5 Obvious Truths About Successful Entrepreneurs

Every entrepreneur hopes to be successful. Some entertain the remote possibility of becoming very rich. But most entrepreneurs do not achieve the kind of material wealth that Bill Gates enjoys. You may wonder -- what are the secrets to their success?

I have been fortunate to start several software companies myself and now lead the team at Aha! -- I always want to keep learning. So, I read as much as I can about innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as the stories of successful entrepreneurs. 

Of course, their upbringing, influences, and personalities are all very different, as well as the companies they lead. But I have noticed a few important qualities that any entrepreneur should emulate if they want to be successful.

Here are five obvious approaches that you should definitely follow:

Work with the best

Having a great idea for a business is not enough. You need the complementary talents of others to help you reach your goals. As Marc Andreesen once said, "Everyone wants a Sheryl, the high-powered business person with deep capabilities in sales, marketing and operations," referring to Sheryl Sandberg, who Mark Zuckerberg hired as the Facebook Chief Operating Officer. 

Takeaway: Surround yourself with great people who will round out your team and challenge you to bring your best. 

Tackle tough problems

Elon Musk could have easily developed a line of gasoline-powered cars and been successful. But he believed that electric-powered cars mattered for the health of our environment, and sought to make them affordable with his latest model. He is also tackling a second problem -- how to keep those cars powered -- and is rolling out a network of charging stations across the world. 

Takeaway: If you are looking for an opportunity, consider taking on a difficult problem that most others are afraid to tackle.

Pursue your passions

Many successful entrepreneurs first focused their energy on what made them happiest and it paid off. Self-taught software developer Larry Ellison started Oracle so he would have a working environment that he enjoyed. Likewise, Bill Gates spent countless hours programming as a kid, launching his first business at age 15 along with school friend Paul Allen (his partner in founding Microsoft.)

Takeaway: You cannot go wrong if you are pursuing what you love.

Live generously

Many wealthy entrepreneurs have realized they can put their money to good use and change lives for generations. Bill and Melinda Gates, Larry Ellison, Warren Buffett, and many others have signed the Giving Pledge to donate half of their wealth to charity. Sheryl Sandberg started the Lean In Foundation to empower young women and is also working to stop hunger in the Bay area.

Takeaway: No matter how much you have, being generous will help you live a life of purpose.

Know when to innovate

Being first matters. Case in point: In the 90s, Jeff Bezos heard the Internet was growing by 2,400 percent annually and recognized the great opportunity there. Inspired by the digital catalogs of book distributors, he created a book distribution channel that completely upended the publishing industry (and Amazon panned out for other kinds of merchandise as well.) 

Takeaway: Always stay curious, keeping your eyes open for game-changing ideas. 

There is no foolproof recipe for achieving success, and there is no getting around the hard work and perseverance required. But you can learn great lessons from wildly successful and wealthy entrepreneurs and develop the qualities that will position you for success. 

 Source: http://bit.ly/24mpmZ3

7 Tools to Help Your Internet Marketing Efforts

The difference between a beginner Internet marketer and a proficient one is, on the one hand, in experience, and on the other hand, in the tools they use. And while experience can only be obtained through continuous work and study of the market, tools are what you can get right now. Here are some with which you should start.

1. Google Alerts

Good old Google Alerts may look unassuming, but it is still one of the best tools for tracing the mentions of your or your competitor’s brand name. RSS may not be as popular as it has been several years ago, but it is nonetheless a simple, reliable and completely free way of keeping track of developments in your industry, and with careful choice of keywords you can gain a lot of insights from this simple tool.

2. DA Checker

Whether you want to check the results of your latest advertising campaign or decide if this or that website is worth cooperating with, knowing the resource’s authority is always extremely helpful. Domain Authority Checker is exactly what it says on the tin – it determines the strength of a website’s presence in the Internet and, unlike many of its analogues, can be used completely free of charge.

3. Website Grader

Do you want to get a fast and reliable review of how strong the SEO of your website is? Then go no further, as Website Grader is one of the most popular and straightforward instruments available in this area of marketing.

4. Hootsuite

Social media may be a major power in modern marketing, and their importance seems to be on the rise. Unfortunately, managing all your social media accounts, updating them, reviewing what others are saying and so on tends to eat up inordinate amounts of your time that you could use for more productive purposes.Hootsuite is a free tool that allows you to comfortably manage all your social media accounts, speeds up the process of posting and lets you review everything from a single interface.

5. Phrase Builder

Phrase Builder may look a bit ugly, but it is truly indispensable when you need a plenty of related keyword ideas and don’t have time to think them up ‘manually’. You simply define certain input criteria, and the tool will generate the list of keywords and phrases.

6. UberSuggest

UberSuggest is one of the most popular tools used by PPC marketers, and for a good reason. In many respects, it is similar to other suggestion tools, but there are a few differences, such as foreign language support and a lot of small details that add up to better and more flexible functionality.

7. Five Second Test

It is often said that what a user sees within five seconds after visiting your site defines whether he is going to stay or leave.  Five Second Test allows you to check how much your website is attuned to this idea: it shows you what the visitor sees, what he is likely to miss and what he is likely to remember.

Using these tools won’t turn you into a pro in a blink of an eye, but it will certainly increase your effectiveness as an online marketer – and quickly!

Souce:http://bit.ly/23oGX5B

7 Myths About Social Selling That You Probably Believe

Here are the myths and the opposing ideas:

1. Social selling takes a lot of time.

Actually, you can get enough done to see results with just 30 minutes a day.

2. You have to know a lot about social media to do social selling right.

If you wait until you’re a master at social media, you may never get started. Basic skills and some common sense are all you need to do well. The whole social selling thing is far less technically challenging that it appears.

3. Social selling is all about the data.

In part, that’s true. But the data is useless without all your well-tested sales experience. You’re not anywhere near being obsolete.

4. Social selling can be automated.

Again, some parts can be automated – like content sharing, and some email marketing. But you must reach out to contacts with customized messages that show you’ve done some research on them. Nobody likes automated social media messages.

5. All content is shared via social media.

Email is a more active sharing channel than social is. There’s actually more sharing going on via “dark social” than on any social platform.

6. It’s okay to stick with cold calling.

Not if you want to be competitive.

7. Social selling means LinkedIn marketing.

Surprisingly, Facebook and Twitter outperform LinkedIn for some social sellers. It depends on your business and your particular social selling techniques.

Want all that in a nutshell? Here it is:

Don’t get spooked by social selling. You’ve already got all the essential skills you need to do it well. Learn a bit about the different messaging tactics and the etiquette of different platforms, and you’ll do fine.

  Source: http://bit.ly/1RQ6oHK

7 ways marketers can use Reddit

There is no social media site more misunderstood and undervalued by PR pros and marketers than Reddit.

Reddit is nicknamed the “front page of the Internet” for a reason. It attracts millions—if not billions—of eyeballs every day.

It’s also a quirky place with its own etiquette and rules of conduct, and people who don’t follow those rules are quick to be called out. There are two groups of people you don’t want to anger online:mommy bloggers and Redditors. Both can wreck havoc on you and your brand.

That said, many PR pros and marketers are quick to dismiss Reddit as a viable outlet because of their own preconceived notions or due to horror stories they have heard.

That’s not always a wise move.

Here are seven steps to use this platform—a Reddit marketing guide—that won’t anger the mob:

1. Identify subreddits.

Before you can even start to think about putting your plans into action, you need to test the waters and see what’s already being said about your topic on Reddit.

There’s basically a subreddit for anything and everything. Don’t believe me? There’s a subreddit for jerky, dog shower thoughts, many not-safe-for-work examples and my personal favorite: “find a reddit,” which is a subreddit to find other subreddits.

You can find subreddits related to your topic by running a few searches on one of these websites:

http://www.reddit.com/subreddits/search?q=yourtopichere

http://www.pearltrees.com/subreddit_suggester

http://subreddits.org/

Keep a list of all subreddits on your topic in an Excel or Google Spreadsheets document for easy access.

2. Crowdsource blog and long-form content ideas.

Another great use for Reddit is to cure writer’s block (or blogger’s block) once and for all.

Spend 10-15 minutes browsing one of the subreddits you discovered in the first step. You should be able to come up with at least three blog post ideas just from conversations already happening in that subreddit.

Here are some things to look for:

“How do I do x” types of questions.

Lengthy debates.

AMAs—short for “Ask Me Anything” Q&A sessions.

3. Use Reddit for keyword research.

I’m just going to come out and say it: Reddit may be better for keyword research than Google Adwords Keyword Planner.

This is because you can see which keywords come up over and over again, and determine the context and tone in which they are used. Keywords are good, but the context for how they are used is better.

You can use this newfound knowledge to help write SEO-friendly headlines for blog posts and news releases, craft meta descriptions, write landing page copy or gain a better sense of how your target audience searches for information on this topic online.

My two favorite ways to do keyword research for your Reddit marketing are through “MetaReddit” and “SearchReddit.”

4. Gather market research.

Just like you can use Reddit to generate post ideas, it can also be used as a great sounding board to see if your ideas will stick, but careful you don’t abuse this.

Your Reddit marketing should also consist of gathering feedback, which you can get just by asking. Make sure you have thick skin; Redditors are known, to be honest, and a tough crowd to impress.

5. Find sources.

If your marketing strategy includes working with experts in your industry, you can find them on Reddit—along with influencers on a variety of topics.

Journalists are already using Reddit, and it can be a goldmine for finding possible sources to amp up your pitch.

6. Participate in “Ask Me Anything” sessions.

This is the most common use people think of when it comes to using Reddit, with good reason. AMAs are so popular even President Obama has done one .

Here are a few good starting points to consider before going all-in with an AMA:

Have a solid angle that will appeal to a broad audience.

Get a well-known person (who already has an audience) in your industry to be the spotlight feature.

Seed some initial questions in advance. This helps get the conversation going at the start, and can help ensure the AMA doesn’t go off track too much.

Be prepared to handle tough questions and negative feedback.

7. Promote content through Reddit ads

Another great, inexpensive way to promote your content is through Reddit ads Largely overshadowed by Facebook, Twitter and Google, Reddit ads can be an excellent way to promote your content to a highly targeted audience for pennies a pop.

You can drill down by country, demographics and even by subreddit. Reddit has a great resource for how to get started with ads on their Wiki.

Are you using Reddit to supplement your marketing and PR efforts? If so, what would you add to this list? 

  Source ; http://bit.ly/1q7sWYq

Social Media Strategy: where to begin?

Social media are a necessary part of any marketing strategy, but they should also be a part of your SEO strategy. As social media become more popular, Google and other search engines can’t ignore them any longer. Tweets and Facebook posts don’t get the highest rankings in Google, but Facebook pages and profiles for sure do. But how do you know which social media to use? In this post, I’ll walk you through the first steps of determining a social media strategy: finding the social media that suits both your business and your audience best.

Which social media suit your business?

The first step in determining a social media strategy is whether that social medium is one that you’d want to be found on. In other words, does the social medium suit the message and branding of your company? And on top of that: does this social medium offer the options and reach you’re looking for?

Social media like Facebook and Twitter offer a lot of ways to advertise and make your brand and company known beyond the scope of your followers. With other social media, this can be more difficult and would require a lot of hard work to get the same results. Make sure to think about what presence on the considered social media would mean for your company. Make sure that this aligns with how you want your business to be branded.

Which social media does your (desired) audience use?

Different kinds of people use different kinds of social media. So you have to know what social media your audience uses. And for you to know that, you’ll have to get to know your audience. This requires some effort and research, but it will definitely be worth it. For instance, if your company mainly works in the business-to-business area, you should definitely be active on LinkedIn. And if you have a young audience, your business is best off using social media such as Snapchat, Vine, Tumblr and Instagram:

Social media you can’t ignore

At the moment, there’s basically only one social medium you really can’t ignore and that’s Facebook. Why? Let me show you:

Facebook currently has nearly 1.5 billion active users every month. That’s over 20% of the entire world population being on Facebook at least once a month. So you can see why this is one bandwagon you’ll want to get on.

A blog or website should thus definitely have its own Facebook page. And your posts should all be shared on Facebook. That way, all the people who follow your page see new posts in their timeline. WordPress can do this automatically for you when you publish an article. Some people will like, share or comment on the Facebook posts, be giving them, even more, exposure.

Think about your social media strategy!

The main thing you should take away from this post is that you should determine your social media strategy, before your start. It’s easy to waste time, effort and money on the wrong media and/or the wrong goals. So bear in mind these 3 key questions:

• Who do I want to reach with social media?
• Which social media suits my business?
• On which social media do I find my target group?

 Source: http://bit.ly/1pR9SNO

10 Key Do’s and Don’ts of Social Media for Business

When it comes to interacting with consumers, there’s nothing more effective than social media. Keeping tabs on what’s happening on social networks, you’ll gain valuable insight into your target audience, forge meaningful relationships with your customers and create a community of brand followers. It’s clear that every professional out there needs to be present on social media. Here are 10 key do’s and don’ts to help you survive on social platforms and build a strong brand that resonates with a wide range of consumers.

1. Do know your target audience

Without knowing to whom you’re addressing your messages, you cannot enjoy the full benefit of social media. Your social media accounts should be tailored to match the expectations and preferences of your target audience, not reflect your personal interests. Consumers don’t really care about you as a person – they’re far more interested in what you can do to help them in solving a problem.

That’s why you should know who you’re talking to before you start posting stories and sharing your expertise online. This is where 80/20 rule comes in handy. Make sure that 80% of your content is relevant to your target audience and 20% of it is specifically about your offer. This is a formula that works perfectly for self-employed professionals.

2. Don’t forget to set privacy settings

Just like you use them on your personal files, you should do so with your business accounts as well. Be careful when posting – just because you can delete a post doesn’t mean that the internet will forget. You have no idea about who might have seen it before you decided to delete it – and they might have saved this information. Always think twice before posting something or sharing content. Make sure to have full privacy settings in place and protect your passwords. Never give your passwords to other people and make sure they’re hard to crack. If your social accounts fall into the wrong hands, they can cause you a lot of trouble.

3. Do set the standard for good behavior

Even if social media and similar online activity seems more private, it’s hardly so. Every single thing you write and share will leave a permanent mark on the web. That’s why you should always set a standard for behavior online, showing your audience that you treat your online presence seriously and are in full control of your reputation on social media. Good online behavior will never lose you customers – your reputation as a solid company with great social media following will only help to boost your visibility on the web.

4. Don’t rely on automation too much

Automation is great for scheduling and organizing your social media activity, but never rely exclusively on such tools for posting. If you do, you’ll quickly lose that valuable personal touch with clients which makes your brand stand out. Show that you’re human and strive to make engagement experience for your target audience more personal.

5. Do pay attention to timing

Post only when you’re sure many people are listening. It’s pointless to be active in social media at times when there’s hardly anyone out there to engage and respond. That’s why you should always keep tabs on analytics and find out when your followers are most active on specific social media platforms. Use this information to your advantage when scheduling your posts – engaging consumers in these time frames will help you to make the most from your social media activity.

6. Don’t forget to respond or delete negative comments

Responding to comments, even if they’re negative, is a must. If you fail to respond in time or at all, count on your audience to notice that and change their perspective on our brand. Without active engagement, you’ll send a message that you don’t really care enough about your customers. You should be using comments as opportunities for interacting with your audience.

Show your audience how you deal with both positive and negative situations. That’s why you should never, ever delete negative comments. The person who posted them in the first place is still out there and seeing your lack of acknowledgment and outright denial will just enrage them. Stay calm and try to solve the issue – this is how you avoid a damaging PR disaster.

7. Do strive for originality

Be original and try different forms of content. Only by shaking things up once in a while you’ll keep your audience on their toes and wanting more. Be creative and show your personality. This is how you can gain loyal following – it’s what makes you stand out from others. Make sure your social channels are engaging and leave consumers with a positive impression.

8. Don’t be confident to the point of arrogance

Sometimes you might want to share your expertise and start to sound a bit too arrogant. If you want to make the most from your online presence, never use that tone. Don’t try to come off as a know-it-all – this isn’t an attitude that makes people like you. Respect the value your audience brings in to your conversation and keep an open mind – it’s not like you’ve got an answer to every single question. You can learn a lot through your interactions – always acknowledge valuable contributions from the community.

9. Do understand which social media networks work best for you

Before you create an account for your business on every single social network you know, pause for a minute and reflect on the social media landscape for a while. You’re using social media to meet your customers halfway, so what’s the point of being active on a platform none of your relevant audiences use? That’s right – when analyzing your target audience, you should also strive to learn about their favorite online hangouts.

Just because everyone has a profile on Facebook doesn’t mean that you need one as well. Remember than in order to bring you benefits, you’ll need to invest time in each social network – choose only those which are most relevant to your sector and audience. If you’d like to drive more traffic to your website and improve customer engagement, you need to choose networks that really fit your type of business.

10. Don’t share too much information too often

Don’t be hyperactive on social media – otherwise you risk coming off as someone who has no idea about when they’re doing. Take extra care about the content you share and make sure it’s 100% relevant and engaging. Sharing too much information can seriously damage your business operation. Just imagine what could happen if you share hints or pictures of your brand new product too early – you simply lose the momentum and effectively kill the entire product launch campaign. Post consciously and responsibly.

Becoming aware of these key do’s and don’ts of social media for business will help you to unleash the full potential of your brand and build a vibrant community of loyal followers who are genuinely interested in what you’ve got to say.

                Source : http://bit.ly/1JZv0KE

5 Things Tech Entrepreneurs Should Do Instead of Learning to Code

There’s a prevalent train of thought running amuck through the tech startup world: Entrepreneurs believe learning to code will boost their credibility, provide them with a deeper understanding of their businesses, and transform their abilities to lead their troops. Many will run to Codecademy, take a few courses, and expect to be able to write an enterprise app. This is comparable to taking a few guitar lessons and challenging Jimmy Page to a face-off; it’s not going to end well for you.

While understanding code could certainly be helpful, it’s a far cry from being acritical skill for most tech entrepreneurs. If you have at least one developer and you’re still coding, you are ignoring your core responsibilities. That’s why I’m going against the grain here and discouraging tech entrepreneurs from learning to code. There are way more important things you should be doing with your time.

Why Leaders Shouldn’t Learn to Code

If you’re starting out by yourself, there’s some merit in learning to code. Most entrepreneurs are great idea people. Knowing how to actually implement ideas could separate you from the endless line of people hoping to create the “next Facebook.”

However, as soon as you hire a single capable engineer, whatever coding skills you have are no longer necessary. One solid engineer could implement more in two weeks than you could in six months — and it would likely be more robust and scalable.

Every minute you spend in the trenches learning a programming language from the ground up is time your customers are being ignored, your marketing isn’t being executed, and your company is running without direction.

You’re the leader — focus on the overall vision of your company. Leave the code to the competent, career-oriented coders.

Instead of wasting time gaining skills your team already has, you should be coaching and guiding your team toward stardom. These five actions will provide much more value to your brand than teaching your computer a for-loop operation to ask your name and repeat it back to you:

1. Draft a Spec Doc

Even if you can code, taking the time to think through and map out actual customer needs, user flows, and interactions is essential to creating a successful company. Having a more detailed product plan with specifics will not only improve your company, but it will also greatly help in product development (as well as hiring great talent).

2. Evaluate Customers

The single most important thing a leader can bring to the team is a clear understanding of customer and market need. Although most leaders would probably claim to have a good understanding of their target customers, it is rare to find one who actually spends enough time studying and interacting with them. If you don’t fully understand the situations, stories, and users of your product, what (or who) are you even designing it for? Anyone can make up a target customer, but real people in the real world rarely act how you think they will.

3. Recruit Actual Software Engineers

If you were to spend a year learning the foundations of computer programming, you’ll likely end up with a crap junior coder (you) who has no real understanding of what they’re doing. Instead, you should hire an experienced engineer, place your clearly developed vision in his hands, and tell him to put the pedal to the metal. Now that is a winning formula.

4. Sell Your Product

Sales are the lifeblood of any company. Without them, you have nothing. So get out and pitch your product to customers, and then assess the ensuing feedback loop. These early pitches will teach you an immense amount about the needs and wants of your target audience. Imagine how helpful this information will be when you’re training your first sales hires!

5. Pitch to Investors

Nearly every business reaches a point where it needs outside funding to grow beyond being an experiment. If this is the path you’re going to go down, you — as the face of the company — need to be able to speak convincingly to potential investors. This takes a lot of practice, but it’s your job to draw interest in your project and get people to sign on the dotted line.

Coding is a valuable skill, but it’s definitely not a necessary one for a leader just because it’s a tech-based business. Leading a company is a skill in itself, and nobody expects a CEO to understand how to code any more than a software engineer is expected to know how to run a successful company. Instead, stick to your strengths, and hire all-star coders to make your vision a reality.

Source : http://bit.ly/1NG8RT7

20 entrepreneurs share the advice that made them successful

Regardless of how we define it, success can feel like a fleeting and often elusive target. It takes confidence, passion, and drive to accomplish your goals and to recognize success when you've achieved it. 

Here's how 20 influential executives and entrepreneurs describe the key to their success.

Source : http://bit.ly/1NVXAbo