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Most people attend a networking meeting, talk to a few people,
exchange business cards, deliver their one-minute message, go home and
wait.
And wait.
They wait for the phone to ring. They wait for the people who
took their business card to take action. They wait for an hour of rushed
introductions to become business. They usually wait right up until the next
networking meeting when they repeat the cycle.
Then they wait again.
And again.
At some point, they state, "Networking doesn't work."
I say, “You're not networking, you’re attending meetings. You
need to work your networking.”
Networking isn’t about attending meetings. Networking is when
you really get to know the people in your group--their style and personalities
and their business offerings and target markets. This kind of knowledge doesn't
come from a five-minute surface conversation over stiff bagels and watery
coffee.
I know this firsthand because I built my initial client base
almost solely through networking.
I had relocated to Los Angeles and knew all of two people. I
decided I wanted to be a coach and signed on with CoachU. I had six months of
living expenses in the bank, so I had that long to make my new business venture
work.
I joined 13--yes, thirteen networking organizations.
I attended the meetings and at every one of them I would pick
three people to meet with outside of the meeting. I would invite them to
coffee--even though I don't drink it--and ask them about their business and
their life.
Usually after listening to them for 30 or so minutes, they would
ask me about mine. In most cases, a nice relationship started. In some cases,
they hired me on the spot now that they knew me and understood what I did and
how it could help them.
From these meetings, I got invitations to speak to other groups,
offers to contribute articles to their newsletters and business leads. I even
formed a few alliances to host events together with professionals who shared the
same target market.
After four months of following this process I had 32 clients.
People in my industry find this amazing because the average time
it takes most coaches to get a practice of 15-20 clients is eighteen months to
two years. I’m guessing average coaches and other professionals aren’t working
their networking.
Think of the networking meeting as being like Rapid or Speed
Dating. Two people have a few minutes to determine:
1)if they serve the same target
market
2) if they provide
complimentary products, and
3) if they like one another enough
to go to the next step.
Then one of you must take the next step and ask the other one
out on a business date or the prelim work was a waste.
When on your business date:
Be genuinely interested in what the other person does.
If you’re only thinking about how you can get business from
them, it won’t work.
Think about
and offer ways you can help their business or put them in touch with people who
could.
Acknowledge
them.
People appreciate when you notice and point out their
strengths. I love to see people light up when I’ve picked up on something neat
about them during our interaction and share it.
You don’t have to join 13 networking organizations for this
process to help you grow your business. Right now I only belong to one as a way
to maintain my business.
Networking is powerful. When I relocated to the East Coast
several years ago, I still received leads from some of the people in those
original thirteen groups that I had met five years earlier. That's how strong
the relationship became from connecting one-on-one.
Networking isn't about attending the meetings and waiting--it's
about doing.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEB
SITE?You may, as long as you include this entire blurb with it:
New Business Mentor Leah Grant publishes Startup Success, a weekly ezine. If
you're thinking about starting a new business or are in the early phases of
entrepreneurship, get your FREE New Business Startup Kit including the Secrets
of Successful Business Owners audio at www.leahgrant.com
Your elevator speech
is a verbal business card or billboard. In order for it to be effective it must
be compelling. You want it to draw in the prospect yet leave them wanting to
know more.
It is one sentence, two at the most, and serves as your
benefit statement. Your elevator speech needs to be just what its name implies,
short enough to share on an elevator ride.
It should provide clear,
jargon-free information about who you are, what you do and what's in it for the
prospect.
Craft your elevator speech when you have a crystal clear
picture of your business. Simply stating your industry and title is too vague.
You must be able to articulate the main problem your specific type or business
focus solves for your target
market.
You must also know your target market and what motivates
them. For example, when I was networking with financial planners, I tested a few
elevator speeches to see which got the best response.
The one that
worked well was "I partner with new financial planners who want to blow their
numbers out of the water."
The one that flopped was "I coach financial
planners so that they can effectively market themselves."
The latter describes what I actually
do with them, but that language is not as appealing to them as the other
statement because they tend to be competitive and driven to
win.
What to Include in Your Elevator Speech
1)
Your name
Oddly, some people forget to put their
name in their elevator speech. You are promoting yourself, so be sure to state
your full name clearly.
2) Who you work with or who your product is
for Identify your target market. Being this specific won't eliminate buyers,
it will make it easier for people to refer you business.
3) What's the
benefit they get if they buy what you're offering
You can state either the end result or
share the problem that ou solve.
4) What is your product or service
Most elevator speeches work well without mentioning the actual product or
service, because most of the time people buy the benefit. Sometimes it is
necessary to include. If it is, do so without going into detail or listing the
features of what you offer. Come up with a succinct and attractive way to state
what you sell.
What Not to Include in Your
Elevator Speech
1) Your title In most cases your title
doesn't tell people much about what you do. It wastes words and time. If they
are interested, they can see it on your business card.
2) Pricing
Never include what you charge in your elevator speech, but do be prepared to
discuss your fees if asked.
3) Features Features are not benefits, but
many professionals confuse the two. Features are things the product or service
has, such as a new car's features might include anti-lock brakes, a lighted
mirror on the sun visor and six cup holders. The features may provide benefits,
such as safety or comfort. In your elevator speech, focus on the
benefits.
4) Packaging Unless your packaging is what makes your
product or service unique, such as video conferencing, then leave it out of your
short description.
Formula for Composing a Great
Elevator Speech
Your Name + Target Market + Benefits
or Your Name + Product/Service + Target Market + Benefits
Example
1: I'm Tracy Manning. I facilitate virtual teams to maximize their
productivity.
Example 2: I'm Jonathan Smith. I guide at-risk teens to
develop their sense of self-esteem and stay in school.
Example 3: I'm
Jane Doe. As a room designer, I partner with new homeowners who want to their
new home to feel like a summer cottage in England.
Example 4: I'm Jason Horn. Carpet Layers
International specializes in quality installations for property owners with
round staircases.
Take note of the strong verb used in each of the
examples. You will want to choose an equally impactful verb for your elevator
speech.
I suggest using the formula to create a basic elevator speech and
then spice up the language.
Once you've crafted a couple of elevator
speeches you'll want to test them out to see which gets the best
response.
After you've identified the winner, the key to using it
effectively is to practice, practice, practice. Say it out loud in front of a
mirror until it flows comfortably off your tongue.
Your elevator speech
describes who you are and what you do professionally. Take pride in
it.
(c) 2009 Leah Grant Enterprises LLC.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE
IN YOUR EZINE OR ON YOUR WEB SITE? You may, as long as you include this
entire blurb with it: New Business Mentor Leah Grant publishes Startup Success,
a weekly ezine. If you're thinking about starting a new business or are in the
early phases of entrepreneurship, subscribe now for tips, articles and
resources at http://www.leahgrant.com
“We are natural villagers. For most of mankind’s history we have
lived in very small communities in which we knew everybody and
everybody knew us. But gradually there grew to be far too many of us,
and our communities became too large and disparate for us to be able to
feel a part of them, and our technologies were unequal to the task of
drawing us together. But that is changing. Interactivity. Many-to-many
communications. Pervasive networking. These are cumbersome new terms
for elements in our lives so fundamental that, before we lost them, we
didn’t even know to have names for them.”
We are social beings
Porter rightly says, “People use software to do all the same things
they used to do without it: talk to each other, form groups, gain
respect, manage their lives, have fun.” Things that humans have always
done. It’s just that years ago our friends and family were walking,
driving or a short flight away. It was easy to keep in touch, as they
were not far away. These days the situation is different.
I use the internet to keep in touch with my family and most of my
best friends, as they don’t live near me. I feel a need to keep in
touch with these people. No! I need to feel connected.
Humans are innately social and must be surrounded by other people.
Those who are not stimulated socially can go insane. For example, the
other day was watching Sean Penn’s 2007 movie “Into the Wild“.
It was inspired by the true story of Christopher McCandless, who
thought that freedom was about being at one, alone, with nature. As he
painfully found out, you really need other people around you.
Social support
The graph below shows that psychological distress is correlated with social support.
Dalgard
OS. Association between social support and psychological distress. In:
EUPHIX, EUphact. Bilthoven: RIVM, EUphact Determinants of health
Environment Social support, 26 May 2008.
MySpace has been shown to have similar effects. A short article titled Blogging as a Social Tool: A Psychosocial Examination of the Effects of Blogging
(by James R. Baker, Susan M. Moore, December 2008) suggested that
blogging helps people feel like they have a stronger social support
network, possibly because blogging helps a person gain some insight,
feedback or perspective on their life. The researchers also did not
differentiate successful, frequent bloggers from those who may have
started a blog and posted only one entry.’ He even writes about that
fact blogging might even make you happier! It certainly makes me happy, as I mentioned in a post last year.
Social software is a forced move. It had to happen. We have to be
able to deal with the fact that, in some parts of Western culture, the
family is no longer a ‘unit’. In fact, Stephen Andersen suggests that
the best social media features/sites are rooted in natural human
behaviour.
Ambient intimacy
Leisa Reichelt calls this type of social support Ambient Intimacy, which:
“is about being able to keep in touch with people
with a level of regularity and intimacy that you wouldn’t usually have
access to, because time and space conspire to make it impossible.
Flickr lets me see what friends are eating for lunch, how they’ve
redecorated their bedroom, their latest haircut. Twitter tells me when
they’re hungry, what technology is currently frustrating them, who
they’re having drinks with tonight.”
True, but it is actual intimacy for some. They have only a few
social networks (friends) where they live; perhaps they work too hard
or they are socially inept and don’t like seeing people face-to-face.
In that context, social networks provide actual intimacy. There is
nothing ambient about it!
Do think Twitter is a waste of time? Do you “really struggle to see
the value of an endless number of small thoughts being shoved into the
Net” [a quote from a Facebook friend of mine]?
Is it like this three-minute Twitter Police video?
Should we be protecting the world from useless tweets?
For the first six months after I signed up to Twitter, I did
nothing. Then I realised it was a way to keep track of my thoughts and
interesting blog topics, without having to write an entire blog post or
write in a diary, which I hate.So now I get it…
A psychologist, Elisha Goldstein, links
Twitter to the practise of mindfulness. If you have something on your
mind that distracts you from your daily chores, you can use Twitter ‘to
be reminded to pop out of the routine or auto-pilot [you] may be in and
become more present to everyday life.’ That makes sense to me, I have
written a thesis on mindfulness in mediation.
A challenge
PLEASE, do this for me for one week. Tweet about things you
like, things do are doing, things that frustrate you about 5 times a
day. You are essentially writing a diary. That’s useful - plenty of
people have researched the value of writing a diary. Galina Pembroke
discussed the value of journaling here.
Twitter is not quite as ‘deep’ as writing your own diary, but it works
for me. Once you do this for yourself, you will see how the social
effects can kick in.
Once you are interacting use ‘Groups’ in Tweetdeck
to manage where your attention is placed. You can put your mates in one
column and your colleagues in another and people who you think are
smart and worth spending the time on in another. However, follow as
many similar people as you can, so you have more opportunities to get
the interactions you need. If somebody responded to a tweet you should
put them in a group too, you know they care about you so care about
them back.
Also, remember when you are online and ready to tweet, read what is
there in the stream of Tweets at that time and forget about all the
rest. If you worry about the tweets you’ve missed it will become a
chore and you won’t do it.
Do you think that LinkedIn is some social network that is only relevant if you are looking for a job? No!
Think about it as a place to store your resume. I could never find
the latest one of my PC! It was also a place to store my contacts for
work, that weren’t on the server at work
Now it is a place to keep testimonials from clients! Once I used it
personally, then the social side kicked in. I now participate in group
discussion, find recruits (one contacted me today), market my business
and much, much more.
Facebook
Facebook pissing you off? Do you think that it should be banned and that people should be sacked if they use it when you are sick?
You need to experience it first. Use it to organise an event or think
of it as an online photo album or use it to find out about what your
old friends are doing. Help yourself first. Then you might just start
interacting with people.
Social networking really is valuable - some example
I’ve found a few examples to demonstrate that the personal value of
a network must exceed the network value for you to get over the initial
hump and actually start using one of these new tools. Also, by making
it about you, your readers will view your efforts as real and they’ll actually take the time to interact with you.
This blogger
shows how Twitter was helpful to her daughter when a family member
passed away. She was offered support that was short and to the point
from four friends that were distributed across the US.
I did a little experiment with Twitter and Facebook. I asked my
followers how Twitter had helped their social lives. Here’s some
answers:
“It compliments it, fortifies it and adds to it. Facebook is
your online answer to Crown St living: you have a view into the buzz of
life but you can choose to interact with it as little or as much as you
like. The people who use it as a total substitute for reality are Bad
Boy Bubby internet geeks. They give online communities a bad name. Or
do they? Maybe these people would absolutely have no friends
otherwise?” Ilona
“When you’re parenting small babies and toddlers and find your
life morphed from a flurry of work and activity to home alone (well,
with the l’il ones) a great deal of the time - Facebook becomes a
godsend. Yes it makes up for missing social interaction it provides you
with a sense of community and continuity when all else in your life has
changed so drastically…” Andrea
“It’s fabulous for those of us who live away from our home.” Dee
Of course, Twitter is in the news right now,
with the Iranian elections. The fact that the US State Department last
week made a special request for Twitter to delay scheduled maintenance
so Iranian protestors could continue to voice dissent suggests that the
service is anything but frivolous.
This speaks volumes about the value of social networking and its power to connect people and ideas.
James Breeze is a usability specialist and CEO of Sydney-based Objective Digital.
An earlier version of this post appeared here.
When it comes to making money with a website, one of the most
popular methods is running text and/or image ads on various pages. It's referred
to as contextual advertising and "inline ads". Text or image ads are shown which
match the content of the pages. Inline ads appear as highlighted words on the
page when the visitor hovers over highlighted text on the page. Ads appear in
small boxes. Contextual ads are often displayed to the right or left of website
copy, or as blocks within sections of the text. The ads shown are related to the
content of each individual page. As visitors click on these links, you earn
cash.
Probably the largest and most used of the contextual ad programs is
Google's Adsense. Google really is a giant when it comes to the Internet, and
their talents go far beyond just being a search engine. Adsense is used by many
site owners to bring in a monthly income.
If you're interested in running
Adsense ads, first you'll need to apply and get approved. Once approved for one
site, you can place Adsense on any other site that you own. You can decide to
run only text ads or choose from image and text. Various sizes are offered, and
you can custom select colors to match the look of your site. Once the code is
generated, you paste it on your HTML pages where you want the ads to appear.
Simple & easy.
But what happens if you're not approved by Google, or
for some reason your Adsense account were to be terminated? What would you do
then? There are other ad network options out there and I've gathered some of the
best alternatives together here.
Before signing up for any ad program,
make sure you read their terms of service and any requirements to make sure it's
a good fit for your website. Also, review the payment options so you'll know how
and when you can expect to be paid.
Once your site is approved, you
insert the code on your page and they sell simple text ads that appear on your
site. You have final say over any ads being published. Payments are made via
Paypal or Clickbank. You receive 50% of the sale price for each link they serve
up. This ad network is acceptable to be run on the same page as Google Adsense
as this is not considered contextual advertising.
A variety of ad formats to choose from. You can run text ads,
banners, inline ads or even full page ads. You can choose to approve or reject
ads before they appear on your site. Pays monthly with the default minimum check
amount of $100.00. Once your site is approved, ads will appear within 24 hours
of your pasting the code. Adbrite has no policy against using other ad networks
on your site at the same time.
Contextually relevant ads and ad units which are linked to keywords
on your web page. Ads displayed will match the content of your site. For your
website to be approved it must be in English, be content rich with more than 50
words per page. You can run text, image, billboard, and video ads.
Quigo offers content-targeted
advertising to those with strong traffic. Publishers with 500,000 or more
monthly page views are encouraged to apply. Once approved, simply copy and paste
the code.
Works very similar to Google's Adsense program. You design your own
ads, choosing colors and formats, then paste some code on your page. You'll be
paid per click. Advanced ad targeting and display capabilities can sometimes
improve your results. You can choose to be paid via Paypal once your earnings
are $50.00, or a check when you hit $100.00.
A
full service online ad network which serves over two billion monthly impressions
across more than 30,000 websites. Chitika ads are not contextual and can be run
on the same page as Adsense. Twenty-four different ad sizes are available.
Payment is via Paypal once your account is at $10.00, or a check when you reach
$50.00.
Miva offers a wide
variety of ad formats to choose from: content ads, inline ads, search ads.
You'll be paid on a per click basis. Payments are made monthly by check or
Paypal once your balance reaches $25.00. You can also block competitor ads from
appearing on your site.
A different type of ad network
which allows you to display affiliate ads in an "Adsense Style". You can run
Clickbank and Paydotcom text ads on your site or blog and earn up to 75%
commission.
Display text ads on your website and let advertisers bid against
each other. Ad formats are skyscrapers, banners, rectangles, buttons. They even
have ads for your RSS feeds. Payout is monthly via Paypal once your balance is
$10.00. This one pays on a cost per click basis.
This service allows you to create Google Adsense styled ads for
Amazon products. Different ad formats are available which makes it easy to
integrate into your site. Amasense can also be used side by side with Google
Adsense without any problems.
As ads are clicked on, you earn a
percentage of the product which is paid by Amazon depending on the type of
product that is bought. You must have an Amazon associate account first before
signing up. To get one go to https://affiliate- program.amazon.
com/
As you can see Adsense is not
the only game in town when it comes to running ads on your site. If you have
multiple sites, you may want to use one of the services mentioned above, then
test, to see which one is a better earning opportunity. You might be surprised
at what you learn.
It's against Google's terms of service to run another
contextual ad service on the same page as Adsense, but there are exceptions to
the rule. Most of the services above will tell you if you can run their ads
alongside Adsense.
If your websites are mainly information based, network
advertising is an excellent way for you to earn an income with little effort on
your part. No matter if you use Adsense or another service, it just makes for
good dollars and cents.
------------ --------- --------- ---------
--------- - Merle's Mission Blog- "Rants, Raves and Random Acts of Kindness"
a self proclaimed "Internet Junkie" with a passion for net marketing, affiliate
marketing, social networking. An avid Blogger and writer with several niche
sites to her credit. Find out more at http://merlesworld.blogspot.com/
June 18, 2009 | By Robelen Bajar, Melbourne IT (Sponsored
Editorial)
Robelen Bajar, Melbourne IT
It’s easy for people to blame the tough times or other external factors when
their website’s not performing. But sometimes, the enemy is not out there.
To help the struggling websites of Australia, we have put together 10
practical tips that are guaranteed to help almost any website improve its
performance. Take some time to reflect, and ask yourself the questions that will
allow you to find out how well you know your website.
1. Define your website’s purpose.
Will your website provide your sales team with leads, sell products online,
advertise a product, provide help and assistance for customers or generate an
income from advertising?
Knowing the role your website plays in your business and in your marketing
mix helps you determine how your website contributes to your bottom-line and how
to improve its performance.
Write down a list of things you want your website to do and then prioritise
the most important to the least important.
2. Know who your customers are.
Who are your customers and why do they visit your website?
This may seem obvious but it is important that you “get in your customer’s
head” and work out what is important to them.
Talk to your sales team and find out which questions your customers ask most.
What drives them to visit your website, your office or shop, or to call? Then
write down the steps a customer takes when making a purchase decision: from the
time they recognise a need for your product or service, to the time they
consider making a purchase, finding a supplier (hopefully you) and using the
product or service.
Understanding how a customer behaves when buying your product or service
helps you design a website experience that makes customers want to buy from
you.
3. Understand what your customers do on your site.
Use your web analytics reports to find out how customers interact with your
website.
How many visitors does your website get a month?
Which page within your website gets the highest ‘bounce rate’? The bounce
rate is the percentage of visitors who visit one page only. This is a good
measure of which pages are turning your potential customers away.
How long do your visitors spend on your website? This is a good way of
finding out how interested your visitors are in your website.
What countries do your visitors come from? If you only operate in Australia
and you have a lot of traffic from the United States, you should either expand
your business or exclude these visitors from your reports.
How much traffic do you get from search engines? What are the keywords? Are
there any surprises?
If your site generates leads, what percentage of qualified visitors submit a
lead? (e.g. an enquiry form) If your site sells products online, what percentage
of qualified visitors complete an order?
Use a dedicated phone number to measure how many phone calls your website is
generating (e.g. 1300 654 677). This is a great way of segmenting the calls
generated by your website from your other marketing vehicles like print ads and
your Yellow Pages ad.
The above measures can help you understand what your customers do on your
website and where you need to improve.
4. Get feedback from your customers.
What do your customers really think?
Survey your customers and find out how useful your website is to them. Listen
to their feedback and look for common issues and address them appropriately.
If you have a high bounce rate, survey the customers leaving your site and
ask them why. If someone calls you from your website (using your dedicated
website phone number), ask them what they liked and didn’t like about it.
5. Benchmark yourself against your competitors.
Know what your competitors are doing online. Every week, check the website of
your top five competitors. What are they doing that could be taking business
away from you. Use the strategies you like and learn from the ones you don’t
like.
6. Have a place for everything and put everything in its
place.
Does your homepage have everything on it? It shouldn’t. Every page is equally
important and should be treated as an opportunity to persuade your potential
customers to submit a sales enquiry or order online. Your homepage should
contain enough of the right information for potential customers to find what
they are looking for or for you to show them what they need.
When deciding on the layout of your web pages, think about how you can engage
with your potential customers.
7. Don’t fall in love with cool design.
Sometimes it’s easy to fall in love with a really cool design feature. It
could be YouTube videos, animated graphics and banners, a large font, a small
font or a really nice drop shadow.
Some design features detract from your website’s purpose and turn visitors
away. Learn what works and use them. This is the time to listen to a web
marketing expert who understands which web design elements help improve your
site’s performance.
8. Get a geek who understands your customers and your business.
If you use a web developer, ensure they understand your business. If they
dictate to you and ignore your marketing needs and the needs of your customers,
get a new geek.
Your web developer or designer works for you and your business.
If your geek is also a web marketing expert with a track record to speak of,
then count yourself lucky.
9. Speak your customers’ language.
Do your customers say they want “media reputation management services” or do
they simply refer to it as “media relations” or just “PR”?
If it’s a shovel, call it a shovel. Don’t use fancy names customers don’t use
or worse, have never heard.
Copy is important! Use short sentences, paragraphs and lists. Don’t give
customers a headache by writing long blocks of text. Break it down. If the
information is not important, remove it.
Writing on the web is different. Make sure you know how, or pay someone who
knows how.
10. Test, test, test, test
Based on your website’s purpose and what you know about how customers behave
on your site, come up with a theory that gets your website better results and
change your site. Over a few days or weeks, measure whether it has made a
difference.
Then write down the results and try something else.
Robelen Bajar is Group Marketing Manager at Melbourne IT,
which helps entrepreneurs start, grow and manage their businesses online. Visit
www.melbourneit.com.au.
June 17, 2009 | By Joel Montgomery, PowerBuy (Sponsored
Editorial)
I read an article recently discussing the complexity
involved in choosing a new computer (laptop or desktop). Yes, computers
themselves are complex machines with many different whizzing motors and flashing
lights, but does it make a big difference whether we go for the top-of-the-line
or the middle-of-the-road technology? For most of us the answer is no.
Let’s keep it simple. Unless you’re a gamer or you use your system for
demanding applications such as Autocad or Microstation, then here’s a simple
checklist to make sure you’re getting what you need without the unnecessary
costs and complexity:
1.CPU (Processor) - OK let’s start with
the trickiest part. The CPU affects the performance (speed) at which your
computer runs because it does all the processing work. The two major brands of
CPU are Intel and AMD and there are more than 40 different models to choose
from. Avoid the Intel models E2140, E1200, E1400 and avoid the AMD models
LE-1200, LE-1250 & LE-1300 (called the “Sempron” range). The rest are fine
for everyday business use. If you want superior performance at a good price,
then I suggest the Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 or any of the AMD Phenom X4
models.
2. RAM (Memory) - This is the amount of information that can
be quickly accessed by the processor. Anything less than 2GB (Gigabytes) could
noticeably slow you down. 2GB is fine, 4GB is over-kill unless you’re running
Windows 64-bit software (which is unlikely).
3. Hard drive (Disk) - This is the amount of information
that can be stored on your computer (it’s always much bigger than RAM). Don’t
buy anything less than 160GB (Gigabytes), and I would suggest 250GB unless
you’re storing all your files on a separate storage device (e.g. a server).
4. Screen (Flat Panel Monitor) - Whilse it’s not critical,
try to get wide-screen format because many new programs are being designed for
this format. If you’re buying a desktop, I wouldn’t buy anything smaller than 19
inches.
5. Microsoft Operating System (OS) - If you’re not buying a
Mac then this can be a tricky one. Firstly, if you have more than five computers
then you should purchase a Microsoft Open License as it’s usually cheaper than
pre-installed software. Otherwise just go ahead and buy Vista Business. Whilst
some people will tell you XP is better, I suggest you move with the times
(unless of course one of the software programs you use doesn’t work on
Vista).
6. Other Microsoft software - Again, if you have more than
five computers then you should be purchasing a Microsoft Open License.
Otherwise, I suggest getting Microsoft Office 2007 OEM version. Read more about
buying OEM here
Everything else (optical drives, mouse, keyboard, etc.) should come with the
computer. Don’t be fussy about the models here unless you have a specific
requirement.
If you’re in the market for a laptop and you plan to travel around with it a
lot, then there are two other important considerations in addition to the
above:
7. Weight - Anything more than 2.2KG is starting to get
heavy
8. Battery - Make sure the battery life is five hours or
greater. Look for six or eight-cell batteries to do the job.
Fianlly, if you want to save a bit of extra cash, check out PowerBuy.com.au where you can save more
on top of the best prices you can find.
Joel Montgomery is the founder of PowerBuy.com.au, a free I.T. coupon and
cash-back service for small Australian businesses.
It is amazing how much traffic you can get by using the right forums and
posting the right discussions. I have outlined the process along with my secret
list of forums that we use.
This is something that has really started to
lead to large amounts of traffic, and it is real easy to get a piece of this
because very few people know how to do this.
The National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) just released
their first quarter statistics and the numbers are downright shocking. In the
first quarter of 2009, there were only 549 venture capital deals in the
country. We have to go all the way back to 1995 to find a first quarter where
there were fewer venture capital deals.
In fact, as the chart below shows, the number of VC deals done
in the first quarter of 2009 was just over a quarter the number done in the
first quarter of the bubble year of 2000.
The Number of Venture Capital Deals Done in the First Quarter,
1995-2009.
The numbers for the amount invested aren’t much better. VC’s
invested just over $3 billion in the first quarter of 2009. In real terms
that’s less than the amount invested in the first quarter of 1996 when VC’s
invested $2.3 billion ($3.15 billion in today’s dollars).
In real terms, the first quarter 2009
investment of $3 billion was 8.7 percent of the amount invested in the first
quarter of 2000 (when $34.46 billion was invested in today’s
dollars.)
If all of this isn’t bad enough, consider the number of
companies that received venture capital for the first time in the first quarter
of 2009. Only 132 companies; the lowest number since, well you guessed it,
1995.
With the IPO market almost non-existent in 2008 and acquisition
activity down, venture capitalists were having a hard time exiting their
investments. So they probably figured that financing a whole new crop of
companies wasn’t the most prudent strategy, and so they cut back on their
investments.
Now, along with everything else, venture capital backed start-up
activity is waiting for the recovery.
* * * * *
About the Author:Scott
Shane is A. Malachi Mixon III, Professor of
Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University. He is the author of
nine books, including Fool’s Gold: The Truth Behind Angel Investing in America; Illusions of Entrepreneurship: The Costly Myths that Entrepreneurs,
Investors, and Policy Makers Live By; Finding Fertile Ground: Identifying
Extraordinary Opportunities for New Ventures; Technology Strategy for Managers
and Entrepreneurs; and From Ice Cream to the Internet: Using Franchising to
Drive the Growth and Profits of Your Company.
The following text is a blog article titled '10 Ways to
use LinkedIn' by Guy Kawasaki. Numbers have been modified to reflect more
current membership.
Most people use LinkedIn to 'get to someone' in
order to make a sale, form a partnership, or get a job. It works well for this
because it is an online network of more than 40 million experienced
professionals from around the world representing 170 industries. However, it is
a tool that is under-utilized, so I've compiled a top-ten list of ways to
increase the value of LinkedIn.
Increase your visibility.
By adding connections, you increase
the likelihood that people will see your profile first when they're
searching for someone to hire or do business with. In addition to appearing at
the top of search results (which is a major plus if you're one of the 67,000
product managers on LinkedIn), people would much rather work with people who
their friends know and trust.
Improve your connectability.
Most new users put only their current
company in their profile. By
doing so, they severely limit their ability to connect with people. You should
fill out your profile like
it's an executive bio, so include past companies, education, affiliations, and
activities.
You can also include a link to your
profile as part of an email
signature. The added benefit is that the link enables people to see all your
credentials, which would be awkward if not downright strange, as an
attachment.
Improve your Google PageRank.
LinkedIn allows you to make your profile information available for
search engines to index. Since LinkedIn profiles receive a fairly high PageRank
in Google, this is a good way to influence what people see when they search for
you. To do this, create a public profile and select 'Full View.'
Also, instead of using the default URL, customize your public profile's URL to
be your actual name. To strengthen the visibility of this page in search
engines, use this link in various places on the web. For example, when you
comment in a blog, include a
link to your profile in your
signature.
Enhance your search engine results.
In addition to your name, you can
also promote your blog or
website to search engines like Google and Yahoo! Your LinkedIn profile allows you to publicize
websites. There are a few pre-selected categories like 'My Website', 'My
Company,' etc. If you select 'Other', you can modify the name of the link. If
you're linking to your personal blog, include your name or
descriptive terms in the link, and voila! instant search-engine optimization for
your site. To make this work, be sure your public profile setting is set to 'Full
View.'
Perform blind, 'reverse,' and company reference
checks.
LinkedIn's reference check tool to
input a company name and the years the person worked at the company to search
for references. Your search will find the people who worked at the company
during the same time period. Since references provided by a candidate will
generally be glowing, this is a good way to get more balanced data. Companies
will typically check your references before hiring you, but have you ever
thought of checking your prospective manager's references? Most interviewees
don't have the audacity to ask a potential boss for references, but with
LinkedIn you have a way to scope her out.
You can also check up on the company
itself by finding the person who used to have the job that you're interviewing
for. Do this by searching for job title and company, but be sure to uncheck
'Current titles only.' By contacting people who used to hold the position, you
can get the inside scoop on the job, manager and growth potential. By the way,
if using LinkedIn in these ways becomes a common practice, we're apt to see more
truthful resumes. There's nothing more amusing than to find out that the
candidate who claims to have caused some huge success was a total bozo who was
just along for the ride.
Increase the relevancy of your job search.
Use LinkedIn's advanced search to
find people with educational and work experience like yours to see where they
work. For example, a programmer would use search keywords such as 'Ruby on
Rails,' 'C++,' 'Python,' 'Java,' and 'evangelist' to find out where other
programmers with these skills work.
Make your interview go smoother.
You can use LinkedIn to find the
people that you're meeting. Knowing that you went to the same school, plays
hockey, or shares acquaintances is a lot better than an awkward silence after,
'I'm doing fine, thank you.'
Gauge the health of a company.
Perform an advanced search for
company name and uncheck the 'Current Companies Only' box. This will enable you
to scrutinize the rate of turnover and whether key people are abandoning ship.
Former employees usually give more candid opinions about a company's prospects
than someone who's still on board.
Gauge the health of an industry.
If you're thinking of investing or
working in a sector, use LinkedIn to find people who worked for competitors-or
even better, companies who failed. For example, suppose you wanted to build a
next generation online pet store, you'd probably learn a lot from speaking with
former Pets.com or WebVan employees.
Track startups.
You can see people in your network
who are initiating new startups by doing an advanced search for a range of
keywords such as 'stealth' or 'new startup.' Apply the 'Sort By' filter to
'Relationship' in order to see the people closest to you first.
Ask for advice.
LinkedIn's product, LinkedIn Answers,
aims to enable this online. The product allows you to broadcast your
business-related questions to both your network and the greater LinkedIn
network. The premise is that you will get more high-value responses from the
people in your network than more open forums. For example, here are some
questions an entrepreneur might ask when the associates of a venture capital
firm come up blank:
'Who's a good, fast, and cheap patent lawyer?'
'What should we pay a vp of biz dev?'
'Is going to Demo worth it?'
'How much traffic does a TechCrunch plug
generate?
LinkedIn hooks you into a network,
not just a human resources department. You wouldn't hand out your resume before
introducing yourself, so don't do it here. Instead, describe your experience and
abilities as you would to someone you just met. Also, write for the screen, in
short blocks of copy with visual or textual signposts.
Borrow from the best marketers.
Light up your Profile with your voice. Use
specific adjectives, colorful verbs, active construction ('managed project
team,' not 'responsible for project team management'). Act naturally: don't
write in the third person unless that formality suits your brand. Picture
yourself at a conference or client meeting. How do you introduce yourself?
That's your authentic voice, so use it.
Write a personal tagline.
That line of text under your name is
the first thing people see in your Profile. It follows your name in
search hit lists. It's your brand. (Note: your e-mail address is not a brand!)
Your company's brand might be so strong that it and your title are sufficient.
However,you might need to refine your professional personality into a more
eye-catching phrase that describes who you are at a glance.
Put your elevator pitch to work.
Go back to your conference
introduction. That 30-second description, the essence of who you are and what
you do, is a personal elevator pitch. Use it in the Summary section to engage
readers. You've got 5-10 seconds to capture their attention. The more meaningful
your summary is, the more time you'll get from readers.
Point out your skills.
Think of the Specialties field as
your personal search engine optimizer. It is an avenue to refine the ways people
find and remember you. This searchable section is where that list of industry
buzzwords from your resume belongs. This is also the place to display particular
abilities and interests, the personal values you bring to your professional
performance, or even a note of humor or passion.
Explain your experience.
Help the reader grasp the key points.
Briefly say what the company does and what you did or do for them. Picture
yourself at that conference again. After you've introduced yourself, how do you
describe what you do, what your company does? Use those clear, succinct phrases
here and break them into visually digestible chunks.
Distinguish yourself from the crowd.
Use the 'Additional Information'
section to round out your Profile with a few key interests.
Add websites that showcase
your abilities or passions. Then edit the default 'My Website' label to
encourage click-throughs (you get Google page rankings for those, raising your
visibility). Maybe you belong to a trade association or an interest group; help
other members find you by naming those groups. If you're an award winner
recognized by peers, customers or employers, add prestige without bragging by
listing them here.
Ask and answer questions.
Thoughtful questions and useful
answers build your credibility. The best ones give people a reason to look at
your Profile. Make a point of
answering questions in your field to establish your expertise, raise your
visibility, and most important, to build social capital with people in your
network. You may need answers to a question of your own down the
road.
Improve your Google Page Rank.
Pat your own back and others'. Get
recommendations from colleagues, clients, and employers who can speak credibly
about your abilities or performance. (Think quality, not quantity.) Ask them to
focus on a specific skill or personality trait that drives their opinion of you.
Make meaningful comments when you recommend others. Also, mix it up because
variety makes your recommendations feel authentic.
Build your connections.
Connections are one of the most
important aspects of your brand. The company you keep reflects the quality of
your brand. What happens when you view a Profile and see that you know
someone in common? That Profile's credibility increases. The value of that
commonality works both ways. So identify connections that will add to your credibility and
pursue those.
A final note: As you add connections and
recommendations, your Profile
develops into a peer-reviewed picture of you and of your personal brand. Make
sure it's in focus, well composed and easy to find. Edit your public Profile's
URL to reflect your name or tagline. Then you can put it to work by adding it to
your blog, linking to it from
your website, and including it in your e-mail signature.
Now it is a place to keep testimonials from clients! Once I used it
personally, then the social side kicked in. I now participate in group
discussion, find recruits (one contacted me today), market my business
and much, much more.
Scott
Shane
