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Most guidance on optimizing for AI still focuses on how content is written. But AI systems don’t read content the way humans do. These systems extract information, break it into parts, and reuse it in new contexts. What matters is whether your content can be pulled into an AI-sourced answer cleanly. Where traditional SEO has centered on ranking pages, AI systems prioritize retrievable units of meaning. That changes how content needs to be built: From pages → passages From narratives → modular blocks From keywords → structured intent The shift is structural: Content that performs well in this environment is designed to be extracted, recombined, and attributed. How AI systems actually use your content To design for AI usefulness and visibility, you need a basic model of how content is selected and used. Retrieval favors structure AI systems segment content into passages and retrieve those independently. That has a few implications: A single section can be selected without the rest of a page. Sections within the same article compete with each other. Clear boundaries (headings, sections) improve AI retrieval. When structure is unclear, the signal becomes less reliable, even when the topic is relevant. Generation favors clarity and completeness After retrieval, content is used to generate an answer. AI systems tend to favor passages that: Answer the query directly. Require minimal rewriting. Can stand on their own. This is where “low-edit distance” shows up in practice. Content that can be used as-is has an advantage. Attribution favors distinct, ownable framing AI systems also decide what to cite. Content is more likely to be attributed when it includes: Defined concepts. Clear frameworks. Language that isn’t interchangeable. If a section reads like a generic summary, it’s easier to replace with another source. Your customers search everywhere. Make sure your brand shows up. The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need. Start Free Trial Get started with The 5 core principles of AI-preferred content design When content is retrieved in pieces, used in generated answers, and selectively attributed, structure becomes the lever. These principles show up consistently in content that gets surfaced by AI systems: 1. Modular by design Content is more useful when it’s built in discrete units. Each section should: Address a specific question or subtopic. Be understandable without relying on surrounding text. Long sections that depend on earlier context are harder to reuse in isolation. Modular structure also makes content easier to update, test, and repurpose across surfaces — without rewriting the entire page. 2. Hierarchically structured A clear hierarchy helps systems understand what each section contains and how it relates to the rest of the page. H2 → H3 → H4 structure should signal: Topic: What the section is about. Intent: What question it answers. Scope: How narrow or specific it is. Headings should make each section’s purpose immediately clear. When that signal is weak, it becomes harder to match the right section to the right query. 3. Explicit over implied AI systems rely on what’s stated directly. Make relationships and conclusions clear by: Defining terms when they’re introduced. Stating outcomes or takeaways directly. Clarify cause-and-effect or comparisons, rather than implying them. If something is important, it should be written plainly. Copy that requires inference is harder to interpret and more likely to be skipped in favor of clearer alternatives. 4. Answer-first formatting Place the direct answer to the section’s core question at the top, then expand. AI systems prioritize passages that resolve a query immediately. When the answer is delayed or embedded within a longer explanation, the relevance of that passage becomes less obvious. Answer-first formatting requires that the opening lines: Resolve the core question directly Use language that clearly maps to the query Avoid unnecessary setup or context The rest of the section can then add deeper nuance, examples, or other details that further understanding without changing the core response. 5. Designed for passage-level extraction Passages compete for selection, both within the same article and across the web. When multiple sections address the same question in similar ways, they dilute each other. Clear, specific, and well-scoped content “chunks” are more likely to be selected. You can audit a passage’s usefulness by asking: Is it understandable without additional context? Does it fully answer a single question? Can it be quoted as an answer without any editing? If the passage needs context or cleanup, it’s less competitive. Common content patterns that improve AI retrieval and use These patterns show how structured, answer-first content is applied in practice — making it easier for AI systems to match, extract, and use. The ‘definition + expansion’ block pattern Start with a clear definition. Then add detail. This works best for: Concepts. Terminology. Processes. The definition should establish what something is in a way that can be quoted independently. The expansion then adds context, nuance, or examples. This pattern helps position your content as a reference point for core concepts — especially when AI systems need a clean, authoritative definition. The ‘question → direct answer → context’ pattern AI systems are designed to respond to queries. This pattern aligns your content to that structure. Order your content as: Question. Immediate answer. Supporting detail. The answer should resolve the query in one to two sentences, using the same language or phrasing as the question where possible. Remaining content can add depth through nuance and edge cases that extend beyond the core answer. The ‘framed list’ pattern Lists work best when they’re introduced by a clear framing sentence that tells the reader — and the retrieval system — what the items represent. Follow a consistent structure (e.g., all actions, all criteria, all features) Stay at the same level of detail Clearly map back to the framing sentence This pattern works especially well for steps, criteria, features, and takeaways. Well-structured lists are easier for systems to parse and reuse, especially when each item is clearly defined within the context of the list. The ‘comparison’ pattern Structure content to make differences explicit. This works well for alternatives (“X vs Y”), tradeoffs, and decision-making criteria. You can use: Side-by-side comparisons. Clear evaluation criteria (price, features, use case, limitations). Direct statements of when to choose each option. Content that clearly outlines differences is easier for AI systems to extract and reuse in answers that involve evaluation or recommendations. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. Top content design mistakes that limit AI visibility Most AI surfacing issues come back to content structure. When structure is weak, answers are harder to identify and extract. That tends to show up in the form of: Overly narrative, under-structured content Long paragraphs with key points buried inside make it harder to isolate a clear answer. Without strong subheadings to define what each section covers, systems have fewer signals to identify where that answer lives. Ask: Does this section answer a clear question, or just explore a topic? Is the main point easy to identify in the first few lines? Do the subheadings clearly signal what each section contains? Vague or non-descriptive headers Headers like “Overview,” “Introduction,” or “Key Takeaways” don’t provide enough signal about what the section actually contains. Headings help systems understand what a section covers and how it relates to a query. When they’re vague, the relationship between section and query becomes less explicit. Ask: Would this header make sense out of context? Does it clearly reflect the question or topic being answered? Could multiple sections on the page use the same header? Answers buried mid-paragraph When the answer appears halfway through a paragraph, it’s harder to isolate as a clean, reusable unit. AI systems look for segments that clearly resolve a query. When the answer is embedded within surrounding context, it becomes less distinct and more likely to be overlooked or reassembled. Ask: Is the answer clearly distinguishable from the neighboring text? Does contextual copy clarify or dilute the answer’s main point? Redundant or repetitive sections When sections overlap, they compete for the same query and weaken the overall signal. Instead of reinforcing the topic, similar sections can fragment it across multiple passages, making it less clear which one should be selected. Ask: Do multiple sections answer the same question in slightly different ways? Is each section clearly scoped to a distinct angle or subtopic? Clear separation improves both retrieval and selection. How to evolve existing content for AI without starting over Most teams don’t need to totally rebuild content from scratch. Updating existing content for today’s landscape just requires a few structural changes. Break content into logical units Identify where natural sections exist and what question each one answers. Split broad or mixed sections so each one resolves a single idea or query. If a section covers multiple points, separate them into distinct sections. Rewrite for answer-first clarity Move the clearest version of the answer to the top of each section. Remove lead-in language, qualifiers, or examples that appear before the answer. Ensure the opening lines can be understood without relying on the rest of the page. Strengthen structural signals Make headings specific enough to reflect both the topic and the question being answered. Use formatting (lists, short paragraphs, summaries) to make key points easier to scan and isolate. Check that each section’s purpose is immediately clear from its heading and first sentence. Introduce distinct framing Turn generic sections into clearly defined units, like: Frameworks. Named concepts. Defined models. Ensure each section covers a distinct angle and does not repeat or overlap with others. This helps consolidate signal and makes it easier for systems to select and attribute the right passage. See the complete picture of your search visibility. Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform. Start Free Trial Get started with The future of content design in AI-mediated search AI systems are already reshaping how content is surfaced, and that shift will continue as answers become more personalized and draw from multiple sources. As a result, page-level ranking matters less on its own. Content value is shifting toward contribution — how clearly a piece of content can inform, support, or shape an answer. The content that performs best will be: Structurally clear, with sections that are easy to identify and extract. Modular, so individual passages can be selected and reused independently. Distinct, with clearly defined ideas that don’t overlap or compete internally. Designed to be selected and used, not just indexed or ranked. Content that meets these criteria is more likely to be surfaced, reused, and attributed as AI-mediated search continues to evolve. View the full article

Creating an effective plan outline involves a structured approach that starts with defining your vision and objectives. You’ll need to assess your current position to understand where you stand and what gaps exist. Establishing measurable metrics is essential for tracking progress. Incorporating a continuous improvement process helps guarantee your plan remains relevant over time. Engaging your team in collaborative sessions nurtures creativity and adaptability. By following these steps, you’ll set a strong foundation for success. Nevertheless, knowing how to implement these strategies effectively can be challenging. Key Takeaways Define your vision and objectives using the SMART framework to ensure clarity and alignment with organizational goals. Assess your current position by gathering data, conducting SWOT analysis, and reviewing past performance metrics. Establish measurable metrics that reflect your objectives, ensuring they are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Incorporate a continuous improvement process by regularly reviewing performance metrics and documenting lessons learned for future planning. Engage your team in collaborative sessions to foster creativity, gather diverse input, and enhance communication throughout the planning process. Define Your Vision and Objectives Defining your vision and objectives is crucial for effective planning, as it sets a clear direction for your team. Start by aligning your vision statement with your organization’s goals and values. This guarantees everyone understands the cohesive direction of the planning process. Involve your team in creating this vision to incorporate diverse perspectives and promote a sense of ownership. Next, apply the SMART framework to set objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This improves clarity and focus. Develop a preliminary plan document using a project outline format, which serves as a roadmap for future actions. A project outline format sample can help visualize roles and objectives, assuring every team member knows their contributions to the larger vision. Assess Your Current Position To effectively assess your organization’s current position, it’s vital to gather and analyze relevant data that provides insight into both internal and external factors. Conducting a SWOT analysis helps identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, offering a thorough view of your situation. Moreover, gathering feedback from employees through surveys or focus groups can reveal internal perceptions and highlight areas needing improvement. Analyzing market trends and competitor performance is fundamental for grasping external influences on your strategic direction. Reviewing past performance metrics, such as sales figures and customer satisfaction ratings, helps gauge where you currently stand. Finally, utilizing data analytics tools improves your comprehension of customer behavior, providing a clearer picture of your current market position. Establish Measurable Metrics Establishing measurable metrics plays a crucial role in tracking your organization’s progress and evaluating the success of your strategic plan. To effectively create these metrics, use the SMART criteria: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. This approach helps define what success looks like and how it’ll be measured. Your metrics should align closely with your objectives, ensuring each one reflects a particular aspect of your plan’s goals. Here’s a simple table to guide you: Metric Type Example Key Performance Indicator (KPI) Increase sales by 15% by Q4 Completion Rate 80% of projects on time Customer Satisfaction 90% satisfaction score Employee Engagement 75% participation in surveys Regularly review and adjust these metrics based on feedback to stay aligned with your evolving needs. Incorporate a Continuous Improvement Process Building on the establishment of measurable metrics, incorporating a continuous improvement process can greatly boost your strategic plan’s effectiveness. Regularly assess performance metrics to pinpoint areas needing improvement, ensuring your strategies align with organizational goals. Utilize feedback loops like agile retrospectives and quarterly business reviews (QBRs) to gather insights from stakeholders, which inform necessary adjustments. Establish clear milestones for evaluations—weekly or monthly—to monitor progress and adapt your plan as needed, cultivating a culture of responsiveness. Tools like Mural or Confluence can improve collaboration and transparency, allowing teams to track updates and share insights effectively. Finally, document lessons learned during retrospectives to create a structured approach for integrating improvements in future planning cycles, ensuring ongoing evolution of your strategic initiatives. Engage Your Team in Collaborative Sessions Engaging your team in collaborative sessions not just boosts creativity but furthermore cultivates a sense of ownership over the project. By adopting brainstorming techniques like mind mapping or round-robin discussions, you encourage diverse input, leading to innovative ideas. Regular sessions are vital for continuous feedback and adaptability, allowing your team to refine plans based on real-time insights. Implement collaborative tools like Mural or FigJam to visualize ideas, ensuring everyone contributes effectively, regardless of location. Open communication is fundamental; creating a safe environment nurtures team cohesion, enhancing overall project outcomes. Technique Benefits Tools Brainstorming Generates innovative ideas Mural, FigJam Regular Sessions Continuous feedback Google Meet Open Communication Nurtures team cohesion Slack Frequently Asked Questions What Are the 5 Steps to Writing an Outline? To write an outline, start by defining your purpose; knowing your goal will shape your content. Next, list your main ideas, brainstorming key concepts relevant to your topic. Organize these ideas logically, choosing an order that improves clarity. Then, develop supporting details for each main idea, providing evidence or examples. Finally, review and revise your outline, ensuring all ideas are connected and clearly presented before finalizing it. What Are the 5 Steps to Making a Plan? To make a plan, start by evaluating your current situation and gathering necessary information. Next, define clear goals using the SMART criteria to guarantee they’re achievable. Then, develop actionable strategies, outlining the steps needed to reach your goals as you consider resources and obstacles. After that, implement the plan by communicating it to stakeholders and assigning responsibilities. Finally, regularly evaluate and revise your plan based on feedback and performance metrics to keep it relevant. How Do You Write a 5 Step Plan? To write a 5-step plan, start by defining your goal clearly. Make sure it’s specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Next, break down the goal into five actionable steps, each building on the previous one. Assign tasks to individuals or teams, clarifying their responsibilities. Establish a timeline with deadlines for each step, allowing for some buffer time. Finally, regularly review and adjust your plan based on progress and feedback to stay aligned with your objective. What Are the 5 Steps of an Action Plan? To create an effective action plan, start by defining clear, SMART goals. Next, list and prioritize tasks needed to achieve these goals, breaking them into manageable steps. Allocate resources and assign team members responsible for each task. Set specific deadlines and milestones to track progress. Finally, monitor your progress through regular check-ins, evaluating the plan’s effectiveness and making necessary adjustments to guarantee you stay on track toward achieving your objectives. Conclusion Creating an effective plan outline requires careful attention to each step. By defining your vision and objectives, evaluating your current situation, establishing measurable metrics, incorporating a continuous improvement process, and engaging your team, you can develop a robust framework for success. Regular evaluations will help you adapt to changing circumstances and refine your approach. In the end, a structured planning process improves collaboration and drives your organization toward achieving its goals effectively and efficiently. Image via Google Gemini This article, "How to Create an Effective Plan Outline in 5 Steps" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

ChatGPT Search is citing fewer websites per response after GPT-5.3 Instant became the default experience. The post ChatGPT Search Is Citing Fewer Sites, Data Shows appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

Hi there, This week’s selection circles around one familiar question: how do you stay relevant when the job market feels harder, AI keeps reshaping expectations, and even finding a role can start to feel like a job of its own? From AI risk and economic resilience to reverse recruiting, these four pieces are really about the same thing: figuring out how to build a career that can handle uncertainty a little better. -Maja Our Favorite Articles 💯Is My Job Safe From AI? (99helpers)A tool that lets people explore how exposed different roles may be to AI disruption, while reminding that transformation is more likely than total replacement. 👉 ​See here​. Would You Pay a Reverse Recruiter? (CNBC Make It)What reverse recruiting reveals about a job market where some candidates need professional help just to stay visible. 👉 ​Learn more​. Skills That Survived Every Economic Collapse in History (WealthBeforeWealth)If your entire career depends on institutions that could fail, this is the most important video you'll watch this year. 👉 ​Watch here​. How to Direct Remote Productivity in the Right Direction (Inc.)If work sometimes leaves you feeling busy all day with too little to show for it, Joe Procopio offers a useful look at how teams can reduce process overload. 👉 ​Keep reading​. This Week's Sponsor 🙌Find your dream remote job without the hassle. 135,000+ roles, advanced search filters, and the ability to save searches and track applications. Try Remotive today​! Free Guides & Tools​Premium Job Board​We curate 150,000+ fully remote jobs so you don't have to. ➡️ ​Find your remote job​ ​Job Search Tips​Looking for a remote job? Here are our tips to help you work remotely. ➡️ ​Check it out​ Join the Remotive newsletter Subscribe to get our latest content by email. Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription. There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again. Email address Subscribe Powered by ConvertKit View the full article

Iran and the United States received a draft proposal late Sunday calling for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, two Mideast officials speaking condition of anonymity told The Associated Press. The proposal comes from Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators hoping the 45-day window would provide enough time for talks to reach a permanent ceasefire. Iran and the U.S. have not responded to the proposal, which was sent to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, the officials said. The head of intelligence for Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was killed Monday in an attack targeting him, Iranian state media said. The Israeli military later confirmed the airstrike that killed Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi took place in Iran’s capital Tehran. Strikes on cities across Iran have killed more people Monday, while in Israel’s Haifa victims were found dead in rubble following an attack. U.S. President Donald The President on Sunday stepped up his threat to hit Iran’s critical infrastructure hard if the country’s government doesn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday deadline. The President punctuated his threat with profanity in a social media post, saying Tuesday will be “Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran.” The war began with joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Feb. 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened and hit civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes from the United Nations and international law experts. —Associated Press View the full article

For a long time, links were the primary signal of authority in search. If you wanted visibility, you built backlinks. If you wanted credibility, you earned placements. That still matters — but it’s no longer enough. In AI-driven search, authority is shaped by how often your brand is mentioned, cited, and clearly associated with a topic. Visibility comes from being referenced in AI-generated answers. With that shift in mind, the goal is to create content that earns consistent brand mentions and citations — the signals that now drive AEO visibility. The philosophy driving content that fuels AEO growth In 2026 organic discovery, authority incorporates entity recognition. On both Google and LLMs like ChatGPT and AI Overviews, authority is reinforced through: High-quality backlinks. Brand mentions (linked or unlinked). Consistent citations across trusted publications. Clear entity associations (who you are, what you’re known for, and what topics you “own”). Since LLMs synthesize information instead of ranking pages, you need repeatable, credible mentions across the web to strengthen your brand’s likelihood of being cited or referenced in AI answers. Importantly, you also need to use your owned media to define your brand entity very clearly. That makes building authority even more critical. Your content will now be battling with even more competition in the form of AI results in the SERP and AI-produced content from other publishers. The TL;DR is that you need to establish a clear brand and, underneath that brand, create content that’s so valuable that other experts, journalists, creators, and AI systems repeatedly reference your brand when they’re discussing a topic core to your business. Dig deeper: How to build an effective content strategy for 2026 Your customers search everywhere. Make sure your brand shows up. The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need. Start Free Trial Get started with The principles and formatting of AEO-friendly content You’ll use many of the same SEO principles as a base for AEO-friendly content. Content aligned with Google’s helpful content guidelines — focused on value and user experience — appeals to the people (and LLMs) discussing these concepts and sourcing experts to validate their positions. That said, to produce truly AEO-friendly content, you need to incorporate formatting that supports LLM extraction. Key formatting principles include: Clear definitions: Have short, clean definitions high on the page: “X is…” “Y refers to…” Structured formatting: Use descriptive H2s and H3s. Employ bullet points. Keep paragraphs short. Include direct answers under question-based headers. Explicit context: Avoid vague pronouns and implied references. Remember that LLMs perform better when context is explicit and self-contained. Summary sections: TL;DR blocks. Key takeaways. FAQs. Entity reinforcement: Brand name. Author expertise and authority. Brand and author credentials. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. The specific objectives for your AEO content to address If you’re solely focused on AEO, I’d approach your content with these objectives in mind: Be highly citable: Include original data or perspectives a journalist or influencer would use in media like podcasts, expert roundups, contributor columns, or co-marketing content) Be highly quotable: Provide at least one clean, quotable insight. Be specific: Answer specific questions an AI system would try to answer. You can clearly articulate a question your content answers — and answer it verbatim with a section or paragraph in your content. Be clear: Define a topic in an easily extracted manner. To address these objectives, it can be helpful to think beyond blog posts to ideate “reference-grade” assets, including: Original research. Data studies. Industry benchmarks. Visual explainers. Definitive guides. Glossaries. Dig deeper: How to create answer-first content that AI models actually cite Practical steps to build AEO authority with content Here’s how to turn those principles into a repeatable process for building AEO authority: Research keywords where bloggers and journalists are searching for references (these keywords often include “statistics” or “reports”). Use Reddit, Quora, X, Ahrefs (Matching terms report), and Exploding Topics among your references. From those keywords, build a list of topics around which your team has the expertise to share valuable insights and perspectives. Research a list of writers and journalists who cover those topics. Find expert resources (either internal or closely connected) and interview them to build a cache of content. Refine and develop that content into contemporary insights using Google Trends and social listening, using timing and a list of audience modifiers to heighten relevance. Example: Get a list of tips from an expert targeted to help hay fever sufferers (niche audience/modifier) get a better night’s sleep (core topic/target) during a particularly bad high pollen count period (relevance). Pitch a group of writers and journalists who cover your theme and/or sub-theme on why this matters right now, and how it’s different from other content they might find to reference. If (or even before) those writers and journalists link to your content, follow them on their social channels to deepen your connection for future opportunities. Dig deeper: Organizing content for AI search: A 3-level framework Create content worth referencing Writing for AEO isn’t at odds with writing for humans. Even from its early days, AEO shared many of the SEO fundamentals derived from appeal to actual users. That said, there are enough differences with the way LLMs extract and digest content (and the way users ask LLMs for information) that you need to keep specific nuances in mind in your content approach. With a clearly defined brand on your owned media, and an understanding of the tenets of AEO and how to address them, you should have a good idea how to leverage your team’s expertise for greater visibility on the AI search landscape. View the full article

Robert Reich has been warning people about the dangers of inequality for decades, in all sorts of different ways. He’s interacted directly with politicians as a member of three different presidential administrations, most notably as Bill Clinton’s labor secretary. He’s taught thousands of college students at Harvard, Brandeis, and UC Berkeley. He’s written 18 books. And for 11 years, he has run Inequality Media, a nonprofit dedicated to informing the public about income and wealth disparity, among other imbalances of power in our society. Inequality Media now has 15 million followers across all its social media channels. At a time when Americans are increasingly paying attention to issues of affordability and rising extreme wealth—even outright blaming billionaires for making society less fair—Reich’s content is striking a chord. Reich and Inequality Media executive director Heather Kinlaw Lofthouse came on the Most Innovative Companies podcast to talk about how they reach such a wide audience, the importance of experimentation, and the power of educating people about these issues. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. What was the original spark for Inequality Media, and why were short-form videos the right fit for that kind of work? Robert Reich: Well, sometime around 2013 or ’14, my son, Sam Reich, said, “Dad, I think you have written a lot of very good books and people like your books, but if you want to reach my generation, it’s not through books. It’s through social media.” And I didn’t fully understand even the meaning of the word social media, but he was very kind and he explained a lot to me. And it seemed like we needed to have some sort of social media company to produce videos. His point—and I think he’s absolutely right—is that videos do something that the written word doesn’t do. And this is particularly true of young people who are very acutely aware of what happens visually. They pick up very, very subtle details in terms of visual media, but they are not, as my generation was, readers. And Heather, how did you get involved? Heather Kinlaw Lofthouse: I got involved because Bob, as I call him, Professor Reich, emailed me and said, “Hey, I’m doing a new thing. Do you want to talk about it?” He and a fellow named Jake Kornbluth had gotten together and made a feature-length documentary, and they said, “Okay, let’s make videos. We’ve done it long-form. We can do it short-form.” And so I came in and said, “Let’s figure out internet video, specifically social video. What are these first three seconds people care about?” To have this organization change over 11 years, we couldn’t have predicted it. We are social video first, but we’ve expanded into podcasts, we’ve expanded into feature films, we’ve expanded into doing some radio. We’re trying to create more ripples and say the same thing in many ways. A nesting dolls approach—put it in different formats, the same messages. You talk about all types of inequality—economic inequality, racial inequality—but democracy is really core to this message, too. Why is that an important focus of this conversation, especially from the beginning? RR: Because one of the most really unfortunate aspects of the degree of inequality—of income and wealth inequality the United States is now suffering from—is that it has found its way into American politics through everything from campaign contributions to public relations undertaken by very wealthy people, to other ways in which really great wealth is translated into great political power. You can’t separate wealth and power. I mean, arguably, wealth is not a zero-sum game. It is certainly possible for some people to become extraordinarily wealthy without the necessity that other people become poor or don’t have adequate resources. But power is a zero-sum game. That is, if few people have it, that means that other people don’t. And this is really what the great jurist Louis Brandeis was getting at when he was reputed to have said in the late 1920s: America faces a choice. We can either have great wealth in the hands of a few people, or we can have a democracy, but we cannot have both. In your political positions, you spoke to policymakers or people with some sort of political power. And then as a professor, you spoke to students. But now you’re really speaking to the internet, to the everyday Americans. Why is it worth talking to these people about these issues, especially when some people can feel that they’re a little bit powerless to change things? RR: Well, they are not powerless. The point is, that is where the power is, or should be. The only way of breaking through elite domination of our politics and our economy is by empowering average people to become more politically active and to understand the relationship between politics and economics, to understand why they have a huge stake in changing the rules of the game in their own favor, in ways that enable them to have a fair shot at making it. We are not a news organization as such, but the news constantly every day is in front of people. That’s what most people talk about. But the news that is in front of them is also symptomatic of deeper structural issues, changes in the political economy, changes in the rules of the game. Why is it, for example, that a president can essentially initiate a war on his own without Congress, without our allies, without enunciating to the American people why we are going to war, and then have such an extraordinary negative impact on oil prices, on what the cost of living is for actual people, in the span of days? That needs to be explained to people because a lot of them are wondering about it. It’s underneath the surface of the news, but it does require some explication. And that explication gives us an opportunity to explain to people the structure of both the economy and our political system and the ways in which they are inextricably wed together. The other point here: This is nonpartisan in the sense that we are not touting the Democrats, we are not pro-Republican, but we are pro-average working people. This is something that’s very, very important because average working people are the ones who are bearing the costs of a system that is no longer in their hands. They are bearing the costs of political decisions that are helping enrich those who are already rich and are making it harder and harder for those who are not rich to get ahead. That’s the story of America at this particular point in time. That’s the underlying anger that we are dealing with in this country. Are there any particular tactics for reaching new audiences who may not be aware of these issues or agree with your personal politics—to still break through and educate them? RR: It’s a combination of a variety of experiments. Empirical experimentation is really at the heart of it, because we try to be very agile. We are continuously trying new things. Success can be an enemy because success makes it harder to change. Success makes it easier for everybody inside an organization to say, “Well, we did it this way. Let’s just keep doing it this way.” So what we are blessed with is a group of people who are not bound by success, who want to continuously find ways in which social media can be used in new effective modes. And there are a lot of people that follow us, and I don’t mean follow us in the sense of following, just tuning in. There are a lot of organizations, not-for-profits, there are a lot of social media groups that I’ve noticed use techniques that we develop because they’re so effective, and that’s great. We don’t try to stop anybody from using these techniques. In fact, quite the opposite. We develop new techniques, and we want the world to use them. I notice you do a lot of joint posts with other accounts, other nonprofits, other similar organizations, which seems like a great way to reach new people and new audiences. HKL: We love a collab post on Instagram, and thanks go to these companies who are making it easier for us to do that. But yeah, we work with a lot of different people. We have different experts come in. We lean on different organizations to surface data in interesting ways that we can use. But in terms of persuading people, every platform is different, right? If you have a bunch of people following you, on average, they’re probably going to skew in a certain direction because they follow you and they interpret your content in a certain way. But the good thing about the internet, and the way we can play around with digital media, is that you can test your content with people who don’t follow you, right? And you can try and get it out in new ways. And so that’s what we try to do. We try to say, “Oh, did that message hit with, I don’t know, self-proclaimed independents?” And you can see how the content does. And then you can try and get it out beyond your specific followers. But it takes time and thought. And it’s so fun to see some of the qualitative feedback when we do tests and they don’t know who Professor Reich is. They don’t say, “Oh, he was with the Clinton administration, so therefore I have thoughts about him.” They say things like, “Wow, that presenter was really compelling.” Or, “Who’s the actor? I really heard what he said about the minimum wage.” You’ve got to be savvy about it. You can’t just do one post and hope that a full range of America is processing it because they’re not, for a lot of reasons. Can all of these issues of inequality be solved by messaging? Is it just a point of first making sure that people are aware and understand what’s going on? RR: I think it is fundamentally a matter of explaining to people what they already observe and feel in terms of the political economy around themselves. People are very acutely aware, for example, of prices. They know exactly what’s happening at the gas pump. Every time they fill up their gas tanks, they see precisely what’s happening. They’re very aware of their jobs. They’re very aware of their incomes. They’re aware of the cost of childcare, the cost of eldercare. People are immersed in this world, but what they lack very often is an understanding of why. What’s happening has to do with the institutions of our society—everything from the Federal Reserve, all the way through how state governments are operating and how income taxes versus sales taxes are working. But it goes fundamentally to questions of power. Who has the power? How do they exercise that power? How can they be made more accountable with regard to the power that they are exercising, both in the public sector and in the private sector? HKL: Our mission is to educate and engage. So we don’t write public policy. We’re not writing the new, latest wealth tax that someone’s doing. That’s not our role. Our role—and we’ve owned it from the beginning—is educating and engaging. And then people can feel empowered to request different things of their elected officials. They can go out and sign petitions. They can run for office themselves. They can be the leaders that we need and that many of them actually want to be. So much needs to be done to solve or lessen inequality and the gaps here. And so much of it is systemic and policy-related. But I think messaging is key, and that’s our role. In The Last Class documentary, Robert, you say a true leader helps people overcome cynicism. These issues that you’re talking about can make people a little bit cynical about the state of the world. How do you veer away from cynicism and toward hope? And do you have hope about all this? RR: I certainly have hope, and I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if I were not hopeful. But I think there’s a difference between [cynicism and] skepticism, which is appropriate. I think people do need to be skeptical when they hear the news, when they view social media, when they’re engaged with all of the ways in which facts and news and lies travel at an accelerating speed. I think it is very important for all of us to understand that hopelessness is a dead end. That’s the end of the road: We can’t reform our system, we can’t change our democracy, we can’t make the economy work for most of us, we can’t create a society that most of us value and most of us would like to be a member of, if we lose hope. If we become so cynical that we basically say to ourselves, “It’s not worth even trying”—that’s something that I think is in the background of what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to give people levers, ideas, to not only empower them through understanding what’s actually happening, but also to empower them through a sense of what they can do as ordinary Americans. View the full article

Few things are more stressful when flying than a security screening line that is far longer than expected. In recent weeks, due to the partial federal government shutdown that left Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers without pay, travelers at major airports encountered wait times of up to four hours to clear security. (As of April 2, these bottlenecks have largely eased.) During "normal" times, it's easier to determine how early you actually need to arrive, but if you want to find the sweet spot between spending pointless hours at the airport and missing your flight, you should keep an eye on current security wait times, which are available across multiple apps and websites. A reminder, of course, that times are subject to change quickly. The MyTSA app uses real-time information on wait timesTSA has its own app for iOS and Android that provides estimated wait times for airport security lines. MyTSA uses real-time information (when available) along with historical data, so you can see current estimates as well as standard wait times by day of the week and hour of the day. The app also shows open PreCheck lanes and FAA delays. You can add your most-traveled airports to the main dashboard. Note that during shutdowns, MyTSA may not be updated as frequently, so you should consider a backup and note current recommendations for airport arrival times. United's app now has wait times for its U.S. hubsUnited Airlines recently added security wait times to its iOS and Android app, but only for its U.S. hubs: Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) Denver International Airport (DEN) Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) San Francisco International Airport (SFO) Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) The app shows wait times for both standard security lanes and PreCheck. United says that these estimates are updated throughout the day based on data collected by the airline. Anyone can use the app, as United's hubs see plenty of traffic from other airlines, but it won't be helpful for those traveling through other airports. Delta allows you to see some TSA wait times on its websiteDelta's app doesn't have a security wait time feature built in, but Delta customers can see current wait times at Delta hubs on the airline's website. The following airports are supported: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) LaGuardia Airport (LGA) Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC) Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) Current wait times are provided for specific checkpoints at each airport, including standard and PreCheck lanes—data appear to be pulled from individual airport websites. For SLC, Delta also has estimated hourly wait times, which show the highest traffic typically occurring between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. as well as 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Some airport websites will list wait times on their sitesSome larger airports list current or estimated wait times on their own websites, so you can search the name of your airport plus "security wait times" to get information about specific checkpoints and lanes. Smaller airports typically don't have this real-time data, so you're better off using the MyTSA app. These third-party TSA trackers can help determine wait timesThere are numerous websites that combine historical data, information published by airports and federal agencies, and crowdsourced estimates to show approximate TSA wait times. Community submissions may be especially helpful during government shutdowns, when TSA isn't reporting live wait times. A few options include Qsensor (which shows smaller local and international airports), TSA Wait Times, AirlineAirport, and USA Today's TSA tracker. View the full article

Declining Google share and rising AI search usage signal a shift in where discovery happens and how SEO teams should allocate resources. The post The Top 6 Search Engines Market Share & The AI Search Engines To Watch appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Security Camera has dropped to $29.99 on Woot, down from its listed $99.99. It currently sells for $44.99 on Amazon, and price trackers show it hasn’t dipped this low before. Shipping is free if you have Prime; otherwise, it adds $6 to your total. The deal is expected to run for five days or until stock runs out. Arlo Essential Pan Tilt Security Camera Wired plug-in outdoor camera with 2K resolution $29.99 at Woot $99.99 Save $70.00 Get Deal Get Deal $29.99 at Woot $99.99 Save $70.00 This is a wired outdoor camera with a 2K resolution and a 130-degree field of view. The headline feature is its mechanical pan-and-tilt system, which can rotate 360 degrees and tilt 180 degrees. In practice, that means you can cover an entire yard or driveway without installing multiple cameras. Video quality holds up well in daylight, with good detail and accurate colors. At night, it switches between color night vision and infrared black-and-white, depending on lighting. It also includes a spotlight, a siren, and two-way audio, so you can speak to someone on your property or trigger an alarm. The motion detection of this camera is backed by AI that can identify people, vehicles, animals, and packages, and it sends alerts with short descriptions of what’s happening instead of a generic “motion detected” ping. Most of the smarter features, including recorded video history and detailed alerts, require an Arlo Secure Plus subscription (billed annually at $17.99 after a six-month free trial). Without it, you’re limited to live viewing and basic notifications, and there’s no local storage option to fall back on. The camera also needs to stay plugged in, which limits placement compared to battery-powered models. Still, it supports Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings, and the app is responsive when panning, tilting, or pulling up a live feed. It also earned an “excellent” review from PCMag for packing features usually found on more expensive cameras into a relatively affordable outdoor model. Our Best Editor-Vetted Tech Deals Right Now Apple AirPods Pro 3 Noise Cancelling Heart Rate Wireless Earbuds — $224.00 (List Price $249.00) Apple iPad 11" 128GB A16 WiFi Tablet (Blue, 2025) — $299.99 (List Price $349.00) Samsung Galaxy Tab A11+ 128GB Wi-Fi 11" Tablet (Gray) — $209.99 (List Price $249.99) Apple Watch Series 11 (GPS, 42mm, S/M Black Sport Band) — $329.00 (List Price $399.00) Sony WH-1000XM5 — $248.00 (List Price $399.99) Deals are selected by our commerce team View the full article

In all the worthy discussions around the promise and peril of AI, we may be overlooking one of its most powerful use cases: solving urgent global health crises. Few problems illustrate this better than antibiotic resistance. Antibiotics underpin modern medicine, enabling procedures like C-sections and organ transplants and ensuring that patients can safely receive treatments such as chemotherapy. But the bacteria they target are constantly evolving. Over time, many have developed resistance to the drugs we rely on—turning once-routine infections into life-threatening conditions. The scale of the problem is staggering. A landmark global analysis published in The Lancet estimates that antibiotic-resistant infections—known as superbugs—could directly cause more than 39 million deaths between now and 2050, with resistant bacteria contributing to more than 8 million deaths per year by mid-century if current trends continue. In 2019 alone, antibiotic resistance was responsible for 1.2 million deaths globally, exceeding the toll of AIDS-related illnesses and malaria that year. At the same time, the pipeline for new antibiotics has been shrinking for decades. Traditional drug discovery is slow, expensive, and notoriously inefficient. Scientists must test thousands, or even millions, of chemical compounds to identify just a few viable candidates, according to our internal research. A PROBLEM FOR AI This is exactly the kind of problem AI is built to tackle. Antibiotic discovery represents an ideal use case for artificial intelligence that can serve as a paradigm for AI drug discovery more broadly. Instead of testing molecules manually, AI models can analyze vast chemical libraries to predict and even design compounds which are most likely to kill bacteria, dramatically narrowing the field before a single experiment begins. The result is faster and better research. Across the emerging field of AI-native drug discovery, there is growing consensus that machine learning can reduce the timeline of the early discovery phase—covering hit identification, hit-to-lead optimization, and lead optimization—by 50% to 75%, in our experience. That means moving from a promising molecule to a preclinical drug candidate in a fraction of the traditional pace. But speed is only part of the story. AI dramatically expands the chemical universe scientists can explore. This is particularly important in antibiotic discovery, where many existing drug scaffolds are already vulnerable to well-understood bacterial resistance mechanisms. To stay ahead, researchers must identify entirely new scaffolds and mechanisms of action. INCREASE SHOTS ON GOAL Traditional discovery methods limit researchers to relatively small collections of molecules that can realistically be synthesized and screened in the lab. AI models, by contrast, can explore tens to hundreds of millions of potential compounds in silico—computer modeling. It can then prioritize the most promising candidates for synthesis and experimental testing, helping surface entirely new chemical structures that researchers might not have otherwise considered. In other words, AI increases the number and quality of “shots on goal.” Crucially, this technology exists to amplify human intelligence—learning from and augmenting the insight and judgment of scientists. At organizations like ours, Phare Bio, and across the broader biotech ecosystem, AI is being used as a collaborative tool. Machine learning models generate hypotheses, prioritize molecules, and analyze patterns in biological data. Researchers then validate those predictions in the lab, refine the models, and guide the next iteration of discovery. This partnership between human and machine intelligence is already reshaping multiple areas of drug development. Some companies focus on small molecule chemistry, using AI to reduce the number of compounds that must be synthesized and tested. Others are designing entirely new biologic medicines, such as antibodies, where machine learning can accelerate the traditionally slow process of antibody discovery. Still others apply AI to simulate protein dynamics, helping researchers understand how molecules interact with dynamic biological targets. These approaches may differ technically, but they share a common goal: finding better drugs, faster. LOWER THE SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY BARRIER Perhaps most importantly, AI is lowering the barriers to entry for scientific discovery. Historically, antibiotic research required enormous infrastructure: large pharmaceutical companies, massive screening libraries, and expensive laboratory pipelines. Today, powerful AI models and open datasets allow smaller teams, such as academic labs, nonprofits, and startups, to compete in the race to find new antibiotics. That democratization matters. Antibiotic resistance is a global problem that requires a global response. For all the hope surrounding artificial intelligence, its greatest impact may ultimately come from helping humanity solve problems that once seemed intractable. Antibiotic resistance is one of the most serious biological threats we face. But it is also a challenge uniquely suited to the strengths of AI: pattern recognition, massive-scale exploration, and rapid iteration. If we continue building smarter models, pairing them with human expertise, and applying them to the urgent challenges of global health, AI could help unlock an entirely new generation of antibiotics. Akhila Kosaraju, MD, is CEO and cofounder of Phare Bio. View the full article

For years companies have been operating as though working parents with young children are the center of the work-life balance issue. Taking care of little kids is intense, to be sure. But the truth is the real work-life crisis isn’t at that point in their lives. It’s coming in five, ten, or fifteen years. This is the Caregiving Cliff, the time when the highest paid, most tenured, or most worthy of promotion start cracking under the pressure of taking care of kids, aging parents, and their own health needs. The moment when peak earning meets peak caregiving Recently, I spoke with a 47-year-old who had just turned down a promotion. She loved her job and wanted the promotion more than anything. But at that moment in her life, she could not see how she could do it. Her teenage son was battling depression, her father was beginning chemotherapy, and her work calendar was already unbearable. A promotion meant more travel, longer hours, and a level of focus she didn’t think she had the capacity to handle. So, she passed. This woman is exactly the kind of employee companies say they want to retain. And she is exactly the kind they are about to lose. Nearly one in four American adults is now a caregiver for someone 18 or older, according to the AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving. This is hitting midlife workers at a time when their teens are dealing with social drama, academic pressure, and college applications. And for many women, perimenopause is starting to wreak havoc. This is also the moment when seasoned employees are expected to step into bigger roles, lead, scale, and mentor. Your job expects peak performance at the exact time it feels like life is at its most unmanageable. Why companies are solving the wrong problem For decades companies have competed for talent by offering benefits focused on new parenthood, like parental leave, backup childcare, and lactation rooms. All great and absolutely necessary. But these perks become less and less helpful for employees as they age or who come onboard midlife. And flexibility in the workplace is often considered a phase rather than a permanent need. Employees are expected to outgrow it as their children get older. But caregiving doesn’t end, it just becomes more complex. As a result, employees feeling the crunch may start to downshift. They stop taking on extra projects, avoid business travel, and turn down leadership opportunities. Or they leave for a job that offers flexibility without a penalty. Suddenly, companies are faced with a retention crisis and have no idea why their best employees have left. This is a leadership issue too This isn’t just a retention problem. Employees in their 40s and 50s are the most experienced on the teams, often the best managers, and should be the future leaders of the company. When that talent is driven out because the benefits package only supports new parents with young children, businesses lose their leadership pipeline. And unlike new employees, they are harder to replace. What companies need to do Some companies are starting to realize that caregiving doesn’t end after the toddler years, it just gets less visible and more complicated. To retain their best employees, employers will need to: Expand the definition of caregiving to include elderly parents (with zero judgement). Create flexible options that don’t kill career trajectories A human resources department that can offer a plan and guidance (not just a downloadable PDF). Talking about the realities of midlife health (especially women’s health) like the workforce epidemic it actually is. A mindset shift is critical. It’s time we start preparing for the caregiving needs of every employee because the future of work isn’t getting younger. It’s getting more chaotic. View the full article

Today, April 6, 2026, is Easter Monday. It’s the final part of the long Easter Weekend, which runs from Good Friday through today. In several countries around the world, including Canada and Australia, Easter Monday is a public holiday. But what about here in America, and what stores and institutions are closed for the day? Here’s what you need to know. Is Easter Monday a national holiday? No. Although Easter Monday is observed as a national holiday in dozens of countries worldwide, it is not a national holiday in the United States. This means that federal agencies—at least those not affected by the ongoing partial government shutdown—will operate as usual today. For the next federally recognized national holiday in the United States, you’ll need to wait until Memorial Day on Monday, May 25. According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 2026 has 11 federal holidays, the most recent one being Washington’s Birthday on February 16. Is Easter Monday a state holiday? While Good Friday was recognized as a state holiday in several states in 2026, no U.S. state recognizes Easter Monday as a state holiday. This means all state-run institutions, such as DMVs, should be open and operating as usual today. Is the stock market open on Easter Monday? Yes, America’s major stock markets are open today. While America’s stock markets set their own holidays, which don’t always align with federal holidays (as is the case with Good Friday), none have chosen to treat Easter Monday as a holiday. This means both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq will be open today. However, keep in mind that other stock markets around the world may be closed if they are located in one of the numerous countries that observe Easter Monday as a national holiday. Are banks open on Easter Monday? Yes, most banks will be operating as normal on Easter Monday. This includes all of America’s major national banks: JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citibank. Are ATMs open on Easter Monday? ATMs will be operating as normal. However, note that after the long Easter Weekend, some may have run out of cash and not yet been replenished. Is the post office open on Easter Monday? Yes, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is a federal agency, and so it is operating today. That means all USPS branches that are normally open should be open today. Is mail delivered on Easter Monday? Yes. The United States Postal Service will deliver mail as usual today. Are FedEx and UPS operating on Easter Monday? Yes, both UPS and FedEx are operating as normal today. Are schools open on Easter Monday? Most public schools should be open today, as Easter Monday is not a federal or state holiday. However, the caveat here is that Easter Monday may overlap with some schools’ spring break, in which case those schools would be shut today. As for private schools, many Christian or Catholic ones will also be operating as normal. However, it is best to contact your school directly to confirm their schedule. Are restaurants open on Easter Monday? You can expect most fast food and restaurant chains to be open today, including popular chains like Burger King, Chipotle, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway, Taco Bell, and more. Are retail stores open on Easter Monday? Yes. For all intents and purposes, Easter Monday is just another business day for retailers, with no big-box retail locations expected to be closed. So you can expect your local Best Buy, Costco, Kohl’s, Sam’s Club, Target, Walmart, and more to be open. Are pharmacies open on Easter Monday? Yes, most major chain pharmacies will be open today, including CVS and Walgreens. Are grocery stores open on Easter Monday? As with big-box retailers, you can expect most grocery store chains to be open today. This includes major chains like Aldi, Costco, Kroger, Safeway, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and more. View the full article

Since 2021, I’ve worked on more than 350 published guest posts. In that time, I’ve refined a repeatable guest posting outreach process that consistently drives approvals without ever paying for a placement. Although guest blogging is becoming more difficult, the basics of personalized guest posting outreach remain the same. If your mindset is to create mutual value, this process will work for you in 2026 and beyond. Step 1: Build your outreach list Your outreach list is a collection of the websites you’ll email to offer guest-written content. You can build your list in several ways. The easiest way to find potential websites is by googling your niche alongside “write for us.” Plenty of reputable websites openly accept guest posts and have an established approval process you can find online. That’s the exact approach I used to publish an article on G2’s Learning Hub. Alternatively, search the name of a prominent person in your niche and add keywords such as “guest post,” “guest author,” or similar. Chances are that if a website has published guest posts from someone in your industry, they’ll be receptive to accepting guest posts from you as well. Browse your competitors’ backlink profile with an SEO tool. In Semrush, Backlinks is one of the SEO tools under Link Building. To refine your list, verify which websites have previously published content from guest authors. If, however, all articles on a blog are written in-house and you’re not the Beyoncé of your industry, chances are your guest posting pitch will go unnoticed. Once you’ve gathered a list of sites that potentially accept guest posts, run them by your website quality criteria. Consider the website niche, top pages, organic traffic over time, countries where the traffic is coming from, authority score, and outgoing backlinks. You can also automate this step with the API of your favorite SEO tool. Your customers search everywhere. Make sure your brand shows up. The SEO toolkit you know, plus the AI visibility data you need. Start Free Trial Get started with Step 2: Find the right contacts Even the best guest post outreach will fail if you’re writing to the wrong person. Most people ignore emails that aren’t relevant to them, nor do they forward them to the right colleague. That’s why you need to do your homework. There’s likely a specific department or person you should be addressing. Here’s how to find the right person through LinkedIn: Open the company LinkedIn profile and select the People tab. Type relevant keywords into the search bar to filter out profiles. You’re looking for a person who decides what content goes on the blog. To do this, you can type “content” and browse the results for a content manager, content editor, or similar. In smaller companies, you can search for “marketing” or “growth” to find who’s the one-person marketing team. For micro companies, your best contact person might be the founder or co-founder. Use Apollo or Hunter to find the work email of the best contact you find. Sometimes, you’ll come across companies that have no listed employees on LinkedIn, or their emails are not available. In this case, your only option might be a generic email such as contact@ or support@. For micro companies or in certain niches (typically B2C websites), these emails can still work. Verify all email addresses. Many outreach tools have built-in email verification features. This step helps you protect your sender reputation and ensures your emails end up in the inbox, not the spam folder. Step 3: Choose your outreach approach There are two distinct ways to approach guest posting outreach. Send out a generic email template with basic personalization Ask whether the website accepts guest-written content. This way, you don’t invest a lot of time upfront into every pitch and your only focus is on building an outreach list. As the emails aren’t highly personalized (they usually just include the names of the person and the company), they generate a moderate reply rate. To drive results with this approach, you need a large outreach list so you’ll still get enough opportunities to work with at a 3% to 5% reply rate. Hyper-personalize your emails The email you send to company A offers something completely different than the email you’re sending to company B. It takes a lot of time to research and tailor your pitch, but it also enjoys a higher reply rate (around 19%, from my experience). This approach works best when you have a small outreach list or when you’re pitching to prominent websites. Step 4: Research the right topics No matter your outreach approach, you usually need to pitch guest post topics. With basic personalization, you suggest topics only to the websites that reply to you. But with the hyper-personalized email approach, you propose topics in the first email you send. Top-tier websites typically only accept specific types of guest articles. Find the website’s editorial guidelines by googling “[company name] + guest post” and see their requirements. Let’s look at HubSpot as an example. They’re only publishing marketing experiments, original data analyses, or super detailed tactical guides. Similarly, writing a guest article for Zapier’s blog requires specific experience. Generic topics won’t make the cut. Buffer takes things a step further by opening rounds for guest posting under specific themes. Following each website’s requirements increases your chances of landing a successful pitch. But most websites are open to a broader range of suggestions. Some editors have a list of keywords or topics they want to target. They may share it with you so you can choose a topic to write on based on your expertise. Alternatively, you can bring your own guest post ideas. When that’s the case, you can use a keyword gap analysis to uncover relevant topic ideas. How to do a keyword gap analysis with Semrush Let’s say you want to pitch a guest article to monday.com. Here’s how to go about it: Go to Semrush’s SEO tools and select Keyword Gap. Add the URLs of Monday.com’s blog along with the blogs of leading competitor brands, then click on Compare. Next, filter out the keywords. Look only at keywords where competitors are ranking in the top 100 results. Limit the keyword search volume to 2,000. This filters out broad, highly competitive terms that typically require long-form, comprehensive guides to rank. In the keywords report, choose Missing to see keywords that competitors are ranking for but monday.com isn’t. This is their keyword gap. Look deeper into individual keywords that seem interesting and match your expertise. For example, “what is time boxing” has 49% keyword difficulty. In the search bar, add the domain URL to get a personalized keyword difficulty calculation. The goal is to find keywords for which your article has real potential to rank. After selecting “monday.com,” you see the site has low topical authority for “what is time boxing,” and ranking for it would be very hard. Looking at “cost management in project management,” the Personal Keyword Difficulty is 60%. While that’s still high, there’s more to consider. Check how your target domain compares against other websites ranking for this keyword. Monday.com’s Authority Score (AS) is 67, while the average in the top 10 is AS 52. Despite this being a competitive keyword, with the right content, monday.com has real ranking potential. Double-check the website isn’t targeting this keyword already. Sometimes, the website already has content on a similar topic — they’re just targeting a variation of your keyword. To do this, use the “site:” search operator and add your keyword into Google search. In this case, “task priority” came up in the keyword gap analysis. While monday.com doesn’t have an article with this keyword in the H1, it does have very similar content on how to create a priority list or prioritize tasks. Select three to four keywords that would make sense for the website to target. This ensures that the website editors will have enough options to choose from. If you put all of your eggs into one topic idea, it might not land. But three or four ideas increase your chances of success. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. See terms. Step 5: Create your extra value proposition Adding extra value is about what else you can bring to the table besides guest content. Are you an established author in the site’s niche? Do you have a social media following that would be interested in this piece? Are you running a relevant newsletter? Or do you participate in a private community that cares about this topic? Your extra value proposition is unique to your profile, and different value props can appeal to different websites. For example, I have 11,000 followers on LinkedIn. When reaching out to a project management tool’s blog editor, I can mention that 54% of my followers are founders, executives, or senior-level professionals in small to mid-sized companies — the very people responsible for managing processes and tools within their organizations. If I’m personalizing this pitch for a lead-generation blog, I can highlight that 35% of my audience works in the marketing or advertising industry. Step 6: Prepare your emails When it comes to your emails, you need to consider the subject line, the email body, and follow-ups. In simple terms: The subject line is what gets your email opened. The email body gets you replies. The follow-up gets you a second chance. According to BuzzStream’s analysis of six million emails, the best-performing subject lines: Have 9-13 words and 71+ characters. Have emojis. Mention the website name (but not the person’s name). Use title case (vs. sentence case). On to the email body: Keep your emails concise and skimmable. Editors rarely have time for long messages. Finally: follow-ups. Statistically, the more you follow up, the higher your overall campaign reply rate. Some people reply after the first follow-up, others after the third. My recommendation? Limit follow-ups to two. A third one feels too pushy. Step 7: Send your outreach emails You’ve done a lot of preparation work. It’s finally time to send your emails. Here’s what to consider: Send days An analysis of 85,000 personalized emails showed the best day to send a cold email is Monday, closely followed by Tuesday and Wednesday. These are the days with the highest email open and reply rates. Send times The same study suggests you should be sending your emails between 6 to 9 a.m. PT (9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET). But since most editors are based in different countries, aim to send your email before noon in their local time. Unsubscribe option Always give recipients a clear way to opt out of more emails. Without an unsubscribe option, recipients may mark your message as spam. This can damage your sender reputation and reduce future deliverability. Step 8: Track and adjust Most outreach tools allow you to track open, reply, and success rates. Let’s break down what each metric tells you. Open rate is the percentage of recipients who open your email. Your subject line, preview text, sender name, and domain reputation directly influence this number. Reply rate is the percentage of recipients who respond to your email. Exclude automatic replies (like out-of-office messages) to avoid inflated performance numbers. Your email body, topic relevance, and positioning drive this metric. Success rate is the percentage of sent emails that result in a published guest post. Your topic selection, communication with the editor, and adherence to editorial guidelines are some of the aspects that influence success rates. Track these metrics to identify weak points in your outreach campaigns. After you establish a baseline, run controlled A/B tests. Send different versions of your campaign to similarly sized groups and compare performance. Change only one variable at a time so you can clearly measure its impact. Test ideas such as: Subject line with an emoji vs. without. First email with an extra value proposition vs. without. Three suggested topics vs. four. One follow-up vs. two follow-ups. Small improvements across different elements of your campaign can compound into measurable gains in success rate. Step 9: Build relationships with editors I mentioned I’ve worked on more than 350 guest articles. But that doesn’t mean they were all published on different websites. When you provide quality, you’re very likely to build lasting relationships that result in ongoing work. That’s one reason I use keyword gap analysis to choose topics. I target keywords that the website has real potential to rank for. When an article brings meaningful traffic, it becomes much easier to pitch the next one. To establish lasting relationships with editors: Provide exceptional content: Structure the article around search intent. Create original value with custom visuals, expert quotes, and practical examples. Support the publisher’s internal linking by adding multiple links to other resources on their website. Ensure perfect grammar and spelling. Support the article after publication: Promote it through your social media, newsletter, or community. When appropriate, link to it from other relevant content you write. Be reliable and easy to work with: Communicate clearly, respect editorial guidelines, and meet every deadline. My guest posting template with 18% success rate Below is the guest post outreach template that has delivered the strongest results in my campaigns. Between 2023 and 2025, I sent more than 300 pitches using variations of this template, primarily to content managers at B2B SaaS companies in the marketing and HR niches. It generated a 19% reply rate, and 18% of sent emails resulted in a published guest post. Subject: Fresh content ideas for [Company Name] Hi [First Name], My name is [Your Name], and I’m the [Your Job Title] at [Your Company], a [short company description]. I’m reaching out to see if [Company Name] is open to guest contributions. I have extensive experience in [your expertise area], having worked on projects for brands such as [Brand 1] and [Brand 2]. Here are a few topic ideas I’d love to propose: keyword: [primary keyword 1], US search volume: [search volume] [Proposed Article Title 1] keyword: [primary keyword 2], US search volume: [search volume] [Proposed Article Title 2] keyword: [primary keyword 3], US search volume: [search volume] [Proposed Article Title 3] To learn more about my background, you can view my [LinkedIn profile link] or review articles I’ve written for [Publication 1], [Publication 2], and [Publication 3]. If the article is a fit and gets published, I’d be happy to promote it to my community of [audience description or size]. Looking forward to your thoughts, [Your Name] See the complete picture of your search visibility. Track, optimize, and win in Google and AI search from one platform. Start Free Trial Get started with Guest blogging caveat to consider Your author profile directly influences your approval rate. If you’re just starting out and don’t have a portfolio of published work, editors will hesitate to approve your topics. Start by reaching out to small or mid-sized industry blogs. As you build your portfolio, pitching becomes easier. Publishing on recognized industry websites and creating content that drives measurable results strengthens your credibility and improves your success rate over time. Bottom line: Invest in your author profile. That’s your biggest asset for successful guest blogging. View the full article

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. I can’t keep up with all the news that interests me. So I’m exploring new ways to get concise, curated updates. Today I’m sharing three new tools I like. Huxe: Personalized audio shows drawn from your interests, calendar, and email. Google CC: A morning summary of your email inbox. Yutori Scouts: AI agents that monitor your fave topics and deliver reports. Read on for examples of how each works, and how to make the most of them. Huxe: Personalized Audio Updates Huxe is a personalized audio app. Whenever I open it, I hear a custom podcast it generates on the spot based on my interests, calendar, and email. It greets me with what’s important on my calendar and in my inbox. Then the little radio show made for me shares news and feature stories on topics I’m interested in—from AI and tech to teaching and classical music. Huxe was co-founded in September by Raiza Martin, who left Google after leading the vision and development of NotebookLM, my favorite AI tool. To set up the Huxe app, I picked from a list of categories and added some keywords for topics, teams, and tech that interest me. I also gave it permission to access my Google Calendar and Gmail. (Connecting those accounts is optional.) Huxe is free for now, on iOS or Android. Follow Huxe on LinkedIn, where they post interesting updates. In addition to a new “for you” audio update generated anytime I open the app, Huxe also has a “Discover” tab for listening to audio shows curated from online content. Examples of ones I like: Product Drops highlights notable new tech, referencing posts on Product Hunt, the best hub online for new launches. Actually Useful has mini case studies about when AI is demonstrably helpful. The Tennis Daily gives me interesting updates during the Australian Open. Design your own briefing Start by pressing the “+” button at the bottom right of the interface. On the “Research” tab, type in a prompt like “What are the latest breast cancer research developments?” or “Newest snack trends in Tokyo?” Alternatively, hit the “Use Sources” tab and add a list of specific sites you like, X handles, RSS feeds, or subreddits. Ideas to try Create a personalized learning show with your favorite blogs, newsletter writers, or subreddits you follow. You can add an instruction to give the show a particular focus, tone, or style. Make a guilty pleasure show for stressful days. It can be as niche as you want—it’s just for you. No one has to know what’s in it, though you can choose to share it. Add a list of topics that amuse you, from hobbies to food, pet, or sport trends. Or pick guilty pleasures like favorite TV shows, snacks, or singers. Example: In 60 seconds I curated my own show, called Reddit’s Daily Glow, that’s based on a few subreddits with inspiring news and interesting facts. I used to listen only to podcasts or audiobooks on my commute, but now I mix in these personalized audio updates, depending on my mood. Customize your briefings Use the “Join” button while listening to anything to inject a live question into the show. Like the interactive audio feature in NotebookLM, it prompts the AI to respond to your query before returning to the audio briefing. In the “Settings” tab, choose two voices you prefer from 19 options. Features I hope will be added: I’d like to be able to rewind and jump around more easily in the briefings. Down the road I’d love to pull in podcast, YouTube, and newsletter subscriptions as source material, and get Huxe updates by email or WhatsApp. I’d also love to use Huxe as a curator to create my own shows, mixing in my own voice and content. Alternative: I like Mailbrew for creating curated email digests from my favorite newsletters, blogs, subreddits, YouTubers, and more. Read my guide (for paid Wonder Tools subscribers) for more on why I like it and how I use it. Another alternative for a quick news overview is Upstract. But that’s basically the entire internet on one page, which I find overwhelming. Google CC: A Personalized Daily Email Update I’m testing a new Google “AI productivity agent.” CC is basically a personalized briefing that Gmail now sends me daily. It’s based on new Gmail messages and what’s in my Calendar. What’s useful about it It saves me from missing out. It surfaces messages I might otherwise overlook. Examples so far: a library message about a reserved book ready for pickup, and a volunteering sign-up deadline. It links directly to key messages. You can click on any briefing item to open the relevant Gmail message. I can reply to customize future briefings. I replied to a briefing asking for Substack-related email updates I might have missed, and it gave me these useful nuggets. Yutori Scouts: Get Customized Reports Get updates on whatever interests you with Yutori Scouts. Create a detailed query, and a team of AI agents will scour the web to keep you up to date. Specify news, shopping, or professional passions, or get updates on particular products, companies, or opportunities. Set your preferred frequency to daily, weekly, or when new info arises. It’s like a more powerful, AI-enhanced version of Google Alerts, which just searches for keywords. Here’s more on how Yutori’s AI agents work. How I’m using it To get an inspiring daily story from Reddit. Here’s a recent example. To see which AI startups are trending on Product Hunt. (You can remix public queries, which serve as useful templates.) To keep up with new AI policies in higher ed. I set up a weekly digest to stay up to date for my job at the City University of New York. Here’s a recent update. More examples of what Scouts can monitor Niche clothing trends in Tokyo TikTok U.S. daily trends Highly rated new movies available to stream Pricing: Free for one active query; $15 per month for 10 scouts on various topics with up to hourly monitoring. This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. View the full article

For too long, design has been too focused on how things look. That makes sense when products are competing for attention. Form becomes a way to stand out, a signal of taste, a shortcut to desire. But it’s fleeting. A shopper may feel good at checkout, then realize later that the product doesn’t actually enhance her life. That’s a failure. Most products don’t fail because they look bad. They fail because they don’t hold up in real life. They’re hard to open, awkward to carry, confusing to use, fine in ideal conditions but frustrating everywhere else. As a society, we’ve been designing for the moment of purchase, not the reality of use, and not for the long term. Real life is not ideal. Hands are full. Attention is split. Bodies change. Needs shift. What works in a studio or a showroom often breaks down in daily routines. WHAT HAPPENS AFTER PURCHASE? Features that can be marketed in a headline or a surface impression matter, but they are incomplete. What matters just as much is what happens after purchase. Does the product reduce effort or add to it? Does it adapt to real conditions? Does it continue to work as life changes? These questions determine whether a product becomes part of someone’s life or something they quietly abandon. In homes everywhere, there are small examples of this gap. A chair that looks right but becomes uncomfortable over time, or is difficult to stand up from. A sauté pan that causes strain while plating. These are not dramatic failures, but they are everyday ones. Each friction point requires adjustment and extra attention, shaping how people feel about a product and the brand behind it. At the same time, the opposite mistake shows up just as often. Some products are designed so narrowly around function that they lose any sense of humanity. This is especially visible in categories that claim to prioritize usability, where the result can feel institutional or mechanical. They solve for performance but ignore how people want to feel using them. That is also a failure. People don’t separate how something works from how it makes them feel. The best products integrate purpose and personality. OBSERVE, DON’T JUST LISTEN Part of the reason this persists is that companies rely heavily on what customers say they want. That input is valuable, but it has limits. People tend to describe improvements to what they already know, but rarely entirely new ways something could work. If design only follows those signals, it reinforces the current model instead of challenging it. That is why designers focus on observing behavior, not just listening to requests. Real insight comes from watching how people actually live, where they struggle, adapt, and compensate. Designing for those realities often leads to solutions that feel obvious in hindsight but would have been difficult to articulate in advance. NEXT PHASE: UNDERSTANDING We are at an inflection point. The next phase of design is not about more expression, but more understanding. The value of a product is not in how it looks on a shelf, but in how it performs across the small, repeated moments that make up a day. Those ordinary moments are easy to overlook, but they are where products succeed or fail. A handle that supports different ways of holding it, an interface that makes its function clear at a glance, a form that guides use without explanation. These are not dramatic innovations, but they make a product easier to live with. When design solves for those moments, something changes. Products become easier to use, require less effort, and create less friction. They feel considered and increase in value over time. That shift is subtle, but powerful. When something works the way it should, people stop thinking about the object and focus on what they are trying to do. That is the real goal. The best products are not the ones that demand attention, but the ones that remove the need for it. THE IMPLICATIONS OF TRUST When a brand consistently delivers that experience, people begin to trust it and return to it, not just because of how it looks, but because of how it performs over time. That is where emotional connection is built. This has clear business implications. Products that work across a wider range of conditions are used more often, replaced less frequently, and build stronger loyalty. In saturated categories, this kind of performance becomes a meaningful advantage. It also requires a different mindset. Design cannot be treated as a final layer applied to a finished idea. It has to be embedded from the beginning, shaped by how people actually live. That means paying attention to variation, not just averages, and to edge conditions, not just ideal ones. Not ignoring customers, but recognizing that what people say and what they need are not always the same. The role of design is to close that gap, introducing solutions that feel natural once experienced, even if they were not requested in advance. The future of design will be defined by how well products work, how well they last, and how naturally they fit into real life. That is the problem worth solving. Ben Wintner is CEO of Michael Graves Design. View the full article

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If your small business sees clients and customers by appointment, scheduling becomes your lifeblood. So it may surprise you to learn that 72.83% of U.S. small businesses still primarily use email to set appointments. Never mind the fact that more sophisticated options like Zoho Bookings offer a way to drastically improve scheduling for small businesses of all kinds. “Despite the growth of scheduling tools, legacy methods continue to dominate across SMBs,” explains a new survey created by the Zoho Bookings team. “Email threads and phone calls remain the default, even as more efficient alternatives become increasingly accessible.” Say Goodbye to Email Scheduling Imagine you run a barber shop in Brooklyn, New York. You’ve mastered 360 waves, drop fades, taper afros, twists, locks and more. Your clients and customers love your work. But you still manage your appointments by email. Yikes! Or imagine you run an insurance agency in Bridgeport, Connecticut. You might meet with clients at the local coffee shop, at your office, or online. Now imagine scheduling all these appointments with email threads and then trying to jot them all down in your calendar. You will have to hope nothing falls through the cracks. Who wants to live like this? Stop the Drain of Back and Forth Concern over scheduling through email goes beyond worry over missed appointments. Though that problem certainly exists. It also happens to be the greatest drain on a small business’s most valuable resource: time. According to the Zoho Bookings survey, 46.1% of respondents said the back-and-forth involved in more traditional scheduling like email ends up being a huge waste of hours. Consider a life coach in Tucson, Arizona who meets with most of her clients one on one online – since many are spread throughout the world. Using email for appointments seemed workable in the beginning. But with more clients every month, our hypothetical life coach finds her time more and more taken up by scheduling. An incoming email from a new lead results in lots of back and forth trying to settle on a date for a first session. Existing clients need to occasionally reschedule too resulting in even more emails. Multiply this over a larger and larger number of customers. Soon our life coach lacks time to prepare for new sessions. She also lacks adequate time to create videos, blog posts and other content — another important part of the service she provides. Look At Other Ways Scheduling Inefficiencies Create Challenges First, 34.65% of respondents say they see increased no shows due to scheduling problems, according to the survey. A periodontist in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania may see a drop in patients keeping their appointments. Perhaps confirmations remain lost in email threads causing confusion. Another 31.98% of respondents say double bookings and other conflicts result from these issues. Meanwhile, 23.62% of respondents report uneven team schedules as a result. Consider running a beauty salon in Detroit, Michigan. You schedule an extra beautician to handle two clients who never materialize. Another 21.65% of respondents to the survey say these challenges also lead to inefficient resource management. Perhaps an accountant in Portland, Oregon spends a few hours preparing a report for a client who doesn’t show due to scheduling confusion. That same client won’t pay you for a meeting he never attended. So 16.93% of respondents say late payments also remain related challenges. Another 9.45% of respondents listed increased administrative costs as a result of scheduling challenges. Learn How Much Inefficient Scheduling Costs You How much time does scheduling actually take up? Remember, this represents time you can’t use to get other things done in your business. First, about half of respondents – 46.46% – estimate they spend more than an hour to get a single appointment scheduled. This may include back and forth in email or on the phone to finalize an appointment and get it on the calendar. Meanwhile, 28.35% estimate it takes 1 to 6 hours to finalize and schedule an appointment, 13.78% think it’s 6 to 12 hours, 7.27% estimate 12 to 24 hours, and 1.97% say more than a day. A minuscule 1.18% say they just don’t know. Needless to say, it makes little difference how long you believe scheduling takes you. As the number of clients increases the time taken up in scheduling grows exponentially. “The gap between how often businesses schedule and how efficiently they do it is where automation can deliver significant operational benefits, especially for SMBs with lean teams, by reducing time spent on coordination and freeing resources for core activities,” the Zoho Bookings survey report explains. Add Effortless Flow to Your Scheduling Process Fortunately, automation in the form of scheduling software like Zoho Bookings offers another option. Zoho Bookings allows you to set up your hours and availability. Then customers or clients simply schedule the appointments that work for them. Forget back and forth emails. Watch your schedule fill up while you spend your valuable time doing something else in your business. Don’t Pick Up The Phone The phone seems even more old school than email. Yet 57.1% of small businesses in the U.S, still use it to schedule appointments with clients, according to the Zoho Bookings survey. Booking appointments with clients by phone and then entering them into your calendar may seem perfectly workable for some. (And, this may also depend on the number of these calls you need to take or make.) But imagine being an ophthalmologist in Raleigh, North Carolina. Your reception desk needs to make calls to remind patients of annual checkups. Or they need to handle a flurry or incoming calls when you send out your annual appointment reminders. This decreases the time they can spend fielding more important calls from patients. These end up being questions that require real humans to answer. They include medical questions, billing questions, or questions about the practice and the services you provide. Look for Digital Solutions Replacing email and phone with appointment scheduling software resolves many of these problems. In fact, scheduling software ranks third as the most used scheduling solution for U.S. small businesses. With 33.65% of organizations in the U.S. using software for scheduling, this option ranks far above calendar app invites and website forms. But it also ranks far above a number of other low tech and high tech solutions like pen and paper, spreadsheets, walk-ins or chatbots. “Manual scheduling carries a hidden cost,” the survey observes. “It surfaces as wasted hours, missed appointments, and customers who move on because booking was too complicated.” And the problems that arise seem magnified in small businesses where fewer employees mean not as many people to take up the slack. “For SMBs where a single person often handles sales, operations, and customer service, these friction points hit harder than they do at larger organizations,” the survey authors explain. Add A Virtual Meeting Component Choose a scheduling software that enables virtual meetings as well. Earlier we looked at a life coach with clients scattered all over the world. Such a business certainly requires virtual meetings for any interactive exchange. But Zoho Bookings’ survey found most of your competitors provide a combination of both. According to the survey, 21.26% of businesses reported offering exclusively in person service while 15.75% said they were exclusively virtual. But 62.99% of respondents said they offered a hybrid of virtual and in person options for clients. Give Clients a Choice of Meeting Format Imagine you work as a therapist in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Though you have clients in Sherman Oaks, North Hollywood and Encino, some prefer not to drive what can sometimes be as much as 20 minutes for an in person session. Or imagine you run a financial planning practice in somewhere like Billings, Montana. Clients in neighboring Lockwood, Huntley or Columbus might need to drive anywhere from 15 minutes to almost an hour to reach your office. While clients in Bozeman might drive over two hours. In either scenario, some might consider the trip worthwhile for an in person meeting. Others will not. So offering both virtual and in-person meetings seems a good idea to keep all your clients happy. “The hybrid approach is now the norm,” Zoho reports. “With nearly 63% of businesses offering both formats, meeting flexibility has moved from being a nice extra to something customers simply expect.” Integrating Zoho Bookings with Zoho Meeting allows you to offer virtual appointments from the scheduling application itself. This allows you to automate the bookings while also offering flexibility to clients about whether appointments are held in person or virtually. Watch Your Customer Service Improve Some small business owners may worry that using scheduling software takes away from the personal attention they give clients. That worry only increases when you throw AI into the equation. Take the AI scheduling now available from Zoho Bookings. In fact, 51.2% of respondents to the Zoho Bookings survey indicated they were concerned AI would eliminate the personal touch from their customer relationships. None-the-less 58.7% of respondents report being comfortable with AI handling scheduling for their business. Take Advantage of AI in Appointment Scheduling Despite this apparent comfort with AI-assisted scheduling, few respondents have actually implemented it. Only 20.8% of those surveyed currently use AI-assisted scheduling. While an incredible 79.92% do not. Given the incredible advantage automated scheduling with AI-tools offers, early adopters can expect to leave competitors using email or phone far behind. And given that 58.7% of respondents can already see the value here even though some have not yet adopted it, your business may want to get ahead of the pack. Automaton Improves Customer Satisfaction Despite concerns, there seems to be little cause to worry about how scheduling automation will impact customer experience. In the same survey, 56.8% of small business owners who use scheduling software said it directly improved their customer service. This makes sense when you think about it. Would you rather phone your doctor and leave a message because the front desk is too busy with existing calls? Or would it be better to pop onto your doctor’s scheduling software and choose from available options that fit your schedule? The first option will result in waiting for someone to call back within the next business day and at that time help you set up an appointment. And if you miss that call you can play phone tag with the office over the next few hours or days until you finally connect. Which scenario would you feel gave you as a patient the best service? Coordinate Your Internal Team Scheduling Finally, scheduling software offers a great potential to streamline internal scheduling as well. According to the Zoho Bookings Survey, internal scheduling at many small businesses continues to be a mishmash. Imagine you run an online marketing agency or software company. You need to meet with a client on a global campaign or a customer interested in implementing your software. You employ in the first case a global team of copywriters, designers and marketing specialists. In the second you have developers, engineers and IT support. How do you efficiently set up a meeting for all these people and your clients? Nearly half, 51.6%, of small businesses surveyed say they use messaging apps or email. But in either case, you can easily imagine how back and forth could take time. And agreed upon dates could easily be lost in chat or email threads. Another 48% of respondents acknowledged using a shared calendar dashboard. But 43.3% reported checking team availability manually and 17.32% said they routed scheduling through the front desk. For many of these businesses, considerable overlap exists as they use a mix of techniques when trying to put team meetings together. These small businesses could obviously do better. Final Thoughts If your small business hasn’t switched to scheduling software, it’s time to make a change. Using email for scheduling creates back and forth that drains away time you could be using on other parts of your business. It also allows appointment confirmations to be lost in email threads creating confusion and possible missed appointments. Making appointments by phone ties up staff who could be fielding more important calls. It also creates delays when leaving messages that may not be answered until the next day. Using scheduling software increases efficiency by allowing customers to schedule appointments based on your availability. Also nearly 57% of respondents to a recent survey say scheduling software directly improves customer service. To get started with scheduling software in your small business, visit Zoho Bookings. Or contact the Zoho sales team. This article, "Zoho Bookings Survey Shows Small Businesses Still Struggle with Scheduling" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

If your small business sees clients and customers by appointment, scheduling becomes your lifeblood. So it may surprise you to learn that 72.83% of U.S. small businesses still primarily use email to set appointments. Never mind the fact that more sophisticated options like Zoho Bookings offer a way to drastically improve scheduling for small businesses of all kinds. “Despite the growth of scheduling tools, legacy methods continue to dominate across SMBs,” explains a new survey created by the Zoho Bookings team. “Email threads and phone calls remain the default, even as more efficient alternatives become increasingly accessible.” Say Goodbye to Email Scheduling Imagine you run a barber shop in Brooklyn, New York. You’ve mastered 360 waves, drop fades, taper afros, twists, locks and more. Your clients and customers love your work. But you still manage your appointments by email. Yikes! Or imagine you run an insurance agency in Bridgeport, Connecticut. You might meet with clients at the local coffee shop, at your office, or online. Now imagine scheduling all these appointments with email threads and then trying to jot them all down in your calendar. You will have to hope nothing falls through the cracks. Who wants to live like this? Stop the Drain of Back and Forth Concern over scheduling through email goes beyond worry over missed appointments. Though that problem certainly exists. It also happens to be the greatest drain on a small business’s most valuable resource: time. According to the Zoho Bookings survey, 46.1% of respondents said the back-and-forth involved in more traditional scheduling like email ends up being a huge waste of hours. Consider a life coach in Tucson, Arizona who meets with most of her clients one on one online – since many are spread throughout the world. Using email for appointments seemed workable in the beginning. But with more clients every month, our hypothetical life coach finds her time more and more taken up by scheduling. An incoming email from a new lead results in lots of back and forth trying to settle on a date for a first session. Existing clients need to occasionally reschedule too resulting in even more emails. Multiply this over a larger and larger number of customers. Soon our life coach lacks time to prepare for new sessions. She also lacks adequate time to create videos, blog posts and other content — another important part of the service she provides. Look At Other Ways Scheduling Inefficiencies Create Challenges First, 34.65% of respondents say they see increased no shows due to scheduling problems, according to the survey. A periodontist in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania may see a drop in patients keeping their appointments. Perhaps confirmations remain lost in email threads causing confusion. Another 31.98% of respondents say double bookings and other conflicts result from these issues. Meanwhile, 23.62% of respondents report uneven team schedules as a result. Consider running a beauty salon in Detroit, Michigan. You schedule an extra beautician to handle two clients who never materialize. Another 21.65% of respondents to the survey say these challenges also lead to inefficient resource management. Perhaps an accountant in Portland, Oregon spends a few hours preparing a report for a client who doesn’t show due to scheduling confusion. That same client won’t pay you for a meeting he never attended. So 16.93% of respondents say late payments also remain related challenges. Another 9.45% of respondents listed increased administrative costs as a result of scheduling challenges. Learn How Much Inefficient Scheduling Costs You How much time does scheduling actually take up? Remember, this represents time you can’t use to get other things done in your business. First, about half of respondents – 46.46% – estimate they spend more than an hour to get a single appointment scheduled. This may include back and forth in email or on the phone to finalize an appointment and get it on the calendar. Meanwhile, 28.35% estimate it takes 1 to 6 hours to finalize and schedule an appointment, 13.78% think it’s 6 to 12 hours, 7.27% estimate 12 to 24 hours, and 1.97% say more than a day. A minuscule 1.18% say they just don’t know. Needless to say, it makes little difference how long you believe scheduling takes you. As the number of clients increases the time taken up in scheduling grows exponentially. “The gap between how often businesses schedule and how efficiently they do it is where automation can deliver significant operational benefits, especially for SMBs with lean teams, by reducing time spent on coordination and freeing resources for core activities,” the Zoho Bookings survey report explains. Add Effortless Flow to Your Scheduling Process Fortunately, automation in the form of scheduling software like Zoho Bookings offers another option. Zoho Bookings allows you to set up your hours and availability. Then customers or clients simply schedule the appointments that work for them. Forget back and forth emails. Watch your schedule fill up while you spend your valuable time doing something else in your business. Don’t Pick Up The Phone The phone seems even more old school than email. Yet 57.1% of small businesses in the U.S, still use it to schedule appointments with clients, according to the Zoho Bookings survey. Booking appointments with clients by phone and then entering them into your calendar may seem perfectly workable for some. (And, this may also depend on the number of these calls you need to take or make.) But imagine being an ophthalmologist in Raleigh, North Carolina. Your reception desk needs to make calls to remind patients of annual checkups. Or they need to handle a flurry or incoming calls when you send out your annual appointment reminders. This decreases the time they can spend fielding more important calls from patients. These end up being questions that require real humans to answer. They include medical questions, billing questions, or questions about the practice and the services you provide. Look for Digital Solutions Replacing email and phone with appointment scheduling software resolves many of these problems. In fact, scheduling software ranks third as the most used scheduling solution for U.S. small businesses. With 33.65% of organizations in the U.S. using software for scheduling, this option ranks far above calendar app invites and website forms. But it also ranks far above a number of other low tech and high tech solutions like pen and paper, spreadsheets, walk-ins or chatbots. “Manual scheduling carries a hidden cost,” the survey observes. “It surfaces as wasted hours, missed appointments, and customers who move on because booking was too complicated.” And the problems that arise seem magnified in small businesses where fewer employees mean not as many people to take up the slack. “For SMBs where a single person often handles sales, operations, and customer service, these friction points hit harder than they do at larger organizations,” the survey authors explain. Add A Virtual Meeting Component Choose a scheduling software that enables virtual meetings as well. Earlier we looked at a life coach with clients scattered all over the world. Such a business certainly requires virtual meetings for any interactive exchange. But Zoho Bookings’ survey found most of your competitors provide a combination of both. According to the survey, 21.26% of businesses reported offering exclusively in person service while 15.75% said they were exclusively virtual. But 62.99% of respondents said they offered a hybrid of virtual and in person options for clients. Give Clients a Choice of Meeting Format Imagine you work as a therapist in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Though you have clients in Sherman Oaks, North Hollywood and Encino, some prefer not to drive what can sometimes be as much as 20 minutes for an in person session. Or imagine you run a financial planning practice in somewhere like Billings, Montana. Clients in neighboring Lockwood, Huntley or Columbus might need to drive anywhere from 15 minutes to almost an hour to reach your office. While clients in Bozeman might drive over two hours. In either scenario, some might consider the trip worthwhile for an in person meeting. Others will not. So offering both virtual and in-person meetings seems a good idea to keep all your clients happy. “The hybrid approach is now the norm,” Zoho reports. “With nearly 63% of businesses offering both formats, meeting flexibility has moved from being a nice extra to something customers simply expect.” Integrating Zoho Bookings with Zoho Meeting allows you to offer virtual appointments from the scheduling application itself. This allows you to automate the bookings while also offering flexibility to clients about whether appointments are held in person or virtually. Watch Your Customer Service Improve Some small business owners may worry that using scheduling software takes away from the personal attention they give clients. That worry only increases when you throw AI into the equation. Take the AI scheduling now available from Zoho Bookings. In fact, 51.2% of respondents to the Zoho Bookings survey indicated they were concerned AI would eliminate the personal touch from their customer relationships. None-the-less 58.7% of respondents report being comfortable with AI handling scheduling for their business. Take Advantage of AI in Appointment Scheduling Despite this apparent comfort with AI-assisted scheduling, few respondents have actually implemented it. Only 20.8% of those surveyed currently use AI-assisted scheduling. While an incredible 79.92% do not. Given the incredible advantage automated scheduling with AI-tools offers, early adopters can expect to leave competitors using email or phone far behind. And given that 58.7% of respondents can already see the value here even though some have not yet adopted it, your business may want to get ahead of the pack. Automaton Improves Customer Satisfaction Despite concerns, there seems to be little cause to worry about how scheduling automation will impact customer experience. In the same survey, 56.8% of small business owners who use scheduling software said it directly improved their customer service. This makes sense when you think about it. Would you rather phone your doctor and leave a message because the front desk is too busy with existing calls? Or would it be better to pop onto your doctor’s scheduling software and choose from available options that fit your schedule? The first option will result in waiting for someone to call back within the next business day and at that time help you set up an appointment. And if you miss that call you can play phone tag with the office over the next few hours or days until you finally connect. Which scenario would you feel gave you as a patient the best service? Coordinate Your Internal Team Scheduling Finally, scheduling software offers a great potential to streamline internal scheduling as well. According to the Zoho Bookings Survey, internal scheduling at many small businesses continues to be a mishmash. Imagine you run an online marketing agency or software company. You need to meet with a client on a global campaign or a customer interested in implementing your software. You employ in the first case a global team of copywriters, designers and marketing specialists. In the second you have developers, engineers and IT support. How do you efficiently set up a meeting for all these people and your clients? Nearly half, 51.6%, of small businesses surveyed say they use messaging apps or email. But in either case, you can easily imagine how back and forth could take time. And agreed upon dates could easily be lost in chat or email threads. Another 48% of respondents acknowledged using a shared calendar dashboard. But 43.3% reported checking team availability manually and 17.32% said they routed scheduling through the front desk. For many of these businesses, considerable overlap exists as they use a mix of techniques when trying to put team meetings together. These small businesses could obviously do better. Final Thoughts If your small business hasn’t switched to scheduling software, it’s time to make a change. Using email for scheduling creates back and forth that drains away time you could be using on other parts of your business. It also allows appointment confirmations to be lost in email threads creating confusion and possible missed appointments. Making appointments by phone ties up staff who could be fielding more important calls. It also creates delays when leaving messages that may not be answered until the next day. Using scheduling software increases efficiency by allowing customers to schedule appointments based on your availability. Also nearly 57% of respondents to a recent survey say scheduling software directly improves customer service. To get started with scheduling software in your small business, visit Zoho Bookings. Or contact the Zoho sales team. This article, "Zoho Bookings Survey Shows Small Businesses Still Struggle with Scheduling" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

As the threat of drone attacks grows, the federal government is turning this summer into a proving ground for U.S. efforts to shore up aerial defenses at events like the World Cup. It may also serve as a launchpad for defense tech firms hoping to sell systems designed to intercept unmanned aerial vehicles. “Out of the World Cup, you’ll see the baseline for what law enforcement and critical infrastructure sites will then buy at scale,” says Jon Gruen, CEO of Fortem Technologies, which signed a multimillion-dollar deal to provide artificial intelligence systems, radar, and drone interdiction technology to U.S. cities hosting the tournament. “You’re going to see how it worked, and see how it all fits together.” A run of mega-events over the next few years, including this summer’s World Cup, expected to draw roughly 5 million international visitors for matches and fan zone parties, the nation’s 250th birthday, and the 2028 Olympics, has elevated drone defense as a national priority. It has also raised alarms among civil liberties groups about expanding law enforcement surveillance capabilities. Drones are increasingly being used for asymmetric warfare, says Michael Robbins, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International. One of the most notable examples is the Ukrainian Spiderweb attack, which secretly positioned remote-operated drones to devastate part of Russia’s bomber fleet. “What’s different about the World Cup is the scale,” says Robbins. “It’s 11 Super Bowls at once.” Robbins has been engaged in drone defense since 2018, when a high-profile drone intrusion at Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom shut down airspace for two days and caused significant economic damage. In the United States, the federal government was slower to respond; for years, only a small number of federal officials were trained to take down drones. “We don’t have the training, we don’t have the equipment, and we don’t have the number of personnel that are skilled in mitigation technology and the use of mitigation technology, particularly the application of that technology in really highly dense radio frequency environments or urban environments,” says G.B. Jones, chief safety and security officer for the FIFA World Cup 2026, in November. That is now changing quickly. In December, the Safer Skies Act was signed into law, authorizing state and local authorities to disable dangerous drones and directing the FBI and other agencies to train them. The FBI’s Hazardous Devices School in Huntsville, Alabama, now runs a three-week training program for law enforcement focused on drone mitigation. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has also announced $500 million in special grants for drone defense, known as Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems programs, with half of the funding fast-tracked to help World Cup host cities invest in new technology. The Department of Homeland Security will spend an additional $115 million on drone defenses for the tournament. In January, officials from host cities and federal agencies gathered in Colorado Springs to run drone attack simulations ahead of this summer. Take Los Angeles, a future Olympic host and the city set to host Team USA’s first World Cup match on June 12. On February 24, Los Angeles Police Department officials approved a $9.8 million federal grant to protect the city from drone attacks. When asked about its plans for spending the Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems grant funds, or strategy around drone defense, a department spokesperson says the department was unable to provide any details to Fast Company, and “as a matter of policy, we do not publicly discuss tactical strategies, threat assessments, or protective plans related to major events,” the statement noted. However, in a recent California Post piece, a larger strategy was outlined: the department would install two dozen radio frequency sensors across the city to detect drones, as well as mobile drone mitigation stations, including installations at LAPD headquarters and the Mt. Lee Communications tower right behind the Hollywood sign. Robbins says that drone defenses for events like the World Cup would typically work as follows, depending on the type of technology being utilized. For UAVs operated with radio frequencies, defending against attacks might utilize low-altitude radar or optical sensing to identify threats, and then jamming of radio frequencies to disable the drone, causing it to fall out of the sky. There’s even tech that allows law enforcement to take over rogue drones and then steer and land them at pre-designated safe spaces; that’s technology LAPD plans to lean on for their own defense, per the Post. The more challenging scenario, and the one that really worries security officials, is drones flying dark–using AI to autonomously hit targets without being steered or controlled by someone else. This tends to require a kinetic option, says Robbins. That means guns, lasers, high-powered microwave weapons, even other armed drones that can take out threats in the sky by ramming them or tossing nets. Fortem, which was recently awarded a contract from the Department of Homeland Security for their DroneHunter tech, fields AI-controlled drones that use nets to disable and snatch enemy drones out of the sky. This technology, which is autonomous, will be on display at every World Cup game this summer, says Gruen; the firm just staged an interdiction test, where five autonomously programmed drones were intercepted by Fortem radar and interceptors. However cities decide to invest in their defense–Robbins surmises every city will follow a different strategy based on their unique needs–it’s raising significant civil liberty concerns. Many activists and local officials have also expressed fear that increased drone technology can also be used on local communities, or as part of the federal government’s deportation dragnet. At a hearing of the Los Angeles Police Commission on February 10, speakers expressed alarm at the city’s growing drone fleet, and its potential to surveil citizens. Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the ACLU, says the threat of drone attacks is real, so he’s not de facto against spending money on defending from drone attacks. What he’s more concerned about, which he outlines in a recent white paper, is an increasing pattern of “drones for us, not you” by the government. By empowering more law enforcement groups to take down drones, it may crowd out the ability of everyday citizens to use drones, as well as perhaps lead to drones flown by journalists and advocates seeking to document abuses of power being disrupted. He’s advocating for narrow and precisely defined rules precisely spelling out when law enforcement can and cannot take down drones, and also transparency around how the government is using drones, to curtail overbroad surveillance. The federal government had previously issued flight restrictions over protests in Ferguson in 2014, and earlier this year, issued flight restrictions above DHS vehicle caravans, ostensibly banning drones from filming their activities. “Two things can be true,” Stanley says. “There are times and places where it makes complete sense to ban drones. And, the threat of drones can be exaggerated to ban drones due to the desire of law enforcement not to be filmed.” Robbins believes the nation has been slow to put the proper regulations in place to defend against this threat, but the right actions have been taken. Taken together with the military’s rapid pace of drone defense investments, this new wave of training and deployment will bolster defense tech firms like Axon, despite the recent federal shutdown, which delayed federal funding earmarked for World Cup safety and security. At a time of war and rising threats, drone defense has become a much bigger priority. “It’ll take a herculean effort to be ready,” he says. “But now, it’s being taken seriously.” View the full article

Hello and welcome to Modern CEO! I’m Stephanie Mehta, CEO and chief content officer of Mansueto Ventures. Each week this newsletter explores inclusive approaches to leadership drawn from conversations with executives and entrepreneurs, and from the pages of Inc. and Fast Company. If you received this newsletter from a friend, you can sign up to get it yourself every Monday morning. Jim Collins, coauthor of Built to Last and author of Good to Great, didn’t set out to write another management book. His new work, What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire and the Self-Knowledge Imperative, is a deeply researched meditation on how individuals navigate life’s transitions, from a wide range of human endeavors including arts, sports, media, and politics. But in researching and writing What to Make of a Life, a process that took 12 years, Collins found himself returning to—and evolving—one of his most famous concepts. Good to Great introduced the “First Who, Then What” principle, the notion that executives who led the most remarkable corporate transformations didn’t start with a vision or a strategy. They started with people. “The executives who ignited the transformations from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus and then get people to take it there,” he wrote. “No, they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it.” Collins’s What to Make of a Life research suggests that people are still important, but so is the role they play. Put another way: You need the right people on the bus, “but what I really came to see through this study is that it’s much more about the seats,” Collins tells Modern CEO. All the right shine Collins shares a new concept he calls “encodings”—the constellation of capabilities that reside within each of us. When an individual’s encodings are brightest, he describes them as being “in frame.” John Glenn, for example, was in frame during his run as a successful fighter pilot and astronaut. But Glenn also had periods of his life when he was less successful. He was a middling college student and an unremarkable corporate executive before moving fully back into frame as a U.S. senator. “He’s still the same person,” Collins says. “What’s changing is the frame of his life, and whether that frame is capturing a big, bright set of encodings.” Katharine Graham had similar moments being in and relatively out of frame, with some of her brightest coming when she was CEO of The Washington Post Co. and tested by her decisions to publish the Pentagon Papers and Watergate scoops. Singer Robert Plant was “running around the Midlands with John Bonham in pursuit of music gigs,” Collins writes, while his parents tried to convince him to become an accountant. He came into frame when he teamed up with Jimmy Page to form Led Zeppelin. Find the right frame Collins says leaders should recognize that team members have different encodings, and to get them to succeed may require changing their responsibilities or frame. It’s a lesson Collins has learned personally. “I used to spend a lot of time feeling frustrated with what people are not,” he says. “I began to look at all the people in my life and on my team very differently. [Rather than] try to turn them into something they’re not, [try to] shift the frame—the seat they sit in—so that when they’re in that seat, they’re like John Glenn flying fighter jets. They’re like Jimmy Page playing guitar.” Leaders, in turn, can understand and embrace their capabilities and lead by putting themselves in the right frame or seat. Collins defines leadership as “the art of getting people to want to do what must be done.” “The key is not to look out into the world and say, ‘What do other great leaders do?’” Collins says. “The key is to say, ‘What are my leadership encodings that allow me, in my own idiosyncratic way, to exercise the art of getting people to want to do what must be done?’” Crack your encoding What are your encodings as a leader? How do you get people to do what must be done? Send your reflections to me at stephaniemehta@mansueto.com. I’ll publish the best examples in a future newsletter. Read more: The best of Jim Collins Good to Great for entrepreneurs Is the economy just built to flip? Walmart: Bigger, better, faster Revisiting Beyond Entrepreneurship View the full article

Proposal for 45-day ceasefire reported to have been shared by Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey ahead of The President deadlineView the full article