If you have an online business, you know that backlinks are important to improve website traffic to your website. You
Saturday, May 7, 2011
A Community for Ideas
Bulbstorm is a community for idea sharing. You can gather a team interested in working on your idea and get feedback, all with security, NDAs, and legal tracking to protect your intellectual property.
When CEO Bart Steiner and his team started their idea for an innovation community, the country was clearly in need of such a thing. Bulbstorm was started in 2008 under the premise that most people around world have great ideas and passion, but don’t posess all the skills they need to see their ideas through to completion. By creating an environment in which people could share their ideas safely, skills would grow, and companies could see the value of an idea by seeing how much activity grew around it.
I sat down with Steiner and Interactive Director Matt Simpson at South By Southwest (SXSW) last month to learn how Bulbstorm could be useful for startups or even pre-startup ideas. The company itself is an example of the need to change your idea when market conditions aren’t optimal.
The Bulbstorm innovation community idea is that potential entrepreneurs or thinkers can share ideas with others while protecting their intellectual property securely, and revealing it slowly as trust develops with participants. There are “Lights Out, Yellow or Green” levels where ideas are closed, partially revealed or open depending on a user’s access or the idea creator’s level of comfort. “Unlike a shared Google document, in our environment, 3rd party location and access is documented and can be substantiated in the future. You can choose to have collaborators sign an NDA and manage where and how they can see the material,” said Steiner. Several entrepreneurs entered contests that Bulbstorm sponsored to get people to share business plans, and the highest rated ideas won seed money to get product out in marketplace.
For small businesses, the ability to share and develop ideas on Bulbstorm is free. Steiner told me they’re not making money on that side of business, where scale and sponsorship were original business models. At the time of the company’s inception, it was one of the worst environments for raising additional funding. This led the company to pivot, morphing into two products – one is the innovation community, and the other is a platform for brands to create contests around ideas on social networks like Facebook.
Their app on Facebook lets brands run “idea challenges. ” These are a way to generate larger amounts of engagement with fans. “Instead of asking about general stuff, why not ask your fans for ideas? Participants earn points, there are game mechanics where people earn behavior-based badges if they share idea, but also earn more credit for having a great idea they share and that people like,” said Simpson. “We also reward people for contributing to an idea in addition to creating new ideas.” Points go towards a prize vault, which can be a store for the brand. People win simple prizes, a coupon, or even an experience. When Intel looked for great ideas around “the phone of future,” in addition to 5,000 ideas and hundreds of thousands of engagements, the top participant was anointed “VP of R&D For a Day” at Intel, and collaborated on the development of future home phone and it’s replacement. (Link to Bulbstorm’s release since the contest is no longer live on Facebook). They also report good success with $5-10 millon dollar-sized companies where they’ve gained great activity. Bulbstorm helped double the fan base and generated tens of thousands of interactions for a mountain biking brand. One user even got his logo submission for the brand tattooed on his back.
The company’s pivot to include Facebook has kept them alive and growing with 20 employees in Phoenix, San Francisco and Milan, and “We’re hiring,” said Simpson.
Would you share your idea online with a community? What reservations might you have? Share your thoughts about this idea community in the comments below.
On a personal note, I’m thrilled to be attending the Inc. GrowCo conference next week in Las Vegas. I’ll be unofficially hosting a Tweetup on 4/7 in cooperation with my Inc. colleague Tiffany Black. Please follow me on Twitter for updates, and if you’re attending the conference, please introduce yourself. I love meeting my readers and getting their feedback.
Friday, May 6, 2011
No Excuses
NO EXCUSES!!!
No Excuses is the motto and if you give any excuses you'll be deemed inappropriate and asked to leave!
Why You Should Use MLM Forums In Your Marketing.
Use Twitter to Inspire Action
Small businesses all over the country are successfully using Twitter to win customers. How are they doing it?
Over the last 3 weeks I've been part of a 5-week, 5-city speaking and book signing tour sponsored by Deluxe Corp called the Small Business Heroes tour. I'm excited about our next stop tomorrow which is Orlando and I've been thrilled to connect with and provide advice to many businesses in Denver, Portland and Austin. I was also thrilled to make my broadcast television debut with an interview on NBC news. I can never get over what a goofball I seem to be on camera but I was thankful for the opportunity and humbled by my interviewer, journalist and fellow entrepreneur Gregg Moss telling me he's a big fan of this blog! Thank you!
While the Deluxe staff on the tour are giving free presentations on many topics I've spoken and written about including Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, building Web Sites and lots of others, my presentation for this tour is on "local marketing" - how you as a small business owner can easily use the Internet to *successfully* gain visibility and sales within a local area at very little cost.
I am currently working on a whole series of articles around this topic and if you have a local marketing success story, I would love to feature your business here! So if you have a local marketing success story to share you can tell me about it here.
One of the most successful tools to market locally is - surprise, surprise - Twitter! Small businesses all over the country are successfully using Twitter to win customers.
How are they doing it?
Examples abound.
There's the Chicago based Domino's franchisee who sends personalized videos (think Old Spice Guy, but less naked) to people who tweet both praise and complaints about his pizzas, getting him praise on 87,000 Web sites and fierce loyalty from his customers.
There's the Santa Monica Hotel lounge that got 250 people into its lounge one night (to spend $$ on lots of other things) by offering free bubbly to it's Twitter and Facebook followers for "friending" them and then accessing a secret passcode.
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There's the San Francisco massage and wellness spa that regularly fills it's open, unused appointments by offering last-minute, deep discounts to twitter followers.
The bottom line is - it works. But you have to know how it works and when it works -- Twitter isn't great for everything.
How can you make Twitter work for you?
All of these examples fall into the category of "remarkable" content either as:
1. An offer they can't refuse - deep discounts & free champagne sound like pretty sweet deals. So sweet that they grab your attention and make you want to patronize the business if for no other reason than to check it out. Of course it's up to the business to turn those newcomers into loyal customers but getting people in the door is far, far more than half the battle. The trick is to find an offer that is exciting, relevant to your business and affordable.
2. Content that is highly Personal and/or Strikingly Unusual - Ramon the Domino's pizza franchisee didn't have to spend a lot of money or offer deep discounts, he won loyalty with a secret weapon that is hard to copy or steal - his charm and personality. This is one of the areas that scares business owners the most - the kind of committment that Ramon shows to having a highly personal, highly communicative relationship with his customers. While this can be a home run for people who are lucky enough to have that personality, many business owners wouldn't want to go down this path.
However here's another example of a business owner who uses her personality and passion in a far less overwhelming way. The Pink Cake Box makes "extreme cakes" and the business owner simply posts photos of her cakes to Flickr. But the cakes are so remarkable and she's been doing it consistently for so long (years) that she has built a Flickr following that now drives 10% of her Web site's traffic.
The path you take depends on you.
Yes - you! And what resources are available to you including your own passions and skills. When you think of what to offer is it your personality (very time consuming) or a great deal (more of a financial investment)?
What can you do or offer?
Who is it exactly that you're trying to reach and for what purpose? Getting new customers? Keeping old ones?
Make sure you figure out the answers to these questions first. If you're not able to answer these questions, move on to something else. Perhaps local marketing and/or Twitter are not right for your business!
Discuss These Topics Live
If you're in Orlando on October 5th or Charlotte, North Carolina on October 12th, you can see me walk through these topics in more depth in person at noon. I've also been known to sign a few copies of my book as well as sit down one-on-one with businesses for a bit of highly personalized advice.
I hope to see you there!
Follow me on Twitter@maishawalker and join me at the Small Business Heroes Tour in Orlando on October 5th & Charlotte, North Carolina on October 12th.
Read Related Articles by Maisha
Shortlist of Twitter Apps for Your DesktopPick the Right Twitter Tool: Mobile Apps8 Types of People on TwitterYour Social Media Marketing "Killer App"Link Building - What to Do
So now that we know that Link Farming is bad and reciprocal links may have limited value, how do we convince other Web sites to link to us without linking back to them?
One Directional Link Sources
First - where can you get these one directional links? Great places include:
Industry directories — sites that are directories of other sites in a particular industryAbout.com — often has directories and provides information about a wide variety of industries and specific, niche topics
Event Sites - for events you are hosting or where you are a sponsor or speaker
Online PR — PR sites, or sites that have an article written by you or about you
Library sites — if you have content that is relevant to a particular topic and for a wide range of people libraries often offer great directories and resource lists
Blogs — if you have a product or service that is exciting and you can get a blogger to write about it.
Review Sites — if you have a product that can be reviewed.
If your site has a lot of free and useful content you will have a much easier time getting incoming, one directional links.
How to Ask for a Link
Also if you plan to reach out to other sites to link to you, make sure you use the right approach.
Consider "deep linking" - invite linkers to link to a specific page of relevant content rather than linking to your home page. This is usually far more appealing for bloggers and other content sites.Make the contacts personal — avoid sending blanket emails to sites. Write personal emails or consider calling. Consider establishing a relationship over time. The extra time it takes you to do this will force you to be more selective in the sites you choose to reach out to.
Choose carefully — getting a link can be a lot like pitching a story to a magazine or even like cold calling. Make sure you have done your research and confirmed that your content is right for the site you're contacting. The last thing you want to do is create bad will by blanketing sites that have no interest in what you do.
Have something noteworthy and specific to offer — remember that in general, noone cares about your latest product or your newest client. I know that sounds harsh but it's unfortunately true. You have to find a reason for them to care. Find something interesting, unique, exciting, personal or noteworthy that would make people want to link to you.
Related Articles:
Getting Good Rank: Search Engine PrimerSearch Engine Optimization in 3 Easy? Steps10 Tips to Avoid the Biggest SEO MistakeThe 9 Places to Put Your Keywords for SEO PowerLink Building -- What Not to Do
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Pinpointing the Next Bubble
It's not in start-ups, says Peter Thiel. Plus, the art of being a part-time entrepreneur, and the rest of the day's news for small business owners.
Each day,Inc.'s reporters scour the Web for the most important and interesting news to entrepreneurs. Here's what we found today.
Start-up bubble? Nope, says Thiel. College bubble? Perhaps. "Fair warning: This article will piss off a lot of you," Sarah Lacy writes in TechCrunch today. Lacy sits down with the PayPal founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel at his home in San Francisco to discuss what Thiel believe is the next big bubble. And, no, it has nothing to do with tech or start-ups. In fact, it's perhaps the most sacrosanct of all American institutions: a college education. "A true bubble is when something is over-valued and intensely believed," he says. "Education may be the only thing people still believe in in the United States. To question education is really dangerous. It is the absolute taboo. It's like telling the world there's no Santa Claus." This is perhaps a justication-or a reason-for Thiel's "20 under 20" where he pays 20 kids under the age of 20 $100,000 to pursue a business idea. But the program has drawn criticism from academic-types that argue that a 19-year-old can't successfully run a well-rounded business. So, what do you think? Is education valued too highly, or is this just hot air from Thiel?
The art of being a part-time entrepreneur. As the hiring market heats up, The Wall Street Journal poses an interesting question for people who started their own companies after being laid off: "Should you continue growing your start-up or go back to earning a steady paycheck?" For some, like Kevin Dinino, founder of KCD Public Relations, going back to work for "the man" would be impossible. "I'm the decision maker," he tells The Journal. "I don't have to take orders anymore." For others, though, it's a necessity. When Stephanie Burns' start-up, Chic CEO, ran out of funding, she took on a marketing job at a healthcare company. Now, Burns wears two hats as an entrepreneur and marketing exec. But before you consider that option, consider the cautionary tale of Kendra Kroll, who got fired for talking about her company Undercover Solutions while on the clock at her day job. "Going forward," Kroll says, "I would be more cautious about the way I accept a position given my propensity for talking about my business."
Gathering signatures gets simpler. Is your business wasting a lot of time and money sending documents around town—or around the world—when they need a signature for a transaction? Now there's an app for that, the New York Post reports. It's called Sign Docs, and it's exclusively for the iPad now, for $6.99.
Nurturing creativity. In today's ultra-competitive marketplace, one may argue that the only truly sustainable competitive advantage is creativity. But creativity doesn't just happen to an organization; it requires building a culture that fosters curiosity, exploration, and innovation. Forbes compiled a list of the seven most important rules to establishing and maintaining a creative startup culture. It emphasizes concepts such as diversity, independence, celebrating and sharing ideas freely, and how to act in the face of failure.
Is a social media consultant right for you? It's an existential crisis. You want to promote your small business on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, but you have no time to post or tweet because you're too busy actually running your small business. Never fear, there's a consultant for that. Today, Mashable posted a guide to to help small business owners decide if outsourcing your social media efforts to a consultant is the right step for your business. The guide follows a recent MerchantCircle survey revealing that that of 8,500 small businesses, two-thirds use social media as a marketing tool, but one-third of these admit they lack the time and resources to be sufficiently social. Mashable's guide offers four questions to consider, including whether social media will drive your business growth, how well your social media is working now, if outsourcing could free up more of your time, and how to determine ROI of using a consultant.
How they did it. Women who made it big talk to the Wall Street Journal about how they fought challenges in the workplace to get where they are today. Here's Mellody Hobson, Julie Louise Gerberding, and Marissa Mayer, and it's all part of the Journal's well done and extensive report on women in the economy that came out this month.
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