All Posts in Marketing

|In: Brand Building|Last Updated:

Though there are plenty of things to worry about during the start-up phase of any business, there are few things as important as brand creation and management. Whether you are securing investors or building your customer base, your brand is often one of the major determining factors in your success.

The following tips and tricks are great ways for your start-up to establish & build a brand:

Understand the Many Facets of Your Brand
Many start-ups get lost in the act of brand building and fail to realize just how detailed the process can be. The end result is a weak brand. Brand building and management is not just about everyone sees your brand. It is about how investors, employees, customers and partners see your business individually. Though positive aspects for each group tend to offer some benefit to others, building a truly strong brand is about focusing on each specific group and showing them exactly how your start-up is the best target for their money, time and trust. By monitoring and building your brand from each perspective, you can ensure that your brand is solid, stable and strong.

Research Your Market to Help Establish Your Brand
With the competitive nature of a globalized economy, market research is more important than ever. Establish a demographic & market and build your brand from there. Knowing your market makes establishing value and building your brand much easier. This also ensures that other parts of your brand, such as the name, logo and advertising, are honed easily to fit your market for improved results in your start-up efforts. Each of these factors can impact the success of your start-up. It is also much harder to alter many of these smaller aspects once the business is established. By researching before and during the start-up phase of your business, you position it for long-term success.

Embrace Your Brand
You can ask anyone what they feel makes the brand of a large corporation or business and get many answers in return. It is easy to promote a brand after it is created. However, establishing a brand in a start-up is very different. Most start-ups have only a few employees. This means that everyone should be embracing and living the brand of the company. When so few people are involved, every action you take reflect directly back on your start-up and could help or hurt its success. If you are living your brand and integrating into your practices, partners and eventually employees will be more likely to adopt your stance as well. This makes brand management and promotion easier in later stages of the business. The opposite is also true. If you live in opposition to your brand, your employees, investors and customers will be the first to notice and point it out to others.

Build Your Brand from the Beginning
Every second that a business delays in building its brand it is risking failure. Branding is not a process that requires substantial investments or dedicated professional services. Branding should start at the conception. This means that it should be an integral part of the start-up process. Branding establishes a number of things, ranging from your target market to your potential competition. This makes it one of the most crucial yet overlooked aspects of the start-up process. By establishing your brand early, you are defining the value and benefits that your start-up will offer consumers, investors and other entities. While making money is important for any business to succeed, creating value and establishing a market are two major keys to long-term success.

In summary, know what you are trying to convey with the brand, do the market research to know what your target audience will respond to, and don’t delay in executing — just do it !!!

About the Author

Eric Armstrong is a marketing professional specializing in qualitative market research.

Recommended Read

Some more interesting articles on “Brand Building” can be found here

|In: Entrepreneurship|Last Updated:

For many people, working at a startup is the holy grail of employment, and it’s not hard to understand why. You can get in on the ground floor, be a part of something exciting, and maybe even be a part of huge growth. That’s why it’s so cool to work for a startup, but that’s also why it’s so hard to actually get a job with one: everyone else wants to do it too. Competition is fierce, but with the right knowledge and approach, you can find a way to make the cut. Read on, and you’ll discover 33 insider tips that can help you land a coveted job at a hot startup.

Find a startup you love
Identify a startup you can really connect with, and the rest is easy. With the right fit, you’ll be better poised to connect with the startup’s culture, vision, goals, and needs.

Present yourself as an innovator
Startups are always ravenous for fresh and creative ideas. You can really stand out if you come to your interview prepared with ideas for growing and improving the business.

Show that you’re well-rounded
Do you have side projects that demonstrate your interest and passion for technology? Discuss what you’ve been working on and your dedication will be clear.

Identify what makes you unique and valuable
Getting a job means being a great salesperson, and every great salesperson knows you’ve got to have a unique selling point (USP). What’s yours? Be sure it’s the star of your resume and cover letter.

Engage in startup-related chatter
Check in on Quora and other great sites featuring startup discussions, and do your best to answer questions impressively. By being a part of the conversation, you just might catch the attention of a startup that’s hiring.

Don’t wait to see a job posting
Actual startup job postings may not show up for quite some time, especially among those in the early stage. Rather than waiting to see if they’ll pop up, get engaged with the startup early on to express your interest.

Go big or go home
Go into the application process with the mindset of leaving it all on the table. Successful startup hires have created infographics, catchy slideshows, even interesting websites to stand out in the crowd.

Be flexible
Working at a startup isn’t like working at a 9 to 5, usually. You may have weird hours, unusual commitments, and strange tasks. Be willing to take them in stride and don’t be shocked when you’re asked how you’d feel about taking them on in the interview.

Just start working
One of Square’s earliest employees was initially denied an interview at the company. But he brushed it off and took it upon himself to acquire card readers and use them to sign up 10 new merchants for the service in one day. It’s a bold move, one that got him noticed, and hired, by the startup.

Say thank you
Sure, it’s impressive to create high tech, attention-getting media to woo your potential employer, and if you have the skills, by all means, do it. But startups are made up of regular people too, and everyone, yes, everyone appreciates a good, old-fashioned hand-written thank you note. Do this, and you’ll really stand out.

Fill multiple needs
Being great at one thing is impressive, but it’s much more likely to get you a job at a big company where they can afford to have one employee for one task. At a startup, needs tend to be much broader, as each employee is expected to take on a wide variety of tasks. Show that you can contribute with a wide skill set that fills multiple needs.

Know everything there is to know
Don’t just check out the company’s website a few hours before your interview. Really spend time getting to know what the startup is all about. Do extensive research, connect with their social media outlets, and learn about their development. Go beyond the surface so that you’ll be able to stand out as knowledgeable and intensely interested in what the startup stands for.

Don’t try to share any BS
Entrepreneurs tend to have great BS detectors. Don’t give them a reason to lose faith in you by trying to feed them any. If you don’t know the answer, own up to it and offer to find out and follow up with them.

Be a part of the community
Be visible in all the right circles. Attend meetups, hackathons, and launch parties. Take the time to make connections and nurture your network. Connect with the right people, and it’s likely to lead you to a great startup job.

Be personal
Joining a small startup means lots of one on one time with the first people with boots on the ground. If you don’t click personally, chances are, you’re not getting hired. Do you fit in with the company’s culture? Get along with the founders? If you think you do, make sure that you let your personality shine through so they will recognize it as well.

Have your own questions
Be really impressive by showing that you’ve taken the time to contemplate what the startup is all about. Come to the interview with your own questions, ones beyond salary, hours, and benefits, that really demonstrate an understanding, appreciation, and willingness to explore the company.

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|In: Guest Blogging|Last Updated:

Getting on the “most popular” list is one of the best ways of gaining social recognition when using Instagram. This may even earn you a recognition message from the makers of Instagram which will help you get more followers.

Today we have a guest article from Steven Stretton who writes for Buy Instagram Followers – a website designed to help boost your Instagram likes & Instagram profile. Here he shares his tips which he has listed down from his personal experience on Instagram.

[ Please get in touch if you think there are some missing points, or leave your tips in the comments section ]

What is the “Most Popular” secret formula ?

Just like Coca Cola the “Most Popular” formula is not a well known secret but if you happen to get a huge number of likes within a short period of time then this will definitely increase the chances of you becoming popular. Receiving a lot of likes within a minute will definitely help you make this chart. The number of followers plays a huge part as well as working on your profile.

Just like in Twitter, you can get a lot of followers by actually doing some following on your part. The best thing remains working on your profile and making it better.

The Instagram team needs to improve their current formula since it awards a few people who have a lot more users. This makes it hard to discover new users this only a few people can join the “Popular.”

Here are a few basics on how you can go about boosting your Instagram profile

Who you are

It is essential for you to have names or nick names which are unique and easy to remember. Better to maintain a uniform nickname across all your social platforms so that the users can easily check how popular you are on other platforms & what you have lately been upto.

Your Profile picture

People who are handsome or beautiful will have no problem here. If you are not so sure, sun glasses will give you some confidence.

It is good to have a good sense of humour, humility and humanity because these are aspects that people are bound to find appealing.

Getting into “Most Popular” List

There are several effects that will be great boosts when it comes to getting into the “Most Popular”

1.  The quality and uniqueness of your photos will definitely earn you points. Make sure you take your time editing & coming up with creative and original photos.

2.  The information about your photos i.e. The titles, types of effects you employ & basically the style you use on your photos that is unique to you.

3.  Location Geo-tagging & linking your account to Foursquare can help with identifying the location.

4.  Knowledge you transmit to users: Users will only follow you if you have something to offer that adds value to their life.

5.  Your interest in the users – The time you spend on Instagram is dependent on the size of your group. If it is a big group then you will certainly spend more time communicating with them.

6.  Make use of emoticons in nicks & comments and this will make people recognize you.

7.  Organize original contests – This may take some time but it is a good method that is known to work.

8.  Make sure you thank your followers & celebrate your hits. Congratulate them as well. An example is when you thank your followers for helping you reach a certain milestone for example a certain number of followers.

Just like other social networks, your time zone at the time of posting is important. It is good for you to post at a time when a lot of people in your time zone have woken up and are free. This will give you more followers and help you make it to the “Most Populars. ” Doing it too early or too late may earn you followers from different time zones.

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|In: Business|Last Updated:

Whether you are into a job or doing some business; it is very important to be credible. In this post, we have guest author Matt Doyle who gives us tips on “Improving the Credibility of Business”.

When starting a new business, one of the big challenges that companies often have is making themselves look credible to customers and suppliers. Unless you can gain some level of credibility, you’re going to have a hard time being successful in any industry. If you’re interested in improving the credibility of your business, here are five tips to keep in mind.

Explore Surety Bonds

Buying a surety bond can be a good way to put your customer’s fears at ease when doing business. In some cases, you may be required to have a surety bond anyway. According to the Small Business Administration, you may be contractually obligated to maintain a surety bond to guarantee your performance. With surety bonds, you take the financial risk off of your customer and put it back on you and your surety company. The customer will feel much more comfortable as a result of having this on hand.

Give More Information

Secrecy doesn’t lend itself to credibility. If you want to be able to build some credibility with your customers, give them more information. According to Dun & Bradstreet, you should “provide your customers with a real address for your business & not a P.O. Box.” You should also include information such as a business history, a privacy statement, and other measures to give your customers information about your company.

Credentials

If you want to boost the credibility of your company, you may want to explore the possibility of certification or credentials. One of the best ways for small businesses to gain credibility is via credentials & certifications. Look for ways that you can get certified or join an organization in your field. This makes your company look a lot more legitimate compared to companies that do not have these certifications and organizational memberships. It makes it look like you are serious about your craft.

Online Credibility

When you have a business website, there are ways that you can improve your credibility online as well. According to Dun & Bradstreet, a site that contains real testimonials from satisfied customers will do better than one that doesn’t. You may want to use graphics from online verification services to lend yourself a little bit of credibility as well. If you can find some positive reviews of your products or services online, you may want to link to them from your website. If you’re a member of the Better Business Bureau, include a link to your profile on their site as well. This can go a long way toward making yourself look more credible.

Get Published

Being published in a major publication is perhaps the single best way to achieve credibility. For example, if you can write an article that is published in an industry magazine or on a popular website, this can give you a lot of credibility overall. It shows people in your industry that you are a serious contributor, and it shows your customers that you are a legitimate source of information.

Overall, the process of gaining credibility is not easy. However, if you will keep doing a little bit every day toward making yourself and your business more credible, it can pay big dividends in the future.

About the Author

Matt Doyle is an expert in surety bonds and when he is not writing you can find him traveling the world one random place at a time.

Image Courtesy
http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=484010

|In: Blogging|Last Updated: | 3 Comments

Few years back, I wrote an article on Why you should work in a startup and working in two startups was the best thing that has happened so far in my life. I learnt lot of things right from Technology to Business & helped me to understand myself better [I failed at many places but that was all a learning in itself].

[Today we have a guest article from Darren Foong who works in an Israeli startup Startcut.com. In this article, Darren shares his top three learnings while working in the startup]

Many are interested in startups lately; and why not? With Facebook’s highly publicized IPO and recent billion-dollar acquisition of Instagram, startups are the darlings of the media, the next big thing & a great way to make a killing.

It could well be a good way to make a living too; if you have the necessary skills, experiences and contacts to be in demand, why work for an unappreciative boss? Why not make money for yourself? For some, starting their business is a viable – even profitable – career choice, and there’s nothing quite like being your own boss and working for yourself.

But life is remarkably different in a start-up & it may not be for everybody. You should try it out, and decide for yourself if you enjoy it. But here are three of the most important lessons I’ve learnt from having working in a start-up.

You don’t know what you don’t know.

What’s the best way to promote your company? Unless you’re a marketing professional, chances are you only have a vague clue.
In most companies, roles are compartmentalized, and you can focus on doing what you’re best at. No such luck in a start-up, you and your team have to wear all the hats and play all the roles, and that includes doing the marketing/promotion for the company. And you don’t know it, you have to learn it.

Nobody on our team really had any experience with SEO, branding or online marketing; so for much of the time we had to figure things out for ourselves. This meant reading an inordinately large quantity of blogs and online guides, and sitting together pouring over Google AdWords & other PPC sites.

Even if you are an experienced marketer, the resources you have are limited – you can’t rely on media outlets giving you space or engaging the services of a PR/Ad agency. Even Google Ads may be an unqualified expenditure, depending on the life-stage of your startup.

Building a brand from zero is singularly unique & different from anything else, and you need to try and figure things out. We found countless social sharing sites & professional discussion forums which provided lots of useful eyeballs, but we also found plenty of pyramid schemes and snake-oil salesmen – none of which we’d known about (or how important they were, or how to utilize them).
You don’t realize what you don’t know until you realize you don’t know them – and it’s important to realize that that’s okay, because…

Patience is a Virtue.

Things will be hard. In the best case scenario, you strike gold and have to work extra hard to keep up with orders – in the worst case, you work hard but still languish in obscurity. You’ll stay late, for long hours, put in extra shifts, but realize things aren’t quite moving, you aren’t quite seeing the results of your day-to-day work, things aren’t taking off quite as fast as you’d like them to.

And that’s okay.

Things happen at a different pace in start-ups, and you can get frustrated or burnt out if you expect things to take off and fly immediately, or even within a year. (Incidentally, since a significant proportion of startups fail in a year – congratulations! You made one year!)

Patience is a virtue. It’s important to recognize the dangers of burning out and putting too much into a week, especially if it hurts the next week. You’re in this for the long haul – no need to kill yourself in the first mile. Hard work is important, but pacing is equally so. Especially since…

Everything.

You need to do everything.

The lack of a boss means no control, nobody looking over your shoulder checking your work and micro-managing. The lack of a boss also means you are now responsible for everything you do, including managing your own time-schedule and ensuring quality in your work.

But, more importantly, it means you have to decide and prioritize on the things that should be done. You’ll find a lot of things that will need to be accomplished, and the list will get longer and bigger every day. Going through it alphabetically won’t cut it – you need to prioritize, and only later will you find out if you’re right.

In a sense, being in a start-up means freedom: you can focus on what you want to, and deal with the aspects you want to – first. Eventually, though, you’ll need to do everything, and this freedom can sometimes be crippling, if you have too many decisions to make about what to prioritize, or if you keep doing what’s easy and put things off.

You need to do everything; one-by one, prioritized and patiently. And then maybe, you’ll survive.

I am sure there are many.. many more learnings, if you have any learning to share please leave them in the comments section.

About the author

Darren does marketing, blogging, and works at an Israeli startup at Startcut.com, where really he spends most of his time on Quora. He just started writing darrenblogs.tumblr.com StartCut helps you by distributing your videos to over 25 websites and 3 billion viewers. Visit StartCut today, or inquire at blog@startcut.com for more information.

|In: Guest Blogging|Last Updated:

If you have a business which provides goods or services, you’re probably no stranger to the power of Email Marketing. It’s an incredibly powerful tool for any marketing you do – not only is it very cheap compared with printed material, it’s highly targeted & very measurable. With a little bit of forward planning, email marketing can ensure you’re speaking to the right people, at the right time, giving the right message. Do it right & with just a few clicks of a button you’ll reap the rewards. But when it comes to selling branded products, email marketing really does come into its own.

In this article, email marketing provider Little Green Plane will share some top tips to make sure your branded products fly off the shelf. For more information about how you can create great email campaigns, please visit the website.

Selling your wares
Believe it or not, you don’t need to sell through email marketing to get sales. Sounds funny right?
From a personal point of view, your email inbox is probably creaking at the seams with emails offering you products and discounts – but just how often do you choose to buy? The first rule of email marketing should be to keep in touch with your fans and share your world. Connect and keep in touch, Communicate and let them know what’s happening at your business, Curate and invite them to get involved with you, and Create engaging content. These four Cs are vital when it comes to selling branded products, because the more you communicate the more likely people will connect with you. Once they do they’ll be more likely to buy!

Nurture your friends
For a business selling branded products, loyalty is key. After all, why would people be interested in buying your products if they don’t like you?
Nurturing your friends is crucial if you want to get sales – and that’s where email marketing can really help because it lets you send messages to the right people at the right time [this is called segmenting]. If you send out a powerful message to targeted groups you’ll be more likely to get a response. As point #1 says, create something worth sharing with your emails and give people something they find interesting and want to share on social media. If you can prove that you are a business worth following through a highly targeted email, you’ll be thought of as a business worth spending money on.

Theme your emails
The beauty of email marketing is that you can make sure your message, like your branded products, convey your business colors and brand perfectly. With a little bit of design work you can make your emails stand out. Most email marketing software lets you change the font, font size and text color – and you can change the color of the background, and add nice footers, headers and more! If you change your mind, you can always select a different theme option and it will change and keep all your content too.
If you treat your emails like your branded products you’ll build confidence and trust. Remember – the simpler the better.

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