Entrepreneurship – Level the Competition with Technology
Published May 14, 2012 | 
The greatest source of learning lessons for success is your business’ most dissatisfied and unhappy customers.
Attributes of Successful Entrepreneurs – Technology Levels the Field
Entrepreneurs can level the playing field with technology, but make sure that you avoid getting overly caught up in the high-tech world, though at the same time you should know how to take advantage of using it. So, understand that one of the most amazing aspects of the Web is that a one or two person business operating from let’s say, a basement, can have a much superior website to a $50 million company, and the good news is that nobody knows the difference.
Just make absolutely sure you’re keeping up with the high-tech world as it suits your specific needs. For everyone, the best technology is that which helps you be the most successful, not the technology that impresses your neighbors and friends.
No matter the size of your business, you can do several things. Let’s look at a few.
Build great products and services for the simple reason that if your products and services are superior, you’re naturally building a self-defense method. If you do this, your current and prospective customers won’t ever choose to leave you. It’s no surprise that too many businesses build inferior products or services, and then without a clue, wonder why their competitor keeps coming up with new products or services that so easily attract their customers.
Listen… listen… listen to your customers with the clear understanding that when you’re building products and developing services that your customers want, you are building strong relationships with those customers. This highly-effective strategy makes it extremely difficult for them to ever decide to leave you for the competition.
Innovative marketing ensures that your both current and prospective customers know what you are doing, and you constantly remind them of your value. Understand that there is a lot of noise in the digital content of the Web-universe that forever surrounds us. It is vitally essential that your business penetrates through the digital clutter on a regular basis.
Regularly make direct contact with your customers, because even though social media is great, it’s also important to have and maintain a customer database so you can directly reach your customers (email and newsletters) without needing a middle person.
You should always treat your customers as if they are special (because they are), and continue to develop and search for ways to add value to your relationship with them. If you do, they won’t leave you, and are much more likely to be your rabid fans and evangelists.
Finally, there are many ways to differentiate your business online. 
Here’s a few that you have to understand and master:
Develop and maintain a strong, central message which is your “elevator pitch,” and you should deliver your “value proposition” in as few words as possible. In other words, get to your point quickly, because the average attention is down to 5 seconds.
Avoid huge blocks of text because your home page is a gateway to your primary content, and isn’t the place for long, explanatory passages that will only drive traffic… away!
Avoid clutter, recognizing the importance of isolation and highlight of your central message. At the same time, you should rid your business of secondary messages that will only distract. Remember, distractions are anathema.
Use clear calls to action that is the purpose of any business website is in driving consumer behavior. Make sure it’s intuitively easy for your visitors to take the next step.
Technology tools offer real levels of market connectivity never before experienced and higher levels of success never before dreamed of.
New Media (R)evolution – Traditional Meets New
Published August 24, 2011 | 
In looking at marketing tools that have been able to maintain effectiveness in the new media technology environment, the modern press release has increased its level of affective relevancy in the new digital world, owed to immediate distribution to the public by way of the Web. To take it several steps further, when the press release is revved up, loaded and optimized with keywords (increase index value to search engines) and content (i.e. links, images, video content and integrated for social media to increase interest and share-ability etc.), it quickly develops into a new marketing stratagem in and of itself.
So, we wonder then that with the continuing rapid change and explosive growth in new communication tools along with new channels, and so many more companies seemingly everyday using and attributing value to their social media strategies and initiatives, measurable active audience engagement still remains at low levels. This is probably attributable to many professionals haven’t adapted to and adopted new channels for communication, and haven’t changed the way they communicate.
It seems that many continue to use all available channels in a shotgun strategy (including social media) and widest possible use of broadcast platforms to promote and press their messages to the masses. They need to instead, narrow their communication focus and learn to use these many channels including both new and traditional to nurture conversations taking place in the market, and tailor their content to very specific audiences and become participants in the constant and enduring evolution of the message.
The question that comes to mind is, exactly how to do this? How to integrate both the traditional and new methods and strategies to not only reach, but engage all of your identifiable audiences, whether they consider themselves social or not?
The truth is what we’ve always known about creating lasting relationships, talking about things that matter, while being consistent and intentional is still relevant. Everyone needs to understand that we’re just going about things in a whole new way with new more effective processes. Processes that starts with, ends, and cycles around continuing direct-engagement with the customer.
Great Web Entrepreneurs – Engaging the Digital Way
Published May 25, 2011 | 
With 2012 in Sight! Do You Know Where Your Social Media Strategy Is?
Any marketer who has been in the social media game for a while should understand exactly why companies continue to struggle with social media. There is obviously a great deal of misunderstanding that happens between the concept and the tools, and their benefits. There is uncertainty and confusion as to exactly why social media tools can’t still be used just like traditional e-mail, direct mail and advertising. There also exists power struggles within enterprise organizations about who internally makes social media marketing decisions including who has control over content for public consumption.
What are You as a Marketer to Do?
The answer is really simple. Start a conversation. But before you go diving into any conversation you need to understand the new rules of communication, why they matter so much, and the five trends turning the business world upside down, that represent evolutionary shifts.
- Consumer Skepticism
- Fragmented Media
- Loss of Control
- Niche Marketing
- Customers are in Control
Your customers will thank you considerably with their business for taking the time to understand this market evolution.
Things Have Changed… Now What?
Get your great attitude on, because now it’s time to clearly focus and get to work. Now, I know what most of you are thinking and considering… 
Why can’t you just share your press releases on Twitter and Facebook and quit for the day? Well, you might be able to, but there would probably be very little ROI to show for it.
By the way, isn’t that what Management is looking for and demanding from social media? (Psst! We all know that asking for ROI is secret code for “We don’t get this, so we’re going to challenge it.” Be smart and prove them wrong!) Ready?
- Business Blogging
- Social Networks
- Niche Online Communities
- Micro-blogging
- Video
- Podcasting
- PR 2.0
- RSS, Tagging, Bookmarking
- And more!
The Digital Greeting
Nothing you hear will ever be truer than the fact all the strategies in the world mean completely nothing without a comprehensive plan of action in place and agreed to that includes in the order of importance:
- Listen – to the Customer
- Engage – the Customer
- Measure – Everything
In order to establish the greatest value for your business in the eyes of the customer, “Listening is the New Marketing.” Yet, marketers traditionally aren’t very good at listening much…only talking too much.
Now is your chance to develop the essential understanding of listening before engaging, and by doing so determine whether your social media plan will ultimately be successful and the level of success achieved.
What is the first thing you normally do when you meet your customers? You shake their hand. Now you can do that digitally. We call it engaging. 
Engaging in online conversations with your customers is where you have a chance to really LISTEN to your customers. They will eventually tell you many things including what they like and most importantly, exactly how you can best help them.
Finally, understand that all of those digital greetings and conversations can be measured. There are many tools to help you along the way to social media success. Of course, some are free and others you will have to pay for, but either way you decide, you’ll have more than enough to select from.
Apple vs. Samsung: They Copied Us!
Published April 20, 2011 | 
The highly-competitive mobile-device market is hot and heating up even hotter, causing major intellectual-property conflicts between major global market players to increasingly surge. What better example, than Apple recently suing Samsung, claiming the company copied its iPad and iPhone design? It should be interesting to watch how the tension between the two technology electronics giants plays out. In the meantime is Samsung selling off its hard-disk-drive unit?
Asia Market Video! Apple Says Samsung Copied Us!
The Next Great Entrepreneurs – Healthcare Vital Signs
Published April 8, 2011 | 
There is something to be said about growing momentum, especially after being propelled by recent legislative reform and the ever-aging population, and just maybe because of the later (ever-aging population) the healthcare industry has never been in better shape.
Let’s take a moment to just look and review the numbers. Healthcare and social assistance show revenue of approximately $500 billion per quarter, up 2.3 percent from the same time last year, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau information.
In actual reality, 10 of the 20 fastest-growing occupations are and will continue to be healthcare-related, and estimates indicate the industry will generate 3.2 million new jobs between 2008 and 2018, of course that’s more than any other industry, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
In looking beyond the healthcare industry at the ripple or economic-collateral affect, with costs on the rise and access to the healthcare system ever-expanding, the technology and services sectors are poised for similar ever-increasing growth.
Great Technology Entrepreneurs who aggressively seek innovative IT solutions that improve quality while decreasing cost will have enormous and long-lasting impact on the economy and lives of generations now and in the not too distant future.
The expansive home care industry, which currently employs 1.3 million people, is expected to increase by a strong and vibrant 50 percent over the next decade to over 2 million employed.
Costly trends continue on the health front in the U.S., where few Americans really focus on leading healthy lifestyles that would prevent disease and cut both the amount and the cost of medical care. In addition, obesity-related illnesses continue to add an immense amount to the nation’s health care costs with no real end in sight.
The three biggest causes of death in the U.S. and developed countries are heart disease, cancer and stroke. An eye-popping one-fourth of many annual health expenditures go for treatment of these three killers.
While only a relatively modest amount of money is spent on preventive medicine and health education, about 70% of health care funds are spent on chronic disease.
“24 and out the door,” is a euphemism describing the growth driven by graying boomers and hospitals’ fresh push in 2011 for shorter and less costly stays.