Lead Generation

Capture Response at the Right Moment

Tuesday, October 23, 2012 by Mark Rice

With over 55.5 percent of 280 million U.S. mobile subscribers now owning smartphones, the opportunity to expand reach and response is significant. These mobile subscribers are spending more time interacting with mobile video, texting, games and social media then they are in making calls. In addition, Google recently released fascinating data that 90% of daily media interactions occur on smartphones. Consumers are also moving across screen platforms and using multiple devices at one time (TV, laptop, tablet and smartphones).

How many of you moved from your TV to your smartphone during the recent debates or the postseason playoffs to monitor hashtag conversations on Twitter? Many consumers have multiple devices available for use to review and respond to information posted from friends, fans and followers.

By combining mobile video content with a relevant call to action, you have the opportunity to amplify awareness, enhance the user experience and capture response at the right moment. Whether it is a donation, a purchase, a lead, an inquiry, location lookup or direct mobile call, there are multiple mobile channels available to you to connect and communicate with smartphone users. Use a multi channel mix and deliver memorable and relevant mobile experiences that will initiate a call to action to create effective lead generation campaigns and customer acquisition processes.

You can learn more on how to combine mobile video with mobile response at: http://mobexme.com/QRcombo

Good things come in pairs -- like QR Codes and Mobile Lead Generation

Thursday, May 31, 2012 by Mark Rice

This morning on my walk with my dog, I was greeted with a "double rainbow". As many of you have probably seen the video that has become a "meme", I felt like the guy in the video. "Double rainbow! Look Bella, it's a double rainbow".

Lots of good things come in pairs and some bring unique experiences into our lives. At webinar resources we are pairing up mobile content with mobile lead generation solutions to create engaging and effective user experiences. Our QRCombo solution combines the engaging experience of mobile video with an effective and efficient process to conveniently capture leads while the mobile message is relevant to the viewer. By using one QR code for reliable delivery, you can connect, communicate and capture leads, opportunities and cash. Customers and Cash, now that is a golden pair that every business would want to find at the end of a rainbow.

Learn more and do more with QR codes. Visit our QRCombo Trial site at http://www.mobexme.com/QRCombo and create your own QRCombo code. You can also spend a little time and money and learn how to create QR codes and remove the risk of a first-time failure in our online learning module at http://mobex.me/qrhow2.

QRCombo Supports Acquisition for Women of Color Leadership Conference

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 by Mark Rice

One of our #qrchat colleagues took advantage of our QRCombo offer and created a QR code for her client, Spelman College. Webinar Resources reached out to SocialMMMDiva and worked with their social media team to further enhance the user experience for the QRCombo code produced for the Eighth Annual Spelman's College Women of Color Leadership Conference. You can scan the QR code to see the results.

The QRCombo code was published in the May issue of Black Enterprise Magazine. We are pleased to have supported this prestigious event. We have pinned the QRCombo code to our Pinterest site - http://pinterest.com/mobilemrice/qrcombo/

QRCombo is a unique QR code application that integrates mobile video content with mobile lead generation. The Spelman College QRCombo code launches a Brainshark presentation with embedded video and a Facebook page on the second scan. Tracking of the QRCombo scans is delivered through a personalized ExactTarget landing page. QRCombo is built on the MobExMe platform to support delivery of relevant content through reliable channels.

Scan the Green - QRSlot - QR Codes Lead to a Pot of Golden Opportunity

Friday, March 16, 2012 by Mark Rice

Just in time for St. Patty's Day, Webinar Resources releases a new use case that proves QR codes applications are only limited to your imagination. QRSlot engages the viewer to scan a green shamrock QR code that invokes a clever slot machine simulation that displays combinations of popular social media icons. Get three in a row and you win a free QRCombo code.

QRCombo was recently announced and is a unique application that combines to destinations into one QR code. Use QRCombo for mobile lead generation, charitable giving, event promotion and many more applications. You can see a sample of QRCombo codes on our Pinterest site - http://pinterest.com/mobilemrice/qrcombo/

Are ye feelin' lucky laddie? Play QRSlot and win a QRCombo code that will start you on your search for a pot of golden opportunity.

Free 10-day Trial and Launch of QRCombo

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 by Mark Rice

Today Webinar Resources announced QRCombo^TM, a QR code capture process that accelerates and combines delivery of mobile marketing communications with quick lead response.

Existing QR code generators provide one destination for delivering a variety of mobile content but lack the ability to provide a two-step action that is necessary to capture leads. QRCombo adds another layer of “quick response” by combining both processes into one QR Code. Self-produced or professional mobile video content can now be linked to popular lead capture forms generated from cloud applications such as Salesforce, ExactTarget, Marketo, Eloqua and PayPal Mobile.

The Florida Wildlife Foundation has linked a short animated video with their PayPal mobile page using QRCombo. They plan to print the QRCombo code on business cards, brochures and outdoor panels to communicate their appeal for supporting the Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network (FYCCN). During the video, the viewer is prompted to "rescan" the QRCombo code if they wish to support the FYCCN programs through a donation.

Webinar Resources offers a FREE 10 Day trial of the QRCombo application. To learn more about QRCombo, visit http://mobexme.com/QRCombo to see live applications or to start the Free 10 day trial.

New On-Demand Presentation in our Learning Content Network

Wednesday, September 7, 2011 by Mark Rice

Webinar Resources recently supported the production of a technical on-demand presentation that was promoted to engineering groups on LinkedIn. The views of the Brainshark presentation are being monitored to determine if the presentation is an effective lead generation tool that can be adapted for future sale. Early measurements of views indicate a high level of interest and global appeal in the content as depicted in the location view map underneath this presentation. We added a QR Code with a short url http://mobex.me/DSP to promote our multi-channel mix of customer acquisition services. You can view the presentation below, visit the short url or scan the QR code on the title slide.

Listen to InfoTrends and Learn How to Blend Print and Mobile - Webinar Wednesdays June 22nd, 1:00 -2:00 pm Central

Wednesday, June 8, 2011 by Mark Rice

Another Webinar Wednesday event produced by Webinar Resources. In our continuing effort to help you to reach out to new customers with effective lead generation tools. Consider print and mobile as a new multi-channel mix to create engaging cross media applications.

QR Codes are Popping Up All Over

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 by Carolyn Hasenfratz

From in-store displays to magazine ads to packages of organic spinach, these funny-looking squares are becoming more and more common in our environment. A QR ("quick response") Code or Tag is a square 2D barcode that you can scan with your smartphone's camera with the help of a QR Code Reader app to immediately launch mobile links to a variety of media on your mobile phone's web browser. Said another way, QR Codes are a simple way to connect the offline world with the online world.

Missouri Life Ad for the Route 66 Association of Missouri

At Webinar Resources we've been busy putting this technology to use for ourselves and our clients. For example, I recently included a QR code on a print ad that I designed for the Route 66 Association of Missouri. The association does not yet have any special mobile-optimized content, so for now the url points to the web site. Most existing web sites are viewable on a smartphone, even if they are not optimized especially for mobile viewing. The url is designed so I can change the location and mobile media without changing the QR code, so if there is ever any mobile content in the future that we wish to link this ad to, it will not become obsolete. Shelf-life is an important consideration with printed materials, since they are not as easy, quick, or cheap to change as an electronic document.

QR Codes can make up another part of your multi-channel marketing strategy and can be effective lead generation tools.

Do you want to learn more about QR codes and download a reader for your mobile device? See our QR Code guide.

What Are You Doing For Your Mobile Customers?

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 by Carolyn Hasenfratz

A new survey of 20,000 adults by BIGresearch shows that 13.2% own a BlackBerry device, 11.3% own an iPhone, 9.3% own a device running Android and 5.2% own an iPad. Among other things, these devices enable consumers to browse the web, view multimedia content, scan bar codes and QR codes, compare prices at the point of sale, download coupons and share information with their social networks. These are all intriguing possibilities for a business to explore as part of the multi channel marketing mix. But are the number of users of smartphones and tablet computers large enough to make the effort to cater to them worthwhile? At first glance those don't sound like terribly high percentages of users.

There is other data in the survey to consider. Perhaps not surprisingly, mobile device users are more likely than the general population to shop online. They are more inclined to research products online before making a purchase. And according to Gary Drenik, president and CEO of BIGresearch, "...mobile device owners are more likely than average consumers to give and seek advice on products and services."

The findings of this research lead me to conclude that campaigns designed to woo mobile users are likely to have a very good return on investment, and therefore are very much worth the effort! For example I've recently made a mobile-optimized version of my design portfolio. At Webinar Resources, we are developing a line of mobile-ready applications to support lead generation, multimedia content delivery, personalization and cross-channel communication. Here are a couple of examples of our mobile mix Mobile Replay and url shortener and QR code generator. We invite you to keep in touch with us via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or our newsletter to stay updated about our latest mobile offerings.

Santa's Call to Action

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 by Mark Rice

As the holiday season approaches, more marketers are getting prepared to capture orders through effective customer acquisition processes.   Santa is no exception.

As more savvy business people use multi-channel marketing to communicate their message, more unique ways to touch the customer are generated. By creating community through subscribers (email), fans (Facebook) and Followers (Twitter), businesses can reach out to prospects they had never thought of and encourage them to interact through a "Call to Action", CTA.   A CTA is an effective lead generation tool. It may be in the form of a coupon offer, a subscription to a newsletter or a download of a white paper.

In the webstory of "Santa Claus and the Lost Dog", Santa uses a post card as his CTA.   This is no ordinary post card as it includes a magic ticket with a personalized URL (PURL) and a QR (quick response) code to get immediate action from a child with the help of a grown up that may have a grown up toy like a smartphone equipped with a camera.

Yes, Santa has gone hi-touch and hi-tech and has joined the social media world. The days of traditional Santa calls over the phone are going to be replaced by tweets, likes, comments and good little girls and boys will get badges.  Will Santa's updates on FourSquare take the place of NORAD's tracking of jolly old St. Nick on Christmas Eve?

You can visit http://www.mychristmasbook.com to order the webstory book.   It makes a great stocking stuffer and can play on mobile devices on your way to Grandma's house.

Mobile Replay Graphic Accepted Into iStockphoto Design Spotlight

Thursday, September 30, 2010 by Carolyn Hasenfratz

iStockphoto is a stock photo resource that I use frequently. When you complete a design that uses images from the iStockphoto collection, you are eligible to submit it to the Design Spotlight. The image I made to illustrate the concept of creating a webinar replay that can be viewed on a mobile device has been accepted into the Design Spotlight.

Mobile replays can be a great tool in your multi-channel marketing mix. Not only do they allow webinars to be viewed at the convenience of your audience, they have the built-in capability to go viral on social network applications. By including a guestbook, you can capture viewer information for effective lead generation.

Utilizing tools like iStockphoto gives you another source of valuable content that you can post and share with the community. We continue to "fuel the conversation" at Webinar Resources with unique content creation, delivery and tracking solutions and services that drive customer aquisition.

Phase 3: Event Delivery

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 by Peter Muir

The day of the event (DOE) represents a major influx of responsibility for both the organizer and the attendees. Organizers have to manage a myriad of variables to ensure a successful event from catering coordination to registration to setting up tech requirements, wrangling presenters and more. Attendees have fewer responsibilities but ideally they’re coming into the DOE with the desire to learn, network and/or do business. The multi channel marketing strategy focuses on distributing the traditional pressure of event days through the entire pre & post event campaign. Using the multi-channel approach can help make the DOE far less stressful and chaotic for all involved. Of course, planning & organization are both central to executing a successful event; here are some suggestions for managing the day of the event.

Begin at the very beginning. Before you plan or schedule the pre-event efforts consider what items you anticipate having on your “to do” list on the DOE. Then look at how you can distribute management of them in the pre-event stages so when you get to the day of the event there is less to worry about.

Examples

Make sure you’ve set up a series of informational emails or a website for support staff and presenters. They should know what is expected of them; where to be at what time on the day of event, deadline for submitting, tech requirements for laptops and presentations, etc.
If it is a large event like a conference, let attendees set their schedules early to establish presentation expectations and to cut down on people asking questions.
Delegate the compartmentalized or smaller tasks, like catering and registration, to someone with fewer things to worry about on the DOE.
Delegate the updates of social network applications during the event such as Twitter, blogging and Facebook updates.

Identify three main goals you have for the DOE. They should be tied to the larger goals of the full multi-channel campaign but focused particularly on the day’s events. Then make these three things your mantra. It will keep you focused and make decision making a little easier when you have already identified your priorities.

Examples

To ensure attendees walk away with the information/material they came looking for.
Make sure messages, observations and news from the event are captured for post-event newsletter/follow-up or to share with those who could not attend.
Facilitate smooth running presentations to ensure everyone gets to present and/or learn.
Help make networking as easy as possible for attendees and vendors alike. Assign a QR code to every attendee so they can simply scan to exchange information. Or, offer team with a local print shop to offer discounts on business cards so they have something exchange.

Maximize the multi-channel opportunity. Using new channels for communicating is just as relevant on the DOE as it is to support the pre & post-event variables. Keep in mind ways you can use them to create a more accessible and effective event

Examples

Use SMS to send attendees a link to their event schedule on the morning of the event.
Consider a live webcast or recorded podcast to share the event with those who weren’t able to attend. Webinar replays can be used as a review for those who attended as well as a customer acquisition process in your grand lead generation conference strategy.
Place QR codes or Microsoft tags on presentations, collateral or exhibition displays to enhance attendee’s interaction with content.

To find out more about how to better use the multi-channel approach to events on the actual day of the event, tune into the June edition of Webinar Wednesdays, June 9th from 1:00-2:00 p.m. CDT. Visit events.webinarresources.com/WebinarWednesdays to save the date and receive a reminder for the June 9th event.

And don't forget the May edition of Webinar Wednesdays on May 12th from 1:00-2:00 p.m. CDT. We will cover Phase 2: Pre-Event Efforts of Successful Event Planning. Visit events.webinarresources.com/WebinarWednesdays to register for our May 12th Webinar Wednesday session. You can view replays of past webinars at our Webinar Resources replay portal.

Peter Muir, president Bizucate Inc.
www.bizucate.com

"Help! I'm using so many applications I'm losing track of them all!"

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 by Carolyn Hasenfratz

Multi channel marketing is more important than ever before. Your audience is becoming increasingly segmented, and you have to open up more channels in order to be where the action is. Do you remember when just having a web site set you apart from the competition? Adding Facebook or Twitter to your multi channel mix used to be a cutting edge move - now social media applications have become so entrenched that Tweets like this one I saw this morning are possible - "Websites vs Facebook Pages: which URL should you promote?"

Social media applications, email accounts, blogs, web sites, shopping carts, payment gateways, CMSs, CRMs - all of these channels need feeding with new content and/or monitoring to make sure you are engaging with your audience and taking advantage of opportunities. You don't want an important email to languish in a little-used account, a sold merchandise item to go unshipped, a new lead ignored, or a question posted to a blog or Facebook page to go unanswered. How does one remember to check up on all these channels?

Most of the time when your applications need attention, you will get an alert email, but you can't count on getting all the emails you should. Email delivery is a real problem these days, even delivery of emails that you have made it very clear are wanted. To help me keep track of what I need to check on every day, I have made an html page and links to all of my email accounts, shopping carts, payment gateways, and social media applications. There is a shortcut to it on my desktop so it's always handy.

Here at Webinar Resources, I've made a similar page in a password protected area that our whole team can refer to for similar information, plus links to other things we need such as individual contact information, login pages for various hosted services that we use, and links to information important to our collective knowledge. It's a great convenience and time-saver. If you don't have such a resource for yourself, I recommend you make one or ask your web developer to create an admin page tailored to your needs.

Looking for Retention and Lead Generation Ideas, Have an Event! Part 1

Tuesday, March 2, 2010 by Peter Muir

A basic marketing premise looks at how to retain good customers and how to acquire new ones. Acquisition and retention are a cornerstone in any business venture.

In an effort to show your existing customers how they can be more successful and show new customers new places they can go enabled by your ideas, products and services consider hosting an educational event.

I'd like you to consider 4 Planning Phases of Successful Events.
1. Planning
2. Pre-Event Efforts
3. Event Delivery
4. Post-Event Efforts and Outcomes

Below is the beginning of an Educational Event Planning Guide to Increased Sales. Whether your goal is to create an effective lead generation program, re-develop your customer acquisition process, salvage lost customers with a retention campaign or you just want to say no more to cold calls. Developing your objectives is part of the process. It may seem like the guide is a series of questions, but it's in the process of answering the questions that will help you create an event that fits your organization, your needs and the needs of your current and future customers.

We're just scratching the surface here with Phase 1 Planning. Three future posts will discuss Phase 2, 3 and 4.

Phase 1 Planning
The planning phase has two major parts. The planning process of how the event fits into the larger needs of the organization and the actual planning steps to the event itself.

Planning within the Big Picture

Why have an event, what are your goals? What do you want to get for your efforts? Develop objectives that are SMART (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Based) and align with the current or future needs of the organization.
Having an educational event provides a reason to talk to customers and prospects. It gives you something to buzz about beyond your capabilities and need for business. It could give your customers reasons to invest in new ideas and new products and services to help them grow.

Planning the Event

Content: strategic, operational, sales, business processes? The content is what will be advertised and why people will attend. Theming your event and tying it to actionable outcomes changes an informative event to a results event. Types of businesses and the role of the attendee will be influenced by the content you choose.
Type of Event: Face to Face or Webinar. Each presents its own benefits and shortcomings. Consider your content and audience along with your budget and resources as part of your thought process.
Timing: Early in the quarter? At the beginning, middle or late in the week? Morning, afternoon or all day? What time works best for those you are looking to reach?
Location: If face to face do you host it at your company, at a local hotel, a customers business? To feed or not to feed? Is the location part of your message? If you choose to have a web conference what are the needs of the solution? Browser, OS, phone, voice over IP, Presentation technology, presentation style, ability to interact with attendees.

Use the event itself to help you retain existing customers and acquire new ones. Use a multi channel approach to solicit input to your educational event. Post it on your blog, have sales reps call on the phone, visit face to face, Tweet about it, email it, provide a web page where people can influence the outcome. Use the multi channel mix to help you connect with people!

Let existing customers know you are hosting an educational event and you would like to invite them to "participate" early on and be part of the planning committee. Ask them what they would like to learn more about and why? What challenges are they facing, their industry, their customers facing? What opportunities would they like to go after but can't seem to get started. Why? All of these questions can apply to new customers you'd like to acquire too.

It's not really about the event itself. The event is an indirect approach to help you grow your relationship with existing customers and knock on new doors and acquire new ones. Deliver on what they ask for and you're on a new road to showing your customer why they could be doing business with you and your organization.

Stay tuned for information on Phase 2: Pre-event Efforts, Phase 3: Event Delivery and Phase 4: Post-Event Efforts and Outcomes.

If you have additional planning ideas you'd like to share or have a question about anything we've posted, just let me know!

MyChristmasBook Trailer Most Viewed/Popular Presentation on MyBrainshark

Tuesday, December 22, 2009 by Mark Rice

The elves at Webinar Resources are busting their buttons as the MyChristmasBook Trailer on MyBrainshark is now the most viewed and most popular Brainshark presentation. Says Santa, who just read this latest update in the Webinar Newsletter from Webinar Resources, "We are very proud that this on demand presentation has received such wide appeal. Rudolph told me that "rich media" was the way to reach the masses so I thought I would give it a try."

The MyChristmasBook Trailer has been viewed across the country and across the world. Webinar Resources launched this campaign to drive lead generation for North Pole IndustryCo. Every MyChristmasBook online Christmas Photo Story Book contains personalized text, images and audio using a good little boy or girl's name and is delivered on a unique personalized North Pole web page. Says Jack Frost, CMO in charge of North Pole's lead generation and personalized marketing campaigns, "We hired Webinar Resources to produce the story of Santa Claus and the Lost Dog as they are the experts in demand generation marketing and the theme song has the reindeer tapping their hoofs."

The success of the campaign can be summed up by Mrs. Claus, "Things have gotten a lot more jolly around here now that the old man is coming home from the shop at a decent hour. Thanks to Webinar Resources launching MyChristmasBook.com with their partners ExactTarget, Brainshark, Vontoo and Compendium, Santa is much more productive and best of all, there are no more cold calls which is important in the frozen North.

MyChristmasBook on MyBrainshark

Saturday, December 19, 2009 by Mark Rice

If you read one of our more recent blogs on re-purposing content of a Brainshark presentation, then you will understand how we can drive additional lead generation by reusing existing content.

Webinar Resources recently launched the MyChristmasBook campaign and deliveries are about to begin.   We repurposed content from a Brainshark presentation and created a MyChristmasBook Trailer on the MyBrainshark site. MyBrainshark provides tools to create simple Brainshark presentations and it is free.

We have been watching the popularity of the MyChristmasBook Trailer on the MyBrainshark site and are delighted to report that we are holding the number two position of the most viewed and most popular Brainshark presentation.   MyBrainshark provides social media tools for sharing presentations and a reporting dashboard that displays a world map indicating viewing activity    The MyChristmasBook trailer has been viewed across the U.S. and in China, Austrailia, and in South America.

It is exciting to watch the popularity of the trailer grow.   Re-puposing existing content pays off.

Blogs - Faster than Santa's Reindeer

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 by Mark Rice

The elves at Webinar Resources spent time last night blogging about our holiday offering, MyChristmasBook.com.   We included a lot of information about re-purposing Brainshark presentations and creating an effective lead generation campaign using ExactTarget, Vontoo, Brainshark and Compendium Blogware.

We did an organic search this evening and were very pleased to see that MyChristmasBook.com is at the top of the organic search. We were also delighted to see the tracking results of our email campaign where many of our subscribers visited their own personal North Pole webpage to see a 2 minute demonstration. Over 25% of the recipients selected the personalized link that included their email address.   Here is a sample personalized URL (PURL), that we call the North Pole web address - http://helper.mychristmasbook.com/NorthPole/personalizemybook@gmail.com.

We also spent time tweeting, posting content on Facebook sites and updating a Brainshark presentation. Of all the lead generation activities we engaged in, blogging received the fastest and most desired results.

We don't have a long-tail keyword for this campaign, but MyChristmasBook.com is unique enough that it can be found in an organic search in Google. We know as we blog about this subject this evening, we will keep our rating up and more customers will find us as they hear more about us. So blogs are faster than Santa's reindeer Virginia and they rate high on Google's naughty and nice list.

Re-purposing Content to Drive Lead Generation

Tuesday, December 15, 2009 by Mark Rice

Webinar Resources recently launched MyChristmasBook.com where you can order a personalized, online Christmas Story Photo Book and display a child's name in text and images.    We created a Brainshark presentation and have made several versions of the presentation by re-purposing the content.   There are now actually four different versions of our Brainshark presentation being used to promote MyChristmasBook.com

Re-purposing content with Brainshark allows you to quickly recreate content for different audiences to drive lead generation. The original version of the Brainshark presentation is embedded in the MyChristmasBook.com main page.   We then re-purposed the content and posted it on our Webinar Resources landing page. You will also find some of the latest Compendium webinar replays on our landing page.

There is also a MyChristmasBook Trailer posted at http://www.mybrainshark.com. It has been interesting to watch the popularity of the trailer as it has been viewed across the world.

Finally, we launched an email using ExactTarget today to our newsletter subscribers which provided a more personalized experience with a unique personalized URL or PURL.   We call it a unique North Pole webpage address for the kids.   You can visit and share my North Pole address to see how personalization works and hear part of the story of Santa Claus and Lost Dog - http://helper.mychristmasbook.com/NorthPole/markrice@riceresources.com.

We found after creating more content for some of the newer Brainshark presentations that we could reuse the content for earlier Brainshark presentations.   So our most recent content that we created for our North Pole webpage address has been repurposed to improve the original Brainshark presentation on MyChristmasBook.com.

Launching this campaign using our partner applications from Compendium, Brainshark, ExactTarget and Vontoo has enabled us to blend the best and create an effective lead generation holiday campaign.   Visit any of the links and learn more.

Nurture Your Most Important Asset: Knowledge

Friday, May 1, 2009 by Carolyn Hasenfratz

Some time ago, I was given a stack of books by two former teachers of mine who were getting ready to move to another state and trying to lighten the load. One of the titles was "Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation" by Don Tapscott. Written in 1998, at the height of the Internet boom and also the year I started working in the industry professionally, it reflects the heady optimism of those times and the feeling I remember having every day as I went to work that we were participating in a revolution that would have as great an effect on people's lives as the Industrial Revolution did. The book's primary focus is on the generation just younger than my own Generation X, Generation Y, which the author proposes renaming the Net Generation or N-Gen because growing up with the digital media and the Internet is their defining characteristic. How will the N-Gen change the way we learn, play, work, shop, and live as a result of having developed with
this technology?

The author argues that one of the things that is changing is that knowledge is becoming capital. The competitive advantages that once went to the companies with the most money or equipment will in the future go to companies with the most knowledge. "There is no sustainable competitive advantage today other than organizational learning. That is, companies can compete only if they can learn faster than their competitors."

If this is true, how can businesses make sure that they are fostering a healthy environment in which learning can take place?

Technology is certainly a big help. At Webinar Resources, we use software such as Xerox Docushare, Google Spreadsheets, and Content Circles to organize documents and make them available to all the employees who need them. We use technology such as Brainshark Presentations and ExactTarget emails to help our clients distribute and archive their important knowledge.

At least as important as technology in my opinion is the organizational attitude toward learning and collaboration. At Webinar Resources we have a culture that allows knowledge to flourish. Knowledge flows from the top of the hierarchy down, from bottom to top, and from peer to peer. Employees are encouraged to write up instructions for whatever new techniques we've learned and upload them to our online knowledge base. All employees are allowed to contribute to the shared knowledge of the organization and enjoy doing it (I do anyway). Employees are expected to teach each other, and are given tools and resources for self-directed learning as well.

Contrast this kind of culture with a workplace that you may have been unfortunate to experience, where employees are given incomplete or deliberately misleading information, and employees who refuse to share with each other are tolerated, even to the detriment of customer service. Sometimes this kind of toxic environment results when there are fears that employees will leave the company with important information. Yet the kinds of employees with a lot of knowledge to share are probably the ones who enjoy learning the most. What kind of environment do you think will keep them happier and healthier? Where are they more likely to stay?

In "Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation", the author believes that the influence of digital technology leads to the development of workers who thrive in a collaborative learning environment. That may be true, but whatever generation they are from, I believe that it's in your best interest to help all of your employees to reach their full potential by providing a fertile and healthy environment for learning in your organization.

Pass it on

Friday, March 27, 2009 by Mark Rice

Everyday we are encountering more social media tools that allow you to quickly share information with others. Today we launched an email campaign for one of our customers that contained a personalized video for the recipients. Each customer received a PURL, a personalized URL, that embedded the customer's name in the video. It was a pretty slick application.

Using ExactTarget, we launched the email movie clips through personalization strings that contained the PURLs. This was an effective lead generation process for driving customer acquisition. Through personalized marketing campaigns, you can capture your reader's interest and move them to take an action.

We are using Brainshark presentations to personalize on demand presentation content and further honing our abilities to deliver a Webinar for ONE.