In 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy was directed by The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to establish the Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition. The competition is the first and only government-sponsored technology competition. The overall goal was to challenge the lighting industry to develop high performance, energy-saving replacements for conventional light bulbs that will save American consumers and businesses money. What was the incentive? – A $10 million dollar prize.

Five years later, in 2012, the winner was announced, the Dutch electronics company, Philips Lighting North America who was the only entrant. The winning product, the EnduraLED 10W A19 Dimmable Bulb is a huge advancement in technology. Its lifespan is an estimated 30,000 hours (more than 20 years when used four hours a day) and it produces 900 lumens of light while only consuming 10 watts of energy, making it 83 percent more efficient than standard 60-watt incandescents.

There are mixed reviews about the buzz-worthy L Prize bulb. For one, the $60 price tag is steep for most American families, ironic since part of the multifaceted goal of the competition was to be an affordable alternative and failed to meet many of the original prize specifications. The goal was a $22 price tag in the first year, falling rapidly to $8 by year three.

Also, the trade publication Energy Efficiency & Technology notes that the bulbs that are coming to market are actually a little different than the model that won the competition.

Others are saying Phillips is receiving preferential treatment by federal buyers and other major players who are beholden to the federal government, such as the many utility companies offering subsidies to customers who purchase the bulbs. They think the knowledge of this fact may have further reduced Philips’ incentive to keep prices low.

However, none can argue that the bulb isn’t the most eco-friendly bulb on the market. According to the people at Philips, if every 60-watt incandescent in the U.S. was replaced with the bulb, the nation would collectively save $3.9 billion in energy costs in one year. Such a swap-out would curb the emission of 20 million metric tons of CO2, the equivalent of removing 4 million cars from the road.

What do you think of the L Prize bulb? Worth it or not?

Read more at http://www.mnn.com/your-home/at-home/blogs/would-you-spend-60-on-a-light-bulb-that-lasts-20-years &

http://freedomlightbulb.blogspot.com/2012/03/lots-of-public-money-for-doubtful.html

Amid a backdrop of strong earnings reports by PulteGroup, Ryland and Meritage Homes – while coinciding with the NAR’s pending home sales index rising to its highest level in nearly two years — the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show was notably upbeat. Yet despite the growing confidence, I could not help but recognize the absence of innovation and product development from a majority of proud exhibitors. That said, I am appreciative for those brands that seized the opportunity this week to deliver leadership with a wealth of dramatic new finishes and color trends…

ANN SACKS

Ann Sacks unveiled what can be best described as an “epic” surface in authentic petrified wood… with the glory of once-living wood, fossilized in its pure form with an exotic beauty that was actually millions of years in the making.

BERENSON

Berenson debuted the Susan G. Komen (SGK) hardware collection, offered in an exclusive pink finish. Each of the five different product lines was inspired by a breast cancer survivor (Nancy, Dierdra, Betty, Laura and Brenda). All five of the women were at the Berenson booth during the show to answer questions and share their survival stories. The company will donate a minimum of $25,000 to SGK from this collection’s proceeds.

DANVER

Demonstrating the growing trend away from the industry’s oft-over-used metal finish, Danver displayed their premium stainless steel cabinetry in a variety of nature’s own tones, including organic custom colors and wood finishes as well as a wide variety of their newest product additions, including EcoSmart Bioethanol Fireplaces, Walpole Pergolas, Evo Flattop Grills and Glastender Bartending Stations.

CAMBRIA

Cambria, the only family-owned, American made producer of quartz surfaces in the United States displayed their latest designs: Laneshaw and Armitage, demonstrating faithfully the dynamic natural beauty of marble and granite, while improving upon the look of “Mother Nature” with superior strength and performance.

DANZE

Known for their distinctive collections of kitchen and bathroom fixtures, Danze introduced a brand new Tumbled Bronze finish for its Antioch™ and Eastham™ collections. Featuring a warm tone with vibrant chocolate and bronze highlights, the color is applied to the faucets, and then each is placed into a drum with stones and tumbled – giving the product a natural and unique look.

By now, most people understand that Pinterest is a must for home and building product brands and have hopped on “pinning” the bandwagon. We’ve compiled a list of some of the Pinterest “Super Stars” and some “Up-and Coming” brands follow on Pinterest within the industry.

First, let’s get a couple of the no-brainers out of the way:

1. Lowes

Lowes is a U.S. based chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores. They have the most pins and offer a wider variety than any of the other brands on this list, for obvious reasons. Their boards include ides for the home- both inside and out. They’ve got great DIY projects and ideas for decorating, cooking and gift-giving. Pro-Tip: For all the animal lovers, check out their Pet Project Board.

http://pinterest.com/lowes/

2. Home Depot

THD’s  Pinterest has a boundless selection of boards. Home Depot displays many aspects of the home, such as entrances, living Rooms and outdoor living as well as color trends, wedding inspiration and even party planning!  Home Depot is trying to appeal to their audience’s lifestyle and goes above and beyond showcasing their own products. Pro-tip: Check out their “Small Spaces, Big Impact” board for creative ways to maximize space!

http://pinterest.com/homedepot/

3. Masonite Doors

Masonite is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of interior doors and entry door systems. Masonite Doors have organized their boards to display everything from door culture, genres of décor and ideas for your home to famous doors throughout the world.  Pro-tip: Gain inspiration from Masonite’s pins and paint your front door a color that matches your personality.

http://pinterest.com/masonitedoors/

4. WoodTrac by Sauder

Sauder is the 6th largest furniture manufacturer in the United States and offers a wide range of products. The WoodTrac Ceiling System is a DIY and sustainable project used to upgrade ceilings. WoodTrac has boards dedicated to ceilings of all kinds that range from unusual, beautiful and wood to historic ceilings. Pro-tip: If you like to stay busy with weekend projects, look at their board of cool DIY projects.

http://pinterest.com/woodtrac/

5. Pegasus Lighting

Pegasus is an online lighting retailer selling unique lighting products to customers across the U.S. and around the globe. PL’s pins showcase all the amazing things you can do with lighting and as such, boards are categorized by room type as well as a board for products dealing with lighting. Pro-tip: Check out some of the unique usages of lighting they pinned. Who knew you could have color-changing LED Lights in your steps?

http://pinterest.com/pegasuslighting/

6. Benjamin Moore

It’s no secret Benjamin Moore produces high-quality paints and finishes. BM uses their boards to showcase all the different ways you can use colorful paints throughout your home. Boards range from chalkboard paint inspired DIY projects and stencil inspiration to various paint collections available. Pro-tip: Take a peek at their “color cAPPtured” board. All of the pins are screenshots of BM’s mobile app in action. Pretty awesome!

http://pinterest.com/benjamin_moore/

7.Crossville, Inc

Crossville Tile manufactures and distributes premium Porcelain Stone tile throughout the United States. Crossvile’s boards display lots of variety and include boards dedicated to color schemes and different aspects of the home like intricate stairways and stunning focal points.  Pro-tip:  If you’re a fan of color, check out their board dedicated to Pantone’s color of the year, Tangerine Tango.

http://pinterest.com/crossvilleinc/

8. Armstrong Flooring

Armstrong offers hundreds of floor covering options for people to choose from. Armstrong has applied Pinterest to incorporate all types of floors and flooring options from hardwoods, vinyl floors in the Dining Room, Bathroom, and Kitchen. Within the varied scope of pins, users will find everything from Spring Fever items and  Color Trends to Valentine’s Day ideas and images. Pro-tip: Need a trip to the beach? Armstrong has a fun board exclusively dedicated to “Sea & Sky”.

http://pinterest.com/armstrongfloors/

9. Berloni America

Berloni  is a family-owned Italian company that has been manufacturing European modular kitchen cabinets and furnishings for the home for over 50 years. Their Pinterest is dedicated to their products, exclusively. They categorize their boards by areas such as night area and kitchens, as well as by products such as sofas, chairs and stools. Pro-tip: Definitely look at Berloni’s Kitchen’s board. It does a fantastic job of showcasing the different Berloni applications.

http://pinterest.com/berloniamerica/

10. Elmira Stove Works

A brand near and dear to our hearts! Elmira builds elegant, antique kitchen appliances, retro 1950’s refrigerators and charming 1850’s reproduction cookstoves. On Pinterest, Elmira stays true to its roots with boards dedicated to retro inspiration and antique appreciation. Mostly kitchen-based, pins can be anything from kitchen design, tasty recipes and entertaining ideas to holiday themed food.  Pro-tip: Be the first of your friends to pin the Elmira Brewmaster. It’s a hybrid refrigerator-kegerator!

http://pinterest.com/elmirastove/

Which are some of your favorite brands to follow on Pinterest?

As the best in the industry make their way to Chicago next week, we’ve narrowed down 10 brands that deserve your attention at the show. The Kitchen and Bath Industry Show is one of my personal favorites, and after 20+ years of attending, I’m confident there will be plenty to report when we return. If you’re attending, leave a comment below so we can meet up or grab coffee. And if you plan on keeping up with the show from home, my team and I will be tweeting along the way… follow us @stevekleber or @kleberteam.

Countertops

• Silestone by Cosentino (booth 1719) offers more than 70 colors of natural quartz surfaces, designed especially for kitchens and bathrooms. But aesthetics are just the beginning… Silestone quartz provides clean, safe surfaces with built-in Microban protection and GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certification.
• Cambria (booth 413) is one of the countertop industry leaders, proving that possibilities are endless when it comes to hard surfaces. Releasing brand new designs throughout the year, Cambria will have an array of designs and colors in quartz and stone to show off at the show.

Hinges

• Often the most important parts of a whole go unnoticed. Blum (booth 731) manufactures such components for kitchen cabinetry, in that we don’t always notice their beauty, but sure do appreciate their function. Its systems include smooth and silent drawer closings, hinges with “Blumotion,” and drawer runners.
• Another option for the ultimate in hinges and drawer systems comes from Grass America (2644), which offers products in elegant finishes such as champagne and stainless steel. Its NEXIS hinge system, in particular, has been meticulously crafted to support frameless cabinetry.

Hardware

• What hinges do for functionality, Berenson (booth 3401) does for beauty. Partnering with Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, Berenson is debuting five new collections of decorative hardware at KBIS, each uniquely inspired by a breast cancer survivor. The women will even be available at the booth to share their stories.

The Bathroom

• Ronbow (booth 1644) takes a worldly view on bathroom products and vanities. From Asian to Old World European, the brand offers a wide selection of sinks, bath console systems, and cabinetry in a variety of materials to piece together a dream bathroom.
• And what good is a fantastic sink or bathtub without decorative tile to cover the wall or floor? Artisitc Tile (booth 3118), offers a gorgeous array of porcelain, glass, stone and tile collections ideal for the bathroom, and just as perfect installed in the kitchen.

The Kitchen

• Speaking of the kitchen, several appliance manufacturers are exhibiting their latest pieces at KBIS. True Professional Series (booth 423), in particular, serves the “prosumer.” This professional consumer appreciates True’s commercial-grade, restaurant-approved line of refrigerators, wine cabinets and beverage centers.
• Just as important as refrigeration are the appliances that help cook and clean in the kitchen. Dacor’s (booth 726) line of luxury kitchen appliances encompasses electric cooktops, dishwashers, wall ovens, ranges, and more… each of which are designed with different consumers in mind. KBIS attendees can learn more about these consumers and their habits at the UNcontainted exhibit anchoring the center of the show floor (Dacor is a sponsor).
• Let’s keep in mind, too, that not all kitchens belong indoors. Danver (booth 4131) proves that outdoor living spaces are equally as important as the interior ones. Displaying its stainless steel cabinetry in maintenance-free finishes, Walpole pergolas and new Glastender bartending station at the show, Danver will undoubtedly get everyone in the mood for outdoor entertaining.

Blogs have been around for more than a decade and have dramatically increased in numbers since their first appearance. They cover any topic imaginable and are run by both individuals and businesses. While we’re all familiar with blog basics, there are techniques for writing and sharing them that differ depending on the blog’s author and its audience. Building a successful blog can be tricky, so here we’ve compiled a list of 10 blogging best practices for businesses:

• Set a Content Strategy: Lay out topics to blog about ahead of time so you avoid looking scatterbrained by posting random, irrelevant content. This keeps you and your bloggers on track and provides some stability to your readers. Try to include a variety of subjects and types like: Company press releases, Press conference videos, Video advertisements, Staff news, Product information and updates, New customers / affiliate relationships, Industry news, How-to’s, Webinars / tutorials on subjects relevant to your readership.

• Blog Regularly: Simply, regularly blogging means that you’ve got more content. More content means that you’re more searchable, and people will be able to find you more easily. If you gain new readers, they’ll be able to go through your archives and catch up on your blogging threads.

• Include Keywords and Phrases: Keywords help new readers find you through search engines and help you organize your blog topics. The bottom line is that keywords and phrases are necessary for blogging, but don’t go crazy. For every 100 words or so, stick in a keyword.

• Be casual: Most blog readers don’t generally respond to a formal, authoritative tone. They want to know that they’re talking to a human being much like themselves, who happens to know a bit more about the subject than they do, or who shares their views on the subject. Try to write in a tone that’s natural, casual, and almost conversational.

• Invite Guest Bloggers: Guest bloggers are a great trick to lure in more readers. It’ll immediately increase the prestige of your blog, especially if the guest blogger is a known quantity. As a result, your readers will take you more seriously. With guest bloggers, always include a bio, credentials and contact information, including their personal blog and social media sites. Try inviting your CEO, product developers, customers (for reviews) and industry experts.

• Publicize Your Blog: Upload your new blogs to your Facebook and Twitter pages, include snippets in your marketing emails and advertise your fresh blogs on your website’s main page. Give your blog every opportunity to be read by as many people as possible.

• Interact with Readers: It’s every blogger’s responsibility to field questions and comments from readers. For a business blog, these readers are or may become your customers. Consider your interaction with your readers as customer service on hyper drive. You’re connecting directly with them, reading what they have to say about what you wrote and learning more about what they’re interested in. Great bloggers always respectfully respond to comments because they recognize that they’re not standing on a soapbox, shouting from a bullhorn.

• Create easy ways to enjoy your content: An organized blog is an easy blog to enjoy. Use categories and tags to make it simple for your readers to find the content they care about most. Create categories by making a list of your most important or often-used topics, and use tags to label more specific content on your posts. By implementing that simple bit of organization, your visitors will be able to click through both your categories and your tags to find more content that interests them.

• Link or trackback to other blogs whenever possible: There are some important reason for this. First, it builds community across blogs, and expands the conversation. Second, it gets bloggers’ attention. Linking is what creates the blogosphere. Bloggers link to blogs they like and blog posts they like and want to comment on. Bloggers also check their site statistics for referrer links, to find out who’s linking to them. They tend to check out sites that link to their blogs or their posts, read them, and link back to them if they like them.

• Use syndicating technologies: XML and RSS feeds are a technical ways of syndicating your blog to other blogs, a sort of personal AP Wire for your campaign. It is a standard feature of most blogs, but make sure your blog has it enabled, either through RSS (Really Simple Syndication) or Atom.

As markets have rallied sharply so far this year — demonstrating the best quarterly start since 1998 — the economic backdrop continues to be a steady stream of better-than-expected data. Unemployment is trending lower, factory orders are up, auto sales are sizzling and the housing market is showing clear signs of rebounding. It would appear that conditions may be finally getting back to normal.

Yet entering the second quarter, we all must be prepared for a “new normal” with high oil prices, the potential for re-flaring of the Eurozone and even a Chinese hard landing.

Weekly initial jobless claims have now fallen to their lowest level in four years which is contributing to a steady recovery in consumer confidence, now at a 13-month high. Residential remodeling this winter was as strong as it has been in more than five years. While warmer-than-expected weather is often cited, I’m much more impressed that bank credit – a key to underlaying economic momentum – was already accelerating before the winter season even began. This suggests that the economic recovery is likely both durable and sustainable. According to Burns Home Value Index, home prices have been rising for more than three months in 90 of the 97 markets analyzed… based on signed contracts. The National Association of Realtors (who reported median prices up in February) by contrast tracks closings, which can lag 2-4 months for data recording. What’s more, apartment rents have risen 2.7% while vacancy rates have fallen below 5%, building a foundation for home ownership that has not been this compelling since 2001.

So are we there yet? Our clients in the home and building products channel certainly are echoing confidence with renewed innovation in R&D and launches with increasing investments in new marketing initiatives. We’re looking forward to the Kitchen and Bath Show later this month, where I’d be pleased to focus attention on your unique opportunities.

Semantics. It’s the study of meaning. And it’s the future of search. As humans we have an intuitive sense of what semantics are. Every day we communicate by stringing words together into sentences to create and send a message. We know that individually, the words have little meaning, but when combined with other words they can hold tremendous meaning. And when we change just one word in the sentence or the order of the words, the meaning can change drastically.

Look at the following two sentences:
1. It’s time to hammer.
2. It’s hammer time.

When you read the first sentence you probably thought of a hammer, nails and a piece of wood. When you read the second sentence, however, you probably envisioned MC Hammer dancing in his signature pants. Semantics. Whether or not you knew it before, you know what semantics are.

Computers, however, do not know what semantics are. They don’t understand semantics because they don’t understand meaning. To a computer every input and output is just a string of ones and zeros.

Here are the same two sentences from above, but this time how a computer interprets them:
1. 01001001 01110100 10010010 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01101000 01100001 01101101 01101101 01100101 01110010 00101110
2. 01001001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01101000 01100001 01101101 01101101 01100101 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00101110

This is essentially what search engines have always boiled down to: finding the best match between the input binary code and all of the documents on the internet. As technology has progressed, programmers have worked to make search engines better “understand” what we mean by the words we use in our searches. But there’s still a lot of work to be done. While the example I used above is quite silly, it demonstrates my point quite nicely. If you type in the two sentences into a search engine you will get very similar results, because the search engine doesn’t understand how changing the order of the words changed the meaning and connotations of the sentence. Similarly, typing “hammer” into a search engine will deliver a variety of results from business websites to articles about MC Hammer.

One of the best examples of semantics and computers is demonstrated in Watson, IBM’s genius computer that defeated Ken Jennings on Jeopardy! One of the biggest hurdles that IBM had to overcome in creating Watson was getting the computer to understand the question being asked because Watson, as a computer, cannot interpret semantics. The success of Watson on the game show proves that computers are closer than ever to being able to understand and interpret semantics.

IBM isn’t the only one working on solving the semantic problem. Google is reportedly working on semantic search technology. What might these search results look like you ask? Lucky for us there are already a number of search engines out there that employ semantic search. The screen shot below is from www.duckduckgo.com. A search for “hammer” delivered a number of possible meanings that I could be searching for. I highlighted two to demonstrate how powerful the technology is: a hammer used for construction and MC Hammer. (click image to view larger)

Subsequently, I can click on whichever meaning I am searching for and receive a list of search results about that one meaning of hammer. Rather than a Google search where you have to sort through the results by hand to find what you are looking for, semantic search is able to organize the results according to the various meanings of the key term.

If you have an iPhone 4S, you’ve also experienced semantic search. Siri relies heavily on Wolfram Alpha (along with Google), a semantic search engine, to interpret questions and deliver accurate results. Considering this, semantic search seems inevitable for Google if it wishes to stay competitive. Combining this with social search will create a very powerful tool for all of us that should deliver extremely relevant, meaningful information.

Earlier we discussed the emerging field of neuromarketing. One company bringing the science of nueromarketing closer to a reality is NueroFocus, part of the Nielsen Group. The company has done extensive research on the human brain and how it affects our shopping behavior. Its latest product, Mynd, could revolutionize market research. Mynd is a portable, wireless EEG device that will allow companies to monitor a subject’s brain activity while they view and interact with a product or advertisement outside a laboratory setting. Brands will be able to gather more accurate data with this device by observing consumers in a natural setting. NueroFocus emphasizes its usefulness for in-store shopper research as well as testing advertisements, product features and packaging. Maybe someday soon we will send customers into building supply stores wearing Mynd to see how their brain reacts to products on the shelf or ask home buyers to wear Mynd when touring a home to see what features they respond to most positively. The possibilities really are endless for neuromarketing.

It’s the classic product flop story. New Coke. Rolled out in 1985, Coca-Cola introduced the new soft drink formula after consumer research indicated the product would be a success. New Coke was soon discontinued amid endless consumer outrage. Countless theories exist to explain why New Coke failed but the question of why consumer research was inconsistent with product results has yet to be fully answered. What do product failures say about market research methods like focus groups, surveys, and product tests?

I think these methods of research for marketing purposes are still quite valid but there is an interesting science starting to emerge that could someday enhance these methods for more accurate results. In his book Buy-ology, Martin Lindstrom details research performed by scientists around the world looking into why consumers buy what they do. By using fMRI and SST technologies to monitor brain activity while consumers view or interact with a product or advertisement, scientists have discovered some startling things about the way the brain processes all the information we receive about products.

One of the first discoveries outlined in the book is that what people say about a product may not be an indication of their true subconscious feelings. The first study in the book indicated that graphic warning labels on cigarette packaging actually increase a smoker’s desire to light up. While participants of the study indicated on surveys that these labels reduced their desire to smoke, fMRI data indicated the labels caused increased activity in the part of the brain that drives cravings.

Another finding of these brain scanning studies is that the use of celebrities in advertising can be very ineffective. It was found that mirror neurons in the brain allow consumers to subconsciously see themselves interacting with an object when they see someone else interacting with it. But the trick is that the person must be relatable to the consumer viewing the interaction. If a mother sees an advertisement featuring another normal, busy, family-focused mother in a kitchen preparing a meal with the latest cookware, the consumer is able to relate to the advertisement and subconsciously sees herself in the same kitchen with the same cookware preparing a dinner for her own family. But if the normal mom is replaced with a glamorous, super skinny celebrity with flawless complexion… the viewer has a much harder time relating to the individual and the mirror neurons don’t allow the consumer to envision herself using the product. While consumers may report in a survey they would buy a product because they like the celebrity endorsing it, subconsciously they don’t connect with the advertisement in the way that matters.

So what does all this new research tell us about marketing home and building products? The science of neuromarketing and neuroeconomics is still in its infancy. While the tests are groundbreaking and could open up a whole new avenue of market research, the science isn’t perfected yet. In Emory University’s most recent study, researchers attempted to use fMRI scans of teenagers’ brains to predict the next hit pop single. The study was only able to find a correlation with songs that went on to modest sales of 20,000 units or more (comparatively – the music industry designates a “hit” as sales of 500,000).

So it’s not time to throw out your focus group plans just yet. The ability for companies to scan consumers’ brains for the next big product is still a ways away.

But the research that is being discovered about the way we as consumers process advertising should not be ignored. In the future, neuromarketing studies could very well be a viable supplement to traditional market research to better understand the effect things like ad design, sounds, and smells have on the way we respond to product advertising subconsciously.

For now, advertisers should realize that there is more going on in the consumers mind than they realize. Traditional ideas about advertising and product research are being challenged every day. The ultimate answer to why we buy what we do lies deep in our brain waiting to be unlocked.

Remember our discussion of the when-not-if mentality in social media? In case you missed it, the article talked about adapting your social media strategy at a moment’s notice based on current trends and your audience’s preferences. In that spirit, I believe that a social media strategy is not a static document… it is a dynamic mindset. It’s not a plan that you dust off once a year and tweak slightly. Your online action plan should be flexible, adaptable and responsive.

To avoid getting stuck in a rut and to keep your mind thinking dynamically about your (or your brand’s) online presence, here are 4 steps to help you continually adapt your online strategy in 18 minutes.

1. Be a customer.
Select a company that you regularly do business with as a customer. Spend one minute on its website. Why? That’s how long the average person will stay on one website. After the one minute, take another minute and make some notes for yourself. What do you remember? What caught your eye? Was it easy to navigate? At the end of one minute, did you want to keep surfing or were you ready to leave?
Total time: 2 minutes

2. Be a social customer.
Decide which two social networks you, personally, are most active on (not for business purposes, these should be your personal profiles where you share information about you). Pick a company that you regularly do business with as a customer; this should be a different company than used in step one. Search for the company on the two social networks.  Spend one minute on each network and look at the search results. What do you find? Does the company have a profile? What are people saying about it? What kind of content is the company producing? Again, write notes on your observations for one minute.
Total time: 3 minutes

3. Be a searching customer.
Pick your favorite search engine. Type in the name of a third company that you do business with. Read the title and description of each of the top 10 search results. Take one minute and make notes on what these 10 search results tell you, as a customer, about the company.
Total time: 2 minutes

4. Be a mobile customer.
Take out the mobile device you use most often. Select yet another company that you frequently patronize and visit its website on your mobile device. Spend one minute browsing. Are you taken to a mobile site? Is the site designed responsively? Are you prompted to download an app? What kind of information is available? Does the site load quickly or is your minute spent waiting to view a single page? Again, write one minute worth of notes.
Total time: 2 minutes

Repeat these four steps, this time using four of your brand’s competitors.

Now review your notes. What did you see that wowed you? What made you cringe? Open your company’s website and social networking pages. How can you make your online presence better using your notes from this exercise? What would you, the customer, want to see changed?

Keeping up with changes in online communication is a daunting task. Remember: it’s a continual process. Try to go through this exercise often because constant monitoring of the landscape will help you stay relevant.

Did you find something unexpected in your 18 minute search of online communication? Share it with us below!