7 Tips for a Highly Effective Elevator Pitch

If you’re a business owner, you should be ready to deliver your company’s elevator pitch at a moment’s notice but can it ever be counter-productive? The problem is that too often, an elevator pitch feels more like a windup into a long monolog with detailed descriptions of every product and service your company provides and why each is amazing. We’ve all been at the other end of this kind of pitch and as a result, we’ve developed personal exit strategies. The most effective one I’ve found is looking off in the distance and identifying someone I need to say hello to and quickly moving on.

Elevator Pitch Tips

The following seven habits will help you avoid elevator pitch overload:

Remember your vision. Why did you start your company and what are you really excited about? If you don’t know your “why” it’s going to be very difficult to motivate anyone else to get excited about your company. And if money is your key driver, your pitch will come across as a sales pitch. Think about the last time you were on the receiving end of this type of pitch. How receptive were you?

Get familiar with your ideal client. Instead of thinking of your elevator pitch as a one size fits all, try and imagine the one person who would be a great fit for what you offer. Who are they?  What do they care about? What is their pain point? When you understand your ideal client and what motivates them, you will gain insight and empathy for them which will make it easier to identify them. So when you find yourself speaking to that ideal client, your pitch will feel like the very thing they’ve been looking for.

Understand your value proposition. What makes your company unique? Are you the Uber of cookie dough? The Martha Stewart of auto parts? Once you understand your value proposition, embrace it and own it.

Get comfortable with rejection. The goal of a great elevator pitch to is identity your ideal client so when your pitch doesn’t connect with the listener, consider it a gift. You’ve just saved yourself weeks or maybe even months, chasing after the wrong client who is too polite to tell you that they don’t want what you have to offer.

Keep it short and keep it real. In our 24/7 social media culture, one minute is too long for an elevator pitch so keep it to 30 seconds and leave out any industry jargon or acronyms. Use real language that tells someone what you do in a way that piques their curiosity so they’ll want to know more. If you get a blank stare, go back to #4.

Think of your pitch as the start of a conversation. When you’ve connected with a potential customer, they will visibly nod and start asking questions. This is a really good thing!

Practice! It’s natural for a new pitch to feel awkward at first so the key is to practice it until it feels natural and meaningful to you. Then breathe and smile. Your elevator pitch will come across much better when you’re relaxed.

I’ve spent a decade crafting my elevator pitch which is why it now seems like second nature to answer the question, what do you do? with: “I align vision with relevant messaging that cuts through the noise.” If I don’t have you at hello, I smile and ask what you do. After all, someone I know could be looking for the very thing your company offers.

Source: http://bit.ly/2cW1Ah2

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7 Ways You Can Power Your Mobile Marketing Strategy

Companies are investing in mobile and for good reason. The mobile marketing world has expanded rapidly, and it’s not slowing down. In recent years, mobile device usage has taken over desktop—and it’s becoming a preferred marketing platform for many.

Your brand’s marketing strategy needs to be up to date, and it deserves a good amount of planning to stay afloat. Below, we’ve rounded up the biggest, hottest trends sweeping the mobile marketing world. Take a look at them, and compare your current strategy with the industry’s greatest advancements:

Trend One: Smartphone Reliant Shopping

Sure, you might’ve heard of consumers using smartphones to browse the Internet. You might’ve even accommodated for “mobile-only” customers. Until you dedicate a significant portion of your marketing strategy to mobile web, however, your business will be behind. In 2015, 90 percent of smartphone-enabled shoppers compared prices, conducted purchased and left feedback via their devices. Beyond 2016, the smartphone will be a sole buying utility.

Trend Two: Mobile Payments

Mobile payments were slow to start, but they’ve definitely dominated modern shopping. In 2016, mobile pay will experience great adoption. In fact, the United States can expect a volume of $142 billion in mobile payments by 2019. Apple, Google and other providers are streamlining the smartphone’s security to enable in-depth payment options, and brands are generating secure apps to offer customer-centric deals.

Trend Three: SMS Polls

Where feedback is considered, text-based polling promises to be the business world’s newest “social feedback” option. This year has already birthed a plethora of poll-centric response options, and businesses are directly increasing product sales by way of integrative SMS polling. After 2016, leading industry gurus will adopt real-time, long-term polling campaigns to target market shifts before they happen.

Trend Four: Mobile Coupons

Digital offers are booming. Mobile coupons experienced great success in 2015, and they’re expected to achieve new heights in 2016. SMS-delivered coupons, currently, are 10 times as effective as their paper counterparts. Printed coupons are out, and texted coupons are in. Buyers beyond 2016 will only opt for digital turn-ins, reworking the way providers conduct business. 50 percent of consumers make direct purchases after obtaining a text-bound coupon, and, even more, are open to the idea of ongoing digital coupon offers.

Trend Five: In-App Advertisements

Experts agree that mobile apps will be the new frontier of mobile advertisement. In 2015, 79 percent of smartphone users engaged mobile apps daily. If you want to be a top-dog industry professional, you need to secure purchases and retain visitors via a mobile app.

Trend Six: Deep Linking for Mobile Web

SEO has finally hit its stride with smartphones. Google’s App Indexing has made online visibility important, and mobile user experiences have become reliant on contextual search. Emergent markets are reliant on Google App Indexing, and they’re crafting entire strategies around mobile web SEO. One of the best strategies is to outreach to writers in your niche to see if they would allow you to contribute your thought leadership essay on their blog. This strategy will boost ranking and referral traffic.

Both mobile websites and mobile apps are benefiting, as cross-channel accessibility between mobile websites and mobile apps is huge. To achieve maximum visibility in the modern age, companies must double down on indexing options.

Trend Seven: Mobile Video Marketing

A YouTube video, when distributed effectively, is an indispensable marketing resource. Facebook constantly hosts viral videos, engaging brand campaigns and interactive media. After 2016, this paradigm will take place primarily on mobile. Mobile video advertisement revenue is expected to reach 13 billion before the start of 2020.

As your strategy grows, it should be redirected to match the industry’s ever-expanding options. Smartphone technology grows quickly, and it won’t stop for business professionals to catch up. Double check your strategy, prepare for growth and ready your brand for the world’s newest, greatest innovations.

  Source : http://bit.ly/1R3MLGq

5 Ways Tech Startups Can Save Money

For a tech startup, one of the biggest challenges you face is, well, starting up. Getting out of the gates and developing your first product or selling your first service takes money – something most young entrepreneurs don’t have a lot of floating around. The good news is that you don’t need unlimited resources. With a little strategic ingenuity and common sense, you can reduce your upfront costs, save money, and better position your startup for long-term success. Here are a handful of methods:

1. Run a Virtual Office

If you’re really serious about saving money, you’ll learn to do without a traditional office with a hefty rent. There’s no reason a fresh startup needs a physical location. Depending on where you’re located, even a small office could run you anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars each month. By running a virtual office – or setting up workspaces in your own home – you can get just as much work done without the added expenses. Don’t forget, office space also calls for insurance, taxes, utilities, and other overhead expenses.

From a marketing and advertising perspective, you probably don’t need physical space. A domain name, website, and really good hosting should do the trick. If you run a virtual office for a few months and discover that you absolutely have to have a physical office, then you can start your search. “Should you need to expand your business to accommodate for staff and expansion, there will always be locations for rent and purchase,” says Zac Johnson on Credibly.com.

2. Hire Freelancers and Independent Contractors

Wouldn’t it be great to have a company full of motivated employees getting paid full salaries and benefits? Certainly! However, that’s not the best strategy for a startup – even if it fits into your budget. In today’s economy, there are ample opportunities to hire freelancers and independent contractors. And while these job titles may have come with negative connotations in decades past, many of today’s most talented professionals label themselves as freelancers or independent contractors.

The great thing about contractors is that you pay them for their output. If you don’t need them for a month, you don’t have to pay them for that month. They scale as you scale, and you’re not responsible for benefits or taxes. It’s extremely advantageous and allows you to develop business relationships outside of your business.

3. Rethink Automated Subscriptions

How many subscription services do you have? We’re talking about industry periodicals, software programs, online programs, website memberships, etc. The problem with these services is that they automatically rebill each month and you don’t even think twice about paying them, when the truth is many aren’t necessary.

Just ask serial entrepreneur Matt Mickiewicz about his experiences with recurring subscription services. “In the past we’ve uncovered a mobile phone account that no one had used for six months, a website optimization service that was overbilling us, and a CRM that we had switched away from months prior,” he said.

Set a goal – let’s say $100 – and see if you can eliminate unnecessary subscriptions adding up to this amount. While $100 a month may not seem like a lot, it adds up to more than $1,000 over the course of a year. What could your business do with an extra $1,000 laying around?

4. Buy Used

As a startup, you should never think about buying anything brand new. You don’t need expensive furniture, top of the line equipment, and shiny accessories. Instead, buy quality used items that work well and hold their value.

Think of it like a car. While there is a faction of people that buy new vehicles, the large majority prefer used cars. That’s because a new vehicle loses roughly 11 percent of its value as soon as it’s driven off the lot. Why pay that premium when you can find a gently used version at a much lower price point? The same is true for office equipment, machinery, furniture, etc. Buy used and stash away the savings.

5. Trade Services with Other Companies

Many successful startups make a habit out of bartering with other startups. For example, a restaurant startup may offer free food to a new accounting firm down the street that’s willing to meet with them for one hour each week. It’s a win-win for both businesses. Are there startups, or even established businesses in your area that would be willing to barter? It’s worth a try.

Operate Within Your Means

You’ll often hear people say it’s smart to “live within your means.” Well, it’s also smart for a business to operate within its means. This looks like spending smartly and saving money whenever possible. With these five tips, it’s easy to see that saving money isn’t as challenging as it may initially seem.

Source : http://bit.ly/1NPTjM7

10 Time Management Hacks Every Entrepreneur Needs To Know

Entrepreneurs lead a busy and overwhelming life, whether you’re just starting out or already leading a company – you know how much your time is worth to you. But do you know where your time goes? Turns out, most people don’t, we all end up staring at our phones way too often and wondering just how we spent all day working without really achieving much. With life getting out of hand daily, everyone wants more control over their time. This is where time management comes in, a topic much raved about but still rarely practiced. Here are ten tips to get you started:

1. Track your time

The more you know about where your time goes, the more you’ll be able to hold yourself accountable. If you’re into time sheets, block out your day in a notebook and start writing down what you spend time on. If however, you’d rather save time tracking time, try one of the time tracking tools available out there and finally get a sense of your time. Time management expert, Laura Vanderkam suggest tracking all of your time for a week (precisely, 168 hours) to get a better sense of your habits. It’s a great start and the results are bound to dazzle you.

2. Stop guesstimating

Now that you’re tracking time, you have a lot more insight into what tasks take the most of your time and how long certain tasks take. Set goals for every week and try to estimate how long will these take to accomplish. Your goal for next week will be bringing estimates as close as possible to reality. If you’ve ever worked in a management position, you know how hard it is for some people to estimate the time it’ll take for certain tasks. Now, try it for yourself and don’t worry if you’re way off – you’ll get better, that’s what time management is about anyway.

3. Plan ahead

Apparently, every minute you spend on planning saves you at least ten minutes in execution. If this sounds too good to be true – try it for yourself. Start your week on a Sunday, grab a pen and paper and think thoroughly about everything you want to achieve this week, think about bigger goals but also try to line up the steps needed. Make sure you’re ready to start work on Monday, rather than spending your morning trying to figure out where to start from.

4. Make a smarter to-do list

Don’t just list our everything that needs to be done and expect to cross things off the list as they come. Organize your list by priority, make your goals realistic, and set a daily focus for each day of the week. This will help you clear your head and make your to-do list a bit more bearable, it also will help focus and stop wasting your time on reorganizing the list.

5. Batch related tasks together

Since focus is key to productivity, be smart about the things you choose to dedicate your time to and what time of day you spend on these. If you try managing your company internal stuff while emailing investors and discussing new feature requests, you’re bound to lose focus on at least one if not all of those things. So try to divide your weekly tasks in categories – internal, fundraising, development etc. Your brain can’t do context switching full time, try to keep focus on similar tasks to stay on track and save time.

6. Schedule time for interruptions

You have a team of employees depending on you, you have a hundred unread notifications on your phone, you have meetings that require follow-ups, and the cleaners also need you to let them into the parking lot once they arrive. You’re an entrepreneur, you get interrupted a lot. This is why you should never schedule your day 100%, make plans for being interrupted. This might sound counterintuitive make sure you to optimize your schedule so the interruptions don’t disrupt your entire workflow.

7. Make use of prep time

Whether it’s a meeting or a phone call – anything that might go on forever and eat out your time while you helplessly try to get back to work – plan it out. Make an agenda for every meeting or phone call you have scheduled, make sure you lay out the goals you want to achieve with this, start with an introduction to everyone involved, be a leader of every conversation you’re in, and once everybody’s gotten what they wanted from it. Start with your exit strategy and don’t let small talk take over.

8. Take breaks

Contrary to popular belief and modern business culture, breaks are not a waste of time. Breaks help restore focus and give you a fresh start for any task you have on hand. Be generous to yourself and take breaks often, don’t let the feeling of burnout get to you. Whether it’s a walk to the nearby park or a quick round of Candy Crush, you’ll feel refreshed and as good as new when back to work. Alternatively, try the Pomodoro method and see how it fits into your workflow.

9. Make use of incubation

Incubation, in terms of psychology, is one of the four stages of creativity and it starts when you’re not actively thinking about whatever problems need solving or ideas you’re trying to develop. Don’t think about work all the time. I know it might seem hard for someone that is supposed to always be working toward their goals but you’re actually more likely to get new ideas and think of solutions to problems you’re facing when you’re not actively thinking about the solutions. Many entrepreneurs boast about not taking weekends off or bringing their work home. The truth is you’re far more productive when not constantly keeping busy.

10. Calm down

Have you ever noticed how time goes by so slowly when you just calm down, clear your head and stay in the moment? Yoga, meditation, mindfulness are all methods of taking back some control over present, rather than planning for the future or thinking about the past. However, you don’t have to turn into a zen guru to feel the moment. It’s enough to try and not think about anything for a few minutes, enjoy a view, play with a pet, enjoy artwork or simply gaze at the sky. Be present and don’t let your time be taken over by the numerous distractions of the modern world and you’ll be happier and more productive in no time.

Source : http://bit.ly/1Q5eI3W

13 Social Media Resolutions to Try in 2016

  





1) Refresh your friends and followings. Give your newsfeeds a fresh start by letting go of your unnecessary or unhealthy online connections, and only follow the people you really care to get updates from.

2) Limit your Snapchat stories to 1 minute or less. Just because they removed the numbers in the timer, doesn't mean we won't realize your story is ridiculously long. Unless you're DJ Khaled.

3) Slow down with your posts during Fashion Week. Front row snapshots, show invitations, celebrity spottings—keeping up with your social media during Fashion Week is a job in itself. Post less, we all have enough blurry runway pics to scroll through on our Instagram feed.

4) Show some love to your LinkedIn. LinkedIn—the poor neglected child of your social media sites. Update your profile, accept those invitations that have been sitting in your inbox for months and add your latest work to your page—take advantage of the resource, you never know what kind of career connections you can make.

5) Try taking advantage of the "see less" Facebook feature if you're going through a breakup. Not ready to see your ex on social media? Hide their activity from your feed if it'll help heal those wounds. (Or better yet, just delete them).

6) If you're still in a relationship, keep it on the DL. We know you treasure the special moments you have with your significant other, but don't rub it in everyone's faces. Which, similarly, leads us to #7...

7) Your child is cute. We get it.

8) Take a break from the Facetune and other face-editing apps. Often when you use them, you get so sucked in that you forget what looks natural. Unless you've mastered a way to flawlessly cover your blemishes and add a light tan without it looking completely obvious—as it usually does—you're better off with #nofilter.

9) Think before you comment and argue. As we enter upon an election year, opinions will fire up more often and conversations will be all the more volatile. This doesn't mean you should stop sharing your beliefs, but just be wary of (and prepared for) what reactions the articles or statements you post will incite. Not everything has to be a political rant or a comment showdown—as entertaining as it is for your followers.

10) Chill with the online tests. Do you really need to know who secretly wants to marry you, or which characters from the cast of "Friends" you and your buddies are? (You're Rachel anyways, duh.) These are funny once or twice, but it's not something your followers want to see every day. In fact, each time you sign up for one of these tests, you give that website access to your friends list and personal info. That might not be something you want going around.

11) Put the "act" in activism. Changing your profile picture or cover photo is a great way to spread awareness about a cause. But this year, try challenging yourself to offer more than post. Maybe make a small donation to an associated charity or sign a related petition. That'll give a lot more meaning to the causes on your page.

12) Live in the moment. The new year has a lot in store for you—you won't want to miss out by being too glued to your screen.

13) If you're still using a selfie stick: it will only go downhill from here.

Source : http://bit.ly/1TznvKv

3 Types of Apps That Will Dominate Consumer Attention in 2016

According to data shared by Flurry Analytics, the average US mobile users spend 86% of the Smartphone time on apps. Apps continue to dominate the mobile web.

In fact, a year earlier in May 2014, it was noted that 60% of the total media time was consumed by mobiles and among them 51% was eaten by app surfing, says comScore.

The app ecosystem is only growing year-on-year as more industries and business categories are being brought not only online, but onto the mobile device.

Let's look at the trends that are slated to dominate in 2016--the year of apps, as this industry matures.

Mobile Commerce

Mobile commerce transactions are expected to top $115 billion by the end of this year and climb to $142 billion in 2016, according to a report from Forrester Research. In fact, mobile commerce now accounts for nearly one-third of all U.S. e-commerce sales, according to an analysis of data from Internet Retailer's newly published 2016 Mobile 500.

The same numbers for mobile commerce are growing at a much rapid pace in Asia as compared to the US.

Mobile commerce is slated to dominate online shopping trends in 2016 as more and more existing online retailers create specific strategies for capturing the attention of the mobile audience and those that aren't online yet, are going mobile first.

Video Streaming

According to comScore, 100 million internet users watch online video each day. The average user spends over 16 minutes watching online video ads every month and 64% of website visitors are more likely to buy a product if they've seen a video about it first.

According to Cisco, by 2017, video will have accounted for 69% of all consumer Internet traffic. Video-on-demand traffic alone will have almost trebled. For smaller businesses or startups, video is far more cost effective in today's times when the production costs have reduced considerably.

"Here's a real life example, I just finished creating a series of educational videos (45 videos in total) using only my iPhone 6+, tripod, a $300 lighting and backdrop kit and a video editor from Upwork. In total, costing me ~$1500 to produce quality videos such as my guide on publishing on Linkedin," Sujan Patel, co-founder of Content Marketer tells me.

YouTube alone receives more than 1 billion unique visitors every month and this number is slated to grow as apps such as Periscope and Meerkat gain popularity and brands start to accept video (live streaming and recorded) as one of their content marketing channels.

Ever since we've adopted video as a content marketing channel at Arkenea, we've seen a considerable spike in traffic and engagement.

Connected Apps

According to these statistics, the global Internet of Things (IoT) market is slated to grow at CAGR of 31.72 % by 2019. IoT product and service suppliers are expected to generate incremental revenue exceeding $300 billion in 2020. By the time we step foot in 2020, more than 5 billion people and 50 billion things will be connected to each other.

The fitness and health industry is spreading the much-needed awareness in a category where the technology exists, but not as much of consumer adoption due to lack of awareness.

But that's just one category - wearables. The entire spectrum of connected apps is touted to grow in 2016 as vehicle manufacturers start to integrate connected devices within the cars.

The other area is a better connected home as Apple's HomeKit evolves and more manufacturers adopt to bring intelligent products to market.

Are you leveraging any of these trends? If so, would love to hear your plans for the coming year in comments below.

Site : http://bit.ly/1UAtrUn

8 Skills Your Child Needs to Be the Next Great Entrepreneur

Is your child learning the crucial skills he or she needs to become the next great entrepreneur?

You want the best for your kids.

Imagine it. Your kid turning an idea into a multi-million dollar business and loving every minute of it.

Do you remember young Evan, whose YouTube Channel, EvanTube, has amassed more than a million subscribers, a billion views, and more than $1.3 million in annual revenue?

 Evan is just 9-years-old. And he's just one example.

So many of the world's most famous entrepreneurs became millionaires before they were 20.

Could your child be a budding entrepreneur?

While it may seem like some people seem born to be entrepreneurs, as parents it's important to teach your kids some important lessons early so they can learn to become the next Steve Jobs or Elizabeth Holmes.

Even if your child doesn't become a rich and successful entrepreneur or change the world, they will benefit from these valuable skills, whatever path their life takes.

So what are these eight skills? 

according to an infographic produced by Pumpic, creator of a parental tracking application for smartphones, here are those vital traits, and how to inspire your children to become a great leader:

• Resilience: Allow kids to express emotions and don't minimize their feelings.
• Innovation and creativity: Let them play - it's when kids play that they engage all of their creative energies.
• Industriousness: Build independence by giving kids chores to do and responsibility for getting things done. Lead by example and reduce your own time-wasting habits.
• Curiosity: Encourage your kids to start new hobbies and pursue their interests - no matter how esoteric. Try having tech-free outings with your kids to museums and activity centers.
• Self-confidence: Encourage their opinions and give them opportunities to make decisions. Even if it isn't what you'd do, let them make choices and learn from experience.
• Empathy: Respect your children's individuality and their opinions, encouraging them to be open with their emotions.
• Optimism: Share positive stories and inspirational talks with your kids to cultivate gratitude and encourage positive thinking.
• Giving back: Encourage kids to help out around the neighborhood.

After learning these entrepreneurial skills, maybe your child could find success in a "dying" industry; become a pop icon and business mogul; or simply reinvent a product, make it better, and make millions.

Source : http://bit.ly/1X1jLr2