You’ve undoubtedly heard the cries that “email is dead!” Maybe you’ve heard that email is to millennials what the fax machine has become to Generation X. The Boston Globe even recently reported that younger generations and businesses are ditching email in favor of more social means of communication.

So it’s not difficult to see why email anxiety is setting in. Rest assured, however, that those fears and anxieties are unfounded. Email is very much alive and it’s still the most widely used means of communication for a variety of purposes. In fact, The Radicati Group predicts the amount of email addresses to grow at an annual rate of 6% over four years, from 3.3 billion addresses in 2012 to 4.3 billion in 2016.

Furthermore, out of 216.6 million American Internet users this year, eMarketer has predicted that 89% of them will be email users. With a number like that, it’s difficult to deny that email is still very much a part of how we communicate.

Wrapped up in that is, of course, our business communications. While it’s easy to touch base with a business or one of its employees over Twitter, 140 characters limits your ability to really provide details or interact at length. What’s more, while many businesses struggle to define the ROI of social media, email is a proven and consistent source of solid revenue. As a post on Marketing Land outlines, the Direct Marketing Association reported in December 2012 that email marketing had the highest ROI of any major marketing channel. Since you can use email as a great way to communicate other marketing activities, such as social media campaigns, to your customers, it’s not surprising that its ROI remains so high. The DMA found that email generated $39.40 for every dollar spent. In comparison, search generated $22.38 per dollar spent, display generated $19.71, and social generated $12.90.

That’s quite a bit of return for something that’s supposedly dead.

The Direct Marketing Association’s National Client Email Report 2013 reported that for 21% of its respondents, email marketing accounts for 60% or more of all digital business revenue. The report also found that 54% of organizations generate 20% or more of their overall revenue through email marketing.

If you were wondering if businesses still relied as heavily upon email, the answer, as these numbers have shown, is yes. To further support this, online marketing provider Constant Contact sent 45 billion emails on behalf of its customers in 2012. That number was up from 35 billion in 2011.

With that kind of increase in numbers, it sure doesn’t seem like email is on its way out.

It’s not just for-profit businesses that recognize the power of email, either. Constant Contact reported that 86% of non-profits believe that email is an effective marketing activity, noting that it outperforms all other marketing techniques.

The gaining popularity of social networks has produced additional platforms through which people can communicate. Interestingly, though, that’s proven a great reinforcement, not competitor, to email. In combination, email and social media have the greatest impact – with email ensuring a message gets heard and social extending that message’s reach. When it comes to business, email is still alive and well, and will continue to be for some time.

Already, 90 percent of young people worldwide already grab their device before getting out of bed, and with more then 50 percent of Americans smartphone-connected they’re not alone.

While countless statistics make it clear that mobile is radically transforming our lives, we want to hear the real stories behind the stats from people like you. That’s why we’re collaborating with Zendesk for the Mobile Morning contest.

Do you reach for your device as soon as the alarm rings in the morning?

Leave a comment below telling us why and how mobile has affected your morning routine. Does a smartphone on your bedside table mean you’re working before you get out of bed or is a tablet just the modern version of the morning paper?

Our editors will select the most creative and/or insightful comment or story, and that lucky winner will receive an iPad 3 with retina, courtesy of Zendesk.

Zendesk understands the impact of mobile. The makers of the popular cloud-based customer service software just launched a revamped version of the Zendesk for iPad app. It found that the percentage of customer service teams using mobile has doubled in the past two years, with 60 percent of its customers now using one of its mobile apps, up from 30 percent in 2011.

Customer support professionals are no longer just helping customers from behind a desk. They might be managing trouble tickets while waiting for a train, responding to customers after dinner, and yes, even prioritizing requests while still in bed. Now with the new app, they also can stay in the know about how well they and their teams are performing—from their response time to the satisfaction of their customers—to be sure their customers are happy.

Mobile Morning Contest: The Details

We’re looking to hear about how mobile devices have changed (for better or worse) your morning routine. Be creative. Be smart. Be poignant. You can tell a story or provide a wickedly brilliant insight. Our judges (Business 2 Community Editors) will be looking for originality and insight.

To be considered for the contest, comments must be submitted by 5:00pm EST on Tues, April 2. Readers are limited to one submission/comment, and employees of Business 2 Community and Zendesk are not eligible.

The Mobile Morning contest winner will be notified by email on April 3, so please use a valid email address when commenting. In addition, Zendesk will gather the community’s comments to create an infographic that illustrates today’s mobile morning.

So think about it. How has mobile shaped your morning? We want to know…

Tom Gerace of Skyword, Inc.

We are pleased to welcome Tom Gerace to today’s installment of the Business 2 Community Expert Interview Series. Tom is founder and CEO of Skyword, Inc, a platform that manages every aspect of an organization’s content production process. Skyword’s clients include IBM, United Way Worldwide, Wall Street Journal and Autotrader.com. Prior to Skyword, Tom’s career is rooted in disruptive innovations in digital marketing and publishing. In 2002, he founded Be Free, the first affiliate-marketing company, where he served as the Chief Marketing Officer through the company’s IPO. In that role, he was awarded two U.S. Patents, for profiling computer users and targeting advertising based on that profiling. He raised more than $200 million and launched both U.S. and European operations. Under Tom’s direction and leadership, ValueClick acquired Be Free in 2002 where it continues to be ValueClick’s most profitable division. In 2005, Tom launched Gather.com, the leading participatory, performance-based media platform with 4.5 million monthly unique visitors in the U.S.

Tom is a founding member of Social Media Advertising Consortium (SMAC), an organization committed to driving social innovation by drawing industry leaders together to share best practices and new ideas. SMAC also focuses on creating a common vocabulary, standard buying units and uniform measurement methods for social media. Since 2008, SMAC has focused on setting standards and unveiling best practices within an ever-shifting industry. As a member of the board, Tom works alongside executives from Kraft, IBM, GE, PepsiCo and Weber Shandwick.  Tom graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Social Studies from Harvard College in 1993.

5 Questions on Content Marketing With Tom Gerace

1. How did you get your start in content marketing?

Marketing has always been a passion of mine, starting with my first company, Be Free, the first affiliate-marketing company which we sold to ValueClick in 2002. However, it was while I was running a contributory social platform, where users generated their own news stories and discussion topics, that I became more keenly focused on content marketing. As the platform grew and users increased, leading brands started to approach us asking for content ownership. Business owners and marketers started to catch on to the impact of quality, compelling content on customer loyalty and sales.

A decade ago, people relied on a handful of editorially driven organizations for all of their information and entertainment — a newspaper, drive time radio, and evening TV. It was a push-driven information system where media companies enjoyed local monopolies and brands could ensure brand awareness by inserting their messages into those managed media streams.  Today, when we need an answer, we google it. When we need a recommendation, we ask our friends socially on Facebook and Twitter. We have shifted to a pull-driven system, where consumers are in the driver’s seat.  We no longer rely on a couple of media sources for all of our information. Today’s consumer selects and returns to the source that they find most helpful. Anyone and everyone provide that content — as long as they produce valuable, relevant and well-written content—and anyone can use that content to reach consumers, provide them with the information they need, and build relationships with them throughout the process.

Our goal at Skyword is to help brands and media companies capitalize on this search and socially driven world and to take full advantage of the many bottom line benefits to building and managing a well-executed content program at the core of their digital strategy.

2. What is the biggest content marketing challenges facing brands, agencies and media companies?

Producing high quality content on an ongoing basis is a huge challenge for marketers. To be successful, they need to think like publishers, delivering helpful and entertaining content on an ongoing basis.

There are four pillars that are critical for a successful the content program:

1. Content Strategy: Content strategy serves as the foundation of all digital marketing; brands use it to connect with customers through natural search, social, email marketing, and paid channels like sponsored stories and SEM. However, according to eConsultancy, only 38% of companies take the time to build one. Organizations that begin the content quest without a roadmap waste resources and contribute little to the bottom line.  By developing a plan that covers topic ownership and channel distribution according to consumer needs and the organization’s business goals, marketers will deliver relevant, time-sensitive content that motivates return.
2. Expert Creative: Behind every successful content marketing program is a team of expert content creators. This group of people must have a solid understanding of the industry trends and consumer pain points along with strong writing and production skills. By recruiting creative support outside of the organization, marketers can add depth and offer audiences a fresh perspective.  They also bring critical connection to the social circles of the creatives they engage.
3. Editors and Quality Assurance: Quality matters. With content at the core of all digital marketing, marketers need to ensure that every article published on the organization’s behalf is relevant and thoroughly reviewed for quality and brand alignment standards. Assessing writing quality, SEO optimization and brand voice is essential for producing professional, top-notch content.
4. Technology Framework:  Content production includes many moving parts, and technology is the glue that holds the entire process together. Organizations cannot produce content at scale through email, excel spreadsheets and word documents.  Many organizations spend more on the process of compensating writers through traditional AP channels than they pay to the creatives themselves.  By employing technology that supports the entire content process and adapts to the organization’s needs, marketers can create content consistently, reduce overhead, measure performance, and focus on the tasks that matter.

Piecing together the expertise, resources and technology to support content production is a huge challenge for all members of the ecosystem. By focusing on each pillar, marketers will develop a program that lasts.

3. You’ve written a few blog posts about content marketing. What is the method to your own blogging success?

If you blog, and no one reads your post, did you really blog?  A lot of writers focus incredible effort on creating content, and very little thinking about how they maximize the value of what they create.  To do that, they need to consider:

• Topic selection: Don’t write about what you want to share.  Instead, find out what your readers are searching for most often and address those topics that best match your expertise.  Search has become the primary method of information discovery, with people searching 100 billion times every month around the world.  Understand what they want, before you decide what to write.
• Search optimization: Use platforms that enable you to search optimize your content when you write (and be sure your editor doesn’t mess that up when he/she edits).  Sixty-three percent of the times that people click away from a search page, they click on one of the first search results.  If you aren’t optimizing your content, you aren’t being found.
• Social promotion: It’s uncomfortable at first, but share your content early and often on LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter.  And yes, share your professional content on Facebook. Some of your friends will want to read it and that high school pal that you lost track of might be the CEO at your next customer company. Search engines also take cues from what is shared socially, so the more you share, the better your success at search as well.

4. What do you think is the future of social media? 

Soon, we will stop thinking about “social” media.  Social infrastructure will be built into everything and we won’t differentiate between what is and isn’t social.

5. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out in marketing and social media?

Start with strategy.  Understand who you are trying to reach, what they care about and how you can share what they need or love.  Consider IBM’s award-winning content marketing plan at the Midsize Insider.  They took time to understand what midsize business owners and technology teams need to know.  They developed content verticals (in this case cloud computing, Big Data, security, remote workforce enablement,) that matched those needs.  We worked together to recruit socially influential authors with siloed expertise to share industry background and news in each vertical.  Now those writers produce high quality, searched optimized content that is socially promoted by both the brand and the expert contributors, maximizing the reach of each piece they create.

Second, have a voice.  There are millions of people competing for social influence.  Understand what makes you different and then capitalize on that.  If you sound exactly like the guy next to you, nobody will be listening to what you have to say.

Connie Chan Wang of LinkedIn

We’re excited to welcome Connie Chan Wang for today’s installment of the Business 2 Community Expert Interview Series. Connie leads Social Media Strategy at LinkedIn where she founded and now manages the company’s Center of Excellence. She is the Chief Editor of the LinkedIn Blog and oversees LinkedIn’s official social media presence on LinkedIn (of course!), Twitter and Facebook. Prior to LinkedIn, she worked at Yahoo! where she led cause marketing initiatives, leveraging social media to inspire millions of consumers to make a positive impact. Connie received her Master’s from Stanford University and her Bachelor’s from University of Southern California. Connect with her on Twitter @cheesycons or on LinkedIn.

6 Questions on Social Media With Connie Chan Wang

1. How did you get your start in the industry?

I’ve spent most of my career focused on ways to engage people in making a positive social impact on the world. Early on, I learned that in order to inspire action, we needed to go where our community was, and our community was and continues to be on social networks. I raised my hand then to lead social media strategy for Yahoo! Green, the #1 environmental website at the time. I then went on to run cause marketing initiatives for Yahoo! like You In?, a campaign that leveraged social media to inspire hundreds of thousands of people to do random acts of kindness. Now at LinkedIn, I have the incredible opportunity to use social media to create economic opportunity for professionals around the world. It doesn’t get more meaningful than that.

2. What is the biggest challenge facing your industry?

There’s an incredible lack of knowledge around what social media success means. So much attention is focused on what goes viral. What gets lost is the power of social media to communicate directly with your community every single day, and it’s these seemingly tiny interactions that’ll shape your brand story in the long term. I often tell people that it takes 2 minutes to set up a social media account but years to really build an engaged community. Viral sensations aren’t born overnight.

3. What is the method to your blogging success? What inspires your blogs?

I’m a big believer in keeping blog posts short, sweet and visual. A former manger once told me the average person doesn’t remember more than 3 things, and I’ve really taken that to heart.

My blog posts are inspired by people – conversations we have, questions they ask, funny faces they make.

4. What do you think is the future of social media?

The future of social media is content – content that’s relevant, useful, entertaining. The success of LinkedIn’s Influencer program is a testament to the fact that people crave real people and authentic voices who help them be productive and successful in their daily lives.

5. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out?

Take the time to put a foundation in place. Figure out what your brand stands for, what your voice is, who you want to engage. Most importantly, define what success means, make sure it ladders up to business goals and that your leadership buys in. Then take a step back every few months to make sure you’re still on track.

6. Where can we find you on the web/on Twitter/Facebook/etc.?

Twitter: @cheesycons

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/conniechanwang

Thank you for joining us today, Connie!

Joe Doran of Rallyverse

We are pleased to welcome Joe Doran, co-founder and CEO of Rallyverse, for today’s installment of our Business 2 Community Expert Interview Series. Joe is a seasoned and accomplished senior executive with 15 years of experience managing digital media, advertising, and social media solutions in high-growth companies such as Microsoft, General Mills, and Media6Degrees. He is a sought-after expert in interactive advertising, advertising technology, and social media, and an active investor and advisor to a number of social and advertising companies. Welcome, Joe!

6 Questions on Content Marketing With Joe Doran

I started my marketing career as a classically trained Brand Manager at General Mills. While I was there, I had the chance to help work on and build great brands like Cheerios, Trix, Cocoa Puffs, and Betty Crocker. That experience led to a nine-year stint at Microsoft, where I served as Chief of Staff at MSN and General Manager of Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions. At Microsoft, I got the chance to lead the development of world class digital marketing technologies such as Microsoft adCenter, PubCenter and the display advertising platforms. Working on these products and technologies really planted the seed for a lot of the ideas that eventually became Rallyverse.

What you share in social media is the best ad a brand can have. That’s the biggest challenge right now for social media marketers: figuring out what companies are going to say and share multiple times per day on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and other emerging networks. The second challenge is figuring out how to best spend their time and resources on their content strategy. That’s usually divided into two areas — owned first-party content and curated third-party content. The latter is what most small to medium-sized companies should be focusing on because it’s likely they don’t have a full-time agency or large internal social and creative team to consistently create first-party content, like original videos, infographics, and other resource-intensive creative assets. What they usually do have though is a young and determined Community Manager who’s solely responsible for the brand’s online presence. It’s that person who needs the most help augmenting and matching the brand’s voice to third-party content that relates and resonates with their community. This is where I believe the second wave of social media marketing technology comes into play, where services like Rallyverse can enable technology to enable people — by discovering relevant content quickly and allowing the Community Manager or small social media marketing team to add their voice and share it, making their jobs a lot easier. 

I think first and foremost it needs to have a voice and context. Content shared without those attributes is not really curation — it’s just pushing a publish button. A quick retweet may be fine once in awhile, but even if the content you share isn’t produced by your brand, you still have the opportunity and the obligation to explain why that content matters within the space allotted in a tweet or Facebook update.

Second, if a Community Manager is doing his or her job properly, they’ll have insights and data into how their community is responding to what’s being shared. That data can help shape your third-party content strategy in real-time. It can also help shape ideas for a brand’s owned content, so when there’s eventually some money in the marketing budget for an original YouTube video or series of infographics, the brand should have ideas about the creative direction of that content.

Lastly, I’d say if your brand does embrace curation, it should be embraced company-wide. At virtually every social media conference I attend, someone is on a stage talking about how social media is not something one person should be in charge of — it needs to be a company-wide effort. Unfortunately,  those same people don’t usually answer the question of how that’s actually accomplished. I think the solution is easily scalable technology that lets companies become what I like to call “wholly social” — by having Community Managers or social media marketing teams centrally curate brand-approved content for employees, who can then take the approved content and share with their fans and followers in their own voice.

I think as evidenced by the recently announced redesign of the Facebook newsfeed, storytelling on Facebook and other platforms is going to become increasingly more visual. And hopefully with that, the content that brands share — whether owned, third-party, or advertising — will be more rich and engaging. However, more visual content does not mean that words and narratives are going to die. On the contrary, the marriage of art and copy is more important than ever. Cat GIFs are funny and there’s plenty on the Internet to go around, but they’re also one-offs that usually don’t tell a story. Storytelling matters, and brands need to be cognizant of that.

Another thing I think will be big in social media over the next couple of years is the idea of personal algorithms. Whether people realize it or not, they are everyday curators. Signal-to-noise ratio in social media is a problem that’s just going to get bigger. You only have to look at your Twitter stream to see that the amount of data you’re actually consuming and processing every minute and every hour is enormous. We’ll start seeing more tools that allow people and companies to fine-tune their personal algorithms to surface what’s most relevant to them. I think that’s a huge opportunity, and that’s why Rallyverse is in the business of relevance in social media. 

Right off the bat, they need to embrace the idea that curation is not a four-letter word. Believe it or not, there’s still a stigma with many companies about sharing content they did not produce — or something that doesn’t have an inherent marketing message in it. If companies can’t grasp the benefits of third-party content, sooner or later, they’ll face a harsh reality: audiences don’t typically discern between what is first-party content and what is third-party, and they don’t care — they just know what’s interesting or relevant and what isn’t. If what you’re sharing there isn’t connecting with your community on any level and is just becoming clutter in a news feed, then your social media practice is going to stall before it even gets off the ground.

I think the Community Manager is usually the best person to execute a brand’s content marketing plan. Being a CM is a great job for someone who’s just starting out in the industry, and the number of companies looking to hire them grows every day. It’s a role that’s at the intersection of the brand, of technology, and of real-time feedback. It’s the perfect role for a young digital mind to gain experience from. Community Managers usually end up not only being the guardian of your content marketing, but they also are usually the smartest person in your company when it comes to the personality of your brand and its fans on social media.

6. Where can we find you on the web/on Twitter/Facebook/etc.?

You can also find me on Twitter at @doran_joe, and on Facebook and LinkedIn. And please don’t forget to visit the Rallyverse website.

Brian Solis of Altimeter Group

We’re very excited to have Brian Solis with us today for this installment of the Business 2 Community Expert Interview Series. Brian is principal at Altimeter Group, a research firm focused on disruptive technology. A digital analyst, sociologist, and futurist, Solis has studied and influenced the effects of emerging technology on business, marketing, and culture. Solis is also globally recognized as one of the most prominent thought leaders and published authors in new media. His new book, What’s the Future of Business (WTF), explores the landscape of connected consumerism and how business and customer relationships unfold and flourish in four distinct moments of truth. His previous book, The End of Business as Usual, explores the emergence of Generation-C, a new generation of customers and employees and how businesses must adapt to reach them. Prior to End of Business, Solis released Engage, which is regarded as the industry reference guide for businesses to market, sell and service in the social web.

5 Questions With Brian Solis

Author of What’s the Future of Business?: Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences

1. How did you get your start in the industry?

This is a long story, but I’ll do my best to make it brief and interesting. Since my youth, I was always fascinated by technology. As a teenager, I learned to program. As an adult, I advised or started tech companies.

The story of where I am today started in 1991, I worked as a database architect at an advertising agency in Southern California that specialized in technology clients. As a technologist, I would constantly question positioning and creative to help teams better attract and engage fellow technologists. For almost 20 years, I re-wrote the book of marketing, at least mine anyway, about what was possible and how to go about it. At one point I decided to make the jump over to creative marketing and remained there until becoming a full-time technology analyst and consultant in 2010. Over the years I led the rise of new marketing and direct to customer engagement in online communities in Web 1.0. To do so required an entirely new approach and perspective. More important, to fund and scale it requires new marketing and agency models as well. I shared everything I learned to help agencies, marketers, and executives see the opportunities and outcomes that would surface as a direct result of online engagement and influence. This work would later serve as the foundation for social media marketing and digital PR/communications.

I made the shift from marketing to analysis and consulting because technology was disrupting every market, customer behavior and also how organizations run their businesses. As an analyst, and also aspiring digital anthropologist, I learned a great deal about not only what was unfolding but also what organizations needed to do and not do. I decided to help businesses navigate the next several years based on this disruption. I also dedicated my extra time to writing and researching how employees, students and other affected by disruption better understand how to find their place in transformation while also becoming change agents for the future.

2. What is the biggest challenge facing your industry?

Part of the challenge facing the industry, and by industry I mean every industry and every aspect of it, is either the misdiagnosis or the blatant disregard for the transformation necessary to adapt or react to this powerful revolution. Every organization, every institution, every business is experiencing an incredible undercurrent of change. Many executives understand that something big is going on, change agents certainly do, but for anything to truly adapt, react, or lead, requires a leader and a direction to follow.

Much of the change that’s taking place today is actually rising up form the bottom up…a groundswell of sorts. These corporate insurrections mean well but they do inevitably hit the glass ceiling of process, operations, and politics. In order to break through takes an executive sponsor or compatriot to help bridge the gap between where companies are and where they need to be. This is a time for leadership not management. Therefore it takes leaders to articulate a vision of where we need to be and why and then inspire teams to not just follow, but help lead transformation.

3. What is the method to your blogging success? What inspires your blogs?

I suppose it’s the reason for my shift from marketing into analysis. The answers in question number 2 are certainly part of why I blog. I guess the simple answer to what inspires me is that this is a time of change and as a result further change is required. Because of social media and the democratization of media comes also a democratization of expertise. That expertise is real or perceived and as such, value and appreciation for said expertise is in the eye of the beholder. Personally, I believe that with the ability to publish comes the inevitable saturation of information. Much of what I read today is inexperienced even though it’s positioned as sage advice. From my own experience, I’ve seen what happens and continues to happen when certain steps are/aren’t followed based on the context and state of each scenario. My goal is to share as often and as far and wide in every medium possible what I learn every day. I help businesses effectively change and build new adaptable models for long-term transformation. Just when I’ve seen it all, I see something new, and therefore, I’m motivated to keep sharing everything I learn to help those willing to learn.

As for a method to my blogging success, I’ve no answer for you. I didn’t set out to become a successful blogger. I simply set out to share what I was learning. Blogging made it easier and thankfully people liked what they read and still do today. I was driven by a purpose not an outcome.

4. What do you think is the future of social media?

What is the future of email?

Everyone wishes it would go away, but what’s to take its place? Well, in many ways, many things have usurped the role of email in our daily lives. But there it sits, still persistent in our day-to-day communication. And this is where it will remain for the foreseeable future. No one really cares deeply about it enough to completely overturn it because it works and it would take something unbelievably compelling to replace it. We just evolve. That’s what we do. That’s also what technology does as well.

The future of social media is a book unto itself. It’s not what we think. Social as it’s referred to today will cease to exist. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just that it has to give way to what’s next. Think about the history of the term and the various iterations of the descriptors used along with “media” over the years. Multimedia, digital media, new media, transmedia, the list goes on and on. But the legacy of social media is and will be profound. It is a great equalizer and a democratizer. Information and the ability to distribute it is ubiquitous and its influence is no longer relegated to those who could afford to control it. Social media is personal and therefore forces the pillars of human relationships back into areas of our professional and personal lives where it has been overlooked in the last few years. Social media has re-introduced the value and power of transparency back into our society. Social media is opening doors within organizations where people who don’t usually work with one another can now collaborate.

Social media caused a revolution because of us. Social media is us. There’s a reason that we can find the “me” in social media and the “we” in the social web.

5. Where can we find you on the web/on Twitter/Facebook/etc.?

I would love everyone to visit me over at www.briansolis.com or on Twitter @briansolis.

I would also love it if you would consider reading my new book, which discusses these topics and also how to lead change in a fun and approachable way. It’s called, “What’s the Future of Business: Changing the way businesses create experiences” and it’s available everywhere now - http://www.wtfbusiness.com

Thank you for joining us today, Brian! 

The Shooting Stars Competition

This shooting contest features two teams from each conference and the teams are comprised of a current NBA player, a retired NBA player and a WNBA player.

Western Conference

• James Harden, Sam Cassell and Tina Thompson
• Russell Westbrook, Robery Horry and Maya Moore

Eastern Conference

• Chris Bosh, Muggsy Bogues and Swin Cash
• Brook Lopez, Dominique Wilkins and Tamika Catchings

Prediction: Russell Westbrook, Robery Horry and Maya Moore will win easily.

The Skills Challenge

This event tests the skills of six NBA point guards as they maneuver through an obstacle course.  Tonight’s participants include last year’s winner, Tony Parker along with Jrue Holiday, Brandon Knight, Jeff Teague, Damian Lillard and Jeremy Lin.

Prediction: Tony Parker’s experience in this event should result in him becoming a repeat winner.

The 3-Point Contest

This event features six of the best three-point shooters in the NBA and features Stephen Curry, Ryan Anderson, Steve Novak, Paul George, Matt Bonner and Kyrie Irving.

Prediction: Stephen Curry looks like a lock to win his first NBA 3-Point Content, something his father Dell Curry failed to achieve in his two attempts during the early 1990s.

The Slam Dunk Contest

While the slam dunk contest hasn’t featured a mega-star in years, tonight’s event features 6 high-flyers and two past champions in Jeremy Evans and Gerald Green.  Rounding out the competition are Kenneth Faried, Eric Bledsoe, James White and Terrence Ross.

Prediction: Expect Kenneth Faried to bring lots of energy after winning the MVP award during last night’s Rising Stars Game.

What do you think?  Share your predictions for tonight’s NBA All-Star Festivities in the comment section below.

Name: Nick Cifuentes, Director, Global Social Media

Bio: Nick Cifuentes is the global social media director at Ancestry.com. An industry veteran, Nick has worked in digital media and marketing since 2004, functioning in strategy, copywriting, analytics, search, planning, online media and social media.

How does Ancestry.com use the social media channels it maintains?

I have been with the company for about two years. Before I came onboard the site really didn’t have a well-defined social media strategy – it didn’t really have its own vertical, as it was sort of grouped with PR. The site had a Facebook page, but the company wasn’t really doing anything with it. There wasn’t any steady level of engagement.

What I would say is that when it comes to social media the site doesn’t have the kind of content that usually attracts the usual social media crowd. Our demographic is aged 45 plus, which are our core customers. However, what we do have – which differentiates us in the market place – is the level of content on our site.

The site now has a global presence within the social media channels. Today we have 45 plus channels of engagement that we use. We did this very quickly with each of our global presences ramping up their use of social media within about six months after I started with the company.

Of course we tend to focus in the US as this is our largest property, but we have seen all of our engagement channels moving to a very high level, which we continue to develop.

What kind of engagement is your company seeing?

I would say that over the last six months we have been focusing on brand advocacy. We clearly understand that the fans of our site are our strongest advocates. For businesses these are the people that will help you develop your offering.

We have used two advocate programs over the past year. We have two US-focused initiatives, and a third that will launch in the UK in the first quarter of 2013. One of the first was what we called Ancestry ACES, which is a blog that uses content that is totally independent of our site.

We initially reached out to our user base to identify which of our users was more socially enabled. We got close to a million responses from our first request, and from those, we identified about 150,000 people whom we launched the program with. These people are prolific sharers, and prolific content creators. These are the personality traits of an advocate that we really want to build upon.

Since the program started running late April 2012, we send out a bi-weekly emails that gives these people advanced information about what is happening on Ancestry. It’s like a VIP program that gives these advocates materials they can disseminate to their followers. We give them a lot of promotions they can give away on their blogs, we also gave them a badge and a widget they can embed in their blog to give us a high number of back links to our site. We’re also trying out more specific stuff for these users including Google+ like hangouts and VIP video material that is just for these users.

The second major program we are running is with a third party Zuberance that helps us build brand advocacy. This platform allows Ancestry to broadcast marketing content and seed people into sharing that content. What we are trying to do is create content that users will want to instantly share with their followers, other users, friends or family. We really do see advocacy as a key part of growing our brand’s presence on the social channels. And of course we are lucky in that we have a lot of content to share in these spaces.

In addition to these programs we also have an entire customer support module where we have people live on the channels daily answering questions and enquires that come in. We have an entire staff that is dedicated to providing this service to our customers.

As businesses have begun to realize that social media touches every aspect of their organizations, how does Ancestry place social within its business hierarchy?

Before I came to Ancestry my background was mostly with agencies, which means I understood how social was becoming more than a simple marketing exercise. Here at Ancestry social was situated within PR, but we have now moved it into its own realm. What this means in practice is that if you look at our organizational structure you will see that social has its own channel, but it is overseen by out chief marketing officer.

Under me I have six managers that focus globally, and the support group that I mentioned before. And of course when I came on, I requested a number of things that have an impact on the company’s budget, so resources that are allocated are part of the wider budgeting and planning that the business does.

Also, what was gratifying was that when we looked at the company’s goals for the next year, there were clearly defined goals for social and not just our general marketing developments. So for Ancestry, social is a key contributing factor to growing the business. Of course social is not as direct as an acquisition for instance, but social does have a long-term impact that our business understands is important to develop.

And I also have a tools budget that will be for the analytical systems I use, which of course cost money. With my background I knew which tools I wanted to bring to Ancestry and how these could be used to deliver the goals the company wanted to meet in the social space. The advice I would give is that a business needs to look at the whole environment of their enterprise and factor in social to those areas where this channel can help them grow.

If you want enhance your social media strategy to boost reputation, enhance competitiveness and build long-term relationships then check out what Ancestry.com will be discussing at this year’s Corporate Social Media Summit NYC on June 12-13^th. For more information visit http://bit.ly/W29oQY

It's far more common these days to see someone sitting with a smart phone or tablet than it is to see them out and about with a laptop. We're a mobile society and we like to have information at our fingertips so that we can access it on-the-go, regardless of whether we're sitting on the couch at home, in a cab, or at a coffee shop.

Of course, it's tough to be out without spending money. In today's financial climate, we like to be aware of our finances, so the ability to access that information and know exactly what we have is important to us. Personal Capital, a free mobile application available for iPhone, iPad, and Android, helps you to easily and efficiently manage your money by providing you with a single dashboard from which to monitor all of your accounts.

While some of us just want to check to see how much money we have in checking and savings, others of us want to be able to regularly monitor our entire financial portfolios, including mutual funds, stocks, and money market accounts. Because Personal Capital provides the user with one aggregated view of all his accounts, it's easy to monitor your finances with a single app, even if you do business with several banks and financial institutions. Additionally, the app can track your income, spending, savings, and investment performance to give you the best possible idea of how you're allocating your finances. By identifying mutual fund fees, the app actually helps you to identify where you could be saving more money.

Personal Capital also offers a range of functions, including:

• Portfolio Performance: Have complete control of your investments when you know what you have and how it's performing.
• Asset Allocation: Discover the diversity of your assets by viewing the percentage of each one in your portfolio.
• Mobile Apps: As previously mentioned, the Personal Capital free mobile app is available for iPhone, iPad, and Android.
• Investment Checkup: Discover potential investment risks within your portfolio. To find out if you're on track with your financial goals, this feature can also help you locate mutual fund fees.
• 401k Fee Analyzer: Are you paying too much in 401k fees? This feature helps you to determine that when it compares your 401k to Personal Capital's 0.5% plan. If your percentage is high, they can help you to do something about it.
• Mutual Fund Fee Calculator: This calculator will help you to determine how much your investments are costing you, not just now, but over time, as well. The goal here is to help you invest smartly while also saving you money in unnecessary fees.
• Universal Checkbook: Use your iPhone, iPad, or Android device to take a picture of a paper check and use the image to enroll any of your checking accounts. When you do, sending a check to anyone, anywhere can be done almost instantly.

Certainly the most useful aspect of Personal Capital is the range of functions mentioned above. Finances can be very confusing to people, and they'd rather pay exorbitant fees to let someone else monitor them than take the risk of doing it themselves. But using this app will not only help you manage your finances in an easy way that makes sense, it will also help your financial state by saving you fees on a personal financial advisor.

If you're looking to track your income and spending habits, view your transactions, and identify the scope of your expenses, use Personal Capital's Cash Manager.

Regardless of what your financial management needs are, Personal Capital can help you to manage what you've got and plan to meet goals for what you want to have. Download the free app to get started on a better financial future.

It’s no secret that in these tough financial times, many of us will be working much longer in life, past what generations before us have deemed “retirement age.” But does it have to be so? With a little smart planning on our parts now, could we save up enough money to retire comfortably?

Sure, many of us have found ourselves saying, “I plan to retire with a million dollars!” – but how many of us have said that and been entirely serious? Retiring with a million dollars is wishful thinking, even in the best of financial times – right?

But wait. Thanks to a new initiative from TD Bank, your dreams of retiring with a million dollars could, in fact, become a reality.

TD Bank gives you the tools you need to start preparing early for your retirement, and through smart planning and monthly savings now, you could find yourself enjoying that million dollar retirement you’ve always dreamed about.

Among some of the tools available to you on TD’s website to help you plan for your retirement is a series of videos that will provide you with answers to your questions and guidance as you start your savings. These videos offer you tips and best practices to make saving for your retirement as easy as possible while still allowing you to live comfortably now.

Additionally, a variety of savings calculators is available to help you as you plan.

Want more information? Check out the video.

When you’re looking to invest online, it’s nice to know that you have the freedom to choose methods that work best for you. Bank of Montreal InvestorLine gives investors two options, depending on whether they want more control over their own accounts, or more guidance from professionals. Having both options makes it easy for you to invest wisely, and to do so with exactly the tools you want and need.

The first option, Self-Directed, is exactly as it sounds. If you choose this investing option, you’ll have complete control over your investments. Additionally, you can plan and monitor your investment portfolio with tools that include: advanced stock screeners, streaming quotes, third party party research, advanced charts, stop orders, and portfolio rebalancing. This option is good for more experienced investors who know what they want and who want to maintain their investments themselves.

AdviceDirect, the second option, is geared toward investors with less experience, or those who might want the peace of mind that comes with having the ability to seek advice when they need it. AdviceDirect lets you manage your investment portfolio, but also gives you advice along the way. Some of the tools included in this option are: specific investment advice that’s customized for you and your portfolio, continuous portfolio monitoring and proactive alerts that allow you to take immediate action, access to a team of investment specialists who are willing to help you with your specific questions and problems, and who will advise you on making wise investment decisions.

To learn more, please watch the video below.

If you've ever moved, you know what a stressful time it can be. Whether the move is across town or across the country, you want all the details to go off without a hitch – as easily and efficiently as possible. Packing and unpacking is chaotic enough in and of itself, so finding the right house shouldn't have to be, as well. The free Realtor.com App for iOS (with Retina support) offers a number of options to make working with your realtor to find your new home a breeze.

One of the neatest and most useful features of this app – and one that will surely be appealing to buyers and sellers alike – is the ability to call or email the listing agent directly from the app with only a single click. No more clumsily looking up phone numbers or email addresses, or sending yourself a reminder to add it to your already-too-long to-do list when you get back to your computer. Converse with your agent in real-time regarding listings, showings, or any questions you might have. This feature alone makes the Realtor.com app stand out above similar real estate apps.

Another great feature is the ability to use your device's GPS to search for nearby homes for sale and open houses. This is particularly useful if you're making a move across a considerable distance and have only a short time in your new town to find a place to live. You can customize your area parameters to find the best house and the best location for you and your family and save all searches for future use. Best of all, you can be certain that these listings are as accurate, detailed, and up-to-date as possible.

That is all, of course, to say nothing of the photos. The Realtor.com app includes numerous photos in all of its listings so that you can “pre-tour” the house. And now, with its Retina support, you can view over five million high resolution property photos from your iPhone 5 or iPad.

With this app, you'll also never have to carry your “listing notes” notebook around with you ever again. As you browse listings or see houses in person, make notes on those listings directly within the app. You can keep these notes for yourself or share them with your realtor. Sync these notes and they'll also be available on your computer in your Realtor.com account.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a real estate app that is better than the one from Realtor.com. From the ease of finding homes for sale, open houses, and recently sold properties to the way in which it allows for quick and easy communication between you and your agent, it's the best one out there.

Why Malawi?

Federer, an international tennis star, and his wife, Mirka, were interested in starting a project through the RFF that focused on early childhood education, a sentiment shared by the Foundation’s CEO, Janine Handel. Malawi, which the UN Human Development Report listed in 2009 as the thirteenth poorest country in the world, was identified as an area of need, especially as about 50% of the population is under the age of 15. Additionally, it is an area hit hard by AIDS and malnutrition leading to a host of other health issues. The average life expectancy is a mere 52.4 years.

The Impact

The idea behind the sponsorship partnership with the Roger Federer Foundation and Credit Suisse is that children – particularly those who range in age from two to eight – will receive better care and education. Numerous studies have shown that children who are well cared for at this age grow up to be more successful. Additionally, those same children have a lower risk for teen pregnancy and drug addiction. As a result, an estimated 92,000 children stand to benefit, either directly or indirectly, from this endeavor, and could bring some much-needed positive change to Malawi as they grow up.

A Look at Growing Up in Malawi

This documentary series examines life in Malawi, particularly for the children who will be impacted by the RFF and Credit Suisse. See the most recent episode below.

Voice and voicemail, video conferencing, mobility, contact center services, instant messaging, and presence are all common tools and techniques that simplify our collaborative efforts. One of the major problems with such technologies is accessibility. The tools were only offered in certain locations or on certain devices.

But with CDW Cloud Collaboration, that all changes. Using any device, anywhere, and at any time, CDW gives you access to the collaboration tools that you need. With CDW Cloud Collaboration, you get Unified Collaboration and collaboration tools from Cisco Systems, as well as CDW's managed services.

These solutions benefit companies in a number of ways. First, the cloud makes it easier for companies to access these tools to effectively run their businesses. Large corporations will find that CDW Cloud Collaboration benefits them because they're easily able to work with employees in other locations, whether they're on the other side of the country or the other side of the world. Mid-sized businesses will find collaborating across branches to be a breeze. For the small businesses who may employ more virtual workers, they'll find it easier to keep in touch with those employees regardless of where they are.

But also, the fact that that these solutions can be accessed from any device allows for even greater mobility and accessibility, so you're setting your staff up for success from the start by allowing them to work more efficiently.

What's more, your company's IT can support collaboration services without worrying about things like security or application functionality because the services are on a virtualized architecture. This means your IT staff doesn't spend all of their time on those initiatives and can shift their attention elsewhere, which again proves the efficiency that comes with such a solution.

And let's not forget that where efficiency leads, monetary savings is usually not far behind.

CDW has a rich history in Unified Communications. Over the past decade, they have been responsible for over 4,000 Cisco deployments, so you can trust that you're dealing with experts in the field.

And being experts in the IT field, you can also expect state-of-the-art management and equipment. CDW won't disappoint here. Cloud Collaboration is hosted from their own 485,000 square foot Tier III-IV facility. Virtualization, storage, and optimization services are all powered by the data center's 8.2 megawatts.

This is all to say nothing of the access you get to Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solutions and over 50 Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts on staff, all to help you transition as seamlessly as possible to the cloud. The entire process is designed to be as simple as possible for your company, end to end.

Got questions about how CDW Cloud Collaboration can work for you? Check out CDW’s Solutions blog or have a look at this video:

CDW is a current advertiser on my blog. All opinions are mine.

As more and more businesses start to establish a solid presence online and make sales through e-commerce, it becomes increasingly more important for those businesses to have a strong online brand.

What does a strong online brand entail? It means more than just having a clever slogan or an eye-catching logo. While interaction and engagement across your social channels are incredibly important, a strong online brand is more than that. It’s also more than the images and content you post, the videos you create, and the voice that you use to share all of it. All of these things make for a strong online brand, but….

When you’re actually conducting business and you’re working with an e-commerce setup, having a strong online brand also means that things in that aspect of your business also run smoothly and create a positive customer environment and experience.

When you use logistics, you stand to strengthen your online brand. How?

Let’s start with shipping options. Using logistics to help with shipping is a popular method. Companies and what they offer will vary, but logistics first help with shipping location and transportation, meaning that you can ship to the other side of the world just as easily as you can ship to the other side of the country (which is just as easy as shipping to the other side of the city). Logistics will help you figure out the most efficient routes (fuel- and time-wise) so that packages are received in a timely fashion. Remember that a customer is prepared to wait for an online purchase to arrive, but that patience only goes so far.

When that customer sees that she can easily order from your site and pay lower shipping costs because your logistics have determined a more efficient delivery route, that’s strengthening your online brand.

Also keep in mind that with greater access to shipping and delivery where and when you need it, your customer base opens up. Now someone who lives on the other side of the country but wants to purchase your merchandise can do so. The fact that you offer shipping to them helps to strengthen your online brand.

So too can the fact that they can track their order from the time it’s made until it arrives at their door. Logistics make parcel-tracking a breeze, and customers like having that ability. All of it stands to strengthen their view of you.

Remember that delivery time can also be impacted by availability. If you don’t have a product in your store, you have to wait until it’s delivered before you can ship it, right? When you employ the services of logisticians, they can actually help you to pull and pack orders right from the warehouse, meaning you don’t have to wait. When items are shipped from the warehouse, customers get them faster.

Finally, make the reverse of all of that true. If logistics work going forward, move them backward with as much ease to make returns as painless a process as possible.

Ultimately, logistics take the stress out of the online shopping experience, both for you and the shopper, and it makes for a happy customer. Happy customers make stronger online brands.

What are your thoughts on logistics for online branding? 

This post is brought to you by UPS. All opinions are 100% my own. 

It’s a common misconception to believe that logistics are only for big businesses with big budgets and customers around the globe.

In fact, as a small business, logistics can serve you just as well.

Like a large business, you still need to order merchandise. You still need to order supplies. Depending on your business, you may need to order things for your customers or have them shipped. Do you offer online shopping? Let’s not forget that the nature of eCommerce means that, even as a small business, you might be making sales on the other side of the country, which means you’ll be shipping that merchandise.

The primary difference between you, the small business, and your larger counterparts is that you don’t may not have the same kinds of resources and manpower to help see these processes through from start to finish. While big businesses can make use of just about any kind of transportation imaginable, the small business is typically limited to ground shipping – a method that is often considered notorious for its seemingly illogical routes.

When you have a smaller team, figuring out how all of these tasks will work smoothly can take up a lot of your time, meaning longer hours at work away from your home and family. It can all start to really take a toll on your productivity after a while.

But then there’s logistics. When you make an investment in logistics, even as a small business, you can streamline all of these processes, not to mention save yourself some money on costs while improving sales.

To meet supply and demand, it’s imperative that you have all of your raw materials or merchandise when you need it. If a customer has to wait too long for the final product or order, he’s probably going to go somewhere else, which means you’ve lost business to your competitor – possibly even a big business. If you were using logistics, you’d easily be able to oversee shipment of materials from the warehouse to your business in a timely fashion, meaning you don’t lose business over poor planning.

Taking care of your own shipping can be stressful, especially if you have no idea where your package is or whether it arrived safely at its final destination. When you invest in logistics, you’ll be able to track shipments to make sure they get from start to finish with as few stops out of the way as possible. After all, saving fuel with more direct routes saves you money on shipping costs.

Saving money on shipping will be even more of a breeze when you group shipments together and use more economical packaging strategies. No one likes receiving an enormous box containing their very tiny order. It just doesn’t make sense.

The bottom line, of course, is that a happy customer is a repeat customer. Through the use of logistics for your small business, you’ll be meeting your customers’ needs much more efficiently than you could do alone (and much more efficiently than some of your competition, as well). Many companies that provide logistics are recognizing small business needs and providing solutions specifically for them, so it’s worth investigating. Whether it’s tracking shipments or helping you with inventory, logistics provide an overall smoother process – both for you and the customer, so everybody’s a winner.

This content is brought to you by UPS. All opinions are 100% my own. 

2012 Kmart Black Friday Deals

This year Kmart will offer deep discounts on special items on Black Friday as their store doors open at 3am.  Below is a look at some of the best Black Friday deals you can expect to see at Kmart this year.

Top Black Friday Deals at Kmart 

• Seiki 24″ Class 1080p LED HDTV $88 (reg 189.99)
• Nintendo DSi $79.99 (reg. 99.99)
• Proscan 50″ 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV $288 (reg 649.99)
• RCA 32″ 720p 60Hz LCD HDTV with Built-In DVD Player $239.99 (reg 313.99)
• Panasonic DVD Home Theater System $99.99 (reg 149.99)
• Magellan RoadMate 2136T-LM GPS Receiver with free Bracketron GPS Vent Mount $69.99  (reg 139.99)
• LG Blu-ray Player with Built-in Wi-Fi $59.99
• Canon PowerShot A2300 Digital Camera w/ Free 8GB SD card $79.99 (reg 139.99)
• Nintendo Wii Black Console w/ Wii Sports & Wii Sports Resort $129.99
• HP Pavillion 15.6′ laptop with AMD Dual Core, 4GB RAM, 320 GB HD $299.99 (reg $499.99)

Where will you be doing your Black Friday shopping this year and what are you looking to purchase?

2012 Best Buy Black Friday Deals

This year Best Buy will being opening its stores at midnight on Black Friday and employees will be handing out tickets for their Doorbuster items up to hours before the store openings.  Below is a look at the top fifteen Black Friday deals you can expect to find at Best Buy this year.

• Toshiba 40″ 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV 1080p. $179.99 (reg $419.99)
• Samsung laptop essentials bundle: Samsun 15.6′ laptop w/ 2nd gen Intel Core i3-2370M 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, Windows 8 – Webroot SecureAnywhere Internet Security Plus 2013 – Mac/Windows, Targus debased laptop sleeve (gray/black), Logitech M317 wireless optical mouse (black), PNY Attaché      8GB USB 2.0 Flash drive $349.95 (reg. $574.95)
• Lenovo 15.6″ laptop 2GB RAM 320GB HD (black). AMD E-300 Accelerated Processor with Radeon HD 6310 Graphics. Windows 8. $187.99
• Nikon Coolpix s9050 12.1 Megapixel 15x Optical zoom digital camera (silver). Captures 1080p HD video. $129.99 (reg $259.99)
• Samsung 65″ 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV $1497.99 (reg 1999.99)
• Panasonic 55″ 1080p 120Hz 3D LED HDTV with 3D glasses $899.99 (reg 1799.99)
• XBox  360 250GB Holiday Bundle – includes Forza Motorsport 4, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim download token, one wireless controller, wired headset, and one month trial for Hulu, EPIX, and Xbox LIVE. $199.99 (reg 299.99; a 407.96 value)
• Skylanders: Giants Starter Pack $49.99 (reg $74.99)
• PS Vita – Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified Limited Edition Bundle $199.99 (reg $249.99; 319.97 value)
• Apple MacBook Air 13.3″ Laptop w/ Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage  $1199.99 (save $175)
• HP Envy 14″ laptop 8GB 1TB HD $629.99 Win8 (reg 829.99)
• Amazon 8GB Kindle Fire w/ $30 Best Buy Gift Card $159.99
• Canon PowerShot SX260 HS 12.1 Megapixel Digital Camera w/Free Camera Case and Memory Card (black) $199.99 (reg. 299.99)
• Nikon Coolpix P510 16.1 Megapixel digital camera $299.99 (reg $429.99)
• PS3 250GB Bundle includes console, one wireless controller, UNCHARTED Greatest Hits Dual Pack and the inFAMOUS Collection $199.99 (reg 299.99)

Where will you be doing your Black Friday shopping this year and what are you looking to purchase?

2012 Target Black Friday Deals

This year Target is starting their Black Friday deals at 9pm on Thanksgiving Day and below is a look at the top ten deals you can expect to find.

• Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch eReader $49 (reg 99.99)
• Xbox 360 4GB Kinect Holiday Bundle w/ Kinect Adventures & Disneyland  $199.99
• NikonCoolpix L310 14.1 Megapixel 21x Optical Zoom Digital Camera $99.99 (reg  $199.99)
• Samsung WiFi Blu-ray Player (streams Netflix) $69.99 (reg 99.99)
• iPad 2 starting at 399.99 + free $60 Target gift card
• iPod touch 16GB 4th gen $195 + free $40 Target gift card
• iPod nano 16GB $149 + free $20 Target gift card
• Canon Rebel T3 Digital SLR Camera Bundle w/ 18-55mm lens, 75-300mm lens, 4GB SDHC card, Canon DSLR bag $499.99 (reg 749.99)
• PS3 250GB Game System Bundle w/ Uncharted Dual Pack Game, inFamous Game, PS3 Console, and 1 wireless controller. $199.99
• Gateway 15.6′ laptop with AMD A8, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, with Windows 8 $349 (reg $529.99)

Where will you be doing your Black Friday shopping this year and what are you looking to purchase?

2012 Walmart Black Friday Deals

Below is a look at the top ten Black Friday deals at Walmart this year.

• Nintendo Wii Console (one controller, one nun chuck, no games – basic package) $89
• Xbox 360 4GB Game Console with Skylanders Bundle $149 (comes with one controller but wireless controllers will be on sale for $39.96)
• Skylanders Giants: Start Kit (Xbox 360) $38.96
• Sony PS3 160GB game console with Infamous and Uncharted Bundle $199 (comes with one controller, but additional DualShock 3 Wireless controllers will be sold for $39.96)
• Apple iPad 2, 16GB with Wi-FI. Colors vary by store (white and black). Comes with $75 Walmart gift card. 1 Hour in-stock guarantee. $399 each
• HP 15.6″ laptop, 4g RAM, 320 GB HD. $279
• LG BP125 Blu-ray Player. Full HD 1080p. $38
• NOOK Color by Barnes & Noble $99 (org $149)
• Samsung 39″ 1080p 60Hz HDTV $398
• Nikon J1 10.1 Megapixel Digital Camera with 10-30mm Lens $399 (org 599.95)

Where will you be doing your Black Friday shopping this year and what are you looking to purchase?

2012 Target Black Friday Deals

• iPad with Retina display $499.99 + Free $60 Target gift card
• iPad 2 starting at 399.99 + free $60 Target gift card
• iPod Touch 16GB 4th gen $195 + free $40 Target gift card
• iPod Nano 16GB $149 + free $20 Target gift card
• iPhone 4S for Virgin Mobile – No Contract – $499.99
• iPhone 4 for Virgin Mobile – No Contract – $399.99

2012 Walmart Black Friday Deals

• Apple iPad 2, 16GB with Wi-FI. Colors vary by store (white and black). Comes with $75 Walmart gift card. 1 Hour in-stock guarantee. $399 each
• iPod Touch 4th Generation 16GB (4″ retina display, Apple A5 chip, 5 mp iSight camera with 1080p HD video recording. FaceTime camera with 1.2 mp photos and 720p HD video recording. iOS 6, Siri) $195

2012 Best Buy Black Friday Deals

• Apple 32GB iPod Touch – 5th Generation w/ $50 Best Buy Gift Card (assorted colors) $294.99
• iPhone 4S 16GB with 2-year AT&T, Sprint or Verizon plan – $99.99
• 16GB iPod Touch, 4th Generation + free $50 Best Buy gift card $194.99
• iPod Nano 16GB (assorted colors) 7th Generation + $20 BB Gift Card $144.99
• Apple MacBook Air 13.3″ Laptop w/ Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage $1199.99 (save $175)
• Apple MacBook Pro 13.3″ laptop w/ Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD $1199.99 (save $165)

Where are you doing your Black Friday shopping this year?

2012 Kmart Black Friday Deals

This year Kmart will offer deep discounts on special items starting on Thanksgiving Day and on Black Friday the store doors will open at 3am.  Below is a look at some of the best Black Friday deals you can expect to see at Kmart this year.

Top Thanksgiving Doorbuster Deals at Kmart

• Proscan 32″ LCD HDTV $97 (reg 249.99)
• X-Treme Tab 4GB 7″ Touchscreen Android Tablet $39.99 (reg 69.99)
• Sony Blu-ray Player with Wi-Fi $89.99
• LG 47″ 1080p LED HDTV $599.99 (reg 699.99)
• 4Sigh 9″ 4GB Multi-Touch Android Tablet $89.99 (reg. 139.99)
• Asus X401A 14″ Laptop w/ Intel Celeron 2GB RAM 320 GB HD, Windows 8  $219.99 (reg 369.99)
• Xbox 360 4GB Kinect Bundle $199.99 (reg 249.99)

Top Black Friday Deals at Kmart  

• Seiki 24″ Class 1080p LED HDTV $88 (reg 189.99)
• Nintendo DSi $79.99 (reg. 99.99)
• Proscan 50″ 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV $288 (reg 649.99)
• RCA 32″ 720p 60Hz LCD HDTV with Built-In DVD Player $239.99 (reg 313.99)
• Panasonic DVD Home Theater System $99.99 (reg 149.99)
• Magellan RoadMate 2136T-LM GPS Receiver with free Bracketron GPS Vent Mount $69.99  (reg 139.99)
• LG Blu-ray Player with Built-in Wi-Fi $59.99
• Canon PowerShot A2300 Digital Camera w/ Free 8GB SD card $79.99 (reg 139.99)
• Nintendo Wii Black Console w/ Wii Sports & Wii Sports Resort $129.99
• HP Pavillion 15.6′ laptop with AMD Dual Core, 4GB RAM, 320 GB HD $299.99 (reg $499.99)
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 – 7″ Tablet $177.99 (reg 249.99)
• Sony DSC-W620 14.1 MP 5x Optical Zoom Digital Camera $79.99 (reg 119.99)
• Samsung 5.1 500W Blu-ray Home Theater $179.99
• Canon EOS Rebel T3 18-55mm 12.2 MP Digital Camera with 8 GB SD card $449.99 (reg $499.99)
• Samsung 40″ 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV $429.99 (reg 679.99)
• Samsung Blu-ray Player with Wi-Fi $69.99
• Magellan RoadMate 5220-LM 5″ GPS $89.99 (reg 149.99)
• Toshiba 32″ 720p LCD HDTV $249.99
• Nextbook 8″ LCD 1GHz Wi-Fi Tablet $99.99 (reg 169.99)

2012 Target Black Friday Deals

This year Target is starting their Black Friday deals at 9pm on Thanksgiving Day and below is a look at some of the best deals you can expect to find.

• Apex 32″ 720p LCD HDTV $147 (reg 249.99)
• Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch eReader $49 (reg 99.99)
• Xbox 360 4GB Kinect Holiday Bundle w/ Kinect Adventures & Disneyland      $199.99
• NikonCoolpix L310 14.1 Megapixel 21x Optical Zoom Digital Camera $99.99 (reg      199.99)
• Samsung 32″ 720p 60Hz LED HDTV $247.99 (reg 379.99)
• Westinghouse 50″ 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV $349 (reg 599.99)
• Samsung WiFi Blu-ray Player (streams Netflix) $69.99 (reg 99.99)
• iPad with Retina display $499.99 + Free $60 Target gift card
• iPad 2 starting at 399.99 + free $60 Target gift card
• iPod touch 16GB 4th gen $195 + free $40 Target gift card
• iPod nano 16GB $149 + free $20 Target gift card
• iPhone 4S for Virgin Mobile – No Contract – $499.99
• iPhone 4 for Virgin Mobile – No Contract – $399.99
• TomTom 1400M Portable GPS w/ Free Lifetime Maps $79 (reg 119.99)
• Canon Rebel T3 Digital SLR Camera Bundle w/ 18-55mm lens, 75-300mm lens, 4GB SDHC card, Canon DSLR bag $499.99 (reg 749.99)
• PS3 250GB Game System Bundle w/ Uncharted Dual Pack Game, inFamous Game, PS3 Console, and 1 wireless controller. $199.99
• Gateway 15.6′ laptop with AMD A8, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, with Windows 8 $349 (reg $529.99)
• Wii System Bundle w/ Wii Sports Game, Wii Sports Resort game, free Just Dance Kids 2 game, and one controller. $119 (reg 129.99)
• PS Vista Wi-Fi Bundle with free Lego Batman 2 game. $199.99 (reg 249.99)
• Nintendo 3Ds Console with free Super Mario Bros.: 3D Land game $149.99 (reg 209.99)
• NHL 54″ Air Hockey Table w/ Electronic Scoring and sounds $55 (reg 79.99)

2012 Walmart Black Friday Deals

This year Walmart has received a lot of bad press for their decision to start their Black Friday deals even earlier than last year.   Walmart is scheduled to open at 8pm on Thanksgiving Day however there is new that their employees plan to strike on Black Friday.  Below is a look at the top Black Friday deals at Walmart this year.

• Nintendo Wii Console (one controller, one nun chuck, no games – basic package) $89
• Nintendo DSi XL Console $99.96
• Xbox 360 4GB Game Console with Skylanders Bundle $149 (comes with one controller but wireless controllers will be on sale for $39.96)
• Skylanders Giants: Start Kit (Xbox 360) $38.96
• Sony PS3 160GB game console with Infamous and Uncharted Bundle $199 (comes with one controller, but additional DualShock 3 Wireless controllers will be sold for $39.96)
• A variety of games for the Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3 consoles will be available at prices ranging from $10-15. ACIII for XBox360 will be $38.96)
• A variety of DVDs will be priced from $1.96-$8.96, and Blu-rays from $3.96-8.96. Select TV series will be available for 9.96
• MD Sports Ice Zone 48″ Air Hockey Table, LED electric scorer and slide manual scorer $29.86
• BouncePro 14′ Trampoline and Enclosure with Spinner Flash Litez $159
• Apple iPad 2, 16GB with Wi-FI. Colors vary by store (white and black). Comes with $75 Walmart gift card. 1 Hour in-stock guarantee. $399 each
• HP 15.6″ laptop, 4g RAM, 320 GB HD. $279
• LG BP125 Blu-ray Player. Full HD 1080p. $38
• Philips 3D Wi-Fi Blue-ray Home Theater, featuring Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio Essential. Plays Blu-ray discs, DVDs, VCDs, CDs, and USB devices. $128
• LG 3D Blu-ray Player with Wi-Fi. Full HD 1080p. Streaming entertainment, such as Netflix and Vudu. $68
• Garmin 5″ touchscreen GPS $69
• Nikon D3000 10-Megapixel DSLR w/ 18-55mm VR Lens, 55-200mm VR lens, 8GB SD card, bag, and 2 tutorial videos $449
• Nikon S3200 16-megapixel 6x Optical Zoom digital camera $69
• Nikon J1 10.1 Megapixel Digital Camera with 10-30mm Lens $399 (org 599.95)
• iPod Touch 4th Generation 16GB (4″ retina display, Apple A5 chip, 5 mp iSight camera with 1080p HD video recording. FaceTime camera with 1.2 mp photos and 720p HD video recording. iOS 6, Siri) $195
• NOOK Color by Barnes & Noble $99 (org $149)
• Samsung 39″ 1080p 60Hz HDTV $398
• Acer  13.3″ Ultrabook with Intel Core Processor, 4GB RAM, 320 GB HD/SSD  $499
• Samsung Galaxy S III (White) With 2 Year Contract and a $100 Walmart Gift Card $129

2012 Best Buy Black Friday Deals

This year Best Buy will being opening its stores at midnight on Black Friday and employees will be handing out tickets for their Doorbuster items up to hours before the store openings.  Below is a look at some of the top Black Friday deals you can expect to find at Best Buy this year.

• Toshiba 40″ 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV 1080p. $179.99 (reg $419.99)
• Samsung laptop essentials bundle: Samsun 15.6′ laptop w/ 2nd gen Intel Core i3-2370M 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, Windows 8 – Webroot SecureAnywhere Internet Security Plus 2013 – Mac/Windows, Targus debased laptop sleeve (gray/black), Logitech M317 wireless optical mouse (black), PNY Attaché      8GB USB 2.0 Flash drive $349.95 (reg. $574.95)
• Toshiba Smart Wi-Fi Ready Blu-ray Player $39.99 (reg. 79.99)
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7″ with 8GB memory (white) and $20 Best Buy Gift Card $179.99 (reg. $249.99)
• Lenovo 15.6″ laptop 2GB RAM 320GB HD (black). AMD E-300 Accelerated Processor with Radeon HD 6310 Graphics. Windows 8. $187.99
• Nikon Coolpix s9050 12.1 Megapixel 15x Optical zoom digital camera (silver). Captures 1080p HD video. $129.99 (reg $259.99)
• Apple 32GB iPod Touch – 5th Generation w/ $50 Best Buy Gift Card (assorted colors) $294.99
• Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18.0 Megapixel DSLR Camera w/ 18-55mm lens (black) – Captures 3 frames per second and shoots 720p HD video – $599.99 (reg      699.99)
• Samsung 65″ 1080p 120Hz LED HDTV $1497.99 (reg 1999.99)
• Samsung 2.1-Channel Home Theater Soundbar System w/ Wireless Subwoofer $177.99 (reg 299.99)
• Samsung 39″ 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV $397.99 (reg $449.99)
• Samsung  46″ 1080p 120Hz 3D LED HDTV with 3D glasses $647.99 (reg 799.99)
• Panasonic 55″ 1080p 120Hz 3D LED HDTV with 3D glasses $899.99 (reg 1799.99)
• LG  24″ 720p 60Hz LED HDTV $159.99 (reg 229.99)
• Igsignia 26″ 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV $99.99 (reg 199.99)
• XBox  360 250GB Holiday Bundle – includes Forza Motorsport 4, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim download token, one wireless controller, wired headset, and one month trial for Hulu, EPIX, and Xbox LIVE. $199.99 (reg 299.99; a 407.96 value)
• Skylanders: Giants Starter Pack $49.99 (reg $74.99)
• PS Vita – Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified Limited Edition Bundle $199.99 (reg $249.99; 319.97 value)
• iPhone 4S 16GB with 2-year AT&T, Sprint or Verizon plan – $99.99
• 16GB iPod Touch, 4th Generation + free $50 Best Buy gift card $194.99
• iPod Nano 16GB (assorted colors) 7th Generation + $20 BB Gift Card $144.99
• Apple MacBook Air 13.3″ Laptop w/ Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 128GB storage  $1199.99 (save $175)
• Apple MacBook Pro 13.3″ laptop w/ Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD $1199.99 (save $165)
• Asus 11.6″ touchscreen laptop 4GB RAM 500GB HD Win8 $449.99
• HP Envy 14″ laptop 8GB 1TB HD $629.99 Win8 (reg 829.99)
• Windows 8 Professional Upgrade $54.99
• Amazon 8GB Kindle Fire w/ $30 BB Gift Card $159.99
• Acer Iconia Tablet w/ 16GB Memory $249.99 (reg $349.99)
• Asus Transformer 16GB Android Tablet $279.99 (reg 379.99)
• Samsung Galaxy S III 4G 16GB phone with 2-year AT&T Plan $49.99
• Canon PowerShot SX260 HS 12.1 Megapixel Digital Camera w/Free Camera Case and Memory Card (black) $199.99 (reg. 299.99)
• Nikon Coolpix P510 16.1 Megapixel digital camera $299.99 (reg $429.99)
• Canon PowerShot A2300 16.0 MP 5x Optical Zoom Digital Camera with case and 8GB memory card $79.99 (reg. 139.99)
• TomTom Start 50 GPS $69.99 (reg 119.99)
• PS3 250GB Bundle includes console, one wireless controller, UNCHARTED Greatest Hits Dual Pack and the inFAMOUS Collection $199.99 (reg 299.99)
• Garmin nuvi 50LM GPS $99.99 (reg 169.99)
• Asus 14″ Laptop 4GB RAM 320GB HD $249.99

Where will you be doing your Black Friday shopping this year and what are you looking to purchase?

What is Outlook.com?

Not to be confused with Microsoft’s desktop email client, Outlook, Outlook.com is the brand’s new web-based email service that will eventually replace Hotmail. Microsoft recognized that it was time for a fresh start and a new system. Because they are widely associated with Outlook when it comes to email, they decided to use Outlook.com as the name for their new web-based service.

But isn’t it just the same as Hotmail, then?

No. Outlook.com is a new service. What Microsoft did was to take a look at some of Hotmail’s most popular features, as well as to consider consistency with Windows 8 when it comes to user experience. The result was Microsoft Outlook.com, a completely new user interface that includes popular features that users loved in Hotmail, such as Sweep and Scheduled Cleanup and SkyDrive integration.

User Experience

User experience was a big consideration for Microsoft when building Outlook.com. The UX is similar to that which can be found on Windows 8 or Windows Phone. The look is very clean and sleek. Something particularly interesting that Microsoft has done in order to maintain this look is to design the system so that you only see the elements that you need to be seeing. For instance, you won’t see options for what to do with an email unless you hover over it in your inbox. Then you’ll get options to delete, move, etc.

Something else that’s going to be a big hit for users is that Outlook.com is designed for both keyboards and touchscreens. So end-to-end, no matter what kind of device you’re using, whether it’s a phone, a tablet, or a computer, there will be a single UX for all devices.

Finally, the ability to effectively deal with graymail – messages such as newsletters and updates that aren’t spam but aren’t necessarily personal or high priority mail – was a popular feature in Hotmail. Outlook.com users who have switched over will be happy to know that those same effective techniques for keeping your inbox in order are still available.

The Sweep feature, in particular, makes it easy to clean up cluttered inboxes. Users can select a message, then “sweep” to delete, move, or clean up all similar messages. This allows you to take your inbox from hundreds of emails to an easily manageable number in a matter of seconds.

Social Features

Beyond its clean, sleek appearance, Outlook.com incorporates a number of other attractive features, as well. Among them is the integration of major social media platforms. When you set up your account, you can link it to Facebook, Twitter, Google, and LinkedIn. When you view your contacts, then, you will be able to see that information incorporated. You’ll have all of the standard “address book” kind of information on that contact, but you’ll also have social contact information, as well. The Outlook.com address book is dynamic.

Outlook.com also makes use of real estate within the email composition screen, as well. Let’s say you start writing an email to your friend Larry Lang. As one of your contacts, Larry’s most recent Twitter activity and Facebook status will show up off to the side on a piece of real estate generally reserved for advertisements (more on those in a moment). Not only are those updates right there on the screen, but it’s rich content, so you can take action right from your email editor. Go ahead and Retweet or Like the status. You can do that from Outlook.com. It’s a great feature that helps to keep interactions relevant.

While it hasn’t been implemented yet, very soon you will also be able to integrate Skype right into your Outlook.com account. Quick and easy face-to-face contact is mere months away.

This social implementation is a huge step for Microsoft and could ultimately give them an edge over their competition. We’re living in a hyper-connected world, and these social features help us to stay connected instantly.

SkyDrive

SkyDrive is Microsoft’s cloud. When users create a free Outlook.com account, they get 7 gigs of complementary cloud storage on SkyDrive to save things like photos and documents. If a user reaches the 7-gig limit, more space can be purchased.

SkyDrive’s integration with Outlook.com’s email is a key feature, though. Think of your method of sending files right now – particularly pictures, which can be very large. Chances are you add attachments and the whole process can take a while.

But with Outlook.com and SkyDrive, sending those large image files becomes a breeze. You choose the images you want to send, and what Outlook.com does is send thumbnails of those images instead of the actual files. From the email, the recipient can see quick snapshots of what you’re sending, and when they click on those thumbnails, they’ll be taken to the storage location on SkyDrive. From there, they’re free to download the images directly from the gallery if they like. This speeds up the sending and receiving process on the email, and it also saves you space (although it’s worth noting that Outlook.com’s storage for email itself is “virtually unlimited.” When you reach the limit, they’ll keep increasing it, provided you haven’t been abusing the system).

You do not need to be an Outlook.com user to view galleries on SkyDrive. Users will be able to access those files regardless of what email host they’re using.

Office Web Apps

Office Web Apps are a really useful feature on Outlook.com. Gone are the days when you’d click “download attachment” from an email and then wait as first the program opened, and then wait again for the file. With Office Web Apps, you can open attachments right from your email in a Web-based version of Office that is free to use for all users.

In this Web-based version of the Office suite, you can open and edit files. Once you edit, you can save those files to SkyDrive or locally on your machine – or wherever you like.

And speaking again to user experience, Office Web Apps will work across various platforms such as Windows, Apple, and mobile devices, whether the user owns Office or not.

In short, Office Web Apps will make your collaborative efforts a breeze.

Advertisements

Advertisements are often the thorn in the side of many an email user. While some platforms have managed to show us ads that are [mostly] relevant to our interests based on the data they gather about us, Outlook.com makes your privacy a priority.

Hotmail got a bad reputation in the 90s and it stuck around until the bitter end. That reputation was gained in part by the flashy, spammy, distracting ads that appeared in the interface. What’s worse, not only were the ads distracting, but many users complained that they weren’t even relevant.

So when Microsoft decided to retire Hotmail and build a new web-based email service, they knew they were going to have to completely rebuild from the ground up.

Now you can provide as much or as little information to Outlook.com as you want. Rest assured that they will never read your emails to gather information about you. The more information you provide, the more relevant your advertisements will be. And, what if you choose to provide no information? You’ll still see advertisements, but they’ll be very broad, generic ones.

In terms of display, the look is a lot cleaner and unobtrusive, keeping with Outlook.com’s sleeker overall interface and user experience. There is a clean sidebar with rich ad content. You’ll see a short bit of text, and if you hover over it, you’ll see a bit more. From there, you can click on it to be taken to the advertisement’s landing page if you so choose.

Admittedly, this isn’t great news if you’re an advertiser. It will be difficult to get your ad to stand out on Outlook.com because all of the ads look pretty much the same. But from a customer perspective, which is what Microsoft most cares about, this is great news because it gives the user complete control over the experience.

There are two places you’ll see ads on Outlook.com: in the inbox, and in email from people who aren’t current contacts (including businesses). So what, then, will you see in contacts’ emails in place of advertisements?

Social updates.

In order to provide you with a richer experience, Microsoft doesn’t think you should have to look at ads in emails from your current contacts. So when your best friend sends you an email to catch up, you’re not going to see anything promotional, just his or her most recent Twitter and Facebook updates.

Overall, if you’re looking to get away from email platforms with flashy and irrelevant advertisements, Outlook.com is well worth your time.

Overall Assessment

A quick note about the targeted user: if you are in the market for a new email client for personal use, Outlook.com is made for you. While it could work professionally as well, it’s really not built for businesses, though Office365, another Microsoft email service, is, and would be a better option for professional use.

If you are still skeptical about Outlook.com and it has anything to do with Hotmail and its issues, let me give you a quick piece of advice: forget Hotmail. Outlook.com is not a rebuild or an overhaul of that brand. It’s a completely new entity that also happens to resolve many of those issues that are of concern to you.

The user experience is great and the design is slick. Everything is intuitive and where you need it to be when you need it to be there, so it keeps the interface very clean. A clean workspace has been proven to keep our stress levels down, so working in Outlook.com is a much more relaxing experience because you aren’t overwhelmed with unnecessary options and advertisements. It’s just what you need and want it to be.

That is all to say nothing, of course, of the social integration, as well as SkyDrive and Office Web Apps. These features increase Outlook.com’s value and make it a unique platform for email.

With Outlook.com, Microsoft proves that not only can it compete with other major free email providers, but it can also go above and beyond what its competition is doing.

Outlook.com is a preview of modern email from Microsoft. It has a fresh and intuitive design, connects your email to useful information from Facebook and Twitter, and gives you a smarter inbox with the power of Office and SkyDrive. Visit Outlookpreview.com to learn more and connect with us at @Outlook on Twitter.

This is a sponsored post. All opinions are 100% my own. 

One of the benefits of using logistics to help you save money is that, in many cases, you are also making for a greener supply chain, as well. So what steps can you take to help ensure that you’re not only finding cost-effective solutions, but also using sustainable practices, as well?

Here are three ideas for creating a greener supply chain:

Decreased shipment travel

The longer and more out-of-the-way the shipment and delivery routes are, the more money you’re spending. But you’re also using what is most likely an unnecessary amount of fuel. We probably don’t need to tell you that those fumes aren’t really all that great for the environment. In addition, when you don’t use logistics to plan your routes, it stands to reason that you’re wasting gas, as well.

When you use logistics to plan more efficient routes, you save money and time, but you also save gas. This means you aren’t burning off more fuel than you really need to, and you aren’t needlessly wasting that fuel, either. Customers get their shipments faster and more efficiently, so they’re happy, and you’re saving time, money, and the environment, so you’re happy, too!

*Bonus: If you’re able to make use of clean diesel technology, that’s even better!

Recycle your waste

If you manufacture products and have any waste left over from that process, what are you doing with that waste? Is it going to landfills? Scrap yards? If so, you might want to consider looking into the possibility of recycling your waste.

When you recycle the waste from the products that you manufacture, you take whatever is left, break it down, and essentially recreate and reuse it in order to make more of that product. Businesses who do this are often able to increase their product output with what is typically considered the leftovers or scrap, and at the same time, they’re creating less waste, thereby making the entire process much more sustainable.

More efficient packaging

How many times have you ordered something relatively small, only to have it show up in an enormous box that was mostly full of filler material? You’ve probably wondered why that company didn’t just use a smaller box for shipping.

Similarly, how many times have you ordered items from the same company and, instead of packaging and shipping all of the items together, they package them individually and ship them as they’re ready?

To help create a greener supply chain, take steps, whenever possible, to send shipments in their entirety. There are numerous businesses that make this their default but give customers the option to have items sent as they become available (with the understanding that it might take longer). If greener measures can be taken here, you should strive to take them. And offer them to your customers, as well. You might be surprised by how many would be willing to wait and extra day or two for their items if it meant they could be packaged together and shipped at the same time in order to make the whole process a bit more environmentally friendly.

In addition, consider what happens to all that packing filler when incorrect packaging sizes are used. Most of it ends up becoming waste that isn’t recycled. Not very green!

What steps have you taken in order to create and maintain a greener supply chain? Feel free to share your ideas in the comments!

This content is brought to you by UPS. All opinions are 100% my own. 

1. Launch of Webcast Series

Starting this month, we will be hosting at least one free webcast per month. Join us for “The Future of Social Media: How Will It Impact Marketing, Sales & Customer Service” with Anthony Leaper, Shep Hyken and Pam Moore on December 4th at 2pm EST. If you are interested in being a panelist for a future webcast, click here for more details.

2. Launch of Dedicated Newsletter

Starting later this month, we will begin distributing a new newsletter focused on highlighting the “best of” content from across the site on a weekly basis.  Don’t forget to subscribe, if you haven’t already.

3. Launch of Online Training Center

We recently partnered with the Online Marketing Institute, a leader in digital education, to bring you hundreds of online courses to help you improve your knowledge and results. For more information please visit Training.Business2Community.com and browse through the extensive catalog of on-demand courses.

4. Launch of Resource Centers

We recently partnered with two great organizations, MadisonLogic and accel.io, to provide the latest whitepapers/research and step-by-step guides. MadisonLogic is helping us power Research.Business2Community.comand if you are interested in adding your whitepapers to this resource please click here for more information. In addition, Guides.Business2Community.com is powered by accel.io and if you are interested in adding your “How To” guides to this resource please click here for more information.

5. Optimized Mobile Website

As an increasing percentage of you visit our site on your mobile devices, we have optimized your experience by launching Tablet.Business2Community.com (available only on mobile).

6. Increased Exposure

As many of you already know Business2Community.com is proud to be included in Google News, Bing News and LinkedIn Today; today we are thrilled to announce that we have been approved to be a part of Yahoo! News and in the coming months they will feature our content more prominently. This partnership will help extend our reach to an even larger audience than ever before.

For those interested in contributing, please review our guidelines and then email us at contribute@business2community.com.

Thank you,

The Business 2 Community Team