The YouGov Survey for Entrepreneurs, Promote Entrepreneurship in India and WIN Rupees 35000

September 15th, 2009 § 0 comments § permalink

yougov-logo

CLICK ON THE IMAGE to Take the SURVEY

I am supporting this survey by YouGov, which is aimed at Promoting Entrepreneurship in India and getting more funds to the country, to support entrepreneurs!

I particularly want the level of primary education to increase in India and be supported by entrepreneurs.

If you share such a DREAM, I CALL UPON ENTREPRENEURS to take this survey and SHOW SUPPORT to the CAUSE of ENTREPRENEURSHIP in India!

Cheers to Entrepreneurship!

CLICK ON THE IMAGE to Take the SURVEY

Social Media Travel Tools – Your Guide to Make the Most of Your Business Trips

March 11th, 2009 § 1 comment § permalink

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Business Travel in Recession

I am a LIVE blogger and I get invited to many a conferences and events in the industry across India to LIVE blog the entire events.

And since quite sometime I have been hearing from many an Event organizers that due to recession, Business Travel has been restricted, thus expecting huge turnout at any conference is a challenege today!

I am sure this is one concern many a Conference organizers would agree to!

Well, so what is the solution to this problem?

Let me say I cannot monetarily give you an alternative that you should not attend any conferences, as these are some of the best grounds to network and reach out to existing and potential business partnerships. You can get new talent for your company, you get a platform to share your expertise on various agendas relevant to the community.

If there are so many benefits and still you have to see how much can you spend on your travel to attend these conferences?! What do you do then?

Social Media comes to Rescue

recession-survival-entrepreneurs

To the rescue is Social Media! Yes!

Now that you cannot afford to lose the chance of being in these conferences, well you can definitely work towards making sure that you can make the most of your business trip.

There are several tools on the internet which can help you arrange your travel and connect with people in the city you are visiting and also with the people who are attending the conference, so you can connect with the relevant people and break ice much before you actually meet them at the conference.

Social Media Tools to Get the most of your Business Travel

Linkedin

Explore your professional network on Linkedin to know who all in your network are attending a conference that you are and who all are there in the city at that particular moment of time and day.

Before reaching the designated city, you can connect with these people and pre-schedule meetings, to make the most of your travel. All you needd to do is add the Application (Tripit) on your Linkedin profile.

Twitter

Twitter is a tool where you can subtly announce that you are going to attend a conference and people who are there in your network who may be visiting the same would tweet back and there you go, you connect with the relevant community of people, thereby increasing your chances of creating more possibilities for yourself in your travel schedule.

Google Reader

Google Reader, well yes I know you would say Google Reader? Yes, its pretty simple! subscribe to the blog feeds of all the companies/people you are expected to meet at the conference/event you are going to. You would hence be updated with all the action points that you need to discuss and take your discussions forward in a more constructive manner.

Follow/Subscribe Events/conferences updates on dedicated Blogs like – OMShare

I confess, there is a self promotional aspect in the following note, but it would be of a higher value to you than anything else! I along with one of the people I work with, created The First from India, Online Platform for Taking Events and Conferences Global (OMShare). Its a platform where I LIVE Blog some of the best conferences and events around uptill now only in India (though open to invites Internationally as well).

We would soon be integrating RSS Feeds letting our followers know at no cost and at not much time, which events are happening where and if they would be of value to you and your business. Also we are extending the platform to include event representatives and organizers who can further help you network with the who’s who attending the event.

Based upon this information you can take an informed decision of whether to attend the event or be negative!

If you wish to connect with me, I would be attending (LIVE Blogging) the following events in the coming future:

  1. The Web Usability and Design Workshop at India Habitat Center by TiE New Delhi on 7th March 9am-6pm
  2. The JFPS CORPORATE COMMUNICATORS’ CONCLAVE in Mumbai on 16th and 17th April

Ask your clients why Barack Obama is the President and Mccain is NOT!

February 18th, 2009 § 0 comments § permalink

I’m bleeding, hold me tight! Wait for a few moments the shore is near, Together we’ll make it through!

No, I’m not narrating a hollywood scene. Listen closely to your heart and what does that so elusive client of yours who says I don’t have enough money to continue on paying you mean? The economic conditions have taken a toll!

Why are you still sitting on that seat? Go, this is the time to re-assure your client that you are always there in times good and bad! Its always easier working as a team and innovating together, sailing through the rough tide, rather than trying to make it through, on your own. This is the time for strengthening your relationships. Your clients business wants a makeover. The business processes need innovation. Go hold his hand, he needs you now! Why should I do it?

Well, the answer may not come to you right away, but let the conditions stabilize and this client would always stick around.

But how do I do it? Times are equally bad for me as well! What do I suggest him when I am innovating myself? When I fear of losing him and I have to acquire new clients myself!

Well, first things first, acquiring a new client would take you much time as compared to what it takes in retaining an existing client. Secondly yes times are equally bad, thus what you need are innovative ideas which would help you-:

  1. Explore new market opportunities
  2. Monitor your ROI, by focusing on meaningful investments
  3. Innovate your business processes (Ex: looking at innovative methods of reaching relevant traffic to increase sales in a cost effective manner)
  4. Position your offering and Brand to the relevant traffic, being cost effective at the same time

So how do I do it?

Well, what about Internet? Its another thing being 500+ on LinkedIn and famous on Facebook, but how do leverage your brand to attract potential customers through these Social Media?

Yes, you have got it right, SOCIAL MEDIA!

A simple yet powerful example are the recent presidential elections held in the US, which had Barack Obama rising up from nowhere, shattering 26 years of political force (Mccain) with just 4 years of relevant and effective branding online.

So how do you explain the benefits of an accurate social media model for your clients’ business?

Ask your client does he know why Barack Obama is the President-elect and Mccain is not!

If your client does know it, well, half your work is done and if he does not hmmm…you have a perfect playground to set your rules!

Strange it may sound, but if we trail the campaigns of both Obama and Mccain, one of the biggest differences that takes you where you least expect it is the effect of properly defined, structured and followed up Social Media. Obama’s campaign team leveraged the Social Media aspect of the internet so effeciently that Obama had a clear cut lead over Mccain online.

One of the best blogs on the internet which provides elaborat figures as to how Social media made all the difference, I found is: http://adultaddstrengths.com/2008/11/05/obama-vs-mccain-social-media/

NEARLY 6000% MORE PAGES ON Barack Obama’s website than Mccain’s.

Okay so lets dwell deeper…into figures…

SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS/WEBSITES

Social Media Website
Barack Obama
John McCain
% Lead
Leader
Facebook
567,000
18,700
2932
Obama
Facebook Supporters*
2,444,384
627,459
290
Obama
Facebook Wall Posts*
495,320
132,802
273
Obama
Facebook Notes*
1,669
125
1235
Obama
MySpace
859,000
319,000
169
Obama
MySpace Friends*
844,781
219,463
285
Obama
MySpace Comments*
147,630
none listed
147,630
Obama
Twitter
506,000
44,800
1029
Obama
Twitter Followers*
115,623
4911
2254
Obama
Twitter Updates*
262
25
948
Obama
Friend Feed
34,300
27,400
25
Obama
Youtube
358,000
191,000
87
Obama
Youtube Videos Posted*
1,819
330
451
Obama
Youtube Subscribers*
117,873
none 29,202
117,873 304
Obama
Youtube Friends*
25,226
none listed
25,226
Obama
WordPress.com
19,692
14,468
36
Obama
Flickr
73,076
15,168
382
Obama
Flickr Photostream*
50,218
No Profile
50,218
Obama
Flickr Contacts*
7,148
No Profile
7,148
Obama

Search Engine Results For “Barack Obama” and “John McCain”

Search Engine
Barack Obama
John McCain
% Lead
Leading
Google
56,200,000
42,800,000
31
Obama
Google News
136,000
371,620
173
McCain
Google Image
24,200,000
8,620,000
181
Obama
Google Video
136,000
89,800
51
Obama
Google Blog
4,633,997
3,094,453
50
Obama
Technorati
412,219
313,497
31
Obama

Internet Presence For Barack Obama’s and John McCain’s Offical Websites

Internet Presence
Barack Obama
John McCain
% Lead
Leading
Google Pagerank
8
8
0
Pages in Google
1,820,000
30,700
5828
Obama
Yahoo Links-Pages
643,416
513,665
25
Obama
Yahoo Links-Inlinks
255,334
165,296
54
Obama

So what do all these figures say? My client is getting confused!! What should I do?

Now you actually do not have to say much. Your client says he has multiple options in the internet domain who provide services at a lesser cost then why should he still go with you?

So its simple, either your client’s campaign could be Obama’s or Mccains.

What does this signify?

Well, in the Online Marketing space its not just the quality that matters, its also how well does your online marketing solutions provider (partner) unedrstands your business domain. How well does he/she understands your objectives and goals and then charts out a workable architecture, that’s how you should choose your online marketing partner.

Link to the post at the NASSCOM EMERGE Blog: http://blog.nasscom.in/emerge/2008/11/13/the-shore-is-near-together-well-make-it-through/