Minimaison: le concept séduit principalement en périphérie

En effet, il semble que les grandes villes soient peu entichées par cette formule d'habitation à petit budget. Dans un milieu urbanisé et desservi par de coûteuses infrastructures d'aqueduc et d'égout, il devient difficile de rentabiliser pareils investissements sans déséquilibrer l'assiette fiscale. En clair, les petites propriétés abordables rapporteraient trop peu de taxes municipales.

C'est donc l'aspect rentabilité des rares terrains encore disponibles, qui incite les grandes villes à bouder le concept. Celles-ci sont davantage tournées vers la densification urbaine, afin d'optimiser leurs investissements dans les infrastructures municipales. C'est ce qui explique que le concept des minimaisons intéresse davantage les municipalités en périphérie des grands centres.

Intérêt concret

Ainsi, dans la région de Québec, on retrouve essentiellement des projets du genre du côté de Portneuf, de la Jacques-Cartier, de la Côte-de-Beaupré et de Charlevoix. Mairesse de Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges et préfète de la MRC de la Côte-de-Beaupré, Parise Cormier confirme l'intérêt manifeste dans son patelin.

«Nous sommes parmi les premiers à Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges à avoir modifié nos règlements en conséquence. Un développement d'une vingtaine de minimaisons est en préparation cet été sur le rang Saint-Julien», exprime Mme Cormier. D'autres projets seraient en cours d'analyse par des promoteurs sur le territoire.

La MRC de la Jacques-Cartier se fait également proactive en la matière. «Un premier projet est en chantier à Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval. Par ailleurs, une analyse de faisabilité serait en cours du côté de Fossambault-sur-le-Lac. Aucune autre ville ou municipalité du territoire n'a manifesté d'intention en ce sens pour l'instant», précise Marie-Josée Labbé, conseillère en communication à la MRC de la Jacques-Cartier.

Métro Média

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Un appel à la bombe dans le secteur Charlesbourg

Journée récupération à Fleur de Lys

How to Find Out Why You Didn’t Get the Job

You send in a stellar resume. You blow the recruiter away in the phone screen. And you wow everyone you speak with during your in-person interview. And yet, you still don’t get the job. Worst of all, you don’t know why you didn’t get it -- you either didn’t hear back at all, or received feedback so vague that it’s virtually useless (e.g. “We decided to go with another candidate who was a better fit.”) Is there anything worse?

It’s incredibly frustrating when a recruiter or hiring manager doesn’t share a concrete reason why you were passed over, but if it happens to you, don’t worry. Often, there’s still a way to figure out what went wrong -- here’s how.

1. Reach Out to the Decision Maker

If you have the contact info of the hiring manager, it’s best to chat with them rather than a recruiter or HR representative, says Ren Burgett, career coach and owner of 3R Coach.

“An HR manager or recruiter is more likely to give you a programmed HR response such as, ‘We found a candidate that was a better fit for our needs.’ The hiring manager is more likely to give you a candid response,” she explains.

If you haven’t already been in touch with the hiring manager, though, you may want to reach out to someone who can point them in your direction.

“If you don’t have their contact details, you need to get in touch with whoever your point of contact was throughout the recruitment process. Even if they can’t provide feedback themselves, they will be able to pass your query onto someone who can,” says Steve Pritchard, HR Manager at Cuuver.com.

When you haven’t been given the hiring manager’s contact information, it can be tempting to bypass your point of contact and look them up on LinkedIn or Google their email address, but this is a mistake, Pritchard says: “They may not feel too comfortable with you contacting them using a number/email they didn’t provide you with.”

2. Express Gratitude

Nobody wants to engage with a candidate who sounds demanding or presumptuous, so make sure to open your message with a note of thanks.

“Thanking someone for [taking the] time to interview you and provide the opportunity can always start the conversation in a positive manner,” says Shanalee Sharboneau, President and Technical Recruiter at Staffing Science, LLC.

In particular, you should express gratitude for the fact that they are going out of their way to read your note. After all, they don’t have to share feedback with you.

“Show in your request for feedback that you appreciate the recruiter or hiring manager is likely to be busy. This way, you don’t sound too pushy or demanding,” Pritchard adds.

3. Be Positive

You may be upset that you didn’t get the job, but remember: you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. It’s okay to acknowledge that you’re disappointed with the outcome, but don’t express resentment or aggression.

Show “that you are understanding of their decision not to hire you, otherwise, you may sound bitter about not getting the job rather than someone looking for honest feedback to help them with their job search,” Pritchard continues.

And instead of taking a self-deprecating approach like “How did I screw up” or “Where did I go wrong”, frame the conversation as a quest for personal growth.

“Don’t make your question about ‘why’ you didn’t get the job, make your question about ‘how’ you can improve. People are more likely to respond to someone that seeks out growth as opposed to someone that just wants answers,” Burgett says.

4. Keep it Short and Specific

When reaching out for feedback, “make your email no more than one paragraph,” Burgett recommends. After all, they are probably plenty busy with their day-to-day tasks, so you want to make sure to honor their time.

You can save them even more time by avoiding general questions like “Why didn’t I get the job?” and instead drilling down into a few precise issues. Burgett recommends including “two to three specific questions [that] you would like feedback on from the interview process.”

One question that Laura Handrick, Career Analyst at FitSmallBusiness.com, recommends asking is “what might you have done, said or provided differently that would have made the company choose YOU instead of the other candidate.”

5. Open the Door for Future Opportunities

Just because you were rejected from a job doesn’t always mean that you can never apply there again -- you may have been a close second. At the end of your message, reiterate your interest in the company (if you are truly interested) and consider adding something like “if anything changes, I’d love to connect regarding future opportunities.”

“That will go far, and many times, new hires fail in the first few months. They’ll remember your graciousness,” Handrick says.

You can also see if they might be willing to refer you to another opportunity.

“Always end the email by asking if they know of anyone else you can reach out to as you continue your job search. If you didn’t get the job, perhaps you can get a lead [for] another job. Use this as an opportunity to network,” Burgett says.

6. Be Patient and Ready to Take No for an Answer

If the person you reach out to fails to respond, don’t ping them every day until they do.

“Giving feedback, particularly constructive feedback, is hard, so allowing time for preparing will likely get you more thoughtful responses,” points out Dr. Dawn Graham, Career Management Director at the Wharton School and host of Career Talk.

Even if they never respond, you shouldn’t pester them, Graham adds.

“Companies tend to avoid giving candidates feedback to avoid opening themselves up to risk,” she explains. “In addition, many hirers have trouble putting their fingers on a clear definition of ‘fit’ or likability, which are two powerful aspects of hiring decisions that can be challenging to put into words. Therefore, they may pass on giving feedback to a rejected job seeker for the sheer reason that even they are unable to verbalize their final decision in a way that will be meaningful to the overlooked applicant.”

Sample Message

Want an example of what exactly you could say to a hiring manager? Burgett recommends the following:

Hi (Hiring Manager),

I wanted to thank you for the amazing opportunity to interview for the position of (job title) with your company. I really enjoyed learning about (company name) and getting to know you and your team during the interview process. I understand you have decided to move forward with another candidate that better fits your current needs.

As I continue my job search, I would love to get your feedback on how I can improve as a candidate. When you have a minute, could you provide insight into what I can improve upon to help me stand out and progress in my career? Specifically, I would appreciate feedback on the following:

1. What is the one skill I can improve upon to help advance my career that may be holding me back?

2. If I had the opportunity to redo my interview, what is the one thing I should have done differently?

I appreciate any candid feedback you can offer as it will help me understand the areas I need to improve. Additionally, if you know of any companies that may be hiring for similar positions or anyone else I should reach out to as I continue my job search, please let me know.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to interview for the position. I wish you and your team continued success.

Sincerely,

Your Name

There’s no doubt that getting rejected from a job you were interested in is upsetting, and it can be doubly so if you don’t hear actionable feedback from the hiring team. But odds are, it’s nothing personal, so try not to take it that way. And remember -- the right job is out there. It’s only a matter of time until you find it.

This article originally appeared on Glassdoor and was re-published with permission.

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Donner au suivant en apportant une boîte de moins lors du déménagement

«Le dernier Bilan Faim mentionne qu'en 2017, près de 1,9 million de demandes d'aide alimentaires d'urgence ont été comblées chaque mois au Québec… incluant l'été, rappelle Bob le chef, porte-parole de cette action ponctuelle, mais essentielle. La collecte estivale prend donc tout son sens. La pauvreté ne prend malheureusement pas de vacances.»

IL EXISTE PLUSIEURS FAÇONS SIMPLES DE DONNER:

1) Lorsque vous déménagez, peu importe le moment, préparez une boîte de denrées non périssables, puis offrez-la à un organisme bénéficiaire de votre quartier.** (voir la liste plus bas)

2) Les 1er et 2 juillet – Faites un don en argent dans toutes les succursales Jean Coutu, Provigo et (1er juillet seulement) Maxi.

3) En juillet, remplissez la boîte que vous a remise votre courtier de Via Capitale avec des denrées non périssables. Il se chargera de l'acheminer à un organisme partenaire. 

4) Jusqu'au 31 juillet – Faites un don en ligne sur www.lagrandeguignoleedesmedias.com, en cliquant sur l'icône Dons en ligne.

INITIATIVE SUR LES RÉSEAUX SOCIAUX

La collecte est soutenue par une initiative sur Facebook. Bob le chef s'est amusé à fouiller dans le garde-manger de deux complices, sa mère et le chef Matin Juneau. Deux capsules à ne pas manquer sur les réseaux sociaux!

CE QUE VOUS POUVEZ DONNER:

NOURRITURE
LÉGUMINEUSES
SOUPES
LÉGUMES EN CONSERVE
RIZ
PÂTES ALIMENTAIRES
SAUCES POUR PÂTES
FRUITS EN CONSERVE
JUS DE FRUITS ET DE LÉGUMES
BEURRE D'ARACHIDE
NOURRITURE ET CÉRÉALES POUR BÉBÉ
BISCUITS

PRODUITS TROP SOUVENT OUBLIÉS:

COUCHES
PRODUITS HYGIÉNIQUES
SAVON POUR LE CORPS
SAVON À VAISSELLE
ARTICLES DE NETTOYAGE
DÉODORANTS

ORGANISMES BÉNÉFICIAIRES:

Région de Québec

- Moisson Québec

- Moisson Beauce

(Source: La Grande guignolée des médias)

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Here's What Playing With a VR Headset Is Actually Like

Virtual reality (VR) is one of those technologies, it seems, that will be eternally "emerging."

Don't get me wrong -- it's certainly becoming more of a household topic. Twenty years ago, one might only come across VR in museums, science fairs, and laboratories. Now, they're available for purchase by anyone who has an internet connection ... and the budget for one.

Several major tech players are trying to make VR a mainstream technology. Maybe the hardware needs to be less clunky and a wireless, lightweight headset is the answer.

Or maybe the obstacle is price point -- to which Facebook's answer (to both issues) is the wireless, $199 "affordable" Oculus Go.

Truthfully, I've always been a bit skeptical of VR. I remember being quite fascinated with it at a west coast science museum at the age of 13, and since then, my only real exposure to it has been by way of any VR-related news I've covered, or different demos I've tried at industry events.

Even after receiving a complimentary Oculus Go as a token of thank-you swag for attending F8 in May, the headset sat on my desk, neglected and unopened for over a month.

I'm in the small percentage of people who talk about technology on a near-daily basis -- and yet, I was less than enamored with the idea of giving my very own Oculus Go for a spin.

But then -- I did. And everything changed.

Despite my skepticism, I've wondered what prevents VR from becoming a mainstream technology as quickly as some of the businesses behind it wish it would. People have paid more for less practical tech tools -- things like the first edition of any new iPhone, for instance, for which masses are willing to pay the initial price.

And at the end of the day, maybe VR isn't as practical -- but it is plain cool. You can watch documentaries in an immersive, 360-degree way. You can play sports. You can visit other countries.

Maybe -- just maybe -- what's standing in the way of VR's market permeation is the small percentage of people who actually get to experience it.

To test this hypothesis, I passed around my Oculus Go to several members of my team. After spending a day engaging in various VR experiences -- and accomplishing little else -- here's what we learned.

(P.S. Here's a sneak preview of a short film I like to call, "Amanda Tries a VR Roller Coaster.")

Here's What Playing With a VR Headset Is Actually Like

On VR's Market Permeability

Before we took the headset for a spin, I asked Paul Mealy, author of Virtual & Augmented Reality For Dummies and director of interactive at POP, for his thoughts on VR's potential -- if any -- to go mainstream.

But that's not easy, he said, considering that "mainstream" is often a subjective concept.

If "mainstream" means "millions of devices purchased," Mealy explains, "then VR is already mainstream" -- though that figure still falls short of Facebook (which owns Oculus) CEO Mark Zuckerberg's ultimate goal of one billion people using VR.

But what will the composition of those one billion users look like? Will they be using VR for fun, business, or both?

"If the definition of mainstream is, 'Will I find myself going to the office and donning a VR headset for all my work, and going home and putting on my VR headset for all my entertainment?'," says Mealy, "then we still have a ways to go."

Arguably, the "fun" use cases for VR are growing more rapidly than the B2B ones -- though the latter is slowly making progress.

Take the example of Tobii Pro, a tech company that pairs VR with eye-tracking technology to help retailers learn where a shopper pays the most visual attention and plan store layout accordingly. I took it for a spin at SXSW in March:

"Very similar to an in-store shop-along or in-depth interview research, this is another tool that can be added on top of that," Amanda Bentley, Tobii Pro's Director Of Commercial Sales (whose voice can be heard in the background of the video above), told me at the time.

"You can get another layer of understanding not only how shoppers feel ... but also, what information do they actually process?" Bentley continued. "What are they attending to as they're making the decision to purchase products?"

But it's early, Mealy says -- and it's not a question of "if" VR will go mainstream, but "when."

"It is important that we take a step back and look at the full picture for VR. Most VR hardware is still in the first generation of devices," he explains. "And these first generation devices are serving as the canary in the coal mine to manufacturers, helping them refine what consumers actually want in order to become a mass-consumable device."

So, when will VR finally win over the masses?

"Three to five years out seems like an appropriate time to truly evaluate where VR is landing in the grand scheme of things," Mealy says. "If, by then, manufacturers have still been unable to solve the price and experience points ... that is the time to question VR's future. But, as of now, consider me bullish on the future of VR."

Our Team's Experience

Now, for the fun part: our team taking VR for a spin.

For most of us, this experiment was the first instance of using VR -- which made for low expectations as to how realistic, engaging, or nauseating the experience would be. (In full disclosure, I experience motion sickness with VR, and apparently, I'm not alone.)

But for the most part, the technology was well-received ... and, perhaps, even more fun to watch than to actually experience.

Caroline Forsey, Staff Writer, HubSpot Marketing Blog

The experience:

Bear Island

The video:

The summary:

"VR is different than watching something on a screen, because it’s all around you ... and behind you, and in your peripheral vision. Despite how 'logically' smart I am at understanding what VR is, I still think it can trick my brain into somewhat believing I’ in a different place. For instance, when the bear came towards me I couldn’t help but flinch. It’s bizarre but impressive that a piece of technology can influence your physiological reactions."

Clifford Chi, Junior Staff Writer, HubSpot Marketing Blog

The experience:

Cloudlands: VR Minigolf

The video:

The summary:

"VR mini golf was better than real mini golf. That was my first VR experience, and I felt like I was in a different world. After my first putt, I tried to walk toward the ball. I ended up running into a pillar in the office. And when I looked down at my feet and saw that the golf course was on a cliff, I thought I was going to fall for a split second. The Oculus and VR are super realistic and impressive. I definitely want to try it again."

Braden Becker, Senior Staff Writer, HubSpot Marketing Blog

The experience:

Epic Roller Coasters

The video:

The summary:

"I was really surprised how easily VR takes over your peripheral vision. The experience literally surrounds you, to the point where I actually felt like I was on a roller coaster. I'm also not the biggest fan of heights, and that particular Oculus Go game definitely played right into my senses."

Karla Cook, Section Editor, HubSpot Marketing Blog

The experience:

Cloudlands: VR Minigolf

The video:

 

The summary:

"The environment was clearly not realistic, but it still felt like I was there. The whole experience was surprisingly disorienting. I was playing mini-golf on a platform floating in the clouds, and I dangled my leg off the platform, and freaked out. The process of using the remote to interact with the environment didn’t feel intuitive to me. It’s worth trying out for the novelty factor, but I definitely wouldn’t buy it."

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Cercle de Fermières: une nouvelle venue en poste

Lili Bouchard remplace Sylvie Tremblay qui quitte ses fonctions pour des raisons personnelles. En apprentissage depuis quelque temps, Mme Bouchard entrera officiellement en fonction au mois de septembre et voue une véritable passion au tissage.

«C’est maladif! J’ai toujours vu ma mère tisser. Alors j’ai toujours dis qu’un jour je serais ici au Cercle. Donc, je suis devenue membre il y a un an. J’ai appris le métier à tisser avec beaucoup de pratique. J’arrive ici à 6h tellement j’aime ça et il m’arrive de revenir après le souper. Un jour, j’ai approché Denise Germain la présidente, pour lui offrir de m’impliquer davantage. Et elle m’a prise dans le C.A..»

La nouvelle recrue est fleuriste de formation, anciennement infirmière et travaille dans le domaine de l’horticulture.  

C’est ce qui fait la richesse du Cercle: peu importe le métier, les membres se côtoient avec la passion commune du tricot, du tissage, de la broderie et de la fabrication de courtes-pointes.

L’organisation a parmi ses membres d’anciennes politiciennes, des agentes d’immeuble, des professionnelles de la santé. Elle a connu une augmentation de fréquentation de l’ordre de 35%.

«Et nous avons des personnes de tous les âges. Notre plus jeune a 14 ans, la plus âgée 92 ans. On sent vraiment qu’il y a un regain du tricot et du tissage, surtout chez les trentenaires», précise Sylvie Tremblay.

Le Cercle de Fermières de Charlesbourg, comme ailleurs au Québec, est ouvert exclusivement aux femmes.

«Mais c’est sûr qu’on peut toujours compter sur l’aide de nos hommes. Par exemple pour déplacer nos métiers à tisser. Ils ont le droit de venir ici, mais pas pour être membre!» souligne Mme Tremblay.

Pour en savoir davantage sur l’organisation ou pour joindre ses rangs, vous pouvez communiquer avec Denise Germain au 418 626-3160. 

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Entrave à la circulation à l’intersection de la rue de la Faune et du boulevard de la Colline

Québec, le 29 juin 2018 – La Ville de Québec informe la population qu’une entrave majeure à la circulation sera en cours dès le mardi 3 juillet à l’intersection de la rue de la Faune et du boulevard de la Colline.

Modifications à la circulation
L’intersection sera fermée à la circulation. Les automobilistes sont invités à emprunter le boulevard Bastien, la rue Élisabeth-II, l’avenue Lapierre, l’avenue du Lac-Saint-Charles, la rue Lepire et le boulevard Valcartier comme voies de contournement.

L’accès aux commerces sera maintenu en tout temps.

Nature et durée des travaux
Les travaux consistent au réaménagement de l’intersection de la rue de la Faune et du boulevard de la Colline, incluant notamment un changement de géométrie des infrastructures de surface et la réfection des infrastructures souterraines du réseau d’aqueduc.

L’entrave durera environ un mois et demi, soit jusqu’à la mi-août. La durée des travaux pourrait être modifiée en raison des conditions météorologiques.

Pour connaitre toutes les entraves en cours, les citoyens sont invités à consulter le ville.quebec.qc.ca à la section Citoyens, puis Travaux dans les rues.

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Personalized Calls to Action Perform 202% Better Than Basic CTAs [New Data]

This article was written just for you.

From the moment you log in to Facebook, to the shows recommended to you on Netflix, to the questions you have for Google, the content you most enjoy online was customized and served up to you for a reason. We've seen this behavior on Amazon for a long time, where we get products we personally love shown directly to us.

Your visitors expect the same personalized experience on your own website -- and in your calls-to-action (CTAs) as well.

In this post, we'll cover new data on calls-to-action and how tailored CTAs perform compared to their counterparts. (Hint: the perform way better.) Let's dive in.

Personalized Calls to Action Convert 202% Better

For this study, I analyzed more than 330,000 CTAs. There are three primary types of CTAs I looked at in this post:

• Basic CTA -- This is a call-to-action that does not change based on any attributes of the visitor. It's the same for every visitor that sees it.
• Multivariate CTA -- These are similar to Basic CTAs, but instead, there are two or more CTAs being tested against one another. Traffic is typically split evenly to each variation and then you can select a winner based on which CTA converts better.
• Smart CTA -- These are CTAs that are tailored to an individual. There can be numerous ways CTAs like this adapt to a visitor, such as their location, browser language, whether their already a customer or a lead, and much more.

With the types of CTAs now in mind, I compared 330,000 CTAs over a six-month timeframe to see which option was the best. It's clear what the winner is: personalized CTAs convert 202% better than default versions. See the graph below.

Digging a layer deeper, we break down the data between CTAs that in simple button form, versus those that are using clickable image CTAs. As the below data shows, personalized CTAs that appear as buttons perform far better than images.

Looking at this one more way, I wanted to see if button-based CTAs converted better than images regardless of the type of CTA. As you can see from the chart below, it's clear that buttons dramatically outperform their image counterparts.

In combing through the data, I also found that a number of Smart CTAs have conversion rates far above the average. There are numerous CTAs that have 25-45% conversion rates across thousands of views and clicks. 

An Example of a Smart CTA in Action

Why do these personalized, "smart" CTAs perform so much better than basic CTAs? Because you're serving them content that reflects their current level of interest and knowledge on the subject.

Blog posts and web pages might cater to multiple audiences at the same time, but if they all have the same CTA on them regardless of who's reading, you're neglecting various portions of your audience -- those people who are either too advanced for what you're offering, or aren't advanced enough to need it yet. Smart CTAs accommodate for these differences across the buyer's journey.

At HubSpot, we try to use smart CTAs on every blog post, and across the entire buyer's journey. For example, for a visitor who has not interacted with HubSpot and is interested in solutions to lead generation, we will show a CTA to HubSpot Academy where they can learn about inbound marketing. For existing leads, we'll show them a separate CTA offering a free tool -- in this case, free HubSpot Forms.

Now that we know smart CTAs work, and have seen an example, let's talk about how to actually design and build them.

How to Design Your Own Personalized Calls-to-Action

Now that we've seen the data on how personalized CTAs outperform other CTAs across the board, let's talk about designing some. We've built 50 free customizable templates in PowerPoint that you can download and start using.

1. Choose How to Personalize Your CTA

Before you design and build your CTA, you'll want to determine which audience you're targeting and how you'll be targeting them. To start, determine what level of targeting is possible using your CMS. Then, figure out how to break down each version of this CTA as your audience consumes more or your content.

One example of a smart CTA could simply be targeting a CTA for visitors, and have a separate version for leads. The more tailored and relevant you can get with your CTA, the better. But it depends on the data you have, what you know about your audience, and what's possible with the tools you're using.

For a moment, let's pretend I own a real estate business called Inbound Real Estate. In this example, I could start to tailor one of my CTAs like this:

• Visitor CTA: 5-Step Guide to Researching Apartments
• Lead CTA: Apartment Hunting Consultation

2. Open PowerPoint

Once you have the PowerPoint template open, select a CTA you would like to use. Based on how different types of CTAs perform -- per the bar graphs above -- I'm going to use a button for this example.

3. Write Relevant Copy for your CTA

If you're using an image-based CTA, or a button, you'll need to write action-oriented copy. Remember, you're creating this button just for this audience segment -- at a specific point in their journey. They need to see something valuable that they can take with them to the next stage of their journey (where, ideally, they'll see a different CTA to nurture their continued interest in the topic).

Just using text "Submit" won't help your conversion rates, either. Many visitors avoid clicking if the click prompt is too generic. Instead, make the action valuable and personable so they are more likely to click on it. Phrases like "Find out how," "Get it here," or "Sign up now" will better reflect the asset you're offering, and generate more interest in clicking through.

4. Save & Upload your CTA

If you're designing and building your CTAs in PowerPoint -- make sure you save the file so you don't lose your work. Once that's done, right-click and "Save as Picture" so you can easily upload it into your CMS.

If your design has a lot of color, shapes, or images, make sure to compress the images using a service like TinyPNG as well.

5. Link The CTA to The Proper Page

Now that you're done building your CTA and it's uploaded, make sure to add it to your page and link it to the correct destination. Also, you likely want to know how many people click on the link, so ensure you set up campaign tracking in the solution you use.

CTA Type & Placement

At HubSpot, we've found text-based CTAs within blog posts, like in the image above, convert better. Generally, this text CTA is within the top third of the post, and then accompanied by a separate CTA at the bottom. This pairing has dramatically increased conversions from blog content.

I would recommend using a button-based CTA first, and secondarily an image-based CTA.

Regardless of the page into which you're incorporating a smart CTA, ensure that the content on the page is clear, educates the visitors, and encourages them to take action. A tailored CTA can greatly increase conversions, but your page content needs to be relevant and audience-oriented as well.

If you already use HubSpot, you can skip using PowerPoint, and easily design and build your CTA within the Marketing Hub for easy insertion into any page content in just one click. All the tracking and implementation is taken care of for you.

If you're interested in trying out the Marketing Hub and see how easily it is to create CTAs, start a free 30-day trial to take it for a spin.

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Prise de conscience artistique signée Intelligence Artificielle

La pièce Intelligence Artificielle est la première création collective originale de la troupe du Théâtre du Chat Noir, établie à Charlesbourg. L’initiative de Nicolas Boisvert, responsable du texte et metteur en scène et de Sarah Morin, chorégraphe et directrice artistique, a cheminé depuis septembre 2017. La production impliquait huit comédiens en chant, en danse et en théâtre. Les histoires entremêlées racontaient des faits vécus et des expériences personnelles.

Les relations interpersonnelles et l’utilisation abusive des téléphones intelligents, des thèmes largement abordés dans la pièce, incitaient à la réflexion sur nos habitudes de vie.

«Le titre de la pièce, pour nous, va chercher l’ironie de l’intelligence artificielle. On se croit intelligent, mais en réalité, on utilise souvent la technologie à contre-profit. On est pris là-dedans», explique M. Boisvert, relatant l’intention derrière le projet. «Nous savons que nous ne changerons pas le monde… Mais nous le faisons pour que le monde réalise où est rendue notre société», renchérit Mme Morin. Les producteurs de la pièce n’ont justement pas ménagé le langage cru et les références actuelles pour interpeller le public varié.

Créer… à dix!

Le processus de création de cette collective sort également de l’ordinaire. En effet, les huit comédiens ont participé activement à l’écriture du texte et à la mise en scène. «Nous sommes partis d’un début de texte écrit par Nicolas : nous avons demandé aux comédiens de créer des sketchs et des improvisations basés là-dessus.

À partir de là, nous avons continué la rédaction et la création de nos personnages», détaille Mme Morin, qui procédait de manière similaire pour l’élaboration de certaines chorégraphies. «L’improvisation crée des situations, du texte et l’urgence que l’on peut transposer facilement dans la pièce», ajoute M. Boisvert. Les comédiens y ont d’ailleurs développé une chimie de groupe palpable qui a ajouté réalisme et émotion au produit final.

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Google Doc Resume Templates

Creating a resume from scratch can be a pain, particularly when you have limited design experience and your resume doesn’t extend beyond Times New Roman 1-inch margins in terms of flair.

You want your resume to appear professional, but you also don’t need it to look exactly the same as every other resume in the stack.

Fortunately, you don’t need to attempt any tricks you learned in a Photoshop 101 class to create a sleek and attention-grabbing resume.

Google Docs offers five templates with impressive design elements to help you portray a level of professionalism and originality in your resume. Even if you have the design all set, these templates provide formatting inspiration and fill-in-the-blank sections to ensure you don’t forget critical information, like your address or prior awards.

Take a look at these five Google Doc resume templates to choose one best suited for your desired role, or to get some inspiration before designing your own.

1. Swiss

The Swiss resume template is mostly traditional in style, but the color and bold lines make it appear more modern and impressive. The dark lines above and below each segment organize your sections effectively, and the small lines above each section title add some unique style. The simple color, right below your name, suggests you’re someone who pays attention to detail. This template is a solid option if you need a resume for a conservative role but also want to showcase some personality.

2. Serif

The colors used for each headline, and the two parallel columns with plenty of white space in between, suggest that you're someone who's organized and creative. This resume template is a good option for high school or recent college graduates with less work experience, since the template provides categories to showcase accolades and accomplishments outside the workplace.

3. Coral

The color used in the coral template isn’t overbearing or immature, but still spices up an otherwise basic resume. The formatting, with all the information left-indented in one column, looks clean and straightforward. This option is ideal if you’re applying for a corporate job but still want to seem fresh and unique.

4. Spearmint

With the bold green line at the top of the page, this template conveys someone who’s spirited and artistic. The consistency of the title colors is appealing and polished. Spearmint is a fantastic option for anyone who’s applying for a creative role, such as a web designer or creative director.

5. Modern Writer

You’ll only want to choose the statement-making Modern Writer as your template if you’ve got a good reason for it -- for instance, if you’re applying for a web developer role, the font (which looks a bit like code) makes sense. The bold pink and Source Code Pro font are less ideal for a traditional role, but Modern Writer is a good option if you’re applying for a role that applauds uniqueness.

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Tuto e-commerce - Magento 1 vs magento 2 ce qu’il faut savoir - Market Academy par Sophie Rocco

Magento 1 vs magento 2 ce qu’il faut savoir : https://bit.ly/2KuHsr1 Des questions se posent sur la plateforme e-commerce Magento. Quelles sont les vraies différences entre Magento 1 et Magento 2 ? Lequel choisir ? Doit-on migrer vers Magento 2 quand on est sur Magento 1 ? En tant que spécialistes Magento, nous avons des éléments de réponse à vous donner ! Découvrez les dans ce nouveau tuto e-commerce et webmarketing Vous avez besoin d'un site e-commerce ou d'effectuer la refonte de votre boutique ? Contactez-nous, on vous accompagne dans votre projet web ! Aimez, partagez, commentez, posez vos questions... Et surtout, abonnez-vous à la chaîne pour découvrir nos vidéos formation et nos tutos en temps réel ici : https://www.youtube.com/subscription_... Retrouvez-nous également sur : - Facebook https://www.facebook.com/marketacademy - Twitter https://twitter.com/marketacademyfr - Google + : https://plus.google.com/+Market-academy Merci à tous :) Market Academy, http://www.market-academy.com/ Tuto e-commerce - Magento 1 vs magento 2 ce qu’il faut savoir - Market Academy par Sophie Rocco : https://youtu.be/FcSqhn2zOe0
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Email Marketing Best Practices: How to Send Emails Your Subscribers Will Love

This is a guest post written by Jamie Turner, founder of the 60 Second Marketer. He is an in-demand marketing speaker and author of the book entitled Go Mobile with Jeanne Hopkins, former VP of marketing at HubSpot.

While email marketing may not get the attention some newer marketing channels get, it's still a terrific way for you to generate leads and convert more prospects for your business. With that in mind, I want to share some email marketing best practices you can use to generate more leads for your business.

Email Marketing Best Practices of 2018

1. Don't Purchase Contact Lists
2. Use Incentives to Increase Open Rates
3. Avoid Using 'No-Reply' in the Sender's Email Address
4. Stick to Fewer Than Three Typefaces
5. Clean Your Mailing List Regularly
6. Keep the Main Message and Call-to-Action Above the Fold
7. Personalize the Email Greeting
8. Keep Your Email 500-650 Pixels Wide
9. Put Your Logo in the Upper Left-Hand Side of the Email
10. Write Compelling (But Concise) Subject Lines
11. Use Auto-Responders for Opt-Ins
12. Closely Tie Emails to Landing Pages
13. Conduct a Five-Second Test

1. Don't Purchase Contact Lists

This first tip should come as no surprise, but given the recent rollout of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), it bears repeating. Email campaigns depend on a healthy open rate, and if you're contacting people whose information you bought -- rather than earned from a previous interaction -- you'll quickly see your emails' performance drop.

The GDPR also requires each European recipient's consent before you reach out to them, and purchased email lists usually do not come with that consent.

2. Use Incentives to Increase Open Rates

When you include an incentive in your subject line, you can increase open rates by as much as 50%. “Free shipping when you spend $25 or more” and “Receive a free iPod with demo” are examples of good, incentive-focused subject lines.

However, be careful not to overwhelm your readers with savings- or product-related emails. Customer loyalty starts with casual industry insights -- only then can you talk business.

3. Avoid Using 'No-Reply' in the Sender's Email Address

Have you heard of CAN-SPAM? This longstanding piece of legislation is a popular and important guideline for all email marketers in the U.S. -- and still many companies are trying to comply with it. One major rule in CAN-SPAM is to never use the words "no reply," or a similar phrase, as your email sender's name (for example, "noreply@yourcompany.com").

"No reply" in an email message prevents recipients from responding and even opting out of further emails, which CAN-SPAN protects their right to do at any time. Instead, have even your automated emails come from a first name (for example, jamie@mycompany.com). Your customers are much more likely to open emails if they know they were written by a human being.

4. Stick to Fewer Than Three Typefaces

The less clutter you have in your email, the more conversions you'll experience. Don't junk up your email with more than two, or a maximum of three, fonts or typefaces.

5. Clean Your Mailing List Regularly

Some of your email contacts might not opt-out of your email campaign, but still never open your emails. It's tempting to email as many people as possible to reach more prospects, but keeping your least-engaged recipients on your mailing list can kill your open rate. People who never open emails make your campaign look worse since you're not analyzing the campaign's quality against your most loyal recipients.

Analyze who hasn't engaged with your emails over a certain period of time, and remove them on a regular basis. This gives you a more accurate email open rate and keeps your email campaign clean of the people who are no longer interested in hearing from you.

6. Keep the Main Message and Call-to-Action Above the Fold

If your main call-to-action (CTA) falls below the fold, as many as 70% of recipients won't see it. Also, any CTA should be repeated at least three times throughout the email in various places and formats.

7. Personalize the Email Greeting

How often do you read emails that begin, "Dear Member"?

You might segment your email audiences by the type of customer they are (member, subscriber, user, etc.), but it shouldn't be the first thing recipients see in your company messages. Personalizing the greeting of your emails with your contacts' first names grabs the attention of each reader right away.

Don't worry, personalizing an email's greeting line with 50 recipients' names doesn't mean you'll have to manually write and send 50 different emails from now on. Many email marketing tools today allow you to configure the greeting of your email campaign so that it automatically sends with the name of the people on your contact list -- so everyone is getting a personal version of the same message.

8. Keep Your Email 500-650 Pixels Wide

If your email template is wider than 650 pixels, you're asking users to scroll horizontally to read your entire message. This is even more cumbersome for a recipient who's reading your email on his or her mobile device. Your email pixel width is a critical component of its lead-capturing ability.

9. Put Your Logo in the Upper Left-Hand Side of the Email

Eye-tracking studies have found that people instinctively look for logos in the upper left-hand side of emails. Put your logo in the upper left-hand side to ensure it gets the most visibility.

10. Write Compelling (But Concise) Subject Lines

A good subject line should contain between 30 and 50 characters (including spaces). Email accounts and mobile devices often cut off any subject lines that go beyond this length. Your email subject line should also create a sense of urgency, while giving readers some indication of what to expect once they open the email.

11. Use Auto-Responders for Opt-Ins

Be prepared for your readers to forget they opted in. Set up an auto-responder that reminds people they opted in to your email database. The auto-responder should be sent out one day, five days, and 10 days after the person registers.

Each auto-responder email should also include additional content or bonus material to reward the reader for opting into the newsletter -- or your readers might not feel they have enough incentive to actually opt in.

12. Closely Tie Emails to Landing Pages

Your landing page should match the email in terms of headline, copy, and content. The look and feel of your landing page should also match the email -- consistency goes a long way toward a customer's trust in the content they're receiving.

Just make sure you're using tracking tools to see which emails and landing pages performed the best so you can keep sending what's working.

13. Conduct a Five-Second Test

Send a copy of the email to a friend or business associate. Can they quickly tell what your call-to-action is? If so, you're golden. If not, keep working.

There are a lot of new tools at a marketer's disposal that are getting attention these days. But email marketing has stood the test of time regarding its influence on your users. This old, reliable, and faithful tool can really ensure you get the most out of your marketing initiatives.

 

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Grand Défi Québec Oiseau: visite d’une île interdite

Here's Exactly How We Got 105k+ People Using Our Chatbot

It’s not impossible for humans and even a lot of software to do exactly what chatbots do.

It’s how bots do it that matters.

When we work alongside bots, they make life easier. They help us do things faster and with more efficiency. They give us more time to do “human stuff” — and do it even better.

Bots don’t have to be as ubiquitous as searching the web. That’s not the point.
Bots do have to carve out a space as a different but equal resource that takes humans where they want to go more easily than ever before.

Chatbots can and will change business and marketing as we know it, if given a fighting chance.

But right now, they must win over naysayers crying “trend!” and comparing the budding technology to channels that have had decades to develop.

It’s easy to get wrong. And when we do get it right, it’s all too easy to run it utterly into the ground as we have with many marketing opportunities in the past.
This time around, we’ve pledged to use this powerful element of change for good instead of evil.

Here’s how we’re making a sales, marketing, and biz-building chatbot that doesn’t suck: GrowthBot.

Apps build a silo, bots fill a niche.

Source

Apple’s “There’s an app for that” has been the rallying cry for the past decade.
As such, it’s left the tech battlefield littered with millions of apps that do everything from letting you solve crime with your favorite celebrity avatar to ordering delivery with an emoji (OK, that one is kind of useful).

There’s more than just an app for that; there’s a name for that. It’s called app fatigue.

In 2016, comScore found almost half of all smartphone users in the U.S. downloaded a whopping average of zero apps per month. Yet in 2017, the Google Play store added more than 1,300 apps every single day.

Credit

Why so many apps? Mostly because it’s what everyone else is doing. Marketers aren’t exactly known for having a lot of chill when it comes to the tech du jour.
That’s not to say apps are dead in the water, but we are starting to see a trend which indicates people are using far fewer apps than are being put on the market daily.
App Annie’s 2017 research shows people use the same nine apps per day and no more than 30 over the course of a month. On average, users only touch as few as one-third of the apps they’ve downloaded.

Millennials especially are using utilities like maps and search engines along with apps for social networking, messaging, entertainment, and retail.

Source

When users do open an app, it’s no surprise it’s rarely that one that lets you drink beer … without the beer.

Bots don’t add to the onslaught of app, decision, or fake beer fatigue. Instead, they live right inside and actually enhance the functionality of some of the most popular messaging apps.

For example, GrowthBot helps users access tons of marketing and sales data using an app they probably already have open all day — Slack.

We have to agree with data scientist and software developer P. Daniel Tyreusin this case:

“I’m willing to speculate that it’s easier to acquire a user if the user doesn’t have to download a new app to use a service. I’m also willing to speculate that users are more likely to continue using a service that’s integrated into an app they already use.”

In the words of Seth Godin: If your target audience isn’t listening, it’s not their fault — it’s yours.

Before we even began building our chatbot, we focused on exactly how it would create value in a way no other tool could for our audience.

We work consistently to grow GrowthBot’s natural language processing (NLP) skills because we know our audience and we know how much easier it makes their lives when they’re able to access and compare tons of data by typing a few quick phrases into Slack.

NLP enables chatbots to understand what a user is looking for. It also allows consumers to enjoy personalized conversation instead of interacting with the same tired “intuitive” menu in a vacuum.

That’s important when your bot functions as a customer service rep, personal shopper, or research partner and conversation is the ideal way to answer a request.
Dennis Thomas, CTO at AI-powered consulting firm NeuraFlash, knows the importance of understanding how users interact with your chatbot.

“Another place where NLP is a big win is when the bot’s objective is focused on helping users with the discovery phase of products or shopping. Finding the right item via conversation helps to drive the user’s goal, as well as the product criteria to match to the company’s inventory.”

By the same token, NLP could actually be a detriment in cases where text-based chatbots can make the process simpler.

“When you have a visual medium and buttons can accomplish the task in a couple clicks (think easy re-order), open-ended natural language is not making the user’s life easier.”

We didn’t throw everything we’ve learned about our audience out the window when developing new bot software. Instead we implemented that knowledge to make GrowthBot just useful enough without being overwhelming.

We believe chatbots should be useful first and useful always.

NLP only accounts for half the conversation — the input part.

Output is just as important in terms of usefulness.

Your bot might have the personality of The Most Interesting Man in the World, but it will still suck if it can’t answer a user’s query.

You don’t need to build an entire search engine from scratch. You don’t even need to build an app. All you have to do is make sure your chatbot has access to enough data to prove useful in the niche you’ve chosen.

If it can’t do that, it’s no better than the aforementioned beer-simulating apps of the world.

GrowthBot has solid conversational skills, but it would be nothing without the marketing and sales data that help it achieve its goal — providing value to people who are growing businesses.

There are already tons of pieces of software and far too many apps for sales and marketing professionals. Useful chatbots don’t mimic, they empower users to find exactly what they’re looking for using a natural instinct: Simply asking.
Not spending hours customizing dashboards and poking through tens of different workflows just to uncover their own data. Simply asking.

Everytime we link a new database to GrowthBot, it gets more valuable for users. Right now it can pull information from dozens of sources; including HubSpot (of course), Google Analytics, MailChimp, social networking sites, and so on.

Bots are first and foremost data scanning machines. They take input, provide relevant feedback, and do so in a way that is easier to manage than any other platform.

“Products, like people, have personalities…”

David Ogilvy famously understood the importance of personality in products. We believe that’s also the case for brands and bots. That’s why we made GrowthBot sound like someone we know and like.

If your brand already has a solid personality, translate that into the voice and tone your bot uses when interacting with people.

If not, there’s no time like building a chatbot to determine whom you want to be in the online world.

Because there are so many tools out there that take the technical aspect out of building a bot, creating a great conversational flow might just be the greatest challenge you’ll face.

The messaging framework you build into your chatbot will influence the way people perceive the value of your brand, so give it some personality.

MailChimp is famous for its distinctly helpful personality that manages to be playful and humble at the same time. If your cat is wearing its very own monkey-themed knit hat right now, you know exactly what I mean.

Source

Cintell’s 2016 benchmark study on B2B buyers found that companies who exceed lead and revenue goals are two and a half times as likely to use personas than companies who miss lead and revenue goals.

Source

Today’s consumers have nearly countless brands to choose from. And they know it.
A well-defined voice that aligns with your ideal customer is an effective and low-cost way to develop return buyers and bot users.

For example, GrowthBot sounds like Dharmesh Shah — founder and CTO at HubSpot and loving father to the chatbot itself.

That means it’s light-hearted, respectful, and just a tad quirky all while being truly helpful.

We’ve found that a truly helpful voice in a world of chatter is more powerful than you might think.

Bots make life so simple, search feels painful

Google search has made an impact. There’s no denying that.

It’s almost a force of habit to visit a search engine to find what you’re looking for. Habits are notoriously hard to change, especially the more gratifying and automatic they are.

Current studies show it takes an average of 66 days for a behavior to become “unchangingly automatic.”

Because search behavior is second nature to us now, bots must do what a search can’t:

• Provide customer service conversations and solutions without the wait
• Deliver the information a user is looking for in just seconds, on the first try
• Make recommendations based on powerful personalization
• Aggregate information from a variety of sources right inside the apps we’re already using

That last point is what GrowthBot is founded on. We make growing your business easier by using the power of a chatbot to put information at your fingertips — not siloed in more apps and interfaces than you can count.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg of what AI-enabled bots can do with enough data and well-planned conversational flow.

But things can still go wrong if you aren’t aware of and managing your users’ expectations.

Where Facebook’s Assistant M Got It All Wrong

RIP

Chatbots are relatively new and their capabilities are varied. If you want people to love your bot, it’s important they understand why they need it and how to use it.
It’s not that Facebook’s Assistant M chatbot didn’t work. It’s that expectations weren’t managed; which overwhelmed the system and underwhelmed its users all at once.

“The first thing chatbots should do is quickly introduce their core competencies. Not only should chatbots start within a specific scope, they should always firstly tell you how they can help you and what they can do best.”
— Instabot

Clarify upfront exactly what your bot is capable of. Provide specific examples and invite the user to try out a few practice questions. Don’t make them learn any new tricks right away.

Using your chatbot for the first time should feel like starting an online chat with a new friend or customer service agent.

There will inevitably be times when users ask your bot to do something it can’t do yet. Offer them an alternative, but don’t let that learning opportunity slip away.
Scan your chat logs regularly, they’re the most valuable market research you’ll ever get on what people want your chatbot to do.

Wait, have I mentioned value already?

Be on the lookout for every chance you can find to provide extreme value to your users.

Go above and beyond what people expect your chatbot to provide. Delight them with thoughtful little extras that make their days better.

Extreme value doesn’t have to stop when a user leaves your bot interface.

Offer to send customers an alert when their size is back in stock. Tell readers where they can find more articles like the one they just read on your website. Or, like us, celebrate with them every time you connect another tool that will make their jobs easier.

These kinds of interactions don’t just provide extreme value, they keep you top of mind and keep your customers coming back for more.

Nobody needs another app for this, that, or anything.

Instead, people need smart ways to accomplish more within the tools they already know and use regularly. When our chatbots deliver that level of service, we’re sure to start changing behavior and creating better automatic habits.

Fight back against bad bots. Build yours to be delightful to interact with, provide extreme value, and just not suck.

Originally published at blog.growthbot.org.

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Unriddled: "Not a Media Company" Facebook Launches a Quarterly Publication, Apple Fights Election Interference, and More Tech News You Need

Welcome one, welcome all to another Wednesday: the day that marks the halfway point -- almost -- to the weekend.

The tech industry has seen quite a busy week, so we're bringing you another edition of "Unriddled": the HubSpot Marketing Blog's mid-week digest of the tech news you need to know. 

It's our Wednesday tech news roundup, and we're breaking it down.

Unriddled: The Tech News You Need

1. Facebook Launches Grow: A Print Quarterly Publication for Business Leaders

Despite repeated insistence from its leaders that it is not a media company, Facebook has launched a print quarterly publication in the UK -- Grow by Facebook -- which it describes as "a thought leadership platform shining a light on people, companies and trends that challenge the status quo." According to the Grow website, a permanent online "home" for the publication (which Facebook won't call a magazine) will launch soon, and feature content like niche brand case studies, as well as profiles of business leaders that achieved seemingly impressive feats. The Press Gazette's Charlotte Tobitt has more. Read full story >>

2. Apple's Fight Against Election Interference

Apple News -- which was rumored to be experimenting with products competing with those of Google News in April -- will now have a dedicated section for the 2018 U.S. Midterm Elections.

With a mission of "providing a new resource for timely, trustworthy midterm election information," Apple is drawing attention to a key factor that differentiates it from other tech giants who are fighting election interference, like Facebook: human editors.

To address fake news —
Facebook:
-3rd party fact checkers
-Algorithm ranked by news trustworthiness poll
-“how to spot fake news” education
- less news in feed
- publishers in political ad database
- not being “arbiters of truth”
Apple:
-human editorshttps://t.co/hsqE5rHIcj

— Sarah Frier (@sarahfrier) June 25, 2018

(Twitter, too, announced on Tuesday new efforts to combat the spread of fake content and platform abuse -- largely through machine learning.)

According to its official statement, Apple will employ a "team of editors focused on discovering and spotlighting well-sourced fact-based stories," which will include exclusive pieces from the likes of the Washington Post and Axios, as well as coverage from televised news sources. Read full statement >>

3. The Less-Than-Successful Meeting of Big Tech and Intelligence Officials

Within the realm of preventing election interference, several representatives from eight tech giants -- including Facebook (which hosted the summit and recently published an update on its efforts to fight fake news), Apple, Google, and Twitter -- met with representatives from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to discuss how they can better fight election interference in the months leading up to November's midterm elections.

(Facebook, meanwhile, announced yesterday that it has removed 10,000 fake Pages, Groups, and accounts in Mexico and across Latin America because they violated Community Standards -- though it is unclear if the removal is related to possible election interference.)

The desired outcome, it seems, was to compare potential meddling activity each company had witnessed on its own platform to what U.S. intelligence has been monitoring and intercepting, as well. But those hopes were all but thwarted, with the U.S. government officials sharing no intelligence and leaving the business leaders assuming they would have to fight election interference without any federal intervention or assistance.

It's a particularly interesting outcome considering April's congressional hearings, in which Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was challenged with questions about the potential regulation of the company, as well as its Big Tech peers. But that potential regulation -- should it materialize -- does not appear as though it will play a role in the company's efforts to cease the weaponization of social media sites by foreign actors. Sheera Frenkel and Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times share more. Read full story >>

4. New Metrics Emerge for Time Spent on Social Media

According to new data from SimilarWeb, the average Instagram user spends about 53 minutes on the app each day, trailing closely behind an average 58 minutes on Facebook. (Snapchat, evidently, isn't too far behind, with an average of 49.5 minutes.)

The data comes at an interesting time, after recent announcements from Apple that it will include a Screen Time app in the next version of iOS to help users manage the time they spend using their phones. Not long after that feature was unveiled, Instagram confirmed it was testing a "time well spent" feature and rumors emerged that Facebook (which owns Instagram) is experimenting with similar technology.

Screenshots reveal Facebook is building a Time Well Spent dashboard https://t.co/C8bmfsK4fz pic.twitter.com/dlyAnSh7tA

— Josh Constine (@JoshConstine) June 22, 2018

But despite the efforts of the latter two apps to, on the surface, help users better manage time spent on them, both have released new long-form video products -- as well as newly-released group chat options and a redesigned explore tab from Instagram -- over the past few weeks that appear to be designed at least in part to encourage more time spent on each platform.  Recode's Rani Molla and Kurt Wagner explain why these metrics matter. Read full story >>

5. Uber is on Probation in London

Since Transport for London revoked Uber's license to operate, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has spent much of his time doing "damage control" to repair the company's relationships in the UK, as well as in its U.S. homebase. Now, the ride-sharing company has regained a license to operate in London, after a UK judge ruled that it can legally offer its "digital services" there. But it might not be permanent -- the ruling comes with 15 months of probation, which is three months short of the 18-month period the company was seeking. Politico's Mark Scott has more. Read full story >>

6. Facebook Will Allow Cryptocurrency Ads Again

In a statement released Tuesday, Facebook announced it would once again permit the purchase and publication of "binary options, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency." The new policy follows a January decision to ban any "misleading or deceptive promotional" content related to financial products -- which has been revised to allow such ads from pre-approved accounts only. Facebook and Google were among the first platforms to ban ads related to cryptocurrency, and were followed shortly thereafter by Twitter. Read full statement >>

That’s all for today. Until next week, feel free to weigh in on Twitter to ask us your tech news questions, or to let us know what kind of events and topics you'd like us to cover.

Featured image credit: Facebook

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The 7-Minute Guide to Getting Started With Google Tasks

If you’re anything like me, you love to-do lists. Heck, sometimes you love to-do lists so much, you even put completed tasks on your list just for the satisfaction of crossing them off (No? Just me?).

Up until recently, I’ve been using my Google Calendar as my to-do list -- but it can get confusing, particularly when someone wants to book time with me but sees “buy salmon” already takes up most of the afternoon. Even worse, you can’t prioritize your Google Calendar to put more important tasks ahead of less important ones.

Fortunately, Google offers an alternative solution: Google Tasks, a tool which enables you to create to-do lists within your email, links those tasks to your calendar, and more.

Google Tasks

Google Tasks lets you create a to-do list within your desktop Gmail or the Google Tasks app. When you add a task, you can integrate it into your Gmail calendar, and add details or subtasks. Tasks also enable you to drag and drop emails into your to-do list, rearrange the order of your tasks, and check off completed ones. With the updated Gmail design, Google Tasks is sleeker and easier to incorporate into your work routine.

Gmail has offered a Tasks tool for years, but with the new Google design, Tasks is sleeker and easier to use. Here, we’ll show you how to get started with Google Tasks in just seven minutes, on your desktop or phone.

How to Use Google Tasks on a Desktop

1. Log into your Gmail account. Click your “Settings” icon, as indicated by the arrow below, and then select, “Try the new [Gmail].” Since I’m on a work email, it says HubSpot, but it’ll say something different depending on your email account.

2. With your new updated Gmail, you’ll see a blue icon on the right side (underneath Calendar and Keep). Click the icon, labelled “Tasks”.

3. Click the blue “+” button to add your first task.

4. Now, type a task in the line beside the bubble and then click the “Enter” or “Return” key.

5. If you only need to add a basic task, you’re all set. However, the Tasks tool also allows you to edit your task -- to do this, click the pencil icon beside your task.

6. Here, you can add details including when your task is due (which will integrate into your Calendar), a paragraph box for your own notes, and the option to add subtasks if you feel the need to break up your task into parts.

7. When you’ve completed a task, simply click the bubble beside the task. When you do, it will briefly show a check mark, cross itself off, and then disappear off your list.

8. You can also drag and drop your tasks to rearrange the order -- for instance, I dragged “Dinner reservation?” to the first item on my to-do list.

How to Add Tasks to Google Calendar

1. Click “Edit details” if you’re using Google Tasks on a desktop, or “Add date” if you’re using the app version.
2. Choose a date on the calendar that pops up on your desktop or app.
3. The task will be automatically integrated into both your phone and desktop’s Gmail calendar.

How to Add an Email to Your Google Tasks

If you receive an important email you’re too busy to answer immediately, you can add it to your Tasks list for later. Here are two different ways to do this:

1. Simply hold the email and drag it to your open Task list. You’ll see the email icon underneath the task, which, if you click, will take you to the email.

2. If you’re within the email when you decide you want to add it to Tasks, simply click the three-dot icon at the top of your email and select, “Add to Tasks”.

How to Use the Google Tasks App

If you’re often making to-do lists on the go, you might want to use the Google Tasks app supplementarily -- since it’s connected to your email, your tasks will sync up with your desktop Task list, and they’ll also integrate into your Calendar on both your phone and desktop.

After you download the app on your phone, here’s how to use it:

1. When you open the app for the first time, here’s what you’ll see (look familiar?). Click the blue “Get started” button.

2. Next, click the blue “Add a new task” button.

3. Using your phone’s keyboard, type your task and then click “Save” or “Done”.

4. If you click on your task within the app, you’ll have the option to “Add details”, “Add date”, or “Add subtasks”. For this instance, if I want to add my task to my calendar, I’ll click “Add date”.

4. A calendar will pop up within the app. Choose the date your task is due, and then click “Ok”.

5. When you add subtasks, you’ll see the bubble beside each task. When you complete a task, simply click the bubble.

6. To rearrange the order or change the dates of your tasks, click the three-dot icon in the bottom right corner.

7. Here, you can sort your full task list by customized order or date, rename the list, or delete all completed tasks.

Google Tasks vs. Reminders

You can add reminders to your Google Calendar at any time, by clicking a spot on the calendar and choosing “Reminder” instead of “Event”. When you’ve scheduled a reminder, it pops up in the right corner of your screen at the time you’ve entered, i.e. “finish article, 10 a.m.”. Google Tasks also integrates into your Calendar, but offers more details than date and time, so it’s a better tool when you need to include more in-depth information, such as personal notes or subtasks.

Ultimately, Google Tasks is an effective organizational method, since it integrates seamlessly into other Google features including Gmail and Calendar. If you’re feeling overwhelmed filling up your calendar or sticky notes with to-do lists that range in level of importance, you might want to give Tasks a try.

Additionally, take a look at 12 Tools That'll Keep You Productive Morning, Noon & Night to further increase your efficiency levels.

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