Monday, 30 June 2014

2CELLOS - Thunderstruck [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

Saw this and think they are very clever and talented. Just had to share it.

Wednesday, 25 June 2014

9 Ways Social Media Marketing Will Change in 2014

By Scott Gerber Jan 27, 2014

From the decline of Facebook use among teens to Twitter's IPO, if there is one thing we know for sure about social media, it's that few trends hold on for long — so marketers need to stay on their toes.

With that in mind, we asked nine successful entrepreneurs how they are planning on altering their social media marketing strategies in the next six months, based on their predictions for the new year. Here's what they had to say.

1. Graphic software will rise.

Posts on Facebook with photos get 53% more likes, 104% more comments and 84% more click-throughs than text-based posts, according to Kissmetrics. With the rise of Pinterest and Tumblr, it's going to become increasingly important to produce content in visual form, whether it is infographics, images with text overlay or pretty quote graphics. We'll be using more graphic software to turn our written content into visual content to make it more shareable on social media.
- Laura Pepper Wu, 30 Day Books

2. Social won't be use for sales.

People love to buy, but they hate to be sold. Companies currently celebrating the most success in social media focus on engagement, nurturing relationships and sharing value through their social outreach. Customers and prospects will seek out companies offering value, entertainment, discounts, help and engagement.
- Charles Gaudet, Predictable Profits

3. Automation will explode.

A lot currently rides on the shoulders of social media marketers. They have to be on top of brand voice, any current company promotions or marketing campaigns, the tools they measure social media with, the various communities on the platforms, etc. It's a lot, and it's more varied than most people are capable of doing well. In 2014, we'll see a lot of automation of the tactics (think timing, platform, structure, etc.), so social media marketers can focus on the content and the genuine social interaction. Autonomics is being adopted now and will only explode as more technologies come online in 2014.
- Brennan White, Watchtower

4. LinkedIn will become the most important publisher.

Imagine a publication with more than 100 million captive readers and writers, such as Bill Gates and Richard Branson, all natively hooked into and targeted to a social network. LinkedIn will become a premium destination for industry news, and you need to take part in that ecosystem early and often. Publish original content, network among peers in groups and raise your profile now.
- Trevor Sumner, LocalVox

5. Content will be bigger and better.

Simple messages and simple questions aren't enough anymore. To achieve a deeper connection with your customers, a company needs to engage on a deeper and more intelligent level. Short videos, infographics, quality imagery and polls are all ways to engage deeper. Companies need to look at the content they put out and ask themselves, "Is this shareable?" An example of a huge company that's doing this really well right now is Wal-Mart. Its content is smart and engaging, and the fan engagement is very high by comparison to its competitors. Also, companies need to focus on the fans they have and not the fans they want. If your message is always trying to reach out, you'll bore the fans that have chosen to connect with you.
- Andrew Howlett, Rain

6. Social will need to stand out.

Social media has really started to mature. Therefore, it will be a lot harder to stand out. To win big in social media, you'll have to think outside the box and find ways to get your content to stand out in all the noise.
- Wade Foster, Zapier

7. Social media campaigns will have to be paid.

I assume that the most effective social media campaigns in 2014 will be paid. The key is learning how to use Facebook and Twitter's paid tools now so that you'll have an edge on the competition. For instance, are you using Facebook's advanced audience tool? It allows you to upload your email database and send specific response messages directly to your focused audience. Imagine being able to segment both email marketing and Facebook ads to your target audience. Facebook already offers these types of advanced tools, and they will become more mainstream in 2014. Similarly, Twitter is now public and has been making an aggressive push into paid advertising. If you are a brand and want to succeed on Twitter in 2014, get ready to pay for it.
- Kristopher Jones, ReferLocal.com

8. Interactive content will trump static content.

Creating static content is too easy. In 2014, the bar will be raised on the type of content people choose to engage with. Expect to see content become more interactive (think software-like). The year 2013 was the year of "Top 10" lists. To get users to engage to the same degree in 2014 and subsequent years, publishers will need to make it increasingly engaging, and one effective way to do that is to make your content interactive.
- Chuck Cohn, Varsity Tutors

9. Google+ will merge into the social scene.

As Google continues to merge its products, it’s becoming more and more important in the social media landscape. There are so many benefits to using Google+. It creates a strong community that allows you to use your brand and identify consumers who share an interest in your products. It also allows your brand to become more social with like-minded consumers. They provide like-minded consumers a platform to connect with one another. This builds a strong community, which is a great way to get feedback on new and old products from real-time consumers.
- Nicolas Gremion, Free-eBooks.net

Article sourced from: http://mashable.com/2014/01/27/social-media-marketing-2014/

How to Make Your Workday Healthier and More Productive

Working hard or hardly working?

Rapidly growing technological advances have not only raised the bar for all of us, but also made us more inactive. We are now expected to be multitasking throughout the workday, and most of our tasks don’t require us to get off our seat! Here are a few tips to help make you feel healthier, more alert, and more productive during your workday:

1. Have a meeting? Why not take a walk?

Break out of the meeting room, and have walking meetings instead! Not only will the change in surroundings inspire new ideas and creativity, but the physical activity will also make you feel more energetic and alert. It’s an age-old phenomenon that was followed by Aristotle, Charles Dickens, Steve Jobs, among others and is proven not only to be healthy, but also more effective as walking together cuts through hierarchical work structures.

2. Eat often, Eat light.

Lighter, more frequent meals are known to boost focus and keep you alert throughout the workday. Infrequent, heavy meals tend to make you feel more fatigued and tiresome. The next time you’re getting lunch, switch your pizza or sandwich with a soup and salad and see the difference!

3. No more excuses. Exercise while you work!

The market today is flooded with options to get fit while you work. If you have a lot of space, you can get an adjustable standing desk, or a treadmill desk for your office. However, if you work in a more constrained space, a new Chicago-based company, Fitness Cubed, has built Cubii, an under-desk elliptical trainer that fits right under your desk! It is complete with an adjustable resistance and integrated bluetooth that connects wirelessly with their mobile app and existing fitness trackers to help track your progress and share with others. You can also pre-order one now on Kickstarter. So get moving and get active at work!

4. Stretch, Stretch, Stretch

Standing up and stretching for only 20 seconds every 20 minutes goes a long way to help relax your muscles, take pressure off your lower back, and increase your blood circulation. Taking your eyes off your computer screen and focusing on a distant object also helps to relieve and rest the eyes.

5. Initiate a Culture Change

Don’t just follow all the good habits yourself; promote them to the rest of your office! Initiate a switch to healthier special occasion snacks and dining places. The next time you want to ask a colleague a question, walk up to their desk rather than emailing or calling them, and encourage them to do the same. The surrounding culture and environment of your workspace has a critical role to play in how motivated you feel in being healthy and productive at work. It’s time to bring about a change to yours!

Article sourced from http://entrepreneursunpluggd.com/blog/how-to-make-your-workday-healthier-and-more-productive

Tuesday, 24 June 2014

5 Social Media Rules Every Entrepreneur Should Know

Image credit: Shutterstock

Social media can level the playing field between industry leaders and upstarts, between multinational corporation executives and small-business owners, making peers of all participants. Yet appearances can be deceiving. To borrow from George Orwell's Animal Farm, all social-media users are equal, but some are more equal than others.

So what makes the difference between a following of 500 and a following of 500,000? While A-list celebrities can have an advantage over most everyone else, other social media darlings have grown their base of fans more organically, and you can learn from their strategies.

What follows are five keys culled from darlings of the current social media landscape for increasing your influence in a way that can make a difference to your business strategies.

1. Produce quality content.

If you want to make your mark on social media, first and foremost you should provide quality content. "Content is twofold," says Mari Smith, a social-media marketing expert and author of The New Relationship Marketing: How to Build a Large, Loyal, Profitable Network Using the Social Web (Wiley, 2011). "It's generating your own, [being] a thought leader. The other element is what I call OPC -- other people's content -- and not being afraid to share that."

One man who successfully balances both elements is entrepreneur, investor and author Guy Kawasaki. "He's a self-professed 'firehose of content,' " says Smith. "He has a way of creating a nice blend of other people's content as well as his own thoughts and opinions." Not only that, but according to his Twitter bio, Kawasaki repeats every tweet four times in order to reach all time zones.

Quantity is not the same as quality, of course, but what is remarkable about Kawasaki, says Smith, is "his masterful ability to curate such volume. I could skim through his tweets and probably find a few things every day that I could pass on to my followers."

2. Be open and engaging.

On social media, it's important to be available to your audience, and few people exemplify that principle better, says Smith, than entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. "On Twitter, he does a lot of responding" to followers, she says. "He treats everybody as an equal, and he responds at an amazing velocity."

What's the upside of all this time-consuming engagement for Vaynerchuk? A loyal and devoted following for his business books and priceless visibility for his consulting business, VaynerMedia. "People love it," Smith says. "If they get a response from Gary, even if it's a smiley face, they're like, "Oh my God, Gary tweeted back at me!'"

3. Focus on a specific niche.

On social media, you can either be a generalist -- producing and curating a hodge-podge of content across many different disciplines -- or you can choose to specialize in one or a few areas. Specialists tend to bend more ears than generalists, says Smith. "Social media is extremely noisy. You've got to be able to stand out," she says, and the best way to do this is to own a particular subject.

Jessica Northey, founder of Tucson, Ariz.-based social-media marketing boutique Finger Candy Media, "owns" country music, says Smith. Northey hosts a live weekly Twitter chat and Google+ "twangout" for country-music fans. This year, Forbes ranked Northey at No. 3 on its list of the Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers. She has more than half a million followers on Twitter and more than 700,000 on Google+. "In my travels, if I came across anyone in the country-music arena, Jessica would be my choice" of someone to connect them with, Smith says.

4. Use social media to build your business, and vice versa.

For an entrepreneur, time spent on social media might seem like a distraction from the more important tasks central to running a business. Because it's so time-intensive, you should back up your thought leadership on social media with a real profit-making enterprise. Chris Brogan, founder and chief executive of Human Business Works, a business-training company in Portland, Maine, is one example, says Smith. "He walks his talk. He speaks all over the world, and he consults with a lot of companies on social media."

In other words, Brogan demonstrates his expertise in blog posts, uses social platforms to broadcast those posts and then uses the resulting visibility to market himself for speaking gigs, coaching sessions and more. These, in turn, increase his social media following. And it doesn't hurt that he was able to carve out a place for himself by being an early adopter of social platforms, Smith says.

5. Embrace each social network's unique culture.

Each social network has a "unique culture," says Smith, and the best users embrace it rather than sharing identical content across platforms. Take Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, N.J. He relies mainly on Twitter, where he has more than 1.2 million followers, and Facebook, and uses each platform in a way that takes advantage of its native capabilities.

"On Twitter, I see him retweeting people, I see him thanking people and engaging with them," Smith says. She also notes that Booker makes use of hashtags, a popular way of marking your tweets for a specific purpose or larger conversation.

On Facebook, by contrast, Booker posts less frequently. "You don't want to bombard people on Facebook," says Smith. He finds more elaborate ways to involve his community in his activities. For instance, he uploads albums of photos from various events where he has spoken.

Some power users maintain a presence on multiple networks, Smith says, but for most people two are enough. "Really you want to have Facebook and one other [platform] that you're active on," she says.

Article by

BRIAN PATRICK EHA

Sourced from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/227016

Monday, 23 June 2014

20 Reasons to Start Your Own Business

If you’re an entrepreneur you have heard the million reasons not to go into business: It’s too risky, you might go into debt, you’ll probably lose sleep, your social life is kaput, and the list goes on. But even with all these uncertainties, people are still attracted to the startup world. There are just as many, if not more reasons to take the leap and go into business for yourself. Here are just a few:

1. Spare time. This one can take some time. Initially you’ll work longer hours for less pay. But if you do it right, you could start to master your schedule and the freedom that being an entrepreneur provides is awesome.

2. A story to tell. Whenever I tell someone I run my own business, they always want to know what I do, how I do it and how it’s going. I always am able to provide a tale or two, and the best part is that I get to determine the story's chapters. (When working for a corporation, people most likely have less input.)

3. Tax benefits. For entrepreneurs (freelancers included), they have the opportunity to take advantage of some nice tax perks. Many can write off expenses like travel, food, phone bills, portions of car payments, and the list goes on. Also, certain startups qualify for government incentives. Make sure to ask your accountant about what tax benefits you may be eligible for.

4. Pride. When you build something successful, it’s a great feeling. You had a vision, were able to execute it and not can reap the benefits of saying "I did this." On the other hand, it’s tough to be proud of the zillionth request for proposal request you fill out for your employer.

5. Your posterity. If you’re a doctor, plumber or bus driver it’s hard to imagine you passing your career on to your loved ones. But if you own your own business, that’s something you can pass on to the next generation. And be proud of it, because you created it.

6. Job security. Have you ever been laid off, downsized, or fired? If you have, you get this. With entrepreneurship the security lies in the fact you are your own boss. You run the show and don't have to worry about getting let go.

7. Networking. Entrepreneurs are communal creatures. We love to meet each other, swap stories, and learn from each other’s experiences. Your circle of friends and acquaintances always grows when you become an entrepreneur, as many founders need others to lean on to survive and talk about the challenges only known to them.

8. Doing good. While this isn’t exclusive to entrepreneurs, it’s definitely a perk. You control where your company profits go and if you choose, you can give allocate your financial gains to others. You can sponsor a charity, a non-profit or just personally give back to the community. This is quite honestly one of the best parts of being an entrepreneur.

9. Novelty. We, as humans, love new experiences but rarely can you experience a host of new things from inside your cubicle. This all changes when you are running the show. Starting your own business will ensure you’ll always be facing new challenge and experiencing something new.

10. Mentorship. Having had mentors and getting to be a mentor have been some of the best experiences of my life. Learning from the masters and getting to help those less experienced than you gives you such a sense of satisfaction. From my experience (and other's stories) the entrepreneurial community is very willing to give back and lend a helping hand.

11. Becoming an expert. This point goes along with mentorship. Regardless of what you do as an entrepreneur, if you stick with it, you’ll probably become very good at it. And this gives you a sort of soapbox, so use it. You'll have the chance to be interviewed for your expertise, write about it and get to spread your message.

12. Skills. People ask me how I learned about SEO, social media, pay-per-click, PR and all the other marketing techniques I utilize. I tell them that I was forced to learn them, otherwise I wouldn't survive. The same way I was forced to learn how to build a spreadsheet, how to balance a budget, how to negotiate leases and countless other skills I picked up because I was the only resource I had. While developing new skills can be tough and takes times, it can pay off in spades. These skills will be invaluable throughout your life.

13. Determination. Everything I’ve done as an entrepreneur has affected me in my personal life. I used to be poor at committing to changes. But having been an entrepreneur for over a decade has forced me to become dedicated and determined to causes. (Now I can stick to an exercise plan much easier.) I’m also better at being a father and husband because of that determination I learned.

14. Recognition. There are literally thousands of local, regional and national awards that recognize entrepreneurs in every field and industry. This shouldn’t be your only reason to start your business, but it certainly is a great feeling when you receive this recognition.

15. Financial independence. Let’s be honest, this is probably the biggest reason people get into business for themselves. And that’s a good thing! You should want financial independence. However you define financial independence – retirement stockpile, unlimited cash potential or having the money to buy what you want -- entrepreneurship can allow you to achieve it. Trust me, money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does make finding happiness much easier.

16. Reinvention. I’ve started and sold several companies over my career. And every time I sell a company, I’m presented with an opportunity to reinvent myself all over again. On the flip side, if I had received my law degree, I’d be a lawyer (not a lot of room to recreate myself). But as an entrepreneur, I get to be whatever I want to be.

17. Change the world. Everyone jokes that every entrepreneur says they’re going to change the world. It’s difficult to imagine how a cell phone accessory kiosk in the mall is going to change the world. But there are those that do succeed. Take a look at Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Sergey Brin, and the countless other entrepreneurs who really have changed the world in some small (or major) way.

18. Create jobs. There’s nothing like the satisfaction of knowing you’re responsible for the success of your employees. Your ideas provided them the opportunity to earn a living, provide for their family and fulfill their own dreams.

19. Your brand. Being known for something is awfully enjoyable. People may start referring to you as the marketing guy, or the retail maven or the software guru. Whatever it is you’re recognized as, it’s fun to build that brand and earn that recognition.

20. Your reason. I’ve given you a list of why I think you should get into business. But all that really matters is your reason to start your own business. So, what is it? Tweet out this story and add your reason. Comment below and share with us why you did it. I know it will be a good one.

Article by MIKE TEMPLEMAN, CONTRIBUTOR

Writer, Entrepreneur, Husband, Father.

Article sourced from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234916

Friday, 20 June 2014

5 Things To Do Before Bed That Will Jump Start Tomorrow

Being effective as an entrepreneur is often about hard work, but even more importantly it’s about smart work. Great entrepreneurs know that time is limited and valuable, so they need to make the most of each waking hour.

There are many factors that contribute to working smart -- but planning and proper sleep are among the top performance increasers.

To maximize your time and efficiency, here are five essential and easy things you should do before bed that will make help transform your waking hours into super productivity.

1. Take a look at your calendar. As the saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. By reviewing your calendar the night before, you’ll know what’s ahead for the day so you can be prepared and plan for the best method to tackle your objectives. You’ll sleep better knowing that you’ve already planned for the day ahead and you’ll rise in the morning knowing that you’ve already taken care of the leg work to get a jump start on the day.

There’s another old saying, “If you don’t use your head, you’ll end up using your feet,” and that proverb goes a long way for productivity! Come up with a strategy the night before on how to tackle tomorrow.

2. Get the gym bag ready. Whether you go to the gym, run in the neighborhood or walk your dog, have your exercise gear out and ready to throw on for when you wake up. Getting your clean clothes together and ready is a life hack lots of entrepreneurs use to minimize the risk of skipping their workout.

It only takes a minute to lay out your gear, but it’s a great shortcut for making sure you get your fitness in every morning. Taking care of your health is an important part of the entrepreneurial lifestyle.

3. Turn off your phone. Sleep is a crucial part of the successful entrepreneur’s healthy lifestyle. Once you’ve checked your calendar and you know what’s ahead for tomorrow, put the phone on silent or turn it off to ensure it doesn’t beep, chime or ring and disturb your REM cycle. Disruptions to your sleep will leave you tired and slow your performance.

To keep your productivity at its highest level, make sure you eliminate any hindrances to your sleep cycle. That email or text message can wait until tomorrow. Turn off your phone or put it on silent to ensure a good night’s sleep.

4. Write in your journal. No, not the “dear diary” kind of entries. Keeping a journal is a practice that can help you process the day and make sense of your thoughts. Keep your journal in the nightstand and every night take a few minutes to review the day’s triumphs and write down what you’re grateful for that day.

Don’t make this a boring, unthoughtful experience. Think of it as a nightly meditation -- just two minutes of reflection thinking about the day’s highlights and writing them down will transform your waking and sleeping thought. It’s part of a wealthy lifestyle to appreciate all the great things of the day: doors held open, great conversations had.

Whatever the highlight, list it and prepare your mind for great sleep.

5. Read a real book. One last thing to contribute to your good sleep is to read a quality book. You can decide what a quality book is to you, but reading before bed is a great way to make that final transition into sleep.

It will also keep you away from bright lights and electronics (hint: don’t read on your phone or tablet, the light might disrupt your eyes and affect your sleep cycle) and soothe your body into the sleeping process.

Article by

Article can be seen at http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234622

MATTHEW TOREN

CONTRIBUTOR

Serial Entrepreneur, Mentor and co-founder of YoungEntrepreneur.com

Wednesday, 18 June 2014

5 Tricks to Stand Out on LinkedIn

Image credit: Twin Design / Shutterstock.com

Recently LinkedIn exceeded 300 million users, with more than 100 million located in the U.S.

The major reasons people are turning to this professional network is it's a veritable powerhouse of hiring, selling and learning. People are able to build personal brands, establish themselves as thought leaders and even bring in new leads to a company.

Here's how to make LinkedIn work for you.

1. Personalize your job title and summary. Don’t use the default job title as your headline, instead opt for one that is unique. It should be customized to include keywords that can help people find you. That means, no gimmicky titles that will ultimately render you unsearchable. For instance, my title is "Maren Hogan, Chief Marketing Brain at Red Branch Media.

I chose this title for a few reasons. Marketing is the keyword that will help people find the professional they are looking for. "Chief Marketing Brain" is my way of letting potential clients know working with me is fun. (That said, if you are just starting a new career or trying to find work, keep it as professional as possible and save the personality for the interview.) Then I include the unique name of my firm and a summary that highlights not only my activities, but HOW I achieved those things.

2. Become an instant influencer. If you’re using the right tools, creating and maintaining a LinkedIn profile, along with status updates, doesn’t require a ton of upkeep.

For instance, social-sharing software like Buffer or Sprout Social allows you to fill up a queue for the week or month and schedule publishing times and dates. You can hammer out shared LinkedIn content in just one cup of coffee over the weekend. Also if you select "Public + Twitter" from the shared with dropdown menu, you can automatically share updates.

The most popular LinkedIn pros also generate a mix of original content. This could be from posting blog-like posts on the LinkedIn Publishing Platform or from linking a SlideShare account to the network and posting content that way. Make sure to add a picture and a call-to-action like "please share" to every third or so post. Here are a few other ways to build up your credibility:

Share others' posts when you think they'll be relevant to your network's interests
Like posts from those who took time to craft them.
Join groups for your profession and also for your target market.

3. Throw away business cards. Well, throw them away after you make the connection. While I always recommend a personal email to important new contacts, I realize that sometimes that just isn’t feasible. Get through that stack quickly by connecting with them on LinkedIn with a short and simple note. You should also always customize your connection requests.

I would recommend writing why you want to connect with them. My most interesting interactions on LinkedIn have started with a genuine request or offer like: "I would like to buy you coffee and discuss working for your firm," or "Your blog post made marketing seem simple, can you show me how to do that?"

4. Make yourself accessible. Rule No. 1 of LinkedIn Club is make yourself so easy to find that users will virtually trip over you. A simple way to do this is to customize your profile URL. (Click here and the help center will assist you in claiming your vanity URL.) Other tips include:

Put "Connect with me on LinkedIn" badges up on your site.
Use the Slideshare integration to show off your most recent PowerPoint presentation.
Once a week, take a look at who is looking at your profile and introduce yourself to the most promising folks.

5. Use LinkedIn trending content and content score tools. Don’t have time to sort through it all? No one does. Use the trending content tool to weed through the posts and updates to find information relevant to you and your connections. You can also use this tool to gauge what topics might be hot to create your own content around. Then, you can use the Content Score Tool to find out how you’re doing and what you can do to strengthen your reach.

The more you invest in building and maintaining your LinkedIn profile, the more useful and effective it will become.

Article by Sourced from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/233482

MAREN HOGAN

5 Inspiring young British Enrepreneurs

Whether it's food or football, here are Britain's most successful young entrepreneurs that have started making millions from a ripe age.

1. Jamal Edwards, 23, SBTV

SBTV (SmokeyBarz) was founded seven years ago, by a 16 year old Jamal Edwards. After receiving a video camera for Christmas, Edwards started filming London rappers freestyling on the streets of London. His passion soon turned into a business, with the youtube based online broadcasting company quickly taking off. With hundreds of millions of viewers and subscribers, SBTV turned Edwards into a multi-millionaire and one of the most successful young entrepreneurs in the UK. The channel is now expanding into fashion, sports, arts and culture, alongside the already popular jam sessions, interviews and live events.

2. Joshua Magidson, 27, eatstudent.co.uk

As a first year student, Magidson was going through the same experience of not finding any good takeaways after a long night out as any other student. In 2008, he founded eatstudent.co.uk as a pocket-money earner, a website designed to help students order food from different takeaways. But the overwhelming success of his idea turned the website into a flourishing business. Through vigorous marketing and campaigns such as 'Sex, Drugs and Egg Spring Rolls', JustEat soon became interested in the website and bought it for £500,000. Along with the purchase, Magidson moved operations from his bedroom to JustEat's north London headquarters. Eatstudent.co.uk now has hundreds of restaurants and universities in its database.

3. Gerard Jones, 24, Gerard School of Football

At the young age of 19, Jones was studying at Hull University and playing professional football. After deciding that coaching would be best for him, Jones started up a specialist football and character development centre for children aged five to 12.
Two years later, Jones became Arsenal's youngest director of football in the history of the club and in 2010, his growing company was voted one of the top 100 UK business start-ups.

The young entrepreneur now runs the Premier Skills Coaching in Yorkshire and is a Director of Gerard Jones Enterprises.

4. Nicko Williamson, 30, Climatecars

After graduating from Bristol University with a BA in Modern History in 2007, Williamson came up with the idea of launching an eco-friendly taxi service. By raising £200,000 from family and friends and an additional £300,000 through an Angel network, the entrepreneur founded Climatecars.

The eco-friendly taxi service covers the whole of Great London and caters to over 650 companies across the capital. In just a few years from launching, the company had already become a profitable business, with an annual turnover of over £3m.

5. Ross Fobian, 29, ResponseTap

In 2008 Fobian was studying to become an electronic engineer at the University of York. One day, he was having a drink with a friend and decided to launch a business that could track the effectiveness of marketing at generating phone calls. Fobian co-founded AdInsight, which later changed its name to ResponseTap, a call-tracking software that would allow companies to see what customers do and look for on their website. Big companies like British Gas, Thomas Cook, Tesco and Virgin Money soon took an interest in ResponseTap, and in a few years time, Fobian along with his business partner Richard Hamnett, received investments of over £1.6m.

Article by Alice Yehia. Sourced from http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/25548-5-inspiring-young-british-entrepreneurs

Sunday, 15 June 2014

The Dalai Lama's 18 Rules For Living

HOW TO BECOME A FREELANCE COPYWRITER

So you want to become a freelance copywriter. Well, there’s no room for the likes of you in this profession. Now get out of here!

Just kidding.

Copywriting is great work. It can be fun and creative. It can pay very well. It can also be a mind-numbing slog on occasion. That’s ok though, because as a freelancer you’ll soon find yourself moving on to something else. If you really don’t like the sound of a project, you can even say no. You’re the boss after all.

So how you can you become a freelance copywriter? There are many different routes into the profession, but in this post I’m going to share my own modest success story and a few tips.

CAN YOUR WRITING SELL?

First though, let’s consider just what in Jiminy Cricketsville a copywriter is. The way I see it, a copywriter is someone who loves communication. Not words, but communication. That’s an important distinction, because a good copywriter never indulges in language for his or her own self-gratification. Successful marketing copy always conveys a powerful message and achieves a real world goal – usually to sell something.

A copywriter’s real skill, then, is in using language to sell ideas effectively.

HOW I BECAME A COPYWRITER

So all you really need to do to become a professional copywriter is prove your words can sell. Simple, right?

It is in a way. Personally I started out as a freelance copywriter, entirely in my spare time, after realising it was the ideal job for me. I had little guidance beyond what I found in booksand on the Internet. I had no clients or contacts. What I did have was the guts and determination to do something that was, thinking back, very risky.

I also had a master’s degree in English, which meant I had technical language skills. But when you want to be a copywriter, technical ability is far less important than the ability to sell. As David Ogilvy put it:

“I don’t know the rules of grammar… If you’re trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think.”

Good advice, although the people hiring you won’t always see it that way.

BUILD A PORTFOLIO

So what was my first move? I remember two things that really got my career off the ground: creating copy samples and offering pro bono services. Both are great ideas, whether you want to join an agency or you’re taking the increasingly popular freelance route.

I started by cooking up many samples. A sales letter for the company I was employed by at the time. A print ad for a non-existent bakery. A property flyer I wrote gratis for a company from Glasgow. I put them all in a portfolio folder, which I would take to the meetings I managed to arrange.

My ‘portfolio’ also went up online, on a website I built myself for almost no money. Unbelievably, it soon got me some paid work writing press releases and articles for a web design agency in Nottingham. That was the beginning of my copywriting career and my workload snowballed steadily from there.

THE TRADITIONAL ROUTE: JOIN A MARKETING AGENCY

The other well-trodden path to becoming a copywriter is to join a marketing agency. I have a sneaky suspicion it’s also the best option – if you can find yourself a job, that is.

Joining an agency is something I have no personal experience of. It is however something I would love to do in the future. While being your own boss is great, there’s a lot to be said for having the guidance of experienced professionals. Being part of a creative team means you have other talented people to ask questions and bounce ideas off. Start out as a freelancer and you’ll have none of these benefits.

If you have the opportunity to join an agency, I’d say “do it”. Even if your ultimate goal is to be self-employed, the experience will be worth it.

READY TO GIVE UP YOUR DAY JOB?

Around a year and a half passed between the moment I first thought “I’m going to be a copywriter” and the day I started copywriting full time. Throughout that period I continued my job at a plant hire company and took on copywriting projects in the evenings and weekends. Slowly but surely, I was building up experience and gathering new clients. Yes it was tiring and difficult, but it was also worth it.

In the end, I didn’t leave my old office job the way I planned to. I didn’t hit the point where I could say “Yes, I now have enough copywriting clients to make a decent living” and then quit – which is what you should try to do if you’re taking the same path.

It was more like a leap of faith. I got a big writing job for Quarriers and I couldn’t do both. So I took the plunge, hoping that the extra pressure and time I’d have would help me to find more clients and flourish.

Had I failed, I would have ended up homeless – or sponging off my parents, at least.

Thankfully my gamble paid off. Today I write for agencies and marketing departments all over the UK and Europe, including a couple of famous brands. Don’t believe for a second that it was down to luck, however. My success as a copywriter was built upon dedication, hard work, the desire to keep learning and of course a semblance of writing talent. If you have similar qualities, maybe you can become a freelance copywriter too.

Original article sourced from http://www.evoluted.net/thinktank/copywriting/how-to-become-a-freelance-copywriter

Friday, 13 June 2014

Review of The Laptop Entrepreneur

From time to time I like to include reviews of books I have read and found useful.

Here is my review of The Laptop Entrepreneur by Margaret Adams

I like this book. The Laptop Entrepreneur: How to make a living anywhere in the world by Nick Snelling and Graham Hunt offers practical and easy-to-understand guidance for anyone who is seriously considering making a living via the internet and using the freedom that such a style of working delivers to live just about anywhere.

Nick and Graham are experts in doing the sort of things they write about. Both are British and both live – and work – in Spain, using the tactics and techniques they write about in The Laptop Entrepreneur to build the type of future that’s right for them.

In this book they explain in straightforward terms that it is possible to earn a living via the internet. They show readers that they can adapt their existing skills and expertise to suit a new way of working and possibly a new way of life. They then offer step-by-step guidance to help readers to fulfil their aspirations.

Laying Firm Foundations

The Laptop Entrepreneur spends more than forty pages on the overview of how to make a living via the internet and on the important topic of market research. This makes the book particularly valuable to people who have not, to date, thought seriously about how to become a laptop entrepreneur. The advice is grounded in common sense, experience and an excellent knowledge of the subject.

As the authors say:

“Nothing is more important than market research. Failure to do this properly may result in battling against impossibly strong competition or within an area with no commercial potential.”

Guiding people to success

Having helped readers to create a firm foundation for their businesses the authors then systematically and methodically work through the most important topics that would-be laptop entrepreneurs must address. The topics they cover are:

Domaining – choosing the right domain name etc
Blogs
Website copywriting
Article writing and promotion
Affiliate marketing
Social media marketing
Terms and definitions
Useful resources.

The issue dealt with in each section is explained thoroughly and in ways that the internet novice can understand. The style is encouraging and informative.

Most of the chapters are supported by case studies about people who are employing the tactics dealt with in the book to make a success of their businesses. What I found particularly helpful about the cases studies is that they give insights into some of the mistakes people can make as they create their internet-based businesses as well as dealing with success.

At the end of the book is a very useful list of terms and definitions and a section on resources that readers will find valuable as they implement the advice they have read.

Is there anything missing?

I was surprised when I finished reading the chapter on social media marketing to move straight into terms and definitions. I would have liked a final chapter where the writers draw together their themes and give readers just a little nudge to encourage them to make a start on their new careers – soon. This does not detract from what the book offers; it’s just a suggestion about a useful addition for future editions.

Should you buy?

Overall this is a fascinating and informative book and one well worth buying and using, if you’re keen to develop an internet business and, as a result, gain the freedom to live and work where you would like.

Article sourced from http://www.margaretadams.co.uk/2012/03/20/review-of-the-laptop-entrepreneur/

Profit From Your Laptop