Form Your Own Futre: Best Tech and Marketing Blogs: Roundup for December 2018

In this month’s roundup of the best of the best in tech and marketing blogs, our researchers found the following helpful articles:

Amit Agarwal, Digital Inspirations, www.labnol.org

In a December 3^rd post found on Digital Inspirations, Amit Agarwal discusses the importance of taking advantage of push notifications for Google forms for mobile phones to help keep your business productivity surging forward. Simple to install, these notifications can be customized for smartphones and tablets and enable you to read submitted forms from your device as well as to forward along automated responses to the sender. Mr. Agarwal wisely points out that, “A fast response time is the key to success, especially in areas like customer service and closing sales leads, and mobile notifications will ensure that your important form entries are never lost in the daily deluge of emails.” To read Amit Agarwal’s full article, click here: https://www.labnol.org/internet/google-forms-mobile-notifications/29203/

Amy Porterfield, www.amyporterfield.com

Amy Porterfield shares social media marketing wisdom in her November 22^nd podcast titled “Success Secrets to Serving the Smallest Viable Market.” Seth Godin joins Porterfield and also provides his perspectives regarding the most effective means of reaching this elusive group. A critical quotation which stands out from this podcast is this statement by Godin, “Find a corner of the market that can’t wait for your attention. Go to their extremes. Find a position on the map where you and you alone are the perfect answer. Overwhelm this group’s wants and dreams and desires with your care, your attention, and your focus. Make change happen. Change that’s so profound, people can’t help but talk about it.” To learn more about Porterfield and Godin’s recipe for marketing success, check out the podcast at the following link: https://www.amyporterfield.com/2018/11/238/

Ann Handley, www.annhandley.com

December 2018’s blog post from Ann Handley focuses on lack of genuine engagement and “going through the motions” as obstacles to success in B2B marketing. In her presentation and subsequent blog post titled “Slay the Ignosaurus; Change Your Life,” Handley states that, “The way to slay the Ignosaurus is always to be learning. Always be on the lookout to level up in three ways: through actual education of all kinds, through ideas that challenge you and maybe scare you a little, and by surrounding yourself with curious and engaged people.” For more of Handley’s tips on innovative marketing approaches, you can find her blog post at: https://annhandley.com/ignosaurus/

David Walsh, DWB, www.davidwalsh.name

David Walsh’s November 27^th, 2018 blog writings centered around simple improvements to enhance the functionality of CodeMirror. With an emphasis in providing a better overall performance of the column feature, Walsh outlines his solution in these words, “CodeMirror does provide easy methods for getting the start and end lines in viewport (lineAtHeight), but there’s not a similar functionality for column. I opted to get the scrollLeft position of CodeMirror’s scroller, then use the default character width and other dimensions to get the approximate column at that position. My user testing found this method to be very reliable, either at the exact character or one character off (likely due to subpixel math).” For a better understanding and visual representation of Walsh’s code improvements, you can read his entire blog post here: https://davidwalsh.name/viewport-lines-columns-codemirror

Ben Thompson, www.stratechery.com

Ben Thompson’s December 4^th blog post for Stratechery titled “Aggregators and Jobs-to-be-Done” asserts that the number one priority of successful companies must be to identify who and what they are and to endeavor to strengthen the user experience to build brand loyalty. In a previous article titled “Aggregation Theory” of which a small portion is included in the December 4^th post, Thompson says, “By extension, this means that the most important factor determining success is the user experience: the best distributors/aggregators/market-makers win by providing the best experience, which earns them the most consumers/users, which attracts the most suppliers, which enhances the user experience in a virtuous cycle.” To better understand how Thompson’s user experience principles can enrich your business, you can read his entire blog post here: https://stratechery.com

Robert Cringely, I, Cringely, www.cringely.com

With Apple’s plans finally set to unveil 5G on their eagerly awaiting public in 2020, Robert Cringely’s timely article “Apple knows 5G is about infrastructure, NOT mobile phones” sheds some light on whether or not Apple has missed the boat by allowing its competitors to release 5G enabled phones nearly a year before they make the same leap. Cringely states that the move from 5G will not change the mobile phone user’s experience from its current incarnation known as LTE or 4G. Among Cringely’s claim is the belief that not only is Apple not “behind the times,” but the promised Android 2019 5G rollout will not occur during its projected time. Cringely takes his support from this statement: “The current 5G roll-out is by far the most expensive network roll-out in wireless history. That’s because where previous network technologies generally made more efficient use of existing spectrum, 5G requires new spectrum — lots and lots of new spectrum …Whatever amazing 5G mobile apps appear, the very earliest we’ll see them is 2020 or later when the 5G roll-outs are finally complete. And isn’t that when Apple is supposed to be shipping 5G phones? See, they aren’t too late at all.” To learn more about the latest plans for a 5G rollout from Cringely’s perspective, read his entire blog post here: https://www.cringely.com/2018/11/21/apple-knows-5g-is-about-infrastructure-not-mobile-phones/

David Risely, Blog Marketing Academy, www.blogmarketingacademy.com

In David Risely’s latest blog contribution on Blog Marketing Academy, he outlines the relevancy and intricacies of using Twitter to expand the reader base. “10 Best Practices To Actually Make Twitter Work To Boost Your Site Traffic” insists the platform has changed and to maximize this tool in blog marketing, users must also change the way they use it. One of the most effective strategies that Risely recommends is to make use of the “tease.” He states, “Nobody said that a tweet (or a retweet) of one of your blog posts had to be the headline of the post. Why not TEASE them to click? You’re basically opening up a little loop. You’re sparking their curiosity. And, for them to satisfy that curiosity, they have to click to see what you’re talking about.” To read Risely’s full article, click here: https://www.blogmarketingacademy.com/twitter-traffic/

Jeremiah Owyang, http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/

Jeremiah Owyang tackles the topic “Many Industries are Impacted by Modern Wellbeing” in his November article for Web Strategist. This piece explores the role of social technology in helping people to live better and healthier lives. Owyang outlines different social sectors in which technology is simplifying and enriching people’s lifestyles. He relates that, “The Modern Wellbeing market, which enables humans to take healthcare, mental care, physical care, directly into their own hands. They are (for better or for worse) self-analyzing their bodies and minds with consumer technologies and relying on each other, and emerging AI systems to self-prescribe ways to help them be healthier, improve their mood, and beyond.” To better understand how social technology has the power to improve the quality of life, read Owyang’s blog post here: http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/

John Gruber, The Daring Fireball, www.daringfireball.net

December has been filled with excellent informative blog posts by John Gruber. One that particularly stands out is an article entitled “Proof That IOS Still Hasn’t Gotten Undo Right.” After a thorough study of the published record of Apple’s App Store awards for 2018, Gruber came to the conclusion that Apple’s two biggest winners of the year, Procreate Pocket (iPhone) and Pixelmator Pro (Mac) both shine, yet IOS software disappoints when it comes to the Undo process. While the Mac version retains consistency of the Undo function known to users since 1985, IOS has introduced a new and perplexing means to Undo and Redo in Procreate Pocket, and it is not the constant used with other Apps for iPhone and iPad. He expands to say, “But it speaks to how weak this convention is that Procreate Pocket could do something not just different but totally different—multi-finger taps with no on-screen buttons—and not just get away with it but be celebrated by Apple for it.” To learn more about Gruber’s suggestion for an improved IOS Undo process, read the full article here: https://daringfireball.net

Jon Loomer, www.jonloomer.com

Jon Loomer’s December 3^rd blog post “Facebook Attribution: View Top Sources for Conversions” gives powerful insights into better understanding the Facebook consumer and how they use the platform to benefit their lives. This approach to marketing encourages the use of what is known as Facebook Attribution to gain an overall perspective as to the effectiveness of your social media outreach efforts. According to Loomer, Facebook Attribution offers the best means to track both paid and what he terms “organic” (free) traffic to your website. It is simple to use and offers powerhouse reporting services with impressive accuracy. Loomer claims that Facebook Attribution opens the door to other outside services which can complement current marketing strategies. He states, “It’s been years since I spent money on Google. My strategy is heavily focused on Facebook ads, my email list, and website content. But, thanks to Facebook Attribution, I’ve decided to give AdWords another shot. That, my friend, is one example of why Facebook Attribution is so powerful. It helps you see things you may otherwise miss — or completely ignore.” To better understand Facebook Attribution and Loomer’s take on its benefits, read the full article here: https://www.jonloomer.com/2018/12/03/facebook-attribution-view-top-sources-for-conversions/

Rebekah Radice, Brand Authority Podcast, https://rebekahradice.com/brand-authority

In her December 3^rd podcast, Rebekah Radice, an expert in brand authority, tackles the topic of “How to Set Professional Social Media Boundaries.” Radice pinpoints corporate pressure as a catalyst for many to make poor decisions in an effort to expand influence and build a brand. She encourages company leaders to determine their own boundaries and to stand firmly by them. She proclaims, “In an online world where every temptation is right around the next corner, it’s critical you nail your own boundaries down. It’s where you draw a line in the sand and say, “this is as far as I’m willing to go in this conversation, with this piece of content, with this particular topic.” To listen to Radice’s full podcast or read a partial transcript, click here: https://rebekahradice.com/brand-authority

What are your thoughts on this roundup of our favourite December articles? Let us know in the comments below.