Will this new blockchain technology impact your business? You better believe it. From Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin to world computers, like Ethereum. Before we continue, let’s first address. What is it?

Don & Alex Tapscott, authors of Blockchain Revolution describes blockchain technology as this:

“The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.”

To Illustrate Don’s point, I will use a spreadsheet analogy.

Picture a spreadsheet that is duplicated thousands of times across a network of computers. Then imagine every new transaction to be recorded onto the spreadsheet has to be ‘approved’ by the majority of network participants (using crazy complex crypto math!) who put their money and reputation behind their vote of approval.

Information held on a blockchain exists as a shared database. This is a way of using the network that has obvious benefits. The blockchain database isn’t stored in any single location, meaning the records it keeps are truly public and easily verifiable. No centralized version of this information exists for a hacker to corrupt. Hosted by millions of computers simultaneously, its data is accessible to anyone on the internet.

How is private identity changing?

According to a LexisNexis report in 2014, fraud cost U.S. retailers $32 billion,

You and I have been facing identity problems since the internet was created.  Ranging from:

• Privacy
• Security
• Anonymity

In terms of privacy, why do you have to show your driver’s license in order to buy alcohol, if all that is needed is a birthdate?The answer is, you don’t. You should only show what is needed.

The BBC recently investigated the story for the Today program.

It’s an amazing program and one I recommend. The key is that you should own your own data and manage own identity. Why should you give your identity to a centralized platform that could be compromised?  Or share your information with others without you agreeing to that or even being aware of that?

That’s the whole reason why there are so many issues with identity today, because centralized organizations get hacked and your details are stolen.

Blockchain Identity Overview

A blockchain identity is term used to refer to any identity on the blockchain. Users can have one blockchain identity and can register them just like one would register domain names or accounts on Facebook or Twitter.

The main difference between blockchain identities and accounts on any other service is that blockchain-based systems have strong ownership. Blockchain identities can’t be confiscated by anyone, because the system determines ownership solely based on you possessing a secret password (“private key”).

This is in direct contrast to Twitter or Facebook usernames, which could be confiscated or censored at any time by the respective companies that own the system.

New figures from Facebook reveal how often the social networking site’s users are hacked. In the blog post announcing the forthcoming “Trusted Friends” feature, Facebook also an included infographic detailing Facebook’s security measures. One figure in particular jumped out at security researchers:

“only .06%” of Facebook’s 1 billion logins are compromised. Or, to put it another way, 600,000 logins per day are compromised.”

Luckily there is already many companies solving this problem. Like this one.

ShoCard: digital identity that protects consumer privacy.

Why Marketers should care?

As the blockchain technology becomes more ubiquitous around the world, marketers are going to face the big elephant in the room. The elephant of total user privacy.

In today’s day and age, where data is king and the possibility of targeting your leads are endless. From pixels marketing to data stacking and email marketing, blockchain will change all of that in a blink of an eye.

• Paid ads will change
• Email marketing will change
• Data collection will change (Or lack of it)

Let’s talk about pixels for a second. Like any good company, they use pixels to retarget ads and also to create lookalike audiences. But what if the user came to your site, as an encrypted person?

You would get no data from them and you would not be able to pixel them.

Let’s push this a step further. I am like you, I love email marketing. Platforms like Getresponse are the heart of most ecommerce businesses.

But once again, imagine if you are asking for an email and instead, you get an encrypted blockchain email? What then?

Truthfully, there’s nothing you can do. And companies like Cryptamail are already doing this.

Where marketers need to pay attention

I really do believe moving forward that all brands will need to start focusing on building up brand loyalty and customers experiences, if they wish to stay relevant with the changing tide.

As paid ads become less effective and even email marketing becomes harder. Companies will have to figure out different ways of reaching their audience.

One of these ways is with content marketing.

Year-over-year growth in unique site traffic is 7.8x higher for content marketing leaders compared to followers (19.7% vs 2.5%). (Source: Aberdeen)

Remember, what I said about building brand loyalty as supposed to buying them. I think content marketing is going to be even more valuable moving forward.

The saying goes, it’s not the strongest who survive or smartest, but the most adaptable.

Bottom line, you are in for a ride in the next couple of years as technologies like blockchain slip into every facet of your life. It’s going to be your responsibility to be on the cutting edge and start thinking about evolving your current business structure.

I love this Quote from Peter Diamandis.

“You either disrupt your own company or someone else will.” 

Conclusion

Like any new technology there are growing pains. Regardless of the benefits and what blockchain can do, there are some red flags:

• The technology is immature.
• Blockchain has shown poor performance at scale.
• There’s a lack of established standards.

Only time will tell, when we make the full switch over. Until then, keep on innovating!

Would love to hear your thoughts and concerns, comment below and lets chat!

The post Will Blockchain Technology Completely Change Online Marketing? appeared first on GetResponse Blog – Online Marketing Tips.

Deadlines: registration for teams ends on May 25, 2017 | Register here
Submissions are due by July 31, 2017
Eligibility: Teams of 3 to 5 enrolled masters students from anywhere in the world. Participants must be enrolled graduate students, no participation on an individual basis will be accepted.
Prizes: 17,500 CHF in monetary prizes. Three finalist teams will be invited (travelling and accommodation expenses covered) to an oral presentation in Geneva.

Advancing Development Goals International Contest 2017

Eager to stimulate reflection and innovation on development from diverse disciplinary and contextual perspectives and with the generous support of Ambassador Jenö Staehelin, the Graduate Institute has launched in 2014 the Advancing Development Goals Contest, an international competition for graduate students.

The idea is to gather contributions that are both theoretically grounded and offer pragmatic solutions to a relevant international development problem stemming from an interdisciplinary collaboration between 3 to 5 enrolled master students from anywhere in the world.

Eligibility

Open to a team of 3 to 5 enrolled masters students from anywhere in the world.

The task

• identify a challenge stemming from employment
• construct an interdisciplinary analysis on how it affects different aspects of development in a specific (but transposable) context
• propose innovation at the policy, practice, process or technology levels turning the challenge into the development opportunity

Submissions are due by July 31, 2017.

Prize

Three finalist teams will be invited (travelling and accommodation expenses covered) to an oral presentation in Geneva, where they will defend their ideas and answer questions from the jury and from the public.

The finalists will also be present at an awards ceremony where the results of the contest will be announced preceded by a high-level keynote speech on the challenges of employment;

The ADG contest distributes 17,500 CHF in monetary prizes. The winning project is awarded 10,000 CHF, the second prize receives 5,000 CHF and the third, 2,500 CHF.

For more opportunities, check our opportunities sections and subscribe to our weekly newsletters.

The post Advancing Development Goals International Contest 2017 appeared first on AlphaGamma.

In the age of social media, is email still relevant in reaching out to your audience? The answer is yes. According to a recent report from Ascend2, 45% of marketers report that email marketing is their most effective tactic for lead generation, and 72% find that email marketing is easy to execute. But despite email’s popularity, however, many marketers aren’t spared from making mistakes in their email campaign.

According to Essayontime marketer Nina Lightfort, these mistakes include basic grammatical errors, misspellings, and other errors that could be fixed with basic proofreading. However, aside from these, some bigger mistakes that could turn off your audience from clicking that follow through link could involve the following email marketing mistakes:

1. Not using responsive design

Visuals factor in as much as content. That said, to convey how clear your content is to your audience, you will need to use responsive design in your emails. A simple yet clear layout that easily leads them to the call to action button is the first step in mapping it out.

But this doesn’t just mean envisioning that design on big screens like desktop or even laptops. According to Blue Hornet, 67.2% of consumers check their email using their smartphones. For email marketers, it’s essential to take into consideration how your designs will look once they’re compressed on a smaller screen.

2. Segmenting your lists incorrectly

People want to feel a sense of intimacy with the product or offering that you have. To do this, you’ll need to craft an email pitch that’s suited exactly for their needs. Identifying each target audience is essential in writing the best email.

However, this won’t work if you’re just sending the same email to everyone on your list. While you may not have the time to send out pitches to individuals one-by-one, you can keep track of specific groups you sent your email to by grouping target audiences into separate lists.

Check the buying trends, responses, and even profiles of your customers. Simple analytics may help you out on this. After doing so, group them into separate lists to help you better craft an email suited to each group’s profile. Not being able to group people in the correct segments, or even considering to group them at all, can lead to an ineffective pitch.

3. Overly self-promotional content

As mentioned earlier, your audience want to feel connected to your pitch. They will want to know how it will benefit them, rather than the other way around. While it’s not bad to promote your services and products, do so in a way that highlights its use to customers.

Overly self-promotional content that doesn’t define how your offerings will be of use to audiences will only turn them off. Tug at the right heartstrings by conveying an emotional pitch that triggers similar emotions in the audience.

4. Unclear subject lines

We live in quite a fast-paced world. When people open their emails, they might not bother to open it if they don’t see the relevance from the get-go. One way to encourage audiences to open that email is by using attractive subject lines.

A compelling subject line will create a sense of urgency in the reader to read on. It should already include the topic of what you’re going to talk about. Is it going to be a sale, a promotion, or something else?

Make sure to consider these the next time you write down your email for marketing. An attractive headline is the fastest way to an audience’s hearts.

5.     Forget to track results of each campaign

Keeping track of the results is the best way to know how effective your campaign really was. There are certain software and plug-ins that can make this easier for marketers.

At the same time, don’t stop there. A potential customer might have gotten as far as subscribing to your services on a free trial basis. But if they don’t follow through to buy your service, it’s not exactly good news either. This may happen if you don’t set out a follow-up mechanism to attract people to actually avail themselves of your services.

Aside from your initial email, send follow-up emails to go out right after the trial period. This will remind subscribers who really liked your services to go on and purchase them as well.

The takeaway: you’ve got mail!

Email marketing is still a thriving industry, but marketers must learn how to use it properly in order to get the most out of it. Don’t let these common email marketing mistakes turn your audience away. Craft the perfect email pitch with a few effective countermeasures!

What other email marketing mistakes do marketers need to avoid? Share your thoughts in the comments.

The post 5 Major Email Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them appeared first on GetResponse Blog – Online Marketing Tips.

“Millennials are lazy.”

“They expect more while doing less.”

Millennial misconceptions and the modern work martyr

One defining characteristic parroted across many mediums about the newest generation to enter the workforce: the millennial generation.

“A complete generation of people has been spoiled by participation trophies into more results with less effort”.

This misconception has propagated through media like wildfire.

The mere mention of millennials springs forth images of selfie-snapping throngs in search of brunch rather than a fulfilling career. 

The truth couldn’t be further from that misconception, however.

The generation of “martyrdom”

A new study conducted by Project: Time Off, an organisation founded by the U.S. Travel Association, has concluded that millennials are actually more prone to sacrificing their personal lives in favour of their work.

The study described the average millennial as belonging to a new generation of “work martyrs“.

Those who regularly put everything behind the demands of their careers due to fears of appearing undedicated to their employer or company.

An estimated 48% of millennials within the workforce described themselves as work martyrs or wishing to be seen as “martyrs” by their superiors.

This number is a significant increase from reported numbers of self-identifying “martyrs” from previous generations of Gen X’ers and Baby Boomers. Both reporting numbers of 39% and 32% respectively.

How can a generation be so clearly mislabeled then?

Summing up the new wave of young adults entering the workforce as privileged, self-obsessed, and lazy has become the default description employed by older generations.

They want to easily categorize a varied and diverse subsection of the populace.

This is at no fault to those who propagate the misconception and is certainly not an attribute unique to either generation.

For a long time, we have been distinguishing people by the grouping of years they were born into.

 In this context, previous generations have pushed unfair and overly generalized titles onto the subsequent generation after them.

In the most often used term to describe millennials, the headline-grabbing the title  “Me Me Me Generation” is actually not a new term.

Journalist Tom Wolfe, who published his piece “The Me Generation in Time”, first described the “Me Generation” in 1964.

The piece focused on the then self-obsessed youth of its time, the baby boomers.

Millennials are sacrificing vacations at higher rates than previous generations

The entire generation is coping with difficult circumstances. On one hand, they have to face downturn of an economy.

On the other hand, they are entering the workforce at a time when well-paying positions are quite scarce.

More now than ever, the outcome of finding a fulfilling career with benefits is often preceded by long and difficult job searches.

To not talk about the many hours spent working in less than acceptable employment.

So once millennials have found a position offering vacation and paid leave, they are less willing to take the time off.

This might due to social pressures from other millennials as well as fears of being replaced. 

They know that there are many equally capable and intelligent young adults willing to take their position.

This produces a feeling of guilt among the millennials forcing them to relinquish their paid leave.

According to Travel and Leisure, the millennial generation is facing incredible debts from education.

This, combined with this “vacation shame” has left an entire generation less willing to take time off during the workweek for themselves, let alone significant leave for perhaps an International Vacation.

An overworked and misunderstood generation

It is easy to completely sum up an entire generation of people from diverse backgrounds as self-obsessed, lazy and entitled.

But it doesn’t accurately reflect the true nature of the new iteration of a “Me Generation”.

Perhaps instead of “Me Me Me” a more accurate title would be the “Martyr Me Generation”.

What do you think about the new Me Generation? Are millennials really what the previous generations think they are? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think.

The post Millennial misconceptions and the modern work martyr appeared first on AlphaGamma.