Online Activiti BPM training

  Advantages of Activiti BPM training on June 13,14,15 - 2013

• To understand Business work flow easily
• By this training you will able to implement business work flow using Activiti BPM
• You can deploy Activiti process definitions to specify workflows
• We cover Introduction to BPMN, BPMN Modeling, BPMN best practices, Overview of Activiti, Activiti tool stack, Activiti Modeler, Integration with JBoss Drool and many more
• After this training, you will be familiar with BMPM 2.0 business processes, services orchestration, process deployment, execution, testing and monitoring using Activiti
• You will also learn how to deploy custom workflows

  Why Attune University?

•  We are fully committed to provide the most comprehensive curriculum in every aspect of our certification training
• As the industry advances, we make sure our courses are completely current with the latest technologies
• Having great experience of working with all types of domains around the world
• Our experts have experience in configuration of Business process using Activiti in various projects
• We offer a range of public and corporate training courses that are built-up and delivered by our highly experienced trainers
• Easy language, friendly interface and well structured study materials

More information :   http://www.attuneuniversity.com/courses/activiti-bpm.html

SEO Dying?

It’s good to see a post from Mani Karthik on Search Engine Land following an article published in SiliconIndia saying that SEO is one of the skillsets that will no more get you job.

Image Courtesy: Donhalbert.com

I first disagree, and then agree with what Silicon India publishes. Similarly, I first agree, and then I disagree with what Mani puts his opinion forward. I have published my opinion on the comment section of Search Engine Land, and I also feel that I need to extend this discussion further. Hence, I decided to publish a full post on my blog.  

Mobile Is Killing SEO: There is growing trend in mobile usage. The users' search pattern is getting different. Mobile users are mostly logged in, and keep chatting, checking mails, updating on FB, and tweeting throughout the day. Well, they are socially engaged. It’s true. What perplexes me is how ‘we' ensure that a particular keyword ranks if users on mobile devices are logged in? Google under SSL/HTTPS frequently tends to show personalized results. A few days back, Google has come up new content recommendation for mobile users. 

Image Courtesy: mobileresponsivewebsite.com

The content recommendation works for logged in users. Furthermore, mobile users tend to get more personalized results behind secure log ins. Add to this apathy, Google never shows search queries, and mask them as ‘Not Provided’ in GA, even if keywords for optimization purpose matter to SEO professionals.

Social Media Is Killing SEO: The traditional algorithm of Google and its search results are primarily based on ‘Links’ from authority domains. This has been manipulated for a decade. Going social, and considering number of likes, re-tweets, +1d in G plus, users’ ratings and reviews, etc. look more prominent as valid social references of a quality site or post, for such site/post represents the quality content that creates utility for both socially and commercially engaged users.

Image courtesy:alphaspirit /Shutterstock

Many people in the industry believe that social is not about shares, and likes. If social is not about shares, and likes, then how Google considers these as valid references for measuring the quality versus Kolaveri (hype)? Engagement in social media comes from metrics like ‘shares’, 'comments in thread', ‘likes’, ‘re-tweets,’ 'Influences,' etc. Do you believe the value of a STAR cast on an advt. you see on TV, and then make decision to buy a product or you read the reviews of a product, ask your peers, and then make purchase decision? Social reviews, and recommendations based on likes, and shares are our Zero Moments of Truth (ZMOT). Not sure how SEO fits in ZMOT?

Technology Is Killing SEO: Regardless of technology you use to develop your website, almost all of them have a library of various SEO plugins that address SEO technical issues within no minute. PHP, .NET, WordPress, IBM Web Sphere, and Magento have excellent SEO plug ins, modules, and extensions that address the complex SEO issues of a CMS based website/portal.

For example, if yours is an ecommerce site built on Magento, buy or download free versions of SEO extensions, and install them to address SEO issues related to domain canonicalization, duplicate pages, URL pattern, handling dynamic URL parameters, Robots.Txt, Header Tags, Site Maps, etc.                 

Google Is Killing SEO: Panda, Penguin, and Zebra, hopefully some more animals to bring in at Google zoo to drive SEO out of its reach! The logic seems simple -Quality, Quality, and Quality! Quality comes from users, and users are socially engaged via multiple devices. Yes, the search engine is taking a paradigm shift from showing automated algorithmic results to incorporating social KPIs which are indeed more semantic and realistic.  

Image courtesy: Webimize.net

The way reviews, and likes are evolving as key metrics, the way users' search behavior across the devices is changing, the way ZMoT is gaining momentum, Google is changing its algorithm to value users’ recommendations and engagement more than valuing inbound links from different domains.

If Google continues to value the traditional ranking algorithm, Facebook will change the whole search game. Google has no option but to drop its legacy algorithm and care for more social signals. This is what Google these days is doing. No wonder to know that Google no longer has a Search group. It's now called "Knowledge." This proves that the search engine does not want SEO to be alive for ever, of course, for its valid reasons. That's why the giant keeps recommending on users' experience and quality content.  

It seems logical that socially archive content and content freshness based on number of 'likes', 'tweets', 'shares', 'influence,' etc. look more prominent than showing results based on the traditional 'archive' search results based on manipulative inbound links, and stale content. Google discourages such old tactics of link building, and officially announced that press release or artificial links will not help in SEO.  And, this is where "future Google" is hopefully moving towards, and is giving enough indications for social signals.

When AOL acquired Huffington Post, we saw a closure of offshore SEO unit based out of Bangalore, India. Huffington Post never believes in SEO but a leading proponent of quality content. Furthermore, Forbes published an article” TheDeath Of SEO: The Rise of Social, PR, And Real Content that quotes Adam Torkildson, one of the top SEO consultants in Utah,  "Google is in the process of making the SEO industry obsolete, “SEO will be dead in 2 years.” Matt Cutts' recent video gave hints about Google Penguin 2.0 update, and diplomatically says “some of us would be in for a long summer”. 

User Is Killing SEO: SEO is dying because we are going more social, and Google is going where trends are moving towards. Practically speaking, the trends are upward, as growing number of mobile users is increasing by leaps and bounds, minutes by minutes, hour by hour, and day by day. Social media usage is growing at phenomenal rate. Users’ search pattern, their needs, their queries, their privacy, and their expectations are changing.

Let’s embrace this change, and accept the reality than simply satisfying ourselves with X, Y, & Z analysis to prove SEO is not dead.

End of the Tunnel? The death of SEO never means that no new life is born. We need to be reborn with new set of skills. We need to upgrade skills in a new transitioning digital economy. Remember, the ‘search intent’ of human beings can never be lost. As long as there is search intent, search engines continue to add value. It’s just that we need to explore ourselves to fit in a new digital ecosystem. 

Image Courtesy: Doodle Lounge

Liferay Training For Developer

Liferay Training Course for Developer

This training course is designed for developers, architect and project managers to get handson on Liferay Portal administration, System administration, Plugin development and Extension development. This is a required training for individuals who wish to become Liferay Portal expert. One will get benefited from hands-on approach to learn the material effectively and quickly.

http://www.attuneinfocom.com/training/liferay-training.html

Attune Infocom’s client Daniel Schneider is sharing his experience working with Attune Infocom Pvt Ltd

Daniel Schneider Shares his Experience with Attune Infocom Pvt Ltd






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IT Looking for New Jobs ?

A new survey by Jobvite, a recruiting platform for the social web, found that unemployed Americans aren’t the only ones looking for jobs. Sixty-nine percent of employed respondents are considered job seekers—meaning they’re actively seeking a new job or open to the idea, and it turns out they’re using social media to do it.
“Inside every employed worker is a job seeker,” says Dan Finnigan, president and chief executive of Jobvite. “Because of pent-up demand now that the economy is growing, those workers are looking for the next step in their career.” According to the 2012 Social Job Seeker Survey, which asked 2,100 people about their current employment status and the role of social networks in their job search, 52% of all job seekers (employed and unemployed) have used Facebook to look for work, 38% have used LinkedIn, and 34% have used Twitter. One in six employed respondents credit social media for their current job.
When asked about how they’ve used Facebook to find work, 25% of respondents said they updated their profile and added professional information; 17% provided their Facebook profile information on a job application or during an interview; 15% modified privacy settings with work in mind; 14% used the site to search for jobs; 9% used it to research a potential employer; 8% connected with a potential employer on the site; and 6% communicated with a recruiter on the site. Almost half (49%) said they’ve used their Facebook contacts for “career gain.”


Finnigan says, “It is extremely important to be a well-rounded job hunter, and that absolutely includes maintaining your professional presence on the three most-used social networks for recruiting: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. For many professional and managerial careers, that begins with LinkedIn, as it is the leading social network geared toward people in professional occupations.”
In Pictures: 7 Tips For Landing A Job Using Social Media
Twenty-six percent of surveyed job seekers said they’ve updated their LinkedIn profile with professional information; 11% used the site to search for job opportunities; 9% provided their LinkedIn profile information on a job application or during an interview; 7% modified privacy settings with work in mind; 7% connected with a potential employer; 6% used the site to research a potential employer; and 4% communicated with a recruiter through the site. Thirty-eight percent said they’ve used LinkedIn contacts for career gain.
“Job seekers have become increasingly frustrated at searching for jobs online and getting no response, and they intuitively know that the best opportunities are found through people, not search engines,” Finnigan says. “As social networking has become a core part of our cultural dynamic, we are continuing to see more and more job hunters taking advantage of a vertical they are comfortable with in order to find work. We anticipated growth last year and the numbers do show that job hunters are expanding their presence on social sites. Simply put, social networks provide a way for job seekers to tap into a large pool of job opportunities easily.”
However, he cautions job seekers against spending too much time online because the interaction that comes from an in-person meeting with the employees and potential colleagues at the company you’re interested in can never be replaced by a computer screen, he says.
“For active job seekers, spending an hour or two a day on social media, with the professional mindset of connecting with employers and looking for job listings, can pay off,” Finnigan says. For those who aren’t actively looking but are open to new opportunities, it’s important to make sure your profiles are current and the content is professional and appropriate.
Previous research from Jobvite found that 86% of recruiters are likely to look at social profiles for candidates, with 48% reporting they always do so. If you’re looking to clean up your profile, consider including content about participation in professional organizations. Why? Eighty percent of recruiters said they like to see that on social profiles; but just 1 in 5 job seekers have posted that information.
“My advice to employers is to use the standard employee background check initially and use social media for reference checks rather than prying too deeply into a candidate’s social media background,” Finnigan says. “Regardless, job seekers should know employers are looking at these and should be aware of the content they are putting out there.”


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5 Best Cloud Storage

It's cloud storage week, with Dropbox rolling out an update that improves how its users can share things, Microsoft's SkyDrive getting dedicated desktop apps and a revamped feature set, and Google Drive finally making its long-awaited debut. The market suddenly got much more competitive perhaps even before we all realized it was necessary.
Although there are many more options out there, some serving specific niches, we've hand-picked what arguably are the most high-profile and consumer-friendly cloud storage services currently out. We took them for a spin to see how well they stack against each other, first with a brief overview on the table below and later in better detail, with impressions and commentary to give you a better idea of which one may fit your needs best.

	Dropbox	Google Drive	iCloud	SkyDrive	SugarSync
Free storage	2GB	5GB	5GB	7GB (25GB limited time offer)	5GB
Additional storage (price per year)	50GB ($99); 100GB ($199)	25GB ($30); 100GB ($60)	10GB ($20); 20GB ($40); 50GB ($100)	20GB ($10); 50GB ($25); 100GB ($50)	30GB ($50); 60GB ($100); 100GB ($150)
File size limit	300MB via browser, unlimited from desktop	10GB	25MB free accounts, 250MB paid users	2GB
Desktop apps	Windows, OS X, Linux	Windows, OS X	Windows, OS X	Windows, OS X	Windows, OS X
Mobile apps	iOS, Android, BlackBerry	Android, iOS	iOS	Windows Phone, iOS	iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone
Web interface	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Version tracking	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Multiple folder sync	No	No	No	Sort of	Yes
Sync over LAN	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Stream to mobile	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Public sharing	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
File/folder collaboration	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Password protect file sharing	No	No	No	No	Yes

Dropbox

Dropbox wasn't the first cloud-based storage service in the market, but it certainly was the one that pioneered the seamless one-folder synchronization approach that everyone is following now: toss any file into a preset folder and it automatically appears in any other device connected to your account. Make an edit and everything synchronizes instantaneously. Famous for its simplicity and ease of use, Dropbox doesn't fall behind when it comes to features either, with a version tracking system, easy sharing, collaboration options, and more.
Performance-wise Dropbox offers more flexibility than most competing services. You can tweak how fast it uploads and downloads files, which is great if you don't want it to steal bandwidth from other important things, and if two devices are on the same network they will sync much faster over LAN.


The Dropbox client works the same on every major platform -- Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, BlackBerry -- and you can also access your files through its clean and capable web interface on any device with a browser. Another key strength is that its popularity has led a lot of third-party developers to integrate Dropbox synchronization functionality into their apps and services using the public API.
Its main drawback? Dropbox offers just 2GB of storage for free, which compares unfavorably to rivals, but you can bump that up to 18GB without spending a dime by referring new users (at 500MB bonus space apiece). Paid storage is also expensive: 50GB or 100GB of extra storage costs $9.99 or $19.99 a month.

Google Drive

The debutant Google Drive offers the same drag-and-drop synchronization capabilities as Dropbox on the desktop, with clients available for Windows and OS X, but its web portion is more robust than the latter. On the web, Drive ties in with Google Docs and another handful of Drive apps for Chrome to support up to 30 types of files, allowing you to view or edit images and videos, work on documents, and more, right inside the browser.
Sharing capabilities are also present, but as far as I can tell you can't set permissions from the desktop client, so you'll need to go to the web app and click through a few options depending if you want to send by email, share with other users, or make a file public. You can set files as view-only or make them editable.


Search is also a big part of Google Drive -- again, from the web interface -- allowing you to search by document type, owner, and other advanced filters. There's even OCR capabilities built into the service so Google will scan any images on your Drive account for text and make them searchable, or if Google can decipher the contents of your pictures (a landmark, for example), you can just search by subject and it will come up in the results. That's a neat feature indeed, although it might turn off more privacy conscious users -- especially after checking the TOS.
Google Drive is also available on Android and the iOS client is supposedly on the way. It comes with 5GB of free storage (Google Docs files don't count towards that limit), and offers upgrade options like $2.49/month for 25GB of extra storage, $4.99/month for 100GB of storage, and 200GB for $9.99/month.

Apple iCloud

Apple's iCloud lacks many of the features available in cloud storage services like Dropbox or SkyDrive, but still stands to grab a good chunk of the market for a simple reason: its deep integration with iOS. In fact, almost 70% of the 350+ million iDevice users have access to iCloud, with over 100 million using it already.
If you are into the Apple ecosystem this one is a no-brainer. It's virtually transparent to the user and can keep your mail, contacts, calendar, documents, backups, and more, synchronized and stored in the cloud. Apple's iWork suite as well as various third-party OS X and iOS apps come with iCloud sync capabilities built in, but aside from those you won't be able to just throw any type of file into your account. It's definitely a more streamlined yet closed way to manage your stuff in the cloud.


Your music, movies, apps, books, and TV shows purchased from iTunes are saved to the cloud but don't count against your free storage, and you'll be able to stream that content to your iPhone and iPad. Pay an extra $25 a year for iTunes Match and you'll be able to store and stream music obtained from other sources, too.
The web interface is more limited compared to other cloud services but it's there in case you need to quickly check up on you mail, contacts or iWork documents from a browser, or to use the handy "Find My Phone" feature. Otherwise it's available on Mac, Windows and iOS and comes with 5GB of storage for free.

SkyDrive, SugarSync, Our Picks

SkyDrive

Microsoft's SkyDrive has been around for a while but just recently it received a major revamp that puts the service in the spotlight once again. New dedicated apps for Windows and OS X integrate into the OS with a folder where users can drop files into. The service now includes the synchronization abilities of Live Mesh as well as its unique "fetch" feature, which enables you to remotely access any file on your computer, even those outside the default SkyDrive folder. Mobile apps are available for iOS and Windows Phone.


Like Google Drive, SkyDrive's web interface lets you create and edit documents within the browser for Microsoft Office products like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, and everything is searchable powered by Bing. You can also share files and folders with groups or via public links and set them as view-only or allow edits.
Overall SkyDrive is a very well-rounded cloud storage solution. It comes with 7GB of space, which is already enough to beat the other contenders in this round-up, and if you signed up before April 22 you can bump that to 25GB. Extra storage is also the cheapest all around at $10, $25 and $50 per year for 20GB, 50GB or 100GB.

SugarSync

Another well-established cloud storage provider and perhaps one of the most feature rich services you will find. SugarSync is among the very few that lets users pick folders all over your computer to sync, rather than having users reorganize stuff and throw everything into a single folder. This allows very fine-grained control over what to sync to each device connected to your account.
That extra flexibility brings some added complexity that might turn off novice users -- it's not rocket science but it is a bit more work to manage compared to services like Dropbox that require almost no user intervention.


Other features include uploading via email (with Outlook integration), no file size limits, media streaming to mobile devices, and the ability to share files and folders with specific users or publicly, with the option to password-protect said files. There's also version tracking but versions are only saved for 5 days versus 25-30 on all others.
SugarSync is available on Windows and OS X desktops and just about every mobile platform. You get 5GB of free storage out of the box, while additional storage can be had for a monthly fee of $4.99 (30GB), $9.99 (60GB), $14.99 (100GB), $24.99 (250GB), or $39.99 (500GB).

Making some picks

The great thing about having many free cloud storage options is that we don't really need to pick one single winner. Rather, you should pick whatever meets your needs and has the stronger support for the platforms you use. If you are running low on space you could even combine two or three while sticking in the free tier.
In my case, combining iCloud and Dropbox works just fine. The first because I already have a couple of iDevices and using the cloud to backup my data is as simple as flipping a switch. The second because I've been using it for years to store my day-to-day work files and other important stuff I may need access to while on the go. A service like SkyDrive could replace Dropbox for me, but for now at least, since I'm not running low on space, not even the free 25GB are enough incentive to switch.
If I were to pick some winners, however, I'd go for something like this:

• Ease of use without sacrificing features: Dropbox.
• Best deal on free and paid storage: SkyDrive
• Fine-grained control and vast feature set: SugarSync
• Best browser experience (and no-brainer if you use Google Docs a lot): Google Drive

Examples of Big Data benefits

There is big hype being generating around the topic of Big Data, but there is no doubt that data volumes across global enterprises are ramping up exponentially.
IDC’s latest estimates puts the volume of digital content generated in 2012 at 2.7 zettabytes (ZB), up a staggering 48% from 2011. Over 90% of this information is unstructured (images, videos, MP3 files, and files based on social media). As such it contains potentially valuable information, but is difficult to analyse. As businesses seek to squeeze high-value insights from this data, the research group expects Big Data to become the next "must have" competency in 2012 and to see data and analytics technologies, including in-memory databases and BI tools, move into the mainstream.
Such moves to maximise the value of Big Data stores were recently undertaken at the research and development department of consumer products giant Unilever, which employs over 6,000 specialists stationed in 20 countries. It recently began an eScience project intended to accelerate the company’s access to global information. The programme was conceived to promote the usage of public data for biology and informatics research. To underpin the Big Data service a highly-scalable environment that supports parallel computation and heavy data storage demands was required.
Pete Keeley, Unilever Research’s eScience IT lead for cloud solutions, explained the company decided to partner with genomic data analysis company Eagle Genomics for the project. The programme relies on large Amazon Web Services cloud-based processing, and Amazon relational database service to store the computation results. Amazon’s cloud storage buckets maintain non-relational data as it migrates between various instances.
“Unilever’s digital data programme now processes genetic sequences twenty times faster — without incurring higher compute costs. In addition, its robust architecture supports ten times as many scientists, all working simultaneously,” Keeley said.
Speeding up the generation of reports derived from Big Data was also a priority for Deutsche Postbank in the UK. Its core business in London is corporate lending for commercial real estate (CRE) and, as a result, branch managers need accurate and timely management reports to help them make investment decisions. The financial company reported that a recent Big Data analytics roll out was required because it was finding CRE reporting were becoming increasingly time consuming and involved multiple staff to manually collect data from disparate sources.
In an attempt to address these issues the company evaluated multiple analytics offering from companies including Oracle, QlickView and Logica. Ultimately it selected an IBM Smart Analytics system designed to provide a single view of business information so that decisions can be made based on up-to-date information.
Head of IT at Deutsche Postbank, Clarel Sookun, said: "The system has really proved its worth by reducing the time it takes to produce our reports for CRE from hours to minutes and they are 'accurate to the penny'. The IBM system allows us to centrally store actual and reconciled data and gives us the ability to produce further management reporting at a higher quality level."
The success of the system has led to plans to extend it to the bank's finance operations, analysing loan and interest data, and performing 'what-if' scenarios using graphical data.
Sookun added: "The bank is now able to analyse data in different formats and produce subsets of reports as and when required, which used to be a very labour-intensive task. Implementing the system also unexpectedly highlighted inaccuracies in our existing data and we are now confident in consistent, high quality reporting.  The beauty of the new system is that it can also integrate with our existing systems."
Attempts to improve access to Big Data recently led to one of the most “infrastructure challenging” project for global information group Thomson Reuters, which has with 55,000 staff spread across 100 countries. The organisation currently uses NetApp storage to support a wide array of business systems and research platforms. The Thomson Reuters shared IT infrastructure and cloud are built on NetApp storage, the VMware vSphere virtualisation platform, and Cisco networking switches. This infrastructure – supporting around 16 petabytes of global data - provides a foundation for Oracle-based content and metadata systems for Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw legal research service, which is used by 98% of the largest firms in the United States.
A recent enhancement of the Westlaw service – to create the WestlawNext offering required a major infrastructure upgrade for the company. “Our infrastructure strategy for WestlawNext required dramatically scaling shared storage,” said says Mick Atton, vice president and chief architect, Thomson Reuters Professional Division.
To facilitate this the company implemented a shared IT infrastructure and cloud foundation, which allowed it to avoid building a new two-megawatt data centre at an estimated cost of $65m. “NetApp performance and on-the-fly scalability allow us, for example, to search on a significantly larger body of content, as well as to seamlessly handle the unpredictable workloads of a new launch. In just the first year, we scaled to bring on some 6,000 new users, exceeding our first year adoption forecast by 50%,” said Cary Felbab, vice president, technology, Thomson Reuters Professional Division.
For global property consultancy Knight Frank a key objective of its Big Data strategy centred on deploying a system to help staff combine geospatial data with other sources of information. To facilitate this, working with Microsoft Partner intelligence, Knight Frank upgraded to Microsoft SQL Server 2012. The integration, reporting, and analysis capabilities — combined with Bing Maps for Enterprise — provided a platform for building a reporting and analysis tool for the London residential development team.
The first step in this process was to develop an application based on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise, to give access to rich data on residential development opportunities in London. As a result the London team can use maps to either find an existing development site or add a new one. The filtering and segmentation capabilities of the application can then be used to drive deeper-level reporting and analysis provided by Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services and Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Power View.

Given the exponential rate at which corporate data volumes are expanding it is apparent that the CIOs cannot afford to shy away from the analytical and infrastructure issues posed by Big Data. And it is equally apparently that successfully taming the Big Data tiger can deliver compelling business benefits. The recent Economist Intelligence Unit report, The Deciding Factor: Big Data & Decision making, reveals that nine out of 10 business leaders believe data is now the fourth factor of production, as fundamental to business as land, labour and capital. The study, commissioned by Capgemini among over 600 C-level executives and senior management and IT leaders worldwide, indicates that the use of Big Data has improved businesses’ performance, on average; by 26% and that the impact will grow to 41% over the next three years. The majority of companies (58%) claim they will make a bigger investment in Big Data over the next three years.
Two-thirds of executives consider their organisations are ‘data-driven’, reporting that data collection and analysis underpins their firm’s business strategy and day-to-day decision-making.
“The exploitation of Big Data fuels a step change in the quality of business decision-making,” said Paul Nannetti, global sales and portfolio director, Capgemini.
“But it’s not only through harnessing the many new sources of data that organisations can obtain competitive advantage. It’s the ability to quickly and efficiently analyse that data to optimise processes and decision making in real time that adds the greatest value. In this way, genuinely data-driven companies are able to monitor customer behaviours and market conditions with greater certainty, and react with speed and effectiveness to differentiate from competition.”

Top tips for improving your email marketing success rate

Email marketing continues to dominate as one of the most popular forms of advertising around, yet everyone is continually looking to improve their success rate on this platform. What's great is that you don't always have to move heaven and Earth to boost your stats.
Anyone can send an email out with an advert for a product and score the occasional sale. That's not difficult. To get the real 'wow' stats you just need to look a little deeper at what you are doing in your email marketing campaign and how recipients are reacting to your messages. 
A survey from Econsultancy in 2012 found that two-thirds of marketers branded their return from email marketing services 'good' or 'excellent'. The following tips are not just for the one-third that have yet to achieve satisfactory results; they are also for the happy two-thirds, as they may be able to elevate their game even further...

Measure the stats

Before you can talk about how to improve the 'success rate' of your email marketing, you need to define success. There are a range of metrics that could imply success, from the basic open rate to whether people are clicking through from the email to your website, but also whether anyone is actually converting too.
It's certainly worth keeping an eye on all three of these stats (along with your list growth rate, unsubscribe rate and any other figures relevant to your wider objectives), while also interpreting them in context. A high click through rate is great, but what does it mean that there are zero conversions at the end of every customer journey?
Further to this, make sure you take into account seasonal trends - it may be that every January the open rate for certain industries is low.

Diagnose the problem, then apply the cure

By looking at the figures - via whichever analytics system you are using - you will see where your campaign is under performing. Like any good doctor, when you begin to see what the symptoms are then you are able to come up with a reasoned explanation as to why it is happening - and begin working on a cure.
So if your open rate is low (or simply lower than you would like) then you have narrowed down the problem area. Now think about all the factors that could be affecting this - the 'from' field, subject line, time sent and any deliverability issues. From here, it is a question of tweaking each contributing factor and seeing what the results tell you.
Some simple A/B testing should tell you, for instance, whether a £10-off voucher or a £20-off voucher is required to convince a significant proportion of a certain demographic to open your message. Also, don't forget to include the sign-up process in your diagnosis, maybe the people on your email list simply are not good leads?

Content

The content of your message is, of course, what is driving its success, so think carefully about what you are including and how this contributes to your goals. Some companies try to include too much in a message and end up with several weak calls-to-action - you want to provide the reader with relevant and engaging content (text, pictures, etc.) with a clear 'next step'.
Make sure you look at all of the different facets of your email, not just the body text and subject line (although these are admittedly major points). For example, have you thought about playing with the from field? You could have the message coming from an individual within your firm, rather than just the brand name, or perhaps it is more effective to have just the brand name? Keep testing to find out.
A key part of producing the right content is relevance and a prerequisite for relevance is actually understanding your target customer base. Who they are, what motivates them and how they react to certain issues - these can all help you to meet or even surpass their expectations.

Mobile

Adobe research from 2012 revealed that 79 per cent of smartphone owners use their devices to check their email - and the proportion of people with a smartphone continues to grow rapidly - so if you are not taking into account the mobile factor, then you are heading for trouble.
Not only will this affect the length of your content, as mobiles have smaller screens and will resize messages, but it should also inform other decisions, such as the type of files you send out and the size of the message. Recipients will not be pleased if they decide to download your message on their phone, only to see 100MB of their 500MB per month data plan eaten up by the email!
Also, think about how your call to action can be adapted if a lot of people are opening the message on a phone - including a link to a cluttered web page may not be appropriate. Instead, think about creating a responsive web page; so if they do come through on a mobile, then it will look good on their screens. You could also consider including a phone number very high up in the email - preferably tracking the number to show that the lead came from an email.
All of these things and more can elevate your email marketing success; it's all about zeroing in on a problem area and making it fit better with your recipients' expectations or motivations.

Powerful Newsletter Builders

Like other forms of content marketing, email marketing can be a very powerful tool for boosting engagement and generating leads. But sending plain text emails from your Gmail account just doesn’t cut it for businesses. To effectively harness the power of email, you need a strong newsletter builder to create campaigns, manage contacts, and analyze results. Here are 7 of the best newsletter builders to help you create email campaigns that get results.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the most popular email clients for bloggers thanks to its affordability, ease of use, high-quality campaign reports, and fun quirky culture. This newsletter builder offers an indefinite free trial period based on your number of contacts and emails per month, and its pay scale for additional contacts and emails starts at just $10 per month.
With a drag-and-drop design editor, 437 templates to get you started building your email newsletter, and a powerful template language you can use to create fully customizable templates of your own, Mailchimp is one of best professional newsletter builders out there.
Other features include:

• Unlimited image hosting (exceeds market standard)
• Spam checker
• Autoresponder
• Full featured API
• Automatic removal of unsubscribes and bounced emails
• Social media and Google Analytics integration
• A/B testing
• Detailed reporting
• Mobile apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android

Learn more about Mailchimp here.

Aweber

Another popular email client for bloggers and internet marketers, Aweber is known for its professionalism, support, autoresponder capability, and anti-spam policy. Aweber ranks at the top in terms of customer service, offering all types of support 24/7 to help customers build amazing email campaigns. While this email client does not offer any image hosting or a drag-and-drop editing feature, the WYSIWYG editor is an excellent tool and includes 150 templates to start with.
Other features include:

• Spam Assassin spam checker program
• Autoresponder series with advanced scheduling
• Facebook, Twitter, and third-party integration
• 100% email deliverability
• RSS-to-email and blog digest capability
• List segmentation and tracking
• Educational knowledge base, blog, webinars, and videos

Learn more about the Aweber newsletter builder here.

GetResponse

This professional newsletter builder is known for its design flexibility and top-notch reporting. In fact, according to one email marketing review, GetResponse has no disadvantages or cons to worry about, making it a powerful yet affordable email sender.
With high-quality email creation tools, an excellent WYSIWYG editor, and 350 templates to choose from, this email builder offers unbeatable creative options. GetResponse also includes powerful autoresponder capability, custom landing page and form builders, a strong spam checker, and in-depth reporting and analytics to help you make the most of your email marketing campaigns.
Other features include:

• 1 GB image hosting (exceeds market standard)
• Both time-based and action-based autoresponders
• Social media and Google Analytics integration
• Powerful reporting on ROI, autoresponders, social activity, and more
• Mobile apps for iPhone and Android

Learn more about GetResponse here.

My Newsletter Builder

With high marks in ease of use, reporting, and customer service, My Newsletter Builder is the email client of choice for many big brands and groups. This email campaign tool offers the perfect combination of affordable and flexible with over 1000 templates to choose from, a high-quality drag-and-drop editor, and unlimited image hosting. While MNB doesn’t have a built-in spam checker or A/B testing, it does include hundreds of stock buttons and images, photo editing, audio and video streaming, and lots more features that make it a flexible and powerful email tool.
Other features include:

• Non-profit, business and personal, and enterprise-level solutions
• Pre-created content and designs to help you get started
• Advanced HTML editor
• Header customization
• Unlimited multimedia storage
• Unlimited contacts and segmentation
• Free online sharing, publishing, and archiving
• Automatic bounce management
• Google Analytics and Survey Gizmo integration
• Third-party app integration

Learn more about My Newsletter Builder here.

Benchmark Email

This email client consistently ranks well in all categories and is affordable to boot. Benchmark Email combines solid contact management, in-depth statistics reporting, and high-quality customer service with hundreds of email templates, plenty of image hosting, and an excellent drag-and-drop editor to help you make the best email campaigns possible. This email sender offers a range of send-based, list-based, and high-volume plans to accommodate everyone.
Other popular features of Benchmark Email include:

• Spam checker
• Human approval of emails to prevent spam
• Autoresponder capability
• Social media and Google Analytics integration
• 10 MB image hosting
• Automatic unsubscribe and bounce removal

Learn more about Benchmark Email here.

Campaign Monitor

If you know HTML or prefer to design your own emails, Campaign Monitor is an excellent newsletter builder for you. This email manager offers unlimited image hosting, automatically inlines CSS, and doesn’t impose design restrictions or “powered by” badges, allowing you to be as flexible and creative as you want. Campaign Monitor also offers about 40 templates to help beginners send professional-looking emails.
Other features include:

• In-browser HTML updates
• Powerful template language to turn web pages into email templates
• Mobile-optimized designs
• One-click content importing
• WYSIWYG template editor
• RSS to email
• A/B testing
• Autoresponders and triggered messaging
• Social media, Google Analytics, and hundreds more integrations
• Paid spam checker

Learn more about Campaign Monitor here.

Constant Contact

Known for its high-quality customer service and contact management, Constant Contact is the newsletter builder of choice for many small businesses, associations, and non-profit organizations. With hundreds of professional email templates, a quick and easy drag-and-drop WYSIWYG editor, and some image hosting, this email client makes it easy to create and send beautiful emails without any technical experience or HTML.
Other features include:

• Detailed reporting and analytics
• Several contact importing options
• Autoresponder capability
• Spam checker
• Automatic duplicate email check and unsubscribe removal
• Free personal coaching and support

Learn more about Constant Contact here.

Other Newsletter Builders

Which email clients do you use and why? We’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences in the comments!

The malware is the result of a growing trend of cybercriminals targeting online brokerage accounts, Group-IB researchers say

Security researchers from Russian cybercrime investigations company Groub-IB have recently identified a new piece of malware designed to steal login credentials from specialised software used to trade stocks and other securities online.
The malware targets Internet trading software called QUIK and FOCUS IVonline from Russian software development firms ARQA Technologies and EGAR Technology, respectively, Group-IB researchers said Wednesday in a blog post.
The software can be used to trade on the Moscow Exchange (MICEX), the Saint Petersburg Exchange, the Ukrainian Exchange and other exchanges. It's also used by other brokerage firms like BrokerCreditService in Cyprus, Otkritie in the U.K. and Russia, InstaForex, as well as by large banks like Sberbank, Alfa-Bank and Promsvyazbank, Group-IB said.
Once installed on a computer, the malware checks for the presence of the targeted applications and begins to monitor how the user interacts with them by taking screen shots. It also steals the log-in credentials and uploads the data to a command and control server, the Group-IB researchers said.
Customers should have standard malware protection installed on their computers like antivirus programs and firewalls if they use financial software, Vladimir Kurlyandchik, head of business development at ARQA Technologies, said Thursday via email. "This is our standard recommendation."
Customers who suspect that their accounts might have been accessed without authorization should immediately change their access keys, he said.
According to Kurlyandchik, the QUIK software supports several mechanisms that can prevent account hijacking. This includes the ability to restrict access only to certain IP (Internet Protocol) addresses, as well as two-step authentication via SMS or RSA SecureID tokens.
Clients and brokers can choose the best option suited for their situation, Kurlyandchik said. The brokerage firms can also use some tools to monitor activity and block access to suspicious IP addresses, he said.
However, even if such security features are available it doesn't necessarily mean that everyone is using them. There are many ways to extract funds from online trading accounts because of poor anti-fraud protection on the server side, said Andrey Komarov, the head of international projects at Group-IB.
For example, FOCUS IVonline is normally used through an encrypted VPN (Virtual Private Network) channel provided by a Russian security product, but this is not enough and hackers can still easily abuse the software, Komarov said. The malware can use remote access tools like VNC or RDP to allow attackers to connect through the victim's computer.
Most of these specialized trading applications are well designed and have good security, but they are installed in untrusted environments, so it's hard to protect them, Komarov said. The customer's PC security is the main issue, he said.
There have been previous reports of hackers compromising online brokerage accounts. Those attacks primarily used form grabbers and Web injects like those seen in online banking malware, Komarov said.
Targeting online trading accounts is part of a big and growing trend for cybercriminals, he said.

Microsoft launches YouTube app, Google demands it taken down

  Google yesterday issued a cease-and-desist letter to Microsoft, demanding Redmond pull its YouTube app from the Windows Phone Store. The app has been available for over a week; however, it violates YouTube's API usage terms. Google says Microsoft has until May 22 to withdraw or change the app before deeper consequences are triggered -- possibly even legal recourse.
Microsoft's primary offense is the app's ability to strip advertisements from YouTube videos -- an entirely deliberate feature, according to reports. Additionally, the WP8-based app provides users with ability to download videos to their devices -- another mark against Microsoft in its use of YouTube's API.
When ZDNet asked Microsoft if something had changed policy-wise, allowing them to release such a YouTube app, the company stated, "Windows Phone invested additional engineering resources against existing APIs to re-architect a Windows Phone app that delivers a great YouTube experience, including support for unique Windows Phone 8 features such Live Tiles and Kids Corner. Microsoft did not receive any additional technical support to create the Windows Phone YouTube app."
Shortly after Google issued its notice, Microsoft responded that it would be "happy to include advertising", but claims it needs Google to provide the "necessary" APIs. An "API" is a set of high-level instructions commonly used in software and web-based services, allowing developers to utilize features in a simplified way.
At the time of this writing, the app is still available for download and there have been no outward signs of Microsoft hustling to remove it.
Microsoft's official response is as follows:

"YouTube is consistently one of the top apps downloaded by smartphone users on all platforms, but Google has refused to work with us to develop an app on par with other platforms. Since we updated the YouTube app to ensure our mutual customers a similar YouTube experience, ratings and feedback have been overwhelmingly positive.  We’d be more than happy to include advertising but need Google to provide us access to the necessary APIs. In light of Larry Page’s comments today calling for more interoperability and less negativity, we look forward to solving this matter together for our mutual customers."

The "necessary APIs" part is a bit misleading. The APIs Microsoft appears to be interested in are for metadata only; these bits and pieces of information about each video aren't really necessary for displaying ads. Rather, the difficulty for Microsoft is its desire to craft more than just a WP8 app which essentially opens to YouTube's website; the software-maker wants to build an app that follows WP8's tile-based design and sports its own look and feel. To do this though, Microsoft needs access to YouTube's video metadata -- data which Google doesn't seem eager to part with.