In 2007 32% of discretionary time was spent on a screen, By 2017 that number was 90%. BetterYou is your Healthy Habits Companion that helps you make better digital decisions every single day, by linking them back to the things you care most about, your values. Once you define what “time better spent” looks like, and we help you stay on track. We provide population-level insights back to the company organizations, helping them drive health savings downstream by improving their employees’ overall wellness. BetterYou is the only Healthy Habits Companion that makes it easy to take control of your time, achieve your goals, and improve your life. Unlike other habit-forming and wellness goal tracking apps that require manual entry, BetterYou monitors and logs progress automatically for users and integrates with over 10,000 popular health and wellness apps.

BetterYou

Head buzzing with ideas and full of ambition? So, what. What's the plan to get there? Have you taken concrete steps? Who's helping you stay accountable? If you're not taking yourself seriously, do you really expect anyone else to? You might have a zillion-dollar idea or a skill that can change the world. But without a commitment to learning and growth, it's like blueprints without construction... it'll stay imaginary. Spoiler Alert: Mastering your craft isn't just about learning. It's about learning with intention, with a plan, and most importantly, putting your knowledge into practice. Ask yourself this: Are you just toying with your craft or are you ready to dive in, roll up your sleeves, and get going? If you're ready for the latter, buckle up. It's time to take your craft seriously. Professionalism and Craftsmanship Every professional, regardless of their field, is a craftsman. We take raw materials—in the form of data, words, and strategies—and transform them into something of value. Just as a carpenter takes pride in their finished furniture, we should take pride in our completed projects, our well-executed strategies, and our effective communication. Taking your craft seriously isn't about prestige or ego—it's about commitment. It's about acknowledging the importance of your work and giving it the dedication it deserves. This attitude will not only shape your career but also influence how others perceive you. The Importance of Learning The journey to mastery begins with learning. Whether we're reading books, attending webinars, or taking courses, we're constantly absorbing new information. But learning is not a passive activity; it's an active pursuit. It's about diving deep into the mechanics of your craft, understanding the principles that govern it, and applying these principles in real-world scenarios. Theoretical knowledge provides the foundation, but practical application cements this knowledge. A concept well understood is a concept well applied. Learning should always be paired with doing. The Power of Practice There's a reason why we say, "Practice makes perfect." Repetition reinforces learning, and the practical application of knowledge refines our skills. As professionals, our work provides us with ample opportunities to practice our craft. Each task is a chance to apply what we've learned, to experiment, to innovate. The goal isn't to perform perfectly every time—mistakes are inevitable. Instead, the aim is to learn from these mistakes, to adapt, and to improve. By continually applying and reapplying our knowledge, we inch closer to mastery. Self-Belief and Seriousness Taking yourself seriously is an extension of self-belief. It's about recognizing your worth, and your potential, and acting accordingly. Remember, "If you don't take yourself seriously, who will?" If you don't value your craft, how can you expect others to? Taking yourself seriously doesn't mean being rigid or uptight. It means having the discipline to commit to your craft, the courage to advocate for yourself, and the confidence to stride toward your professional goals. Taking your professional craft seriously is more than just an attitude—it's a way of life. It involves continuous learning, consistent practice, and unwavering self-belief. Take pride in your work, hone your skills, and show the world what you're capable of. You're a professional, a craftsman, and your craft deserves to be taken seriously. . . You deserve to take yourself seriously You deserve to be taken seriously Also published . here

The Significance of Self-Improvement for Developers: Crafting a Better You

In the early 2000s, Visa began promoting contactless payments. Now in many countries, people can no longer imagine life without tapping their cards and fast payment checkout, but it has taken us 10 long years for this technology to become mainstream. Back then, I was a General Manager at Visa and led a team that helped to introduce contactless payments across Central & Eastern Europe. It was not easy, but we already knew that this technology would create new consumer habits and help consumers pay in new ways. 3 months ago, I joined the blockchain startup Crypterium because I see many parallels: similar to contactless payments, cryptocurrency can significantly simplify and improve the lives of billions of people. I have always been passionate about how new financial services can empower consumers. In addition, cryptocurrencies can enable completely new ways to send and receive funds, borrow or save, as well as make payments. It is an exciting evolution, maybe revolution, in the way that customers can access financial services and I am excited to be part of this new wave. In the name of the customer experience Innovative financial technologies have always fascinated me. I entered technology and financial services with Standard Chartered Bank, in 2004. It was a time when banks were still relatively conservative and digital technologies were emerging. The primary way of banking was still to visit a branch or phone a call centre and card payments accounted for only 20% of retail spending in the EU. Through new technologies — collecting and analysing customer data, we started to better understand our customers’ behaviours and then design new ways to serve them. In parallel, we started to transform the way we provided banking services by offering new products through new channels, such as on-line personal loans or mutual funds. Later, at theRoyal Bank of Scotland, I had a similar role, helping customers to deal more directly with the bank — through telephone or Internet, in ways that they best preferred. Understanding customer needs and providing better customer service, to empower them as individuals, has always been my passion. Enabling contactless payments In my professional career, there have been several times when I had to convince major companies or banks to implement innovative change through new technologies. One of the most significant was when I worked at Visa — introducing contactless payments. My job was to persuade banks to take on this new technology. I thought that it would be easy and we could simply show them how much time could be saved by merchants and how much easier the customer experience would become. It would also enable card transactions to be done in much smaller types of outlets and shops, transforming the availability of card payments. Yet, banks being banks,were very cautious about the whole idea, at the beginning. Everybody was saying it’s not going to work, and that the technology was too complicated, and that issuing cards with contactless technology was too expensive. What we see now is that, in places like the UK, contactless card payments, for a first time, have started exceeding cash. People have started using NFC (or contactless) payments for small purchases such as eating out, bus tickets etc. Today, some people don’t bother carrying cash with them because they can use their cards. Back then, though, we had to convince banks to start issuing these cards and that was the biggest barrier. We started to success with more open-minded banks, who realised that by providing NFC they could present a more modern and innovative image to customers. And we knew that we had to have contactless acceptance in the best “use case” areas — such as public transit, self-service restuarants, supermarkets, petrol stations etc. — basically places where you could save time for customers by having faster, more convenient ways to pay. I remember one of the first meetings particularly well. It was with a big bank that was quite reluctant to start issuing contactless cards. And we said let’s just experiment with your premium customers because they travel more, they get to go to other markets where contactless payment already exist. The experiment was so successful and the feedback was so positive that this bank became one of the first to start introducing contactless payments to its complet retail base. The benefits in usage were higher than costs and, quickly, customers got used to paying with contactless cards. Other banks followed. With the introduction of NFC, the share of card payments significantly increased. In Europe, for example, if card payments amounted for around 20 percent of spend in 2004, now they amount for more than 70%. Next generation payments Switching from leading financial institutions to a blockchain startup, still at an early stage of development could be seen as an illogical move. Yet, it is a very exciting opportunity to further enhance the customer experience when it comes to payments and financial services in general. So in short, I have joined Crypterium because I believe that cryptocurrencies can significantly empower consumers. To date, cryptocurrencies have mostly been seen as an investment tool, and much of the interest was speculative. That bubble is now subsiding, giving way to the real value of cryptocurency which is to enable frictionless, almost cost-free transactions across borders, between formats whether it’s fiat (formal currencies), loyalty, mobile or other stores of value such as vouchers and gift cards. Cryptocurrencies have the potential to become universal currencies or means of exchange that can be used, instantly, across borders at low or no cost. Many traditional financial institutions are trying to build solutions like that, but it is difficult to go it alone, in regards infrastructure costs, and the players don’t necessarily want to share customer data or transactions through blockchain eco-systems, such as Ripple. The stage of development of the cryptocurrency market reminds me in some ways of the development of NFC payments. It may not be obvious today why people should change their habits, but starting as an e-money alternative, with developments such as stable coins, wider acceptance of cryptocurrencies through different channels such as ATMs, shops and e-commerce, as well as the ennablement through new regulations, cryptocurrencies already have a chance to go mainstream and better empower consumers, outside the costly and out-dated traditional banking system. The job now is to show people that cryptocurrency is a safe, reliable and low-cost alternative to traditional financial services. There are also some major differences to contactless payments. Cryptocurrencies can piggyback on existing financial services infrastructure, for example, when we issue a card, use a bank account, or use mobile numbers. Cryptocurrency can work in various ways across all these existing networks. The main constraint to change will likely be consumer behaviour: people see crypto as a speculative means of investment and are not yeat aware of how it could be easily used for payments. Many do not have wallets with cryptocurrency, in some shape and form. We need to build the habit. We can argue crypto is now at an early stage of development. There’s not enough scale nor wide enough an eco-system and it can be difficult and slow to use. Crypterium’s goal is to transform this experience, which is already teh case in how we enable transfers to bank accounts or any mobile number, for example. We believe a tipping point is beingreached. Transactions in some of apps, such as Crypterium’s can be instantaneous. We don’t have to wait for new infrastructure to be built, as with contactless, because we can use existing ones, at least for the beginnings of this evolution. As momentum builds, as the consumer experience becomes easier, more understandable and providers gain trust, the usage of cryptocurrency should grow significantly. It took NFC 10 years to get where it is today. I hate to make any predictions regarding cryptocurrencies, but we certainly believe that innovation cycles are shortening. And anything that empowers consumers in this modern networked world and makes their lives easier, finds rapid adoption. Steven Parker CEO at Crypterium I am the former General Manager for Visa’s Central & Eastern Europe region. I have broad experience in customer analytics and customer engagement, digital payments, innovation and financial services. I have spent my life using technology to transform businesses and I now see great potential for blockchain technology to transform customers’ financial lives, whether in payments or other financial services. I have joined because I believe that cryptocurrencies can significantly help empower consumers, in new and exciting ways. Crypterium

Just like contactless, crypto will make your life better - You just need to get used to it

Electronic waste — better known as e-waste — has been a massive problem for years. However, most people have never even heard of the term. Unfortunately, whether they realize it or not, it impacts them directly. How does e-waste hacking put you at risk? The Overlooked Problem With E-Waste Most people don’t think twice about what happens to their electronics when they throw them away or trade them in. In almost every case, their old devices become e-waste. Common examples include phones, computers, printers, monitors, smart devices and wearables. Almost all electronics contain materials like nickel, flame retardants, and cadmium that either are or can become hazardous if disposed of improperly. For example, lithium-ion batteries can produce noxious smoke if damaged and toxic liquid if exposed to water. In landfills, these devices poison the air, waterways, and soil by leeching heavy metals and poisonous chemicals. Since e-waste is a relatively new problem, it remains largely unaddressed. Today, it accounts for roughly 70% of the toxic waste in U.S. landfills. Only a fraction is ever formally recycled, leaving the rest to pollute local environments for thousands of years until they naturally break down. While there’s no breakdown of where the country’s e-waste comes from, the consumer electronics sector is likely responsible for most of it. People have been buying more than ever in recent years — computer purchases surged by 34% during the COVID-19 pandemic — suggesting they’ve been throwing away more than ever. The main focus of e-waste is its environmental risks, for good reason. However, that’s not its only problem. Many people don’t realize they’re essentially handing all their device’s data directly to a cybercriminal when they dispose of it improperly. E-waste hacking is becoming increasingly profitable for cybercriminals as people toss more electronics every year. Unfortunately, buying something new is often cheaper than having something repaired. Once a device leaves the owner’s hands and lands in the trash, it’s forfeit — along with every shred of personally identifiable information (PII) and sensitive data it ever stored. What E-Waste Hacking Looks Like While e-waste hacking sounds futuristic, it’s concerningly simplistic. Once an electronic device is thrown away or given to a third party for disposal, it often ends up in a landfill. At some point along the journey, people pick through the waste for hard drives to recover data. They either misuse it themselves or sell it to a third party for a profit. There’s 100 times more gold in one ton of smartphones than in one ton of gold ore. Thus, urban mining — extracting usable material like copper, glass, aluminum or gold from discarded electronics — is becoming popular in places like Ghana, China and India. How does e-waste hacking work? Usually, cybercriminals can pry out a device’s physical drives and recover the data from them, as many people forget to wipe or destroy those. While they might have to use specialized tools to bypass security measures, they often only have to plug it in to retrieve sensitive information. Back in 2009, a group of journalism students from the University of British Columbia bought a $40 hard drive at an open-air market in Ghana for an international reporting course. Once they plugged it in, a multi-million dollar U.S. defense contract between the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security and a military contractor was sitting there, waiting to be read. What Are the Security Risks of E-Waste? Once cybercriminals get ahold of an improperly disposed-of device’s storage system, they can see the previous owner’s PII. This could include names, social security numbers, addresses and contact information. They also gain access to whatever files remain intact. Regarding e-waste generated by consumer electronics, individuals become susceptible to identity theft, phishing scams, cyberattacks and financial fraud. If cybercriminals choose to sell their information on the dark web, they remain at risk for the rest of their lives. While individuals are usually the focus of cybersecurity concerns related to e-waste, businesses are also at risk. If even a single employee improperly disposes of their old work laptop, the company’s data breach risk skyrockets. E-waste hacking can expose proprietary information, give cybercriminals a way to infiltrate the brand’s network legitimately or lead to an uptick in cyberattacks. Considering the average data breach cost over $4.45 million in 2023, the consequences could be catastrophic. How Do Electronics End up in Hackers' Hands? The logistics of electronics going from a garbage can into a hacker’s hands is more straightforward than most people would assume. One of the simplest means is through theft, where the person retrieves the thrown-away device from the trash and takes it home. While most cybercriminals don’t make dumpster diving a pastime, many know where to go — or who to call — to get their hands on recently thrown-out electronics. Considering roughly 800 laptops worth of e-waste are generated every second in the U.S., the simplicity of such a plan shouldn’t come as a surprise. Another illicit means cybercriminals use to get their hands on PII is through a third party like a recycling center, buy-back platform or trade-in program. In this scenario, the intermediary sells used consumer electronics to them directly. Whether due to negligence or an effort to make a quick profit, sensitive data doesn’t get wiped before the sale. One of the most concerning ways e-waste ends up in hackers’ hands is through cargo ships. According to a 2016 study — one of the few on the matter — the U.S. exports up to 40% of its e-waste for dismantling or recycling. Apparently, there have been multiple cases where countries have had to reject cargo loads of e-waste shipments. While some say this claim is untrue, the U.S. has set a precedent by exporting plastic waste for decades. Despite international law making it illegal, it has increased its exports to places like Malaysia and Indonesia. Moreover, while most shipments are categorized as recycling, they end up in landfills, meaning e-waste export isn’t an unreasonable concept. What to Do to Avoid E-Waste Hacking While most people’s first thought is to avoid e-waste hacking by holding on to their technology, unused electronics are attractive targets to thieves. Besides, lost devices pose a host of other cybersecurity risks. The only way to guarantee security is through proper disposal channels. 1. Shred Data Storage Systems People must get used to “shredding” their hard disk drives and solid state drives (SSDs) like they do their sensitive documents. Once they wipe their device, they should render their storage systems unusable by physically destroying them and their chips. 2. Use Darik's Boot and Nuke Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is a free, open-source software people use to wipe physical drives. While it’s effective, it should only be used by individuals and not businesses, as it doesn’t meet any formal destruction requirements like NIST or HIPAA. Notably, it does not work on all devices and will not work for SSDs due to compatibility issues. 3. Leverage Data Encryption People should proactively encrypt every shred of data on their devices even if they use DBAN since data residue — recoverable digital traces of data — remains on electronics and is recoverable by hackers even after the manual erasure process. As a bonus, this measure can protect them from experiencing the effects of various cyberattacks. 4. Use Reputable Third Parties Simply destroying and throwing away electronics to prevent e-waste hacking is irresponsible because it is incredibly damaging to the environment. Instead, people should find reputable, transparent third parties to ensure their devices don’t end up being sold off or landfilled. The World Cannot Ignore the Issue of E-Waste Even without the security risks e-waste hacking poses, improperly disposed-of electronics are a problem. They poison the air, waterways and soil for thousands of years as they sit in landfills. Individuals and enterprises must do their part to prevent this from happening for the good of data protection and the environment. Electronic waste — better known as e-waste — has been a massive problem for years. However, most people have never even heard of the term. Unfortunately, whether they realize it or not, it impacts them directly. How does e-waste hacking put you at risk? Electronic waste — better known as e-waste — has been a massive problem for years. However, most people have never even heard of the term. Unfortunately, whether they realize it or not, it impacts them directly. How does e-waste hacking put you at risk? The Overlooked Problem With E-Waste The Overlooked Problem With E-Waste Most people don’t think twice about what happens to their electronics when they throw them away or trade them in. In almost every case, their old devices become e-waste. Common examples include phones, computers, printers, monitors, smart devices and wearables. Almost all electronics contain materials like nickel, flame retardants, and cadmium that either are or can become hazardous if disposed of improperly. For example, lithium-ion batteries can produce noxious smoke if damaged and toxic liquid if exposed to water. In landfills, these devices poison the air, waterways, and soil by leeching heavy metals and poisonous chemicals. Since e-waste is a relatively new problem, it remains largely unaddressed. Today, it accounts for roughly 70% of the toxic waste in U.S. landfills. Only a fraction is ever formally recycled, leaving the rest to pollute local environments for thousands of years until they naturally break down. 70% of the toxic waste 70% of the toxic waste While there’s no breakdown of where the country’s e-waste comes from, the consumer electronics sector is likely responsible for most of it. People have been buying more than ever in recent years — computer purchases surged by 34% during the COVID-19 pandemic — suggesting they’ve been throwing away more than ever. computer purchases surged by 34% computer purchases surged by 34% The main focus of e-waste is its environmental risks, for good reason. However, that’s not its only problem. Many people don’t realize they’re essentially handing all their device’s data directly to a cybercriminal when they dispose of it improperly. E-waste hacking is becoming increasingly profitable for cybercriminals as people toss more electronics every year. Unfortunately, buying something new is often cheaper than having something repaired. Once a device leaves the owner’s hands and lands in the trash, it’s forfeit — along with every shred of personally identifiable information (PII) and sensitive data it ever stored. What E-Waste Hacking Looks Like While e-waste hacking sounds futuristic, it’s concerningly simplistic. Once an electronic device is thrown away or given to a third party for disposal, it often ends up in a landfill. At some point along the journey, people pick through the waste for hard drives to recover data. They either misuse it themselves or sell it to a third party for a profit. There’s 100 times more gold in one ton of smartphones than in one ton of gold ore. Thus, urban mining — extracting usable material like copper, glass, aluminum or gold from discarded electronics — is becoming popular in places like Ghana, China and India. 100 times more gold 100 times more gold How does e-waste hacking work? Usually, cybercriminals can pry out a device’s physical drives and recover the data from them, as many people forget to wipe or destroy those. While they might have to use specialized tools to bypass security measures, they often only have to plug it in to retrieve sensitive information. Back in 2009, a group of journalism students from the University of British Columbia bought a $40 hard drive at an open-air market in Ghana for an international reporting course. Once they plugged it in, a multi-million dollar U.S. defense contract between the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security and a military contractor was sitting there, waiting to be read. bought a $40 hard drive bought a $40 hard drive What Are the Security Risks of E-Waste? Once cybercriminals get ahold of an improperly disposed-of device’s storage system, they can see the previous owner’s PII. This could include names, social security numbers, addresses and contact information. They also gain access to whatever files remain intact. Regarding e-waste generated by consumer electronics, individuals become susceptible to identity theft, phishing scams, cyberattacks and financial fraud. If cybercriminals choose to sell their information on the dark web, they remain at risk for the rest of their lives. While individuals are usually the focus of cybersecurity concerns related to e-waste, businesses are also at risk. If even a single employee improperly disposes of their old work laptop, the company’s data breach risk skyrockets. E-waste hacking can expose proprietary information, give cybercriminals a way to infiltrate the brand’s network legitimately or lead to an uptick in cyberattacks. Considering the average data breach cost over $4.45 million in 2023, the consequences could be catastrophic. cost over $4.45 million cost over $4.45 million How Do Electronics End up in Hackers' Hands? The logistics of electronics going from a garbage can into a hacker’s hands is more straightforward than most people would assume. One of the simplest means is through theft, where the person retrieves the thrown-away device from the trash and takes it home. While most cybercriminals don’t make dumpster diving a pastime, many know where to go — or who to call — to get their hands on recently thrown-out electronics. Considering roughly 800 laptops worth of e-waste are generated every second in the U.S., the simplicity of such a plan shouldn’t come as a surprise. roughly 800 laptops worth of e-waste roughly 800 laptops worth of e-waste Another illicit means cybercriminals use to get their hands on PII is through a third party like a recycling center, buy-back platform or trade-in program. In this scenario, the intermediary sells used consumer electronics to them directly. Whether due to negligence or an effort to make a quick profit, sensitive data doesn’t get wiped before the sale. One of the most concerning ways e-waste ends up in hackers’ hands is through cargo ships. According to a 2016 study — one of the few on the matter — the U.S. exports up to 40% of its e-waste for dismantling or recycling. Apparently, there have been multiple cases where countries have had to reject cargo loads of e-waste shipments. up to 40% of its e-waste up to 40% of its e-waste While some say this claim is untrue, the U.S. has set a precedent by exporting plastic waste for decades. Despite international law making it illegal , it has increased its exports to places like Malaysia and Indonesia. Moreover, while most shipments are categorized as recycling, they end up in landfills, meaning e-waste export isn’t an unreasonable concept. international law making it illegal international law making it illegal What to Do to Avoid E-Waste Hacking While most people’s first thought is to avoid e-waste hacking by holding on to their technology, unused electronics are attractive targets to thieves. Besides, lost devices pose a host of other cybersecurity risks. The only way to guarantee security is through proper disposal channels. 1. Shred Data Storage Systems People must get used to “shredding” their hard disk drives and solid state drives (SSDs) like they do their sensitive documents. Once they wipe their device, they should render their storage systems unusable by physically destroying them and their chips. 2. Use Darik's Boot and Nuke Darik's Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is a free, open-source software people use to wipe physical drives. While it’s effective, it should only be used by individuals and not businesses, as it doesn’t meet any formal destruction requirements like NIST or HIPAA. Notably, it does not work on all devices and will not work for SSDs due to compatibility issues. 3. Leverage Data Encryption People should proactively encrypt every shred of data on their devices even if they use DBAN since data residue — recoverable digital traces of data — remains on electronics and is recoverable by hackers even after the manual erasure process. As a bonus, this measure can protect them from experiencing the effects of various cyberattacks. 4. Use Reputable Third Parties Simply destroying and throwing away electronics to prevent e-waste hacking is irresponsible because it is incredibly damaging to the environment. Instead, people should find reputable, transparent third parties to ensure their devices don’t end up being sold off or landfilled. The World Cannot Ignore the Issue of E-Waste Even without the security risks e-waste hacking poses, improperly disposed-of electronics are a problem. They poison the air, waterways and soil for thousands of years as they sit in landfills. Individuals and enterprises must do their part to prevent this from happening for the good of data protection and the environment.

What Is E-Waste Hacking?

ই-ওয়েস্ট হ্যাকিং কি?

Was ist Elektroschrott-Hacking?

¿Qué es el pirateo de residuos electrónicos?

Qu’est-ce que le piratage des déchets électroniques ?

ई-कचरा हैकिंग क्या है?

電子廃棄物ハッキングとは何ですか?

전자 폐기물 해킹이란 무엇입니까?

O que é hackeamento de lixo eletrônico?

Что такое взлом электронных отходов?

E-Atık Hacking Nedir?

Hack rác thải điện tử là gì?

什么是电子垃圾黑客？

A Dozen (or so) Learnings From 15 Years of Software Incident Management

সফ্টওয়্যার ঘটনা ব্যবস্থাপনার 15 বছর থেকে এক ডজন (বা তাই) শিক্ষা

Ein Dutzend (oder so) Erkenntnisse aus 15 Jahren Software-Vorfallmanagement

Una docena (más o menos) de aprendizajes de 15 años de gestión de incidentes de software

Une douzaine (ou deux) d'enseignements tirés de 15 ans de gestion des incidents logiciels

सॉफ्टवेयर घटना प्रबंधन के 15 वर्षों से एक दर्जन (या लगभग) सीखें

15 年間のソフトウェア インシデント管理から学んだ 12 の教訓

15년간의 소프트웨어 사고 관리 경험을 통해 얻은 12가지 정도의 교훈

Uma dúzia (ou mais) de aprendizados de 15 anos de gerenciamento de incidentes de software

Дюжина (или около того) уроков за 15 лет управления инцидентами с программным обеспечением

15 Yıllık Yazılım Olay Yönetiminden Bir Düzine (ya da O Kadar) Ders

Hàng chục (hoặc hơn) bài học từ 15 năm quản lý sự cố phần mềm

从 15 年的软件事故管理中学到的十几个经验

Do you want to move your online community from one platform to another? Many small and big businesses today focus on creating a solid online community because of the benefits it offers. Online communities allow brands to engage with their customers directly, understand their needs better, and create stronger relationships. Such communities have become a very effective form of marketing platform by allowing you to take your conversation beyond the immediate problem. So you get to understand your audience better. You can then use this valuable feedback to improve your customer experience. These users then become advocates of your brand and start spreading positive word-of-mouth. As a result, your brand name becomes stronger, more credible, and more trustworthy. Besides, by maintaining an active online community, you can also turn it into a platform for generating user-generated content. You can encourage your users to get creative with your products and share their stories with others. These communities allow you to reach out to users beyond your immediate customers. Expanding your reach helps increase brand awareness, attracts more leads, and increases your conversions. Considering all these benefits, most businesses today have an online community. Some even turn their websites into social networking sites with the intent of building a community around their brand. However, many businesses don’t do their research when they start their communities. So, after a while, they might want to move them to another platform. However, moving an online community from an existing platform to a new one can be a complex and challenging task. Doing this successfully needs proper planning and execution. If you’re someone trying to move your online community to another platform, this post is for you. In this post, we’ll discuss how to successfully move your online community to another platform. So let’s get started. How to Move Your Online Community As mentioned above, moving your online community needs proper planning and a solid strategy. In this section, let’s look at how to get started to make this process a success. 1. Set Clear Objectives The first important point to remember when moving an online community from one platform to another is to set clear objectives. Consider your decision and analyze it well to understand why you want to make this switch. This will help you evaluate the new platform and identify whether it will help you achieve your goal. When you have considered switching the platform, you need to ensure that it helps you upgrade your community’s features and functionalities. However, this upgrade should align with your community objectives. This will help ensure that the new platform has the capabilities to support your community's growth. It’ll also help you analyze how the switch will affect your community’s user experience and engagement. It is important to select a platform that will help you optimize the user experience. But don’t restrict yourself to these analyses alone. Make sure that you also define your own success criteria for the process and set a timeline for it. This will help you make the process a more seamless one. 2. Communicate With Your Community Members The next important step to remember when switching your online community’s platform is to communicate with your community members. Switching the platform without intimating your users might create various disruptions and confusion. If you don’t notify them about the process earlier, they might try to access the platform and fail to log in. Some might even look for information in the community and be disappointed with the process. This can confuse them. By notifying them beforehand, you are actually preparing them for this switch. In the notification, properly mention what they should expect from this switch. For example, let them know the exact timing at which you plan the switch. Ask them not to access the platform within that time. By setting expectations, you can reduce dissatisfaction and prepare them for a better experience. Be open and transparent about the process. This will and help you manage your online community better. You can also run a Q&A session to answer all their queries to clear their doubts. Again, don’t forget to talk about the timeline. build trust 3. Select the Right Platform The next and most important point to consider is selecting the right platform. This is crucial for the success and growth of your community. Evaluate the needs of your community and understand the features and functionalities you are looking for in your community. Make sure that the features align with the specific needs of your community. It should help you engage your audience better, improve their experience on the platform, and, at the same time should, allow you solid management, customization, and moderation options. Another key factor to remember is the new platform’s features, security, scalability, etc. Reach out to the support team of the new platform if needed and see if it offers . free migration support It’s also important that you protect your community member’s data and ensure their privacy. So, before finalizing a platform, evaluate the security measures it offers. 4. Prepare for the Migration Process Once you have finalized the platform, it’s time to start the migration process. To start with, you first need to map out a plan for the entire process. In the plan, you should include various important things like your milestones, a timeline of the process, key responsibilities, etc. You should also consider technical needs, keep your existing data ready, and consider other essential components for the migration. Doing this will help you understand the process better and ensure a smooth transition. Once you have everything ready, it's time to map the data structure from the old to the new platform. Your migration process can be called a success only when you have properly imported and exported all your files. This includes post discussions, user profiles, all your content, etc. So make sure that all your data is imported accurately. The entire process might sound challenging, but working on it and getting the process completed properly is super important. 5. Test and Validate Simply conducting the migration process isn’t enough. You also need to ensure that things have been done properly. And the only way to do that is to test and validate the process. Before making your community live for your users, make sure to conduct extensive research. This will help you identify and address any technical issues, bugs, or usability concerns. Understanding these problems earlier helps you fix them without letting your users face them. You can also run a parallel testing phase where you can collect feedback from your users. This will help you understand any error or glitch in your platform, and you can fix them to ensure a better user experience. Don’t hesitate to continuously iterate and enhance the community experience based on user input and changing needs. Once your testing process is complete, go ahead and validate your user accounts and other important activities in the community. 6. Treat the Migration as Your New Launch The final step is to treat the emigration process as a new launch. Your users need to know that your community is live again. So let them know about it in a grand way. Use different channels to promote your launch. You can do it on Facebook, Instagram, or any other that you think can help you reach out to your target audience. Another way of promoting your launch is through blog posts. Publish some nice content talking about why you opted for the switch and how it can help your users. social media channels It can also be a good decision to send out newsletters talking about it. This can help you engage with your users directly and communicate your message more effectively. How to Make Your Online Community More Popular Now that you know how to plan and prepare for moving your online community to a new platform, let’s check out how to make your community more popular. 1. Create Valuable Content One of the most important ways to run an active community is to create value for your users. Your audience wouldn’t want to be part of your community if they don't find it useful. This makes it important for you to consistently create valuable content for your users. Just do some research to understand what is trending in your industry. You can then create some great content around that topic. You should also encourage your users to participate in the discussion. This will help you engage your audience in a meaningful way. 2. Maximize User-Generated Content The next effective way to make your community more popular is to maximize user-generated content (UGC). Such content helps you create valuable resources for the entire community. Besides, when users post such content, they feel a sense of ownership around that content. This will encourage them to engage better with users who participate in discussions about it. It’s a good way to keep the community active. You just need to clearly set your expectations about the type of content you’ll accept. So, add a section that includes guidelines on topics, formats, and quality standards. You can also add it in the FAQ section or pin a post that guides users in creating relevant content in the community. To encourage more people to share their content, you can also offer incentives or highlight the best UGC in your community. It helps motivate your users to share more of such content. 3. Cross-Promote Your Content When you post something in your community, it's mostly your users who notice your content. So you should always consider cross-promoting your content for more reach, better engagement, and attracting more new users. A very good way to do that is to collaborate with influencers from your industry. Reach out to a popular influencer and co-create content with them. Talk about the value your community can offer. Another popular way of cross-promoting your content is to guest blog in popular publications. You can use these opportunities to showcase your expertise and then highlight the benefits of joining your community. 4. Interact with Members To be able to attract more users to your community, you have to maintain a certain standard. For example, your audience wouldn’t want to be part of it if you don’t interact with them. So always be responsive to your users. Be prompt in responding to their comments, questions, or feedback. You should also ask open-ended questions to encourage people to participate. Just make sure to respond to them when they send their answers. It is also important that you show your appreciation for their feedback, suggestions, and ideas. This will make them feel more valuable, and they will be encouraged to interact with you more often. 5. Embed Your Community on Your Website No matter how popular your community becomes, it’s always important that you keep attracting more users to it. One way of doing it is to on your website. embed your community When you do that, every time a user visits your website, they will notice your community, too. This will encourage them to join the community and reap its benefits. Embedding your community on your website is a good way of creating awareness about it and popularizing it amongst your visitors. Conclusion Building a strong online community needs time, effort, and, more importantly, consistency. These communities can be a wonderful platform for nurturing relationships, engaging in meaningful conversations, and offering value to your users.

The Definitive Guide to Moving an Online Community

It’s frustrating as a manager to see a highly talented employee waste their potential. They have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do well, so why aren’t they performing as well as they could? They have shown they’re capable more than once—solved problems creatively, drove large projects to completion, and took risks that are necessary for future success. But what should you do if their performance is not consistent—they’re highly unpredictable. When faced with this situation, many managers feel powerless—when they don’t even understand what’s preventing their employees from putting in their best effort. How can they do anything to help? This perceived sense of lack of control over their employees' performance often leads to destructive behaviors—blaming, complaining or denying opportunities that they need the most. Pulling back focus from people who need attention creates a downward spiral of unfulfilled potential, unmet expectations, and even more frustration which pushes them further down instead of lifting them. If your employees are unpredictable or inconsistent in their performance or if they are not reaching their potential, helping them bridge this gap is your responsibility as a manager. Don’t assume there’s something wrong with them or that they simply don’t care. Many factors play a role in determining how people put their talents to use. Great leaders can see the greatness in others when they can’t see it themselves and lead them to their highest potential they don’t even know. — Roy T. Bennett Here are the four practices I have used to help my people rise higher by tapping into their unused potential and enabling them to do more than they ever dreamt to be possible: Help them realize their true strengths Self-doubt is one of the most prevalent feelings at work which can prevent people from reaching their full potential. People who deal with feelings of unworthiness and inadequacy often fail to put their talents to use. They refuse to take up challenging work with the fear of not meeting expectations. They procrastinate and keep putting things off with the worry that even their best effort is not good enough. While you see them as a smart, talented and high potential person, all they see in themselves is a fraud. Instead of recognizing their achievements and acknowledging their skills and abilities, imposter syndrome makes them attribute their success to luck, their ability to work harder than everyone else, knowing the right people, being in the right place at the right time, or simply their interpersonal charms like being funny, friendly or witty that makes them more likable. This makes them undermine their experience and expertise. They fail to realize their full potential because their time and energy goes into hiding their shortcomings as opposed to utilizing their strengths. Help your employee bridge this confidence gap by: Show them what they’re capable of—talk about their strengths, skills and abilities that enabled past performance. Share your own fears and insecurities. This will make them see that imposter syndrome is a universal phenomenon and they’re not alone in feeling this way. Set clear goals and discuss an action plan. Daily progress towards their goals will amplify the value of consistent small steps instead of trying to take giant leaps. If your employee isn’t reaching their full potential because of self-doubt, give them the occasional confidence boost by enabling them to recognize their strengths and giving them the opportunity to put them to use. We all have patterns and defaults, including in the roles we play at work. The better you can accept others for who they are, the easier it will be to work with them. Flexibility will help provide an environment where everyone feels accepted for their unique strengths and skills. — Darcy Luoma Give them action oriented feedback If you’ve been giving a lot of feedback to your team members, but they still aren’t reaching their potential, most likely the way you’re giving feedback is wrong. Just because you have said something multiple times does not mean your message has landed right. What you say matters more than how many times you say it. When giving feedback, do you state: Which behaviors led to successful outcomes? What did they do specifically that helped them achieve positive results? Vague feedback can do your employee more damage than good. When they don’t know how to apply your feedback, it can leave them feeling misaligned, confused and disoriented. Success can be replicated only when your employee knows which behaviors to repeat. Give them action oriented feedback—use the start, stop and continue practice: What do they need to start doing that they aren’t already doing? Which behaviors aren’t working well that must be stopped right away? What’s working well for them that they must continue practicing? For example: *If their new system architecture design was very detail oriented and had covered fault tolerance, scalability, performance and other critical measures, specifically call this out in your feedback. Appreciate them for proactively thinking about these things instead of being an afterthought.* If they came up with a creative way to solve a problem by challenging traditional thinking, point out their ability to think differently and step outside their comfort zone. Giving specific feedback will enable your employees to act on it potentially leading to achieving excellence in their work and reaching for their potential. Feedback is the bridge to effectively connect lesson-learned from the past to the future performance and potential. — Pearl Zhu Take a pulse of their motivation Motivation determines not only whether your team member starts a task, but also whether they stick with it when it gets challenging or difficult. Without motivation, they fail to put effort and energy into making things work. Their mind is tuned out because something that’s bothering them tells them that they simply don’t care. \ A lot of things can leave them feeling unmotivated: Going through a bad phase in their personal life. Being passed up for a promotion that they believed they deserved. Repeating the same kind of work and not getting exciting new opportunities. Working long hours but doing less impactful work. Dealing with a difficult employee who’s getting on their nerves, causing them stress and anxiety. Feeling unappreciated and undervalued for their contributions. Mental exhaustion and burnout from overwork. The good thing about motivation is that it’s a temporary feeling and something that’s completely within their control. If your employee isn’t reaching their full potential because they appear demotivated, don’t ignore it. You can do a lot to help them get over it by taking the time to dig deeper into what’s making them feel this way. Discuss and identify what’s eating up into their motivation. You’ll have to play a little bit of detective here since they are most likely to disagree with your observation and portray everything’s fine even when the issue is taking up a lot of their mental space thereby preventing them from doing their best work. There’s no one way to turn things around for them—the solution will depend on why they are feeling demotivated in the first place. However, there are few things you must do to ensure your discussion is productive: Don’t assume you already know how they’re feeling. Show curiosity to understand. Don’t push too hard if they aren’t willing to share it yet. Just let them know that you’re around to listen whenever they feel prepared. Don’t show irritation or judgment in your voice. Only show your support. Don’t take it personally. How they’re feeling may have nothing to do with you as a manager. If you understand the problem, don’t provide solutions. Help them find the path forward by asking good questions and guiding them to reach their own conclusions. Lack of motivation is not your employees' mistake nor is it a permanent condition. Ups and downs are a part of life and people shouldn’t be expected to always be at their best. Treat it as a passing phase and show your support to help them get through it. When you encourage others, you boost their self-esteem, enhance their self-confidence, make them work harder, lift their spirits and make them successful in their endeavors. Encouragement goes straight to the heart and is always available. Be an encourager. Always. — Roy T. Bennett Look inward to your own behaviors and actions If you have done everything and still don’t see much improvement in their work, don’t rule out the fact that the problem may have nothing to do with them, it’s you. How do you come across to others? How do they perceive your behaviors and actions? How do you react to mistakes and failures? How do you handle disagreements? Are you fair and unbiased in how you treat your people? Do you empower them to think on their own and make decisions or do you feel the need to have a final say in everything? Good management uplifts people and helps them shine. Bad management pulls them down and prevents them from reaching their potential. For example: They may have great problem solving abilities, but every time they bring up a solution that challenges traditional thinking, you disregard their opinion and tell them to stick to old methods. What does your behavior tell them—that their opinion doesn't matter, which discourages them and they stop thinking differently. They may enjoy working independently and want to grow on the individual contributor path, but you keep pushing them to take lead responsibilities. Being coerced to do work that they don’t enjoy or not getting sufficient time to practice skills they want to put to use can leave them feeling frustrated, unfulfilled and dissatisfied. If you really want your employee to fulfill their potential, take a moment to think about how your behaviors and actions might be getting in the way. Accepting you’re the source of the problem is hard—only people with high self-awareness and willingness to change can do so. People who are blind to their flaws will only complain and blame while doing nothing to bring about a positive change. People are the foundation of any company’s success. The primary job of each manager is to help people be more effective in their job and to grow and develop. — Eric Schmidt Summary It’s hard as a manager to see highly skilled people waste their potential. You know they’re skilled because they have occasionally delivered a great performance. So what could be preventing them from performing consistently? People who deal with imposter syndrome let fear and self-doubt get in the way of their success. They give up opportunities and fail to perform because of their self-limiting beliefs. Help such people reach their potential by reminding them of their strengths and giving them the opportunities to put them to use. Appreciating your employees' work gives them the encouragement to do better, but the feedback must point out which behaviors to repeat so that they understand how to replicate success. People may feel demotivated for various reasons which can prevent them from doing their best work. Identify what’s bothering them and taking up their mental space. Work with them to find the path forward instead of feeling stuck in one place. One last place to look if your employee isn’t reaching their potential is “you.” Watch your behaviors and actions—they might be getting in the way preventing your employee from reaching their full potential. This story was previously published . here Follow me on or here for more stories. LinkedIn

How To Help Talented Employees Reach Their Full Potential

Hey there. Scott here. Today, let's rip apart some lazy clichés about success (one of my favorite things to do). You know the drill: "Find a mentor." "Surround yourself with the right people." Blah, blah, blah. There's this whole industry built on pimping out "gurus" promising secret keys to the magic kingdom. You'll pay some six-figure mastermind fee to sip bad coffee while some pay-to-speak “thought leader” on stage feeds you recycled platitudes. Here's the newsflash nobody wants to tell you: The fastest way to master something is to TEACH it. You think mentors got to where they are by sitting on their butts waiting for handouts? Hell no. They learned in the trenches, by DOING. They made mistakes, learned from them, and figured out how to do it better next time. Real wisdom isn't downloaded – it's forged in the fire. Teach it to Keep It Let's talk about brain science for a second. There's this thing called the "protégé effect." Turns out, when you EXPECT to teach something, you learn it on a deeper level. Why? Because it forces you to organize your thoughts, spot holes in your understanding, and break things down in a way that makes sense to someone else. You think those business influencers got all their knowledge overnight? Nope. They started out fumbling their way through, probably screwing things up just as much as the rest of us. But somewhere along the way, someone asked them a question, or they started explaining their process, started explaining all the things they figured out by doing…and BOOM. Lightbulb moment. Think about it – have you ever truly understood a concept until you had to explain it to a total newbie? Suddenly, all that fuzzy thinking goes out the window. You have to crystallize that stuff. That’s where the magic happens. The Ultimate Hack: Don't Seek, BE You want a mentor? Flip the script and become one. Find someone a few steps behind you on the path. Offer to help them out. You don't need to be the ultimate expert – just further along than they are. Here's the crazy thing: in the process of mentoring, YOU'LL level up faster than you could have imagined. Suddenly, you're revisiting stuff you thought you knew, only to see it with a whole new perspective. Your mentee asks questions you never thought of, forcing you back to fundamentals. Boom, lightbulb moments all over again. This isn't about charity. It’s pure, calculated selfishness (while simultaneously helping out someone else). "But Scott, I Have Nothing to Teach!" This is the #1 excuse I hear every time. I call BS. Every single one of you has something valuable to share. The trick is that it might not be what you think. Maybe you just: Figured out this crazy productivity hack for squeezing an extra hour into your day. Took your dog through basic training without losing your mind. Mastered a killer 20-minute bodyweight workout. Found a budgeting app that finally stopped you from blowing all your cash every weekend Think that stuff's too basic? Wrong. For someone struggling with those things, your 'basic' skill is worth its weight in gold. Your secret is the starting point someone else is craving. What makes you valuable as a mentor isn't just knowledge, it's relatability. When a 'guru' is on some pedestal, that creates distance. People are afraid to ask the "dumb" questions. however, were just in those beginner shoes. You remember the suck, the confusion, the "why the hell can't I get this" vibes. That makes you approachable. You, The Overflow Effect Here's the part no one tells you about 'pouring into others': it creates this crazy energy loop that comes back to you tenfold. Think about it like this: Every time you invest in helping someone else, you: Solidify your own understanding. Build confidence like a damn muscle. Gain clarity about your own path. Open doors to unexpected opportunities. Form valuable connections with people motivated to grow. Remember the old rule, "Give without expectation of return?" Guess what – the universe isn’t stupid. Your generosity creates this abundance mindset shift. New insights start rolling in. You notice solutions to problems you were stuck on. That side project you had on the back burner suddenly starts picking up steam. Call it karma, call it energetics, whatever. Helping others unlocks something that directly fuels your own success. From Talk to Action Enough philosophizing. You're a doer, right? Okay then, here's your homework. This is how you (start) to be a mentor, build a mentoring loop, and start helping others, while simultaneously, helping yourself. Don't try to be all things to all people. What specific skillset or knowledge have you been geeking out over lately? That's your jam. Don't overthink it – just pick something you genuinely enjoy talking about and feel you can provide a little guidance on. Niche Down: We're not going straight for paid mentoring here. Start small. Could you offer: Low-stakes offers: A 30-minute Q&A session in a relevant Facebook group? A mini-training video on a single, super-specific topic? A one-page PDF cheat sheet that breaks down a complex process? Zoom Office hours every Friday afternoon? Pull people in from LinkedIn. Social media, baby. Tell your network you're open to helping a handful of folks with [your niche topic]. Let your enthusiasm for the subject shine through – that's how you attract like-minded people. Don't worry about looking fancy. People connect with real. Put it out there: Overcoming Your Inner Critic Guess what? Your brain's gonna freak out. Imposter syndrome will throw up roadblocks. You'll hear whispers like: "Who the hell am I to teach this?" "Everyone else knows this stuff already." "What if I give bad advice and look like an idiot?" Here's how you fight back: Flip it: That fresh perspective is gold. "Who am I to teach this?" I'm the perfect person to teach this because I just figured it out myself. Nope. They don't. That's your ego talking. Everyone starts somewhere. Don't underestimate the value of a "beginner's mind." "Everyone else knows this stuff." Dude, relax. No one expects perfection. Focus on being helpful, sincere, and open to learning your mentees. That humility builds trust like nothing else. "Bad advice = idiot" alongside This Is YOUR Learning Lab The beauty of starting small is it takes pressure off. This isn't some permanent contract you're locked into. You're dipping your toes, testing the waters, and evolving right along with the folks you're helping. Don't worry about having all the answers right this second. Be transparent about your journey. People love rooting for the underdog. Your scrappiness and genuine desire to help are your winning qualities. Now you’re wondering, ok - I’ll do it… but I’ve never done this before. No problem, here’s how to start. First Interactions: Set the Stage Your goal isn't to be some all-knowing sage. No, you're the supportive guide on the side – here to provide helpful signposts and cheer your mentees on. With that in mind, here's how to kick things off on the right foot: – Ditch the generic "What do you need help with?" That’s too damn open-ended, especially for newbies who likely don't know where to start. Instead, dive into the specifics: Ask Powerful Questions "What's your biggest pain point with [your niche] right now?" "What's one small win you'd love to achieve by the end of this week?" "What part of this process feels the most overwhelming/confusing?" These force focus and get them thinking strategically rather than flailing around in overwhelmed. – Beginners get obsessed with end results. They want to hit some arbitrary number or get that dream outcome NOW. Your job is to bring them back to Earth: Instead of: "How do I make $10k a month?" ask "What's one concrete thing you can do to move closer to that goal?" Focus on Actions, Not Outcomes today This creates manageable momentum and prevents paralysis. Progress is your real measure. – Let's get real: a lot of people are addicted to the struggle. Watch out for red flags like, "I don't have time," "This won't work for me," and "I've tried all that before." Your job is to call gentle BS. Don't be mean, but be firm: Challenge Excuses "If you found just 15 minutes a day, what could you chip away at?" "Great! What makes your situation different?" "That might be true, what could you try instead? else Don't let them off the hook with their self-limiting story. You're here to crack open possibility, not coddle comfort zones. Beware of Scope Creep Early on, set clear boundaries. Are you offering a one-time Q&A? Ongoing email support? Be specific about what's included and what's not. Your time is valuable. Generosity doesn't mean martyrdom. Also, beware of those who confuse freebie mentoring with therapy. Your job isn't to fix their entire life. Keep steering things back to specific action within your area of expertise. Celebrate Every Damn Win This is HUGE. Most folks spend an unhealthy amount of time fixating on what they accomplished. Flip the script. When they share even the smallest victory, go BIG – shout their praises, share their wins, and give 'em virtual high fives. haven't This wires their brain for success more than anything else you could do. You Are the Ultimate Beneficiary It sounds counterintuitive, right? Shouldn't your focus be on value? That's part of it, but here's where the secret kicks in – mentoring unlocks hidden growth avenues for YOU in ways you don't expect. giving Your mentees won't hold back. They'll tell you which explanations landed brilliantly, and which instructions left them scratching their heads. This kind of direct critique is pure gold for honing your communication skills and pinpointing gaps in your understanding. Feedback Loop from Hell: Remember those "dumb" questions that used to plague you? They make you a better innovator. Every time you're stumped by a newbie's inquiry, you must flex your creative problem-solving muscles to find new ways to explain complex concepts. Forced Innovation: Turns out, having someone count on you is damn motivating. When you promise a mentee you'll tackle a certain topic or show them how to do something, welp, now you gotta walk the walk. No hiding behind lazy procrastination anymore. Accountability on Tap: The universe works in mysterious ways. When you throw out generous energy, those ripples come back multiplied. Maybe a mentee connects you with someone who solves a key problem for your business. Maybe that blog post you cranked out to explain a topic suddenly leads to paid collaboration offers. Unexpected Opportunities: This is pure social dynamics. By actively being the leader, the teacher, and the one with (even a little) more experience, you naturally step into a different social role. People begin to look at you differently. Their belief in fuels belief in yourself. Leveling-Up by Association: you Don't Just Mentor, Find Your OWN Mentors Now, here's the twist: even as you become a rockstar mentor to others, don't think you've outgrown being mentored yourself. Always seek out people a few rungs further up the ladder than you. The game never really ends. Look for people who: Embody the results you want to create. Share your values and energy. Have different skills or areas of expertise than your own. It's tempting to only get involved with the most famous, "successful" folks. Sometimes, the greatest mentoring relationships blossom with someone not that far ahead of you – they still remember the challenges vividly. A Call to Arms Listen, I won't sugarcoat this. Stepping into the mentor role ain't always easy. It requires commitment, vulnerability, and the willingness to confront your own BS alongside those you help. But you know what's harder? Staying stuck in the eternal student loop. Spinning your wheels, forever waiting for that perfect course, magic guru, or secret roadmap to fall from the sky. Here's the truth: the knowledge you need is already inside you. All that's needed is unlocking it. By sharing your journey, embracing the messiness of learning, and pouring into others, you create this unstoppable flow that benefits everyone involved. The world is starving for real. People are sick of the overpolished, "I've got it all figured out" BS. What they crave is someone willing to admit they don't have all the answers and figure things out alongside them. That's where you come in. Your imperfections are your biggest assets. Your willingness to show up, share your wins and losses, and lift others up as you rise – that's what makes a true difference. So, my challenge to you is simple: Pick THAT ONE THING you're most excited about right now, and start talking about it. Find those one or two people who could use your support, and offer a helping hand. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Mess up. Admit what you don't know. Learn out loud. This is what creates that overflow effect. This is how you tap into something you haven't even fully glimpsed yet. The Anti-Guru Movement This isn't just about self-growth. It's bigger than that. It's about flipping the script on the entire model of success. Imagine a world where knowledge flows freely, where collaboration wins over competition, and where anyone with drive and curiosity can find the support they need to rise. We're the ones who have to create that world. We're the anti-gurus, the knowledge rebels, the ones who pave the way for something bolder, better, and far more sustainable. So go forth, my friends. Teach. Share. Connect. Lift as you climb. The best form of knowledge seeking is knowledge creation – so unleash that inner wisdom you don't even realize have, and watch the magic unfold. That's a wrap, folks! I hope this ignites some fires. I'd love to hear what you think. Have a great weekend! Scott Also published here

The Anti-Guru Movement: Reconsider What Mentorship Is All About

Convincing someone to pay you money is hard. There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of companies, products, and consultants who will sell you something that claims to help you make more money. Some of these products/methods might work, some only in certain scenarios, and some are snake oil. It's really hard to tell which is which without experience. From my experience, hands down the easiest way to make more money as a business is to find the people who are already trying to pay you and make it easier for them. For 99% of subscription companies, the place to start is getting better at payment processing. A Quick Primer: Payment processing is everything that happens after someone has entered their payment info on your checkout page and clicked submit. A surprising number of companies lose 10%+ of their monthly revenue due to payment issues. To understand how to improve your payment processing, it helps to orient yourself in this world. The major players are: Gets a credit or debit card from a bank and uses it to pay for things. These are your customers. Cardholders: A business that takes card payments for stuff. This is you. Merchants: Handles merchant accounts and lets merchants put money from card payments into their accounts. Merchant Banks: Companies that process card transactions & connect merchants, banks, card networks, and others to make card payments work. Payment Processors: Places that give out cards to people. Issuing Banks: In charge of card rules and rates, handle things between banks. Card Associations (Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express): You can visualize the world like this: Why This Matters: Fraud Models, Account Balances, Cards Understanding the details of each step isn't critical, but a general picture helps you understand why the optimizations work so well. Subscription businesses, by nature, do a lot of payment processing as they collect the value from customers incrementally over time. Instead of $120 upfront, most subscription businesses will collect $10 monthly for 12 months. While this has a lot of benefits, such as making products more affordable to consumers, raising conversion, etc., the big downside of this is that there is a 12x increase in the likelihood that something will go wrong and you will lose money. Pitfall #1: False Positives in Risk Models Because of the legal liability and amount of money flowing through the payments universe, each one of these steps will have an ML-based risk model that seeks to protect whoever is on the hook for that step of the transaction from fraud. All models have a false positive rate, meaning they will flag something that is legitimate as fraud and block the transaction. For the sake of argument, let's assume that there are five major steps in processing that each step uses a model that is 99.5% accurate at identifying fraud. You might be thinking that a .05% false positive rate isn't so bad, but you have to remember that each of the five steps has a 0.5% error rate, so that would be: Total False Positives = 1 - (1 - 0.005) * (1 - 0.005) * (1 - 0.005) * (1 - 0.005) * (1 - 0.005) = 0.024875 or ~2.48% Losing almost 2.5% of your recurring revenue monthly would be very bad, especially if it can be avoided. Pitfall #2: Lack of Balance on Cards To complete a transaction, your processor must validate that your user has the month to cover the transaction. Not that they are "generally good for it" or that they might have the money soon.  They need to have the money right now. When you consider the realities of personal finance, that people get paid at different times, their spending habits vary, and these balances will fluctuate. Your user might get paid on the 15th, but you tried to charge them on the 11th, and the card didn't have enough money. Unless you have an auto-retry set-up, your billing system might mark this user as "failed payment," and you'll lose them forever. Pitfall #3: Expired Cards & Changing The big irony about subscription businesses is that the better you are at extending the LTV of your customers, the more payment issues you'll encounter. The longer you charge someone, the more you'll have to deal with expiring cards and changing numbers. The average credit card in the US expires every 3-5 years.  If you are selling mostly annual plans (which should be your goal), you might only get 2 charges for a customer before the number changes. This is especially painful as annual plans are likely your best customers. So What Should You Do With This Information? Payments are a very deep rabbit hole to go down, and what you should be doing depends on where you are as a company. As companies get larger, they throw more and more resources at collecting payments as it is effectively free money that's there for the taking. What you should be doing depends on where you are as a company, but this is the normal trajectory of tactics and tooling. Step 1: Collecting Money At All To collect anything, you need to have a payment processor set up. For most US-based companies, that typically means Stripe. It's a solid product and has a lot of out-of-the-box functionality that is either free or very low cost.  Set it up, configure your plans, and start charging. As of August 2023, they are releasing a set of that you should enable: ​revenue recovery features​ Auto Retry Failed Payments - Stripe comes out of the box with an Auto Retry feature, which you can set manually to try again every 1, 3, 5, or 7 days. This is better than doing nothing and should be enabled for all accounts. ML-Based Dunning - This is like Auto Retry's big brother, where Stripe's algorithm is trying to guess when a card will have a balance on it. Based on the last prices I saw, you'll pay another 0.3% per transaction, but this was well worth it for most companies I work with.  Do the math yourself, but I guess it will also be for you. I would also set this as aggressively as possible within a 30-day window. Update Payment Method Emails - When a card expires or fails, Stripe will email them asking them to update the card or risk losing access. I find it worth it to put a little effort into these emails and ensure you send enough of them right after the payment fails. Step 2: A Second Processing Gateway Certain payment gateways are more effective at successfully charging people in certain countries. Gateways that are good for users within the US will not perform as well in places like Asia, India, and vice versa. If you ask a payment gateway whether they are strong in a certain country, they will always say yes. Don't believe them.   Ask around for similar companies in your industry and ask the subscription management companies if you can see benchmark data. They are more impartial. Your second gateway should cover users in the part of the world where your first gateway is terrible at charging cards. For most US-based companies, starting with Stripe, PayPal is typically the next payment gateway added. It's generally good where Stripe is weak. If you are based in India, and your first option was something like PayTM, maybe Adyen is your next move so you can charge users who are based in Europe more successfully. I have also heard anecdotally that having a legal entity & bank accounts in the same country, you're trying to process cards in helps. I have never seen this work firsthand, but you should ask your gateways if this is true before going through the work to set up entities and bank accounts. Step 3: Subscription Management Platforms Now that you have two gateways, this hopefully allows you to collect more money but also introduces new headaches. You need to manage pricing packages in two locations, settings in two locations, customer data in two locations, and having a centralized view of your revenue will be harder. This is why subscription management platforms exist, and products like Recurly, Chargbee, and Paddle start to make sense. They will let you set up everything in one place and have all gateways follow those settings. How much do these cost? A stupid amount of money, but they are probably worth it. They allow you to use the same revenue recovery features that Stripe has and see the benefit across all gateways. Alternatively, you can build this functionality yourself, which will allow you to customize exactly what happens. Still, you probably need at least two engineers to build & maintain this full-time, so you'll probably save money by buying this to start. Step 4: Adding Additional Gateways & A/B Testing Impact Now that you have multiple gateways set up, you can try to find out which countries it makes sense to install a 3rd, 4th, or 5th gateway and A/B test the impact. Last I checked, the subscription management tools don't have A/B as an out-of-the-box feature, but I recommend testing the impact and being confident that you're making the right call. When I was at Codecademy, we ran these tests and couldn't reach significance when we were charging around $50M per year.   I would guess that you need to be doing between $50-$100M ARR for this to be worth it. These tests were not cheap to set up and took a long time to run, so I would wait until a company is reasonably mature to test this tactic. Step 5: The Fancy Stuff Past this stage, companies start to get creative with any way to prevent transactions from failing. They cut data partnerships with credit card providers to ensure they know the new card number you'll be issued after your last card expires. AAA, the Road Side Assistance company in the US, left me three voicemails when I didn't update my credit card for a $ 99-a-year membership. They can likely afford this as most members will be around for ten years, so any effort to prevent accidental churn is worth it. If you have ever added an invalid payment method on Amazon, you'll notice that you never get an error on the site. Instead, you get an email a few minutes later asking you to update your payment method. This is because: Amazon is trying your payment method across multiple payment gateways to see if they can find one that will accept it Users are probably more likely to update a payment method for something they think is already on the way than they are to try a second credit card after their initial transaction is declined. They probably have 50 engineers working on this space full-time, but with their sales volume, it is worth it.

Payment Processing 101: The Easiest Way to Increase MRR

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