Even with a busy schedule I try and keep an eye on movement in the tech industry. Where money is being placed shows the direction of the market and what the results of all these industry gurus research and decisions are being backed by speculation. Follow the money and you're following the end results of all these great minds. In an article on SIIA.net there's a comparative breakdown of the last three years worth of investments in different sectors of technology that leads in with some analysis on Q1 2018. Out of the gate, 2018 is up 124% compared to 2017 and the money is on tech enabled services up 207%. Marketing, analytics, database and information services have unprecedented increases. With stronger consumer confidence the market outlook for technology related goods and services is very healthy, as a consequence advertising and marketing via tech soars along side. Seems obvious to those involved with technology that this isn't going anywhere but up. Take a read through the numbers, what they mean is a future more interwoven with tech than anyone can imagine. The article is from Matt Kinsman, former vice president at Connectiv now at Accruent.com citing info from JEGI.com.
I have been talking about flying cars being the wave of the future. What will follow is highrises with parking for personal drones. Looks like Miami will be the first US city with a highrise built for parking personal aircraft at the Paramount World Center. As our population increases along with technology, so will new emerging opportunities for all aspects of this new mode of transportation. The future certainly involves every aspect of flying vehicles, from battery technology, to new condos, supermarket parking and heavy on the construction industry to retool it all. This shift in transportation could be the global industry that boosts the the whole world's economy as every country accommodates it's growing population and employment issues. Theses are exciting times we are living in. Take a look at the video and article Bob Wiley wrote on the MiamiHerald.com.
It's getting harder to tell your kids to put away the video games and get a real job when stories like this are popping up in the news. How video games turn teenagers into millionaires. The point of interest in the article that caught my eye is the statement that these careers weren't available 5 to 10 years ago and that even in this flux that we are now seeing where AI (artificial intelligence) is taking jobs away from people, other career paths are emerging. Let's hope new careers can keep up with the ones being lost to AI. Realistically, it's a lopsided equation in favor of automation. But, learning to be an entrepreneur and riding the trends of a market in flux, you just may be able to make enough to last a lifetime. Take a look through the BBC's Bright Sparks section and see what what the smart kids are doing.
If you haven't already discovered TED.com it's a must read website and I would put it at the top of the rotation of the sites you frequent. TED is a nonpartisan nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics from science to business to global issues, and in more than 110 languages. The foundation was established by publishing entrepreneur Chris Anderson and provides a platform for thinkers, visionaries and teachers, so that people around the globe can gain a better understanding of the biggest issues faced by the world creating a better future. TED's core goal is a belief that there is no greater force for changing the world than a powerful idea. Be a part of that mission or just learn from the world's best. I was introduced to TED by a business partner years ago and have benefited from the talks and key insights contributed from many of the unique presenters. Sites like TED.com are what make the internet great (cat videos aside) TED is the one site where your post graduate education is nourished and you gain from the experience of many great minds. Without further adieu, check out TED.com.
Text to neighbor: Hi, Fred, this is Richard, next door. I’ve have a confession to make. I’ve been riddled with guilt for a few months and have been trying to get up the courage to tell you face-to-face. At least I’m telling you in this text and I can’t live with myself a minute longer without you knowing about this. The truth is that when you’re not around I’ve been sharing your wife, day and night. In fact, probably much more than you. I haven’t been getting it at home recently and I know that that’s no excuse. The temptation was just too great. I can’t live with the guilt and hope you’ll accept my sincere apology and forgive me. Please suggest a fee for usage and I’ll pay you. Regards, Richard Neighbor’s response: Fred, feeling so angered and betrayed, grabbed his gun and shot Richard, killing him. He went back home and poured himself a stiff drink and sat down on the sofa. Fred then looked at his phone and discovered a second text message from Richard. Second text message: Hi, Fred. Richard here again. Sorry about the typo on my last text. I expect you figured it out and noticed that the damned Auto-Correct had changed “wi-fi” to “wife.” Technology, huh? It’ll be the death of us all. Regards, Rich
Drones - The Evolution of Transportation If you read my blog you know I'm into flying cars and with traffic being what it is, they can't come about soon enough. Doesn't matter what city you live in, it's not any better anywhere else. Either too many vehicles on the road or a failing infrastructure. In this article on DailyMail.co.uk mega drones are being tested with multiple passengers, pilot-less control and with the ability to take the helm in an emergency. The aircraft technology is producing a much needed benefit for air traffic control a well as other industries. This is an epic shift in society, like going from horse and carriage to automobiles and entrepreneurs need to plan on this trend. In less than 5 years it will be at consumer price levels and in 10 years, common place. High rises and condos need to start being built with landing pads as the new garage. With growing populations, pollution, the need for the use of alternative energies, infrastructure issues, drones and personal aircraft are a great solution to easy all of these problems. And, aside from natural disasters and terrorism, one of the biggest problems our children will face in their life time that you can be certain of is population growth. Handling and managing all the demands on resources that population growth will bring are where the opportunities lie. If you think traffic sucks now, don't do anything about it. Everyone knows it's gotten worse in the last few years, and that's everywhere. So, forget the race to Mars, let's race to be the first country ready for the 22nd century. Embrace it. This is what will make America great!
Match Your Brand to Your Domain Name A nice case study about Zelle.com expressed on DotWeekly.com about matching your brand to your domain name. There are a couple of other articles about the importance of branding on Dotweekly that a worth the read. And the tag line says it all, It's More Than a Name. With your domain name the goal is to make your brand stronger, not weaker. In addition to branding, author and operator of DotWeekly Jamie Zoch provides some other great info on the domain industry regularly, be sure to follow up on domain movers and start ups. Branding and the relation to your domain name cannot be stated enough for design into your website and the success of your business. If you can, acquire the domain names for your products, too.
Advertising in 2018 and Beyond With the Super Bowl Lll just around the corner, I am always interested in what 30 seconds of air time is selling for and what the best commercials will be. Last year companies spent up to 5 million to get in front of the 111 million viewers watching in the US, and then their money was gone. Advertising online has more than begun it's shift upward while other mediums, aside from radio, are sloping down. In an article on MediaPost.com The Winterberry Group states 2018 will be the year of digital media and spending will surpass all off lime marketing. In 2016 online spending surpassed television, now it's growing overall. That's because online advertising works and everyone is on all the time. As a business owner you know you need to be online, but finding your customers in this digital ocean is the next challenge. SmartInsights.com just released a digital marketing mega-trends guide and they have several digital marketing tool kits. The article was scientific citing the effectiveness of Amazon's trial and errors as they grew. One point not expressed enough is to acquire a memorable and easy to pronounce, easy to pass along domain name. (Note: KeyInsight.com is for sale now. Don't delay building your brand, what you put off now, will later only be more difficult and increasingly competitive to navigate.
Go Eagles!
Brand Building is Web Development When setting out to develop a new website for a client the first thing to consider is their brand. Defining a brand is a lot like writing a business plan for an organization. Who's their customer, what is their demographic, current corporate culture and visibility across all media along with consistency regarding these representations. Sometimes a client expects development of a website to be just stamping out code, but it's much more artistry and expertise than that going on to get it right. I wouldn't just start nailing boards together if I were a builder, the site, direction, watershed, parking, permits and a 100 other items need to be considered before breaking ground. The same holds true for web development and I would recommend reading up on these sites listed below about building your brand before developing the wrong site for your business. First, have or get the right domain name. Brandgy.com can clue you in as to why that's so important. Learn about branding your business with these no nonsense guides available through HowToBuildABrand.org These folks out of the UK know what they are doing and it's explained in a way that you can see how it effects other facets of your business. SearchEngineJournal.com puts the technical edge on your brand strategy. Their site maybe a good read for the more technically inclined, but getting found is what it's all about going forward into 2018 and beyond.
While searching for tech trends and investments opportunities I discovered an article from Deloitte Insights about the technology growth in unstructured data. Unstructured data is essentially chaos, but if you're able to show relations between data elements, it's no longer unstructured and helps build a better picture of what's occurring. Commodities make a good example. Analyzing wheat yields without rain fall or soil erosion factored in, leaves a lot of questions when interpreting results. By adding more variables to the equation, the results are calculated with greater accuracy. Tapping into this vast amount of information that is becoming available from everywhere on the web, dark and deep web included, (data that is not currently included or information sitting idly), analytics experts can gain much greater insight into customer behavior and market movement.
The explosive growth of IoT (Internet of Things) is expected to surpass 44 Zettabytes in 2020. That's 44 trillion gb of information, which is 10 times more than today, and hopefully will be used to make better decisions (before the AI bots make them for us). Read the full article at Deloitte Insights for more information.
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