Marta Cruz, Co-fundadora de www.nxtplabs.com
A simple vista, el mundo corporativo y el mundo emprendedor parecerían tener más diferencias que coincidencias. Mientras las grandes corporaciones suelen tener un largo historial en el mercado, una estructura robusta, ordenada, con muchos procesos establecidos y escalabilidad al alcance de la mano, la mayoría de las startups suelen ser muy jóvenes, tener equipos pequeños y flexibles, poco posicionamiento en el mercado, procesos que se van construyendo sobre la marcha e innovación como parte de su ADN.
Es justamente en el área de innovación donde startups y corporaciones poseen un campo fértil para interactuar, conectarse y hacer que esas diferencias se conviertan un gran potencial para complementarse, dialogar y salir mutuamente beneficiados.
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta El Ecosistema Emprendedor. Mostrar todas las entradas
Mostrando entradas con la etiqueta El Ecosistema Emprendedor. Mostrar todas las entradas
jueves, 21 de abril de 2016
martes, 19 de abril de 2016
What Marketers Need to Understand About Augmented Reality
Imagine being able to see how a couch would fit in your living room before actually buying it — or being able to see which sunglasses suit your face or which lipstick looks good on you without physically trying anything on.
Each of these scenarios is already possible. These are real examples from Ikea, Ray-Ban, and Cover Girl of how companies are currently using augmented reality (AR).
AR has been piquing marketers’ interest in recent years, as it has the potential to change a range of consumer experiences, from how people find new products to how they decide which ones to buy. AR technology enhances the physical environment you see by overlaying virtual elements, such as information or images over it, either through displays such as HoloLens and Google Glass or through the camera view on your smartphone.
Each of these scenarios is already possible. These are real examples from Ikea, Ray-Ban, and Cover Girl of how companies are currently using augmented reality (AR).
AR has been piquing marketers’ interest in recent years, as it has the potential to change a range of consumer experiences, from how people find new products to how they decide which ones to buy. AR technology enhances the physical environment you see by overlaying virtual elements, such as information or images over it, either through displays such as HoloLens and Google Glass or through the camera view on your smartphone.
lunes, 4 de abril de 2016
Corporations Need a Better Approach to Public Policy
All companies that operate internationally face a striking dual challenge in dealing with public policy: Nations across the globe enact an ever-changing, ever-expanding array of detailed legislation and regulation to protect workers, consumers, investors, and the public welfare, and these diverse rules shape what companies can and cannot do. Moreover, corporations are not trusted in this era of populist discontent because their role in shaping public policy is often seen as bought by money, shaped by elites, and concerned solely with private not public interests
Why Investor Diversity Is Key To Your Startup’s Success
Editor’s note: Eileen Carey is the CEO of Glassbreakers, a software company building inclusion technology.
It’s common advice that founders must choose their investors carefully. Capital aside, the point of onboarding investors is to leverage their expertise, network, and enthusiasm.
Taking investments from angel investors or venture capital funds creates a mutually beneficial partnership. It’s important to understand that these people are a part of your team. Since your investors will reap some of the financial rewards of your startup’s success, they should also be people you are excited to share your success with.
As a founder, you are not only responsible for job creation, but wealth creation. That means every founder has the opportunity to create a more equal, diverse representation of people who can deploy capital in the tech industry. To that point, for startups, having a diverse network of investors across geographic location, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, professional experience, industry and portfolio focus is an enormous competitive advantage.
It’s common advice that founders must choose their investors carefully. Capital aside, the point of onboarding investors is to leverage their expertise, network, and enthusiasm.
Taking investments from angel investors or venture capital funds creates a mutually beneficial partnership. It’s important to understand that these people are a part of your team. Since your investors will reap some of the financial rewards of your startup’s success, they should also be people you are excited to share your success with.
As a founder, you are not only responsible for job creation, but wealth creation. That means every founder has the opportunity to create a more equal, diverse representation of people who can deploy capital in the tech industry. To that point, for startups, having a diverse network of investors across geographic location, gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, professional experience, industry and portfolio focus is an enormous competitive advantage.
jueves, 17 de marzo de 2016
Why Silicon Valley’s ‘unicorn problem’ will solve itself
By Mike Trigg
The rise was like a tech startup fairytale. Within three years of founding, this unicorn company had raised more than $1 billion in venture capital — closing an astonishing $950 million in its final private round at a nearly $5 billion valuation. Revenue growth was skyrocketing from $30 million in year two to $713 million in year three and a run-rate of $2.6 billion in year four. On the strength of these meteoric numbers, the IPO was over-subscribed, pricing well above their $16-$18 range and raising another $700 million. Shares popped 30 percent on the first day of trading. It was the largest Internet IPO since Google.
Just as quickly, the fairytale ended. Amazon, Facebook and Google itself aggressively entered the market. Investors grew skeptical the company could live up to the lofty expectations around users and revenue. Expenses ballooned in pursuit of growth, exacerbating concerns the company could generate long-term profit. Within a year of IPO, the stock price plunged 90 percent, wiping out nearly $15 billion of shareholder value. The unicorn in this fairytale-turned-nightmare? Groupon, in 2011.
The rise was like a tech startup fairytale. Within three years of founding, this unicorn company had raised more than $1 billion in venture capital — closing an astonishing $950 million in its final private round at a nearly $5 billion valuation. Revenue growth was skyrocketing from $30 million in year two to $713 million in year three and a run-rate of $2.6 billion in year four. On the strength of these meteoric numbers, the IPO was over-subscribed, pricing well above their $16-$18 range and raising another $700 million. Shares popped 30 percent on the first day of trading. It was the largest Internet IPO since Google.
Just as quickly, the fairytale ended. Amazon, Facebook and Google itself aggressively entered the market. Investors grew skeptical the company could live up to the lofty expectations around users and revenue. Expenses ballooned in pursuit of growth, exacerbating concerns the company could generate long-term profit. Within a year of IPO, the stock price plunged 90 percent, wiping out nearly $15 billion of shareholder value. The unicorn in this fairytale-turned-nightmare? Groupon, in 2011.
miércoles, 16 de marzo de 2016
Top Start-Up Investors Are Betting on Growth, Not Waiting for It
SAN FRANCISCO — For the last few years, the spotlight in start-up investing has largely shone on those who poured money into a company when it was already well along on a growth path. It turns out that spotlight may have been misdirected.
While some investors are throwing giant sums into more mature start-ups like Uber and Airbnb at soaring valuations, it is the venture capitalists who identify a promising company at its infancy and bet on its growth who often come out on top.
Known as early-stage investors, they dominate a list of the top 20 venture capitalists worldwide that was recently created by the research firm CB Insights. About three-quarters of the top 20 are investors who put money into start-ups during their early rounds of financing. Only a handful on the list are focused on investing at a later stage in a company’s life.
While some investors are throwing giant sums into more mature start-ups like Uber and Airbnb at soaring valuations, it is the venture capitalists who identify a promising company at its infancy and bet on its growth who often come out on top.
Known as early-stage investors, they dominate a list of the top 20 venture capitalists worldwide that was recently created by the research firm CB Insights. About three-quarters of the top 20 are investors who put money into start-ups during their early rounds of financing. Only a handful on the list are focused on investing at a later stage in a company’s life.
lunes, 7 de marzo de 2016
The 6 Most Profitable Industries for Starting a Business in 2016
Big Profits Ahead
Finding a growth industry is key when starting a company, but don't discount the sector's profit potential. Inc. asked research firm IBISWorld to find industries that are growing and have healthy profits. The best of the best follow.Real-Time Traffic Information Providers
With average profits of 18 percent, this industry is thriving on more and better mobile connections that allow us to check traffic anytime, anywhere. New competitors will service smaller towns and incorporate more detailed data.Snack Food Production
Profits in this industry average about 15 percent. As long as disposable income stays strong, says IBISWorld, there's room for new businesses to sell premium snacks and produce new ones using less-traditional ingredients.viernes, 26 de febrero de 2016
What Google Learned From Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team
Like most 25-year-olds, Julia Rozovsky wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life. She had worked at a consulting firm, but it wasn’t a good match. Then she became a researcher for two professors at Harvard, which was interesting but lonely. Maybe a big corporation would be a better fit. Or perhaps a fast-growing start-up. All she knew for certain was that she wanted to find a job that was more social. ‘‘I wanted to be part of a community, part of something people were building together,’’ she told me. She thought about various opportunities — Internet companies, a Ph.D. program — but nothing seemed exactly right. So in 2009, she chose the path that allowed her to put off making a decision: She applied to business schools and was accepted by the Yale School of Management.
When Rozovsky arrived on campus, she was assigned to a study group carefully engineered by the school to foster tight bonds. Study groups have become a rite of passage at M.B.A. programs, a way for students to practice working in teams and a reflection of the increasing demand for employees who can adroitly navigate group dynamics. A worker today might start the morning by collaborating with a team of engineers, then send emails to colleagues marketing a new brand, then jump on a conference call planning an entirely different product line, while also juggling team meetings with accounting and the party-planning committee. To prepare students for that complex world, business schools around the country have revised their curriculums to emphasize team-focused learning.
When Rozovsky arrived on campus, she was assigned to a study group carefully engineered by the school to foster tight bonds. Study groups have become a rite of passage at M.B.A. programs, a way for students to practice working in teams and a reflection of the increasing demand for employees who can adroitly navigate group dynamics. A worker today might start the morning by collaborating with a team of engineers, then send emails to colleagues marketing a new brand, then jump on a conference call planning an entirely different product line, while also juggling team meetings with accounting and the party-planning committee. To prepare students for that complex world, business schools around the country have revised their curriculums to emphasize team-focused learning.
lunes, 15 de febrero de 2016
Unicorn apocalypse: Has the value of mobile Internet companies peaked?
With a flurry of exits by mobile Internet companies in Q4 2015, and a slowdown in venture capital investing behind us, now may be the time to look in the rearview mirror. Did we just pass the top of the market? Going forward, will it be all downhill for the values of these companies?
lunes, 1 de febrero de 2016
Venture capital: It's not all gloom and doom in 2016
In 2015, we saw wearable technology reach the next level, online lending and marketplaces take center stage, and virtual reality come out of the shadows to give us a peek into the future. Acquisitions heated up in almost every sector to make 2015 the biggest M&A year ever —from online education (acquisition of Lynda.com by LinkedIn) to the enterprise (acquisition of EMC by Dell).
lunes, 18 de enero de 2016
Social Impact B Corporations are on the Rise
New legislation is allowing companies to put social and environmental impact on par with profits.
A little provision was sneaked into the Italian parliament's big end-of-year budget package: it will now be possible for Italian companies, new or already existing, to incorporate as "Società Benefit," or Benefit Corporations. These companies will be officially allowed to put societal benefit on a par with profits.
A little provision was sneaked into the Italian parliament's big end-of-year budget package: it will now be possible for Italian companies, new or already existing, to incorporate as "Società Benefit," or Benefit Corporations. These companies will be officially allowed to put societal benefit on a par with profits.
lunes, 30 de noviembre de 2015
Big Data: Now A Top Management Issue - Forbes
A new study by the Economist Intelligence Unit has just been released that shows how big data is moving from its infancy to “data adolescence,” in which companies are increasingly meeting the challenges of a data-driven world.
The report, called “Big Data Evolution,” details the ways in which companies’ attitudes and activities have changed over the past four years with regards to big data — collecting it, storing it, analyzing it, and using it to make business decisions about strategy.
The report shows that, since 2011, substantially more companies are treating their data as what it actually is: a strategic corporate asset. The initial excitement about the possibilities presented by big data is morphing into a more strategic approach, defining which data initiatives will have the biggest and most immediate impact.
I refer to this as asking the right questions. Companies are getting a bit savvier, and on the whole, are not asking for more data, but rather the right data to help solve specific problems and address certain issues.
Because of this greater understanding, executives are more likely to report they are making good, fact-based decisions about their data and their business.
In addition, data strategy has been elevated to the C-level, usually centralized with a CIO/CTO or a newly-appointed Chief Data Officer (CDO). Outside that position, executives across the board are more likely to be in charge of their departments’ particular data initiatives and instrumental in putting those resources to use.
Another important finding of the survey points to a strong correlation between good data management practices and financial success.
Companies with a well defined data policy, are much more likely to report that they are financially competitive with their peers and rivals. In addition, they’re more likely to report that their data initiatives are successful and effective at resolving real business problems.
The reason for this could be that data initiatives are moving out of the realm of theoretical possibility and well into reality, demonstrating the ability to focus on real business problems and provide practical solutions.
One final encouraging trend the report finds is that the “bigness” of big data is starting to wear off. Companies are less focused on the quantity of data they can collect and the speed at which they can access it, and more focused on the value the data can provide for their business.
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/11/30/big-data-now-a-top-management-issue/
The report, called “Big Data Evolution,” details the ways in which companies’ attitudes and activities have changed over the past four years with regards to big data — collecting it, storing it, analyzing it, and using it to make business decisions about strategy.
Data is becoming a corporate asset
The report shows that, since 2011, substantially more companies are treating their data as what it actually is: a strategic corporate asset. The initial excitement about the possibilities presented by big data is morphing into a more strategic approach, defining which data initiatives will have the biggest and most immediate impact.
I refer to this as asking the right questions. Companies are getting a bit savvier, and on the whole, are not asking for more data, but rather the right data to help solve specific problems and address certain issues.
Because of this greater understanding, executives are more likely to report they are making good, fact-based decisions about their data and their business.
In addition, data strategy has been elevated to the C-level, usually centralized with a CIO/CTO or a newly-appointed Chief Data Officer (CDO). Outside that position, executives across the board are more likely to be in charge of their departments’ particular data initiatives and instrumental in putting those resources to use.
Another important finding of the survey points to a strong correlation between good data management practices and financial success.
Companies with a well defined data policy, are much more likely to report that they are financially competitive with their peers and rivals. In addition, they’re more likely to report that their data initiatives are successful and effective at resolving real business problems.
The reason for this could be that data initiatives are moving out of the realm of theoretical possibility and well into reality, demonstrating the ability to focus on real business problems and provide practical solutions.
One final encouraging trend the report finds is that the “bigness” of big data is starting to wear off. Companies are less focused on the quantity of data they can collect and the speed at which they can access it, and more focused on the value the data can provide for their business.
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/11/30/big-data-now-a-top-management-issue/
16 Quick Tips About How To Use Twitter For Business if You’re A Local Entrepreneur (Part 1)
Do you know how to use Twitter for business if you’re a local entrepreneur? how to use twitter for business
If you don’t you should and this is a 2 part series on how to use Twitter as a local owner and really gain business from this amazing social network.
There are over 300,000,000 people active on Twitter and in the United States alone over 88 million people visit Twitter each month.
That means almost 40% of the adult population (more than 1 out of every 3 adults) are using Twitter here in the United States alone.
With those kind of numbers, Twitter for business owners locally smells like a lot of opportunity to me.
You see the great part about Twitter, unlike some of the other social platforms, is that you don’t have to have someone following you for you to engage with them (that is huge).
Simply find someone that you’d like to start engaging with and you can message them directly by simply @mentioning them in your Tweet.
Pretty cool, right?
So let’s go over some awesome strategies in the exact order your should follow as a local business owner.
First though if you’re wondering why you should follow these suggestions and does it really work, let me tell you what it did for me as a local service based business owner.
From 2007-2012 our local cleaning company was actively using Twitter. We were doing $20,000 a week in sales and not only attracted new customers regularly from Twitter, but we also lowered our business churn (losing customers) by utilizing Twitter.
Want to know how?
Let’s get started, but make sure to follow this exact order.
This is mentioned number 1 because your Twitter bio is the first thing a new potential follower is going to look at next to the second tip to follow.
Don’t make your bio boring.
Standout and give someone a reason to want to follow you. You can be humorous, share your company mantra, be personal (my favorite), highlight your accomplishments and many other ideas. Make sure to tell a story and don’t just stuff your Twitter bio with keywords associated to your business.
Lastly a bio does NOT need to have hashtags.
Seriously, you look like a Hash-Hole by sticking them in your bio and it does you absolutely no good. If you’re doing it because you see other people doing it, don’t.
You’re a local business and your face is part of the community.
People don’t care about that pretty logo that you spent all your time having created.
People like to do business with people they know, like and trust…..so show your beautiful self.
Your Twitter cover photo should be a great clear picture that either represents your local community or preferably your business.
If you have a team of employees, get them together for a group shot at work. Even better is to take a photo somewhere local that’s popular so everyone looking at your Twitter cover who’s local will connect with you immediately.
One of my favorite tools for making a Twitter cover is Canva.
Canva is free to use and has the exact dimensions set for a Twitter cover to fit perfectly.
Lastly make it easy for people to contact you by including your company contact information in the corner of your cover nicely. If creating graphics isn’t your thing, consider jumping over to Fiverr and having a Twitter cover done for $5. It’s a great site for quick work.
Fill out your geographic location in your Twitter profile for 2 reasons.
First though to do this simply go to under your Twitter bio on your profile home page and in the location area fill that out. As you type in your location Twitter will help you by either targeting it to the state or your city (which I recommend).
The reason you want to do this is it’s searchable on Twitter and if you have it blank (which many do) you won’t come up in the search results all the time.
The second reason to do this is that when you have time and you’re on Twitter you can just click your location if Twitter identifies it and you’ll see all tweets going on locally in your geographic area.
This is HUGE and such an amazing opportunity for you as a local business owner to jump in and have a discussion if relevant (don’t be creepy).
For instance if you’re a local restaurant with a happy hour special and see people talking about where to go, jump in and offer them your deal. Any business can do this locally because tons of discussions are going on live in your area all day that can be applicable to your business.
Exciting right?
You should have the 1 tweet you want everyone to look at pinned to the top of your Twitter profile.
When people visit your profile they look at your Twitter bio, your profile picture, your cover photo, location and then they start looking at your Tweets.
You have the power to show them what you want them to see first, so make it something amazing.
You can make it a coupon offer for your service, coupon for your store, eBook offer and so much more.
Be creative and test different pinned tweets regularly.
This will probably be one of your most retweeted tweets and you can change it as often as you like.
To pin a tweet simply look at any of your Tweets you’d like to include and next to where you see how many times you’ve been retweeted or favorited are 3 little dots. Just click on those 3 dots and in the short drop down you’ll see an option to “Pin to your profile page”. That’s it you’re done.
This one Tweet below, pinned last month by us, has had almost 450,000 impressions, over 140 clicks on the link to our free guide and as you can see over 100 retweets at the time of this post.
Each Tweet you make you can view it’s activity by clicking on the 3 bars next to the number of retweets and favorites you see when you’re signed into your own Twitter account. Make sure to look at these numbers regularly as the data will tell you what is resonating with people and what isn’t.
Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than Tweets without images according to Buffer.
You want to make sure that your images are sized correctly to get the best impact. So if you’re Tweeting live and not scheduling your Tweets, make sure to hold your camera sideways to get the best sized image when taking the photo and creating a tweet.
If you’re scheduling your Tweets, the perfect image size is 440 x 220 (2:1 ratio) or 1024 x 512 shows great in the newsfeed according to Rebekah Radice.
Here are some ideas of photo’s to take and include in a Tweet:
Recognize & congratulate employee successes with an employee picture and tweet
Customer photo’s either in the field, your store or at events
Behind the scene shots of the day in the life of your local business
Local event shots of school teams, fairs or events that will resonate locally
Personal family shots (remember people like to do business with people they get to know)
Pictures of you creating your product or performing your service
Just make sure to mix the tweets up and have some fun with them.
Tweets with videos, similar to Tweets with images, can really help you get much more Twitter engagement.
You’ve always been able to include links to a video, but now you have the ability to actually shoot a 30 second video right from inside Twitter.
This is huge and really gives you the opportunity to connect one-on-one with your followers.
Like the suggestions above, consider sharing a video of behind the scenes of what you do, local events or anything that can tie you to the local community.
Another great way to use video is to send a personalized messages to your new followers, customers or even prospects you just met.
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.socialquant.net/how-to-use-twitter-for-business/
If you don’t you should and this is a 2 part series on how to use Twitter as a local owner and really gain business from this amazing social network.
There are over 300,000,000 people active on Twitter and in the United States alone over 88 million people visit Twitter each month.
That means almost 40% of the adult population (more than 1 out of every 3 adults) are using Twitter here in the United States alone.
With those kind of numbers, Twitter for business owners locally smells like a lot of opportunity to me.
You see the great part about Twitter, unlike some of the other social platforms, is that you don’t have to have someone following you for you to engage with them (that is huge).
Simply find someone that you’d like to start engaging with and you can message them directly by simply @mentioning them in your Tweet.
Pretty cool, right?
So let’s go over some awesome strategies in the exact order your should follow as a local business owner.
First though if you’re wondering why you should follow these suggestions and does it really work, let me tell you what it did for me as a local service based business owner.
From 2007-2012 our local cleaning company was actively using Twitter. We were doing $20,000 a week in sales and not only attracted new customers regularly from Twitter, but we also lowered our business churn (losing customers) by utilizing Twitter.
Want to know how?
Let’s get started, but make sure to follow this exact order.
1. Twitter Bio
This is mentioned number 1 because your Twitter bio is the first thing a new potential follower is going to look at next to the second tip to follow.
Don’t make your bio boring.
Standout and give someone a reason to want to follow you. You can be humorous, share your company mantra, be personal (my favorite), highlight your accomplishments and many other ideas. Make sure to tell a story and don’t just stuff your Twitter bio with keywords associated to your business.
Lastly a bio does NOT need to have hashtags.
Seriously, you look like a Hash-Hole by sticking them in your bio and it does you absolutely no good. If you’re doing it because you see other people doing it, don’t.
2. Twitter Profile Picture
You’re a local business and your face is part of the community.
People don’t care about that pretty logo that you spent all your time having created.
People like to do business with people they know, like and trust…..so show your beautiful self.
3. Twitter Cover Photo
Your Twitter cover photo should be a great clear picture that either represents your local community or preferably your business.
If you have a team of employees, get them together for a group shot at work. Even better is to take a photo somewhere local that’s popular so everyone looking at your Twitter cover who’s local will connect with you immediately.
One of my favorite tools for making a Twitter cover is Canva.
Canva is free to use and has the exact dimensions set for a Twitter cover to fit perfectly.
Lastly make it easy for people to contact you by including your company contact information in the corner of your cover nicely. If creating graphics isn’t your thing, consider jumping over to Fiverr and having a Twitter cover done for $5. It’s a great site for quick work.
4. Location, Location, Location
Fill out your geographic location in your Twitter profile for 2 reasons.
First though to do this simply go to under your Twitter bio on your profile home page and in the location area fill that out. As you type in your location Twitter will help you by either targeting it to the state or your city (which I recommend).
The reason you want to do this is it’s searchable on Twitter and if you have it blank (which many do) you won’t come up in the search results all the time.
The second reason to do this is that when you have time and you’re on Twitter you can just click your location if Twitter identifies it and you’ll see all tweets going on locally in your geographic area.
This is HUGE and such an amazing opportunity for you as a local business owner to jump in and have a discussion if relevant (don’t be creepy).
For instance if you’re a local restaurant with a happy hour special and see people talking about where to go, jump in and offer them your deal. Any business can do this locally because tons of discussions are going on live in your area all day that can be applicable to your business.
Exciting right?
5. Twitter Pinned Tweet
You should have the 1 tweet you want everyone to look at pinned to the top of your Twitter profile.
When people visit your profile they look at your Twitter bio, your profile picture, your cover photo, location and then they start looking at your Tweets.
You have the power to show them what you want them to see first, so make it something amazing.
You can make it a coupon offer for your service, coupon for your store, eBook offer and so much more.
Be creative and test different pinned tweets regularly.
This will probably be one of your most retweeted tweets and you can change it as often as you like.
To pin a tweet simply look at any of your Tweets you’d like to include and next to where you see how many times you’ve been retweeted or favorited are 3 little dots. Just click on those 3 dots and in the short drop down you’ll see an option to “Pin to your profile page”. That’s it you’re done.
This one Tweet below, pinned last month by us, has had almost 450,000 impressions, over 140 clicks on the link to our free guide and as you can see over 100 retweets at the time of this post.
Each Tweet you make you can view it’s activity by clicking on the 3 bars next to the number of retweets and favorites you see when you’re signed into your own Twitter account. Make sure to look at these numbers regularly as the data will tell you what is resonating with people and what isn’t.
6. Tweet with Images
Tweets with images receive 150% more retweets than Tweets without images according to Buffer.
You want to make sure that your images are sized correctly to get the best impact. So if you’re Tweeting live and not scheduling your Tweets, make sure to hold your camera sideways to get the best sized image when taking the photo and creating a tweet.
If you’re scheduling your Tweets, the perfect image size is 440 x 220 (2:1 ratio) or 1024 x 512 shows great in the newsfeed according to Rebekah Radice.
Here are some ideas of photo’s to take and include in a Tweet:
Recognize & congratulate employee successes with an employee picture and tweet
Customer photo’s either in the field, your store or at events
Behind the scene shots of the day in the life of your local business
Local event shots of school teams, fairs or events that will resonate locally
Personal family shots (remember people like to do business with people they get to know)
Pictures of you creating your product or performing your service
Just make sure to mix the tweets up and have some fun with them.
7. Include Video in your Tweets
Tweets with videos, similar to Tweets with images, can really help you get much more Twitter engagement.
You’ve always been able to include links to a video, but now you have the ability to actually shoot a 30 second video right from inside Twitter.
This is huge and really gives you the opportunity to connect one-on-one with your followers.
Like the suggestions above, consider sharing a video of behind the scenes of what you do, local events or anything that can tie you to the local community.
Another great way to use video is to send a personalized messages to your new followers, customers or even prospects you just met.
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.socialquant.net/how-to-use-twitter-for-business/
lunes, 23 de noviembre de 2015
Resisting biases, and focusing on the real challenges
Frustrated at the extent to which unconscious and not-so-unconscious biases have taken over people’s minds in the wake of last Friday’s brutal attacks in Paris.
The tendency to pass judgement on entire populations, based on the actions of a radical few is a huge problem. Social media is abuzz with the angry comments of those who are trying to blame the global Muslim community for the deadly events of Paris. Others have been stoking fears that the wave of refugees trying to escape the horrors of war and oppression in Syria is really just a Trojan horse for the passage of travelling jihadists. New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie went on television saying he wouldn’t even let a five-year-old orphan into the state.
The tendency to pass judgement on entire populations, based on the actions of a radical few is a huge problem. Social media is abuzz with the angry comments of those who are trying to blame the global Muslim community for the deadly events of Paris. Others have been stoking fears that the wave of refugees trying to escape the horrors of war and oppression in Syria is really just a Trojan horse for the passage of travelling jihadists. New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie went on television saying he wouldn’t even let a five-year-old orphan into the state.
These positions fuel a collective paranoia that tends to be more interested in confirming existing biases rather than the truth. Islam is a global religion practised peacefully by almost a quarter of the world’s population. We wouldn’t blame all Americans for the past actions of the Ku-Klux Klan. But it seems some people have no problem judging every woman riding the tube in a hijab to be a terrorist. It’s high time we resist these biases and fears and start focusing on the real challenges.
When it comes to ISIS, the gang of murderous thugs pretending to act in the name of faith, I am supportive of every effort to suppress them. But we have to ask ourselves what really drives the brutal extremism shaking the world these days. It may be worth looking at previous outbreaks of violent movements. More often than not, weak governance, corruption, poor economic conditions came long before things turned bad. Extremism became an outlet, not a source.
Yet in all of the week’s frustrating and saddening news, there are encouraging glimmers of hope. After the misguided announcement by more than half of US governors to resist the settlement of Syrian refugees in their states, I was heartened to read of the open letter by 18 mayors, including Bill de Blasio of New York and Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, who pledged to welcome these very same refugees with open arms.
Addressing President Obama, the mayors recognised the “myriad ways in which immigrants and refugees make our communities stronger economically, socially and culturally.” The world needs more of this sensible humanity right now.
martes, 10 de noviembre de 2015
Why Simple Brands Win
The greatest brands make life simple. Think Google, Amazon, or even Dunkin’ Donuts. They cut through the clutter by delivering what consumers want, when they want it, without hassle. By simplifying customer experience in a complex world, these brands win customer loyalty, which drives business results and creates value for shareholders.
For the past six years, Siegel+Gale has published its Global Brand Simplicity Index — a study based on a survey of thousands of consumers from around the globe — that ranks brands according to their perceived simplicity or complexity, and the overall simplicity rating of a brand’s industry. This year’s index, derived from the responses of more than 12,000 consumers in eight countries, provides a definitive measure of which brands excel at providing simple experiences – and reveals rising brands that could threaten these incumbents.
It also confirms how simplicity can drive performance: a portfolio of the publicly traded companies in the global top 10 brands has beaten the average global stock index by 214% since we first started conducting the study in 2009, and this year’s top 10 continues the trend.
Let’s look closely at the 2015 top 10 brands in the U.S. Each fulfills a consumer need quickly – sometimes instantaneously — and with minimal friction.
Google shouldn’t be a surprise and indeed it’s ranked in the top 10 for the past five years. Netflix gives instant access to a universe of entertainment with a mouse click, and Amazon and Zappos have perfected streamlined discovery, purchase, and delivery. The grocery retailer Publix is consistently praised by customers and industry insiders for its convenience, superior store design, consistent quality, and customer-service orientation. And this year’s fast food and fast casual dining brands excel at keeping the in-store experience simple, fast, and reliable in part by offering a narrow but satisfying menu. (Chipotle’s recent struggle with an E. coli outbreak came after the survey was completed.)
Brands like these benefit in many ways from their simplicity. In addition to strengthening customer loyalty, we find that simplicity reduces price sensitivity and drives positive word of mouth. Our 2015 survey found that 63% of consumers are willing to pay more for a simpler experience, and 69% are more likely to recommend a brand because it provides simpler experiences.
While these top performers may seem to be secure in their positions, our survey sheds light on a set of simplicity-oriented brands we call “Disrupters,” newcomers gunning to overthrow the existing powers in their respective industries, or create completely new ones. Disrupters are given simplicity scores but are not included in the regional rankings as they have not yet reached a comparable level of national awareness. These are the 2015 top 10 disrupters in the U.S.:
Dollar Shave Club, the #1 ranked disrupter in the U.S., is in many ways a paragon of brand simplicity. With its delightfully clean branding, uncomplicated product, and reliable service, Dollar Shave Club has thrown down the gauntlet to Gillette and other established players.
In fact, were the disrupters included in the full rankings, the top 10 would look very different — only the top four incumbents would avoid being supplanted.
Disrupters serve as a reminder that even brands with the highest simplicity scores cannot stop innovating. These leading companies must maintain their commitment to simplicity, as disrupters in every industry are ready to take their place if given the opportunity.
Customer experience is the new battleground for loyalty. Years of findings in the Global Brand Simplicity Index demonstrate that when brands build cultures of simplicity, all parties benefit. Employees have the clarity to innovate and deliver superior customer service, consumers have better brand experiences, and ultimately reward brands with their loyalty.
Growth is welcome and inevitable for any successful company—but complexity is an unavoidable side-effect of growth. Companies must be on the lookout to simplify processes and create fresh and clear brand experiences. A commitment to simplicity starts at the top. Senior management must be committed to implementing practices that encourage simplicity. Brand purpose—what a brand does and why it does it—should be articulated in a way that is easy for employees to internalize, and customers must view a brand and its services in a manner consistent with this purpose. While it is necessary to look inward to refine and simplify, ultimately the customer’s perspective matters most.
Achieving simplicity is not easy, but the brands that harness its power stand to reap a multitude of both reputational and financial rewards.
NOTE CREDIT: https://hbr.org/2015/11/why-simple-brands-win?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=harvardbiz
For the past six years, Siegel+Gale has published its Global Brand Simplicity Index — a study based on a survey of thousands of consumers from around the globe — that ranks brands according to their perceived simplicity or complexity, and the overall simplicity rating of a brand’s industry. This year’s index, derived from the responses of more than 12,000 consumers in eight countries, provides a definitive measure of which brands excel at providing simple experiences – and reveals rising brands that could threaten these incumbents.
It also confirms how simplicity can drive performance: a portfolio of the publicly traded companies in the global top 10 brands has beaten the average global stock index by 214% since we first started conducting the study in 2009, and this year’s top 10 continues the trend.
Let’s look closely at the 2015 top 10 brands in the U.S. Each fulfills a consumer need quickly – sometimes instantaneously — and with minimal friction.
Google shouldn’t be a surprise and indeed it’s ranked in the top 10 for the past five years. Netflix gives instant access to a universe of entertainment with a mouse click, and Amazon and Zappos have perfected streamlined discovery, purchase, and delivery. The grocery retailer Publix is consistently praised by customers and industry insiders for its convenience, superior store design, consistent quality, and customer-service orientation. And this year’s fast food and fast casual dining brands excel at keeping the in-store experience simple, fast, and reliable in part by offering a narrow but satisfying menu. (Chipotle’s recent struggle with an E. coli outbreak came after the survey was completed.)
Brands like these benefit in many ways from their simplicity. In addition to strengthening customer loyalty, we find that simplicity reduces price sensitivity and drives positive word of mouth. Our 2015 survey found that 63% of consumers are willing to pay more for a simpler experience, and 69% are more likely to recommend a brand because it provides simpler experiences.
Threat of Disrupters
While these top performers may seem to be secure in their positions, our survey sheds light on a set of simplicity-oriented brands we call “Disrupters,” newcomers gunning to overthrow the existing powers in their respective industries, or create completely new ones. Disrupters are given simplicity scores but are not included in the regional rankings as they have not yet reached a comparable level of national awareness. These are the 2015 top 10 disrupters in the U.S.:
Dollar Shave Club, the #1 ranked disrupter in the U.S., is in many ways a paragon of brand simplicity. With its delightfully clean branding, uncomplicated product, and reliable service, Dollar Shave Club has thrown down the gauntlet to Gillette and other established players.
In fact, were the disrupters included in the full rankings, the top 10 would look very different — only the top four incumbents would avoid being supplanted.
Disrupters serve as a reminder that even brands with the highest simplicity scores cannot stop innovating. These leading companies must maintain their commitment to simplicity, as disrupters in every industry are ready to take their place if given the opportunity.
A new battleground
Customer experience is the new battleground for loyalty. Years of findings in the Global Brand Simplicity Index demonstrate that when brands build cultures of simplicity, all parties benefit. Employees have the clarity to innovate and deliver superior customer service, consumers have better brand experiences, and ultimately reward brands with their loyalty.
Growth is welcome and inevitable for any successful company—but complexity is an unavoidable side-effect of growth. Companies must be on the lookout to simplify processes and create fresh and clear brand experiences. A commitment to simplicity starts at the top. Senior management must be committed to implementing practices that encourage simplicity. Brand purpose—what a brand does and why it does it—should be articulated in a way that is easy for employees to internalize, and customers must view a brand and its services in a manner consistent with this purpose. While it is necessary to look inward to refine and simplify, ultimately the customer’s perspective matters most.
Achieving simplicity is not easy, but the brands that harness its power stand to reap a multitude of both reputational and financial rewards.
NOTE CREDIT: https://hbr.org/2015/11/why-simple-brands-win?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=harvardbiz
lunes, 26 de octubre de 2015
How Tech Startups Can Make a Big Change in the Financial Industry
It’s been a long time coming: The financial industry is being torn down and built back up from scratch, and this evolution is mostly being led by upstarts. You know, the ones that fancy themselves technology firms — not financial companies.
Take LendingClub, for example. Probably the highest-profile success story in the fintech space, its founders built a smooth and intuitive platform that connects borrowers with lenders. But instead of gaining access to loan programs, the funds come from investors looking for solid returns — at much lower interest rates than a corporate bank could offer.
LendingClub cuts out the middleman and uses data science to assess risk, credit ratings and interest rates to create a lending marketplace like none other. It has redefined the inner functions of lending and forever altered how people think about the industry.
This change in thought brings a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs: You have a chance to provide a fresh experience to customers on the fringe, and if enough of those customers respond, demand can snowball and upend the status quo of legacy companies in this industry — or any other industry, for that matter.
For any entrepreneur looking to enter the fintech space, I recommend first focusing on data. Data is king, and you need to leverage all the information you can get your hands on. It’s essential for predicting behavior when traversing new financial terrain.
You can marry big data with artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to perform all types of tasks. This is especially helpful in driving credit decisions, particularly for subprime consumers and credit invisibles.
These are probably the most underserved demographics in the lending space. In fact, 56 percent of consumers carry a subprime credit score, and more than 50 million people have a thin or nonexistent credit file. The majority of large financial institutions are unwilling to explore relationships with either of these groups.
In other words, the marketplace is wide open for tech-savvy firms to develop new methods for evaluating potential customers.
If lending isn’t your style, another opportunity resides in investment and asset management. For the most part, getting good financial advice is either expensive or requires a large net worth. Nowadays, however, even the smallest investors can gain access to the best strategies for diversification. If you’re able to use big data to automate the process, you again have the potential to carve out a niche.
Startups have an advantage over larger companies when it comes to the customer experience. You can create a beautiful, easy-to-use and enjoyable platform, while established firms are forced to go through layers of processes and approvals to accomplish something new. As others lag behind, you can increase engagement with consumers right out of the gate.
Tech companies see a different world from the financial establishment. They’re hypersensitive to product design, functionality, intuitiveness and the user experience, and legacy companies simply can’t compete.
Redefine the game, and you can quickly enter — or perhaps even dominate — the fintech space.
NOTE CREDIT: http://tech.co/tech-startups-can-make-big-change-financial-industry-2015-10
Take LendingClub, for example. Probably the highest-profile success story in the fintech space, its founders built a smooth and intuitive platform that connects borrowers with lenders. But instead of gaining access to loan programs, the funds come from investors looking for solid returns — at much lower interest rates than a corporate bank could offer.
LendingClub cuts out the middleman and uses data science to assess risk, credit ratings and interest rates to create a lending marketplace like none other. It has redefined the inner functions of lending and forever altered how people think about the industry.
This change in thought brings a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs: You have a chance to provide a fresh experience to customers on the fringe, and if enough of those customers respond, demand can snowball and upend the status quo of legacy companies in this industry — or any other industry, for that matter.
Carve out a fintech niche
For any entrepreneur looking to enter the fintech space, I recommend first focusing on data. Data is king, and you need to leverage all the information you can get your hands on. It’s essential for predicting behavior when traversing new financial terrain.
You can marry big data with artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to perform all types of tasks. This is especially helpful in driving credit decisions, particularly for subprime consumers and credit invisibles.
These are probably the most underserved demographics in the lending space. In fact, 56 percent of consumers carry a subprime credit score, and more than 50 million people have a thin or nonexistent credit file. The majority of large financial institutions are unwilling to explore relationships with either of these groups.
In other words, the marketplace is wide open for tech-savvy firms to develop new methods for evaluating potential customers.
If lending isn’t your style, another opportunity resides in investment and asset management. For the most part, getting good financial advice is either expensive or requires a large net worth. Nowadays, however, even the smallest investors can gain access to the best strategies for diversification. If you’re able to use big data to automate the process, you again have the potential to carve out a niche.
Go further with the user experience
Startups have an advantage over larger companies when it comes to the customer experience. You can create a beautiful, easy-to-use and enjoyable platform, while established firms are forced to go through layers of processes and approvals to accomplish something new. As others lag behind, you can increase engagement with consumers right out of the gate.
Tech companies see a different world from the financial establishment. They’re hypersensitive to product design, functionality, intuitiveness and the user experience, and legacy companies simply can’t compete.
Redefine the game, and you can quickly enter — or perhaps even dominate — the fintech space.
NOTE CREDIT: http://tech.co/tech-startups-can-make-big-change-financial-industry-2015-10
Reinventing the company
Entrepreneurs are redesigning the basic building block of capitalism
NOW that Uber is muscling in on their trade, London’s cabbies have become even surlier than usual. Meanwhile, the world’s hoteliers are grappling with Airbnb, and hardware-makers with cloud computing. Across industries, disrupters are reinventing how the business works. Less obvious, and just as important, they are also reinventing what it is to be a company.
To many managers, corporate life continues to involve dealing with largely anonymous owners, most of them represented by fund managers who buy and sell shares listed on a stock exchange. In insurgent companies, by contrast, the coupling between ownership and responsibility is tight (see article). Founders, staff and backers exert control directly. It is still early days but, if this innovation spreads, it could transform the way companies work.
NOW that Uber is muscling in on their trade, London’s cabbies have become even surlier than usual. Meanwhile, the world’s hoteliers are grappling with Airbnb, and hardware-makers with cloud computing. Across industries, disrupters are reinventing how the business works. Less obvious, and just as important, they are also reinventing what it is to be a company.
To many managers, corporate life continues to involve dealing with largely anonymous owners, most of them represented by fund managers who buy and sell shares listed on a stock exchange. In insurgent companies, by contrast, the coupling between ownership and responsibility is tight (see article). Founders, staff and backers exert control directly. It is still early days but, if this innovation spreads, it could transform the way companies work.
Listing badly
The appeal of the insurgents’ model is partly a result of the growing dissatisfaction with the public company. True, the best public companies are remarkable organisations. They strike a balance between quarterly results (which keep them sharp) and long-term investments (which keep them growing). They produce a stream of talented managers and innovative products. They can mobilise talent and capital.
But, after a century of utter dominance, the public company is showing signs of wear. One reason is that managers tend to put their own interests first. The shareholder-value revolution of the 1980s was supposed to solve this by incentivising managers to think like owners, but it backfired. Loaded up with stock options, managers acted like hired guns instead, massaging the share price so as to boost their incomes.
The rise of big financial institutions (that hold about 70% of the value of America’s stockmarkets) has further weakened the link between the people who nominally own companies and the companies themselves. Fund managers have to deal with an ever-growing group of intermediaries, from regulators to their own employees, and each layer has its own interests to serve and rents to extract. No wonder fund managers usually fail to monitor individual companies.
Lastly, a public listing has become onerous. Regulations have multiplied since the Enron scandal of 2001-02 and the financial crisis of 2007-08. Although markets sometimes look to the long term, many managers feel that their jobs depend upon producing good short-term results, quarter after quarter.
Conflicting interests, short-termism and regulation all impose costs. That is a problem at a time when public companies are struggling to squeeze profits out of their operations. In the past 30 years profits in the S&P 500 index of big American companies have grown by 8% a year. Now, for the second quarter in a row, they are expected to fall, by about 5% (see article). The number of companies listed on America’s stock exchanges has fallen by half since 1996, partly because of consolidation, but also because talented managers would sooner stay private.
It is no accident that other corporate organisations are on the rise. Family companies have a new lease of life. Business people are experimenting with “hybrids” that tap into public markets while remaining closely held. Astute investors like Jorge Paulo Lemann, of 3G Capital, specialise in buying public companies and running them like private ones, with lean staffing and a focus on the long term.
The new menagerie
But the most interesting alternative to public companies is a new breed of high-potential startups that go by exotic names such as unicorns and gazelles. In the same cities where Ford, Kraft and Heinz built empires a century ago, thousands of young people are creating new firms in temporary office spaces, fuelled by coffee and dreams. Their companies are pioneering a new organisational form.
The central difference lies in ownership: whereas nobody is sure who owns public companies, startups go to great lengths to define who owns what. Early in a company’s life, the founders and first recruits own a majority stake—and they incentivise people with ownership stakes or performance-related rewards. That has always been true for startups, but today the rights and responsibilities are meticulously defined in contracts drawn up by lawyers. This aligns interests and creates a culture of hard work and camaraderie. Because they are private rather than public, they measure how they are doing using performance indicators (such as how many products they have produced) rather than elaborate accounting standards.
New companies also exploit new technology, which enables them to go global without being big themselves. Startups used to face difficult choices about when to invest in large and lumpy assets such as property and computer systems. Today they can expand very fast by buying in services as and when they need them. They can incorporate online for a few hundred dollars, raise money from crowdsourcing sites such as Kickstarter, hire programmers from Upwork, rent computer-processing power from Amazon, find manufacturers on Alibaba, arrange payments systems at Square, and immediately set about conquering the world. Vizio was the bestselling brand of television in America in 2010 with just 200 employees. WhatsApp persuaded Facebook to buy it for $19 billion despite having fewer than 60 employees and revenues of $20m.
Three objections hang over the idea that this is a revolution in the making. The first is that it is confined to a corner of Silicon Valley. Yet the insurgent economy is going mainstream. Startups are in every business from spectacles (Warby Parker) to finance (Symphony). Airbnb put up nearly 17m guests over the summer and Uber drives millions of people every day. WeWork, an American outfit that provides accommodation for startups, has 8,000 companies with 30,000 workers in 56 locations in 17 cities.
The second is that the public company will have the last laugh, because most startups want eventually to list or sell themselves to a public company. In fact, a growing number choose to stay private—and are finding it ever easier to raise funds without resorting to public markets. Those technology companies that list in America now do so after 11 years compared with four in 1999. Even when they do go public, tech entrepreneurs keep control through “A” class shares.
The third objection is that ownership in these new companies is cut off from the rest of the economy. Public companies give ordinary people a stake in capitalism. The startup scene is dominated by a clique of venture capitalists with privileged access. That is true, yet ordinary people can invest in startups directly through platforms such as SeedInvest or indirectly through mainstream mutual funds such as T. Rowe Price, which buys into them during their infancy.
Today’s startups will not have it all their own way. Public companies have their place, especially for capital-intensive industries like oil and gas. Many startups will inevitably fail, including some of the most famous. But their approach to building a business will survive them and serve as a striking addition to the capitalist toolbox. Airbnb and Uber and the rest are better suited to virtual networks and fast-changing technologies. They are pioneering a new sort of company that can do a better job of turning dreams into businesses.
jueves, 22 de octubre de 2015
Step 1 to Hiring Good Employees Is Stop Looking Down on People Who Just Want a Job
I received an email with a “confession.” The subject line read “Working Stiff” and the writer said my articles about what it takes to be an Entrepreneur and how to foster a culture that attracts Intrapreneurs had made him realize he wasn’t cut out to be either one.
Now I know this gentleman, or at least I am familiar enough with his work to say that he isn’t a slacker. His work is excellent, almost intimidatingly so even to me. He’s passionate about his craft. He’s plugged in and astute about the world. But something in the way he shared that realization -- that he’d decided he likes the paycheck, and the benefits, and the identity of the job without the pressure of being that desk where the buck finally comes to rest -- made me wonder if he expected me to judge him for not wanting to join the Entrepreneur Club.
I work almost exclusively with entrepreneurs, or people who want to be entrepreneurs. In fact, I network, hang out, have dinner and connect on social media almost exclusively with entrepreneurs or people who want to be entrepreneurs. My life partner is an entrepreneur. I suspect even my cat has the entrepreneurial spirit.
So I answer a lot of questions from entrepreneurs. Want to take a guess at one of the most frequent questions I answer? “How do I know when I’m ready to hire an employee?”
First step to being ready for your first hire is change your attitude about people who want a j-o-b.
Most of the entrepreneurs I know are genuinely baffled by people who really want to be employees. Many of them have walked away from high status, well paying, moderately secure positions for the siren’s call of being their own boss. They have at least a subconscious attitude that says anyone who isn’t aiming for entrepreneurship isn’t ambitious, is settling, has a dream that is several sizes too small. For many of them, the elitist notion that entrepreneurs are a little more clever, a little more savvy, a little more cool isn’t something you glimpse under the surface, they express it freely and adamantly. It’s a club they believe everyone should want to join.
Yet, the typical entrepreneur couldn’t reach their goals without depending on people who have no desire to be an entrepreneur. Even those of us with no employees hire companies whose services depend on their workforce.
Here are three reasons why the “working stiff” deserves your respect as well as a paycheck.
We all know that being an entrepreneur requires taking risks. Sometimes big risks. But working for an entrepreneur is risky, too. You have a lot on the line as an entrepreneur, but you have the reins in your hands. Your success depends on the decisions you make. Ultimately, so does the success of your employees. While their performance influences your success, they take the risk that they will turn in a stellar performance and still lose their investment if times get hard or business gets slow and you decide you have to do it without them. Don’t belittle their risk by constantly reminding them of yours.
Their career dream might not be to own and run a business. It might be to help someone own and run a business. Or just to work for someone who owns and runs a business that they can be proud to work for. Someone who appreciates them, someone who treats them as an equal, someone who believes their dreams are just as valid as anyone else’s. If they have those kinds of dreams you can make their dreams come true at the same time they help you realize yours. But only if you’re willing to be that kind of employer. Don’t belittle their dreams by treating them as anything less than worthy of pursuing.
Every strength you have represents a gap in the strengths of your business. If you’re a natural juggler who is comfortable with having 20 balls in the air at once, then there’s no one in the business who is a natural at following the system A-Z and staying hyper-focused on the task at hand. If you’re a natural risk taker who finds change exciting, then there’s no one in the business who is a natural at holding steady and maintaining status quo.
When you find an employee whose strengths compliment your own it frees you to do what you’re best at doing. But only if you fully appreciate the value of what they’re best at doing. If you’re one of those employers who believes that the entrepreneurial traits and talents are naturally superior you’ll shrivel your employee’s morale faster than a well-placed thumbtack can deflate a balloon. Don’t belittle their talents by treating them as anything less than vital to the success of your own goals.
Now, if you’re filled with awe and appreciation for those folks whose dream of serving the world includes working for a passionate, driven and fair-minded entrepreneur who will support and reward their own pursuit of excellence in their career, there’s good news. You’re already on the path to finding one.
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248226
Now I know this gentleman, or at least I am familiar enough with his work to say that he isn’t a slacker. His work is excellent, almost intimidatingly so even to me. He’s passionate about his craft. He’s plugged in and astute about the world. But something in the way he shared that realization -- that he’d decided he likes the paycheck, and the benefits, and the identity of the job without the pressure of being that desk where the buck finally comes to rest -- made me wonder if he expected me to judge him for not wanting to join the Entrepreneur Club.
I work almost exclusively with entrepreneurs, or people who want to be entrepreneurs. In fact, I network, hang out, have dinner and connect on social media almost exclusively with entrepreneurs or people who want to be entrepreneurs. My life partner is an entrepreneur. I suspect even my cat has the entrepreneurial spirit.
So I answer a lot of questions from entrepreneurs. Want to take a guess at one of the most frequent questions I answer? “How do I know when I’m ready to hire an employee?”
First step to being ready for your first hire is change your attitude about people who want a j-o-b.
Most of the entrepreneurs I know are genuinely baffled by people who really want to be employees. Many of them have walked away from high status, well paying, moderately secure positions for the siren’s call of being their own boss. They have at least a subconscious attitude that says anyone who isn’t aiming for entrepreneurship isn’t ambitious, is settling, has a dream that is several sizes too small. For many of them, the elitist notion that entrepreneurs are a little more clever, a little more savvy, a little more cool isn’t something you glimpse under the surface, they express it freely and adamantly. It’s a club they believe everyone should want to join.
Yet, the typical entrepreneur couldn’t reach their goals without depending on people who have no desire to be an entrepreneur. Even those of us with no employees hire companies whose services depend on their workforce.
Here are three reasons why the “working stiff” deserves your respect as well as a paycheck.
1. They’re taking a risk too.
2. They have big dreams too.
3. They’re everything you aren’t.
When you find an employee whose strengths compliment your own it frees you to do what you’re best at doing. But only if you fully appreciate the value of what they’re best at doing. If you’re one of those employers who believes that the entrepreneurial traits and talents are naturally superior you’ll shrivel your employee’s morale faster than a well-placed thumbtack can deflate a balloon. Don’t belittle their talents by treating them as anything less than vital to the success of your own goals.
Now, if you’re filled with awe and appreciation for those folks whose dream of serving the world includes working for a passionate, driven and fair-minded entrepreneur who will support and reward their own pursuit of excellence in their career, there’s good news. You’re already on the path to finding one.
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248226
lunes, 28 de septiembre de 2015
Real risk or ego risk? Your succes may hung in the balance
by Minda Zetlin
All risks aren't created equal. You'd be smart to distinguish between them.
Are you frightened of taking a risk? If so, ask yourself a question. Are you scared because it could have real, dire consequences? Or could it just have dire consequences for your ego?
A few weeks ago, I took part in a podcast about risk and what stops us from taking the chances that could propel us to a higher level of success. It suddenly struck me that--although we often confuse them--there are two very distinct forms of risk. And though we may be equally afraid of both, they deserve very different levels of respect.
The first is when we take a chance on something that could really harm us, either physically or materially. Athletes and explorers take physical risks routinely, and so do the rest of us when we, say, go scuba diving or go out driving in a snowstorm to an appointment or event we just don't want to miss. We may also take material risks, for instance when we quit a job to start a business or take out a mortgage. We take the risk in pursuit of something we consider important, but we're also aware that things can go horribly wrong and we could wind up much worse off than we were before.
But then there's ego risk, the kind of risk where the only harm we might suffer is to our pride, our public image, and our self-esteem. Much too often, we treat this kind of risk as though it were equal to real physical or material risk.
This is why in surveys people routinely rank fear of public speaking above fear of death. It's nonsensical of course. I'm fairly sure that if you stood most people at a podium, pointed a gun at their head and told them to give a speech or die, they'd start speaking in a hurry. Stack up ego risk against real risk and ego risk will crumble every time.
Why do we so often confuse the two? Glen Croston, PhD proposes a fascinating explanation in a Psychology Today post: Way back in our evolutionary history, ego risk and physical risk were one and the same. Early humans lived in groups for protection. They feared being ostracized which could lead to ejection from the group and very likely death from an animal predator or enemy human group.
Today, that fear of ostracism is what makes some of us keep silent if we're in a group of people saying things we deeply disagree with. It explains everything from our terror of making sales calls to our shyness when called on in a meeting. And it's why so many of us find public speaking so terrifying.
But if our fear of taking ego risks has a valid evolutionary explanation, it's still getting in the way of our achievements. Think of any wildly successful entrepreneur you've ever heard of, from Steve Jobs to Richard Branson to Mark Cuban and the thing they all have in common is that they've overcome (or perhaps were born without) that fear of making fools of themselves.
For the rest of us, setting that ego fear aside isn't so easy to do. But asking ourselves these questions may help:
Let's say you get up to the podium and suddenly realize you left your speech in the taxi. Or you hyperventilate and faint. Or the audience boos. All of these can happen and have happened to public speakers. You would likely be very upset if one of them happened to you. But then less upset the following day, and less the day after that. I guarantee, you would get over it.
I remember my first paid public speaking gig, a lunchtime talk that my husband and I gave at a major corporation in support of our co-authored book. We didn't lose our speech or faint, but we weren't very practiced at giving talks. Afterward, the comments we got made it clear that we still had a lot of room for improvement.
That was almost a decade ago, and since then we've done a lot more speaking and become much more polished, partly because of what we learned from that first less-than-stellar presentation. It felt crummy at the time; now I'm grateful we had that opportunity to get better.
Thinking about what your loved ones and staunchest supporters will say if you trip and fall can help you put fear of ego risk in perspective. You're not going to get ostracized, not by a long shot. There are people in your corner who will be nothing but proud that you gave this your best attempt. They probably would be more disappointed in you for not trying.
Chances are, you'd encourage your friend to go for it and not let fear of embarrassment be a deterrent. That's good advice. You should follow it yourself.
We get so focused on the risks of putting yourself out there that it's easy to forget there's also risk in not doing so. That risk may take the form of lost opportunity, stagnation from staying too long in one role, or boredom, which is worst of all.
After all, things might go very badly, but they could also go very well. If they do, what doors might that open to other moves you might like to make or opportunities you'd like to pursue? Taking this ego risk may be your first step toward making your dreams come true. You'll never find out unless you try.
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/real-risk-or-ego-risk-your-success-may-hang-in-the-balance.html?cid=sf01001
All risks aren't created equal. You'd be smart to distinguish between them.
Are you frightened of taking a risk? If so, ask yourself a question. Are you scared because it could have real, dire consequences? Or could it just have dire consequences for your ego?
A few weeks ago, I took part in a podcast about risk and what stops us from taking the chances that could propel us to a higher level of success. It suddenly struck me that--although we often confuse them--there are two very distinct forms of risk. And though we may be equally afraid of both, they deserve very different levels of respect.
The first is when we take a chance on something that could really harm us, either physically or materially. Athletes and explorers take physical risks routinely, and so do the rest of us when we, say, go scuba diving or go out driving in a snowstorm to an appointment or event we just don't want to miss. We may also take material risks, for instance when we quit a job to start a business or take out a mortgage. We take the risk in pursuit of something we consider important, but we're also aware that things can go horribly wrong and we could wind up much worse off than we were before.
But then there's ego risk, the kind of risk where the only harm we might suffer is to our pride, our public image, and our self-esteem. Much too often, we treat this kind of risk as though it were equal to real physical or material risk.
This is why in surveys people routinely rank fear of public speaking above fear of death. It's nonsensical of course. I'm fairly sure that if you stood most people at a podium, pointed a gun at their head and told them to give a speech or die, they'd start speaking in a hurry. Stack up ego risk against real risk and ego risk will crumble every time.
Why do we so often confuse the two? Glen Croston, PhD proposes a fascinating explanation in a Psychology Today post: Way back in our evolutionary history, ego risk and physical risk were one and the same. Early humans lived in groups for protection. They feared being ostracized which could lead to ejection from the group and very likely death from an animal predator or enemy human group.
Today, that fear of ostracism is what makes some of us keep silent if we're in a group of people saying things we deeply disagree with. It explains everything from our terror of making sales calls to our shyness when called on in a meeting. And it's why so many of us find public speaking so terrifying.
But if our fear of taking ego risks has a valid evolutionary explanation, it's still getting in the way of our achievements. Think of any wildly successful entrepreneur you've ever heard of, from Steve Jobs to Richard Branson to Mark Cuban and the thing they all have in common is that they've overcome (or perhaps were born without) that fear of making fools of themselves.
For the rest of us, setting that ego fear aside isn't so easy to do. But asking ourselves these questions may help:
1. If I take this ego risk, and it goes horribly wrong, what's the worst that can happen?
2. If this goes badly, how much will I care in a year? In 10 years?
That was almost a decade ago, and since then we've done a lot more speaking and become much more polished, partly because of what we learned from that first less-than-stellar presentation. It felt crummy at the time; now I'm grateful we had that opportunity to get better.
3. Will the people who care about me be ashamed of me for failing or proud of me for trying?
4. If I were advising a friend, what would I tell him or her?
5. What will I lose if I don't take this risk?
6. What might I gain if this goes well?
NOTE CREDIT: http://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/real-risk-or-ego-risk-your-success-may-hang-in-the-balance.html?cid=sf01001
Ejemplo de Plan de Marketing Online para empresa: 35 ideas
Cuatro miembros del equipo de Aula CM hemos elaborado un Plan de Marketing Online para una tienda de muebles reciclados que se puso en contacto con nosotros. Queremos compartir contigo este plan porque pensamos que, de alguna forma, puede ser útil para otro tipo de negocios también. Muchas ideas que aportamos se pueden adaptar y aplicar en otros sectores. Esperamos que te sea de gran ayuda.
Twitter es de las pocas redes sociales que nos permite llegar a muchos usuarios desconocidos para nosotros pero que cumplen ciertas características. Lo primero que tiene que pensar una empresa al plantearse estar en Twitter es si hay suficiente diálogo y si la gente está hablando de tu temática en esta red social. Estas son algunas acciones que un negocio puede realizar en Twitter:
Tienes que ver qué tipo de contenido de valor, propio o de otras fuentes, vas a compartir a través de Twitter. Una buena forma de tener fichado y filtrado el mejor contenido es usar Feedly, una herramienta que te permite colocar los mejores blogs (en este caso de restauración y decoración). De esta forma, te resulta más fácil tener localizados los artículos realmente interesantes para tu audiencia. Otra opción para seleccionar contenido es suscribirte a la herramienta Buzzsumo y que te recomiende cuáles son los artículos más compartidos sobre decoración o muebles restaurados. Cuando el contenido es tuyo, Twitter es la plataforma perfecta para difundirlo y darlo a conocer a tus seguidores.
Twitter es una red en la que tienes que ser proactivo. No se trata de abrir una red social y esperar a que todo el mundo llegue, sino ir a buscarlos. ¿Cómo puedes hacerlo? Pones en el buscador de Twitter “restaurar muebles” y encuentras unos 800 tweets al día con esa temática. Lo que tienes que hacer es dialogar con esos usuarios. El objetivo concreto que te puedes marcar es hablar con 10 personas cada día: comenta lo que comparten, retuitéalo, responde a sus dudas… Es una buena estrategia para darte a conocer y que otros empiecen a ver que tu empresa tiene una afinidad con sus intereses. A esta función de dialogar con otros usuarios le puedes dedicar unos 20 minutos al día.
Con las listas puedes destacar a tu público y tener organizada a tu audiencia. Puedes crear, por ejemplo, las siguientes listas: mejores blogs de decoración, aficionados a la decoración y empresas del
CONTINUE READING AT: http://aulacm.com/plan-de-marketing-online-empresa/
Primera fase de todo Social Media Plan
Lo primero que hay que hacer para elaborar cualquier Plan de Marketing Online es tener claros 3 aspectos:- ¿Qué objetivos persigue la empresa? Todos tienen que ser concretos, medibles y calculables en el tiempo. ¿La meta es aumentar las ventas? ¿Lo que persigue es branding, que conozcan mejor la marca? ¿Quiere conseguir suscriptores? ¿O quizá retener y fidelizar al público que ya tiene para que sus clientes vuelvan a comprar?
- Lo segundo sería hacer un análisis DAFO interno y externo del negocio para tener claras las fortalezas, debilidades, amenazas y oportunidades, tanto de la empresa como de la competencia y el sector. Sobre todo, hay que detectar y definir muy bien los puntos fuertes del negocio: cómo puede destacar por encima de la competencia. ¿A través del blog? ¿Con una buena atención online? ¿Con propuestas exclusivas y gratuitas para los mejores clientes?
- Finalmente, hay que hacer un estudio del público objetivo. ¿Cómo es el cliente potencial? ¿Dónde está en la web? ¿Qué temas le interesan? ¿Cómo podemos llegar a él? El perfil nos va a decir sobre qué temas escribir y en qué redes sociales va a tener presencia la empresa. No hace falta que todas las empresas estén en todas las redes sociales, sólo en aquéllas verdaderamente interesantes para su actividad y clientes.
35 ideas para el Marketing Online de una tienda de muebles
Twitter, la red social para llegar a los desconocidos
Twitter es de las pocas redes sociales que nos permite llegar a muchos usuarios desconocidos para nosotros pero que cumplen ciertas características. Lo primero que tiene que pensar una empresa al plantearse estar en Twitter es si hay suficiente diálogo y si la gente está hablando de tu temática en esta red social. Estas son algunas acciones que un negocio puede realizar en Twitter:1. Piensa qué contenidos vas a compartir
Tienes que ver qué tipo de contenido de valor, propio o de otras fuentes, vas a compartir a través de Twitter. Una buena forma de tener fichado y filtrado el mejor contenido es usar Feedly, una herramienta que te permite colocar los mejores blogs (en este caso de restauración y decoración). De esta forma, te resulta más fácil tener localizados los artículos realmente interesantes para tu audiencia. Otra opción para seleccionar contenido es suscribirte a la herramienta Buzzsumo y que te recomiende cuáles son los artículos más compartidos sobre decoración o muebles restaurados. Cuando el contenido es tuyo, Twitter es la plataforma perfecta para difundirlo y darlo a conocer a tus seguidores.2. Busca y participa
Twitter es una red en la que tienes que ser proactivo. No se trata de abrir una red social y esperar a que todo el mundo llegue, sino ir a buscarlos. ¿Cómo puedes hacerlo? Pones en el buscador de Twitter “restaurar muebles” y encuentras unos 800 tweets al día con esa temática. Lo que tienes que hacer es dialogar con esos usuarios. El objetivo concreto que te puedes marcar es hablar con 10 personas cada día: comenta lo que comparten, retuitéalo, responde a sus dudas… Es una buena estrategia para darte a conocer y que otros empiecen a ver que tu empresa tiene una afinidad con sus intereses. A esta función de dialogar con otros usuarios le puedes dedicar unos 20 minutos al día.3. Crea listas
Con las listas puedes destacar a tu público y tener organizada a tu audiencia. Puedes crear, por ejemplo, las siguientes listas: mejores blogs de decoración, aficionados a la decoración y empresas del
CONTINUE READING AT: http://aulacm.com/plan-de-marketing-online-empresa/
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