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Do we have any idea what millennials really want out of work?

Firms spend big money trying to understand what millennials want in a job, and how to characterize the newly millennial-majority workforce. Yet even as millennials represent a bigger fraction of the workforce than Generation-Xers, companies still largely hang onto clichés about metrics like turnover rate and millennial interest in having work that aligns with their values. Instead of scrutinizing millennial tendencies, it is time to embrace them.

"Research suggests that today's college graduates will have a dozen or more jobs by the time they hit their thirties. In an uncertain job environment, it has become societally and culturally okay that they explore." -- Emily He, CMO

The expectations have changed. Your twenties are used as the time where you actually figure out what you want to do, or gain the tools and skills necessary to attain your dream position. All the research has been put into what millennials want out of work and how to mentor young millennials, but there is still one aspect that nobody has yet touched on: The innate interest millennials have for an education in the workplace.

Firms should emphasize that their employees receive a true education in tangible, concrete technological and communication skills that will feed millennial interest, ambition, and entrepreneurial spirit. This helps differentiate a firm as an attractive incubator of young leaders, and may even help reduce turnover.

There are a variety of factors that influence whether or not an employee stays with any given firm, and many of them are outside of a firm's control (family situations, geographic preferences, overall economic performance). What a company can do is offer the kind of educational and mentorship opportunities that play to millennial tendencies to think big (regarding entrepreneurship and career progression), while promoting the development of technical skill sets to attract the most impressive, innovative, and interesting people. Some millennials will stay and some will leave, but you will have plugged the full cycle of your workforce into success-oriented professional social networks. Investing technological 21st-century skills in employees is a marker of the most successful firms (Google, Kickstarter, Uber, you name it!) and it is what the best young people are looking for.

What do we know? Well, aside from compensation, PwCs ongoing study of millennials highlights two features of businesses that make them attractive employers: (1) opportunities for career progression; and (2) excellent training and development programs. Conventional wisdom might see this as a contradiction. How is it that millennials want to develop themselves, but want to leave their jobs relatively quickly? The answer lies in the fact that millennials understand that the nature of education is changing, and they see work experiences as opportunities to learn technical skills, gain legitimacy, and develop professional networks that will all bolster forays into future entrepreneurship and ventures. Now more than ever, college graduates are foregoing a graduate education and immersing themselves directly in the workforce to learn the hands-on skills and strategies that will build their successful careers.

The lesson is not just to embrace your millennials and leverage their understanding of the social media, but to give a sense that your company offers an education in a set of technical and communicational skills. A company that invests in its employee's facility with skills like data analysis, public speaking, and basic computer programming will entice talented millennials regardless of what they ultimately want to go into.

Why Education in the Workplace Matters

1. Millennials are increasingly understanding that the traditional link between education and employment is changing and weakening. EY and PwC have dropped the educational screen for new applicants, and the Hack Reactor and App Academy highlight that millennials understand that employers are looking for expertise in very specific skills that are best developed with real-world experience.

2. Millennials view stints jobs, whether in research, tech startups, or consulting, as educational experiences with concrete deliverable new skills that can be applied in their own startups and ventures down the road. They want to improve data analysis skills. They want to become better public speakers. They want to develop professional networks that will support them when they go out and try their own luck.

3. Part of education is having mentors. "This is a generation that wants to be heard and have conversations instead of listening to a presentation straight through," according to Dan Schawbel. Millennials are told to look for jobs through networking and social media, and they expect that once they are at a job, part of the benefits package is being plugged into a new network that will follow them in their next job or startup venture even after they are gone!

Lessons to Employers

1.Articulate the practical technical skills that you will help your employees hone. Even millennials who want to go off and start an NGO may be interested in developing their data science skills for some time. Whether it be machine learning, pivot tables, or public speaking, what are you going to make sure your employees know by the time they've put in two years?

2.Advertise what your alumni do. This is the LinkedIn generation, and millennials think seriously about putting the pieces of their career progression together, and accumulating the experiences to prepare for the big impact career move. What are the people doing with the skills they develop at your company?

3.Formalize a networking and mentorship structure. It's been well known that millennials value feedback, however, supplement this mentorship with networking opportunities to engage your millennials on a whole new level.

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Data analytics is the science of extracting patterns, trends, and actionable information from large sets of data. While often used interchangeably with the term "business intelligence," it's useful to distinguish the terms. Think of business intelligence as the ways in which companies use data to improve their management and operations. Data analytics involves improving your ways of making sense of that data before acting on it; further still, you can slice and dice the data to extract insights that allow you to leverage this data to give you and your organization a competitive advantage.

Data and information, generally, are proliferating at a veritably exponential rate, thanks to rapid increases in the Three Digital Accelerators I've been tracking since the early 1980s: bandwidth, digital storage, and processing power. The "big data" we have today will be nothing compared to the abundance of data and information available to us in the near future -- data generated by hundreds of millions of devices, things like wearable tech, smartphones, and anything that's part of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Improving your capacity to analyze this data works at multiple stages -- from collection processes to organizing and communication techniques such as modeling and visualization. Yet, whereas data once required a large team of skilled analysts to be made useful, today there are a number of enterprise level tools for running high speed data analytics on massive amounts of data, as well as publically available free tools like Google Analytics that offer every business and entrepreneur the opportunity to incorporate data analytics when making decisions.

The Hard Trend of unstoppable digital disruption -- disruption that will happen to you and your industry in wave after wave -- has vastly increased the amount of available data -- hence the term "big data." As I discussed in a previous post, companies too often only see an overwhelming volume of data when they should be seeing a more comprehensive resource for elevating business strategy.

By harnessing the plethora of data available, you can put your company ahead of disruptions in your industry, leveraging the data to augment your competitive position relative to others in your field.

Data available from social media is a great example of the way in which new digital technologies provide businesses with a more comprehensive understanding of the consumer. Social media has become embedded within nearly every sphere of life. News stories circulate social media channels side-by-side business promotions and the everyday sentiments of users. The daily actions and interactions are recorded and collected--you can use this to get ahead of the curve.

What is your target audience talking about? What are the wider trends of the day? More specifically, how are they interacting with your company? Are they sharing or liking what you post? Social media not only expands the reach of data collection -- it makes the collection process faster. Your company can make snap decisions based on rapid communication between your customers, the public, or you and your audience.

But social media is just one field of digital disruption that is generating more data for us to draw insights from. The ways in which economic transactions occur has been digitized to such an extent that we can analyze not only our consumer's interaction with marketing and news, but also how and when they act after liking or sharing a company's promotion. The generalization of company websites allows for the tracking of consumers to and from your company's site, teaching you about who they are interacting with and what is getting them to your site. This list goes on.

With exponentially increasing amounts of data accumulating in real-time, there's no reason why you cannot turn data into a competitive advantage.

©2015 Burrus Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Launching an online marketing campaign can be quite a challenge for most companies. Many companies hire experts to help them achieve their rankings, boost their profits and optimize conversion funnels. Hiring someone to take care of all these things is a common struggle among small and medium businesses, who often have to work with a limited budget in place.

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Ben Oren, Director of Web Marketing at WhiteWeb

To dig deeper on that subject, I asked a few tips from Internet marketing expert Ben Oren, Director of Web Marketing at WhiteWeb. With over a decade of experience under his belt, he specializes in helping brands strengthen their online presence using both traditional and innovative marketing techniques. His clients include Caesar's Entertainment (WSOP), Babylon, Bouclair Home and more (including many start-ups).

His insight can help us to make the most of a startup's marketing budget. He will also discuss the do's and don'ts for any website as well as the areas to focus on when launching an online marketing campaign.

Online PR Campaign "Must Haves"

Ben believes that any business with a limited marketing budget should adopt a hands-on, DIY approach. Thus, he recommends things any business should do, even before considering hiring a professional.

1. Open a Google Business account. "Follow Google's instructions, which are pretty straightforward," he said. This is a relatively simple way to gain some exposure for your business, not only in Google search results, but also in Google Maps, Google Local and Google +.

2. Make sure your website is search engine-friendly. He suggested to check out this list from the Search Engine Journal, on how to improve a site's optimization. Ben said these advanced on-page SEO techniques will do wonders for your organic visibility online. These strategies "will improve your rankings even without a large number of incoming links," he said.

3. Read at least one post about internet marketing per day. Ben, whose specialty is marketing of the creative variety, believes that reading will open your mind to new ideas and best practices. It will "give you a better handling on the subject matter when you decide to launch a campaign," he added. Start with these high authority sites: MOZ blog, SEJ and Search Engine Land.

4. Reach out to major publications in your niche. He said the purpose of this is to offer to write a post on a relevant topic for an e-magazine or a top blog. "You'd be surprised how many authoritative sites out there are searching for quality content to publish, which could help businesses like yours immeasurably," he said. With that, he came up with two simple steps to follow. First, find blogs in your niche. He advised to check out this list for the leading search modifiers. This makes Google work like a scalpel, instead of a club. The second step is to use a web scraper to gather a list into CSV. "I use WebHarvy.com. Find reviews of each site, find contact info and email a pitch. This is called outreach, and it's important you bring something new to the table. Something you heard and read about that is 'up-and-coming'. Big publishers love that kind of approach." he added.

How to Enlist "Great Content" for Your Business

Ben understands much has been said about the idea of "content marketing" and creating "great content." Many business owners are simply frustrated as these terms are so ubiquitous now. He believes SEO and content have always gone hand in hand, adding that the confusion stems from a vagueness surrounding the purpose of said 'great content'.

"I'd go as far as saying most businesses that have branched out into "Content Marketing" do so because they read or heard that it's important, without setting clear objectives," he said. What do we need in order to obtain the desired results from a content marketing strategy? According to Ben, it's necessary to define the main target audience first, then define the content they're looking for, as well as the content they want.

The next question we should be concerned with, is who would share this content, and to what end? "If you can't answer this question, it may indicate your content strategy should assume a different direction entirely," he emphasized. He believes that each particular content piece should create interest, and have the potential to create renewed interest. This is commonly achieved by generating content showcasing a new angle, point of view or seldom heard opinion.

"Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it's vital to consider methods of distribution,"he said. The process is the same, in principle, although it varies slightly from niche to niche: locate the most influential content platforms in your field, examine the types of content they circulate, publish and share, and try to produce something they'd snap up.
An Unexpected Journey

Ben shared that he started in SEO somewhat unexpectedly. "In 2004, a business-owning friend of mine told me he was paying a large sum every month for SEO, and wanted me to dig a bit deeper to see if it was worth it." He did it, and the rest is history.

While he does not follow many individuals in the field, he regularly checks out professional websites that publish the most cutting edge content from various experts, including comprehensive guides and important Google updates. "Namely, I find I stay up-to-date by writing for, and regularly reading, Search Engine Journal," he mentioned.

He continues to do many things himself because, according to him, that's the number one way to stay ahead of the game. Ben narrated how many advisors stop performing actions altogether, focusing on consulting - which is counter-productive in such a dynamic field. Simply put, Ben believes that if you don't get your hands dirty, you'll soon find you've forgotten how to do the most crucial of tasks - and it'll be very difficult to catch up and adapt.

The Typical Small Medium Businesses Mistakes

Ben agrees that there's a lot of information on the web about SEO, and it's not all accurate. The following are the most common widespread misleading information he had encountered. These often results in some very costly and time consuming mistakes.

a. Content stuffing: this is the act of generating short pieces of content for the sake of cultivating a 'content strategy' targeting various search keywords. This method stopped working very early on, around 2006, and it certainly doesn't work nowadays. Actually, publishing short, superficial and uninteresting texts will be detrimental to any web marketing effort, by putting the site at risk of receiving a Google penalty. If you're going to invest in content, it's best to invest in quality over quantity - nix short, generic pieces, instead publish few but highly relevant, thorough, interesting and engaging pieces your site's target audience will enjoy.

b. Treating SEO as a separate marketing channel: times have changed, and nowadays SEO is an integral part of a business' online marketing strategy. Online and offline marketing channels should be as streamlined and in synch as possible, meaning that the business' marketing messages should be uniform throughout a potential client's funnel, from exposure-to-conversion. Essentially, this means that all your marketing channels - PPC, social media, PR, TV - should have common goals, a common language, and a common look & feel.

c. Doing the bare minimum: treating online marketing as a necessary evil is the most common form of wasting time and money among small businesses. Online marketing is no longer about a series of technical actions; it requires a lot of creativity, forethought, attention to detail and impeccable execution. By opting to hire a low cost marketing firm, employee or intern to cover the bases, some small businesses are setting themselves up for failure. Online marketing is not cheap, but when done right, it can be a major stepping stone for any business.
A Few Words to Small Business Owners

Although Ben has worked with some major brands, he's also helped small businesses and startups. He has the faith that SMBs can compete with more established companies for the contracts of very large brands. Though Google tends to favor big brands when ranking, over the years, it has shifted its approach when it comes to the way search results are presented - offering a surprising advantage to small businesses.

"I'll illustrate my point using an example. A couple of years ago, if we had searched for the phrase "best running shoes", we'd most likely see big brands such as Nike and Adidas dominating the first page of search results with popular product pages, whilst local stores and small brands had no real chance of appearing in those coveted top spots. Go ahead and Google it now, you'll see blog posts from Runner's World, and not just a list of shoes from Walmart and Foot Locker," he concluded.

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Michael Dell (Photo courtesy Dell)

By: Roger Kay

Amidst all the brouhaha over Dell's $67 billion bid for EMC, one unremarked fact caught my attention: that Dell will have to again begin reporting its financial results to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Michael Dell happily and eagerly rid himself of that onerous task almost two years ago.

The deal itself has spawned great controversy. On the one hand, the merger creates a monster provider of enterprise solutions that should be better able to compete with the likes of IBM. On the other, it will saddle the company with enormous debt, on the order of $60 billion.

But this is a different Dell than the business that went private in 2013. One of the most remarkable things I've observed is how energized both the man and company have become. Without the distraction of quarterly reporting, management has had much wider scope to underwrite businesses, place longer-term bets, and focus on what generates revenue growth: making customers happy. From top to bottom, everyone I've talked to seems full of zest, motivation, and focus. It's probably largely because Michael Dell at the top has transmitted his own enthusiasm to employees. It's quite remarkable in contrast to the Dilbert-like cultures prevalent in so many large organizations.

And Michael, the man running this private company, has repeatedly chortled about the cherished perk of being able to do pretty much what he wants, far from the glare of Wall Street. An anecdote I've heard several times over the past months features a senior employee asking him whether a certain project could be funded. Then Dell does a kind of Spalding Gray routine with himself in which he turns his head one way and asks his "board of directors" whether he can green-light the venture, then turns his head the other and responds, "Sure." At which point he smiles at the employee and says, "Do it!"

This ability to make lightning decisions and his generally greater willingness to take risks are surely part of why Michael decided to go after EMC in the first place. When he made the rounds shopping the company during his own go-private transaction, he deepened existing relationships and forged new ones in the private equity/hedge fund/ banking community. No doubt several people must have said something on the order of, "Once this is done, if you see any other promising projects along the way, you give us a call, y'hear?" And money of course is still relatively cheap. All those hot dollars are hungry for a decent return, in a market where some T-bills have negative interest rates.

But in order to get that money, Dell had to agree to a new reporting arrangement because of the VMware tracking stock. Now, it's true, the company was required to report some figures under the existing rules of the bond covenants made during the management buyout. But after the merger, Dell will own the 80% share of VMware that EMC currently possesses. So the holders of the public 20% of VMware have a right to know what's going on in the entity that issued the tracking stock-which is Dell. So, Dell will be back reporting financial figures in a form much closer to that required when it was a public company. Informed sources at Dell tell me that the company will begin reporting what this person calls "overall financials."

Competitors like Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lenovo, and Oracle will surely be interested in obtaining those figures. What they find may or may not give them much comfort, since Dell seems to be succeeding in at least some areas where in the past it has struggled.

But for Wall Street, this inside baseball will mostly be a big yawn, because traders can't trade the stock. The company is still private. There's no Dell equity on the market, and the company doesn't have to hold quarterly conference calls with ill-tempered financial analysts. The bonds are traded, but big whup. No one will turn out for that boring show, unless Dell fails to make a payment.

I once asked Dell, the man, whether he was a poker player. I was amazed by the brilliance of his opaque grin during a presentation I had just witnessed and felt he had the face of a gambler: enigmatic, unreadable, and full of carefully set contrasting signals. Eyes of steel and a cement smile. And he quickly responded, "No. I'm too much of a mathematician."

He gambles, but on a scale orders of magnitude greater than your average mortal. As a mathematician, he has surely looked at high, low, and middling scenarios for what will come after this EMC deal-projected revenue growth, gross and operating margins, and free cash flow-and concluded that he can cover his payments.

Anyone will be able to please themselves by going to the SEC to peruse the numbers. But Dell has managed to retain almost all of his operating scope and freedom of action, even as he leverages up the company with his name on the door.

Original article published at Techonomy.com

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What does the luxury experience in the Caribbean feel like for today's consumer?

As a luxury leader, my mission of finding new ways to engage the customer and provide great experiences is always top of mind. This time I found myself trying to find it in the Caribbean.

On a recent trip to Barbados, I got to experience first hand what luxury service feels like on this island. Most countries offer VIP services upon arrival, I was curious to see if this was true for Barbados. The minute I touched down at the gate, I was ushered off the plane by a greeter. She escorted me to a waiting area, and navigated through customs and the retrieval of my luggage.

Every aspect of this experience was great - from the timing of getting off the plane to conversing with her about the fashion industry. During our conversation, it was evident that she did her research that this industry is my trade. Her common threads were quite impressive.

I was offered freshly cut coconut water. And, boy, did I enjoy drinking it while sitting in the comfort of the outdoor space at the airport people watching and taking in the tropical Island breeze. No doubt this was strategically done in order to coordinate the timing of the driver's curbside arrival without missing a beat...and they succeeded.

This experience didn't surprise me in the least; especially knowing that one of the main drivers of the economy in the Caribbean is the service industry, particularly tourism. As a matter of fact, it accounts for three quarters of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Barbados, with numbers of $349 Million spent in this area last year alone. Imagine how this year will end as the luxury real estate market is on an uptick.

This is evident in other Caribbean Islands. Tourism on the island of Antigua is the largest sector of this country's economy, employing about three-quarters of the work force. Antigua carries the torch in the hotel industry with resorts like Jumby Bay, which is one of six five-star hotels in the area. However, a lack of designer brands and luxury shopping is a missed opportunity, especially as it holds one of the Caribbean's highest GDP, at $23,000.

In Jamaica the service sector contributes to around 70% of GDP and tourism employs one out of every ten workers. While the Bahamas service sector has seen steady growth over the past decade, which contributed to the movement of people from fishing and farming villages, to commercial centers such as: New Providence Island, Grand Bahamas and Great Abaco, according to Euro monitor. This population shift has again proved that the island's economic dependence is on the service industry.

In addition, the competition in the luxury service market is becoming more intense between tourism-driven countries in the Caribbean and those with high-income household competing with other low-cost regional destinations like Jamaica, where investment in luxury tourism is increasingly growing steady.

As I continued my journey in Barbados to find great luxury service, I entered the beautiful indoor/outdoor center called Limegrove. Limegrove is home to many designer shops, such as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Cartier, Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors. I have been hearing about this center for the past few years, but, on this hot Monday in August, I was on a mission to discover exceptional service and luxury experiences for myself. I couldn't help but notice some of the shoppers carrying the latest Louis Vuitton non-logo handbag, Celine, or Hermes Birkin bags, but wearing Tory Burch flats or fancy sneakers on their feet.

Navigating from store to store, I discovered a common global retail issue: some sales associates are more friendly and engaging, while others carried on in conversation as though I was invisible. I had the pleasure of meeting the owner of Limegrove and watched him as he walked the corridors of this prestigious center. He stopped and said hello to everyone he encountered from employees to customers. His actions made me feel as if I was an invited guest who had entered his home.

The Limegrove Centre is also home to a boutique theater equipped with table service, allowing guests to order food, drink and champagne with one touch of a button. This type of luxury entertainment places Limegrove in the exceptional service category.

I was equally impressed with the experience at two local luxury hotels. From the time of arrival to departure, the Sandy Lane Hotel staff acted as though they had known me for decades. The warm, friendly, and seasoned staff at the Coral Reef Hotel also made for a grand experience.

Domestic and international investors boast about the service industry in the Caribbean, so let's not forget that these countries are all duty free, which also adds to the consumer shopping experience. Crystal Court shops in Nassau, Bahamas, has become a destination for luxury shoppers looking for timepieces from brands like Bulgari, Cartier, and Rolex, as well as, accessories from Ferragamo, Versace and Gucci.

The common thread for a retailer, hotelier or restaurant is great service and experience; therefore, in the Caribbean, the challenge is keeping the core values consistent with its international counterparts. This is especially important for luxury retail, as most international brands in the Caribbean are franchisees.

The best way for luxury brands to become successful in these sunny islands is having the right staff, the right product, and providing proper training to all employees so that they are able to think global but act local.

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I am an ENFJ. According to my test results it means I am an extrovert who loves being around people. Truth. It also says that I may have a difficult time being by myself. False.

I am a strong I/S when it comes to DISC yet that has changed just from over the last three years where the test result showed I was a strong C. I tend to retake the DISC every two to three years and I realize that, as time passes, I get closer to the middle of all four elements. I think this is interesting.

Well, many of the personality tests can help you understand yourself better. They can help to create a more effective team within an organization and help us to put into words what we may already feel is true about us. I admit, there are lots of advantages to those personality tests which can't be dismissed.

However, I see a big problem when it comes to defining our personality through a test. For one, it is a man-made test that is kept very general. When you finish filling out your questionnaire there is nobody sitting behind it saying "Oh, yes, this exactly is John." (Fill in your name.). It is a great tool but really, doesn't say much about who you are.

Every single one of us is yearning for answers to the question: "Who am I?" Personality tests become our straw to hold on to. You are sitting on the results like nobody could ever pull that chair away from underneath your behind. It is yours and dare anyone to try to take that away from you or try to prove you wrong. Hey, it is all ok. I, however, would like to invite you to loosen up your grip on that chair and give it some wiggle room.

Here is why: We naturally have a core desire to wanting to fit in. We want to be part of something bigger and feel connected. We want to be seen. Unfortunately in many cases we can't even see ourselves for who we are which makes it very complicated to figure out who and what to present to the world. Ah, that inner struggle is killing us. It sends out energy that confuses not just others but yourself, as well. We subconsciously yearn to find our identity.

We are called to approach life from a perspective of knowing, not wishing. With everything that is being thrown at us - toxins, negative or even positive energy, opinions etc - our inner knowing and soulful listening is being covered up with worldly trash. We try to find out who we are. It is somewhere, right? Now suddenly a test comes along that will tell you what you have tried to find an answer for. Great. You can stop looking deeper. In that moment when you take the test, it will ask you questions that are quite on the surface level of your being. You can only answer most questions with what you consciously see when looking at yourself. Yet, what you see is not the truth. Over all those years you have put on layers of protective measures that keep your deepest and most vulnerable part of yourself save-your Spirit, your Soul.

With those test results you are simply trying to paint over those survival mechanisms with some great colors to make them look shinier. After all, it gave you an idea of who you are and you want this layer to look great for others to see and value.

While filling out the assessment, you are choosing from what you know with where you are currently at in life. Unless you have done some significant self-evaluation and taken the time to understand and to get to know your core, your assessment results are being sabotaged by your own self. It is a combination of what you wish of who you are and what you can consciously see. For a while it will give you a platform to stand on. Others can relate to you. You can relate to others. You are part of something bigger. Ah, this is how it all fits together. Wait, not quite. You will see that your subconscious mind and your soul always know the truth and at some point this foundation will crumble. You start to feel unsettled and restless. But maybe this is just part of life because you just found out who you are through this assessment?!

See, personality assessments are great at giving you ideas and a good start into going deeper at who you are, your purpose and what you are called to do. But it is not the answer. Way too often do I observe and talk to people that hide behind their test results as they are the truth when you may actually just use them as an excuse to not having to step outside of your comfort zone. I believe that the more we connect within, the more we become centered. This is when personality tests become unnecessary because we trust what we know about ourselves.

When there are things I don't want to do, I tend to be an introvert. Now, if it is something I love to do, I turn into an extrovert.

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Let's get this out of the way right from the beginning. I don't care about Benghazi. There, I said it. I. Don't. Care.

Now, that's not to say that I don't care about the four American lives lost or about keeping our people safe abroad. About those things, I care deeply. I just don't care about the Congressional investigation which has, by all appearances, replaced Michael Ende's epic childhood fantasy as The NeverEnding Story.

To me, the Benghazi attack has become more than fodder for an ongoing investigation. It has become a cautionary tale for anyone who has ever owned or managed a business.

It doesn't matter whether you're Secretary of State or just supervising secretaries. Things don't always go as planned. There are always screw-ups. Some, you never saw coming. Others are of the face-palm variety. Either way, the right question is: how should you and your organization react to the problem?

Because the thing is, and there's no getting around this, it is almost impossible to make progress in a gotcha culture.

Learning from Star Trek

A few years ago, one of my lawyers and I experienced a near miss. There was a small trial coming up and he had put it on my calendar assuming that I would be the one taking it to court. For my part, I knew it was his case and took it as an article of faith that he would see it through to the end.

We were right up against our deadline for trial preparation when we realized our mistake. "Why would you think I would take it," he said? "I put it on your calendar!"

"Everyone puts their deadlines on my calendar," I replied. "They do it just to keep me informed as to what's going on with our clients. I thought you were just keeping me in the loop. You should have told me you wanted me to cover it."

Coming from a military background, he clasped his hands behind his back, stood up straight, looked dead ahead, and said "yes, sir." But that wasn't what I wanted. I didn't care about blame. What I cared about was figuring out how we were going to prevent these issues in the future.

The solution we hit upon was straight out of Star Trek. Whenever the Captain would leave the bridge of the Enterprise, he would say to whomever he put in charge "you have the con." That person would have to reply "I have the con" in order for control to be passed.

My colleague and I didn't do that. We never voiced a transfer and acceptance of responsibility. We resolved to make sure we did in the future and, from that point to this, we never transfer a case in my office without actually using the words -- offered and accepted -- "you have the con."

Looking back, we were only able to have a productive conversation when he realized that I was neither trying to hang him out to dry nor simply out to justify my own actions. I was just trying to find and apply the right lesson.

Learning from Benghazi

It's not breaking news to say that we live in a gotcha culture. And nowhere is that culture more on display than in the arena of national politics. We have crafted an environment that is exactly the opposite of constructive. It's the GOP vs. the Democrats or the Obama administration or former Secretary of State Clinton.

What a shame it is that a series of investigations more exhaustive (and expensive) than anything likely ever to be carried out in a business will yield such a small fraction of truly useful information. Sure, some information may be used to take Secretary Clinton down a peg or two or maybe to score political points off of one side or the other, but what are the odds that anything coming out of either side is likely to enable the government to operate better? What are the odds that this process will save lives?

That's where government and business absolutely must part company. Every organization makes mistakes. It doesn't matter whether you're working in a Mom 'n Pop bakery or running the federal government. Unless you create a culture in which people are more concerned with how we get it right than they are with how you got it wrong, failure becomes more than an option.

It becomes a given.

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The holiday season is right around the corner, making it the ideal time to get your online marketing campaigns mapped out. The holiday season provides a massive opportunity to increase sales and revenue for your business online, but it takes planning and execution -- your revenue isn't going to just magically increase.

You need to plan in advance. Waiting until the last minute will result in throwing together a rushed campaign with very little though or strategy. At the very least, you need to be fully ready to roll out your holiday marketing campaign on Black Friday. Use this 5-step plan to make sure your business is ready to capitalize on the approaching online holiday season.

1. Make sure your website provides a great mobile experience.

You need a mobile-friendly website. Consumers are more comfortable making purchases on their mobile devices and if your website doesn't provide a pleasant experience they will quickly leave and find another option. Run your website through Google's mobile-friendly test to make sure it passes, but don't stop there.

You also need feedback from real users. Ask family, employees, friends and even complete strangers to run through your website on their mobile devices and provide you with feedback. Can they quickly find what they are looking for? Are they able to easily navigate your website without having to manipulate the screen by zooming in and out? Are your contact and offer forms easy to submit? Use this feedback to improve the experience your website provides your visitors.

2. Review the data from last year.

Go through your data from the previous holiday season and find out where the majority of your conversions came from. Many businesses will look at just the raw traffic numbers and assume those are the best sources to target again. You need to see where the majority of your revenue producing conversions came from.

If you determined that Facebook pushed 100,000 visitors, but only converted at a 1% rate, compared to 50,000 visitors and a 4% conversion rate via email marketing, wouldn't it be wise to ramp up your email marketing this season? This is something that I am currently doing with my consulting clients. We are using the data from the previous year as a starting point to map out the campaigns for the upcoming holiday season.

3. Free up time by scheduling holiday-specific social media content.

The holiday season is the busiest time of the year, so the last thing you want to do is take time out of each day to create your social media content. Use an automation tool, such as Hootsuite, to schedule all of your holiday social media content in advance. You never want to rely 100% on automated social media, as it can appear very spammy, but using a tool to schedule your content is fine -- it will actually save you a great amount of time.

You will want to create social media content that features your holiday offers, as well as uses holiday images and hashtags. You never want to be overly promotional on social media, but during peak holiday season, don't be afraid to put more direct offers out there. Your audience is actively looking for deals online, so put them out there for them to find while they are in buying mode.

4. Lay out your holiday email marketing strategy.

You are going to need to tweak your standard email copy and your funnel system for the holiday season. Some businesses might put their email leads into a funnel that drip-markets to their subscribers over a period of several months. There is no need to slowly nurture during the holiday season.

If a consumer comes to your website during the holiday season there is a very good chance they are very close to being ready to make a purchase. Adjust your email marketing to be more aggressive and push for the sale quickly. Rather than just sending information and providing value, include special offers like free shipping, exclusive discounts, and direct links to products on your website. The conversion window is small during the holidays, so map out your email marketing to quickly convert the leads you generate.

5. Create landing pages for your holiday offers.

If your business is going to have special offers and promotions for the holiday season you will want to create landing pages that highlight these. You aren't going to know what landing pages perform better until you actually test them, so make sure to create several variations to split test.

You will want to eliminate the landing pages that perform poorly early on, so the majority of your holiday traffic is being sent to the landing pages that are producing the highest conversion rates. There are several tools, such as Optimizely, to help you easily create and split-test multiple landing page variations, even if you have limited or no coding and programming experience.

Jonathan Long is the Founder & CEO of Market Domination Media®, an online marketing agency that provides SEO coaching and online marketing consulting. Jonathan also created EBOC (Entrepreneurs & Business Owners Community), a private business forum. Follow him on Twitter.

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Social influence is one of those gray areas in the Digital Era. Many lay claim to the ability to influence as a call to attention, even inserting the title of 'influencer' in their tagline, while constantly marking their territory in the online forums. Who has the power to influence and who doesn't is a matter of individual judgment. The declaration of oneself as an influencer is easy; the demonstration of actual influence over the thought and behavior of others is quite another.

Moving information within online communities is at the heart of marketing today. As networks expand, and more content is shared, new engagement patterns have emerged. Having fully transitioned to the online world, word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM) is alive and well. Revenue generation is tied to enhanced visibility on multiple social platforms, and correlates to the strength and frequency of conversations taking place.

Within the framework of this disruptive technology operates a compelling force known as influence, one that all brands court on some level. Within the social space, influencers are seen as people who can move mountains, open doors, and control fates. Regard as an influencer is a positive identification, one that altogether connotes authority, carries a high level of accountability, and hints at expanding a brand's reach.

The study of social influence encompasses socialization, peer pressure, conformity, obedience, leadership, and persuasion. In his 1958 treatise in the Journal of Conflict Resolution, Harvard psychologist, Herbert Kelman defined three modes of social influence: 1). Compliance, 2). Identification, and 3). Internalization. Separately, and in combination, these measures were intended to differentiate accepted behavior from privately-held beliefs. (Source: Wikipedia)

In his book, Influence: Science and Practice, Robert Cialdini expands on his theories of strategic communication, focusing on compliance and persuasion in a social setting. Based on generalizations and learned behavior in decision making, Cialdini conceptualizes influence as both as process and an experience, and lays the foundation for what has come to be known as influencer marketing. He demonstrates how "compliance professionals" can be deployed by brands to influence potential buyers.

The Rise of Influencer Marketing

Seeding thoughts, opinions, and emotions in others has been around since the dawn of communication. Even in a free-thinking society, there are those who need to be told what to think, how to feel, who to believe, and what to buy. Throughout the course of human history, there are countless notables who have proved an uncanny ability to establish their sway and direct action. Unfortunately, not all that wield the power of influence have used it for the greater good.

Nowadays, marketers are acutely aware that their consumer groups live online. Given the velocity with which a message can be disseminated and amplified across the Internet, coupled with the impact of mobile technologies, more economic buyers can be reached in a fraction of the time. As the uptick in active use continues on all the major social networking sites, engaging with influencers has become a key component of the marketing equation.

Influencer branding is closely related to thought leadership; both pursuits forge a path to wider recognition, increased engagement, and more business wins. For brands today, finding the right influencer to provide the right rationale that will turn indiscriminant consumers into fervent fans can mean everything. The influencers themselves are highly protective of their reputations and selective of the brands that they will tout.

Rohit Vashisht, Co-Founder and CEO of Sverve, a company that connects brands with best-fit social media influencers, believes that we have entered a new age of digital marketing, one that is driven by sharing. "Marketing today is all about authentic and engaging content shared by people that others trust on their channels of choice." He notes that messaging shared by a friend or follower is "a thousand times more impactful than a photo in a banner ad."

Monetizing and Quantifying Social Influence

Known influencers are the movers, the shakers, the people who can make things happen. They stir culture, set trends, and put forth opinions that are trusted and valued by the masses. They are also well-paid for their thinking and use of their likeness. Of course, not everybody has access to elite athletes, superstar performance artists, widely-read journalists, or other high-profile personalities, let alone the budgets to engage them.

The social sharing economy has created a marketplace for aspiring and self-anointed influencers, those who have amassed huge followings. They are perceived as creative, cutting edge, and in tune with social mores. However, their interactions can often cloud the metrics, making assessments on performance, marketing reach, and ROI difficult, if not impossible.

Whether the goal of a brand is to gain more concentrated coverage or viral spread, the challenge lies in identifying the most desirable influencers, evaluating their access to the target market, and setting realistic expectations of results. "Influencers have their own ways of engaging with their followers," explains Vashisht. "Different channels have different ways in which they inspire people to connect and share content."

Parting Thoughts

♦ The stakes are going up for marketers. In a society compressed by information overload and attention deficiency, brands know what they are up against in getting their message across to people. They understand that there is an art and science to generating conversations, shifting perspectives, and persuading others to take action.

♦ Influence is talent. Influencer marketing will unquestionably become an essential talent acquisition strategy for forward-thinking brands. They will seek to partner with social influencers who are aligned with their ideals and can create change within their communities.

♦ For brands, capitalizing on trends in buyer behavior is nothing new. When it comes to creating a consumer craving or engendering long-term advocacy, they need help. Influencers can provide that relevance, that leadership, and the megaphone that can turn a napkin idea into the next, best, shiny thing.

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The best way to understand the future of work is to go talk to people outside our comfort zone and become an adventurer pursuing possibilities. If we continue to have the same conversations with the same people, go to the same conferences with the same people, or read books by the same people, what will happen? Well, much of the same in a nutshell. And today, we have created the same culture, one of sameness. One in which everyone is getting to get together to find out what the heroes have done so we can capture their best practice and then go do the same thing that they did. Won't that guarantee success?

Albert Einstein made us aware that this type of behavior is the definition of insanity. It's like someone telling us the 17 foods that we shouldn't eat. We may be one of 500 people listening to his talk capturing a photo of these 17 dangerous foods. But then when we sit back and reflect, we realize that the person up on the stage doesn't really know us. They have no idea what our body chemistry is so how could they know what's dangerous to us? The best advice that she could give us is to stop eating mass produced garbage and start eating whole foods. After a recent talk on 21st century leadership at a conference, someone came up to me and told me that while she loved my talk, I covered a lot and she wishes I had provided the five key takeaways at the end. I thanked her and shared with her that as I don't know her, I could not provide her with her five takeaways. I was happy to talk and and learn more about where she was in life.

#1 Something remarkable is indeed happening

There is no short cut, magic carpet, best practice or formula for the new world we are entering in this century. The 21st century leaders from around the world that have generously contributed to Our Journey to Business Common Sense: What's New is Old (stay tuned for the upcoming crowd funding campaign for the book launch) continuously share with us that the new economy is human-to-human. The leaders and organizations that get the shift that is happening in our world will thrive. We don't need any more change programs in the 21st century as change is constant. What we desperately need is a mindset change. And here are some of the main areas to think about that are emerging from real live stories of 21st century leaders in the book.

#2 - People are consciously leaving scarcity behind and making way for possibilities

Notions of fear, scarcity and competition no longer serve us. For us to "win" in the 21st century means that there is enough for everyone. The organizations that get it have let go of the notion of taking market share away from their competitors. They are spending their energy on connecting with people who believe in their products (their customers) and building unlikely and unusual partnerships. Why? Because they can in a world that is open and connected.

Only 2% of the population knows how to use social media tools to build relationships; the rest are stuck in 20th century branding and are using old advertising models that no longer resonate with many people. Most organizations are so stuck in their social media strategies that they are missing opportunities every day to build their business with the people who care about what they create in the world. So it's time for a massive reboot of our mindsets. We have everything we need. We just need to open our eyes and hearts and see it.

#3 - Whole people are creating holistic solutions

Most of the people are sharing with me that they are doing the work in the world they believe in and at some times, at huge personal costs. I have the honour to talk to people from around the world who care deeply about themselves, their communities, the world and the planet. Every single person has a story of wanting to bring the team back together to do meaningful work. And every story is not about bringing more band-aid solutions but taking on a big issue in their organization or the world and bringing people together around shared purpose. One told me that she not only wants to make a dent in the universe but she wants the universe to make a dent in her.

People no longer wanted to be segmented and fragmented into a box or a label. We have spent so much time on organizational structure that the cracks are starting to show. And when we know how to use technologically effectively, we no longer need to talk about it as it is simply an enabler of our life and our work. Technology is not changing the workplace. The fact that it can connect us and allow for open dialogue (where not censored) is making so much more possible in our world.

#4 - Waking up to the human-to-human economy

In a human-to-human economy, it's all about relationships. The biggest currency of the 21st century is trusted relationships and community. The days of sales pitches are coming to an end and the most important question any organization and individual can ask themselves and know the answer as well is who do you trust? And most importantly, who trusts you? In this economy, you need to know what are you creating and who wants it.

Our collective consciousness is awakening to the fact that consumers have a voice and they will make a point of being heard more and more. Our organizations have antiquated terms like "customer service" and "employee engagement." A new world is emerging that make these terms irrelevant. In business, you will need to know how to simply share your creations (products or services) with the world and connect with the people who could benefit from them. You will need people who believe in what you are creating and that your values match theirs. It will no longer be an issue whether they fit into your culture in the new world of LIFEworking.

#5 - More people are picking themselves, especially women

There is an excitement amongst 21st century leaders that we are able to incorporate good and people in how we do business. There are conversations emerging around what people will want in exchange of their time. The days of patriarchy are coming to an end as more women will stop buying into the fragmentation that exists today and simply create new spaces for solving problems. That is what the 21st century leader does; she brings people together and does not always have the answer.

This is the era to pick ourselves and not wait to be picked. The increasing number of women leaving to start their own businesses is an indication of it and large organizations need to start shifting so more women stay and help them lead in the 21st century. In a world where we pick ourselves, organizations will need to re-evaluate and update most of their legal, human resource and back-end systems as they will quickly stop supporting how business is done.

#6 - Always start with people

One of the biggest wishes people have is that their colleagues stop hoarding information. One of the reasons for the epic failure of Enterprise 2.0 was that we led with the technology instead of the human side of work. We poured millions of dollars into creating change management programs to convince people to go to use online platforms instead of integrating the tools into how we wanted to work. We know that people don't like change and yet we continue to think we can stage old world campaigns to convince them that this new way is better. And too often, the people paying the bills for these massive change management programs don't understand that if they simply integrated these tools themselves, they'd all be using them already.

And imagine a world where people in your organization would have access to the people and information sources to do their work and make the organization successful. What would that look like in your world?

#7 - It's time to co-create

Collaboration has been so over used that it may have lost some of its meaning. If people in the 21st century wake up in the morning and are able to practice their art in their work, then they are able to create something meaningful. An increasing number of people are realizing they want to grow and are looking for others to come together and create more meaning in the world. This trend is taking place increasingly outside of large organizations where people who would have competed in the past are coming together to work together. It's coming from the contingent workforce, which is a $1.17 trillion economy now, and it's growing. As we live in an open and connected world, it is time for large organizations to start thinking about unusual and unlikely partners to co-create with or risk missing an amazing opportunity to re-invent their business for the 21st century.

Back to writing now. I'd love to hear your thoughts ... they may make it into the book!

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WASHINGTON -- In just six weeks, world leaders will meet in Paris to negotiate a new global climate change agreement. To date, some 150 countries have submitted plans detailing how they will move their economies along a more resilient low-carbon trajectory. These plans represent the first generation of investments to be made in order to build a competitive future without the dangerous levels of carbon dioxide emissions that are now driving global warming.

The transition to a cleaner future will require both government action and the right incentives for the private sector. At the center should be a strong public policy that puts a price on carbon pollution. Placing a higher price on carbon-based fuels, electricity and industrial activities will create incentives for the use of cleaner fuels, save energy and promote a shift to greener investments. Measures such as carbon taxes and fees, emissions-trading programs and other pricing mechanisms and removal of inefficient subsidies can give businesses and households the certainty and predictability they need to make long-term investments in climate-smart development.

At the International Monetary Fund, the focus is on reforming its member countries' fiscal systems in order to raise more revenue from taxes on carbon-intensive fuels and less revenue from other taxes that are detrimental to economic performance, such as taxes on labor and capital. Pricing carbon can be about smarter, more efficient tax systems, rather than higher taxes.

To help achieve our climate objectives, we need to promote dialogue about the necessary policy measures before and beyond the climate change conference in Paris.

Carbon taxes should be applied comprehensively to emissions from fossil fuels. The price must be high enough to achieve ambitious environmental goals, in alignment with national circumstances, and it must be stable, in order to encourage businesses and households to invest in clean technologies. Administering carbon taxes is straightforward and can build on existing road fuel taxes, which are well established in most countries.

Carbon pricing will be in many countries' best interests, owing to the many domestic environmental benefits. For example, burning cleaner fuels helps to reduce outdoor air pollution, which, according to the World Health Organization, currently causes about 3.7 million premature deaths a year.

It is vitally important to address the impact of energy-price reforms on vulnerable groups in every society. So these reforms will need to be accompanied by adjustments to fiscal systems and safety nets, among other things, to ensure that the poor are not harmed.

carbon pollution

Engine parts from high polluting vehicles are piled up at a scrapyard in Zhejiang, China as part of a government program to curb carbon emissions. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images.

The World Bank Group is supporting countries and businesses as they develop climate-friendly public policies, invest in carbon markets and explore financial innovations to ease into low-carbon transitions. The Group is leveraging its experience and global reach for learning and knowledge exchange through programs like the Partnership for Market Readiness.

From that experience, we have developed, alongside the OECD, initial principles to help guide and inspire future carbon-pricing schemes. By drawing on these principles, countries, regions, states and businesses can move faster to tackle the climate challenge confronting us all. The principles are based on fairness; alignment of policies and objectives; stability and predictability; transparency; efficiency and cost-effectiveness; and reliability and environmental integrity.

To help achieve our climate objectives, we need to promote dialogue about the necessary policy measures before and beyond the climate change conference in Paris. That is why we are announcing a "Carbon Pricing Panel," which will bring together heads of state, city and state leaders and representatives of top companies to urge countries and businesses around the world to put a price on carbon.

The longer we wait, the costlier and more difficult it will be for us -- and our children and grandchildren -- to protect the planet.

These leaders have taken steps to price carbon pollution and catalyze greener investment in their own countries and regions. They include German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, French President François Hollande, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Philippines President Benigno Aquino III, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Governor Jerry Brown of California and Mayor Eduardo Paes of Rio de Janeiro.

Carbon pricing policies are already being implemented by some 40 national governments, including that of China, the world's largest emitter, and 23 cities, states, and regions that are putting a price on carbon. Many other governments also are reforming energy prices, and more than 400 companies report using a voluntary, internal carbon price. That makes sense. Top companies must effectively manage exposure to climate risk in order to generate higher profits and ensure more stable earnings.

All of these actions are welcome; but we view them as being only initial steps. Together with the leaders of the Carbon Pricing Panel, we call on governments to seize the moment -- for the sake of the planet and future generations -- to put a price on carbon pollution that reflects the environmental damage it causes. We stand ready to support governments that act. The longer we wait, the costlier and more difficult it will be for us -- and our children and grandchildren -- to protect the planet.

© Project Syndicate

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Ask yourself whether you are leading with purpose or just trying to get ahead.

Do you actually believe in something larger than your compensation, your career trajectory or your next success?

I often tell young leaders, if their work has no meaning or satisfaction, they are better off quitting and sitting on the beach until they decide what they want to do.

Many people's work is completely disconnected from their values and their purpose. This lack of purpose isn't something to deal with by working with a nonprofit in your spare time. If you don't take action to address this disconnect, it can become like an insidious cancer that eats at your soul. Long-run, a lack of purpose can lead to burnout, poor decision-making and even moral derailment.

Understanding Your Purpose

Your purpose is the genuine deeper meaning in your work. It reflects whyyou do what you do.

Understanding your purpose is essential to becoming a better leader. People who lead with a sense of purpose that is aligned with their company's purpose make better long-term decisions and are more authentic.

But this is not as easy as it sounds. Discerning your purpose takes a combination of introspection and real-world experiences before you can determine where you want to devote your energies.

The first step to knowing your purpose is to understand your life story. We all face times of crisis, pain or rejection in our lives. Reflecting on the life you've lived helps you to discover your True North - the beliefs, values and principles most important to you.

Before you take on a leadership role, ask yourself: "What motivates me to lead this organization?" If the honest answers are simply power, prestige and money, you are at risk of being trapped by external gratification as your source of fulfillment.

This never works. Why? Simply, you can never have enough money, fame or recognition. When you give someone else the power to decide if you're successful (whether it's the Forbes 400 list or an invitation to Davos), you lose. If you allow some external force to define your success, you have essentially abdicated your soul.

There is a deep voice inside you that yearns to bring your unique gifts to this world. If you neglect that voice, you create deep misalignments that eventually will surface.

Purpose at Work

Ken Frazier traveled a unique road en route to becoming CEO of Merck, the leading pharmaceutical research company. Born before the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, Frazier's grandfather was a slave in South Carolina. He sent his son, Frazier's father, to live in Philadelphia. With no formal education, Frazier's father became a janitor, yet taught himself to read, reading two newspapers a day. In spite of his limited opportunities, he had a profound influence on Frazier's life.

After his mother died when he was 12, Frazier and his sisters had to fend for themselves after school, avoiding the gangs that dominated the streets outside his house. "I learned very early from my father that one has to be one's own person and not go along with the crowd," Frazier says. His father asked him, "Kenny, how are you going to carry on your grandfather's narrative of being free and your own person? You better do what you know is right, and not be fixated on what other people think of you."

While studying at on Penn State scholarship, Frazier decided he wanted "to become a great lawyer like Thurgood Marshall, affecting social change." At Harvard Law School, he was acutely aware he wasn't from the same social class as his classmates. He wryly notes, "Lloyd Blankfein [CEO of Goldman Sachs] and I were the only students who 'were not of the manor born.'"

Shortly after he joined Merck, Frazier took on the extremely difficult task of defending Merck from over 40,000 lawsuits filed after the pain drug Vioxx was withdrawn from the market due to alleged cardiovascular problems. Frazier did so successfully, catapulting him into the CEO's chair where he faced a greater challenge: short-term shareholders pressured him to cut back Merck's research as several of its competitors were doing. Frazier stayed the course, committing to spend a minimum of $8 billion per year on research in order to pursue cures for devastating diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's.

Reflecting on his sense of purpose, Frazier explains, "Merck's purpose is aligned with my personal sense of who I want to be and what I hope to contribute to the world. At Merck, you have the opportunity to make tangible contributions to humanity. There's a yearning in all of us to leave something meaningful behind, because we know we have a short time on earth. Merck gives me the chance to leave something to people 20, 50 or even 100 years from now because we did the right things today."

Asked what his father would say about his remarkable success, Frazier says modestly, "He'd say, 'The boy did what he was supposed to do.'"

Turning Purpose Into Action

Your leadership purpose is not meaningful until it is applied to solving problems you encounter in the real world. When you align your personal purpose with an organization's mission, you unlock the full potential of people in the organization.

That's what I tried to do at Medtronic where we connected employees' True North with the company mission of "restoring health, alleviating pain and extending life." My successors, especially current CEO Omar Ishrak, have pursued this mission with vigor, contributing to the 100 times increase in the company's market value over the past 26 years. More importantly, the number of people each year restored to full health has grown from 300,000 to 15 million.

As long as you focus on your True North, understand your purpose and use it to make a difference in the world, you can leave a legacy that inspires those who follow.

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There seems to be a new restaurant opening up every other day. Regardless of how big, or small, the place you live in is, there is always a new local grill or chain opening up. So how do you differentiate yourself from every other food joint opening up? Yes, traditional marketing and advertising should be in your budget, things like radio ads and signage, but if you want to set yourself apart from the others you'll have to get creative with promoting your restaurant.

With apps continuing to play a near-integral role in our daily lives, it stands to reason that promoting your restaurant through mobile apps like Belly and Allset should be at the forefront of your mind. We've compiled a list of different promotion avenues you should look into when promoting your eatery. Check them out below.

Social media: One of the best ways to entice diners into your restaurant is with a strong social media presence that is heavy on the food photos. Use apps like Instagram to get their mouths watering. Being active, and creative, can be enough entice those on-the-fence diners into your place of business.

Having a Facebook page should be a no-brainer, as well, and gives you a chance to connect with loyal patrons, as well as answer any questions left by customers who have yet to eat at your place of business. You can also use social media to promote sales and even give your followers the occasional discount.

Convenience Apps: One of the most difficult parts of trying to plan a work lunch with colleagues is having to plan for wait time. Waiting for a table in a crowded restaurant and then having to wait for your food to be prepared. If there were a way to alleviate these wait times you could bring in a new group of customers, the business professionals.

By partnering with an app like Allset you'll be able to offer the convenience of a fast food joint, but at a sit down restaurant. Not only are you offering a new avenue for diners, but you'll be able to increase table turnover time by being able to plan for table reservations and cooking times. By being able to plan accordingly you'll be able to optimize the time for servers and cooks and, in turn, keep tables full and maximize your employees' time.

There are other apps that allow you to reserve a table, sure, but Allset takes it that one step further by allowing you to pre-order your food, as well. Reserving a table can save you time, but most of your traditional wait time comes from food prep. If you can cut out that time, your lunch options expand and you're not stuck with the traditional fast food options and premade meals. Pre-ordering your food at a sitdown restaurant can be a powerful selling point, one that many competitors will not be offering.

Loyalty apps: You should always be looking for ways to get new customers into your eatery, but keeping them coming back should be a top priority. If you look at it from a financial standpoint, retaining customers is not nearly as expensive as enticing new customers. So while using a loyalty app may result in some discounted meals, you'll be saving (and making more) money in the long run.

Using an app like Belly can keep customers coming back. By using gamification, you can entice customers to keep coming back in order to score a free meal or discount. You could go oldschool with it and use a punch card, but they can be hard to keep up with and doesn't easily allow for changes to your discount program.

Yelp: Yelp gets its own category. Yelp is a powerhouse when it comes to restaurants and people's perceptions of them. Yelp allows people to leave reviews on their dining experience that other patrons can then use as a deciding point when choosing a place to eat. Restaurants can be made, or broken, based on Yelp reviews so you want to make sure you're right there with the customers.

The important thing to remember about Yelp is that regardless if you set up a profile or not, people can and will review your restaurant. You need to take charge of the situation and set up and curate your Yelp page as best possible. By adding as much information as you can and adding enticing photos and menu pricing you can help set the tone for your restaurant's Yelp page.

Location apps: While Foursquare (and Swarm) has lost some steam, check-in apps like these can be used by potential diners when deciding on a restaurant to eat at. It's a great way to check out what others think of the restaurants around you. Like Yelp, curating your Foursquare page can help on-the-fence diners with their decision.

Having things like Foursquare and Yelp set up not only gives patrons a place to review your restaurant, but these additional avenues also help with search queries, meaning your restaurant is more visible in search results made by curious Googlers.

Mobile POS systems: By expanding the ways you allow customers to pay for their meal you open up entirely new revenue opportunities. Not only does it allow for more versatility, but it is also has that modern flair that many diners desire and it offers an easier way for customers to quickly pay and be on their way.

Something like Square is a great mobile POS that could allow customers to pay while still at their table. Have your servers equipped with iPhones or iPads and simply swipe their card directly at the table. No waiting on checks and waiters to bring back your receipt to sign. Allset, mentioned earlier, also allows customers to pre-pay for their meal directly from the app, continuing the theme of getting in and out quickly while still enjoying a quality meal.

In a never ending sea of dining choices, restaurants have to find creative ways to market their restaurant. Creative ads, commercials, and traditional SEO like Adwords are a great starting point but by adding some of the above tips into your marketing strategy, you can see even more gains than by traditional techniques alone. Allset is a great example of creativity sparking virality. The app is spreading like wildfire in tech circles, with busy techies telling others how convenient it is to eat at sit-down restaurants, even with their limited timeframes. Being one of the restaurants utilizing this type of technology can result in an increased number of customers who maintain a busy lifestyle. It's a tough demographic to snag, but will be well worth it.

The main thing to remember is that whatever avenues you decide to take, make sure you put 100% into them. Like mentioned prior, an Instagram account is a great idea, but if your last post is from 37 weeks ago, people might assume you've closed shop. Being active on Yelp is also a smart move, but remember to treat all reviews (even the bad ones) the same, and never stick your foot in your mouth. Like the meals themselves, the main thing to remember is to be creative in your restaurant marketing strategy.

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At the Democratic debate, Bernie Sanders famously suggested that the only way to fix our country was with a political revolution. He suggested that in order to get our country back on track, millions of people would need to take to the streets and demand that the government return to its mission of helping people, not corporations. And by all these measures, one of his ideas would revolutionize the way people interact with our economy: postal banking.

The idea of using post offices to provide banking services is not a new one. In fact, from 1911 to 1967, post offices offered savings accounts. The idea was to get the "money out from under mattresses" and over time, encourage savings and wealth building. Many unbanked or underbanked people already frequent post offices, as the postal service offers money orders at a lower cost than nearly anywhere else.

In the United States, one in five households are underbanked, meaning that while they may have a checking account, they also rely on a network of predatory financial service providers (such as check cashers, payday lenders, auto title lenders, etc) to make ends meet. For Blacks, this number is closer to one in three households, and for Latinos, Native Americans, and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders, one in four families are underbanked. Eager to profit off of this exclusion, alternate financial service providers rake in $103 billion per year in fees and interest at the expense of the most financially vulnerable. Postal banking could change this completely.

One type of predatory financial service that has been in the news lately is the RushCard, Russell Simmons' self described effort to "empower" black and low-income communities with prepaid debit cards. This week, thousands of users have been locked out of their accounts, told they have no account, or unable to access the wages that they worked for. On top of this, prepaid debit cards such as Rushcard often charge fees for inactivity, activation, adding money manually, or calling customer service, making it incredibly expensive to be poor.

This idea is not only possible, we have done it before. But more importantly, it puts people back in the center of our economy, not the big banks. Postal banking could revolutionize our relationship to our economy for millions of workers, and make our economy a more fair place for everyone.

Mike Leyba is the Director of Communications for United for a Fair Economy and the primary author of State of the Dream 2015: Underbanked and Overcharged.

Also on HuffPost:

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In 1996, Alan Greenspan used a two-word phrase in a speech, and stock markets around the world began to drop.

The two-word phrase was "irrational exuberance." Greenspan was famous for purposely making his words hard to understand, but in this case, the message was clear. Stocks around the world appeared to be overvalued, especially in the United States.

In fact, it was the start of the Dot-Com bubble. Millions of amateur and professional investors alike piled into the NASDAQ hoping to make a fortune on brand new Internet companies--many of which had never earned a dime.

But then the bubble burst, and people lost a fortune instead. The same thing happened again with the housing bubble in the 2000's, which temporarily dropped the DOW by 54%.

When it comes to investing, irrational exuberance is a fact of life. It will always be a part of investing, but you don't have to be a part of it.

Take Off the Rose-Colored Glasses

On my first real estate deal, I made a 100% return in 3 months. Annualized, that's a 400% return. And that was the worst thing that could have happened to me, because now I thought it was super-easy to make money in real estate--even though I knew it wasn't my strength.

So I quickly abandoned Strengthsvesting. I quickly abandoned due diligence. And I jumped on board the irrational exuberance train, where every passenger is wearing rose-colored glasses on the way to pick up their fortune.

Instead of calculating the risks, you're romanticizing the rewards. It's irrational, it's exuberant and, for me, very costly once I discovered real estate doesn't match my strengths.

Now I Have a New Way to Battle Irrational Exuberance

Investors are limited by what behavior psychologists call Bounded Rationality: we have limited information, we have limited cognitive ability including mental biases, and we have limited time to make a decision.

Due diligence is about recognizing these limitations, and making a plan to mitigate them as much as possible.

My plan starts with my wealth team. I have a number of different people working with me that can minimize my limitations and keep me rational.

I have an attorney to look at the details of any investment opportunity and assess what risks are involved.

I have a CFO look at my current cash flow and my cash position to determine if the deal makes sense at that time. He also has a vetting process to look further into the person promoting the opportunity.

I have an investment advisor who analyzes the investment and assesses the risk--and who knows me well enough to say whether the investment fits my strengths.

By putting together a team like this, you're fighting that first limitation of Bounded Rationality, which is limited information. Putting all your heads together increases your knowledge and can help you make a better decision.

It also helps you fight cognitive limitations, the second part of Bounded Rationality. Emotions come into play with investing, and that can stop you from using your brain effectively. You may also have built-in mental biases that keep you from seeing things clearly. So having other brains involved--with different emotions and mental biases--helps minimize this limitation.

Having a team look over an investment before I pull the trigger also helps fight the last bounded rationality limitation, which is time. Connecting with every other member of the team forces me to slow down and not make any quick decisions.

Oftentimes salesmen push you to act right away to get in on the "opportunity," but that's usually a good sign that you shouldn't get involved at all.

Yes, you may miss a few opportunities by not acting fast. But you'll also save yourself a lot of regret and lost money by not acting recklessly.

You can steer clear of irrational exuberance and fight Bounded Rationality by putting together your own wealth team--or utilizing a team like we've put together at Wealth Factory.

In the end, if you have any doubt, the best thing to do is usually to say "no." If you trust your gut, stick to your strengths and do your due diligence, the right opportunities will come along.

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"When we can't afford both medicine and food, I tie scarves around my boys' bellies at night so they don't wake up crying from stomach aches because they are hungry." --Fatmeh, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon

The Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East is a daily heartbreak that eludes simple solutions. Thousands are dying in boats and trucks as they desperately flee war-torn, drought-parched lands. Thousands more are bursting over borders to the relative safety of Europe, only to be quarantined or turned away from overwhelmed or unfriendly countries.

The disaster this is presenting to the global community is nearly unprecedented in scale, fueling a cascade of emergencies that have far-reaching consequences, including permanent damage to entire populations. The Guardian reports that the refugee crisis is bankrupting UN humanitarian agencies, leaving them unable to provide food and healthcare to millions of desperate people. The dwindling food provisions and medical attention are driving even more refugees to Europe, and creating a generation of children -- those who survive, anyway -- whose lives will be shaped by malnutrition, disease, psychological damage, lack of education and vulnerability to extremist groups like ISIS.

As the media devotes greater attention to this tragedy, the general public is finally seeing the consequences of the destabilization in the Middle East firsthand. And many people are feeling compelled to do whatever they can to help. Fortunately, some of these concerned citizens are the CEOs of global corporations.

Amidst a crisis of this nature, can corporate social responsibility make a difference? The answer is yes, but only to the degree that companies are willing to demonstrate leadership on the scale of the crisis. While some of the world's richest companies are indeed contributing support, there is criticism that many are not doing nearly enough, especially when it comes to coughing up significant donations, not just raising awareness.

Whether or not this is a fair complaint, consider these outcomes, as reported by CNN Money:

Google is giving 1.1 million to organizations that provide shelter, food, water, medical care and other essentials for people in dire need. The company has also been offering matching donations up to5.5 million.

Goldman Sachs is donating 3 million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The money will be used to help refugees arriving at Europe's borders from war-torn countries.

The UNHCR said it has received17 million in donations from companies and individuals in just six days.

The UNHCR said it is also partnering with additional companies to provide aid (or in discussions to do so). Those include Zara, Ericsson, Volvo, H&M and Brown Forman.

Audi is giving1.1 million to support local emergency aid programs, the German car maker said.

Uber is offering to send drivers to collect donations of clothes and toys for charity Save the Children for free in 20 European countries.

German soccer club Bayern Munich has said it will donate 1.1 million to charities. It's also setting up a training camp, which will provide refugee children with meals and free German language classes.

Spain's Real Madrid said it would match Bayern's donation to help displaced people taken in by Spain.

Europe's top 80 soccer teams have agreed to donate one euro for every ticket sold for their first home matches of the regional league competitions. League officials expect the initiative to raise between2.3-3.4 million.

Norwegian hotelier Petter Stordalen has offered 5,000 free overnight stays in his chain of hotels in Norway.

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris has offered to buy an island from Greece or Italy to provide a temporary home for refugees.

Apple just announced that it is making a "substantial" donation to the migrant cause and also supporting 2-for-1 matches of contributions from Apple employees to the Red Cross. Additionally, the company is promoting the Red Cross online and in the App Store. This generosity seems fitting, for the late Steve Jobs was himself the son of a Syrian refugee.

Businesses are also getting creative in how they're reaching out to the refugees. For example, some German companies, like KPMG, are giving some employees paid time off of work to make it easy for them to volunteer in this humanitarian effort. Others are offering internships and occasional job training to skilled migrants looking for work. As reported by DW:

Siemens initiated a paid internship program for ten trainees at its Erlangen facilities, to be extended to other facilities beginning in October.

Deutsche Telekom is also advertising paid online internships for refugees. However, requirements are high: The company is looking for economics students with good German and English skills. So far, Telekom has not found any interns, but they have received their first applications.

Continental is opening up already existing training programs to refugees. The plan is that young people can earn their high school diplomas while participating in a paid internship, after which they can enter into a job training program.

Daimler is training refugees in four factories where they have taken on Syrians and Iraqis with work permits in their machining and tooling facilities. In this way, the automaker assists the city of Stuttgart's work with refugees financially and, through their program, also maintains contact with aid projects in the city.

Trumpf has teamed up with its hometown of Ditzingen to offer German courses for refugees.

The only thing holding some German companies back from investing more substantially in job training for the refugees is the risk of deportation, so many companies are working with politicians to make it easier to hire refugees by clarifying their legal status. Toward that end, the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce supports the so-called 3+2 rule, which stipulates that anyone who undergoes three years of training cannot be deported, and also has the right to work for at least two more years after their training has been completed.

The refugee crisis demonstrates a clear example of how the socially responsible behavior of companies today is being scrutinized more than ever before. It is no longer an option not to act in times of crisis; companies must get involved, for the sake of the trust of their employees, customers and stakeholders, if nothing else.

Most companies don't have the scale that a Google has to make million-dollar donations and matching initiatives (even if Google should arguably be going further than that), but every company can and should still do what it can. For that reason, businesses using the Causecast platform have the ability to be a part of our instant campaign to support the refugees, making it easy to engage employees in fundraising and support.

Whatever action your company takes to demonstrate its concern, make sure it does something. Amidst a historic tragedy like the one unfolding before our eyes day after day, sitting on the sidelines is an untenable abdication of responsibility and a corporate disaster of its own.

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By Morgan Quinn, Contributor

Last month, Forbes released its annual list of the top U.S. billionaires. Admission to the top billionaires club was harder than ever with the lowest net worth sitting at $1.7 billion, up $150 million from one year ago.

Combined, the top 10 wealthiest Americans on Forbes' list are worth over $460 billion, just a few billion shy of Taiwan's GDP. From Warren Buffett to Mark Zuckerberg, here's a rundown of where the top 10 U.S. billionaires were born and how they became so rich they could buy a country together.

Read: 21 Surprising Facts You Never Knew About Warren Buffett

1. Bill Gates

Birthplace: Seattle

Net worth: $76 billion

Bill Gates was born on October 28, 1955 in Seattle. Although Gates started Microsoft in Albuquerque, N.M., he moved the company home to Seattle in 1979. Up until 2008, the business magnate worked at Microsoft full-time, leading the $340.8 billion company.

Today, Seattle continues to serve as the home base for both the software giant and it's co-founder. Gates lives in a 66,000 square-foot mansion on his Xanadu 2.0 estate, according to Business Insider. With Bill Gate's net worth sitting at $76 billion, the $63 million mansion comes with a small price tag.

With more free time, Gates has turned his attention to The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which funds global health projects like drought-tolerant seeds, malaria vaccines and telephone banking.

2. Warren Buffett

Birthplace: Omaha, Neb.

Net worth: $62 billion

Known as the Oracle of Omaha, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway has his roots in -- you guessed it -- Omaha. Warren Buffett got his start selling soft drinks and delivering newspapers. The young investor made his first investment at just 14 years old, when he purchased and rented out 40 acres of land, according to Investopedia.

Buffett later left home to attend the University of Pennsylvania, transferring to the University of Nebraska after two years. He went on to attend Columbia University for graduate school and returned to Omaha upon graduation to work at his father's brokerage firm. Despite Warren Buffett's net worth of $62 billion, the investor lives in a modest five bedroom house he bought in 1958 for $31,000.

3. Larry Ellison

Birthplace: New York City

Net worth: $47.5 billion

Before Larry Ellison founded Oracle -- one of the largest database software firms in the world -- he lived in a low-class Chicago neighborhood. During an oral history for the Smithsonian Institution, the entrepreneur recalled an issue of Look Magazine that called his neighborhood the oldest and most crime-ridden area in the U.S. But Ellison eventually left his neighborhood and went on to become a multibillionaire.

Read: 21 Habits of Highly Successful Billionaires Like Warren Buffett and Mark Cuban

His rise to riches was not without stumbles, however. Ellison attended and later dropped out of both the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Chicago before moving to California. Ellison got his big break in 1977 when he left his job at Ampex to start Oracle.

Larry Ellison's net worth is now $47.5 billion, and the businessman has a lifestyle most can only dream of. Ellison has a rare collection of cars and private jets, his own America's Cup racing team and a real-estate portfolio that includes:

A private golf club in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

A $70 million mansion

The historic Astor family home in Newport, R.I.

A historic garden villa in Kyoto, Japan

The entire Hawaiian island of Lanai

4. Jeff Bezos

Birthplace: Albuquerque

Net worth: $47 billion

Jeff Bezo's net worth is $47 billion. The Amazon founder grew up in Albuquerque but first found success as a Wall Street investment banker at D.E. Shaw & Co. Though he was on track to climb the company ranks, Bezos left the firm in 1994 to pursue a passion in online retail. What he created was a little-known virtual bookstore called Amazon.

Pursuing his dreams of growing Amazon, Bezos moved to Seattle, where his company would have close access to Ingram Book Group's Oregon warehouse and a deep pool of high-tech talent. After raising $1 million in startup funds, he rented a house in the city and set up shop in his garage. The rest, as they say, is history.

5. Charles Koch

Birthplace: Wichita, Kan.

Net worth: $41 billion

Billionaire industrialists and brothers Charles Koch and David Koch might have been born into the upper crust of Wichita society, but their father put them hard at work milking cows, digging ditches and mowing lawns, according to Daniel Schulman, author of "Sons of Wichita: How the Koch Brothers Became America's Most Powerful and Private Dynasty."

Related: America's 10 Wealthiest Families and How They Got Rich

Even during Wichita's brutal summer months, the brothers would spend their days working the land while their peers were playing at the country club. Charles was even sent to boarding school at age 11. But while the two might have had a childhood full of chores, the payoff was huge. The Koch brothers are now tied for the fifth spot of America's top 10 billionaires; both Charles Koch's net worth and David Koch's net worth are estimated at $41 billion.

6. David Koch

Birthplace: Wichita, Kan.

Net worth: $41 billion

While Charles Koch serves as CEO of Koch Industries, his brother David serves as executive vice president. David is known as New York City's richest resident, holding $115 billion in Koch Industries shares with his brother Charles. The two are also well-known lobbyists, spending nearly $900 million on everything from political activity to criminal justice reform.

7. Mark Zuckerberg

Birthplace: Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

Net worth: $40.3 billion

Mark Zuckerberg's net worth is $40.3 billion. The Facebook founder and CEO was born in Dobbs Ferry and later moved to Massachusetts to attend Harvard. In 2004, Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard and took his newly-created company Facebook to Palo Alto, Calif., where the social media network grew to international fame.

In 2014, it was reported that Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, were building a $10 million mansion in San Francisco. Over $1.5 million has since been spent on building new bathrooms, a wine room, a wet bar and media room, making for one stellar party house.

8. Michael Bloomberg

Birthplace: Boston

Net worth: $38.6 billion

Politician, philanthropist and billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg was born in Boston. He left home to attend Johns Hopkins in Maryland before moving on to Harvard. In the 80s, Bloomberg made billions building a financial computer that changed the way securities data was stored.

Later, he turned his attention to philanthropy with an emphasis on medical research, the arts and education. He also served three terms as New York City's mayor before leaving office in 2014. Today, Michael Bloomberg still calls New York home though he has properties across the globe, including the Hamptons, Westchester County, Colorado, Bermuda and London. Bloomberg's net worth is estimated at $38.6 billion.

9. Jim Walton

Birthplace: Newport, Ark.

Net worth: $34.6 billion

Jim Walton is the son of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart and Sam's Club. With a net worth of $34.6 billion and the No. 9 spot on this list of billionaires, Forbes estimated Jim Walton holds a 12.8 percent stake in Walmart. The businessman also serves as CEO of the family's Arvest Bank, which has branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

Walton was born in Newport and now lives in Bentonville, Ark., with his wife and four children. Bentonville is also home to Walmart, the world's largest company. But Walton didn't grow up rich -- he was a small-town kid whose dad happened to own a number of successful stores.

This lifestyle is reflected in the Walton family. Despite controlling about $90 billion worth of Walmart stock, the family remains incredibly tight knit, understated and drawn to Sam Walton's commitment to plain living.

10. Larry Page

Birthplace: East Lansing, Mich.

Net Worth: $33.8 billion

East Lansing, Mich., native Larry Page was born to computer experts, so it's no surprise he was drawn to computer technology. After earning his bachelor's degree in science from the University of Michigan, Page left his home state to study computer engineering at Stanford University. There, Larry Page met Sergey Brin, who helped him develop Google.

In 1998, after raising $1 million from family, friends and investors, Google officially launched. It has since become the world's most popular search engine. After the company's first initial public offering in August 2004, Page became a billionaire. Since 2004, Page's net worth has skyrocketed to $33.8 billion.

Both Larry Page and Google are still headquartered in California's Silicon Valley. As a clean energy advocate, Page maintains a network of houses in Palo Alto that use fuel cells, geothermal energy and rainwater capture.

This article, See Where the Top 10 American Billionaires Were Born, originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com.

More from GOBankingRates:

21 Habits of Highly Successful Billionaires Like Warren Buffett and Mark Cuban

Beyonce to Bill Gates: 24 Millionaires Reveal the Hardest Thing About Being an Entrepreneur

10 Important Ways the 2016 Election Could Affect Your Retirement

America's 10 Wealthiest Families and How They Got Rich

12 Investing Hacks for Beginners

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Everybody's been there. You're standing around the water cooler talking with your coworkers, talking with friends over drinks, or maybe just taking a shower. Then it hits you -- a brilliant business idea.

Everybody will want this!
This will sell like hotcakes!
I can't believe nobody thought of this before!

Then you start talking about it with your friends and family. No surprise -- everybody has an opinion. Your mom thinks it's a great idea. Your brother-in-law sees lots of problems. Your best friend isn't so sure. Who's right? Who actually knows if the idea is going to work?

None of them -- and neither do you.

If you've ever watched ABC's Shark Tank, you've noticed that one of the first questions the sharks ask contestants after their initial pitch is: "How many have you sold?"

The "Sharks" know that the only people who can tell you if a business idea is going to work is the customers. The people who actually pull out their wallets and give you money are the only ones who can answer the elusive question: "Will it work?"

Here's how to find out if your business idea will work. The great news is that you don't have to go on Shark Tank or bump into Mark Cuban at the grocery store. You can figure this out yourself.

1. Get really good at explaining it

Sometimes an idea makes great sense in your mind, but it may not make sense to other people. People may not think your business idea is good, but that may be because they don't understand it. Everyone has a different view of the world and different filters through which they understand and process things. Maybe you aren't getting through their filters. Maybe they assign different meaning to the words you use. Maybe they have a fundamental belief that is different than yours -- which you may take for granted.

Or maybe you just suck at explaining it. That's OK. You just have to practice until you get it right. It won't happen right away and it will be clunky as you figure it out. Put yourself into your customer's brain and think like they do. Think about how they would think about it. What would it do for them? How would it make their life better? What problem do they have that it would solve? How would they feel if that problem was solved?

Watch infomercials. Whether you find them annoying or addicting, they know how to do this well. Watch an infomercial for a product you don't care about and would never buy. Then you can watch it unemotionally and observe how they connect with their customer as they pitch their product.

2. Listen to what people say when you explain it

First off, accept the fact that at least half (probably more) of your initial conversations about your product idea will be awkward, clunky and you'll be face-to-face with an either confused or uninterested person. Be cool with that. It's part of the process and embrace the fact that these initial, awkward conversations are not only part of the process; they are also crucial to learning enough about your customer to create a product they can't wait to give you money for.

Business ideas developed in this way start with the customer, instead of starting in the aspiring entrepreneurs' mind. Since the customer is the one who is ultimately going to make the decision of whether or not to buy (and whether or not the product is going to be successful), it ought to start with them.

3. Identify who really wants it

I recently talked to the inventor of a children's learning game. He was working to get it into toy stores and websites that sell educational products. But as he was having conversations with potential customers (using this very process), he learned that senior centers were very interested in the product because it allowed older folks to remain active with their hands and it challenged them mentally. Now he has another market for his product.

Human beings are complicated creatures and there are a lot of us. Get out and talk to as many people as possible, so you can understand who is interested in this brilliant idea you have. People of various walks of life have different problems, needs and are seeking all different sorts of solutions. Keep your ears and your mind open for possibilities that you never would have thought of.

The great thing about following a simple process like this is that if you approach it right, it makes failure nearly impossible. If you listen to your market closely enough and evolve and change your business idea enough, you'll eventually find that million-dollar product.

It won't happen overnight, but persistence will get you there every time.

For more free video training on this topic, click here or watch below:

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Co-written by Johan Vardrup

Startup hubs are popping up like mushrooms across the world, each with its own culture, competitive advantages and opportunities for creating unique businesses. What might these hubs learn from each other to dial up their performance?

To answer this question we spoke with professionals in Copenhagen, Seoul and Los Angeles, analyzing their work and home cultures, risk-attitudes and other cultural characteristics.

Copenhagen
With the urban area of Copenhagen housing 2.8 million of the country's 5.8 million homogeneous population (89.6% are of Danish descent), Denmark is far too small a market for a viable startup. The current generation merely thinks about their country as a point of departure for expansion. Excellent English skills and good European contact (market of 500 million people) helps make this possible.

In Denmark there is limited risk willing capital available for startups and therefore the government gets involved. A new effort, propelled by Rainmaking and the state-run Business Authority, addresses this by promoting the best homegrown startups for international venture funds.

The Danish Startup Council assembles the various communities and among the members are national universities, because they increasingly fuel startup successes. Since Danish higher education is free for all, the academic scene has the potential to become an accessible and fertile startup motor.

Danes handle ambiguity well and have a relatively high tolerance for risk so this is a big upside for starting out on one's own there. They also place a premium on enjoying life, (average work year is 1600 hours), which may naturally not attract one to an entrepreneurial career or slow down the growth of a business.

Seoul
With half of South Korea's homogenous population of fifty million now living in Seoul (96.5% are South Koreans), Korea's domestic market is big enough to found a startup, however too small to sustain unicorn growth. To accomplish this, startups need to engage with the international market, which is a challenge due to inadequate networks outside of South Korea and limited English speaking skills.

Fiercely competitive and with no tolerance for failure, South Koreans are accustomed to working long hours (average work year is 2200 hours). South Koreans are, however, uncomfortable with ambiguity and risk and have a culture of seeking employment in the country's large international manufacturing organizations. Venture financing is thus hard to come by, as well as, qualified professionals that are willing to work for a high-risk startup.

In their collectivist culture, standing out can also be uncomfortable for Koreans. With one chance to succeed, there is a tremendous pressure to perform and succeed in the first startup endeavor, since one is unlikely to get a second chance.

Los Angeles
The Greater Los Angeles area is a melting pot of twelve million people (30% white, 50% Hispanic, 10% black and 10% Asian) with the largest and most diverse economy in the United States. Startups blossom here, particularly in Santa Monica and the San Gabriel Valley.

With three hundred and ten million English-speaking Americans, a sufficiently large home market of early innovators and early adopters are more likely to be found. Subsequent scaling to early majority users is also easier though online and traditional advertising. Risk willing capital is more readily available than in Copenhagen and Seoul, however, still lags behind Silicon Valley.

Los Angelinos are comfortable with standing out, taking risks and working hard (average work year is 2000 hours). Entrepreneurs in Santa Monica tend to be younger and establish consumer oriented web based enterprises while entrepreneurs In Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley, tend to be experienced midcareer professionals with families to support.

Research and engineering plays a larger role in Pasadena due to the presence of Caltech, JPL, Harvey Mudd and lots of aerospace know-how. The focus here is more on business-to-business solutions, requiring entrepreneurs to understand industry problems and behaviors before coming up with solutions.

It is clear that entrepreneurs in Copenhagen, Seoul and Los Angeles face very different challenges, from risk willingness, types of available qualified professionals, market access and language barriers. Fundraising is also either publicly supported, or funded by private institutions or mainly by one's family friends and fools. By learning from cultures thousands of miles apart and building international networks, entrepreneurs can more easily gain the tacit knowledge for finding novel opportunities and solutions that speak to their unique environment.

Special thanks to Johan Vardrup, Kristian Justesen, Andy Wilson and Jaewoo Joo for researching this article

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I saw a rerun of the classic slasher I Know What You Did Last Summer.

The low-budget slasher film starring Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Ryan Phillippe was about four friends who are being stalked by a killer, one year after covering up a car accident in which they were involved. They thought they had killed him and then hid the body.

The killer starts leaving messages...I know what you did.

So, in my annual Halloween article, I thought I would write about how we all cover up what we do with our money every summer!

I know you overspent on your vacation. I'm guilty of this one too. There have been times where I got caught up in the "magic" of a nice vacation and said, "What the hell, I'm creating a memory, right?" Unfortunately, the credit card bill arrives or you just see the depleted savings after all that magic wears off. One way to stop the expensive vacation stalker is to create a savings account and a budget for your vacation. That way you know in advance how far you are willing to go.

I know you overspent on kids activities. Guilty again. Lots of kids sports carry over into summer. Whether it's baseball, cheer or some camp to hone their skills for the fall, it's always something. My advice is limit one sport or camp per child per summer. It will give them something to do outdoors and won't bust your wallet.

I know you didn't stock up on summer sales. My wife does this every year. I'm not sure why this drives me crazy. I guess buying something that I cannot actually enjoy wearing another six months may be it. It's a good idea to stock up on summer sales. If you know it's something you will use or wear and you can get significant savings, go for it. Just don't leave any sales on the side of the road to haunt you later.

I know you didn't do your mid year financial check up. It's really important to assess your spending and savings habits at the half way point. That way you can make some adjustments before fall and the holidays. If you planned on increasing savings then get on it. If you have spent way too much, then create a budget and some spending guidelines. It gives you six months before the new year to hit some goals.

Don't become a victim next summer to these financial stalkers. Do some planning early and decide once and for all you'll beat the summer money slasher!

If you liked my article you can subscribe here for free! Happy Halloween!

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