2016 is just around the corner! It's time for predictions! And educated hopes.

I’m sure you’ve seen quite a few 2016-prediction posts going on and I thought it would be worth sharing my reflections of the past year and my views for the new one with you too.

Time really does fly… I can’t believe how much has happened over the last year in my professional and personal life, but also in our non-silent-always-on digital economy.

Things change in seconds; they get adopted, adjusted and forgotten unbelievably quickly. Our world doesn’t sleep, ever.

I’ve observed many passing and growing trends over 2015 that have given me an indication of what will be happening more and more in 2016 and where brands should focus their efforts on.

My predictions-advice list is short – just 5 things, but if you master them, your 2016 will be a true success.

5 Key Things for Brands to Focus on in 2016:

Thanks to Pascal Landshöft - my colleague and friend from HubSpot - for this highly educating guest post! 

Sales is a core function of every business. PR people, however, often fail to integrate it into their communications activities.

In my current role as a sales expert at HubSpot, I personally found that the most successful agencies I work with prioritize and professionalize sales more than the less successful ones.

And they have a real process in place.

To help you define one for your PR agency, here are some thoughts on why and how to enter this thought process to grow beyond your current potential.

Why Should PR Agencies Care about Sales?

Thanks to Nikolay Chakarov from www.mengear.bg for this guest piece!

Have you ever wondered how to start your own online venture? What are the steps and how to accomplish them?

Don’t worry if you don’t know, because today I will give you a quick introduction of the basic terms and steps you need to think of when you are planning your first online business.

10 Things to Consider When Starting on Online Business:

1. Brand name

Most people are already of the common mistakes they need to avoid when choosing a brand name. These include long names, spelling mistakes, using words that are not related to their business. This simple and important task could cost you days and weeks of planning. As an entrepreneur you are well aware that time is a valuable resource and you shouldn’t overspend it on details. Better done than perfect – right? 

In order to save time and money, make a list with all of the possible and not so possible words and expressions.  Then start combining them. You can do this either alone or with friends or your business partner. The last time I needed a name for our online store, we did it in 25 minutes. Remember – if at any point you decide that your current brand name somehow decreases your rate of success and sales – you can always change your business name. In fact, back in 1996 the number #1 search engine was called “Back Rub”. In 1998 the founders decided to change its name to “Google”. So why bother? Just start today!

Social media, content marketing, mobile and real-time – these have been the mega trends of the past few years.

What we’ve been seen and experiencing as consumers and as professionals in terms of technological development is simply amazing. We can’t live without our smartphones, tablets or other devices such as kindles. We seem to be in a symbiotic relationship with them, where our devices have become extensions to our bodies – without them, we can’t function. Just look around the next time you’re in the city, at the airport or especially in public transport – everyone is gazing at their devices. I promise you, you’ll be shocked at the scene, just put your phone away and look around!

Here are some staggering statistics to convince of the magnitute of technological adoption:

Relationships, relationships, relationships! How many times have you heard this or read about the importance of building relationships with prospects and customers, especially when talking about social media? Countless times I would guess. Well, like it or you'll continue hearing that magic word "relationships" in the years to come. Why? Simple: with the mainstream adoption of always-on real-time communications and information available at our fingertips, your customers demand that you know how you can add value and meaning to them in a highly personalised manner. Creating and delivering such value is at the heart of building relationships.

The reality, however, is that these value-adding, multidimensional relationships are rather a myth.

That's what Edelman reveals with the results of brandshare 2014. It's a study of 15,000 consumers in 12 developing and developed countries, across 11 industries, that sought to understand the evolving relationship between people and brands. The focus was discovering what drives value for business and for the consumer.

Examining brand behaviour and performance, Edelman found that there's actually little value exchange between brands and consumers. The majority of people believe their relationships with brands are one-sided (66%) and purely transactional, where consumers are solely contributors bringing benefits to the brand by buying, but not receiving much in return. Current interactions between consumers and brands add more value to brands than to consumers.