HOW TO ACCOMPLISH MORE BY DOING LESS

The law of diminishing returns (also law of diminishing marginal returns or law of increasing relative cost) states that in all productive processes, adding more of one factor of production, while holding all others constant, will at some point yield lower per-unit returns.* The law of diminishing returns does not imply that adding more of a factor will decrease the total production, a condition known as negative returns, though in fact this is common.

So it's not just the number of hours we sit at a desk that determines the value we generate. It's the energy we bring to the hours we work.

Stress is not the enemy in the workplace. Indeed, stress is the only means by which we can expand capacity. 

How to Accomplish More by Doing Less - Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review

*Samuelson & Nordhaus. Microeconomics. 17th ed. page 110. McGraw Hill 2001

2011 TOP 10 MOST POPULAR EBOOKS

Nearly 1 million subscribers have chosen the most popular eBooks of 2011! Free-eBooks.net has just released this year's Top 10 Lists, classified by genre: No.1 - Quatrain, fiction by John Medler

2011 Top 10 Most Popular eBooks

HOW SOCIAL ARE YOUR PRESS RELEASES?

by Sarah Skerik, PR Newswire’s vice president of social media

Press releases are widely shared on Facebook and Twitter, but some social media channels deliver better PR results.

We’ve been thinking a lot about press release effectiveness, and digging into our data vaults, crunching numbers and teasing out the success drivers. On the heels of the deep dive into press release metrics we did with Hubspot, we recently completed an analysis with Crowd Factory, the company we use to provide some of the social sharing buttons you see embedded in press releases on PR Newswire.com. Key findings include:

1. Each press release share generates 2 new views; expands total audience by 70%.

Creating shareable content and enabling sharing capabilities through the relevant channels can dramatically increase the number of views for releases. PR Newswire and Crowd Factory found that each share generates an average of nearly 2 click-backs to the original press release. Additionally, sharing of press releases across social networks increases the total audience, or social reach, for this content by nearly 70 percent.

2. Press releases are shared more on Facebook, but Twitter sharing drives more traffic.

Among the three largest US social networks, Facebook is tops when it comes to sharing of press releases: 48 percent of press release sharing happens on Facebook, 37 percent of sharing happens on Twitter and 15 percent happens on LinkedIn.

But not all shares are created equal: in spite of Facebook’s greater popularity for sharing, each share on Twitter actually drives about 30 percent more press release views than a share on Facebook.

3. Multimedia press releases generate 3.5 times more engagement than text-only releases.

Not surprisingly, multimedia press releases that include photos, videos or audio generate more views, shares and clicks than text-only press releases. Adding a photo to a press release increases engagement by 14 percent; adding a video and a photo actually doubles the engagement rate. Press releases that contain photos, video and audio generate the most engagement, with 3.5 times more engagement than text-only releases.

COMSCORE RELEASES NOVEMBER 2011 US SEARCH ENGINE RANKINGS

comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in November with 65.4 percent of search queries conducted.

US Explicit Core Search
Google Sites led the US explicit core search market in November with 65.4 percent market share, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 15.1 percent and Microsoft Sites with 15.0 percent (up 0.2 percentage points). Ask Network accounted for 2.9 percent of explicit core searches, followed by AOL, Inc. with 1.6 percent (up 0.1 percentage points).

More than 17.8 billion explicit core searches were conducted in November. Google Sites ranked first with 11.7 billion, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 2.7 billion and Microsoft Sites with 2.7 billion. Ask Network delivered 516 million searches, while AOL, Inc. rounded out the top five with 286 million (up 3 percent).


comScore Releases November 2011 U.S. Search Engine Rankings

FACEBOOK ROLLS OUT TIMELINE OF OLD POSTINGS

Facebook profiles are getting a new look and feel with the "Timeline" feature that puts all of a single user's updates in one package, making it difficult for users to hide from posts and comments they'd rather forget. For advertisers, the Timeline feature potentially offers a new way to target users.

Facebook rolls out Timeline of old postings - Related Stories - IAB SmartBrief

ARE YOUR CUSTOMERS FINDING YOU ONLINE? QUICK TIPS FROM THE SEO GODDESS | NETWORK SOLUTIONS SMALL BUSINESS BLOG

So you have a great website and you’re active across social media, but you’ve just heard of this strange thing called SEO: Search Engine Optimisation. But how can your improve search results to make sure your business remains at the forefront?

The SEO Goddess gives a few of her simple tips on how to optimise search by integrating all of your social web components.


Are Your Customers Finding You Online? Quick Tips From the SEO Goddess #12SMBTips | Network Solutions Small Business Blog

ENGLISH CONTINUES TO BE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL LANGUAGE

Research shows that English dominates both Internet and international business, making English training a critical component for success

TalktoCanada, the company trusted by Ernst & Young, Novartis and Saudi Telecom for English language training, is reporting that English continues to be the number one language for international business and succeeding abroad.

According to a study by Language Monthly*, there are 115 countries that use English as a main language. This number far outperforms French, which ranks second with 35 countries.

The combined population of countries using the English language is nearly 5 billion.

"Companies entering the international business world discover quickly that competition is intense and challenging if your staff do not master English. Whether you are selling to customers abroad, entering a joint venture, or managing foreign staff, it is critical that your staff undergoes some form of English training to succeed," says Marc Anderson, Managing Director of TalktoCanada.com.

Even China, with its population of 1.1 billion, is embracing English as a necessity to compete internationally. According to Premier Wen Jiabao, more than 300 million Chinese are presently studying English.

There are currently 326 million English-speaking users on the Internet (28.9%), and 166 million Chinese (14.7%)**. With the evolution of Social Media and crowd driven content, the English language is estimated to continue to grow.

TalktoCanada has helped hundreds of individual and corporate students meet their English training objectives since its inception in 2006.

With 100% of students online in locations such as Asia and Middle East, TalktoCanada performs English training online using WebEx or Skype.

For more information, visit http://www.talktocanada.com or if you are interested in a free corporate trial for interested companies.

Sources:

*George Weber, Language Monthly, 3: 12-18, 1997, ISSN 1369-9733

**"Internet World Users by Language," Internet World Stats (20 June 2007)

FREEDOM OF SPEECH

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Article 19 - Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Former U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt with the English version of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1949)

Freedom to publish, this fundamental subset of freedom of expression, is a prerequisite for having a thriving publishing industry, which is itself an essential part of a democratic society and a basis for a knowledge economy.

With freedom comes great responsibility. In practice, this right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and is commonly subject to limitations, such as on libel, slander, obscenity, incitement to commit a crime, etc.

SEVEN BEST PRACTICES TO CREATE SMARTER ADS

(PRWEB) - New Benchmark research by MediaMind reveals that users are 2.5 times more likely to engage with ads that performed in the top 25%, with a Dwell Rate of 16%, as compared to ads in the Benchmark average. The bottom 25% of ads achieves a Dwell Rate of only 1%.

In its research, which analysed the performance of over 300 000 rich media ads with over one hundred billion impressions worldwide, MediaMind identified seven best practices that can help advertisers create smarter ads in order to boost campaign performance. These best practices include adding video to the banner, specifically auto-initiated video, matching the ad with the site’s content, and using Synched Ads.

”Beyond providing our clients with the latest numbers to benchmark campaign performance, MediaMind is committed to helping advertisers make the most of digital advertising,” said Gal Trifon, General Manager of MediaMind and Chief Digital Officer of DG. “The promising news is that by leveraging best practices and the most advanced technology, almost any advertiser can implement techniques to help them drive better performance and engagement.”

Some of the more remarkable research findings relate to the power of technology in boosting campaign performance. The research shows that Dynamic Creative Optimisation, a technique that uses artificial intelligence to serve only the most effective creative, can significantly boost engagement. Also, buying media on exchanges to increase campaign reach can dramatically improve ROI.

For more information on MediaMind, visit http://www.mediamind.com

13 NICHE SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORKS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT | NETWORK SOLUTIONS SMALL BUSINESS BLOG

13 Niche Social Media Networks You Need to Know About | Network Solutions Small Business Blog