Archive for the ‘Contest’ Category

More and more entrepreneurs are jumping on LinkedIn – which is one of the most popular online/social networking tools. But, to what end? So, Robert and I dig into this question.

In BusinessCast #104 – Getting Linked In, we speak with Doyle Slayton who has done a terrific job at using LinkedIn to build his professional profile. Doyle shares some of his experiences of how he’s used the LinkedIn to successfully build the “SalesBlogcast Group” to be one of the largest, fastest growing, most focused and user-friendly resources on LinkedIn.

Whether you’re new to LinkedIn or are an experienced user, here are some useful LinkedIn- related resources:

1) Why Use LinkedIn – This often quoted Guy Kawasaki article is ususally mislabelled “How to use LinkedIn” but really answers the question “why this tool can be useful”. So, while it doesn’t give you any hands-on insights, it still is worthwhile reviewing to determine whether LinkedIn is right for you. For those entrepreneurs who want some more background, here’s a source that prides itself on being the “unofficial source for all things LinkedIn“.

2) Who is on LinkedIn anyway? Here’s a PowerPoint presentation that gives an overview of the demographics of LinkedIn users.

3) Thinking about using LinkedIn to build your business and business network? You’re not alone. While there are thousands of articles that chip away at how to answer this question, here’s one that provides some good hands-on advice.

After listening to Doyle’s passion in BusinessCast #104 – Getting Linked In, you’ll likely want to check out and sign-up to his thriving SalesBlogcast Group or his SalesBlogcast blog.

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While many marketers have, over the last few years, advised entrepreneurs to focus on building their social media profile, keep in-mind that getting your name in the ‘traditional media’ (i.e. newspapers, radio, television and print journals) can still be a powerful marketing tool well-worth pursuing.

In fact, the core principles used for establishing and growing profile online are actually built upon on the methods used in infiltrating the traditional media. That’s why in BusinessCast podcast #103 Robert and I sit down with Gerry Nicholls who is recognized as being one of the Nation’s most media-savvy political pundits. But, Gerry is more than a ‘thinker’ — he’s a doer with a rare history of building public profile for people, companies and causes. So, Gerry draws on his strong track record to share five ways that you can start to build and grow relationships with key media people.

Once you’ve listened to BusinessCast Podcast #103 you’ll be much better equipped to build a plan of action for getting the media coverage you want and deserve.

Here are a few additional points to consider for your media-building plan:

Define your targets precisely – Among the various types of targets, you should include at least one of the following: number of “mentions” in specific media; number of “positive” mentions in specific media; number of times you’re called by editors or journalists as a source of expertise; ‘unassisted name recognition’ as measured in your market research or ‘improved positive name association’ as measured in your market research.

Plan for ‘bad publicity’ — When you’re taking efforts to build your public profile, keep in-mind that there will be occasions when the media will miss a critical point or misunderstand something. The resulting increased buzz may not be the buzz you want. So, play out worst-case scenarios and identify what you will do to correct any inaccuracies or misconceptions about your company. It is particularly important to use the right combination of online tools in order to keep bad press from spreading through search engines.

Establish a precise process – Let everyone in your organization know who will act as your company’s spokesperson(s). Provide them with the training to deal effectively with the media and establish a straight-forward process for responding quickly to media inquiries.

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We know that entrepreneurship is an unquenchable thirst that provides focus, energy and purpose. But, can it really be sustained inside a company that has grown to be wildly successful?

You bet! In BusinessCast #102, we spoke to Senior Marketing Manager, Eric Pierni at Kijiji, an eBay company. He shares with us just how the spirit and discipline of entrepreneurship thrives within Kijiji — one of Canada’s outstanding online success stories.

It turns out that the entrepreneurial approach that gave rise to Kijiji is also the secret to its continued and future success. Eric’s passion and approach is inspirational. You can find out more about how you can apply Kijiji.ca ‘s formula for success when Eric presents at the upcoming eMetrics Summit.

A special thanks to Wendy Vincent at c2e.ca for connecting us with Eric.

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Every single entrepreneur that Robert and I have spoken to is grappling with ‘social media’.  Entrepreneurs just like you — across all industries — are asking the fundamental questions, such as:

• Should I use social media tools?
• What social media tools should I use?
• How should I use social media to get the most out of them?
• When should I be using these tools?
• How much time/money/effort should I invest in social media tools?
• How will I know that I’m using social media tools effectively?

Don’t be put off if you don’t have the answers. Because, in fact, many entrepreneurs just like you are still asking: “What are social media tools anyway?” Over the next few months, Robert and I are taking this fascinating and fast-moving topic head-on.

1) To get underway, in BusinessCast #101, we’ve just interviewed Charlene Li. Charlene is the engaging co-author of Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies — considered to be one of the landmark books on social media. And, no wonder. The resource accomplishes something that few other social media books, articles or websites do: it provides practical and actionable advice, clearly and concisely. The ‘heart’ of the book is a way to view your current/targeted markets based on how they actually use technology.  And, then once you’ve got a handle on how your audience interacts with technology, Groundswell provides guidelines for how to reach them. Equally as practical is the overall Groundswell approach which recommends that you should focus on the type of relationship you want with your markets — rather than focusing on the social media tools (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Digg, YouTube, Flickr, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, etc. etc.) themselves.

2) We’re also attending a fascinating and highly-recommended series of social media webinars made available through Marketwire – which is one of the World leaders for press release distribution, public relations and investor relations. We will be bringing you updates on each of the monthly webinars. However, we recommend that if you want to remain on the leading-edge of this topic, sign-up for them now so that you can get a jump on your competitors by building a social media roadmap.

3) Whenever we see a resource that is particularly useful for entrepreneurs, we cherry-pick some of the most relevant social media news and insights. So, here are two BusinessCast blogposts that can help you quickly get up-and-running on social media:

• News and Resources
• Social Media for Building and Protecting Reputation (Research Findings)

4) You’re probably asking yourself how popular is social media? Here’s a resource that provides some social media usage stats.

5) Finally, when you’ve had a chance to review the above resources, check out Charlene Li’s blog where she tackles the future of social media.

Don’t forget to enter the contest to win a Blackberry Bold!

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We know the cost pressures that entrepreneurs are facing today. So, Robert and I sat down to identify practical advice that entrepreneurs can take to save costs now. And, that’s why BusinessCast Podcast #100 – Cost Cutting for Entrepreneurs is very straight-forward.

Of course, keep in-mind, before cutting costs across your company, ask yourself two key questions:

• Are we acting as efficiently as we can?
• Are we doing anything that we should not be doing?

Often answering these questions for yourself generates the greatest cost-savings for your business.

Finally, here are two other good resources for cost-savings tips:

• 75Ways to Cut Costs Now (organized by functional area)
• Cost Cutting Tips for Retailers

Don’t forget to enter the contest to win a Blackberry Bold!

Subscribe to the BusinessCast Podcast at iTunes