Author: Franz Malten Buemann

Just as the COVID-19 pandemic began to rage in March 2020, Trident Booksellers and Cafe in Boulder, Colorado faced a similar challenge to small businesses around the world: how to stay afloat.
Employees wanted an honest financial picture of what was happening with their employer. They also had tons of ideas on how to keep the business afloat and they wanted a bigger voice as the group of people who interacted with customers on a regular basis.
It turned out employee-ownership solved both problems, offering transparency and a newfound path toward sustainability and growth.
Open for over 40 years and initially owned by four partners, one owner sold their shares to employees, increasing the total number of owners to 13 and welcoming employees to buy shares of the company after one year of employment.
In a situation some people might decry as an anti-capitalist nightmare, Trident Booksellers and Cafe (also known as “the Trident”) not only found a new lease on life but also discovered growth opportunities stemming from its newly minted employee-owners.
Featuring insights from Buffer’s Small Business, Big Lessons podcast episode four, and the accompanying unpublished interview, multiple employee-owners of the Trident shared why the bookstore moved to employee ownership and how the shift positively impacted the business.
The partners at Trident Booksellers and CafeSelling shares to employees
After decades of ownership, one of Trident’s four owners wanted to cash out his shares during the pandemic. He began the process of looking for a buyer and noticed one promising opportunity: his employees.
Initially not on anyone’s mind when the Trident partner wanted to sell his shares, an employee buyout made immediate sense given the Trident’s history and how employees showed up in the company.
The cafe attracted a serious crowd of regulars, some who had been coming for decades, citing the quirky culture, friendly staff, and historic building as key reasons for always coming back. Employees and regulars built strong bonds of friendship over the years. Sophia, a barista-owner at the Trident, even said one regular feels almost like her uncle rather than just a customer.
This kind of environment made employee ownership attractive to the Trident’s other three owners. They realized that the strong bonds employees had with customers could benefit the whole organization.
Employees regularly acted like owners within the Trident, sharing ideas upward and caring deeply for customers. So giving them the opportunity to actually become owners was a great next step as it not only rewarded loyalty in employees but also helped ensure the Trident would retain its unique culture under new ownership.
Cyanne Stonesmith, an employee-owner who runs the Trident’s bookstore business, explained that “with all the uncertainty that was happening” with the pandemic, “it felt like the right time” for employees to buy into the business. Nine employees bought shares at the time and Cyanne said employees collectively own one-third of the business.
Everyone can speak to the manager
A distinct positive shift occurred for the Trident after it became employee-owned. Previously, regulars that had questions or wanted to speak with an owner – feedback from customers had always been part of the culture – required a big song and dance. Employees would either have to grab an owner if they were around or relay the notes upward and hope someone listened.
Now, every customer can speak to the manager because chances are they just made your coffee. And with the new cooperative ownership structure, the original three owners also occasionally work shifts at the Trident to be closer to their customers and co-owners.
Jake, an Assistant Manager and part-owner who runs the beer and wine program at the Trident, shared his feelings about this shift.
“We’re not just trying to make it to the next quarter and grow and grow and grow,” said Jake. “Which is nice. It feels like people’s voices are respected. They feel heard.”
Part of that newfound feeling that employees feel heard stems from the Trident’s new consensus-focused management style. Under the previous ownership structure, the four owners made decisions, and employees executed those decisions. Employee feedback was always welcome, but it didn’t always make it to the decision-making table. Now, Cyanne shared that the 13 owners focus more on building consensus for decisions and use a majority vote structure to make decisions.
“It’s not about an individual,” said Cyanne. “It’s about a community, and being able to work with your co-workers and your co-owners is one of the most rewarding things.”
It’s a priority in meetings to ensure everyone’s ideas are heard before a vote, then the team operates on a disagree-and-commit style structure so decisions don’t get lost in endless conversations. This means that people don’t get their way all the time, but the weekly (or sometimes bi-weekly) structure of management meetings offers everyone the time to say their bit.
“Everyone’s opinion is respected, everyone gets a say, and then at the end of those discussions, if we need to make a yes or no decision, we take a vote and it’s a majority vote,” said Cyanne. “And so even if everyone doesn’t agree, or everyone doesn’t get the outcome that they wanted, we all really respect each other’s opinions and our thoughts.”
The impacts of ownership
The Trident has been a central figure in Boulder since its founding over 40 years ago, cultivating a community that has global reach. Baristas have even been recognized in different countries by travellers who visited the Trident, with regulars and holiday guests alike thrilled that their favorite barista is also a part-owner in the company.
An unexpected benefit for the Trident is that employee ownership became its own marketing campaign of sorts. Cyanne said new customers – both from Boulder and tourists to the area – chose to stop at the Trident because they are fascinated by a cafe where the baristas own a piece of the business. This wasn’t intentional nor was it actively marketed, but the tight-knit culture of the Trident meant regulars heard about the shift, word got out, and people were drawn in with fascination.
Underneath the global recognition and cool-factor, though, lies the real impact of employee ownership: not only do employees feel a renewed sense of pride for their company now that they own a piece of it, but owning part of an asset gives employees real leverage in their lives. As homeownership for millennials and Gen-Z is increasingly out of reach in cities like Boulder, owning shares in a business becomes the asset that employees can borrow against, leverage, and have a deeper personal impact on.
Further, since the Trident is already set up for consensus-style management and new employees are welcome to buy into the company after one year of work, there’s even more opportunity for the Trident to have impact beyond creating local jobs. And the 13 current owners are excited to see who comes along next.
“I’m really excited for more people to buy in,” said Cyanne.

As part of my work i have a need to reach out to affiliates in YouTube based on some criteria from my clients like country, channel category etc and have the affiliate market the product in the channel. This requires searching in YouTube with key words, go to the affiliates channel, check location, solve the captcha, get the email ids and then reach out. I found many of the channels don’t have emails or locations which I have to skip. currently I’m doing this process manually and it takes time and wanted to know if there is a tool or automated way to do this ? Any one else with a need to search in YouTube for contacts and reach out ? Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Last Updated on November 18, 2021 by Rakesh Gupta Why do businesses make purchases? Most times, it’s need-based – we need a better way to interact with our customers. Sometimes there’s a desire component – I’ve worked with this company/product before, and really want to again. And finally, sometimes there’s
The post Top 4 Reasons Customer Experience Creates Opportunity appeared first on Automation Champion.

Everyone has their own workflow for creating social media content. In writing, authors who plan out their plot in advance are called “plotters,” while others who fly by the seat of their pants are called “pantsers.” No matter your style when it comes to social media content — personally, I’m more of a plotter, but I love the pantsers I know —  we want to support you. Now, with just a few clicks, you can import content directly into Buffer from Dropbox, Google Drive, and One Drive. Alongside our recent Canva integration — it has become easier than ever to create and publish social media posts without having to leave Buffer.
More about this new integration with Dropbox, Google Drive, and One Drive
This integration is rolled out to every Buffer plan, meaning it’s also available if you’re on our Free plan.To get started uploading content to Buffer from any of these integrations, simply log in to your Buffer account and create a new post. You’ll see the buttons for Dropbox, Google Drive, and One Drive right next to Canva.
Here’s what it looks like to bring in content from Google Drive, right from our composer.For more information about setting up this connection, check out this Help Center article.
What’s next
We’re keen to continue helping small business owners save time while uploading, creating, and publishing content, which is why we’re planning on adding more value with new features.
Over the next few months, our team will continue iterating on this integration as well as working on native image editing functionality, such as cropping, rotating, sharpening, and more. Have a request? Reach out and share it!
Other resources:

Wondering how to plan your content out? Check out this post.
Curious about the integration with Canva? Read more here.
Looking for ideas for creating social media content? Here’s our latest on that.

So what kind of social media content creator are you — a plotter or a pantser? Send us a tweet to let us know. We hope this new integration makes your workflow easier either way! 👖

Hey marketers, 🥁Presenting…Air 3.0! We’re live on Product Hunt today. ⏱ Air automates how you organize, find, track, and collaborate on images and videos. 🌐 Air is an end-to-end “Creative Ops” system. Store content, trade feedback with your team, quickly create structured workflows, and so much more. We offer a free-forever plan with 5GB of storage, but also…we’re offering a $35 discount code this weekend only, for the PH community. Covers your first month (pay month-to-month) for most users. Click through to get it! 🙏 We’ve been working on this for a long time. You feedback and support would mean a lot.
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We are currently living in the age of the internet, and that means your business must cater to it. Promoting your business, your brand, and your product or service can all benefit from digital marketing.

There is an audience to be reached online and a reputation to build from your presence. There is, however, a right and a wrong way to do digital marketing. Check out these common mistakes to make sure you are doing it effectively.

1. Not Having a Blog
Remember that you are not only trying to market your site as a business, you are also trying to market yourself as a trusted industry leader. Publishing blog content that is valuable, informed, and accessible will establish you as a voice to be trusted. Additionally, each blog post is another indexed page for your site, and more indexed pages lead to your site showing up more in Google search results.
Don’t just create the blog, it’s also important for it to be interactive. Ask questions in the comment section to get responses. Also, add guest posts or interviews from researchers or successful professionals in your field. Utilize this blog post writing guide for creating the most impactful post each time.
2. Avoiding Social Media
You might think you can get away with not using social media. I’m sorry to tell you that you’re wrong! It’s an essential way to turn leads into customers. Spreading your content, reaching your audience, and engaging with users will help you promote your business online. But don’t try to do it all yourself; learn why you need a social media manager.
3. Forgetting About Mobile Users
Mobile browsing accounts for about half of web traffic worldwide. So, as you are optimizing your site, don’t forget to also optimize it for mobile users so that the load time is equally as fast as on desktop. Ensure the design of your site is also adjusted to be viewed on mobile.
4. Not Offering Discounts and Promotions
A survey from Retail Me Not revealed that two-thirds of customers made an unplanned purchase solely because of a discount. Online coupon codes or limited time offers are great pop-ups for your site, especially on the landing page or when they may abandon their cart. Your site should also have a call-to-action that can be incentivized with a promotion.
5. Underutilizing Keyword Research
Potential customers need to be able to find you online, so it’s essential to focus on SEO. Identify what keywords are the most relevant, have high search volume, and are relatively easy to rank for. Then, monitor where you rank for each keyword, how much traffic you’re getting from each keyword, and whether the visitors coming from that keyword are turning into leads.
6. Targeting a Broad Audience
Spending your marketing budget to reach as many people as possible isn’t an efficient use of your money. Pinpoint a clearly defined target market that will yield more relevant leads.
Don’t make assumptions or rely on guesses for information about any audiences. Do your research to determine your target audience and the best way to reach them.
7. Having Subpar Customer Service
A visitor who hasn’t done business with you before is taking a risk if they choose to become a customer. Having good customer service is important to lower that risk, because 70% of customers will continue business with you if their complaints were resolved well.
Offer help in a clear place on your site so that visitors know they have access to it. This may be a Contact Us page, a 24/7 virtual chat box, a helpline, or other methods. Just be sure that if someone goes to your site, they clearly see they will have help if they need it.
8. Ignoring the Competition
It’s likely that there is someone else out there offering the same thing you are. Don’t pretend that they don’t exist; instead, find a way to stand out. Figure out what makes your brand special and highlight it on your site. It should be loud and clear on your site what makes you different from the competition.
9. Not Using Social Proof
Seeing examples of happy, satisfied customers encourages more conversions. Testimonials, case studies, and success stories ensure your web visitors that other people are happy with your business. They can feel reassured that they will be too.
10. Lacking a Clear Strategy
Without a plan and a vision, there are no goals to track or research-backed methods. This can often be a waste of time, money, and resources. Start building your marketing strategy by defining your target audience, setting reasonable goals, understanding what you need to achieve them, and keeping track of your progress.
11. Failing to Convert Web Traffic to Customers
Visitors to your website who don’t end up becoming customers have little value, unless they happen to do some word-of-mouth advertising for you that introduces a lead. Getting visitors to your site is goal number one, but goal number two is to turn them into customers. Develop a strategy for converting web traffic into sales.
12. Having Poor Website Design
A website that is constructed with digital marketing in mind should have a call to action and a well-optimized landing page. Any promotions or discounts should also be displayed front and center. Having an informative and inviting website is important in your efforts to turn visitors into fruitful leads.
13. Not Tracking Your Leads
Online leads can come from a variety of traffic sources such as keywords, email blasts, referring links, social media, etc. One of those sources might be pulling in leads that rarely turn into customers, while another might be consistently garnering them. This is important to know so that you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
The Power of Digital Marketing
Your business needs the proper marketing tools and strategies to thrive. Digital marketing opens you up to endless opportunities for learning and growth. Boost your business to its highest potential by fixing your digital marketing strategy, targeting the right leads, and creating an optimized website.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2008 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Companies often rely on blogs, articles, and social media to engage with their consumers and attract new clientele. However, creating new and exciting content can be a time-consuming process. A great solution to this dilemma is to repurpose existing content.
Repurposing content doesn’t have to feel redundant or boring. In fact, with a few great strategies, old content can gain a fresh new perspective and reinforce critical points. This article will go over a few ways that businesses can reinvigorate their old content while increasing their potential reach.

Content Reach Examples
Here are some great examples of content that reaches, engages, and delights a large audience.
1. State Farm

Have you ever heard of “Jake from State Farm”? I’m sure you have. He’s been featured in nationwide State Farm commercials, blog posts, memes, and videos — State Farm hit gold with this idea. The insurance giant’s content reach consists of the repurposed use of “Jake” in new and inventive ways. This includes creating intriguing storylines that mix plausible life situations with the use of its insurance policies. Customers can see themselves in the everyday interactions Jake has with his customers.

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2. T-Mobile

T-mobile’s Newsroom constantly makes old content new again. The brand’s Loyalty Program, T-Mobile Tuesdays, for example, has been around for five years. The content strategy involves images, videos, app links, and articles that strive for engagement through consistency and fun contests, polls, and incentives. The Loyalty Program runs every Tuesday with slight alterations each week.

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3. Netflix

Netflix has created a new way to introduce its content: by sponsoring articles. The company often chooses content that works alongside its tv shows.
An example includes a New York Times article on women inmates for the Orange Is the New Black series. These articles are recycled with fresh storylines to attract new readers and customers.
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Best Content Reach Strategies
1. Add Visuals
One way to give languishing content a new twist is by adding visuals. Research shows that clear, concise visualization aids can boost engagement in even the most complex subject matter. This can include graphs, charts, videos, and infographics.
2. Use Keywords
SEO, or search engine optimization, is a way for consumers to find blogs and posts quickly. Google’s search engine has algorithms that search for the best content to give to its visitors.
This content is typically full of helpful words and phrases related to a particular subject. The result is a more helpful site for the reader which can bring more traffic to your site, too.
3. Use the Power of Social Media
The great thing about social media is that it is versatile. People can like, share and comment on many platforms and move these conversations to other platforms. You can repurpose older content to get a fresh take from users on other social media streams.
4. Try Backlinks
Backlinks are an example of this kind of approach. These are hyperlinks from one site that link to another. This signals to the search engine that the content in the two articles is related. The anchor text used to link the two articles together further helps the search engine infer the relationship between the two, which can give your page and site more authority if your backlink strategy is done well.
5. Make Your Content Interactive
Content doesn’t have to be two-dimensional. Bring old content to life with games, polls, videos, and even clickable slideshows. Research shows interactive content boosts engagement and sales. You can use tools like Slideshare to create colorful slides to make sharing your message easy and attractive.
6. Write an Ebook
Ebooks are a great way to repackage information from multiple sources, like blog posts into one educational resource. You can optimize ebooks for mobile or desktop and even include interactive content.
7. Send an Email Newsletter
Email newsletters can also serve as a way to repurpose older content by reminding audiences of previous campaigns.
The e-newsletter is a good way to mix in new content with older content in templates that cater to specific audiences while maintaining the interests of existing subscribers. Some excellent newsletter services include MailChimp and Constant Contact.
8. Include an FAQ or Resource Page
Placing an FAQ or resource section on a website is a fantastic way to reintroduce older content. You can link to prior articles and posts that are relevant to the customer’s needs. This can reinvigorate interest and attract new audiences. FAQs and resource pages can also condense hundreds of pages into just a few clicks. This can ensure a cleaner site and allow audiences to connect with your brand.
9. Use a Podcast
Turn an old blog post or article into content for a podcast. Podcasts are an excellent way to connect with consumers since they appeal to auditory audiences and offer an alternative (and efficient) way of consuming information. Podcasts also allow for a more personable approach that can make your audience feel like a part of the story.
10. Use Consumer-Generated Content
Take old customer reviews and use them as the basis of newer content. For example, if users point out that your business has a quick turn-around time, capitalize on this by creating content with this in mind. You can post blogs or articles about the importance of timeliness and link to many of the reviews. This approach spotlights the consumer and makes them center stage … and what customer doesn’t want to be in the spotlight?
11. Recommend Old Articles in New Posts
When writing new blog articles, you can create a new experience by placing older content on the page. This can be done using links or snippets of the post to capture the reader’s attention. You can also get new eyes on pages with less traffic by placing recommendations at the end of posts or blog entries.
12. Create a Part-Two
Follow-up posts are a good way to repackage content. It can posit a concern or problem that is still relevant while adding new points. This approach can bring a whole new dimension to a subject. It also allows for a more thorough analysis of old information.
For example, if you own a coffee company and have an article related to “Great Drinks for the Morning Rush,” you can follow up with “Great Drinks for the Evening.” You can then reference the prior article while highlighting some of the other products you sell to create new and interesting content.
13. Invite Others to the Experience
Guest posting is standard on many blogs. Refresh your content with new opinions and perspectives from people outside your company. This approach keeps things fresh without sacrificing core goals or ideas.
For instance, an expert baker may have great things to add about your catering company. You can use some of their tips and ideas in new content and couple this with references to older content.
14. Create New Campaigns Using Old Ideas
Companies often do this to re-energize marketing. This approach utilizes new marketing strategies such as viral video to engage consumers with old, tried-and-true content.
An example of this can include companies offering for a limited time a “retro” look or producing giveaways that include old merchandising. Businesses can build new, solid campaigns around these ideas.
15. Rewrite and Repost
Awkward phrasing, misspellings, and low SEO rankings can hurt your ranking potential, but it’s common in old content. Editing with services like Grammarly can eliminate some of these issues. In addition, updating statistics and replacing old information can make a world of difference for your traffic potential.
16. Combine Old Posts
If your content library gets large enough, posts could begin to overlap. Generating new content can be as simple as taking similar posts and combining them into one. This method can bring great ideas and repurpose them for a new audience while creating cohesiveness.
Improve Your Content Reach
Improving your content reach can mean more sales and a bigger client base. You can recycle and repurpose old content in new ways. Get creative and make the most out of your content. The result is a stronger, better online presence.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in June 2011 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.