Samsung Introduces the Galaxy Note 3 in Berlin |  |
- Samsung Introduces the Galaxy Note 3 in Berlin
- 5 Habits Of Relentless Entrepreneurs
- Your Roadmap To Becoming A Successful Entrepreneur
- Becoming a Social Business: How Mature Is Your Company in Social Media?
- Won’t Be Seeing You “Out on the Green” [Cartoon]
- GoDaddy Debuts Van Damme Ad To Appeal to “Courageous” Small Business Owners
| Samsung Introduces the Galaxy Note 3 in Berlin Posted: 06 Sep 2013 04:00 PM PDT
[Samsung Galaxy Note III] Small business owners seeking greater mobility and productivity now have another option. Samsung finally introduced its new Galaxy Note 3 phablet device at the IFA technology show in Berlin. Company representatives said they listened to customers when designing this new update of the popular hybrid between smartphone and tablet. “They wanted larger screens and wanted to do more with them,” said Menno Van Den Berg, Vice President of Samsung Electronics in the Netherlands, at the company’s second Unpacked event of the year this week. The event was webcast live over the company’s Samsung Mobile YouTube Channel. The Note 3 should be available in the U.S. in October. It will be available in three colors: jet black, white, and what they’re calling “blush pink”. An Overview of Samsung Galaxy Note 3The new Galaxy Note 3 will have a full HD 5.7 inch screen. The rear-mounted camera is 13 megapixels and is capable of shooting full HD high resolution video at 60 frames-per-second. The device also has a 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera. Although this is the biggest screen available on a Note device, the new Note 3 is actually lighter than its predecessor and no wider than before. Interestingly, the Note 3 has a backing resembling leather and is ridged on the side so dropping it seems less likely. When it’s combined with an optional flip wallet for convenient carrying, a “window” in the carrier that shows the time, date, and other pertinent updates is larger than before. And you can actually make and receive calls within that window without removing the device from its wallet or case. Other important features include:
A New Stylus Helps Organize InformationThe S-Pen Stylus has a variety of functions to help busy business owners keep information organized. David Park, from Samsung’s Electronics HQ and Marketing divisions, explained the its features during the Samsung presentation in Berlin. The new “Air Command” feature activated simply by tapping the stylus over a floating dot on the screen will bring up an action menu. That menu allows you to jot a quick note, like a new contact’s phone number or email address. Pre-loaded handwriting recognition software allows how to write down contact information with the stylus and then transforms that information into a new contact profile. Or you can write down a phone number and then call that number using the Note’s phone function directly from your handwritten memo. You can use the stylus to circle information you want to save while surfing online and the Note will organize that information into a file called a “scrapbook.” Scrapbooks, like other files, are searchable. Samsung says you can even use the stylus to organize your files. For example, by drawing a dollar sign on business file, you can then use the symbol to search for the specific file later. The company says the Note will also let you create special notebooks called S-Notes that contain specific designated information, like business files, that you may want o keep separate from the other files on your device. These S-Notes can be placed in your Evernote account so that you could easily access them from any device in the future. Here’s more on the device from TechnoBuffalo. The post Samsung Introduces the Galaxy Note 3 in Berlin appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| 5 Habits Of Relentless Entrepreneurs Posted: 06 Sep 2013 01:30 PM PDT
Anyone can start a business, but it's hard to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are achievers but their achievements don't come without pitfalls. What makes entrepreneurs tick? What is it about them that makes them so ambitious, confident, and, well…different from others? Let's find out. Habits of Relentless Entrepreneurs that Separate them from the RestThe Start HabitEntrepreneurs just start. They might not know what's coming up ahead. They might not know what they are getting into. And they have no idea how they will succeed. But they'll start anyway. Gordon Segal, founder of furniture retailer Crate and Barrel, started off without knowing much about the retail business at all or what it entailed. His underlying philosophy:
If you think that this "start no matter what" syndrome happens only when you grow older, think again. Tyler Dikman started selling lemonade when he was only five years old. By age 10, he was performing magic at birthday parties and investing his earnings in stocks. By 15, he started Cooltronics.com, a huge computer supply business. Cooltronics.com earned him over $1 million in revenue by the time he was 17. The start syndrome is, in fact, at the core of many entrepreneurial stories. Sony's first product was an automatic rice cooker before it became a technology leader. Microsoft, Apple, Google and many other admired companies today took the time to find their main product or service but got started anyway. Next time you get the nagging "when do I launch" question, the answer is "now." The Habit of HustleEntrepreneurs revere sales. They are born hustlers. While some shy away from selling, entrepreneurs consider it an art. And for most, it is a habit they developed early. The habit of hustle is ingrained in the very psyche of the entrepreneur, either naturally or by choice. John Paul DeJoria, founder of John Paul Mitchell Systems, a branded hair care product for salons, lived out of his car and sold Christmas cards and newspapers when he started out. Even after starting his company, he still sold shampoo door-to-door. Today he is worth $4 billion. Sheldon Adelson started selling newspapers and later operated a vending machine business. He packed hotel toiletries, and dabbled with mortgage brokering. Today, he owns the Sands Hotel & Casino and also The Venetian mega-resort. The Habit of FailureEntrepreneurs can face failure. Thomas Zurbuchen of the Center for Entrepreneurship, University of Michigan, writes, “Entrepreneurship is about hope.” You'll see this hope reflected in the lives of many entrepreneurs and founders who started businesses against all odds and even in the face of failure. It's this hope that keeps entrepreneurship alive and encourages entrepreneurs to innovate, create and make a difference in millions of lives. Here are some stories:
The Habit of Dealing with UncertaintyEntrepreneurs can handle uncertainty. They launch businesses where none have existed before, create products and services with no idea how they will be received, deal with the uncertainty of irregular cash flow, work with new people and discover and market to customers with whom they may not be familiar. Almost every business success begins with uncertainty. Only 80% of businesses actually succeed and manage to attain profitability. So we can imagine the uncertainties most entrepreneurs face. The Habit of Management and DelegationEntrepreneurs delegate. For them, it is a matter of survival. And that delegation involves inspiring leadership in others too. Entrepreneurs lead by example. They know what must be done because they have done it and must now teach others the same skills. An entrepreneur’s leadership comes from the knowledge of how to build and sustain a profitable business. Most have had no option but to get their hands dirty building their businesses. Unlike some managers, they have learned from experience and must now share that experience with others if their businesses are to be sustainable. Do you see yourself as an entrepreneur? If so, what habits would you like to cultivate within yourself? Superhero Businessman Photo via Shutterstock The post 5 Habits Of Relentless Entrepreneurs appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Your Roadmap To Becoming A Successful Entrepreneur Posted: 06 Sep 2013 11:00 AM PDT
Managing a small business is not an easy victory for all. It demands a different view of life and a unique way of setting goals to ensure success. Some people are happy to work for others and satisfied to earn a monthly salary. They belong to one category while there are many who do not feel comfortable working within confines. Those belonging to the second category seem to have a bright future in entrepreneurship. For a better understanding of this concept, we’ll split the discussion into two parts. Navigate Your Way to Becoming a Successful EntrepreneurAre You Ready to Become an Entrepreneur?Are you interested in owning a small business and want to manage it all by yourself? Are you proud of your management and leadership skills? Entrepreneurship is a good career decision if you’re answer to those two questions is yes. At the same time, it is true that more than management and leadership skills will be necessary to taste success. Ask yourself some of the questions below to find out whether you have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur: 1. Are you willing to take risks and fight all odds? 2. Will you be able to live with an unpredictable, unsteady source of income? 3. Are your family and friends supportive of your venture? 4. Are you well equipped to protect yourself and your family against potential financial ups and downs? 5. Do you accept the fact that you are answerable to your clients? If the answer to the above questions is yes, you have an entrepreneur’s blood running through your veins. What are the Essentials You Need to Learn?As an aspiring small business owner, you need to learn certain essentials of small business management and entrepreneurship. Learning them can help you in three ways – save you time, cut down on your business start-up costs and save you money. Below are five essentials for managing a small business: 1. Do Not Expect to Earn Big Bucks at the Start A small business is an investment and it’s advantageous to take fewer risks in the beginning. Big profits will elude you at the initial stage of the business, but with slow and steady progress, you can achieve big things. 2. Steer Clear of all the “Bells and Whistles” Early On It is definitely great to start a business with the latest computers, best machinery, equipment and new vehicles. But unless you earn enough to purchase all these, it is better to opt for cheaper alternatives. Subcontract services and hire-purchase machinery and equipment. 3. Be Prepared to Perform Multiple Roles at the Start Be prepared to be a multi-tasking professional to develop your business at the start. Be prepared to perform roles such as that of the production manager, marketing manager and that of the accountant by yourself. It’s wise to wait until you make money before establishing a full-fledged staff dedicated to handling different aspects of the business. 4. Be Ready to Lead a Low-Profile Life Until you are established, managing a small business can be akin to leading a low-profile life. It’s best to avoid organizing a party at a posh 5-star beach resort for your clients and publishing big advertisements in leading newspapers. If you indulge in extravagances early on, you will run out of money very fast. 5. Become Skilled at Accounting A part of your multi-tasking duties when managing a small business is going to require you to apply your accounting skills to manage cash flow and bank transactions (you can consider hiring a specialist service to manage the area of taxes.) There are many avenues that offer tools vital to success for the prospective entrepreneurs. Look for good small business programs that offer extensive training to aspiring entrepreneurs. Hard work, perseverance and determination pave the way for success in a small business. Be confident and optimistic and step forward to fulfill your dreams. Roadmap to Success Photo via Shutterstock The post Your Roadmap To Becoming A Successful Entrepreneur appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Becoming a Social Business: How Mature Is Your Company in Social Media? Posted: 06 Sep 2013 08:00 AM PDT
We bring you one of the most discussed sessions during this year's Social Biz Atlanta Conference. Below is a text transcript, along with the full video of the session at the end. The session featured:
* * * * * Art Hall: [Introductions] Burt was with Newell Rubbermaid and functioned in a marketing and in a eCommerce role as he oversaw all of the Newell's branding and now has taken a job at Forrester Research. Burt is going to talk on corporate social media maturity. Teresa will talk about how Enguage adopted Forrester's model into some further categorizations to help us to understand how companies can evolve to becoming a social business. And last but not least, we will turn it over to Adam Naide [of Cox Communications]. Bert DuMars: We have been calling this an age of post-digital. Digital is not a silo anymore, nor is social, nor is eCommerce – it is all part of marketing. CMOs who are ahead of the game are senior marketing executives who … are bringing in digital experts, analytics scientists. They are bringing in email marketing specialists; they are bringing in all of these different roles and and rolling that into the market organization. There is also this other big trend going on and it is called digital disruption. … Salesforce.com [is] a digital disrupter to Oracle and SAP. They came in from underneath and they built, and they built, and they built from the ground up and now they are a major competitor to these multi-billion dollar software companies coming from nowhere. This is happening in all kinds of industries. Look at what Netflix is doing, look at [its] new series, House of Cards. House of Cards is doing amazing work that is digitally disrupting the whole world of media right now, even as we speak. We have all of these different changes going on and what is going to happen with social is you are [either] going to be a part of the organizations that are disrupting through social, through digital, through ecommerce, through product development, through customer experience — or you are going to be … running as fast as you can to keep up with the disruptors. With that I am going to hand it off to Teeresa so she can go into some depth about the maturity model, and what Enguage is doing. Teresa Caro: One of the things that we do with our clients is look at their social maturity. We really enjoy how Forrester looks at it — we use their five stages that came out in 2011 and then we apply it to different aspects of their organization. We look at their current state and we look at where they want to be from a desired state prospective, and we put together a road map. Now what's interesting is if you look at different aspects of the organization, you look at how an organization defines their brand, or how they govern social, or how innovation comes along, or content. You look at all of those different facets, and there are about 7 or 8 different categories. If we look at that across an organization, and their current state maybe, in some cases at really a testing stage; or maybe a collaboration stage; or maybe even further along — but it will be all over the board because social is just one of those things. It was tried out in the PR Department, or their advertising department. We know we needed a Facebook page, ‘Oh hey, Twitter is really great at pushing out press releases.’ Then it evolves over time and terms of the organization and depending on the size, and how fragmented that organization is in the first place, that tells how social evolved. And so we come and try to gain alignment and in all of those pieces. Let's take governance, for example. So if you look at your business and your organization and how you handle social, a lot of the times it starts off as a free for all. A land grab … of ‘social's mine, no it's mine, no it's mine.’ That is really how a lot of organizations start. PR think it's theirs, advertising think it's theirs, human resources thinks it's a complete nightmare, because their employee are on there talking about things, customers service think it's theirs. Well, for all intents and purposes everybody is there. Let's use Dell as an example. Everybody likes to use Dell, but they have been the ones that have been promoting their six-year evolutions more than any other company. They went from "Dell Hell", where they were like, ‘Oh my goodness, what is this social thing. Everybody is talking about their computers blowing up.’ To now, in the past couple of years they have been pushing it out to the rest of the organization and everybody owns it. Everybody has been through their certification process, everybody is on the same page – so governance is a really fascinating way of looking at your organization and social maturity. Another fun one is content marketing. If you look at content in general from a maturity standpoint, it starts off as you are not doing anything in social and you are just doing push advertising, with no extension in to the social space. How many of you remember for several years back Ford had this really fantastic commercial with Kermit the Frog in it and forgot to buy they keywords for Kermit, or for "green," or for any of those things? I think their competitors ended up buying them and it was a missed opportunity. It is the same thing for social. There are so many times that advertisers are creating these great campaigns and forgetting to do the social extensions, but for the ones who remember the social extensions it is huge. Red Bull, another great example — they did such a great job with their content they now they sell it. The fantastic example not many of us will ever achieve … but it is certainly something fantastic to aspire to. Adam Naide: I have been at Cox for a year and half now, and previously I was leading social media at CNN … when social got off the ground. I am actually really glad that I came from that content experience because when you think about what people engage most around in social, what are they talking about? They are talking about the news, they are sharing content, they are talking about what is the water cooler, right? Starting with the news brand like CNN it really helped me to understand the way content is used. Now I am at Cox where we have access to all of the best content. Just to give you an example on the consumer side, we did content social media partnerships in the past year with some of the best for content that you probably would find like, Walking Dead on AMC, True Brides, Game of Thrones, Dexter, Homeland the Olympics. You think about where entertainment and where people's passion is … and so much of it is about entertainment. It's sexy, it is fun. Let's face it, most people hate their cable company, they just do. It is a fact of life. But the good news is that I've got all of the best toys to play with, so I can use these toys, and I can leverage these great partnerships that we have with our programmers and our content partners, to bring you closer to the content you love. Social media starts with passion. If you are not passionate about your business and what you do, no one else is going to care. I can't tell you how many times when I meet with people, and they might be in transition, or 'hey look at my resume,' and I say, ‘I don't understand what it is that you do?’ You have to be passionate, you have to tell your story. I don't care if you are a big company, small company, B2B or B2C – you have to have the passion. Second of all, people really overthink this stuff. Your brands need to be human. We need to act like humans. As Teresa talked about, we really operate as a partnership between customer care, public affairs and marketing. My job every day is to keep us grounded. No one wants to talk to a press release. We want to talk to people. So to start with, 'Hey I am sitting down, and Art and I are having a conversation and what it that I want to tell you?' That is where I think social media really shows the power, it is about brands as humans, brands as story tellers. Art Hall: [Regarding B2B, you] need to find out where your audience is. Your audience may not be on Twitter, it probably most definitely will not be on Facebook. Your audience is probably sitting on LinkedIn. Your audience is probably sitting on forums and communities. Your audience may be local, or hyper local, depending on the size of your business and who you are trying to reach. You may have a physical aspect to your business — in other words, face to face meetings with people is critical to you conducting business. You need to figure out how to integrate that in. You need to figure out how to integrate what social fits and works well for you with a physical presence, and how they work together. There are a lot of examples of big corporations that are really desperately trying to figure this out right now. Look at Audi. There was a whole article about Audi, because their physical presence does not equate to the brand experience expected. So they are redesigning all of their show rooms in the United States right now, because of their physical not matching up with the social, or the digital, or the brand. So you have to think about that as a B2B player or a B2C player as well. Editor’s Note: The above transcript has been edited for readability, and small parts have been left out. For the entire session, please see the video below.
The post Becoming a Social Business: How Mature Is Your Company in Social Media? appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Won’t Be Seeing You “Out on the Green” [Cartoon] Posted: 06 Sep 2013 05:00 AM PDT
I’ve never been much of a sports guy, probably because I’m terrible at them. I was six feet tall in 7th grade and everyone thought I’d be great at basketball. After I filled out a bit in high school, it was assumed I’d be a natural for football. For a while, it was even suggested that maybe my long legs might work for hurdling. I managed to prove them all wrong. So when I started working in sales and travelling and meeting with clients, I thought maybe I should take up golf because, you know. . .everyone in business golfs, right? Let’s just say – it’s a good thing I can draw. The post Won’t Be Seeing You “Out on the Green” [Cartoon] appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| GoDaddy Debuts Van Damme Ad To Appeal to “Courageous” Small Business Owners Posted: 06 Sep 2013 02:30 AM PDT
GoDaddy, which calls itself the largest Web host and domain register on the Internet, announced a new brand strategy to appeal to “courageous” small business owners and entrepreneurs. The announcement was accompanied by a new website and a new TV ad spot. Instead of the “GoDaddy girls” wearing skin-tight T shirts, the new ad features Belgian martial arts expert and film star, Jean-Claude Van Damme, along with a fictional bakery owner. It debuted on prime time television on the NFL football season opener Thursday night. It can also be seen on YouTube. CEO Irving Blake said in an email Thursday to GoDaddy customers that it’s an outgrowth of research that the company conducted. In his email Blake explained to customers:
Transformation: Image and Business ModelGoDaddy has been in the midst of a transformation, as we wrote earlier in May. This time last year, the company was welcoming its third CEO in less than 12 months. Controversial founder and CEO Bob Parsons (who still owns part of the company) had departed. New investors — KKR Capstone, Silver Lake Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures — reportedly bought 65% of the company for over $2 billion in 2011. In addition to the management change, the company is in the midst of broadening its service offerings. To achieve that, GoDaddy has been on an acquisition path. In July of 2012 GoDaddy acquired Outright, a bookkeeping software application. Last month the company took another step by announcing the acquisition of Locu, a local search listings service. The company says the Locu acquisition will help more than 30,000 restaurants, spas, salons, accountants, photographers, home-remodeling companies and other small businesses boost their digital presence. Simpler Website, Less-Polarizing AdsSince 2011 GoDaddy has simplified its website. A year ago the site was jam-packed with upsells for domain name services. It had a lot of technical language unintelligible to small business owners and marketing managers. Now the website is simpler and easier to digest, emphasizing the basics for a Web presence: websites, hosting, domain names. Another change is a focus beyond the online digerati such as online-only entrepreneurs and domainers. GoDaddy now is specifically reaching out to Main Street small businesses, in addition to online entrepreneurs. For example, the new GoDaddy 30-second ad with martial artist Van Damme features a solo bakery owner. The baker glances at the online orders piling up on his website, while kneading bread dough. The baker calls on his inner Van Damme to get motivated to meet the orders. Van Damme plays several instruments in the ad, each with a fast beat, while doing the full splits he’s known for. At the end Van Damme says, “It’s go time.” Absent from the ad are the busty women that put the GoDaddy brand on the map, but turned off some women business owners. Another recent GoDaddy video on YouTube features employees referring to local small business owners like craftsmen, divorce lawyers and plumbers. GoDaddy‘s sales topped $1 billion last year. It employs 3,900 people. The post GoDaddy Debuts Van Damme Ad To Appeal to “Courageous” Small Business Owners appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
The following examines what it takes to be a social business. As you go through, think about how mature your business is (or is not) when it comes social media.
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