Straight Talk Blog
Ted Rubin
Being a Father Transcends How We Feel Moment-To-Moment
Being a father transcends how we feel moment-to-moment. We have to remember that everything we do is being observed, recorded, and processed by our kids, and is important to their emotional development –– perhaps even more so for children of divorce. They're always...
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OMG, Facebook Used My Data!!! Now What?
The scare-mongering that’s going around today about data usage is driving me up the wall. When I see people having meltdowns about Facebook using their data to deliver content to them, I’m thinking: “WHERE THE F*** HAVE YOU ALL BEEN, under a freaking rock???” Would...
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Enough Is Enough: Why We Should All Throw Our Support Behind the #MarchForOurLives Movement
Look back throughout history, and ask yourself where the big, meaningful changes in society come from most often. Is it the people who are invested, often for many years, in the status quo? The folks who are piling up profits thanks to the current system, whatever it...
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What #FollowThePath Means to Me… and Can Mean to You
Sometimes, your favorite concepts take on a life of their own, and #FollowThePath definitely qualifies for me. It's an idea that encompasses much of what I believe is important in business and in life – so naturally it's based on the ideas that have stuck with me most...
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My Not-So-Great Guild and Yelp Experience: You’ve GOT to be Kidding Me…
You would think, given everything that has transpired regarding restaurant reviews in digital media over the past decade, that restaurant managers/owners would take the hint that the customer’s experience at their restaurant IS their brand. However, I guess there are...
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Evolving Digital Self Podcast with Ted Rubin ~via @2BalanceU and @ForbesOste
Our guest Ted Rubin and host Dr. Heidi Forbes Öste talk the journey through evolving tech, keeping our humanity and reaching customers. Ted Rubin is a leading Social Marketing Strategist, Keynote Speaker, Photofy CMO, MC/Host of Brand Innovators Summits, and...
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How Simple Self-Awareness Makes a Difference
One of the secrets about just being nice is that it can be pretty easy when you make it a focus at the start of each day. There will always be people who test your limits, but you'll also get a ton of positive feedback from people who appreciate common courtesy. But...
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Planning: Prepare for the Future, but Expect to Be Surprised
Planning will always be an important part of achieving any major goal, but it's never as simple as putting a plan on paper and watching while everything falls into place. Life is way too unpredictable, which makes it easy to lose sight of our goals, or plan...
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Video Content for Social Media – How Crucial is it For Your Marketing in 2018?
With the addition of live streaming we now have the ability to share all video, AND “all content,” in so many more ways, via more apps, with story-telling and engagement at the core. I find that I need to use this ability more, but also see so many using it way too...
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Why You Should Never Let Your “Bubble” Burst
Whether you've got a handful of dedicated, vocal connections or a large, diverse group of followers, every single one of us has a “social bubble,” a finite group of people who connect with you and stay connected to engage in some way. The size of your bubble depends...
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The Future of Small Business: How Online Mega-Retailers Can Help You Grow Online
We already know that small businesses will have opportunities to adapt, grow, and thrive when large, traditional retailers falter, but what does that process look like for small businesses? Since adding a digital component is so important for small business success in...
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Social Listening is Finally Getting Some Play
You know that I'm big on social listening, and have been from the start. We have this incredible, unprecedented resource for learning more about our clients, customers, and connections, but we have to listen to make it work. So I've been very pleased to see that...
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Retail Relevancy: Small Business Retail Boom (Part 2)
I’ve said that small businesses have a big future to look forward to in today’s market, but it's not just because large, traditional businesses are struggling to adapt to the needs of the modern shopper. Online mega-retailers like Amazon, which are currently putting...
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SXSW 2018 starts Friday… So Much to Do There, and So Little Time
You have been hearing about it for so long and finally the time has come… off to Austin for the “event” of events, SXSW. What will it be like, where do I go, what can’t I miss? It can be overwhelming. For me, and for many others, the most successful approach is to...
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Retail Relevancy: The Coming Small Business Retail Boom (Part 1)
There are two competing trends in the retail world that I believe are going to shape the future for both small businesses and big-name traditional retailers. The first is that it has become much easier to purchase your basic necessities from home. Large, traditional...
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Award Winning Ads Often Miss the Mark
Ever watch one of those serious films that make you decode symbolism from one scene to the next in order to understand the deeper meaning of the story? The sort of film that gets better the more times you watch it, and better still if you read your favorite critic to...
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How Simple Self-Awareness Affects Relationships
One of the secrets about just being nice is that it can be pretty easy when you make it a focus at the start of each day. There will always be people who test your limits, but you'll also get a ton of positive feedback from people who appreciate common courtesy. But...
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How Small Business Retailers Can Thrive in the New #RetailRelevancy World
It's no secret that online retailers have had a major impact on the brick-and-mortar retail world, and this has mostly been bad news for the big, traditional retailers that do most of their business in-store. From a consumer standpoint, why go to the mall, a big-box...
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Traditional Retail Isn’t Really Dead… It’s Evolving
Remember the first time that traditional retail stores were supposed to disappear due to competition from online outlets? Amazon introduced the Kindle, a bunch of bookstores eventually closed, and plenty of pundits envisioned the same thing happening in a host of...
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Too Busy to Reply? Good Luck Maintaining Relationships!
How long does it take to acknowledge the existence of someone you know who has reached out to you directly with a question or comment? I get that people are busy, and that we all get plenty of spam online. I also get that high-level executives feel like their very...
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Social and Communications Platforms are What You Make of Them
You will find no shortage of opinions when you visit your favorite social media platform, and you'll also find no shortage of opinions about social and communications platforms in general. There is no arguing with the fact that at the most basic level, social and...
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No One is Perfect: Why Successful Relationships Depend on Being Human
Maintaining relationships can be hard work, and we all have our little pet excuses that pop up when we may not be in the mood to put in the effort on a given day. The easiest excuse? I need to do this just right to accomplish my goal, otherwise it won't be worth the...
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Employee Empowerment 2018
It’s plain and simple—employee censorship on social channels is a disaster for brands. We can no longer control the message folks. The social framework is “bigger and stronger” than our puny frameworks. Instead of fighting it every step of the way, USE it to your...
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Just Be You: Why Authentic Beats Artificial, Every Time
It’s that time of year for plenty of posts on how to “transform” yourself for the new year, and setting goals to better yourself is certainly a worthy pursuit no matter when you do it. But I can't help thinking that sometimes, we get so caught up in trying to live up...
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Authenticity Matters: Why Real Honesty and Genuine Opinions Make for Better Content
You want a recipe for boring, cookie-cutter content? Probably not, but I'm going to give you one anyway. Start out by considering your own opinion, and then forget all about it. Instead, work on producing what you think other people want to see, and saying what they...
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Money and Children
What is the most important money habit you learned as a child? The most important money lesson I learned as a child was to save. I can remembering opening my first bank account with four quarters, an my Mom and Dad being sure to encourage me to add to it every week....
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Photofy: Unlocking Brand Content at Scale with UGC… Content IS the Ad
Social is moving to a prove it or lose it stage… so start thinking how "Content is the Ad." The importance of content in your SEO and middle funnel strategy will be critical. Social media platforms are essentially huge AI systems designed to keep users “tuned in” by...
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Influencer Marketing 2018: The Rise of the Personal Influencer
Guest post by John Andrews My business partner Ted Rubin deftly points out in his book The Age of Influence that “everyone influences someone”. I’ve heard him say this at countless speeches and presentations around the world to leaders of marketing and retail and I...
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Get to Know Your Prospective Partners, Colleagues, and Customers
Use the tools available to get to know your prospective partners, colleagues, and customers. Let me tell you a story. I’m an older guy... 59 years old (turning 60 this month... OMG). I graduated college in 1980, and I was taught by my parents to look people in the eye...
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Employee "Impact and Effectiveness"
The most important thing a manager can do to grow her team's "impact and effectiveness" is to strongly encourage them to be change agents. To step up, be the one who's brain actually storms in a Brainstorming Session, and be Fearless (FEAR LESS). Empower your...
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