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The iPhone 15: A Game-Changer

The tech world is ablaze with excitement as September 2023 heralds the arrival of Apple’s latest masterpiece – the iPhone 15. Apple, known for pushing the boundaries of innovation, continues to set new standards in the smartphone industry with each new release. The iPhone 15 is no exception, poised to dazzle consumers with a slew of cutting-edge features that promise to redefine our mobile experience. In this article, we’ll delve into the details and explore what makes this release a true game-changer.

Apple has always been synonymous with sleek and elegant designs, and the latest iPhone lives up to that reputation. Its bezel-free, edge-to-edge display not only maximizes screen real estate but also captivates with its refined form factor and premium materials. Holding this iPhone is like holding a piece of the future in your hand.

Under the hood, the iPhone 15 is fueled by the most advanced chipset ever seen in a smartphone. Its lightning-fast processing speeds and unparalleled graphics capabilities ensure that it effortlessly handles any task you throw at it. Whether you’re a multitasking pro or a mobile gamer, this iPhone is your trusty companion.

Apple’s commitment to smartphone photography shines brighter than ever in this release. The device boasts a state-of-the-art camera system featuring a triple-lens setup with unmatched low-light capabilities and cutting-edge image processing algorithms. No matter the lighting conditions, expect stunning photos and videos with unparalleled detail.

Privacy and security are paramount, and Apple goes the extra mile in the September 2023 iPhone. The device incorporates advanced facial recognition technology, ensuring that your phone is truly yours alone. Furthermore, Apple maintains its unwavering commitment to data encryption and secure payment options, granting you peace of mind in a digital age.

Prepare to be transported to new realms of multimedia bliss. The edge-to-edge display enchants with vibrant colors and razor-sharp visuals, breathing life into every photo, video, and game. The device’s enhanced stereo speakers complement the visuals with immersive audio, making every moment a sensory delight.

Apple’s ecosystem continues to be a testament to seamless integration between devices. The iPhone seamlessly connects and syncs with your other Apple devices, elevating your digital life. The latest iOS iteration introduces a myriad of features and improvements, ensuring a user-friendly and intuitive experience.

As we eagerly anticipate the arrival of the iPhone 15, it’s evident that Apple is once again poised to redefine smartphone innovation. From its groundbreaking design to its formidable performance and cutting-edge features, this release is set to rewrite the rules. Whether you’re a tech enthusiast, a professional, or simply someone who appreciates the beauty of cutting-edge technology, the September 2023 iPhone promises to leave an indelible mark. Prepare to embark on a new era of mobile excellence.

Ready to experience the future of mobile technology? Contact Colure Media today to explore how we can elevate your brand with the latest in digital advertising, app development, and social media marketing strategies.

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Unleashing the Potential of AI Chatbots for 24/7 Customer Support

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, setting your brand apart from the competition hinges on exceptional customer service. While conventional customer support methods like phone calls and emails are indispensable, they often fall short in meeting the expectations of modern consumers who demand rapid and personalized assistance. This has paved the way for the rise of AI chatbots, a revolutionary solution for offering round-the-clock customer support.

AI chatbots are sophisticated computer programs that simulate human conversations through the fusion of natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning. These digital assistants possess the remarkable capacity to manage a multitude of queries simultaneously, furnish personalized responses, and operate ceaselessly, every day of the year. As AI technology continues to advance, the capabilities of chatbots are expanding, empowering businesses to optimize customer experiences and augment sales.

The speed and efficiency afforded by AI chatbots are at the heart of their adoption in customer support. These bots excel at handling numerous inquiries concurrently, ensuring customers receive instant resolutions without enduring prolonged wait times. Consequently, businesses can amplify customer satisfaction, cultivate a sterling brand reputation, and foster loyalty by elevating the quality of customer interactions, all while incurring minimal costs.

Personalization has emerged as a cornerstone of contemporary customer service, further fueling the integration of AI chatbots. These intelligent bots adeptly learn customer preferences, purchase histories, and other relevant details, enabling them to deliver tailored recommendations, assistance, and promotions. This personalized approach resonates with customers, engendering brand loyalty. Moreover, chatbots bolster service quality by swiftly accessing real-time data and product information, thereby furnishing accurate responses to customer inquiries.

The utility of chatbots extends to conserving time and resources for businesses. The process of recruiting and training call center agents to provide round-the-clock coverage can be both expensive and time-intensive. Chatbots, on the other hand, can function cost-effectively with minimal oversight, rendering them an appealing alternative.

Finally, the symbiotic relationship between customers and AI chatbots drives continuous improvement in service delivery. As chatbots accumulate insights from their interactions, they incorporate machine learning to enhance accuracy and suggest tailored offerings aligned with customer preferences. This iterative approach optimizes customer satisfaction, accelerates response times, and curtails associated expenditures.

In conclusion, the evolution of AI chatbots into indispensable tools for businesses is undeniable, offering top-tier customer service, improved brand perception, enhanced customer loyalty, and streamlined operations. With their exceptional capability to provide seamless support and personalized interactions, AI chatbots stand as a transformative asset in modern customer engagement strategies. As industries continue to navigate the ever-evolving customer-centric landscape, embracing AI chatbots becomes a strategic imperative that can catalyze success. For comprehensive solutions that span from influencer marketing to digital advertising, reach out to Colure Media today. Let us help you elevate your brand through tailored strategies, including social media marketing campaigns and cutting-edge mobile app projects.

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The Rise of Dynamic NFTs: Unlocking a New Era of Digital Ownership

In the ever-evolving world of blockchain technology and digital art, a new concept has emerged that is revolutionizing the way we perceive non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Dynamic NFTs, the latest innovation in this space, are breathing new life into the digital art market and pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved with these unique digital assets. In this article, we will explore the concept of Dynamic NFTs, their potential applications, and how they are transforming the notion of digital ownership.

Understanding Dynamic NFTs:

At its core, a Dynamic NFT is an NFT that possesses the ability to change or evolve over time. Unlike traditional static NFTs that represent a fixed digital asset, Dynamic NFTs introduce an element of programmability, allowing for dynamic characteristics and interactions. These characteristics can range from animations, audio, or even real-time data updates, making the NFT a living, breathing entity in the digital realm.

Breaking the Boundaries of Digital Art:

Dynamic NFTs are redefining the boundaries of digital art, enabling artists to create immersive and interactive experiences for collectors. With the ability to incorporate animations, music, or other multimedia elements, artists can now craft NFTs that evolve and adapt to the viewer’s actions or external stimuli. This interactivity adds a new layer of engagement and emotional connection to the artwork, enhancing the overall value and appeal of the NFT.

Applications and Use Cases:

The potential applications of Dynamic NFTs extend far beyond the realm of art. These programmable assets can have various practical use cases, such as:

Gaming: Dynamic NFTs can be integrated into video games, allowing players to own unique in-game items that can evolve or gain new abilities over time. This creates a dynamic and personalized gaming experience, enhancing player engagement and fostering a sense of ownership.

Collectibles: Dynamic NFTs can be used to create digital collectibles that change or grow based on specific conditions. Imagine owning a collectible card that gains new abilities or attributes based on your achievements or milestones within a game or community.

Virtual Real Estate: Dynamic NFTs can be utilized in virtual worlds to represent real estate or properties. These assets can evolve or change based on the actions of the owner or the community, creating a dynamic and ever-changing digital landscape.

Digital Identities: Dynamic NFTs can serve as digital identities, allowing individuals to showcase their achievements, skills, or personal growth over time. These programmable identities can update automatically as the individual reaches new milestones or accomplishments.

The Future of Digital Ownership:

Dynamic NFTs represent an exciting frontier in the world of blockchain technology and digital ownership. With their ability to evolve, adapt, and interact with the viewer or the environment, these programmable assets are reshaping the way we perceive and engage with digital art and other digital assets. As the technology continues to advance, we can expect to see even more innovative use cases and exciting opportunities emerge in the world of Dynamic NFTs.

Conclusion:

Dynamic NFTs are unlocking a new era of digital ownership, where digital assets can evolve, adapt, and interact with their owners. This innovative concept is revolutionizing various industries, from art and gaming to virtual real estate and personal identities. As we witness the rise of Dynamic NFTs, it’s clear that we are only scratching the surface of their potential. The future holds endless possibilities for these programmable assets, reshaping the way we perceive, value, and interact with digital assets in the digital age.

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AI-Driven SEO Strategies: Outsmarting the Digital Competition

In today’s fast-paced digital world, staying ahead of the competition is crucial for businesses looking to succeed online. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is through search engine optimization (SEO) powered by artificial intelligence (AI). AI-driven SEO tactics offer a powerful tool that can significantly enhance website visibility and outperform competitors.


By utilizing machine learning algorithms, AI-driven SEO tactics collect and analyze data to boost a website’s search performance. These tactics enable businesses to optimize their websites for search engines and create compelling content that resonates with their target audience.

Let’s take a closer look at some smart AI-driven SEO strategies that businesses can employ to outsmart the competition:

Keyword Research: AI-driven tools can analyze competitors’ websites and identify commonly searched keywords. This valuable information allows businesses to optimize their website content using relevant, high-traffic keywords.

Natural Language Processing (NLP): NLP-based AI technology aids businesses in improving their website’s semantic search. By understanding the context and meaning behind words, NLP helps create content around topics and themes that customers are actively searching for.

Content Optimization: AI-driven tools can analyze a website’s content and provide actionable insights, such as identifying missing keywords or evaluating competitors’ successful content strategies.

Voice Search Optimization: With the growing popularity of voice assistants, AI technology can optimize websites for voice search by understanding natural language and common phrases.

The Power of AI-Driven SEO Strategies

Implementing AI-driven SEO tactics empowers businesses with a significant competitive edge in the digital marketplace. By leveraging data analytics, businesses can identify search trends and consumer behaviors to optimize their websites effectively and achieve higher search engine rankings.

Furthermore, AI-driven SEO enhances the user experience. By analyzing user behavior and search history, AI tools can suggest personalized content, improving engagement and creating a seamless customer journey.

In addition to these benefits, AI-driven SEO tactics offer a cost-effective solution for businesses. Instead of relying solely on costly pay-per-click advertising, implementing AI-driven SEO strategies can lead to long-term benefits through organic search results that drive continuous traffic to the website.

If you’re ready to seize the advantages of AI-driven SEO and propel your business forward in the dynamic realm of digital marketing, reach out to our NYC-based digital marketing agency. At the forefront of cutting-edge strategies, from SEO to influencer marketing, we are dedicated to optimizing your online presence. Contact us now to embark on a journey of sustained growth and elevated online visibility.

The Art of Hyper-Personalization: How AI Elevates Customer Experience
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The Art of Hyper-Personalization: How AI Elevates Customer Experience

The business landscape is continually evolving, demanding companies to be innovative and customer-centric to maintain a competitive edge. One of the most potent strategies for achieving this is through hyper-personalization, an art that AI has mastered to perfection.

Hyper-personalization involves leveraging customer data to create highly tailored experiences. By mining and analyzing data from various sources, businesses can deliver personalized content, products, and services that resonate with individual customers. AI plays a crucial role in this process, enabling companies to harness vast amounts of customer data effectively.

Understanding Hyper-Personalization

Thanks to advancements in big data and machine learning, companies can now gather and process copious amounts of data, providing valuable insights into their customers’ preferences. When coupled with AI capabilities, businesses can craft hyper-personalized experiences that feel tailor-made for each individual.

The Benefits of Hyper-Personalization

Hyper-personalization goes beyond improving customer experience; it fosters loyalty and trust. By creating an emotional connection through personalized interactions, customers are more likely to remain loyal to the brand. Furthermore, targeted marketing campaigns built on AI predictions can enhance brand awareness through positive word-of-mouth.

The Power of Hyper-Personalization

The potential of hyper-personalization is immense, but it requires businesses to invest in data analytics and AI-powered tools to reap the benefits fully. As AI continues to evolve, its capabilities in delivering hyper-personalization will only grow. Therefore, it is crucial for companies to stay ahead of the curve by embracing AI’s potential and integrating it into their strategies.

Incorporating AI-powered hyper-personalization can revolutionize the way businesses interact with customers and create long-lasting connections. By utilizing customer data effectively, companies can deliver experiences that stand out in today’s competitive market. Embracing AI-driven hyper-personalization is not just an option; it’s a necessity for businesses looking to thrive in the dynamic world of tomorrow. 

If you’re ready to take your marketing strategies to the next level, contact Colure Media, a leading NYC branding and digital advertising agency. Whether you need assistance with social media marketing, influencer marketing, or building your next mobile app project, our expert marketing consulting services are here to elevate your brand in the bustling landscape of New York.

Elon Musk Completes the Transformation of Twitter Into X
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Elon Musk Completes the Transformation of Twitter Into X

According to one recent study, Twitter had nearly 436 million monthly active users as of January 2023. The only thing more impressive than that is the fact that just one month prior, it only had 366 million – representing a staggering amount of growth in a short amount of time. Twitter, by its nature, has been disruptive since its inception.

But now, thanks to new owner Elon Musk, it is especially so. The tech billionaire has recently changed the name of one of the most popular social networking platforms on the globe to X – a move that is worth examining for a number of key reasons with big implications for the future. Twitter is Dead. Long Live “X” To quickly get caught up to speed, keep in mind that Musk only closed his deal to purchase Twitter on October 27, 2022. He quickly became the company’s CEO, at which point he also dissolved the existing

Twitter board of directors. To say that a lot has happened in that time is a bit of an understatement. He completely changed the way Twitter identity verification works, turning it into a paid subscription service. He laid off nearly 50% of the Twitter workforce. His tenure has been so controversial that it has been said it was the main reason why Mark Zuckerberg and Meta developed the new platform Threads, which has more than a passing resemblance to the way Twitter previously looked and functioned.

The company has also lost roughly 66% of its value during this period by most estimates. Now, the Twitter branding is no more. In addition to a new name and logo, Musk has changed language like “retweet” and removed other references to its past. In its place is “X”, which Musk has said he hopes will become a state of “unlimited interactivity” for people around the world. In other words, he wants it to be something far grander than Twitter was or could ever hope to be. Something he says is centered in “audio, video, messaging, payments, banking,” and more. Disruption is in the Eye of the Beholder If nothing else, Elon Musk’s transformation of social networking giant Twitter into X is nothing if not a lesson on the very nature of disruption.

Even though the word itself often has a negative connotation, the truth is that it is neither inherently good nor bad. The perception has less to do with the act itself and is more about the interpretation of those observing it. When Steve Jobs walked across a stage in 2007 and introduced the iPhone to the world, few could have predicted just how much disruption he would cause. That device changed the way we think about personal computing, standalone GPS units, digital cameras, wireless communication – you name it. But at the time, it was met with a lot of skepticism.

After all, mobile phones had existed for years prior to that. Why should anyone care about this one in particular? Another example would be a group of Reddit users employing the Robinhood app to disrupt the way we think about the Stock Market, possibly forever. They used a mobile app to suddenly shift the balance of power on Wall Street in a way that there may be no going back from. But at the time, it was met with derision and laughter. A bunch of “know-nothing kids” trading stocks and sharing information with each other on a message board? You’ve been able to trade stocks online for years. Why should anyone care about this specific instance? What both those examples have in common is that the disruption they brought with them was simultaneously a positive and a negative depending on your point of view.

They were disruptive not necessarily in ways people wanted or how they expected, but were ultimately what they needed at that moment in history. As the great Henry Ford once said “if I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” All this is to say that, while Elon Musk’s transformation of Twitter into X is certainly being met with criticism in real-time, will that perception stand the test of time? Will this, too, be something that people one day look back on and think “that’s where it all started” in the same way they do about the iPhone? Does Elon Musk have a grand plan in mind, one that will also give the people not what they want but what they need? Or will this all go down as one of the most clear-cut examples of a brand in decline in the history of not only social media, but of business in general?

A master class in having a brand transition go so poorly that you end up potentially getting charged by the San Francisco authorities as a result of it? Right now, nobody can say for sure. But one thing is certain: X has already managed to be disruptive and will likely remain so for the not-too-distant future.

The Freelancer vs Marketing Agency Dilemma: Making the Right Choice
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The Freelancer vs Marketing Agency Dilemma: Making the Right Choice

The decision of whether to hire a freelancer or a marketing agency is a crucial one that can greatly impact your marketing efforts. Understanding the advantages and considerations of each option is essential for making an informed choice. In this blog, we explore the unique characteristics of freelancers and marketing agencies, empowering you to make the best decision for your business.

Freelancers: Specialized Skills and Flexibility

Freelancers are independent professionals who offer specialized services on a project basis. With their expertise in specific areas like web design, copywriting, or social media marketing, they bring tailored solutions to the table. The flexibility and personalized attention of working with freelancers can be advantageous. However, it’s important to note that freelancers may have limited availability and might not offer a comprehensive suite of services.

Marketing Agencies: Comprehensive Solutions and Scalability

Marketing agencies provide a wide range of services, including graphic design, web development, SEO, social media marketing, advertising, and more. With their diverse teams of professionals, agencies offer comprehensive solutions to meet your marketing needs. The ability to scale up or down based on your requirements is another advantage. However, it’s crucial to consider the cost implications and find the agency that aligns with your business goals and values.

Pros and Cons: Finding the Right Fit

Hiring a marketing agency grants access to a full suite of services, expert insights, and scalability. However, it may come with a higher price tag and require diligent research to find the perfect match. On the other hand, freelancers offer flexibility, specialized expertise, and potential cost savings. However, their availability and capacity may be limited, and they may not offer a holistic approach to your marketing strategy.

Making an Informed Decision

When choosing between a freelancer and a marketing agency, it’s essential to consider your business goals, budget, and specific marketing requirements. Assessing the advantages and considerations of each option will guide you toward the right decision. Whether you decide to engage a marketing agency for comprehensive support or collaborate with freelancers for specialized tasks, aligning with professionals who understand your vision and can deliver results is paramount.

The decision between a freelancer and a marketing agency is crucial and requires thoughtful evaluation. By considering your business goals, budget, and specific marketing requirements, you can determine the option that best aligns with your needs and ensures the expertise necessary for achieving marketing success.

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The Impact of AI Is Already Being Felt in Digital Marketing

By now, the ability of the fast-paced evolution of modern technology to disrupt should come as a surprise to nobody. In 2021, a group of Reddit users employed the Robinhood app to change the way we think about the stock market, likely forever. In that time, the ability of a  single mobile app and of other areas of tech like artificial intelligence to upend entire industries has proven itself time and again.

AI in particular has become an increasingly common part of the public conversation thanks to the debut of solutions like ChatGPT. At a basic level, the premise of ChatGPT is simple – it leverages natural language processing, coupled with state-of-the-art AI technology, to let users have human-like conversations with what is essentially a chatbot.

In the short period of time since it launched, however, ChatGPT itself has been filled with surprises. Organizations are using it for coding help – and indeed, there have been entire mobile apps created using AI. Business leaders use it to support their decision-making. It’s been leveraged for customer support, language translation – you name it and ChatGPT can probably do it.

Which is a major part of the reason why artificial intelligence has been so disruptive in such a short amount of time. One industry that is asking a bevy of existential questions is digital marketing. In a world where AI can be used to effectively manage most touch points on the buyer’s journey, what role do actual humans play in the lives of customers everywhere? The answers to questions like that one bring with them a number of fascinating implications that people should be aware of moving forward.

AI and Digital Marketing: Where Does One End and the Other Begin?

To take an optimistic approach to the topic, AI does bring with it a number of benefits in the short-term for human digital marketers. It allows them to automate a lot of the time-consuming and menial tasks that make up their day, letting them focus on matters that truly need their attention. It helps them understand their target audiences better than ever through things like data analytics, all in a fraction of the time it used to take.

But keep in mind that AI is also being used for content generation. Right now, people are using these tools to write everything from blog posts to entire novels and just about everything in between. If a business owner can use it to generate exactly he type of digital marketing copy that they need at a much smaller cost than it would take to hire a team of people to do the same, one can’t help but wonder – what do you need that team of people for after a certain point?

Right now, the digital marketers themselves are still in control of the marketing experience. But how far off is a day when that is no longer the case? Artificial intelligence is supposed to get better at whatever task it is programmed to do over time. When it becomes better at connecting with audiences than human marketers are, it will reach that point objectively. Then what?

All this is somewhat ironic within the context of an industry like digital marketing – something that was founded based on the principles of disruption to begin with.

For decades, marketing was a fairly straightforward affair, driven by ad agencies filled with copywriters who spent time crafting a message that would be effective with the largest possible audience in an instant.

Then came the Internet and the increased level of personalization that came with it. This disruption was massive – marketing success was no longer about the broadest message, but instead focused on getting the right hyper personalized message in front of the right person at exactly the right time. Seemingly overnight, the focus of an entire industry changed for all-time.

Now, it seems poised to happen again. It is being shepherded by an extension of the very technology that supplanted teams of ad men on Madison Avenue all those years ago.

The Future of Digital Marketing is as Disruptive as Ever

Perhaps the most important question is this: is the level of disruption on digital marketing brought on by artificial intelligence even a problem at all? Likely not from the perspective of the end users, who still get the personalized experiences they crave. Probably not from the point of view of the businesses who need marketing collateral to sell their products, either.

So what does digital marketing – and its ability to employ countless people – even look like a year from now, let alone in five or ten? Nobody can say right now, but it’s something that many industry professionals will be thinking carefully about for the foreseeable future. 

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Unveiling the Insights: Understanding Costs and Calculations in Marketing Agencies

Marketing agencies have become indispensable partners for businesses seeking to elevate their brand, boost website traffic, and drive revenue growth. In the digital era, where consumers reside predominantly online, the role of marketing agencies has gained even more prominence. While partnering with a marketing agency entails an investment, when executed effectively, it can yield substantial returns. In this article, we delve into the intricacies of marketing agency costs, spending, and offer valuable tips for calculating your marketing expenses.

Understanding Costs and Calculations in Marketing Agencies

Defining a Marketing Agency

A marketing agency is a versatile entity that provides a wide array of services aimed at assisting businesses in promoting their products, services, or brand. These services encompass an array of tactics such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, video marketing, content marketing, and web design and development. The ultimate goal is to enable businesses to reach their target audience, enhance website traffic, augment brand awareness, and drive tangible sales and revenue growth.

Exploring the Diverse Agency Landscape

Marketing agencies manifest in various forms, each possessing unique strengths and services. Some agencies specialize in specific domains, such as social media marketing or SEO, while others offer comprehensive marketing suites. Choosing an agency that aligns with your business goals and industry experience is of paramount importance.

Understanding the Agency Workflow

Marketing agencies typically engage with businesses on a project or retainer basis. Initially, they invest time in comprehending your business, existing marketing strategies, and objectives. Subsequently, they tailor a personalized marketing plan with specific tactics and timelines.

Once the plan is in motion, agencies implement the outlined tactics, such as launching a new website, curating engaging social media content, or executing an email marketing campaign. Throughout the process, agencies meticulously monitor and analyze campaign performance, making adjustments to achieve the desired outcomes.

Deciphering the Optimal Marketing Budget

The ideal marketing expenditure varies based on industry, business size, and marketing goals. As a general guideline, businesses should allocate around 7-8% of their revenue towards marketing. However, businesses aiming for rapid growth or in the initial stages may require an increased marketing spend to achieve their objectives effectively.

Deconstructing Marketing Agency Costs

Marketing agency costs encompass a broad spectrum and depend on the project’s scope and required services. Agencies commonly adopt pricing models such as hourly rates, monthly retainers, or project-based fees. Hourly rates can range from $100 to $300 or more, contingent on the agency’s expertise and location. Monthly retainers typically start from a few thousand dollars and can extend into tens of thousands, depending on campaign complexity and service levels.

Calculating Your Marketing Costs

To calculate your marketing costs accurately, identify your marketing goals and specific tactics necessary to achieve them. Research agencies aligned with your requirements, requesting quotes or proposals that consider factors like expertise, track record, industry experience, and level of service. While cost is essential, consider the agency’s understanding of your industry, past successes, and ability to provide tailored strategic insights and creative solutions.

Investing in Success

Partnering with a marketing agency represents a sound investment in your business’s growth and triumph. By entrusting your marketing endeavors to seasoned professionals, you tap into their expertise, skills, and industry insights to generate substantial outcomes. It is vital to carefully assess your goals, budget, and agency proficiency to ensure a fruitful partnership.

Concluding Thoughts

Marketing agencies serve as pivotal catalysts for business success in the fiercely competitive digital landscape. By grasping the intricacies of marketing agency costs and spending, you can make informed decisions and craft effective marketing strategies. Whether you are contemplating your first agency partnership or reassessing existing collaborations, meticulous consideration of your objectives, budget, and the agency’s expertise will pave the way for substantial returns and long-term triumph.

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THREADS: The New Way to Stay Connected with Your Closest Friends

In today’s fast-paced world, where we are constantly bombarded with notifications and messages from acquaintances and strangers, it can be challenging to stay connected with the people who truly matter to us. However, Instagram’s new app, Threads, aims to address this issue by providing a dedicated space to connect and share with our closest friends. Threads offers a streamlined approach to sharing photos, videos, and status updates, ensuring that our updates are seen by those who matter most.

Streamlined Communication:

Threads simplifies the process of staying connected with close friends by creating a designated space for interaction. Instead of scrolling through endless feeds or attempting to keep track of who has seen what, Threads allows users to curate a list of their closest friends. This ensures that updates are shared exclusively with the intended audience, fostering a more intimate and focused communication experience.

Auto Status Feature:

One standout feature of Threads is the “auto status” feature, which allows users to automatically update their closest friends about their activities. Whether you’re “on the move,” “at home,” or “in the office,” your friends can stay informed about your current situation. Additionally, the app enables users to personalize their status messages, enabling a more detailed depiction of their activities, such as “studying for finals” or “hitting the gym.” This feature enhances real-time communication and facilitates spontaneous interactions between friends.

Privacy Considerations:

Given Instagram’s affiliation with Facebook, privacy concerns may arise. However, Instagram has taken steps to address these concerns with Threads. The app is designed to be a more private and intimate space, devoid of public posts or algorithms that determine the content you see. Furthermore, all communication on Threads is end-to-end encrypted, ensuring that only you and your friends can access the shared content. This emphasis on privacy helps create a secure environment where users can comfortably share their moments with their closest circle of friends.

Enhancing Social Connections:

Threads is a valuable addition to the social media landscape, offering a distinct purpose and focusing on cultivating meaningful connections. As our lives become increasingly inundated with information and notifications, having an app dedicated to staying connected with our closest friends is refreshing. Whether you use Threads to exchange silly memes with college roommates or maintain relationships with loved ones who live far away, it becomes an essential tool for nurturing and strengthening friendships.

Conclusion:

In a digital world often characterized by superficial connections, Threads stands out as an app that prioritizes genuine friendships. By streamlining communication, offering an auto status feature, and emphasizing privacy, Instagram’s Threads facilitates intimate and authentic interactions between friends. In an era where we are constantly overwhelmed with notifications and messages, having an app specifically designed to stay connected with our closest friends is a welcome addition to our social media arsenal. Threads helps us reclaim the essence of meaningful relationships and ensures that our connections remain strong and vibrant in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

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How ChatGPT Is Disrupting the Very Idea of Art Itself

By now, most people are familiar with the sheer level of disruption that AI-driven tools like ChatGPT are leaving in their wake. That one in particular is already being used take (and pass) business school exams for people. A mobile app like the Robinhood app was used by Reddit to upend the stock market. It’s changed the way people think about searching online. It’s had a major impact on eCommerce. The list goes on and on.

But when it comes to art, the impact has largely been limited to being a novelty… until now. People have used ChatGPT to write wonderfully bizarre essays or to create rudimentary pictures based on rough descriptions. But could that same tool soon be used to instantly create another season of your favorite television show, or to write massive series of novels so that you never run out of something to read?

If the answers to those questions are “yes”… is that a problem? That’s where things get tricky.

The Impact of AI on Art is Already Here

Perhaps the biggest example of this idea playing out in the news right now takes the form of the Hollywood Writer’s Strike. For those unfamiliar, all writers who are a part of the Writer’s Guild of America (or WGA for short) began a strike in May 2023 with a list of demands that studios like Disney and Warner Brothers initially refused to accommodate. One of them had to do with protections against the impact that artificial intelligence might have on the entire industry.

One of the WGA’s demands was that studios “regulate the use of artificial intelligence on all covered projects.” More specifically, they want guarantees that AI will not be used to write or rewrite literary material, that anything generated by AI cannot be used as source material, and that anything covered under the Guild (which is just about everything produced by the major Hollywood studios) can’t be used to train an artificial intelligence algorithm.

To put it another way, writers want guarantees that they’ll lose out on future jobs in the future because AI will simply be used to fill that void. If they turn in a first draft of a script, they want to make sure that they won’t be immediately fired so that an AI can then rewrite it for free. Anything that has previously been written (like a script for cinematic classics like “The Godfather” or “Gone With the Wind”) should also not be used as training material to allow an AI algorithm to do all of the above.

In essence, what they’re trying to protect is not necessarily their ability to be artists – as any of us can do that at any point. It’s their ability to make a living from it. If a studio has a choice between paying someone to write a script and using an AI tool like ChatGPT to create that same script for “free” (after the initial investment of course), and the results are similar if not identical, it’s clear that they will select the second option almost every time.

Equally complicating things is the subjective nature of art. Person A could watch a movie that they loved while Person B could watch the same movie and think it was terrible. So who is to say a script written by an AI tool like ChatGPT isn’t just as good as one written by a human?

The same is true of the quality of a painting written by AI, or a song that has been generated in largely the same way.

So even though, as it stands, AI cannot replicate the quality of human-derived art with 100% success (just look at the hands in any AI-generated drawing of a human for proof of that), there will come a day when that is no longer the case. Given how hard the Hollywood writers are currently fighting, that day may come a lot sooner than most people realize.

What happens then? If “art” lacks that human element – that connection that we make with the thoughts, ideas, and feelings of another human being – does it continue to be art? If “yes,” does that matter? Is this future inevitable? These are the types of questions that people who care about art and its impact on our society are already having.

As the philosopher Alfred Korzybski once said “a difference which makes no difference is no difference.” When it comes to art as a concept, that is a level of disruption that we all may have to come to terms with sooner rather than later.

<em>How AI Is Disrupting the Modern Office</em>
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How AI Is Disrupting the Modern Office

If you had to sum up the recurring theme of the last several years in virtually all areas of our lives, “disruption” would be the word you would undoubtedly use.

We have witnessed some significant and thrilling instances of disruption, such as how a community of Reddit users utilized the Robinhood app to revolutionize our perception of stocks. However, the impact of mobile apps on financial markets is merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the various forms of disruption that we have encountered.

Another form of disruption that is prominent in ways both large and small takes the form of AI, or artificial intelligence. In just a few short years it’s changed the makeup of the modern office significantly – something that is true in a number of ways that are worth exploring.

The Role of AI in the Ever-Changing World of Work

For decades, managers have existing in an office environment primarily for the purposes of “people management.” They help make sure that team members and other employees are staying on-task, are moving in the right direction, are keeping up with all necessary deliverables, etc.

With AI tools that are already available, all of this can now be automated. An estimation between 40% and 50% of human resources functions are now using many AI-augmented applications to perform these tasks with greater ease and accuracy than ever before. Somehow, this has simultaneously managed to make the human resources department more valuable than ever thanks to the timely and accurate insight that it can generate, while also completely shifting the definition of what employees working within this department are expected to do.

As the world rapidly adopts AI technology, even Zoom has hopped on the bandwagon. In a recent announcement, the video conferencing platform revealed its collaboration with OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, to introduce AI-powered features, primarily targeting sales teams, marking a major shift for the company.

The feature, dubbed Zoom IQ for Sales, uses artificial intelligence to digest the massive volumes of data that organizations are already creating to generate an accurate and real-time engagement score for all customers in a system. It is intended to give insight into how “attentive” a customer is based on the amount of time that passes between when they make contact, how long they speak during calls, the number of times they speak when talking to an employee, and more. It also generates a sentiment score that essentially measures how positive or negative their attitude is when they participate in meetings.

In an instance, tasks that formerly took up a significant amount of a sales representative’s day in the office are now handled quickly, easily, and accurately by an AI tool. This in turn frees up as much of their valuable time as possible to focus on matters that truly need their attention.

But how soon will it be before these same AI tools are essentially running our Zoom meetings for us? Suddenly what was once a pivotal collaborative tool during the pandemic becomes yet another opportunity for automation. If that isn’t a perfect example of disruption – and the rapid pace it often arrives with – nothing is.

In the end, it’s truly incredible to think about that which has been made possible thanks to AI in an office environment over a (relatively) short period of time. From the role of automation in allowing employees to work smarter, not harder, to the recent emergence of tools like ChatGPT. When you consider all that artificial intelligence has been able to disrupt in just a few short years, it’s truly amazing to think about what the next few might have in store for us all.

<em>The Disruption of AI in the Healthcare Space</em>
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The Disruption of AI in the Healthcare Space

Much has been written about artificial intelligence over the last several months – particularly when it comes to consumer search.

ChatGPT debuted mere months ago, and it’s already being heralded as the natural evolution of the chatbot. Not only can it do everything from answer complicated questions to generate responses to prompts, but it can even help generate content like resumes, blog posts, and more. Things have gotten to the point where, according to one recent study, an estimated 70% of people who regularly use ChatGPT at work to make their lives easier haven’t actually told their bosses that they’re doing so.

But while this may be the flashiest example of just how disruptive AI can be, it’s far from the first – or even the most important. Medical professionals have been using artificial intelligence in the healthcare space for years, for example – all in ways that are changing how we think about the care provided to patients and the potentially lifesaving outcomes that we’re able to generate.

AI and Healthcare: The Perfect Pairing

One of the most immediate ways in which artificial intelligence is being used in healthcare has to do with patient triage, particularly as it relates to reviewing images, scans, and other critical documents.

In an effort to find out what disease or condition a patient is suffering from, a doctor will typically order a battery of different tests. Those tests produce scans and diagnostic images of organs like the heart or lungs that then need to be carefully reviewed. The issue is that not only does this typically take a great deal of time, but it is also susceptible to human error as well.

Artificial intelligence, however, can be trained on massive amounts of data to perform the same basic tasks in a fraction of the time. Not only can then quickly analyze images and other records at high speeds, but they can do so far more reliably than a human ever could. This can lead to a faster diagnosis on behalf of the patient, which can get them the care they need quicker and improve outcomes along the way. Not only that, but it frees up the invaluable time of the medical professional to focus more on those matters that could truly use their attention.

The same concept holds true to the way that artificial intelligence is being used to train doctors, nurses, and other clinicians as well. Again, once an AI system has been given the chance to ingest the right, quality dataset, it can review information and “make decisions” with an incredibly high degree of accuracy. When used as an assistive training tool, this can help to minimize the types of mistakes that new doctors are likely to make, can help usher in more accurate clinical judgments, and more. All of this results in better trained medical professionals getting out into the field far faster and with a more robust education than ever.

All of this helps bring about the most important benefit of all: higher quality and better healthcare for larger numbers of people, allowing for lifesaving treatment along the way.

Based on use cases like those outlined above, it’s easy to see why it has been estimated that artificial intelligence could save the healthcare industry approximately $360 billion per year. Once obstacles like slow adoption rates among doctors and patients are overcome, there truly is no limit to the potential that is on display in front of us.

In the end, it’s safe to say that technology is changing just about every facet of our lives. In a world where a collection of Reddit users can use a mobile app like the Robinhood app to disrupt the stock market, should anyone be surprised of what AI is capable of in contexts like healthcare? Perhaps it is best to think about it this way: what is impressive is not necessarily what AI can do today, but what it will potentially be able to accomplish tomorrow. That in and of itself is truly exciting to think about.

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Revolutionizing Customer Service: 5 Key Benefits of Conversational AI

Conversational AI is an innovative form of artificial intelligence that recognizes and responds to natural human speech. This technology has revolutionized customer service and eCommerce, offering convenience and accessibility to businesses and customers alike. If you’re not already using conversational AI in your business, you’re missing out on the numerous benefits it offers.

One of the most significant advantages of conversational AI is better customer service. With natural language processing, chatbots and virtual assistants can understand human speech accurately, making customer interactions more efficient and personalized. Conversational AI automates simple tasks, freeing up agents to handle more complex issues and gather real-time customer data to improve product or service offerings. Furthermore, conversational AI eliminates language barriers by providing support in multiple languages without the need for bilingual agents.

Conversational AI also enables personalized customer interactions by linking to a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Customer data such as contact details, order history, and past interactions are used to create customer profiles, allowing businesses to personalize conversations and increase customer satisfaction and lifetime value.

In addition, conversational AI helps businesses to scale their support function, handling more customers without sacrificing quality. AI can automate simple customer interactions, freeing up agents to handle more complex queries. This makes it possible for smaller companies to offer the same level of customer service as larger enterprises at a fraction of the cost.

Conversational AI also lowers operational costs by offering 24/7 availability, which is costly to staff for most businesses. AI platforms get smarter over time, reducing the number of staff required to provide customer support and keeping operational costs low.

Lastly, conversational AI enables easy follow-ups with customers by automating the process. This allows businesses to build better relationships with customers, showing them that their experience matters and their business is valued.

In summary, conversational AI is scalable, affordable, and efficient, making it the perfect solution for businesses of all sizes. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, conversational AI can help you improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, setting you up for long-term success.

<em>How Can Modern Day Disruption Pave the Way for a New Future? Ask ChatGPT and You.com</em>
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How Can Modern Day Disruption Pave the Way for a New Future? Ask ChatGPT and You.com

One of the dirty little secrets in the worlds of business, technology, and just about every other industry that you can think of is that “disruption” is only a bad thing if you’re the one being disrupted.

One minute, Wall Street is cut off to everyone but the largest among us. The next, a group of savvy “nobodies” on Reddit used the Robinhood app (among others) to disrupt the entire system. With one beautifully simple move, they changed the game – likely forever. It’s time to start paying attention to others who are trying to do the same.

Case in point: ChatGPT and You.com. Both are leveraging artificial intelligence in entirely different ways, and both are poised to upend what we know about the Internet along the way.

Disruption Today Can Create a Better Tomorrow

The concept of a chatbot – that is to say, a digital service that can answer basic questions and respond conversationally the way a human might, is nothing new. They’ve been used in the customer service field for years. But ChatGPT, the AI-powered chatbot that only launched in November 2022, is something entirely different.

It all began innocently enough. It’s a deceptively simple tool that allows you to create original text by giving it a prompt, by asking it questions, and through other straightforward tasks. It’s easy to use, it functions essentially like a normal chatbot, and for a short time after it launched, it went largely unnoticed.

A very short time. Flash forward to today, and ChatGPT is poised to become the fastest growing mobile app in history with over 100 million monthly active users in just three months. Everyone is trying to get in on the action – to the point where Microsoft recently invested billions of dollars in the tool’s parent company, OpenAI.

Why? Because people understand that for impressive as ChatGPT already is, the surface of its full potential hasn’t even been scratched yet. Such is the nature of artificial intelligence – it gets better, smarter, and more efficient the longer it is used.

The same is true of You.com – dubbed as the “AI search engine you control.” It’s a privacy-focused search engine that, on the surface, looks a lot like Google. But rather than displaying a list of links to any query as Google does, You.com uses artificial intelligence to accurately summarize web results using various categories.

Rather than simply showing you what it thinks you want to see, as is true with other engines, You.com gives you total control over the experience. You can sort through the results, emphasizing what you want and what you don’t, all via an innovative interface that promises to never sell your data and to always put the user first and foremost.

So what do these two disruptors have in common? One factor, obviously, is artificial intelligence. But the other is that they both take concepts that were once innovative that were allowed to grow stale. They examine what works, what doesn’t and, using the power of AI, innovative the experience all over again. They used the past as a rock solid foundation upon which the future can be built.

Think about it this way: how much has life changed since Google first debuted in the 1990s? It became so synonymous with Internet search that “to Google” became a verb. But when was the last time it was truly innovative? When was the last time it pushed the envelope?

That’s exactly what both ChatGPT and You.com are attempting to do in their respective areas and, by all accounts, it very much seems to be working.

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The Top Mobile App Trends to Be Aware Of For 2023 and Beyond

According to one recent study, the average American has about 80 different apps downloaded on their phone at any given moment. That makes sense, given the fact that there are an estimated 5.7 million apps on both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store combined.

Steve Jobs disrupted and revolutionized a lot of things when he first walked on stage and introduced the iPhone to the world in 2007 – and the hardware itself had little to do with it. Apps have changed the way brands communicate with consumers, how people communicate with each other, and how we live our lives.

That’s why paying attention to the top mobile app trends for 2023 and beyond is so crucial. They can help give you an incredible amount of insight into just how far we’ve come… and where this all might be headed before you know it.

Essential Mobile App Trends: Breaking Things Down

Maybe the biggest trend in mobile app development for 2023 is actually contrary to why this type of software became popular in the first place.

Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, desktop applications were the “Swiss Army Knives” of software. They did as many things as humanly possible, all from a single screen. Then, mobile apps debuted as a straightforward alternative. Instead of doing 100 different things moderately efficiently, they were instead dedicated to doing one thing incredibly well.

As they say, “everything old is new again” – and the era of the “Super App” may be upon us. Indeed, Super Apps are single applications that perform a variety of functions, all within the same piece of software. Sound familiar? It should.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you want your mobile app to become bloated. You never want to be looked at as a “Jack of All Trades, Master of None.” But if you can solve multiple problems for your users within a single piece of software, you should take the opportunity to do so as this is what people are looking for more and more.

2023 also looks to be the year when the marriage between mobile apps and voice technology is finally ready for prime time. People have had voice assistants like Siri on their phones for years, but recently more and more industries have started to take advantage of this to create better experiences on behalf of their users.

If you open your bank’s mobile app right now, you can send a payment to someone in a matter of minutes. Or, you could tell your voice assistant to send the payment in seconds and you don’t even have to pick up your phone to do it. You can have a voice assistant make a purchase on Amazon, send a message to your spouse, and more – all without physically interacting with your device. This, too, is a feature set that people are looking for more and more.

In the end, it’s important to acknowledge that the way we think about what a mobile app can be is constantly changing. Once upon a time, they were seen as little more than a minor convenience – a way to check your email or watch a video while on-the-go. Flash forward to today, and Reddit users literally employed the Robinhood app to disrupt just about everything we know about the stock market. That’s no longer a minor convenience – that’s a legitimate way of life.

Therefore, it’s always in your best interest to pay close attention to where things are and how far they’ve come. Once you understand why today’s trends have been able to make such an impact, you’re in a better position to anticipate where things might be going tomorrow, a year from now, and beyond. At that point, you’ll be able to get there before any of your competitors have a chance to do the same – which is a very exciting position to be in.

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The Ins and Outs of a Go-To Marketing Campaign

One of the most important things to understand about any disruptive marketing event is that they tend to happen when you least expect them.

Take the Robinhood app, for example. Few mobile app aficionados could have predicted the type of press it would get when a group of amateur Reddit investors used it to upend the stock market, but here we are. Obviously, when you construct your campaign, you want to make an impression. But what you really want to do is change the way people think about products and services like yours.

That level of disruption doesn’t come easy, but it is very much within reach. All you have to do when building your own go-to marketing campaign is keep a few key things in mind.

Building Better Marketing: An Overview

By far, the most important step to take when constructing your disruptive, go-to marketing campaign involves not only understanding who your audience is, but where they hang out online.

Forget about trying to craft a message that will appeal to everyone equally. Not only is it largely impossible (try getting a Baby Boomer and a Gen Xer to agree on just about anything and see how it goes), but it’s also pointless. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to spend money getting your digital marketing collateral in front of the eyes of people who aren’t likely to become one of your customers in the first place.

Therefore, you’ll need to go a fair bit deeper. Who are these people? Where do they live? How much money do they make? What do they like and what do they absolutely hate? You’ll want to answer questions like these before you sit down and even think about coming up with that next great ad.

Then, you’ll need to find out where the majority of these people spend their time online. If they’re older, they’re probably entrenched in the Facebook ecosystem. If they’re younger, they probably spend a lot of time scrolling through Twitter, Snapchat, or even TikTok. Understand which channels they use and take the message directly to them. Don’t assume that they’ll find you.

Part of the reason why it’s so important to understand as much as you can about your audience is because a successful digital marketing campaign depends on high quality, relevant content to thrive. People don’t want to be “sold to” any longer. They don’t have time for it. You can’t turn on your computer or pick up your phone without getting bombarded from every direction by ad after ad.

Because of that, people have gotten really good at tuning that kind of thing out – meaning that you’ll have to find a way to cut through the noise and make your presence known.

These days, that involves things like blog posts and videos that people actually want to read and watch. Make a list of relevant topics and start creating content around them. Is there a breaking news story in your industry that people keep getting wrong that you can shed some light on? Is there a common myth or misconception that you can shatter? These are the types of areas that you should be focusing on.

Beyond that, always make sure that you’re measuring the results of your campaigns for maximum impact. Digital marketing success is all about continuous improvement and you can’t improve upon that which you aren’t measuring. Pay attention to key performance indicators like conversion rates and engagement. Anything that you try that works really well, you should be doubling down on whenever you have the opportunity to do so. Anything that you try that doesn’t work you should kick to the curb and try something else.

In the end, every marketing campaign should be unique unto itself – but that obviously doesn’t mean that there isn’t a solid framework that you’ll be able to follow. By keeping things like these in mind when constructing your own marketing campaigns, you’ll be able to reach the right people at the perfect moment, increasing your chances of turning them from a casual observer to a loyal customer along the way. 

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How Mobile Food Tracking Apps are Helping Patients Monitor Chronic Illness

As we steamroll through the age of connected living, there’s not one facet of our lives that can’t be improved via the use of a mobile app. In the past, many users would argue that tracking apps that recorded things we did would only work to disrupt our daily routines, offering little more than a glorified journal that…really didn’t do anything. 

But the mobile application has grown leaps and bounds over the last half-decade, turning into an integral part of how we manage everything. Our schedules….our social lives….our entertainment….multiple segments of our financial profiles. Everything from your mobile banking to your Robinhood App allows you to do it all, from paying your rent to optimizing your portfolio. What a time to be alive. 

The return of the food tracker

But emerging from the smoke comes a small portion of the mobile application market helping those with chronic pain better manage their conditions, accomplishing everything from minor relief to downright shifting the entire outlook of a diagnosis. 

No, it’s not WebMD or some big medical community app you’d see on Reddit with millions of members in its Sub. No, these are actually food-tracking apps. Turns out they’re more than just a show of effort for those who aren’t making progress with their fad diet. They’re tracking everything they eat..it’s not a diet. It’s a lifestyle. 

No, it seems in the hands of users who really benefit from tracking what they eat, these applications are far more useful than one could have ever imagined. To be fair, some of these get pretty technical and are a far cry from the glorified notepad you downloaded in the Play Store a decade ago. Let’s check out the top examples. 

Food Diaries and Symptom Trackers

Apps that fall under these categories, like mySymptoms have proven to be invaluable for those suffering from things like IBS, GERD, celiacs, and all types of gnarly food intolerances….allergies – you name it. So what’s so special about mySymptoms? Well, this app, like others that are similar, allow users to record their medication intake, drink, food, environmental factors, stress, quality of sleep, bathroom trips, and all other. types of intrusive information in a VERY detailed log, allowing you to export it in a handful of ways. You can analyze the data yourself and get to the bottom of what’s ailing you or what has the worst effect on you – or submit it to your doctor for a more detailed analysis. It’s basically giving you the ability to do your own detailed medical study with little to no effort and actually make some headway and fix your gut problems. 

Incredible Results for Underactive Thyroid

Underactive thyroid is the leading cause of hypothyroidism, and causes a vast array of yucky, undesirable symptoms. The problem is, with this autoimmune disease – like many others of its kind, it’s difficult for doctors to provide relief or find answers because it literally affects every part of a person’s body. In the short term, we’re talking about brain fog, fatigue, and low hormone production. In the long term, though – some patients are looking at potential cases of heart disease, poor mental health, obesity, and even fertility problems – all because doctors can’t get an efficient grip on what areas to treat. 

One patient, Vedrana Högqvist Tabor, was sick of wasted doctor’s appointments and constant frustration. So she created her own app. It tracks different metrics, like the things she eats, and then it tracks symptoms by severity and medication intake. All this data is cross-referenced and given to an expert physician, and by making changes that focus on a better diet combined with decreased stress, 96% of all users of this application (BOOST Thyroid) have experienced some amazing results. 

You mean it matters what we put into our bodies? 

Finally, it seems some attention is being given to the importance of what we put into our bodies. Hopefully, as applications like this continue to change people’s lives – as a nation, maybe we’ll slowly begin to float away from the Battle of the Bulge and an all-Big Mac regimen. Maybe. 

Baby steps….

but the future does look a bit more promising thanks to these new applications that focus on the quality of what we digest. 

Colure Media is a advertising and mobile app development company in New York. We can help your organization to develop mobile app development and advertising. If you are interested, then contact us now.

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Can You Beat the Law of Diminishing Returns?

Have you ever experienced the phenomenon of running short-term ad campaigns – intentional or not – and noticed that your ROI, CTR, and conversions were incredible? Then, maybe you repeated the same formula – same ads, same target demographic – essentially a carbon copy – only to attempt to repeat your efforts on a longer timeline, only to end up with less than satisfactory results? 

Some of us would call it beginner’s luck. But the reality is this is a part of a more consistent pattern of declining success known as diminishing returns. 

The sound of the term paints a bleak outlook for the end game of most ad campaigns. Is this the proverbial Road Runner and Wiley Coyote tunnel drawn on the wall? The misplaced hope of long-term success – only to smack the wall just when you see the cheese at the end of the maze? 

Does the Law of Diminishing Returns exist with Newton’s, Mendel’s, and other seemingly unbeatable certainties? Is it possible to beat the Law of Diminishing Returns? 

Just how concrete are these diminishing returns? 

If you bust out your Encyclopedia Britannica, you’ll be met with the following: 

In economics, diminishing returns are the decrease in marginal (incremental) output of a production process as the amount of a single factor of production is incrementally increased, holding all other factors of production equal.

Not much hope here. Is it possible to disrupt the law of diminishing returns and take back control over your ad spending? If you look to Reddit, one user gives a MUCH simpler explanation, with a brighter outlook on things: 

rednax1206

· 8 yr. ago· edited 8 yr. ago

Diminishing returns happen when you get less and less benefit for the amount of effort you put in. Here’s an example using a fisherman.

  • Spend 1 hour fishing: catch 50 fish
  • Spend 2 hours fishing: catch 95 fish (45 more)
  • Spend 3 hours fishing: catch 125 fish (30 more)
  • Spend 4 hours fishing: catch 145 fish (20 more)
  • Spend 5 hours fishing: catch 160 fish (15 more)

With each hour, the fisherman gets less and less fish, and so his effort is probably wasted spending too much time out there.

NOTE: Diminishing Returns is not a strict law, and doesn’t apply to everything. For example, working more hours in an office often yields overtime pay, which is higher than regular pay.

Ahh…so there is hope. Another area comes to mind where this law is tossed aside – The Robinhood App. If you’ve ever used this mobile app or any for that matter…or invested in any Bluechip stock – then you’ve, in theory, gotten the best of this law. That’s why people bank on these types of stocks – you know, WalMart, Microsoft – “the safe bets” for long-term retirement strategy, right? 

But this does little in the way of solving the problem of diminishing returns for your ad campaigns. So…what’s the work-around? 

Beating diminishing returns..is there a strategy you can bank on? 

After you’ve invested your dollars on the low-hanging fruits of your ad campaign, how do you continue to maximize additional investment to yield a more respectable ROI? 

Well..essentially, what you’ve done is leverage the power of the most ideal segment of your target demographic. Now, you’re trying to get your hooks into the less relevant territory, and the pickings are slim. The price goes sky high, and the quality of your results goes….to the basement. 

Understanding the current ad platform model

If you’ve ever launched an ad campaign you’re probably…hopefully…aware that these platforms run on an auction-like system. When you throw more money at your campaign, you’re ad spend is going towards the purchase of more impressions..more eyes on your ad. Branching out means you’re getting lower quality targets while still having to outbid the competition. 

 The first wave of targeted users are generally ALWAYS the LOWEST PRICED – but with the HIGHEST intent. It’s an easy conversion. Hence, “the beginner’s luck” stigma. Anyone new to ads runs a campaign, gets better than expected results, things slow down, and you have no patience, and cancel the campaign. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. But when you learn patience, you begin to question your ability as this dreaded law gets its hooks in you. 

If you think you’re going to ride the wave out, think again. It just gets worse..and worse..until you enter the realm of negative returns. Welcome to hell. 

A little ingenuity goes a long way..

You will be cursed to suffer this pattern for all your days unless you find different ways of tweaking your ads that conquer the odds. The solution (on paper) is simple: Optimize your CTR or Conversion percentage and avoid spikes in performance. 

Here’s what you can do: 

You MUST A/B test. This is where so many people go wrong. ESPECIALLY if they start seeing a little juice in the early stages of their campaign. Testing uncovers the best performing ads for little investment. But when you sink more money into a winner, it declines rapidly, right? 

If you’re running a new campaign trying to scale, you’ll probably experience more sales at the same return on your ad spend, but if you have an older account/campaign, you’re likely to get a better return on the same level of spending. That’s why you keep the same level of spending constantly – but eventually, you will be at the mercy of some decline in return. 

So…you avoid ad fatigue and constantly test, throwing new creatives to your targets. Maintain your rate of testing and eliminate losers as fast as you identify them. This frees up space for new creatives. When you see a winning ad, decide on the most ideal curve by selecting the level of investment that does what you need it to do. 

If you had the hopes of ever getting away from testing…well, you won’t. But this is why the most successful media buyers test, test, and test some more. It’s why you haven’t seen the same commercial for the last ten years. In reality, the fix is simple – as long as you’re willing to remain creative. 

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What is the most valuable asset? Is there a value on your data?

In today’s world, our most valuable asset is no longer a precious metal, a diamond – or any form of fiat currency. In fact, it’s not even a physical product that you can hold. But it’s certainly worth far more than any of the aforementioned items. 

What are we talking about? 

Data. No doubt, our most precious commodity at this point in time is data. But, no matter how precious this data is and how much it’s revered – or how far companies will go to obtain it – it’s not a tangible asset that an organization can measure with a clear value financially. So, where does this leave us? Certainly, companies who have LOADS of data could – on paper, be worth more than what they’re estimated – thousands of times over – if only a uniform method existed to measure the value of data. 

Other digital items have certain frameworks for determining their value – even IP can receive a designated worth. Well, why can’t data? What’s the catch? 

What’s the deal with data? 

Data can do anything any other tangible asset can do – it has all the characteristics. We can move it, store it, and measure it. It’s bought and sold (in the form of different client lists and information – legal or otherwise). For the latter (otherwise), the price that some individuals are willing to pay would make you sick – all in the name of information. But what you can do with that information…is powerful. 

Surrounded by data

Every day you wake up, you’re surrounded by data. All data about you is measured and stored – traded, bought, and sold – during every hour of every day. Data is captured on website forms, email lists, social media sites like Reddit and Facebook, platforms like Robinhood App – and any other mobile app, for that matter. All of this VALUABLE data IS constantly moving – it doesn’t disrupt, and we are rarely aware of it’s change of hands or existence at all. 

But globally, companies everywhere sink billions into the handling of data because they know it’s a precious resource. The question begs – how can they be sure when their billions of investment dollars have returned to manifest as a positive return? 

Defining data

At the core of the term, data is defined as strands of information converted to symbols, letters, numbers, or any other identifying symbol that can be transferred and altered by a computer. Literally, anything that’s identified using letters, numbers, and every symbol in between – is considered data.

In today’s world, hot ticket data includes things like what we buy online, the stuff we search for, how much time we spend on a website, and how we interact with applications and other platforms. 

So, in the business world, how do we break down data into a measurable way to understand how much of a financial impact it has??

Measuring data

All data has a lifeline. It doesn’t necessarily ever die – but it does have a defining lifeline that measures its purpose or what it’s been used for. So from a business standpoint, all of this raw data must be converted into some type of valuable information in a context that has a purpose within any organization or business. Are you following? 

When this transfer is made, this information is then used to make a certain decision regarding your organization – and the result is either a gain or loss – of revenue. 

Understanding the way data works in a business setting – the only way you can truly measure it is to find out exactly HOW a company uses a particular form of data. Are they using data to lower the costs of certain operations? Are they using data to forecast things and increase revenue? Are they using data to find out what caters to their audience to generate income? Get it now? 

But it’s not enough just to be aware of how they leverage data. Remember, everything comes with a price, and overhead must be covered. And yes, data has overhead. How, you ask? 

Data must be captured, stored, prepared, converted, transferred, etc. All of these things cost money. So, the simple thing to do is to measure the total you’ve invested into acquiring and applying the data and subtract this from the monetary benefits you reaped from your hard work of preparing the data for its intended use. 

Essentially, when you invest in data, you’re putting money back into your business. You’re betting on your organization. Did you know that way back in 1992, a rule was created to officially measure the way data and its price impacted your company? 

Yep. It went like this: The cost was $1 to verify new data as it was captured, $10 if you don’t clean the data until it’s in your databases, and $100 if you use it without cleaning it up. 

“What does that even mean?” 

Basically, what was being stated in a round-about way, was that it’s cheaper to guarantee the input of top-tier data than to correct it once the data’s been quantified. This is critical when you compare a human looking for potential errors compared to a mobile app or advanced algorithm using the data, causing it to disrupt every output and workflow beyond the output of this dirty, disgusting data. 

Unhealthy data is worthless

The value of data is relative to the company that needs it – and how accessible and “healthy” it is at the time of need. Prepared in the correct manner, data is invaluable to your company because it does things like optimize your collaborative efforts within your company and between departments – or any relationship for that matter. This can be with customers, partners, vendors – it doesn’t matter. 

And, the most obvious, you can boost your efficiency and productivity by relying on automated tasks created by…DATA! In the end, the price of data…is…..relative. It’s almost like a ransom situation. Seriously. 

<em>Product-led growth and the startup: What does it mean?</em>
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Product-led growth and the startup: What does it mean?

“You’ve got a product, not a company!” rebuke the investors on Shark Tank.

It’s a common complaint, especially with SaaS. Really, is Salesforce a product or a company? It’s both.

You can be a product-company if you have a really good product. In fact, for startups it’s pretty much the defacto standard.

From AirBNB to Microsoft, software companies are closely entwined with their products. Even the Robinhood company is just the Robinhood app. And that’s what makes product-led growth so important.

What is product-led growth–and why does your startup need it?

Product-led growth (PLG) is a marketing and sales strategy that centers around the customer’s experience of your product. It focuses on creating an engaging product that users will come back to again and again rather than focusing heavily on traditional outbound marketing strategies.

In other words: If you build it, they will come.

A product-led strategy can include features like simple onboarding flows and automated trial experiences, as well as self-service solutions like help centers and FAQs. You’re basically automating everything positive about your customer’s experience of the product.

For startups, PLG is especially beneficial because it allows them to invest in product development instead of more expensive marketing campaigns.

By creating an accessible and engaging product, companies can capture more leads through organic growth that’s driven by the user experience. This can result in cheaper acquisition costs, a larger customer base, and a more reliable revenue stream.

At the same time, PLG is also an effective way to build relationships with customers by creating an engaging product that encourages them to come back for updates or new features.

OK–how does product-led growth differ from customer-led growth?

Here’s the elephant in the room, because you’re probably talking a lot about customer experience, user experience, etc these days.

While product-led growth focuses on creating a great product experience, customer-led growth (CLG) centers around the customer’s needs. This involves learning about their wants and needs, analyzing user data to identify trends, and using that information to create a personalized experience tailored to each individual.

But in simplest terms, let’s say the customer needs blue, and you provide green. Under customer-led growth, you’d produce a blue product offering. Under product-led growth, you’d more effectively target green-loving customers.

CLG is an effective way to build customer relationships and loyalty over time, as it provides a more personalized experience. And really, you should use them together. But the main difference between PLG and CLG is that PLG focuses on the product experience while CLG focuses on the customer experience.

But what’s your product? The potential weaknesses of product-led growth

Product-led growth does require that you have a really strong product. If you’ve got nothing, then nothing will ever materialize. You’re banking on the strength of your product to carry you through all your marketing.

I mean, you can get pretty far on nothing. Remember when Elon Musk sold us all an expensive lighter as a flamethrower? We thought he was cool back then. Tesla is still primarily a product-led business, focused on the production of slick electric cars–they don’t need to advertise. They’re Tesla.

So, remember: You’ve got a product, not a company. Without the product, you don’t have much. So make sure your product is amazing and engaging before launching into PLG.

That being said, there’s kind of a reason those millionaires on Shark Tank hate it when a company has only a product. A company supports its product: You need excellent support staff and a great company architecture to back it up.

The world’s changing–time to disrupt it

Whether you’re working on an enterprise SaaS mobile app or just trying to make the next Twitter (yo, we need it), the world is changing fast. A product you develop today might not even be necessary or relevant tomorrow.

Visionaries are able to shift paradigms and pivot fast. Continue to gauge the temperature of the startup world through everything from high-powered think-tanks to regular Reddit threads. When you hit upon the right product for you, you’ll know it.

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What the Latest Google Algorithm Update Means For You

 According to one recent study, the vast majority of all people still find a brand for the first time in the exact same way: via a search engine. A massive 93% of all online experiences still begin that way, which is why concepts like search engine optimization are so important.

More than that, the same resource indicated that about 70% of the links that users click on when they make a search are organic. This means that while PPC (pay-per-click) advertising alongside the search results do make somewhat of an impact, they can’t match the power – or the reach – of ranking organically.

Google uses an algorithm – the mechanics of which are a closely guarded secret – to determine which pages rank highly for which terms. If you check enough of the algorithm’s proverbial boxes, your content is deemed both valuable and relevant and you rank highly as a result. If you don’t, you might appear near the bottom of the page or even on page two – which is a location that roughly 95% of all users will never reach.

So if you’re a business that wants to connect with as many new customers as possible, ranking as highly in Google as you can should always be a top priority. It’s also why it’s critical to pay attention to whenever Google updates their algorithm – as they’ve recently done once again.

The Situation With Google’s Algorithm

Again, the precise way that Google’s algorithm works tends to be kept from the public to keep people from gaming the system. It’s a little like how keyword implementation used to work in previous years.

Once people figured out that keywords mattered and that Google used them – and their volume – to determine how a page should rank, everyone began the practice of keyword stuffing. This means that the quality of the content itself didn’t matter – so long as you had the right keywords inserted into the page as many times as possible, you were virtually guaranteed to rank highly.

Once Google tried to put a stop to that practice, people got tricky. They would hide keywords on the page that were the same color as the background. Your average reader wouldn’t ever see this – but Google’s “spiders” would. Once discovered, Google updated their algorithm to put a stop to this as well, penalizing pages that practiced it in a way that saw their average traffic rates eviscerated.

Indeed, that’s why Google updates its search algorithm many times per year – in part to help provide more accurate results, and in part to try to catch people who are “cheating” their way to the top. Remember that Google makes the vast majority of its money via ad revenue, and that number is so high because it has a 90% marketshare on all searches around the world. If Google continually returns low quality or spammy links to searchers, those users will soon look for alternatives. That means ad revenue will drop.

Google doesn’t want that. Which means that you can’t want that, either.

The Recent Update: Breaking Things Down

In September, Google confirmed that it had rolled out an updated specifically related to product reviews. Essentially, Google is now “rewarding” high quality product reviews that “share in-depth research” about a brand’s products and services.

Those product reviews where someone is overwhelmingly positive or overwhelmingly negative? The ones where someone is either so happy you think they must be a bot, or so upset that they clearly aren’t recognizing that they didn’t know how to use the product and made a mistake and should be embarrassed? Those don’t matter as much anymore compared to the ones in the middle.

The product reviews that matter are the ones that include photos and videos. That provide detailed breakdowns about the benefits and disadvantages of a product. The ones that compare how something works with competing products. The kind that you’re most likely to see on a site like Reddit. The list goes on and on.

What you’re thinking is correct – your average customer or user of a mobile app like Robinhood app absolutely does not want to do any of this. They don’t have time. It’s just not a realistic idea. They have lives to lead, mortgages to pay. Kids to feed and play with. But Google, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that all of this is important. Which means that if you’re looking for an opportunity to supplant your larger competitors, you need to encourage your own customers to leave reviews that are as detailed as humanly possible.

Note that you’re also not allowed to offer them anything for free in exchange for them doing so. You need to hope that your average customer is someone with enough time on their hands to want to do this all on their own. Is this a tall order? Sure. But again – if you want to play the game, you have to play by Google’s rules. At least for the foreseeable future. 

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The Disruption of ChatGPT: What You Need to Know

History is filled with the stories of the little guy out-thinking their larger counterparts, leveraging innovative thinking and modern technology to disrupt that which had been considered infallible up to that point. Most recently, we have the example of a Reddit group composed of average, everyday traders using the Robinhood app to upend Wall Street hedge fund titans. Can a group of Average Joes buying stock in Game Stop and AMC on a lark with a mobile app change the way we think about the stock market? It turns out that yes, yes they can.

The same basic concept may be playing out right before our eyes, albeit in another corner of the technology world: artificial intelligence. In November 2022, a prototype AI chatbot called ChatGPT was launched by OpenAI. Even though it hasn’t been live for very long, it’s already garnered attention for its ability to generate everything from short stories to rap lyrics, all with a decidedly human-like quality that other chatbots of the past have lacked.

But what does this mean in the long-term, and what do the implications mean for artificial intelligence in general? The answers to questions like those require you to keep a few key things in mind. 

ChatGPT: The (AI-Powered) Story So Far

If you’re getting the feeling that you’ve heard of OpenAI before, you definitely have – they’re the same organization behind the AI art generation platform called DALL-E. It’s been making the rounds recently for mostly general entertainment and ironic comedy purposes – you can tell DALL-E to create virtually any picture you’d like and it will, using only the keywords you provide.

ChatGPT is similar, only it uses dialog instead of a visual medium like art. The goal when you interact with ChatGPT is to make you feel like you’re talking to a real person.

This is largely where the potential to disrupt comes from. Not only can ChatGPT answer your questions, but it also allows you to ask followup questions that piggyback off of that original context. If it makes a mistake, it’s supposed to admit it. If a request is deemed inappropriate, it will outright refuse to do it. 

Based on all of the above, it should come as no surprise that interacting with ChatGPT is equal parts hilarious and strange. ChatGPT truly does seem to have a legitimate sense of humor… albeit kind of a quirky one. You can’t quite tell if it’s joking around with you or if what it’s saying is just wrong.

The creators of ChatGPT claim that it can talk about virtually anything and, thanks to the fact that it’s powered by machine learning, it’s only going to get more effective at it the more people use it.

In terms of its potential to disrupt, it’s easy to see a future where ChatGPT at the very least writes a significant amount of content that is then published online. Can an AI-powered chatbot be a journalist? We’re about to find out! (But honestly, it couldn’t do any worse than some of those news sites out there). Can an AI-powered chatbot provide hours upon hours of entertainment, supplanting your need to turn on Netflix and use it as background noise to distract you? Of course it can. It probably already is.

Will it write your research paper for you? Can it provide emotional interaction like in that weird Spike Jonze movie “Her”? Can it gain sentience, rise up, and take over humanity once and for all? Yes, possibly, and… maybe that’s a question better left unanswered for now.

One thing is for sure – ChatGPT has already changed the game in terms of what we think about when we think about interacting with chatbots online. Of course, there is absolutely nothing that can go wrong when you create a powerful AI-driven system that partially used Internet memes and message board posts as its training data. 

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The Top Trends for EOY 2022

Currently, we exist in the age of the trend – a world where attention spans are measured in nano-seconds. We live in a true walking contradiction in every sense of the word, where time and technology seem to be moving faster than ever before. 

There is no constant anymore, young grasshopper – there is only the trend. Honestly, we just exist in a world that’s more conducive to ideas, and innovation, with unlimited information at our fingertips. It’s a gift and a curse, but it does make for some amazing concepts – and some may actually stick. Maybe..

These are the top trends for EOY 2022..

1. Metaverse Real Estate

We’re in the age of the mobile app. First, we had Robinhood App…allowing all of us to trade, invest, and sell at the drop of a dime. Then, we ushered in the NFT.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we have the Metaverse Real Estate. Reddit is rife with information and advice – and plenty of…blunt..opinions regarding this trend. 

Just so you’re up to speed – an NFT (nonfungible token) is a digital item that’s bought and housed within a virtual world or landscape. 

In the same manner, Metaverse real estate is acquired with crypto. After finalizing your purchase, you receive your deed or title – a piece of unique blockchain code. 

These transactions go through real-life property managers or brokers – seriously. Pick your metaverse platform and stake your claim – but be warned: There are no regulations, and no special certification is required. So, pick and choose wisely who you work with. 

2. EVs

Just a decade ago, EVs were still a prototype for most auto manufacturers. Now, they’re on the highways and streets of every state and city, continent and country – they’re everywhere. And apparently, they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. With new legislation signed in California and other states following suit, many auto makers already have the wheels turning for plans to completely eliminate the manufacturing of fuel-powered vehicles. 

3. Selfie vs. POV

The selfie existed just fine – ruling the world of narcissism with an iron fist. There was even a selfie song. Then the selfie’s arch enemy, the POV, had to disrupt everything. In the end, it looks like there’s room for both, as the selfie is a young person’s game, and the POV is for all of us old timers over the ripe old age of 21. 

4. Permanent Remote Work

When Covid ushered in the single biggest change in our workforce in history, we’re not sure if anybody quite thought it was here to stay. But when many companies discovered the innovation it brought and other advantages – the remote worker became a permanent fixture. And it doesn’t look like it’s changing anytime soon. 

5. The Focus On Employee Wellness In the Workplace

This is another silver lining regarding the pandemic. When half the world was laid off, those who had no choice but to adapt and press forward discovered how empowered they could be as freelancers. Soon, those who had known nothing else but the hourly grind were transformed overnight into entrepreneurs – and making a pretty penny doing it. This allowed a large portion of the global workforce to collectively tell their bosses to take this job and shove it – or treat us better. And guess what? The corporate world obliged. Companies everywhere are rolling out new packages and programs that place more emphasis on employee wellness and appreciation. High five. 

6. Collaborative Technologies

With the explosion of remote workers came the sweeping deployment of collaborative technologies. Offices around the globe have left the cubicle and are currently Slacking, Microsoft Teaming, Google Workspacing, tweeting, ticking, and Zooming away. Who said the remote worker would kill the collaborative environment of most organizations? Another high five. 

7. Lead Agencies, Agency Tools, SaaS, etc. 

The fiery battle between marketers of cold, modern ad agencies, and other parties is extinguished. There is no separation of the old way and the new way – but instead a focus on the user. Just a year ago “content was king,” but now efforts are being placed on eliminating ad fatigue through unique creation, a clear message, and user intent. In other words, agencies must make good on their promises by reaching the target demographic like never before. 

Pricing and proofing aren’t the only items on the table during the initial negotiations with an agency. It’s hands-on now. We’re in the age of workshops, meetings with real experts in the field, and seminars – any way that a client can digest real knowledge and understand how their target audience is captured. Nowadays, it’s not about the bells and whistles – it’s about the relationship and the trust factor. The good guys are winning. 

8. SMS Marketing

Here’s the talk of personalization again. The balance of power has shifted to sending coupons, promotions, and messages that pull the hearts and strings of your customers. Even live conversations with “real people.” The intrusive “old way” has left the building and customers have the choice of opting out. We’re possibly in the most polite age of advertising and marketing that’s ever existed – and it’s working. 

9. Influencer Marketing

Partnering with the top influencers in your industry can expand your options to a MASSIVE pool of potential buyers. Just how big is influencer marketing? Try to the tune of $13 BILLION just since 2021. That’s a hell of a “trend.” But a new trend has emerged within a trend – the micro-influencer. Instead of hundreds of thousands of followers companies are leaning to influencers with 1,000 to 10,000 followers – and gaining a more intimate experience…and no doubt reaping the benefits. 

10. TikTok vs. YouTube Shorts

In the battle for capturing the minds of audiences with the shortest attention spans, the short-form video content battle is being waged between the behemoths of the industry – TikTok vs. YouTube Shorts. So far, TikTok seems to be winning. Now we also have IG Reels emerging as a third participant. Moving into 2023, it will be interesting to see which platform consumers, advertisers, and creators gravitate towards. This could get ugly. 

Colure Media is a New York based advertising and marketing agency. We can help your corporation gain exposure and increase revenue. If you are interested in exploring various marketing possibilities for your corporation, Contact us now.

How FTX Blew Up Overnight… In Flames
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How FTX Blew Up Overnight… In Flames

FTX, recently valued at $32 billion, has just blown up. But not in the “viral-overnight” sense. More like, a nuclear catastrophe. 

On Wednesday, the largest cryptocurrency exchange on earth, Binance, tweeted that it was terminating its partnership with FTX. Binance stated, “We have decided not to pursue the potential acquisition of FTX as a result of corporate due diligence and the most recent news reports regarding mishandled customer funds and alleged US agency investigations. Initially, our hope was to be able to support FTX’s customers to provide liquidity, but the issues are beyond our control or ability to help.”

And on Friday, FTX filed for bankruptcy, and its CEO resigned.

Not exactly a good day for the company.

So… what the heck happened?

Alameda Research is where it all starts. Sam Bankman-Fried established Alameda, a proprietary trading firm that dabbled in cryptocurrencies, in 2017. They made money buying and selling crypto… and there was a lot of buying and selling going on. After a while, Sam realized he wanted more. He didn’t just want to trade cryptocurrencies himself. He wanted to also get very large financial institutions involved.

So, in 2019, he set up a crypto trading platform called FTX, which became a wildly popular mobile app that had a quick rise to disrupt the financial industry.

If you’re familiar with FTX’s model, they were (emphasis on “were”) a crypto marketplace that would locate a crypto vendor if you intended to make a purchase, and vice versa. When FTX handled a transaction, the company earned a fee. Customers who were willing to place large wagers were also eligible for loans. The exchange imposed interest on this of course. Money was made. RobinHood App, move over.

Except… then it wasn’t. FTX almost went bankrupt due to a “liquidity” problem, according to the media, which essentially meant that the crypto markets were crashing and customers wanted their money back. As in, $6 billion over the course of three days. And, of course, FTX was unable to issue these refunds because they, like any exchange would, had used these customer-earmarked funds for business expansion, under the belief that the crypto market was too big to crash. When it did crash and every Chad and Aidan on earth wanted to cash out the $750 they had sitting in FTX for the next coin rush and FTX had nothing for them, chaos ensued. 

FTX has always had lofty goals. When they launched their trading platform, they also unveiled their own cryptocurrency token called FTT. “We can make our own coin and make serious money with it!” was the big idea. And of course, making your own cryptocurrency costs… money.

So, FTX offered all buyers of their proprietary tokens discounted or free withdrawals and reduced trading fees as an incentive to join their platform. 

The token’s potential began to emerge quickly. The costs started to emerge, too. So FTX started buying its own tokens with a portion of its actual revenue generated from transaction fees, artificially inflated the demand for their own coin by purchasing it in large quantities. 

Basically, FTX created a coin, asked people to buy it for perks, then bought more of their own coins using the money people paid for the coins originally to artificially inflate the value of their coin, so people would buy more.

What could go wrong?

When the cost of FTT started going up, the value of Alameda’s holdings of these coins started going up as well. When the FTT tokens started going up in price, this would greatly benefit Alameda (and Sam, FTX’s founder… definitely not shady).

FTX likely used customer deposits or borrowed money to make loans for trades. But when customers all at once started demanding their deposits back, FTX didn’t have enough to cover everyone’s accounts.

The worlds largest crypto exchange, Binance, was positioned at first to essentially bail FTX out of its situation. But, as mentioned above, they pulled out. In a statement, Binance explained,

“We have seen over the last several years that the crypto ecosystem is becoming more resilient and we believe in time that outliers that misuse user funds will be weeded out by the free market.”

Burn. So much burn.

Since its inception, the cryptocurrency industry has battled to win over skeptical regulators, investors, and everyday customers. As a result of Binance’s withdrawal and the decline of FTX, a company that appeared more stable than others, the market has been jolted.

If anything, the FTX crash will turn off institutional investors just as they were starting to warm up to the cryptocurrency space. It may take years to restore faith in the sector’s promise, even though some people will continue to work on interesting projects. Because, you know, crypto.

Tightening screws for crypto companies that make it through the oncoming purge will almost certainly increase. Crypto’s future will be heavily debated on Reddit threads across the world.

Crypto will survive. But for FTX… big, big L. Billions’ worth.
 

But hey. Let’s go make some s’mores in the flames.

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Why Are You Hearing about “CX” Startups Popping Up Everywhere?

Okay, first of all, what even is CX? CX stands for customer experience. The experience of being a customer. And if you’re thinking that’s not revolutionary enough to disrupt something, you’re probably absolutely right. CX startups are companies like Zendesk; they’re companies that are designed to streamline the current customer experience. And they’re poised to disrupt because of AI. Let’s dig in.

Hand touching digital chat bot for provide access to information and data in online network, robot application and global connection, AI, Artificial intelligence, innovation and technology.

Disrupting the customer experience

So, go on Reddit and search for CX. It’s like user experience, user interfaces, and user design, but much more. It starts with a buyer’s journey and ends with you embedding yourself into every facet of their being. For example, the Robinhood App has poor CX. They barely respond to anyone.

The customer experience is a relationship that customers build with a business. And it’s becoming important because customers are seeking these experiences. Look at Apple. People want to call themselves Apple or iOS users. People want to connect with the brand that they’re using.

But more than that, there’s AI.

The AI chatbots are disrupting customer satisfaction

In the old days, we hated phone trees, right? 

If you’re a younger millennial, you have no idea what that means. A phone tree is a directory; when you call in, you get directed to different areas of a company. There weren’t any voice prompts, and the phone trees could get five or six levels dense.

“Do you want accounting? Do you want receivables? Do you want Steve? Steve A or Steve S?”

The earliest chatbots operated like this, too, and they sure weren’t going to disrupt anything. If you called, say, Reddit, you’d get an automated voice telling you to press 1, 2, or 3. If you then went on a live chatbot (let’s assume Reddit ever wanted anyone to contact them, because you actually cannot contact Reddit at all), the chatbot would tell you much the same.

But now chatbots have differentiated themselves. You can talk to them in natural language, and they respond. This is something called Natural Language Processing.

What does it mean for you?

You could start a CX web3 machine-learning startup today, and realistically, most people wouldn’t even know what you do. But they would throw money at you.

Today, CX is mostly about using automation and artificial intelligence to smooth the customer experience, reducing friction across multiple channels. So the reality is that a CX startup is someone who is using high technology to make the customer experience better.

So you’ve got AI. And you’ve also got web3, because this is what people are expecting web3 to be. They go on their mobile app, they load up a page, and they see furniture in real life through augmented reality. They see furniture, scan it with a mobile app, and immediately buy it.

Let’s all move to a better customer experience

Part of it is that people do need a better CX. Amazon made itself an empire because of fast returns and good customer service. Guess what: That’s how Sears was an empire for over 100 years. A better customer experience is essential, and it’s a great industry to be in.

As the economy falters, customers are increasingly operating solely within realms they want to operate with. Newer customers have been more concerned with customer experience than product quality. That’s right. They’ll stick with a mediocre product because they… want a good experience.

How far could you get if you could help other companies build those experiences?

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What are you reading? The most essential resources for a disruptive founder today

So, you want to disrupt the world with your mobile app. But like all things, disruption and entrepreneurship occur on the shoulders of giants. Steve Jobs didn’t come up with the iPhone on his own. He took things that were already popular and made them better. 

Life isn’t always about innovation. Often, it’s about implementation. You identify best-in-class technologies and find opportunities to apply them. And you do that by knowing what’s going on. Let’s take a look at some essential resources for a disruptive founder today.

Mainstream Periodicals: Let’s Get It Out of the Way

Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Fortune, Forbes — you should read them all. But be aware that once something’s in a mainstream periodical, its time has expired. In the old days, investors used to say: “The best time to invest in a stock is before your Aunt Sally is talking about it.” The same applies.

Still, these mainstream periodicals are critically important because they provide insights into the general zeitgeist is thinking. Mainstream periodicals will tell you what people are already talking about. It’s your job to be ahead of the curve.

And there’s always the exception. Did you know that Zuck was talking about the Metaverse since 2014?

Innovation and Tech: Futurism, MIT Technology Review, and Wired

Frequently, new technology breaks quietly. There are one or two articles on an advanced, open-source machine learning platform… and then silence for literally years. Tech frequently develops unevenly. You bring radio to the internet before internet speeds have caught up to streaming. We’ve understood the principles of artificial intelligence and machine learning for decades, but it’s only recently that cloud technology has advanced to the point where it’s feasible.

So, new technology is an opportunity to grow. And it’s not always obvious what will or won’t be critical. Look for the trends under them; if you’re starting to see things pop up in multiple talk spaces, then it’s probably important.

Podcasts: Masters of Scale, The Week in Startups, Mixergy, and The Growth Show

You know what? There are thousands upon thousands of podcasts targeted toward entrepreneurs. But these are some best. Whether riding the bus to your Silicon Valley day job or going for a stroll in your suburb, listening to the opinions of experienced founders will help. 

These podcasts give you a good mix of inspiring startup stories, current news, and actionable tips for growth. Don’t ignore the importance of inspiration. Podcasts are uniquely inspiring: they are designed to keep you going, thinking, and innovating.

Books: The Startup Owner’s Manual, Who, Zero to One, and Leading at the Speed of Growth

Read books, whether you’re listening to them in the car or reading them on your Kindle. In particular, Zero to One (by Peter Thiel) encapsulates the startup experience from someone who’s lived it. But don’t forget that there’s a lot of survivorship bias out there. Just as you should read information about those who succeeded, you should also read information about those who failed. 

Some other critical books include Why Startups Fail, Build, and How to Ruin Your Life by 30. If you prepare for the worst you can move toward the best.

Entrepreneurship Means a Lifetime of Learning

Don’t stop there.

You want to create the next Reddit or Robinhood app. It starts with learning more — about everything. If you never stop learning and never stop thinking, you can keep innovating. Be open to new ideas and be willing to learn from anyone.

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Who is currently winning the battle for web3?

Can you disrupt an industry that’s just begun? Who is currently winning the battle for web3? It’s a complicated question — for end users, the hope is that no one wins. For companies, the hope is that it creates megaliths and monoliths.

Metaverse, Web3 and Blockchain Technology Concepts. Opened Hand Levitating Virtual Objects. Futuristic Tone

Facebook’s Got the Name

Sorry — Meta. Regarding being recognizable, Facebook has worked hard to make itself synonymous with web3. And the work has paid off; most people think of Meta when they think of the “Metaverse.”

The bad news for Meta is that everything published about web3 looks extraordinarily goofy. While people are thinking about the Metaverse when they think about Meta, they aren’t taking it seriously.

The Game Industry Has It Locked

From mobile app to VR space, the game industry is really making advances into web3. It’s understandable. The gaming industry has always been at the forefront of new technology. And society just got out of a few years of staying at home and playing with their computers, consoles, and phones.

If you want an example of what “the Metaverse” and web3 could do, you need only look at… Roblox and Fortnite. There are children already growing up in the Metaverse and living their lives in an overlaid, digital reality. People are holding concerts in Fortnite.

It’s Not Like Amazon Isn’t Trying

With Amazon’s AWS technology, it may be surprising that Amazon really isn’t breaking out into the web3 space. Why isn’t it selling digital terrain through its online platform?

Actually, Amazon is trying. Just this year, Amazon Studios released an MMO that they had touted to be groundbreaking. It ended up being quite poorly received and almost universally panned. It was just a regular MMO, but it shows that Amazon is trying to get into the digitally interactive space.

Of course, to really disrupt web3, you need to be able to get into the space and be accepted by people and Amazon doesn’t really have an understanding of people, nor does Zuckerberg.

What about the NFTs?

You know, a little while ago we could stay that bitcoin was definitely the winner of web3. But Bitcoin is going the way of the dodo. Even if it’s the de facto standard still for trading and bartering in crypto, it’s not going to be for long. Because it’s being surpassed by other contenders.

NFTs are going to stay but they are going to be very different.

Right now, there’s a battle for the soul of web3. It could be Facebook, Amazon, Google, or any other large company. But it could also become a decentralized service that everyone can take advantage of and enjoy.

There’s something to the dark net. It’s not just a place to buy drugs and hitmen. The dark net has remained entirely uncontrolled and collaborative for years. It’s a space where anyone can throw up a site and everyone has to essentially collaborate for people to get there. Read into the dark net and you’ll find that more things are being traded in the dark net than on the Robinhood app.

So if you want to find out more about the future of web3, why not make it? And if you want to know what people hate about web3, just ask Reddit.

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Pearson selling textbooks as NFTs–does this open doorways for new startups?

If you went to college (or dropped out of college—hey, all the tech wunderkinder are doing it), you’re already rolling your eyes. Yeah, Pearson could disrupt the NFT space by selling textbooks as NFTs. Let’s set aside the anger and explore what it means for new startups.

Pearson? Textbooks? NFTs?

Maybe you somehow have the luck of never encountering a Pearson textbook. Pearson textbooks are hundreds of dollars and usually required by a class. Even better, Pearson has worked hard to ensure you can’t get their textbooks on the secondary market.

It began with edition inflation. Every year another edition… so you couldn’t just use an old book. Next, there were codes attached to each book for an “online lab,” even books that really didn’t need an online portion. These codes were one-time-use only, so again, you couldn’t sell the book.

Now NFTs are the latest in Pearson’s pursuit of profit.    

Removing the secondary market

But actually, this isn’t about NFTs. Not really. It’s about removing the secondary market. Pearson has been clear that it hates that its books can be resold. A used textbook can be sold up to seven times, even with multiple editions and lab codes.

Removing the secondary market is happening everywhere. Earlier this month, HBO axed a tremendous portion of its library. People were mad, but they can’t do anything about it; they don’t actually own the library, they just own access to it.

Pearson’s NFTs also remove the secondary market but use an entirely different strategy. What you’re purchasing now is your access to this book. You can’t sell it because you only purchased your access. And if Pearson goes through with this, there will probably be limited access; the Terms of Service will likely state that the service could go down or disappear entirely without liability to the company.

NFTs, web3, and the world of artificial scarcity

We’ve talked about this before, but what web3 commerce does very frequently is create artificial scarcity. Planet #24928 of the Metaverse could have infinite lots, but if we produce only 100 lots, then we profit. This isn’t new. A painter could sell 4,000,000 prints, but they chose to sell 40 because that makes their work valuable and rare.

The extraordinary thing, of course, about this new economy is that anything can become rare art, including a Pearson textbook on Quantitative Analysis for management. Many of the most successful NFT products dabble with these elements of artificial scarcity. You might pay $5 for a hat for your Metaverse avatar now, but what if we told you it was the only one in the world? 

More importantly, NFTs are moving firmly into mainstream space. CNN is selling NFTs of articles. While the world hasn’t quite gotten a handle, universally, on what an NFT is or what it means, they have continued to embrace it.

That’s some good news in the world of bad.

The funding window is closing—so go find your unicorn

If you haven’t loaded up Reddit in a minute, you might not realize that the unicorns are missing. In a reference only millennials will get, they’ve been driven back into the sea. Bottom line: You’re running out of time.  

Investors are pulling back. Layoffs are rampant. Startups are having a hard time. The time to throw out a quick mobile app and make millions of dollars was slightly before the Robinhood app launched. Things are getting lean out there.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities. You can see that mainstream adoption of NFT, blockchain, and cryptocurrency continues even after the disastrous series of crashes this year. Pearson’s consideration of NFTs means mainstream companies still welcome the idea, provided that NFTs and cryptocurrency can solve their extant pain points. What pain points could your blockchain solve?

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Here’s Why Crypto Mortgages Are The Next Big Disruptor

Crypto mortgages are bringing in a new wave of onlookers, wondering if this is the next avenue to securing a home? Well it makes sense, but we’ll see if there’s a catch to it. Say you’ve got $300,000 in crypto currency, this can be leveraged against a mortgage company’s $300,000 cash for a home with no taxes paid because you never cashed out of crypto!

Why crypto mortgages do make sense

When you cash out of crypto you pay huge amounts of taxes, short-term investments get hit harder than long-term investments. The trick here is that the bank will hold your crypto equity as collateral, so it’s like you never cashed out and those taxes are out of the equation of your new home. This is especially helpful for those who are self-employed or a regular trader since qualifying isn’t easy traditionally.

The end all is crypto mortgages allow you to pay off your house without meandering through the traditional process, with large dollar signs sitting in your crypto wallets it makes perfect sense to skip all of that lousy traditional process!

Why crypto mortgages are insane 

Okay really, what’s the risk?

Okay, so the thing is, like everything in the crypto world, crypto mortgages are an amazing idea that can go south for you very quickly.

Let’s say that your $300,000 in crypto tanks and now it’s worth $100,000. Your bank will perform a mortgage call and you’ll either need to put up more equity, refinance your home, or otherwise come up and with the cash. 

And let’s be honest, crypto is very volatile. So, the odds are that this could happen.

It’s a gamble. If everything works perfectly, you disrupt the mortgage industry and get an amazing house without paying taxes. If everything goes poorly, you’ll be back on your Robinhood app trading penny stocks in no time at all.

As you should know, the crypto world is very volatile and can make your life either Heaven or Hell depending on the market. How you could end up losing out on big dollars is, say that $300,000 in your wallet tanks down to $100,000 your bank will either require you to refinance your home, put more equity, or otherwise come up with the cash. The odds of this happening are probable as the market fluctuates consistently, so the gamble is up to you. The pros are getting to disrupt the mortgage industry by securing an amazing home without paying taxes, versus the cons of a major setback in your crypto wallet and the bank leveraging you (they know you’re likely to pay considerable fee and high interest to avoid hefty taxes).

What crypto mortgages mean for tech disrupters 

The larger picture is mortgage is a highly regulated and controlled industry. You’re not going to be getting FNMA mortgages, however the fact that you can get a subprime mortgage with crypto makes crypto continue to take over the conventional mainstream spheres.

So, what industry will be next? Travel and hospitality? Restaurants? Manufacturing? As cryptocurrency continues to tumbleweed in support and reach, it can also spread into any of these other sectors and more. Just as Blockchain technology is changing everything from the Metaverse to legal contracts, crypto can be slotted into any type of equity or asset-based transaction. 

Years ago, crypto fans on Reddit rejoiced when they could suddenly order a pizza through BTC. Being able to buy cars, houses, or even just groceries with crypto doesn’t put crypto closer to adoption, it opens new opportunities more widespread than the eye can meet. It’s not just about building some crypto mobile app anymore. Now it’s about what traditional industry you want to disrupt.