February 22, 2009

Strategy Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

There is a webinar for Entrepreneurs organized by Sramana Mitra, Forbes columnist & author of Entrepreneur Journeys[review here & here] on the following dates:

March 11, 2009
March 25, 2009

Below is the recording of the webinar held on February 18,2009 [quite insightful, especially the discussion on Bay Area Digital] -

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February 21, 2009

Know your customers...

Few days back, there was a post which highlighted "How language barrier could be a hindrance to your business". Today's article came in as an email forward from Alok Padhi that very well explains the above mentioned problem[& would surely bring a smile on your face smile ].

A disappointed salesman of Coca Cola returns from his Middle East assignment.A friend asked, "Why weren't you successful with the Arabs?"

The salesman explained

"When I got posted in the Middle East , I was very confident that I would make a good sales pitch as Cola is virtually unknown there. But, I had a problem I didn't know to speak Arabic. So, I planned to convey the message through three posters...


First poster

A man lying in the hot desert sand...totally exhausted and fainting.

Second poster
The man is drinking our Cola.

Third poster
Our man is now totally refreshed.

And then these posters were pasted all over the place "Then that should have worked!" said the friend. "What the hell it should!? said the salesman,but I didn't realize that Arabs read from right to left"

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February 17, 2009

Viral Marketing at it's best : Wario Land

All of us know that something that is visual carries more appeal and also sends the right message with less effort. Though pictures are very effective, many a times; videos have an upper hand over them.Take the example of Google Chrome, instead of numerous cartoons giving insight into Chrome, if Google would have created a small video[or a series of videos] indirectly demonstrating Chrome's capabilities over other browsers-high CPU usage by Firefox, V8 etc., it would have been much more appealing.Since, Google being a brand in itself, such things may not have a negative impact on it's business.

This podcast focuses on why online videos are becoming a crucial part for promoting the business.The best example to demonstrate effectiveness of online videos is the following clip:



If you find found this clip interesting, you can check out the actual video live in action on my test blog, definitely worth a watch !!! It really interested me[like many of you] how this video was made; after looking into the source code, I came across this Google Gadget which is the heart of the video.Debug version of Flash Player & addons like FireBug were also quite helpful to find it's details.

Keeping the technical brilliance apart, the shake-it up video resulted in 500% increase[from 5000 to 25000] in it's total number of page views/day.


This article provides the complete insight into "How Wario Land's shake it video broke the Viral Marketing mould !!!" Though there are lot's of Viral Marketing videos around, if you come across any video that has created such a high impact; do drop-in your comments & it would be added to the article.

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February 7, 2009

"Go GREEN" this February...

In this tumbling economy, Entrepreneurship and Startups have definitely become the flavor of the season.With more and more newcomers opting to work in startups, an event like Entrepreneurship Week would definitely be an icing on the cake biggrin

What is E-Week,09
E-Week is a project initiated by the National Entrepreneurship Network [NEN] with an aim to embrace innovation, engage communities and inspire young people to think big.

As per the E-Week wesbite :
E Week India 2009 will connect young people across the country through a range of activities and programs to harness their potential as innovators and problem-solvers. Industry captains, experts, non-profit leaders, and faculty members will be in attendance in large numbers to encourage, guide, and inspire students to take action. In doing so, students will begin to acquire the knowledge, skills and values required to grow high-potential, sustainable enterprises for a brighter tomorrow.
Theme for E-Week,2009
"Go Green" is the theme for this year's E-Week.The main attention would be on sustainable development, green business opportunities and innovative solutions to environmental problems.There would be expert panel discussions on alternative forms of energy, competitions to identify and debate on green opportunities, educational movie screenings, exhibitions to showcase ideas etc.

Green Leader of the week
Mohanjit Jolly, executive director at DFJ is the Green Leader of the week.May be he was the ideal choice since, he is really betting big on cleantech in 2009.In his article "Predictions of 2009", he states that "Cleantech would be most invested sector in 2009"

The event would be celebrated from February,7th to 14th and you can find the complete details here

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