Entrepreneur Bootcamp

What I Have Learned Through Social Media

2012-02-10T09:34:00.000-08:00

Everyone has a platform or the ability to build one with a click of a mouse. We call that social media. Fill in few lines, upload a picture (real or imaginary) and they have a space. Now what they do with that space is rather interesting.
1. Soapbox- It doesn't matter what it is, they think their audience wants to hear it. We are not talking once in a while, but often enough that you tend to unfollow or ignore their posts.
2. Complainers- This is an interesting group because sometimes their complaints are valid, but what is not valid is using their posts as a way to manipulate companies into doing something for them which is not warranted or deserved. The main group are people too lazy to pick up a phone or go to the Website, so they just post their gripe, and then gripe more if a representative from that company does not contact them publicly to air out their issues. It's manipulative at its core, but sadly, it's effective, particularly if the complainer has at large following.
3. You can throw a rock and hit a social media "expert." Most are not one, it's that plain and simple.
4. Tech writers are not that original. As a reader of nearly 15 of them, too often they tend to skim off each others ideas, even down to quoting the same material.
5. There are lots of VALID opportunities but you will have to sift through to find them. I partnered with some major companies on the basis of one tweet and an idea of how to utilize it. It completely changed the direction I was going.
6. You can make some great friends, but by all means keep out of the social media clicks and dramas. Millions of people may be on social sites, but you find the community is actually really small.
7. Handle your business. It can be easy with all the social media websites to get whiplash trying to decide which one(s) to be on. Really, it is a mute point if using for personal reasons. If using for business, go where your audience is, and that doesn't require much for most businesses.
8. Have fun. Way too often you can see one post too many telling you how you are doing it wrong, ignore them and talk to your people the way you like or the way they are used to you talking to them. My tweets are really mixed, because it is really built on my personality. As much as I have tried to change it, I always go back to it. I do that because I don't like games and I handle people online the same as I would if they were in my home. I don't have to try to remember how I am supposed to act.

So, you have a platform, use it but please never take people who have invited you into their virtual world for granted.

What say you?

Actions Prove People Want to Be Sold

2012-02-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

I know there are studies which swear people don't like to be sold to, but actions clearly show otherwise. As a student of marketing, I have learned lots of the tools and sometimes, gimmicks businesses use to get people to buy their products or services. I am not talking about unethical ones, but valid ones.

What is clear is that people need coaxing to buy things, and for some that may be bonuses to pay to attend webinars, or free stuff to get their email. The bottom line is they can be sold. Sure, some would say it's the content, but I don't think that is really it. People like feeling like they are getting more than they paid for. That's not bad, but it sets them up in a way because if someone has the "right" shiny object then they are willing to buy.

Let me give you a sample of how people are sold. Lets say Company A is pitching a webinar on publishing. They show zero proof that they have even sold books, but get some "testimonials" of supposed students to say they were great, and a person is sold. They then throw in items they value at far more than the price of the course, and another person is sold. Another person sees social proof, and they think they are getting a bargain to boot, so cha ching, hit the buy button.

The only problem with this premise is that it will always take more gimmicks to get a customer like this. They are sort of like the people who want something for nothing. They are the hardest to please and really not the people you want to buy because it will always come at a price later in the form of refunds (after they have downloaded all your stuff), reporting emails as spam (after they got the freebie, but too lazy to unsubscribe), and even some will try to ruin the seller with bogus reviews of how whatever product didn't work even though they didn't even use it.

When I was in sales for a company, one of the things we did not do was offer discounts. The reason was it was unfair to those who paid full price, and discount seekers were the most problematic customers. Over and over this proved true in other sales situations where discounts were the norm. You have to learn to target your marketing to people who buy your product because they need or want it, not because they like the gimmicks or freebies. That means targeting people who can afford your product not those who will send you emails begging to have it for free because they can't afford it or are not willing to pay for it.

There are certain rules in online selling which don't apply to the real world, but I have a feeling it is due to the gimmicks marketers have used as opposed to real rules.

HOW TO USE THE POWER OF INFLUENCE TO MAKE YOUR MARK IN HR

2012-02-03T07:30:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows that to get to the top in HR and be a part of the Senior Management Team takes ambition, experience, vision, solid communication skills, but maybe the one thing that is most often overlooked is the ability to effectively influence.

As demands on HR departments increase, The Gautrey Group (www.gautreygroup.com), a niche provider in influence training in the workplace, has seen a rise in the number of organisations looking for advice on how to make their HR personnel more effective and stronger.

Colin Gautrey, founder of the Group, said, “When it comes to knowing how to make a credible contribution and being an integral part of the strategic decision-making process within a business, the HR team need to be able to influence effectively, at all levels. If they can master this, they have one of the most vital skills needed in order to succeed and reach the top.”

He added, “When Lancaster University found evidence that over 50% of HR Directors are unclear about their roles, I wasn’t surprised*. This is exactly the kind of problem more people are coming to us with. When everything is needed urgently and the 'to do' list is growing by the minute, HR heads are working under increasing amounts of pressure to not only support employees but also assist management and roles become unclear. One of the most effective ways to manage these demands is to become more influential, hence the creation of our new programme.”

The company has used its extensive knowledge of influence to build a unique self-development package called “The Gautrey Influence Programme for HR Professionals”. The course offers a comprehensive set of diagnostics and exercises intended to provide HR professionals with the ability to:

• Make a credible contribution to the business.

• Elevate themselves out of administration and into strategy.

• Become part of the strategic decision-making process.

• Become a key member of the business.

• Grow a team that will give HR credibility and respect across the organisation.

Virgin Mobile to Start Throttling Data After 2.5GB

2012-01-25T11:29:00.000-08:00

Customers using their mobile devices to watch movies and listen to music on line might be in for a rude awakening starting in March, according to an email from Virgin Mobile. With more and more things being done on smart phones and tablets, it seems the industry is going backwards. It does not even allow them to pay for more data, since all contracts are for unlimited data.

Here at Virgin Mobile, our mission is to deliver an outstanding customer experience. Sometimes that
means making difficult choices in order to provide the best possible service to the greatest number of customers.

To make sure we can keep offering our Beyond Talk Plans at such great prices, we're putting a data speed reduction in place for anyone who uses over 2.5GB of data in a month.

How will it work?
Starting March 23, 2012, if you use over 2.5GB of data in a month on your Beyond Talk Plan:

Data speeds may be reduced to 256Kbps or below for the rest of your month. During this time,
you may experience slower page loads and file downloads and lags in streaming media.
If data speeds are reduced, they will return to normal as soon as your next plan month starts.
If you'd rather not wait for your new month to start, you can restart your plan immediately through
My Account.

Will it affect me?
Keep in mind, 2.5GB is a lot of data. To give you an idea, it's about 400,000 Mobile Internet page views,
about 90,000(!) emails (without attachments), 91 hours of streaming music or 20 hours of video clips*.
This change won't affect you unless you use more than that amount of data in a month.

This will not affect your ability to text or make calls with your phone.

How will I know if my data speeds have been reduced?
If you reach 2.5GB of data in a month, you will receive a text message letting you know your data speeds
will be reduced for the rest of your plan month.

By putting this data speed reduction in place, we're making sure we can deliver the same quality service
you've come to expect from Virgin Mobile. We hope you understand.

Thank you.
Virgin Mobile

Bon Bons Delivered Fresh Daily, Naked Fan Boys and Other Lies

2012-01-17T05:42:00.000-08:00

White House Photo-Public Domain

I was reading a post by Carrie Wilkerson on what it has taken to get to this moment in her business career. It's a story not filled with all flowers and rainbows, but real honesty of what it takes to build a business. For many of us who are really active on social media networks sometimes we can get the idea that all a certain segment do are fly around the world giving lectures to thousands of adoring fans and money just flows down from the heavens above.

News flash. The reason they can fly now is because they laid the groundwork. They did the tedious work, wrote the books, held the webinars, built their fan base while they were home. Their names didn't just drop from the sky, but good relationship building went into it. They blogged, did podcast, met countless people at events who just wanted a "piece of advice."

They spent hours alone working with accountants, lawyers, partners, and clients. All that while trying to keep some semblance of a family life and not becoming strangers to their friends. You can say they actively worked towards their dreams.

Way too many are under the illusion that if they quit their job, set up a blog and yap on social networks then all the doors of prosperity will open with a flood. Uh, nope. Sorry, the get rich quick line is down the hall overflowing with fools waiting for that same thing. It takes work to make a dream come true. Mr "Four Hour Work Week" didn't start out there, he had to build his systems to get to that place. He had to have a team to help him. No work fairies, sorry.

So, if you are waiting for someone to notice you, might I suggest you will be waiting a very long time. Not meaning to hurt your feelings, but people hire people who are busy getting results. They don't hire the person with the open calendar. So, that blog you built might be indispensable if you actually filled it with information that people find valuable.

Before you follow the trend and hang out that "expert" shingle perhaps you might want to have your actions speak for your expertise. People are impressed by results not titles anyway. If you will spend the time doing the work you need to do, then you are well ahead of those waiting for that golden egg to roll to their feet.

As I have said often, if you want to be a writer, you have to write. Want to be a renown photographer, then you might want to take some pictures. The days of being an expert in a weekend are over. It's time to get to work and earn the right to give those speeches to your adoring fans. Not to swipe a line from Fame, but if you want a business, it costs, and this is where you begin to pay.

HERE'S AN EFFECTIVE "ONE-PERSON BUSINESS" TIME SAVER

2012-01-13T07:00:00.000-08:00

But just because it was originated for a one-person business is no reason why any person, no matter how large their concern, can't adapt at least some of it to save time.
"I keep a complete set of books—but I never spend much time at them," said one business man. He drew from one of the upper drawers of his desk an ordinary page-a-day diary and a small file box containing a number of 3 by 5 cards. "Here are my 'books'," he continued, displaying these two items. "This diary is what I call my day book. The box contains my time sheets and ledger. When I started out several years ago I found that every minute a man takes for bookkeeping usually cuts into his income, for it reduces his productive hours. But I always have wanted to know just where my affairs stand at any time. So as a result I began to experiment, and finally worked out this method."

The engineer happens to have an office comprising in all perhaps not more than two hundred square feet. His only employee is a stenographer. His time is valuable because he draws his profit from the work he personally turns out. There are hundreds of offices of about this size and character, and for that reason the unusually interesting and helpful set of records which this business man has developed for his work will probably prove of general interest.

"I inherited the diary-day-book idea from my father, who was a lawyer," he says. "It affords, in my opinion, a much easier way to put down entries than the formally ruled day book, and what's more to the point, it encourages me to make more complete comments, for I have an entire page of the book to use daily. This completeness of my book of original entry has been of value to me in court on several occasions."

He opened it, displaying a page with several entries showing receipts and disbursements. On the margin he had printed with a rubber stamp all the hours from eight in the morning to six at night. "I seldom get down before 8 o'clock or stay after 6, you see," he continued. "When I start on a job I scratch my pen through the hour of starting—that's what these rubber-stamp figures are for. Then I write in, alongside, the name of the job. By keeping this upon every job I tackle I have a complete record on my time. I even mark the time I take for lunch. That isn't essential, of course, but I do it because it gives me an absolute itemized account of my working day."

In this man's card index, which is alphabetically arranged, the individual-job time cards are filed with the ledger cards—the ledger account first, and the time card whose entries are charged under that account behind it.

He posts his time from the day book to a time card. He totals these cards weekly, and multiplies the totals by the hour rate which he charges. This charge he places against the customer on the ledger card. This gives him an accurate charge against each job.

Ledger entries have to be made only at the first of each month. Statements go out at the same time. Since the time cards are already in the file box behind the ledger cards, it is a simple job to make the entries. This man keeps one ledger account here for general expense, and his experience shows that most of the day-book entries go into it, unless these entries can be charged to specific jobs. He says that his system has been worth hundreds of dollars to him.

Preserve Your Integrity

2011-12-22T08:13:00.000-08:00

It is more precious than diamonds or rubies. The old miser said to his sons: "Get money; get it honestly if you can, but get money:" This advice was not only atrociously wicked, but it was the very essence of stupidity: It was as much as to say, "if you find it difficult to obtain money honestly, you can easily get it dishonestly. Get it in that way." Poor fool! Not to know that the most difficult thing in life is to make money dishonestly! Not to know that our prisons are full of men who attempted to follow this advice; not to understand that no man can be dishonest, without soon being found out, and that when his lack of principle is discovered, nearly every avenue to success is closed against him forever. The public very properly shun all whose integrity is doubted. No matter how polite and pleasant and accommodating a man may be, none of us dare to deal with him if we suspect "false weights and measures." Strict honesty, not only lies at the foundation of all success in life (financially), but in every other respect. Uncompromising integrity of character is invaluable. It secures to its possessor a peace and joy which cannot be attained without it—which no amount of money, or houses and lands can purchase. A man who is known to be strictly honest, may be ever so poor, but he has the purses of all the community at his disposal—for all know that if he promises to return what he borrows, he will never disappoint them. As a mere matter of selfishness, therefore, if a man had no higher motive for being honest, all will find that the maxim of Dr. Franklin can never fail to be true, that "honesty is the best policy."

To get rich, is not always equivalent to being successful. "There are many rich poor men," while there are many others, honest and devout men and women, who have never possessed so much money as some rich persons squander in a week, but who are nevertheless really richer and happier than any man can ever be while he is a transgressor of the higher laws of his being.

The inordinate love of money, no doubt, may be and is "the root of all evil," but money itself, when properly used, is not only a "handy thing to have in the house," but affords the gratification of blessing our race by enabling its possessor to enlarge the scope of human happiness and human influence. The desire for wealth is nearly universal, and none can say it is not laudable, provided the possessor of it accepts its responsibilities, and uses it as a friend to humanity.

The history of money-getting, which is commerce, is a history of civilization, and wherever trade has flourished most, there, too, have art and science produced the noblest fruits. In fact, as a general thing, money-getters are the benefactors of our race. To them, in a great measure, are we indebted for our institutions of learning and of art, our academies, colleges and churches. It is no argument against the desire for, or the possession of wealth, to say that there are sometimes misers who hoard money only for the sake of hoarding and who have no higher aspiration than to grasp everything which comes within their reach. As we have sometimes hypocrites in religion, and demagogues in politics, so there are occasionally misers among money-getters. These, however, are only exceptions to the general rule. But when, in this country, we find such a nuisance and stumbling block as a miser, we remember with gratitude that in America we have no laws of primogeniture, and that in the due course of nature the time will come when the hoarded dust will be scattered for the benefit of mankind. To all men and women, therefore, do I conscientiously say, make money honestly, and not otherwise, for Shakespeare has truly said, "He that wants money, means, and content, is without three good friends."

Facebook and Text Replace the Dreaded ‘SICK CALL’

2011-12-15T06:38:00.000-08:00

Calling in sick could be a thing of the past as Brits favour the easy way out when taking a day off work. Twenty-five per cent admit to texting in sick, 16 per cent email and one in 25 even use Facebook messages rather than facing up to calling their boss, according to research amongst 10,000 people.

The results from a new survey commissioned by Covonia, the range of cough and cold treatments with clout, revealed that 72 per cent of bosses think that texting or emailing in sick is a cop-out. In addition, 15 per cent of people said calling in sick for a cold would arouse suspicion that the person is lying to get a day off.
This mistrust has led suspicious bosses to play workers at their own game, taking to social media to check-up on their staff, with 20 per cent admitting to checking their sick employee’s Facebook page. A further 18 per cent insist on a doctor’s note and one in twenty have even driven round to their member of staff’s home.
A third of respondents (34 per cent) conscious of their social media use while taking a sick day and would avoid using it to try not to raise their bosses’ suspicions. Nearly a quarter (24 per cent) would “carry on as normal” with using social media, claiming it is none of their bosses’ business.
For those who are brave enough to call in sick, 21 per cent exaggerate their symptoms by straining their voice (25 per cent), pretending to cough (14 per cent) and deliberately speak in a quiet, feeble voice (23 per cent).
The research also reveals that you won’t gain any sympathy from colleagues if you take a sick day to nurse a cold. Almost a quarter of people (24 per cent) believe it is never acceptable to take time off work for a cold, and 62 per cent think it is only acceptable occasionally. A further 29 per cent think their colleague should “Man Up” if they take a sick day due to the common virus.
Thirteen per cent revealed they would consider a colleague to be weak if they took a sick day, and a further 11 per cent said they would consider them to be unreliable. Over half of respondents (52 per cent) believe it is possible to influence the level of disruption a cold has on your life.
Director of the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University, Professor Ron Eccles, says: “Colds are actually more difficult to contract than people believe and there is no evidence that going to work will increase the instances in the community. Cold sufferers are at their most contagious up to three days before exhibiting any symptoms, so by the time they are feeling unwell, the chance of catching their illness is already reduced. In fact, to catch a cold, close and prolonged contact to the virus is required which is why most colds are spread at home.
“If you do fall ill, by proactively treating symptoms with an appropriate remedy and washing hands regularly, there is really no reason the common cold should get in the way of day-to-day responsibilities.”
Over nine million people battle with colds each winter, falling victim to one of the 200 cold viruses in circulation in the UK. Covonia provides a range of powerful and effective cough and cold remedies that you can actually feel working. Visitwww.feelitworking.com to identify what type of cough you have got. Always read the label.

Watermark Seeks to Overturn Underrepresentation of Women in Business Leadership Positions With Board Access Program

2011-12-11T09:12:00.001-08:00

Watermark, a non-profit community of executive women, and UC Davis Graduate School of Management, today unveiled results from the seventh annual census of women leaders report, revealing that women hold a perilously small share -- only 9.7 percent -- of board seats and highest-paid executive positions in California's 400 largest public companies. While this data is disheartening, it is equally puzzling, as industry research shows a correlation between women in leadership positions and business success. With this conundrum in mind, Watermark Institute Board Access™ program provides a breadth of services that equip women with the tools needed to secure their place in the boardroom.

"Every year, this study delivers eye-opening results that spur us on to fight for equal representation in the boardroom and executive-level positions," said Marilyn Nagel, CEO of Watermark. "Reasons for underrepresentation of the female demographic in these roles is puzzling, especially given the industry statistics proving success among female-led businesses. Watermark is committed to correcting this oversight, and our Board Access program is a great start in this endeavor."

Recent industry research has made a strong business case for increasing the number of women in executive positions and on corporate boards, linking companies with female representation in top positions with better overall business performance. In fact, gender-diverse boards boast a 53 percent higher return on equity, as well as stronger stock market growth(1), as compared with companies that have mostly male representation in top positions. The reasons for such exceptional numbers in female-led companies are based on some recent statistics: Women make 85 percent of household purchasing decisions, and they hold 51.5 percent of all management and professional positions and 51 percent of the nation's private wealth. Furthermore, a 2010 Booz Allen study(2) dubs women "The Third Billion," inferring they are the next global economy.

Despite this, the "UC Davis Study of California Women Business Leaders: A Census of Women Directors and Executive Officers," which tracks the presence of women executives in C-level and board director positions at the largest 400 publicly held companies headquartered in California, paints a very different picture. For example, according to the study, women comprise only 9.2 percent of the 1,925 highest-paid executives in these 400 companies. Unfortunately, these results have not changed much in the report's seven-year history, underscoring an urgency to remedy the current standing of women in business leadership roles, and serving as a call to action in the coming year, cheered on by the survey's impressive list of marquee-name companies that boast the largest percentage of women among board directors and the top five highest-paid executives in each company. Among them is bebe stores, inc. (ranked No. 1 on the list for two years straight, with 40 percent of these positions he ld by women) and Wet Seal, Inc., which made a meteoric rise to tie for No. 2 from No. 400 in 2010, with women holding 36.4 percent of director and highest-paid executive positions. (Coincidentally, Wet Seal, Inc. announced a female CEO in January 2011 and enjoyed steady growth all year, including a 3.9 percent increase in third-quarter net sales over the prior year period, according to a recent Zacks Equity Research blog.(3))

The study indicates that while high-technology firms tend to have few women in leadership roles, several technology companies are exemplary role models. San Francisco-based Advent Software is tied for the No. 2 spot on the list with 36.4 percent of its leadership positions held by women (including CEO Stephanie DiMarco); and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard Co. is ranked No. 6 on the list, with 35.3 percent of its leadership positions held by women. Among companies that are addressing the importance of leveraging diversity in the boardroom is technology solution provider Intuit.

"The workforce boasts a pool of talented women, and having a gender-diverse executive suite and board in place helps us attract that talent," said Bill Campbell, chairman of Intuit. "Potential candidates can see themakeup of our team and how it maps back to Intuit's culture of celebrating diversity. Simply put, we consider gender diversity at top levels a necessity for hiring and keeping great talent." (To hear Bill speak with Watermark on why women in leadership matters, see this video.)

The UC Davis study showed these additional key findings:

Women hold 10 percent of the 3,224 board seats in the 400 companies.
More than one-third (136) of the 400 companies have no women among their board directors and highest-paid executives.
None of the top 400 companies has either a gender-balanced board or executive management team.
Only 13 (3.3 percent) of the 400 companies have a woman serving as CEO.

Watermark Institute Board Access Program Works to Change the NumbersIn an effort to turn these numbers around, and thereby help companies improve their profit margins, Watermark created the Watermark Institute Board Access™ program. The program is designed to assist women in advancing their presence in business management, C-level offices and on boards. Candidates complete the program in three phases: assessment and coaching, board simulation and additional readiness resources, and critical connections, which all provide the candidate with the tools required to secure business leadership positions.

Since the program's inception last year, 25 percent of the first class has obtained board seats. The first group will complete the program this March.

Watermark will participate in a discussion on the study's findings in San Francisco on Wednesday evening, December 7, 2011. For more details or to register, please visit http://www.wearewatermark.org/events/.

For more information about the Watermark Institute Board Access™ Program, please visitwww.wearewatermark.org. To download a full copy of the UC Davis study, including industry-by-industry and county-by-county statistics, visit www.gsm.ucdavis.edu/census.

Top 5 technology predictions for 2012 by Stace Hipperson, CTO at Real Status

2011-12-01T03:22:00.001-08:00

Stace Hipperson, Chief Technology Officer
at Real Status, a company focused on innovation in modelling and
visualising IT and cloud computing infrastructure, believes 2012 will be a
year of infrastructure simplification and great visibility. Here he gives
his top five predictions for 2012:

(1) OpenFlow networking technology – Vendors will need to have a
believable OpenFlow story otherwise Enterprises will look elsewhere in
2012.
OpenFlow is an open standard that allows the separation of the data
switching path and the software that controls the routing of that packet
flow (control path). It is now being added as a feature to commercial
Ethernet switches, routers and wireless access points. At the moment there
is a lack of end to end flow visibility and the ability to easily segment
and define an end to end path. OpenFlow allows the logical separation of
networks thus enhancing security and allows the complete end to end
visibility needed to effectively monitor and manage a large IT estate.
Network architects will be looking to vendors to have a cohesive, believable
story and roadmap in 2012. If they don’t, customers will look elsewhere to
vendors that do.

(2) Rise of Merchant Silicon – In 2012, these ’good enough’ devices
will begin to be used in non-critical network points.
Merchant silicon is a marketing term used to describe the use of ‘off the
shelf’ chip components to create a networking product. It is changing the
rules around who makes what. There will be a real shift towards start-ups
and even component makers using merchant silicon to create generic ‘good
enough’ switches and routers, which will also be OpenFlow enabled. As the
economic situation worsens, companies will be looking to save more money on
purchases and reduce costs. These ‘good enough’ devices will move to
general acceptance as the cost benefit becomes apparent. Although these
devices are not as fast and feature rich as the top end big vendor routers
and switches, most companies do not need either the top end speed or feature
bloat that exists in most current networking products.

(3) Simplified applications – Companies will stop paying for bloated
enterprise applications and go back to basics.
A large percentage of enterprise applications feature sets are simply not
being used. According to client feedback gleaned by Real Status, only about
10% of application features are being used in any meaningful way. The
revolution enabled by Apple with its easy to use, simple user interface will
be carried in to the enterprise as people will demand the ease of use and
practicality that Apple and other similar products enable. Users will get
rid of larger applications in 2012 and move to simpler applications that do
one or very few things simply and easily.

(4) Gamification – This will be big in 2012 as more start-ups use game
theory to manipulate enterprise users into following procedure and complete
repetitive tasks.
Gamification is the integration of game mechanics and game-thinking in
non-game environments to boost engagement, loyalty and fun. There will be a
real trend towards using ‘compulsion loops’, a form of instant
gratification with a move towards more ‘enterprise face’. Help desk
staff will be the first ones to see and use this software.

(5) Cloud monitoring – Cloud monitoring to allow production to finally
move to the cloud.
As increasingly more organisations move to the cloud, there will be many new
players in cloud monitoring and the management of space. Application to
Application data flow is increasingly being looked at to ensure good
response times to customers and this trend will increase in 2012.

Stace comments, “Simplification and visibility will be the over-arching
theme in 2012. Too many companies have complicated IT infrastructures that
are under-utilised, with a clear lack of IT visibility. CTOs are often
making decisions without hard facts and millions of pounds are lost because
IT operating and planning judgments are often taken without understanding
the business impact or risk.”

He continued, “Our rationale behind developing Hyperglance was to provide
this visibility. As the world’s first real-time IT modelling and
visualisation software, Hyperglance automatically builds three dimensional
models that show the dependencies between IT applications and
infrastructure.”

The Dangers of Picking a Niche Too Early

2011-11-30T04:30:00.000-08:00

A great many young people think they have found a quick and easy road to success by concentrating their minds wholly on the jobs they happen to hold.

It is perfectly true that a business man must not underestimate the importance of details.

But it is also true that large success is always built upon a clear understanding of basic principles.

The common fallacy that it is best for an individual—especially a young one—to confine their thought and studies to one niche or specialty has in many instances proved ruinous. It is easily possible to specialize so much as to lose all sense of the importance of a broad, well-balanced business training.

We all know the lawyer who is wrapped up in briefs; the accountant who sees nothing in business but a maze of figures; the advertising person who is so fascinated by "cleverness" that they
forgets to try to sell; and the techie who knows nothing about the commercial phases of engineering problems.

Such people cannot take their places among the C-Suite because they know little or nothing of business outside their own specialty, and they cannot know even that thoroughly while their general outlook remains so narrow.

Only half ready

Some years ago two young men of unusual promise graduated from a prominent School of Engineering and went to work for a big copper company as mining engineers. They were located at an isolated camp, remote from civilization, and were given every chance to make good the prediction made for them at the time of graduation.

These men soon proved that they knew a great deal about the mining of copper. Their advancement was rapid, and within a comparatively short time one of them was appointed General Manager and the other Chief Engineer. To all intents and purposes they were in complete charge of the company's interests in that locality.

It was not long before the problems put up to these two mining experts ceased to be confined to the technical end of the business. The 32handling of a large number of people, the disposition of big sums of money, the necessity of using both people and money economically, the accounting and statistics of their operations, and a hundred other problems no less "practical" demanded the exercise of judgment on their part and a knowledge of business principles that neither their technical training nor their previous experience had supplied.

Unfortunately, these two—the General Manager and the Chief Engineer—had their heads turned by their rapid advancement. They did not recognize the fact that a thorough business training would have made them near failure-proof, and they even expressed contempt for scientific study of such subjects as accounting, banking, organization, cost finding, selling and finance.

In course of time the operations of the company made necessary the extension of its mining facilities, involving the erection of a concentrator and smelter at an expenditure of a little over $2,000,000. These men were in charge of selecting and arranging for the sites and erection of the plants. The work had gone forward to a considerable extent when one of the executive officers of the company from the East came to inspect the properties and the progress of the new work. He was so disappointed at the lack 33of business judgment displayed in the selection of the sites, the drawing of contracts and other matters, that he dismissed the Chief Engineer on the spot, and curtailed the authority of the General Manager.

He stated that thereafter he would select people who had some business as well as technical training.

These men missed success because they lacked certain essential tools with which to build it. Equipped with an elaborate professional kit gathered through years of painstaking study, they still lacked that knowledge of business principles which was necessary to enable them to turn their technical knowledge into results.

Every one who holds, or expects ever to hold, a position of business leadership should be familiar with the whole field of business. The reasons for this are apparent to any one who has to do with the handling of large problems. It is necessary always to take into account all the important factors in such problems. No matter how ably a marketing or an accounting difficulty may be met, the solution is worse than useless if it affects unfavorably any other phase of the business.

A business executive cannot afford to make many serious mistakes. To guard against mistakes, he must be fortified with an all-round 34knowledge of business practice—not merely a partial or one-sided knowledge.

The principles of Production, Marketing, Financing and Accounting are fundamental and apply to all lines of business. The person who says they do not apply because their business is "different" is simply exposing their failure to get down to rock bottom in their thinking. Every business has its points of difference, just as every person has an individuality of their own. But we know that human nature, broadly speaking, is much the same in all. In a like sense all business moves along similar lines. It all consists of producing, marketing, financing and accounting.

The broad principles of modern business science, therefore, govern all business. They are related to your problems, no matter how "different" your business may appear to be on the surface.

The Law of Success

2011-11-29T03:29:00.001-08:00

During the winter of 1883 a slim, studious young man was working as assistant foreman in a greasy little machine shop at Aurora, Illinois. He was saving money with a view to spending the next year at the State University, and he was devoting every minute of his spare time to thought and reading. He was not making much of a stir in the world, and only a few of his close friends ever gave a second thought to his ambitions or prospects.

One of these friends was a newspaper reporter, a recent Harvard graduate. He, too, was interested in study, especially of financial questions, and he found it a pleasure to guide the reading of the young foreman. Many an evening the two friends spent in the discussion of great economic and financial problems. Though both men had their ambitions and dreams, it did not occur to either one that he would ever play a big part in solving these problems.

A few years later the Harvard graduate became financial editor of the Chicago Tribune and brought in the younger man as his assistant. 8During their years of newspaper work together they continued to study and think, and their knowledge of business principles and methods gradually broadened. They were fitting themselves almost without knowing it to step forward into positions of leadership.

Today, the former reporter is the head of a great university school of commerce; the assistant foreman became the president of the largest bank in the United States. One of these men is Joseph French Johnson, now Dean of the New York University School of Commerce, Accounts and Finance. The other is Frank A. Vanderlip, the great financier.

The life histories of most men who have succeeded in a large way are equally simple. They have looked ahead, they have planned, they have equipped themselves with all the business knowledge available, and success has followed. Success must follow. The law of success is as definite as the law of gravity. Here it is:

Prepare in advance for opportunities.

It is not the dramatic moments of life that count. It is the quiet planning and reading of the man who is getting ready now for what is going to happen two, five or ten years from now.

YouTube Integrates WeVideo Editing Platform

2011-10-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

WeVideo (www.WeVideo.com), the first company to offer a full featured, cloud-based, collaborative video editing platform, today announced its integration with YouTube. With forty-eight hours of video uploaded every minute, YouTube will offer the integrated WeVideo editing platform, allowing their users to create compelling video stories from th eir previously unedited and varied content. The free, YouTube optimized version of WeVideo's award winning video editing solution will be accessible through YouTube.com/create. VIDEO LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEpLER3cFBI&hd=1 The YouTube WeVideo editor enables users to quickly turn out polished productions through its simple, drag-and-drop design interface for music, transitions, titles and other video creation staples. WeVideo is completely cloud-based, which means there's no software to download. All video creation takes place in the browser of a smartphone, tablet or computer. This allows users to transcend the limitations of traditional desktop computing, delivering anytime, anywhere video editing. Leveraging the strength of cloud computing, the WeVideo platform delivers video rendering and other resource-intensive tasks in record time with expansive and secure storage. "WeVideo's integration to YouTube opens up the exciting world of video editing to millions of video story-tellers," said Jostein Svendsen, CEO of WeVideo. "This partnership gives YouTube users an intuitive cloud-based tool that is far more powerful than most desktop solutions. And with the ability to immediately post completed projects to their respective YouTube channels, video story telling has never been easier." WeVideo offers feature-rich packages for a wide range of users, from free personal accounts to monthly subscriptions for corporate clients. To learn more about WeVideo, please visit www.wevideo.com.

The Brand Buck Stops With You

2011-10-21T16:54:00.000-07:00

60 Minutes is at the door, are you ready to defend your brand?

The business world is uncertain, risky and forever changing, it's no surprise that your brand will probably face some rocky roads throughout its lifetime, along with a little uninvited media attention. Whether due to a natural disaster, a product recall, a competitor's maneuver, bad judgment, a customer complaint or some other factor, your brand strength could be put to the test when you least expect it.

Brand shakeups happen every day and then the spotlight is on the brand and the surrounding events and players. The media, your stakeholders, your employees and customers will be demanding answers and assurance that you are handling things in the right way.

No brand is immune. An entrepreneurial start-up, an individual brand or big organization can get beat up without warning.

So when brands go bad, what separates the survivors from the big losers, the sustainable ones, from the forever broken ones?

It's not what hits a brand upside the head but rather how they get back in the game that matters. I've watched and researched brands from around the world, big and small when they are tested. And I've seen common actions that I call brand turnaround game changers. These actions can bring brands-even in the worst place-back to glory.

Should your number be called and you find your brand on the hot seat, take responsibility and follow these actions. Your road to recovery will be smoother and you can prevent long-term damage.

To illustrate a brand-shaking situation, let's pretend your employees or a vendor did something crazy, broke the law, dismissed ethical practices or made a big mistake, and the word is out. It's on the news and being talked about in social media. What should a smart brand do?

During this trying time, you must own up and take control of the situation. This doesn't mean to admit guilt or make excuses, but it means that you should take timely responsibility and demonstrate sound actions toward finding solutions to the situation.

As much as you might want to go into hiding and reply with, "No comment," you must stay present, with confident communications and poise, so the public and your stakeholders do not lose their trust in you or your brand and further negative consequences are contained.

Bad things happen to good brands. You can let an unfortunate event kill your brand or you can recover quickly from the event by taking these steps.

o Take an inventory of the situation, before you speak.

o Acknowledge the facts, and that you and your team is actively seeking solutions.

o Build a clear narrative that reflects your brand essence and is relevant to the situation.

o Decide what venues are best to tell your story.

o Apologize, when appropriate.

o Select the most effective voice for your brand.

o Leverage the best impression.

o Keep the message positive and honest.

o Manage the media; don't let the media manage you.

Avoiding the situation will further the suspicion and possibly result in more negative publicity for your brand. Also, remember the more high profile the brand is, the higher expectations will be on all fronts.

To start, stay present. This means taking ownership. Do this in a diplomatic way, demonstrating empathy and concern for all stakeholders, including employees, the community, your customers and those involved in the situation.

Remember the media can be your friend and is a powerful tool that can heavily influence public opinion. Leverage journalists, news sources and technology from the get-go. First impressions depicted by the media are key here, so think carefully before you answer any questions or attempt to explain anything. And because of the Internet, remember that anything you say or do can be kept on record and visible to the public for many years to come.

Choose an outlet that best represents your brand and how to address the problem. Is it a press conference, written and/or verbal statements, social media or other Web resources, radio, TV or some other outlet? Your venue of choice should be based on the event and the magnitude of the initial brand shakeup. But you should also be sensitive to current market conditions and other news, and how your story fits in with those.

Be sure that your website and social media channels have current information regarding the shakeup and the steps you're taking to fix what has gone wrong. You can even create a microsite dedicated solely to this purpose.

The communications voice should match your brand and reflect the tone for your plan of attack and recovery. Know your audience, build your starting narrative, craft a compelling story and speak the truth. Be sure not to make false promises or have an unrealistic positive outlook if you do not have supporting facts.

Most importantly, show that you're committed to doing whatever it takes to tackle the situation. As I said before, any kind of avoidance, delayed response or blame game could potentially raise doubts and questions in regards to the values and credibility of your brand.

At the same time, know when to fold. There may come a point when you have done everything you can and now need to remove your brand's presence from the public radar screen and get back to your business.

This article is based on content from Karen Post's latest book Brand Turnaround (McGraw-Hill 2011).

Known by many as the Brand Diva®, Karen Post is an international branding/marketing expert, professional speaker and author. She helps individuals; businesses and nonprofits around world succeed with powerful, distinct brands.

Karen has written two books: Brand Turnaround : How Brands Gone Bad Returned to Glory... and the 7 Game Changers that Made the Difference (available late 2011) and Brain Tattoos: Creating Unique Brands That Stick in Your Customers' Minds. For more info on Karen and branding matters visit Branding Diva thank you page and get a free gift too.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Karen_Post

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6639653

From Virgin to Virtual - How Sir Richard Branson’s PA survived & thrived

2011-09-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

After suffering a stroke in 2008 Penni Pike, Sir Richard Branson’s Executive PA of 31 dynamic years, was told she would not walk or talk again.

Today, however, she has overcome the odds to use her vast expertise and knowledge to support entrepreneurs throughout the UK - as the special advisor of leading Virtual PA company, Time etc.

THE VIRGIN YEARS

Penni played a vital role in growing Virgin and directly supporting Sir Richard Branson in his business ventures, and personal challenges – from music, planes and trains to around-the-world boat ad balloon expeditions.

From the launch of Tubular Bells, to the expansion of Necker Island and planning a last minute Cuban Christmas – Penni was there through it all.

BATTLING ADVERSITY

When she retired in 2006, Richard gave her his precious boat for seven years. Penni hoped for some much-needed rest, using the boat as her London base.

Sadly, Penni suffered a stroke early on in her retirement, at the age of 56. It was devastating for Penni, who became debilitated and was told she would struggle to recover. Three years later, she has certainly proven them wrong.

“I refused to sit back and accept it,” explains Penni. “Richard taught me that almost nothing is improbable and that everything is possible – I used this as my utmost inspiration during a very difficult time.”

THE CHAMPION OF ENTREPRENEURS
After completing a somewhat grueling rehabilitation programme, Penni is ready to get back to doing what she does best. She felt it was a waste not to use the expertise she had gained from her time at Virgin and wanted to continue supporting busy entrepreneurs to the best of her ability.

A chance meeting with Barnaby Lashbrooke, 29-year-old multi-millionaire founder of Time etc, made this a possibility. The company is a pioneering "Virtual PA" service that provides entrepreneurs with the help they need to run their businesses, without having to employ a full time assistant. The company has grown rapidly since 2007, and now has a £1.1 million turnover

In August 2011, Penni joined them as their special advisor; she now supports clients, guides staff and gives advice on the service, using her invaluable knowledge.

“It’s a fantastic company, run by a bold entrepreneur,” says Penni, explaining why she chose Time etc. “It reminds me of the best spirit that animated Virgin.”

“Supporting entrepreneurs is vital,” adds Sir Richard. “These people will run the big companies and create the new jobs of the future.”

Zendesk Helps Startups Grow and Succeed

2011-08-31T15:20:00.001-07:00

Zendesk, the leading provider of proven,
cloud-based help desk software, today announced its “Zendesk Loves
Startups” program. Through this worldwide plan, startups within approved
incubators, can receive free one-year subscriptions to the Zendesk help
desk.

“Having been a small startup ourself, we recognize and are thankful for
everyone who helped us along the way,” said Mikkel Svane, CEO of Zendesk.
“To help other entrepreneurs, we are pleased to announce that we are now
offering a free one-year Zendesk Plus+ Plan to startups affiliated with
incubators such as HackFwd, Seedcamp, Startup Weekend and
StartupBootcamp.”

Zendesk has long recognized customer service is an integral part of any
company’s success. One thing that truly differentiates companies, from
startups to global organizations, is the ability to deliver superior
customer service. With the Zendesk Loves Startups program, Zendesk is
helping companies attain this competitive advantage at no cost.

“Many of today’s fastest growing companies such as Groupon, Airbnb, and
Dropbox started with Zendesk as small ventures driven by their desire to
deliver superior customer service,” Svane continued. “With the new
Zendesk Loves Startups program, Zendesk wants to help other small startups
join this list of fast-growing companies.”

Incubators from around the world have committed to be part of the Zendesk
Loves Startups program including AngelCube, Excerate Labs, HackFWD,
High-Tech Gründerfonds, Seedcamp, Startupbootcamp, Startup Weekend, Team
Europe Ventures, TechHub, and TechStars.

"At Startup Weekend we have helped more than 30,000 entrepreneurs learn if
their startup ideas are viable and how to implement successful business
strategies, said Shane Reiser, Director of Partnerships at Startup Weekend.
“We have seen that delivering superior customer service is a key component
in the formula to success. Zendesk's generosity in providing a free
subscription to its world class help desk software will jump start our
entrepreneurs’ path to success."

For more information on the Zendesk Loves Startups program, go to
www.zendesk.com/startups.

Survey reveals that opinion is split as to where payroll should sit within an organisation

2011-08-31T15:18:00.000-07:00

A survey by UK business management and information systems
provider, Advanced Business Solutions, reveals that opinion is divided as to
where the payroll function should sit within an organisation. The majority
of respondents do, however, agree that payroll needs to be connected with
the HR and finance departments regardless of where the function resides.

Advanced Business Solutions carried out the research with 79 human resources
(HR) and payroll professionals from both the UK and the USA.

The survey reveals that 36 per cent of HR and payroll professionals believe
that the payroll function should sit between an organisation’s HR and
finance departments. 25 per cent state that the payroll function should
reside within HR and 24 per cent believe that the function should be part of
the finance function. The remaining 15 per cent of participants took the
view that payroll should be outsourced to a third party payroll specialist.

One of the respondents, a UK HR professional, who believes that payroll
should be part of the HR function, states: “Payroll contains confidential
and financial information and for that reason it should stay within HR.”
In contrast, another respondent, a UK payroll professional comments:
“Payroll is a big part of any department’s costs and so must be held
under finance.”

Simon Fowler, Managing Director of Advanced Business Solutions (Commercial)
says, “These findings highlight the uncertainty about the payroll function
in general. As payroll naturally spans both HR and finance, it appears to be
the precious orphaned child of an organisation – highly valued but without
a clear home.”

Although opinion is divided as to where payroll should sit, the majority of
respondents believe that the function is important to both HR and finance
and should therefore be connected to both functions as highlighted by the
following respondent: “…from an accounting standpoint it makes sense for
payroll to be under the finance umbrella, but from a pure employee
standpoint it is more sensible to have payroll fall under the HR function.
However it really doesn’t matter as long as the functions are
inter-related.”

Fowler agrees that it is vital that payroll is linked with both HR and
finance and that having the right integrated software systems in place is a
key enabler: “Payroll is crucial to both HR and finance and so needs to be
linked with both functions. Integrated payroll, HR and finance software
systems are vital to achieving this connected, joined-up approach.”

Fowler adds, “If payroll systems and processes operate in isolation from
the rest of the organisation, the payroll function is not operating as
efficiently as it could be. By duplicating data entry across the different
payroll, HR and finance systems, this could result in administration errors
and lengthy processes. A standalone approach to payroll also fails to
deliver a single, holistic view of each employee which could result in
ill-informed decision making.”

A New Way to Look at Old Things

2011-08-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I wanted to take a few minutes to let you know about some things I am working on, and seeing how you feel about joining in. As you know I have gotten heavily involved in publishing e-books. I don't want to talk to you about all that is involved, but the research and content that I use to create new blog posts, books, and other products. Things I think you would be able to use, and best of all the resources are free or low-cost to use, no copyright issues.

What kinds of things?
1. Images
2. Films
3. Posters
4. Books/Magazines
5. Audio

I show you where you can find them, and what you can do with them once you get them. It's not taking away from other vendors who are charging you per piece for info available to you free.
In fact it adds to it because you will see how many current works are inspired by the older works, and more importantly, that it takes time.
The good part is that by completing this course you will save both time and money. You will know where to look for items instead of relying on Google to show you. You won't be spending money on items you can get for free, basically paying another person for the time they took to find the free item. Let me give you one idea off the top. The U.S. Government is the top producer of public domain items ranging from images to books. All that NASA stuff, it belongs to its citizens. Look at Library of Congress How is that for a treasure trove?

Well, on August 25th, I am going to spill all, and it won't cost much for this 90 minute class where you will leave with more than enough leads, blog ideas, product sources than you could reasonably use . Since it is a one-time class, I am offering it for $27. I will email you the number and some beginning material so you can see for yourself what I do and best of all, do it yourself.

DWM has published over 200 books, partnered with the largest distributors in the world because we believe there is always a new way of looking at old things.

Class is August 3st at 1 PM EST/10 AM PST Click below to get started. If you can't be on the call live, no problem. A replay will be available.

Facebook Making You Mentally Ill or Bogus Reports?

2011-08-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

Are Facebook and social media sites getting a bad wrap from all the so called "studies" which basically tell us that we have no life? These "studies" say we prefer the people online to our "real" life friends; women hate other women online;we only know seven percent of the people we "friend" on Facebook, we don't really mean it when we post birthday wishes, and oh yeah, it will make us mentally ill.

Granted studies dooming online users gets clicks and reads, but could there is a different issue? The world has changed, like it or not, and these people who are doing these so called "studies" are not fans of it. Anyone knows you can make a test reveal what you want it to just by the way the questions are posed, and who is being asked the question.

These groups want to act like there has to be a separation between an online and offline life. Back in the Prodigy days, I would totally concur with this idea, because people were never known by their name and there was not really an interest in getting to know the person behind the name, but social media is a different deck of cards.

Social media allows for building of relationships for business or personal reasons. It is an invitation of sorts which allows people to meet on their own terms. Those terms could be 140 character posts on Twitter, video hangouts on Google Plus, or playing games with others on Facebook. Unlike the days of bulletin boards, we are more in control of who can enter our life and be a part of it. We set the terms and the boundaries.

The social aspect allows people to set up meet ups/tweet ups in safe environments. People also get the opportunity to meet people at various events around the world. While the media aspect allows the average Joe to publish his blog post/article/video, and possibly profit from it. Businesses benefit from social media because they have the opportunity to hear from their customers directly and contrary to what some would have you believe, it's not all people with complaints.

The "studies" have been pretty negative toward social media, which could make a person wonder who is really conducting the tests and who are they talking to? If they are talking to people who barely know how to turn on their computer or who are not active in social media at all or on a very limited basis, then that might explain it, but tests done on active members of any of the social media sites would not have the same results. Which makes one think the studies are bogus or designed as link bait.

Appcelerator and Teens in Tech Labs Team Up to Launch Startup Incubator for Young Entrepreneurs

2011-07-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

Appcelerator®, the leading mobile cloud platform for rapidly developing native mobile, desktop, and tablet applications using web technologies, today announced it has teamed with Teens in Tech Labs to launch the first annual Teens in Tech Incubator program. The new program helps young entrepreneurs start their own high-tech companies. Founded in 2008 by Daniel Brusilovsky, Teens in Tech Labs provides a community and support network for young entrepreneurs to gain access to and learn best practices from established mentors and tech veterans.

The Teens in Tech inaugural incubator program officially kicked off on June 22 and runs for 6 weeks. The incubator is housed in Appcelerator’s new headquarters in Mountain View, CA. Each team consists of one to three teens, all under the age of 19, who will work alongside mentors and advisors to build their own startups. The program culminates with each team launching their product as part of a Demo Day during the annual Teens in Tech Conference, taking place on August 5 at Palo Alto Research Center in Palo Alto. Three of the teams will use Appcelerator’s app development platform, Titanium, to build fully native apps that can run on desktop, web or mobile devices. The select teams are:

Codulous (Santa Cruz, CA): an online code editor that works in the cloud and syncs with your desktop and many other services

BuyNomial (Oakland, CA): helping you budget for whatever you want in a faster and smarter way

MySchoolHelp (White Plains, NY): making it easy for high school students to find and share their classmates’ notes

Bubbls (Palo Alto, CA): a geo-social mobile application that lets your friends know when you can hang out

CM Studios (Atherton, CA): bringing a zombie game to the iPhone, and soon Android

Workcrib (Walnut Creek, CA): a social sharing site for your workspace

The Teens in Tech Incubator program features numerous experiential and hands-on learning opportunities. More than 60+ tech veterans, VCs, and others volunteer as mentors and advisors are teaching classes weekly on everything from HTML to CSS to marketing and presentation skills. Some of the program’s mentors lead weekly dinners, sharing their own personal life stories, such as when David Crane, a partner at Google Ventures, spoke to the teens about how Google got started. There are also “Office Hours” and “Workshops,” where mentors join the teams on-site and help them work on their business plans, presentations, coding, etc. Held throughout are various white board and collaboration sessions.

“Entrepreneurship should not be defined by age but should be all about fostering the most promising innovation,” noted Daniel Brusilovsky. “With the broad support from the tech community, our new incubator program will encourage today’s youth to start early, think big, take risks, learn from failures and gain from successes. We’re very grateful to all the companies, mentors and advisors who have graciously contributed to our endeavor and mission. The support ecosystem inherent throughout Silicon Valley gives evidence to why the region is one of the most innovative in the world. However, it also lays a solid blueprint for others to adopt and benefit from.”

The Teens in Tech Incubator program boasts a stellar lineup of mentors and advisors, some of who include:

Jeff Haynie, co-founder and CEO, Appcelerator

David Hornik, general partner, August Capital

David Krane, Partner, Google Ventures

Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO, Box.net

Chris McCann, co-founder, Startup Digest

Marcus Nelson, director of social media, Salesforce

Alex Pachkov, VP of business development, Evernote

In addition to providing the technology and serving as mentors, the team at Appcelerator is also providing the physical office space to host the incubator teams throughout the program’s duration.

Jeff Haynie, co-founder and CEO of Appcelerator, noted, “I started my first company when I was 14, and there were a lot of people who generously helped mentor and provide me with valuable guidance along the way. Having benefited from that support network, I think it’s important for seasoned entrepreneurs to pay it forward and proactively lend a guiding hand to our next generation of aspiring tech entrepreneurs and contribute to them hopefully building the next Google or Apple.”

Along with Appcelerator, the Teens in Tech Labs has support from Microsoft, General Motors, Softlayer, Globumbus, Eventbrite, Meshin and Gagnier Margossian LLP.

To see the full list of mentors and learn more about the Teens in Tech Incubator program or the Teens in Tech annual conference please visit: http://incubator.teensintech.com/.

Best-Selling Author Cancels California Affiliates

2011-07-03T05:39:00.000-07:00

Following Amazon.com's lead, a Texas-based author, who runs an online business selling sales training and marketing courses, has chosen to immediately terminate all internet affiliates located in California.

Frank Rumbauskas, author of the New York Times best-seller Never Cold Call Again (Wiley, 2006) and several other books, made the decision this week after considering the amount of revenue his California affiliates have generated, versus the compliance costs and potential loss of business that might result from imposing sales tax on the nation's most populous state.

"Part of the reason I moved my corporation from Arizona to Texas last year, when I moved here personally, is the much better business and tax climate in Texas. While Arizona's taxes aren't nearly as oppressive as California's, they seem draconian when compared with Texas. So, running the risk of having business nexus in California, the most anti-business state in the nation, wasn't even an option."

Rumbauskas says his business won't be affected very much because affiliates play only a very minor role in his overall marketing strategy, but he feels sorry for affiliate marketers living in California.

"I've been in the internet marketing world long enough to know that California is home to a huge amount of affiliate marketers. Many of these people make their entire living as affiliates, and now they're having the rug pulled out from under them by an out-of-control state government that insists on further punishing businesses in order to keep their insane entitlement programs running."

In response to the argument that he should just be a good corporate citizen, apply for a California sales tax license and begin charging sales tax to California residents, he says, "The issue is two-fold: First is the compliance cost of maintaining a sales tax presence in California. They're notorious for their overly intrusive and frequent sales tax audits. The cost of responding and complying, remotely from Texas, far outweighs any benefit of having affiliates located there. Second, I've always been an outspoken patriot and advocate of lower taxes and smaller government, so I believe I'm doing the right thing by refusing to have affiliates in California."

When asked if he would stop selling to Californians entirely if the state demanded sales tax from all merchants, irrespective of nexus, Rumbauskas cited out the 1992 Supreme Court ruling barring any such activity.

Ultimately, Rumbauskas says California's biggest mistake is the short-sighted nature of their decision, which he insists will cause them to lose far more revenue than they believe they'll collect. "The big detail that California's small-minded politicians missed is that tens of thousands of affiliates in California, who are having their affiliate accounts cancelled immediately, will no longer generate any income as affiliates, meaning no more income tax on all that money. The puny amount in sales taxes they're trying to snag pales in comparison to the income tax revenue they stand to lose."

The solution?

"Business owners and entrepreneurs are already leaving California in droves, and now you'll see career affiliates jumping on that bandwagon. They won't have a choice. Here in Texas I regularly joke that there are more cars with California plates than Texas plates on the road, and that's exactly due to California's anti-business climate that just keeps getting worse. And with all of the conservative and libertarian voters packing up and moving out, there will be no one left to stand up for free enterprise anymore."

Rumbauskas says that he has plenty of business contacts in California and would be surprised to see any, other than native Californians with deep roots in the state, who will stick around and continue to tolerate the oppressive business climate.

What Are People Buying Online

2011-03-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

Do You Know Your Leads to Sales Ratio?

2011-03-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

When you review your business successes and misses at the end of the month, end of the year, or as tax time approaches, be sure to review your Sales to Leads Ratio.

Your Sales to Leads ratio is the number of leads you convert to paying business. Like, how many of the leads that you've had this year actually resulted in more money in your pocket?

To do the figures, you'll need to know both how many leads you've developed and how many of these leads panned out so you were able to work with a new or returning client.

(You did keep track of the leads as they came in, right? If you haven't been tracking leads and sales, make a resolution now to do it from now on.)
You can determine the ratio by comparing the number of leads you have with the number of sales you made from those leads.

For example if you have 5 leads and you close 3 of them, your ratio is 3:5 or 60%. Sometimes this is called a closing ratio. (This is only an example to demonstrate the math. You will probably have many more than this from the marketing programs you have implemented.)
Your Sales to Leads Ratio is an indicator of your success as a sales person, as well as checking up on your Marketing efforts.

Higher ratios tell you Marketing is attracting the right kind of leads and Sales is doing a good job of closing. Both of your systems, Marketing and Sales, are being successful.
If your income is lower than you would like and your sales ratio is high, (you're selling lots of the leads you've been getting) increase your marketing to deliver more good leads.
With a high sales to leads ratio, more potential customers hearing about you will mean more sales. In other words: do more marketing. Develop more marketing venues and send out the same marketing message more often.
If your Sales to Leads Ratio is low, look both at the kinds of leads coming from Marketing and your selling skills.

Have a colleague review your marketing materials and give you feedback. Ask current customers and clients what else they are looking for. Beef up your marketing materials and efforts.
Recommit to being more aggressive with sales and selling.

Consider taking a sales skills class. Selling doesn't always come naturally to many independent professionals. All too many of us still consider selling to be unprofessional or beneath us.
If this is you it's time to get over yourself so you can not only start supporting yourself in a comfortable life style, but provide the people who need what you offer the opportunity to buy what they want from you.
Sometimes it just takes more effort than you have been giving. Remember, it takes at least 4-7 contacts with many customers to make a sale. Don't wimp out and give up too soon.

About the Author
Pat Wiklund is known as the One-Person Business Turnaround Specialist. She works with professional services business owners so they can make more money and get more personal satisfaction from their work. Begin continuing developing your selling expertise by claiming your complimentary copy of Pat's latest ecourse. Just go to: http://1personbusiness.com/mini-ecourse

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pat_Wiklund

Attitudes to Return on Investment from Customer Service Must Change

2011-03-17T01:15:00.000-07:00

The publication, return on investment in customer service the bottom line, is the result of 12 months quantitative and qualitative research by the Institute and Ashridge Business School.
While the research finds a weight of evidence proving the link between customer service and profit, it warns that organisations across all sectors of the economy are still using the easier to measure indicators, such as customer satisfaction.
“To position return on investment in the boardroom and establish customer service as a key strategic issue for all organisations, we must shift customer service away from just measuring simple customer satisfaction into much more complex areas, such as how customers perceive the value of their relationship with that organisation,” says Jo Causon, the chief executive of the Institute.
The research consisted of an online survey, case studies among some of the UK’s best known brands, including 02, Eurostar, Kleinwort Benson and T-Mobile, and a review of empirical research into ROI.
It found that 81% of respondents believed that gaining an understanding of service ‘from the customers’ viewpoint’ is very likely to lead to a positive return on investment, with 74% believing that gathering and acting on customer feedback will produce real business ROI.
The work also indicated that organisations needed to place more value the contribution of frontline customer facing staff who would become more important in the future.
“This should inform recruitment as well as remuneration of frontline staff,” said Jo Causon, “Currently they are under-rewarded compared to the impact they can have on financial performance and overall business efficiency.”
Cheryl Black, customer service director at 02, one of the report’s sponsors, added: “It is all too easy to say what’s good for the customer is good for the business and leave it at that. This report challenges us to start thinking about how we measure changing customer behaviours, and the role our staff have to play in it.”
The research was sponsored by 02, BT wholesale, and South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive.
The report, return on customer service the bottom line is available to purchase online from http://www.instituteofcustomerservice.com

Resource

Overstock's New Main Street Program for Entrepreneurs

2011-01-05T23:58:00.000-08:00

Overstock.Com is giving Entrepreneurs an opportunity to expand their reach. I am all for it. People with products should have an option to make a broad appeal as opposed to limiting themselves to the one time customer who has to try to find them.

By having a company such as Overstock involved, that increases the possibilities. What I like about the video above was that in the examples they used, most were solopreneurs. I think some entrepreneurs think they have to be big to compete. I think you have to be good to compete. Buyers reward good products with sales and repeat sales. Online the bad ones are weeded out pretty quickly.

So if you have an actual physical product, I would recommend you consider getting some information about the program at http://www.overstock.com/62409/static.html or by email at

mainstreet@overstock.com

Let me know how it goes.