What is a Knowledge Worker?

I often describe myself as a knowledge worker or as the Internet defines it so eloquently,

someone who works for a living at the tasks of developing or using knowledge.

For example, a knowledge worker might be someone who works at any of the tasks of planning, acquiring, searching, analyzing, organizing, storing, programming, distributing, marketing, or otherwise contributing to the transformation and commerce of information and those (often the same people) who work at using the knowledge so produced.

"We are the people who think about thinking about thinking."

We are the folks who find ways to help others be more successful. As thankless as it often is, we do this kind of work because we can't help but see things that a lot of others do not. It's a great way to become better at teaching, coaching and growing your own credibility.

We are the folks who voluntarily go through the Google or Facebook certification programs in our free time because... Well, we can't help ourselves.

Knowledge workers are the type of folks who built the Driving Sales HCM platform.  They seem to understand that in order to be successful we all need to decide and discuss what success looks like.

If you are reading this post I would bet that you are most likely a knowledge worker. For the simple fact that you have taken it upon yourself to better understand your job through the shared wisdom of others in this community.

If You Don't Care Why Should Your People? 

• When we don't have career paths we tell our people we don't think they are worth or can do more than whatever it is they are doing now.

• When we don't have proper training we tell our people we don't think they can learn how to be better at what they are doing.

• When we don't have certification programs we look like we don't care about the positions we ask people to fill for us. 

We Need to Start Building Now!

Google and Facebook along with many other companies have realized that by building a certification program they are developing more loyal customers (like us) who will spend more money and time using their platforms because we've grown expertise. 

We need to start building the frameworks to make sure we are making each day as productive or more productive than the previous. We need to grow the expertise and skills of the people that we choose to fill the roles we believe are important to our success.

Reducing turnover and increasing employee loyalty are all great stats to show for sure. 

But the better story is the one where we show our people that they are worth investing in. 

How are you showing your people that they are worth investing in? 

The biggest jump Pew saw in usage was on Instagram, with 35 percent of respondents now using the site compared to the 28 percent who reported using it two years ago.

Social media use among younger crowds

When looking at usage numbers by age group, Pew Research reports 88 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds are using some form of social media. The report broke down the social media usage for this age group into categories: 18- to 24-year-olds and 24- to 29-year-olds. Here is what they found:

Social Media Usage Among 18- to 24-Year-Olds

• 80 percent are on Facebook
• 78 percent are on Snapchat
• 71 percent are on Instagram
• 45 percent are on Twitter
• 94 percent use YouTube

This age group represents the largest share of Snapchat users of the various age groups. Among the 78 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds using Snapchat, 82 percent say they open the app daily, and 71 percent say they use it multiple times per day.

Instagram is getting slightly less use by this group. Of the 71 percent on Instagram, 81 percent say they visit the site daily and just over half (55 percent) are going several times a day.

Social Media Usage Among 25- to 29-Year-Olds

• 80 percent are on Facebook
• 54 percent are on Snapchat
• 54 percent are on Instagram
• 30 percent are on Twitter
• 80 percent use YouTube

This slightly older age group of 25- to 29-year-olds have similar usage patterns for Facebook and YouTube when compared to the 18- to 24-year old crowd.

The numbers differ more widely between the two age groups when looking at Snapchat and Instagram, with this older age group of 25- to 29-year-olds less likely to use either of the two platforms.

Where ‘the Olds’ go on social

Per the report, 84 percent of the 30- to 49-year-old age group is visiting YouTube, and 80 percent are on Facebook.

Social media usage numbers for the 30- to 49-year-old age group drops significantly for Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter — with 40 percent of this population active on Instagram, and less than 30 percent on Snapchat or Twitter.

For the 50+ age group, usage numbers are even lower across the board: 56 percent on YouTube and 55 percent on Facebook. These numbers take a nosedive from there, with 16 percent on Instagram, 14 percent on Twitter and only seven percent on Snapchat.

Whats the most surprising fact you see in here? 

When you come across something in feed that inspires you — like a post from a friend raising money for a cause or a photo of a new design from your favorite brand — you can now quickly share that post as a sticker to your story for your friends and followers to see.

How to share feed posts to Instagram Stories

To share feed posts to stories:

1. Tap the paper airplane button below the post (like you would to send a direct message)
2. You’ll then see an option on the following menu to “Create a story with this post”
3. Tap it to see the feed post as a sticker with a customized background ready to share to your story. You can move, resize or rotate the photo or video. You can also use drawing tools or add text and stickers.

Any post shared to a story will include a link back to the original post and include the original poster’s username.

Only posts from public Instagram accounts can be shared to stories. If you have a public account and would like to opt-out from letting people share your posts to stories, you can do so within Instagram’s settings.

I am starting to use the heck out of this new feature. Let me know what you guys think. 

I love podcasts and today in my feed came the new Planet Money show which is all about how local dealer ads started. Really interesting to hear about the history of car sales people. 

Listen to the show here

You know those local car ads? The ones with a dude standing in a parking lot, offering a bunch of special deals, shouting that he's "craaazy?" Well, there's actually a specific person who created this form of on-air hysteria, an originator of the bonkers used car ad.

Today on the show, we collaborate with Gimlet's Every Little Thing, and go in search of the patient zero of annoying car commercials. We find out who started this advertising model, how it spread, and why there may actually be a method to this madness. It sells cars and we figure out why.

How do all the algorithms around us learn to do their jobs? Well, apparently, nobody actually knows. Not the bots themselves, and not the people that create them. In fact, it's such a complicated subject that it's not even worth talking about. Which is why we don't recommend listening to this podcast if you're tired of hearing about Artificial Intelligence. However, you don't want to miss this episode. 

*Included in this episode are brief excerpts from the video "How Machines Learn" by CGP Grey.

Why do you look like everyone else, every other salesperson, every other marketing manager, every other sales VP, every other accountant, dog walker or software developer? Why?

Why do you insist on looking like, acting like, working like and doing your job like everyone else, yet get frustrated that you’re not considered a closer or strong salesperson?

Why are you playing it safe?

Differentiation and value are as important to you and your brand as they are to every company, product or service.

Being different decreases supply. It creates “scarcity.”

Being one of a kind increases demand.

Demand = opportunity

Opportunity is the path to success.

Start making yourself scarce. Don’t look, act, work and engage like everyone else. Don’t be part of the heard.

When you’re the only place people can get the results they want, you’re creating scarcity and that creates demand — demand for you.

You are uniquely you and you should let your freak flag fly. 

What makes you unique?

The report was based on data conducted in July 2017 among 1,003 adults in the United States.

Some 56% of Millennial respondents say they have called out a brand on social media, compared with 44% of non-Millennial respondents.

Among respondents who say they would call out a brand on social media, 60% would do so because of dishonesty, 59% because of bad customer service, and 57% because of in-person rudeness.

Respondents say they call out brands on social media to raise awareness with other consumers (70% do so) and to get an apology or resolution (55%).

About the research: The report was based on data conducted in July 2017 among 1,003 adults in the United States.

Whether you need something to listen to while you are waiting for other people in your family to get done shopping. Or even you yourself are in need of ear candy while you're digging through bins of clearance items. Here is a list of 15 of my favorite podcasts that won't let you down. 

Let everyone know what one was your favorite. You can also add to this list in the comments if you'd like to. 

In no particular order... 

Do By Friday
dobyfriday.com
A weekly challenge show hosted by Merlin Mann, Alex Cox, and Max Temkin.

Exponent
http://exponent.fm/
Ben Thompson & James Allworth on Tech and Society

Accidental Tech Podcast
atp.fm
Three nerds discussing tech, Apple, programming, and loosely related matters.

Marketing Over Coffee
www.marketingovercoffee.com
At the Intersection of Marketing and Technology

My Brother, My Brother And Me
www.mbmbam.com
My Brother, My Brother and Me is an advice show for the modern age.

No Parking
noparking.fireside.fm
Keep those ideas moving. Chris K Leslie and Mike Arnold

Reconcilable Differences
www.relay.fm/rd
John Siracusa and Merlin Mann try to figure out exactly how they got this way. Hosted by John Siracusa and Merlin Mann.

Reply All
gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all
“‘A podcast about the internet’ that is actually an unfailingly original exploration of modern life and how to survive it. ” - The Guardian. Hosted by PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman, from Gimlet.

You Are Not So Smart
youarenotsosmart.com
You Are Not So Smart is a celebration of self delusion that explores topics related to cognitive biases, heuristics, and logical fallacies. David McRaney interviews scientists about their research into how the mind works, and then he eats a cookie.

We Have Concerns
wehaveconcerns.com
Jeff Cannata and Anthony Carboni talk about the personal philosophical concerns they find lurking inside everyday things.

DealerRefresh "In the Mix"
dealerrefresh.com
“In the Mix” is the official DealerRefresh Podcas

Back to Work
5by5.tv/b2w
Back to Work is an award winning talk show with Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin discussing productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more. Hosted by Merlin Mann & Dan Benjamin.

Pod Save America
art19.com/shows/pod-save-america
Four former aides to President Obama — Jon Favreau, Dan Pfeiffer, Jon Lovett, and Tommy Vietor — are joined by journalists, politicians, comedians, and activists for a freewheeling conversation about politics, the press and the challenges posed by the Trump presidency.

Roderick on the Line
www.merlinmann.com/roderick
With John Roderick & Merlin Mann

Think Bigger Podcast | By Launch Digital Marketing
www.launchdigitalmarketing.com
Get the automotive digital marketing education you deserve!
 

It’s true, internet leads aren’t what they used to be. But that doesn’t mean we need to throw out the baby with the bath water when it comes to utilizing the workflows and processes we’ve built to manage this. 

Our industry is unlike most others simply because of the amount of opportunities we field each month. 

With more and more studies coming out about how most our walk in customers never submitted a lead or called the store I can’t help but think that we need to start doing a better job of turning our walk in opportunities into digital opportunities. 

> A dealerships digital follow up is always going to be better than standard sales guy follow up. Simply because of accountability. 

For our digital opportunities We’ve worked hard on creating KPI’s and funnels. we have built out follow up and workflows that marry automation and manual milestones.

I have to assume the reason we struggle with walk in follow up has been because we expect it to be done by our sales team alone. When you add lot drop and bad data hygiene of walk ins not being entered into the CRM. You have at least half of your monthly opportunities being squandered or sold by someone else. 

> Email is the most important piece of contact information you can get from your customers.

While phone numbers are important. Being blocked by a customer is just as easy too. If that is the only piece of contact info you have and then get blocked you might as well delete that customer from your CRM. 

I know what you’re saying. Chris, emails are just as easy to delete and never reply to and I would agree. 

But email addresses also have value when it comes to offline data matching in platforms like Facebook. So even when your customer blocks your calls and deletes your emails. They can still directly be marketed to using digital sources.

Have you considered turning today’s lot traffic into tomorrow’s internet leads?

Monday, 18 September 2017

Why Bass-Ackwards Will Take You Forward -- How to Be Successful in Tomorrow’s Market
Room: Champagne 3 10:00 AM - 10:50 AM

Your Site SUX: Using Your Organic and Paid Search Data Analytics to Optimize Your Dealer's Site and Funnel Search User Experience.  (A 2-Part In-Depth Session)
Room: Champagne 1 01:30 PM - 03:25 PM

“Freshen Up” -- A DealerRefresh Discussion Panel: Attribution, e-Commerce, and Managing Vendors
Room: Keynote Hall 02:35 PM - 03:25 PM

Digital Dealer Tech Tank Competition (Modeled After the Show "Shark Tank") -- Discover New, Innovative Solutions for Your Dealership!
Room: Keynote Hall 03:30 PM - 04:30 PM

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Relentless – Doubling Our Business with Frictionless Transactions
Room: Keynote Hall 04:30 PM - 05:20 PM

Tuesday, 19 September 2017

The Mother of All Content Strategies - Develop a Content Marketing Strategy Built to Immediately Increase Results.
Room: Champagne 3 09:00 AM - 10:55 AM

Leadership & Accountability: Stronger – Faster – More Profitable ‘NOW’! -- Cardinale Group Shares a Mastery-Course in ‘Leadership & Accountability'
Room: Versailles 1 10:05 AM - 10:55 AM

How Dealers Can Use Existing Data to Make More $$$
Room: Versailles 1 01:30 PM - 02:20 PM

Advanced Analytics: The Search for Quality and Attribution -- Go Beyond Quantitative, Nebulous Metrics Like Impressions and Traffic and Start Working Toward Real Multi-Touch Attribution.
Room: Burgundy 02:35 PM - 03:25 PM

KEYNOTE PANEL: “Dealers and Vendors… Can’t We All Just Get Along?” -- How to Set Proper Expectations & Cultivate a Truly Beneficial Relationship
Room: Keynote Hall 04:50 PM - 05:40 PM

Wednesday, 20 September 2017

KEYNOTE PANEL: Disruptive Growth: Control Your Future. Learn the Mindset and Principles of Disruptive Growth to Compete and WIN in an Immensely Competitive and Turbulent Time
Room: Keynote Hall 08:30 AM - 09:20 AM

Breaking into the Top 100 Dealers List: A Unique Story of One Rural Dealer -- How Preston Ford, Despite Being in a Rural Town with a Population of 800, Punches Above Their Weight and Competes with the Biggest Ford Retailers in the Country
Room: Versailles 3 09:30 AM - 10:20 AM

The Key to Connection: Stop Following Up with Your Internet Leads Like It Is 2009
Room: Versailles 1 10:35 AM - 11:25 AM

Not Your Daddy’s Dealership 2: 3 Secrets to Maximizing Your CRM Performance -- Cut Through the Clutter and Put Your CRM to Work!
Room: Versailles 1 11:40 AM - 12:30 PM