Fri. Sep 25th, 2020

Diane

Amping up innovation

By Diane 3 days ago

The global utilities sector, which has a market capitalization of US$2.1 trillion, is at the front end of a dramatic energy transition that will radically alter future market strategies, business models, and customer interactions. As we noted in our 2019 Global power strategies report on the world’s 40 largest utilities (which we call the Global Top 40, or GT40), long-held hypotheses about market direction, pace, impacts, and requirements have been overturned. Companies are acutely focused on devising market responses to the challenges of that transition by decarbonizing the generation mix, embedding grid intelligence, redefining customer value propositions, and elevating technology’s role in enabling energy supply, delivery, and consumption.

As our colleagues Blair Sheppard, Daria Zarubina, and Alexis Jenkins have written, industries — including utilities — were already facing a need to reconfigure their businesses to deal with the impact of forces such as digitization. But the COVID-19 pandemic has

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How Law Firms and Professional Services Have Adapted to Survive Covid-19

By Diane 4 days ago


5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.


Corporate law firms have ridden out the Covid-19 shutdown relatively well so far. For every area of law that’s seen a fall in demand — such as litigation and financial accounting cases — it seems like others have presented new opportunities.

Law firm leaders we work with are reporting a jump in activity in employment and labor cases, steady work on intellectual property, and are expecting opportunities to pick up in the M&A and bankruptcy arenas as the economic fallout of the pandemic settles in. 

What has been disruptive for the sector — and other professional services — is the sudden inability to carry out business development in the usual ways. Traditionally, business development has relied heavily on business conferences, wine-and-dine events, and travel for in-person meetings and networking.

Related: 3 Strategies to Improve Your Customer 

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How data centers can give back to society

By Diane 4 days ago

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the already powerful trend of digitization. Since the beginning of 2020, an increasing array of activities have been driven online: work (virtual meetings), shopping (online groceries), and entertainment (streaming). These trends add up to more demand for the workhorses of the digital economy — especially data centers, the buildings that house computer, telecommunications, and storage systems. The global data center industry is expected to grow by US$284.44 billion between 2019 and 2023, representing a 17 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), according to a report by Technavio. PwC’s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2020–2024 projects data consumed will grow by 2,342 trillion megabytes, representing a 20.9 percent CAGR.

As the sector grows, so will the scrutiny from stakeholders demanding responsible and sustainable growth, because data centers are significant users of electricity and power. In 2018, data centers accounted for about 205 terawatt-hours of electricity

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10 Mistakes People Make When Starting a Digital Marketing Agency

By Diane 5 days ago


5 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.


Starting a new business comes with unique challenges, and those first years are essential to your long-term success and growth. If you’re starting a digital marketing agency, you will run into specific challenges and may make some of these common mistakes. Here’s what they are and how you can avoid them.

Mistake 1: Not setting the right expectations

Like in any other type of business, setting the right expectations for your clients is a must. Don’t overpromise, especially when you’re not sure if you’ll deliver those results. It’s better to let go of a lead with unrealistic expectations rather than closing the sale and having to deal with an upset client along the way. Be honest with yourself and with them.

Mistake 2: Going into debt

Don’t go into debt. Debt can often represent a problem

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4 Free Tips to Get Your Business to Show Up on Google Maps

By Diane 6 days ago


6 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.


Google is still the King, Queen and court jester of online search. Sure, Facebook and Amazon are trying to carve out their own slice of the search pie, but as of July 2019, Google dominated over 90 percent of all search queries. When someone does a Google search for a product or service, they are demonstrating intent and motivation. The beauty of searches based on intent is that this traffic can be free. Paid keyword advertising works, but it isn’t the only way to get clicks and customers. Ever notice how some businesses and entrepreneurs are always just below the paid ads on Google Maps, while others don’t ever show up? Those that get displayed do four things to their business profile better than everyone else.

Before we get into the four specific tasks,

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9 Social Impact Models That Entrepreneurs Can Learn From

By Diane 6 days ago


8 min read

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.


As a company leader, I try to positively impact my community whenever possible. Whether its youth programs, gender equity, career coaching, or anti-violence, we (Complete SET agency) create educational themed events as well as donate portions of revenue to social change. Cause models like this, whether grassroots or multinational, are increasingly important for businesses, large and small, to have at their operational core. Ensuring that your business is creating a positive impact is a necessary competitive advantage. In fact, a 2018 Conecomm survey found that 78 percent of Americans now expect companies to go beyond profits and to also positively impact society. Social impact is a broad term that refers to the positive change businesses have on their community. A company’s emphasis on a level of corporate social responsibility, or CSR, can be an

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