The Pros and Cons of a Digital Environment
As the world has become more global, so the option of working remotely has become more practical. Many companies are choosing this exciting path. Websites such as FlexJobs and We Work Remotely help to connect talented and creative individuals with innovative companies that think outside the box. Here at AgenceLuxury and LuxeInACity we have employees based in 15 countries across the world. We’re creating a global brand in a global economy.
5 Advantages of a Digital Environment:
- Companies gain a global talent base. Global Talent makes the case that “diversity will make your business stronger, especially when it is achieved by hiring internationally trained global talent”.
- Richard Branson explains how remote collaboration and trust are intrinsically linked: “To successfully work with other people, you have to trust each other. A big part of this is trusting people to get their work done wherever they are, without supervision.”
- Traveling the world is guaranteed to stimulate the creative process: John Robshaw Textiles was inspired by Robshaw’s travels to Asia and his appreciation of Asian art.
- A ‘Happiness and Productivity’ study at the University of Warwick confirmed that happy workers are indeed productive workers.
- A digital environment is in itself a cost saving infrastructure. For example, Aetna saved $78 million in operating costs by allowing workers to work at home.
5 Disadvantages of a Digital Environment:
- Having colleagues in different time zones means it can be difficult to connect.
- Working remotely means that there are no creative discussions over coffee. Marissa Mayer from Yahoo! acknowledges that “People are … more collaborative and innovative when they're together. Some of the best ideas come from pulling two different ideas together."
- Traveling the world comes with many distractions.
- Productivity is dependent on Internet connectivity and is hampered by disruptions in your connection.
- As documented by the Wall Street journal, communication via email means there is more room for communication blunders and confusion.
Many companies are choosing to opt for the advantages offered by a virtual workforce. Many top companies are offering remote jobs, including industry giants such as Xerox, Dell and American Express. Despite the potential drawbacks, many are enjoying the benefits from participating in a global workforce.
Living A Digital Lifestyle
Luxury is a concept that is hard to define. For some it is merely the opportunity to send children to school while for others it's all about owning that second superyacht. Regardless of your social status or your cultural background, our society prizes two concepts of luxury above all else: money and free time.
The idea for this article came about when I was asked by a friend why I did not seek an outside investor to fund our growth like I once thought I needed to do. Sure, the additional funds would be more than welcome, but the mere concept of losing my freedom made me shiver. When I was young, I dreamt of living a luxurious lifestyle surrounded by a beautiful home, a collection of premium cars, a yacht and a closet full of designer fashion clothes. Now, I find myself seeking the luxury of time above all else.
Let's take a look at my day. It's currently 10pm as I write this article. I will probably spend another two hours answering dozens of emails from luxury brands who want to be promoted on LuxeInACity or curating content for our superyacht clients. My work day started at 9am.
Rest assured, I am not to pity; I am living a digital lifestyle. My office is currently set in an oceanfront villa in a Mexican beach town. Every now and then, I either make my way to the pool or the beach for a quick dip in the turquoise waters, read a passage of my favorite book under a palm tree or enjoy a great conversation on Skype with my family.
I am still young, full of energy and I know that the next few years will require commitment, hard work and dedication in order to achieve great things for AgenceLuxury, LuxeInACity and our clients. To achieve the perfect work-life balance, I have adjusted my lifestyle so that I can work virtually from wherever I may choose. Seems impossible? Think again.
When I started LuxeInACity over two years ago, I asked myself one simple question: what lifestyle did I want to achieve? The one of my childhood dreams or something else. The answer was simple: I wanted to establish a digital agency that allowed every member of my team to balance their work-life schedule according to their individual needs. I also wanted everyone to be free of the typical office with white walls and neon lights. I wanted my team to be free of traditional constraints.
Two years later, my team and I are living the digital luxury lifestyle. My partner/sister Maxine currently lives in Sweden with her husband and two daughters; our team members are located in either Portugal, England, South Africa, India, Philippines, Canada or America; and our clients represent the Netherland, Canada, America and the open sea. We all work according to our schedule while adhering to tight deadlines. We communicate virtually and coordinate everything seamlessly through a digital project management system. If looked at from the outside world, we seem like a typical brick-and-mortar agency yet we are nothing of the sort. We breathe digital in every fiber of our lifestyle, therefore, we truly get the digital space.
A luxurious lifestyle can be defined by the amount of possessions in our care, or, if you are a member of our team, by the free time spent enjoying life.
What is your version of a luxury lifestyle? Could you see yourself living a digital life?
Content Marketing Fuels Social Media
It won’t come as a surprise if we tell you that long gone are the days of newspapers and TV dominance where the start of a day meant drinking coffee over a daily newspaper and the end of a night meant watching TV over popcorn. Now it’s all about checking emails, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and reading our daily newsfeed of blog posts. Let’s face it, we should have the internet hooked up to our blood stream so we don’t miss a beat.
So, if the internet and its myriad of social networks and bloggers have become the star of our daily life and the prime means of all our communications, why do brands still concentrate a large portion of their effort into traditional PR and marketing tactics? Is it because they don’t understand that social media linked to great content marketing is the new and best way to reach their desired clientele? Most likely. As a matter of fact, most agencies have yet to embrace content marketing and social media in their own efforts to acquire new clients; so, how can they transfer this knowledge to their current clients.
What you need to know is simple. Your digital agency must first identify then connect with key influencers in your niche industry. Getting your brand on a world-class news site might actually be far less successful then getting it in front of the very attentive fans following ten influential industry bloggers. Why? Because these major news outlets have a very broad and mixed audience while the blogger’s audience is extremely targeted to your needs.
Secondly, your digital agency must curate and create valuable content such as infographics, white papers, eBooks and imageries to reach out to these bloggers in the hope of getting some coverage. In our time as luxury bloggers at LuxeInACity, we have never ever received anything else then a press release from an agency. Imagine our surprise if a luxury hotel sent us a cool infographic on the Top 10 sightseeing activities in their city or if a boutique fashion brand sent an eBook on the must-have fashion items for the next season. We would not hesitate for a second. It would be published, posted on Facebook, tweeted several times, shared on LinkedIn, etc. My team would have a field day with such great content. We would probably pass it along to our fellow bloggers (yes, we are all friends and send each other random tips) in hopes of getting it to go viral.
Lastly, your digital agency should participate socially and share the efforts put forward by these generous bloggers. This is a step that is often forgotten by agencies. We publish an article for them and they forget about us. Bloggers write for different reasons, some for money, some for fame and some for passion, but they all want the same attention. Why else would they pour out their souls on the web? So, make sure your digital agency gives plenty of love before, during and after a blogger has promoted your brand. Remember that you will most likely want to work with them again in the future regardless of the digital agency you choose, so give a favorable lasting impression. And why not send them a personal thank you note and establish contact with them directly. A little love always goes a long way, especially in the blogging world.
So, if you feel like giving us some love, tweet to us at @luxeinacity or connect with us on Facebook.