[LinkedIn] The Twitter Success Story

The question which was posted on LinkedIn about Twitter - Success story through Twitter has received excellent response from guys from different geographical locations.

A gist of some interesting answers below -

Story - 1
Just to share an experience on Customer Service and Listening. I have been on twitter for 6-8 months now, I just shouted out about @cleartrip not giving out any offers on twitter. cleartrip listened to my shout out and rolled out the offer in twitter. Now that's definitely gotta make a customer feel good.
Twitter is more about engaging with your customers, to know what they want and more importantly act on it.
Then there are companies in the b2b business finding leads through twitter. So its happening, but companies are more or less just absorbing the stuff which can be done on twitter.
-Rahul Nambiar,Interactive Solutions Architect

Story - 2
Kogi bbq, a korean taco truck in Los Angeles has attributed much of its rapid and recent growth to twitter. http://twitter.com/kogibbq as has Coffee Groundz, a cafe in Houston http://twitter.com/CoffeeGroundz.
-Gary Sanchez, Consumer Marketing Leader

You can check the remaining answers/contribute your success story here

Success stories through Twitter [Updated]

Few weeks back, I had posted a question on LinkedIn about "Twitter's usage in Business". Today, I just stumbled upon an interesting presentation[shown below] that not only explains Twitter's usage but also backs it up with a good number of case-studies. BTW, the question is still open here

[LinkedIn] Success stories through Twitter ...

It has been almost a month since my last article & once again busy schedule has distanced me away from my blog Few weeks back, there was an article on this blog about Twitter and since, than I have been much more active on it

Well, we all know about Twitter & it's usefulness for business. However, there has not been [at least I have not read about it] similar news like this one where startup/company has generated sales through Twitter.Below is the question that I have posted on LinkedIn and to answer it, you can leave a comment below or head-on directly to LinkedIn

There would be many more startups/companies [apart from Dell, Sun etc.] generating SALES through Twitter

Twitter, a company that is making news without making any revenue is familiar to all of us. Though, most of us on Twitter use it for personal use; I would like to know about the following:

1. Is your company/startup using Twitter ?
2. If the answer to (1) is yes, how have you used the medium e.g in generating sales, getting feedback ?
3. Is there any success story [apart from Dell making $1 Million in sales through Twitter] where a startup/company has been able to generate sales through Twitter.

PS - I posted this question after I could not gather much information from leading blogs/ websites/newspapers.

How to use Twitter effectively ?

It has been more than a year since I am on Twitter but I was never caught in the the web of Twitdiction [Twitter Addiction].The first question that always comes to mind is "Who would read my tweet" and if at all someone reads my tweet, why would (s)he bother to reply me with a solution.But this turned out to be a misconception just like the one we have about Blogging.

For the past few days, there has been a steady growth in my T-follower count & T-following count, which gave a trigger to this article.

Below are my picks on how to make EFFECTIVE use of Twitter :

1. Use Twitter like LinkedIn:
LinkedIn has been a great tool for Business Networking[link here] and it is a place where you would find guys from the top to the bottom part of the corporate ladder.Seeing Twitter's phenomenal growth, you wouldn't be surprised to see the same set of people here as well.The idea is connect with them; check their followers list and follow the relevant people in their network. To take it further, Twitter is one step better in terms of transparency since you won't require the other person's email-id to follow him/her [exception is when the profile is locked].TweetSum is an awesome service that helps you more efficiently decide whether you should follow someone back once they've followed you on Twitter

2. Understand the time-zone :
Once you have established the network, you need to maintain it properly. How would a follower feel if you tweet "Good Morning tweeple,howz you?" and your follower in a different time-zone reads that in the night It is bound to happen that after irrelevant tweets like these you may loose a handful number of precious followers. We are no celebrities like @BarackObama or @ShahrukhKhan or @Padmashree Warrior etc.,that our followers would be interested in whether we had tea or doing coding or sitting with girlfriend; such tweets would surely bring down your follower count. This becomes very important when your precious followers are from various parts of the world.Though Twitter tag line says "What are you doing", it's meaning is much more than that !!!

3. Tweet & retweet relevant content :
This is an extension of the previous point, tweet[or even retweet] something meaningful which might be interesting and relevant to you & your network, keeping in mind that each tweet should bring in more RELEVANT followers on board[There should be some ROI for each tweet].Use HashTags or tags like [MY BLOG],[TECHNOLOGY],[STARTUPS] etc. wherever required so that uninterested followers won't spend time in reading that tweet.The crux is Tweet less , tweet relevant ...

4. PASSIONATELY LISTEN to your followers :
This would be the basic usage of Twitter and needs no elaboration. If you are a brand, it becomes necessary to look into what the Twitter(ers) are saying about your brand & be proactive enough to reply to their tweet.For example: Online travel company Cleartip was fast enough to respond to one of my tweets that referred them[Tweet here and Cleartrip's reply here], I really like their UI but this quick response doubles my liking for them.Freshbooks have proved that Twitter is a great platform to create passionate brand evangelists;their must-read case study here.

5. Use "Social Media Monitoring" tools for your links :
Being only limited to 140 characters, links that are posted on twitter have to be shortened using URL shortening services[list here].Though each service gives us a short URL, many a times it becomes important to know status of the link[how many read, percentage of people reading from different parts of the world etc.];to keep it simple-we need something like Google Analytics for short URL(s).These analytics would help you understand whether twitter is REALLY working for you & your brand. My personal favourite is Cligs, you can find the pros & cons of various services here

6. Maintain an effective Twitter background :
This just came out from my personal experience.Being passionate about Entrepreneurship, once I changed the twitter background to my current one; the number of followers increased at a very steady rate.Compare the profile page with RSS Feed; we read an article based on the title & it's relevance to us[even though the complete article may not be present in the feed !!!], similarly an effective backgound gives a clear idea about "THE REASON WHY YOU ARE ON TWITTER". This even saves the other person's time & his/her decision to connect with you becomes faster !!! TwitBacks also helps you creating custom Twitter backgrounds that would make your profile page more meaningful


7. MONITOR your twitter behavior :

One fine day, you realize that 'N' followers have stopped following you, hence before this happens it becomes necessary to check your TWIT(avior)- Twitter Behavior.TweetEffect helps in understanding which Tweet of your's caused a negative effect on your followers and helps you keep a check on your activity.

Note:
If you liked this article, we could get connected on Twitter & LinkedIn.

In case you have some more interesting points to add, please leave a comment and the same would be added to the main article [with due credit to the commenter].

Hurry up & start early - Vineesh Kumar, Pictualize

Last week, we had an interesting interview with Vineesh Kumar of Pictualize where he shared his thoughts about Pictualize & Entrepreneurship.In the final episode of this interview, we question Vineesh Kumar about Pictualize's future plans with usual glimpse on Entrepreneurship !!!

Do you have any fixed marketing strategy for Pictualize?
At the moment, we are actually marketing our work and we are finding takers for the same. The BarCamp Delhi [BCD] presentation helped us reach out to some clients and our recent work on the credit crisis has reached out to a much larger number of people due to solid efforts that we put in to get the word out.The plan to market Pictualize to the world is through carrying out innovative communication that enraptures the hearts of people and bring this power to other businesses and help them succeed too.There isn't a very hard plan as such and we are going with the flow. Just paddling, when we start losing direction.

As per your opinion, which are the three most striking things that makes IITs different from others?
In IIT Delhi [IITD], it's tough to tell how striking it actually is , because the daily grind actually makes one abhor the entire IIT system. But now being an outsider, I realize that the rigor of IIT has fundamentally affected my being and the same happens with everyone.

1. In my opinion, IITs are a little different from other institutions mainly because of the amount of raw talent that one can see and feel each day.
2. Apart from that IITD particularly provides quite a lot of exposure, so I had opportunities to see entrepreneurship closely before taking to it.
3. The third point would be that being through the IITs instills a certain degree of confidence, that helps tremendously in facing the opposition to entrepreneurship.

How do you filter valid/invalid user feedback [especially after BCD presentation]?
The BCD presentation majorly brought us positive feedback, so we didn't actually filter anything and just enjoyed the moment . We actually don't aim to filter feedback, but take all of it seriously and see how can we improve with it.

Has the risk appetite increased or what are some of the reasons that more youngsters are willing to startup/join a startup?
I wouldn't call it an increase in the risk appetite. The numbers seems to be growing proportionately to the opportunities available.
In my opinion, all entrepreneurs are rebels of sorts, looking to create the future. As we advance, there are more and more of such exciting opportunities and it is just the issue of mind over matter for a person to shift to the entrepreneurial world.

What are three most important things that you see when you guys formed the team?
We actually didn't think that we were forming a team. We are just a bunch of friends. Each has a different view of life and each has big dreams, but each of us have a vision to grow, improve, enjoy and succeed. As they say in love that two people needn't look at each other but in the same direction, the same I feel is true for a team.

Can you share some key learnings before/after co-founding Pictualize?
I would like to share learnings that I obtained in the last 5-6 months but prior to Pictualize.

1. Team building is not as easy as it seems and team members are though not tough to find, but they aren't easy to find either.
2. When you work and meet, make notes. Keep things in written. Helps in disputes later and is extremely important for facing clients, since their needs change by the minute.
3. [For students & wannabe entrepreneurs] If you are starting up after you are passing out you are already late. Hurry up and start earlier. You really need to earn money by the time you pass out.

In a place like India where families are close-knit, how important is "Family support" for any startup's success?
IMHO, family support would contribute to over 90% in the success of a startup running without external funding. As long as family can tolerate a productive person doing seemingly non-productive things [like starting up], the person is in the best of his situations to actually build a successful business. Without family support, it becomes a multi-dimensional problem and multiplies the risk of failure.

Enjoy another presentation by Pictualize which shows the Current Economic problems in a hilarious as well as meaningful way

Not knowing about business is sometimes useful - Vineesh Kumar, Pictualize

Entrepreneurship right after college seems risky as well as cool.In this article, we have a Q&A with Vineesh Kumar [co-founder of an interesting & cool startup Pictualize], who jumped into this idea after completing his graduation from IIT-Delhi.

Everyone knows that "Pictures speak louder than words" and this is where Vineesh and his co-founders felt there lies an opportunity !!!

Q&A is done in two parts where Part-I would focus on Pictualize and Part-II would focus on Entrepreneurship [and many aspects related to Straight-Out-Of-College-Entrepreneurship].

Note:
If you have any questions for Pictualize,please leave them in the comments section & it would be included in the Part-II of this interview

Let's start off with the interview ...

Everything starts with a problem, how did the concept of Pictualize arise ?
Pictualize, was born out of the realization that we need to change the current system of communication. It is just too ineffective, incomplete, lacking simplicity and possessing many other issues. The logical solution seemed pictures - the universal language, simple or complex, it is about expressing the core matter and with that came Pictualize.

Pictualize is a catchy name, which are the other names that you came up with while brainstorming & why did you choose Pictualize ?
Anirudh Maitra, our Idea Catalyst had put down numerous names for us to choose from. Pixlr8, Pictualate, and a variety of other names. Am not sure who exactly thought of Pictualize, but the moment it came onto the table we all fell in love with it instantly. Seemed to be love at first sight with the name and then the tag-line "Visualize. Actualize. Realize" followed almost effortlessly.

Who are the current team members and their roles?
Current team members are Aakanksha Gaur, who is currently our Visual Architect and she is the one who churns out all our imagination on paper.Anirudh is the idea catalyst and his wacky ideas are mostly out of this world. He leads in churning out ideas that rock, not just with us, but with others too.I am among the lesser mortals in awe of both of them, who gets to connect them to the rest of the world, i.e. bring us business and think about all the other things.Despite our roles being segregated, we all have an immense amount of fun, brain-jamming together and imagining and dreaming .You can know more about us here

Pictures speak louder than words, how do you guys ensure to bring the same creative feeling with each picture ?
It is precisely this effort that differentiates us from all the others who can doodle. We doodle, with a purpose and apply a lot of our mind to it. Three creative beings doing stuff they enjoy, certainly spew out tons of ideas and then it's more or less a war to select the best.We don't strive to maintain the creative feeling. The aim is to constantly improve.

What are some of the services that you are planning to offer like Marketing, Branding etc ?
More than marketing or branding, we are aiming to deal with "Communications". As individuals we all have been brought up with a certain sanctity of the written word and an unusual fear of drawing. We intend to bridge this gap and bring visual communications and understanding within individuals as well as corporations as well as help everyone express themselves visually.

Our current services deal with creating visual presentations for corporations to reach out to their clients/customers in a more understandable and personalized way. Additionally, we are aiding in marketing efforts of our clients.

In the near term, we are targeting to move to clients like UNDP, Micro-finance organizations and NGOs that deal with a large number of people from different backgrounds and it is obviously tough to manage the diversity. We believe that we can offer some order in this chaos of communication through pictures.

You guys started fresh out from college[some like Aakanksha are still studying], what are the pros & cons of doing the same ?
Pros:
1. We have sufficient time to experiment, fail, learn and start over again.
2. [The beaten down one] Risk is a lot lower since liabilities are lesser [though this isn't true in general].
3. Not knowing anything about business is sometimes extremely useful, since the person doesn't know what the real roadblocks are and when you aren't worried about certain things, those happen most easily.

Cons:
1. Most people don't take out-of-college entrepreneurship too seriously. It sounds like a frivolous idea of fools who are just trying to run away from the "real world".
2. Support for out-of-college entrepreneurs is just too less or usually absent, since they don't have any experience.
3. Out-of-college entrepreneurship is perhaps still a bit late and it is certainly way better to start while studying, since the risk of failure is totally absent

Does your startup have mentors and how important is mentorship for a startup ?
Mentors are perhaps the life line of any entrepreneur or a startup. Personally, I wasn't able to discover/find a mentor for quite a while until we met Mr. Kris Nair. He met us for some other venture and it was his initiative that we actually met him [since he has his own venture capital firm, we were a little skeptical about meeting him ]. But I guess, Kris is the next best thing that has happened to me on my entrepreneurial journey after I, Aakanksha and Anirudh started working on Pictualize.

For any startup dreamers, would-be entrepreneurs or just anyone willing to take the route less trodden, always seek a mentor. There always comes one who changes the course of your thoughts and also your life.

You guys come from different backgrounds[and colleges], how did you guys get along ?
All the three of us are friends and each met the other only by chance and through random connections. The difference in familial background is not very significant and colleges don't seem to make any difference at all. It is just the matching that we have mentally that makes us go along. Creativity, passion and the fun we have in each other's company solves the issues that come our way.

How was the response to your BarCamp Delhi presentation ?
The BarCamp Delhi presentation had a cracker response. We were expecting it to be well-received but the amount of appreciation we got was well beyond expectations and was a major confidence booster.

Enjoy the creativity of Pictualize in the presentation below:

Hope you liked this interview, stay tuned for the Part-II of this interview !!!

LinkedIn : How do I get my Business Site reviewed ?

Last few days have been quite hectic for me and I almost vanished from the Blogosphere but I am back again with what I love to do i.e. Blogging !!! To get back on track, I felt to share an interesting question which was asked on LinkedIn and thanks to Ramjee Ganti for suggesting me as an expert in the BLOGGING category

If you are a Blogger or someone who wants to get your website/blog reviewed, than either you should keep a track on the replies to question or attempt to answer the question given below:

Note:
Below is the question and my attempted answer on LinkedIn.

How do I get my business web site reviewed? How do I get bloggers to blog about my site?

1. Know about the your Business as well as the business in which the Blogger is associated with e.g If your business is into Semiconductors, than only consult a blogger who is into that space.A blogger who writes on Web 2.0 would not be a value addition to your marketing strategy but instead may take up your example as a negative one and write on his/her own blog.
2. Search for Bloggers on relevant sites like LinkedIn, Ning, Technorati, Digg etc. and send each one a proper and personalized pitch referring from where you came across their profile , why should they write about your business etc. etc. Remember, it is very important to give a personalized touch !!!
   
3. Don't try to bribe the blogger saying you would get gift A/B/C if you write for them. This would result in a negative publicity in most of the cases. Microsoft is very famous for this one.
   
4. Finally, if you want Bloggers to write about you, than they also want a small mention that "They have written for you" hence, add all the links and email each one personally so that you can expect BETTER words from them in future !!!
5. Last but not the least, remember that if you need a Blogger's help now, you may also need the same in Future, so Try to maintain touch with the Blogger with whom you want to
   

Note:
There would be a plenty of resources available on the Internet but at the end of the day, it depends on execution.

You can find all the answers to this question on LinkedIn here

How can Entrepreneurs use LinkedIn effectively ?

Have been busy in work resulting in a short downtime on my blog Today, I received an email from one of my blog readers who is connected with me on LinkedIn and just wanted to know about how I reached 500+ connections.I just thought it would be great to share some of my tips; which would also help me to look back and check whether I am using this great tool to the fullest !!!

Below are my Ten tips [starting with my so called own MANTRAS] which makes my LinkedIn usage effective and helpful.

My Own Mantras

1. Target relevant people:
Many of us who are part of startups would be a part of many mailing lists like OpenCoffeeClub, Startup Specialists etc. This would be the best place to build your network.What I do is "While reading the email of a person on the list, if I get a feeling that it would be useful[as well as relevant] to connect with that person , than I send the invitation" and I am sure that there are lot of smart people around on such lists....Figure them out and add them !!!

2. Be Specific and Personal:
Assuming you follow point(1), you feel that a person X would add value to your network and you would like to add him. What next "Send an invitation" [check the image below and the part in Red Color which mentions PERSONAL !!! ]

When you are meeting a person for the first time, it is very important to introduce and specify "WHY" his addition to your network and your addition to his network would be very much useful.Remember Permission Marketing by Seth Godin - "The privilege of marketing to people who are relevant to you", the same principle applies here as well.

It takes 2-3 minutes to be specific but it is indeed helpful. An improved example invitation below:


3. Build a useful conversation and than get the work done :
In case you are connecting with a USEFUL but unknown person, make sure that once you are connected to him/her; you know more about the contact. Write a "Thanks" reply and try to know as much as you can about him/her.
Once you are well acquainted , speak up and let him/her know the NOT SO OBVIOUS reason for the invitation.

4. Group your contacts:
Once you have multiple number of contacts; it may seem difficult to remember WHO,WHY & WHERE of a particular contact.Hence, on a regular basis ; export your contact list into .xls/.csv/other format and align the contacts in proper categories like Friends, Colleagues, Unconferences, Startups etc. to make your search simpler and faster !!!

The Obvious Mantras

1. Be an Open Networker:
The start is always difficult and if you are a waiting for your first connection, than this should be the first step. Just include your email-id in the Last Name field in your Profile page eg. Himanshu Sheth(himanshu.sheth@gmail.com) . This would give an impression that you are open to connect with anyone [with an obvious filter on whether the invitation would be relevant or not].

2. Put relevant keywords:
The difference between "S/W" and "Software" is huge.If you are an engineer and someone searches for Software, profiles tagged with S/W would be filtered out....So, just like coming on Google Search is important, being in relevant LinkedIn searches is important to increase your network.

3. Attach personal photograph:
Imagine being at a conference where you might have many of your new & yet Unknown LinkedIn connections, so "How would they identify you? " ......In such cases, personal photograph on your profile page would be very much helpful.This may also help you reconnect with your very old colleagues.

4. Use LinkedIn badge:
If you have a blog/website, do not forget to use your LinkedIn badge.Many times, the Blog name is not so obvious eg. ThoughtsPrevail is just a random name and does not convey that "Himanshu Sheth" writes that blog [Though smart people would always google for it ]

5. Recommend relevant people:
Always try to write Recommendations for people ; who you feel are worth to be recommended.Many people read the recommendations written for/by a person and a recommendation can really add value to the recommender's profile [for his openness] and the recommended person[for the great work that (s)he might have done].This indirectly makes searching for Smart people on LinkedIn easier.

6. Ask and Answer relevant questions:
"Q&A section of LinkedIn" provides an excellent platform to gain & share knowledge, not to forget adds lot of Stars to your profile with the golden word - EXPERTISE.

If you have some more relevant inputs, do let me know and I would add them in the Reader Contribution section.

Reader Contribution:
Ramjee Ganti - Guy Kawasaki on Ten Ways to use Linkedin

BELIEVE in your IDEAS and BOSS just DO it - Praneet Kumar, Co-Founder - WebDefenders

Few days back, I had blogged about an Unconference named IdeaCamp,Pune which was all about sharing and discussing ideas.There were lot interesting people that I came across during the span of the entire event.Amongst those interesting set of people , there was a startup guy Praneet Kumar who knew well about cyber law, patents, trademarks etc.

Praneet is the co-founder of a startup WebDefenders Consulting Pvt. Ltd [website under construction] which is into cyber law, ethical hacking and few other activities[which are listed below]. WebDefenders looked a different and interesting startup , in terms of it's offerings and services .

Below is a small Q&A with Praneet Kumar from WebDefenders.The Q&A session is divided into 2 parts : WebDefenders and Entrepreneurship.

Note : "I" in the conversation refers to Praneet Kumar.

WebDefenders [How,When, Why etc.]

Q. Can you tell something about WebDefenders ?

Well, WebDefenders is a unique endeavor in itself. It provides a complete solution package for cyber security which includes cyber law, cyber crime investigation, ethical hacking, cyber forensics and its related training and education.

Q. What are some of the sectors that WebDefenders caters to ?
Well! We wish to target initially the following sectors:

1. Banking and Finance
2. IT
3. Government
4. Authorized investigating body [both Government & Non Government]
5. Education [Higher or Specialized]
6. Defense
7. Matters related Legal Exigencies

Q. Cyber Crime & Security is a niche area, so when did you guys feel that the time is right to venture into this field ?
Well! We have been involved in this area individually from 2004-05 but it was in mid 2007 that we [partners] met online, later became friends and finally the partners.

Q. What is your take on the recent happenings in the cyberspace with respect to cyber crime, security etc ?
Hmm! We feel that the major problem which India, particularly, is facing today is an acute crisis of awareness about cyber security with respect to cyber vulnerabilities. It is a now the cyber-age and so chances of being victim of cyber crimes is very evident.

Q. Since, your startup also caters to Intellectual Property[IP] services,what are some of the basic things that startup should take care of while filing a patent ?
Hmm! If someone has a creative idea or invention, or is interested in starting a techno company (s)he may wish to protect, the first thing (s)he does is contact a patent attorney and file a patent application. (S)he believes that (s)he has protected his/her invention, so is (s)he protected? Not necessarily!!!

Preparing a patent application is "only" one of many action steps to consider. But along with it, I opine following things must be kept in mind:

1. Understand your product and market. When discussing your invention or idea, it is helpful to know "What is the ultimate goal?" & "What impediments to market entry exist?"
2. Expand and test the limits of your invention.
3. At least some analysis needs to be done to support broad claims of a patent.
4. Identify your competition.
5. It is important to understand the patents that protect your competitors.
6. Consider foreign markets.
7. Contemplate costs.
8. Select a proper attorney.

So, when one has an idea which (s)he intends to develop it, (s)he must be a bit more careful to consider all the requisites and technicalities involved before jumping into the patenting process. One may find that there is a lot more to consider than merely filing a patent application.

Isn't it!

Views on Entrepreneurship

Q. You took a plunge right after your internship in Persistent Systems, which is quite early; so what are some of things that came into your mind ?
It was one of my most adorable experiences as in how an organization has to be run transparently to such great heights.

I read a book called "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert T Kiyosaki, gifted to me by my dad when I was in my 2^nd yr of B.A.LLB.I then only decided that I am going for a business. After that I opted for a few internships to learn more about running a successful firm.I am a voracious reader. All these things together gave me the adequate impetus to choose for what I am today.

Q. You have a good team with you, what are some of the things you take care (as a startup) while building your team ?
Someone rightly said: It's not you [organization] who build team, it's your team which builds you. God gave me two gifts Neeket Pokharrna and Rohan Vibhandik..... rest happened automatically

Q. You were at IdeaCamp Pune, what is your take on such unconferences and how would that help startups ?
I feel that low mind talks about people, average mind talks about event but great minds talk only "IDEA". That's why a person of my frequency would have high stakes on such unconferences because any startup needs "the" association. In my views it's "the" place for starts ups which aspires high.

To corroborate this, I would like to state what my mind believes. Good association gives you good thoughts based on which one ends up doing good deeds. These good deeds, if performed again and again develop into good habits. All good habits if taken together form what we call a good "character" and no doubt, Character is the decisive factor.

Q. Can you throw some light on the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Pune ?
I as a person really appreciate and adore the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in Pune. It's amazingly healthy, young, energetic, and explosive and it has what we call the "X" factor. One need less admit this fact, in presence of entrepreneurial endeavors like the Bajaj, the Punewalas, the Firodiya's, the DSK Toyota's, the Manikchand, the Persistent, the techie HUBS of the city and the list goes on. The silicon valley of east, the oxford of east, PUNE ROCKS….

Q. Many of startup activities happen in reputed institutes like IIT/IIM, what are some steps that an entrepreneur can take to carry Entrepreneurial message to other institutes (like yours or mine) ?
Wonderful question indeed! Just One expression for this - "believe in your IDEAS, have the hunger for right association and BOSS just do it, no excuse please"

34 rules for Maverick Entrepreneurs

Few days back, I received an email from one of my LinkedIn contact's Mr. Wayne Mansfield.The email was about an article, in which his friend Yanik Silver has shared his experience about a meeting with the great Mr. Richard Branson has shared his mantra for Entrepreneurs called "34 Rules for Maverick Entrepreneurs".

Note:
This article was earlier titled "Richard Branson's rules for Entrepreneurs" which is now changed to "34 rules for Maverick Entrepreneurs". It was due to a minor error from my side

Out of the 34 rules, below are my favorite ones:

1. It's got to be a BIG idea that you, your team and your customers can "get" in seconds.
2. Strive to create 10x - 100x in value for any price you charge. Your rewards are always proportionate to the value you provide.
3. Provide a 'Reason Why' customers should do business with you and pay you a premium.
4. You get to make the rules for your business. Don't let industry norms dictate how you'll work or who you'll work with.
5. Create your business around your life instead of settling for your life around your business.
6. Consistently and constantly force yourself to focus on the 'critically few' proactive activities that produce exponential results.
7. Find partners and team members who are strong where you are weak and appreciate being paid on results.
8. Bootstrap. Having too much capital leads to incredible waste and doing things using conventional means.
9. Keep asking the right questions to come up with innovative solutions. “How?”, “What?”, “Where?”, “Who Else?” & “Why?” open up possibilities.
10. Focus most of your time on your core strengths and less time working in areas you suck at.
11. Always have something else to sell (via up-sell, cross-sell, follow-up offer, etc) whenever a transaction takes place. The hottest buyer in the world is one who just gave you money.
12. Always go back to your existing customers with exceptional offers and reasons they should give you more money. It’s 5x less expensive to sell to happy customers than go find new ones.
13. However the flip side is - fire your most annoying customers. They’ll be replaced with the right ones.
14. Develop and build your business’s personality that stands out. People want to buy from people.
15. Mastermind and collaborate with other smart entrepreneurs if they have futures that are even bigger than their present.
16. Make your business AND doing business with you FUN!
17. Do the unexpected before and after anything goes wrong so customers are compelled to ‘share your story’
18. Get a life! Business and making money are important but your life is the sum total of your experiences. Go out and create experiences & adventures so you can come back renewed and inspired for your next big thing.

You can read all the 34 rules here. Thanks Wayne for sharing the same with us

The BootStrapper's Bible

Came across an interesting presentation by the Guru Seth Godin on BootStrapping ....Worth a read !!!

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Off-Topic Content:
There are two questions , which I have posted on LinkedIn and your thoughts on the same are highly welcome & appreciated.

1. Different Revenue Model of Web2.0 applications/startups?
2. What is your impression on BlogCouncil ?
   

LinkedIn : A short success story !!!

It has been many months since I am on LinkedIn (with an open profile) and finally, it is fetching some results(good always starts with some ). Some interesting updates from LinkedIn as well as an attempt to use LinkedIn to get some results and to use a small share of my knowledge

LinkedIn photo update:
We can now add photos to our LinkedIn profile and it is one of the best updates on LinkedIn.My profile now also has a photograph.This was very much required since, many times your unique face becomes an identity and some people remember the face(and may rather forget the name).

Thanks Technofriends (for this update on the information) & LinkedIn(for implementation of this badly needed update).

LinkedIn answer rated the best:
Nowadays, along with Blogging , my attempt is to answer some of the questions that are featured on LinkedIn. This is a nice platform where you can share knowledge as well as show your expertise in the subjects that you know.A snapshot of the Q&A that fetched me the "Best Answer" spot !!! You can view my complete answer here

Why should you (effectively ) use LinkedIn:
Many of us count LinkedIn as a normal networking website but there is more to it than Networking, check out Ten ways to get LinkedIn to work for you by Ajay Jain. For example: Check out Recruiter on LinkedIn and you would see 500+ results !!!

Phase of IT is continuously changing and so are the recruitment strategies;lot of Placement Consultants as well as HR professionals from IT organizations have an open LinkedIn profile.This would make job search easy for the candidates and also makes LinkedIn an effective platform for networking, business and niche level recruitment