It is a rat race out there and to be on top of your game you literally have to be on the top of your game. You have to be on the lookout for the latest news every time. If news passes without you knowing it, it gives your competitor a chance to surpass you and come out with better, updated content. In the age where everything’s happening at such a quick pace, being at the top of your industry might need some work. Fortunately, here are some tips and tools which will help you in staying updated in your business. Always.
Table of Contents
1.Trade Journals
Go old school and subscribe to Trade Journals and magazines that are dedicated to covering your business. Make some time to read them and take notes. Sometimes the best news or the cheesiest comments are found in a published magazine first rather than online.
2.Feedly
RSS was in danger after Google announced that it was going to shut its Reader down. But Feedly wasn’t affected by this. This amazing RSS based site, which is like a caboodle of content for your personal use, saw its number of paid subscribers grow a massive 800% in the last two years. It has a great algorithm that houses everything for you and your business. Your blog, your YouTube channel, your collections, even your marked publications are available at just a click of a button.
3.Feed on Reddit
Reddit is one of the best sites the internet ever created. Sometimes even better than Google. Just type anything in the search bar and wait for the magic to unveil. You can sort your answers by looking for the most frequent subreddits, or any mention of your topic, or a specific keyword you want to focus on. You can find entries for a long time along with some videos or helpful downloadable content. The Ask Me Anything subreddit may sometimes turn into a gem for someone in the journalism industry, for instance.
4.Google Trends
When there is Google attached to something, you just know that it will be great. Google trend, as the name suggests, will keep you updated on everything that is trending right now in the world. You can filter results based on your geography, personal liking, and choices or according to what your company demands. It also monitors your brand publicity and user attention alongside your competitors. A great way to know where you stand.
5.Podcasts and Videos
A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is worth even more. Try to listen to podcasts or watch videos related to your content. Apart from getting deeper knowledge and understanding of your industry, you will gain valuable vocabulary which will make it easy for you to strike up conversations with a fellow colleague regarding your work.
6.Networking
Go out in the world and meet real-life people sharing your trade and interests. Spark up conversations with your colleagues. Set up meetings and conferences yourself or attend conferences to gain valuable experience. Human connection results in a deeper friendship and mutual understanding which just doesn’t come when you talk online only. You can even ditch being formal for a little while.
7.Quora
The ultimate online version of the watercooler conversations. Here you will always find someone who knows something. Your questions will never go unanswered. It is the biggest focus group you could ever imagine consisting of all trades and ages of people. Here you can promote your site, check out your competition, casually pass your time while gaining knowledge. You can even hire somebody from this site. Not directly through the site, per se, you have to contact the person you liked.
8.Flipboard
Who doesn’t love reading a magazine? Imagine a magazine which will show you things only you want to see. The news you want to read, the videos you want to watch and the photos you want to see. That’s Flipboard for you. Its minimalistic magazine design has made it an instant hit among users. You can also link up your social media sites to Flipboard and get the respective newsfeed on Flipboard itself. And If you need to reply to a post then it directs you to that social media page. Simple.
9.Seek into Yourself
Being in touch with the world is fine, but one must also be connected to himself and his company. Know what is going inside your company, are your employees happy and content? How do you fare against your competition? What changes you must do to incorporate success? Is there a product which sold before but not recently? Only you can figure out what’s wrong with your company. Until and Unless you declutter your job, you won’t be able to move forward efficiently.
10.IFTTT (IF This, Then That)
With so many apps and ways mentioned above, it can get a little tedious and frustrating keeping track of all your information. Sometimes the article you wanted to read later is nowhere to be found because you forgot in which app you found that article. You can always do the tough task of finding content online and then saving it in your email and sharing it with your friends after some time. Or, you can use IFTTT which is made only to make this job easier. If you found an interesting article on any social media platform, just send it to Pocket using IFTTT which will automatically save it into Evernote. Or you can program it so that whatever action you perform on one site triggers another action on a different site.
All of the tools and tricks are focused on only one thing- to keep you posted on the latest shenanigans the world is up to so that you can implement them in your business too. Each works a little differently and target a different audience. You should find what suits you best and stick with it. This will keep you updated regarding the market and all your competitors so that you are always a step ahead in your business and it grows to reach the pinnacle of success.
