Today’s newsletter is a bit more technical than usual. My purpose is not to make you technical experts on tracking online marketing activity that will enhance your marketing and communication efforts but to help you understand what is possible so that when talking with your team, you have a better understanding of what’s possible.

What is UTM?

A UTM, which stands for Urchin Tracking Module, is a tool that allows you to track your web traffic in detail. UTMs are pieces of code that are included at the end of a website link or a URL. Once UTM information is added, you will be able to track data about where the traffic generated by your various marketing activities originated.

In today’s ever-changing business environment, it’s essential to keep your skills current and be a lifelong learner.

According to new LinkedIn research, 69% of professionals think their skills are more important than college education when job seeking and more than 76% wish there were a way for hiring managers to verify their skills so they can stand out amongst other candidates.

LinkedIn recently started rolling out Skills Assessment quizzes. These assessments are a new way for you to validate the skills you have.

I continue to be surprised by how little agency staff — especially producers — use Google Alerts.

Using Google Alerts is like having a personal virtual research assistant spending 100% of their time searching the web to find news, comments, and articles based on keywords and phrases you select. The advantage of this personal assistant is that it doesn’t get tired, nor does it forget to do a search.

And, this service will not cost you anything because it is provided for free by the world’s most popular search engine — Google (hence the name!).

I use Google Alerts regularly to scour the web, looking for information that’s of interest to me. As you can see in the accompanying screenshot, I have many search phrases. Google Alerts constantly monitors the web for new instances of your search terms. It then sends a daily email recap of the most important items for my review.

Setting up and using Google Alerts is easy.

The response to my new book, The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon, has been gratifying. From appearing on The Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestsellers list to the great conversations I have had with many people, it has been exciting to see how people are resonating with the principles and how they can learn from Jeff Bezos.

One of the common questions I am getting is, “Steve, how do I know which principles I should work on first?”

It’s a great question, and with 14 Principles, there are many things you could use to grow your business, so it’s important to know what’s right for you.

That’s why I’m excited to announce the availability of the Anderson Risk and Growth Assessment™.