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Goodwill stores are filling up with cheap pieces no one wants — and it reveals a huge problem with the way people shop for clothes http://ift.tt/2GE3Ok5 Business Insider/Mary Hanbury
Fashion is becoming faster, and it's a big problem. Retailers are cutting their supply chains every way that they can to stay on top of trends and bring new products out to the consumer more quickly than their competitors. Competition has reached such heights that the retailers that once ruled the world of fast fashion now seem to lag behind. H&M is a good example of this. The store has long been known for its speedy turnaround times and ability to offer cheap, trendy clothes, but it's lost out to even speedier stores in recent years. A report done by Fung Global Retail & Technology showed that it takes online stores ASOS, Boohoo, and Misguided between one and eight weeks to get a product from concept to sale. Zara has a speedy five-week turnaround, while H&M can take up to six months. Innovation in the supply-chain process has enabled these companies to get products out to customers quickly, but it's created a trend of disposable shopping. Americans buy four times as much clothing now as they did in 1980, according to The State of Reuse Report done by thrift store chain Savers in 2017. Much of this clothing gets wasted. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, 26 billion pounds of textiles end up in a landfill each year. The process of creating this clothing is also a big issue. It takes 2,700 liters of water to produce a T-shirt. In fact, this is the second-most polluting industry after oil, according to The World Economic Forum. Earlier this month, Business Insider reported that thrift-store chain Goodwill had seen an uptick in donations from millennials who are looking to offload unwanted products. Blogger Betsy Appleton, who is an ambassador for Goodwill in Tennessee, said she has noticed an influx of donations because of the movement towards trendy, cheap clothing that goes out of style quickly. "People are more willing to donate as it's not expensive," she told Business Insider. "People were more invested before." Appleton frequently sees fast-fashion clothing appearing in Goodwill six to 12 months after it launches in stores, which she says makes her less inclined to shop at stores that sell overly trendy clothes. "When I go to a mall I feel defeated," Appleton said. "So many of these products are going to end up in a landfill, in the trash, or at Goodwill." But some shoppers are becoming more conscious about the impact of shopping in these stores, and that's driving a trend of millennials shopping in and donating more to thrift stores. "Millennials are becoming more conscious about sustainable living and preserving the environment," Erin Hendrickson, a minimalist expert who runs the blog Minimalist RD, told Business Insider. NOW WATCH: Diet Coke has released four new flavors — here's what our resident Diet Coke fans have to say See Also:
Business via Business Insider http://ift.tt/eKERsB February 23, 2018 at 09:03AM
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Can You Tell the Difference Between AI And Reality? http://ift.tt/2sPW9NK Artificial intelligence (AI) has fascinated technologists for more than a century. Since the first machines took over computational processes for human computers, we’ve been intrigued by the idea of a machine that can pass as human. In 1950, Alan Turing developed his eponymous test to pinpoint the exact moment at which this becomes possible. The test, which asked a human judge to evaluate the behavior of a human and a machine to determine which was the machine, is the bellwether against which the advancement of AI has been measured ever since. For decades, the very idea of a machine passing the Turing Test was a fantasy. Movies like Bladerunner turned the conceit into sprawling sci-fi epics, but Turing didn’t develop his test in the vacuum of fiction. He foresaw a future when a machine would pass this test. While Turing expected machines to reach this state by the year 2000, in reality, we are just now reaching the threshold at which AI can passably take on the role of a human operant in certain conditions. And futurist Ray Kurzweil expects that we won’t see a machine pass a long-form Turing Test until 2029. What was once an intellectual exercise, however, has become a part of our daily lives. You likely receive emails generated by machines, interact with chatbots and customer service phone assistants operated by machines and engage with predictive applications as part of your job each day. The Infiltration Of Machines Into Everyday Life Alan Turing foresaw a world in which a computer with 100 megabytes of memory could fool humans 30 percent of the time. As with many predictions of his time, he severely underestimated just how advanced our technology would become in the 50 years after his prediction was made. In 1965, Gordon Moore, the co-founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, described what he saw as the future of the semiconductor business -- an exponential doubling of components per chip that would allow for faster, smarter and more expansive machines at unexpected speed. At the time, his predictions seemed too aggressive, but between the futurist views of Turing and the science fiction future of film director Ridley Scott, Moore’s Law has found a middle ground that is driving the rapid growth of technology in our lives. We’ve reached a state in which processing power is a given. Our devices are faster and more powerful than we reasonably need for daily tasks. If you want to open 40 tabs in your web browser, watch a movie and edit photographs on your laptop, the machine has the power to do it and then some. Where all that exponential growth is being directed, however, is into the systems that power everything we do. Business via Forbes - Entrepreneurs http://ift.tt/dTEDZf February 23, 2018 at 08:56AM
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Four Ways To Empower Customers To Be Their Own Experts http://ift.tt/2EWXQ0L I started my career in skincare as an esthetician who depended on clients seeking professional advice, so many people are surprised when I say that I’m trying to give customers the tools they need to be their own experts. While it might not make sense on the surface to cannibalize my own business in this way, I wholeheartedly believe that it’s a better business strategy to empower customers. Consider the following approaches I've found to be useful as you're guiding your consumers towards becoming "experts." Be A Reliable Source Of Proven Knowledge At Stacked, we have invested an incredible amount of time and effort building an expansive library of skincare content for our customers. Our rationale is simple: We want to be the resource for all our customers’ skincare questions. Whether we have a product to treat their specific concern is inconsequential; by adding value to their lives in the form of information, we’re building a lasting relationship based on trust and mutual benefit. There’s so much incorrect and uninformed advice out there. As customers become more and more barraged by information, it’s even more vital that they have a trusted resource to consult. They’re already consuming the content; make sure you’re the one serving it to them. To build your own library of content, start by finding the knowledge gaps. Solicit questions on social, send a survey or meet with customers in real life to learn about their most pressing questions. Skim influencer blogs and the comments sections of press articles to find out where the knowledge gaps are. Then, start building your library of content on your blog, emails and social posts. A newsletter is a great tool for getting this info out to your list. Once they start to rely on you for content, customers will look out for your emails and visit your site specifically to see what’s new. Create Products That Validate Your Customer’s Intelligence When I first launched my line, one of my premiere products was a device that, at the time, was pretty much only used by estheticians and skincare professionals. While other brands might not have trusted their customers with a tool that contains hundreds of tiny needles, I believed that my customers were intelligent enough to use something this advanced. This trust in my customers' intelligence meant that I was one of the first to go to market with this kind of tool, and I’ve been repaid over and over again for believing that my customers can follow safety instructions and know what’s right for them. It’s this faith and trust in my customer that helped me launch another device that was once reserved only for in-office treatments. Again, I invested in safety and a patented design to make it as foolproof as possible. But without the trust in my customer, I never would have launched these groundbreaking tools in the first place. Business via Forbes - Entrepreneurs http://ift.tt/dTEDZf February 23, 2018 at 08:56AM
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We Are In 'The Golden Age of Purpose' So How Do We Capitalize On It? http://ift.tt/2EZQ7Ph Nancy Mahon, SVP of global philanthropy and corporate citizenship for The Estee Lauder Companies and global executive director for the MAC AIDS Fund, has some counsel for social entrepreneurs and other business leaders interested in impact. It begins with context. We are in “the golden age of purpose.” “We are seeing an acceleration of a trend that has been in motion for some time where consumers are voting with their dollars and they are saying yes we care that you care. We share your values and we want not only a good financial model, but great products and a place to work and a great stock to invest in, we want a sustainable business. You have to make the world a better place,” Mahon says. MAC Cosmetics, an Estée Lauder brand, has been selling Viva Glam lipstick for more than 20 years and giving every penny of the retail revenue to the MAC AIDS Fund to fight AIDS. At the end of 2017, the lifetime total raised reached $480 million with $25 million raised in 2017. Mahon summarizes the strategy, saying, “The more products you sell the more money you are able to give away,” adding, “We try and really marry how we can do good business and also do good for the world.” Still, it is important for social entrepreneurs and other business leaders to understand the model more completely. The retailers who sell MAC Cosmetics agree to remit 100% of the sales price for Viva Glam lipstick and “lipglass” to MAC Cosmetics, which then remits the entire amount to the MAC AIDS Fund, which then funds programs to fight the disease. Retailers sacrifice their profits on these products and MAC Cosmetics still has to produce, distribute and market the products. In the marketing department, they get some help. In the past, luminaries like Rhianna, Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga have served as spokespeople for the products at a fraction of their market value. Business via Forbes - Entrepreneurs http://ift.tt/dTEDZf February 23, 2018 at 08:56AM
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Companies May Beat Employer Mandate Fine, On A Technicality http://ift.tt/2EXRXAi Employers are starting to get the bill due from the Internal Revenue Service for failing to adhere to the Affordable Care Act's employer mandate. Naturally, their impulse is to sue. From Politico:
And the law's complexity may give them opening. The Affordable Care Act, you'll recall, requires companies with at least 50 full-time employees to either offer health insurance to their employees — "play" — or pay a fine. But under the law, the IRS can only assess a penalty only if it "has been certified to the employer" that at least one employee has taken subsidized coverage on a government-run health insurance exchange. I'm using the passive voice here because just who in the government is supposed to make this certification is at the heart of the unhappy companies' claim. Bianchi argues that the law requires the health insurance exchange, not the IRS, to make the certification. Yet in 2015, the year the government began enforcing the employer mandate, neither the federal government nor most of the states operating their own exchanges managed to alert employers. In late 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services, which manages the federal marketplace, announced that it would begin sending notices to "certain" employers in 2016, and "expand to more employers in later years." It's not clear to what extent it has followed through on that promise. In the meantime, the agency said, "the IRS will independently determine any liability for the employer shared responsibility payment without regard to whether the Marketplace issued a notice." In late 2017, the IRS began sending employers a letter that claimed to certify that the company owed a penalty for 2015. In claiming the IRS is acting illegally here, Bianchi has locked onto an inconsistency, if not a contradiction, between two different parts of the Affordable Care Act. In effect, he is playing them off against each other. Where the employer mandate section of the law talks about certification, it refers to a different section of the law that governs how exchanges determine whether someone is eligible for a subsidy. That section makes no reference to certification at all, saying instead only that "the Exchange shall notify the employer" when a worker has enrolled in a health plan with a subsidy. But those subsidies are often a credit that the person claims when filing an income tax return — and only the IRS would have that information, not HHS. A former government lawyer involved in the discussion at the time, now in private practice, recently wrote to colleagues that the agencies determined that the IRS could not share that information with HHS, and so HHS would "delegate" its obligation to contact the employer to the IRS. (I was provided with the lawyer's analysis on the condition that I identify neither the attorney nor the firm.) A court case will probably turn on whether HHS in fact has the authority for that hand-off, which the agency wrote into its regulations, Bianchi and three other lawyers said. It's not clear that Bianchi could show that his clients were actually harmed when they heard from the IRS rather than from the exchange — though the IRS letters came two years too late to do anything about employees taking subsidies, the law doesn't specify when the notice must be sent, so an exchange could have been just as tardy. (Bianchi told me that while it seems to him that one purpose for certification "would be to alert an employer — in real time — that they have some exposure," he also allowed that "there is nothing in the legislative history that I can point to in support of this position.") But it's also not clear that he needs to prove harm, either. "One might think that the certification to the employer would be irrelevant if the outcome would not have changed," said Spencer Walter, a lawyer specializing in employee benefits at Ivins, Phillips & Barker, a Washington tax firm. "But when it comes to IRS penalties and taxes, procedure is key, so the burden should be on the IRS to demonstrate that the required certification was provided." Business via Forbes - Entrepreneurs http://ift.tt/dTEDZf February 23, 2018 at 08:56AM We all secretly enjoy watching other people fail — and there's science to back it up http://ift.tt/2CDM9Xu Whether it's laughing at fail videos or relishing those times when a rival sports team lost the big game, we all enjoy watching other's misfortunes. There's actually a word for this. It's called schadenfreude. Literally, it means "enjoyment obtained from the trouble of others." It sounds twisted — and it is. Even more than you might think. Schadenfreude is nothing new. Chances are it's been hardwired into our way of thinking of millions of years. Emile Bruneau: One of the strongest arguments to my mind is that our brains evolved for millions of years in a situation when you had small groups of humans scrabbling out in existence against other small groups of humans in a relatively harsh environment. In order to survive that you’d need your group to be incredibly tight-knit, and so this would both select for something like empathy — feeling for the suffering for other group members — and also extreme aggression towards others, something like schadenfreude. Schadenfreude and empathy are two sides of the same coin. They're both a response we feel to seeing someone else’s trials and misfortunes. However, there’s one big difference. Schadenfreude isn't something parents teach their children. Yet, researchers know that babies as young as 2 can experience it. All it takes is a little competition to trigger the reaction. For one study, 2-year-olds watched as their mothers doted on other infants. Later, the mothers were told to spill water on the infants. When they did, the onlooking 2-year-olds got so excited that some of them literally bounced with joy. It’s not hard to see how this childish rivalry could develop into something more sinister in adults. And that’s exactly what Emile Bruneau studies. He’s traveled to many parts of the world to investigate conflicts, including: Americans and Mexicans on the Arizona border, Israelis and Palestinians in Israel, and Democrats and Republicans in the US. It doesn't matter where the conflict is or what it’s about, he’s found that at the root of it all is schadenfreude. Emile Bruneau: We are extraordinarily motivated by who belongs to our group and who belongs to the other group. We have a strong tendency to think not just in terms of me and you but of us and them. And people who I identify as them, I’ll feel more schadenfreude towards them than towards us and certainly, that is the type of thing that drives behavior. If you feel empathy for somebody else you’re motivated to help them, similarly, if you feel schadenfreude you’re motivated to harm the other person. Neuroscientists think they've pinpointed the area of the brain behind all this. For one study, Red Sox and Yankees fans watched simulated plays while a fMRI measured their brain activity. When a fan saw the rival team fail, a special area in the brain called the ventral striatum lit up. It helps process reward, pleasure, and decision making — suggesting the fans were experiencing schadenfreude. But the ventral striatum is also involved with decision making. But also, interestingly, fans who showed more activity in their ventral striatum also reported that they were very likely to harm a fan of the rival team either by heckling, insulting, threatening, or hitting. This could explain why schadenfreude seems to be driving human conflicts and violence worldwide. But isn't time that we finally shake off this archaic way of thinking? Emile Bruneau: The modern world is very different than the world our brains evolved in and right now we're trying to solve modern-day problems with Stone Age psychology. In an environment that is global and multicultural where you have much less conflict where collaboration and cooperation can get you much farther than conflict, then yes, I feel like it is not as productive. Instead, Bruneau is exploring how to use empathy to resolve conflict and move toward resolutions. Emile Bruneau: Most recently what I've been interested in is how we intervene. How do we motivate empathy towards the other group? Interestingly enough, what I've found that interventions directed more at trying to challenge their cognitive perceptions of the other side are the types of things that kind of open up their empathy. So, it's almost like the best approach to opening people's hearts is by opening their minds. This doesn't necessarily mean that you can't laugh at fail videos on YouTube. But perhaps if we all tried to have a bit more empathy for the “other groups,” we could make the world a better place. See Also:
Business via Business Insider http://ift.tt/eKERsB February 23, 2018 at 08:51AM
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BERNSTEIN: Here are the easiest places for Chipotle to begin its turnaround (CMG) http://ift.tt/2otdW7V Markets Insider
The 43-year old, who comes from the helm of Yum! Brands’ Taco Bell, brings a wealth of experience in the fast-food sector, though some fans are worried that what worked for Taco Bell could tarnish Chipotle’s value. Bernstein analyst Sara Senatore has one of the highest price targets for the company. At $500, her price target is a full 65% above Wall Street’s consensus of $303 for the stock, according to Bloomberg. In a note to clients Friday, she laid out Chipotle’s “low hanging fruit” for beginning a turnaround and returning its stock to its previous highs above $700 from two years ago. "The first order of business, in our view, is marketing, where CMG's efforts have been underwhelming and where Niccol has significant expertise," she said. "Taco Bell is known for its innovative (and effective) marketing campaigns, judicious use of digital media (both earned and owned), while sister brand Pizza Hut successfully launched a loyalty program (vs. Chiptopia)." Innovation is another place Chipotle could easily step up its game, Senatore says. The company was a pioneer of the fast-casual industry, and one of the first to offer an assembly-line style of burrito creation, but more recently has struggled with new ideas. Queso, specifically, was a bust. "While Queso was not quite the unmitigated disaster that Chipotle bears made it out to be, it was clear that the testing process could have been improved," she said. "Chipotle's decision to launch queso nationally, and then iterate as customer feedback came in may not have affected attach rates ultimately, but it certainly didn't bring the positive attention to the brand that such a momentous launch should have." Still, the chain claims queso added 2% to every customer check on average. Chipotle has already begun testing quinoa bowls at its New York City test location, which could prove more successful than queso. Business Insider's retail reporter Kate Taylor reports the new addition shows the struggling chain has already 'entered a new era.' Shares of Chipotle are down 2.2% to $313.91 a share in early trading Friday, and down 53% in the past 12 months. Brian Niccol officially takes over as CEO from Steve Ells on March 5. So far, Chipotle has added nearly $2 billion in market value since his takeover was announced. NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist' See Also:
Business via Business Insider http://ift.tt/eKERsB February 23, 2018 at 08:51AM
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Wall Street has a new favorite trading idea for a 'fundamental shift' that's happened http://ift.tt/2FoWsBN Getty/Sean-Gallup
Strategists from Goldman Sachs to Citigroup are all making a number of key assumptions. This phase of super-low interest rates is likely behind us because the global economy is growing. And in the US, with a jolt of fiscal stimulus, inflation and demand are finally starting to pick up. Macquarie's Tom Price said in a recent note these views, which solidified over the past month, mark "a fundamental change in market psychology." It also helps that global growth is weakening the dollar against other currencies. Because many commodities are benchmarked in dollars, it's easier for holders of other currencies to buy when the dollar weakens. Based on these, several strategists say it's time to own commodities. Goldman Sachs for example, recently said there's been no better time since 2008 to invest in commodities. In a February 9 note, Jeff Currie, the head of global commodity research, observed commodities tanked with other asset classes during the stock market's correction — but not by as much as stocks. "Ironically, the catalyst for the equity move was rising inflation concerns in the face of strong economic activity indicators, which further reinforces our view that commodity markets are set to outperform other asset classes once the current liquidation flows subside," Currie said. He said commodities have entered a positive feedback loop consisting of three R’s: reflation, releveraging, and reconvergence. In a nutshell, that means higher prices help producers clean up their balance sheets, allowing for releveraging. That subsequently helps emerging-market growth to catch up to, or reconverge, with developed markets. For Citi, commodities stand out as the "clear winner" of a reflationary macro environment. "Commodities outperform on both absolute annualized returns and a Sharpe ratio basis relative to all other fixed income and equity market," strategists led by Jeremy Hale said in a recent note. Their recommendation was the Bloomberg Industrial Metals Sub-index, which consists of futures contracts on zinc, aluminum, copper, and nickel. A key risk to this pick, Hale said, is a slowdown in China's economy, since it's one of the world's largest consumers of commodities. There are also opportunities to find specific commodities that are unattractive and take outright short positions, Vassilis Dagioglu, the head of asset allocation and portfolio management at BNY Mellon, said. "We find that the fundamentals for some of the grains in the agricultural sector are quite unattractive, given that they are pretty abundantly supplied," he told Business Insider. "We are taking a more negatively short view in some of the grains, particularly wheat. In terms of our long exposures, we are getting long exposure to commodities that are primarily in the energy sector." Citi offered its recommendation right as the stock market fell 10% from its recent highs in a correction that was partly driven by concerns about inflation. Commodities might be a safer bet the next time that happens to US stocks or many other asset classes for that matter. That's because it has low correlations to other assets, Jeffrey Gundlach, the founder of DoubleLine Funds, said in a recent client presentation. Doubleline Capital In fact, Gundlach said in December that commodities were his best investing idea for 2018. Comparing them to US equities, he noted they are very cheap. That's a point echoed Macquarie in a recent note. "In contrast to bonds and equities, commodities have already had their bust and are currently at the beginning of a new cycle with most prices still around long run averages, i.e. near 'fair value,'" Price said. "If you're really just looking for long-term secular timing, this is really the chart of the day," Gundlach said back in September. DoubleLine Funds NOW WATCH: Microsoft President Brad Smith says the US shouldn't get 'too isolationist' See Also:
Business via Business Insider http://ift.tt/eKERsB February 23, 2018 at 08:45AM
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A brazen homeowner at San Francisco's leaning, sinking skyscraper is trying to sell a multimillion-dollar condo for almost double what they paid http://ift.tt/2CDLgy8 AP/Eric Risberg
The situation at Millennium Tower, a San Francisco skyscraper that is sinking and leaning, is so dire that residents have been selling their multimillion-dollar condos at a loss of millions. But this week, one brazen homeowner listed a two-bedroom, three-bath unit at Millennium Tower for $5.6 million — almost double what the seller paid for the condo in late 2011. The San Francisco Business Times reported that a Florida company associated with railroad mogul Gary Marino last bought unit #55A for $3.23 million, according to property records. Millennium Tower is a luxury residential high-rise that has sunk 17 inches and tilted 14 inches since it was completed in 2008. Though an inspection by the city showed it's safe to occupy, the situation has sparked an exodus from the building. Residents say they're selling their homes short of what they paid for them, with the value of their condos falling $320,000 on average. The list price on unit #55A — a 2,706-square-foot space — may be optimistic because residents of Millennium Tower received some good news last month: A fix may be in the works. In January, construction crews began drilling near Millennium Tower to see if a planned fix for the structure will work, NBC Bay Area reported. Engineers want to drill up to 150 new piles (a type of foundation shaped like a pillar) 200 feet down to bedrock from the building's basement, in order to stabilize the tower and prop it back upright. The project could cost $150 million. Gregg Lynn, a sales broker representing the seller of unit #55A, told the Business Times that the residents live on the East Coast and have spent only a handful of days in San Francisco over the last three years. Still, the seller poured money into interior design and extensive renovation. The residence has an open-plan kitchen, living, and dining room that offers sweeping views of the Bay Area from the 55th floor. Among the amenities: a library, dual walk-in closets, concierge service, and parking for one car that costs an additional $200 per month. NOW WATCH: Inside the exclusive multimillion-dollar San Francisco street that a couple bought for $90,000 See Also:
Business via Business Insider http://ift.tt/eKERsB February 23, 2018 at 08:39AM
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10 Credible Ways to Show the Media You're an Expert Worth Interviewing http://ift.tt/2ELlePo It's vital to position yourself as an expert to the media and in your business so journalists and potential customers will take you seriously. There are many beliefs that stop business owners from saying they’re an expert from “I don’t know enough” to “I haven’t been in business long enough” to “It feels big-headed to say I’m an expert.” If that’s you, here’s something to think about: the definition of an expert in the Oxford English Dictionary is “A person who is very knowledgeable about or skillful in a particular area.” That doesn't mean that you have to be in business for many years, or know everything in your niche, it simply means that you know a lot more than the average person does. If you're passionately enthusiastic about what you teach you must be very knowledgeable and skillful in your field, regardless of how long you’ve been in business. Crazy but true: My first media appearance was on a national radio show with six million listeners even though I had no website, no subscriber list and no dog training business, which was the topic I was being interviewed about! I chosen to be interviewed because I dared to call myself an expert even though I didn’t have a business. I knew I had valuable information to share. At the time I had a complementary therapy business but was passionate about dog training after getting two parson terrier puppies. I wanted to transition into a brand-new business and that one interview positioned me as a dog training expert and created numerous opportunities before I had even launched my new business. Here are 10 ways that say you’re an expert to the media without actually saying the words “I’m an expert.” 1. Your track record.You're a problem solver, what you teach solves your target market's problems and gets great results. It's good to have statistics if possible such as "I've had 10,000 people download my vegan restaurant app which shows them how to find the best vegan restaurants from where they are." When you're a problem solver or an inventor of something and have either statistics, testimonials or examples to back it up, then you're automatically seen as an expert in your field. Related: 4 Innovative Ways to Get Media Coverage 2. Write a book.You're an author of a published book that's relevant to the topic you're pitching or being interviewed about. If you’ve had a bestselling book or you were number one on Amazon for six weeks, then this is very credible information to pass on to the media. It will automatically position you as an expert in your field. Related: Should Entrepreneurs Write a Book to Become More Influential? 3. Just keep getting interviewed.You've done other media interviews. There’s nothing more reassuring to a journalist than when they see that you’ve been interviewed before and that you’re ‘media savvy’. The best way to present your media experiences is to create a media page on your website or a standalone press kit. Include a link to direct journalists to your past interviews when pitching a story idea. It’s a great way of impressing journalists by presenting yourself as a leading authority in your niche. Related: 33 Tips to Help You Ace a Media Interview (Infographic) 4. Highlight your qualifications.You've got qualifications related to the topic the media are looking to feature. Journalists may not always know the credibility of the qualifications that you have, but having qualifications in your field automatically positions you as an expert in your field. Related: Public Speaking 101: How to Prepare, Perform and Present Yourself 5. Judge competitions.You’ve been a judge in a competition or show that's relevant to the topic you're pitching or being interviewed about. Being a judge automatically says that your opinion matters and that you're able to critique and give constructive feedback. When you’ve been a judge in your industry, it screams "expert" to the media and to your potential clients. 6. Awards you've received.You’ve been nominated for, or received, an industry award. You don't necessarily have to win, the fact that you’re nominated says that you're a leading authority in your niche. Local newspapers in particular love to run stories about people in their area doing good. A quick call to your local newspaper telling them about the award could easily result in a feature. Related: Could Your Startup Answer These 23 Pitch Competition Questions? 7. EndorsementsAnother way that says you’re an expert is if you’ve been endorsed by a well-known person or company. If you have a great testimonial from a big player in your field, or even from another industry, it’s great for credibility (make sure you get their permission first before linking your name to them). The same is true for sponsorship. If you’re sponsored by a well-known company or brand remember to include this in the "about me" section of your pitch. 8. Business successDo you have a seven-figure business? Simply by having one or more million or multi-million-dollar companies positions you as an expert to the media (regardless of how long you’ve been in business) and would be very attractive to the right journalist. 9. You’ve had a breakthrough in your business.Let’s say your sales have substantially increased every week for the last 30 weeks, this indicates you’ve found a successful formula. Naturally you’ll need statistics or some proof to back it up, but this type of data automatically positions you as an expert in your field. It also says that you’re knowledgeable, creative and someone who has great information to share with other people. Related: 5 Ways to Turn a TV Appearance Into Evergreen PR for Your Brand 10. You have tangible experience in your field.Let’s say you're a mother or father with six children and you're pitching a story about parenting. Simply having six children will say that you’re a qualified expert to talk on this topic. So, now it’s your turn! Be proud, be confident and claim the expert slot in your niche. If you don't believe that you're an expert or a leading authority in your field, then no one else is going to believe it either. So, go for it! Related: Business via Entrepreneur: Latest Articles http://ift.tt/1V7CpeP February 23, 2018 at 08:38AM |
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