2010 will be an Excelent year!

I wish you all the best, and may all your dreams come true.

In 2010 I’ll sure be #WorkingOnADream!

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

SeVinde.ro iti ofera pagina anuntului tau. Mai multe informatii puteti sa gasiti pe blog-ul SeVinde.ro

Mai jos aveti prezentarea finala din cadrul Launch48.

Launch48 e un eveniment relativ nou, pornit in primavara acestui an la Londra, care se desfasoara in urmatorul mod:

• Sunt selectate intr-o prima faza un numar mai mare de idei, propuse de catre participanti.
• Fiecare participant care contribuie cu o idee o prezinta pe scena in fata intregii sali timp de maxim 1 minut. (pe ceas, cu timer )

Prezentarea mea: (Video by Tica2)

• Dupa prima runda de prezentari, sala voteaza in mod democratic si un numar mai mic de idei trec in runda 2. (In cazul nostru au fost 8, printre care si idea mea – SeVinde.ro)
• Urmeaza a 2-a runda de prezentari. Fiecare dintre cei care s-au calificat in aceasta runda au la dispozitie 2 minute pentru a prezenta idea mai in detaliu si pentru a raspunde la intrebari din sala.

A 2a prezentare:

• Se voteaza din nou si se aleg proiectele castigatoare – intre 2 si 4, in functie de numarul de paricipanti care vor sa se implice. In cazul nostru au fost alese 3 idei, printre care si a mea.
• Cei care vor sa se implice in realizarea unuia dintre proiectele selectionate se alatura echipei respective.
• Se formeaza astfel, ad hoc, echipe avand oameni cu diferite background-uri (tehnic, marketing, business, pr) care nu se cunosc intre ei.
• Echipele au la dispozitie exact 48 de ore pentru a transforma idea intr-un produs viabil din punct de vedere economic.
• La sfarsitul celor 48 de ore, echipele trebuie sa prezinte un prototip functional, planul de business si de marketing.

Prezentarile finale au fost sustinute in cadrul NetCamp. Aveti mai jos prezentarea SeVinde.ro, in 3 parti, tot multumita lui Tica2.
Partea 1/3

Partea 2/3

Partea 3/3

Pentru mine Launch48 a reprezentat o oportunitate fantastica pe care o recomand tuturor.

Ca si bonus, am aparut si in cadrul emisiunii Antreprenor a The Money Channel.

Even if you have nothing, you can get anything. But your attitude & approach should be positive.

I think this is very important to all the entrepreneurs out there.

E probabil audio-book-ul care mi-a placut cel mai mult de pana acum. Si asta pentru ca e un mix foarte placut intre o carte de business si o autobiografie. E o lectura care e atat relaxanta, cat si extrem de motivanta si utila tinerilor antreprenori.

La recomandarea lui Andrew Warner de la Mixergy.com am decis sa o ascult si destul de repede mi-am dat seama ca e o carte care merita a fi ascultata la viteza normala (majoritatea audio-book-urilor le ascult la 2x viteza normala pentru a castiga timp).

James Caan este cel care nareaza si care ne duce prin viata lui, din tinerete pana in prezent, prin viata lui profesionala, de la un tanar de 16 ani cu visul de a avea propria afacere, la timpul prezent, in care e un antreprenor de succes, unul dintre dragonii din Dragon’s Den (emisiune dupa care a fost conceputa si Arena Leilor de la noi).

S-a nascut sub numele Nazim Khan pe care l-a schimbat ulterior in James Caan. A fondat mai multe companii, pe care pornind de la 0, le-a vandut pentru zeci de milioane de lire.

Veti gasi in aceasta carte sfaturi utile tuturor antreprenorilor. Atat sfaturi de business cat si de viata. Veti vedea cum prin multa munca si dedicare James a reusit sa isi gandeasca afacerile care i-au adus atata faima si succes.

Mai mult de atat, veti vedea actele de caritate pe care le-a facut si poate veti ramane ca si mine placut impresionati de valorile morale ale acestui om.

Va recomand deci cu cea mai mare caldura aceasta lectura minunata. Astept sa o cititi / ascultati si sa imi spuneti daca v-a placut la fel de mult ca si mie.

Evenimentul a avut loc la Teatru 74, in cetatea medievala, un loc inedit pentru o conferinta de Marketing, dar care a reusit sa ofere o atmosfera intima si calda care lipseste majoritatii evenimentelor de acest gen.

Vreau sa felicit organizatorii pentru ca au avut determinarea de a organiza un asemenea eveniment la Targu Mures si sper ca il vor face un eveniment anual.

Conferinta se adreseaza directorilor de marketing, managerilor, directorilor generali si executivi, studentilor, dar si tuturor celor interesati de marketing.

Ma bucura sa vad tot mai multe evenimente interesante in afara Bucurestiului. Parerea mea e ca “provincia” are multi oameni de valoare si merita evenimente de acest gen, motiv pentru care organizez si eu HoReCa Marketing 24/7, pe 26 februarie 2010 in Cluj Napoca. Dar despre acest eveniment, mai multe detalii mai incolo.

La Targu Mures voi fi din nou intr-o companie selecta, pentru ca alaturi de mine vor vorbi (in ordinea numerelor de pe tricou) Madalin Matica, Ciprian Stavar, Alex Volcaru, Eusebiu Schiopu, Adrian Soare si Bogdan Manole.

Am sa vorbesc despre retele sociale: tipuri de retele sociale; cum te ajuta; cum si de ce sa le creezi si altele.

Ne vedem acolo!

It is a very useful book for those who are discovering the bennefits of social media and want to grow their business or adventure into new teritory.

For the ones that use social media daily, most of the ideas presented in this book are known, but still, they can help put things into a more clear perspective and bring up new ideas.

So it is a book worth reading / listening to.

I will point out the key points of each chapter.

Chapter 1. Word of mouth goes world of mouth

• Despite niche fragmentation caused by the internet, people still desire an understanding of what the majority is doing. Social media is that mechanism.
• Spending time on social media makes you more productive. Social media is the mechanism that allows users to avoid information indigestion.
• Business models need to shift. Simply digitizing old business models doesn’t work. Business need to fully transform to properly address the impact and demands of social media.
• Traditional magazines and newspaper are struggling for online survivor because some of the most qualified people to write a story are qualified bloggers who write for the sheer joy of it.
• In the future we will no longer look for the news. Rather the news will find us or we will create it. That future is now.
• A key aspect of social media is the ability of millions to tag items just like you would label a Manila folder. This helps catalog the information on the web and makes it easier for all users.
• Not all great viral marketing ideas  need to originate in the marketing department. It is prudent to team up with already successful programs.

Chapter 2. Social media = preventive behavior. What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube.

• Businesses and people are willing to have open diaries within social media as a way to stay connected.
• What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube.
• Individuals and companies are starting to leave their lives as if their mothers or board of directors are watching their every move because they probably are.
• Social media connects parents to their kids like never before.
• Social media enables frustrated customers to immediately post their frustrations.
• Negative comments and posts are easier for companies to find with social media. Hence those companies have more time to focus on the solution rather than spending time finding the problem.
• Effective companies and people relish critical feedback via social media.
• Poor companies spend time attempting to obfuscate or manipulate negative comments within social media.  Good companies spend time addressing and resolving customer complains.

Chapter 3. Social media = braggadocian behavior. It’s all about Me, Me, ME!

• Social media allows individuals to take real time inventory of their lives and helps answer the age old question: What am I doing with my life.
• Reality TV has been replaced by reality social media. It’s all about my friends and my own reality.
• Social media is the new inbox. Younger generations finds email antiquated and passe.
• Generations Y and Z interpersonal communication skills have been retarded by reliance on social media tools that aren’t face to face or verbal.
• Generations Y and Z have a desire to contribute to the greater world around them and leverage social media for social and charitable causes.
• Consumers want to take ownership of your brand and brag about your product. Let them!

Chapter 4. Obama’s success driven by social media.

• Open two way conversations are much more effective than unilateral communications to your audience for politics and businesses.
• By engaging voters, social media has had a positive impact on voter turnout.
• The adoption of online in the future could save a lot of money in lost productivity.
• We are just scratching the surface of what’s possible with collective intelligence in terms of being able to predict and control influence outbreaks.
• Fortune 500 companies should learn from Obama’s faith in social media and allowance of the public to take ownership of his brand and grow it to unexpected levels of success.
• Just like businesses, politicians and governments need to keep up with the advancements in social media. Otherwise they will be left behind.

Chapter 5. I care more about what my neighbour thinks than what Google thinks.

• Consumers are looking to peers for recommendations on products, services, health issues and more via social media.
• Social media helps eliminate different people performing the same tasks.
• The old adage that you can have only two of these: cheep, quick or quality doesn’t hold true with social media.
• Successful companies in social media will function more like entertainment companies, publishers or party planners, rather than as traditional advertisers.
• With the increasing popularity of eBooks there will be new digital placement opportunities for brands. Similar to product placement in movies.
• The most successful social media and mobile applications are those that allow users to brag, compete, or look cool by passing it on.
• The main threat to Google in the search war is not another search engine but the rise of search queries in social media.

Chapter 6. Death of social schizophrenia

• The transparency and speed of information exchange within social media mediates casual schizophrenic behavior.  Having a work personality and having a party personality will soon become extinct.
• Being well rounded as a company or individual is less beneficial. It’s more productive to play to your core strength. This differentiates you from the competition.
• Companies that produce great products and services, rather than companies that simply rely on great messaging will be winners in a socialnomics world.
• Marketers jobs have changed from creating and pushing to one that requires listening, engaging and reacting to potential and current customer needs.

Chapter 7. Winners and losers in a 140 character world.

• No person or company is perfect so you are best to admit your faults and the public will respect you for it.
• Advertising historically has been wrapped around the content. It now needs to be integrated with the content to take advantage of viral opportunities.
• Companies should leverage the Tom Sawyer approach. Let fanatics contribute to your product, show, or service.
• Your customers fans of today are the potential competition of tomorrow.
• Listen first, sell second.
• It’s better to live a social media making mistakes than living a social media live doing nothing.
• Don’t forget that SEO and social media go hand in hand.

Chapter 8. Next seps for companies and the glass house generation.

• Don’t build your own field of nightmares by building or replicating a social network for your company. If you build it, they most likely will not come. You are better connecting to the best in class social media tools that exist.
• Social media is helping to drive the transformation of mobile devices being the dominant internet access point instead of computers.
• The information exchanged in social media in relation to job searching and recruiting has rendered it unrecognizable from the information exchanged 10 years ago.
• Just as marketing will become more referral based, job seeking and recruiting will be more referral based than ever before.
• The younger generation’s interpersonal communication skills are starting to suffer as a result of over dependence on non verbal and non face to face interactions.
• Search engine results and the traditional internet advertising model are antiquated. Social media will push both of these to revolutionize. Otherwise they will see a dramatic decrease in market share.
• The overall achievement of individuals and companies will be largely dependent on their social media success.

End summary: It’s all about the economy stupid! No, it’s all about a people economy driven, stupid!

And I will leave you with a video that I hope will convince you (once again) that socialnomics is the new way of doing business.

Si foarte bine. E foarte bine ca se foloseste tot mai des acest canal de comunicare in mediul romanesc. Dar nu e tot una cum!

Sunt multe post-uri cu tips and tricks si idei pentru corporate twittering, dar eu vreau sa semnalez cateva greseli, din punctul meu de vedere.

1. Sa crezi ca pe mine ma intereseaza ce zici si simplul fapt ca imi dai follow ma va face sa iti dau follow la randul meu.

GRESIT! NU ma intereseaza ce zici (by default). Trebuie sa chiar zici / faci ceva interesant sa imi starnesti interesul.

Solutie: Spune ceva interesant. Adu valoare prin tweet-urile tale. Nu iti fa doar reclama serviciului sau produsului tau.

2. Sa iti creezi un cont de twitter, sa nu scrii mai nimic si sa incepi sa dai mass follow la toata lumea.

GRESIT! Se stie deja ca utilizatorii social media sunt egocentristi. In plus, desi nu toti o recunosc, Twitter e si un joc al numerelor. Cand vezi ca un cont urmareste mult mai multi oameni decat il urmaresc pe el, e putin probabil sa ii dai follow.

Pentru ca asa se intampla in majoritatea cazurilor. Corporatistii isi fac cont si incepe sa dea follow cu nemiluita, ajungand ca ei sa urmareasca 500-1000 de conturi si sa fie urmariti la randul lor de 30 de persoane.

Solutie: Nu vreau sa stiu ca mi-ai dat mass follow. Fa-ma sa cred ca mi-ai dat follow pt ca iti pasa ceea ce zic. Probabil ca nu e asa, dar minte-ma frumos! In plus, nu da follow la foarte multi intr-o zi. Asteapta sa aiba si ei sansa sa iti dea follow back si incearca sa pastrezi ratia urmariti / urmaritori in favoarea ta.

3. Cand un client onest si interesat de tweet-urile tale iti da follow si tu nu dai follow back.

GRESIT! Poate omul vrea sa iti trimita un DM pentru a incepe o conversatie care nu vrea sa fie publica. In plus, ne dandu-i follow inapoi, faci sa para ca ceea ce zici tu e mai important decat ceea ce zice el. Si nu vrei sa iti ofensezi clientul.

Solutie: Da follow back tuturor conturilor de buna credinta (non-spam). Exista cazul de exceptie cand cel care foloseste contul corporate are o relatie mai stransa cu cei pe care ii urmareste si decide sa urmareasca mai putini twitter-isti. In cazul acesta o sa se vada clar ca numarul de urmariti este mai mic de cat cel de urmaritori.

Bonus: Un lucru care pare sa nu fie stiut de multi dintre cei ce folosesc twitter!

Gresit: Daca iti incepi mesajul cu “@Gigel …”, cei din lista ta care nu urmaresc acea persoana, nu o sa vada tweet-ul tau in twitter stream!

Deci un mesaj de genul: “@Gigel da concert deseara, haideti toti sa il vedeti”, va fi vazut doar de cei care il urmaresc deja pe @Gigel si care au vazut deja probabil anuntul tocmai dat de @Gigel cum ca are concert deseara.

Solutie: Incepeti cu orice altceva. Gen: “Super! @Gigel ….” sau chiar cu un punct: “. @Gigel …. ”

Sper sa va fie de folos aceste sfaturi. Ma gasiti la @OvidiuNegrean pe twitter.

Si daca nu sunteti de acord cu cele spuse mai sus, sau daca vreti sa adaugati alte greseli frecvente, lasati un comentariu.