From the category archives:

Entrepreneurship

Is it OK to Ask Your Customers for a Yelp Review?

Michael Luca, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, wrote a really good anlaysis on Harvard Business Review entitled “Yelp Is Leaving Chains Behind”, on the real impact of Yelp and its review and ratings system on a business’s bottom line. Michael conducted research and studied records on 3,582 restaurants that were in business in Seattle at any point from 2003—2009 and discovered that increases in independent or small chain restaurants’ Yelp ratings lead to revenue increases, with ratings having more impact the more reviews a restaurant gets. It’s also a great example of how important it is to measure [...]

by Roohi Moolla on February 2, 2012 · 0 comments

tagged as Harvard Business School, Michael Luca, Reviews and Ratings, Yelp in Business,Customers,Entrepreneurship,Social Media,Start-ups,Yelp

Have Project, Will Travel: Top 10 Tips for Successful Technology Outsourcing

If you were to travel to the outer reaches of Mongolia for 3 months, what would you do? Would you be spontaneous, hop on a plane and take only a few essentials in a small backpack? Or would you plan ahead, find out what you can about the language and culture, research the best way to travel there and back, figure out what visas you need etc.? For some, the less you prepare, the more “spontaneous” the trip – but there’s also a greater risk of running into problems and unknowns. Think of outsourcing as very similar to travelling. When [...]

by Roohi Moolla on May 29, 2011 · 2 comments

tagged as Capacity, Deliverables, Managing, Outsourcing, Project, Technology, Tips, Vacations in Business,Entrepreneurship,Marketing,Outsourcing,Social Media,Start-ups,Technology

Editorial: The New Rules of Survival on the Social Internet

A Massachusetts teacher, June Talvitie-Siple, gets fired from her job because of disparaging comments she wrote about the school community on Facebook. Domino’s Pizza executives are caught blind-sided because they didn’t realize that employees have created and posted a YouTube video that shows them messing with customer food orders. The video gets millions of views, the employees are arrested and the ensuing scandal is graphic, public and online. A small southern California town, the City of Bell, gains notoriety when its city administrators and city councilors sky-high self-appointed salaries are exposed across the internet for the world to see. What’s [...]

by Roohi Moolla on May 10, 2011 · 0 comments

tagged as New Rules, Schism, Social Internet, Social Media, Socialnomics in Brand Management,Business,Editorials,Entrepreneurship,Marketing,News,Social Media,Technology

Editorial: A Reply to Paige Craig “I Have Doubts Once I Think Of Women Founders Having Kids And Being Distracted From Work”

This post is a personal one – it’s an open reply to a post by Paige Craig, co-founder and CEO of BetterWorks, and an angel investor. Paige wrote a post on his doubts about investing in a woman entrepreneur after he found out she was pregnant, but after he’d already made the commitment to invest in her company. This is my direct response to him (after I realized my comment post was going to be really long!): A personal note to Paige Craig: For having the courage to be honest about your opinions, Paige – you’re to be congratulated – [...]

by Roohi Moolla on April 20, 2011 · 10 comments

tagged as Angel Investors, Entrepreneurs, Page Craig, Sheryl Sandberg, VC funding, Women Founders in Business,Editorials,Entrepreneurship,Start-ups

3 Challenges with PR for Small Businesses

Public Relations, or PR, is one of those things small businesses all think about because there’s something really special about getting featured in your favorite blogs, in your local newspaper, and perhaps making national headlines, plus the fact that you can get lots of exposure for your business and yourself. Here are a few challenges that small businesses can face when trying to tackle PR: 1. PR is so hits-based that you can win some, you can lose some You might easily see an amazing month where the press loves you, your traffic skyrockets, and your sales also go through [...]

by dannywong on March 29, 2011 · 0 comments

tagged as Announcements, challenges, PR, Press, public relations, Publications in Brand Management,Business,Communication,Entrepreneurship,Marketing,PR,Social Media

How Much Is A Customer Worth To Your Business?

Do you know how much a customer is really worth to your business? Many small businesses think of their customers as one-time, single purchase customers. But think about it – a customer doesn’t necessarily make just one purchase from a business. In fact, getting repeat customers by building ongoing relationships is the heart of good marketing. It’s one of the reasons that social media is so appealing to marketers – it gives business the opportunity to connect and engage with customers and build ongoing relationships through other marketing channels that were previously unavailable. Add to that the fact that social [...]

by Roohi Moolla on March 25, 2011 · 0 comments

tagged as Cost of Acquisition, customer, Lifetime Value, ROI in Advertising,Business,Entrepreneurship,Marketing,Social Media,Start-ups

Brainstorm, anyone? –

I just finished reading Seth Godin’s “InSubordinate” – a 42-page eBook he’s written as an addendum to Linchpin. In one of the chapters, the one on Chip Conley and brainstorming – Seth talks about the importance of taking initiative, and how learning the art of brainstorming changed his life. It reminded me of a game my mother taught my friends and me at my 8th birthday party – the one who could speak nonsense for the longest wins. The only rule was that you weren’t allowed to use any sentences that made sense, so words simply had to be jumbled up [...]

by Roohi Moolla on July 11, 2010 · 1 comment

tagged as Brainstorming, Games, Initiative, InSubordinate, Seth Godin in Business,Communication,Editorials,Entrepreneurship,Marketing,Social Media

On Strength…

These days, it seems a lot of people are having difficulty with something or another. It might be around career or money (can anyone say Dow Jones rollercoaster?), or family issues (anyone have kids, parents, pets???), or health (I just heard of a 46-year old man who’s been diagnosed with possible cirrhosis of the liver) – whatever it is, everyone is dealing with something. What makes us human, and I believe, fragile and strong at the same time, is how we deal with whatever comes at us. When we’re faced with something new or unfamiliar in particular, we have a [...]

by Roohi Moolla on June 25, 2010 · 0 comments

tagged as change, courage, risk, Strength in Business,Communication,Editorials,Entrepreneurship,Marketing,Social Media,Technology

What does it really take to be an Entrepreneur? No, I mean really?

Starting a business takes a lot more than skill, experience and knowledge. But what does it really take? Yes, the usual stuff – hard work, commitment, a willingness to go out on your own etc. – but there are a whole lot of things people don’t usually talk about – truly difficult questions like: I am willing to lose everything. I embrace failure. I am always willing to do tedious work. I can handle watching my dreams fall apart. Even if I am puking my guts out with the flu and my mother passed away last week, there is nothing that [...]

by Roohi Moolla on May 27, 2010 · 2 comments

in Business,Entrepreneurship

The Kenyan Farmer, His Potato Crop…and Facebook

So last week, I had coffee with a friend who told me about a program he heard on NPR (our national public radio show for those of you in other lands) – and a story about a Kenyan farmer who saved his potato crop by sheer willpower. I was so intrigued by the story, I went home, got online and Googled “Kenyan farmer potato crop” – and found Zack Matere and his inspiring story… Zack lives in Seregaya, Kenya, an agricultural community where his potato crop was in danger from an unknown pest. “I cycled 10km to the local cyber [...]

by Roohi Moolla on March 31, 2010 · 0 comments

tagged as cyber cafe, Facebook, Google, Kenyan Farmer, NPR, Social Media, Zack Matere in Business,Communication,Entrepreneurship,Facebook,Google,News,Social Media,Technology

Entrepreneurship

Editorial: A Reply to Paige Craig “I Have Doubts Once I Think Of Women Founders Having Kids And Being Distracted From Work”

What does it really take to be an Entrepreneur? No, I mean really?

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