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Trends to Watch in the final 365 days of the Decade by @SBSLEducSoltns

December 20, 2018 by SJ Barakony 3 Comments

by SJ Barakony | Featured Contributor

2019 awaits. How ready are you & your business for these 13 trends?

Can you believe it?! Yes, its true: we’re less than 2 weeks away from another New Years’ Day; so, let’s dedicate a toast to our businesses, our families, & friends!

Not only that … did you notice? It’s also the last year of the first decade of the ‘new’ century.

Where were you on 01 Jan, 2010?

Was your business even open?

How did you communicate with your clientele?

Have you rebranded since then?

… That’s NINE years ago, believe that!

The Mindset of the Futurist

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” — Buckminster Fuller

#quotestoliveby #futurist

( Click to Tweet the above )

Many thought leaders, chief amongst them the futurists, visionaries, and creative disrupters, know of Fuller. He laid this cornerstone of thought and its now part of his legacy, to be embraced by generations not yet born. It is from this core thesis that we’ll push ahead – unveiling a market basket of trends that your business will be impacted by in some manner in 2019 ( & beyond. )

A Bakers’ Dozen

Laying out 13 that I, as a futurist, am personally invested in tracking; each of these are invigorating and, in the hands of the benevolent & bold, will usher in as yet unknown amounts of potential energy to our nation(s), states/provinces, and localities:

Mobile revolution

Smart Cities

Blockchain / Crypto currencies

Gig Economy ( Conceptual Age )

Automation ( AI, Machine Learning, Robots )

Autonomous Vehicles \ Drones

Holistic Wellness ( > sickcare )

Decentralized [ social & news ] media

Self directed education & learning ( schooling & credential seeking )

Communities / tribes

Social enterprises ( modern mutual aid societies )

Principles > politics

Holocracy ( future of ‘work’/places )

In pursuit of a deeper understanding of the bright future which awaits

Even a rudimentary understanding of 1, some, or perhaps all of the 13 trends shared above won’t be embraced at deeper levels of awareness, acceptance, and consciousness without continually reading, listening ( podcasts, audio books ), & watching ( videos, webinars )

Two #mustread books in this space are linked below, to further illuminate your path.

I wholeheartedly suggest investing in them as a holiday/Christmas present for yourself & for those whom you hold most dear.

A Whole New Mind

The Code of the Extraordinary Mind

Suggested Follows out in the ‘Twitter’verse

Futurist Rankings by Ross Dawson

Generations Timeline – After the Millennials by Anne Boysen

Gold vs. Cryptos: Invest or divest … Here … from Gerald Celente

4 questions to test your intellectual humility via Daniel Pink

Don’t Argue, nor Debate

Instead, as we see, hear, and experience more & more creative disruption which impacts our professional sphere ( inc. our business’ cashflow, income streams, etc. ), shall we abandon the negativity, time loss, & win/lose (or worse, lose/lose) outcomes from arguing & debating?

I propose an equivalent swap of the above two non futurist, consumerist terms for those that produce & add value: Discussion & rational discourse.

As 2019 dawns, I thoughtfully (channeling one of my many informal mentors, Mr. Dale Carnegie), throw down a challenge:

Whether with yourself ( self talk ), your staff, clientele/customers, or a prospect, engage in thought provoking win/win discussion or a structured rational discourse with him/her/them in the next several weeks

Word Play: Choices to make to embrace the transformation underway in our workplaces

As we ascend the ladder from unconscious incompetence on up to unconscious competence, let’s fully embrace how exciting each of these trends will be in our ongoing entrepreneurial journeys & resolve to learn new words

Some which are becoming anchored to the past as these 13 futuristic trends continue to evolve, expand, & replicate: ‘employee’ ; ‘hierarchy’ ; ‘college for all’ ; ‘health care’ ; ‘cash’.

Does this indicate that these (let alone others) will disappear forever? Not necessarily. Yet, the early adopters in our business networks will already grasp the above, and quite a number more will eventually ‘see’ as you have/will!

Websites, articles, blogs, & organizations: Learn More & Take Action

Define. Learn. (then) Do.

We’ve defined a vision for 2019 & beyond. With numerous resources are embedded in the post already, let’s expand your learning zone:, what if you want to self educate even more?!

Ever more important, investing time in additional concrete steps to ‘future’ prep your business venture would be wise. I’m applauding you proactively, if you choose to do so!

In short …

9 years down, 1 to go in the decade #ThinkItOver
Suggested Twitterverse follows
A bakers’ dozen trends
The futurist rankings & further resources to dig into
Don’t argue, debate, or fight the existing; discuss & set time for rational discourse
Word swaps: let’s ‘play’ on a 2020’s field
What’s coming is exciting & transformational; fear not! Embrace. Encourage. Uplift.

Thank YOU for reading!

& …

SJ Barakony

SJ Barakony is a serial entrepreneur, futurist, & connector.

He lives in Ohio & is the Founder of Service Before Self Leadership: An Educational Solutions Provider.

He offers four highly customizable solutions to encourage families, individuals, faith institutions, & business owners to create & cultivate lifelong learning cultures in our homes & workplaces.

He’s been a guest on an educational podcast; been interviewed for an online small business community; is a guest blogger for Innovate NA; and has been an invited speaker five separate times for HECOA.

He believes strongly in youth & social entrepreneurship: He continues to serve two chapters of the YEA program (student mentor, mock judge, ad hoc consultant ) & has co-facilitated a session of the SeaChange Accelerator program.

He serves as the TDD for Cleveland & Columbus (Ohio) for the H7 Network.

He also recently became an educational advisor for Tessr.io, a startup in the exciting world of blockchain/cryptocurrencies that will be establishing a cutting edge educational foundation.

The New Rules for Hosting Your Social Media Dinner Party by Katie Stanton of @thegoodlemon

February 16, 2016 by Katie Stanton Leave a Comment

by Katie Stanton | Featured Contributor

A popular metaphor that I’ve used over the years for social media training is to think of it like a Dinner Party. Here’s the quickie version:

You’re a polite, gracious, vivacious host, and you’re setting a beautiful table with impressive and delicious things. (You started an account on a social media channel like Twitter or Pinterest, you’ve added your branding and your website, and you’re starting to post interesting and relevant content.)
You’re inviting a mix of interesting people who are relevant to you and who you think should meet each other. (You’re following your peers, industry leaders, media, and other people who you know will be interested in what you’re offering.)
You’re sparking interesting conversation around the table, and these interesting people are participating in the conversation with you and with each other. (You’re liking and sharing content from the people you’re following, as well as participating in conversations with your community and your followers, and these folks are talking back to you.)
Everyone has a wonderful time and comes back for your next dinner party, bringing some new interesting friends with them. (New people are finding you and engaging with you by liking your content and sharing it with their friends.)

You can find this metaphor all over the the internet, but it’s popular because it’s easy to understand. We’re talking about how people form relationships. You’re not “doing social media.” You’re making new friends.

So, as you are preparing your editorial calendar, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Make your party exclusive

Your dinner party guests have preferences, and you probably could tell me if they’ll think serving sushi and tater tots is awesome or uncouth. The same thing applies to your target customers; you need to know them well enough that you tell me if they are snapping away on Snapchat, or if they think Facebook is still the hippest and hottest thing. Your social media dinner party should be a place where your target customers feel like they’re “in.”

How do you get to know your target customer? Find out where they are already partying. Research blogs, forums, and email groups to actually find people who are similar to your target customer profile and see who they follow. Read the comments, and check out what they post on their social media channels. Use the Google Keyword Planner to see what they’re searching for.

If you’re selling handmade, recycled leather handbags, for example, you can guess that your target customers are probably women who have some disposable income. What might they care about, and why? Are they ethical shoppers, but still like to be fashionable? Who do they follow for inspiration? Do they go to farmer’s markets and consignment shops?

Figure out what your customer likes, what she doesn’t like, and what her life is like, and write your research down.

Don’t monopolize the conversation

There are marketers out there who recommend searching for people who are posting about issues or topics that are related to your brand and then messaging them about… your brand.

Consider how you start conversations with people at your dinner party. Do you start talking about yourself and only yourself? I’ll bet you’re finding topics that are interesting to everyone and asking your guests about their thoughts and opinions. Use the same attitude on your social media channels, and participate, rather than dominate.

Serve something you know your guests will like

An old marketing rule states that a brand has to reach a customer around 7 times before that customer will make a purchase. You can use social media channels to reach your customer in ways that make them feel genuinely valued. Create content on your social media channels and your website that helps a customer who visits your website to really get to know you, trust you, and feel like you really understand her needs and what she believes in. That customer is more likely to become a regular party guest at your table.

Use the Golden Rule

You wouldn’t pull a loudspeaker out at your own dinner party and start yelling about how amazing your food is, would you? The same rule applies to marketing. People are bombarded with enough advertisements and spam on an hourly-basis that entire new businesses are being built around blocking advertisements out.

If you take nothing else away from this post, just take this: Treat your community how you want to be treated.

Stick to what you’re good at

You wouldn’t serve dinner if you don’t know how to cook. So why are you designing infographics if you don’t know how to draw? Just like how you might get a dinner party catered by a chef, invest in some writing or design help to make sure you’re serving fantastic content to your community. There are tons of great freelancers and consultants (like me!) who can help you with this affordably, or you can offer a work trade on sites like Vendeve.

Put a little investment in and the results can go far, especially if you present something so creative and so delicious that people can’t stop talking about it. As Julia Child wrote, “…[N]othing is too much trouble if it turns out the way it should.”

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Katie is a co-founder of the digital marketing and communications firm The Good Lemon. Passionate about community building, the Internet, and putting words together, Katie has been a part of the digital non-profit space for over seven years. She has built digital communications programs for national organizations dedicated to women’s leadership, social justice and global change, such as the YWCA USA and Vital Voices Global Partnership. She has also work with and consulted for globally-known entities like the Allstate Foundation, Bank of America and the State Department.

Katie holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from George Mason University. She is a global traveler and loves to explore new cities and cultures (follow her trips on Instagram), and is an overly-enthusiastic home cook and aspiring ukulele player.

Katie Stanton

The One Workflow You Can’t Live Without by @GAllenTC

January 29, 2016 by Gayle Allen 2 Comments

Photo by Tina Franklin

by Gayle Allen | Featured Contributor

As an entrepreneur, you’re driven and self-directed. You’re used to hacking solutions, building systems, and creating workflows for all aspects of your business.

But in your efforts to scale and respond quickly, you may be overlooking the most important workflow of all. It’s the one with the greatest return on investment for you and your clients.

It’s your workflow for learning!

I spent the past year studying how innovative and productive entrepreneurs achieve their success. While their workflows change over time, the one they hold onto, and even enhance, is their learning workflow. In fact, they find that carving out as little as five minutes a day helps them:

Recharge by connecting with new people and ideas
Anticipate trends within and across industries
Flag articles for content marketing
Gain social currency by sharing what’s and noteworthy
Offer practical value to current and prospective customers

It’s a workflow centered on three key activities — scanning, studying, and sharing. I’ve simplified it to a three-step process you can set up in minutes:

Scanning: Create your customized newsfeed using online tools like Feedly or Flipboard. Choose from their list of topics and then add sites you typically browse. Schedule at least five minutes a day to scan your feed. Notice topics and trends that keep popping up. Is there an article that someone in your network might enjoy?

Studying: Certain articles will be so helpful that you’ll want do a deeper dive. A tool like Evernote will let you archive, highlight, and take notes quickly and easily and you can use it while you’re scanning your feed. You can organize articles by topic and then tag them in ways that make it easy to sort ideas, quotes, and information for writing and marketing.

Sharing: A learning workflow lets you share practical tips and information with current clients and helps others see you as an expert. Tools like Buffer, Hootsuite, and MeetEdgar let you organize, schedule, and track the impact of what you share. You can easily link social media accounts, so that learning and marketing go hand in hand.

To stay competitive in a global economy that’s changing faster than ever, you’ve got to keep learning. By creating an efficient workflow you can quickly access every day, you can boost your own learning and, at the same time, offer value to the people you serve.

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Gayle Allen is an entrepreneur with a passion for connecting people to innovative ideas that improve their lives.

She is a founding member of the leadership team and Chief Learning Officer at BrightBytes, a company that’s garnered dozens of awards for improving the way the world learns. She’s also the founder and host of Curious Minds, the leading podcast on innovation that features global leaders rethinking life and work.

Gayle earned her MBA in Global Innovation from MIT and her doctorate in adult learning from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she served as an adjunct professor. She’s the author of The New Pillars of Modern Teaching, a book that offers an innovative vision for learning in the modern age. Gayle’s writing has been featured in leading publications, such as MindShift and NPR.

Connect with Gayle on her website, on LinkedIn, and on Twitter.

Gayle Allen

5 Social Media Platforms to Be On (that Aren’t Facebook or Twitter!) by @BBorowicz

April 10, 2015 by Brittney Borowicz 2 Comments

by Brittney Borowicz | Featured Contributor

Social media has become a huge player in business promotion and engagement over recent years. With so many different social media platforms to choose from, many businesses don’t know where to start and therefore start EVERYWHERE.

The truth is, not every social media platform is right for your business or consumers. Rather than be on every social site, it is important to choose only a few platforms to focus your efforts on so that you can generate the most consumer engagement, and ultimately, sales for your business.

So which social media platform is right for your business? Here is a quick snapshot of five of the top social media platforms to be on that aren’t Facebook or Twitter. (Although I happen to love both of those as well.)

Best business uses: Networking to reach potential clients.