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Who Are You? Give Us A Few Minutes to Learn More About You

September 23rd, 2010 ::

Give us a few minutes to learn more about you by taking this quick survey:

http://www.communityinvitations.com/html.pro?ID=682&said=NWS493SP&csid=ABC&pcid=NS

Network Solutions Social Media Team wants to learn more about you. More about you, our faithful readers who utilize social media in regards to Network Solutions. What we hope to learn is:

What tools you use for social media.
How you use social media tools to interact with Network Solutions.
How you as a small business use social media.
This will help us provide you with a better experience as we go forward.

The survey can be found at the following link:

http://www.communityinvitations.com/html.pro?ID=682&said=NWS493SP&csid=ABC&pcid=NS

Please help us spread the word via Twitter and Facebook with these quick 140 character friendly sentences:

Take the Social Media Audience Survey from Network Solutions! http://bit.ly/cCND5q

Network Solutions Social Media Audience Survey Wants to Hear From You! http://bit.ly/cCND5q

Posted in What's next Gen Y, WhatsNextGenY | No Comments »

Unintentional Entrepreneurs on NY1 TV

August 17th, 2009 ::

The Unintentional Entrepreneurs event in New York on August 13th was covered by NY1′s Employment reporter Asa Aarons filed the following report.

Video of the Unintentional Entrepreneurs In New York

Mitch Stoller shared his experience of stating on his own and I passed on a few tips I knew from my own foray into the entrepreneur world . David Berkowitz had a rich presentation of tips on online marketing for small business.

See the Slide shows here http://www.slideshare.net/networksolutions/presentations

We took a few pictures of the event and here is a slide show.

Posted in Uncategorized, UnintentionalEntrepreneur | No Comments »

Tom Abate writes – Accidental entrepreneurs a sign of the economy

August 11th, 2009 ::

Just saw a article in the San Francisco Chronicle “Accidental entrepreneurs a sign of the economy” written by Tom Abate. I had a chance to meet Tom at the Unintentional Entrepreneur event in San Francisco and in this article he quotes Carolyn Ackels who along with Steve King Blog at http://www.smallbizlabs.com

Carolyn Ockels calls “necessity-preneurs” – people who become self-employed because regular jobs are so tough to find

Read more at the San Francisco Chronicle

Posted in Uncategorized, UnintentionalEntrepreneur | 5 Comments »

New York Unintentional Entrepreneurs Meet August 13th

August 11th, 2009 ::

Outright and Network Solutions started the 5 city tour of the Unintentional Entrepreneur events to educate new business owners on bookkeeping basics, small business tax tips, getting started online and building your web site and brand and Effective and efficient marketing methods. The next event in in NY on August 13th.

Venue:
For Your Imagination
22 West 27th Street
(Between Broadway and 6th Ave)
New York, NY 10001

Register at http://ueny.eventbrite.com/ and I look forward to meeting you.
Read the event recap by Joe Loong of the Unintentional Entrepreneur DC on the Network Solutions Small Business Blog.

Pictures taken at Unintentional Entrepreneur Events in other cities

Posted in Uncategorized, UnintentionalEntrepreneur | No Comments »

Wray Rives- NeedACFO.com gives advice to Unintentional Entrepreneurs

August 11th, 2009 ::

Wray Rives gave book keeping tips to the 50 or so entrepreneurs who came to the Network Solutions and Outright event in Los Angeles. In this interview he gives more tips and you can also visit his blog http://blog.rives.org/ for some great posts. I love this post in particular http://blog.rives.org/2009/07/entrepreneurs.html

Let us know what other experts and topics you would like to see on this blog. Please comment here.

Posted in Uncategorized, UnintentionalEntrepreneur | No Comments »

Unintetional Entrepreneur Interview : Jerome Chang of BlankSpaces LA

August 3rd, 2009 ::

I was thrilled to see that the Unintentional Entrepreneur event in Los Angeles was in a co-working space called BlankSpaces. The concept has been written about on the Network Solutions ‘ Blog Thoughts on Coworking: What is it and is it for you? by my colleague Steven Fisher, so i was familiar with the concept.

As Jerome Chang Says in this interview , it is more than a working space. The community and atmosphere is key along with the facilities like a VOIP , ability to register your own company and actually have an address to meet clients than just a PO box is huge.

Recently Michael S Rosenwald wrote a article Digital Nomads Choose Their Tribes in the Washington Post. he mentioned my friends Frank Gruber and Jen Consalvoand the opportunities of co-working spaces.

Posted in Uncategorized, UnintentionalEntrepreneur | No Comments »

Whats the difference ? Intentional and Intentional Entrepreneur

July 21st, 2009 ::

I started my online marketing business in 2003 when Hurricane Isabel hit the East Coast. Hurricane Isabel was the costliest and deadliest hurricane in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. I had lunch with a friend who told me about Google Adwords and now instead of going out and buying toilet paper and milk in preparation for the hurricane.

I searched Google for the keywords “hurricane Isabel” and saw there was only one ad there ( it was for a resort in the Carribean). I decided to test this with an initial investment of $75. Where did I send the people? To a Amazon page that sold “The Magic School Bus Inside A Hurricane ” of course I spent the $75 probably in an hour . Did anyone buy the book ? Of course not. And I been selling disaster equipment, crank-up lights or radios I would have had better luck. Nevertheless the $75 was investment in a real life learning experience on online advertising, conversions, landing pages and affiliate marketing. This helped me for the next few years as I became a Unintentional Entrepreneur ( http://www.unintentionalentrepreneur.com) and learnt the art of online marketing.

What is your story? Did you see and opportunity and  jumped at an opportunity? You can also foster this dialog by joining the Facebook Group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=130591317183

Posted in Uncategorized, UnintentionalEntrepreneur | No Comments »

Bob London to Speak at Unintentional Entrepreneur DC August 5th

July 20th, 2009 ::

Bob is a great guy and has a lot of good will in the DC area. if you meet him you at once know he is going to do his best to make you successful. It was a no brainer when the mantle of the Unintentional Entrepreneur DC event fell on me to ask Bob to speak on the topic marketing to entrepreneurs. Bob has been helping local companies and start-ups. Come to the event on August 5th at Johns Hopkins University Montgomery Campus to get the secrets of Marketing by spending an hour a day. Attend This Event

Bob London - London Ink
Bob London, President & Founder, London, Ink www.londonink.com
Bob London is president and founder of London, Ink, a marketing and communications consulting firm that helps organizations define and prioritize their products and services based on what the market wants–or doesn’t want–to buy. As the DC area’s leading Virtual VP of Marketing, Bob works with established and early-stage companies to assess their market opportunity, determine the strategic options and develop a practical go-to-market plan.
Bob has managed marketing initiatives with annual budgets ranging from the $150 million network tv launch of MCI Friends & Family (back when network tv really meant something) to $75 (seriously!). Bob’s work and writing has been profiled or covered by the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Miami Herald, USA Today and Marketing News, the AMA’s flagship magazine. While building London, Ink, Bob has also become known as a serious networker who continually leverages face to face and online networking channels to generate targeted awareness of his business–an approach he has dubbed, “Cloud Marketing”.

On Becoming an Entrepeneur by Choice or By Force

Shashi recently caught up with him at a networking event and they discussed the current economic environment and the Wall Street Journal article that mentioned how more people are becoming entrepreneurs today. Whether that is by choice or by force it did not say but bob pointed out that “it can be a blessing if you have a buyout and are forced to take a hard look which could be freeing”.

Some great marketing tips for large and small businesses alike

1.) Do outreach to existing clients – Many companies might be concerned that your business might not survive and they will be without a key vendor to deliver a product or service – now is the time to reassure them you aren’t going anywhere and in fact turn up the customer service so you a remembered for the long term.

2.) If your product/service is your best advertisement, start over – We have seen companies spend millions of dollars on advertising to promote mediocre products. If they would spend a large portion of money on R&D or product development they would be much more successful with a great product that speaks for itself.

3.) Marketing is a reflection of product success – Marketing really should be used as a reflection of success for something already successful. The best message/tag line won’t fix at the core might be a product problem.

For the full interview, see the video below:

Posted in Uncategorized, UnintentionalEntrepreneur | 2 Comments »

Do you know your customers’ elevator rant?

July 19th, 2009 ::

By Bob London, President & Founder of London, Ink (www.londonink.com)

Almost everyone in the business world has heard of the “elevator pitch.” For the uninitiated, an elevator pitch has nothing to do with selling elevators, nor is it a contest between behemoths trying to see how far they can toss your standard issue 8-person elevator.istock_000004705795small-copy2.gif

An “elevator pitch” is basically a short description of your business. The term originated in response to this question: “How would you explain your business if you were fortunate enough to be on a 30-second elevator ride with a prospective customer?” The next and infinitely more challenging question is, “What are you going to do for the remaining 20 seconds after the prospect begins thumbing away on his/her PDA while you’re 10 seconds in to your pitch?”

Nevertheless, elevator pitches have gained in popularity over the last 10 years, with entire cottage industries springing up populated by consultants who can help you “hone your pitch,” “simplify your message,” or become “a great storyteller” about your business.

But…

There is far more critical but lesser known prequel to the elevator pitch: the Customers’ Elevator Rant. The Customer Elevator Rant (CER) is what your ideal prospect says on the elevator ride with his/her boss when you are not around. The CER is your prospect’s candid, specific and sometimes emotional articulation of his/her pain in trying to get some part of his/her job done correctly–perhaps something your product or service can address.

The only way for you to know if your product or service solves that pain is for you to figure out the rant. Here are some very basic ways to start doing this:

  • Ask the Prospect. Yes, it’s obvious but think of how infrequently we ask questions unless we’re already trying to sell something. As soon as a sale or deal is in the air, the prospect will go into his corner and put on his company hat, and is unlikely to share any real insights with you. Any successful salesperson will approach the prospect at least once or twice before trying to sell something. They will ask him how things are going. What’s his experience with customer support or service delivery. What was his golf score at the management off site and, by the way, what was on the agenda. Once they start talking, listen carefully as the rant may be in there–it might jump out at you or it might be somewhere between the lines.
  • Server Diving. This is the legal, Web 2.0 equivalent of dumpster diving. User-generated content, such as industry or company blogs, company ratings and recruiting sites, is a boon for the savvy marketer willing to do a little online research. Last year I gave a talk at the annual conference of the National Association of Federal Credit Unions on using new/social media to get inside the head of credit union executives. Turns out there are at least a dozen legitimate, informative blogs by credit union insiders, plus several MySpace pages and YouTube videos that helped provide new insights on what’s happening in the credit union world, from the credit unions’ point of view.
  • Seek Independent/Objective Input. Again, this may sound obvious, but fans of the bestseller “The Wisdom of Crowds,” by James Surowiecki, will recall that having one skeptic or critic in the room makes everyone in the room smarter and the outcome more sound. The group is forced to address the skeptic’s points and examine their validity. And, more often than not, the process yields real benefits in decision-making. The independent/objective source could be someone from another department, a partner, a prospect or a consultant with relevant experience. The key is to be willing to explore and embrace what even your harshest critics have to say about your company or product.

So before you go off developing your elevator pitch and distributing it to your sales team, executives, managers and other employees, make sure you invest the necessary time and effort to uncover your Customers’ Elevator Rant. It’s certain to pay off.

Bob London is president of London, Ink, a Maryland-based marketing and communications consulting firm, and serves as a Virtual VP of Marketing for growth stage companies that need an injection of marketing experience and leadership to drive key initiatives and results. Learn more at www.londonink.com and www.insideoutbranding.com.

Posted in Uncategorized, UnintentionalEntrepreneur | 16 Comments »

Unintentional Misunderstanding

July 9th, 2009 ::

Our logo contest for the Unintentional Entrepreneur Workshop got a little attention in Twitter today, but for all the wrong reasons. We are holding a contest to design the logo for this event blog.

This blog was created to support a series of events for self-employed professionals, side business owners, recently laid-off employees and freelancers who have marketable skills, experience and knowledge that they are using to start or run their own businesses during the economic downturn.

Network Solutions and Outright.com got together to host a series of free workshops to support these individuals. The workshops will be coming to you in a five-city tour of Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. Unintentional Entrepreneurs will learn from veteran entrepreneurs, network with local small business owners and gain insight about:

· Managing financial transactions

· Bookkeeping basics and small business tax tips

· Getting started online; building your web site and brand

· Effective and efficient marketing methods

Frankly, we have all the internal resources to support this blog, including its design, but we wanted to find a way to give some excellent designers exposure.

Our first post about Alex Tankeloff showcases the designer, and we will be following up with profiles on the other designers that we like. The winner has not been chosen, the contest is ongoing and we will be featuring the favorite entries over the next few weeks.

Posted in Uncategorized, UnintentionalEntrepreneur | 9 Comments »