Brian Solis & the ultimate moment of truth | Pivotal Pod | Content Marketing This past week we attended the PR Summit in San Francisco, a small but immensely valuable conference that attracts a healthy mix of marketers, entrepreneurs, journalists and PR professionals. *By “healthy mix” I also mean it’s not a bunch of people all trying to sell to each other. The focus of this year’s summit seemed to be on content & story-telling, particularly how that adds to customer experience and enables real-time marketing. One of the first sessions was a fireside chat with Kara Swisher and Brian Solis, to discuss his latest book, What’s the Future of New Business? What’s interesting to us is the role that content plays at that moment. But… That’s the disconnect that marketers deal with every day: They can seek out and find positive reviews of their brand, whether it’s a shoe, an airline, or a restaurant that are full of enthusiasm and exclamation points and respond, or amplify that message further via their own channel. This is exactly where branded content comes in.
Getting Started With Your Company Facebook Page I received a LinkedIn message from an old college friend last week. His company is just getting started with social media, and the execs are split in terms of buy-in. I realize that there are many people in the same situation that could benefit from the free advice I provided, so I’m posting it here for everyone to benefit from. Here’s his message, sort of. I am quite sure you might have done this before, and I need your help. My first thought was, “Wow, where do I begin?” Social media is not a quick fix Duct tape can fix a lot of things, but there’s no quick fix for your company social media. If your business is looking to launch a social media program, a handy PowerPoint or flyer won’t be the resource you need to get started. If you’re in charge and you want your company to get into social media, read the book. Fans don’t grow on trees You won’t be happy with what you get when you go for the low-hanging fruit. Well, fake fans can be purchased pretty easily, but they have no value.
The Entrepreneur's "Not Enough" Trap--And How To Avoid it As a leadership coach for some of Silicon Valley’s leading startup CEOs, I get a peek into the internal workings of some of the most brilliant and accomplished entrepreneurial minds in the world. And one of the things I’m finding there is giving me cause for alarm. Driven by "Not Enough" One of the primary drivers of the frenetic striving and Herculean accomplishments of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs is a deep sense of not being good enough. Not smart enough, not brave enough, not creative enough. But the dark underbelly of this startup boom is that too often companies are getting built in a way that leaves founders and team members drained, exhausted, and ultimately, unfulfilled. Wired for Fear Human brains are predominately wired for fear. But we no longer live in that world. Driven by Love When you conjure up an image of Sir Richard Branson, what most likely comes to mind is a man who loves his life. Moving Beyond Fear Extend Your Breathing Focus on Your Contribution
How to Get Started in Social Media Looking for new ways to… Connect with your current customers? Reach out to potential customers?Establish your credibility? Then it’s time you spent a little more time socializing online! Everyone’s talking about the marketing opportunities social media sites create for businesses — especially small businesses — but there are so many social media sites that it’s hard to know where to start. Here’s a plan for getting started that will locate the best places for you to be socializing without wasting your time. The easiest way to learn about the various sites — and to see whether or not your target market is using them — is to start by checking out blogs where your prospective customers hang out. To find blogs that are the favorites of your potential customers, do a search of your keywords on Google Blog Search, and start clicking through the results. When you find an influential blogger, check what they’re doing on the social networking sites, and see if you can get involved in a similar way.
Why AngelList will become the Android of venture capital Gaurav Jain is a Principal at Founder Collective and previously was a Product Manager for Android. He or his firm are not investors in AngelList. Follow him on twitter @gjain. Just as Google’s Android operating system has disrupted mobile rivals, I think AngelList will do the same to most incumbent venture capital firms and put some out of business unless they make significant changes. This tectonic shift will have major ramifications for both investors and entrepreneurs and we better fasten our seat belts! In my opinion, Android’s meteoric growth can be attributed to three key factors: open platform, modularity and network effects. Of course, market timing was also crucial to Android getting 75 percent market share, as measured by Gartner. AngelList is adopting a very similar strategy and I assert that it will become the unifying “Android platform” of the venture community. AngelList is an open and free marketplace for startups and investors. First, don’t be in denial! Above: Gaurav Jain
How to Set Up a Facebook Page for Business Have you decided that it’s time to create a Facebook Page for your business? Wondering exactly how to get your Page started the right way? Facebook continues to change and evolve, making it a moving target for people trying to find the correct steps to set up a Page. To set up your Facebook Page, just follow these steps: #1: Log into Facebook If you do not have a personal profile set up on Facebook, do that first at www.facebook.com. Either login to your personal account, or create a new personal account from Facebook.com. Once you have logged into your personal account, we are going to create your Business Page. #2: Create a Page While Logged in as Your Profile Go to www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. Select the most appropriate category for your business. Do not select Local Business or Place unless you have a physical storefront that your customers come to, because Facebook will automatically turn your Page into a Place as well. Choose your category from the drop-down menu.
Why Overcoming the Fear of Being Fabulous is So Important Getting Started in Social Media Recently, Leadership Journal interviewed me about social media, publishing it under the headline: "Not Tweeting? Repent!" So, in light of the fact that I basically called pastors sinners for not being on Twitter, I thought I should share some tips for getting started in social media. Choose An Outlet First, you'll need to consider which social media outlet to use. Twitter is more of a broadcast medium. On the other hand, Facebook is a bit more of a community-oriented conversation in that people can see each other's comments in what is called a thread, short for a comment thread, underneath the original post. There are other social media platforms as well (e.g., Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+), but the two biggest are Twitter and Facebook, so I think that's probably the best place to start. Getting Started on Twitter Set up separate Twitter accounts for you and your church. From an Internet connected device go to I talked about replying earlier. Blogging
How To Create A Killer Brand 9 Tips for Integrating Your Facebook Page With Your Facebook Profile Do you have a Facebook Page and a Facebook personal profile? Are you trying to figure out how to work your business life into your personal life on Facebook? Well, have no fear. I’m going to lay it all out for you and dive into some of the reasons the two sides of your Facebook life should be linked together. You may also want to review your Facebook privacy settings to help you understand what’s visible on your personal profile. Here are 9 tips for understanding how your Page and your profile work together. #1: Understand That Your Page and Your Profile Are Very Separate Even though you log into your profile to get to your Page and they look like they are linked together, no one else knows which Pages are attached to your profile. When you log in using the email address you use for your personal profile, you can then switch to use Facebook as your Page. You can switch to using Facebook as your Page by clicking the down arrow in the upper-right corner of Facebook. #9: Feature a Page Owner
Why Your College Student Should Start a Business Have you seen the cost of tuition lately? This hit home for me personally as my oldest child is heading off to college this fall. While the options vary on how to pay for tuition, it is certainly a challenge when a college degree can be equivalent to the cost of a new home. You may have heard of the proverb, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. There is a huge opportunity to involve your children in a business to help pay for the cost of college, as well as teach entrepreneurship and responsibility. Unbeknownst to my son -- until he reads this article -- I have been planning for this fateful day when he leaves for college by having him work in my business. With this special skillset this summer, we have been taking the necessary steps to launch his business at BYU-Idaho this fall as a wedding videographer. Here are 10 basic steps we can take with our children to make starting their own business a reality: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Mark J.