance to be the company you want to be, not the one you’ve grown into by accident.

Run a competition amongst your staff to find out what they really want from an office space and all the things they think would make doing their job easier, more enjoyable, and more efficient.

Talk about it to everyone. Gather your intel. The more minds you’ve got on the move, the fewer things are likely to get overlooked. You don’t have to take everyone’s advice when they offer it, but for the brainstorming part of the process, you can never be too many cooks…

Plan properly

The devil’s in the details so plan for everything. Those little things you miss that make the difference between a smooth sailing transition or having the brakes slammed on hard are going to be the facepalm moments you can’t believe you missed, so make sure as well as the big things — furniture, computers, phone lines, photocopier, etc., make sure you’ve got all the other ‘taken for granted’ items sorted too.

Have you got enough boxes (you will never have too many boxes) for your staff’s personal office effects? Is there a structured layout for where each of them will operate? This could be the perfect opportunity to bring teams together if they’re not already; or would your staff be more productive working alongside their friends? There are trends for open workspaces so that staff can choose different areas of operation for different times. Some may prefer a peaceful environment in order to concentrate, others a lively atmosphere to stimulate creativity. The next day they might want to change it up. It could depend on their workload, project or mood. Either way, an office with a selection of environments could be just the thing for the forward thinking start-up model.

Delegate

Consider instigating a team of leaders to streamline your move. Pick the best person for each task and put them in charge. A little responsibility goes a long way in motivation. Work your staff smarter, not harder.

How much?!

Just as you would with any other project make sure you cost every aspect of your move to the last detail too. Your business is paying for this after all, can it afford to support all your wants and needs as well as your hopes and dreams? Get quotes for everything, right down to feeding and watering your staff and moving team. Make sure you know exactly what the bottom line is before you’re in danger of a big overspend.

Location, location, location

As well as deciding if you need to be in the financial district or the boho café culture part of town, you should also factor in your staff’s new commute and any drastic change to their existing routine. It might be a great opportunity for you to move to the other side of town but can you keep your team just has happy if they have to travel for an extra hour to get there? Will there ample parking? And adequate public transport links? Do you actually need a complete office for your business or would your small but perfectly formed team prefer a shared space? Sharing rents, rates and other costs could be advantageous as well as networking and piggybacking each other’s clients.

Lease or buy?

There are advantages and disadvantages to both. There are so many things to consider with whichever route you do choose. Buying offers security and investment. Leasing gives you more freedom. Long and short leases offer very different pros and cons too. This section alone could easily be a complete and lengthy article of it’s own. Whichever options are on the table make sure you consider every eventuality before making a concrete decision.

Insure against everything

If you’ve been in business for a while then you’ll already know the importance of having the correct insurance cover. Arrange a meeting with your insurance company to make sure you haven’t overlooked anything or if they can pinpoint and suggest areas that you will need to update on your policy.

If you’re a newbie taking your start-up to new levels then shop around, listen to who understands your business the best and offers you the full package that you’re going to need to insure against every eventuality you could face in the future.

Also, make sure your insurance covers the move itself. Things get lost and broken, accidents happen; if it’s all coming out of your pocket then it’s going to make a mockery of the work you put into your initial costing — make sure it doesn’t.

Technology (and the coffee machine) are fragile

A professional moving team will advise you on what packing items you will need and how best to move every piece of equipment, file and family photo, as well as the desks they’re sat on. If you’re doing it yourself, or a member of your team is, take a full inventory of every room including every single item in it. Make proper allowances for packing every breakable in a suitable way for transit. Treat those items like your children and wrap them up in cotton wool (or bubble-wrap, it’s more practical). If they all work when you disassemble your old office you want to make sure they still work when they arrive at their new home.

Branding

Given that this is the perfect opportunity to reinvent yourself, make sure the company brand is in tune with the new office you’re creating.

As well as an ideal opportunity to dust up your old-fashioned presentation and promotion materials you need to make sure everyone knows exactly who the big player is in that amazing new space. Maximise your signage. Create an impact with your business personality. If you’re in an area with a lot of footfall or traffic it’s a huge advertising opportunity you should grasp with both hands.

Office culture is so important

As well as wowing your clients with your impeccable style and décor tastes or your avant-garde larger than life environment, creating a workplace that your staff love turning up to each day will also improve motivation, job satisfaction, staff retention, as well as attracting new talent, and in turn will help boost efficiency, productivity, and your profit. Keep your staff happy, they’ll work happy. Get them excited and they’ll fly.

You could promote an open day for any existing clients who want to wish you well. It’s a great opportunity to educate them about services they might not know you provide and also it’s a fabulous time to network with possible new clients in the area too — a simple and cheap leaflet drop will invite everyone and anyone to come and see what you do.

And you should definitely throw a ‘Welcome to your new home’ breakfast for your staff. Make sure you thank them for their work in making the move a success. Teamwork makes the dream work after all, make sure you do everything you can to make your team the happiest they can be.

Up to and including moving day – a kind of check list

Stay connected to your clients.
Choose a trusted removal company.
Revaluate your utility providers.
When you set up, test everything twice.
Boxes, boxes and more boxes.
Budget to the nth degree.
Use specialists; property agents, finance companies, designers.
Phone transfers and number rerouting for the moving period.
Acquire the correct permits for everything and anything.
Who’s doing the cleaning?
De-clutter.
Tell your clients where, when and what’s changing.
Make lists. And then make lists of lists. Lists are your memory’s personal assistants.
Update your stationery, your website, marketing materials, as well as all online and offline advertising.
Water plants and pack them up properly — they’re living things remember.
Make sure exit and entry routes are big enough for all furniture, old and new.
Choose the best teams for either end of the move. Make sure the staff allocation makes sense with each task and its workload.