DOJ May Compel Apple to Help Unlock iPhone

 

 

The US Department of Justice made a bold statement yesterday against Apple, claiming it may compel the California-based company to hand over its iOS source code if it won’t do so voluntarily.
Apple continues to rebel against the government in its refusal to help unlock the iPhone 5C of one of the attackers who carried out a deadly Dec. 2 terrorist act in San Bernardino, Calif. Essentially, the FBI wants Apple to build a “backdoor” to the iPhone.

Apple image — The iPhone 5C.

“Specifically, the FBI wants us to make a new version of the iPhone operating system, circumventing several important security features, and install it on an iPhone recovered during the investigation,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook on the company’s website.

“In the wrong hands, this software – which does not exist today – would have the potential to unlock any iPhone in someone’s physical possession.”

Apple refuses to budge on the matter, and insists that providing help to the FBI would be a burden on the company, stating it would have to allocate a team of six to 10 Apple engineers to work on the task for at least a month.

According to a Boy Genius Report article, the DOJ submitted a 43-page document to the government in which it states Apple’s arguments are just diversions meant to drag out court proceedings.
It’s no secret the multi-billion dollar company wants nothing to do with the FBI as it believes cooperating with it would “set a legal precedent that would expand the powers of the government” when it comes to collecting information from personal devices.

In its report, the DOJ didn’t mince words, clearly stating if Apple doesn’t want to lend a helping hand, it may have to be forced.

“The government did not seek to compel Apple to turn (the source code) over because it believed such a request would be less palatable to Apple,” the report reads. “If Apple would prefer that course, however, that may provide an alternative that requires less labor by Apple programmers.”

Apple’s lawyer says the report is simply a smear campaign filled with “false accusations and innuendo,” according to the Boy Genius Report.

Just last week, more than 25 technology companies including Microsoft, Facebook and Google, sided with Apple in its ongoing fight against the federal bureau, while the families of the victims killed in the San Bernadino attack believe pulling information from the iPhone would aid the investigation against the suspects.

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How Facebook Reactions Will Affect Marketing

 

If you’ve spent any time on Facebook recently, you’ve likely noticed that your timeline has gotten a whole lot cuter thanks to the addition of five new emojis that have replaced the old-school ‘Like’ button.

Welcome to Facebook Reactions.

Facebook has been testing the feature around the world for the last several months and users have been getting their first glimpses the past few weeks. While Reactions seems like an innocent enough feature, many marketers have some questions about how, exactly, it’s going to affect their marketing endeavors. Here’s what you need to know.

What is Reactions?
Reactions is pretty simple – it’s an extension of the Facebook ‘Like’ button. Before the introduction of Reactions, Facebook users could simply like, share or comment on a post. Now, users can hover over the “Like” button to reveal five emojis meant to convey different reactions to a piece. In addition to the “like” emoji, Facebook is now offering “love,” “wow,” “haha,” “angry,” and “sad.”



Why Does Reactions Matter?
While Reactions may seem like a somewhat arbitrary addition to Facebook, the mission to build the feature has been in the works for a little over a year. Facebook chose to add Reactions in order to provide its users with a more complex way to interact with Facebook posts. In a statement released on Facebook on Feb. 24, Mark Zuckerberg said, “Not every moment you want to share is happy…Our community has been asking for a dislike button for years…People wanted to express sympathy and…share a wider range of emotions.”



Before Reactions was introduced, people who wanted to interact with a Facebook post in a way other than ‘liking’ it had to type a comment on the story. This doesn’t seem like a huge inconvenience, until you take into account that 90 percent of the people who access Facebook on a daily and monthly basis do so from a mobile platform. While typing a comment may be no big deal on a laptop, it’s a different ball game on a phone’s tiny screen – especially for users attempting to engage in a conversation or share deep feelings about a piece. In light of this, Facebook realized that its huge mobile user base needed a nuanced way to interact with content and Reactions was born.

Four Ways Reactions Will Change Marketing
According to a recent Wired headline, advertisers don’t just ‘like’ Facebook’s reactions, “They love them.” Although the Reactions feature is still quite new, the general feeling about the change has been positive. While it’s undeniable that Reactions will have an impact on marketing, the general consensus so far is that it will be a positive one.

Here are the four ways that Reactions is most likely to change marketing right off the bat:
1. Facebook Reactions will offer more insight to readers’ feelings
Because Facebook reactions are so simple and expressive, they’ll provide an easy way for brands to gauge exactly how readers feel about their content or advertisements. Brands will be able to access Reaction counts through the Facebook page insights portal and adjust their content accordingly.
Too many ‘angry’ or ‘sad’ reactions may mean that you need to rethink your advertising or content strategy while an abundance of ‘happy’ or ‘haha’ Reactions likely means you’re doing something right.

2. Increased customer insight
Before Reactions launched, customers who came across a piece of Facebook content could choose to share it, write a comment, like it, or simply scroll right on past. The introduction of Reactions, however, creates a much more nuanced way for readers to interact with content and, since it makes interaction fast and easy, users will be more likely to interact with content.

Plus, since Reactions are meant to specify emotions such as ‘sad’ or ‘angry,’ brands can gain far deeper insight into how their content is affecting their customers, since the old ‘like’ button didn’t allow brands to determine if fans found their content shocking or amusing.

3. More streamlined content evaluation
Before Reactions, a Facebook publisher could look at a piece of content and evaluate reader response to it according to ‘likes’ and comments. With some content, however, evaluating comments is nearly impossible due to volume. Take this Humans of New York post, for example.



With more than 11,200 comments, it would be virtually impossible to comb through them all. Thanks to Reactions, however, you can simply click on the Reactions button and get a complete breakdown of how people (all 21,000 of them) have reacted to the article.



This feature makes it easier for publishers to evaluate their marketing content and gain instant insight into how readers are interacting with their pieces.

4. Reactions may affect Timeline algorithms
While there’s nothing solid to go off of right now, it’s possible that Reactions may eventually be factored into Facebook’s Timeline algorithm – with pieces that have received the most positive or controversial Reactions ranking near the top. This would help users gain access to talked-about content and share their two cents. Marketers will have to wait and see on this one, however, since it’s likely Facebook will do extensive testing before rolling something like this out to the public.

The Future of Reactions
While Reactions is still in its infancy, user response has been overwhelmingly positive. By providing Facebook users with a nuanced way to interact with content, and allowing them to do it quickly and easily, it seems like Facebook has hit this one out of the park.

As Reactions continues to settle in over the next several months, its affect on marketing will become more clear. For now, however, it seems obvious that Facebook Reactions will offer many benefits to marketers, including increased user insight and a more streamlined content evaluation process.

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What to Consider as a Project Manager

 

 

Many organizations don’t enlist full-time project managers and, instead, pull together a project team to meet a particular need. While many individuals do not have formal abilities in a project methodology, playing a part in a project team is a great learning opportunity and can enhance a person’s career profile.

The three most important factors to consider when working on any project are time, cost and scope, commonly called the triple constraint.

Project Phases
A project goes through six different phases:

• Project Definition
• Project Initiation
• Project Planning
• Project Execution
• Project Monitoring and Control
• Project Closure

Project Manager’s Role
The function of the project manager is one of great obligation. It is the project manager’s job to direct, supervise and control the project from beginning to end.

Below are few of the activities that must be undertaken:

• The project manager must define the project.
• He/She must set the final goal for the project and motivate his or her team to complete the project on time.
• He/She must inform all stakeholders of progress on a regular basis.
• He/She must evaluate, and watch risks to the project and moderate them.
• No project ever goes precisely as planned, so project managers must acquire to modify and control development.

Project Manager’s Skill Set

A project manager must have a variety of competencies including:

• Leadership
• People management
• Effective communication
• Influencing
• Negotiation
• Estimating
• Conflict management
• Planning
• Creative thinking
• Contract management
• Time management
• Problem-solving

Project managers bear the absolute obligation to get things going. Customarily, they have done this role as mere implementers. To carry out their occupations they needed fundamental managerial and specialized capabilities. Notwithstanding the traditional skills, they need business skills, client relations skills, and political skills. Mentally, they should be results-oriented self-starters with a high resistance for vagueness since little is obvious in today’s tumultuous business environment. Weaknesses in any of these territories can prompt project disappointment.

Barriers, Risk and Issues
Many ideas can go wrong in project management. These things are often called barriers. Below are some possible obstacles:

• Weak communication
• Dispute
• Arguments
• Adverse climate
• Union hits
• Character conflicts
• Poor administration
• Inadequately defined aims and goals

This is where project management software can help.

Project Management Software
Project management software is software utilized for project planning, scheduling, resource allocation and change management.

It enables project managers, stakeholders, and users to regulate costs and manage budgets and offers quality supervision and documentation and also can be used as an administration system.

Project Management software is also used for collaboration and communication among project stakeholders.

Steps for choosing a project management software package:
1. Plan the project
2. Gather and rank business requirements
3. Create package long list
4. Create package short list
5. Evaluate package short list

6. Make a final selection and negotiate contracts


PROJECT PLANNING A STEP BY STEP GUIDE
The way to an effective project is in the planning. Making a project plan is the first thing a project manager should do while undertaking any project.


Step 1: Project Goals
A project is successful when the necessities of the stakeholders have been met. A stakeholder is anyone specifically, or indirectly affected by the project.


Step 2: Project Deliverables
Using the goals the project manager has defined in Step 1, he/she creates a list of things the project needs to deliver to meet these objectives.


Step 3: Project Schedule

Once the project manager has established what is needed to complete each task, he/she can ensure the goals are met by team members to meet all deadlines.

Step 4: Supporting Plans

It deals with the plans the project manager should generate as a component of the planning process. These can be incorporated directly into the communications plan and risk management plan.

If you are running a project for your company, keep all of the above tips in mind to ensure a positive outcome for the project.

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5 Surprising Findings from the 2015 Practice Profitability Index

 

Do you want to know how more than 5,000 physicians across the United States feel about their prospects for profitability?

Physician sentiment about their businesses is starting to trend into more positive territory. Yes, plenty of challenges remain – but solutions are also emerging that can help, according to the Third Annual Practice Profitability Index (PPI).

If you’re concerned about your financial prognosis over the coming year – you’re not alone: 31% anticipate a down turn. But the largest percentage of physicians, 35%, expects profitability to stay about the same in the coming year.

Overall, the numbers look encouraging compared to the 2014 PPI – with more doctors anticipating a better year. Here are some of the more surprising findings:

#1. Nearly 1 in 4 physicians now feel optimistic about profits in the year ahead. It’s surprising – in a good way – that this group grew from 19% to 24% in one year.

#2. More than 3 in 5 physicians spend one day per week or more on administrative tasks. It’s surprising that 64% of physicians still feel mired in mundane, required tasks (but this may come as no surprise at all if you’re on the front lines of clinical care).

#3. 10% plan to use their first EHR in the year ahead. The percentage of ‘EHR holdouts’ could be dwindling. A 2015 government report finds that 83% of practices already moved to electronic health records.

#4. Only 2 in 5 physicians say their practices effectively collect patient payments for care. This will become increasingly important as more and more patients choose high deductible health plans, and therefore pay a greater proportion of their medical expenses.

#5. When it comes to potential solutions, more than 1 in 5 doctors feel good about patient engagement programs. It’s somewhat surprising that engagement beat out mobile technologies, although it was close (22% versus 19%).

So why are doctors feeling more upbeat? To see more insight, get the full Third Annual Practice Profitability Index (PPI) report.

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7 Types of Keywords to Consider When Doing Research

 

 

People think differently. Because not everyone calls the same products by the same names or searches for what they need with the same thought process, omitting keywords from your research (and thus losing potential traffic) is a common mistake.

The seven types of keywords below will give you some ideas for researching keywords that you might not have thought about in the past. When you test them (and you should constantly test keywords), you may just find they offer a brand-new source of qualified traffic for your webpages and Amazon listings.

Information-Gathering Keywords
There is a proven buying process that most people go through before and during the time they shop for what they need. Some people go through it lightning fast while others take quite a long time.



During the first two phases of this process (need recognition and information search), people will usually type in phrases related to either the problem they are having or the solution they want to find.

1. Problem-Based Keywords
These types of search terms are phrased like “get fit” or “stop snoring.” These both describe a problem that someone might type in to see what solutions present themselves.

2. Solution-Based Keywords
Just the opposite are solution-based keywords. Instead of what you see above, someone might choose to look for “best fitness watch” or “snoring products.” These focus on finding a solution and can sometimes be a little more specific than problem-based keywords.

Buying Keywords
Once the need has been clearly identified and the search for preliminary information has been done, you’ll notice that searchers tend to gradually get more specific. When that happens, shoppers may use some (or all) of the types of keywords below.

3. Product Descriptors
As the name implies, these keywords are related to ways people might describe your product or service. If you’re selling USB drives, you’ll likely have lots of keywords to use from this category because USB drives have many names. (Always search for synonyms for whatever keywords / phrases you include in your research.) In addition to ‘USB drive,’ these are also called:

• USB storage
• Removable memory stick/drive
• USB stick
• Thumb drive
• Flash stick/drive
• Portable memory stick/drive
• Keydrive

…and about a dozen other names. People who are new to this type of technology may call them something completely unrelated, such as “small computer file storage device.” My team and I recently saw this related to a bath product. The actual description for that type of product was “bath bomb.” Because these are relatively new, people have been searching for them with all sort of descriptors, including “round fizzy bath balls.”

4. Attribute Keywords
Again, this type of keyword is relatively self-explanatory because it focuses on the attributes of a product or service. Colors, sizes, shapes and other features would all fall under this classification.

5. Brand Keywords
You would, of course, want your own brand to be searchable, but you might also consider using other brands that are similar to yours IF it is allowed on the platform you’re selling on. Amazon does not allow you to insert competitor brands into your title or search term fields. If you are not competing with the brand, but instead your product works with or is designed for use with a brand, you are allowed to include the brand name.

For instance, if you’re selling cellphone cases that are made specifically to fit iPhone 6, you have to mention iPhone 6 so that the buyer will be able to understand that your case will fit the phone they own. Also, products such as replacement toothbrush heads that are compatible with particular brands or models of electric toothbrushes, coffee pods that are made to fit specific coffeemakers, etc.

6. Use Keywords
Sometimes people have a particular idea in mind for an item they are shopping for. Other times, there are several products that have the same description and they must specify the use to find search results that match the exact one they want.

For instance, the term ‘crab crackers’ can mean food (snack crackers that are crab flavored) or it can mean a tool used to crack crab shells when eating crab legs. To find the one tool the searcher wants, she/he must search for something like ‘crab crackers for seafood’ or ‘crackers for crab legs.’ Without including the use of the item, the search results will not be accurate for the search.

Another example is the word ‘hammock.’ There are dozens of types of hammocks and not all serve the same purpose. They can be used for camping, hiking, relaxing, etc. Combine the use with the attributes and you will probably find some great phrases such as ‘nylon hammock for camping’ or ‘rope hammock for backyard.’

7. Target Audience Keywords
There is a huge variety of target audience keywords that could possibly be used to drive traffic. These might include practically any descriptor of your target audience, such as:

• Man
• Woman
• Kids
• Adults
• Children
• Surfers
• Hikers
• Campers
• Coffee lovers
• Construction workers

Think of who your target customers are and research terms that include the various names they might be called (including their sex, gender, occupation, hobbies, and more).

With a little thought and some creativity, you can quickly compile a huge list of potential keywords. Once you do, check the accuracy and search volume to see which would make the best choices for your copy.

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Debunking the 10 Common Social Media Myths

 

 

Social media is the Holy Grail of content marketing. You can generate new clients, maintain current ones, and have awesome strategies.

But, are your beliefs about social media right? Or do you believe some of the huge social media myths out there?

Let’s take a look at the top 10 social media myths that many people believe. My aim is to enlighten you and help you learn some great things about social media marketing.


Just Because It’s on the Internet Doesn’t Mean It’s Correct
One of the common beliefs so many people have is that just because it is out on the Internet, it is correct. However, this isn’t quite true.

Sure, there are plenty of accurate things out there, but there are also plenty of myths that get perpetuated by people each and every day.

Social media doesn’t escape these myths and many businesses are held back by them, leading to a lackluster online presence.

10 Social Media Myths Completely Debunked

There is a lot of information out there about social media and just how you should and shouldn’t use it. However, some of these might just be myths keeping you from having a powerful presence.
Let me take some time to debunk some of the more common myths, getting you on your way to a great social strategy.


1. You’ll Get Most Clicks In the Morning. This belief is definitely outdated and you need to make sure you aren’t using this to help you figure out when to post to social media. In fact, according to Martin Beck from Marketing Land, there are more clicks on Twitter at 2 a.m.
Yes, this is technically the morning; however, most people are checking social media at this time because they’re still up from the day before. Take advantage of this and start trying to post late night posts to get more site traffic.

2. Don’t Ever be Promotional. When people follow your company’s Twitter, it means they want to hear about you and your company. Being promotional is definitely fine with social media (though you don’t want to over-promote).

Kevan Lee from Buffer gives great ratios that can help you create excellent social media content that engages your audience and perfectly promotes your business. You can incorporate these or the 80/20 rule – 80 percent useful content, 20 percent promotional.


3. You Don’t Need an International Marketing Plan – Just Translate It. With the Internet’s wide reach, international marketing is quickly growing. There are many small businesses aiming to reach international audiences, but they fall for this myth.

When you are crafting content for an international audience, you might think all you need to do is translate your social posts. This, however, is wrong.

Creating an international marketing strategy means you need to understand the culture you are marketing to. For example, an American-based marketing plan is not going to go over well with a French audience nor will a French-based marketing plan go over well with those in the United States.
4. Your Business Needs to Use Every Social Media Platform. You want to make sure you have all of your bases covered when it comes to social media, right? So does that mean you need to use every available social platform?

The answer is: no.

David Kerpen from Inc.com points out that by going on to every social platform, you will begin to spread yourself too thin. Eventually, social media will become overwhelming.
And since your time is taken up by so many, your posts aren’t going to be impactful. This can be detrimental to a social strategy.

5. You Should Only Use ONE Social Media Platform. In addition to having too many social platforms, David Kerpen also points out in the article link above that people then think they only need to use one.

Again, this can be detrimental. Sure, you might be able to dedicate more time to the social channel, but you won’t be able to reach nearly as many people.

Instead, choose a handful of channels like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and work on using those to bring in new clients and maintain your existing ones.

6. Social Media is Only for Creating New Clients Not Maintaining Them. Do you want to create and bring in new customers? The obvious answer is: yes.

And naturally, you will go for the thing that is proven to bring in new customers – social media.
However, do you stop there or actually use social media to maintain existing clients? Many businesses believe they only need social media to bring in newbies. This is a myth.
You not only need social media to make new connections, but you also need it to maintain a great client-business relationship.

According to Jay Baer from Convince and Convert, customers “like” Facebook pages of businesses they, well, like. This helps them keep up-to-date with their favorite company and learn about new products or deals. The same goes for Twitter and other social channels.
Yes, you can generate great new leads with social media, but it can also serve as a great way to build a loyal client base.

7. Content Marketing and Social Media Marketing are Separate Entities. In the article above by Jay Baer, he also points out that many businesses believe that content marketing and social media are separate.

If you want to have a strong online presence, you need to make sure your content marketing and social media strategy go hand-in-hand. This will help make your posts more impactful, and show people that every aspect of your business works together.


8. No Engagement Means Customers Aren’t Reading Your Social Posts. This myth is a major one that so many believe. And it is because of this myth that a lot of businesses stop using social media.

It takes a while to establish your presence on social media and to encourage more people to interact with you. Just because no one is liking or re-tweeting your social posts, doesn’t mean they are ignoring you.

Many people see what you post, and many will click on your links, but the engagement might be non-existent.

You can work to increase engagement, however. Don’t lose heart if you don’t have engagement right now – it will come with time.


9. Social Media Content Means Competitors Can Steal Your Strategies. The other myth many people believe is that having a lot of social media content means your competitors can steal your strategies.

This myth keeps many from using social media like they should, which then loses customer engagement and clicks.

Competitors can definitely become inspired by your postings, but tweeting and posting to your social channels doesn’t mean they know your strategy. Don’t let the fear of a competitor “learning” your secrets keep you from having great social media relationships with your clients.


10. Social Media for B2B Companies is Vastly Different from B2C. Jay Baer, (in his article link in point six), says people often believe B2B companies need different social media approaches.
Many B2Bs think that their channels need to be professional whereas a B2C social channel does not. However, being laid back on social media can help all businesses – even a B2B.

If you approach social media thinking your B2B clients will be different from B2C customers, you’re walking way too close to the edge. If you get too close, you risk falling off and losing the attention of your customer base.

In reality, your B2B customers are also B2C clients. Which means that the strategies that work for a B2C will work for B2B as well.

Many social strategies focus on what the customer wants, and this is exactly what you need to do when creating social content.

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