I once worked with a manager who believed in leading his employees based on the idea that employees should never be too comfortable (i.e. constant "tension" should be applied).

As a result, this manager would frequently lead through fear and exceptionally high standards. Although he could be quite charming at times, employees were never quite sure when he might have an outburst or an excessively critical response in response to a mistake. (Note to bosses: humans make mistakes). And, even when he provided positive feedback, he was reluctant to provide too many accolades, because he believed that employees who know they are doing well are less motivated to work hard. His employees were constantly in a state of uneasiness as a result of being still reeling from their last assault (or from observing an attack on one of their colleagues). Amazingly, he could never understand why even when he has in good spirits, his people were eyeing him suspiciously, waiting for the next shoe to drop, as opposed to actually enjoying their interactions with him.

As you might imagine, this manager's area experienced a great deal of turnover, as many people were simply unwilling to work under such an oppressive regime. Despite the fact that young and talented employees left in droves, he was able to convince himself that his leadership approach was a successful one, as the people who stayed generally achieved the goals and metrics he set for them. What this manager did not know, however, was the extent to which many of employees were working with a great deal of resentment, consistently plotting their escapes, and contributing to a negative organizational culture through constant complaining about his antics.

In my time as a management consultant and corporate psychologist, I have come across numerous leaders who share this management style. And, if you've been in the work world for any length of time, I'm sure you have also come across similar characters. While they are often able to produce the desired results for the organization, the research shows that they would be able to achieve even more outstanding outcomes if they placed more emphasis on creating a positive environment for their employees. For example, in the healthcare field, it is a consistent finding that employee satisfaction is correlated with patient satisfaction. It doesn't necessarily take a psychologist to explain that one – if I'm in a bad mood based on something my boss just did, it probably takes a whole lot of effort to put on a smiling face when dealing with an anxious and potentially irritable patient. However, if my boss recently contributed to my positive mood by encouraging me, I'm more likely to bring that positive attitude to my work, perhaps by smiling more.. My patient will feel more empathy from me, and our interaction is likely to be more much upbeat.

Research tells us that the number one reason employees quit their jobs is due to dissatisfaction with their bosses. Aside from the fact that working for an ornery boss is simply no fun, the literature also tells us that it is bad business for leaders not to regulate their moods. Researchers Sy, Cote, and Saavedra (2005) found that when leaders were in a positive mood, the people in their groups were in more positive moods and worked more efficiently together. Ohio State University professor, Steffanie Wilk, found that customer service reps who were in positive moods worked harder and provided better service. Because we know moods are contagious and that managers' moods have an inordinate amount of influence on the moods of their work force, it is critical that leaders try to stay upbeat and uplifting. All of this, of course, seems like common sense, doesn't it? So, why are there so many managers who believe that the proverbial stick is better than the carrot?

One final thought on this issue comes from the work of psychologist, Barbara Fredrickson. According to her Broaden-and-Build theory and research (read an upcoming blog entry for more information on this), we are more creative when we are in a good mood. We are able to perceive more possibilities and solve problems more effectively. This seems like a desirable state to create in the work place, n'est-ce pas? In conclusion, the next time you are faced with a leader who suggests that being tough and keeping employees off-kilter is the best approach to producing results, I suggest taking one of three possible approaches:
(1) Refer her to this blog entry,
(2) Gently coach him to improve his leadership skills, or
(3) Run for the hills! You'll be more effective and happier in a more positive environment!

Source:
http://www.projecteve.com/good-mood-good-business/

http://innovationova.blogspot.com

Email Marketing: How to Avoid the Spam and Unsubscribe Buttons

I hate most email marketing campaigns. To be fair, I do like some email: SmartBrief on Social Media, blogger Patty Azzuello, the monthly special from a local spa, and monthly newsletters from non-profits. I'd also like to say I've never sent a garbage email campaign but that would be a lie – even marketing experts can be over-ruled. When a company feels pressure, email is an "easy" way to try to drum up business. It's a game of sheer numbers: if you have a million contacts and 1% respond to your offer, you think you have success.

The bigger issue: what is the cost of that 1% (or any) return? How many individuals unsubscribed or marked you for spam? How many people felt disgusted with your brand and tweeted about it? Progressive companies with great marketing tools can measure this, but not all can or do.

What is my point here? Email marketing can be good and relevant and should be built for the audience – not used as a method for "blasting" out company messages and sales pitches.

So how do you make email marketing better?

These examples are written from the view of customer retention: you have people who have opt-ed in or subscribed on their own vs. a list you purchased for new customer acquisition. However, most email marketers will tell you there is significant cross-over in these two areas.

Email marketing should provide value to the person receiving it

Emails asking the receiver to "buy now" are going to get the unsubscribe box checked pretty fast – today's audiences are bombarded by sales pitches and are quickly turned off by them.  Also, a negative tone, a false subject line such as "Alert – Account Security" are going to make people angry, put you in the spam penalty box, and likely get you trashed on social media. Take the time to evaluate your audience – what do they want? For example, I recently signed up for a monthly service and then didn't use it. I received an email asking if I wanted help getting started with a live person. The email also included a couple of links to tutorials for "self-service" if I wanted it. It worked – I checked out a tutorial and moved forward a bit more with the online service. The email sent reminded me I had signed up for a service I believed I needed and provided me help and information to get going again.

Value your subscribers time

Long emails are boring. There are  exceptions to this: monthly newsletters being one, or digests where a person has opted-in for curated content. However, in general, if the subscriber has to hit the "download entire message" on their smartphone, the email is too long. Marketing basics say you should focus on one call-to-action in a marketing event but somehow this goes out the window in many email campaigns. Along these same lines, pace your emails. I recently started a free trial of an online product and within 5 minutes of joining I had a welcome message, a sales message and an invitation to join a webinar. Very spammy feeling happening there – it was like I had tripped a hidden booby trap unleashing the flood of emails! Then the daily sales emails started until I finally went in and pushed the "unsubscribe all" button. Industry reports put the average number of emails people receive daily between 100-500. It is also reported the average person can only really handle 50 emails a day.  Pace yourself and give your audience time to absorb your product or get through the pile-up of emails in their inbox.

Surprise your subscribers

Try giving them something without them asking for it and with no action on their part. One of the most successful campaigns I ran used a reward system – users were notified they had received bonus minutes in their account and needed to take no action whatsoever to claim them. We received replies thanking us and even had some Twitter love show up for us!

Be mobile friendly

Roughly 47% of email is read on mobile. http://www.emailmonday.com/mobile-email-usage-statistics If you are sending messages that are not mobile friendly, your message is not being heard by almost half your audience. Along these same lines, keep it light on the HTML and images. Most email providers block them and on mobile they slow things down. Don't be this company:

Talk to your subscribers: be human

In other words, know your audience. Are they are Fortune 500 CEOs? They may not appreciate hipster-speak in email, but that doesn't mean you have to write like you are submitting a PhD paper. Small non-profits are often great (without knowing it) at crafting emails because while their audience covers a wide range of age, income-level, and education, when they send an email they speak from the heart and connect with their audience. Here's an example of a nice, human email I received recently.

Source:
http://www.projecteve.com/email-marketing-how-to-avoid-the-spam-and-unsubscribe-buttons/
http://innovationova.blogspot.com

What works in business is "doing". Executing the plan requires effort. It is the muscle, the labor and the heavy lifting that gets the job done.

If you are wishing a prospect calls you to buy something, the wait is long. If you are wanting people to respond to your awesome tweet, the anticipation is agonizing. If you are hoping a great venture capitalist recognizes your incredible invention, your desires can go unfulfilled.

The message is not harsh or meant to burst your bubble. It is a direct call to action. Your wish, want and hope strategy needs reconsideration. It is not time to give up. It is time to change your strategy. Winners get rewarded for hard work. They do what others won't do and that is how they win.

The sales person that makes the most calls, nurtures the most relationships and asks for the close multiple times, makes the sale. The marketing person that gets their message out through multiple channels using frequency and smart engagement tactics sees return on their marketing investment. Business leaders who knock on many doors to showcase their compelling business models that are producing multiple returns with predictable growth get the call backs from the investor community. Those that are putting their nose to the grindstone are realizing the rewards. The rewards of hard work.

Ambition needs to be equally measured by production. In a recent board meeting, the discussion soon centered on what we want to accomplish in the next five years. A boisterous board member remarked that the question was not relevant. The room became silent. Finally, someone asked him why would we not want to focus on our goals and define our strategy. He starkly replied, "You don't have anyone to do the work."

Every business needs leadership, directing activities and measuring accomplishments. Great leaders inspire others to believe they will be winners and thus hard work will pay off. The fact remains that without the "doers", leaders are really a figure head. A strategy without anyone executing the tactics is a failed strategy. Labor is what drives businesses forward. Those that execute in the business are those that bring in the revenue, open new markets, and create innovative products.

The amount of time defining the mission, vision and strategy of your business needs to be matched exponentially by the hours of "doing". Plans without the work tethered to tactics are simply great ideas. Goals are achieved through sweat. A vision is actualized through production.

Wishing, wanting and hoping are great for daydreaming. Put your dreams into action. The performance of you, your business and your teams are visible in hard evidence. Facts. Results. Failures. Accomplishments.

As you analyze the hours in your day spent on strategy and planning; multiple that amount of time by 10 and that is the minimum time you need to apply to working in your business. In other words, every hour of strategy and planning needs to be matched by 10 hours of laborious action. Match your planning time with a report card of hours worked on your to do list. The outcomes are a result of the effort. Measure your business success by the achievements, the outcomes, the results.

Wishing, wanting and hoping in business creates a crisis in confidence. Wishing is obscure. Wanting is desirous. Hoping is improbable. Doing is concrete. Working is absolute. A commitment in confidence is defined by action. Execution moves a business forward. Nike reminds us all the time to "Just Do It". The simple motto is one that all businesses and leaders need to follow. Do it. Get it done. Then start again and just keep doing!

"The three great essentials to achieve anything worthwhile are, first, hard work; second, stick-to-itiveness; third, common sense." – Thomas A. Edison

Jamie Glass, President and CMO at Artful Thinkers @jglass8

About me:  I have been helping business owners and CEOs grow, market and expand for more than two decades.  My corporate experience comes from sitting at the table as a senior executive in public and private companies.  I am a ravenous information consumer.  I am passionate about selling, marketing, digital media, technology, social engagement, investing, leadership, growth, women in business, networking and entrepreneurship.  I started as a communications person out of college and now I use this art to ignite conversations on topics that relate to my passions.  My goal is to help others do better and do more.  I am a managing director at an investment banking firm and own my own sales and marketing consulting practice.  Carpe Diem! @jglass8 Email: jamie@artfulthinkers.com 

Source:
http://www.projecteve.com/wishing-wanting-and-hoping-does-not-work-in-business/

http://innovationova.blogspot.com

Earlier this year I had to go to Norway for work. My girlfriend wanted to come too, so we combined business with pleasure, staying an extra week to visit Paris and Scotland. Great. But when the trip was over, I realized my finances were a mess. Despite good intentions, I'd mixed personal and business expenses, something I'd vowed never to do.

I'm sure you've done the same thing: made a quick judgment call about the deductibility of an expense, only to end up in a gray area fraught with doubt and the threat of an IRS audit looming over your head. On paper the IRS's Publication 535 lays out its guidelines succinctly, stating that a business expense must be both ordinary and necessary in order to be deducted. But in practice, we all know it's never that simple. In fact, Stephen Fishman's book Deduct It! devotes 500 pages to the subject.

It's my belief that things go wrong with deductions when folks make purchases that might be used for business, but aren't. Costco memberships, office furniture or that slick big-screen TV for the home office are some examples that come to mind. I have a friend who deducts every round of golf he plays, whether he's entertaining clients or not. He rationalizes that those client-free rounds are necessary to maintain his skills for client-related games; therefore, they qualify as write-offs. I have my doubts.

But according to attorney Frederick W. Daily, author of Tax Savvy for Small Business, my friend's wishful thinking isn't completely unfounded. "Money you spend in a reasonable way, with an expectation of bringing business revenue, is a deductible expense," Daily says. It's that expectation of revenue that drives many a business owner to concoct a tenuous link between a personal expense and a tax deduction. Personally, I'd rather bank on certainties, not assumptions, when it comes to the IRS. So come January I'm going to be spending a lot of time and money with my accountant sorting out receipts from my trip to Europe.

IRS Audit Traps
Business debit/credit card used for personal expenses. I know, you tell yourself you'll pay the business back soon. But do you? You should have one card for business and one for yourself at all times, and never misuse them.

Business trips with family or friends. Good in theory--until your colleague accompanies your family to dinner. Now you're in a gray area. Avoid this mashup by carving out separate schedules for company business and personal time, with no overlap.

The home office. I know a guy whose father, a widower, worked from home and kept a file cabinet in every room of the house--including the bathrooms--so he could write off his entire house.

He was never audited. (But he never remarried, either--gee, I wonder why?) Don't be like this guy. Concentrate all your work papers and equipment in one room and keep personal stuff (the TV, game consoles, collectibles) out of it.

Toys or apparel disguised as office equipment. It's tempting for small-business owners to claim new toys as business deductions. But that Xbox isn't a business expense unless you're reviewing games with the intention to make a profit. The $6,000 Hermes laptop bag is also iffy, especially if you're claiming four other fashionable carryalls as well.

Source:
http://m.entrepreneur.com/article/228329

http://innovationova.blogspot.com

Content Marketing is an innovative way to attract new customers. But once you've created great content, how do you ensure that your target audience will be able to find it? Jamie Clark, who's been a content writer for the past 3 years, gave me some insights into search engine optimization (SEO) so that Google and other search engines will recognize my content and rank it well. I applied her tips to my blog (TGIM) and I thought I'd share what I learned with the Project Eve community.

SEO & Keywords

Decide what your keywords are…what terms would like associated with your blog? It's important to know this so that you can use your keywords repeatedly. One place that is especially important is in URLs. My URL structure used to be: tgimon.com/blog/postkeyword. I changed it to tgimon.com/work/postkeyword so that Google would start to associate TGIM with work issues. Besides, "blog" was too common of a term to be helpful. Unfortunately changing my URL structure killed old links, but I think it was worth it because I wasn't getting much residual traffic.

Other keyword tips:

-Try to use different keywords for different posts. Also known as a focus keyword, each post should explore one unique topic that can be captured in a single keyword.
-Try to use focus keywords in the beginning of post titles.
-Make sure the keyword appears in the first paragraph.
-Make sure the focus keyword is also in the URL.

SEO & Your Tag Line

The title of a blog or website might be short and clever, but the tag line is there to let readers know what the blog is about. It's also extremely important for letting search engines know what you're about! Make sure that it captures the essence of your project while containing keywords, preferably in the beginning. TGIM's old tag line was, "Cultivating Rewarding & Valuable Work — Updated Every Monday." Unfortunately the first three keywords (cultivating, rewarding, valuable) would not typically be associated with work, at least as far as Google is concerned. The new tag is "Creating Win-Win Work Situations so that Everyone Can Look Forward to Mondays — Updated Every Monday" does a better job of explaining the blog's title, has "work" closer to the front, and uses "Monday" twice.

SEO & H2

H2s are second-level headings. I never used H2s because the titles of my posts are descriptive, but search engines scan them so they are important. Try to write them so that they are phrased in terms of common search strategies. Often people search for answers, so "How to" phrasings are one really effective format.

SEO & Outbound Links

Keywords are important, but you could post the same word 1,000 times and never show up as a top hit. Why? Well, Google tries hard to return quality results that aren't full of spam. The main way they measure quality is by links. Are other pages referencing your content? Are those pages highly ranked themselves? If so, Google can be assured that you've posted something useful that other people might want to find. Like so many things in life, the best way to get what you want (inbound links) is to give (outbound links). Link to other relevant blogs and websites and maybe they'll return the favor. Besides, adding links to your content is a great way to cite your sources and become part of relevant conversations. No one writes in a vacuum.

SEO & Alt Tags

Google image search is becoming an increasingly common way to find content. Make sure that your pictures are tagged with the posts' keyword. For example, my picture of Romeo should be tagged "dogs at work" instead of "yellow lab."

SEO & Word Length

Again, search engines are looking for quality content, so make sure your posts are long enough to register as in-depth. I've read a lot of varying opinions on this (and search engines don't get too specific because they don't want people writing just for them) but aim for at least 300 words per post. For reference, this post just passed 650 words.

These tips are easy to implement once you're aware of them. This is just the tip of the iceberg for SEO, but it's a great place to start. If you want more let me know in the comments and I'll starting prepping advanced tips!

Margaret Murray is a Narrative Strategist and Communication Instructor in Seattle, WA. She blogs at tgimon.com

Source:
http://www.projecteve.com/seo-101-search-engine-optimization-tips-tricks/
http://innovationova.blogspot.com

simple marketing plan that outlines all the important pieces needed to successfully and consistently market your business is something every small business should create. Whether you want to focus solely on inbound marketing or you want to integrate online with off-line marketing activities, there are 10 important reasons why your small business needs a realistic but simple marketing plan.

To specify a vision for your business
To solidify your mission
To outline what you want to accomplish
To describe your ideal client
To articulate what makes you different
To provide a road map for achieving your goals
To help you focus on what is important
To create an action plan for what you need to do and when
To track your progress
To remind you that this is your business and not a hobby

Let's take a look at the key parts of your marketing plan that needs your attention:

Your business vision

Your vision statement is a vivid description about what you want your business to be such that it inspires and motivates you and helps you create a mental picture of the business you want.

There are benefits to having a clear vision statement:

Serves as a compass to keep you heading in the right direction.
Enables you to assess the many opportunities that are presented to you and make decisions based on whether the opportunity helps you get closer to your vision.
Helps you measure your progress, set goals, establish priorities, and know when to say no.
Enables you to focus on what needs to be done to get there and eliminate anything that wastes time and takes energy away from what is valuable to achieving your dream.
Your mission statement
Your mission is a concise statement of what your business does, developed from the customer's perspective, and aligned with the vision for the business. It should answer these three questions:

What do we do? Specifies what you deliver to your customers, not in terms of process, but by the real needs that are fulfilled for your customers when they do business with you.

How do we do it? Defines the type of products and services you sell and deliver to your customers.

For whom do we do it? Identifies the target market that is most likely to buy your products and services.
Knowing the answers to these questions provides focus for your business and helps you move from the present into the future.

What you want to accomplish
Research has shown a direct link between setting goals and the probability of success. By setting goals and writing them down you are forced to be specific about what you want to achieve, how you will get there and by when. Your marketing goals should be:

Focused on achieving your vision.
Prioritized and tackled 2 or 3 at a time.
Monitored and measured.
It's common to reassess goals quarterly and adjust the time frames and priorities based on what is happening around you. Life happens and you need to give yourself room to change.

Your ideal target client
Defining the unique group of people or businesses that you want to work with, who want or need what you have to offer and are willing to spend money to satisfy that need have several benefits, such as:

Identifying whether there really is a market need for your products and services.

Clearly communicating the value you offer and why your target should work with you.

Discovering opportunities to provide additional services that have been overlooked by others.

Establishing yourself as an expert in serving that market.

Providing a target for all of your marketing efforts.

Being focused on one particular market enables you to make better choices for all of your  marketing efforts, saving you time and money on activities that don't make sense for your business and the clients you serve.

What makes you different
The Internet levels the playing field for small businesses, but in turn, it creates a very crowded market place. Those who can describe how they are different have a competitive advantage over those who cannot.

So how do you make your business stand out from the rest?

The secret to defining what makes your business different is to understand what your ideal client really wants and make sure you deliver it better than anyone else. What do you uniquely offer that your clients find amazing? Do you:

 - Find simpler ways of doing things?
   Serve a niche market better than anyone else?
 - Bring a new perspective to challenges that offer unique solutions?
 - Package your services in a way that appeals to your ideal client?
 - Create systems that help clients learn how to do things more effectively?

Usually what makes us different may not be a complicated process or service but in fact, it may be something that is simple but has the effect of wowing our clients. We are taught to believe that things of value have to be hard or complex. Just because these things we do are easy for us does not mean they are easy for others. You need to become consciously aware of this value you provide and use it to your benefit.

Your marketing road map for achieving your goals
You wouldn't take a trip without planning your route. Marketing your business is no different – you need a plan to guide you towards your destination. This plan defines the marketing strategies and the tactics within each strategy that you will use to achieve a particular goal. Marketing strategies and their associated tactics to consider are:

Blogging / guest blogging
Develop and publish search-engine friendly, quality content regularly – schedule based on your resources

Social media marketing
Determine which social networks are relevant to your business then develop a plan to build your visibility and expert reputation

Content Marketing
Define your content marketing plan for topics then use email marketing, blog comment strategy or blogging to communicate your expertise and message to your target audience. Repurpose your content using different media – eBook, podcast, video, presentation, infographics

Search engine marketing
Define your top 10 keywords and optimize your website, directory listings, and social media profiles to increase visibility in the search engines. Sign up and take advantage of the Google Authorship program to increase visibility for our original content.

Event marketing
Host webinars, tele-clinics or virtual conferences. Publicize the event through your blog and social media outposts. Consider using sponsored posts on Facebook & Twitter

News / media /Public Relations
Become an expert resource for the media, gain visibility through newsworthy activities. Send out press releases, write bylined articles, write and publicize a book

PPC advertising
Create and manage pay-per-click advertising on Google, Bing, Facebook or Twitter.

To create an action plan for what you need to do and when

A marketing action plan eliminates random activities that create haphazard results. It takes your road map one step further and assigns dates, topics and other activities to each activity so that it eliminates the guess work – you always know what you're doing and when you're doing it.

Marketing Action Plan defines the details needed to complete a marketing activity

To remind you that this is your business and not a hobby
Most of us built our businesses around our passion and in doing so enjoy our work every day. However, if you are in business to be successful, then you need to view marketing as an investment and take the proper steps to ensure you are maximizing your resources. A simple marketing plan that is well defined with an action plan to help you be consistent ensures you are focusing on the success of your business.

Source:
http://socialmediatoday.com/debra-murphy/1557491/10-reasons-create-simple-marketing-plan

http://innovationova.blogspot.com

To boot, some 145 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones (a 60.8 percent mobile market penetration) during the three months ending in August, up 3 percent since May, according to the August 2013 comScore report. Translation: Nearly two out of every three Americans own a smartphone.

Now consider that email is the top activity on smartphones -- ahead of browsing and even Facebook -- and you have a huge opportunity to reach people with your email marketing messages via the devices they are using most often.

However, email marketing hasn't totally caught up with the mobile revolution. The majority of emails are still not optimized for mobile viewing and interaction. Buttons are small. Subscribers are forced to enlarge the screen and move things around to see the email. It's just clunky.

But there is hope. The future is now for mobile-friendly email marketing. Here are seven tips to ensure your next email campaign is optimized for a mobile device.

1. Earn subscribers' trust.
When it comes to mobile, who the email is from becomes that much more important. What's the first thing you see when scanning your inbox? Yup. The "From Name." If subscribers don't recognize who the email is from or don't trust the sender, they are less likely to open the message.

If they don't open your email, the rest of these tips don't even matter. Earning that trust starts well before the first email. It also is not limited to email. Trust can be earned or lost on social media, offline and through other more traditional channels.

Related: How to Write Better Email Subject Lines

2. Really think about the subject line.
Along with the From Name, the subject line is critical. While your audience may not know who you are, a compelling and creative -- or a direct and descriptive -- subject line can be the difference between an open and a delete or ignore.

3. Don't forget about the preheader.
Sometimes called the snippet text, the preheader is the text that's above the header image. On smartphones especially, it's the first bit of text that's viewable.

Instead of something boring like, "To view this email in you browser …" try putting some unique text there. Test clickable calls to action. Maybe even try using some humor.

4. Ensure your call to action is big and obvious.
This is an important step, and not just for mobile-optimized emails. Make sure your call to action is big, bold and obvious.

When it comes to smartphones, real estate is at a premium. Subscribers will not search for your call to action. And sometimes smaller links are more difficult to click on, especially depending on the size of a person's fingers.

Your call to action has to be in their faces. Make it clear, big and simple to click.

Related: 4 Ways to Get Customers to Open Your Emails

5. Consider responsive email design (RED).
Ensuring the user experience is optimized regardless of platform and device is not a new concept on the web. But creating responsive-designed emails is something that is just starting to pick up steam.

This is becoming more important as more people own smartphones and use email as their main "app." Creating a responsive-designed email template is not technically easy to do, but it's something your email service provider or marketing automation vendor should be able to assist you with.

6. Include images.
The majority of email clients on a smart phone -- including the iPhone's native Mail app -- have images enabled by default. Sure, a person can go into the settings and turn them off, but most people don't take this extra step.

So with images on by default, it's important that you think about what imagery you're using in your email marketing messages. Whether your audience is B2B or B2C is irrelevant. Images matter.

So instead of just dropping a random image into your email, consider using something that's linked to the content. Put in a fun image, a different image and an eye-catching image.

7. Be aware of unsubscribe placement.
I believe strongly marketers should learn the love the unsubscribe button. But with mobile devices, it's important to consider where your unsubscribe link is in relation to other links in your email. Too often I've seen the unsubscribe link placed dangerously close to the main call to action. One wrong move and a loyal subscriber has opted out.

Above all, the best advice when it comes to ensuring your emails get opened on a smartphone is to test -- test all of the tips mentioned above. After all, your audience is not my audience. Best practices are those that are best for your subscribers.

Source:
http://m.entrepreneur.com/article/229618

http://innovationova.blogspot.com

here are eight reasons why incubators beat out business school:
You Can't Teach Entrepreneurship
The truth is that you'll never be fully prepared to create a business—and no amount of classroom time will change that. Kathryn Minshew, founder of DailyMuse, a career advice and job placement site for young female professionals, is off to Y Combinator in January. Minshew decided to forego an MBA in favor of starting a company because "I felt like I could learn more by actually running a company and by talking to others who are running companies," she says. "There were so many other ways to learn the skills I needed and they didn't come with an MBA's high price tag."
Paul Graham offers a different, but equally persuasive, insight: "I'd tear my eyes out in some of the classes they have in business school."

Eating Ramen Earns Respect
Bootstrapping sucks. But with the vast majority of your b-school classmates looking forward to lucrative careers as executives, investment bankers, or consultants (with the lifestyles to match), the prospect of living on peanut butter and bananas becomes even less palatable. Adam Neary, moved into his mother-in-law's house in Clinton, NJ to save money to launch Profitably, a company that sells web-based planning and financial analysis software to small businesses. That's the kind of suffer-for-your-startup story that incubator types love. Neary, husband of a Harvard Business School grad, puts it this way: "It's a fact of life that in business school you're surrounded by rich people, generally coming from banking and going into banking. When you're surrounded by people living the good life and your six friends are flying off to Monaco with their badass signing bonuses, it becomes way harder to get into 'ramen mode'."
Spending $100,000 Isn't Cool (You Know What Is Cool? Getting $100,000)
The idea that you can start a company with a fancy degree and $100,000 in loans hanging over your head is a joke. Even without debt, seed money is tough to find, especially in a recession. Incubators make this process a whole lot easier. This year Y Combinator will furnish every company entering the program with $150,000 in seed capital; TechStars, a Boulder, Colo. based program that runs sessions in several cities, provides $18,000 plus an optional $100,000 convertible note; and 500 Startups, in Mountain View, Calif., doles out $50,000. The incubators get roughly 6%-8% of equity in return, but the terms are fair and, hey, you need the money.
Investors Like Incubators
Most incubator programs culminate in one fateful day – Demo Day – when the entrepreneurs pitch their companies to a roomful of investors. It's an effective way to get in front of people who matter – and who have the pockets to fund the next big step. Investors trust these programs to do a large part of their due diligence for them, so even the brand association of a premium incubator can really help. Brian Wang, CEO of Fitocracy, a website that turns users' workout statistics into a social game, joined 500 Startups in the October of 2011. Even before arriving in California, Wang, a New Yorker, used Fitocracy's acceptance to push indecisive investors to cough up some cash. "I could go back to investors we talked to and say 'Are you in or are you out?'" says Wang. Most were in, and Fitocracy closed on a round of financing in November.
Your Business Is The Best Case Study
Case-study work is edifying. But it's no match against focusing intensively on one ongoing case study—your own business—80 hours a week for three months. And because most incubators assign a squad of startup veterans to your venture, it's like the whole faculty is on your team. David Tisch, Managing Director of the New York outpost of TechStars, says that mentorship at the program is completely customized for each business. "It's really whatever the companies are looking for," he says.

Time Is Money
You're spending a lot more than $100,000 to go to business school: Tuition plus the opportunity cost of not working for two years can approach $300,000. Incubator programs eat just three months—still an eternity in the ever-changing technology industry.
The Networking Is Better
There's no question that business school connections are unbelievably valuable. Yet even in this respect, incubators are a better bet. DailyMuse's Minshew says: "I haven't even started (at Y Combinator) and I've already spent hours on the phone with alumni, talking about hiring, closing financing, or moving to California. The fact that all of these people who have never met me are willing to give their time so generously is amazing." Tisch adds that a tight, committed network of advisers is perhaps the most important asset incubators have to offer: "The biggest thing you walk away with is five to ten outside people who are deeply engaged in the company," he says.
Incubators Are Fun
No one says you don't throw back a few cocktails in b-school. (Actually, it's pretty much de rigueur.) But even in the name of networking, the good times generally come at the expense of the reason you're there in the first place: to learn.
The joy of joining an incubator is intimately connected to the task at hand: building and selling a real product that came out of your head. It's fun to read your first press coverage, to close a big round of financing. And it's a hell of a lot of fun to snare that first big customer.

Source:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jjcolao/2012/01/12/eight-reasons-startup-incubators-are-better-than-business-school/
http://innovationova.blogspot.com

When Steve Blank appeared on the cover of Wired magazine 19 years ago, his company then, Rocket Science Games, was expected to revolutionize the videogame industry. At the time, Blank didn't let the skepticism of critics faze him.

"I thought I was a genius," he says. Three months later, when he called his mother to let her know he was about to lose $35 million in investor funding, he wasn't feeling quite so genius anymore.

"I had lots of choices, including that I could have quit," he says. "Learning from that failure for me was one of the best experiences of my life." And learn he did. In 1996, Blank founded the startup E.piphany, which went on to earn $1 billion for each of its investors.

In the past 10 years, says Blank, the culture around entrepreneurship has become increasingly failure-friendly. Serial entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley hop from one failed business to the next and billionaire entrepreneurs like Richard Branson wax on publicly about their failures almost as much as their successes. Still, "no one likes to fail," says Blank. "We are hardwired for success."

But what if you could actually use failure to help you succeed? Here are five keys to start failing your way to success:

1. Call failure something else.
When was the last time anyone got hired for a senior-level position without any experience? For serial entrepreneurs, "experience" is simply another word for "failure," says Blank. By labeling a failed effort an opportunity to expand your knowledge base, you're framing it in a more positive light, allowing yourself to add to your credibility as a more seasoned entrepreneur.

2. Use failure as a stepping stone.
With every failure, identify what you know you did wrong and be conscious not to repeat your mistakes. This will bring you one step closer to success, says Steve Siebold, a Palm Beach, Fla.-based consultant who works with corporations and entrepreneurs on mental toughness and critical thinking.

"I've never heard [a millionaire entrepreneur] say they hit it right the first time out," says Siebold, whose book How Rich People Think (London House Press, 2010) is a culmination of nearly three decades of interviews. "The bigger they are, the more they've typically failed."

3. Never fail alone.
Entrepreneurs like to be trailblazers. But make a mistake on your own and you might have a hard time determining what went wrong. Having a partner you trust and respect can turn every failure into an opportunity for collaboration. "A good partner can help you determine what not to do again," says Karl Baehr, director of business and entrepreneurial studies at Emerson College, a private four-year college in Boston focused on communication and the arts.

4. Don't hide your failures.
Be proud that you were brave enough to take a risk in the first place. By being forthright about your mistakes, you open yourself up to learning from others.

Baehr's mentor, Walter Hailey, whose insurance company Lone Star Life Insurance went on to become a Kmart insurance company, used to take an hour-long walk at 5 a.m. every morning with a group of close friends to talk about ideas, successes and failures. "By the time they got back to the house, they had solutions," says Baehr. "They had a plan for the day."

5. Redefine what you want.
Revisit and refocus why you got into business in the first place. "Look for your emotional motivators. We are emotional creatures. Logic doesn't motivate us," says Siebold, who launched five consecutive unsuccessful businesses before he started his current consulting company. For Siebold, that motivator was one day becoming a millionaire, a goal he achieved at age 31. "Most people only half-heartedly decide they want a lot of things. You have to get really clear on what you want," he says. "The question is: How badly do [you] want it?"

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Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated when Steve Blank was featured on the cover of Wired magazine. This took place 19 years ago.
 
Source:
http://m.entrepreneur.com/article/227011

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When it comes to being successful, high achievers have a number of habits in common. But that doesn't mean you can't be right up there with them.

Here are three qualities all successful people share and how you can make them your own:

1. Say 'no' to distraction. Every. Single. Time. Successful people make better use of their time because they are disciplined goal-setters. I'm referring to those high performers who experience no down-time. Sure, there are vacations and time spent with the family, but that comes after success has been achieved.

Successful people have that same list of tasks to accomplish as anyone else, but the difference is they make time to get them all done with no excuses. They may not enjoy it, but that is irrelevant. What matters is that it gets done. They are disciplined in planning their work and sticking to their plan.

Related: How to Make Every Minute of Your Day Matter

Even when you've achieved that level of success, the work doesn't stop. I am always on the lookout for a great, profitable investment. I might be out with my family, but my brain is always aware of business opportunities around me. I don't just shut it off when I'm not at work.

2. Read something new everyday. Successful people read constantly, find mentors who can teach them and value new information that can help push them forward. Whatever field you are in, you have to learn before you earn. Learn your product, customers and competition. And then: keep learning.

Related: The 15-Minute Strategy to Get More Done Everyday 

3. Flaunt your failures like a champ. Fail as many times as you can. Everyone fails. It's part of life. Too many people take failure as a sign it's time for them to give up. Those people don't get very far. What sets successful people apart is the ability to get up and give it another go with a better plan for how to be successful the next time around.

If you want to embrace the habits of successful people, you've got to make the change within yourself first. 

Source:
http://m.entrepreneur.com/article/229518

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here are many struggles that can come with being an entrepreneur: constant pressure, long hours, financial insecurity, the never ending need to find new clients or retain the ones you have, or perhaps lack of insurance to name just a few.  If you are in the process of starting your own business, you are probably familiar with some if not all of these.  But don't despair!  Studies show that starting your own business is likely to make you a happier person!

In a study of 2,000 business owners and employees by Axa Business Insurance, it was found that though business owners spent almost twice as much time as employees thinking about work when they were away from the office, they are also three times more likely to report satisfaction with their jobs. And In a paper titled "Life satisfaction and self-employment: a matching approach", Alex Coad and Martin Binder noted: "In our analysis we found that individuals moving from regular employment into self-employment … experience a positive and significant increase in life satisfaction, that actually increases from the first year of self-employment to the second."

One factor contributing to this happiness? Entrepreneurs are more likely than other workers to report that they learned or did something new in the past day.  "The same intellectual curiosity and energy needed to start and run a business may also drive entrepreneurs to seek out and take advantage of opportunities to learn or do something interesting or exciting on a regular basis," said Dan Witters, Sangeeta Agrawal and Alyssa Brown of Gallup, which conducted the research. "Entrepreneurs also have creative and strategic control of their business and manage their own schedule to execute on their business plan. Thus, they may have more flexibility to pursue interesting and exciting learning opportunities and activities than other workers." 

What do you think?  Despite the additional worry and stress, do you ever regret your decision to strike out on your own and make a go of it?  Do you find that on balance you are more satisfied than you were as an employee?  If you work at home, do you miss an office environment?  I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject!

http://www.projecteve.com/add-a-blog/

Source:
http://www.projecteve.com/why-entrepreneurs-are-happier/

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The world's greatest social media marketer has objectives and strategies. They're documented—on a spreadsheet—or on some social platform where her peers can collaborate.

She understands the whole analytics and metrics thing that matters to the bean counters. Another spreadsheet? You'd better believe it.

Social media blog feeds feed her a daily dose of updates because she knows some genius somewhere updated a social media network with a new feature while she was sleeping.

She can even tell you how many pixels tall and wide your profile pics need to be. Yep, she keeps all this on a spreadsheet—in the cloud, of course.

You too can master such things. But they won't make you the world's greatest social media marketer. In fact, you may remain amazingly mediocre.

The world's greatest social media marketer possesses more meaningful skills.

1. The world's greatest social media marketer is a great listener.

You get this by now, right? Social media masters are in it to build relationships. What do you call someone you have a relationship with? A friend? And what do friends do for each other? They listen. They don't jump to conclusions. They ask more questions. And then they listen some more. Offline or online, you need to listen.

2. The world's greatest social media marketer doesn't try so hard to be a marketer.

A funny thing about social media is that it's social. Your marketing maven hasn't forgotten there are business reasons for doing what she does online, but she recognizes that the direct-response mentality of yesteryear is sure to backfire. So she refrains from allowing a lead generation agenda to drive her behavior. She's a nurturer and aims to be as helpful as she possibly can.

3. The world's greatest social media marketer loves to share.

Oh, sure, she has a mind of her own; and, when the time is right, ideas and opinions will spring from it. However, the world's greatest social media marketer is humble and generous. She not only recognizes the remarkable value industry influencers provide but also understands the value of recognizing their contributions. So one of the most significant contributions she makes is to share the best work of experts.

4. The world's greatest social media marketer is extremely responsive.

A great social media marketer mediates. She doesn't think of a social medium as a broadcast channel. She thinks of it as a channel for interacting. Clicking "Tweet" or any status update button isn't the end; it's the beginning. Whatever the content of the update might be, the goal is to engage. So she'll know (and appreciate) when a reader has a comment or question, and she'll quickly respond.

5. The world's greatest social media marketer has no pretenses.

The great ones don't use the Internet as a veil. They're as unpretentious as can be. Sincere. Genuine. Honest. They simply are themselves. You can pretend to be someone you're not, but not for long.

6. The world's greatest social media marketer doesn't just follow.

There's no wing in the social media hall of fame for those with the biggest number of followers. Having the most followers also doesn't factor like you might think it does. Your social media superstar is a leader. She's identified her niche and dedicated herself to it, and she acts like a leader by setting an agenda, empowering people, and building a tribe of professionals connected by a common goal.

7. The world's greatest social media marketer is patient.

No one likes the pushy socialite. Track down the social media marketer you hold in high regard and ask her how she scaled such heights. She may or may not tell you "by building one relationship at a time," but she definitely won't deny that the path to social media marketing success takes time.

8. The world's greatest social media marketer can write.

She recognizes (1) the social media space is a noisefest of the highest order and (2) hers is not the first or last word on any topic. But she manages to stand out and to connect with readers because she has a way with words. Her writing is concise, but provocative. She's bold and confident, but humble and open-minded. She takes what she does seriously, but she has a sense of humor.

9. The world's greatest social media marketer knows news.

Her content has a nice balance to it. She makes news when she can, but she also acts as a curator—that is, she redistributes worthwhile news. She presents the good and the bad. Sometimes, she's on top of a breaking story. Sometimes she goes back to basics. But she's always topical and never predictable.

10. The world's greatest social media marketer doesn't depend solely on social media.

She doesn't just troll websites. She understands that real relationships can't be based on little blue thumb-up icons. So she engages peers, partners, prospects, and customers (or anyone she can help), with old-fashioned tools such as the telephone, email, and real mail. She knows what networking meant before we had social media networks. So the world's greatest social media marketer won't claim you can really connect with someone by clicking. She'll explain that you click with someone when you make a true connection.

You didn't just indulge me for nearly 900 words for nothing. You want to be great at social media marketing. So try applying these concepts right now. Engage with me here.

Oh, and guys, men can aspire to be great social media marketers, too. I gave the hero of our story a female persona because women are better listeners. (If you haven't seen this hilarious video about this manly flaw, check out "It's Not About the Nail.")

Source:
http://socialmediatoday.com/feldmancreative/1644931/10-skills-ultimate-social-media-marketing-monster?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Social+Media+Today+%28all+posts%29

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