PUBLISHED MAY 2016 by Michael Tamblyn, President & CEO, Rakuten Kobo Is it possible that we—as an industry in 2016—are not in an unusual state of crisis? Since maybe 2008 or 2009, we have been in a digital great leap forward, a nearly perpetual state of disruption. For years, all kinds of cataclysmic predictions were …

PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2015 by Peter Goodman, Publisher, Stone Bridge Press Certain basic business practices need renewed emphasis in an age of impersonal texting, e-mails, and digital interaction. As a book publisher, you know you always need to focus on appearance and content in terms of readers. What first impression does your book give that persuades …

PUBLISHED AUGUST 2015 by Adam Toporek, Founder, CTS Service Solutions Customer service is one of the many important things social media has changed, and the use of social media for customer service continues to grow in importance, with an increasing number of service interactions moving to platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. An analysis out …

PUBLISHED MAY 2015 by Ron Kaufman, Founder & Chairman, UP! Your Se Dealing with a dissatisfied, disgruntled, impossible-to-please, irrational, and/or irate customer isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time. Often, you may seek to bring the interaction to a close as quickly as possible, even if it ends on a sour note. But it’s worth …

There are nearly 28 million small businesses in America, and they are making a formidable impact on the U.S. economy. According to a government study, small businesses provide 55 percent of all jobs and account for more than half (54 percent) of all US sales. Of course, customers play a critical role in this economic …

Now that social media sites are allowing all of us to form and participate in digital tribes—groups numbering from a few dozen to a few million people who share some sort of social interest with us and with whom we seek deeper engagement—“socialfication” is a necessary business strategy. Fundamentally, socialfication is about the process of …