#AskPeshev 148: The Smart Ones

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving” – Albert EinsteinThis continues to hold true today especially when it comes to learning (even in a world full of distractions). Learning never stops. There’s always a new set of skills to acquire and values to cultivate. And one of the most meaningful ways to learn is to learn from your mistakes and the experiences of others.After all, the successful are the smart ones who keep on learning from their experience and others'.Now, speaking of all these, this newsletter contains expert roundups and discussions on some of the most critical areas of running a business.Also... We just crossed 2,000 email subscribers. So yes, you are the inner circle of the Smart Ones!Check out these features and let me know if you have any questions. 🚀 Mario

 Business Strategy Strategy+Business: The Hidden Costs of the Middleman EconomyWhat are the costs of lower costs? Plenty, if you follow the argument in Kathryn Judge’s new book Direct. In this engaging take about a nascent threat in today’s economy, Judge, a professor of law at Columbia University, indicts both the hidden and overt costs that consumers pay in what she calls the middleman economy.Read more… Management Talent Management: Bringing Purpose to the WorkplaceSince the COVID-19 pandemic pushed office workers home and eliminated many commutes, employees have had more time to consider what their work means to them, personally, as well as how their work relates to the world. According to Gartner research, 65 percent of U.S. employees said the pandemic made them rethink the role work should have in their life. Additionally, 56 percent said the pandemic also made them want to contribute more to society. In other words, employees seek purpose and meaning in their work lives.Read more… Recruitment Recession-Fearing Bosses Quietly Abandon Open JobsCompanies that have struggled to fill job openings in the US for long stretches are starting to ask a pressing question: Do we really need those roles? With interest rates soaring, stocks tanking and fears of a recession mounting, employers are axing jobs or dialing back their once-breakneck hiring plans. Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc., America’s two biggest private employers, have said they’re thinning out their hourly workforces through attrition. Jobless claims, while still low, have risen slightly, based on a four-week moving average that smooths out weekly volatility.Read more… Marketing The Wall Street Journal: Companies, Top Marketers See Value in Part-Time ‘Fractional’ CMO JobsCompanies in need of new marketing leadership are increasingly turning to interim, or fractional, chief marketing officers to drive growth. Fractional executives work on a contractual basis for a finite period. They often juggle multiple part-time clients simultaneously, and their average tenure at each company is six to nine months, though it can range from a few weeks to several years, said Pete Hayes, principal at staffing firm Chief Outsiders. In most cases, these executives work remotely and communicate with a company’s C-suite as well as its internal marketing teams, he said.Read more… Sales Demand Gen Report: New McKinsey Research: The Top Three Channels B2B Buyers PreferToday’s B2B buyers are more demanding than ever before — between their preferences for independence and highly relevant information, marketers are hard-pressed to keep up with their changing desires. However, new research from global management consultancy McKinsey highlighted the changing sales landscape and identified key trends that outlined buyers’ evolving preferences. To learn more about the research, the Demand Gen Report team sat down with Julia McClatchy, Associate Partner of McKinsey, to examine the modern buying evolution.Read more… Featured Stories of the Week 17+ Experts Suggest 3 Blogging Mistakes Bloggers Always Make and How to Fix ThemBlogging is one of those areas that is always “about to die” but never lets go. As my agency profiles in high-scale WordPress projects and WordPress is built on PHP, I’ve spent the past decade listening about the decay of both technologies… And yet, PHP is the most widely used programming language with 79% adoption on the web and 43% of all websites out there are built on WordPress. So, if you keep hearing that blogging is dead… Then it’s probably on the rise!Read more…LinkedIn: Key Differences Between Coaching and ConsultingCan you tell a coach from a consultant? After 15+ years in the consultancy realm, I still can't draw a strict line between consultants, advisors, mentors, coaches, and other broader categories of "experts" (even contractors and freelancers for some). Almost every inquiry coming in used the narrative of the prospect - which is the lingo they are comfortable with (or what they perceive as accurate). And even though Growth Shuttle is a business advisory, LinkedIn only presents a "consulting" category for companies. I've been ranking in Google SERP's top 3 for "business advisor" and page one for other relevant terms, and the organic audience operates with different vocabularies.Read more…