Alltopstartups » SOCIAL

Startup Quotes In 140 Characters or Less

Thomas Oppong — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:52:16 +0000

A of startup founders have given back to the community. They share startup tips and pieces of advice you can actually use. Hundreds of them have been shared on Mixergy. Others are being shared on Techcrunch, Venturebeat, GigaOm, Mashable and personal blogs of the founders. I have been reading about them for some time now and I want to share the lessons these founders have shared with the community here with you. Some of these advice and startup quotes were gathered from last year’s startup school.

# The process in creating a business is in 3 steps: Discover –> Design –> Deliver-Andy Bechtolsheim

# Building a company is like baking a cake. There are a lot of ingredients and if you’re not careful you’ll end up with egg on the ceiling.-Marc Andreessen

# Scaling the team has been harder than scaling the platform.-James Lindenbaum

# You’re building a tool, not a piece of art. Don’t be blinded by the vision.-Andrew Mason

# Innovation is the never-ending search for better solutions -Andy Bechtolsheim

# You will probably fail – failure is real but you don’t have to fail.-Andrew Mason

# The “magic formula” is an engineer who can become an entrepreneur and CEO.-Marc Andreessen

# Spectacular companies start with ambitious but unknown founders, no pedigree required.-Jim Goetz

# Success is really imitation plus innovation-Ashton Kutcher

# There’s nothing quite as permanent as a temporary business model.-Matt Mullenweg

# It’s hard to raise money even when you’re profitable.-Mark Pincus

# It’s better to do something hard if you’re capable of solving hard problems.-Paul Graham

# The point of Facebook isn’t the features, it’s the people.-Mark Zuckerberg

# Ignore your mistakes. The number one thing to worry about is “Am I doing what I’m good at?”-Max Levchin

# A defining entrepreneur is a product visionary who owns the mind of their customer.-Ron Conway

# Take on more than you’re ready to, and get used to that feeling- Drew Houston

# There is around 7 +/- 2 of sites people have in their mind. Your goal is to be one of those 7. Search is in the 7.-Greg McAdoo

# If you have an idea put it up there online, no matter what it looks like. You need the feedback early on.=Brian Chesky

With Enough Passion, Anything Seems Possible

Thomas Oppong — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:40:37 +0000

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion and desire.-Aristotle

Startups come in all shapes and sizes. Aspiring founders will attempt just about any idea, product, or business model under the sun. If it can be conceived, some dreamer has probably tried it. And that’s not a bad thing. A lot of businesses and great companies were conceived, tried and tested and have survived over the years till now.

For all the challenges faced by new businesses, a lack of passion is not one of them. Entrepreneurs are true believers, famously inspired and optimistic. These qualities are critical, because getting a healthy venture off the ground can be extraordinarily difficult. Successful founders draw from deep wells of conviction and faith to sustain themselves through long days and unexpected challenges.

Drive, determination, belief, optimism, courage, confidence, commitment, certainty, and faith are the forces that drive a new business to success. But you need more than that to grow a business.

Salesforce Launches Desk.com(Social Customer Support App)

Thomas Oppong — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:18:23 +0000

Customer support traditionally involves planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance and upgrading via phone, email, and web to assist customers in making correct use of a product. In recent times, social media is playing a significant role in achieving the goals of customers support. Companies are now integrating social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc for faster and efficient customer service delivery.

Salesforce, a global enterprise software company has launched a new SaaS(software as a service) help-desk application-Desk.com which provides small-to-medium-sized companies with cloud-based customer support management to help for field queries through phone, e-mail, web, Twitter, and Facebook.

Desk.com lets SMBs manage requests for help wherever they start from—Facebook, phone, Twitter, web. It also has a mobile component, so staffers can support their customers even when they’re out of the office.

Desk.com also allows companies to build out a knowledge base filled with answers to common questions, allowing customers to solve problems without the need for a human agent.

Pricing starts at US$49 per agent per month, with unlimited access. Salesforce.com is also offering “flex” pricing for $1 per hour for part-time agents. The mobile application is included at no extra charge for full-time users. Desk.com is set for release in the first quarter of this year.

For mobile support, Salesforce has built an HTML5-based site for Desk.com that conforms well to mobile browsers on the iPhone and various Android phones.

“We realized that small and medium sized businesses might have a small customer service department, but, really, everyone in the company is doing support,” Alex Bard, the former CEO of Assistly who is now vice president and general manager of Desk.com, told Fast Company.

How To Use Facebook Insight To Grow Your Facebook Fan Page

Guest Author — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:04:50 +0000

So, you have been working round the clock to keep your fan page growing and thriving with visitors and buzzing with their interactions in the form of Likes, sharing, comments etc. But have you ever looked at the details to figure out what fans of your fan page really want from you? Do they want you come up with some funny staffs that may had them roll down the aisle or they are looking for some genuine information that have got nothing to do with the flippancy which are quite omnipresent in most social networking website. Yah, yah I know Facebook is a place to chill out but since we are marketers by profession, probably destined by God, we have to go deep down to the details so that we can have everything before us to make our fan base grow like anything else. And thanks to the introduction of new Facebook metrics, we will be able to have deeper and better insight into what our community wants from us, which will lead to engaging and impressive presence in Facebook.

Let’s try to decipher what remain behind the below metrics:

Main Insight: To start with, you need to click on the Main Sight option and there you will see a graph of the latest activities going around your fan page for the last month. It looks much more improved with additional details to find what is cool and what is not so cool about your fan page. The best part of this main insight section is that it lets you view and analyze individual posts in different ways. Below are some crucial segments that deserve your attention:

Engaged Users: This is the total number of unique people who have got the time to click on your post. The more, the better.
Reach: This is the second most important metric that should not get any less attention from your side. It is the total number of people who happen to find your post in Facebook.
Talking about: This is the number of people who cared to comment onto any particular post or Liked or shared any post.

Virality: This thing involves a simple math. This is the result of “Talking About This” number divided by number “Reach”.

Now, you might wonder how on earth you are supposed to use this number to your advantage. Simple, if you happen to find that the top three pages when sorted by “Engaged Users” are three posts containing some awesome images, you need to focus on posting images in fan page to make each post go viral. Or else you can sort posts based on Virality, and if you find that the top posts are informative, you need to make it a point that the upcoming posts are in line with it if you are to see some progress in the engagement front.

Reach: This section will give detail analysis of people who have come across your posts in your Facebook fan page in one way or the other in the last week. A chart representing demographics of people will be there to make your task easier. There are options to figure out how you have reached your audience in the last week but the most important segment that you need to look out for is the number of people you are reaching more frequently. These people are your code audience and therefore, you cannot afford to lose them.

Check the details carefully and make necessarily changes in the strategy to see more interaction. Try to make some experiments with the number of postings, time of posting etc to be able to see some visible improvements.

Options are there to find information about where the visitors are coming from and the number of page views. If external referrers graph shows that majority of people are coming from Google, you need to pull your socks and get to some actions, I mean, you need to do some guest posting, blog commenting etc to spread the words about your Facebook community.

Likes: Likes is as you know very well is the most important and the most precious thing out there in Facebook. It shows the affections of Facebook users. The Likes area of the metrics show you fans sorted by demographics, a very useful tool to launch and run your future Facebook ad campaign with meticulous efficiency. Go to Graph and then go to “Where Your Likes Came”. Watch the number of spikes and sudden drop in the Likes and Unlike graph and this will give you fair amount of information about what you are doing it right and what you are wrong on a given day.

People Talking About This: This data will give you enough scope to measure actual engagement of the users. This data include almost anything or everything that are elaborated below:

Sharing, commenting or liking a page
mentioning a page in a comment
tagging a page in a photo
Checking in it a place
Answering a posted question
Posting something on the wall of the fan page

So, it seems we have loads of data for crunching. So what are you waiting for? Just start crunching the data to have a deeper and more powerful insight on your Facebook fan page.

Author Bio: Michael Evans is a passionate writer and he has been writing for Site2You which is an easy website builder. He has written different article on web design, online marketing and SEO. He is equally enthusiastic about latest gadgets.

Venturing Overseas As A Newly Qualified Accountant

Thomas Oppong — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:20:43 +0000

With many of the top accountancy firms boasting a global presence, newly qualified accountants are increasingly looking to find international placements upon qualification. Not only can this provide a stimulating environment for your work, it could also be a fast track into one of the top 20 firms.

If you’re currently scouring the recruitment pages for finance jobs, here’s our handy guide to finding an overseas placement.

Why go abroad?

There are several benefits to an international secondment, such as:

The chance to experience a different culture and undertake travel alongside your career development.
International experience that’s respected and often sought after amongst future employers.
A possible fast track route to responsibility in some of the world’s biggest accountancy firms.
Typically, flexible contracts.

What skills do I need?

You’ll probably find that most secondments are in external audit, with some opportunities also cropping up in corporate recovery and corporate finance. The exact skills and knowledge required can of course vary between placements but, in general, you’ll need:

A track record of strong academic achievement.
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
The large financial centres, like Hong Kong, may ask for some proven experience in banking or financial services audit.
Smaller island locations (like Bermuda or Barbados) may put more emphasis on your soft skills -such as relationship building and communication etc. to ensure you’ll thrive in the close-knit community environment.
The relevant language fluency where necessary.

What should I expect from the interview?

There’s no set pattern to how an interview process will work, as they’ll vary from organisation to organisation. Many will start the process with a telephone interview, while others may send representatives to the UK at certain times in the year to conduct interviews. In some cases, firms may ask specialist recruitment officers to carry out the interview in an area most local to you. Of course, some firms may require you to fly out to their destination.

Normally, full relocation and sponsorship costs will be paid for by the employer.

For more information about progressing your finance career internationally, please get in touch with the experts at Michael Page Finance.

How To Use Social Media for Profit, Not Just For Fun

Guest Author — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:03:32 +0000

Social media networks have grown by leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. There is no doubt that if you want to build a strong online market base that you have to utilize social media networks. Chances are that you are already using Facebook or Twitter to connect with your friends. But, did you know that you can use these platforms to make a little bit of extra cash on the side? As a matter of fact, there are individuals that are earning over $500.00 per month from Facebook.

If you love to use social media and know how to use it inside and out, then you have an opportunity to make cash. Businesses as well as organizations are looking for ways through which they can enhance their presence online, and are searching for social network savvy people to help them with this. But, the million dollar question is “How do you launch your social media advertising firm?” Illustrated herein, are a couple of things that can help you start your own social media advertising firm and make money in the process:

Create Your Online Credibility

First and foremost, you need to build your online credibility. You can online guarantee yourself business when you have credibility. This way, your potential clients will know that you have what it takes to give them the kind of online presence that you have. There is no one that will be willing to work with you if you do not act as a professional. Other than having a massive following, you need to provide some value through your communication channel.

Identify What You Would Like To Offer

You cannot do everything at the same time. If you try, you will only fail at all of them miserably. Identifying something that you are good at and pursue it, for example, would you like teach other people how to use the social media to increase their businesses? If you do not want to do everything, you can come up with strategies and show others how to implement them. Once you have identified something to sell, come up with a plan on how you will go about it.

Opt For A Market Niche

As pointed out earlier, you cannot serve everyone in Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. Look for a business or organization that you would like to work for. For example, do you have an interest in travel, politics or nature? The more particular you become, the higher the chances that somebody’s eyes will brighten up when you tell them about your services. While you can always venture out of your chosen niche once in a while, it is highly recommended that you choose a specific market niche and stick to it. This way, you will be able to grow your market base with ease.

Start Looking For Customers

No matter how small your business venture is, the best means to get your business growing is to shout out loud that you are available for hire. Specify the kind of services that you are offering. For example, are you offering a one-on-one coaching, corporate roundtables or business strategies?

Daniel K. Lebrun is from Exams King, He has been blogging from last 3 years, He is Professional Content Writer and also SEO guru, He is full with possessions of experience, and even more degrees, these days he is busy in CLO-001 Certifications. He gets pleasure from Blogging.

How To Win Customers And Influence Buyers

Thomas Oppong — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:59:25 +0000

Customers are the most important people for your business. The success of your business or product depends on the patronage, registration, or usage by customers both paying and nonpaying. The extent to which you maintain customers depends on how they are treated when they do business with you. Attracting buying customers is an art. Keeping repeat customers is the backbone of selling. You need to be good at both. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon has said “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.” These are some of the ways to win customers and influence buyers.

One fully satisfied customer becomes your loyal customer and starts bringing in more loyal customer.
Speak of your features and sell benefits
Even if you are not able to win a deal with a customer, be in touch with the customer and possibly nurture the relationship.
Be competitive but do not be undersold
Never mislead the customer. instead highlight the advantages that your product has over the products of your competitors
After sales service is one of the most important tool which might help you win some more deal.
Connect positively with people, as many people as you can. Connecting is not selling it is building a positive relationship.
Maintain regular follow ups – Set schedulers for call backs. Customers want vendors/providers who value their business.
The salesperson should have a complete product knowledge before contacting the prospective customer. Complete product knowledge generates confidence.
Offer a great product, that exceeds customer expectations
Giveaway a free gift unexpectedly when you can. Customers love freebies.

How do you win customers and influence buyers? What has worked for you in the past.

Top 3 Web Hosting Mistakes Bloggers Make And How To Fix It

Guest Author — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:55:07 +0000

Are you making any web hosting mistake?

In this informative post, I want to show you top 3 web hosting mistakes that some bloggers are making. Well, don’t conclude that you aren’t involved until you’ve read through to the end. There is so much to be learned from web hosting and domain registration.

The demand for information online has paved way to several crappy marketing hype out there. You’ve got to be extremely wise and patience when dealing with fellow web marketers and service firms.

The Essence Of Web Hosting

Have you asked yourself why you opted for that particular web hosting service? Is it because your friends recommended it, the cost or just because you need an online presence? Well, all these are good reasons to invest in web hosting. Nevertheless, you still want to be treated as a King.

In 2008, when I hosted my first website that reviews top Netflix movies and best Netflix streaming movies, I made several mistakes which almost brought failure.

Do you know that your hosting company can make or destroy your business? So, be careful of who houses your websites. In that vein, here are the mistakes made by bloggers and it prevents them from making extra money, growing their businesses and establishing a network.

1. Failure To Learn The Basics

If you’re not a webmaster or web developer, no one is asking you to code and do all those scripting stuffs. But as a blogger, there is nothing wrong with learning the basics of web hosting.

I’ve a blogger friend who outsources every web development process. Even when you’ve all the money to invest in your business, it’s cute to learn the basics. Failure to do so would bring unexpected challenges in the future.

What happens when your webmaster is out of town, you lost his contact address or something terrible happened? Don’t you think your business will suffer? It’s time to sit down, read web hosting book and know what a reseller package mean. Know what linux hosting entails and decide to grow your knowledge. It’s a common advice but highly recommended.

2. Failure To Use The Reseller package

Do you think you can afford the cost of web hosting when you’ve 10 – 100 websites? Maybe you’re not thinking in that direction, but it’s important at this stage. Several bloggers especially the upcoming ones fall into this mistake over and over again.

It’s ideal to subscribe to a reseller package. It affords you the opportunity to host hundreds of website on one particular server. This way, you won’t be charged extra and only have to pay quarterly or yearly.

Before I started using reseller packages, I wasted a lot of money online. But you don’t have to make the mistakes others made – learn from it and take your business to the next level.

3. Failure To Promote Web Hosting Offers

Who doesn’t like recurring affiliate programs?

It’s the next thing since sliced bread. You can’t be broke if you start referring and recommending the hosting firm you’re using. A blog that’s engaged and receives thousands of responsive visitors is qualified to make money off web hosting packages.

So, why are you not promoting their recurring affiliate programs? Are you scared of losing the trust you’ve built? Don’t be childish; it’s a service you currently use for your business. It’s legit and wise to show your readers what works in terms of the subscription services you use.

Get started with web host affiliate programs. The more people you refer, the more passive income you earn. Do the hard work once and reap consistent rewards in form of paychecks and coupon discounts.

Marketing Takeaway

There you have it, the 3 terrible mistakes made by bloggers which prevents them from profiting with web hosting. Challenge yourself to give the above tips a shot and see how things would go. See you at the top!

Michael Chibuzor is an internet marketing coach. He writes articles on how to build successful home business. At leisure, he shares insights on Movies Netflix Wihome and other tutorials for beginners like how to set up Netflix on wii. These good movies on Netflix instant and best Netflix streaming movies can help you ease off tension and develop yourself.

21 of The Best Business And Personal Productivity Quotes

Thomas Oppong — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:35:05 +0000

Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of a task. Building a successful business or career requires efficient use of your time and resources. Time is a great asset that cannot be bought with money. Its important to keep an eye on how you use your time and what makes you productive. The following are some of the best productivity quotes to help you reach your productivity peak in business or personal life.

“Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.” – Peter Drucker
“It’s not knowing what to do, it’s doing what you know.” – Tony Robbins
“Words may show a man’s wit but actions his meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin
Stressing output is the key to improving productivity, while looking to increase activity can result in just the opposite. -Paul Gauguin
Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort. -Paul J. Meyer
“Never confuse motion with action. “ – Benjamin Franklin
The productivity of a work group seems to depend on how the group members see their own goals in relation to the goals of the organization. -Ken Blanchard
“Absorb what is useful, reject what is useless, add what is specifically your own.“ – – Bruce Lee
The simple act of paying positive attention to people has a great deal to do with productivity. -Tom Peters
When you waste a moment, you have killed it in a sense, squandering an irreplaceable opportunity. But when you use the moment properly, filling it with purpose and productivity, it lives on forever. -Menachem Mendel Schneerson
A worker without genius is better than a genius who won’t work.-Leopold Auer
If we attend continually and promptly to the little that we can do, we shall ere long be surprised to find how little remains that we cannot do. ― Samuel Butler
Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail. There’s only make. ― Corita Kent
Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.― David Allen
Why do anything unless it is going to be great?” ― Peter Block
I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate.– George Burns
You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you. – Brian Tracy
It is in the moment of your decisions that your destiny is shaped.– Anthony Robbins
Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
The only difference between a Good Day And a Bad Day Is your ATTITUDE – Dennis S Brown
The three great essentials to achieve anything worth while are: Hard work, Stick-to-itiveness, and Common sense.– Thomas A. Edison

3 Social Media Turning Points – Does It Taste Like Red Wine Or What?

Guest Author — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 09:46:43 +0000

Does your social media marketing taste like red wine?

I’m sure you’re using Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin? Even if you’re not an active user of these three social networking giants, you’re probably thinking of starting your next promotion with one portal at least.

If you’re active in these networks, how much success have you achieved? Have you ever landed a contract that brought in 2 – 5 figures? If not, then what’s the problem? Social media marketing has taken a new dimension in this new and information age. You need to think in respect to winning rather than getting bugged with the latest developments.

You Can Always Succeed

Want to make social media marketing taste like red wine this year? I mean the sweet ones actually. Who cares about the bitter ones in this sweet age?

With social media, you can always succeed. It doesn’t matter what’s happening in your business right now, with the right application of the tools and resources around you, productivity is sure. Marketing on social networks should be proactive and exceptional top notch.

It’s quite different with blogging. You’ve the chance to rant and talk about your holiday celebration and all the good stuffs that come with it. But social media users are busy; they’ve received thousands of infomercials already. You need to talk to them as if you’re right there in their living room.

Your marketing activities should be well orchestrated, quick and incisive. There is no room for storytelling. Let the audience you’re targeting know that business is a serious game.

Eliminate Every Marketing Hype

The major reason why social media will continue to taste bitter for several marketers is because of marketing hype. In order to squeeze out the juicier taste of red wine in your social media delivery, you need to eliminate every form of marketing hype.

Get rid of it from day one. It doesn’t matter what you’ve in your head, the pressure and enticement from so-called gurus, you can’t win with hype. Hype has failed countless social media marketers and will continue to fail them.

I’ve seen the immense potential of running a social media campaign in my business. Even for those who hate red wine, nothing tastes better like a well-structured social engagement.

Once you get them (prospects) engaged via these sharing networks, the rest would automatically take care of itself. You’ll make sales, attract paying clients and build your email list quickly and easily.

Stay Relaxed And Observe Prospects

I’ve used red wine throughout this post. Do you know the reason for my analogy? Well, if you’ve ever attended a cocktail party with friends, you would understand the great value placed on red wines.

Pour a glass of red wine for your girl and pour a glass for yourself. How do you feel when the smooth “lovely” songs ooze out from nowhere? When marketing with social media, learn to relax and observe prospects like you gaze on your partner’s pretty looks.

It’s the beginning of social engagement and probably will lead to increase in conversion and trust. I’ve use the analogy above on my niche blogs. Most recently, l launched a blog that reviews zagat wine coupons and laithwaites wine discount code and this simple “sentence” helped me achieve tremendous success.

Social Media Takeaway

Did you enjoy this social media post? I admonish you to take action and start implementing the tips above in your business. If you own a blog in any niche, decide to engage your readers. That’s the litmus test between a successful blog and one that doesn’t see the light of the dawn. Take action today and share your success story. Will you?

Michael Chibuzor reveals helpful social media marketing strategies and tips to help grow your online business. Occasionally, he reviews zagat wine promo and laithwaites wine coupon codes on his site and also for zagatwine.com. These zagat wine coupons and laithwaites wine discount code can help you save on wines.