November var månaden då vi förutom Attracs som jag skrev om i mitt tidigare inlägg också lanserade en referenskarta över bergvärme projekt för GeoDrill. Referenskartans syfte är att göra GeoDrill till ett lokalt företag runtom i hela Finland. När någon söker på t.ex. Maalämpö Helsinki eller Maalämpö Oulu så hittas olika projekt som de utfört i de orterna.

Största delen av de utförda projekten har ännu inte hunnit indexeras i Google. Så vi har inte sett slutresultatet ännu. Vi får väntar med spänning på att Googles spindlar skulle jobba lite snabbare.

Under veckan lanserade vi på Genero ett väldigt intressant projekt. Attracs – Showing The Way är ett företag som säljer affärssystem för effektivare och lönsammare logistik. Attracs har 15 års erfarenhet av utveckling av affärssystem för transportföretag.

Genero inledde samarbete med Attracs under sensommaren 2011. Nedan lite bilder som beskriver lite vad vi jobbat med:

Gå till attracs.com för att se mer av projektet.

I onsdags lanserade vi Affärsmagasinet Forums nya webbplats. Både webbplatsen och papperstidningen förnyades. Genero har byggt sajten i WordPress. Där utgångsläget var ett färdigt template som Forum fick använda. Här kan ni kolla in den nya sajten: forummag.fi.

Från Genero har vi också fått äran att blogga på sajten. Det är Rasmus och Jonathan som delar med sig av sina kunskaper. Rasmus skriver om varumärken och reklam på den sociala webben medan Jonathan skriver om Sökmotoroptimering, lite hur Google fungerar och vad företag kan göra för att synas bättre från Google. Rekommenderar att ni följer bloggen på Forums sajt.

G18 Seminariet med Frank Korsström, vd för Accenture Norden.

Lanserings tillfället av både papper tidningen och sajten ägde rum nära bulevarden här i H:fors. Huvudtalaren Frank Korsström pratade om hur man skall navigera i en allt mer global värld. Han presenterade lite statistik om hur dyster framtiden ser ut för oss här i Finland. Med en åldrande befolkning, dyr arbetskraft, inga naturresurser m.m. Så, ja visst, det ser dystert ut. Men vi kan ju inte sätta oss ned och gråta över det.

Vi måste agera. För det första måste vi inse att vi blivit för bekväma här i Finland, eftersom vi haft ett välfärdssamhälle åtminstone de senaste 10-15 åren (är för ung för att gå längre bak i tiden).

Vi behöver mera entreprenörer! Som så många sagt, likaså Frank Korsström. Vi behöver mera SME-företag. Riksdag och regering, förstå det!

What is an entrepreneur? Who can and should become an entrepreneur? Lately I’ve been thinking a bit about these questions for no specific reason, just thinking…

This is how I see it. Entrepreneurs are people that have a strong will to change things. An entrepreneur need to have at least following skills: braveness, negotiation skills and a strong will. I think at the end of the day it’s not about who is the most talented or who has the highest education, it’s about who has the strongest will to DO and CHANGE things.

I will go back once again to the Apples Think Different campaign:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. – Apple Inc.

”Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do”. This is a sentence that I really like.

Here is the video also, enjoy!

So, how do you become a good entrepreneur?

Our school system doesn’t teach us to become good entrepreneurs, neither does anything else. The truth is that a lot of people don’t think too much of entrepreneurs. The media teach us to become models, sport stars or something else. Just not entrepreneurs. This while for example our country (Finland) is very depending on entrepreneurs. While every finnish politics now that Finland and also other countries need more entrepreneurs, they don’t do much about it.

To become a good entrepreneur you should follow your dream and do what you are good at. As the founder of the successful brand, Angry Birds, Peter Vesterbacka said: ”Don’t think. DO, think”.

At least I’m going to continue to do what I love and I will have success. As Guy Kawasaki said: ”Do what you love and the money will follow”.

Have a great week everyone!

After I bought my Iphone 4 I’ve been looking around for different mobile applications. I also started to check if companies like Finnair, VR and ABC had Iphone apps. What do you think?

Of course they didn’t have any, yet. I think at least Finnair and VR will launch their mobile app in the next couple of months. Below some of my thoughts on the subject.

Why Finnair should have a mobile app

Finnair is to me one of the worlds best airline company. Their airplanes are safe and very high quality. You get good service and you can count on that you are on time for your destination when choosing Finnair. This is my view on Finnair as an airline company today. To strengthen this even more and to be able to improve the customer service, a mobile app would be great.

A few functions the Finnair app need to have:

1. Allow customers to check in.
2. Possibility to check flight schedules.
3. Login to the Finnair Plus Club.
4. Easily accessible contact info.
5. Some games/movies.

Why VR should have a mobile app

I don’t know many people that haven’t been complaining on VR (The finnish train company) being behind their time schedule. When having such a bad reputation it would be important to have a channel/tool to easier be able to communicate with customers. VR nowadays also have a presence on FB which is really good. Still I think they will launch some mobile apps very soon.

A few functions the VR app need to have:

1. Allow customers to book train tickets.
2. Possibility to check train schedules.
3. Easily accessible contact info.

Why ABC gas stations should have a mobile app

Nowadays living in Helsinki I drive quite often from Helsinki to Ostrobothnia by car. In Finland ABC gas stations are very common. The ABC gas stations are often on very comfortable places to stop at. Now on sunday evening when I was driving back towards Helsinki I needed to buy new windshield wipers for my car. I checked a Neste station but they didn’t have any. Then I figured. Why doesn’t ABC build a mobile app that could have information about their products and more?

A few functions the ABC app need to have:

1. Information about products they sell.
2. Prices on different products like gas etc.
3. A map over ABC stations.
4. Opening hours.
5. Easily accessible contact info.

A very common thing among entrepreneurs and people when they get a good idea is that they want to keep it for them self. I can easy remember 10 times that I’ve heard someone say that they have come up with a really good business idea, but they can’t tell anyone about it. Does this sound any familiar to you?

I can admit that I thought this was the right way to do it also a couple of years ago. But since we started Genero I’ve really changed my attitude to this.

If you have a really great business idea. I think you should go out and ask everyone that possible can give some input. Ask people that have long experience of entrepreneurship, people that are in the same field etc. Don’t be afraid that they will go and execute your idea.

Why should you tell everyone about your business idea?

Because it’s not about the idea. It’s about the person! I really recommend this video for all entrepreneurs out there that is walking around keeping their idea to themselves. The key thing to remember is that, probably 1000 other people have tought about the same idea as you. It’s about you, about your capability to execute the idea. It’s about going from the idea stage to lead the business.

Tonight I was browsing around youtube and other sites looking for videos about branding. I found an interesting video with Stevie boy talking about the Apple brand and a bit about Nike. If you haven’t watched this before, you definitely should.

Last year in may I graduated from Arcada University Of Applied Sciences. I graduated with a Bachelor Degree in business with Marketing as major field of study.

So, what has happened since graduation. We started our agency Genero already in 2009, but after graduating we all (me, Jonathan & Rasmus) started working full time.

In the beginning of june our first employee started, an Art Director with experience in both print & digital media. During the summer/fall we had some temporary workers helping with some video projects and so on. Our business grew with kind of the right pace during fall/winter 2010.

In the beginning of 2011 the business started to grow more rapidly. Now one year after the ”real start” we are 6 employees and the growth continues. We’ve got some really good clients lately. We also have some really hardworking guys that want to achieve something big! The growth is continuing so we are also going to need some more co-workes soon. I think I forgot to celebrate the day, one year after graduation. Well, let’s celebrate next graduation!

Garvy Vaynerchuk recently said on TechCrunchTV that 99,5 % of Social Media experts are clowns. So now the big big question is, do you belong to the 99,5 % or the 0,5 %. Most likely you belong to the 0,5 %, right? Here you can see the video. So did Gary mean exactly what he said or what was the point with that statement?

I think it was a very important topic to bring to discussion. And that was what Gary wanted to do. Now the question is are you a guru or a clown? How do you now which one?

I’m not a Social Media guru. First of all I don’t like to word, Social Media Guru. I’m an entrepreneur working with digital marketing. I’m a social guy that like to hang out with people. I’m really, really amazed with what the Internet can do for businesses. Because of that I try to help companies understand the HUGE possibilities that it gives.

I think Gary’s statement; 99,5 % of Social Media Gurus are Clowns was very good for the business. What do you think?

To create a long-term business you need to have customers that likes you. How do you get that? Is it enough to have 10 000 Facebook fans and  5 000 followers on Twitter? No, definitely not.
To create a successful business you need a lot of true and loyal customers that really LIKES  you. That will engage with you and spread your message. I will guide you true 3 easy steps that will bring you organic ”likers”.

Step 1: Listen to your customers.

What are they talking about? To find out what your customers talk about you can use tools like: Google Alerts, Search.twitter.com and Social Mention. There are also other good tools. Read more about them here: 10 social media monitoring tools. You also need to go through different Facebook pages similar to your business and see what works for others and so on.

Step 2: Understand your customers.

When you have listened to your customers you will start to understand what kind of needs and wants they have. I think these first 2 steps are the most important ones and this should be done very carefully. If you don’t do this properly you will probably fail. You need to remember that people are very different. We often divide Internet users into 3 different groups. Number 1; and the biggest one is the audience. The audience only listen, follow and they don’t act. Number 2; are the editors. They create, watch others and create some content. The third one are the creators or publishers. If you can engage with a couple of creators it can be very valuable. The will spread your message and write good stuff and link back to you.

Step 3: Creating valuable content

When you have listened and you understand what your customers wants, it’s time to start creating some valuable content. Here are my advices for creating successful content that will spread all over the web.

1. Be the expert.
2. Be entertaining.
3. Remember, don’t think that it’s only about what you sell. It’s about what you stand for. Ex. Gary Vaynerchuk doesn’t sell wine. He’s the wineguy that knows all you need to know about wines.

Remember to always be relevant and give value. Content is king and relevance is the number 1 key to success!