How To Grow, Profit & Organize Your Business

The Near Future of Twitter’s Ad Platform, Google Buzz, iPad, Etc. (According to Mashable’s Ben Parr)

Rob Kelly — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:59:57 +0000

I’m at the 140 | The Twitter Conference and Ben Parr (@BenParr), Co-Editor of Mashable, is sharing his thoughts on social media with Steve Broback, (Host of the conference). Here are some highlights: The top three social media platforms business should care about: Facebook Twitter YouTube Two newer social media platforms to keep an eye on: FourSquare — It’s a mobile application that let’s people know where you are and what you’re doing. Google Buzz — It’s already bigger than Twitter in terms of users (at 40MM+). Upcoming Changes In Google Buzz If Google doesn’t create a standalone version of Buzz, it won’t succeed. You will see Google Buzz withing Google Apps/Google Docs within the next few months. “I’m bullish on it — it has strong features and big user base. I’m getting better engagement on Google Buzz than Facebook.” Google Buzz API is coming — Google will throw APIs out like they’re candy. Twitter’s Ad Platform Twitter’s plan is to probably launch an ad platform this month, probably focused on search. This will probably involve in-stream ads and developers to integrate it and share revenue with it…so applications (such as HootSuite or TweetDeck will carry ads). Twitter is cash-flow positive due to the “Firehose” (allowing Yahoo, Google, Bing and 6 or 7 search startups [...]

Two Tips To Get More Followers on Twitter (from 140 | The Twitter Conference)

Rob Kelly — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:18:11 +0000

I’m sitting here at the “140 | The Twitter Conference” in Seattle, WA and Jason Preston of Parnassaus Group mentioned these two tips for growing your followers on Twitter: Contests “Contests work” — Offer a prize. Ask people to follow you and retweet the contest. The cost to acquire a Twitter follower has averaged about $7 per 100 followers in Preston’s experience. Twitter Contest Examples Jason said Parnassus Group used a contest for what the t-shirt for a Twitter conference should say (with the winner being offered a free conference pass and t-shirt). As part of the contest, you had to tweet your submission and follow the conference the twitter account (@tweethouse). Parnassus got a couple of hundred followers as a result of the contest (which again he says worked out to about $7 cost to acquire each Twitter follower Another example: Someone offered a MacBook Air and got 2,500 followers (that cost to acquire a Twitter follower was closer to $1 per follower) Follow People Using Tools Such As TweepSearch Searching for people who are relevant to you or your business (based on location or products) and follow them. Reason: There are a lot of people who have their accounts set up to automatically follow you back. If you’re [...]

It’s The Freeconomy, Stupid!: Free As a $300 Bil. Business Model

Rob Kelly — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:40:24 +0000

I finished a few books on my trip to Europe last week and one of them – Free by Chris Anderson — was chock full of stats that I found myself dog-earing throughout my flight. “Free” is a must-read if you’re passionate about the Internet, or just business in general. I’m gonna keep this simple and just list out some good nuggets (which are mostly stats). Let the “freeconomics” begin! The “Freeconomy” Is An Estimated $300 Billion Market The Free Economy is roughly a $300 billion per year market. By his own admission, Anderson defines this loosely, including revenue generated from businesses driven by giving away most of their products or services (e.g. TV, Radio, online advertising Web sites, etc.). Two sub-economies have emerged in place of money on the Web (though they can later lead to money) 1) Reputation Economy – This is best measured by Google’s PageRank which rates on a scale of 1 to 10 how important each Web site (and each page on a Web site) is, according to Google’s secret algorithm. 2) Attention Economy – This is best measured by the traffic a Web site receives (traffic being measured by number of visitors and page views) To calculate the Economic Value of your Web site [...]

Four Simple Steps On How To Become An Expert

Rob Kelly — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 00:46:26 +0000

I heard a cool thing listening to a GetAltitude interview of Brendon Burchard by my business partner Eben Pagan in my car this week– Brendon mentioned four things an expert needs to do to be successful. I love frameworks so I’ve listed the four items that Brendon mentioned below along with my take on each. Listing just the framework felt dull so I decided to give an example of each step using the topic of “Social Media? (since Social Media “Experts” are high in demand these days). Enjoy! Four Steps On How To Become An Expert: 1) Tell People What to Pay Attention To An expert needs to break down the abundance of information available to most people into just a handful of key bullets. For example, if you’re an expert social media, you might suggest to your listener that the four social media tools to focus on are: Facebook YouTube Twitter Your blog 2) Tell People What Things Mean You need to tell customers what things mean and why they are important. Continuing on the Social Media example, you would tell your audience that social media is critical to their business because it can generate half of their Web site traffic. And this traffic can be unpaid (i.e. you don’t have to pay direct [...]

Facebook’s Revenues & Highlights From Wall Street Journal Profile

Rob Kelly — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:50:26 +0000

It’s amazing how much momentum Facebook is generating these days. The press is certainly going wild. Earlier this week, InsideFacebook shared some revenue estimates. Based on their estimates, as well as one mentioned in the Wall Street Journal today and past ones from Starup Review and Don Dodge, here’s a very rough estimate of Facebook’s revenues since its founding in 2005: Today’s Wall Street Journal cover story had these highlights about Facebook: CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s Management Style He is short on praise and believes that getting the product right should be its own reward He is clear and purposeful on vision: believing that Facebook’s promise has to do with facilitating people’s ability to share almost any and everything with anyone at any time via Web sites, mobile phones and even videogames He is a micromanager In Facebook’s earlier years, Zuckerberg ended meetings by pumping his fist in the air and leading employees in a chant of “domination.” Zuckerberg believes he has a special capacity for delaying gratification (and that will be helpful in holding out on an IPO) Good listener: He’s met with Intel CEO Paul Otellini and Oracle President Charles Philips and keeps a long list of advice on his Blackberry Zuckerberg controls votes for three of the five board [...]

How Consumers Interact With Social Media Sites (Facebook Dominates)

Rob Kelly — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:19:59 +0000

I’m very interested in any data to help businesses maximize their return on investment with social media. So I was happy to see ForeSee Results publish some simple findings recenty in their Key to Driving Retail Success with Social Media: Focus on Facebook (note: this is a PDF file that you download). They surveyed 10,000 visitors to the top 40 online retail Web sites. Some highlights I found in this brief report are: 69% of online shoppers use social media sites (social media users) Of online shoppers who frequent social media sites: 61% friend or follow 1 to 5 retailers or brands 21% friend or follow 6 to 10 retailers or brands 10% friend or follow 11 to 20 retailers or brands 8% friend or follow more than 20 retailers Note: “Friend” and “Follow” refer to customers agreeing to have an online connection with a retailer/brand. The report asserts that: “Site visitors who also interact with a company on a social media site are more satisfied,more committed to the brand, and more likely to make future purchases from that company.” Facebook is the dominant social network for People Visiting Online Retail Sites The table below indicates how dominant Facebook has become — it’s more than twice as popular as #2 YouTube and [...]

Wooden’s “7 Things to Do” (To Succeed in Life)

Rob Kelly — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:08:01 +0000

I was captivated by John Wooden’s childhood stories, especially what his Dad taught him. In Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations & Reflections On & Off The Court by John Wooden with Steve Jamison, Wooden says his dad gave him a piece of paper with a list of things that would guide him for the rest of his life. He would use this guidance to shape his career, marriage and general philosophy. The list was titled: “Seven Things to Do.” And when Wooden’s dad handed it to him, he said, “Son, try to live up these things.” Here are Wooden’s Seven Things to Do (with short comments from me after each): Seven Things to Do 1. Be True To Yourself At the end of the day, there is no one whose opinion matters more than your own…so be true to yourself. And Wooden warns you not to get caught up in how you size up to others: “Don’t compare. Don’t try to be better than someone else. But whatever you’re doing, try to be the best you can be…” Keys to being true to yourself include: Be self-aware Understand your values Be honest with yourself 2. Help Others The old saying: “Give and you shall receive” is a powerful one. While your motivation for helping [...]

Leadership Lessons From John Wooden

Rob Kelly — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:07:08 +0000

A hero of mine is John Wooden who describes himself simply as a teacher; and who is known by many as the former UCLA College Basketball coach with perhaps the most successful track record in the history of sports. Some of Wooden’s Records: Won 10 NCAA Championships (in 12 years) 88 Consecutive victories 38 Consecutive NCAA Tournament victories 4 Undefeated full seasons Won 905 games & Lost 205 (won 81.5% of all games) over 40 years Teacher Wooden turns 100 this year and I’ve decided to share some of my favorite nuggets of wisdom from him in this series of postings. Seven Things to Do (from Wooden’s father) More Wooden learnings coming soon… What can Wooden’s lessons do for you? If you practice these learnings I believe that you will be more successful in business and in life. I recommend you read any John Wooden book you can get your hands on. I’ve read these so far and can recommend them all: (and I use them as resources for my series): Coach Wooden’s Pyramid of Success by John Wooden & Jay Carty Wooden on Leadership by John Wooden & Steve Jamison Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations & Reflections On & Off The Court by John Wooden with Steve Jamison Practical Modern Basketball by John R. Wooden

Are You Missing The Boat on Performance Advertising?

Rob Kelly — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 04:39:48 +0000

The popular and talented Lisa Riolo stopped by my virtual office the other day to talk about Performance Advertising, why it’s important to your business and her new Impact Radius startup. Here’s our Q&A: Q: Hi Lisa, what is your definition of Performance Advertising Most everyone understands how “advertising” works. The difference with a performance model is primarily how the pricing works. When the media with the audience (sometimes called the publisher) agrees to receive their revenue after the advertisements generate results (meaning the consumer actually responds to the ad and, usually, buys something)–you’ve got performance advertising. This approach creates a lot of accountability within the advertising model and let’s everyone involved measure their effectiveness in promoting and selling products. Q: You have enormous experience in this space…would you walk us through the history of performance advertising (at least the major milestones)? Sure. About ten years ago–performance represented about 5% of the total spend in advertising for both online and traditional media. In the time since, the processes used to buy and sell traditional media haven’t changed much. Performance advertising online, on the other hand, has grown substantially and now represents more than 60% of the spend. Why the difference? Affiliate networks, which aggregates the companies willing to advertise [...]

If Facebook Were a Country It Would be the 3rd Largest in the World

Rob Kelly — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:48:06 +0000

Numbers are so fascinating — I just realized that if Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world (see rankings below). For your business, it begs some of the following questions: Are you and your business prioritizing Facebook high enough? If you’re a U.S. business, should Facebook be your third priority (after China & India) in terms of emerging markets?) Who’s got more Internet users: Facebook or China or India? Who would you rather have as your customer-base: every person in the United States or every member of Facebook? Will Facebook rival China & India as a supplier to Walmart? Facebook is often described as closed — will Google face the same challenge of indexing Facebook content as it has indexing content of China? Top 20 Countries in the World (by population) China[5] 1,335,720,000 India 1,176,791,000 Facebook? 400,000,000 United States 308,639,000 Indonesia 231,369,500 Brazil 192,449,000 Pakistan 168,679,000 Bangladesh 162,221,000 Nigeria Russia Japan 127,470,000 Mexico 107,550,697 Philippines 92,226,600 Vietnam 85,789,573 Germany 81,757,600 Ethiopia 79,221,000 Egypt 77,834,000 Iran 74,196,000 Turkey 72,561,312 Dem. Rep. of Congo 66,020,000 Source: Wikipedia & Facebook reports

Everyone Will Relate To This: Twitter Tips for Beginners

Rob Kelly — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:48:05 +0000

You’ve likely heard of Twitter by now…seeing as 50 million+ people have signed up to try this service that let’s you type in 140 character messages (tweets). I signed up for Twitter almost a year ago but have only recently started to get the swing of it (you can see my profile at RobDunsonKelly). Here are some answers to basic questions you might have as you get started on Twitter: Twitter Tips for Beginners Who Sees Your Twitter Posts? Anyone can — whatever you type into the “What’s Happening?” field can be seen by anyone who is “following” you (see below) or even a stranger who finds your posting by browsing and searching Twitter (unless you send a “direct message” (see below). How Do People “Follow” You on Twitter? People may follow you simply because they saw your Twitter address in your auto-signature, on your LinkedIn or on your blog or you told them about it by phone or in person. But most important is that people will follow you on Twitter through the valuable tweets you contribute. As mentioned above, strangers will follow you as they find your tweets — so Twitter is a great way to meet new people. Here’s a good Top-10 list of Ways To Increase [...]

The 8 Mistakes To Avoid When Transforming Your Business

Rob Kelly — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:18:39 +0000

Is part or all of your business in the need of a transformation — A truly radical change? My smart friend Daniel Neukomm riffed on Harvard Professor John Kotter’s theories on mistakes commonly made in corporate transformations (hint: if you AVOID these mistakes, you can indeed transform your business) – enjoy! Introduction While a professor at Harvard Business School, John Kotter had the opportunity to gain valuable insight into an array of companies ranging in both size and scope. In doing so, he identified eight key stages of transformational development in which companies failed to manage the change process. He theorized that those companies that had been successful did so only by effectively negotiating all eight steps. He further noted that those firms who skipped any of those steps, or failed to recognize the importance of them were sacrificing quality and effect for speed of change, giving the illusion of being quick but in realty building a platform for failure. In addition to illustrating a series of opportunities to fail, Kotter also provides some insight as to how to overcome these commonly experienced errors. The Eight Mistakes To Avoid When Transforming Your Business Transformation Mistake #1: Not Establishing a Great Sense of Urgency The lack of a sense of [...]

What You Ought To Know About Buffett & Munger’s Four Filters Invention

Rob Kelly — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:20:22 +0000

You guys know I love Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett… I consider them American hereos. I read an interesting book called The Four Filters Invention of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger (by Bud Labitan) the other day — if you like business, investing or Buffett or Munger, you should buy this book. I thought I’d briefly summarize their “Four Filters” below — I paraphrase Bud Labitan’s book at times and add in a dose of quotes I’ve collected (see my past postings on Charlie Munger Quotes or Warren Buffett Quotes) as well as some quotes and insights from other folks. The Four Filters Invention 1) Understandable First-Class Businesses Use The “Scuttlebutt Approach” — Go out and talk to a company’s customers, suppliers and competitors to find out how the industry really works (Philip Fisher wrote about this in Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits (thanks for correcting me, Santosh!) Treat Any Investment As If You Owned Only That The Rest of Your Life “To understand a business, figure out what results it is achieving, why it is getting those results, and what could happen to change what is causing those results.” — Charlie Munger Keep it Simple — Charlie Munger is fond of saying: “We just throw some decisions [...]

How To Have X-Ray Vision About Your Competition

Rob Kelly — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:43:12 +0000

Imagine if you had x-ray vision about your competitors…and even your partners and clients!? Well, lately, I feel like I do. I’ve been using a free tool for a month now and it allows me to instantly see the following things about almost any Web site: How relevant Google thinks they are in their space How Many Web Pages They Have Built How Many Other Web Sites Link To Them How Much Traffic They Receive Their Ranking by Traffic How many of the social networking sites (such as Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc.) link to them What organic position they appear (on Google) when people search certain keywords It’s called the SEO Toolbar (instructions on downloading it are below); it provides you a toolbar on your Firefox Browser that you can turn on or off while you’re using the Web. Let me explain a few of the top ways I’m using this SEO Toolbar (using eBay as an example) In the first screenshot, I hit the blue info button in the upper left-hand corner to get the pop-up yellow screen of information about eBay). Doing so tells me the following about eBay (I’m going to pick highlights): In the first column (of the yellow pop-up in the screenshot above): Page PR and Site PR (both of which [...]

3 Easy Ways For Building Teamwork

Rob Kelly — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:53:44 +0000

Here’s the 3 best ways of building teamwork my friend James learned from watching his coach… They include some teamwork exercises that can easily be applied to business. 3 Easy Ways For Building Teamwork 1) Sparring, Then Sharing In training after two athletes have competed against each other (sparring) it is very important to him that they both sit down and share what they learned with each other. He facilitates the conversation and asks both what is one thing your opponent did well and one thing that you think they could do better? **Important distinction he gets the athletes to speak to each other NOT him… After they are done sharing with each other he will tie it all together, praise each of them and reinforce that if they keep working together and talking to each other they will both get better faster. Having had many of these conversations I find there is something different when I get feedback directly from an opponent or a teammate than from my coach. Applying to business: We have started doing this on our team through daily huddle calls. Sharing with each other what’s working, what’s not, etc. Very effective and creates great bonding opportunities. 2) Make Success = EVERYBODY Hitting A Team Goal Let [...]

Shhh…The A Leader’s Protege Divulges 5 Leadership Tips

Rob Kelly — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 01:25:23 +0000

I was speaking to a sales account executive the other day and he was praising his VP of Sales as an amazing leader.

I asked him to outline what leadership skills he appreciated about his boss, and he shared the five items below.

I consider these good tips for ANY leader:

Top Five Tips For Leadership

Discover How To Network Like a Top-500 Web Site CEO

Rob Kelly — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:16:18 +0000
I chatted with DocStoc Founder & CEO Jason Nazar the other day.

I think you should know abut Jason and DocStoc because Jason is an amazing networker (among other things) and DocStoc has been one of the fastest growing Web sites in the last few years (ranked 407th by Quantcast with 15 million unique visitors per month, according to DocStoc).
Jason and I had a little chat in which I asked him a few questions. He agreed to let me share it with you.

Caution: Posterous May Be The Fastest Way to Blog or Publish

Rob Kelly — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:59:14 +0000
I first heard of Posterous when I saw that Steve Rubel, an influential writer & publicist about trends in the digital space (and my former colleague at CMP Media), had moved from WordPress to Posterous to publish his content.

I've tested Posterous -- which allows you to email content to the Web -- myself and see its potential: indeed, it may be the fastest way to publish pictures, audio and video to the open Web (as opposed to through a more closed environment such as Facebook).

I decided to ask Posterous CEO Sachin Agarwal some questions about his business. Enjoy.

INTJ Careers & What Makes Them Thrive

Rob Kelly — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 04:28:24 +0000
I'd like to elaborate on the INTJ Personality Type -- one of 16 Myers-Briggs Personality Types -- in terms of what INTJ careers are best for the INTJ and their team.

First off, healthy careers for INTJs include the following qualities:

Fair performance measurement

Autonomy

New projects or learnings

Strategizing

Control

Opportunities for creativity

Things to perfect

How To Get Published in Magazines In Just 90 Days

Rob Kelly — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 17:24:01 +0000
Would you like to be published in print and online magazines...in just 90 days?

That's what happened to my new friend Brooke, who generously agreed to answer some questions about how she got published so quickly.

Here's our Q&A: