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E-reading is on the rise in Russia, but piracy remains a big problem for the burgeoning market.
According to figures published by Russia: Beyond the Headlines, 70% of Russians read e-books, nearly a quarter more than the number who did a year ago. Yet 92% of those readers download their books from the Internet for free, compared to around 12% [PDF] in the U.S. (Other estimates place the number even higher, around 95%.) That's all the more surprising given that the average price of an e-book in Russia is relatively cheap, around $3 to $4. That's about half the cost of a hard copy, and just a fraction of the cost of the average e-book in the U.S.
According to the same data, 36% of e-reading Russians borrow e-books from friends, and a mere 15% buy digital copies on "specialized web sites." Those digital copies generated 250 million rubles (about $7.5 million) in sales last year, nearly twice as much as 2011, according to the Russian Association of Online Publishers. E-books now account for around 1% of Russia's total book market.
Time, money and convenience are the three most-cited reasons for turning to e-books. Education is another problem. Vladimir Grigoryev, deputy head of the Russian's mass media agency Rospechat, told RBTHthat many people don't know whether they are reading licensed or pirated books.
Distribution is also an issue. Three in 10 e-book readers say they turn to the format because they can't find the titles they want in stores. Only 60,000 e-books are offered through licensed retailers, while pirates offer around twice as many titles, according to one analyst's estimates.
Publishers and retailers are working to boost the number of licensed titles, and Ropeschat has launched an online campaign, dubbed "Read Legally," to educate digital readers about the need to purchase licensed works to support their favorite authors. The agency is also monitoring pirating websites, removing more than 25,000 links to unlicensed works over the last two years, according to Publishing Perspectives.
For marketing professionals, sitting in a cubicle is something like a paradox. They're creative, resourceful and observant of our surroundings — and being confined to a literal box can really cramp their capabilities.
Luckily for those who work in marketing, companies are now considering remote employees more than ever, giving marketers an opportunity to work from a coffee shop, at home or anywhere that's going to allow them to be more productive.
In fact, there are a number of opportunities out there for work-from-homers — specifically in the digital marketing world and with tech companies that are increasingly advocating for virtual work environments. So, if you’ve ever thought about taking your marketing career out of the office, take a look at these types of positions.
1. Product Marketing Manager
If you love both tech and marketing, check out Product Marketing Manager roles, where you’ll manage new product releases and the internal communications, messaging and positioning that surround them.
While many companies want their Product Marketing Managers based on-site to interact with other team members, you can have success working for start-ups that are tight on space or companies that value virtual work. For example, Santa Barbara-based cloud computing startup RightScale offers many work-from-home positions — and is currently hiring a remote Product Marketing Manager who can be based in California, Seattle or Denver.
You Should Have: Tech savvy. Product Marketing Managers typically work with software and web-based products, so a passion for and experience in this world is ideal.
2. Marketing Copywriter
Recently rated one of the best jobs in the marketing and advertising industry, copywriting is an obvious choice for a work-from-home gig. After all, the work you produce — including web copy, ebooks, sales materials, blogs and articles — says far more than the hours you clock in at an office.
It isn’t difficult to find full-time work-from-home copywriting positions for companies or marketing agencies on sites like FlexJobs; or, if you’d like to freelance, check out Freelance Writing Jobsand ProBlogger’s Job Board.
You Should Have: Awesome writing skills is a given, but you should also have a handle on SEO. Companies want writing that they know will get seen on the web.
3. Marketing Analyst
If you’re extremely detail-oriented and love crunching numbers, this is a cool opportunity to do from home. In a position that requires you to analyze data and turn it into brand or marketing strategy, a quiet, uninterrupted work environment allows you to be more productive.
These types of roles vary in both scope and experience — for example, United Health Group is hiring a Senior Marketing Research Analyst to perform high-level research and make recommendations on that data, and an e-commerce company is seeking a telecommuting SEO Analyst Assistant to perform SEO research and data entry.
You Should Have: Depends on the role, but most likely a combination of analytical skills and strategic thinking. And an understanding of SEO is a big bonus.
4. Content Strategist
If you’re currently blogging, chances are you already understand how content marketing works. So, why not use your expertise to show companies how to be successful with the same methods? As a Content Strategist, you’ll work with brands to determine what type of content they need based on their goals — then, you’ll work to develop that strategy through campaigns, projects and editorial calendars.
There are plenty of opportunities available for full-time and contract roles, but I’ve also seen people have success pitching their skills to businesses they want to work with. If you’re hired on a project basis and deliver great results, that’s a great case for hiring you full-time. Make a list of places you want to work, pitch them your idea and learn from the process.
You Should Have: Proven success with blogging or content strategy.
5. Digital Marketing Consultant
This is probably the most flexible role of all, and if you have several years of experience and proven success in digital marketing, it could be the ideal gig for you. As a bonus, consultants are generally paid well, as companies rely on their expertise to take their company to the next level.
One option is working for a digital marketing firm, which are often hired to analyze current digital marketing processes and policies, provide thought leadership, and strategize with teams on improved performance.
Or, you can strike out on your own as a freelance consultant, where you can choose exactly what types of work and clients you take on. This can be a great fit if you’re looking to carve out an industry niche for yourself. Think social media for fashion and beauty clients or brand strategy work for healthcare organizations.
You Should Have: Several years of experience, ideally deep expertise in one or two specific sets of skills.
Yelp on Tuesday announced the ability to get food delivery and pickup on the platform, the first steps in a new functionality that lets users interact directly with businesses.
The company is launching the new program, called Platform, with a few restaurants affiliated with Delivery.com and Eat24 including Republic in New York and Layaly Mediterranean Grill in San Francisco. Eventually, Yelp will offer delivery and pickup via thousands of other U.S. restaurants.
That's not all. "In the coming months, we’ll add categories like spas, yoga studios, salons and dentist appointments starting with Booker, Intuit’s Demandforce and MindBody," Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman (pictured) wrote in a blog post. "Consumers can expect us to add more categories in the future."
For Yelp, which had previously only offered customer ratings and basic information about businesses, Platform represents a new area of business that puts it on a collision course withSeamless.
A traditional resume (or a LinkedIn profile) may be necessary for anyone who’s looking for a job, but in my 10 years as a business owner, I’ve never relied on either one to hire.
Honestly, I think resumes are a waste of time.
Part of the problem is that it’s human nature to exaggerate or even glorify a simple role. But the bigger issue is that there are a lot of things resumes can’t tell you about a candidate — like whether he’s the type of person you want to work with or whether she’ll fit in with your company’s style.
Instead, I’ve used a few non-traditional techniques that help me look beyond the resume to find great employees. Here are some tips for finding the best hires for your business without relying solely on a piece of paper or virtual profile.
Pay Extra Attention to the Application
The first step in the hiring process often involves an application. In the tech industry, where an ad for a job usually results in a high volume of applications, I play close attention to how people handle this initial interaction. Do applicants craft a personalized, interesting cover letter and follow up with an email or phone call a week later? Or do they simply fire off their resume without taking the time to interact beyond that? Someone who doesn’t take the time to be “remembered” not only seems less eager, but is most likely not a serious candidate.
One sneaky way to weed out the candidates who are just blasting out their cover letters is to add a special code or a hashtag to your application. I’ve been known to say something like “be sure to include #iactuallyreadthis on your cover letter.” I know immediately that the people who don’t put my special code in their letter aren’t paying attention to detail. And that fact alone tells me they probably aren’t right for us.
Do More Than Ask Questions at the Interview
When you bring your narrowed-down bunch of candidates in for interviews, you’ll definitely want to sit down with them and ask the standard questions, including soliciting specific examples from their previous work experience. But I also like to see how people perform on the job, rather than just have them tell me.
For example, if you’re hiring someone to answer phones, have candidates answer a mock phone call and see how they do. If you’re looking for developers, have them refactor some code. Even if you’re looking for something less task-based, like a project manager, you can have the candidate look at a current project outline and see what kind of questions or suggestions he or she might have.
You’ll also want to look beyond the skills and experience to make sure the candidate fits well with your company culture. At my company ShortStack, we don’t want to see a candidate on her “best behavior” — we want to see how she’ll be to hang out with during lunch or maybe even over a beer, because that’s part of our culture. Every Friday, our whole teams goes out to lunch together. It’s meant to be a fun outing, so I will invite prospective employees to make sure they can relax with us — or at least try to relax!
Use References Right
You probably already ask your applicants to provide references (and if you don’t, you should), but you want to make sure you’re using these contacts to their fullest potential to get the information you want.
For example, I’ll ask references about the candidate’s work performance, but I’ll also ask what the person’s sense of humor is like. This can tell you a lot, and as far as I know, won’t get you into legal trouble. (Ask your legal counsel to be sure — HR laws vary from state to state.) If the person’s more of a serious type — or on the other end of the spectrum, the office joker — he or she might not be a good fit for your organization.
I also like to ask if a candidate’s work area was clean or messy, how he or she interacted with the rest of the staff, and if he or she participated in any external activities, such as softball or volunteering. Think of what matters to you and your company culture, and use that as a guide for questions.
Use Trial Periods
I know this isn’t possible with all positions, but if possible, take the potential employee for a test drive before hiring full-time. Trial periods are almost like internships, but better paid and more serious. They can last for a few weeks or a few months, but can give you a good idea of whether the person is the right fit for your office.
For example, we give potential graphic designers and developers a few (paid) freelance projects to start with and then see if they have the skills we’re looking for. Look at it from an investment standpoint: If the salary is $60,000 and you invest $1,000 in a freelance project and discover that the person isn’t the right fit, you’re not out $1,000 — you just saved yourself $59,000!
It’s also important to pay from a legal standpoint. The person could have a great idea that you want to move forward with, but if he or she wasn’t paid and you don’t end up making a full-time offer, you could run into legal issues if you end up using the idea.
If you do go down this path, try not to mention the possibility of a full-time position so if the person doesn’t work out, it’s easier to move on to the next candidate. Make sure to clearly state that the period of work-for-hire is for a certain number of weeks and includes specific responsibilities.
The next time you’re looking to hire, think beyond the resume. Resumes are great for providing a list of (potentially exaggerated) skills, but building a successful team requires more than a list of traits on paper.
Shazam, the company behind the popular music discovery app of the same name, has raised another $40 million to accelerate growth before ultimately going public.
The round of funding announced Monday comes from America Movil, the phone carrier owned by Carlos Slim, formerly the richest man in the world. In addition to the funding, Shazam will enter into a business partnership with America Movil, presumably bringing its media products to the carrier's subscribers and boosting its user base in the process.
As part of the funding announcement, Shazam revealed it now has more than 350 million users, more than twice what it had two years ago, and 70 million monthly active users, up from 22 million two years ago. Part of the goal for the new funding is simply to invest in the infrastructure to support that growth.
"We are growing incredibly quickly. Part of our need is just to buy capacity to support this on ramp of users and people spending more time on the service," Andrew Fisher, executive chairman of Shazam, told Mashable in an interview. "The second part is to innovate faster."
Shazam is focused on innovating its music product — with plans to introduce some notable updates in the coming months — and its television product, which can help viewers discover additional information about ads and programs playing on the screen.
"We're focused on this category that we describe as media engagement," Fisher says. "Applying emerging technologies like audio recognition — and potentially image recognition — make it as easy as possible for people to engage with the media and brands they're interested in."
While some startups turn to large funding rounds to delay or avoid going public, Fisher says the timetable for Shazam's IPO has not changed — though he won't get much more specific.
"It certainly will not be 2013. It will be looking out from there," he says. "Shazam needs to get through another phase of growth before we are ready to go on the public markets."
Shazam was founded in 2000 and has raised $75 million in funding to date.
It’s the crux of modern-day job seekers: They're often told that to stand out from other candidates, they need to contact members of an organization directly. But what if employee contact information is hidden? Sometimes it’s like a black hole — you could end up searching for what seems like forever to no avail.
At times like these, you have to think of yourself as a detective of sorts. You have to be creative. You have to think outside the box. You have to be stealthy. Finding the contact information of a hiring manager or employer is like a game, and you need to use the right methods to come out on top.
So, what are some best-kept secrets to gaining this information so you can streamline the communication and application process? Check out these suggestions.
1. Stalk Them
OK, so literally stalking anyone is a bad idea, but when you want to find out employer contact information, some light “stalking” can improve your chances.
For example, you can make some phone calls to company gatekeepers, such as administrative assistants, interns or secretaries. Contacting members of your network, such as school pals or fellow graduates of your alma mater, to see if there’s a mutual connection is also a great way to find contact information. Lastly, going to networking events where you know an employer will be present not only helps you find contact information, it can also open up the lines of communication.
Advantage: Allows you to quickly investigate contact information without any heavy lifting.
2. Use Email Verification Tools
Email verification tools are a great way to tell if an email address is fully functional. For example, you may get a tip from someone that the CEO has a hidden email address. By using these verification tools, you can find out whether or not the address is legitimate. Check out resources like verify-email.org to get started.
Advantage: If you have several email addresses to chose from, verification tools can help you to narrow down your options.
3. Check Out Public Records
Public records allow you to easily access contact information, such as phone numbers or email addresses, for basically anyone. Though they may cost money if you use an outside service, it may be worth it, since it’s harder to access public records on your own.
Advantage: Contact information is typically up-to-date and verified.
4. Contact Former Employees
Former employees may not be your first point of contact, but they typically have access to contact information of company bigwigs. Even if you don’t know them, send them a note on LinkedIn or contact them through their listed information. Most people are willing to help, especially if your approach is polite and straightforward.
Advantage: Former employees may also be able to point you toward the best person to contact.
5. Make Calculated Assumptions
You’ve heard the saying, “You should never assume,” right? Well, in this case, assumptions could steer you in the right direction. Many companies use the same email address patterns. If one company email is listed as susy.snowflake@wintertime.com, chances are, the same patterns will occur in other email addresses. That is, first name, period, last name.
Advantage: Since patterns are typically the same for all members of the company, all you need to do is locate the name of the employer or hiring manager. This is typically easier to locate than the contact information itself.
6. Search Social Networking Platforms
Social networking platforms are like the modern-day Yellow Pages: Most people are on them and you can find out a lot about a person by doing a quick search. See if the profile of the employer is open on Facebook — some of them include email addresses and phone numbers. You can also contact someone on Twitter to verify an email address. Or, you can connect or send messages on LinkedIn to gain contact information.
Advantage: This is an easy way to investigate employer information, while also giving you the chance to use these platforms as a communication method.
What do you think is the best way to find employer contact information? Tell us in the comments what's worked for you.
Mashable Job Board Listings
The Mashable Job Board connects job seekers across the U.S. with unique career opportunities in the digital space. While we publish a wide range of job listings, we have selected a few job opportunities from the past two weeks to help get you started. Happy hunting!
Honda isn't turning 65 years old until September, but the company is already starting its celebrations with this video that deftly details some of its greatest accomplishments.
The ad lightheartedly illustrates the highlights as toys manipulated by a man's hands.
First the ad shows a nut, which morphs into an engine and then a motorcycle — the product that put Honda on the map. Next, the ad zooms through Honda's first car, a leaf blower, a boat and the NSX driven by legendary Formula One racer Ayrton Senna. Others mentioned in passing include a water-powered car and robots.
What do you think of Honda's latest ad? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Dell is considering a move into wearable computing, a potential growth area that might offset sinking PC sales.
The company is "exploring ideas in that space," Sam Burd, Dell's global vice president of personal computing, told The Guardian. "Looking ahead five years, we expect devices and form factors to continue to change. There will still be a need for 'static' computing on desktops, but there will be a real need for mobile devices. There's a lot of discussion about how that fits into wearable devices like we've seen with Google Glass and watches. We're looking at a world of lots of connected devices."
Wearable computing these days looks like an oasis compared to PCs. PC shipments plunged13.9% in the first quarter, according to IDC. That was the biggest decline since IDC began tracking the market in 1994. Dell's end-user computing business, meanwhile, fell 9% in the company's first quarter and its operating margin dropped 65%.
Wearable computing is still in its early stages. Google just started shipping its Glass headsets to several thousand "explorers" in April and the Pebble smart watch is hitting retail this month. Meanwhile, other entries into the category — like a smart watch from Apple — are merely rumors at this point.
For Dell, a company in the process of trying to go private, wearable computing presents a more profitable alternative.
Samsung has acquired Boxee, a streaming media startup that develops set top boxes, the company confirmed Wednesday.
“Samsung has acquired key talent and assets from Boxee,” a Samsung rep told Mashable in a statement. “This will help us continue to improve the overall user experience across our connected devices.”
The Marker, an Israeli business publication, originally reported Wednesday that Boxee had been acquired for $30 million. Calcalist, another Israeli outlet, confirmed the news and noted that Samsung would keep Boxee's staff employed.
Samsung did not confirm the price tag of the acquisition, but if true, it would be low for Boxee. The startup, which operates out of New York and Tel Aviv, has raised $26.7 million to date. If the acquisition price is accurate, it would barely cover the amount of money invested into the company.
Boxee declined to comment on the original reports.
The news of Boxee's acquisition is not entirely surprising. AllThingsD reported in mid-June that Boxee was either looking to raise more money or else looking for potential buyers. Around the same time, VentureBeat reported that the company had been acquired, but not didn't know by whom.
The acquisition could help Samsung in the increasingly competitive smart TV market. Intel confirmed earlier this year that it is planning to build a smart TV, and Apple is widely rumored to be working on its own as well.
This marks the second notable Israeli startup acquisition in as many months. Google acquired Waze, a mapping company, for just more than $1 billion in June.
On Wednesday, Yahoo announced its second purchase in a week with the reported acquisition of email productivity provider Xobni for a price of $30 million to $40 million.
"Did you ever meet someone who truly 'gets' you? That’s how we feel about Yahoo," Xobni wrote in a company blog post announcing the acquisition. Xobni also promised, "Of course, soon you’ll be able to use Yahoo! products with Xobni goodness baked right in."
Xobni ("Inbox" spelled backwards) provides software that aims to improve the functionality of your email by "making it easy to search and discover all your contacts — even those who aren't in your address book," according to the company. Xobni products like Smartr Inbox and Smartr Contacts let you search for everyone with whom you have exchanged emails, texts or calls.
Following the launch of a Time Warner Cable app for Roku in March, the cable telecommunications company is looking to launch its application on other platforms, including Apple TV, according to FierceCable.
At Time Warner Cable’s investor conference on Tuesday, CEO Glenn Britt told his audience that the company’s interests extend beyond Roku, according to FierceCable's report. Concerning the potential of new platforms, Britt said:
“You should assume we’re talking to everyone who makes devices like this, whether it’s Samsung smart TVs, Apple, Microsoft.”
Time Warner Cable’s Roku app allows subscribers to stream about 300 cable channels on the digital receiver. Yet it remains to be seen if Apple and Time Warner Cable have come to an agreement.
Image via Mario Tama/Getty Images
This article originally published at AppAdvice here
Many are aware of Amazon's robust retail and web-hosting businesses, but less are familiar with its advertising business, which is rapidly becoming a significant player in the space.
Amazon brought in $450 million in advertising in revenue last year, according to eMarketer estimates published Tuesday. The company managed to increase its advertising business by nearly two-thirds between 2011 and 2012, and is expected to grow it by another half this year — to $660 million. This makes Amazon's ad business even bigger than Twitter's, which eMarketer previously estimated would generate $580 million this year.
By 2015, Amazon is predicted to bring in $1.1 billion in advertising revenue, about one-fifth ofFacebook's earnings last year. Advertising is still rather small part of Amazon's total revenue picture however: The company reported $61.1 billion in net income last year.
How exactly is Amazon making so much from advertising? For one thing, it has a lot of inventory: Amazon is the sixth most-trafficked website in the world, according to Alexa, and runs multiple display ad units on every page. That's in addition to the ads it runs on other Amazon-owned sites like Zappos and Shopbop, Kindle devices and websites of ad network partners.
Amazon also has a unique targeting advantage, thanks to the customer purchasing data it has collected through its retail sites. As eMarketer points out, this is data that competitors such asGoogle and Facebook lack.
eMarketer believes that the majority of Amazon's ad dollars come from ads placed on search result pages. It makes sense that these would be particularly lucrative: According to Forrester,twice as many Internet users begin researching online purchases at Amazon over Google, and advertisers want to target consumers who are actively seeking to purchase products.
This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.
By now, most of us know about Google Glass. It’s a wearable computer with a head-mounted display that kind of looks like a pair of eyeglasses. You can take pictures, record video, get directions, send messages, share what you’re looking at and much more. It comes in multiple colors, and let’s face it — it’s neater than Jell-O. We all want to test drive a pair.
But from a business perspective, we have to view Google Glass (and similar kinds of wearable tech) a little differently. Despite the fact that Google Glass is not yet available to the public, several types of businesses — including restaurants, bars, night clubs, casinos and theaters — have already banned it from their premises.
Eric B. Meyer, a partner in the labor and employment group at the law firm of Dilworth Paxson LLP and author of the blog The Employer Handbook, sees other industries that might be impacted by Glass. “In industries and businesses where confidentiality or privacy is paramount, such as healthcare, financial services, legal, government — I can envision workplace rules specifically banning Google Glass.”
Part of the reason businesses will view Google Glass differently is the recording feature, saysHeather Bussing, an employment attorney and contributor at the HR Examiner. “When everything someone sees can be recorded without other people knowing, it makes people uncomfortable. At worst, it is illegal since many states require consent before you record someone. At best, it’s bad manners.”
Google Glass Might Benefit Your Business
Before deciding to completely ban Google Glass, companies might want to evaluate if their business can benefit from using it. Meyer suggests some companies might embrace Google Glass for marketing purposes. “Real-time sharing could entice others to use the same products or service. An amusement park or ski resort, for example, may want to broadcast the customer experience.”
It’s also possible that Google Glass could benefit employees. For example, Google Glass could enhance department meetings because there would be a live recording of the discussion and decision-making process. It might create new opportunities for employee training and professional development. “It’s another way to communicate that we haven’t even begun to figure out,” Bussing says.
Wearable Tech Policy
Regardless of whether it benefits or challenges your company, Google Glass, like all new technologies, will test us. Companies will have to define what Google Glass means for their business and their employees. They will have to establish some decorum when it comes to wearable tech. Bussing reminds us, “Most companies don’t have a ‘do not record people in the bathroom’ policy. So it will be a good idea to establish some etiquette — at the very least, on what spaces are private and what are public.”
Meyer also mentions one area that companies will definitely want to address — employee safety. For example, West Virginia proposed an amendment to ban drivers from wearing Google Glass on the road. If companies have employees who drive as part of their regular duties, it will be important to specifically address driving, distractions and safety.
Another topic of focus will be confidentiality and trade secrets. Bussing believes, “Google Glass will get us focused on privacy and considering others across all technologies because there’s something about recording others so easily without their knowledge that crosses a line. Companies want to consider defamation, posting video of others without their permission, and protecting trade secrets and confidential information.”
Check Current Policies
Bussing says the good news is many of the workplace laws we currently have in place may already address the matter. “Laws like HIPAA, FMLA and ADA protect against ‘disclosures’ and require confidentiality of health information. It doesn’t matter how the information is collected, stored, or disclosed — it’s covered by the laws already.”
As more individuals start trying out the cool new Google Glass, businesses must become aware of the ways in which Google Glass could be used intentionally, or perceived by others, to violate employment laws. Then Meyer recommends “educating and training employees as well as managers in these areas.”
Do you know anyone who is beta testing Google Glass? What pros and cons do you see for employers? Let us know your thoughts.
Last month, Amazon unveiled its plans to turn fan fiction into a real business, signing on Alloy Entertainment (a division of Warner Bros.) to allow independent writers to sell fiction based on shows like Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diairies on Amazon's site.
On Thursday, Amazon announced that it signed similar agreements with several more partners, including comic book publisher Valiant Entertainment and authors Hugh Howey, Barry Eisler, Blake Crouch and Neal Stephenson.
The deals authorize anyone to create and sell fan fiction inspired by several of Valiant's comic book series, including Bloodshot, X-O Manowar, Archer & Armstrong, Harbinger andShadowman. Howey's Silo Saga, Eisler's John Rain novels, Crouch's Wayward Pines series and Stephenson's Foreworld Saga are also now parts of the program.
Writers are encouraged to self-publish works of at least 10,000 words in the Kindle Store. Writers who meet that qualification are eligible to earn 35% of every sale made, and 20% of works between 5,000 and 10,000 words. The rights holders of the original works will also receive an (undisclosed) cut of every sale made.
Forget presentations, handshakes and power suits: You should focus on what you're saying if you want to make a big impact in a business meeting.
New research has found that employees who used the words "yeah," "give," "start," "meeting" and "discuss" ended up with more accepted proposals in meetings.
In the study, Cynthia Rudin a professor in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management and MIT student Been Kim examined data from meetings and the impact of certain words during those meetings. The research is particularly important considering that 11 million meetings take place every day, Rudin and Kim said.
"The study of meetings is important, yet challenging, because it requires an understanding of many social signals and complex interpersonal dynamics," says Rudin. "While there has been a lot of academic work done on meetings, our research is unique in that it is one of the first studies to use a data-driven approach to meeting analysis. There are many published lists of persuasive words, but they weren't created from a data-driven perspective. We wanted to prove which words are more persuasive using predictive modeling and hypothesis tests."
The specific words were found to be persuasive for a number of reasons. For example, the word "yeah" is believed to show acceptance and agreement of a point of view.
Moreover, "the word 'meeting' is used in suggestions about what not to discuss," Rudin explains. "For instance, someone might say, 'Maybe this is something for the next meeting,' as a way of gently moving the topic onward without causing offense. That suggestion was almost always accepted."
The researchers also found that workers must be particularly careful about paying compliments at a meeting, because compliments that follow negative assessments are seen as disingenuous.
"This is a bit counterintuitive because it would seem natural to compliment someone to make up for something negative you said about their idea," Rudin says. "However, that almost never happens."
Additionally, the researchers provided insight into the decision-making process of meetings by looking at words that signal a decision is imminent. Rudin and Kim said that when workers give suggestions, information, acceptances, rejections or information requests, a decision is expected.
"This would be useful when listening to a previously recorded meeting and you want to fast-forward to the key decision," Rudin said. "Or, it might help managers be more efficient if they could be automatically alerted to join a meeting when a decision is about to be made."
