Infotrade

Just when you think that we’ve innovated all that we can, something new comes along and completely blows our mind. It could be an advancement in hardware, software or just a new way of thinking of things. Humans are pretty resilient when it comes to thinking up new things to tinker with and making our lives easier. This year was pretty awesome when it comes to innovation, and not the innovation that you might be thinking of. There was no “next big thing” to speak of, meaning there was no new big company to take attention away from Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft. That’s ok, though, because there were plenty of companies that looked at what we do on a daily basis, and found new and cool ways to make it more fun or less time consuming. That’s innovation, too. I think of what  Lyft  and  Uber  have done to make our rides around big cities more enjoyable and less stressful, and you have to look at what Lytro has done to the camera, as well as what  Li...

L ooking for a few ways to attract website visitors in the new year without compromising your ethics or stooping to spam techniques? Give any of the following options a try: Focus on content creation.  Good content markets itself. When you put the effort into building and promoting great pieces of content, the natural result is more traffic to your website via shares and referrals. Add social sharing buttons to your website.  Don’t assume that your readers will take the initiative to share your content on their own. Instead, make it easy for your site to accrue more visitors from social networking sites by adding social sharing buttons to your company’s blog posts. Answer questions on social networking sites.  When you see people asking questions online, provide whatever helpful information you can. Doing so will earn you both website traffic and customers for life. Distribute press releases for actual achievements.  While you shouldn’t abuse press release di...

More bibliophiles are turning to e-books rather than their paper forebears for their reading consumption. The percentage of people who read e-books in the past year jumped from 16 percent to 23 percent, according to a study by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. As tablet and e-reader ownership rises, so does the amount of e-reading, the survey of 2,252 people 16 and older in the U.S. found. The percentage of tablet or e-reader owners rose to 33 percent from 18 percent last year. One-quarter of those surveyed own a tablet device, such as the iPad or Kindle Fire, up from the 10 percent who owned one a year ago. Ownership of some of the first models of e-readers, such as Kindles and Nooks, which lack bright, color displays, rose from 10 percent in 2011 to 19 percent this year. Printed book reading fell as e-reading rose. The ratio of people who had read a book over the past year dropped to 67 percent, down from 72 percent a year ago. The aver...

You’re an ambitious entrepreneur. You have big dreams and goals for the new year. You may even have so many things planned for 2013 for growing your company that you’re not sure how you’re going to get it all done. You’ve already been working hard, insane hours maybe, putting in lots of face time with people who can help you grow. Want to know my secret to growing a company year over year, without burning out?  My secret is prioritization.   And below, I’m going to break down exactly how this process works to improve goal setting, and more importantly, goal achievement. 1. Getting clear is the first step. First, take out a sheet of paper or a blank document on your computer, and write out every single thing that you want to achieve in 2013 (and beyond). Whether you want to write a book, start new projects, land a deal with a sponsor or speak at certain events, write it all down. Once you have a list of everything that you can imagine for your company in a the...

Below are some of the notable figures from the business world who died in 2012, including nimble chief executives and inspired entrepreneurs. Compiled by Stephen Miller. John Sargent Led Doubleday & Co. for two decades, helping create a selfstyled "communications conglomerate" with its own printing presses, broadcasting and film units and a major-league baseball team, the New York Mets. He retired in 1985; the following year, the Mets won the World Series, and Doubleday was sold to German publisher Bertelsmann AG. Died Feb. 5 at age 87. Chaleo Yoovidhya A rags-to-riches Thai billionaire who created Red Bull and spawned an industry of caffeine-laced, pick-me-up beverages. Unlike his hyperpowered drink, Mr. Chaleo was said to be shy and retiring. Died March 17 in his 80s. Sanford McDonnell CEO and later chairman who shepherded McDonnell Douglas Corp. through a slack period in commercial aviation through sales of the F-15 Eagle and F/ A-18 Hornet fighters. He also helped in...

Marketing innovation is serving as a major priority for big brand owners like L'Oréal, Reckitt Benckiser and Diageo as they seek to find new ways to connect with US customers. L'Oréal USA, the cosmetics giant, has created an incubation fund to identify potential media channels for experimentation, and partners that could help it achieve this goal. In evidence of such activity in practice, it allied with Placecast, a mobile geo-location service, to send out messages encouraging sampling of its Kiehl's range, a tactic that is now being introduced for other brands. "Just think about some of the big digital plays - Google, Amazon or Facebook. Every day when you open the paper it seems they are launching some major innovation. A consumer packaged goods company needs to have a similar mindset," Marc Speichert, the chief marketing officer of L'Oréal USA,  told The Hub Magazine . Reckitt Benckiser, the household products group, has adopted this kind of attitude, such...