Links for July 28 2013
- How Innovations Spread
Quote: We believe that we can just tell people the facts and ideas will spread. That’s not really how it works. Neil deGrasse Tyson explains that persuading others is about more than just putting the facts out there and letting the chips fall as they may.
- Nobel-winning economist: end software patents and cut patent protection to 10 years — Tech News and Analysis
Quote: As the problem of patent trolling grows, calls for reform are coming from all quarters — including from a famous economist who proposes major changes to the system.
- Sometimes You Need to Make a Deliberate Mistake to Make Progress
Quote: Many people, after accruing a reasonable amount of experience, often wait out perfection. We think we’re not ready yet, or that we need more time before our skill level or work proficiency can take us somewhere. At those times, when we fail to act because we know we’ll fail, mistakes might just provide the solution. Next time you feel yourself stuck, consider screwing up on purpose. You might not get what you really want, but you’ll probably learn something that’ll bring you a little closer to your goal.
- Flexibility: get focused | Hobbs on Tech
Quote: In other words, flexibility is more in grayscale than black and white, and you should attempt to shoot for the middle ground allowing streamlined flexibility.
- Why we’re doing things that don’t scale by Jason Fried of 37signals
Quote: So remember, efficiency shouldn’t always be the goal. Especially early on. If you want to learn, you have to struggle. Automating away all the struggle may teach you how to be efficient, but it won’t teach you much about your customers.
- Returning ‘Intimacy’ to the Retail Customer Experience – Highly Competitive – software industry insights
Quote: While data and analytics can tell retailers many things, they’re not the only factors for shaping more intimate experiences. Personalization takes a lot of work to truly pique the interest of shoppers / buyers with the right engagement and information. It also requires restraint and good judgment to avoid the “creepiness factor”. The best approach may be less frequent, high quality interactions to avoid the sense of being stalked. Retailers that show they respect the security and privacy of their customers demonstrate the essence of intimate shopping experiences where the happy customer comes first. Paying back value to customers in exchange for using their data and showing that you can be trusted earns more loyalty and business.
- Long term engagement funnels | Hobbs on Tech
Quote: Really, you will almost certainly have multiple engagement funnels: one per primary audience. You may want different audiences to take different actions, all anchored by your overall website vision. A professional association may have separate interactions for students, professionals, and potential customers of the professionals. A product company may target consumers and businesses differently. Each particular organization is unique, and there is no plug and play audience list (and associated long term engagement funnels per industry). For example, some think tanks target the general public and others do not, which means that the goals and engagement funnels are very different.
- “Big Data” Is Not “Big Data” Unless It Gives You Actionable Insight
Quote: Although big data is a hot topic in marketing circles these days, it is important for marketers to focus on the actionable insight that a “big data” platform can bring rather than focusing on ticking a box on the hot trend of the week. Today, modern Search “big data” platforms can leverage the large quantities of data available across disparate sources and produce insight for those with an actionable mindset.
- Looking for complexity
Quote: Starting to see, understand, appreciate, and adjust for the complexity of the people network will help put in place the right technical network and systems and processes. We need to look at each side of the equation and balance them out to achieve a whole solution that can be successful.
- From Conversation to Content-Delivery: Professors Predict a Change in Twitter
Quote: “Twitter will become less of a communications vehicle and more of a content-delivery vehicle, much like TV. Peer-to-peer contact is likely to evolve to the next great thing, but with 500 million followers, Twitter isn’t just going to disappear. It’s just going to become a new way to follow celebrities, corporations, and the like,”
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