Marketing Network Blog

Richard Branson's Top Book Recommendations From 2016 http://ift.tt/2g6OkYe It’s the holidays, which means it’s time to relax and unwind. To Richard Branson, that means sitting down with a favorite book or magazine, a cup of tea and a notebook. Related:  Richard Branson: To Be Successful, Take the Stairs Aside from a dose of relaxation, Branson also believes that reading sparks ideas and teaches leadership lessons. In a recent blog post, “ Read to lead ,” the Virgin Group founder reveals five of his favorite books he read in 2016. The billionaire entrepreneur recommends Alastair Campbell’s Winners and Richard Reed’s If I Could Tell You Just One Thing as great resources for inspiration and tips on leadership. Branson writes that his belief in possessing a “growth” mindset is paralleled in Matthew Syed’s Black Box Thinking . Syed’s book is great for entrepreneurs, touching upon topics of attitude, failure and behavior, Branson says. Related:  Richard Branson Explains W...

7 short online classes you can take (and finish) on your lunch break http://ift.tt/2ms1lQ3 You’re looking to boost your resume to apply for another job, or you’re hoping to learn a new skill to get better at your current role, or you just always wanted to learn about a certain topic. You’ve considered taking an online class , but hey, don’t those take forever? Nobody has time for that. Well, you’re right—a lot of online courses take hours, even weeks to complete. But hold your horses, because there are also ones that take less than an hour! Don’t believe me? Try these seven short classes on for size—in the comfort of your home or, get this, even on your lunch break. 1. How to Become Successful in Every Aspect of Your Life , Udemy Success doesn’t come in a day—but you can get started on the path to it in one hour. This professional development course, taught by a software engineer, is a great resource to begin to tackle those physical, intellectual, and emotional barriers tha...

The New “PhotoScan” By Google Is One Of The Most Useful Apps I’ve Ever Seen http://ift.tt/2ffglxk The new PhotoScan app from Google, for both Android and iPhone, lets you easily convert your old “paper” photos into high-resolution digital images. I know one thing I’ll be doing over Thanksgiving break. I’m adding it to  The Best Sites For Beginning iPhone Users Like Me , which needs a big revision and update. via Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day… http://ift.tt/UbeXsh November 15, 2016 at 09:45PM

Just Bought Your First DSLR? Read What To Expect, Before You Go Anywhere http://ift.tt/2i8IPcQ Here Are Some Excellent DSLR Photography Tips For Beginners – Well, Seeing As You Own One Now… You’ve made the first big step. Great news, and welcome to the club – though by reading Lightstalking , you were technically already in the club! Image by Benjamin Combs DOWNLOAD FREE BONUS : If you want to get a good handle of you shiny new DSLR, then download our free  Camera Craft Cheat Sheet. Print it out and take it with you so you always have the basics on hand when you need it – when shooting! Download it here . Anyway, so you’ve been using your point and shoot camera or your smartphone for a while now, but you feel it limits you in more than one way, and you decided to get a DSLR camera in order to be able to fully express yourself creatively without any limitations. Theoretically that is the right choice to do, and theoretically, your expectations will be met. In p...

All you need to start your new online venture: 10 tools & 10 useful resources http://ift.tt/2elnISk Are you starting a new online business ? It’s always overwhelming! Here’s your ultimate resource list to help. Maybe you have had an idea for a profitable venture for a while, but are only now diving in? Good news! There are quite a few excellent tools and resources out there to help you along the way. From the first steps to the last, these 20 links are must-clicks for the modern small business mogul. Online launch tools 1. Bustaname One of the oldest tools I am still using as of today, Bustaname lets you check the domain availability on the fly. It’s great for the brand name inspiration! I believe I was using that tool to come up with my very first domain name seosmarty.com 2. Knowem Knowem is the tool to check any time you are looking for the brand name for your business. It will show how many social media sites have your name registered. Don’t go with the name th...

Let's Give Meetings a Much-Needed Makeover http://ift.tt/2fhNHNa Reader Resource Position yourself for growth in 2017—join us live at the Entrepreneur 360 ™ Conference in Long Beach, Calif. on Nov. 16. Secure Your Seat » It’s no secret that meetings are almost universally hated. More often than not, they’re tedious, repetitive or a flat-out waste of time. I’m the CEO of a software company called Redbooth, where we make task and project management software. My team and I spend a lot of time thinking about how to help people work more efficiently. There’s been an incredible amount of innovation around productivity, and I’m continually inspired by what my team comes up with -- and what’s happening industry-wide. But somehow, even cutting-edge companies are still refusing to think strategically about how their employees run their meetings. Related: 7 Tasks You Do Every Day That Waste Time and Cost Your Business Money  This article is about why that’s happening and ...