New Influence

Speak with any finance expert and they'll tell you the key to long-term wealth is asset accumulation. This is for two reasons. First, assets earn you money while you sleep and, second, they usually appreciate the longer you hold on to them. A house will be worth more in twenty years than it is today if past performance is anything to go by. Likewise, a bar of gold will be too. Our finance expert should also tell you to invest in assets that pay you income, like a business, rental property or a dividend stock. Owning an income-paying asset usually requires an upfront investment. To own a piece of a business you either need capital to buy into it or time and sweat equity to build it. Likewise, owning rental property requires either a large cash lump sum or a long-term mortgage. In other words, acquiring physical assets requires time, effort and/or capital. Intangible digital assets are a new investing opportunity We're in a period of accelerated change and are deeply entrenched in the digital revolution which started in the 1990s and has many decades more to play out. We're in the era of what MicroStrategy CEO, Michael Saylor, calls the "dematerialization of industries." This is where individual products and entire industries are becoming digitised largely because of the iPhone. "The iPhone has dematerialized everything you can hold in your hand. Books, cameras, wallets, TVs etc have all dematerialized into the Apple network. Every wealthy person I know has an iPhone which means 90% of the wealth on the planet is going to get everything from the multi-trillion dollar Apple network." Michael Saylor Dematerialization is nothing new. The idea of buying a CD to listen to music or a DVD to watch a film seems ridiculous today. And, of course, no-one has sent a letter in decades. Dematerialization is making intangible digital assets a new investing opportunity. The internet is creating new asset classes that perhaps can benefit everybody not just the wealthy. Bitcoin is the ultimate digital asset The current bitcoin narrative is it is the digital version of gold. This is because both gold and bitcoin share similar intangible properties. Tangibly they couldn't be further apart since gold is a lump of metal and bitcoin is lines of code. Intangibly they share qualities such as scarcity and fungibility which help to increase their value. Michael Saylor believes bitcoin is a better asset than gold and has put his money where his mouth is. Earlier this year, MicroStrategy bought $425 million worth of bitcoin with its cash reserves. The reason being is that the cash was losing value each year - especially in the Covid era of quantitive easing - and bitcoin is proving to be an excellent store of wealth. This meme video explains his reasons well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9sS7eqz1l4 Domain names are one of the oldest digital assets Saylor obviously understands the long-term value of holding digital assets. MicroStrategy owns several premium domain names which the company has held for many years. Some of these include stategy.com, glory.com and speaker.com among others. Last year the company sold voice.com for a cool $30 million. You don't have to own a premium domain name to consider it an asset. For example, take my site's URL. Given my name is the actual URL, chances are it will only have value to me and those who share the same name as me. Nevertheless, a digital asset it is. It's not just TLDs that have value also. Social media handles and names can go for thousands on the black market. Social networks such as Twitter does not permit the trading of its usernames but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Domain names are one of the oldest digital assets and despite the increase of new domain extensions (.co, .biz etc) and country-level domains (.co.uk, .de etc) they continue to hold and increase their value today.

Josh Lachkovic is the founder & CEO of Wine List. Prior to launching Wine List, Josh had a career in marketing & growth, starting his career in content, SEO, and insights at PR agency Hotwire. He then joined Pact Coffee's growth team to turn his hand to print marketing and partnerships. Following this he went to an education company where he was responsible for breathing startup process into an established business. Before founding The Wine List he spent three years as employee number one at digital health company, Thriva, where he led and built the growth side of the business. Show highlights 3:55 Josh introduces himself and how he got to where he is today. 7:21 From a passion to a business. How Josh got into the wine business. 9:38 The Wine List business model. 14:34 Josh teaches Ste a bit about wine. 20:52 Acquiring customers for The Wine List. 24:48 How Covid-19 has accelerated the ecommerce industry. 33:44 Is Amazon making it difficult for DTC brands to compete? 38:56 The current state of Facebook ads. 44:21 The one book Josh recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast The Wine List - thewinelist.net Josh on Twitter - @JoshLachkovic The Wine List on Twitter - @thewinelist_uk Ste visiting a coffee farm in Guatemala - stedavies.com Jeff Raider on founding Warby Parker and Harry's - Spotify Taylor Lorenz article on TikTok - nytimes.com Josh's book recommendation Alchemy Hardcover BookEnglish (Publication Language)WH Allen (Publisher) View on Amazon

Dan is the co-founder of 3Speak.online, a video platform providing a censor-free environment for content creators who have been de-platformed or demonetised by Silicon Valley. Dan is also an entrepreneur, investor and crypto enthusiast. Show highlights 3:03 Dan introduces himself and how he got to where he is today. 5:40 Mainstream censorship and why Dan co-founded 3Speak. 13:22 Dan the formation of Hive and the Steem controversy. 19:48 The benefits of using Hive. 22:33 EOS and Voice.com. 24:51 Consensus and community. Moving from Web 2 to Web 3. 30:40 Bitcoin maximalism vs the tokenisation of everything. 32:40 Applying lessons from poker to investing. 34:40 Dan's currently dancing in the markets. 37:00 The one book Dan recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Dan on 3Speak - 3speak.online PeakD - peakd.com Steem to Freeze Another $5M in Tokens Associated With Hive Supporters - cointelegraph.com LBRY - lbry.com Voice - voice.com Brave browser - stedavies.com Mastery review - stedavies.com Dan's book recommendation Mastery PROFILE BOOKSRobert Greene (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon

Danny is currently the CEO and co-founder of CoinCorner, a bitcoin exchange in the UK. A software developer turned entrepreneur, Danny first heard of bitcoin during University in 2009, but didn't pay attention to it until 2011/12 while working at an internet startup that looked to use it as a competitive advantage. After this company was successfully acquired he went on to co-found a software company in 2012. Providing software solutions, the business worked with clients such as Microsoft and Tunstall Health Care. After trying to buy and mine bitcoin (both proved difficult to do in 2013) with his co-founder, they recognised that there was a gap in the UK market for a safe and simple place to buy bitcoin. CoinCorner was founded in 2014 with the aim of making bitcoin easy and accessible to UK customers and now, 6 years on, CoinCorner is one of the UK's leading bitcoin exchanges.  Show highlights 1:57 Danny introduces himself, CoinCorner and how he got into bitcoin. 14:30 How to explain bitcoin to someone who's new to it. 18:50 The big picture narrative of bitcoin. 26:56 The concept of money has changed throughout time. 29:31 The current state of bitcoin in 2020. 34:21 Bitcoin adoption in the UK and how the government and public have responded to it. 48:02 Bitcoin maximalism vs altcoin acceptance. 55:34 The advice Danny would give to someone looking to get into bitcoin. 60:52 Danny's one book he recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast CoinCorner - coincorner.com Danny on Twitter - @CoinCornerDanny Mt. Gox - wikipedia.org The bitcoin whitepaper - bitcoin.org The Lightning Network - investopedia.com Paul Tudor Jones buys bitcoin as a hedge against inflation - bloomberg.com FCA provides clarity on current cryptoassets regulation - fca.org.uk Hyperbitcoinization - stedavies.com How to buy bitcoin in the UK Danny's book recommendation Factfulness English (Publication Language)Sceptre (Publisher) View on Amazon

"Markets are conversations" is the central theme of the 1999 book, The Cluetrain Manifesto, which predicted that the internet was about to unleash new ways for people to communicate with each other. This Cambrian explosion of conversations would inevitably allow businesses to be a part of them creating a new dynamic of brand and customer interaction. The book says as the internet proliferated throughout the world, new channels such as websites, forums, chat groups and email would revolutionise how consumers and businesses interact. Noticeably the authors failed to predict the rise of blogs, podcasts, online video and social media platforms, as well as the smartphone revolution and its accompanying apps. They also failed to predict the major cultural and political impact social media would have (and is still having) on society too. Predicting the future is hard and anything beyond five years is just a guess. The world was a different place in 1999 yet The Cluetrain Manifesto provided (an underestimated) glimpse into the changing paradigm that was heading our way. Financial markets are conversations too Another trend on the horizon is the coming together of mobile, social media and the financial markets. A perfect storm is brewing between smartphone apps that provide easy access to the markets and the formation of communities and influencers who can collectively manipulate the price of a financial asset like a stock or crypto. These apps are giving people around the world access to high profile stocks, ETFs and commodities on well-known indexes like the Nasdaq, S&P and FTSE. You don't have to be rich to use them either. You can buy a fractional share of a stock meaning you don't have to buy a whole one but instead a fraction of one. For example, a 19-year-old in Europe can invest in Tesla by buying a fraction of a Tesla stock. All within seconds and from the comfort of her home even though Tesla is an US company listed on a US exchange. What's more, most of these apps don't charge a fee to buy and sell stocks so our budding investor can buy as little as £1's worth without having to pay a charge. She can then brag to her friends about which 'super brand' stocks she owns such as Nike, Visa, Apple, Amazon and now Tesla, all for as much or as little investment she can afford. The app that's received the most coverage in recent months is Robinhood. With 13 million users it's had a dramatic rise during the coronavirus pandemic as furloughed Americans invest their hard-earned money in the attempt to make more of it. The app is not without controversy, of course, but Robinhood has given Americans access to the stock markets that was previously reserved for only a few. The video below outlines the story behind the app and why the founders created it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YL3rk5aWKcg The Robinhood story Financial apps in other countries are providing a similar service too. Trading 212 in the UK, Stake in Australia and INDmoney in India to name a few illustrate this is not just a US phenomenon but a growing global one too. The proliferation of these apps come with risk and the occasional story in the media about an amateur trader who lost their life savings make the point. But it's the democratisation of the markets that seem the most interesting to me. What does it mean when anyone anywhere can trade and invest in the same financial instruments as professionals do on Wall Street and in the City of London? Unless there is some government ban there is not going back from here. The technological infrastructure is in place and communities of amateur investors are growing at a rapid rate. This is more than just a passing but rather there is something more fundamental and long term taking place. While we're still in the early days we're seeing a growing number of examples of where online communities and influencers are moving asset prices.

If you've spent any time lurking around the bitcoin community on Twitter or Reddit as I have you may have come across the term 'hyperbitcoinization'. This is the theory where bitcoin surpasses all global currencies, including the US dollar, to become the world's reserve currency and, ultimately, the world's only currency. The hyperbitcoinization theory is, of course, just that - a theory. At the time of writing, the dollar is very much still the world's reserve currency and the eleven-year-old bitcoin has a market cap of $183 billion with comparatively low adoption. If hyperbitcoinization was ever to happen it would require a devaluation of the world's major currencies and thus forcing governments and people to adopt The Bitcoin Standard. Given we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the dollar's position as the world's reserve currency is likely to strengthen in the short-term as investors see it as a safe-haven to temporarily preserve wealth as financial turmoil and trade wars begin to play out in the coming years. As the Federal Reserve continues to print off trillions of dollars via quantitive easing to prop up the struggling US economy this may eventually devalue the dollar or, worse, destabilise it. The severity of the situation in the years to come will dictate the odds of bitcoin - or something like it - becoming the global reserve currency. While this might sound farfetched it is in fact the normal state of play. New currencies have surpassed old ones for thousands of years. The changing of currencies The Latin definition of the word currency means 'in circulation' and before the invention of coins shells were the most circulated form of money and traded throughout the world. So too was silver and more recently gold. Modern paper money was originally backed by the amount of gold stored in a country's vaults known as the gold standard. Today, however, paper money is not backed by anything other than a country's promise to honour it. The world's reserve currency has also changed throughout history and is usually correlated to the country with the most powerful military. From 1450 to 1530 the world's reserve currency belonged to the Portuguese. Then from 1530 to 1640 the Spanish, 1640 to 1720 the Dutch, 1720 to 1815 the French, 1815 to 1920 the British and from 1920 to present day the USA. The connection? The country with the world's reserve currency was (or is) the global superpower at the time. If history is anything to go by, the US dollar will lose its status as the world's reserve currency eventually. The question is what will dethrone it? Despite being the world's second largest economy China has little to no interest in making the renminbi the global reserve. As an exporting nation and with cheap labour the Chinese government prefer to keep the renminbi relatively weak alongside other currencies. It's also worth noting that historically the changing of a world reserve currency usually involves war. The last time followed World War 1. The function of money Money has to fulfil three functions to be a viable currency. These are: A medium of exchange - facilitating the exchange of goods and services A unit of account - a measure of value in the economic system A store of value - allowing individuals to decide when they spend it All currencies throughout history have, to some extent, met these three criteria. The dollar, pound, yen etc all do along with being backed by strong democratic governments. Most currencies are increasingly losing their function as a long-term store of value as you can see with the dollar in the illustration below. Decline of the dollar / howmuch.net To preserve wealth today one must keep it in assets rather than money because of inflation. The value of the dollar decreases over time where the value of an asset such as gold, stocks, property and so on tends to increase over time.

There are two companies in the world that know more about you than perhaps you know about yourself. Both of which are, of course, Facebook and Google/Alphabet. In this podcast we focus specifically on Facebook Inc and how to stop its list of services (namely Facebook, Instagram and Messenger) from harvesting your public and private data and behaviours and selling it on to advertisers. Data collected from what we do online is used against us. There are no benefits to us, the Facebook Inc user, in the surveillance and data harvesting exchange. The phrase, ‘If the service is free, then you are the product’ is often used to explain why Facebook's services don't come with a financial cost but author Shoshana Zuboff explains in her book, Surveillance Capitalism, ‘You are not the product; you are the abandoned carcass.’ In this podcast you'll learn how to stop Facebook Inc from tracking your every move both on its own platforms and across the web. You'll learn how to turn off advertising tracking, location tracking, face recognition and more. Show highlights 2:14 Timeline of Facebook's data breaching events 5:33 Everything Facebook knows about you 9:46 Why care about your privacy and what Facebook knows about you 12:00 How to stop Facebook tracking you in your ad preference settings 18:20 How to turn off your location so Facebook can't track where you go 19:19 How to turn off Facebook's facial recognition 20:17 Turn off the 'Off-Facebook' activity 21:15 Unlike Facebook pages 22:15 Using a privacy browser so Facebook can't track you around the web 24:19 Using a smartphone firewall to stop non-Facebook apps from sending data to Facebook about you Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Turn off Facebook ad preferences - facebook.com Turn off Facebook location settings - facebook.com Turn off face recognition - facebook.com Turn off 'off-Facebook' activity - facebook.com Unlike Facebook pages - facebook.com Why you need to ditch Google Chrome and use the Brave browser - stedavies.com Brave browser – brave.com Tag Explorer - chrome.google.com Lockdown iOS - apple.com

In this podcast we discuss the importance of good password hygiene and management. Too many times people use weak passwords across multiple sites and services exposing themselves to hackers and data breaches. In fact, a recent study by the UK government's National Cyber and Security Centre found people are still using ultra-weak passwords like 123456 and qwerty leaving themselves wide open to a hack. Every password you use across every website needs to be at least 15 characters long, made up of letters, numbers and symbols, and, most importantly, has to be unique and used only once. Of course remembering these types of passwords is almost impossible unless you have an autobiographical memory. For those of us who don't, this is where a password manager comes in. In this podcast we discuss the rules of good password hygiene, using password managers, the different types of password managers and much more. Show highlights 1:27 The basic rules of good password hygiene 3:19 A guide to two-factor authentication 6:54 What is a password manager? 7:20 The benefits to using a password manager 10:40 The types of password managers available 17:10 Which type of password manager should you use? 18:26 How much do password managers cost? 19:59 Backing up your passwords and password manager Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Most hacked passwords revealed - ncsc.gov.uk Google Authenticator - google-authenticator.com Authy - authy.com/ Yubikey - Amazon KeePassXC - keepassxc.org Bitwarden - bitwarden.com LastPass - lastpass.com

In this podcast we discuss the Brave browser - a privacy browser that's been developed to prevent you from being tracked across the web. The humble web browser is perhaps one of the most important software creations to date. It turned the internet into a consumer-friendly medium spawning the creation of the various online services we use today. It is one of the few online tools most of us use multiple times a day. Yet, many people still don't give much thought to the browser they use. In their eyes, all browsers are the same which in reality is far from the truth. While Google Chrome is a good browser, it is laced with tracking software that makes it more like spyware than a helpful browser. Using it, you subject yourself to thousands of data trackers every single day. Your data is valuable and that's why consumers need reclaim the web back from corporate surveillance. A good place to start is by taking back control of your browsing data. Brave will help you do that. Show highlights 2:02 Why you need to get rid of Google Chrome 3:30 Why you need to use a privacy browser? 4:48 Why I recommend most people should switch to Brave 5:56 The privacy benefits of using the Brave browser 8:31 Brave's usability alongside Chrome 10:05 How Brave is looking to reinvent the broken online ad model 13:49 Final thoughts on using the Brave browser Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Brave browser – brave.com Browser market share – netmarketshare.com Brave reaches 12 million MAUs - cryptobriefing.com Browsing the web with privacy with Des Martin from Brave - stedavies.com Brave deemed most private browser in terms of phoning home - zdnet.com Basic Attention Token (BAT) - basicattentiontoken.org

In this podcast we’re discussing virtual private networks or VPNs as they're more commonly known. As we've seen over the last few years, online privacy is almost non-existent. At any given time, what we do online is being tracked by internet service providers, large advertising companies like Google and Facebook and even hackers looking to steal personal details about us. The fight back has begun as more people begin to realise how unprotected their online privacy is especially in modern times of the coronavirus and how we increasingly depend on the internet in our day-to-day life. While you can never have total online privacy, you can take steps to protect yourself from surveillance capitalism, identity theft, cyberstalking and any other unscrupulous people or technologies. As one of the best methods of protecting online privacy, this podcast provides a guide to VPNs including how they work, the benefits of using them, what to look for when choosing one and more. With this in mind, this podcast provides a guide to VPNs as they are one of the best methods of protecting your online privacy. Show highlights 1:08 The benefits of using a VPN 4:05 The cons of using a VPN 5:07 What to look for when choosing a VPN 9:17 VPN provider recommendations 12:29 How much do VPNs cost? 13:49 Should you use a free VPN? Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast That One Privacy Site - thatoneprivacysite.net NordVPN - nordvpn.com ProtonVPN - protonvpn.com Surfshark - surfshark.com

Scott Guthrie is a strategic influencer marketing consultant, conference speaker, guest university lecturer, top 10 PR blogger, and media commentator. He is co-chair of the CIPR influencer marketing panel, a PRCA council member, a founding member of the BCMA influencer marketing steering group and an editorial board member of both Talking Influence and Influence publications. Show highlights 1:57 Looking ahead to 2020 and beyond in influencer marketing. 2:45 The shifting demand for influencer data. 7:37 The importance of storytelling. 11:40 The virtual influencers. 17:07 Michael Bloomberg's campaign working with influencer marketing platform. 21:40 Influencers exploiting the coronavirus to increase engagement. 26:44 Influencer marketing on Instagram. 38:33 The wider influence sphere going beyond influencer marketing. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Scott's influencer marketing trends for 2020 - sabguthrie.info Scott's influencer marketing in 2019 review - sabguthrie.info Scott on Twitter - @sabguthrie Scott and Ste's first podcast - stedavies.com Lil Miquela - wikipedia.org Billionaire presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg assigns chunk of advertising budget to influencer platform Tribe - mumbrella.com.au

Alexandra Pavliuc is a social network analyst, whose research on disinformation operations has been published by NATO Defense Strategic Communications and funded by the Mozilla Foundation. Findings from her research have been disseminated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Engineering & Technology Magazine, and The Startup. Alexandra has collaborated with government bodies to develop disinformation research tools, and teaches data science for Decoded in London. Alexandra holds an MSc in Data Science from City, University of London, as well as a BA in Professional Communication and a Minor in Physics from Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. Show highlights 1:13 Alexa introduces herself and her main focus areas in social network analysis. 2:06 Alexa introduces the research she carried out looking at state-backed disinformation operations on the Twitter platform. 5:28 Alexa provides a description on what disinformation in social media means 8:27 Comparing the datasets from six different state-backed disinformation operations. 15:07 Are the social networks more open with sharing data and information with third-party analysts? 17:33 Describing the Internet Research Agency. 20:55 Which countries are the most sophisticated when it comes to influence operations. 23:55 China's use of Twitter accounts during the Hong Kong protests. 27:47 The growing industry of social network analysis for disinformation campaigns. 32:38 The one book Alexa recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Alexa's Twitter research - medium.com Alexa on Twitter - @APavliuc Alexa on LinkedIn - linkedin.com Columbian Chemicals Plant explosion hoax - wikipedia.org Twitter shuts Chinese accounts targeting Hong Kong protests - apnews.com The Global Disinformation Order: 2019 Global Inventory of Organised Social Media Manipulation - oc.ac.uk Alex's book recommendation How to Lose the Information War: Russia, Fake News, and the Future of Conflict Hardcover BookJankowicz, Nina (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon

In this podcast we’re talking about the future of social media and the macro trends on the horizon. And even though you can't predict the future by looking at the past, it's always worth paying a visit. In 1995, Bill Gates wrote in his book about the future of the personal computer, The Road Ahead, “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.” Of course back then he was prophesying his vision to put a PC in every home which may seem silly today given the proliferation of computers but at the time it was a lofty goal. Fast forward to 2010, when social media was starting to proliferate the world, the vast majority of people (myself included) would never have predicted the global impact it’s had on culture and society.  With this in mind, this podcast provides five upcoming macro trends to be aware of in the social media space. Show highlights 1:49 The rise of decentralized social media platforms. 7:06 The rise of alternative social media platforms. 9:19 Privacy by default. 12:16 Podcasting becomes more professional. 15:19 Social media as a battleground. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Jack Dorsey's announcement making Twitter decentralized - twitter.com Voice, the new decentralized social media platform - voice.com 3Speak, the decentralized video sharing site - 3speak.online Telegram - telegram.org OnlyFans - onlyfans.com How to protect your online privacy and security - stedavies.com Spotify is buying The Ringer - nytimes.com

Des Martin is Head of Marketing & Growth at Brave. Prior to joining Brave Des lead marketing teams at Qualtrics, nearFrom and Perkbox. His north star is to do interesting things with interesting people. He is passionate about building a better web with new business models for content creators. Show highlights 1:48 Des introduces himself and the Brave browser. 10:59 Do consumers understand how much surveillance capitalism is tracking them and what is driving adoption? 14:43 User growth and migrating from Google Chrome. 17:59 Engaging with the Brave community on social media. 19:51 The Basic Attention Token and privacy-respecting adverts. 27:25 The two books Des recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Brave browser - brave.com Des on Twitter - @dessie_martin Des on LinkedIn - linkedin.com Ste's deep dive into his online privacy - stedavies.com Brave founder Brendan Eich - @BrendanEich Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World - Amazon Des's book recommendation Siddhartha: A Novel Great product!Hermann Hesse (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon

Over the last few years we've come to realise how much of our online activity and data is being tracked by governments and the big tech companies. This wasn't the original intention for the open web. Far from it in fact but in a world of data harvesting, data selling and data leaks, people are now finally waking up to what their data is worth. In this podcast we cover the steps you can take to protect your online privacy and security in a surveillance capital world. Included is the best hardware to use, how to stop the big ad networks from tracking your every move online, the best privacy and security software to use and more. Show highlights 0:50 The difference between online security and privacy. 1:52 We live in an increasingly surveilled world. 5:35 What Facebook and Google know about you. 7:35 Figuring out your own threat model. 10:16 The best hardware to use for most people. 11:48 How to browse the web privately and safely. 17:40 Password managers and two-factor authentication. 20:06 Leaving Gmail for encrypted ProtonMail. 22:42 How to lock down your data-leading smartphone. 27:22 Reducing social media and Google data capture. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast The Privacy, Security, & OSINT Show - inteltechniques.com/podcast Brave browser - brave.com Virtual Private Network (VPN) - Wikipedia NordVPN - nordvpn.com Compartmentalization - Wikipedia LastPass - lastpass.com Bitwarden - bitwarden.com Authy - authy.com YubiKey - yubico.com ProtonMail - protonmail.com 1Blocker - 1blocker.com Signal - signal.org Stop Google tracking your activity - myactivity.google.com

I'm currently spending the winter in Mexico, avoiding the horrendous European winter. Why spend time in the cold, wet and miserable weather when you can be in the sunshine by the beach sipping on a margarita? In this podcast we bring you a mini guide to Mexico and what you can expect if you intending on visiting. Mexico is a big country and there are lots of places to visit so I can only give you my interpretation of what I've seen which is mainly Mexico City and the east coast area of Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Tulum. Note by note 1:00 Why I'm in Mexico. 3:54 Starting off in Mexico City. 6:00 Get me to the beach. Heading to the east coast. 8:05 Caribbean sunrises. 10:24 Is Mexico dangerous? 13:28 Friendly Mexicans. 15:20 Cost of living. 17:34 Cancun, Playa Del Carmen and Tulum. 19:29 Cuba is but a short flight away.

Facebook has been reportedly launching its own cryptocurrency for the last couple of years. During this time it has made a series of external hires, created an internal crypto team, registered a crypto company and founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has hinted at payments being a priority for the company. In this podcast we delve into what cryptocurrency is, the types of cryptocurrencies there are and everything we know about the Facebook cryptocurrency. Full disclosure, this is not investment advice. Show highlights 1:10 Ste gives some background on how he fell down the crypto rabbit hole. 2:40 What are cryptocurrencies exactly? 4:18 Storing cryptocurrencies. 5:47 Bitcoin. The first and most famous cryptocurrency. 9:44 Altcoins. What they are and what they're for. 10:54 Facebook's cryptocurrency timeline. 12:26 What we know about the Facebook cryptocurrency. 14:17 How will Facebook's cryptocurrency be used? 18:09 What does this mean for other cryptocurrencies? Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast What are the Worst Bitcoin Losses Ever? Inc.com Cryptocurrencies market caps - coinmarketcap.com Bitcoin Volatility Index - buybitcoinworldwide.com Coinbase - coinbase.com Bitcoin - bitcoin.org Ethereum - ethereum.org Litecoin - litecoin.org Monero - getmonero.org Facebook is launching a new team dedicated to the blockchain. Messenger’s David Marcus is going to run it - vox.com Facebook acquires team behind blockchain startup Chainspace - mashable.com Facebook registers secretive ‘Libra’ cryptocurrency firm in Switzerland - coindesk.com Facebook hires Coinbase employees amid continued speculation on its crypto ambitions - yahoo.com Facebook plans June 18th cryptocurrency debut. Here’s what we know - techcrunch.com Facebook plans outside foundation to govern cryptocurrency - theinformation.com Bitcoin for beginners. The ultimate guide to cryptocurrency - stedavies.com

Trey Ratcliff is an artist on a somewhat quixotic mission to help spread consciousness and mindfulness to the world through photography and creativity. Running the #1 travel photography blog in the world, StuckInCustoms.com, has taken him to all seven continents over the past decade, and Google has tracked more than 140 billion views of his photos, all while building a social media presence with over 5 million followers. Chris Anderson from TED called him a “pioneer” of the now ubiquitous genre of High Dynamic Range photography. Ratcliff had the first HDR photograph to hang in the Smithsonian Museum and, sales of his large-format limited edition prints to fine art collectors worldwide have grown into a multimillion-dollar business. In 2012, he moved his family and photography business to Queenstown, New Zealand, before it became a trendy doomsday contingency plan. He is based there with his wife, three children, and their dog, Blueberry. Show highlights 2:18 Trey introduces himself and what he does. 3:45 Trey discusses the background of his new book came about and why he decided to write it. 7:53 Influencer hollowness, identity crises and personal growth. 13:23 How big is influencer fraud? Is Instagram complacent or complicit? 15:31 If Instagram is the economy and engagement is the currency what do we do when a lot of the currency is fake? 21:21 How do we get back to the early days of social media when it was a positive and optimistic place? 23:50 Psychedelics for mental health and emotional trauma. 28:50 Narcissism and higher consciousness. The conflicting effects of social media 31:23 Trey's journey into photography and mindfulness. 32:34 Are there still opportunities for budding photographers in the era where everyone has a camera? 38:45 Trey's favorite city, meal and quote. 39:22 The one book Trey recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Trey's blog Stuck In Customs Under the Influence - How to Fake Your Way into Getting Rich on Instagram: Influencer Fraud, Selfies, Anxiety, Ego, and Mass Delusional Behavior (Amazon) Trey on Instagram Trey on Twitter Trey's How To Build Real Influence online course Sapiens book Dunbar's Number Alan Watts Terence McKenna Trey's book recommendation The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond YourselfMichael A. Singer (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon

Nic Yeeles is the co-founder & CEO of Peg.co, an end-to-end software platform that powers influencer marketing for 1,700+ leading brands & agencies, across 169 countries. At just 12 years old, Nic started making videos as a hobby. He has since founded a video production company, a creative agency and co-ran the fastest growing YouTube channel in the world (gaining ~100m views) prior to building Peg. Along the way he’s worked with major global brands including Sony Music, Unilever, Adidas and Microsoft, as well as working with high profile online and offline personalities including Simon Cowell, Skrillex and Zoella. In his spare time he hosts Ponder Wanders, where he brings together the brilliant minds of deep thinking entrepreneurs, scientists, writers and more, to discuss some of the toughest philosophical questions facing humanity over long walks in the countryside.  Show highlights 1:51 Nic introduces himself and Peg the company he co-founded. 5:48 Why Nic believes influencer marketing is becoming more performance focussed. 6:49 Nic's thoughts on the democratization of influence. 8:25 Removing content stimuli. 13:21 Why the EU's Article 13 could be "devastating" for YouTube and creators. 17:43 Is YouTube trying to be more like Netflix and abandoning creators? 21:25 Why YouTubers develop a deep connection with their audience. 26:30 Nic's experience of learning to code and the benefits of it. 31:03 Nic's predictions on the future of influencer marketing over the next 12 months and the next five years. 36:55 Quickfire three: Nic's favourite city, meal and quote. 38:18 The one book Nic recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Peg Nic on LinkedIn Article 13 The Power of Glamour book Superfreakonomics (Amazon) Nic's book recommendation How to Win Friends and Influence People How to Win Friends and Influence PeopleEnglishFirst Edition View on Amazon

Rachel Miller is the Director of All Things IC and advises Internal Communicators via training, consultancy and her popular blog. Her clients include ARM, BBC, LEGO, NHS, Transport for London and British Red Cross. She’s a highly experienced and multiple award-winning practitioner who has trained hundreds of Comms pros via her monthly and bespoke Masterclasses. Communicators say working with her increases their skills and boosts their knowledge and confidence. Rachel is a Chartered PR professional and Fellow of both the Institute of Internal Communication and Chartered Institute of Public Relations. You can find her online via her website www.allthingsic.com, @AllthingsIC on Twitter and @rachelallthingsic on Instagram. Show highlights 1:21 Rachel introduces herself and her background. 3:27 The current state of employee advocacy. 6:29 Glassdoor and internal communications. 9:41 The original promise of employees being the voice of a brand didn't materialise. 13:37 Are brands concerned about advocates using social media in the current climate of toxicity? 15:02 The benefits of employee advocacy and what should a brand consider when embarking on an EA program? 20:20 What makes a good employee advocate? 23:38 Where Rachel sees the future of employee advocacy in the next 12 months and the next five years. 25:46 Quick fire three: Rachel's favourite city, meal and quote. 27:07 The one book Rachel recommends everyone should read? Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast All Things IC Rachel on Twitter Rachel on Instagram The Cluetrain Manifesto Social Pro's podcast with Qualcomm's influencer marketing director Rachel's book recommendation Becoming Hardcover BookObama, Michelle (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon

Andrew Kamphey curates insightful articles each week as the editor of Influence Weekly. He has lately turned his editorial lens to encompass all of the creator economy. Creating lists and charts that explore different aspects of influencer marketing. Andrew has been working as a content creator for ten years, five of which spent on cruise ships as a videographer as well as working in the LA Film and TV industries. Andrew is currently traveling Southeast Asia. Show highlights 1:35 Andrew introduces himself, Influence Weekly and how he got started. 5:22 The different ways creators can create money online. 11:15 How Instagram photographers monetize. 13:38 The platforms that are the most lucrative for creators. 15:38 How many content creators are making a full-time living. 18:56 The projected financial growth of influencer marketing. 21:51 Andrew's advice on anyone starting out and looking to monetize. 23:25 Are we in the golden age of influencer earnings? 27:14 Where Andrew sees influencer marketing heading in the next 12 months and the next five years. 30:25 The one book Andrew recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Influence Weekly Influence Directory RewardStyle Lost LeBlanc SecondLife Andrew's book recommendation Last Chance to See Adams, Douglas (Author)English (Publication Language)240 Pages - 10/13/1992 (Publication Date) - Ballantine Books (Publisher) View on Amazon

Harry Hugo co-founded influencer-first marketing agency, Goat, in 2015 and since then the company has grown from 3 to 120 staff in three years, with offices in London, New York, Singapore and Monaco and has worked with brands including BBC Sport, New Look and Malibu. As Chief Campaign Officer Harry oversees campaign success, ensuring the strategic fit of influencers with wider brand goals. Harry set up his first business when he was 16, a football fan site network with 60 websites and over 500 global writers. He was then invited to write for Liverpool’s official website as an influential blogger. He then became Head of Social at Sportlobster by 18 during which built relationships with every major influencer in the UK. Show highlights 1:35 Harry introduces himself, Goat and how they got started. 3:58 Human to human marketing. Goat isn't a tech platform. 6:58 Where the current opportunities are for influencer marketing. 9:50 Vlogging on LinkedIn. 12:07 Harry's view on influencer marketing platforms. 14:03 Instagram potentially removing the visibility of engagement. 15:58 On the Tools and the opportunity for niche content and audiences at scale. 17:57 Which part of a brand's budget are new influencer agencies like Goat getting? 18:40 The industries Goat predominantly work in. 19:57 Working with influencers in Formula E. 24:04 Harry's advice to someone looking to grow their own brand in social media in 2019. 25:57 Where Harry sees the future of influencer marketing in the next 12 months and the next five years. 28:57 The one book that Harry recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Goat agency Goat's vlog on LinkedIn Influencer marketing platforms Arron Shepherd on LinkedIn On The Tools Ste's podcast with Chris Henley Ste's podcast with Chris Stokel-Walker Formula E Zac and Jay show crash The Drum Awards Harry's book recommendation Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How To Tell Your Story In A Noisy Social World Jab Jab Jab Right Hook How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social WorldHardcover BookVaynerchuk, Gary (Author) View on Amazon

Rand Fishkin is the founder of SparkToro and was previously co-founder of Moz and Inbound.org. He’s dedicated his professional life to helping people do better marketing through the Whiteboard Friday video series, his blog, and his book, Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World. When Rand’s not working, he’s most likely to be in the company of his partner in marriage and (mostly petty) crime, author Geraldine DeRuiter. If you feed him great pasta or great whisky, he’ll give you the cheat code to rank #1 on Google. Show highlights 1:51 Rand introduces himself, his background and what he's up to at SparkToro. 3:59 Moving from an SEO specific role at Moz to a broader influence-related one with SparkToro. 5:43 Going beyond Instagram and YouTube and taking a holistic view of how people are influenced. 15:05 Rand's Twitter algorithm experiment where he found it prioritizes comments over retweets and likes. 17:37 If Instagram hides likes will it impact third-party companies that depend on using them for data? 22:42 Ste asks Rand if he thinks we're moving into an era where 'traditional' disciplines are merging. 26:03 Keeping up to date with SEO changes and trends is a daily practice. 27:09 Influence... not Influencers. Rand's presentation on why the current field of influencer marketing is too narrow. 31:58 Rand's advice on building a brand in an era of where we're up against the search and social algorithms. 34:44 Influencer marketing in the B2B space. 39:15 The algorithmic censorship of reach. 42:50 The one book Rand recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast SparkToro Rand on Twitter Rand's book, Lost and Founder Rand's wife, Geraldine, wins James Beard Award Engagement analysis of Facebook Live and YouTube watch times vs podcast listen times Jack Dorsey wouldn't introduce the like button if we was starting again Instagram creator accounts Instagram is testing hiding likes Rand's Slideshare deck - Influence... Not Influencers No-click searches SparkToro's trending section Rand's To Retweet or Not To Retweet flowchart Student mocked on Tinder now modelling Asos dress Rand's book recommendation No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work Hardcover BookFosslien, Liz (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon

Chris Stokel-Walker is a British journalist whose work regularly appears in WIRED, The Economist and Newsweek. He is known for breaking major news about YouTube and often reports on the site for television, radio and podcasts. For YouTubers he has travelled around the world, attending YouTube events and speaking to behind-the-camera producers and powerbrokers, including key creators and talent managers. The Atlantic’s Taylor Lorenz has said: “No one understands the intricacies of YouTube like Chris Stokel-Walker. His reporting on the platform and its creators has been groundbreaking and unparalleled. He captures stories about how YouTube shapes modern life in ways you would have never thought of.” Show highlights 1:45 Chris introduces himself and why he wrote the book. 4:00 YouTube the cultural phenomenon in numbers. 7:03 The traditional media's understanding of YouTube. 12:12 Niche content creators on the YouTube platform. 15:49 YouTube as a search engine. 17:37 Is YouTube moving away from the creator space to be more like Netflix? 21:50 Is there still an opportunity to grow a YouTube channel from scratch today? 24:35 Chris gets called out by YouTube sensation, Casey Neistat. 28:37 YouTubers growing out of their online personas as they get older. 34:25 Chris's predictions for the future of YouTube for the next twelve months and the next five years. 38:45 The one book (other than his own) Chris recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast YouTubers: How YouTube shook up TV and created a new generation of stars. (Amazon) Logan Paul MrBeast Ultimate Handyman Moorsey Scratchcards Lofty Pursuits YouTube Adpocalypse Casey Neistat calling out Chris's Bloomberg article Chris's Bloomberg article Charlie McDonnell Parasocial relationships TwitchCon Europe Everybody Lies book Chris's book recommendation Price of Paradise Hardcover BookEnglish (Publication Language)Quercus Publishing (Publisher) View on Amazon

With a passion for technology, marketing and sales, Aron Levin co-founded the leading global influencer marketing agency Relatable in 2015. As Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer at Relatable, Aron is leading Relatable's rapid expansion across its offices in Stockholm, London, New York and Los Angeles. Working with clients like Heineken, Google, Chiquita and Ralph Lauren, Relatable is rapidly changing the modern digital media landscape for Fortune 500 consumer brands, brave startups and the 10 million creators in their network. Aron is also known for his background at King Digital Entertainment (Maker of Candy Crush and 100+ other games) where he led Advertising Operations and in his role as Director Growth at music-streaming service Spotify. Aron is also the author of The Influencer Marketing Handbook and The 2019 Content Marketing Calendar. He lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and two kids. Show highlights 2:30 Aron introduces himself, his background and the co-founding of Relatable. 3:50 The decentralization of attention and the fragmentation of the media. 6:58 The founding of Relatable in Sweden and influencer marketing in the US. 10:55 Lessons from Coachella. How social media is changing popular culture. 15:50 The democratization of celebrity. 19:37 Are influencer marketing platforms disrupting the traditional agency model? 21:05 Aron's thoughts on Spotify moving into podcasting and the podcasting industry in general. 25:56 Instagram testing hiding likes and why this is the evolution of the platform. 32:12 Instagram inviting influencers to test creator app. 33:59 Aron's thoughts on the current state of IGTV. 36:48 The biggest pain points for brands getting into influencer marketing. 39:50 Where Aron sees the influencer marketing industry heading in the next twelve months and the next five years. 44:35 Why distribution power is more important than building a brand. 51:43 The one book (or three books) Aron recommends everyone should read. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Relatable Aron on LinkedIn Coachella Killed Music Spotify's podcasting acquisitions Podcast strategies for Spotify Instagram is testing hiding likes Instagram is inviting some users to try creator accounts The New York Times internal memo about BuzzFeed Black Swan by Nicholas Taleb The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan Deep Work by Cal Newport Aron's book recommendation Willpower Doesn't Work: Discover the Hidden Keys to Success Hardcover BookHardy, Benjamin (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon

Podcasting has been around for a while but is finally coming into its own. This second era of the genre is becoming more professional and, with advertising revenue pouring in, more lucrative too. For a long time, podcasting remained on the sidelines where other mediums like video began to flourish. "Why would anyone prefer to listen when they can watch?" people said. When in actual fact, there are many reasons why you'd pick a podcast over video and the data proves it. Like building a brand with a blog, podcasting is a long-term play and requires a 'marathon, not a sprint' approach. In this podcast, I outline why you need a podcast to build a long-term online brand and the benefits of having one. Very meta. Show highlights 1:54 The ease of use of launching a podcast today. 4:30 Like blogging, you have to take a long-term approach with podcasting 5:00 Podcasting is the only truly mobile medium. 5:51 Podcast listening is a highly personal experience. 7:20 Podcast engagement is rates are through the roof. 9:58 Podcasts are long-form content. 11:47 Podcasts come in a variety of different formats. 13:13 Podcasts help you become a better communicator. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Spotify podcast acquisition The Rodecaster Pro all-in-one podcast kit 70% of all videos watched on YouTube are because of the recommendation algorithm Podcast listens are through the roof compared with Facebook and YouTube Why you need a blog to build a long-term brand

Looking to build an online brand for the long term? Want to develop a platform that will increase in brand (and monetary) value over time? Don't want to be at the whims of an algorithm change? Then you need a blog. "Aren't blogs outdated?" some might say and they'd be wrong. Blogs have been around for over twenty years and as the software continues to develop they've gone from being an online diary used by tech geeks to becoming media publishing machines. If you're serious about building an online brand for the next ten years at least then you need a blog. In this podcast, I tell you why you're wasting time on social media and the seven reasons why you need to build your blog brand. Show highlights 1:13 Long-term. Why you have to think of the long-term. 3:12 Ownership. You need to own as much as your online platform as possible. 4:50 Build your empire. You can have your own mini media empire. 6:53 Perennial content. Create content that will serve you for months and even years. 11:07 Sell yourself. A blog is the best platform to sell your expertise and services. 12:20 Develop relationships. Build a platform to lead with value and bring other people up first. 14:30 Create a sellable asset. If you own it you can sell it. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast Social media algorithms Ryan Holiday's Perennial Seller Naval Ravikant's tweet storm Empire Flippers

Lisa Targett is UK General Manager of TRIBE, the self-serve marketplace that connects brands with everyday people to celebrate them through beautiful content. Lisa joined TRIBE from Mail Advertising where she was responsible for 65% of the publisher's UK digital revenue, after successfully establishing their standalone commercial operation in Sydney.  Within her first year at the helm, TRIBE UK’s revenues have soared beyond forecast - accounting for over 65% of global revenues and showing no signs of slowing. TRIBE now sees over £175,000 worth of branded content flow through the platform every day.  In recognition of such achievements, she has been named in The Drum’s #50Under30 and named one of Diversity Journal's Women Worth Watching in 2018. She is widely acknowledged as a thought-leader within Marketing & Advertising, delivering keynotes at Decoded, Millennial2020, PRWeek, Ad:Tech and frequently commenting on industry news for The Drum, Campaign & Business Insider. She also sits on the Wholeinfluence Council and is a member of the IAB's Future Trends and Content & Native Advisory groups - each designed to create, maintain, and define standards in the influencer marketing industry. Founded in Australia in September 2015, and launched in the UK in April 2017, TRIBE has connected over 11,500 brands with 50,000 influencers generating 650,000 pieces of branded content globally for the likes of Unilever, Amazon, Topshop, American Express, Selfridges, Mars and Diageo.  Show highlights 2:03 Lisa introduces herself and TRIBE 9:50 Is the industry saturated? 11:25 Price points and apps. How TRIBE works with influencers. 14:23 Influencer marketplace or influencer platform? 16:04 Macro-influencer or micro-influencers? 20:15 Who owns influencer marketing within a company? 23:25 The visual aesthetic. Why people follow creators on Instagram. 26:25 The democratization of advertising: "The world's advertising can be generated by the very people it's designed to attract." 29:50 Is influencer marketing disrupting the marketing industry? 31:30 Lush UK announcement. Is this the beginning of a new trend? 33:39 Is it cost-effective for brands to use influencers? 37:29 Instagram the most interesting platform for the foreseeable future. 41:47 Where Lisa see the influencer marketing industry in the next twelve months and the next five years. 47:00 The one book Lisa recommends everybody reads. Resources/people/articles mentioned in the podcast TRIBE Lisa on Instagram Lisa on Twitter Lisa on LinkedIn The Drum 50 Under 30 Ste's podcast with Mat Spade Lisa's book recommendation Attached: The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help YouFind - and Keep - Love Attached The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find And Keep LoveLevine, Amir (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon

Alex is an experienced television presenter, having joined Sky Sports in 2003.  He has fronted their rugby union coverage for the last decade as well as presenting tennis, poker and on Sky Sports News and Sky News. Based on a true insight, he has developed and launched The Influence Room, which connects brands and people of influence over mutually beneficial opportunities.  Alex has a strong understanding of the fast-changing media landscape and the world of the influencer. Show highlights 1:35 Alex introduces himself, The Influence Room and his role there. 6:40 "Less gym monkeys and more tastemakers." The types of influencers The Influence Room has on its platform. 9:28 Influencers should be thinking about the long term. 11:48 The blurring of celebrity and social media influencer. 16:10 90% of brand deals on The Influence Room don't involve the exchange of money. 18:56 Do influencer marketing platforms are disrupting the traditional agency model? 20:35 Traditional media influencers vs social media influencers. Where does the most value lie? 23:00 Influencers have to take brands across multiple channels to be the most relevant and interesting for the long term. 24:00 Where Alex thinks the future of influencer marketing is heading in the next twelve months and the next five years. 29:18 The one book Alex recommends everyone should read. Resources/People/Articles mentioned in the podcast The Influence Room Alex on Twitter House of Rugby iTunes | YouTube Alex's book recommendation Breath PICADORTim Winton (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon

Adam (Sven) has over 18 years of media experience with seven of those at Spotify where he was the 4th person in the UK to join. The last three and a half years at Spotify Adam was the managing director for the UK, Ireland and Benelux. He decided to leap into the rapidly growing influencer marketing space and that is where he joined Takumi as Chief Revenue Officer at the start of 2018. Sven’s main focus is to drive Takumi’s revenue strategy across all markets (UK, Germany, US) and to find new revenue streams to keep Takumi as the market leading Instagram influencer platform. Show highlights 1:46 Adam introduces himself, Takumi and his role there. 3:21 Moving from the music industry to the influencer industry. 5:55 Why Takumi is focussed specifically on Instagram over other social channels. 6:57 Instagram vs YouTube. Why influencer marketing is flourishing on the Instagram platform. 9:31 Will Instagram's new in-app shopping feature be big for e-commerce? 11:40 Big ticket or small ticket items. Which sells best on Instagram? 15:00 What makes a good Instagram influencer? 17:24 Will Instagram (Facebook Inc.) throttle the organic reach on the platform like what happened with Facebook business pages? 20:38 Will IGTV become a success in the long term? 22:40 Instagram influencer fraud. Are we over the worst of it? 26:18 Where Adam thinks the future of influencer marketing is headed in the next 12 months and next five years. 29:10 The one book Adam recommends everyone should read. Resources/People/Articles mentioned in the podcast Takumi Adam on LinkedIn Adam's new CEO role announcement The Influencer Marketing Awards Instagram in-app purchase roll out Instagram pods Casey Neistat Adam's book recommendation The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses The Lean StartupHardcover BookRies, Eric (Author) View on Amazon

Over the last few weeks, there have been a number of examples of where building a brand online (whether you're an individual or a company) in the long term requires owning (as opposed to renting) as much of your own online real estate as possible. Whether that's the recent Instagram outage, bloggers neglecting their blogs for Instagram, Amazon slashing royalties or YouTube demonetizing creators, the best long-term approach is to use social media platforms but don't be totally dependent on them In this podcast I chat with Scott Guthrie on what influencers, organizations and anyone else looking to build a brand online should do for the long-term. Show highlights 0:32 Ste introduces Scott and topic of podcast. 4:04 "What's the shelf life of an influencer?" Why content creators should be thinking about the long-term. 9:00 Influencers should think of themselves as brands and become platform agnostic. 13:34 Starting with an owned base using WordPress. 17:45 Why it's better to sell on your own site than on social media. 19:38 Brands can use their own platforms and marketing and PR power to incentivise influencers to work with them. 24:27 A whole new ecosystem will build up around supporting influencers. 27:28 Why Scott and Ste is long on influencer marketing. 29:02 Why personal branding isn't a dirty term. Resources/People/Articles mentioned in the podcast Scott's blog Scott on Twitter Will Smith's Bucket List WordPress FAANGS Tom Peters 40% of startups aren't AI

Matthew Spade is a 33-year-old full-time freelance within the lifestyle and travel industry, with 10 years of experience with various job roles in the fashion industry. He live in Lancashire, UK with his wife, who also works in the creative industry. Mat says as a content creator, from blogging and styling to interior design and travel photography, no week is the same. "I like to think I have built up a strong reputation within my industry of being consistent, down to earth and enthusiastic about what I do — from this I have crafted a set of skills which brands really seem to like as well as my easy-going approach to sharing my life." Show highlights 1:56 Mat introduces himself and how he got started as a content creator. 8:35 Transitioning from blogging to micro-blogging on Instagram. 10:43 From packaging design to fashion. The types of topics Mat covers in his content. 13:19 The types of brand collaborations Mat does (and doesn't do). 18:30 Where brand collaborations come from. Influencer marketing platforms, Instagram the 'shop window' and building a network. 22:30 Will platforms like Instagram begin to throttle organic reach and should content creators be building their brands elsewhere? 26:30 The advice Mat would give to someone who wants to become a full-time content creator. 29:10 Where influencer marketing is headed in the future. 31:01 The one book that Mat recommends everyone should read. Resources/People/Articles mentioned in the podcast Buckets & Spades (Matthew's blog) Matthew on Instagram Matthew on Twitter Matthew on Pinterest Ste's interview with Kamiu Lee Influencer Monocle magazine Matthew's book recommendation The Tipping Point, How Little Things Can Make a Difference tippinghow to little thingdifference View on Amazon

Tami Nealy is the VP of Communications at influencer marketing platform, Find Your Influence. Tami began her career working in professional sports before transitioning to the corporate world. During her seven years leading the corporate communications team at LifeLock, she executed hundreds of interviews as a corporate spokesperson, launched a partnership with the FBI’s Law Enforcement Education Development Association and helped lead the company to IPO. Following this, she pivoted to supporting education technology organizations before joining Find Your Influence in August 2018. At Find Your Influence she is responsible for the development and execution of all internal and external communication strategies and corporate messaging. Show highlights 1:52 Tami introduces herself, her background and her role at Find Your Influence. 5:13 What influencer relations is and how it differs from influencer marketing. 9:12 Isn't influencer relations an evolution of media relations? 10:35 Influencer relations vs influencer marketing. Which has the greater demand? 15:05 How the PR industry is adapting to working with social media influencers. 18:53 Is influencer relations more for B2B influencers who don't monetize their platforms with sponsored content? 20:27 Where Tami sees the influencer industry heading in the next twelve months and next five years. 23:30 The one book that Tami recommends everyone should read. Resources/People/Articles mentioned in podcast Find Your Influence Lifelock There's Not An App For That Tami on LinkedIn Tami's book recommendation There's Not an App for That: Communication Skills to Become an Irreplaceable Leader Pfeffer, Cary (Author)English (Publication Language)184 Pages - 12/22/2015 (Publication Date) - Wise Ink (Publisher) View on Amazon

This week's podcast is on the new ACTIVATE research where the influencer marketing platform interviewed more than 110 marketing professionals focused on the influencer marketing space to "gauge their views on the most topical discussions in the world of influencer marketing today including fraud, unconventional influencers, and sponsorship saturation." The report is called Double or Nothing. Betting Big on Influencer Marketing and I speak with ACTIVATE CEO, Kamiu Lee, about the research findings. In this podcast we cover a lot of ground so you’re not going to want to miss it. We cover everything from the KPIs brands are prioritizing when working with influencers, the number of influencers brands are typically working with, how they're re-leveraging influencer content on their own channels and in paid social and much more. Show highlights 2:57 Kamiu introduces the report. 5:09 The most important KPIs brands use when measuring influencer marketing success. 9:11 Why brands are working with a greater number of influencers per campaign. 11:26 Are brands focusing on working with micro-influencers at scale over working with mid-tier and macro-influencers? 13:45 Brands preferring to work with nano-influencers and influencer duos over CGI and pet influencers. 16:37 Beyond the sponsored post. The ways in which brands are working with influencers. 18:57 Influencers are becoming 'micro-studios.' 19:55 Why influencers say no to brand partnerships. 24:42 When influencers promote products unrelated to their audience. 26:45 Brands are taking fraud more seriously this year compared to last. 33:27 Brands are leveraging influencer content by repurposing it organically and using paid social. 41:35 Will influencers have to build their own 'tech stack' to accommodate the greater complexity of working with brands? 43:08 Marketing spend on brand activation. Benefits of paid vs non paid. Resources/People/Articles mentioned in podcast Double or Nothing. Betting Big on Influencer Marketing ACTIVATE Kamiu on Twitter Kamiu on LinkedIn

Ben Jeffries is a 23-year-old entrepreneur, specialising in influencer marketing and social media. Ben founded his second company, Influencer, at 18 and has since driven it to become an industry-leading business in marketing's hottest sector, raising their first round of investment on Crowdcube in under 24 hours. Ben has since partnered up with YouTube sensation Caspar Lee as a co-founder and appointed him CMO, whilst leading his team to close a further £500k investment round for Influencer. Ben was recently named Media Week’s Rising Star and UK Tech Founder of the Year 2018 at the BMW i UK Tech Founder Awards. Show highlights 1:54 Ben introduces himself, his company Influencer, how he got started and his role as CEO. 5:06 How the Influencer platform works. 8:14 The clients Influencer works with along with in-house and agency split. 9:21 The influencer marketing landscape in the UK. 12:31 The Competition and Markets Authority's influencer marketing guidelines. 16:35 The benefits of working with influencers across different channels. 20:39 How much do the social networks value influencers and content creators on their platforms. 21:44 Influencer marketing in the B2B space. 22:55 How Ben sees the future of influencer marketing over the next 12 months and the next five years. 26:40 Future plans for Influencer. 27:23 The one book Ben recommends everyone should read. Resources/People/Articles mentioned in podcast Influencer Caspar Lee The CMA influencer marketing guidelines Captify Grace Beverley YouTube launches Stories feature Blue Ocean Strategy Ben's book recommendation Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant Harvard Business Review PressHardcover BookKim, W. Chan (Author) View on Amazon Transcript Ste Davies: Ben, welcome to the podcast. Ben Jeffries: Thank you very much for having me on the podcast. Really excited to be here. SD: Delighted to have you on. To start off with, can you give us some background on yourself, your company, Influencer and your role as CEO there. BJ: Of course, so I started the company back in 2015 but the brainwave for the company obviously came before then. When I was younger than I am now, I had a clothing company called Breeze and essentially I wanted to make it the next big thing. I always thought that if celebrities wore my clothes that would really help. However I couldn't afford any celebrities nor did I know any celebrities. So, I'm a massive Chelsea football fan - sorry if that offends anyone who's listening - but I reached out to quite a few Chelsea reserve teams players on social media. These guys had around 10 or 15 thousand followers on Twitter and I basically said, "If I give you fifty quid would you mind posting a tweet wearing my clothes?" So I started working with not just Chelsea reserve teams players but other reserve team players from up and down the country. I branched out to models, fitness bloggers and all these people who had, you know, a very small following on social media but had some influence. And while I was building up this network I thought, "OK, other brands can benefit from this network as well." So I decided that even though Breeze was really cool and I was loving it there'll be much more success in the future from launching an agency which connects brands with these influential content creators. I decided to put Breeze to one side and launch what Influencer is today and this was back in 2015.

Christopher Henley manages and runs the Influencer Marketing Show and the inaugural Influencer Marketing Awards which take place in London the 22nd and 23rd of October this year. He also has input into the delegate acquisition side of operations and as such speaks to brands from around the globe as well and the many agencies and platforms within th industry. He is originally from the hospitality industry and having used content creators 9 years ago to promote a new restaurant he was the manager of in Bristol he has seen how things have drastically changed within the industry. His wife is a content creator and as such sees things from a creator perspective on a frequent basis. You can find Christopher on both LinkedIn and Twitter. Show highlights 1:35 Chris introduces himself, The Influencer Marketing Show and The Influencer Marketing Awards. 3:18 What senior management and influencer marketing platforms to see in the influencer marketing industry for it to progress. 5:04 Chris talks about this year's Influencer Marketing Show and what he has planned. 7:12 The use of technology in influencer marketing. 8:57 The growing use of CGI influencers. 13:32 Why influencer marketing and performance marketing go together. 15:31 The current state and evolution of influencer marketing. 17:16 Influencer fraud. 19:05 Brands ahead of the curve in influencer marketing. 22:47 Chris's predictions on the future of influencer marketing. 27:12 The one book Chris recommends everyone should read. Resources/People/Articles mentioned in podcast The Influencer Marketing Show The Influencer Marketing Awards Goat Agency Formula E Amazon Influencer program Lego popup shop Fourth Floor Creative Chris's book recommendation Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche VINTAGEMurakami, Haruki (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon Podcast transcript Ste Davies: Chris, welcome to the podcast. Chris Henley: Evening, Stephen, how are you? SD: I'm really good, thanks. I'm glad we got to do this because we've been planning it for a couple of weeks. CH: Yes, we've both been incredibly busy so thank you for being incredibly patient. SD: My pleasure, my pleasure. So, to kick off with can you give us some background about yourself, The Influencer Marketing Show you're involved in and also The Influencer Marketing Awards and what your role is there? CH: Indeed, my background is predominantly hospitality. I did that at university and worked in a range of hotels and really enjoyed the events scene like conference, banqueting and weddings. I did that for a few years then went into the restaurant industry and that's my first experience of influencer marketing. We used to invite them along to openings of restaurants and what have you. I got fed up with the hours because they're shocking working within that industry so decided to work for the company here where I manage and run The Influencer Marketing Show and The Influencer Marketing Awards. My role is split. I obviously speak to agencies, platforms and the tech providers to find out more about what they're doing in the industry. And help them have a presence at the events, whether that's speaking or sponsorship. I also like to find out what they do within the influencer marketing industry as it gives me that insight as to what's happening. Another massive responsibility I have is the delegate acquisition. So it's my responsibility to speak with senior management in a wide range of companies ...

Albane Flamant is marketing manager at Talkwalker, where she coordinates the brand presence's in the United States, from influencer relationships to content marketing. She lives on Twitter and works with social media experts from all over the world on white papers and webinars about new technologies and digital trends. She always has at least one book in her purse and has lived in 6 different countries over the last 12 years. Today we discuss the recently released State of Global Influencer Marketing report by Talkwalker which includes a number of interesting insights. You can reach out to Albane on Twitter (@AlbaneFlamant). Show highlights 2:05 Albane introduces herself and Talkwalker. 2:52 Key findings from the global state of influencer marketing research. 4:35 Respondents rank influencer marketing as a top strategic priority for 2019. 6:37 Influencer marketing in the media. 9:07 The average number of influencers brands are working with. 15:38 The younger generation's favourite social platforms. 18:01 Increase in budgets for influencer marketing in 2019. 19:35 Albane introduces Influencer One, Talkwalker's new influencer marketing platform. 24:50 Brands are on a quest for authenticity both in how they present themselves and from the influencers they work with. 27:35 Influencer marketing as a competitor advantage. 30:49 The future of influencer marketing. 33:18 Influencer marketing and B2B brands. 36:22 The one book Albane recommends. Resources/People/Articles mentioned in podcast The report Talkwalker Influencer One TikTok Forrester New Wave report Payless fake store stunt Albane's book recommendation AI For Marketers: An Introduction and Primer: Second Edition Amazon Kindle EditionPenn, Christopher (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon Transcript Ste Davies: Albane, welcome to the podcast. Albane Flamant: Thank you, it's a pleasure to be here. SD: Glad to have you on. Can you give us some background about yourself, Talkwalker, the company you work for and what you do there? AF: Of course, my name is Albane Flamant, I'm Belgian which you can probably tell by my accent. I have a diverse background in journalism and international relations but I've always been fascinating by the social media ecoystem from social networks to social messaging. That's how I ended up at Talkwalker. I've been for the company for three and a half years and for those who don't know us, we're a social listening analytics platform. We help brands and agencies all over the world protect their reputation, measure the reputation of their communications initiatives and promote their brand. Right now I'm based in New York and I'm the marketing manager for the United States. SD: Now, I know that you've had a busy couple of weeks because you have recently conducted a research piece on the Global State of Influencer Marketing in 2019. Let's talk about that. Who was surveyed and what were the key findings from the research? AF: Yeah, this survey has been my pet project for a while now. Because every year we do a social media trends article where we ask social media experts to give us their predictions for the next year and influencer marketing is that buzzword that came back every year. Based on what we saw with our clients and the feeling in the industry we felt like we were still in the experimentation phase for brands. At Talkwalker we have a very strong community. We have over 2,000 clients and lots of people using our free tools so it's a nice community of PRs and marketing profession...

Kamiu Lee is the CEO of influencer marketing company, ACTIVATE which helps brands and influencers identify opportunities to partner together and tell engaging and compelling stories across social media, at scale. In the last 12 months, ACTIVATE has engaged over 75,000 influencers, from nano-influencers to macro-creators, publishing more than 6,500 pieces of collaborated content per month. Kamiu is an expert in the field of influencer marketing and is frequently quoted and interviewed in publications such as Fortune, Entrepreneur, Digiday, PR Week, eMarketer, BusinessInsider, The Business of Fashion and more. Show highlights 1:04 Kamiu introduces ACTIVATE. 3:32 The current trends with influencers and content creators. 6:25 The main social platforms where brand collaborations are taking place. 16:04 Where influencer marketing sits within the wider marketing industry. 21:08 Influencer fraud and what to do it about it. 27:044 The professionalisation of influencers. 33:15 To work with nano-influencers or micro-influencers or both? 35:00 Where a brand should start in influencer marketing. 39:45 Where someone should start if they want to become an influencer. 45:43 The future of influencer marketing. Resources/People/Articles mentioned in podcast ACTIVATE INFLUENCE blog Bloglovin' The Blonde Salad The Skinny Confidential The Snowball The Outsiders Kamiu's book recommendation The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success Amazon Kindle EditionThorndike, William (Author)English (Publication Language) View on Amazon Podcast transcript Stephen Davies: Kamiu, welcome to the podcast. Kamiu Lee: Thank you. Thanks for having me. SD: Glad to have you on. Can you give us some background on ACTIVATE, what it is, how it got started and what you guys do? KL: Yeah sure. At ACTIVATE we are an influencer marketing technology and strategy company. So what that means is we have both a fully end to end platform that supports everything from influencer discovery, workflow management, influencer relationship management - a CRM to keep track of all your relationships with different creators, as well as measurement and amplification of that content to the right audience. On the strategy side of things, we have what we call ACTIVATE Studio. We have a team of in-house influencer specialists ranging from folks who started working with digital creators since the very beginning when it started out with macro much larger creators. Today we tap these micro and nano-influencers as well in very scaled programs. Where we started out vis-a-vis a lot of the other influencer marketing players that have popped up in recent years, we actually started out quite some time ago as Bloglovin' which is an influencer platform that started about ten years ago for bloggers and a way for them to discover great content that the community was publishing. Bloglovin' continues to be our owned and operated media platform and is a way for us to promote and co-partner with creators within our network. In our mind, as a company we're really built around the influencer so from a content, promotional and audience development standpoint on the Bloglovin side to various brand partnership opportunities, whether it's financial monetisation through sponsored content or organic relationships with brands as well, that's what the ACTIVATE platform really helps to support so we are really influencer centric as a company. SD: So you guys really cover the full spectrum of the influencer landscape.

"SEO cannot be done in isolation"

As the world gets smaller it also gets more complex. Technology is bringing people closer together while at the same time distancing others. To navigate this landscape requires a particular set of communication skills. Skills that you acquire and perfect over a lifetime. Some of these skills are as old as humankind. Others have been brought on by the advent of technology and require new learnings. They're skills that, when stacked up on top of one another, can turn you into a Master Communicator. To be an effective communicator in the digital era you have to develop a Communications Stack. Scott Adams of Dilbert fame developed what he calls The Talent Stack, which is loosely defined as the set of individual skills you acquire to make you unique in the marketplace. We can apply this model to communications too. Acquiring communication skills and stacking them on top one another can mean the difference between success and failure. Good communication is important regardless of what you do in life. You need it to get on with other people, to make your case in disagreements and to help you put forward your wants and needs. The difference in good communication and bad communication can mean losing a relationship, losing a business contract or being misunderstood. The top 10 skills you need to effectively communicate now and in the future. Collectively these skills can help you become a Master Communicator and futureproof you for the increasingly complex world ahead. And they are? 1. Written communication Despite moving into a more visual-based media world, mastery of the written word will remain as important as ever. People will always read and the demand for well-written content will continue. Structuring sentences well, knowing how to craft an article, how to write up an interview and how to create written content for each social platform will continue to be an in-demand skill for the foreseeable future. 2. Verbal communication Knowing how to articulate yourself when speaking is important for all walks of life. Some people are naturally adept at public speaking whereas others have to work on it. Demosthenes of Athens, an ancient Greek, was known as a master orator but that wasn't always the case. He was naturally weak both verbally and physically so as a young man worked on both his speaking skills and bodily strength. Nothing can invoke more emotion both in you and your audience than verbal communication. Churchill was right, learn oratory skills and you too can become a king (or queen). 3. Nonverbal communication Did you know 65 percent of all interpersonal communication is nonverbal? What your body says is often more important than what comes out of your mouth. Understanding nonverbal communication not only allows you to read other people but can also help you know how to present yourself when dealing with others. If you want to remain open, don't fold your arms or point your feet away from the other person. If you don't want to seem nervous, don't rub your body or grab the back of your neck with your hand. Read the best book on nonverbal communication, What Every BODY is Saying by ex-FBI agent, Joe Navarro, to understand what people say is often not what they're thinking. 4. Social psychology If you want to communicate better with other people, you have to understand what motivates and moves them. To do this requires a basic understanding of social psychology. Why do people conform to a certain group? Do they aspire to social status? Have they had any experiences in the past which affect how they think now? You don't have to be a Freud or a Jung, but some basic principles will allow you to understand the other person and ultimately be able to help them. Charlie Munger's The Psychology of Human Misjudgement is a great place to start. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqzcCfUglws 5. Emotional intelligence

Rob John is a senior manager at the not-for-profit Content Marketing Association. Previously to joining the CMA, he had a stint working in the Middle East, spent six years at Global Radio working on national campaigns for well-known stations such as Heart, Capital, Classic FM and Smooth and worked for an award-winning content agency where he headed up the digital PR department Most recently Rob joined the CMA to help the organisation highlight best practices in content marketing and showcase them via their membership and awards. Podcast transcription. Stephen Davies: Rob, welcome to the podcast. Rob John: Thanks for having me. SD: So, content marketing. It's a relatively new term and relatively new industry so for people that don't know, what is content marketing exactly? RJ: We are in a bit of a transition with content marketing and we're getting over the hurdle because content is everything you create for an audience whether it's a video or something for an influencer to run with or a microsite that will house FAQs. That would all come under the content blanket so content marketing is something you created for an audience, preferably your audience. So basically that's how it has a lot of confusion around it because a lot of people might think, "Yeah we do influencer marketing" or "We do video" but you're creating content for your audience so you're in the content marketing industry. SD: And everything we do in this day and age particularly with online, digital and social is content. Is that part of your role at the Content Marketing Association, to educate the media on what content marketing is? RJ: Yeah definitely. Even in my brief time at the Content Marketing Association, I've been speaking to a lot of people who have been more traditionally in marketing for the last 15 or 20 years whether that be PR, advertising or marketing. What they've told me is that there's been a lot of change in how they come up with ideas. So it used to be a case where the editor or programme controller would give someone the brief and then the marketing team would go away, create a couple of ideas and then come back and pitch to the editor of the programme controller. Now it's different, these teams are made up of maybe an editor, a couple of people in the marketing team, maybe a PR team, a graphic designer and these ideas are being shaped from an earlier inception really. And I liken it to a CSR - people always say CSR works best when you get the people who care about the end goal from the beginning. We all know that CSR works best when you're in it from the beginning and you can actually shape the industry. And that's what the thing with content is, we've noticed with a lot of our members the teams are now made up of a lot more different people rather than the old form really. SD: Absolutely. You only have to look at what's gone in the PR, marketing and wider comms industry over the last ten years. More agencies have design departments, they have SEO departments, they have video production departments whereas ten 10/15 years ago that wasn't the case and everyone was kind of siloed to one particular discipline. But the media has fragmented so much that the old style of thinking and the old model wouldn't work in this day and age at all. RJ: No you're right and also, in terms of a revenue thing as well. Years ago you might have had a video production company or a company that created your infographics and now it shouldn't just stop there. If you're creating videos for someone now we're talking about how are you going to distribute them? It's not just good enough to create the video, you've got to have a team that works on the distribution side of things. Likewise for influencer marketing as well. That's such a hot topic and a lot of people withing influencer marketing has asked if it's PR or not PR. But if you take the influencer out of the equation and put a celebrity in,

Scott Guthrie is a former management consultant and digital director at global PR agency Ketchum specialising in influencer relations. Today he works with brands, agencies and platforms to generate meaningful results from smarter influencer marketing decisions. Scott offers best practice advice and implementation across the entire influencer marketing workflow. His blog sabguthrie.info has been designated a top 10 PR industry blog by Vuelio. When it comes to the growing field of influencer marketing and relations there is no one more clued up on the subject. Podcast transcription. Stephen Davies: Scott, welcome to the podcast. Scott Guthrie: Well that was a glowing introduction. Thank you very much. I hope you're recording this so I can play it back to my mum. SD. It's a pleasure. We'll get straight into it. In terms of the influencer marketing landscape, can you give us a topline overview of the current state of influencer marketing and where we're heading? SG: We're at an inflexion point. For the last three or four year, influencer marketing has enjoyed unprecedented growth. Last year, as a term, 'influencer marketing' was googled more than 'social media marketing' and the industry is forecast to be worth as much as $10bn by 2020. But there's a change in mood in the media in how it portrays influencer marketing. There have been years and years of column inches dedicated to praising influencer marketing but 'dog bites man' isn't a story but 'man bites dog' is a story and so increasingly influencer marketing is being shown as a bad actor. More and more stories are about influencer marketing fraud. Influencers failing to mark their posts as advertisements.  There's a conflation of terms with influencer advertising being used in the same breath as influencer marketing. Where's the industry heading? I think we've reached this point of having to improve it. We need to, as communicators, better plan and better measure campaign success. With increased influencer marketing spend there's a greater need to demonstrate return on investment. SD: Great. I think you're right, I think we are at an inflexion point as you rightly said and we're going through an era now where there is lots of negativity about influencer marketing. There are lots of negative articles in terms of whether it's to do with fraud or ethics or whether it's to do with actual return on investment in influencer marketing. People say we're very much still in the 'wild west' phase of influencer marketing and when you think about it agencies have been engaging with influencers for a long time whether that's a journalist or an analyst or a key opinion leader in healthcare. But this relatively new idea of brands engaging with everyday people who just happen to build up an influence through these social media platforms is still relatively new. Would you agree that we're in this wild west phase where everything is still up in the air and essentially everything is still up for grabs? SG: There has been unprecedented growth. I think with all of these nascent industries that experience these wonderful growth spurts there's always going to be growing pains as well. I think later in the conversation we're going to talk about Luka Sabbat and whether that shows whether we're still in the nascent phase or whether we're growing up. There's a lot of column inches this year that have been devoted to influencer fraud for instance and influencer fraud, for sure, is a thing. One in eight Instagram influencers in the UK has shown signs of having bought fake followers according to a Campaigndeus report; one in four influencers have shown signs of having bought fake engagement according to Social Chain. Influencer DB, an influencer marketing platform, puts the cost of influencer fraud at $500 million a year. Yeah, it's clearly a thing but I would sound a note of caution though from mainstream media from becoming too pious about this fraud.

If you're like me and you use Twitter you probably haven't given much thought to your approach to the platform over the last few years. Plagued by controversy and with zero growth, the future of Twitter was considered treacherous, to say the least. While it has remained popular with politicians, journalists and other elites, there's a growing sense of renaissance to the Twitter platform. Recent changes to its algorithm, character limit and the removal of automated bots are signalling a more rosy period for the platform. Indeed Twitter is surpassing Facebook and Google as the dominant place for news. This, in turn, is causing people like me to reconsider how I use it. In short, I need to up my game. It's easy to get stuck in a rut with how you use certain tools and platforms like Twitter. But if you're doing social media the same as you were even just a year then you are probably doing it wrong. Or, rather, not doing everything right. Below is a list of tactics that I'm currently deploying to up my Twitter game. Consider this a phase I strategy with phase II focusing more on tweet formats and other users. Feel free to use them or add your own in the comments. Clean your 'following' list The value of Twitter is in the people you follow. The more your followers contribute to the platform the more value you will get from it. If you've been using Twitter for a while you will have likely accumulated people you follow but don't engage with. Maybe it's because your focus has changed, perhaps it's because they rarely tweet or they might just use Twitter purely as a distribution channel for their links. These are accounts that add no value to your Twitter experience and will likely be pulling down your score in the Twitter algorithm. Give your Twitter follower list a clean to discover: Irrelevant Twitter accounts (inc those that don't follow you)Who hasn't tweeted in a whileWho is just tweeting links to their own platforms To do 1 and 2 you can use a service like Manageflitter which will help you identify these accounts easily. #1 Unfollow irrelevant Twitter accounts  If they are no longer relevant unfollow them. You may have followed some accounts when you were interested in a particular subject but are no more. Your Twitter follower list should evolve as you do and sometimes that means culling certain accounts you're no longer interested in. If this is the case, use one of the services mentioned above to identify and unfollow them. #2 Unfollow those who haven't tweeted recently Here you have to be a little ruthless. Accounts that rarely update or haven't been updated in a while are a lag on your algorithmic scoring. The less active your followers are the less average engagement you'll receive which impacts how the algorithm scores you. Even if they're family, friends or colleagues unfollow them which sounds pretty ruthless and cut-throat but the truth is if they rarely tweet then they probably don't care about Twitter anyway. How long does someone have to be inactive on Twitter before you unfollow them? I'm pretty harsh. If they haven't updated in two weeks they're gone. Twitter is real time so if you're not on there regularly then there's no value. #3 Unfollow those who use it just to tweet links to their own sites Unfollow any people that use their Twitter profile as a means to share links to their blog or company website. These are people who don't use Twitter as a platform to engage or to provide anything meaningful. Chances are if you tweeted to them they wouldn't see it as they don't check their replies. Block fake followers If your Twitter profile has a lot of fake accounts following you, it will drag your algorithm score down. Why? Because Twitter will assume you're trying to inflate your numbers to appear more influential than you are. Many people do this. Use a service like TwitterAudit to analyze how many of your followers it says are fak...

Robert Greene is back after a six-year hiatus with his latest book, The Laws of Human Nature. This is Greene's sixth bestseller, two of which I've reviewed here on the blog before. Both The 48 Laws of Power and Mastery should be on your reading list if you haven't read them. Greene hasn't disappointed this time around either. The Laws of Human Nature is the best book I read in 2018 and one of the best books I've read ever. The book is a perennial seller and in typical Greene style it contains social psychological lessons from human history you can use as a point of reference time and again. According to Greene, The Laws of Human Nature was around five years in the making. Although this could be him giving a nod to Law 16 in The 48 Laws of Power to "use absence to increase respect and honour." That said, with 624 pages, the book is dense and his most comprehensive one to date. Compared with Mastery (352 pages) and The 48 Laws (480 pages), both of which are not pamphlets themselves, The Laws of Human Nature is a long read. If you're interested in social psychology and understanding how thoughts and emotions control human behaviour you'll find it fascinating. Kudos to Greene on how much extensive and thorough research has gone into writing the book. I read the entire thing once and have gone back to re-read a few chapters again. I also bought the audiobook version to listen while I'm on the move. The Laws of Human Nature is one of those books you have to read multiple times to get a comprehensive understanding of all the laws included in it. What are Greene's Laws of Human nature, exactly? The Laws of Human Nature are the collection of forces that make us think, act and react the way we do. These forces include the particular wiring of our brains, the configuration of our nervous system, the way we process our emotions and moods, and the impact our upbringing and the groups we associate with have on us. All of which have developed and emerged over the course of the five million years in the evolution of our species. Our concept of free will is a myth and often what we say is not what we mean. The book goes well beyond the surface level of appearances and into deep psychological territory. Greene draws on the vast literature of psychology from the last 100 years from the likes of Freud, Yung, Klein, Kahneman, Nietzsche, Aronson and many others. He ties these psychological concepts in with historical figures and events including the likes of Coco Chanel, Lyndon Johnson, Napoleon, Martin Luther King Jr and many others. Greene has identified 18 laws of human nature, all of which are categorised into an individual chapter. He makes the point upfront that once you have an understanding of the laws of human nature you can address them dispassionately. Indeed, the first chapter is The Law of Irrationality with the key takeaway message being to understand how to be rational so it's to your advantage. Greene says by distancing yourself when someone acts against you, the situation can be examined without emotion to determine the deep unconscious motive behind it. As Schopenhauer who is quoted in the book noted. "If you come across any special trait of meanness or stupidity, you must be careful not to let it annoy or distress you but to look upon it merely as an addition to your knowledge. A new fact to be considered in studying the character of humanity. Your attitude towards it will be that of the mineralogist who stumbles across a very characteristic specimen of a mineral." Arthur Schopenhauer There are 18 chapters in total, each one outlining an individual law of human nature to help you become aware of each one in both yourself and in others. Greene's 18 laws of human nature are: IrrationalityNarcissismRoleplayingCompulsive behaviourCovetousness Shortsightedness Defensiveness Self-sabotage RepressionEnvy Grandiosity Gender rigidity Aimlessness ...

What is the future of social media? Where are we heading with social media, not just in the near term but long term, too? Have we hit a plateau or is the more to go? Has Facebook won the 'social media wars' or will a new disruptive technology come out of nowhere and blast it away? Social media is driven by people. Are we beginning to feel the fatigue? That 'always on' feeling, knowing that you're a few screen taps away from envy on Instagram or outrage on Twitter. The answer is, of course, the future of social media is a bright one. Maybe not for some of the social media platforms or indeed for some of its users, but media that has a social component to it will continue to flourish for the next ten to fifteen years at least. Why? Because the genie is barely out of the bottle. And in the ten short years of its mainstream existence, social media has helped facilitate revolutions, caused disruption in business and industry, made politics a public (and often global) debate and has (for better or worse) made a psychological impact on people who use it. In this short time, social media has made a profound impact on society and there is no reason why it won't continue. The future of social media is not about the evolution of the technology and "why you need to embrace video!" but is about the cultural changes to individuals and society. Below I've outlined six areas of what the future of social media is. These aren't a set of predictions for the year ahead. Instead, they are trends that I'm seeing without a timestamp. The future of social media is about influence Gary Vaynerchuk says he "day trades attention" because there is so much noise and content created on a daily basis, attention is the new currency. https://youtu.be/sLBdYEqd_vk I'd go one further than that as attention can be short-lived. People 'go viral' online all the time and often for the silliest things. This kind of attention is not wanted nor replicable. Having influence, however, means you can draw attention whenever you need it. Influence is the greatest form of attention you can have, which is why it takes much longer to develop. Once you've built trust with an audience it can last a lifetime provided you don't neglect or take that trust for granted. This is why the influencer marketing industry will take off over the next ten years as brands increasingly work with influencers over traditional forms of media. It's already happening in the luxury sector and there are lot of influencer marketing platforms launching that connect brands with content creators. Let me tell you a story. My family were visiting me in London last year and, in typical style, we tend to do all the tourist activities the city has to offer. One day we decided to go to the waxwork museum, Madame Tussauds. My 13-year-old nephew, surrounded by the world's most famous people, albeit their waxworks versions, didn't care to have his photo taken alongside any of them. That was until we found the room of London YouTubers. His eyes lit up and he immediately sat down on their bed (that's where YouTubers usually film from) and asked for his picture to be taken with Zoella and Alfie. There and then it confirmed to me that the future of entertainment and thus influence, from his generation onwards, lies in social media. The future of social media is personality driven Why are journalists less trusted than TV news readers? They essentially both do the same thing. In fact, they both often work for the same news company, yet why is it that a person who writes news is less trusted than someone who reads it on TV? It's because we're close to the TV news reader. We can see them and look into their eyes while they read us the news. We can read their body language and nonverbal communication and make subconscious judgements on what they're telling us. Call it primal or natural human instinct but,

Our culture celebrates independence and individualism yet it's becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate yourself or your business from any other. To truly stand out today, whether you're a business or an individual, requires one of two things. The first being that you have a product or message that is completely new and original. Very few people and companies throughout history can claim to be either. Instead, they're usually an iteration of someone or something that came before them. The second way to stand out in today's world is, you go against the cultural grain and take an opposing view of established norms. This requires courage as a move of this kind will result in criticism and anger. It comes with risk and can be detrimental to your career and/or social standing. Look at the backlash Kanye West has received from the entertainment industry for providing an alternative perspective and reality. In today's world, we all have access to the same technology, software and information. Often the only point of difference is the brand. When everyone and everything is the same, the brand can make all the difference. What is a brand, exactly? It's not the logo or design, but rather, like a charismatic person, it's how it makes other people feel and it's what they say about you when you're not there. A brand is about the promise it delivers, the values it stands for and the stories it tells. All the best books on branding agree. These are intrinsic qualities that we look for in other people. A brand stands for admirable human qualities. Then why is there a collective eye-roll among some when the term personal brand is used? Firstly, the people rolling their eyes usually have a secure job working for someone else's brand. They have no skin in the game and don't know what's it like to be living the day-to-day as an entrepreneur. Secondly, some people who are into personal branding take it too far. They try to position themselves as if they're either a perfect squeaky-clean superhuman or some sort of corporation. They give themselves cheesy nicknames like 'The Analytics Guru' or 'The Contrarian Communicator'. If you want to be 'known' for something at least make it memorable like The Sausage King of Chicago. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxuPJfXhLHg Everyone is a brand in the social media age. If you use social media you're in the selling game. If your Twitter bio lists your likes, dislikes and company you work for, you're selling. Or your LinkedIn profile lists your experience, skills and professional recommendations, you're selling. Even if you use social media for personal reasons you're still selling. On Facebook and Instagram, we tend to sell the best parts of our lives. Singles sell themselves as a great catch. Others sell how wonderful their life is. None of this is new as Daniel Pink points out in his book, To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth about Persuading, Convincing, and Influencing others. You may not see yourself as in branding or sales, but whatever line of work you're in, your survival and success depend on how well you sell yourself. A brand is something we sell therefore in the era that we're all selling, everyone has a personal brand. Personal branding and reputation are one and the same. Personal branding is about the values you have, the promises you make and the stories you tell, and it intertwines with your reputation. If you sell yourself as one thing but do another it can impact your reputation. While the term personal brand is tainted and abused, what it stands for is not. In an era where technology is levelling the playing field or removing the playing field altogether, your personal brand might be all you have.

Intermittent fasting. Does the hype reflect reality? You've probably heard about intermittent fasting but you're unsure what it is and if it's as good as what people say. You may even be wondering if intermittent fasting is dangerous. I'm here to tell you, when done properly it's one of the best ways to maintain good health. It gives you more energy, reduces body fat, helps with brain function, fights off diseases and increases your chances of living a long and healthy life. I have been intermittent fasting for the last 18 months and the positive effects it has made on my body and sense of well-being means I will do it for the rest of my life. It isn't a fad. The list of benefits of intermittent fasting continues to grow as science makes new discoveries. Put these benefits into pill form and you will become a billionaire overnight. There is a general lack of understanding when it comes to intermittent fasting so first-things-first: Breakfast is NOT the most important meal of the dayGoing without food will NOT cause your body to cannibalise itself If you're new to intermittent fasting or have done it before but looking for further information this guide is for you. I'm hopeful it will give you all the information you need to make a decision on whether intermittent fasting is for you. The most important meal of the day is not breakfast Neither is it lunch or dinner. Let's get this out the way first. Eating breakfast (which means 'breaking fast') can hinder your health more than help it. Let's get some common myths out the way: Skipping a meal won't make your body hold on to fatFasting doesn't cause your body to shut downEating frequently won't speed up your metabolismIf you go too long without food your body will start eating itself (muscle) There is no scientific evidence to suggest fasting does any of the above yet people continue to believe them. What is intermittent fasting? Before we get going it's useful to give a clear definition of what intermittent fasting is. Humans have fasted for hundreds of thousands of years and through evolution your body is designed for it. It's only in recent times we have started eating at regular times and intervals. In today's society, we are lead to believe that we must eat regularly and at least every four hours. This is incorrect. Growing up you were told that you should eat every morning because "breakfast is the most important meal of the day". Again, this is incorrect. Starting the day with a nutritious breakfast, you were told, helps set the tone and gives us much needed energy for the day ahead. For years the media would peddle this myth to sell us cereals and other breakfast foods. But that's all it was, a myth. This myth didn't come from any scientific studies but by marketers working for the companies that sell the sugar-coated cereals you see on supermarket shelves. In other words, of course, cereal companies will tell you breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So, what is intermittent fasting? Let's start with what it is not. It is not a diet planThough weight loss is likely to occur it is not a quick way to lose weight The Wikipedia definition of intermittent fasting says it's, "an umbrella term for various diets that cycle between a period of fasting and non-fasting." Wikipedia is slightly off here because intermittent fasting is not a diet. A more accurate definition is; Intermittent fasting is an umbrella term for the various protocols that cycle between a period of fasting and non-fasting.  It can be done in conjunction with a specific diet but intermittent fasting does not require you to eat specific foods. Intermittent fasting is a protocol or set of protocols which differ depending on the one they're following. The history of intermittent fasting Humans have been fasting for hundreds of thousands of years.

This is a review of the brilliant book The Power of Moments. Think back on your life and there will be certain moments you can remember more vividly than others. These moments can strike up powerful emotions reminding you of what you felt at that given time. Moments when you felt a sense of pride either in yourself or a loved one for achieving something great or for showing a strength of character when the odds were stacked. Or in a moment of epiphany which causes you to change your entire view of something or someone. Perhaps it was a moment of realisation when you knew something in your life had to change. These are what you call 'defining moments' - the parts of our life that are both memorable and meaningful and remain with us forever. Defining moments stick with us. Usually forever. They leave an everlasting imprint on our psyche. The brain doesn't retain every piece of information it receives. Doing so would be a waste of energy. Remembering the mundane parts of life serves no purpose. We're often told by the self-development community to "live in the moment." Sure, but a lot of moments are boring. Living in them would just make that work commute or wait at the doctor's office all the more tedious. What the brain does remember, however, are the important or 'defining' moments. Those pinnacle times in life you remember and reflect on years after they happened. They shape who we are and can often change the course of a life. When almost every memory of that fateful day is forgotten, all that's remembered is that defining moment and the person is has shaped you into today. Peak moments help us remember situations more fondly A peak moment allows us to remember an entire situation perhaps more fondly than it was to fully experience. For example, when you travel, the peak moments you experience like scuba diving, beach life and meeting people will drown out the bad moments of airport delays, travel sickness and money theft that often come with backpacking. Or when a project you've been working on is finally launched and receives recognition and adulation, the stress, worry and sleepless nights that occurred while working on it, are often forgotten and all that remains are the peak moments of pride. In both examples, on reflection, the entire time is pinned to the peak moments which we retain in our memory and forget the bad. There are four different kinds of peak moments: Moments of Elevation - these lift us out of the every day. They are filled full of joy, delight and surpriseMoments of Insight -  when we have an epiphany about ourselves or our worldMoments of Pride - when you were at your best, drawing on strength and courage to accomplish something you didn't think you couldMoments of Connection - when a moment occurs that brings you closer to someone else and them to you We make fewer moments as we age Creating moments as we age becomes more difficult. Why? Because we have already experienced many of life's important moments. It will come as no surprise to hear that the majority of important moments in your life likely happened from the ages 15 to 30. This is called the 'reminiscence bump' - because of the novelty of many things that happen during that period. You likely had a lot of firsts: first kiss, first job, first time away from parents, first relationships etc. We have to continue to look for new and novel ways to create moments in the absence of those things. Introverts who take delight from reading a book or researching new information may find it easier to create moments as they age. Extroverts will have to continue creating moments in the physical sense. Become an architect of creating defining moments Think back again to those important moments in your life. Chances are many of them happened serendipitously. By chance or circumstance, you were thrust into them. Instead, we should be architects of our own and other people's ...

If you could add five healthy years to your life would you?  How about ten healthy years?  Imagine what you could do in that time.  You could travel the world, see more of your kids and grandkids, pursue hobbies, spend more time in your job or do anything you like, really.  I believe it's possible.  Obviously, there are a lot of factors at play and there is one we have little control over.  That being lady luck.  We have no control over the cards we are dealt though you can maximise your odds of luck.  An accident can cut short a young and healthy life in seconds. So too can being born with a genetic defect.  Though luck works both ways and being born with some genes can help you live longer too.  If you're of Ashkenazi Jewish decent you are more likely to live to your hundreds thanks to your genetic makeup.  For everything else, however, you're in control but it requires implementing good habits and taking action.  The definition of good health isn't six-pack abs and 8 percent body fat to look good on the beach.  Living a healthy life for as long as possible (longevity) is more about maintaining wellness.  This is the difference between good health and:  Bodybuilding: which is about what you look like on the outside. Sports: which is about how you make your body perform in a competitive environment.  If bodybuilding and sports were key to a long and healthy life then all bodybuilders and sports stars would live the longest, but they don't.  In fact, a lot of them don't live long at all because they have pushed their bodies so hard over the years.  Good health is about preserving the natural functions of the body and mind for as long as possible. Everything else is either vanity or performance.  And the kicker is, as you get older you have to work harder to preserve what you have. And the older we get the more difficult it becomes.  Hey ho, that's life.  But with Lady Luck on your side, put these habits in place and you will add more healthy years to your life.     It starts with your mindset  Your mindset is the operating system to your life.  The key is to control your thoughts, beliefs and how you interpret the world, other people and yourself.  Your mind is a powerful tool and it's down to you to hone and sharpen it so it works for you not against you.  This means embracing certain fundamental truths about life. Namely, you're going to die and everyone you've ever known is going to die also.  If that's painful to read then you're mindset requires work.  If it isn't, then you've probably figured out what the most important things in life are and don't take the rest of it, the noise, too seriously.  Your mindset is developed by a combination of your upbringing, relationships, experiences, acquired knowledge and wisdom, personality type, your faith (religious, spiritual or otherwise) and your own personal philosophy.  This is why mindset is so powerful. It impacts every area of life including how we respond to its challenges.  Thoughts have energy and in a world where mental health issues are on the rise and people are more stressed than ever perhaps we need to focus more on our mindset and brain health.  The wonderful thing about the human brain is that, as the body declines as we get older, the brain can continue to create new cells and grow well into old age.  First and foremost, get your mindset right and the rest will follow.  Focus on the good stress  There are two types of stress: acute and chronic.  Acute stress is how you feel before giving an important speech or doing an activity which takes you out of your comfort zone.  It's when you lift weights, tear your muscle and it grows back stronger. Or when you run flat out on a treadmill for 30 minutes.  Acute stress is a healthy stress that helps you grow. It's the type of stress we need to remind our body we're alive.  Then there's chronic stress.