10 things that make you an Adarsh Indian entrepreneur!

Wherever you go, you’ll find at least one person who claims to be an entrepreneur and who has a belief to change the world. Thanks to the ‘Startup India’ program of Narendra Modi, that number is increasing immensely. Here are 10 things that make an Adarsh Indian entrepreneur.

1. Million Dollar Idea

Whenever you attend any startup event or meetup, you’ll find at least ten people who have the secret million dollar idea, which they cannot disclose. (And which BTW already exists in the market.)

2. Funding is a must

Before working on a business model of the idea, they plan about the funding they’ll be needing. “Pillowkart raised 1 million dollars, Tomezo is about to raise second round of investments”, all they talk about is funding.

3. In(waste) time in events

Admit it, there are some people, who you will find in every damn event happening in your city. Forget your city, they can travel to anywhere in the world, just to attend events on entrepreneurship.

Attending events is not a bad thing. But you’ve got to be selective about events. As most of the events are the waste of time.

4. Read a lot of books

Ok. Reading is a good thing. But more than reading, Adarsh Indian entrepreneur likes to brag about it on social media. They have all books on entrepreneurship in their cupboards (most of which are never touched after getting featured on Facebook).

Reading books is a good thing. But you’ve got to be selective in choosing the books as well. There are plenty of books on entrepreneurship which contradict views of each others. Which in the end will confuse you more than giving you knowledge. Be choosy when it comes to reading.

5. Steve Jobs, the god!

Enough said. If entrepreneurship is the religion, Steve Jobs is the god.

6. Startup sirf 3 cheezo se chalta hai. Idea, idea, idea.

If you believe the above-written sentence, you’re an Adarsh Indian entrepreneur.

You’ve heard about Google and Facebook, but have you heard about Archie or SixDegrees.com? Well, Archie was world’s first search engine and SixDegrees.com was world’s first social networking website. It’s not always about the idea. It’s mostly about the execution.

Facebook has adopted (stolen) almost all major features from competitors and combined it. For example, hashtags & follow from Twitter, check-in and place reviews from Foursquare, photo tagging from Orkut and so on. But still, Facebook is the king of social network.

7. I’m my own boss.

If you chose entrepreneurship just to become your own boss, you’re no different than the girl who works at “I don’t need to work. I’m mah dad’s princess.” And of course, you are an Adarsh Indian entrepreneur.

8. You know everything.

You’re no less than Annu aunty. You know everything about other’s startups. Fund-raising, sales, pitching to VCs, b-plans, innovation, etc., you know everything. You are the Google of startups. You can join and contribute to every single debate on entrepreneurship. The only thing you don’t know about is your own startup.

9. Failure is the key to success.

If you believe this, you’re an Adarsh Indian entrepreneur. Failure is never the key to success. What you learn from failure is the key to success. Some entrepreneurs brag about their failures like a boss. And some aims to fail, just to sound cool.

Failure is not something you should be proud of unless you learnt something from it. Failure is not cool. Unless you’re an Adarsh Indian entrepreneur, failure will only break you.

10. Getting featured on YourStory

Forget the rest. This is the main aim of an Adarsh Indian entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs getting featured on YourStory is similar to actors getting featured on Filmfare.

Real entrepreneurs don’t waste their time attending events and talking about others. They mind their own business. Literally. Do you agree with me? Add your views in comments.

Source:  http://bit.ly/1Wo5HFV

4 Content-Marketing Methods to Stay Above Your Competition

Promoting irrelevant content to your customer base is as useless as bringing a knife to a gunfight. The question is no longer whether targeted content is a competition worth entering, but how to bring home the gold.

With 86 percent of buyers “frequently” using mobile phones to access business-related content, it’s no wonder marketers and publishers are leaving their pay-per-click and display tactics in the closet and opting for the gold medal of all advertising methods: content marketing.

Here are some of the methods being used by winning companies:

1. Leveraging influencers

Influencer marketing is the force of nature shaking the online marketing world. There are two things to know when utilizing influencer-based marketing: it's expensive and it works. With that said, choosing the right influencer takes much more than a bit of YouTube browsing. Successful influencer marketing doesn’t end once a video goes live. It is important to follow up with comments and viewer queries across your channels, as well as the influencer’s.

2. Making it move

Digital storytelling should be as engaging and fluid as your content. Having a compelling user experience is exactly what your brand needs to draw your customer in and retain them. Content should be moving with your customer and enhancing their online customer journey. 

Interactive content is also a highly useful way for testing audiences’ online preferences, allowing for brands to elevate the content they curate. 

Recommended app: Apester allows brands to engage using personalized experiences such as quizzes and interactive content.

3. Creating for your customer

A surprising 61 percent of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that delivers personal content that is specific to their wants and needs, according to Custom Content Council. Being that content has such an impact on conversion and retention, having an awareness of trending topics and industry keywords is a great way of understanding what your customer is searching for online.

It’s crucial to remember that content should be targeted to your customer’s needs, not your own. While self promotion and PR are huge forces in marketing, giving information to your clients with no strings attached is the best way to organically reach your customer base and keep them for good. By knowing your customers' personas and breaking down their pain points, you can adapt your content to your target customer and create deeper connections.

At the same time, if you are truly creating content for your customer, it should never be a one-way street. Instead, your content should be a catalyst for a dialogue. To make your content genuinely useful, encourage your users to add their own insights. This not only enriches the content itself, but it also empowers them to become loyal users.

Recommended app: Popular sites such as EW.com use Spot.IM’s social sidebar to make such conversations easy and simple.

4. Letting the journey drive content

The competition for outstanding content begins with a keen understanding of the customer journey, so that your brand can improve it. By creating a road map for this epic, you can position your content to tell a consistent story -- one that individually addresses each action and motivation of your customer base. Much of the content story can be boiled down to smart planning and a well-devised content calendar.

Recommended app: This one I haven't tried yet, but searching through many blogs I've found DivvyHQ to be highly recommended. With it, you are able to plan and manage your calendar on one dashboard, allowing you to be ready for your customers' journeys. Remember that the customer journey isn't necessarily linear, but is constantly in flux.

Source : http://entm.ag/1Swsy0T

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