Business and Marketing

Representatives Issa and Clay tell a hearing that postal innovation's fine—as long as it invigorates the Postal Service's bottom line.

The man shaping up as Issa's partner in postal reform on the other side of the aisle is Missouri Democrat William Lacy Clay.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), sponsor of the Postal Reform Act in the House, made a special appearance before a subcommittee hearing on postal innovation today to bang home his belief that five-day delivery and cluster boxes are more important to the future of the postal service than innovation for innovation's sake.

“One thing I know about business is that the top line and the bottom line are not uniquely different,” Issa said. “You can increase the top line, but if it doesn't fall to the bottom line, it's useless.”

Issa chided Postal Inspector General David Williams, who appeared as a witness at the hearing of the subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and Census, for focusing too much on innovation instead of inefficiency. “I'm shocked that you would take attention away from investigating waste, fraud, and abuse to promote a specific agenda to be the chief innovation officer,” Issa scolded. “I would hope that in the future you would be more of an advocate for the shippers when Mr. Lynch opposes everything that reduces cost and gets us to break-even.”

Issa was referring to a statement made earlier in the hearing by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA), who derided Issa's plan to install 15 million cluster boxes over the next 10 years as an expensive “Luddite deal” that would run counter to future innovations such as hybrid mail.

“Mr. Lynch is never going to be my partner in anything that's going to make the Post Office more efficient, because that will reduce labor,” Issa said.

Testimony was also heard from companies that had engaged, or attempted to engage, with the USPS in public-private partnerships, with varying degrees of success. Newgistics COO Todd Everett shared the success story of bringing its Smartlabel technology to the Postal Service as a way to simplify package returns and watching it evolve into its own class of mail, Parcel Return Service.

But Will Davis, CEO of hybrid mail pioneer Outbox, spun a tale of frustration in attempting to become an innovation partner with the Post Office, which wasn't ready to introduce hybrid service and denied his company access to mailboxes.“Embracing [innovation] means a totally different thing to the Postal Service,” Davis said, “but it doesn't mean that the Postal Service has to be worse off or that jobs have to be destroyed.”

Davis made the point that Outbox was better prepared than the Post Office in competing with digital alternatives, because it can collect data on purchase intent that could make delivery of advertising mail and catalogs more selective and efficient. But USPS CIO James Cochrane pointed out that such a capability was not desired by a large segment of mailers. “We have a lot of catalog mailers that are paying to get into the mailbox,” he said. “That's an extensive revenue stream for us.”

The man shaping up as Issa's partner in postal reform on the other side of the aisle, Missouri Democrat William Lacy Clay, set the record straight on the issue of third party partnerships. Addressing Davis of Outbox, Clay asked, “Were you aware that advertising mail represented significant volume and that the Postal Service has a right to choose who works with them? I commend Outbox, but I think it's unfair for Outbox to be here and criticize the Postal Service for not having an innovative mindset.”

Business Breaking News: Why I Gave Up on Working for Myself

For the past three years I had what many employees are striving for: the chance to be my own boss.

After spending more than 10 years as a newspaper reporter and public relations executive, I traded in my office jobs and became a freelance writer and stay-at-home dad. Those were three of the happiest years of my life.

I was able to find regular and consistent writing opportunities (mostly here with Business News Daily), I got to work from home, I got to set my own schedule and I had the time to write and publish my first book. It was a refreshing change to be able to wake up each day without the stresses that come with working for someone else.

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The regulatory body issues pre-filing guidelines to inject more stakeholder input into service proposed by the Postal Service.

Goldway seeks to inject more mailer input into service changes.

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) yesterday issued amended rules governing the advisory opinions it is required to issue on service changes proposed by the U.S. Postal Service. The new rules establish an expedited pre-filing discovery period to give mail stakeholders distinct opportunities to weigh in on the effects of changes and result in more robust proposals for the PRC to deliberate in the 90 days it has to deliver its opinion.

The law that established the U.S. Postal Service and the PRC in 1970 stated that the Postal Service needed to seek advice from the PRC on “N-cases” involving service modifications within a reasonable period before planned implementation. It also required the PRC to conduct hearings inviting testimony and rebuttal from interested parties in the 90 days it had to formulate an opinion. But that has proved a daunting challenge for PRC during a turbulent time at the Postal Service. USPS initiated only five N-cases between 1970 and 2006, when the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act was passed. Since then, it has filed seven, some of which involved far-reaching and complicated issues such as network realignment.

“There is a sentiment that the PRC should move more quickly to allow the Postal Service to move more quickly, so we came up with a new set of specific rules that would meet the requirement and limit the process to 90 days,” said PRC Chairman Ruth Goldway. “The key element is the establishment of a pre-filing phase to discuss the proposal with the postal community. Our hope is that, as a result, the proposals that come before us will be specific. We've had it happen that the Postal Service files a proposal and then makes a change in it 30 days later.”

Other rule changes include:

• Opportunities for participants to explore subjects related to the service change by means of special PRC studies or public inquiries;
  
  
  


• Expedited deadlines for filing and responding to motions, filing briefs and reply briefs, and filing rebuttal testimony;
  
  
  


• New discovery procedures, including a mandatory technical conference and a limitation on the number of written interrogatories;
  
  
  


• Revised procedures allowing for back-to-back hearings on USPS's direct case or rebuttal or testimony

“We believe that if we can establish a pro forma calendar at the beginning of every case that more or less follows the schedule, these rules will accommodate the full process,” Goldway said. “Of course, the process may be extended if rebuttal testimony is lengthy or necessary documents or information is not readily available.”

After the new rules are published in the Federal Register--expected to happen in June--they go into effect within 30 days unless they're challenged in court. But, no matter what new controls are placed on the advisory process, the Postal Service is not bound to follow suggestions for changing or delaying service modifications suggested by PRC.

“They still don't have to accept our advice, but this means that the changes they want to make have a more likely chance of being heard and adopted by mail industry participants,” Goldway said. “We want to be helpful to the postal world and we think this will allow them to have their opinions heard.”

Business Breaking News: Hate Your Desk Job? You've Got Good Reason

There are a number of negatives keeping employees who work behind a desk all day from being completely content.

Not getting outside much, gaining too much weight and having to be in front of a computer hour upon hour are some of the drawbacks of having a desk job, according to a new study from CareerBuilder.

More than half the employees who are deskbound said in the survey that not getting enough physical activity, staring at a computer screen for most of the day and being stuck inside are the biggest disadvantages of having a desk job. Additionally, 24 percent said they don't like working at a desk because there isn't enough variety in their work, while 23 percent said the biggest downside is that there are too many distractions, including numerous disruptions from co-workers.

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Safe travels marketers

“Happy Friday!” means so much more on the eve of Memorial Day weekend. While marketers prepare to relish in the impending three-day weekend, the rest of the world is about to enter travel season in earnest—bringing new opportunities to reach a vibrant segment of customers.

With 85% of U.S. travelers looking online for deals, travel marketers may want to ensure that both their deals and digital offerings are up to snuff, according to a new study from Parago, a rewards-based incentives company.

The study, which surveyed nearly 1,200 travel customers online throughout last month, found that 56% of those surveyed are more likely to travel if they can find great deals. “Consumers at all income levels are hungry for travel deals, especially online. Not surprisingly, these consumers would travel more if able to find good bargains,” said Theresa Wabler, Parago's VP of global marketing. “To build loyalty with the frugal and savvy American traveler, companies would be wise to pair discounts with additional offers for more travel.”

According to the study, 90% of people take one or more personal trips per year and 57% of them start their planning through Google and other search engines. Planning and booking trips through travel sites and travel agents is significantly less popular than in the past, with only 13% and 2%, respectively, utilizing those channels.

Offers for a free checked bag proved more motivating than rewards for future trips for 59% of air travelers, while including prepaid cards was most incentivizing for cruise, hotel, and resort customers. Rewards and loyalty programs were much more popular with the affluent and seniors, with nearly 70% of people 60 or older belonging to loyalty programs. More than 71% of people with an annual income of at least $100,000 belong to travel loyalty programs, while 88% of those making more than $200,000 are travel loyalty members. Only 31% of 20-somethings belong to loyalty programs.

Business Breaking News: 11 Social Media Selling Solutions for Small Businesses

Social media e-commerce has taken off — and it's showing no signs of slowing down. With social media selling, anyone can become an online merchant without having to invest in a website or give online marketplaces a cut of their profits. Here are 10 social media selling solutions to help you get started.

Tap into the power of social media and turn Facebook into your online storefront. Easy Social Shop lets small businesses reach customers on the largest social network with a free, customizable "Facebook shop." The service is currently used by more than 100,000 merchants who have increased revenues by an average of 10-18 percent, the company claims. It's also very easy to get started — just install the app and Easy Social Shop will automatically import products from your online store. The service integrates with several major e-commerce platforms, such as Etsy, Shopify, eBay, Magento, Amazon and PrestaShop, making it accessible to most online sellers.

Need another way to sell on Facebook? The Soldsie Facebook app turns the social network's comments section into an e-commerce powerhouse. Typically, customers make purchases on Facebook by messaging sellers or leaving their email addresses. Instead, Soldsie's "Comment Selling" system eliminates all the back-and-forth communication by streamlining transactions. To start selling, connect Soldsie to your Facebook page, and upload product photos. These posts become your storefront, where fans can simply comment "Sold" to make a purchase. After commenting, they'll automatically receive an email invoice and proceed to checkout via PayPal or WePay. ['Buy Button' Could Make Twitter Your New Storefront]

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No financial data was taken and no unauthorized activity has been reported as a result of the hack.

eBay Urges Users to Change Their Passwords Following Cyber Attack

On the heels of a cyber attack, eBay is asking users to change their site passwords. Hackers reportedly used employee credentials to access the auction site's corporate network and a database that housed customer sensitive information—though eBay says all stolen data was nonfinancial and not confidential.

The data—consisting of customer names, passwords, email and physical addresses, phone numbers, and birthdates—was taken between late February and early March of this year. EBay says it first became aware of the corrupted employee log-in two weeks ago. Following extensive tests, eBay reports that it's seen no signs of unauthorized activity on the site and no evidence of unauthorized access to financial or credit card information—that information is stored separately and in an encrypted format—though the site is still urging users to change their passwords.

A press release on eBay's blog emphasized the company's dedication to “information security and customer data protection,” noting: “We know our customers trust us with their information, and we take seriously our commitment to maintaining a safe, secure, and trusted global marketplace.”

The company is working in conjunction with police and security experts to investigate the matter and implement the best tools and practices to help its customers.

Business Breaking News: 10 Reasons to Take Your Business Paperless

The office desk littered with paper is quickly becoming a thing of the past in many businesses.

In an effort to improve efficiency, while also helping the environment, many businesses are transforming their operations to paperless systems. Rather than hold onto to every sheet of paper, businesses are using document management systems to digitize everything.

This software gives businesses the tools needed to convert paper documents into electronic versions that can easily be sorted through, edited and distributed to others.

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Company claims its Agility Harmony platform now performs segmentations in minutes instead of hours.

Faster segmentation, courtesy of Hadoop.

Epsilon today introduced a high-performing advanced segmentation capability to its Agility Harmony digital messaging platform, declaring it the first such integration of Hadoop.

Built on Cloudera's distribution of the open-source software, the enhanced solution enables real-time audience segmentation of structured, unstructured, and semi-structured data, which, Epsilon claims, can be made actionable within minutes instead of hours.

“Marketers using Agility Harmony will have the freedom and flexibility to use truly actionable intelligence, such as behavior and transactional data, how and when they want to,” said Epsilon President Andrew Frawley in a statement. “It provides real-time access to online and offline cross-channel data without the typical roadblocks.”

Client Steve Wages, email marketing manager for Patagonia, says the Hadoop-enabled solution demonstrates that Epsilon has been listening to user feedback. “We've been impressed with Epsilon's understanding of what email marketers want to achieve," he said.

Agility Harmony supports a variety of data feeds including e-commerce, point-of-sale, purchase history, social overlays, social sentiment, call center interactions, and abandoned shopping cart behaviors.

Business Breaking News: Moto E vs. Moto X: Which Is Better for Business?

The new Moto E is a budget phone that boasts impressive hardware for the price — but how does it stack up against Motorola's flagship device? The Moto X, launched last summer, remains one of the best business phones around, thanks to a handful of unique, productivity-boosting features. Of course, you'll have to make some sacrifices if you pick up the budget-priced Moto E instead.

Both devices are decent smartphones, so your needs and budget will determine which one is better for you. Check out full reviews of the Moto E and Moto X on our sister site Laptop Mag, or read on for a feature-for-feature comparison of the two devices.

Moto E: The Moto E's standout feature is its low price point; the phone will sell for just $129 off-contract. In other words, that's the price you'll pay for the phone, without the need to sign a pricey two-year contract; you can pay less for cheaper month-to-month coverage instead. To get an idea of how affordable the Moto E is, consider that the Moto X retails for $400 off-contract. For business users on a budget — especially those with only basic computing needs — the Moto E offers a great bang for your buck.

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The stated purpose of the Secure Delivery Act is to keep mail and packages safe, but Darrell Issa may be using it as a wedge to activate bipartisan postal reform.

Issa gets serious about passing postal reform.

Thursday at 9 a.m. a House subcommittee will meet to discuss “Innovative Postal Products for the 21st ^{Century.” But, in so doing, it may sow the seeds of bipartisan postal reform in Congress.}

^{That possibility presented itself today at a markup of the Secure Delivery for America Act (H.R. 4670), a bill introduced by House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) that would require the Postal Service to convert 1.5 million addresses a year to cluster box delivery. While saving the USPS money, the bill would ensure secure package delivery for both citizens and Internet retailers, Issa maintained. But it soon became clear that the hastily introduced bill was being used to jumpstart the possibility of a bipartisan re-crafting of Issa's Postal Reform Act of 2013, which received no support from Democratic committee members.}

^{While taking issue with Issa's plan to have 15 million addresses converted to cluster box delivery by 2014 and that would offer a paid option for retaining door delivery, Democrats also introduced amendments to the bill seeking to retain six-day delivery, return a Federal Employees Retirement System overpayment to the USPS, and eliminate prefunding of retiree health benefits.}

^{Issa shot down each amendment on the grounds that none were germane to the singular focus of the bill to centralize delivery points. But Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), a member of the subcommittee on Federal Workforce, USPS, and the Census, had a proposal: “Would the Chairman entertain a suggestion that the subcommittee go back to work on the proposals of each side and put in an honest effort to work something out?”}

^{Issa, who had earlier attempted a compromise based on a proposal from the Obama administration, eagerly affirmed he would. “What I suggest is that we complete today's work and then use the president's budget as a tool to start up a discussion [on a bipartisan reform bill.],” Issa responded. “That's the best place to start, because we know the administration supports it and that could lead to Senate support.”}

^{So tomorrow's scheduled subcommittee hearing to examine private sector ideas to invigorate the Postal Service now potentially turns into an incubator to re-invigorate postal reform and, dare it be said, bipartisan lawmaking. Members of the committee—including Ranking Member Elijah Cummings [D-MD], whose microphone was turned off by Issa during a hearing last month—were uncharacteristically cordial to each other at today's hearing.}

^{“What really is at stake here is the future viability of the U.S. Postal Service and both sides are going to have to give in some to preserve the one service that all Americans appreciate,” Clay added. “We have to grow up and see that both sides have to give, or you'll begin to see the collapse of the USPS and it will be on all of us.”}

^{“Nobody,” Issa concluded, “could have said it better.”}

^{Business Breaking News: Google Panda 4.0: What Algorithm Update Means for Small Businesses}

^{There's another shakeup in Google land. And it could mean big changes to how business websites rank on Google search results. Matt Cutts, head of the webspam team at Google, confirmed via Twitter yesterday (May 20) that the search giant began rolling out its Panda 4.0 update. Here's what it means for small businesses and why you should care.}

^{Google Panda is a series of search engine algorithm updates that are designed to identify and weed out low-quality websites. Its purpose is to improve Google search results, so that legitimate, higher quality websites rank on top. Panda 4.0 is the fourth version of the update, aimed at further penalizing websites filled with poor content.}

^{What makes Panda 4.0 significant, however, is that it was launched back-to-back with Google's Payday Loan 2.0 update, which aims to target "very spammy queries." While it's too early to tell exactly how these simultaneous updates are impacting businesses, what's clear is that websites everywhere are suffering. [10 Google Analytics Tools Your Business Should Be Using]}

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A first? That's what Callidus is claiming with this Big Data solution for sales executives.

A bolt of insightful data for sales forces

Software provider CallidusCloud today released a Big Data solution for sales organizations called Thunderbridge.

Hailing the introduction as a first-of-its-kind—since most Big Data solutions are aimed at marketing professionals—Callidus explains that Thunderbridge captures critical sales and marketing data across the “lead-to-money” cycle and provides bolts of insight along the way.

"Big Data is only relevant if it provides value through actionable insight and this is where Thunderbridge comes in," said company President and CEO Leslie Stretch in introducing the product at Callidus's annual customer conference in Las Vegas. "We sifted through the complexities of Big Data [to find] historical data to make quicker, more accurate business decisions and speed up the sales process."

Callidus also announced the addition of a revenue management solution to its Lead to Money Cloud that monitors leads, quotes, and contracts to aid managers in making pricing decisions to optimize revenue.

“Many organizations struggle to accurately understand the critical business drivers affecting revenues," said SVP and CTO Jimmy Duan.

Business Breaking News: 10 Things to Look for in a Cloud Data Backup Service

Investing in a cloud data backup service is one of the best decisions any business owner can make. A natural disaster could hit your town and destroy your systems, an employee could spill a drink on her computer and destroy it or someone could steal your equipment, but backing up data in the cloud makes these unfortunate events much more bearable.

Cloud data backup stores existing data in an off-site server, making it available anytime, anywhere you need it. Data is frequently synced or updated, mirroring your system in real time. Cloud data backup not only disaster-proofs your business, but it also can save you tons of time and money in restoring your operations. Here are 10 things to look for when choosing a cloud data backup service.

1. Storage



How much cloud storage do you need? Cloud data backup providers offer anywhere from 1GB to unlimited space, giving businesses a wide range of choices based on their needs. The amount of space offered is directly related to service costs, so it's best to determine how much space is needed so you can stay within budget. [24 Cloud Storage Solutions for Small Business]

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Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, CEO, Hawthorne Direct

Hawthorne Direct, a full-service agency that has operated for 28 years, announced today the promotion of Jessica Hawthorne-Castro to CEO.

In her new role Hawthorne-Castro will continue to oversee agency operations and lead the company toward innovation in the accountable advertising space.

Hawthorne-Castro—daughter of Tim Hawthorne, founder and chairman of Hawthorne Direct—served as the agency's VP of operations and client services from 2007 to March 2013, when she was promoted to chief operating officer. Before joining the agency, Hawthorne-Castro worked as a TV literary agent at William Morris Endeavor. “Since first joining Hawthorne Direct in 2007, Jessica has helped transform our agency to its position as a market leader in brand response advertising,” Hawthorne said in a statement.

Though Hawthorne-Castro will replace her father as CEO, the elder Hawthorne will continue to serve as chairman.

“I have always been extremely optimistic about the direct response industry, as I believe accountable advertising is where the future of marketing for brands has long been headed, and we are very fortunate to be in this market leader position,” Hawthorne-Castro said in a release.

Business Breaking News: What's Keeping Workers Stressed?

There is a good chance your employees are spending their days worrying about their own bottom line, more so than your company's.

Concerns and stress about personal finances are distracting U.S. employees during working hours, affecting their job performance and potentially weakening company productivity, according to a new study from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

The research revealed that 70 percent of human resources professionals believe that personal financial challenges have an impact on their employees' performance, while 40 percent said an overall lack of funds to cover personal expenses is affecting employees in their companies.

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New research says that 18.5% of all marketing emails were opened on a tablet in Q1 2014. That's up more than 5% since just nine months ago.

Jordan Cohen called it. When we last spoke with Cohen, VP of marketing at agile email company Movable Ink back in August 2013, he predicted major growth potential in the tablet market, noting that while still “in its infancy,” it was definitely an area to watch. And just about nine months down the road, here we are: According to new research from Movable Ink, the number of marketing emails opened on a tablet shot up from 13.8% in Q2 2013 to 18.5% in the first quarter of this year.

“From a consumer electronic shopping perspective, it seems like more consumers are using tablets as their go-to device, rather than the desktop,” Cohen says. “Desktops won't go away completely—we still have phones and the postal mail, too—but I do see room for tablets to gain more and more market share from the desktop.”

If not yet king, tablets are definitely doing their part to chip away at desktop usage. But, for the first time this year, tablets are also taking a bit of market share away from their mobile brother, the smartphone. While more than 47% of email opens took place on a smartphone in Q1 2014—66% of all email opens happened on a mobile device (tablets and smartphones combined)—that number is actually down slightly from 48.2% last quarter.

Another interesting bit of data from the report: Consumers open more emails on Apple devices—but spend more time with their emails on Android devices. Apple products accounted for 54.5% of all email opens in Q1 2014 (up from 49.9% in Q4 2013); by comparison, only 10.8% of email opens took place on an Android device, down from 14.4% last quarter. But Android users viewed their emails for 15 seconds longer, on average, than their iOS counterparts.

While Cohen admitted it's a bit of a puzzler, he did posit a theory—namely, that images don't render consistently or quickly on Android devices, meaning users have to wait to see their messages.

“Newer devices, like the latest Galaxy, render images well, but legacy Android devices—as opposed to the iPhone, which automatically resizes emails to fit all screens—will only show the upper left-hand quadrant so that you not only have to scroll down, you have to side-scroll as well,” Cohen says. “You're spending more time with your emails because you need to if you want to understand them.”

The merits or disadvantages of particular devices aside, one thing is not under debate: Mobile usage is on the rise. Movable Ink found that email opens on smartphones surpassed that of email opens on desktops in all but 13 U.S. states. Just nine months ago, desktops beat smartphones in only 24 states.

“This is the fourth report we've done, and every quarter the map is getting pinker,” Cohen says. “I think that number will continue to shrink until we get to a place, maybe even by the end of the year, when the entire map is pink and we don't even have to produce it anymore.”

Business Breaking News: 5 Ways Your Interactive Voice Response Can Fail

While automated phone systems can improve a business's productivity, if they aren't used correctly they can really tarnish an image.

In order to get the most out of their interactive voice response (IVR) systems, businesses need to walk a fine line between taking care of their own needs, versus those of their customers. If they do it wrong, they risk frustrating their customer base to a point of no repair.

The key to a successful IVR is making the system easy for the consumer to use, while also complex enough to handle tasks that would otherwise need to be addressed by employees.

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When it comes to social, money talks

Social media ad revenues will grow to $15 billion by 2018, a 24% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) increase from 2013's $5.1 billion, according to local media and advertising consulting company BIA/Kelsey.

At $8.4 billion, 2014 will represent the greatest year-over-year growth in social media ad revenues; growth driven largely by mobile and native advertising, according to BIA/Kelsey.

Social display ad revenues will grow from $3.3 billion in 2013 to $5.6 billion in 2018, a CAGR of 11.3%. Social native advertising revenues will increase by $7.6 billion between 2013 and 2018, due in large part to Facebook News Feed ads and Twitter's Promoted Tweets.

BIA/Kelsey predicts that social native advertising will eclipse social display ads by 2015. Social ad revenues on mobile will surpass their desktop counterparts by 2018. BIA/Kelsey expects locally targeted social advertising to grow at 31.6% CAGR from $1.3 billion in 2013 to $5.2 billion in 2018.

“We were initially skeptical about the social-mobile market's ability to capture optimal wallet share because of mobile's limitations, such as smaller screen size, limited ad inventory and static creative,” Jed Williams, BIA/Kelsey's VP of consulting, said in a release. “Over the past year, however, Facebook, Twitter and other networks have generated dramatic revenue growth. We expect this growth to continue throughout the forecast period.”

Business Breaking News: Networking As an Entrepreneur: 3 Steps to Make a Connection

As most professionals and job seekers know, networking plays a huge role in helping you achieve your career goals. But strong industry connections can be beneficial to entrepreneurs, too: According to a recent survey by Dell and small business community Manta, one in five small business owners made networking their top priority when they first launched their startups.

"The phrase 'knowledge is power' is not a cliché," said John Swanciger, Manta's CEO. "New and aspiring business owners need to network to gather as much information about prospects, competitors and the industries they are targeting in order to make the strategic decisions that will set them up for success."

"Business is about people," added Anna Urban, co-founder and creative director of Aviva Hair Revitalizer. "It starts with an idea, and gets off the ground with networking. Whether you're looking for customers, help or information, it's all much easier to achieve when you start connecting."

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The data company looks to expand its online-offline reach with the purchase of the onboarding service.

Acxiom CEO Scott Howe

Acxiom announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire LiveRamp for $310 million. LiveRamp is a data onboarding service for delivering customer data to digital marketing applications.

In a statement disclosing details about the deal, Acxiom held that the addition of LiveRamp will enable it to better move data across the entire marketing ecosystem, integrate that data with some 100 leading marketing technology companies, and endow it with about 200 new customers—among them leading retail, financial services, and entertainment brands.

“This is a win for the entire marketing industry,” said Acxiom CEO Scott Howe. “Together, we will accelerate our vision of a connected ecosystem that delivers true one-to-one marketing at scale.”

In a blog published today, LiveRamp CEO Auren Hoffman said that Axciom is committed to maintaining his company's status as a neutral, open service provider. He added that a major benefit for his company in the match is greater international exposure.

“Many of our customers and partners have been urging us to expand into international markets,” Hoffman wrote. “Acxiom brings a wealth of resources, global infrastructure, and international security expertise that will help us bring data onboarding to more parts of the world in a much shorter time frame.”

Axciom reported that it expects to consummate the deal by mid-summer.

Business Breaking News: Motorola Moto E: Top 3 Business Features

Motorola’s new smartphone boasts impressive features and performance for the price. The 4.3-inch Moto E is set to retail for just $129 off-contract when it hits stores this spring. That makes it one of the best values around for budget-minded business users in the market for a new business phone.

The Moto E replaces another affordable device, the Moto G, as Motorola’s best smartphone deal. An exact release date for the entry-level Moto E hasn’t yet been announced, but Motorola says it will become available in just a few weeks. Here are three features that make it good for business.

Low price

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Spectrum Spatial attempts to make the world a small marketplace for B2B and B2C companies alike.

GIS for the mass marketers

Pitney Bowes today introduced Spectrum Spatial, a platform that applies technology from the company's MapInfo unit to deliver location-based customer intelligence across a wide range of pursuits for both B2B and B2C companies.

Spectrum Spatial is part of a trend known as the “consumerization of GIS” (geographic information systems) that allows non-experts in the technology to create and use location-based applications to better service or sell to customers. Social media companies, for instance, can use the technology to deliver location-tagged content to smartphone users. Banks can not only provide branch location information to customers, but evaluate performance of branches through an analytics capability. B2B sales forces can plan real-time bulletins and promotional campaigns based on regions or localities.

“What makes this different from other location-based data programs out there is that Spectrum Spatial lets you do advanced analytics of locations, even allowing you to do overlays of local demographic data such as the average income of a certain neighborhood,” says James Buckley, SVP and GM of Location Intelligence at Pitney Bowes.

Because Pitney Bowes' geocoding business originated with a governments and telecommunications company, Buckley also claims an accuracy advantage due to the stringent requirements those clients have for up-to-date information.

Spectrum Spatial also allows for integration of location intelligence with their business intelligence systems, geocoding and reverse geocoding, and validation of addresses in 250 countries and territories.

Business Breaking News: Taking Stock of Your Technology: 4 Questions to Ask

What's worse than wasting money? Wasting time. And as a small business, it's easy to fall into one or both of these traps. Technology is supposed to save businesses time, but making the wrong decisions about which solutions to implement could end up costing you in the long run.

This Small Business Week, take some time to reflect back on your business and discover where you can make changes to optimize your operations. Areas such as project management, billing and invoicing, time tracking and other back-end processes can be time-consuming and potentially lead to wasted hours and resources. With today's small business owners becoming increasingly dependent on technology, it's more important than ever to use these solutions the right way.

Mike Salem, CEO of Vorex, a professional services automation (PSA) software provider, shared the following small business "tune-up" checklist to help you maintain and improve your business, reduce wasted company hours, and increase productivity and profit. [7 Small Business Apps for Improving Productivity]

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Publicis's Dawn Winchester

Publicis North America has named R/GA veteran Dawn Winchester as its first chief digital officer. She is charged with completing the agency's “digital transformation” in customer experience, creative innovation, and technology.

Winchester spent 14 years at R/GA and leaves as its chief marketing services officer. Her account work there included the likes of Coca-Cola, Capital One, Microsoft, Nike, Unilever, and Walmart. She will work out of the Publicis Kaplan Thaler office in New York and report to Publicis North America CEO Andrew Bruce.

“She is a dynamic and creative thinker who will be a crucial asset to Publicis,” said Bruce in a statement. “Our digital activity will define our future success and that of our clients.”

Business Breaking News: Email Scam Targets Executives: How to Protect Yourself

A new email scam is targeting high-level executives at medium and large organizations. The malicious emails ask for payment on outstanding invoices, but executives who pay up are really sending company dollars straight to the pockets of cybercriminals.

Discovered by cybercrime protection firm PhishLabs, the new scam attempts to convince targets to wire funds to various accounts controlled by the criminals behind the scam. And these fraudsters are very sneaky, taking every possible measure to make their scam look legitimate. [4 Ways to Protect Your Business from Cybercriminals]

PhishLabs noted some key characteristics of the scam:

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A new and simpler revise of the Gmail inbox surfaces, and experts like what they see: less text, more images, less distraction.

An elegant new look for Gmail?

Hard on the heels of its tabularization of email, Google is testing a simplified design for Gmail. As was not the case with Tabs, however, email marketing experts think the change could be a good one for their clients.

Screenshots of the new design leaked in a blog published on TNW yesterday showed a cleaner, simplified inbox in which the stars normally appearing to the left of emails are replaced by color images. Pushpins on the right side of the box take the place of stars. A new menu appears on the lower right of the page that presents actions such as composing emails or setting reminders.

Simple is good, says SVP of Epsilon's Strategic Initiatives Group Quinn Jalli, who was of the opinion that nothing good could come of Gmail Tabs for email marketers. “What we're starting to see is what we should expect from Gmail,” he says. “This is more user-friendly because consumers make decisions on a visual basis.”

Jalli believes that the emergence of mobile into a dominant position in email is what's behind Google's proposed alterations. Epsilon tallies show that more than 50% of opens by users are taking place on mobile devices.

“Last year we saw a 33% increase in mobile opens and this year it's running north of 40%. We're seeing it happen across all clients and all verticals,” Jalli says. “The simplifications in this new Gmail inbox will require fewer clicks on the part of users. It's less text heavy. From a marketer's perspective, there's much less distraction, and distraction is the marketer's worst enemy.”

Brad Van Der Woerd had the same reaction. “If the rumors and designs we've seen are any indication,” says YesMail's director of marketing intelligence and deliverability, “the new layout would put a greater focus on email itself instead of everything else we see on the Gmail screen now: calendars, Google Hangouts, folders, Google+, and tools.”

As if it wasn't always crucial, the subject line becomes even more important in this rendition of Gmail, according to Van Der Woerd. “You don't want your email getting lost in the mix, so it should be clear who the email is from, why they're receiving it, and why they should open it,” he says.

Should this iteration of Gmail become reality, Jalli claims that few, if any, adjustments will need to be made by emailers—if they're already mastering the basics, that is. “This wouldn't require any change,” says Jalli, “just the need to be smart.”

Business Breaking News: Top 5 Upcoming Smartphones for Business

Looking to buy a new business phone? You might want to wait. A slew of hot new smartphones are set to launch in the coming months.

Sure, 2014 has already seen its share of major releases. This spring, HTC unveiled the new HTC One M8, which packs a slick all-metal body, and Samsung debuted the featured-packed Galaxy S5. Nokia also released the Lumia Icon, its new flagship Windows Phone. But some of the year's biggest releases are still to come, including a new version of Apple's iPhone and a follow-up to Samsung's stylus-equipped Galaxy Note 3. Meanwhile, a new Android phone from startup OnePlus could make a splash. Read on for five of the best business phones to look forward to.

iPhone 6

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Connected connects. New formats score at AOL.

In a first-quarter earnings report released today, AOL reported a 55% increase in its third-party platform revenue driven by increased interest by brands in new premium formats. The gain also reflected incremental revenue from Adapt.tv, the programmatic video ad platform it acquired last September.

The increased investment in new, long-form AOL video series such as the documentary show Connected offset decreases in the search and display businesses at the company. A 3% drop in global display revenue was attributed to some $10 million in spending lost to discontinued operations such as Patch, and declining queries caused a 1% dip in search revenues. Overall Q1 advertising revenue rose 16% to $433 million compared to last year's first quarter.

In an effort to build on momentum behind its third-party platform, AOL yesterday announced it would acquire Convertro, a provider of attribution modeling technology that aids marketers in maximizing ROI on their spends across online and offline channels. Convertro promises to manage consumer journeys through the entire purchase funnel.

Last week, AOL announced that it would roll out 16 new original programs in 2014, focusing on celebrity-hosted reality shows starring James Franco, Steve Buscemi, Ellen DeGeneres, and Zoe Saldana.

Business Breaking News: Keeping Customers Means Keeping Customer Data Safe

If your business's data security strategy involves crossing your fingers and hoping for the best, it's time for an upgrade. New research suggests that, in 2014, keeping your customers means keeping customer data safe and sound.

After recent data breaches at major retailers— like Target and Neiman Marcus— and in light of last month's widespread Internet security flaw, Heartbleed, several new reports serve as a wakeup call to businesses that store consumer data. One report, a March study by market research company GfK, found that 60 percent of U.S. Internet users are more concerned about the security of their data now than they were this time last year.

And this mounting concern over data security isn't limited to just one age group. The majority of Internet users in all age groups, from college-age kids to baby boomers, said their concern over data security had increased at least moderately over the past 12 months. [10 Ways to Prevent a Data Breach]

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Lands' End Dons a New CMO

Known for his diverse background in retail marketing, Steven Rado can now add another renowned brand to his resume. Retailer Lands' End has appointed Rado to the position of senior vice president, chief marketing officer.

Rado will lead a team of 50 marketers, as well as oversee the creation, direction, and execution off all marketing strategy and initiatives. This includes oversight of advertising and PR, customer analytics and insight, catalog and e-commerce, and cross-channel marketing.

Rado's CV includes his most recent position as SVP of marketing and customer strategy for Office Depot, and previous role as VP of marketing for Victoria's Secret Direct. He also held marketing roles in banking.

“Steven's strong experience will be invaluable as we continue to focus on new customer acquisition, driving our digital transformation, increasing our brand presence, and advancing our data analytics capabilities” Edgar Huber, CEO and president of Lands' End, said in a statement.

Business Breaking News: Mobile Credit Card Processing: Fees and Pricing Explained

Today's business owners have a lot of options when it comes to accepting credit card payments on the go. But how much does it cost to make a business mobile?

Just like traditional credit card processing, the fees and pricing structures associated with mobile payment processing can get complicated. Here's a simple guide for understanding the complex costs associated with mobile credit card processing:

Set-up costs

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BDNA's Lennard Fischer

Data service provider BDNA today announced the hiring of Lennard Fischer as EVP marketing. He will be responsible for branding, field marketing, Web properties, and integrated marketing, and will report to CEO Constantin Delivanis.

Fischer spent the last 14 years with Informatica, where he served at the VP level in revenue management and regional marketing. He is also a veteran of SAP and Unilever.

“Today's enterprises are facing monumental challenges in effectively managing data variety, variability, and veracity,” said Delivanis. “Len's strong mix of corporate branding, software marketing, and demand generation expertise will play a vital role in elevating the profile of BDNA among key audiences.”

Business Breaking News: How to Switch to Windows Phone: 4 Easy Steps

Need a new business phone? Android and iPhone aren't the only options. Windows Phone isn't as popular or well known as those other mobile operating systems, but that doesn't mean it's not worth a look — especially for business users. The platform has some major perks, including great security and native integration with Microsoft's desktop Office suite.

But making the switch to an unfamiliar mobile platform isn't necessarily easy, especially if there are specific iPhone or Android apps that you depend on. Switching to Windows Phone means adapting your workflow and abandoning trusted services in favor of new ones. Read on for a step-by-step guide to switching from Android or iPhone to Microsoft's mobile platform.

Pick a phone

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Tablets are poised to score big with videos.

Mobile devices currently claim a mere 16% of the video ad spend, but their share will balloon to 40% in five years due to the rapid adoption of video viewing on devices—especially tablets. According to an eMarketer forecast released this week, Americans already watch more video on mobile devices than on PCs.

Still, desktop spending will continue to dominate video media in 2014, claiming $4.45 billion to mobile's $1.44 billion, says eMarketer. By 2018, however, mobile spending is figured to hit $5.44 billion, compared to $6.83 billion for desktop.

A big reason for this, says the researcher, is the tablet's replacement of the desktop and laptop computer in many American homes. More than three quarters of the 113 million tablet users in the U.S. watch videos on the device at least once a month, and eMarketer sees penetration rising to 87% in five years.

As for video viewing time, mobile is already dominant, claiming 33 minutes a day to desktop's 22 minutes. Emarketer predicts that video viewing on tablets will increase by 54% this year to 20 minutes a day, while smartphones will rise 44% to 13 minutes.

Business Breaking News: 5 Big Data Solutions for Small Businesses

Big Data isn't just for big businesses with even bigger budgets. Today, small business, too, can reap the benefits of the massive amounts of online and offline information to make wise, data-driven decisions to grow their businesses. Although most Big Data discussions concern enterprises that have all the resources to hire data scientists and research firms, if you know where to look, there are several ways that your small business can gather, analyze and make sense of data you already have. Here are five Big Data solutions for small businesses.

You don't need fancy, expensive software to begin gathering data. It can start from an asset you already have — your website. Google Analytics, Google's free Web-traffic-monitoring tool, provides all types of data about website visitors, using a multitude of metrics and traffic sources.

With Google Analytics, you can extract long-term data to reveal trends and other valuable information, so you can make wise, data-driven decisions. For instance, by tracking and analyzing visitor behavior — such as where traffic is coming from, how audiences engage and how long visitors stay on a website (known as bounce rates) — you can make better decisions when striving to meet your website's or online store's goals. Another example is analyzing social media traffic, which will allow you to make changes to your social media marketing campaigns based on what is and isn't working. Studying mobile visitors can also help you extract information about customers browsing your site using their mobile devices, so you can provide a better mobile experience. [How to Sign Up for Google Analytics]

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These days, attribution is never simple. According to new Forrester research unveiled at the Tapad Unify conference in New York City on April 29, consumers are becoming so device agnostic that 51% start their path to purchase on whatever connected device happens to be handy at the time.

But that doesn't mean all screen are created equal.

“We know consumers are connected, and we know that they're switching devices,” said Forrester analyst Jennifer Wise. “The question is when they're making those switches, what devices are they switching to and why?”

While more than half of consumers say they'll reach for whatever device is closest during the discovery phase, they'll quickly move to a device with a better user experience (usually something with a larger screen like a desktop or laptop), when they get more serious about a purchase.

But one thing is indisputable: “Digital touchpoints are dominating today's path to purchase,” Wise said.

While 27% still turn to an offline resource like TV, radio, or print to learn about a product or service, 66% use digital resources during the discovery process.

The challenge to marketers is providing consumers with a seamless, cross-screen experience from the moment they pick up a phone to do some research to the moment they purchase something on a laptop—or vice versa and everything in between. Marketers need to mine insights and be aware of exactly how their particular buyers behave online. Consumers expect no less, Wise said.

“Inconsistencies do create negative brand sentiment among consumers today,” she said. “When it comes to consistency, consumers are starting to expect it from every single thing.”

In fact, 71% of consumers say they don't take well to inconsistent cross-channel messaging—and one in 10 even went so far as to say that inconsistencies in the brand experience from device to device would make them stop interacting with a brand altogether.

Connected consumers are also coming to expect spot-on personalization—no matter where they are. Nineteen percent actually expect the shopping experience to continue seamlessly across multiple devices whether or not they've logged in.

“They expect consistency, but they also expect to be known without self-identifying,” Wise said. “[Marketers,] you're just going to have to make this work.”

Brands that don't start thinking about this today are sure to fall woefully behind.

“As more brands create more consistent experiences the bar is raised for everyone else,” she said. “This is just the tip of the iceberg—smartphone adoption is growing and tablet adoption is going to grow to around one billion in the next two years.”

With one billion smartphones worldwide and tablets catching up quickly—more than 70% of consumers own three or more connected devices and about 66% of consumers at least four—the onus is on marketers to provide a unified user experience or risk losing their customers to brands that do.

Because consumers don't just own these devices—they actively use them. According to Forrester, half of all purchases are made either completely or at least partially online.

As Wise summed it up for the crowd: “People really do love their devices.”

Business Breaking News: Human Resource Help: The Advantages of Employee Leasing

Small business owners often wear a lot of different hats. From dealing with clients and paying bills to doing long-range planning and hiring employees, running a business requires expertise in a wide range of areas. Many times, however, entrepreneurs are more skilled in some areas than others.

One area where small business owners often lack experience is human resources. To help make sure they are paying their staff on time, following government regulations and managing employee benefits, small businesses often partner with a professional employer organization (PEO).

Jeff Rosset, director of marketing and strategic partnerships for MidwestHR, said PEOs and businesses partner in a co-employment agreement, in which they share the duties and liabilities of the human resources and administrative tasks.

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B2B marketers need meaty data. But “The State of Marketing Data” benchmark report by NetProspex suggests that many marketers just don't have the chops they need to beef up their data quality. Eighty-four percent of databases analyzed were deemed barely functional. Although most records had the basic fields filled out—such as first name (78%), last name (77%), and title (63%)—many lacked key targeting characteristics. In fact, 82% of records were missing companies' revenue data and 80% lacked the number of company employees, according to the report. Similarly, 74% of records had no industry data and 64% were missing phone numbers.

Disordered databases can cause B2B marketing efforts to fry up like bacon. For instance, only 35% of files were considered functional or higher in terms of email deliverability.

But most marketers have cleaned up one area: duplicate records. Ninety percent of the analyzed files contained less than 10% duplicate records. In fact, companies that leverage data-enrichment services are two times more likely to be satisfied with contact-level and company-level database accuracy compared to those who don't leverage the service, according to 2013 research from Aberdeen Group.

Not surprisingly, 98% of organizations plan to increase their use of data-driven marketing over the coming year, according to Aberdeen. Indeed, having a data-driven mind-set separates leading marketers from the rest of the pack

We know you love infographics. Check out some more Direct Marketing News originals.

Business Breaking News: 5 Things I Wish I Knew Before My First Full-Time Job

This time two years ago, I, like many other members of the Class of 2012, was anxiously awaiting my college graduation. At the end of April, I had officially signed an offer letter and accepted a full-time job at a marketing company in midtown Manhattan, just a short subway ride away from the East Village I'd come to know so well during my time at NYU. In a few short weeks, I would be a degree-holding college graduate, ready to start my career and take my first steps into the long-awaited "real world."

I'd done a couple of part-time internships during college, so I assumed I'd already have the hang of working in an office. How different could it be? I'd arrive at 9 a.m. sharp, sit down at my desk, do my work and go home eight hours later. I'd get a steady paycheck and paid vacation time, and make some great new friends. That's what I thought, anyway.

I had a lot of expectations going into my first day on the job. Some of them turned out to be correct, but many of them were quickly shattered. The year that I spent at this company taught me a lot of valuable lessons — both about my career and life in general — that I took with me when I began working for Business News Daily last summer. Here are five things I would go back and tell myself before starting my first full-time job. [Smart Job Search Tips for New College Grads]

Commodity Online News: Gold Silver may trade sideways to lower Crude Oil positive: Angel

A group of direct mail stakeholders submitted a document to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) today stating its opposition to the U.S. Postal Service's motion to have a court stay its first scheduled report on the effects of exigency.

In its December decision approving the 4.3% exigent rate hike, the PRC qualified that the increase should stay in effect only until losses the Postal Service suffered due to the Great Recession were recovered, a period it estimated at about two years. In that regard, it required USPS to report incremental revenue generated by the special increase 30 days after each quarter. The first report is due on Wednesday. A further proposal for the eventual removal of the exigent increase is due from USPS on Thursday.

Noting that the Postal Service's motion to the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. does not satisfy any of four criteria for such a stay set down by settled law, the mailers' group further took issue with the timing of the request.

“The Postal Service was on notice four months ago that the compliance reports at issue would be due on April 30 and May 1,” reads the mailers' submission. “The Postal Service knew from the outset the nature of the purported data limitations that it now asserts as a purported justification for its motion. Yet the Postal Service chose to withhold its stay motion until one week before the filing deadlines—too late for the Commission to give reasoned consideration to the motion.”

The opposition letter was filed by a coalition of 16 private companies and industry associations including The American Catalog Mailers Association, the Association of Marketing Service Providers, the Direct Marketing Association, RR Donnelley, and Valpak.

“The Commission is charged with regulating the Postal Service, and the Postal Service must understand that it cannot pick and choose which of the Commission's orders it will comply with,” continued the doctument. “The Commission should take this opportunity to reassert its regulatory authority.”

Business Breaking News: Why Mobile Shoppers Might Not Be So Good For Your Business

Are smartphones undermining your business? While mobile devices are often heralded as a retailer's best friend because they facilitate easier payments and provide more platforms on which to sell, a new poll of U.S. consumers reveals that these pocket-sized tools could also be a retailer's worst enemy.

The poll by Thrive Analytics and the Local Search Association found that a majority of U.S. smartphone owners use their phones, at least sometimes, to compare prices while shopping at brick-and-mortar stores. And as eMarketer reports, these tech-savvy shoppers don't feel guilty about forgoing an in-store purchase for a digital one if they find a better price online.

While the poll found that young smartphone users (ages 18-29) were the most likely to use their phones inside stores (97 percent of them said they had done so), 91 percent of consumers ages 30 to 43 also said they use their phone while shopping. The report additionally found that 81 percent of young baby boomers (ages 44 to 53) take to their mobile devices in-store, and 69 percent of the oldest consumers surveyed, those ages 54 and up, said they use their smartphones while shopping at brick-and-mortars.

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A marketing mix without content is like a cookie without milk. Still potentially tasty. But content marketing without measurement? Why bother.

Content marketing means big money—according to the Customer Content Council, content marketing constitutes a multibillion-dollar industry—and as it continues to grow, so does the need to define a standard metric of success.

At the DigitasLBi NewFront in New York, the digital agency announced its new partnership with predictive content analytics startup SimpleReach to create the NewFront Brand Content Index, a tool that aims to enable marketers to measure their video content in reality across any platform—rather than in what DigitasLBi Chief Strategy & Media Officer Baba Shetty referred to as “a vacuum.”

The Index, available to Digitas clients, reportedly provides real-time and historical benchmarks for how any piece of branded content is performing in general, as well as against industry-specific competitors. Some of the metrics tracked will include shares, page views, socially generated traffic, time spent engaging, and unique visitors. To create the benchmarks, the Index collects anonymized data from a variety of digital media outlets currently doing work with SimpleReach, including Forbes, The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, and The New York Times.

“As brand content has quickly matured, one of the key issues is the lack of tools to understand and measure success,” said Edward Kim, CEO of SimpleReach. “If you're a technology company, for example, you can take your content and see exactly how it compares against all the other technology companies out there.”

"Who cares about your content?"' is a burning questions for all brands—and if you're going to create content, you want it to resonate.

“It's become a truism that our greatest natural resource these days isn't gold or oil, it's attention,” noted Eli Pariser, cofounder of social content powerhouse Upworthy, speaking at the NewFront. “The amount of things to pay attention to just keeps getting bigger, but the amount of attention we have to give stays constant.”

That's why brands are looking to analytics to see what kind of content they should be creating.

Business Breaking News: How to Choose a Business Email Service

Email is an indispensable part of running any small business. It’s often the best – and least intrusive way -- to communicate with employees, colleagues and collaborators. But if email is so important, you'd better think hard before choosing an email service for your business. Not all email platforms are created equal, so it's important to choose one with the features you need. At the same time you'll want to avoid overpaying for features that you don't need. Here are five factors to consider before you settle on an email platform for your business.

1. Free or paid?

The one thing you can't get with a free Web mail service is the ability to use your brand's name as part of your email address. For example, registering for a free Gmail account gives you an email address like [username]@gmail.com; but by subscribing to Google Apps for Business, you can secure an email address that reads [username]@[yourbusiness].com. In most cases, you'll need to already own your own Web domain in order to use it as part of your email address, but registering a domain can cost as little as $10 per year. Other services, such as Microsoft Office 365, give you your own domain name without the need to pay additional hosting fees.

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