Happy Monday! – And if you’re in the UK… Bank Holiday Monday!
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Monday Motivation…
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
I was always told – work hard, save your money and enjoy it later in life.
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Smart Everything…
We’re now living in a world – that is progressively becoming smarter by the day… Smart Everything!
We have ‘smarter’ devices, ‘smarter’ homes and ‘smart’ cars (not those small 2 seater ones, though they are cool- I mean smart as in clever cars…)
We’re more connected than ever before also.
With the vast amount of data being analysed about us – its no coincidence that you google for a holiday to Cyprus and next minute when you’re looking or searching for something on a different platform – Cyprus holiday suggestions pop up!
Is it good or bad, Bal?
Well – it depends on how you want to look at it.
It’s good- because it makes life easy. simple. quick.
It’s bad – because there’s organisations out there that know alot about you. And I mean… A LOT! (probably more than what you know about yourself!)
I’m more optimistic. I’m fine with certain organisations knowing certain things about me – if it brings about value.
Value – the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something.
To receive that ‘value’ – you need to input your information, data or something to receive something of value!
But obviously – be aware of what you share with who. Luckily, we have GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) to help you understand more about where your data is and what you’d like done with it.
But going back to Value – we underestimate what the value could be. In Lean – we are able to look at non-value add and value-add : which means, we look at a process and the steps which add value (to the overall outcome) and which ones don’t add value (to the overall outcome).
So we should know where our data is – how it’s being used – and is it delivering the value we’d like. If not – then question, why not – and who’s benefiting from that data.
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
I thought I’d share some counter-intuitive life lessons….
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iPhone 11…
Seriously Bal? – another new iPhone? – seems like only yesterday the X, XS and XL was released.
Indeed. Not that long ago – but in this rapidly evolving world we live in, and the trillions that is in the bank of Apple, you didn’t think they’d just sit there and not do anything?
That’s right folks – there’ll be a new iPhone coming out later this year!
So what do we know – and how do we know it?
Well… the folks who make the protective cases for Apple leaked some images – and these have then been rendered!
So what do we know? – Firstly… it has 3 cameras!!!
That’s right – 3 cameras. We seen what some of the Chinese phone manufacturers are doing with their phones and their cameras – and let’s be honest, the picture quality is fabulous! – Even Samsung have serioulsy upped their game. So only time for Apple to do the same…
Admittedly- I’m taking more photos on my phone than my DSLR!
In addition to the 3 cameras – there’ll be a faster processor… more memory and a better battery! There’ll also be phone to phone (and other device like AirPods, etc…) charging.
We’ll no doubt receive more leaks (information and photos) over the next month or two – and as always, will happily keep you updated!
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
How many mistakes have you made?
I’m sure you’ve learnt from them? – then why be worried to try new things?
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Everyone starts with zero
Saw a great quote from Gary Vaynerchuk the other day –
Now, if you don’t know Gary – I suggest you go and google him, watch some of his videos, check him out on social media. He’s a great guy – and he’s sharing some brilliant and very simple advice!
In fact, this is one of my favourite videos… (taken from his fan page!)
Now… there’s various folk whom I talk to, and they’ve either started their journey (this could be anything) or have always thought about it but never got going.
In this blog post- I’m going to focus on social media for a moment.
We all know the dividends that social media pays. It’s HUGE!!!!
If you, your business, your organisation – is not on social media, you’re missing out BIG TIME!
On top of that – you might be on it, but not using it effectively. Post now and again…. and then wonder, why you are not getting followers, why you are not getting engagement, why you are not growing!
It’s not all about you.
It’s all about others. The more you engage with others, the more others will engage with you!
Have a clear focus also. What is it you are using social media for?
Is it to gain more followers?
Is it to gain a following which you can interact with and therefore translate into profits?
Is it to increase awareness of your brand?
Like any good strategy, work out your Goals and Objectives and work accordingly.
I’ve been helping a number of folk out recently – and most recently, I took over the twitter account for a local charity.
We went from zero to 65 followers in a few weeks. The objective is to increase awareness and have more volunteers. This all links with the overall marketing strategy of the charity. More volunteers means more help which means more hands which results in more getting done in the same time (time is a variable that can’t be changed!)
And lastly… if you do want to learn more – I’ll be interviewing The Coopers, who’ll share a few secrets about their Instagram page!
They went from a couple of hundred followers to over 4,700 followers in a short space of time! All genuine followers – so what’s the secret?! – well… you can find out soon…. (by the way, if you can’t wait for my blog post with The Coopers, go follow them on Instagram – search for Coopers New Build)
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Just look here – thank you.
How many passwords do you have? I’m guessing, quite a few… you’ve probably got a few different ones as well – one for twitter, one for facebook, another one for your emails, and maybe a few more for all the other apps you got on your tablet or phone.
I’m guessing you probably struggle to remember them all as well?
Well – good news. You may not need to remember them all.
How’s that Bal?
Well.. if you’ve got a fairly modern phone, chances are you probably use your finger or face to unlock it.
It’s all called ‘biometrics’.
It’s going to be the way we ‘unlock’ things in the future.
In fact – it’s happening now!
But what is Biometrics? – Biometrics is the technical term for body measurements and calculations. It refers to metrics related to human characteristics. Biometrics authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control.
Is that the official statement, Bal?
Yes it is! – what is basically means is – when the camera looks at your finger or face, it takes a number of measurements and then saves these and destroys the original image.
These measurements and calculations are used every time you unlock something… Basically, the information (measurements) which are stored, can be accessed later for comparison with “live” information!
So by having these biometric data – you won’t need to remember passwords!
It’s happening more and more – where you can use your finger or face – to be recognized – and to make payments… may be we could use biometric data one day to vote!
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Bal’s Friday Thought…
Ever wondered how your life will pan out.
If you had to read a book about your life… how would it go? Would it be predictable or would it be adventurous?….
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Till free Sainsbury’s!
You may or may not remember – I spoke a while ago about how Sainsbury’s were working on an app – on which you can scan items and then pay for them!
Guess what – they’ve now got it across the Holborn Circus Store in London on a three month pilot!
That’s right – Sainsbury’s has launched the UK’s first till-free grocery store at the central London branch, which allows shoppers to pay with their phone and then walk out of the shop without going through a checkout.
Customers use the app to scan groceries as they walk round the store, bag them and then pay in the app, scanning a code to confirm payment.
Now, where have I heard about this concept before Bal?
Amazon are doing it…
For us Brits – especially at Sainsbury’s – more than 80% of payments were cashless (honestly, I thought it would’ve been higher!)
Now this pilot – involves a revamped store to cater for the ‘food to go’ people. Alcohol and tobacco have been removed because it takes ‘time’ – and by that, I mean ‘people time’ to verify the age of the person buying it. I’m sure in due course, there’ll be verification steps within the app to allow this… and maybe a shelf locked with a pin code to allow access.
So what’s the feedback?
A beaming lady declared the system “easy to use and a complete timesaver” – and the overall feedback has been positive.
Will we see more of this? – I believe so….