Why Serial Entrepreneurs Can’t Stop
Why Serial Entrepreneurs Can’t Stop
Steven Berglas, Ph.D., 08.03.10, 06:00 PM EDT
They aren’t greedy. They just want to change the world.
Popularity: 17% [?]
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Strengthen Your Talent Pipeline Now
Strengthen Your Talent Pipeline Now
Popularity: 20% [?]
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10 Tech-Enabled Business Trends To Watch
Clouds, Big Data And Smart Assets: 10 Tech-Enabled Business Trends To Watch
acques Bughin, Michael Chui and James Manyika, 08.05.10, 04:00 PM EDT
Advancing technologies and their swift adoption are upending traditional business models. Senior executives need to think strategically about how to prepare for the challenging new environment.
Two and a half years ago we described eight technology-enabled business trends that were profoundly reshaping strategy across a wide swath of industries. We showed how the combined effects of emerging Internet technologies, increased computing power and fast, pervasive digital communications were spawning new ways to manage talent and assets as well as new thinking about organizational structures.
Since then, the technology landscape has continued to evolve rapidly. Facebook, in just over two short years, has quintupled in size to a network that touches more than 500 million users. More than 4 billion people around the world now use cell phones, and for 450 million of those people the Web is a fully mobile experience. The ways information technologies are deployed are changing too, as new developments such as virtualization and cloud computing reallocate technology costs and usage patterns while creating new ways for individuals to consume goods and services and for entrepreneurs and enterprises to dream up viable business models. The dizzying pace of change has affected our original eight trends, which have continued to spread (though often at a more rapid pace than we anticipated), morph in unexpected ways, and grow in number to an even 10.
The rapidly shifting technology environment raises serious questions for executives about how to help their companies capitalize on the transformation under way. Exploiting these trends typically doesn’t fall to any one executive–and as change accelerates, the odds of missing a beat rise significantly. For senior executives, therefore, merely understanding the 10 trends outlined here isn’t enough. They also need to think strategically about how to adapt management and organizational structures to meet these new demands.
For the first six trends, which can be applied across an enterprise, it will be important to assign the responsibility for identifying the specific implications of each issue to functional groups and business units. The impact of these six trends–distributed cocreation, networks as organizations, deeper collaboration, the Internet of Things, experimentation with big data, and wiring for a sustainable world–often will vary considerably in different parts of the organization and should be managed accordingly. But local accountability won’t be sufficient. Because some of the most powerful applications of these trends will cut across traditional organizational boundaries, senior leaders should catalyze regular collisions among teams in different corners of the company that are wrestling with similar issues.
Three of the trends–anything-as-a-service, multisided business models, and innovation from the bottom of the pyramid–augur far-reaching changes in the business environment that could require radical shifts in strategy. CEOs and their immediate senior teams need to grapple with these issues; otherwise it will be too difficult to generate the interdisciplinary, enterprise-wide insights needed to exploit these trends fully. Once opportunities start emerging, senior executives also need to turn their organizations into laboratories capable of quickly testing and learning on a small scale and then expand successes quickly. And finally the tenth trend, using technology to improve communities and generate societal benefits by linking citizens, requires action by not just senior business executives but also leaders in government, nongovernmental organizations and citizens.
Across the board, the stakes are high. Consider the results of a recent McKinsey Quarterly survey of global executives on the impact of participatory Web 2.0 technologies (such as social networks, wikis, and microblogs) on management and performance. The survey found that deploying these technologies to create networked organizations that foster innovative collaboration among employees, customers and business partners is highly correlated with market share gains. That’s just one example of how these trends transcend technology and provide a map of the terrain for creating value and competing effectively in these challenging and uncertain times.
Popularity: 26% [?]
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The Nine Worst Job Interview Body Language Gaffes
The Nine Worst Job Interview Body Language Gaffes
They can cost you your chance at getting hired.
You’ve managed to create a résumé with no typos anywhere, sent it out to all the best places, gotten a call to go on an actual job interview and spent money you don’t have on a new suit. Now you’ve got to face that make-it-or-break-it personal appearance with your potential new employer. Don’t slouch or twirl your hair once you’re there. If you do, you may be done for.
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Buyers Cloud on You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y82j_PcuSlE
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Follow 5 Steps to a Powerful Product Launch
Follow 5 Steps to a Powerful Product Launch – By Ali Brown
Often when I hear about a six-figure online product or program launch, there’s the impression that the creator spent months holed up in a basement preparing for the big day, skipping social events and subsisting on takeout meals. That’s not my kind of product launch. In the past seven years, I’ve created a simple model that can be easily duplicated and doesn’t require months of painstaking preparation.
In fact, my best-selling online product launch last year brought in more than $600,000 in sales in the first week alone. My secret? Building up demand by communicating with my customers using low-cost to no-cost tools, such as a website, e-mail newsletter, social media, blog and group call or teleseminar. Follow these five steps to ensure a successful online product or program launch:
- Design your website well. Your website is the foundation for all of your marketing. All marketing material should drive customers back to your website, where they can find information about your product, testimonials from people who have used your other products and a link to purchase your product. You should work with a designer who understands both sales and graphic design because you want your website to look professional but also to be simple and easily navigable. Too much content can cause your website to take a long time to load–time enough for your impatient customers to decide to do something else.
- E-mail your customers. Once your website is complete, it’s time to let customers know about your new product. Remember, people today are highly attuned to spam and unwanted solicitations, so your e-mails should always lead with useful content. The sale or offer should be secondary. For example, if you’re a professional organizer, use your e-mail as an opportunity to give your customers a few tips about spring cleaning–then let them know that your new product expands upon this useful topic. When writing your e-mail copy, use colloquial language and talk to your customers with respect, avoiding excessive exclamation points or “sales speak.” Last, be sure to give them a deadline. When I launch a product, I usually offer it at a generously discounted price for two weeks, emphasizing the date that the sale ends in all of my marketing communications. Be sure to remind your customers two to three times before your sale ends. Often, you will get the most sales the day before or the day of the deadline.
- Harness the power of social media. Not only are social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter free, they are also among the best tools for selling without being salesy. Your primary goal on sites like Facebook or Twitter is to provide useful tips and to start discussions about common problems or issues that your product can solve–usually without literally saying so. You can and should link to your website in your tweets or Facebook status updates, but be careful about how often you sell directly. A good rule of thumb is 25 percent sales and 75 percent conversation or useful content. Once you generate excitement about your topic, your customers will welcome your offer or sale.
- Blog about it. Your blog should be a mix of content-rich articles, links to pertinent news about your industry, and information about your products and services. You can even intersperse your blog posts with entertaining bits about your personal life. For example, I love to throw in the occasional blog post about my mom’s cat, Bert. Remember, customers will buy from people they know, like and trust.
- Host a group call. Group calls, or “teleseminars,” are a great way to introduce a new product or program while providing valuable content to busy customers. Many of my customers are moms, so they love teleseminars because they can listen to a call while driving their kids to school or making dinner. Be sure to create an exciting topic for your teleseminar. Tell your customers why they need to know more about this topic, then give them the URL for your website and let them know when your sale will end.
Remember, multiple “touches” are key. Most customers will not take action to buy after one message but only after several–some experts say seven to nine.
Ali Brown lives in Los Angeles and teaches women around the world how to start and grow successful businesses of their own. Visit AliBrown.com for more articles and resources to help you start or grow your business.
Popularity: 60% [?]
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How to Make Your Customers Love You
How to Make Your Customers Love You – By Kristi Hedges
Every entrepreneur knows the importance of company reputation. But exactly how much do your customers really like you?
This month I attended a user conference and was lucky enough to hear Jeanne Bliss speak. Bliss is an expert in building customer loyalty. She started her career at Land’s End, a company known for customer service. She’s also held senior customer-service positions at blue-chip companies such as Microsoft, Allstate and Coldwell Banker. Bliss has written two books on creating a true customer orientation: Chief Customer Officer and, most recently, I Love You More Than My Dog.
Bliss’s insights were thought-provoking and right on target for entrepreneurs trying to determine how to differentiate and hold on to customers amid changing market conditions. She also provides good ideas for entrepreneurs’ perennial issues regarding professional services companies: how to maintain service levels as you grow and lose primary contact with customers.
Bliss believes that the best marketing strategy a company can pursue is to become a beloved company–one that has extreme customer loyalty in good times and bad. She spent two years researching companies for her book, which is packed with examples of how everyone from Zappos.com to TD Bank maintains high customer loyalty.
Bliss spoke with me recently to provide specific expertise to WomenEntrepreneur.com readers. Here’s a summary of her key points:
Beloved companies have prosperity–both financially and of the human spirit.
In Bliss’ research, companies with excellent customer service were immune to recent market swings. They stayed true to their core values, and customers kept faith with their brand. They also create a magnetic energy where customers find a way to come back even when economic times are tough. Focusing on customer loyalty pays off big.
Small businesses are about memory creation.
Be purposeful about creating “wow” moments for customers that leave an indelible imprint in their minds. You have an opportunity to shape impressions. Identify your top three to five customers and develop processes to delight them. For example, if you are a dry cleaner, how do you want to greet people when they come in?
Perfect the art of saying “I’m sorry.”
Bliss calls the way that companies apologize their “humanity litmus test.” Every company makes mistakes. Apologizing is about repairing the emotional connection. Good apologies are proactive, humble, accountable, honest and include an olive branch to repair the situation. (She discussed a company that sent apple pies labeled “Humble Pie,” for instance.) When beloved companies make a mistake, you know they will make it right.
Rid your company of any process that puts customers on the defensive.
If your customers have to gear up for a fight to get help, question an invoice or return an item, you’re chipping away at customer loyalty. Some of this starts with the people who are interfacing with customers. How do they feel about the customer? Bliss suggests employees should be hired, first and foremost, based on shared values. Ask yourself, “Is this someone I want in the story of my business?”
As the leader, be a role model as a customer advocate.
As the CEO, you set the tone for everyone else. If you demonstrate a high level of appreciation and trust in your customers, your staff will follow. Don’t bad-mouth customers or avoid them. Be accessible and respectful both in front of customers and behind their backs. Get together with customers regularly and learn what they want in their own words. Do a company audit to make sure you are consistently creating customer loyalty top to bottom. And be personally consistent in what you say and do around the customer experience.
If you’re interested in building a customer-focused company, check out I Love You More Than My Dog. The book is filled with examples and creative ideas any entrepreneur can try–many of which aren’t expensive or complex. Bliss also talks about how savvy companies are using social media to strengthen customer relationships, a game changer on many counts.
Beloved companies are all around us. Who doesn’t like to shop at Zappos.com or Trader Joe’s, fly SouthWest, rent movies from Netflix, or stop by the Container Store? We can all identify with how good it feels to be a customer of a beloved company.
Popularity: 60% [?]
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Bill Gates’ very full life after Microsoft
Bill Gates’ very full life after Microsoft
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Global Customers, Buyers, Suppliers , Partners, Prospects and Service Providers Network and their EcoHub
Global Customers, Buyers, Suppliers , Partners, Prospects and Service Providers Network and their EcoHub
http://www.buyerscloud.com
EcoHub
Popularity: 59% [?]
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ME and MY BOSS
ME and MY BOSS
Popularity: 54% [?]
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