Building traffic is one those things any website owner or blogger wants to do, but doesn’t always know how. While many people will point you to social networking, there are few who actually tell you how to use social networking to build traffic. Facebook has over 300 million users spaning across the globe! Taking the time to make a fan page on Facebook is a great way to build traffic to your blog or website. It’s also a excellent way to promote a product, event, or anything else you want a lot of people to see. I recently created a fan page for my blog (techlifemashup.com), and have been quite happy with the early success of it. I would encourage anyone else who is interested in maintaining an easy channel of communication among many around their blog or website to also look into using this tool. More »
Mingle2 is a free online dating website developed by one entrepreneur who had so much success with his first venture that he was able to sell it to a competitor and shortly thereafter begin work on another project. His second project is a website called The Oatmeal, which revolves around comics created by this unique entrepreneur. In the time span of only 4 years this entrepreneur has been able to launch two successful startups online. For this and more we take a look at entrepreneur Matthew Inman in the spotlight this week. We’ll look at just how he did it and highlight what lessons any upcoming entrepreneur can learn. More »
Entrepreneurs face many obstacles when launching a new business venture. Making mistakes can be costly and is something one hopes to avoid through careful planning and research prior to launch. What you may not know is that there is one common mistake that many startups often make, which greatly hiders their potential for growth and success down the road. Stanford’s Entrepreneur Corner recently addressed this very issue answering exactly what that mistake is. I’ll let them tell you:
In Short (summary quote):
The problem most startups have when they take their product or service to the big companies? “The big companies can’t figure out how to make it mundane enough to interoperate with all of the complexity they have,” answers Liz Tinkham, a global manager at Accenture. She says that a start-up may have the best piece of new technology ever, but if it doesn’t work easily with other technology, it’s just too hard to get larger companies to adopt the service or product.
Most startups are so focused on their own product that they don’t take the time to think down the road on how other businesses and technologies could potentially integrate into this new product or service, which in turn creates a brick wall between the entrepreneur and any big business venture as a direct result. It’s important to plan ahead even when you’re just starting out! Check out the full video lecture here.
Andrey Ternovskiy is the creator of Chatroulette, which is a free web cam based chat service that randomly matches up two people to chat until one hits the “next” button or disconnects. This new take on the classic internet chat service has swept the net and mainstream media together and a social media frenzy to say the least. Andrey recently sat down with TechCrunch to discuss his budding success as an internet entrepreneur and goes onto discuss the future of Chatroulette:
Andrey identifies in the video above that he has noticed a common trend where users will exchange Facebook or other contact information to continue chatting in the future. He hopes to use Chatroulette to capitalize on this trend by creating an environment where users can save friends within the chat service to easily find again at a later time and resume conversations inside the service. He notes that he doesn’t want to integrate with other social media services or have users leaving to use those other services. Despite the current buzz, it seems like only a matter of time before Facebook creates a similar video-based chat service – just my two cents.
The Million Dollar Homepage is a website where advertisers could buy ad space for $1 per pixel on a 1000 x 1000 pixel grid. The site stormed up a media frenzy both in England and here in the US generating over $1,000,000 in 5 months for one entrepreneur named Alex Tew. At the age of only 21, Alex proved he was a marketing genius with his new take on classic advertising. For this and more we take a look at entrepreneur Alex Tew in the spotlight this week. We’ll look at just how he did it and highlight what lessons any upcoming entrepreneur can learn. More »
Feel like your office or cubicle has become a highly unproductive place to work these days? Well, you’re not alone. Workspaces such as offices and cubicles continue to dominate much of the big business world despite proven studies and research that continue to show that such work environments are severely outdated and actually are very unproductive to the average employee. Not only are they unproductive, but they are many times the added cause for a whole of of unnecessary stress in our day to day lives.
So what’s the solution you ask?
Technology makes it possible today for most people to do their jobs from just about anywhere including the comfort of their own homes. Working from home is a trend catching on quickly in the workplace and rightfully so. Employees are less stressed, distracted, and and tend to get more work done over actually being in the office. At the same time, businesses actually save money by cutting costs such as office space and other employee resources not needed when one works at home. Jason Fried is the co-founder of 37Signals, which is a successful web-application company who prides themselves on forward thinking and increasing productivity through the use of virtual offices (working at home). Here what he has to say in this interesting discussion:
I share the dream of many who one day hope to be able to leave big business behind in and start their own small business doing something they are 110% passionate about. Like many who feel this way, I continue to spend many hours and late nights reading, researching, and experimenting in the hope of finding that one business idea that is going to take off. As part of this ongoing journey, I recently read the book titled The 4-Hour Workweek written by Tim Ferriss. If the title alone wasn’t enough to draw you in, the subtitle “Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join The New Rich” will most likely grab your full attention. The question though is does the book live up to the promises it makes? Keep reading for my full review. More »
Myspace is a social networking website offering community based services similar to Facebook. Long before the days of Facebook though, MySpace ruled the social networking world. A website that was once #1 in the space still remains strong despite the aggressive competition that has since developed in this space. Not only does MySpace remain a success, but it helped to shape social networking as we know it today. For this and more we take a look at entrepreneur Tom Anderson in the spotlight this week. We’ll look at just how he did it and highlight what lessons any upcoming entrepreneur can learn. More »
Image: Courtesy of kpwerker
The power of the internet is something any entrepreneur can appreciate. Anyone can now take an idea and turn it into a living and breathing thing with minimal start-up costs and resources. Not only can you launch a product or service right from your own home, but thanks to what some have called the social media revolution, you can also share it with millions of different communities at ease, giving your voice a platform that can’t be matched anywhere else. With such a great opportunity just sitting at one’s fingertips, it may surprise you to know that not nearly as many people take advantage of it. Everyone out there (you reading this right now – yes, you!) should have a blog. Read on to see just how blogging can benefit you, and why blogging is a must for any internet user! More »
This idea that time is the greatest measurement of wealth is a fairly new concept, but has already caught on with many others. Typically those looking for an entrepreneur opportunity of their own are the folks who find themselves reading up on such ideas. The 4-Hour Workweek as I have mentioned previously uses the idea of time=wealth as the foundation for a whole new way of working and living your life. Rolf Potts (a huge inspiration for the 4-hour workweek) is a recognized travel writer who strongly recommends independent travel and a lifestyle that is off the beaten path. He is also the author of the popular travel book: Vagabonding.
Rolf recently gave a presentation as part of the DoLecture series about the importance of time, travel, and how you can accomplish both these things without having to wait until your ready to retire! Anyone who is looking for some entrepreneur opportunity in their own life should definitely check out his presentation below. Rolf makes several great points about keeping it simple and living the life you want now. It’s all about getting out there and taking action. See what Potts is talking about:
Seek out entrepreneur opportunity through your own defined path.
