Famous Bloggers

Shradha Sharma – The Self-Rising Star Behind YourStory

Everyone has a story.

Just like all you also might have fought tooth and nail to reach out your dreams.

But do you have someone to share your reel and real stories?

Your story might revolve around Blood, Sweat and Tears but do you know any medium to share with onlookers and inspire plethora of new breeding generation?

I will tell you about a platform that shares your story with others and inspire spectrum of audiences with the same grace and charm.

Yes, you guess it right.

I am talking about – YourStory by Shradha Sharma, a complete spellbinding personality.

So tighten your seat belts to dive into the hard-won pain striking story of Shradha Sharma who act as Durga and overcome all adversities to mould her dream and share stories of entrepreneurship to panorama of audiences.

The story of Shradha Sharma, a Red Baron

If you are here to listen to a story of someone who broke all other social prejudice, then this woman must rank first. Shradha was born in a small town in Bihar and brought up in Patna.

How To Succeed As A WOMAN Entreprenuer? | Shradha Sharma | YourStory

  • Education

Being intelligent and industrious, she graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in history from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi and completed MBA from Maryland Institute College of Art. In fact she went MICA, Ahmedabad to study Mass Media and Communications.

  • Work Experience

She started working at The Times of India as a Brand Advisor and later joined CNBC, Mumbai with a dignified post of Assistant Vice President. Her work life experiences open her towards plethora of untold and undiscussed stories that can cater as a stimulating epitomes to multiple listeners.

Seeds of YourStory:

Not everything you sweat upon, gets labelled with victory.

Rejections are always part and parcels of it.

There was a phase when few of her entrepreneur’s stories faced rejection.

  • How YourStory was born?

Rejections never shuddered her from stepping ahead.

She discovered vistas of inexpressible stories and on that way realised that many of success stories are unheard, untold and unbelievable.

This struck a spark in her mind and she decided to create a platform where the entrepreneurs will share their flip-flops and motivate others.

She gradually launched a media technology platform for entrepreneurs, YourStory in year 2008 to glorify the range of entrepreneurial rib ticklers.

  • Nightmare though

Like every startups, Shradha Sharma too came across some nightmares – where her mother died, relatives bespoke bitter words and headed compulsion of leaving YourStory and continue to job.

But what kept YourStory moving was her determination to tell a new success story for every entrepreneur.

  • Concept of YourStory

Shradha’s proposal is forthright: Tell the tale of an entrepreneur that is breath taking and whose story can card up one’s sleeves, will get focus in our corporate structure.

YourStory isn’t a sort of archetypal news and media platform.

It gives coverage to the industrious stories of an entrepreneur with a rich, vibrant and positive content but never sceptical.

A Glitch in the Story

  • Picture changes before and after leaving CNBC

Approaching, connecting and communicating entrepreneurs was really a herculean task. When at CNBC, all were willing to share their word of success stories and after leaving CNBC the tables turned contrary.

The same entrepreneurs withdraw to come on board because no big reputed title was adhered thereon.

But Shradha Sharma is a lady with bright spark. She knew well how to convince them and keep them trusted with her approach.

  • But the kick was on

Her undying perseverance, pulled few entrepreneurs back by her side that too willingly to become a part of YourStory moment. They shared all their voice and that casted into a new success story for YourStory.

Few more entrepreneurs added to the list and this is how YourStory inspired thousands of lives and transformed into a storytelling platform with a splash of motivation and encouragement.

  • And made her world’s top influencer

Her non-stop endeavour received appreciation and acknowledgement fromhefty audiences that included her in the list of worlds’ top 500 LinkedIn influences.

Investments

Besides narrating empire-building stories, the Bengaluru-based YourStory interacts and arranged meeting with seed funders and marquee investors to get strong financial support to operate it at a much wider platform.

  • Some Top Investors

To the list of investors and their interests – Kalaari Capital, UC-RNT, 3one4 Capital, and Qualcomm Venture all together contributed funding over $8.5 million in YourStory since 2015.

  • Then Network18

Working in Network18 has help her in understanding the business model and procuring the fund there on. They supported her ability and her profound story model.

Ratan Tata’s learnings and love for startups | Storied with Shradha Sharma

The investments kept brimming when Ratan Tata personally showed interest in YourStory. That was really a magical moment for Shradha. That was a turning point for YourStory.

  • And some prominent ones

YourStory also received investments from Vani Kola, Karthee Madasamy and T V Mohandas Pai, the most prominent investors.

Inside and Beyond YourStory

Shradha Sharma is the Founder and Chief Editor of YourStory.com and past ten years, she is determined to make stories and startups- That Really Matter.

  • Launched in Germany

Shradha sink her teeth into taking YourStory to new International territories. She launched in Germany last year and further aims to enter Israel with a powerful kick.

  • Reinforce in Hindi and other 11 languages

Back to home town, YourStory is reinforcing its roots by proposing content in Hindi Language and continues to serve with more 11 languages.

SuccessPoll

  • Net Worth

In 2018, the net worth of Yourstory.com is pegged up at $ 437K USD. The website collects a predictable traffic of about more than 1.1 Million users/month making it a really promising venture.

  • Clients and Visitors

YourStory.com landed with 4.5 million visitors this January.

Currently it flew over 140+ clients who became part of YourStory just for – Said Delivery, Rich Content and Powerful stories and articles.

“We do this matchmaking very effectively. From Google to Microsoft to IBM to Tissot, we work with all sorts of brands. This is also our moat to the business. I call it story as-a-service,” says Sharma.

  • Published stories

YourStory is undoubtedly the most galvanizing and updated website in today’s era – probably the most spoken one to add value and motivation to the Startup stories.

Since its launch in 2008, YourStory has published nearly 72,000 articles, engaging over 10 million readers from all over the world and zones.

  • Addition to team members

Team members are indeed maven and professionals with 22 reporters and 15+ freelancers at helm. In all the company has 100+ employees.

Wall of Awards and Achievement

  • NASSCOM Ecosystem Evangelist Award for her efforts in building an inclusive Startup community
  • Villgro Journalist of the Year Award in 2010 for her coverage of startups
  • 2015 – Listed amongst 500 LinkedIn Influencers across the world
  • 2015 – L’Oreal Paris Femina Award’ for online influence
  • 2016 – PAT Memorial Outstanding Alumnus Award
  • 2016 – LinkedIn’s most viewed CEOs under Internet category
  • Inducted in the list of Fortune 40 nabbing the Economic Times promising entrepreneurs of India Award.

Shradha Sharma: What You Lack, Will Make You Run

Recognition And Titles From Outsiders

  • Colleagues and Audiences

By her audiences and colleagues, Shradha Sharma has been titled as “the biggest storyteller of India’s digital space.”She is also featured in a techgig story as one of “5 women Indian entrepreneurs in India you should know about.”

  • The Hindu

The Hindu, a Premium Indian Newspaper wrote about her as one who has shattered the glass ceiling. Her company has been described as “India’s biggest and definitive platform for start-ups and entrepreneurs-related stories, news, resources and research reports.”

Universal Thought by Shradha Sharma

Sharma believes that don’t ask people to rate you, to validate you and to signify your job.

This won’t make you successful.

You will be suppressed by these multiple opinions. “Don’t wear the labels that the world puts on you,” she says.

Here mentioned below, are some insightful tips shared by Shradha Sharma that helped her a lot infighting all storms within her journey of YourStory:

  • Rise. Succeed.

Things won’t always work optimistically.

But you need to keep moving further.

Stop looking for what others think.

You are the one to climb and hoist the flag.

No one will lend you a helping hand or a motivational pat on your shoulder.

Step ahead and raise your head and stay self-motivated.

  • Brim beyond comfort walls

Work beyond your limits.

Struggle beyond your comfort zones.

You need to dive in hard to achieve something sturdy and hard won.

Pull out all the stops and step in like a grindstone.

Keep Growing.

Keep Flowing.

  • Work in present for future

Don’t allow your yesterday to ruin your Today and Tomorrow.

Every morning gives you a fresh breakfast wrapped with an opportunity of kick starting with a different energy to prosper and flourish beyond your boundaries.

  • Don’t pay heed to criticisms

Never surrender for few castigated words.

Let others speak.

They don’t know your plans.

You work hard and prove your plans with a masterpiece implementation.

When the man believes in himself even during his roller coaster rides, then the world automatically starts believing him.

  • Work with heart, Passionately

Be crazy about anything you get involved into.

Sell your heart.

Be passionate about your subject matter.

Trust your journey.

Pull up your socks and make a headway to your dream.

Alter the way you think and work upon the way you do.

Stay classy.

Work classy.

  • Stay heated. Stay learnt

Life is summed up with constant highs and lows —contentment and perseverance that will examine your integrity and veracity, pushing you to overcome the challenges; leaving you with lessons that will heat you up -stronger than ever.

Conclusion:

So to wind up all, Life is simply like a roller coaster ride.

You need to decide well whether you scream and enjoy or choose to weep and destroy.

Avoidance of Failure is not an option but standing back again is really a choice.

Shradha Sharma chose to fiercely stand and still and fulfil her dreams and here she is.

Hey pals, Share what you take today from this blog and how you are going to work upon it.

Stay tuned for something amazing.

Famous Bloggers

From PinkVilla to Pink Entrepreneur: Nandini Shenoy

Do you love gossiping?

You landed right, Pal

Who don’t love Bollywood gossiping?

From getting movie reviews till knowing all celeb’s new sassy Airport look, we all are inspired and curious to impose them into our lives.

Just like us, there’s a pink entrepreneur who twisted her excitement of Bollywood fanatics into a pure digital website that too at a time where no one had ever thought of.

Yes, you guess it right.

Nandini Shenoy is that powerful lady who coded a totally digital platform- PinkVilla to add more spice and excitement to your kitty party and coffee over talks.

“When I was growing up, our dinner table conversations always centred around films and stars and that is how my passion for Bollywood was fuelled,” says Nandini Shenoy

 Journey of Nandini Shenoy

Nandini Shenoy has a rib tickler story.

She was born and brought up in Mangalore.

Being raised in a family of brilliant engineers, she joined the bandwagon and went on to pursue engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka (NITK).

Then she moved to the United States for a Master’s in ECE from Rutgers University.

Her career climbed greater heights after joining Microsoft, Seattle as a software engineer in 2004.

She admired her work as a Software Engineer but screwed a little when the idea of PinkVilla brainstormed her mind.

Bollywood fanatics was always at her cornerstone.

Therefore she chose to nurture and foster her passion at a jiffy.

She did not quit Microsoft right away.

She kept her job intact and accordingly sowed the seeds for PinkVilla— with sleepless nights and weekends.

Pinkvilla’s Founder Nandini Shenoy Shares Her Success Recipe

What is PinkVilla? What it captures?

PinkVilla is the premier Bollywood news and fashion website.

They are the leading online destination for Bollywood Gossip, Celebrity Photos and Entertainment News with visitors from over 200 countries.

They live streams celebrity fashion trends making it the talking point amongst industry insiders and readers.

The most exceptional part is that they are one of the most updated websites for anything Bollywood that is why it is very popular.

The journey was not as easy as it seems.

It was equal to boiling an ocean.

Nandini Shenoy and her husband, Jeu George, were skilled software engineer and that helped her to run the code and test the iterations of website.

PinkVilla laid its foundation back in 2007 where Bollywood sites were nowhere in talk.

She took a plunge and forthfully clinged to give an early rise to its dream.

Shenoy was always fascinated by the table talks of Bollywood celebs and grew up reading Stardust and Film fare at helm.

This probably was the starting point of it all.

She believed in excavating something out of the box with a touch a likelihood and thus her undying perseverance shoot her to successful heights of her life.

“Being from the tech background, I knew I had to figure out the SEO first before I decided on the content. If the content works and the SEO doesn’t work, the website can’t work. If Google and other tech platforms don’t understand the content on my website, I will go nowhere. I have to keep evolving because Google keeps changing its algorithms every other day,” says Shenoy.

(Source – https://www.entrepreneur.com/video/324551)

How PinkVilla was taken off to become an inspiring epitome?

The secret sauce of PinkVilla is that –Most bloggers choose technology related niche or blogging as a niche, but out of the blue Nandini Shenoy started blogging about Bollywood, Fashion, and Beauty & Gossip (liked by every woman).

Back in 2009, there were some photos of Sonam Kapoor that were posted on PinkVilla and they went viral.

Hindustan Times contacted her and said they would like to use the photos and in return they would provide her a back link.

After that, there was no looking back.

By 2010-11, some celebrities urged Shenoy to get themselves featured in PinkVilla because of paucity of digital websites at that time.

And this infused confidence into her.

She passionately took the interview of these celebs that too from the US.

On that way, she realised the requirement of setting an office in Mumbai.

She then created and hired approximately 35 people without any external funding.

Now when things went parallel and optimistic at PinkVilla, she quit her job at Microsoft and her entire concentration was then focused on the website.

In 2013 she was able to set up an editorial team in Mumbai sitting in USA with no contacts in India.

She believes having the right people is paramount. “If you don’t have the right people, you end up concentrating on what’s not really relevant,” says Shenoy.

Circle of achievement

  • Views and ranking

Believe it or not your perseverance will always pay you something and same happened with Nandini Shenoy.

PinkVilla was easily able to get 8 million views in a month and has earned Indian Alexa Rank 2,862.

Like, can you imagine how can such a gossip sharing website get such a short term boom?

  • Monthly Income

Nandini Shenoy earns around $15,000 per month.

Nandini Shenoy is a true spell binding personality in the field of blogging.

  • Social Media Followers

Currently, the traffic has hit the bars outrageously on social media.

PinkVilla already has 2.6 million followers on Instagram, a social networking site.

On twitter it is grabbed with 858K followers on PinkVilla account.

While PinkVilla telly is clutched with 50.8K followers.

Pompously, Facebook holds 1.5 million followers at a break neck.

What’s new and extra to PinkVilla in current scenario?

  • Fashion and lifestyle

Now, PinkVilla Hindi is leapfrogging in the field of news and media.

It aims towards rebranding itself with some customised touch of language, increasing the visitors from every corner of the world.

Apart from Bollywood and Television news, it will further showcase Fashion and Lifestyle related coverage.

  • Hindi Rush – to increase regional users

Hindi Rush is also available in the video format supported by YouTube channel, providing satisfaction to all PinkVilla loyalists and audiences to watch their favourite stuff anytime.

Hindi Rush is all set to proliferate its presence on Social Media- Twitter and Facebookvibrantly.

  • With a touch of south films and news

The website which has also a presence down South with PinkVilla South along with PinkVilla Telly for all the small screen news, has amassed quite a reach, as evident from its hugely-popular social media presence in Instagram (1.7 Million Followers), Facebook (1.5 Million Likes), YouTube (60 Million plus video views) and Twitter (830K Followers).PINKVILLA recently launched into the Television and regional markets including Kollywood.

Some Partnerships for Wider Viewership

  • Partnership with Hotstar for online addicts

PinkVilla has partnered with online streaming major, Hotstar.

Under this partnership, original content from the popular entity will be available for viewing under the Hotstar app.

The collaboration will help the website in catering to a wider audience reach adding to increased viewership.

 Universal Advice by Nandini Shenoy, Blogger

“Be passionate about your writing. Don’t run behind monetizing your blog, take time, and work hard on your content. As soon as you started getting appreciations and traffic as well, you can monetize your blog”, Shenoy believes.

  • Ignite the spark within yourself

Every success climb its pinnacle when you choose your dream passionately. It all begins with a dream and its undying perseverance. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world if you IGNITE IT.

  • You will fail to win

The journey will be tough. Very tough. But your failure will teach you how to climb the rocks and hoist your dream with success. Just remember practically, every night of darkness ends with a bright glowing morning. Don’t stop. You will win

  • Blogging is an art

From blogging perspective, keep your content nonchalant, crisp and addressing. Authenticity is indispensable. Readers love your content if it’s authentic and involving. Writer daily to improve these basics funda. Ink work that you’re proud of, even if you don’t make much money from it initially. It’s an investment in your future.

  • Never stop learning

Learning is an ongoing process. You begin to work, you begin to learn. Sometimes you fall and learn and sometimes you rise and roll. The day you stop learning, the day you stop rising. Add an attitude of learning something from everything that surrounds you.

  • Don’t doubt. Believe in yourself

The one who falls and gets up is so much stronger than the one who never fell. Within your unspoken tragedy, don’t doubt yourself for failing. Stop regretting over your wrong decision. Just believe in yourself. Whatever happens, happens for a good worthy reason.

So to unwind the talks, always share a space for your dream.

Walk miles.

Chase it.

With every passionate moves, you will enjoy your journey.

Nothing comes with a well-furnished manner, you need to work hard, run through sleepless nights and days, working like nothing before, to achieve it like you never had.

Hey patrons, share your views and comments that you learnt from Nandini Shenoy and her passionate journey.

Share what inspired you the most and touched your heart.

Entrepreneurs

The Story Of Vlad Calus When College Degree Is No Longer A Barrier To Your Dreams

The idea of dropping out of college freaks almost all of us.

‘What will you do without a degree?’,

‘Nobody is going to hire you!’,

‘You’ve ruined your life!’

These are indeed some of the common conceptions that cross one’s mind when the thoughts wander anywhere near the periphery of a college drop-out.

But, it’s also rightly said that success belongs to those who dare to dream big.

And that’s what this post is about.

Welcome, Vlad Calus- the man who dropped out of college only to become an entrepreneur!

When it comes to digital marketing, many things need to be understood & learnt.

Some of these lie in the niches of paid ads, organic, social media, content marketing, performance, advertising, search engine optimization, etc.

And that’s precisely what the guest of today’s story has mastered over many years of self-learning.

How did it all begin?

A few years ago, Vlad dropped out of college with two of his friends.

He had his passion in mind, along with the desire to create something unique, something that people would be drawn to.

And that’s when he built Planable, the command centre of social media collaboration for marketing teams, digital agencies and freelancers to collaborate with their teammates & clients on content calendar in the most visually pleasing way.

The Ultimate Inspiration  

Planable started as their own need. Vlad Calus along with two of his friends, worked in marketing agencies before and they struggled to collaborate with clients in excels and powerpoints, neverending email threads, back-and-forth files.

In the best case, it was frustrating and a waste of time.

In the worst, important information was lost, and the agency-client relationship was damaged.

Vlad knew that social media collaboration shouldn’t be that hard and was something that would draw the interest of people.

So, he, along with his team of college dropouts, set on a mission to build a product that will help marketers be more productive and will delight their clients.

Self- learning Empowering Passion

From the very first day Vlad, driven by his passion, jumped in many areas of marketing.

He learned everything himself just by typing questions in Google and reading all that came up.

Right from the most stupid question, like what’s engagement, and how to get more likes on your Facebook page to calculating churn, improving customer retention, etc. there was no stopping Vlad Calus.

The Journey to Unprecedented Growth: Awards and Recognitions

In February 2019, Vlad became Forbes 30 Under 30 Honoree.

Five Biggest Instagram Trends and the Best Instagram Marketing Tools of 2019

As of today Planable is helping more than 5000 brands and agencies, including professionals at Jaguar Land Rover, Viber, ESET, Virgin Mobile, Wendy’s and many more.

There are also many things Vlad and his company are contributing to the industry, such as Instagram Content Spotlight Report, a book on the way marketing teams will evolve in the next decade, podcast, vlog and other exciting projects launching this year that we’re collaborating with 30+ experts from companies such as CNN, Ahrefs, Fiverr, G2 Crowd to build them.

Vlad Calus has also been featured in world famous platforms like Social Media Examiner, Entrepreneur.com, WeRSM, Freshdesk, Subsign, Digital Agency Network and many others.

What’s in the name ‘marketing’?

Vlad believes that it’s an essential skill that any marketer should have – trying to find all the possible answers to the questions they have by any means.

Googling is not always the solution. It’s also super helpful to start connecting with other marketers in the space to discuss ideas, ask for feedback, collaborate, and build strategies together.

The future of ‘Planable.’

As a long-term vision, Planable will become the norm of content creation & collaboration of all the marketing assets professionals work on, including social, images, video, articles, blog posts etc.

It will help creatives save more time, be more efficient and streamline the content publishing workflow in one single place.

When everyone can see the same thing, and everyone is on the same page, no misunderstandings can happen.

How did people help in the journey?

He was surprised to find out that the marketing community is always friendly and helpful when it comes to collaboration.

A lot of the marketers he met, such as Kas Szatylowicz, Yam Regev, Bill Stathopoulos, Levi Olmstead have been incredible connections, and that’s precisely what you should do too.

A blog to educate people

Their blog focuses heavily on content creation, collaboration, digital marketing, teamwork, agency world, but we also cover topics related to these and interesting for our audience.

The audience of Planable mainly consists of digital marketing professionals, social media managers, content creators, PR and communications experts at small and medium agencies, freelancers or in-house marketing teams with solid knowledge of the topic.

Here are a few topics Planable team enjoys reading about on the blog.

However, if you’re interested in collaborating & receiving some good backlinks, then you must give a shot to these topics and send them to the Planable team.

  • Content review, approval & audit
  • Marketing & PR Industry
  • Digital Marketing Strategies
  • Marketing mistakes
  • Social media & marketing tools
  • Agile marketing teams
  • Marketing collateral
  • Creative content, workflow & people
  • Content collaboration
  • Innovative marketing campaigns
  • Team transparency, sign off & prototyping
  • Content planning
  • Team process optimizations
  • Client meetings, onboarding, retention, relationship
  • Brand development & awareness
  • Storytelling
  • Ads creation & collaboration

Vlad’s Favourite Books, That You Must Not Miss!

There are a few favourite books that Vlad always recommends, and he’d love to share with you today.

1) “Marketing Teams of the Future”

“Marketing Teams of the Future” (download for free) is a book that navigates content the journey of content marketing from the early beginnings.

It also dives into a profound analysis of today’s industry. You will find patterns, principles, and workflows that will help upgrade current workflow and processes for a future-proof team.

Go, get it now!

2) “Atomic Habits”, by James Clear

World-renowned life coach James Clear has discovered a completely different way to revolutionise your behaviour.

He understands that lasting change comes from hundreds of small decisions – doing two push-ups a day, waking up five minutes early, or holding a single short phone call.

He calls these atomic habits. And that’s why you must not miss it at any cost.

3) Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

A remarkable book that Vlad highly recommends to anyone.

The book is based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years.

These also include interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues. Authored by Walter Isaacson, it tells a riveting story of the roller-coaster life  of Steve Jobs and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing..

People of Marketing & how to become a marketer: Tips and Tricks!

As of last month, Vlad and his team launched a video blog & podcast. People of Marketing, which is a show with and about marketers.

It throws light on their struggles, the industry, and the solutions.

Their first episode is focused on Instagram trends. Since Instagram has more than one billion users worldwide, it is one of the most powerful social networks.

In this episode, the topic is how to tackle this year’s most popular trends and ways to leverage them.

It doesn’t matter if you have thousands of followers or if you’ve just signed up for Instagram.

These are the trends that everyone should consider to build a more meaningful community on Instagram.

Follow the show below.

Should you become a marketer?

Vlad concretely believes that questioning your career is absolutely normal.

Since we’re all always looking for something better you should definitely jump and try different things.

And for marketers, there are a lot of options to choose from.

We can become head of a marketing department at a cool brand, be part of an agency, join a startup, start our own agency, become a marketing consultant or get into freelance digital marketing.

Conclusion

So, whatever you aspire to become, all you have to do is follow your dreams.

Get out of your comfort zone and do what it takes to become the best version of yourself.

The self-made man Vlad Calus is a living example of that.

If his journey inspires you, let us know in the comments below.

Digital Marketers

Crack the Code on Consumer Psychology: Valuable Insights by Michael Solomon

“Solomon has the mind of a scientist and the writing flair of a journalist.” — Philip Kotler (Marketing guru)

Do you know why most of the startups fail?

It’s mainly because organizations fail to crack the code on why consumers buy their products and services.

The most pressing issue for the businesses is having a vision to create products and services that will resonate with ever changing audiences.

Michael Solomon has established himself as a thought leader in modern marketing and advertising. He is considered an authority when it comes to revealing cutting-edge trends in marketing, advertising, consumer behavior, branding, and social media.

Note – This article is written by Michael Solomon himself and it’s a must read for entrepreneurs and marketing managers. It will help them to crack the code of consumer psychology and succeed as a business.

Have you ever attended a keynote or a presentation by Michael?

You’ll be spellbound by the visual excursion he creates into the minds of consumers in terms of the factors that influence them to buy.

His audiences become his fans when he starts unveiling the insights during his seminars and keynotes.

He helps managers understand their customers so they can design their products and services to meet their deepest needs.

Michael’s e-mail signature includes a quote from the renowned German social psychologist Kurt Lewin: “There is nothing as practical as a good theory.”

This deceptively simple adage expresses at least two important takeaways for businesspeople:

  1. A conceptual framework isn’t just “ivory tower” babble, because it prevents us from reinventing the lightbulb every morning; and
  2. “Everyday” events often are more complicated than they appear, so we need to appreciate their underlying causes and connections to other events.

As a consumer psychologist Michael follows Lewin’s words of wisdom by firmly planting one foot in academia and the other in the “real world” of marketing.

Michael Solomon Leading Authorities July 2016 Speech Full

As he’s worked with clients such as DuPont, Intel, Levi Strauss and many others to help them understand their customers, heacquired many insights about consumer behavior including these:

  1. Managers often “make up” their target customer.

Michael was working with a large New York advertising agency on behalf of a major personal care products company. The brand was (and is today) a big player in the cosmetics industry.  As he spoke to managers about their target customer, a rosy picture emerged of a young, cosmopolitan woman who spent her days racing from one glamorous venue to another – always looking her best.  A blend of Carrie from Sex and the City and Kim Kardashian, perhaps!

Then he dug into the actual data on the modal buyers of the brand.  A psychographic analysis revealed a different picture.  It turns out the most likely user was a woman in her 50s who lived alone, accompanied by several cats. It turns out the brand managers had painted an idealistic picture of the customer they wanted, not the one they had.  Messaging today is a bit more realistic, and the brand has prospered as a result.

The moral: Don’t just assume you understand your customer – verify that you are not just projecting your own aspirations onto your target!

  1. We don’t buy things because of what they do. We buy them because of what they mean.

As a consultant to Levi Strauss, Michael worked with the apparel company’s iconic 501’s jeans brand.  During this engagement, he had the opportunity to explore an archive of letters people had written to the company over the last 150 years.  Many of these echoed the common theme that a humble pair of bluejeans played an important role in their lives.

Some customers wore the pants for 20-30 years or more, and when they were too tattered to adequately cover their bodies, they made them into quilts to pass on to their grandchildren.  And, more than one person neatly boxed up a severely beaten-up pair and sent them to HQ in San Francisco, with the instruction to give them a proper burial at their “home.”  Clearly there is something going on here that transcends a simple utilitarian relationship between a customer and a relatively inexpensive product.

Michael also found that the “deep meanings” of the jeans were fluid.  In particular, the symbolic significance of the pants changed, depending upon the other items with which they were paired.

For example, consumers related a pair of 501’s worn with a black leather jacket to a specific social type (“biker”), while the same pair worn with a blue sportcoat evoked a very different type (“yuppie”).

In later work he developed the construct of a “product constellation,” which refers to a set of symbolically related products that transcend product categories but is collectively emblematic of a social identity.

Why is this idea of a product constellation important to managers?  Many warriors in the marketing trenches by necessity are myopic; they worry a lot about their immediate competitors within an industry vertical, but they don’t think a lot about what’s going on in other verticals.

Consumers in contrast often have multiple verticals in mind when they choose what to buy.  To use a simple example, think about a couple that sets out to furnish a room. They don’t just buy a chair, lamp, couch, etc. in isolation.

Instead they methodically curate an ensemble of disparate items that together signifies a total “look” they desire – whether this “look” is Danish Modern or Shabby Chic.

The moral:  We buy things to express deep symbolic meanings, and these meanings don’t occur in isolation.  Market the forest, not the trees.

  1. Go to the gemba (or, fish where the fish are).

Many analysts who study consumer satisfaction, or those who design new products or services to increase it, recognize that it is crucial to understand how people actually interact with their environment in order to identify potential problems or new product development opportunities.

To do so, they typically conduct focus groups, in which consumers are brought to a place to try a new product while employees observe their behavior through a secret camera.

That’s a good start, but often not nearly enough to fully appreciate the product in use.  To gather more insight, it’s best to go the gemba, which tothe Japanese means “the one true source of information.”

Michael learned the value of the gemba(the one true source of information) first-hand during a project he conducted for a very large tool and household product company. He studied a cleaning product that included a rotating brush to remove mildew from shower stalls and other bathroom surfaces.

The consumer sprayed a cleaning fluid from a dispenser bottle onto an area and then used the device to scrub it. The engineers who developed the gadget tested it in laboratory settings, but not in real homes.

When Michael’s team followed housewives around as they used the contraption, they saw that they struggled to carry both the refill bottle and the scrubber.

Some of them even improvised a bottle holder they wore around their waists in order to keep one hand free.Aha, a pain point waiting to be addressed!  Michael recommended one modification to the engineers:

Equip the device with a built-in reservoir that holds an ample supply of the cleaning fluid, along with a spritzer to apply the fluid directly from the device.  Problem solved – a problem the company didn’t know it had until it went to the gemba.

The moral:  Engineers, come out from your labs and mix with your customers.  They may teach you a thing or two about product design.

We teach our students, “Marketers do it to satisfy needs.”  However, discovering just what those needs are is a trickier process than it seems.  The everyday world of consumption is fascinating and often perplexing.  But figuring out why we buy and what things really mean is more than an academic exercise.

Marketers ignore these complicated relationships at their peril.  But for those at Apple, Nike, BMW and other companies with a zealous customer following who figure out that what they sell can play a key role in who we are, the path to success is clear.  We really ARE what we buy.

Meet Michael Solomon

Michael has done some amazing work on understanding consumers, which makes him an authority on the subject.

Student community from around the world has been benefiting from his numerous books (estimated to be more than 30). His bestsellers include Consumer Behavior:  Buying, Having and Being— the most popular book on “buying behavior” worldwide.

Michael is widely respected as a keynote speaker. His opinion is highly regarded by executives, when it comes to establishing deeper connection with customers.

Michael’s global clients

Here is a list of some of his global clients, who seek his advice on marketing strategy and consumer behavior.

  • Calvin Klein
  • BMW
  • DuPont
  • Procter & Gamble
  • Levi Strauss
  • Armour
  • United Airlines
  • eBay
  • Progressive
  • Under Timberland
  • Campbell’s
  • H&M
  • CrossFit
  • Philadelphia Eagles
  • CPG
  • PP&G

TV & Media

Michael is the darling of audiences on the television and he regularly appears on shows such as Good Morning America, The Today Show, and CNN.

He is frequently mentioned in The New York Times,Time, AdweekandUSA Today.

He also writes for Forbes.

Latest Books

Michael’s latest book is already available on Amazon: Marketers, Tear Down These Walls:  Liberating the Postmodern Consumer.

Michael works as a Professor of Marketing at the Haub School of Business, in Philadelphia. He is also a noted consultant, who fuses theory taught in the text books with real-world scenarios.  He helps managers understand how customers think so they can meet their deepest and most pressing needs.

Visit  www.michaelsolomon.com for more details.

Entrepreneurs

Amy Cosper: Ex-VP of Entrepreneur.com Is Now Founder of RadicalUpstarts

Many of us might find our passion in a field in which we don’t hold a college degree.

Entrepreneurs worldwide have faced similar situations while choosing their heart’s true calling.

Are you having second thoughts to become an entrepreneur?

What sets you apart is your level of commitment to your passion.

Read about the life of a woman entrepreneur who influenced the future of the global media publishing industry.

The Journey of an Art History Graduate To A Media Entrepreneur

A Multitalented Arts Graduate

The journey of a reporter to become one of the 25 smartest women in twitter is nothing short of wonder and amazement.

The life of Amy Cosper is a testimony to the power of passion-driven purpose.

She majored in Art History at college but little did she know what destiny had in store for her.

She donned several roles as a journalist, writer, speaker, editor-in-chief and Vice President of the globally reputed online magazine, Entrepreneur.com

Adding to it, Amy is also a serial entrepreneur with a track record of incredible resilience and integrity to her credit.

She has faced several ups and downs in her entrepreneurial journey before she founded RadicalUpstarts.

The secret of her success is her talent to turn her trials into triumphs.

Making The Right Career Choices Matters

Amy made a huge leap of faith when she received an offer in 2008 to join Entrepreneur.com as its Editor-in-Chief. She was also the VP of the parent company, Entrepreneur Media Inc.

The single mother of twin daughters had to relocate herself to Los Angeles from Denver to run one of the world’s most famous magazine, Entrepreneur.com.

It was one of the life-changing decision in her life to either score big in life or simply, stay in her own comfort zone.

To start with, Amy’s career choice to join Entrepreneur.com didn’t turn out as she expected.

A Change maker in every sense

In the beginning, she had to face countless challenges and setbacks to establish herself as the Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur.com.

Amy envisioned Entrpreneur.com to create meaningful stories that could impact the everyday lives of readers and entrepreneurs worldwide.

It took a lot of effort and perseverance for her to connect and collaborate with the employees to realize her vision for the magazine.

Clarity of mind and laser-sharp focus are the greatest assets to win all odds in your entrepreneurial journey.

Amy openly embraced her blind passion to change the world of entrepreneurship for better. She distanced herself from all the judgments and criticisms that distracted her from her goals and vision.

The Face & Voice of Entrepreneur.com

It wasn’t an easy choice for an Editor-in-Chief to trust her own intuition rather than following the corporate rulebook. Amy focused more on the outcomes and the positive impact that they create.

Entrepreneur.com witnessed a major transformation under the leadership of Amy Cosper. She had to restructure the company from the ground up in order to rebuild the brand.

Cutting down millions off the operating budget resulted in adopting modern business techniques such as technology, outsourcing, communicating and a virtual workforce.

Q&A with Former Entrepreneur Magazine Editor-in-Chief Amy Cosper

An Optimistic Beginner

Amy inherited her entrepreneurial drive from her parents who were entrepreneurs themselves.

Though she completed Masters in Art History and Italian language she always welcomed change and growth both in her personal and professional life.

Her education in Liberal Arts at the University of Colorado didn’t stop her from pursuing a career in Journalism and Business Management.

Failures Are Only The Beginning

So, what did Amy Cosper do before she became the reputed Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur.com?

In 1995 she started her career as a tech reporter. She later became the editorial chief/publisher of Satellite Broadband magazine and managed five ASBPE award-winning financial magazines owned by WiesnerMedia.

Amy traveled far and wide to several countries in the Middle East and Europe as a reporter. It was a great learning opportunity for her at the beginning of her career.

In the late ’90s, Amy started her own media company, Avvio Media. She quit a high paying job in a renowned media company to become an entrepreneur.

 Little did she expect that her business would fail within a period of two years. It was a catastrophic financial downturn for her.

When Her House Burned Down

In 2010, Amy’s house was burned down in a fire accident. She and her family lived in a trailer until her house was reconstructed. She recounts, “We didn’t crack. We became stronger, better. We proved that we would survive. Yes, rising from the ashes is a cliche, but I happen to know that it’s also literally true. There was life before the fire and life after, and the two couldn’t be more different.”

Fast forward to today, Amy is one of the most influential women voice in the world of entrepreneurship. She never let her failure define her.

On the contrary, she became a world-famous advocate and evangelist for entrepreneurs promoting innovation and disruption.

In 2016, the influential writer and editor quit her job as Editor-in-Chief/VP with Entrepreneur.com.

She pursued to explore new opportunities in the field of creativity, technology, and entrepreneurship.

The Mediapreneur Of The Future

Amy never failed to learn from her business failure which she faced quite early in her career.

The founder and CEO of Radical Upstarts, Amy is now all set on a mission to deep dive on the entrepreneurial campaigns, personalities, and ideas on U.S. and European crowdfunding platforms. She has about 12 years of experience in reporting A to Z of entrepreneurship for global readers.

Amy has also previously worked as Entrepreneur-In-Residence for WeisnerMedia with a incredible track record of building successful media properties. She effortlessly materialized  new business plans, ventures, and partnerships specific to the insurance and financial markets

The magazine publishing industry skyrocketed Amy to fame. She diligently proved that an entrepreneurial mindset is crucial to the success of a company; whether you own it or run it.

Her Work of Passion

In 2016, Amy founded RadicalUpstarts in pursuit of her passion to become a media entrepreneur. She has more than a decade of experience in the field of building businesses and promoting entrepreneurs globally.

Amy is also the Producer of the Creative Business Cup—Adventure Zone which features a business pitch challenge primarily focused on human performance entrepreneurs.

She currently hosts worldwide startup conferences and participates in several global events as a keynote speaker. She is working on a book and documentary to highlight the trends and impact of the global entrepreneurship movement.

Amy Cosper’s Words of Wisdom

Amy shares a few wise words for young entrepreneurs:

  • Know what your business and company stand for
  • Be able to describe what you do in 3 sentences or less
  • Do not focus on the obstacles, focus on the vision

A Ducatista and sportswoman at heart and soul, Amy Cosper said, “I strongly believe that on the other side of your fear, is your success.”

In her opinion, there is only one thing that separates the good from failed are vision, passion, and execution.

Her Secret to Success

“Chase your dreams, change the world and make an impact,” while “creating something new, or innovative or disruptive, where nothing was before.” – Amy Cosper

Amy Cosper explains ‘How To Win Fear As An Entrepreneur’

Feel The Fear

I’ve succeeded and I’ve failed as a leader.

And the lesson is this: When you lead with purpose and vision, you will succeed. When you lead out of fear, you will fail.

Simply put: Leading is the most important responsibility you will ever have as an entrepreneur.

Own Up To Yourself

Leadership is your contribution and your service to your company. It’s your survival and that of those you lead.

It will be your legacy and your company’s legacy. It is what makes you great vs. what lets you fail or, worse, be average.

Tackle Fear Like A Pro

This is easier said than done, but I’m going to say it anyway: Stop being scared. Right now. It is the single most important thing you can do — and you can do it.

No leader has gotten to where they are without slaying demons. A leader goes forward because they know there’s no going back. They embrace that visceral moment — the one we’ve all felt at some point — when they have to step on a stage and get it done.

Global women entrepreneurs like Amy Cosper are changing the dynamics of the entrepreneurial world as we see it.

Redefining boundaries and reinventing herself every single day. Amy continues her journey as a founder, sportswoman and keynote speaker participating in leading international conferences.

Are you an entrepreneur who wants to take over the media world by storm?

Or, do you want to make your mark as a media entrepreneur?

Start now, make a difference!

Investors

10 Golden Nuggets of Advice from Warren Buffet, the Most Successful Investor in the World

Who doesn’t know Warren Buffett, the smartest investor and third richest person on the planet?

He is also known as the “Oracle of Omaha”. With a net worth of more than $84 billion as of 2018, he is one of the richest persons in the world.

Warren Buffett is widely respected for his investment advice as he has accumulated all his wealth through investments.

In this biography of Warren Buffett, you will also get his golden advice for the investors, who want to make a fortune out of stock market investments.

So, read on.

Early Life

Warren Buffett was born in 1930 in the US state of Nebraska. He exhibited brilliant business acumen right since his childhood days and launched Buffett Partnership Limited in 1956.

In 1965, he took over a company known as Berkshire Hathaway, which is his proprietary business even today.

For his investment business, he is focused on sectors such as media, energy, insurance and food and beverages, which are considered to be quite conservative industries.

His conservative approach to investment led him to become the richest man in the world.

He is also a noted philanthropist, who has already donated around $28 billion in charity.

In 2018, his net worth was estimated to be $84 billion.

How Warren Buffett REALLY Made 85 Billion Dollars 

Buffet’s strategy

Warren Buffett is known to invest in conservative stocks, which are undervalued. He doesn’t look at the stock price. Rather, he prefers to invest in quality businesses, which have a proven track record of high dividend and returns.

He bought several assets in media companies such as the Washington Post, oil companies such as Exxon; and insurance companies such as GEICO.

He is also a part of the board of directors at various companies, such as Coca-Cola, Gillette, Graham Holdings,Citi Group and Apple, etc.

Education and career

Buffet graduated from the University of Nebraska with “business” as major and later on received a Master’s degree in economics in 1951 from Columbia University.

Later on, he enrolled in the New York Institute of Finance, where he learnt about stock market.

He had earned huge sums of money (estimated to be more than $10,000) from his childhood businesses, when he was barely in his 20s.

When Warren Buffett read the book,“The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham, his professor at Columbia University in 1949, he started selling securities. He also worked as an analyst with his mentor at Graham Newman Corp.

Philanthropic activities

Warren Buffett had made the largest act of charity in the history of US in 2006, when he announced that he would give away all that he had earned.

He also announced that 85% of his fortune is supposed to go to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In 2010, he formed the “Giving Pledge Campaign” along with Microsoft’s Bill Gates to rope in the richest people on earth to give their wealth for philanthropic causes.

Warren Buffett On Investment Strategy | Full Interview Fortune MPW

Warren Buffet’s Golden Investment Tips

Historically, investment has been considered a puzzle that frightens new investors even now.

If you are looking for investment tips that are time-tested and proven, go through the following investment tips given by Warren Buffett.

According to experienced investors and equity research analysts, any of the mistakes you might have made can surely be traced to at least one of the tips given below.

It means it’s a treasure house of advice for both the novice and the experts.

Warren Buffett: Latest Portfolio

To succeed in the complicated world of stock investment, many investors are curious to know the latest portfolio of investment genius Mr Buffet.

For them, we have found a link online, where they can see his latest portfolio.

Click the link below to see it.

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY PORTFOLIO TRACKER

A more clear sector-wise picture of his portfolio is available here.

Warren Buffett’s BEST Piece Of Advice (FOR BEGINNERS)

Investment Tips, Advice, Documents and Resources From Warren Buffet

The New York Times best seller “The Warren Buffet Way” by Robert Hagstromis ultimate book to learn investment strategy of Mr Buffet.

Download the free PDF version of the book “The Warren Buffet Way”

A letter to his shareholders – 2018

The inside story of Warren Buffet

4 Simple Tools to Invest Like Warren Buffet

A Warren Buffet Styled Investment Checklist

10 Top Investment Tips from Warren Buffet

According to Warren Buffett, investment in stock market is the best decision you can ever make, whereas if you are investing in bonds or mutual funds, you are actually cutting down on your profits in terms of brokerage commission and taxes.

So, follow this advice and achieve your financial goals through stock market.

1. Invest in The Stocks You Are Familiar with

Never go for complex stocks or the stocks that you do not understand.

There are successful investors out there, who have never worked on more than a few different stocks and yet they have earned huge money through that.

Warren Buffett says, “Never invest in a business you don’t understand.” 

For example, it is very difficult to understand or predict how many drugs will be approved by FDA produced by a biotechnology startup.

Regardless of how good this company sounds on paper, stay away from it.

You can deal with many challenges related to investment, if you operate within your circle of competence.

2. Put Business Quality on Top

While the first tip can be easily understood and you can stay away from the stocks of the industries you do not understand, it is a daunting task to identify the businesses that can be termed as high quality.

Warren Buffett’s entire philosophy behind investment lies in his ability to invest in high quality businesses.

He has done it for decades before becoming a billionaire. People generally tend to buy stocks at cheaper prices without questioning the business quality, and this can turn out to be a big mistake Warren Buffett warns.

The problematic businesses will always be problematic. So even if you find them a steal at some point of time, stay away from it.

“It is far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.”–Warren Buffett 

Rule to Follow: Check return on invested capital

A simple rule to follow to identify which business can be termed as a quality business is to look for its return on invested capital.

If it is high, then in future, the total returns will compound and it will be much higher than a business with low returns.

So, the simple formula is —Don’t look at the stock’s current dividend and earnings, look at its business quality.

3. Buy a Stock That You Can Keep Forever

If you are buying the stocks of a high quality business, forget about how long to held it.

“The minimum stipulated time to hold a stock must be at least 10 years, if you can’t do that, don’t even buy it for 10 minutes”, says Warren Buffett.

If you want to become a successful investor, invest in stocks with stable returns on invested capital.

Remember patience yields its dividend over a long period of time, so make time your best friend.

“The stock market is designed to transfer money from the active to the patient.” Warren Buffett 

Warren Buffett: Investment Advice & Strategy

4. Avoid over diversification

The basic fundamental to invest in the stock market is that you must know the great companies that are offering their stocks at reasonable prices.

It can be disastrous to invest in hundreds of companies you can’t keep tab on.

Mutual funds do the same mistake and therefore they hardly yield sustained earnings.

Focus on a smaller number of holdings that you think possess business quality.

Sooner or later good opportunities will come your way.

5. Don’t pay too much attention to news; it can be noise

Most financial news is distracting and not based on concrete facts.

If you are an active investor, it is likely that you are receiving abarrage of news items, both on the web and on TV.

The prime objective of such news items is to generate buzz and prompt people to take the desired actions.

The media is full of nonsense chatter about the market, economy and stock behavior.

People make a grave mistake to listen to the so-called experts and act on their advice.

Not all advice is useful. 99% of the investment actions are taken because of just one percent of genuine news.

Warren Buffett makes a good point here. He says, “Does it matter if the stocks of Apple, Johnson and Johnson or Coca-Cola fall by 4%.” 

However, such news can cause many investors to run in panic and sell their valuable businesses stocks, while it would be the best to hold on to the stock.

6. Investment isn’t rocket science but it is not that easy also

Many people think that highly smart, intelligent and experienced people can only be successful in this market and choose good stocks.

The good news is — Investment is not a game of IQs. It’s not true that a genius person will always take better investment decisions as compared to a person with less IQ scores.

There is also not a predefined mantra or an “easy button” that can predict the stocks valuations in future.

So your investment decisions shouldn’t be based on some historical or mathematical patterns.

There is no such system or a formula that can predict the stock values in future. So do not trust the so called gurus or experts.

The simple logic is if such a system existed, why a particular guru or an expert has to sell his advice, books and subscriptions rather than using this advice to become a millionaire himself.

As a matter of fact investment is an art and it is not easy. If someone thinks that it is easy or predictable, he must be a stupid.

7. Compare the price and value

In today’s marketplace, where you are bombarded with constant messages and ticker quotes running across your TV screen, you very well are aware of the price of a particular stock.

But, do you know the value of that particular stock?

According to Phil Fisher,“There is no dearth of people, who know the price of every stock but they don’t know the value of anything.

The volatility of stock prices can confuse you, because it is different from the underlying business fundamentals.

At times, you’ll be surprised to know that there is a zero correlation with the current stock price of a business and its long-term outlook.

It is true that the stock price of a company may fall in unfavorable business environment or economic downturn, but the same company might be working very hard to improve its competitive advantage and once the crisis is over, it can emerge even stronger.

Smart investors should never be influenced by the current stock price. What they must consider is the underlying business value of a particular stock.

The fluctuation in stock prices may be the direct impact of investor emotions, but that is a temporary phenomenon.

8. Don’t be scared if you look boring

This is another piece of wisdom from Warren Buffett.

Stock market cannot be used to get rich quickly. However, there are very good chances that you can moderately grow your capital over a period of time.

Sometimes, investment decisions may not appear exciting, however if you follow a conservative strategy, the dividend will grow slowly and certainly.

Do not gamble on a new stock or something that is new in the market. Rather, invest in the businesses that have already performed well.

Most of the investors, who burn their hands, are the people who get swayed by the tall claims of the new entrants. However, they miserably fail to fulfill their promises.

So don’t anticipate applause by the people, you must be okay with a few yawns as well, if your decision is sound.

9. Go for low cost index funds

If you are an average investor, you cannot beat the market. The major mistakes people make include

A. Defining your own timeline and expect the market to follow
B. Taking excessively risky decisions
C. Investing and trading based on emotions
D. Dealing with stocks outside of our competence or knowledge

In his will, Warren Buffett has given a clear message to his trustee.

According to him, 10% off the cash should be invested in short term government bonds, whereas 90% should be invested in extremely low cost S&P 500 index fund.

 This way the long term results will be much better than what most of the investors can achieve.

Do not even go for funds which charge you a high fee.

10. Select your business partners and managers carefully

It is very important to listen to the right people are not to the wrong people.

Also invest in a company that has the most reliable management teams.

There are many unscrupulous people in the investment world, who are ready to take advantage of the investors’ feelings of fear and greed, to make quick money.

Don’t fall into their trap.

Last but the most important advice of Warren Buffett is that — Do not pay attention to the stock forecasters, it might have little or no value.

If you want to play safely and want to earn a consistent income, cut through the noise.

Don’t trust everybody in the stock market industry.

Must read books about Warren Buffett

The most successful American investor recommends everyone to read “The Intelligent Investor” by Graham Benjamin.

This book can be termed as the bible for the investors across the world.

  1. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of LifeBy Alice Schroeder
  2. The Warren Buffett Way by Robert G. Hagstrom
  3. The Real Warren Buffett: Managing Capital, Leading People by James O’Loughlin
  4. The Warren Buffett Stock Portfolio by Mary Buffett & David Clark
  5. Warren Buffett and the Interpretation of Financial Statements by Mary Buffett & David Clark
    [Source: Wall Street Mojo]Final thoughts

The so-called gurus and investment experts have made investing look like rocket science. But, Warren Buffett has actually simplified the entire procedure.

Even the best investors realize that investment tips are not always easy to follow. But if you follow the advice of Warren Buffett, and focus on longer-term blue chip stocks, you should invest only in the industry and businesses you know.

This way you may avoid disastrous errors and will be more likely to achieve your financial goals.

Digital Marketers

Chirag Kulkarni: How Content Can Turn You Into A Serial Entrepreneur

If you’re an avid fan of reading online, Huffington Post is the name that you couldn’t have missed — but ever thought of contributing to the Huffington post?

I’m pretty sure that seems like an impossible task.

Not for Chirag Kulkarni, who got his first post published in the renowned magazine when he was just 18 years old.

With such a great start, Chirag became the Chief Marketing Officer of Medly, a digital pharmacy based in New York.

Now he’s running in his own venture and doing a lot of things at a young age along with being featured as the top 25 marketers by Forbes.

Eager to know more about his story?

Here’s all you need to know about the serial entrepreneur Chirag Kulkarni.

Early Life:

Chirag was a bright teenage boy living up to the aspirations of his father.

His father wanted him to quintessentially become an entrepreneurial spirit and learn by tackling his problems on his own.

Learning by trying and testing things, Chirag started his affiliate blog at the age of 13.

Undoubtedly he was filled with passion and an urge to create a space for himself in this world.

Soon, he moved to explore SEO and wrote about it.

A Kickstart to the ‘Writing Potential’

It was then that Chirag decided to write a cold email to Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post.

And guess what?

This fearless instinct of him led to the start of his vibrant career as a writer.

So, Ariana Huffington picked one of his works on Meditation that got published in the Huffington Post.

This began the glorious journey for Chirag Kulkarni.

He became an accidental specialist in marketing by discovering and exploring things by himself.

And it was a time when the only form of marketing that was popular around the world was the door to door marketing.

Curiosity is the Path to Discovery

His curiosity compelled Chirag to explore the power of content and online marketing strategies such as SEO.

Once Chirag figured out affiliate marketing, he went on to find new and other marketing practices on the Internet that could help one carve a niche for themselves.

The prominence of the Internet helped Chirag discover smart tactics in the content marketing space and how he could use content marketing to create sales conversions.

Failure is the Best Mentor

But what’s learning if everything is served on a plate? And so was the case for Chirag.

In 2011, at the age of 15, Chirag co-founded his first company STR and started tennis racquets stringing business.

He then went on to study the success and failures of entrepreneurs all across the world.

Soon after this, his venture insightfully that focused on predictive analysis and cross-platform research was launched but did not show significant results.

It ended up tanking!

Realizing the True Potential

This was the point where Chirag realized that his true calibre and potential lied in content and SEO.

And that’s how the popular content marketing agency ‘Taco’ was born.

The aim behind Taco was to provide SEO and content solutions to companies with $1 – $10 million in revenues.

Eventually, in 2013, the Chirag launched the C & N group.

The business venture was developed to find solutions for existing businesses by providing dynamic methods of business development and innovation.

The company incorporates strategies for Tech startups, App markets, operation management, logistics, ups and downs of business and more.

What Budding Content Marketers Must Read?

Chirag recommends budding content marketers to gather information from sources such as Quick Sprout, Social Media Examiner along with Content marketing Institute etc.

And just to hone your skills, you can also use various tools available in the market for curating content for the right audience.

Some of these tools recommended by Chirag are Suno, Crazy Egg and Kissmetrics.

Chirag is the proud owner of the website chiragkulkarni.com where you can learn about the latest content marketing practices and tips for your business.

Awards and Achievements:

Apart from being the CEO of Medley, Chirag Kulkarni has various recognitions and accolades credited to his name.

Chirag was invited to deliver a lecture as a guest in Fordham School of Business on the topic Innovation and Strategy.

His venture Taco, was also featured as one of the top 6 companies that grew fast in the year 2016 by Tech cocktail.

Chirag was also named among the top 25 marketers by Forbes along with a thought leader and expert in marketing by Inc.com.

Renowned Recommendations

Chirag has also been appreciated by a lot of people all across the world.

His influential persona and ability to learn has been admired and applauded no matter where he goes.

Popular Featured Publications

On his journey to becoming a serial entrepreneur, Chirag Kulkarni has been featured in various reputed national and international media.

He had made his mark in the world with his unique and engaging content.

Here are the top publications, where Chirag has been featured-
● Forbes: Advice For The New 30 Under 30 Class From The Alumni And Summit Attendees
● Inc.com: 10 Things Entrepreneurs Need to Know about Intrapreneurship
● Inc.com: 3 ways to Become A Thought Leader
● Venturebeat.com: Here are my rules for avoiding burnout while building a business
● The Huffington Post: 5 Non-Traditional Educations Doers Should Consider
● ExcelR8 Management Consulting: Five Corporate Growth Pains That Companies Will Face Over The Next 5 Years

5 Tips From Chirag Kulkarni That Will Help You Brainstorm New Ideas

When most of the writers are pressed with the urgency of work, they often fail to deliver the quality.

Furthermore, it becomes extremely challenging to keep up the motivation and think of new ideas for writing in such scenarios.

Chirag Kulkarni says that since the world is becoming more and more content driven the ability to stand out is extremely important for bloggers.

Here are a few brainstorming tips that writers must swear by:

Get Out:

Locking oneself in one room and thinking of new ideas can be extremely challenging.

Through his personal experience, Chirag shares how frustrating and stressful this practice can be.

For this reason, he emphasizes on the fact that getting out of home or office can be helpful in coming up with new ideas.

You never know how many correlations you might find as you move from one place to another.

Furthermore, as you meet new people or explore places, new ideas and thought processes start working rapidly.

So get out of your monotonous room as you find your go-to methods for thinking there.

Look For Opposite Blogs:

When we keep on writing a certain way, we often run out of fresh ideas.

However, Chirag Kulkarni states that looking for inverse blogs can be an excellent way to rejuvenate the thoughts in our brains.

For example, if you’ve written about ‘3 habits of highly successful people’, you can try writing inverse of the topic such as ‘3 habits successful people stay away from’.

While this will engage your users on the one hand, on the other hand, it will give you something to write.

Inverses are an excellent way of brainstorming new ideas.

Ask Your Audience:

As marketers of content, it can often be misleading if you only come up with blog topics from your gut.

Though this strategy may work a lot of times if you have experience, it is always best to research what your audience wants to read.

So, why not ask your audience what they prefer to read?

Now, you can ask your audience in plenty of ways, using social media or external surveying tools.

This practice will help you get a lot of ideas and increase the engagement for your blog as well.

Change your Timeframe:

Changing the time frames of your post is similar to looking for inverse blog topics.

A timeline can help gather engagement as well as help you think from a different point of view.

For example, if you’ve been writing on ‘social media’ for a long time, try writing about ‘Social Media Trends that Will Take 2019 by Storm’.

Doesn’t that sound more impactful? Exactly!

Chirag Kulkarni states that this practice gives you the scope of writing about current ideas and topics that might be helpful to a particular audience or segment.

Take the help of 3rd party tools:

If you’re still out of writing ideas, the last option you take up is referring to a few external tools.

Chirag shares his personal favorite tool Hubspot blog topic generator that instantly generates topics for you based on your top three keywords.

Hubspot blog topic generator gives you a week of topics for free along with a year of topics that is available in is paid plan.

Final Words

So, if you’ve got the creative writing potential just like Chirag, it’s time that you sharpen your skills and explore the world.

The key to success lies in reading more and more about the success and failure of different people, methods and practices.

Remember that the more you learn and out to practice, the more will you experience.

Chirag Kulkarni is currently the Chief Marketing Officer of Medley Pharmacy, and founder of Taco.

He has helped various companies such as Expedia, Dairy Queen, Berkshire Hathway, Infibeam, and others increase their return on investment using digital marketing.

If you’re a passionate writer and learning by your own experiences, let us know what motivates you, in the comments below.

Digital Marketers

Learn How to Embrace Criticism and Hug Your Haters from Jay Baer

Introduction:

We’ve all heard about this phrase that says, ‘If you love what you do, you will never have to work a day in your life.’

This saying is often related to the era of Confucius and Mark Twain, where it originally came from.

But the question is, have you seen a real-life example of this phrase?

A person, who is irrevocable in love with what he does and has accomplished a million things in this lifetime.

Curious to know who the person is?

We’re talking about New York Times bestselling author of six books and one of the most popular digital marketers in the world, Jay Baer.

Jay Baer is a business strategist most famously known for his social media marketing tips and his blog Convince and Convert.

He has worked with more than 700 companies in the world and helped them find their way in the market through best digital practices.

An insight into his early life:

Jay Baer was born in an ordinary family in the year 1969 in Lincoln, Nebraska.

He grew up in Arizona and graduated from the University of Arizona with a major degree in political science and minors in communication.

A bright student at school:

Even though Jay pursued his education in Political science, he was always eager to write and explore content on the Internet.

Throughout his time at the University of Arizona, Jay was one of the brightest students.

He also received the prestigious Flinn scholar award that was only given to the top 20 high school senior students annually.

A desire to do more:

Jay officially began his move into digital marketing in the year 1994, before which he was working as a political consultant and brand marketer.

In-spite of his good going life and a job that paid off well, Jay wanted to help people and innovate in the field of marketing.

Talk Triggers Jay Baer Full Length Keynote Speaker – Word of Mouth – Customer Experience

First breakthrough email campaign:

However, the turning point in Jay’s life was when Senator John McCain ran for the position of President in 2000 his email campaign, which was run by Jay Baer became an instant hit due to its interactive nature.

This was one of the earliest time, where Internet could impact politics.

And that’s when Jay Baer realized that he should advance in the field of marketing.

Therefore, in 1994, Jay got his first job in marketing as the Vice president of Internet Direct, which was Arizona’s first Internet Service provider.

Finding its first venture:

After Internet Direct, Jay moved onto co-finding his first venture azfamily.com, which was a local content website.

His website soon became one of the world’s second largest content website.

Gradually, Jay Baer made his grip strong in the field of marketing by working across different companies and finding ventures of his own.

In 2000, he worked at Visitalk.com, a VOIP video calling service and also started a new venture Mighty Interactive, a digital agency.

The beginning of a multi-million dollar company:

Finally, in 2008 he founded his one of most successful marketing consultancy firms, Convince and Convert.

The company has helped more than 700 businesses across the globe in excelling through best practices.

Over the years, Jay has helped various companies establish their feet in the market and reach out to their customers like nobody else.

His passion for his work and longing desire to write more and more has pushed him to become the man that he is today.

The journey till today:

Today, Jay Baer is an active venture capitalist, investor and advisor to nearly 25 early stage technology and social media companies.

He is a successful author to 6 best selling books and founder to 5 multi-million dollar businesses.

When asked about what he loves the most about marketing, Jay says that he loves people and their stories.

And marketing done well, is ultimately a long term relationship with the customer.

“Believing that volume equals success. Constantly shifting best practices and required skill sets. Sub-optimal project management capabilities. Fear of delegation. These are some of the biggest obstacles keeping marketers from doing their best work.” – Jay Baer

Awards and Recognitions:

Jay Baer has various awards and accolades credited to his name through his hard work over the 25 glorious years of his marketing career.

He’s the most retweeted digital marketer in the world and second among B2B marketers.

The list of Jay’s recognitions is endless. Some of these include:

  • One of the 200 living members of the Professional Speaking Hall of Fame.
  • Certified speaking professional by the National Speakers Association for the year 2016
  • Amazon’s Best Seller Author in the year 2016 for his book Hug your haters.
  • 3rd on the New York Times Best Selling author list in 2013.

Apart from these hard earned recognition, Jay Baer has also been a renowned advisor to nearly 700 companies since the year 1994.

These companies include Caterpillar, Nike along with 32 of the top FORTUNE 500 companies.

Jay’s interest in presentations and addressing live audiences through motivational and thought provoking speeches has also helped him earn the title of Best Marketing Podcast in the year 2015.

His valuable works have also received mentions in International Media and renowned magazines.

Jay Baer Hug Your Haters – Full Presentation

Let’s have a look at Jay Baer’s life changing publications:

Best Publications:

1) Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers
It is one of the earliest works by Jay and the first modern take on improving customer service for business.
It is based on the realities of improving customer expectations in today’s times rather than five or ten years ago.

This book also ranked among the top three business books of the year 2016 by Strategy: Business Magazine.

2) The Now Revolution: 7 Shifts to Make Your Business Faster, Smarter, and More Social

It was Published under Wiley publications in the year 2011 and talks about the customer’s demands from companies in real-time and with authenticity.

3) Youtility: Why Smart Marketing Is about Help Not Hype

Jay Baer’s publication of 2013 was one of the New York time’s best selling books.
It focused on the power of helpful marketing. It was also a number one on the Amazon Best seller list.

4) Talk Triggers: The Complete Guide to Creating Customer with Word of Mouth

This is Jay Baer’s latest books and is a detailed guide to creating customers using strategic and operational differentiators that induce and compel work of mouth marketing.

The book is a manual for assisting the growth of businesses through customer conversation.

Jay addresses the audience across the world more than 60 times in a year.

His blog Convince and Convert has also been named as the world’s #1 blog by the credible Content Marketing Institute.

Apart from these, Jay has also been featured and is till being mentioned in various articles and contributions in popular magazines such as Forbes, Entrepreneur.com etc.

Where can you learn from Jay Baer?

You can learn and grow your content, social media, word of mouth, email and online reputation through Jae Baer’s consultancy.

He keeps on writing new posts on his blog where you can read and learn about the best practices of marketing.

His methodologies and consultation promises to double the digital for anyone.

You can avail his consultancy and training at Convince and Convert.

To refer to his latest posts, you can go to his blog jaybaer.com.

Top 5 tips from Jay Baer on Creating Customers that will last a  lifetime:

Jay Baer has helped more than a couple of companies in the past year to achieve complete success and customer satisfaction through smart practices social media tips and hacks.

His goal is to assist companies in creating more customers through their existing customers and authentically handling their expectations.

1) Discover the needs of your customer: Understanding the personas of your buyer, is one of the critical factors in maintaining a long term relationship with them. Find out the information about buyer personas using various research tools, social surveys, interviews, web analytics etc.

This practice will help you from niche content or product for them, that is specifically designed to fit their needs.

2) Map the needs of your customer to potential programs run by you: Buyer personas may help in understanding the needs and demands of the customers, but until you take action over them, you can’t capture your potential customers.

Run social media campaigns, programs, video series, ebooks etc. addressing a particular buyer challenge or problem. Jay highlights that when you do so, try to relate your product or services around them. It is one of the crucial concepts of marketing.

3) Market the marketing:

Do you treat information casually? Suppose your customer sends you an email of appreciation.

Now all you do is accept it and thank them.

That’s it? Well!

Jay Baer suggests businesses market the marketing.

Use social media platforms to market your client’s content first, and then their products.

In other words, treat content like any product or service that you market for your business.

4) Respond to negative comments:

Jay Baer has often noticed that most companies that receive flak on social media through negative comments etc. choose not to respond to them.

And this is where all their customer service efforts turn to vain.

Jay recommends businesses to respond to comments, especially negative ones. This will impart a feeling that you value and care about the concerns of your customer.

Being unresponsive to criticism on social platforms puts your brand and especially your customer service in the negative light and wrong impression.

5) Embrace criticism and grow:

Praise might out your chest out upfront, but it seldom teaches you anything.

You already know the key areas where you and your business are excelling. However, criticism is the only way of knowing where you can become better and improve.

Jay asks people to take criticism constructively and build a culture of helpfulness into your company. Use the bottom up approach from your employees to CEO so that everyone can be of some help to the customers.

Final words

Jay’s journey to become the most successful marketer is an inspiration to all who aim of achieving significant through writing.

Today, Jay is the author of six best selling business books and also the founder of 5 multi-million dollar companies.

He helps brands improve various aspects of marketing that include social media marketing, email marketing, word of mouth marketing along with content marketing.

His most successful venture is his consultancy Convince and Convert that has helped world’s most iconic brands such as the United Nations, Oracle, 3M, Cisco, Nike, Hilton, Caterpillar etc. find their feet in the market.

Jay is a living example of a self-made marketer, who has made it all possible through his hard work and perseverance all these years.

Does Jay Baer’s journey inspire you? Or is there someone else helping you get your hands on in marketing?

Let us know in the comments below.

Entrepreneurs

The Incredible Story of the Youngest Billionaire and Facebook Chief Mark Zuckerberg

“Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.”
——-Mark ZuckerBerg

It’s not just the prime directive of Facebook CEO, Mark ZuckerBerg to his team of developers, it’s the philosophy he breathes and lives by.

We are bringing to you yet another inspiring story today.

Success stories of the greatest entrepreneurs stimulate motivational juices within us and inspire us to emulate them, so that we can also achieve incredible success in our life.

Mark Zuckerberg has actually moved fast right from his Harvard days, when he launched Facebook before the alleged gang of HarvardConnection could actually think of implementing it and soon became the inventor of world’s biggest social media platform.

Launching Facebook globally

Zuckerberg and his dorm room friends Tyler Winklevoss, Cameron Winklevoss and DivyaNarendra of HarvardConnection actually came up with an idea of a social network like Facebook, but they accuse Mark of stealing the idea and launching Facebook, which was their brainchild.

Facebook is not just a social networking platform, but it has become an integral part of our lives today.

Mark Zuckerberg was just 19 years old when he launched Facebook in 2004.

He is the youngest billionaire in the world and is the owner of the biggest social media platform Facebook along with two other most popular social media platforms Instagram and WhatsApp.

Mark Zuckerberg Biography: Success Story of Facebook

The Mark Zuckerberg story

Mark Zuckerberg’s story is quite fascinating and unbelievable.

Mark Zuckerberg is not just another successful billionaire; he is placed among the Ivy League of people, who have changed the world.

If Apple has changed our lives by introducing touch screen smartphones, Facebook has changed the way we interact and communicate with each other.

In fact, FB has gone much ahead. Beyond communication and interaction, it also helps you form interest groups and fan pages to not only promote businesses, but also lifestyles, think-tanks and ideologies.

It shatters barriers and enables you to interact freely with the people with the same interests as yours.

Facebook as a social influencer

Facebook is considered a major factor behind political revolutions such as Arab Spring and changing the fate of elections in various democracies.

It is such an influential social media platform that you cannot ignore it.

These days it has more than 1.3 billion active users which make it equal to the third largest country in the world.

Early life as a child prodigy

Mark Zuckerberg was born in 1984 and he was brought up in an ambitious and well educated middle-class Jewish family in the sleepy Dobbs Ferry town in the suburban New York.

He has three siblings and he is the only son. His father Edward Zuckerberg runs a dentists clinic in the area and mother Karen Zuckerberg works as a psychiatrist.

Mark Zuckerberg is not an ordinary person. He was a prodigy as a child and exhibited his programming skills, when he connected the computers in his father’s dental clinic and enabled the staff to communicate with each other through a program created by him.

Earlier in such types of clinics, the staff yelled to communicate with the dentist. He named this texting platform “ZuckNet”. He also learnt several languages in his high School including Latin, French, Hebrew, and ancient Greek. He also wrote poems in Latin. It is extremely difficult for a 14 year old child to accomplish that.

Impressed by his programming skills and his interest in software programming, his father arranged a private tutor for him.When he finished elementary school, he was admitted to the prestigious boarding school Phillips Exeter Academy, where he learnt the art of decision making and communication.

When Zuckerberg was in his high school, he joined a company Intelligent Media Group as a programmer and created a media player program known as “Synapse”. The program was based on artificial intelligence and it recognized the individual preference for music based on their listening habits.

Microsoft wanted to purchase the product for $2 million and also offered him a job as a programmer once he finished high school, but Mark Zuckerberg declined the offer. According to him, it was his inspiration and therefore it was not to be sold.

Mark Zuckerberg’s 2004 Interview: See How Far He And Facebook Have Come

Joining Harvard University

Later on, he was admitted to prestigious Harvard University, where he started studying psychology. His mother wanted him to learn psychology, but Mark Zuckerberg was more interested in programming.  So, he joined some IT courses at Harvard in addition to his major course.

When,Zuckerberg was in the second year at Harvard, he created a program known as CourseMatch which allowed the students to share their experiences around their chosen subjects.

His second superhit project was Facemash, in which he offered Harvard students an opportunity to vote for the students’ photos as to who looked better and hotter.

To implement and run this program, Zuckerberg successfully broke into the University database to steal the photographs of the students.

He just survived a possible suspension for the offence of hacking the database.

Students also complained that their photographs were used without their consent, so University had no option but to shut down the program Facemash.

Mark Zuckerberg later on launched another project in which the photo albums were protected by password so as to ensure privacy of the students.

Facemash was actually the beginning of Facebook because it emerged as a communication masterpiece and a popular social network.

Zuckerberg was helped by Eduardo Saverin, Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz in creating the social network platform Facebook.

The new site was ready in less than a week’s time and it became even more popular than the actual product Facemash.

Facebook was initially designed for Harvard students, but soon it became quite popular among the most reputed universities in the United States such as Stanford, Columbia and various other universities in Boston, Massachusetts, New York, and Canada.

The biggest success of Facebook is not to bring everybody on the social networking platform but to create interest groups, where users could express themselves without any inhibition or hesitation.

Even today you will find interest groups on Facebook such as atheists, same sex couples, fans of celebrities, and people interested in gardening or bodybuilding etc.

Inviting venture capitalists

By the end of 2004, Facebook was able to have more than 1 million users.

It attracted the attention of venture capitalists interested in investing in such an immensely popular platform, which could be monetized to yield excellent returns.

The domain facebook.com cost $200,000 for Mark Zuckerberg in 2005, when Facebook had more than 5 million users and was adding.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Top 10 Rules For Success

Becoming a billionaire

In 2007, Mark Zuckerberg announced that his project was worth $15 billion and he bought 1.6% of the total stock, which was $240 million.

In 2015, Facebook became the second most visited website globally and Mark Zuckerberg also became the youngest billionaire on the planet.

Just like many other popular CEOs in the world, his official wage is a still $1.

He has also been honored by the title of the most influential person in the world in 2010 by Time magazine.

Personal life

Mark Zuckerberg is known to live a moderate and close life and doesn’t believe in pomp and show and throwing off cash like some other billionaires.

He married his Harvard friend Priscilla Chan, who comes from China in 2012. Chan gave birth to a daughter “Max” in 2015. The couple was so happy at that moment that they decided to donate 99% of their wealth before they die.

You won’t believe but it’s true that before 2015, Zuckerberg was living in rented houses, even though he was a billionaire.

When he realized that his family and the newborn needed a cozy home, he decided to buy a house which cost $7 million.

The house is situated in Palo Alto in Silicon Valley and is very near to Facebook office in Menlo Park.

Awards and recognitions

Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard to run Facebook in 2004, but back in 2017 Harvard gave him an honorary degree of doctor of laws.

Mark Zuckerberg At Harvard: We Should Explore Ideas Like Universal Basic Income | CNBC

In 2017, Zuckerberg also announced that Facebook had achieved yet another milestone – It reached 2 billion accounts.

Net Worth

In 2017, Forbes announced that Mark Zuckerberg had a net worth of $69.5 billion (Source 24smi.org), so he was way ahead of Sergey Brin and Larry Page — the founders of Google.

Yet, the youngest billionaire in the world is not mad for money. He doesn’t believe in mad accumulation of wealth.

He is known to be associated with dozens of charity organizations around the world.

He has also joined the group “The Giving Pledge” whose members are committed to donate 50% of their wealth in their lifetime.

Quotes of Mark Zuckerberg

  1. “Move fast and break things. Unless you are breaking stuff, you are not moving fast enough.”
  2. “I remember really vividly, you know, having pizza with my friends a day or two after — I opened up the first version of Facebook at the time I thought, ‘You know, someone needs to build a service like this for the world. But I just never thought that we’d be the ones to help do it. And I think a lot of what it comes down to is we just cared more.” (Jan. 2014)
  3. “If I were starting now I would do things very differently. I didn’t know anything. In Silicon Valley, you get this feeling that you have to be out here. But it’s not the only place to be. If I were starting now, I would have stayed in Boston. [Silicon Valley] is a little short-term focused and that bothers me.” (Oct. 2011)
  4. “The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” (Oct. 2011) 
  5. “Building a mission and building a business go hand-in-hand. It is true that the primary thing that makes me excited about what we’re doing is the mission, but I also think, from the very beginning, we’ve had this healthy understanding which is that we need to do both.” (Sept. 2012)
  6. “My goal was never to just create a company. A lot of people misinterpret that, as if I don’t care about revenue or profit or any of those things. But what not being ‘just’ a company means to me is building something that actually makes a really big change in the world.” (Feb. 2011)
  7. “People can be really smart or have skills that are directly applicable, but if they don’t really believe in it, then they are not going to really work hard.” (Oct. 2005)[Source:Entrepreneur magazine]

Further reading:
Think Like Zuck: The Five Business Secrets of Facebook’s Improbably Brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg

Final words

More than a billionaire, Mark Zuckerberg is a man with a mission. He wanted to change the world and he is doing exactly that.

He is a great strategist and kills the competition before it poses a threat. He bought Instagram and WhatsApp at the right time and both turned out to be his best decisions.

Currently, he is working on many projects including Internet of Things (IOT), which is aimed at providing internet connectivity to less developed nations for free.

Entrepreneurs

The Small Biz Marketing Guru: Ramon Ray

To encourage and give you some words to keep you moving despite facing challenges in entrepreneurship, I have the story of Ramon Ray.

Ramon Ray is the editor of the popular smallbiztechnology.com and also the editor and founder of Smart Hustle Magazine.

This talented journalist and technology evangelist is the author of Technology Solutions for Growing Businesses.

He has written other books including Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing and it is one of the best sellers in Amazon.com.

Ramon has had the honour to speak to many audiences including the White House.

He is invited by the Office of the President of the United States to speak to the Congress as an expert.

This led to numerous events such as “Small Business Technology Tour,” “Smart Hustle Small Business Conference,” Small Biz Big Things” and “Small Business Summit.”

Ramon has brushed shoulders many respected celebrity entrepreneurs, but his connection with the main street remain contact.

He likes to interview small entrepreneurs and business owners and share their stories.

Some of the prominent people he has worked closely with and even shared a stage with them include Guy Kawasaki, Daymond John, Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Simon Sinek.

Ramon interviewed President through Google Hangout, the first interview of its kind for the President. Besides, he also interviewed many sharks though Shark Tank.

Facebook Marketing Tips For Small Business with Ramon Ray

Early Life

Ramon Ray started four companies but later sold one. He studied at the New York Institute of Technology.

He is a journalist and a talented speaker whose meetings are full of laughter.

Ramon was not born rich, he created business and it was he sold the third one that made millions that catapulted him financially. He loves technology and calls himself a technology evangelist.

Having owned four companies, he is an experienced entrepreneur who knows the struggles and challenges of becoming successful.

In his ever full conferences, he communicates insights that work for his audience regardless of their location around the world.

This entrepreneur and the speaker know how to connect with his audience at a personal level and many people have testimonies how opened their eyes and they were able to take their business to another level.

Ramon used to be a technology consultant and has first hand experience with different technologies including mobile computing, online software, computer networks and social media among others.

He is an expert in technology, sales and marketing. He has excelled in business growth, networking and personal branding.

Over the years, he has written informative articles, which are more than a thousand. Besides, he has spoken to big audiences and thousands of entrepreneurs.

His proven tactics and advice has impacted thousands of upcoming and small business owners.

Today, he specializes in sharing his wealth of knowledge and is always to attend events when invited.

Awards & Accomplishments

Ramon Ray and Anita Campbell are the founders of the Small Business Influencers Awards.

The program is meant to recognize those leading in the small business world.

It is a way to appreciate their support and contributions in news outlets, apps, leaders, media and experts.

Ramon the entrepreneur

Ramon Ray is a technology evangelist, but according to him he just started small.

He worked hard to give the best and then people started coming to him for advice and he turned to a technology evangelist.

When giving out his advice to entrepreneurs he knows that business is different depending on the location of the investor.

He believes technology can take a business to another level, if only investors are willing to try it.

Apart from increasing sales, they should take advantage of online payment methods.

Ramon’s favourite technology tools for running a small business are the Batchbook and Google products.

With online applications such as Carbonite and Dropbox, Ramon says he can easily manage his virtual team and run his business smoothly.

Ramon Ray talks about growing your business on Business Circle

Ramon Ray the speaker

Ramon is a professional speaker who knows how to present an inspiring message to his audience.

He helps investors and professionals to elevate their brands and crush their competitors, which in turn boosts their revenues and enhances their overall growth.

Ramon shares how he grew from the nothing to become a highly sought-after celebrity.

By sharing his experience step by step, other investors can see where they make mistakes thus helping them improve.

According to Ramon, branding is being different from others and finding a way to sizzle and pop and stop chasing deals and just wait for them to come looking for you.

He has expertise in personal branding, and he speaks so well sharing practically with his audience and guides them on how to create their brands.

One of Ramon’s unforgettable talks is how he guides business owners to date leads and marry customers. It’s all about sales; most people want to sell more, but they forget to keep the ones they already have.

It is important to nurture relationships with potential customers and to make sure they buy from you again, not just once.

Ramon, the speaker, also insists on the importance of using social media.  All the platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter can help build a brand and generate sales.

Why Ramon is a Top Global Influencer

Ramon Ray is one of the most recognized top global influencers. His efforts are mostly seen through is his books, speaking tours, informative videos and Smart Hustle magazine.

He also has other small ventures that are all business focused meant to help small business owners and other professionals interested in investments.

Ramon Ray Is a Great Marketer

Ramon Ray has rich experience in marketing and his book titled “The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing?” he believes most people do not understand marketing and that’s why they do not get much from the biggest social media platforms.

He researched and studied social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and GooglePlus. Whereas most small businesses use Facebook, Google Adwords is another marketing tool they should use according to Ramon.

Ramon Ray: 3 secrets to conquering selling

Ramon’s Advice for the Young People Who Want to Succeed

Ramon has been working with young people for years. He has volunteered as a teacher; his tips for those who want to succeed are:

Having a Good Character and Attitude

Everyone knows a smile and a warm welcome are essential, but they do not seem to realize that it’s imperative.

Mostly, a young person is judged by his or her physical look, so start with the first impression.

Smile and have a positive attitude.

Be honest and always do the right thing; also help those who a bit far down than you.

Opportunities will come to you in the future just because you helped someone.

Hard Work Is Important

If you are willing to work hard and leave your comfort zone to extra work, you win.

You will get some positive results eventually. If anyone shows up when you are working, let them know you need time to finish work before you talk and have some fun.

Avoid calls that are no important; you can call later.

Hard work is an excellent trait that people frown at and will give you names such as workaholics, but as long as one knows when it’s time to take a rest.

Every successful person with money and wealth took the time to work hard to reach where they are.

Learn New Skills

You can go back to school or learn a new skill online.

Keep learning new things, and you will always have something to help you make money. Make sure you learn how to do something like a pro not just learning theoretically.

There are great videos where one can learn things like video editing, fixing cars and much more.

You can learn to do things you love and make some money.

Ramon loves sharing his knowledge with other people.

He says that most people will commute daily to work and spend about eight hours doing a job they hate wholeheartedly.

Here are some of the tips he gives and calls them core fundamentals that can lead to success:

  • Keep reading and learning
  • Experiment with different things that you love and enjoy doing
  • Ask questions where you are not sure
  • Ask for help if you need to
  • Be honest and avoid breaking the law
  • Volunteer
  • Eat healthy, exercise and keep fit
  • Learn about multitasking and know what to prioritize
  • Make new friends and learn things
  • Budget, save and avoid getting into debts
  • Be nice to people as much as you can; no need to be a jerk
  • Always start your day early in the morning