Three Stages of the Product Selling Cycle

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Good ideas often start in the most unlikely places. After your initial "Eureka!" moment, however, comes the hard part. You now need to turn your idea into a feasible product that will actually sell. As an entrepreneur, you probably know that you should start by validating the idea and creating a minimum viable prototype (MVP). You show the prototype to your friends and family and everyone is excited. But is it a home run yet? Not yet!

Here are three helpful steps, also known as the "Sales Learning Curve," to assist you and your creative team in managing your product's progress from being a simple prototype to becoming a success on the market.

Initiation: You have your product made, now what?
A new product is almost never ready prime time fresh out of the production line. There are always improvements to be made to both the product and positioning; this helps reduce cash loss and accelerate the time a product takes to reach its prime market point. Your MVP may be based on the feedback of a very small group … so it may not accurately reflect and address the broader need of your target audience. Positioning may need to be fine-tuned as well. Finally, your manufacturing processes whether your product is a physical object or a piece of software, still need to scale.

Initiation, the first stage in the "Sales Learning Curve," is the time immediately after your product hits the market. The primary focus of this phase is to learn from your customers. At this stage, you may choose to hire a few analytical salespeople to find leads in the market and get customers' responses regarding the product. Even better than salespeople would be to have your product managers, developers, and executives get out there in front of the first few customers to learn about their experiences with your product firsthand.

The objective of this stage is not to meet sales quota, but rather to gather data to fine-tune the product and learn about where it fits into the market. This is where the product evolves, new features are added, and the engineering team tweaks the design of the product. It is important to be flexible with the market and the final positioning of the product in the market, so stay open-minded! Just because you love your particular solution does not mean that it will necessarily resonate with the actual users.

Transition: Your product is reaching its ultimate form
In the transition phase, which typically occurs when the sales yield is in line the costs per rep, all of the data gathered and improvements made in the first stage are used to create a market strategy for the product. The product is now fully functional and revenues are on their way to maturity. As exciting as it is that your sales capacity is increasing, it is strongly advised that while you celebrate you also hire a larger sales force to help you manage this growth. Equally importantly it starting to expand and develop your support and implementation team.

Your relationship with your customers should be less analytical but rather more service oriented, as well as more focused on solidifying the market strategy you've established. This means that the design of the product gets refined in response to changing market conditions needs fewer and less drastic alterations.

Execution: Sell, Sell, and Sell!
The final phase of the "Sales Learning Curve" is the execution phase. This is when all of the assistance you're receiving with selling your product, your sale plans, and your marketing materials are truly established and solidified. Your selling crew should grow once more in this stage with the hiring of traditional sales force or relying on other strategies optimal for your solution who sell to customers following specific guidelines for the purpose of meeting your sales quotas. Your product has reached its fullest potential and hopefully your sales will skyrocket! Best of luck!

The "Sales Learning Curve" is a process. Establishing a position on the market for your product requires incremental adjustments for you and your team until you hit that sweet spot when you really start selling as you should. What is your optimal sales curve approach for your product or service? Share your thoughts with us!

Rachel and the team

This article was developed in collaboration with Stephanie Gedal.

Navigating Through the Organizational Logistics: Creating a Virtual Office

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So you have a brilliant idea; the chances are, you read the first article to figure out how to validate it & take the first few steps toward realizing your vision. Here are a few more steps to get you set up on the track to success: organizing your virtual office.

There are many tools, products, & services that can help organize and manage a modern distributed team. Some important aspects to consider are: creating corporate email accounts, getting a virtual phone system, finding a fax solution, and registering a business address/mailbox. Let's explore some of these tools.

Set up a Professional Email Account
Creating an email address specific to your business is one of the first steps to establishing your brand identity. It also helps to separate communication pertaining to your personal life from your professional one, not to mention that Michael.Brown@CoolCorp.com looks better than joe@gmail.com. If you want to take it a step further, creating aliases or setting up separate email accounts for sales, general info, and tech inquiries could be useful. In the future, you may split the handling of communication of each separate channel to the different people in your firm. A number of providers offer to free or inexpensive email hosting.
Select a Phone System
There are vendors who offer automated virtual phone systems, with sophisticated auto-responders that forward calls based on extension to your cell phones or specialized online voice mailboxes. Providers such as grasshopper.com, virtualpbx.com, & callbox.com are some of the most popular choices, with pricing that starts between $15-20 per month. For entrepreneurs on-the-go Bluetooth enabled headsets such as the Plantronics Voyager Legend, allow you to take a call in a middle of the Time Square & have your caller enjoy virtually the same sound quality as though you were in your office.
Your Scanning and Faxing Solution
Forget the days of waiting around that old fax machine! Handy services like eFax.com, myFax.com, and K7.net allow you to send & receive faxes electronically for as little as $2 per month. You may also find that you need a scanner. The Fujitsu ScanSnap mobile scanner is tiny enough to fit into laptop bag and is great to use on the go.
Get a Mailing Address
You do not have to have an actual physical office to have a mailing address that looks like you have one. UPS provides convenient mailbox rental and allows to refer to your mailbox number as a  "Suite". Pretty convenient for a team of one or many more! Picking an easy to access central location can allow to keep your mailbox as your official mailing address even after you create an physical office. Prices range $12-$18/month depending on the size of the mailbox.
Piecing Together a Few More Parts
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): a number of vendors such as Zoho, Insightly, or many others offer free or affordably-prices CRM solutions.
Web conferencing: could be as basic & free as Skype screen sharing, Google Hangout, to the more specialized FuzeBox, GoToMeeting, Webex & others going for $20-40 per seat.

Hosting: a world of options, with many starting @ $10 per month.
Digital data storage: too many to list :). It is important to consider data security practices of the provider in the context of your specific business.

Accounting: FreshBooks, QuickBooks, Xero or others. Prices start at $10/month for basic packages with discounts offered the first year of service.
Let's tally up the scores: your total investment to setup a virtual office and keep it going can add up to about $60-$71/month. We are not endorsing any of the products or vendors listed here. There are many more other types of services available and not all of the ones listed here would be relevant or you. Make sure you do your homework to pick the optimal solution at the right time for your business.

Whether you are setting up a daycare center or building a software product for the cloud, getting your company off the ground can take a number of steps. Find the process that works for you and your specific needs. During the course of your activities, never stop your quest for the like-minded – and not so much - individuals who can help realize your vision.
Rachel & the team

Hungry for more?
Look out for more information coming out shortly! Next time we will explore designing the logo/website, thinking about business insurance, opening a bank account, and setting up a corporate credit card. In the meantime, what are some of your favorite suggestions for setting up a virtual office?

Unleash a Little Magic at Work and Outside of it This Halloween

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As a new startup, you are creating your culture even before your bring your first employee on board. What will it feel like to work at your company? Is the environment laid back and relaxed? Is it formal and structured? A combination of both? Whatever may be the case the "ambiance" of your workplace will ultimately translate into the experiences your customers will get. Guess what, you get to take the first step in making your workplace warm and inviting. What better time to start something putting a smile on people’s faces than during Halloween?
 Halloween celebrations can range from a fun pot-luck lunch, a Halloween costume competition, and watching movies like Ghostbusters or Hocus Pokus, to a bit more gregarious trick-or-treat pilgrimages to the neighboring offices, outings in the bar, and an occasional prank or two. There are also ways to bring holidays to those less fortunate by bringing a holiday fare to a nearby nursing home or homeless shelter. There are plenty of great Halloween ideas out there to fit every corporate culture. What’s works for you?

Holiday celebrations can not only build lasting memories and bring your employees together, but also build stronger relationships with your clients and prospects. Halloween is one of the best opportunities in a course of the year to connect with the world outside the office. Just about everyone would welcome the opportunity to bring a little fun and excitement into their day. So don’t forget to share your Halloween stories by email or social media to allow others to partake in the fun. Just make sure no one will get offended if a photo of your bearded network administrator dressed a Little Red Riding Hood makes it to your company Facebook page.

Speaking of which, it is important to set some expectations on what constitutes acceptable behavior and lead by example. The goal is to provide a positive and fun experience for everyone on the team. Some of the considerations include deciding whether to serve alcohol on premises during working hours, being considerate of noise, and staying clear of costumes that could be inappropriate or offensive.

Also keep in mind that some employees may want to celebrate by getting together with their friends and families after work. Thus, planning an after-work corporate outing on October 31st will eventually backfire for some employees and stop being inclusive. Finally, some other considerations include gifts and giveaways as a way of saying "thank you" and to encourage some competitive spirit in your team.

What is the most spook-tacular Halloween celebration you’ve ever seen? Share your story below… Photographic evidence encouraged. The winner will win a bleeding heart cake sent to your office this Halloween.

Rachel & the team

So You’re Stuck in a Customer Service Mishap...

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If you've been following social media, you might have heard about the grueling back & forth between Comcast customer Ryan Block and a customer service rep that went viral. It only reminds us about how great customer service should always be top priority for your company. However, despite your best efforts to avoid a disaster, sometimes you can find yourself in a mess. What are the best ways to respond to an inadvertent customer service faux pas?

Admit it!
Acknowledge that there is a problem. Work with the client to find out exactly what went wrong and commit to work together jointly to seek resolution. What is the scope of the problem? If someone was rude, this could be a disciplinary training issue. If the rep provided incorrect facts about a product, there could be a general training problem. If you are still investigating the impact of the data breach, let your clients know right away so they could take some steps to reduce the impact, even if you are still working on it. Transparency about an issue is the first step in messaging to your customers that you are going to be on top of it.

What if customer is the problem? Just about every one of us had been witness to rude and aggressive customer taking it out on the stewardess, waiter, or customer support rep. With proper training, your customer service team should have a detailed plan when dealing with such customers. However in an extreme case of mistreatment, harassment, or inappropriate behavior remember to always stand behind your people first and foremost. 

Come up with a Game Plan 
Now that you pinpointed your problem, come up with a resolution to deal with it. Communicate your plan to the affected customer and work jointly to agree on a solution. Sometimes there are issues that simply cannot be resolved. In this case, be honest, apologize, and, if it's possible, try to offer alternatives. Staying clear, open, and calm will keep the customer as ease even if the problem may not be fixed.

Fix the problem! For good
Execute your game plan. Whether it is an immediate fix or one more rooted in your company, work with your team. Debrief on what needs to be done, and how best to do it. Come up with a better training strategy for your customer service reps. Re-vamp your product training program. Consult IT to clear out a reoccurring client data issue. Whatever the issue is, being proactive about the execution is a vital part of the resolution. Equally important is figuring out what has to be done to prevent the issue from re-occurring.

Get Closure
With a proper strategy & effort you will be able put your mishap behind you. After you have come to terms with your customer service faux pas, ask the client for feedback. According to, Adam Toporek, a Customer Experience Strategist, considering the customers feelings is one of the most important aspects of customer service that often gets overlooked. Ask the client if the issue was addressed to their liking. Can you be of further assistance? Do they have any other suggestions? Even though this may seem counterintuitive you may consider asking if they would be willing to share their news of the positive experience with your company.

Sometimes even the best planning cannot protect you from a "disaster." However your response in the time of the crisis can provide a better measure and appreciation of your offering and for working with your organization.

Got a horrific customer service disaster or experience? Let us know by commenting below!

Rachel & the team

Keys to Avoiding Customer Service Disasters

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Amazing business offering can only go so far without the customer service behind it. Virtually every person has experienced poor customer service at one point or another in their lives whether it was from a bank teller, cable company phone representative, or at their neighborhood bagel shop. Some customers will shrug & keep going while others will choose to take their business elsewhere.

When a large company is at risk of losing a customer, it has ample resources to try to cajole that customer back or to get more clients. Smaller firms may not have the luxury to take either approach. Without consistent quality of service, no matter how good the offering, customers will leave and competitors will capitalize on this opportunity.

Of course the best thing to do as a product or service provider is to avoid being in such a situation in the first place. How can you go about it?

Build Your Team Wisely
Not everyone can become a star customer service rep. In addition to having the solid product and/or service knowledge, that person has to have a pleasant demeanor, patience, professionalism, effective communication, and a problem-solving personality. Clients call to get answers to their questions and having someone on the other side that can empathize and wants to genuinely provide help will go a long way.

The job does not stop once you have the right people on board. It is vital to build a strong organization where team members can openly communicate with each other to leverage each other's expertise & help each other grow. Company culture plays a key role. Communico Ltd.,  a customer service training and consulting company encourages to "identify the behaviors aligned with your [company's] values" & use them to create a standard training program that highlights your identity as a customer service team.

Train & Empower your Team 
Without a solid understanding of the business offering your customer service reps are powerless when it comes to solving client problems. They need to be trained & highly experienced with the product. In today's rapidly evolving marketplace, in some industries it can mean staying on top of the latest developments in the industry as well. Creating certification programs, encouraging, and properly incentifying development opportunities helps ensure that your support team is engaged and finely attuned to helping address your client needs.

Put Metrics in Place
Track effectiveness of your customer support activity both internally and externally. Who are your leading knowledge experts? Who is struggling? What is the typical throughput? Implement call quality programs to gain deeper insights into your customer service trends. According to a 2006 Ascent Group Study, companies that implemented call quality programs saw a 4-10% rise in customer satisfaction.

Bring customers into equation by conducting interviews to get in-depth feedback and running periodic surveys to assess the trends. What suggestions do your customers have for you to provide better service for them? Using social media can be another great tool to track the success of your team's customer service efforts. Employ a public relations point person to track feedback in the social media and report back key findings.

Customer support is often treated as the necessary "evil," a cost driver that does not always bring back incremental revenues. However, without it, your commitment to stand behind the best products and services for your customers is in question.

What are some of your effective methods used in your company to keep your support team engaged and delivering the best results?

Rachel & the team

"2048" for a Better Development Processes

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Can software games provide insight to development process? The addictive new math game 2048 – conceived by a 19-year-old developer – is an ingenious variation on the theme of the classic sliding-tile game. Tiles marked "2" and "4" appear at random locations on a 4 by 4 board. You have to merge tiles with identical numbers. The aim of the game is to reach 2048 before the board fills up. As luck would have it, the 2048 game is an excellent analogy for the process of software development.

Software developers develop new code. They add new bits and pieces, and the software "board" gradually "fills up." As time passes, solutions once deemed elegant inevitably start looking like bowls of spaghetti. There will be much redundancy and inefficiency, and the software will become prohibitively difficult to expand further. In order to sustain growth and manage the mounting complexity, someone will have to continue combining, refactoring, and optimizing the software.

Refactoring takes time and effort. It is not productive. As far as users are concerned, while refactoring is taking place nothing magical is happening in their world. But to keep moving forward you need to refactor. It might not work for absolutely everything; however, "2048" useful to keep in mind as a design pattern.

How do you know that a code is ripe for refactoring?
There are software tools that can help identify inefficiencies in the code. It is also possible to build into the processes in order to assess the need for refactoring during code reviews and bug fixes. Refactoring should also extend beyond the code – to databases, third party libraries and to supporting infrastructures, not to mention the processes around them.

Who should be refactoring?
Who among us wouldn't love to have someone on the team take that extra step to double check whether a class they're working on isn't already too long, or whether similar code that shows up in 10 places couldn't perhaps be condensed into one spot? True, it's rare to find such a purist. So, on the off-chance that you do find one, please give us a call!! Your best bet is to set up the time and/or identify dedicated "senior" refactoring resources on the team. To find the optimal ways to combine pieces on the figurative board, refactoring requires advanced skills and a holistic view of the system.

With a bit of work, you can have 2048 process set up and running in your team. BTW, how are you dealing with your technology growth challenges?

Daniil & the team

The First Steps to Get Your Business off the Ground

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This blog is about sharing & implementing brilliant ideas in the software space. So, you have a brilliant idea… you go to validate it. And now you know exactly what to do from the product/idea implementation standpoint. You may even have some potential customers cheering you on at the end of the rainbow. What are the next steps? This post will touch on some of the initial logistics you can take care of while you're working on your vision. Depending on your unique situation, there may be more decisions to make and action items to work on. Nearly every single one of them will warrant in-depth research as well as being subjected to the decision making process. Upcoming posts will overview additional steps & dive deeper into the details of actual activities.

Put a Name on It
Come up with a name for the product and the company. It's not critical, but since you're building a baby… might as well give it a name. Going through this exercise will also help you arrive at a clear understanding of what it is you are about to build. A product? A service? Is the name extensible? Is it suitable for your target audience? "Churpsies" could work great for the end-user consumer base, but you might need something more dignified-sounding for the corporate audience. Seek out your potential company name online to make sure there's nothing similar out there already. Apart from causing confusion, using a name that already exists could easily land you with a lawsuit… And, while you're at it, a search through the trademark database could provide some useful information for moving forward.

Secure a Domain Name
This step is similar to picking a name (see above). There are scores of domain name registries. DoDaddy.com, Network Solutions, and Register.com are three of the most popular. If your desired domain name with the top level extension ".com" such as mybrilliantidea.com is already taken, it's sometimes possible to purchase that domain name in the secondary market. However, prices can run pretty high. Alternatively, you could get creative with extensions like .es, .is, .us, and many others. Find out more here.

Register the Company
To formally create a company you might need to register it with the IRS and with the state and local revenue agencies where the company will be incorporated. Depending on your objectives it makes sense to carefully access the decision on the state of incorporation and type of incorporation (LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, etc). It is best to consult your lawyer and/or accountant/financial adviser for their recommendations before making the final decision. As with finding the right doctor for your newborn, these key professionals will help you bring your business into the world. Shop around; ask for referrals and recommendations to find people you're comfortable with on a personal as well as a professional level. Services like BizFillings.com make it easy to navigate the basic steps involved in registration but are no substitute for professional advise.

Take Care of the Legal Paperwork
If you're joining forces with one or more co-founders, a shareholders' agreement is a must. To continue with the family analogy, it is the pre-nuptial agreement and the marriage contract in one. Ideally, questions about who is responsible for what, and how much effort they will put in, and what to do if/when things go wrong should be addressed before you actually run into those issues. With that in mind, it makes sense to get this step out of the way sooner rather than later. Other legal paperwork may include a non-compete agreement, a stock purchase agreement and other documents based on your specific circumstances.

It's Not Over Yet!
Next, you may want to contemplate getting an email account, finding a hosting provider, registering a business address/mailbox, designing a logo/website, thinking about business insurance, opening a bank account, and... Whether you are setting up a daycare center or building a cloud software product, getting your company off the ground can take a number of steps. Find the process that works best for you, your location, and your specific situation. In the course of your activities, every step of the way, never stop your quest for the like-minded individuals who can help you realize your vision.

Ah, brilliant ideas! Ready to realize yours?

Rachel & the team

V for Vision: Moving Forward to Create a Better Future

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What's the most dangerous thing for the human mind? Stop for a moment and think. What comes to your mind? The thing that comes to mine is complacency - the feeling of self-satisfaction that stops any thought of progress or innovation dead in its tracks.

'This is sufficient for our needs', 'We'll keep our eye out to see what everyone else does and then we'll make our move', 'Let's just revisit this a few years from now', 'No one is complaining, so why rock the boat?'

With the market evolving at the frenetic pace of the last decade, if you hear these words too often at work, the chances are your ship is already starting to sink … According to Gartner: by 2017, one third of current market leaders may be displaced as a result of an information crisis brought about by their inability to adapt to the information race.

And you know what else? Vast majority of software vendors are still on premise, and 71% of corporate buyers want to consume their services in the cloud. Guess what this means for the industry. It's true, there's still an opportunity with the dwindling number of corporate buyers staunchly looking for installation box sets. But while not every product is ideal for the cloud, installed client base will continue to erode. Office software is the poster child of things to come. 

I personally can only speak for the cloud software space. However, it seems that we're starting to fight technological complacency everywhere - from the outdated information sharing that slows down our scientific research, to the ending of our dependence on the old school (pun intended) teaching methodologies.

So, guess what? Complacency no longer means job security. Unless your objective is to watch the rapid degradation of value that you imagine you'll have 'forever', the status quo ended a long time ago. The next time you hear someone say those words @ work — in the words of the immortal Morticia Addams — Help them! After all, your future is a reflection of the effort you & others around you put in it.

What's your vision of getting ahead?

Rachel & the team

How to Structure Your Software Free Trials for Success

Humans have a hard time resisting the allure of the "Free." Most of us already know that there is usually no such thing as a free lunch. Even so, one hardly gives it another thought while picking up a free t-shirt at the tradeshow, grabbing the extra Coke that went with the double pizza order, or signing up for a free mobile app for diet management.

Caveats to "Free" exist on both sides of the counter and are particularly tangible in the context of software solutions that offer free product trials.

For the customer, caveats can encompass a broad range of issues from wasted time and not getting what they really want, to the loss of privacy and trust. From the software vendor perspective, while "Free" might have given the prospects the incentive to get in the door, according to Totango only 2% will go on to become the paying clients. While being a draw on the marketing resources and sales opportunities, "Free" doesn’t always provide an accurate insight into the true customer needs and what it would take to convert them. There are a few things you can do to improve this statistic.

How do you structure a software free trial framework that can be successful at driving your client conversions
 
1. Set the Entry Barriers
Your objective is to provide an opportunity for the prospects to experience your products and services before signing up. Outlining the mutual expectancies from the get-go will help establish the rules of the engagement, qualify your target audience, assess their urgency to act, and ultimately get them to commit time and resources to explore the opportunity. On the vendor side, once the trial has started, the clock is ticking to engage the potential client, understand their needs, and find optimal ways to get them to the finish line. As far as you know, they've made the move because they saw "Free." That brings me to the next point.

2. Demonstrate Value... Immediately
The first days of the trial are crucial. By keeping a close track on how users interact with your solution you can understand the challenges they have interfacing with your solution. This insight can allow to devise ways to reduce or eliminate the bottlenecks in getting set up and running. If their attention is starting to wane, engage them online or by phone. Share valuable insights to help get them to take the next step. How transformative was taking the next step for existing customers and in what ways were they impacted?

3. Have a Larger Carrot Handy
As the deadline looms, what else can you offer to help push them to the proverbial finish line? You can highlight the benefits they already experienced and share the bigger picture of the ROI  enjoyed by other clients. Can an opportunity to connect with other clients on your company's client forum drive your prospects to make the next step? Few realize that a purchase decision is largely an emotional one. What steps can you take to engage your trial customers in the story of your organization and to help establish that connection?

Free trials are a powerful tool to get people to act. In addition to the core steps above, additional considerations such as the complexity of the product and the length of trial are vital in structuring effective trials.

There are many helpful resources to find additional information. How are you leveraging the magic of "Free" to expand your client base? Let us know in the comments below.

Rachel & the team

P.S. If you are a cloud provider, don’t bask in the glory for too long once your trial customer finally takes the plunge. The job of keeping that client happy subscription to subscription is about to start!

Three Simple Strategies to Unlock the Potential of Meetups

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Have you ever tried Meetups? If you haven't, you might be missing out on an excellent opportunity to grow your business. Meetups are professional and social groups that meet regularly to discuss a wide range of subject areas. They're a great (and fun!) way to expand your professional interests, meet like-minded people, improve your business knowledge, pitch a new idea, and hear about the ideas of others.

So, How Do You Get Started?
A good starting point is to identify a relevant group that meets regularly in your location from Meetup.com. If you find a group's Meetup topic interesting and share common interests with group members, join the group and plan to attend a meeting.

For some people, the thought of attending a Meetup can be daunting, particularly if you don't consider yourself to be an outgoing person. However, with a bit of preparation you'll be able to venture out of your comfort zone without too much discomfort :).

Getting the Most Out of a Meetup
Here are three simple steps to help you maximize your Meetup experience.

Step 1: Preparing For the Meeting
Before you attend the Meetup, begin with some preliminary planning to help you to get the most from the experience. Spend a bit of time thinking through your objectives. If you are hoping to speak with specific group members, then perhaps, after identifying them online, reach out and initiate a conversation via the Meetup application or online. A good starting plan for a large gathering is to aim to speak with at least 10 people. Set a measurable metric for yourself, such as having to collect 10 business cards. This will keep you focused and help prevent you spending all your time latched on to the very first contact you've made.

Get a better understanding of the format of the meeting. How is it structured? Is there a guest speaker? What networking opportunities will present themselves? What's the dress code?

Think about your pitch. What are you going to share? How you are you planning to respond to specific questions? Role playing can be useful in helping you to think through some sample scenarios.

Don't forget to bring your business cards!

Step 2: At the meeting
When you're there, it's important to keep engaged and to ask questions. Wondering what questions you should be asking? There can be so many; but as a general rule, try to keep them open-ended. For example: Where did you hear about this group? What are your goals? What do you do? What does your company do? What did you think about today's presentations? How long have you been a member? And, of course, don't forget to ask for a business card. It is also helpful to jot a few notes on the business card as you speak so that you can better remember the context of your conversation afterwards.

Budget your time! You might connect with a great person that you just want to continue a conversation with. However if it is clear that the two of you have connected and there is more to discuss, exchange your contact info, agree to follow up, and move on. By staying focused on each other, both of you are missing out on other great opportunities to connect.

Finally, spend more time listening than talking. While Meetup presents a great opportunity to refine your story and pitch, learning how others present theirs will help make yours even better. Once you've reached your goals, you can keep going, or consider the event a fait accomplis and pat yourself on the back.

Step 3: After the Meeting
Now is the time to follow up on all the leads you've gathered. If you got the business cards, then check the notes, get LinkedIn and connect. It might make sense to revisit the event page for any follow up comments and feedback.

Have a private debrief with yourself, asking yourself: what did you liked about the event, or conversely what could be improved. Next meeting, raise the plank higher. Set more complex objectives; such as more cards to collect and more conversations to have, or perhaps take on the role of presenter?

There are many professional/social organizations that meet regularly, but Meetups present a convenient and easy way to connect with others with similar interests. The mobile app allows you to check what's happening and make plans virtually on the spot, which is very convenient if you are in town for only a day.

Rachel & the team

Balancing Work & Life as an Entrepreneur

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One of the hottest topics in business is that of managing work and life balance. It's the ultimate yin-yang of career and lifestyle, and far from being a solely a "personal choice," it is influenced by a number of factors such as geography, physical capabilities, available opportunities, gender differences, and technology. Entrepreneurship adds another layer of complexity into the balance.

The Difficulty of Finding Harmony at Work and at Home
On one hand, as an entrepreneur, the chances are that you are doing something you are deeply passionate about; something that is no longer "just a job," but more of a lifestyle choice. On the surface, it may seem that blurring the line between personal and business offers the best of both worlds; but therein lies the danger. Every extra hour you spend doing something to further your business may be bringing you closer to breaking apart your marriage, alienating your kids, and driving away your friends. In addition to threatening personal relationships, working 14-18 hour days and not making the time for exercise and healthy eating can, in turn, bring about mental and physical breakdown; which, ironically, will put at risk the continuity and survival of your business. Entrepreneurship may be the ultimate challenge in managing the time between your operating domains: self, family, community, and work.

Finding the Solution
There are plenty of online resources discussing the challenges of effective time management, regardless of whether one is an entrepreneur or not; as well as inevitable tradeoffs and sacrifices one has to make in order to be successful. However, few resources exist that actually provide objective and actionable insight to make work and self-time work. 

Stew Friedman's Total Leadership program is one such resource. Total Leadership approach starts with a self-assessment of your core values and aligning self-expectations with those of the people in your family, work, and community circles. This part can be a bit tedious and intimidating at the same time. However, by taking the luxury of time to escape the daily grind and reflect, you provide yourself with the ability to objectively assess everything that matters to you in the context of your core values and objectives. This will ultimately help drive better choices thereafter. Perhaps you'll discover that entrepreneurship is really not your goal. And perhaps you'll discover that it is. The point is, once you've aligned your values and expectations you will:

1. See the path ahead clearer
2. Start making small changes in your life to help drive you toward completion of your goals
3. Get on the same page with the key stakeholders in your personal and professional life and get their buy-in in supporting your vision
4. Become happier (based on the testimony of many graduates :))

Stew's Total Leadership class was one of the most valuable to me from Wharton MBA program because it had helped to build the foundation for ensuring a better work and life balance. The class is now also available on Coursera. Best of luck in making the meaningful choices in pursuing your dreams!

Rachel & the team

Micro Outsource Like a Pro

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As an aspiring entrepreneur you understand that a lot of work goes into building your business. Assuming the idea validation stage has provided a good direction for moving forward, following the non-trivial business registration step, activities quickly pile up: in-depth market analysis, product definition, logo design, site creation, marketing collateral, industry research, accounting, designing the prototype are just the tip of the iceberg.

While you still have a small business and there is only so many hours in the day, you may not be able to do all these activities yourself. Likewise, it may not be feasible for you to hire all of employees responsible for these tasks. So what are you supposed to do? One of the answers may be that you could just outsource the work.

Here's how it works: there are freelance professionals in all areas of marketing, web design, code writing, accounting, etc. that are available to give quality products in their specific area of expertise. Most are paid on a project by project basis. For instance, you need a new marketing ad by the end of the week. You can look on SourceItOut (or any other reputable ad outsourcing website) for someone who specializes in marketing campaigns. You give them the parameters and vision of what you want the campaign to accomplish, and they provide you with a high quality product within your time limits. This allows you to only pay for the work you need.

Crowdsourcing takes the concept to the next level. Many of the same activities could be accomplished by highly trained professionals who actually compete for your business. From crowdsourcing the marketing content and design to funding your project.

That is not to say that outsourcing does not require any work on your part. It takes time to identify the best individuals for every kind of project and track their progress. But the time spent and resources needed to track outsourced projects are generally less that those needed to find, attract, hire, train, and retain an employee. And in the process of outsourcing you may be able to whet potential employees before bringing them on board.

Many freelancers are professionals in their field, ready to provide you quality results right now. With so many of them out there, it's easy to find someone who can work with your schedule. You maintain control over product outcome by specifying what you want, but you don't have to dedicate time to overseeing the project. This gives you time to engage in more impactful activities.

Lets tap into some crowd wisdom together: what outsourcing outfits does your organization use on a regular basis? We'll share the updates in the upcoming posts.

Rachel & the team

Content Marketing - The Easy Way to Grow Awareness & Build Your Brand

Whether you're reading this because you know something about Content Marketing and you’re wondering how anyone could possibly claim that it's easy, or reading it in the hope of discovering how to get some recognition for all the thought leadership exercised by your growing organization, read on — there's something here for both of you.

For anyone who may be unaware, content marketing is a way of generating awareness and recognition by creating and sharing engaging and helpful media content related to your product or service. This can help to establish thought leadership, build relationships with a base of interested and committed fans. Content marketing as a core component of your social media strategy could maximize the impact of your other marketing, advertising, and sales efforts and ultimately drive more prospective customers your way.

Now for the hard part. With thousands and thousands of organizations relentlessly churning out relevant, informative, engaging content not unlike your own, how can you ensure that yours will rise above the deluge to reach your customers? Does this resonate with you when another helpful newsletter drops into your mailbox?

The answer may lie in the root of what drives a lot of decision making: human emotions. Sharing relevant information is all very well, but telling real human stories is the best way to build lasting emotional connections between you and your audience.

Why are you doing what you are doing? What compels you to embark on your path? Who is helping you? What difference will it make to the world? Of all the brilliant ideas out there, why should anyone care about yours? And once you get started, are you willing to share what obstacles do you encounter on your way (and what you did to address them)?

Bringing a little bit of yourself to the story will ensure that your readers don't see you as a nameless, faceless thought leader, but rather as a trusted adviser and someone they could relate to as well. This has been one of the most transformative journeys for us and we are excited and looking forward to whatever exciting new challenges we encounter on our way. Looking forward to sharing more in the upcoming posts! We invite you to join the dialogue and share your stories!!

Rachel & the team

Core Curriculum Needs a Principal

Courtesy sxc.hu

In our last post we looked at Gamification in a business setting, but where we see an even bigger opportunity for leveraging games is in the education space. We're not talking here about the general concept of simply increasing engagement through rewards, but rather about aiming to create games that help drive learning and bring our kids levels up to and beyond those of the core curriculum.

This is not to say there's any shortage of educational games out there. There are thousands… and new ones are added every day – but to what end? What seems to be missing is a standard of knowledge to aim the learning at. The core curriculum is not ideal, but it is a standard and perhaps it's the one that could help our kids to compete effectively with their contemporaries in adult life – especially the ones whose parents take extreme measures to ensure their kids' education is up to par, or those who are lucky enough to grow up in Estonia.

While the recommended maximum is 1-2 hours per day, most kids spend 7 hours, and often more, playing games of one sort or another. For most of that time their natural curiosity isn't satisfied, they don't learn any useful skills and they don't do anything to make the world a better place (yes, even kids are capable of that in the right environment). Most of that valuable time is wasted. Without recognized standards for educational games, we as parents have no way of judging the quality of the learning experience and its application in a wider context.

We strongly believe that the education system will undergo some revolutionary changes over the coming decade. Classroom learning is likely to end up playing a very different and possibly less significant role. In contrast, gamified e-learning will gradually become more impactful, particularly in the non-college educational space.

As such, there needs to be a central authority, represented by one or more entities, responsible for making sure that learning apps meet particular criteria. Apart from reassuring parents that certain apps are suitable their children's learning needs, it will also encourage developers to bring their products up to the recognized level. Moreover, it will encourage greater competitiveness between developers, and drive diversification and innovation in the e-learning sector. And then it will really become a game!! Encouraging strides are being made in that direction, but as far as brilliant ideas go, this one seems to be up for grabs at the moment.

Would you like to share your insights on the developments in this space or recommend any great resources?


Rachel, Dan & Dmitry

Playing the Game

Courtesy sxc.hu

Gamification is still firmly on the agendas for many organizations – whether for boosting customer engagement, improving the efficiency of customer support teams, making training more fun, or driving some serious innovation. What’s changed, however, is that nowadays companies are taking a far more measured approach to its implementation. They understand that by closely aligning business objectives with the player’s individual needs, play styles and incentives they will unlock Gamification’s real potential for driving results.

At the peak of the hype, many organizations jumped on the badges bandwagon. "Complete this training and win an awesome badge to pin on your desktop!" Unsurprisingly, not everyone was overawed by such exciting schemes. Better to provide a range of incentive options and allow employee or client to pick what works for them. It could be social recognition by likes, or access to more interesting projects or groups of employees who’ve had similar training.

Employee health and fitness inside companies is one of the most successful examples of Gamification at play. A number of firms offer employees health bands to encourage them to stay fit. The business objective is to lower medical insurance costs and reduce sickness related absence by improving the overall health of the employee base. Employee benefits ranged from reduced insurance premiums and better health, to recognition, fun and the opportunity of competing with other employees.

Some of the most tantalizing moments in a life of a game are the final ones. Unfortunately, continuity is sometimes an afterthought. For example, how and when to end a Gamification-assisted activity should be decided as part of a conscious planning process that is completed, if possible, before the initiative starts. If a company chooses to expand the scope, it makes sense to evaluate whether additional investment will deliver the expected results. By the same token, stopping a game that has just started to generate team- or client interest could make it more difficult re-engage participants next time around.

Gamification can bring excitement to even the most boring of work activities. It can stir up the competitive spirit and drive innovation inside and outside the company. According to Gartner, by 2015 as many as 50% of companies will have started using Gamification as the innovation driver, and by 2020, most of them will have adopted Gamification in marking and sales as well. However, to achieve the best results it is important to plan ahead and stay focused on the goals. Scores of resources are available if you’re thinking of playing the Gamification card.

Rachel, Dan, & Dmitry

Springtime for Interns

Leveraging interns is one of the cheapest ways for your organization to get work done and possibly find a new full-time employee in the process. And for interns, it can provide great opportunities to explore different areas of business. With summer around the corner a fresh crop of recent graduates can offer many options to choose from. Creating effective process to make the most of an employer-intern relationship has benefits on both sides of the desk.

Define Objectives
What deliverables do you expect to see at the end of the internship? Are your expectations realistic? Skill sets and effort levels can vary among interns, and so can their work availability. Sometimes you will have to adjust your objectives as you go, but having a set of initial requirements prepared will allow you to focus on finding the right intern for the job and setting the right expectancies from a get go

While it may seem safer to set conservative goals, the opportunity for interns to take on more challenging projects can open up better learning opportunities and bring greater rewards for both parties.

Create a Structure
Structure relates to the projects the intern will undertake or participate in as well as specific work processes and associated mutual expectations. With regard to the first, depending on the time the intern is available, the internship can be structured as a series of smaller projects that may or may not roll into one major deliverable. This way the intern will not only have a chance to complete a number of different assignments, but will also get feedback for each one and a sense of accomplishment in the process. And, should the internship be interrupted, you will still have some work completed. Setting the work schedule and leveraging collaborative project management tools (many of which are available for free) for structuring work activities will help ensure that you remain on the same page without having to keep a constant check on your intern.

Don’t Forget the Human Factor
That being said, don’t relegate the intern to the “temporary employee corner”. Be there for him when he has questions. Introduce him to everyone and try to make him feel like a genuine member of the team. That will make your intern much more confident about approaching colleagues for help.

Remember, whether this is your intern’s first experience in the workplace or not – make sure it’s a fun one! Invite interns to the company outing, and let them chime in with a few suggestions of their own – they might just know the coolest place in town!

What are some of the most effective practices you use for managing your interns?

Rachel, Dan, & Dmitry

Bored at Work? Maybe the Lack of Purpose is to Blame?

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Great article by Aaron Hurst: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/20/opinion/sunday/being-good-isnt-the-only-way-to-go.html?_r=0 highlights the phenomenon of the growing numbers of volunteers. Some of the root causes could extend beyond just doing "good" to having an opportunity to do something meaningful or purposeful at work. What's interesting, while the work itself (even for a non-profit organization) could be serving the greater good, it too can be boring & unsatisfying. Hurst talks about revisiting the design of the work activities to better meet employees' personal needs and objectives.

Can CIOs retain their relevance in the new operating landscape?

"CIOs to Become In-House Brokers -- and That's a Good Thing" by Tom Kaneshige makes a good case for how it can be done. Kaneshige sees CIOs becoming true technology leaders, embracing the new cloud technologies instead of entrenching in the legacy apps maintenance grind.

Validating Your Brilliant Idea

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As we mentioned in one of our earlier posts, having a brilliant idea is nice but it won't necessarily get you anywhere. For one thing, it's very unlikely that it's new. According to statistics, 149 other people around the world have exactly the same idea at exactly the same point in time (not always the same 149, obviously). And the chances are that a handful of them are attempting to implement it as we speak.

But, out of that handful, how many have actually taken the time to understand questions like: what problem is this idea going to solve? Whose lives are going to be changed if the idea is realized? And why should anybody care?

When that brilliant thought hits you, the first thing to do is validate it. This can be done in several ways. One of the most popular is to create several different landing pages that give a tempting glimpse of the idea with the aim of arousing your visitors' curiosity—prompting them to ask for more information. After that you can run an AdWords campaign for a few days or weeks to drive visitors to your landing pages. There are a number of resources that allow you to set everything up in a few hours. This approach relies on people actively searching online for specific terms relevant to your idea. By the number of searches, clicks, and visitor contact info you can gauge interest levels for whichever product or service you had in mind.

Be aware though that, as with almost everything, this approach has its disadvantages—not the least of which is driving visitors to a non-existing offering. Sometimes the idea is so innovative that people might not be able to properly verbalize their need or identify their problem. To use a familiar analogy: it's a bit like trying to explain the advantages of a smartphone to people who've never owned one. "Why do I need it," they ask, "I can check my emails on my computer… my old flip phone is perfect for phone calls." When it comes to ground-breaking ideas, this method fails big time … and equally provides little insight into the approaches most likely served by existing products. Finally, this sort of validation provides the sort of yes/no answers that don't allow you to change or evolve your thinking in response to feedback from your audience.

As a better alternative to validate your idea, nothing beats reaching out in person or by phone to interview relevant portions of your network. When you're engaged in active dialogue you get a much better understanding of your audience's needs, as well as whether and how your idea can help to address them. As you continue gathering feedback, your idea will become that much more specific, nuanced, relevant and actionable, to the point where it may bear only a vague resemblance to the original. But this way you've gained valuable insight, and maybe a handful of like-minded individuals who are simply dying for YOU to take the next step.

What are some of the other ways to validate ideas?

Rachel, Dan & Dmitry

How Do You Find a Perfect Chief Technology Officer?

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If you're building a technology company, there is one person, alongside the CEO, who can make or break your organization. That person is the Chief Technology Officer. The CTO will ultimately be responsible for transforming the CEO's vision into reality and executing on the company vision.

That's not an easy job. The CTO must combine a keen insight into the company mission with a high level of cross-functional knowledge in order to provide a catalyst that can transform the vision into digital format. Great communication and leadership skills are essential in a person who is charged with securing, motivating, and managing the talent that will execute on that vision. Finally, the CTO must act as a bridge leveraging technology developments occurring outside the organization to create value on the inside. Few possess the talent to drive both, but the CTO who can drive innovation will ultimately be able to evolve technology solutions to meet client needs.

If you have a small team and limited access to resources, your technology co-founder will probably have to wear a lot of different hats as you grow and diversify your technology team to include software engineers, quality analysts, technical writers, development leads, usability experts, deployment, security, and others.

It is important to realize that technology co-founders don't always make great CTOs. It is therefore crucial to communicate closely and openly to make an objective assessment and identify the possible skill/experience gaps that might prevent your company from executing on the technology front. If you find that bringing in outside talent will increase the likelihood of success, it is important— when planning your next step—to consider the resources available and the timing of your decision in the context of your company goals. Don't get hanged up on the term. A CTO can play different rules depending on your business environment. There is nothing to say that COO or CIO cannot adopt areas of responsibility typically thought of as CTO domain.

Finding the Perfect CTO

Track record: Look for someone with experience leading a technology organization. Do they have a technology background? Are they an effective leader? Are they naturally inclined to keep abreast of evolving trends in technology?

Does it matter whether or not they've ever been an actual CTO? Not necessarily. If they possess the drive  and have the necessary background and personality traits they can become successful technology leaders in your organization. No one is a born CTO.

Domain knowledge: not a must, but experience in your space helps to reduce the learning curve and make the CTO more effective faster. It's also possible that someone from a different industry could bring valuable insights to enrich your vision.

Do they speak your language? Can you communicate effectively beyond buzzwords and technology hype to reach the value you're trying to create? If you choose to share your vision during the interview process, is the candidate able to understand it and critique it intelligently (apart from telling you that it's awesome)? Would they be willing to embrace it and work tirelessly to make it a reality?

As with any executive position, it is crucial to be as thorough as possible (link to blog posting) during the interview process.

What are the characteristics of a perfect CTO?

Rachel, Dmitry, Dan

Don’t Get Lost in the Nomenclature of Cloud Computing

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Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), Database as as Service (DBaaS). Most recently Google had come out with a model that molds PaaS and IaaS together. Hardly a week goes by before another definition of these popular buzzwords comes out. How much coverage does each provide? How far up the stack does it go? Is it a pure play or a hybrid? Public cloud or private cloud?

Some of the confusion is driven by the difficulties in understanding the exact functional boundaries and the provider-specific decisions that drive the architecture of each type of cloud-based service. But also, as each type of cloud service continues to evolve, the lines between technologies are starting to blur making it even more difficult to differentiate between them.

What seems to be altogether omitted from the conversation so far is the value that these cloud technologies are bringing to both the business and consumer audiences that use the services. What specific problems are they helping to solve? What issues or pain points are they helping the customer to avoid?

In the buzz created by the release of the latest, most definitive definition, the voice of the customer gets lost. What the cloud service provider community should start to focus on is going back to listening, and understanding where customers need to go, and then identifying the best vehicle(s) to take them there.

Rachel, Dan, & Dmitry

The Top 5 Reasons You Are Wasting Time Instead of Getting the Job Done

Courtesy sxc.hu

It's hard to resist taking a peek at the "Top X articles." We live in a fast-moving world, constantly short of time. The ability to get information in bite-sized nuggets, stripped of all but the most relevant facts makes it very tempting to click those "Top 5 Trends..," or the "Top 10 Reasons..," or the "Top 7 Habits of..." under the impression that by reading them we'll not only learn something new and interesting but save tons of time as well. Cracked.com has made an art of the genre and regularly produces Top articles on the wildest of topics.

But, hang on a minute: when was the last time you read one of these articles? And do you remember what it was about? The chances are you read it recently and forgot what it was about in five minutes. The information in these articles is very rarely actionable. At best, if you're lucky, it entertains; at worst it does exactly what it's supposed not to do—wastes time. Put simply, most of these articles are just filler material, like the pink slime in your favorite burgers.

To prove my point, I've called this article "The Top 5 Reasons You Are Wasting Time Instead of Getting the Job Done". I chose 5 reasons was because I thought 3 might be deemed too few to be considered a valuable source of information, and 7 to 10 would be too many for those of us who do care about "saving time."

In the course of extensive research, I examined 5 other lists of "Top Time Wasters" only to discover that they had next to nothing in common, thus making them useless as a point of reference (so that was a waste of time). It was at that point that I started feeling guilty about tricking my readers into reading as far as to this point, and decided to cut to the chase (i.e. to stop beating about the bush or, to put it another way: to get to the point without wasting words, or time) by providing The Top 3 reasons why people end up wasting time instead of getting on with their work and… bonus!!! – I bet you didn't know this was coming – what are the ways to address that.

#1: Not having a clear goal: when you show up at work and sit down to work, do you have a clear idea of what you hope to accomplish during the day? True, there are meetings in your calendar, and there are tons of emails to respond to, but what should you really be doing today? Today, you should really be looking at the bigger picture and doing something aimed at achieving your plans not just for today but for this week, for this month, for this year and for the years to come.

What should I do? Despite the abundance hi-tech apps and tools that can do all this stuff for you, I personally find the easiest, simplest and most helpful thing is to write down a list of my goals for the day in a notebook and cross them off as I do them. The notebook should always be in your line of sight. At the end of the day, if you see that certain items haven't been crossed off, the chances are that you've been wasting time, but at least you'll know what to do tomorrow! The notebook method also enables you to gleefully review your accomplishments at the end of the week/month and gives you something other than pink slime, with which to beef up your performance reports.

#2: Doing the wrong things: OK, so you didn't get round to doing any of the items on your list but you did get A LOT done. You went out of your way to help micromanage an employee, or you reviewed a report that isn't due for several weeks, just to be ahead of the curve. Even the most conscientious of us has a tendency 1) to procrastinate, 2)to find things to do that are easier than the things we should be doing—and then trying to come up with convincing reasons for doing them.

What should I do? Go back to item #1. If it really is so important to micromanage an employee in the context of the big picture, fair enough, it should be done. But, if it isn't, then grasp the desk with both hands, refocus both eyes on your list and carry on as if nothing has happened.

#3: Yielding to distractions: you're searching for some information or responding to an email when, before you know it, you find yourself reading a "Top X" article. Most of the time, you don't even have to be looking for one. They come at you from all directions when you least expect them, to lure you away from the work you would much rather be doing.

What should I do? This is not easy, and, as with items #1 and #2, it requires constant vigilance. Start small by gradually introducing minor changes into your daily routine. This will allow everyone to adjust painlessly to your new, more efficient work practices. Begin by excluding the outside distractions that interfere with the most productive part of the day, for some, the morning. For example, you could make it a rule not to look at your email for two hours after you've responded to it at 9am. Obviously, this won't be feasible if you work for the support team, but you get the general idea.

So, that's one possible distraction eliminated—and don't worry, if there is a real emergency there are plenty of other ways people can reach you. Another tip: don't forget to mark yourself as "busy" in the calendar for that special time period. Once this has been working successfully for a couple of weeks, implement the next small step of making silent text notifications on your cell phone and turning off all chatting agents for the same few hours. If may appear that you are "unplugging" but what you are actually doing is finding ways to stay focused on your daily tasks, for a portion of the day at least—but it's a start!

That's it. And, if you don't see anything actionable here, get back to work!!? :)

Rachel

The MiniMax Rule Applied to the Social Media Marketing

Courtesy sxc.hu

Social media marketing can take up awful lot of company time but can your new organization achieve success without it? Not if your offering is where your clients are: online and/or on the mobile.

How can you rein in the insatiable drain of social media marketing while ensuring the optimal results? Presenting the MiniMax rule – brainchild of operations guru Cesar Bocanegra used to score top grades in his Wharton Executive classes with apparently the smallest amount of effort involved. As you may have already guessed, MiniMax stands for the minimum input with the maximum output. So, how is it done?

First and foremost define your social media strategy. What is the overall vision you are looking to communicate to your connected audiences? It should really boil down to a few bullet points central to your message. Social does not imply "subjective." Once you've defined strategy, subsequent activities will be driven by whether or not they will contribute to the ultimate objective - executing on your company vision.

Next, it's time to consider the tactics for implementing your strategy. In this context social media strategy is another vehicle for getting your ideas across. Think of ways of communicating the company's vision in the context of a company story. How should it be told? Whose voices will tell it?

Build the Body of Knowledge
Those bullet points will translate into the context for your story. Context should be based on a fundamental body of knowledge amassed internally and externally. Focus your efforts on expanding and sharing the content and monitoring the flow of information related to your organization and industry. This way you can leverage the content by targeting your audience and responding to external events. And, always limit your sharing to the most impactful social outlets.

Let's make it clearer with an example. If your organization has developed some amazing accounting software, it's up to you to get your value proposition across: an innovative, reliable product that speeds up monthly invoicing. To communicate this message, your marketing team will research and develop a series of articles and stories that will serve as a basis for your white papers, product cutsheets, blog content, case studies, marketing collateral and more.

Leverage the Content When Communicating With Your Audiences
Whilst sharing this content at every opportunity the marketing team should also keep their collective ear to the ground, continually monitoring information outlets for relevant stories and chiming in with appropriate commentary and the occasional reference to related content. What this activity lacks in spontaneity, it makes up for by regularly communicating a consistent message that will ultimately get your point across. Many new companies dream of creating that "major viral video" but the chances that it will go viral and bring consistent long-term success to your organization are a bit lower than winning the Powerball ;)

As far as listening to the social activity sphere is concerned, divide and conquer is the way to go. Split up the team to monitor different information outlets and topics then reconnect and share impactful findings and specific responses. This is where leveraging specialized tools like Hootsuite, Buffer and Tweetdeck come in handy. Make a posting plan and stick to it. Always have content available to ensure no gaps in your social activities. Create multiple channels to leverage your audience's different "watering spot" formats. Connect all the social activities on your website and drive new followers by including references in your signature and on your business cards.

Track Performance
Finally, consider the metrics. What kind of responses are you expecting? Are they realistic? Do they correspond to your strategy? What course of action will you take if you don't see the results you were expecting within the specific timeframe? Are you keeping accurate track of the time spent in your marketing activities.

Strong organization and consistency help to create effective social marketing campaigns that won't drain your time resources.

Which social marketing activities will propel your organization forward most effectively?

A final thought, don't overlook your own organization when communicating your vision and story. More about defining your corporate social policy and getting the team on the same page and engaged with the social strategy in upcoming posts.

Rachel, Dmitry, & Dan