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Post-Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, interest in other social networking sites has spiked significantly. Some names may be familiar to you while others are completely new, but a quick search on Google Trends reveals that old or new, people are looking for the next, best microblogging platform.SourceTumblr’s one of those familiar names and a popular choice — actor Ryan Reynolds made a public move to Tumblr. But that’s not what we’re here for today. Instead, we’re introducing you to Mastodon, which many may not yet be familiar with, but is quickly rising in popularity.SourceMastodon, founded in 2016 by Eugen Rochko, is a microblogging platform that looks similar to Twitter on the surface but is more complex under the hood. In this article, we’ll walk you through what you need to know about Mastodon and how to set up an account.What is Mastodon?Mastodon is a collection of free, decentralized, and loosely organized group of servers. You may also see it referred to as the “Fediverse,” short for “federated universe.”Mastodon is an open-source platform, meaning anyone can set up a server and run a community if they wish to, similar to a forum or discussion board. The platform is self-described as a “federated network which operates in a similar way to email.”Similar to Twitter, it offers microblogging capabilities, but while you can easily pinpoint some similarities to Twitter’s web and mobile applications, they’re not quite the same. A better (but still incomplete) analogy is Mastodon is what you get if you were to combine Twitter and Tumblr.Instead of tweeting, you post, and if you share someone else’s post, you’ve reblogged or boosted it. There are hashtags and lists, and you have up to 5,000 words to express yourself – as well as the ability to add GIFs, videos, and images.Example of a post on MastodonYour Mastodon handle includes your full identity, plus the server name. If you sign up for Mastodon via the most popular server – Mastodon.social – your address will be @[your username]@mastodon.social. But no matter which server you sign up with, you can communicate with users from any other server, just like how Gmail users email Hotmail users and vice versa.If you want a checkmark alongside your name to prove that you are who you say you are, you don’t have to pay anyone; instead, you add a link to a website that’s under your control and that serves as verification. On Mastodon, you can also edit your posts (a much-requested Twitter feature) whenever you’d like and at no cost. And to tackle misinformation concerns, you will get a notification when a post you boosted/reblogged has been edited.The biggest benefit of Mastodon is probably its extensive content moderation. Each server can decide its moderation policy and which servers it will communicate with.”Mastodon” cannot suspend anyone. You were likely removed from a certain server by its owner or moderation team. Mastodon servers are run by users, not by a corporation like twitter is.Each host can set their own rules. You should familiarize yourself with them before joining.— Mastodon (@joinmastodon) November 10, 2022

📼Check out this helpful, short video for added clarity on how Mastodon works.How to set up a Mastodon accountWhile Mastodon is quite similar to email, it’s not as simple to set up. you have to find a server on your own (I’m on the C.IM server) to set up an account. Here’s a simple breakdown of how to get started with an account on Mastodon (from experience as a non-technical person).Step 1: Join a serverYou need to find the address of a server running the Mastodon software (called an Instance) that is accepting new sign-ups to join.Check out https://instances.social for potential servers to join or where your current Twitter followers are hanging out on Mastodon with Debirdify (for security reasons, remember to revoke permissions when you’re done).Users who can be discovered have usually added their Mastodon handle to their bio or profile on Twitter — you can also do this once your account has been set up.My Twitter community that also has a Mastodon accountYou can also use Fedifinder, which extracts the Mastodon handles of Twitter accounts you follow as well as those you’ve added to a list; you can import that list on Mastodon to follow all those accounts at once.Alternatively, try going to the Mastodon activity page and looking at the list under the Instances heading. The entries at the top of the list are the most popular but may also take the most time to join.If you’re worried about whether or not you’ll like a server, you can always move your account to a different server later.Step 2: Sign up to your chosen Mastodon serverOnce you identify an instance you would like to join that’s also accepting new members, fill in the form. You can reuse your Twitter ID or any ID you choose. I picked my name because I didn’t catch the Twitter train in time the first go-round. Here’s the sign up page for the C.IM instance on the web.Server sign-up page for C.IM serverClick Sign Up and wait for the confirmation email. That could take anywhere from a few minutes (like mine) or several hours. With the surge in sign-ups, some people report never receiving the email to activate their accounts.Once you have access, remember which instance you used. You’ll need to enter that server’s address when you sign in using a different browser or another mobile app. You can’t use those credentials to sign in on a different instance.You can create different profiles on different servers or choose to transfer your data from one server to another.Step 3: Set up your profileMake it easy for people to find you by filling out all available details. Once you’ve confirmed your account, use the Edit Profile button to add some details about who you are.My profileFill in your bio and add a picture (or an “avatar” as it’s called in Mastodon) so that people will be able to identify you.Finally, add your Mastodon handle to your Twitter bio. That will make it easier for people who know you from Twitter to find you in the new place.Step 4: Start following people and engaging with the communityStart following people and engaging with the community. If you have Mastodon IDs for people you know are active, type that name in the search box to find their account and follow them.🖊️You might need the full ID with username and server, like @tamilore@c.im to find someone.Step 5: Introduce yourself.Mastodon has very “first day of school” energy as everyone learns their way around the platform.Give some background about who you are and your interests, then pin the post to the top of your profile. This helps people who find you online figure out if you’re an appropriate follow for them.Step 6: Find your friends.You can use tools like Debirdify and Fedifinder to look for people who have shared their Mastodon handle on Twitter.You can also check the hashtag #TwitterMigration and filter using “People you Follow” or look for lists made by people migrating to Mastodon.What to consider before ditching Twitter entirelyIt might be tempting to migrate to Mastodon and cut ties completely with Twitter, but you need to consider several factors – here are some of them.Mastodon hasn’t yet cracked the smooth sign-up flow of platforms like Twitter and Instagram. Adjusting to the technicality, user interface, lingo, and rules takes a while – not all your Twitter followers may want to jump on the bandwagon.Content moderation is taken very seriously in Mastodon servers — some even require content warnings for political content.Mastodon may not replace Twitter, but at least it has better leadership.Meet Eugen, CEO of Mastodon Social: pic.twitter.com/jerOT0asPg— Alex Vranas (@breakdecks) November 5, 2022

Mastodon is still growing: The platform is still hiring, and some users report long wait times before they receive confirmation emails and can set up their accounts. This means that even if your audience is willing to jump through the hurdles it takes to set up an account, they may not have access for a while.Over 1 million people have joined Mastodon since October 27. Between that and those who returned to their old accounts, the number of active users has risen to over 1.6 million today, which, for context, is over 3 times what it was just about two weeks ago!— Mastodon (@joinmastodon) November 12, 2022

Messages aren’t encrypted, and server admins can see them, so it’s best not to use them for any important or sensitive business. You also need to be careful about sharing private vs. public messages, as it’s easy to get the two mixed up on Mastodon.Before you make the jump, take the time to consider your audience, your content and whether you want to weather the Twitter storm or bow out while you’re ahead.Think of Mastodon as an interesting new channel to exploreWhile Mastodon is gaining popularity at lightning speed (it’s almost always the first option on any list of “twitter alternatives”), we don’t think Twitter’s going anywhere just yet, and most social media professionals agree.However, it’s worth getting to know how Mastodon works as an app separate from Twitter. Don’t treat it like Twitter, but as its own new, exciting space. While we don’t currently have scheduling for Mastodon within Buffer, you can use the platform’s native scheduler. And if you’re wondering if/when we’ll add Mastodon to our current roster of features, keep an eye on our product roadmap and join our community for updates.

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Hi all I’m currently writing an outbound cold email campaign for a client in cyber-security: I straight up don’t have experience – my boss is sending them out through Klenty. The offer: UK based software firm that delivers security solutions to businesses He’s said that the email marketing so far has hit a stagnant spot, and that he’d like fresh new ideas on the table. What I’ve currently written: Split A( benefit focused sequence) That part seems so be okay with higher ups. However, its basically what they’ve done already.. However, after proposing a loss aversion angle for split B to use against the control(split A), higher ups seem to think that this angle is too obviously salesy.. I am really struggling to find an effective angle to use for Split B.. Does anyone out there have experience writing for cyber-security? submitted by /u/Internal_Ad8442 [link] [comments]

This time each year, nature – as well as marketing – slows down as we head into colder seasons.
As we enter Q4, marketing departments are preparing for a slowdown in business that comes as people tune out towards the end of the year.
But, while seasonal change is expected and inevitable, this year’s economic shifts might cause some marketers to worry that this year could bring a flurry of poor numbers.
As you see dips or bumps in early Q4, you might wonder, “Is my marketing department experiencing seasonality or an impact of outside events, or are our numbers solely based on the work we’ve been doing?”
To help you gather evidence that proves or disproves the possibility of outside impacts in Q4, here’s a look at how businesses across industries entered the first month of it in October.
About this Data: These insights are based on data aggregated from 158,000+ HubSpot customers globally between July 2021 and October 2022. Because the data is aggregated from HubSpot customers’ businesses, please keep in mind that the performance of individual businesses, including HubSpot’s, might differ based on their markets, customer base, industry, geography, stage, and/or other factors.

How Marketing Metrics Are Shifting (or Staying the Same) in Early Q4
To learn how metrics were shifting, we looked at data from sample sizes of 120,000+ businesses.
Overall, we’re seeing that most inbound marketing metrics are down year-over-year. Luckily, the good news is that one major, hard-to-win metric, website conversion rate, is trending upward.

 

When looking month-over-month, numbers seem to be flatter with a mixed bag of small increases and decreases, which could hint that we’re heading into a seasonal time of slow growth, or starting to see some sluggishness due to the economic climate.

 

Below, I’ll break down each key marketing metric and walk through what we’ve seen across industries in Q4 so far.
Q4 Web Traffic So Far
Month-over-month, we see that fall and winter seasonality hasn’t harmed websites quite yet with most industries seeing flat, low-change in traffic. Only Technology, Information and Media (up 2% MoM) as well as Trade, Transportation and Utilities (up nearly 3%) saw any real change.
While seasonality might not be impacting the industries below, year-over-year data shows significant dips in traffic across industries (a theme we’ve seen throughout the last few months). Professional and Business Services (down 10%) saw the most significant annual loss, while Leisure and Hospitality saw the reverse with a nearly 7% YoY increase.

Industry
MoM
YoY
Sample size

All
1.30%
-10.80%
145,150

Construction
-1.21%
-5.39%
1,405

Education and Health Services
-0.42%
-3.74%
3,659

Financial Activities
1.32%
-11.12%
4,084

Leisure and Hospitality
-1.31%
6.99%
1,114

Manufacturing
-0.19%
-6.43%
4,463

Professional and Business Services
-0.55%
-9.65%
12,999

Technology, Information and Media
2.32%
-4.62%
14,934

Trade, Transportation and Utilities
2.92%
-5.58%
3,480

Why is this happening? Are we continuing to see solid annual traffic drops? We can’t be certain, but a few things that could be causing impacts are:

More and more, audiences spend time discovering and even shopping for products on social media directly – no longer relying on standalone company sites.
In 2021, many regions were still at least partially quarantined due to COVID-19. While the pandemic continues, most of the world’s lightened precautions, enabling economies to re-open and allowing more people to go out and spend less time surfing the web.
Search engines get more and more competitive daily as hundreds of sites aim to rank for the same keywords as their competitors. More competition directly impacts search traffic and, today, search result pages are more saturated than ever..

Website Conversions Grow Despite Traffic Dips
While traffic seems to be a tad sluggish in October, we’re seeing significant YoY gains (+10.95%) overall with Technology, Information and Media leading the pack (+22.1%) and only Trade, Transportation and Utilities, and Construction seeing decreases.
Across the board, we’re seeing a very slight MoM decrease overall, except for Technology, Information and Media which saw a large increase and Trade which saw the greatest decrease (aligning with slow tech business growth reports we’ve seen all over the news.)

Industry
MoM
YoY
Sample size

All
-1.76%
10.95%
124,836

Construction
-5.36%
-5.36%
1,166

Education and Health Services
2.26%
19.35%
3,316

Financial Activities
-4.59%
7.47%
3,542

Leisure and Hospitality
5.00%
9.70%
939

Manufacturing
-6.27%
12.95%
3,905

Professional and Business Services
0.31%
15.41%
11,451

Technology, Information and Media
17.27%
22.10%
13,504

Trade, Transportation and Utilities
-8.41%
-4.39%
2,984

Inbound Leads Stay Fairly Flat… Except in a Few Key Industries
In October, Inbound Leads were a mixed bag. However, the evidence of both positive and negative seasonality patterns become more obvious when looking at this metric.
Month-over-month, inbound leads remained flat with an overall 0.65% decrease. Manufacturing (-6.48%), as well as Transportation and Utilities (-5.6%), saw the biggest dips. Meanwhile, Construction (-8.75%) and Trade, Transportation and Utilities (9.82%) saw significant YoY losses.
Where did inbound leads grow? Technology, Information and Media saw a sizable MoM and YoY increase of 5.22% each. Additionally, inbound leads overall saw a small annual increase with Education and Health Services (16.76%) and Leisure and Hospitality (17.15%) seeing the greatest gains. These boosts contributed to year-over-year growth of 1.63% for overall industries.

Industry
MoM
YoY
Sample size

All
-0.65%
1.63%
132,820

Construction
-4.48%
-8.75%
1,345

Education and Health Services
1.70%
16.76%
3,636

Financial Activities
-2.80%
-1.97%
3,876

Leisure and Hospitality
2.74%
17.15%
1,031

Manufacturing
-6.48%
4.31%
4,287

Professional and Business Services
0.15%
8.02%
12,648

Technology, Information and Media
5.22%
5.22%
14,592

Trade, Transportation and Utilities
-5.61%
-9.82%
3,251

What can we make of this data?
While we can expect year-over-year conversion rate growth with web traffic going down annually, some of the substantial losses and gains are due to more than just web traffic. A few potential impacts could be:

Products or services sold within manufacturing, trade, transportation, and utilities can be quite expensive or impacted by inflation. As people tighten their budgets with conflicting economic news, high-priced industries could be seeing some sluggish lead generation as people might only be focusing on just the products or services they need.
Seasonality is likely beginning to take effect as people begin to focus more on experiences driven by education, media, and holiday travel, while putting other industries on the back burner.
As we keep seeing news of career changes, recession-based company shifts, and the continuing pandemic, people might be more fixated on Education and Health Services industries than in previous quarters, leading to nearly-17% annual lead growth.

Are Marketing Emails Struggling to Be Seen?
In our previous reports, we noted that while marketers have been sending fewer emails – likely to meet the needs of today’s subscribers with heavily cluttered inboxes – they’re still seeing opens and open rates dip.
It’s tricky to guess what the problem could be, but as the HubSpot Blog’s former email manager, one suspicion I have is that email inboxes are far too saturated and competitive these days.

Metric
MoM
YoY
Sample size

Email sends
1.42%
-1.97%
141,791

Email opens
-1.14%
-15.85%
141,791

Email open rate
-2.19%
-13.71%
141,769

Ultimately, if your email isn’t seen in an inbox no one will open it. And, if you’re sending emails with great content, but non-competitive, non-eye-catching subject lines, your readers might not click into them.
Odds are, your subscriber subscribes to many other emails related to your industry. And, because of this, they compare you to competitors sending similar content with similar goals each day. This is why it’s so important for your brand’s emails to seem as interesting, unique, and eye-catching as possible – without looking too desperate.
To learn more about how to boost your open rate and opens, check out this helpful post.
Further Reading
When it comes to key marketing metrics, keeping a pulse on how the business world and your industry are doing can help you determine when and how to get ahead of competition.
For even more helpful data, check out our previous reports, plus a few additional research studies, as you plan your strategies for Q4 and beyond.

The Top Traffic, Conversion & Lead Trends in Q3: Data & Takeaways from 120,000 Businesses
Your Guide to Summer Web Traffic, Conversion & Lead Performance Across Industries
A Crisis of Disconnection: 3 Business Trends Stifling Business Growth in 2022

Lastly, be sure to check out our free, downloadable 2022 State of Marketing Report below – with data and tips from experts across the global marketing industry.

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🖊️Small Business, Big Lessons is a podcast from Buffer that goes behind the scenes with inspirational small businesses to explore how they are questioning the best ways to build a business and uncover the big lessons we can learn from their journeys (so far). Check out episode eight here.Running a small business requires grit and perseverance, but these entrepreneurs found in order to really succeed they needed to relinquish certain beliefs that they once held close. In our final episode of season 2 of our podcast Small Business, Big Lessons, we spoke to several entrepreneurs about former thought processes they had to leave behind in order to grow their small business and why that was the right decision for them.Why letting go is important for these longtime entrepreneursLetting go of previous viewpoints is never easy, especially when it comes to beliefs or ideas we’ve held for a long time, but according to business consultant Holly Howard sometimes entrepreneurs can get too attached to certain beliefs and need that push to let go. She finds author Katie Byron’s concept of asking oneself “Is it true?” is a great way to think about whether some of our ideologies are still relevant today. Holly shared, “’Is it true,’ is a helpful way to sort of play with this idea of letting go with entrenched beliefs. Because sometimes, when we are challenged around our beliefs, we can get really triggered, right? And we can double down and we can hold tight to things, because those beliefs have been our safety.”Checking in with yourself and evaluating whether your beliefs are relevant and whether they still resonate can help from becoming stuck in a certain mindset. Seasoned entrepreneurs Rand Fishkin and Ari Weinzweig have learned the power of letting go early on in their careers and say it’s helped them immensely in all aspects of their lives.How one entrepreneur practices detachmentRand Fishkin, co-founder of audience research tool SparkToro, finds letting go a bit easier than most people do. The entrepreneur says he’s developed an unusual detachment from previously held beliefs and prior ideas, and even has learned to not get too attached to the sentimental things in his life. He credits this to his maturity and that fact that he’s able to rationally reason about things – even when emotions are involved. When it comes to his past experiences as a small business owner, Rand does have some regrets. Specifically from his time as CEO of his first business Moz, a SEO software company. Looking back now, Rand believes he valued the wrong things when running Moz, like having a big staff, a huge IPO, and raising lots of money. Now, he thinks the opposite is true, and is running SparkToro with different values, including smaller team sizes. “I have so many things I regret from my time at Moz. And also, I’m deeply grateful for the experience. And I think those two things can be tough to reconcile, but they can simultaneously exist and you can still be at peace,” he said.While it’s not always easy for Rand to reflect on his former business, he has chosen to forgive himself from his past mistakes and has let go of any deep feelings he has about the time. This has allowed him to start anew with SparkToro. Still, he understands that forgiving oneself and detaching from past experiences isn’t always an easy journey. But he believes that, eventually, anyone can get there. “I think people who have gotten to that place [of letting go], have gotten there through active work on it,” he said. “Through emotional processing, and the ability to reflect on their actions and reflect on the life they want to lead. How they want to be in the world and the impact they want to have on people around them.”Viewing letting go is an essential part of life and businessAri Weinzweig, co-founder of Zingerman’s community of businesses, believes that once we become conscious of our beliefs, we are free to unlearn them or choose beliefs that are more compatible with our lives. This philosophy around letting go has allowed him to succeed as an entrepreneur but in his personal life, too.Thinking back to his childhood, he can pinpoint certain beliefs that have benefited his life and others that he’s had to confront. “I love to read. So this is something I grew up with. And that belief that I got when I was two has served me really well,” Ari said. “Other beliefs, like that asking for help was weak, were very unhelpful. And so I’ve needed to relearn how to do that.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zingerman’s Community (@zingermanscommunity) Similar to Rand, Ari also learned to detach himself from Zingerman’s. He tries not to let past failures with the business define him. He takes insights from author Carol Dweck’s book, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” and believes that everyone is a good person who is trying their best. By operating with that mindset, Ari views failure as a necessary component of life. “When we embrace imperfection, then of course, I make mistakes. Of course, not everything’s going to work out. And then I need processes, techniques to help myself reground because there’s failure happening constantly in the ecosystem,” Ari said. How these entrepreneurs had to let go in order to start their small businessesHere’s what these entrepreneurs had to let go of in order to go all in with their small businesses.Leaving full time jobs to pursue a passionWhen Becky and Huw founded Paynter Jacket, an ethical clothing store that drops four jacket releases a year, they were both still working full time jobs while running their small business on the side. They did this to be cautious and not put all of their eggs in one basket, but eventually, as they started gaining social media followers and released their first batch, Becky decided to quit her job. She left on her birthday as a gift to herself. Letting go of the stability that a job provides was nerve-wracking, though she was also excited for the future of Paynter. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Paynter (@paynterjacket) “I think it was lucky that I waited until after batch number one [to quit my job], because we had customers and we really did have a lot to do. It was everything I’d wanted,” Becky said. “And it was also really intimidating at the same time because you don’t have a boss or a mentor that you have in a bigger company that you can say I’m struggling with this, or can I just check this with you?”Soon after, Huw took the plunge and quit his job, but letting go was a bit more difficult for him, especially because he really appreciated his work environment and colleagues. “It was actually really hard for me to leave my job because I was in a company that I absolutely loved,” he said. “I loved the people there. I loved the purpose of the business. I loved doing my job every day,” Huw said. “It was hard to even think about leaving because like, this whole team around me, I absolutely loved them.” It was Huw’s boss and mentor who finally gave him the push he needed. He sat Hu down and told him he believed in Paynter’s success. And also reminded Huw that he was at the perfect stage in his life where he could take the risk and go out on a limb.While letting go of jobs that provided stability and comfort weren’t easy for Becky and Huw, doing so was the only way they were able to put their all into Paynter Jacket.An evolution of a career pathBefore Kelly Phillips founded Destination Unknown Restaurants, she was working full time as a journalist and food writer. It was through her day job at the Philadelphia City Paper where she was able to learn the ins and outs of the restaurant industry that made her interested in opening up one herself. While switching careers to owning restaurants instead of simply writing about them may seem like a big jump, Kelly sees it as a natural evolution of her career path. “I think this is my story. I think I was meant to open restaurants and I was meant to be this person, I still get to tell a story in a different way.”This career change has helped Kelly let go of limiting beliefs she once had about herself. As a writer, she never felt confident about her public speaking abilities, and felt more comfortable putting pen to paper. But after founding Destination Unknown Restaurants, she’s been invited on podcasts and has participated in multiple speaking engagements. “Writing brought me a lot of happiness, seeing an article published in the newspaper, I would be really proud of that. But I think what I’m doing now is more of a challenge for me, it’s harder for me and it’s less comfortable for me. And because of that I’ve grown and become a better person,” Kelly said.Letting go of comparisonsFounding a start-up is never easy, especially when you’re living in Silicon Valley and are surrounded by hundreds of other start-ups. Andrea, co-founder of Harlow, a small business with the mission to help freelancers get organized, has learned to not hold herself to the standards of what everyone else is doing in the industry. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Harlow (@meetharlow) “I live in San Francisco, I’m in the heart of startup tech culture here. And a lot of times success is measured by funding by how much money you’ve raised, by how many employees you have. And it’s definitely a work in progress to remind myself that that’s not our measure of success and come back to our core beliefs and our values and that we’re building something different than a lot of people in Silicon Valley. And that’s okay.”By choosing to not compare their business to other tech companies, Andrea is letting go of traditional startup values and instead embracing what makes Harlow unique. This has allowed her to dive into her small business and run it without being constricted by other people’s input and ideas.How letting go has allowed these small businesses to reach their highest potentialFor many entrepreneurs, letting go of certain mindsets was an essential part of starting their brands. But, the learning never stops. Throughout the course of their small business journeys, these leaders have had to let go of old habits and ways in order to successfully grow their companies.Realizing the power of teamworkWhen Joel first founded Buffer, he held the belief that, as a founder and CEO, he alone would have the answers to all of Buffer’s problems. But eventually, as the company grew (we now have over 80 team members), Joel realized that he needed to let go of this notion that he himself could do it all on his own.“I think I’ve had moments where I might dip back into that and be like, ‘okay, this isn’t working. I’m gonna dig in and solve this,’” he said. “I think I’ve had to let go of that being the way to solve things and lean much more into communication and getting everyone aligned and onboard and understanding the vision.”As an introspective person, Joel still often takes time to reflect on situations by himself, but has learned to share his thoughts and reflections with the rest of the team. This creates an environment at Buffer where everyone is on the same page and has a chance to speak up on key issues.Letting go of the need for praise and accoladesInitially, Kelly was focused on the reviews, accolades and stars she could receive for her food when she first opened her restaurants. But once she took a step back and focused inwards, she noticed that her business was improving internally. “And I think when I let go of that, when I stopped putting that pressure on myself, and I focused on just being a great restaurant in our community, and a great place to work for our team, I think that’s when the restaurant actually clicked. That’s when things started to work,” she said. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Destination Unknown Restaurants (@destinationunknownrestaurants) Instead of thinking about the press and other external factors, Kelly honed in on the important things: that the business was profitable, her employees were happy, the food was good, and customers were having a great time. Looking at things from this perspective ultimately allowed her restaurants to succeed.Being flexible and open to shifting one’s perspectiveSamantha and Andrea had a specific vision of their community’s needs when they first opened up Harlow. But once they started getting more and more clients, they realized they’d have to let go of the idea that they understood all of the obstacles their users faced.“One of the most humbling things about building Harlow is recognizing that Andrea and I’s pain points as freelancers are not the same pain points that all freelancers are experiencing,” Samantha said.  “So just recognizing that this audience is very diverse, and they have a lot of needs, and that there are a lot of different ways that they do things.”If the duo were set in their beliefs and unable to pivot in their thinking, they wouldn’t be able to support the various freelancers who use Harlow today. Ultimately, letting go of certain beliefs can allow for a healthier and more sustainable business. While some beliefs may stand the test of time, more often than not, entrepreneurs have to be flexible and open to switching things up in order to grow their business to its highest potential.Want more on letting go? Check out the full episodeThe businesses we interviewed in this episode have further insights to share about taking a stand and its value for brands. Listen to the full episode here.

Video testimonials are a great way to show off your business’s personality, and there is no better medium than video for this purpose. If you’re looking at making changes in order to establish yourself as an expert or professional organization then it might be worth considering adding some friendly faces that can speak from experience. We’ve found 17 sites that have incorporated this into their design. Here’s the list organized by category: 1. Chili Piper (SaaS) 2. Testimonial.to (SaaS) 3. Taplio (SaaS) 4. VeryGoodCopy (Newsletter) 5. Alcove Rooms (Consumer App) 6. Scrimba (Consumer App) 7. Yotta Bank (Consumer App) 8. Dream Studio Course (Course Creators) 9. Justin Welsh (Course Creator) 10. Levels.fyi (Service) 11. Chris Lema (Service) 12. Dating by Blaine (Service) 13. Popbrush (eCommerce) 14. Pip Decks (eCommerce) 15. Illuminate (eCommerce) 16. Wyndly (eCommerce) 17. Instrumentl (Non-profit) Wrapping up… And there you have it: 17 Examples of websites using Video Testimonials Video testimonials are a powerful way to show off your product or service in a unique and engaging way. Not only do they help you build trust with potential customers, but they can also be used to drive conversions and sales. If you’re not using video testimonials on your website yet, now is the time to start! submitted by /u/GuillaumeBrdet [link] [comments]

Please recommend Instagram growth tools for real followers and mass DM. An option for filtering inactive accounts would be great also. submitted by /u/FluffSunflower [link] [comments]