Insider Archives - BOLLYWOOD SURKHIYAN

5 Insider Tips From a Google AdWords Strategist

Today I had a missed call from a London phone number, and I thought, “who the heck do I know that would be calling me from London?” A few hours later my phone was ringing again, and it was the same London phone number, so I picked it up. It was Google.

More specifically, it was a call centre employee dubbed a “Google Account Strategist”, and they were calling me about a new small business AdWords account I had just started managing. I receive so many calls from overseas people about Google and SEO, and how I “can be number 1 in Google for a fee” blah blah blah, so my first instinct was to say “no thank you” and hang up, but I knew the client would be told if I didn’t at least hear what the account strategist had to say.

Fast forward 30 minutes to when the call finished. I was actually impressed with the level of knowledge and step-by-step detail the account strategist provided for features that don’t cost extra to implement. Google AdWords has so many options that setting up a new account can easily take two days, so it was nice to get a refresher on a few strategies I hadn’t got to yet.

I thought it would be helpful to share these tips with you as well, whether it’s a refresher or you’re still exploring everything that AdWords can offer. I also have a step-by-step guide for starting AdWords, Get Started with Google AdWords, which you should take a look at first if you’re new to AdWords. The foundation needs to be right before exploring the advanced features.

Here are the 5 Google AdWords strategies that are definitely worth experimenting with.

Ad Extensions

Firstly, I’m a big fan of ad extensions because they allow you to include additional information beyond the character limit of the ad copy, giving way more prominence to your ad.

My go-to ad extensions are always:

Location Extension: Showing your physical address for hyper-local marketing.
Call-Out Extension: A good spot for value proposition text such as “friendly team”.
Sitelinks Extension: As you’re only allowed one URL per ad, this type of extension enables you to add other links to cross-sell within the same ad. For example, if you’re advertising a painting category, then within the extensions you can also have links to ladders, paint brushes, and even paint services. Highlighting more of your offering positions you as an attractive one-stop option.
Call Extension: Make it very easy for people to click while on their mobile and instantly calls your business.

Ad extensions can be applied:

At the Account level: This option will add the extensions to every ad within the whole account.
For Specific Campaigns: This option allows you to tailor the extensions based on the Campaign theme.
For Specific AdGroups: This option allows you get even more specific with the extensions based on the AdGroup theme.

The more relevant your ad is to what a searcher is looking for, the better it will perform. Using the paint example again, it’s not a good use of space to also advertise that you sell plants within the same ad. Sure, it’ll be interesting to some people, but you should have a separate AdGroup for plants with ads written specifically for people searching for plants.

The next two ad extensions have evolved, and I will definitely be using them wherever possible.

1. Structured Snippets

Structured snippets is an ad extension that allows you to insert another line of words, which adds more depth to your ad message.

a) Click on the Ad extensions tab

b) Click on the drop-down and select Structured snippets

c) Click the red button ‘+extension’

d) Click on New structured snippet

You’re restricted to fixed categories, but most will allow up to 10 items. The categories to choose from are: amenities, brands, courses, degree programs, destinations, featured hotels, insurance coverage, models, neighbourhoods, service catalogue, shows, styles and types.

Adding the additional information can make your ad more enticing and is very useful if your offering is broad.

2. Price Extensions

The price extension is a must-have if you have a sale or promotion. I don’t think I need to explain why, have a look at the screenshot to see how prominent the ad is. It will certainly stand out!

a) Click on the Ad extensions tab

b) Click on the drop-down and select price extension

c) Click the red button ‘+extension’

d) Click on New price extension

I like that it allows you to choose whether to be specific with prices or keep it general.

a) Choose the type; brands, events, locations, neighbourhoods, product categories, product tiers, service categories, service tiers or services

b) Currency

c) Price qualifier; none, from or up to

d) Header

e) Description

f) Price

g) Units; none, per hour, per day, per week, per month or year

h) Final URL

3. Phone Call Conversion Tracking

If you are using the call extension, there are additional steps you need to take to enable calls to be tracked within the account. It’s a must-have measurement to judge the performance of your ads. Especially if you don’t have Google Analytics linked (but you really should link to Analytics – so that you can monitor the behaviour once people are on the website. If people click and then leave, you’re wasting your money on those keywords without knowing it).

a) Click on Tools in the top menu, click on Conversions and then Phone calls

b) Select the 1st option ‘Calls from ads using call extensions or call-only ads’, fill in the options (change call length to 5 seconds and count to ‘every’), and save

c) Then go to call extensions and click the red button’+ extension’

d) Select Campaigns or AdGroups, add your phone number and click the edit pencil on the right

e) Turn call reporting ON, expand the advanced option – tick the report phone call conversion and select the phone conversion from the list we set up earlier and save.

4. Shared Library: Bid Strategies

Shared bid strategies are located in the AdWords shared library; you’ll find this in the left-hand menu. Here you’ll find the option to choose from six different flexible bid strategies: Enhanced CPC, Target Search Page Location, Target CPA, Target Outranking Share and Maximize Clicks.

However, we’re going to focus on the Target Search Page Location.

It’s a reality that the top 1 or 2 ads will get the most clicks, and if that’s your goal, then this is an ideal strategy to test out. This option will automatically adjust the bids required to get your ads to the top of the page, or the first page of search results.

Here’s a look at the options you can set: Target search page location

a) Select ‘Top of first page’ and ‘automatically’

b) I recommended that you set a bid limit. Otherwise you can easily blow out your budget. This may defeat the purpose of the strategy, but if you aren’t willing to spend $20 per click to get to the top, you need to fill this in.

5. Use 3 Variations of Ad Copy

And finally, it’s always best practice to write 2 to 3 variations of ad copy and based on the result, the ad that generates the most activity will automatically be shown more. The account strategist recommended this particular structure for each AdGroup, as the combination has apparently gained good results from tests Google have done:

Ad Copy 1: Use your business name in the headline
Ad Copy 2: Use keyword insert in the headline to match the keywords that the user has typed into Google search. E.g. AdWords automatically replaces the code with the keyword that triggered your ad: {KeyWord:House Paint}.
Ad Copy 3: A strong call to action in the headline, e.g. Claim Your Free Paint Sample

So, there you have it, 5 handy tips straight from a Google Account Strategist that you can implement in your Google AdWords account straight away.

Insider Secrets to Investing in Real Estate in Nicaragua

The word is out: “Nicaragua is the new Costa Rica” but with prices 45-55% lower than its southern neighbor. Nicaragua is well and truly bouncing back from its troubled and often misunderstood past and beginning to transform into a sought-after investment and tourism destination. Misconceptions still persist, but in many ways that only increases the opportunity that Nicaragua offers.

Nicaragua’s democratically elected government is showing a great capacity to reform in line with its commitment to a free-market economy. The country is booming and tourism is now the number-one industry, increasing by over 19% in 2005 even considering a record-breaking year in 2004. There is a real buzz in the air for this land of opportunity. Whether you are looking for a retirement or vacation destination, a place to start a business or a place to invest for the future, Nicaragua is definitely worth considering.

How much is good real estate information worth?

Market knowledge based on fact and base trends, rather than exaggeration and hype (in both directions) can make the difference between a good investment and a great one. The aim of this article is to capture the essence of the successful real estate investor in Nicaragua. We have consolidated the experience of hundreds of investors and identified seven success strategies for successful real estate investing in Nicaragua.

We hope that this encourages more investors into taking the first step in exploring real estate opportunities outside their home countries with confidence. Although imbued with a Nicaraguan flavor for the purposes of this article, many of the principles and steps highlighted in this article will also hold true in other investment destinations and contexts.

Seven success strategies for real estate investing in Nicaragua

1. Understand the link between tourism and real estate

Tourism brought in almost $200 million in 2005, according to the Nicaraguan government, more than any other single industry in its $5 billion economy. Current projections indicate that by 2007 there will be more than one million visitors to the country. The profile of visitors has shown a marked shift from budget tourists to more affluent and sophisticated travellers and higher-end hotels in tourist areas show consistently high occupancy.

There is strong relationship between leisure and vocational markets and the market for second homes and retirement homes. The areas attracting the most tourism are also generating the greatest levels of real estate activity. For certain real estate products, the link between tourism and real estate is particularly direct and immediate. Pelican Eyes…Piedras y Olas the highest quality hotel in San Juan del Sur, boasting occupancy levels well above industry standards since it opened, offers the possibility for investors to purchase a villa or duplex unit and participate in the revenues generated by the hotel.

2. Know where you are in a property cycle

Nicaragua has seen considerable price rises in the past few years. We have calculated percentage price changes for serviced lots between 2002 and 2005 for seven well known real estate developments on the Pacific that have been active over this period (most developments are more recent) and are still selling property. Over this period prices have risen by an average of 87%. Unimproved colonial homes in Granada have been rising by around 25% per year for the past three years. These price rises indicate that Nicaragua is now on the map as an investment destination, the positive price trend has started, but we are only just seeing the beginnings of a “second wave” of investors: the pre-retirement and retirement market.

Speculators still make up a considerable proportion of investors but an increasing number of pre-retirement / retirement and second home buyers are emerging. Much has been made of the ‘baby boomer’ generation when analyzing future buying trends in many markets worldwide. Baby boomers began turning 50 in 1996 and 78 million of them began to enter their period of highest earnings and greatest discretionary dollars. It is said that over the next 20 years the baby boomer generation will likely constitute the largest potential market ever for real estate products, especially second homes and timeshare/fractional ownership offerings.

The real estate product on offer has also evolved from simple lot sales (sold mainly to speculative buyers) to turnkey products with sophisticated facilities and services for longer term investors and the retirement market. A consistent growth in condominium constructions and sales has been evident for 18 months and is accelerating.

3. Follow trends not events

The bulk of foreign investment into the real estate and tourism sectors in Nicaragua is focused on the south-western part of the country. To take the Pacific coast as an example, in conjunction with Calvet & Associates, we have catalogued over 70 developments on the Pacific marketing to foreign buyers between El Transito and the Costa Rican border. The south-west of the country also includes the colonial town of Granada, Lake Nicaragua and the beautiful Laguna de Apoyo crater lake.

A number of investors are seeking out areas where there is less activity, for example beachfront areas further north. The prices may be lower in the northern part of the coastline – but for a reason – and it is important for investors to take this into account before they make an property purchase. The south western coastline has more dramatic geography, whiter sand beaches, richer biodiversity, better surfing, safer swimming areas and cooling lake and ocean breezes and, yes, also more recently investor momentum. This is not to say that there will be no price appreciation and development on beach areas further to the north but that a significant price differential will likely remain into the future.

4. Build a good network

Investors commonly complain of an overload of market information and building a good network will allow you to triangulate and contextualize information that you receive. Not surprisingly, given the excitement about the real estate market, there is a great deal of story telling and exaggeration that goes on. Do your due diligence, work with realtors who know the market, learn from professionals and be skeptical about claims that you can flip your property for 100% more “when the International Living investors come into town in a few weeks.”

A solid piece of advice is to buy only what you see. Make up your mind on what you think the inherent value is of the property that you are looking at is. Don’t factor in the “new coastal road” the “new airport” the “new Marriott” into the price. Certainly not if you are investing for the short term. Coldwell Banker Nicaragua has a network of lawyers, project managers, master planners and investment analysts who have a long track record of advising investors on real estate acquisition and development in Central America – these are independent third parties who can provide un-emotive grounded advice.

5. Due diligence everything

More specifically, retain competent legal representation and take out title insurance. Nicaragua has a particularly complex title history and some buyers who have not looked deeply enough into the title history of purchased property are now mired in difficult legal problems. A number of real estate developers try and persuade buyers to use their own legal team for property purchasing. Our advice is to employ independent legal advise at least to review (if not draw up) the purchase contract you are signing and check the title history on the property.

Coldwell Banker Nicaragua recommends investors to take out a title insurance policy. Other realtors do not recommend title insurance as the due diligence that ensues can slow down the purchase process and raise difficult questions. Seeking title insurance will force your lawyer to delve many years back into the property history of the property you are purchasing and follow a set of criteria in their reporting. If you are buying raw land parcels outside of a development your due diligence list needs to be longer and will cover infrastructure issues, environmental issues and development permits.

6. Invest with a confidence, develop with a conscience

This is the strap-line of the Nica Dev campaign run by Donn Wilson a developer, entrepreneur and surfer who has made San Juan del Sur his home. Nica Dev recognizes that real estate investors are entering into another country and have an obligation to respect the land, the people and the environment. When you arrive in Nicaragua the impression that you get is of a warmhearted nation that is welcoming to international visitors. In order for this warm feeling to endure into the future, local Nicaraguan also need to benefit from the real estate and tourism activity that is going on in the country.

Las Fincas, a development aligned with the Nica Dev campaign, is designed with sustainable development principles built in. For example a basic solar power setup is provided for everyone who buys and the project runs a series of active community outreach projects introducing highly effective, yet low-cost and low-tech, solutions for cooking and purifying drinking water. Skills and suppliers for low impact construction with elements such as rain water capture, composting and recycling, hard to find 18 months ago, are now readily available in-country. Coldwell Banker Nicaragua is launching its own campaign to generate funds for the Nica Dev fund as well as other projects that our clients are involved in here in Nicaragua. We will be giving our clients the opportunity to contribute to selected projects at the time of closing.

7. Become and expert in investing in real estate in Nicaragua…before you invest

Coldwell Banker Nicaragua Real Estate has launched a series of concise buyer briefings to help investors interested in the real estate market in Nicaragua in their decision making. The briefings highlight real estate hotspots, analyze market trends and set out good value investment opportunities.

How to Become Wealthy – The Insider Secrets to Become Wealthy

How Can I become wealthy? Many people daydream and even organize their plan of action to obtain wealth. What do the wealthy know, and how can you use that to help you to become wealthy? The fact is majority of people did not create their wealth by buying a lottery ticket, or stumbling across a long lost relative that left them a fortune. Those that created their riches, created it by having the right mindset, and finding the right opportunity to create that life style.

You want to become wealthy; it all starts with evaluating your values, and up bringing. Most of us were geared from a young age to believe you go to school, get a degree and find a job. What is wrong with this philosophy, it is the rule of thumb we all use, but ever wonder why a small population is wealthy. Education is critical in all markets of life, but most will not teach you how to create a rich life style. They will not give you the critical elements and teach you how to build a business to create your own wealth. You don’t hear of a Wealth Building Class, on the high school class list, your core values start as young as pre-school. You can see the challenge with many to start thinking and creating that millionaire mindset.

Become Wealthy – Your Action Game Plan

You have to work on your core values. The rich did not become rich without stepping out of the ordinary. They stepped out of their safety zone, and got rid of the nine to five rule. Majority of the high income brackets are not working for someone else rather they are creating their own businesses, their own products and services to prosper.

Your Action Guide To Become Wealthy

1.) Wealth Building Mindset Change – It all starts with you, and your thought process may have to change a little. This is not often an easy task; as for many they have the work ethic of a nine to five job. What the rich know is that majority of the time that job is not going to make you rich. Start saying today, that I want to stop working for someone else and want to make a change to improving mine. Understand as of this moment the only one in charge of your financial situation is you.

2.) Where Do The Wealthy Start From – Some were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but there is not since crying over the fact that the silver spoon was not in your cards. Think of some of the top millionaires, usually Donald Trump, trumps the list. What does he do, how did he create his millions? If you examine the trends you will notice the majority of the wealthy, are entrepreneurs.

3.) Where You Are And Where You Want To Be – Okay nine chances out of ten what you are doing now is not working. Where are you now, is their open possibilities in your position that you are not exploring. What do you have to change in order to become wealthy? Now most are going to fire their job, until they are showing real profits and change. But maybe it is time to look in different directions.

4.) Internet Wealth – Becoming an entrepreneur and starting a successful business was more difficult years ago. In modern times there are more platforms and avenues to create your wealth. The worldwide web, and Internet Business start-ups are changing people’s financial services. Compared to starting a bricks and motor business, there are lower start up with higher returns. For thousands each the Internet Business, or home based business industry is giving many a road map to success, without large overhead, and large set up fees.

5.) Online Mentoring and Coaching – Anybody who is wealthy did not achieve those results without finding a mentor and training platform. This is not the type of training you can get in school, rather life methods and business building methods needed to create wealthy. In order to obtain your wealthy you need to align yourself with successful people. Seeking out a mentoring or coaching team to teach you how to build a successful business, and how to get that business to start creating your wealth is critical.

6.) Take Action – The wealthy did not just sit on there hands and wait for the day there life changed. They started to take action steps to become wealthy. Start researching different avenues. Start researching Internet Business, look for a mentoring team that can teach you how to build a successful business.

If you want to become wealthy it has got to start with you. The formula to changing your lifestyle goes beyond wishing and wanting for a better life, it goes toward changing your thought process, and then aligning yourself with successful people and getting the right training towards reaching your goals. The first step to become wealthy is to step out of your safety zone, and reach for those goals. Are you meant to become wealthy, I do not know and neither will you unless you start changing your mindset and breaking out of your safety bubble to seek your own wealth.

Insider Review of Send Out Cards

What will the Send Out Cards Opportunity offer you? How will your chances be to make Send Out Cards a personal success? What does it take to build an MLM?

You have probably been presented with the opportunity to make yourself a home based business using the outlet of Send Out Cards. If this is your first time considering a Home Based MLM opportunity you are probably trying soak up as much information as you can get. So I am going to get to the point and tell you what you will and won’t get in this review.

You will get to the point information on the company and how to make the most out of the opportunity. You won’t get pitched to join my Send Out Cards team or on any other opportunity. So, first, what is Send Out Cards?

If you have gotten this far you probably understand the concept of the company, an internet based MLM with a service that caters to the personal greeting card sender as well as the small business that wants better customer relations.

If you are going to be building a business out of Send Out Cards these are the clients you will be looking for. Although it will help to get off the ground if you can build a client base it is not necessary that you know many small business owners that will use the service. As a distributor you and team builder as or more focused on attracting other distributors to do this for you.

As far as being worried about there being a client base to build from that shouldn’t be a problem. The concept is actually quite a good one and new. With trends pressing more and more people to complete more and more from home using the internet the possibility for Send Out Cards to tap the 6 billion dollar a year greeting card industry is already happening.

You can search for yourself but I read enough personal, independent customer reviews to be satisfied the service is well worth it to those who will use it.

The product and service are definitely valuable backing but still, and especially still if this is your first MLM, they are rarely all that counts to building your success… and I found this even more true with send out cards.

In the compensation plan a large percent of your pay (in retrospect) will come from bonuses received by giving or referring company training in the early stages or especially the manager and senior manager levels of the comp plan.

Your ability to brand your team will be extremely important. If training will be how you make a lot of initial bonuses, what you have to offer your team above and beyond other company teams will make your opportunity more valuable. You must also know how to manage an organization and market a product, service or opportunity.

Using mainly internet forums to market my businesses and conduct my organizations, I find Send Out Cards really appealing. The service is based on the internet which right off the bat makes it easy to use, easy to show to people, easy to access and fast to learn about. It is an internet based service and logically fits right in with an internet based business model.

Understanding how the internet will play a key role in your success with Send Out Cards should be clear. To really expand your chances for success with this opportunity you will need to put the time and effort into understanding what it takes to build and market your business using the internet.

An Insider Review Of The Market America Business And The Market America Business Plan (Part 2 of 2)

In the first section of this 2 part series, we explored the nature of why many network marketing and MLM companies are setting you up for massive failure from the get-go. I’m not reviewing this statistic or trying to say this company and or that company is better for you, rather, I’m implying that if The Direct Selling Association is saying that a company representative can effectively work with 2.8 distribution channels over a lifetime, then why would you partner yourself with a company that goes against what the “average person” has been proven to profit from?

We also spoke about the horrific attributes of horizontal marketing. Once you understand the “woes” of the ways of conventional thinking, you’ll never view business the same again. I don’t claim to be the end-all-be-all or know-it-all, I simply enjoy being an informational vessel that has worked long and hard to acquire the necessary knowledge to lead prominent leaders.

The last point from part #1 of this 2 part series was that multi-level marketing (MLM) compounds the negative and ill-effects of horizontal marketing. The reason I said that you’ve bought into a roller-coaster ride is directly aimed at how the rigorous recruiting is never-ending for network marketing and MLM professionals.

It’s PROVEN that 97% of network marketers and MLM business builders spend more money than they make in their careers. Although I’m an advocate for the direct marketing industry, I want to share JR’s vision about why the Market America (MA) business plan is radically different from ANYTHING ELSE on the open market.

In building an UnFranchise® there are 4 logistical factors that must be considered when partaking in the process of doing your due diligence? You should know these differentiators if you aspire to learn more about being on the edge of ‘cutting edge’ in today’s economy.

When you personally sell a product in MA, everyone on the team can also get paid.
If a person sells a product, they can share 100% of the sale with their team.
UnFranchise® owners can open multiple locations. Some say, the MA business and the Market America business plan it capped – it’s not, and actually, you can pay your partners again for the same volume. This one strategy is completely earth-shattering and doesn’t exist anywhere!
When a product is sold, there is a 2x paying of self, plus everyone else benefits.

These 4 Market America business plan principles are the “game changers” for anybody that evaluates the Market America UnFranchise® business opportunity. The technology, people power and vast vision to surpass amazon.com in the next 3 years are present – so watch out world, there’s a new “big fish” online!

5 Insider Secrets To Starting The Best Home Business

There are so many home business ideas, how can you choose the best home business? If you want to know how successful home based entrepreneurs generate a comfortable income, here are 5 secrets that you can use to create the best home business to suit you.

1. You’re Online.

Without a doubt, the best business to start in 2015 has to be on the internet. Not only are the set up costs considerably lower than a conventional bricks and mortar business, but your business can reach customers from all over the world. It can be open for business everyday, 24/7 and be working for you even when you are sleeping.

2. You Don’t Have To Create Your Own Products.

One of the reasons why an online business is the best home business is that you can sell other peoples’ products without having to buy them yourself first and have money tied up in stock. In fact, the product owner will also take care of the product delivery, the customer queries and the payment system. This business model is called affiliate marketing and when somebody buys the product from you, the product owner pays you a commission.

3. You Provide Something Of Value For Free.

Most people who visit your website will not come back. But if you can email them useful information about your products and services after they have visited your website they may buy from you in the future. To get their email address you have to give them something of value in exchange that is relevant to your product or service. This could be a free report or eBook. If you are working with a good affiliate marketing program, they will provide you with the resources that you can give away for free.

4. You’re Always Expanding Your Customer List.

To create the best home business online, building your list should be your number one task everyday. Remember that once you have a prospect’s email, you can contact them anytime you want, for free. That’s not to say you should bombard them with emails trying to sell them something everyday. Email marketing is about building a relationship with your subscribers so as they come to trust and like you, they will be more inclined to buy from you.

5. You’ve Got Multiple Income Steams

If you just sell just one product with no add-ons or up-sells your customers will not have sufficient options to pick from. On the flip side, if you try and sell too many products you may confuse your customers and they’ll buy nothing. The best home business will have a good combination of relevant products that provide 3 revenue streams, basic one-off direct sales income, recurring income, and high ticket income.

3 Tried & Tested Insider Keys to Captivating Your Audience

Do you know that the average attention span of a human is less than that of a goldfish? Wait, you had heard that already, but you forgot, didn’t you? I know I did.

In 2015, a Microsoft led study concluded that the average human attention span has fallen from 12 seconds in 2000, to eight seconds over the last 15 years. The same researchers also found that the ability of humans to multitask has improved.

Your job as a speaker is getting more difficult with each passing year. Your audience is now checking the stock market, texting their family, dispensing a treat on their connected dog app, maybe even taking a selfie while they are supposedly listening to you. Phew! Is it any wonder that you now have to work twice as hard to capture their attention? No matter how good you already are, you will have to skill up your game significantly.

#1 Have a conversation

I work with a business leader who captivates audiences. Every time he makes a speech, he steals the show. Audiences can’t have enough of him, and other speakers prefer not to take the stage after him. I asked people why they love him, and the universal response is he makes them feel like they are having a personal conversation, the message directed specially to them.

If, like him, you want your audience’s unwavering attention, converse with your audience, don’t just talk at them. Speak, then pause and listen. Keep your audience active and focused on you, making them a part of your speech.

Here are some easy and fun techniques we use to involve the audience:

· have a show of hands

· use technology to conduct an “in-room” live poll

· leave some blanks on your slides and invite the audience to guess or fill these in

· ask for volunteers to help you demonstrate a process

· after you share an idea, give them a minute to practice it

· share an idea, and ask the audience how they would apply it to their own situation

#2 Tell a Story

I heard you groan, didn’t I? It seems like storytelling is the new “it thing”, and everyone wants in on it. Yes, that’s because it works.

Everyone loves a good story. It’s the earliest form of human communication. Stories are how children first learn to understand the world around them, and it works just as well later in life. So, use a story to set up your theme, weave a thread through your speech, and direct your audience’s attention to your key messages.

Recently, I was prepping a speaker who wanted to showcase the value of industry ecosystems as enablers of the Internet of Things. To set up this assertion, we told a story from India’s struggle for independence. The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, aka India’s first revolt against British rule, may never have come to fruition if in 1851 the East India Company had not laid the foundation of a railway network in the country. For decades, there had been escalating unrest among various sections of Indian nationalists, and it was manifest as isolated small-scale protests scattered across the country. These uprisings had failed to capitalize on each other’s momentum?-?for lack of communication and coordination.

The Sepoy Mutiny began in the barracks in Meerut, when the soldiers rebelled against the use of cow and pig grease on bullets. At any other time, this is where it would have started and ended?-?but this time was different. The railway network?-?which connected a few major cities in the northern and central parts of India?-?enabled news of the uprising to spread. It also allowed for congregation of the various mutiny leaders in a short period of time, and transformed a localized mutiny into India’s first war for independence.

We then drew a parallel between this episode and how different industry clusters are going to ride the network (internet) and collaborate to build the Internet of Things. This helped the listeners to visualize the network as an enabler of ecosystems and growth.

#3 Timing is Everything

The way people process information is changing. A 2010 study asked students to self-report lapses in attention while attending three lectures, with different speakers and teaching styles.

The results revealed a pattern of attention loss, with “spikes” at

· 30 seconds into the lecture, indicating a “settling in” period

· about five minutes after the initial distraction

· seven to nine minutes into the lecture

· nine to ten minutes in, just a couple of minutes after the last spike

I have found that it is possible to keep your audience engaged, when you use attention-heightening techniques to counteract these attention lapses. Nudge the audience into active listening by varying the tone and pace of your delivery. Display a striking visual or write on a flip-board to keep their eyes focused on you. The conversational / interaction tactics we discussed earlier work particularly well at these times.

Confessions of a Mortgage Insider

Have you wondered why the mortgage and banking industry are in their current shape of disarray? Did you ever wonder how some people managed to get something for nothing and leave us the average tax payer footing the bill? Are you curious why the once respectable mortgage industry became so corrupt and brought the US economy so quickly to its knees?

Denny Andrew’s first book, Confessions of a Mortgage Insider, explores how the mortgage brokerage industry went into a spiraling failure that resulted in a complete meltdown of epidemic proportions. Confessions of a Mortgage Insider uncovers more than the excesses of the industry. It explores the people and personalities of those who worked in the industry through the personal stories of leaders, followers, slimy wheeler-dealers, and the victims. It tells the story through the eyes of mortgage broker Rick Agnew. Agnew goes from naïve freshman loan application agent to a diamond level broker whose life is filled with fast cars, fast women and fast parties. His up close and personal experiences with the industry open his eyes to the rampant fraud and chicanery of the industry.

Part story collection, part instruction, and part personal discovery, Andrew’s book is a fun and interesting book that makes you angry with the money lust of the brokers, makes you cry for those who are victimized, and laugh at the antics of Rick Agnew the half man/half naughty child protagonist. Using illustrative stories and hilarious hi-jinx this book instructs even the most casual reader on the dangers of the current mortgage failure to the housing market. This book can be that ‘tell all’ source the casual reader has been seeking to establish some sanity from the current economic crisis in the mortgage industry.

Confessions of a Mortgage Insider prompts the reader to really assess where they are currently in their mortgage and financial stability and then to make a specific plan to get where they want to be. Living in the house of your dreams is not just a wish if you plan carefully and shop wisely for a mortgage and a mortgage broker, according to Andrews. The American dream is not over…it has just become something that once again is only realized through hard work and a good savings plan.

The mortgage bubble has been broken and according to Denny Andrews, it is not a bad thing that the party is over. His exposure of the ugly secrets of such a sleekly designed profiteering machine clearly illustrates the symptoms of our society’s pervasive illness: excess. This fast moving book encourages responsible lending and commanding the life choices that promotes accountability and fiduciary common sense. Andrews captures the madness and mayhem through his original stories and then provides sound business advice that everyone can understand.

Title: Confessions of a Mortgage Insider Author: Denny Andrews Publisher: Aviva Publishing Date: 2008 Price: 24.95

Social Media Marketing – Insider Social Media Optimisation Tips From An SEO Writer

Whatever your answer, you can be sure that as a small business owner looking for ways to supercharge your Internet marketing efforts, you have arrived at the right place!

In this article, you will find cost-effective social media marketing tips used by a SEO London firm specializing in developing custom SMO (social media optimisation) campaigns for clients ranging from SME to blue-chip companies, besides other useful SMO techniques that I’ve picked up in the course of my SEO content writing career spanning 10 years.

However, in order to harness the power of popular social media tools, it is important to first understand the nature and scope of Social Media Marketing, since this will help you identify the social networking platforms that are most relevant to your business.

Simply put, social media marketing involves using popular networking platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flicker, LinkedIn etc. for increasing a website’s appeal for prospects and extending its reach to a wider target audience. However, what many SMO companies don’t tell clients is the fact that social media benefits some business models more than others. This is why it is important to first establish which social media marketing method best suits your business.

Therefore, in order to leverage effective SMO strategies for your web business, online business owners are advised to clearly outline SMO goals and learn about free and paid tools for determining website popularity metrics, since these vital statistics enable you to measure your web business success in real-time.

Social Media Marketing Tips – 3 easy and cost-effective SMO tips to benefit any web business

1. Facebook Advertising – This is the most cost-effective social-media marketing tool available to web business owners. With its outreach of 300 million users, FB enables small businesses to build a friendly presence for themselves on a powerful platform that connects them to a huge potential customer base worldwide. Sign up for a Business Fan Page account with FB using your company’s username to register your company. Read all the special rules for Fan Pages, research your competition and assess the Facebook presence of your closest rivals (type of pages, number of fans, how many ‘likes’ and graphics have been used to build their popularity etc.). Then simply copy their strategy for success by customizing it for your target customers!

2. Grow Twitter Followers – This great marketing platform has grown in the past one year to surpass the popularity of Orkut and Flicker, two social media sites that enjoyed immense popularity till the cute, snappy and short message update system overtook their member base. Signing up with Twitter is free. So reserve a business account and secure your company’s name. Conduct a basic search for familiarizing yourself with hot keywords and phrases used by your top competitors to get more followers on Twitter and use these to develop a custom SMO strategy for your business!

3. Visit Other Blogs – Many website owners religiously update their company blog with keyword rich content, maintain that crucial reader connect by responding to blog comments, inquiries and suggestions without fail and even measure blog metrics regularly in order to track their high rank on the major search engines. However, many don’t utilise the full scope of ‘blogosphere’ open to them via participating in discussion on blogs belonging to other people. Visiting other blogs and commenting, praising, sharing industry inputs or your personal experience that may add value to the post is a no-cost, effective and quick way to build the credibility of your business without having to invest full-time in writing, posting and responding to new blog content. So, make it a part of your SMO campaign and improve your site’s rankings, starting today!

Insider Secrets about Corporations: Or, Why Should I Incorporate?

-“Why should I incorporate? I can just do this business as a sole proprietor, right?”

-“Isn’t it complicated and expensive to form a corporation?”

-“I run my business with my spouse, and we have a partnership. Why would we need to have a corporation?”

These have to be the most frequently asked questions that I–and my own financial and legal advisors–get from our clients. The vast majority of people who operate small business or home-based business are sole proprietors or mom-and-pop shop-type partners. Yet, leading authorities on small business estimate that at least 90% of all small business and home business entrepreneurs would benefit from incorporating and using a corporation as an essential component of their overall business structure.

If this is true, why do so many entrepreneurs elect to operate as sole proprietors and general partners anyway? And why would you be better off incorporating?

The answer to the first question is usually either (1)ignorance of the tremendous risks of operating in this manner or (2) lack of familiarity with corporations and other legal entities and the ease with which they can be established. I should add that if the sole proprietorship is perilous, the partnership is more than twice as bad. This is because the partnership is by default a general partnership, in which each partner is responsible for all actions of the company, including decisions made by the other partner in which she did not participate. Now that’s frightening!

To answer the second question, we must first establish what a corporation is precisely. A corporation is an artificial legal entity that is separate from its owner/shareholders in the eyes of the law. The wealthy have learned that there are at least three major advantages that make the corporation an
essential component of your business structure.

1. Asset Protection.

The single most important benefit of the corporation is protection it affords for your personal assets.

The corporation is created when you file appropriate documents–“Articles of Incorporation” in the United States–to the appropriate state legal authorities. A corporation cannot be formed through some private agreement between the parties who elect to form it. It can only come into being by the state in which it is formed creating it, and it has the rights and obligations established by the laws of that state.

Most important here is the notion of the corporate veil–this is the shield that separates your business assets and activities from the private person and assets of the owner/shareholder(s). Because the corporation is a separate legal person, if you are a consultant or translator, for example–or own a small store–and someone claims that that they have suffered injury from your business (say, from a poor translation or a slip on your wet floor), and files a lawsuit, only the assets of your business are in jeopardy. The claimant cannot touch your personal residence or your automobile if these are owned by you and not your corporation.

There are significant differences among individual states and the degree of protection that they afford to the corporate veil. In California, for instance, there are a number of occasions–too many for comfort–in which the corporate veil has been pierced, thus allowing financial predators to seize the personal assets of an entrepreneur. This is almost never happened in Nevada, making it the state of choice for entrepreneurs seeking asset protection.

We will be devoting a separate article to the Nevada corporation in depth in a future issue of this eNewsletter. It is important to note for now that an additional advantage of the Nevada corporation for many is that Nevada has no state income tax. If you use a Nevada corporation to conduct business in your own home state outside Nevada (such as California, our own home state), you may still be subject to state income tax. Because of the superior asset protection afforded by the Nevada corporation, however, it may still be worth while for you to establish a Nevada corporation. Large numbers of entrepreneurs from other countries as well as other states establish Nevada corporations for precisely this reason.

2. The S Corporation versus the C Corporation: Know Which is Right for You

The issue of the personal service corporation only comes up with respect to the C corporation. The other type of corporation is an S corporation, which, like the limited liability company and the limited partnership is a pass-through entity. That is to say that the corporation is itself not taxed as an entity–instead the net income passes through to the shareholders (such as a husband and wife), and is taxed on the individual tax returns of the shareholders/owners.

There are situations in which establishing an S corporation would be preferable to using a C Corporation. If you have significant income from a job, for example, and you anticipate significant losses in early years and you don’t anticipate that your business will earn over $150,000, an S corporation will be your best choice. However, there are limitations on who can be members of an S corporation, and there are limits on employee benefits in an S corporation.

A sophisticated business structure will probably make use of both the C and the S corporation. On the other hand, because of the nature of corporations, you will never want to use either type of corporation to hold real estate. Instead you will want to use a limited liability company or a limited partnership. However, if you are a real estate investor, there might still be room for an S- or C-Corporation in your overall business structure. For example, a corporation could be used to manage your properties held in another entity.

Or–and this is a strategy that could be used for conducting various sorts of business-the corporation could be part of another business entity. For example, if you wish to operate a limited partnership, you will need to have a general partner. But the general partner is responsible for all decisions made and all liability resulting therefrom–the general partner, in short, has unlimited liability. Thus, an intelligent option is to use an S- or C-corporation to be the general partner. This way you have a general partner with the limited liability associated with the corporation.

3. Know How to Manage Your Corporation Properly to Keep the Corporate Veil Intact

Regardless of where you establish your corporation, you will need to make sure that you observe appropriate formalities–otherwise your corporate veil can be pierced very easily, thereby defeating the entire purpose of setting it up. Even if you have an accountant who handles your bookkeeping and tax returns, it remains your responsibility to assure that you are doing this correctly.

This involves holding regular meetings and maintaining minutes in your record book, issuing stock certificates, and other formalities.

The Personal Service Corporation

A final issue that may arise, particularly for independent consultants, translators, and other professionals, concerns the “Personal Service Corporation.” There are two separate categories of professionals who may be affected by this problem: Those, such as lawyers, accountants, psychologists, and health care professionals, who are required by their state laws to incorporate as professional corporations. These corporations are automatically classified by the IRS as personal service corporations.

In addition, the IRS has broadened the definition of “personal service” to include any work, such as translation or consulting, that is personally rendered by the owner/shareholder. This is of particular concern if you are operating on your own as an individual or as a couple. If 95% or more of your earnings come from work in that personal service activity, the corporation becomes qualified as a personal service corporation.

The reason that this is of concern is that a personal service corporation incorporated as a C corporation is subject to a flat 35 percent tax rate and to a lower ceiling ($150,000) for application of the accumulated earnings tax (normally $250,000). However, this is not an insurmountable obstacle to enjoying the benefits of incorporating:

1. First, the other advantages of incorporating still render the C corporation preferable to operating using another structure, such as the sole proprietor. It may be especially attractive if otherwise a high earning couple might be subject to a higher tax bracket.

2. Secondly, it is possible to structure your activities so that more than 5% of the activity is derived from work that falls outside the scope of personal services rendered by the owner/shareholder. For example, a translator or consultant might have a branch of the business involved in network marketing–as a medical professional might have a health food store or other income producing activity–so that the corporation is no longer qualified as a personal service corporation.

As you can see, the corporation is an extremely valuable tool, one that the wealthy have used extremely effectively. If you are operating as an independent entrepreneur and are not using a corporation or the popular alternative of the limited liability company, you are most likely handicapping yourself, limiting your profitability and paying excessive taxes. With the resources that we have available today, especially over the internet, there is no reason that the average individual cannot easily begin to take advantage of this valuable tool. We currently have 3 entities that we formed ourselves and that cost us just the cost of the various resources that we purchased plus the filing fees required by the State of California and postage to get these set up. And we have made sure to obtain the proper forms through the sources we list on our Resources page so that we can maintain the legality of these entities.

“Can’t I wait and start out as a sole proprietor or partner and incorporate later?” we are often asked.

Certainly, if you don’t mind exposing all your personal assets to risk, paying higher taxes, and finding yourself more likely to be subject to an IRS audit. Some people prefer to do things the hard way–but, armed with the right information and resources, there’s no reason why you should have to.

Even if you decide to allow a tax attorney to help you with the formalities, it is better to do so armed with the knowledge you need to judge whether the recommendations she makes are in fact in your best interest.

At the very least, you’ll know enough to head immediately for the nearest exit if any “expert” you consult tells you that you “don’t need” to establish a legal entity to run your business.