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Happy Earth Day! Here’s how you can celebrate!
April 22, 2020
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global warming threatens polar bears recycle!

What is your carbon footprint? app by Jodi Stout Check out this app that shows you exactly how many trees you saved today by recycling, reusing and turning off the lights! The My Earth app lets you choose from a list of earth-saving activities; from simple things like reusing plastic grocery bags, keeping your tires inflated and doing laundry in cold water to owning a hybrid vehicle and using high-efficiency toilets. You simply browse the activities listed in each of 5 categories: - electricity - recycling - travel - food - misc usage Similar to a food tracking diary, you enter how often you participate in one of these climate-altering activities. You get helpful tips along the way on each...

You Can’t Do 2 Things at Once… or Can You?
July 28, 2019
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by author Jodi Stout The results are in and it’s a landslide... multi-tasking is bad for productivity. In fact, you’re likely to do 40% less than if you remained focused on a single task and apparently the rapid context switching causes long term brain damage. That frightening information comes from Devora Zack, author of Singletasking: Get More Done-One Thing at a Time. Unfortunately, as a busy entrepreneur, you’re likely to wear many hats and be constantly on-call for any myriad of demands and multi-tasking is standard operating procedure. Fortunately, there ARE ways to do more than one thing at a time. You can walk and chew gum, right? It’s not impossible for you to perform multiple tasks at a time,...

The Art and Science of the Power Nap
July 27, 2019
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The Art and Science of the Power Nap

by author Jodi Stout Apparently, Donald Trump needs more sleep. Hey, those aren't my words, but those of Arianna Huffington who has been doing some serious sleep studying. https://news.yahoo.com/arianna-huffington-thinks-you-need-more-sleep-184022299.html Entrepreneurs work hard! We juggle and sprint and multi-task while burning candles at every end, not just both. Many take pride in their round-the-clock commitment but working long hours without proper sleep damages not only our productivity but our health. The “power nap” coined by James Maas, social psychologist at Cornell University and author of the best selling book Power Sleep, is booming in popularity as the benefits of mid-day slumber have recently been associated with a whopping 37% reduction in coronary mortality for women and 67% for men! Dimitrios Trichopoulos,...

Read ALL Top 10 Best Business Books in Under 3 Hours
July 26, 2019
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Read 10 most popular business books in under 3 hours

by author Jodi Stout Staying up to date with the most popular trends, buzzwords and influencers can be a full-time job. As a busy business owner, wouldn’t it be nice to have the CliffNotes version of today's best business books? Thankfully, there is a unique service called Blinkest that is serving up an entire library of over 1,000 of today’s most popular non-fiction books in a condensed version that can be “blinked” through in about 15 minutes. Named one of the top apps by Apple last year, this handy tool has mobile friendly and audio versions of top business, personal development, psychology, health, science, productivity and other non-fiction books trawled by insightful experts that distill the key messages and intent...

5 Simple Ways to Nudge Your Audience
June 30, 2019
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by author Jodi Stout Nudge: to gently push or prod someone to action People prefer the path of least resistance when making decisions. They also enjoy a generally favorable outcome. Thankfully there are some universal principles proven to "help" someone along, like a carrot on a stick, to make the desired decision. These powerful strategies can be especially useful when designing your website toward a clear CTA (call to action). Choice architecture: a method of structuring a path that leads to predictable behavior without restricting options or significantly changing incentives. For example, in onboarding a new employee for insurance benefit selection, when the default option is to not be registered for a pension savings program, savings rates are low. When...

Mobilegeddon – Are you ready?
April 17, 2018
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JodiStout.com is mobile friendly

by author Jodi Stout “Mobilegeddon” or “Mobilepocalypse,” is quickly coming upon us! April 21st is D-day for when Google intends it's nuclear attack on un-Mobile-friendly sites. They've announced this is the biggest algorithm change in their history! Who will it impact? It's anticipated that more than 40% of websites currently holding top mobile search positions will lose their rankings. This mobile apocalypse won't affect a website's current positions on desktop search. However, Google has said that mobile search will be impacted where users will no longer find sites that are not considered mobile-friendly. Are you ready? Check Google's webmaster tools to see if your site passes the mobile friendly test. Keep in mind that results could be delayed, so if...

Productivity 101
August 3, 2015
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by author Jodi Stout What do you have to get done today? This week? This year? As a busy entrepreneur, your ever-growing "to-do" list (you do keep a to-do list, right?) can be a primary organizational challenge. Managing multiple tasks can quickly be made easier with a few helpful tips and tools. Productivity models from the beginning of time have primarily centered around one of two models, "routine" or "what matters most." As a small business owner, routine is often not an option. An ever-evolving schedule demands that you juggle a myriad of tasks of various level of importance, every day, throughout the day. Identifying and effectively executing must-do actions are what you get paid for but you also need...

Brand Journalism, are you being manipulated?
April 10, 2015
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Brand journalism, native advertising and sponsored ads

by author Jodi Stout Which one is the paid-for "news article?" A major controversy is brewing between traditional journalists and new media marketers over "brand journalism" or "native advertising." The lines are becoming increasingly blurred between news and advertising across every medium and consumers are left wondering what to expect from their once trusted news sources. One of Yahoo's top news stories today is headlined to gain attention regarding the "viral phenomenon" of this campaign. Yet the "news article" simply advertises a network tv show in an overtly journalistic style. Clickbait much? [caption id="attachment_239" align="alignleft" width="150"] Serious news about internet marketing or trickery?[/caption] Physically, news and advertisements are becoming virtually indistinguishable. This screenshot of Yahoo’s home page shows several different...