Greg’s posterous

Gary Vaynerchuck at LeWeb '09

The Small Business Impact

Firstly,

Square; Jack Dorsey's project. I believe will have an economic impact on especially small businesses because it's one of the "simplest" and convenient add-ons for somone offering a good (I don't think this will have as much effect on service based companies).

As TechCrunch puts it:

Think paypal, but anyone can now accept physical credit card payments, too. With no contracts or monthly fees. People are sent receipts by text and email.

With such a huge market share of the mobile world running on the iPhone now, the simple dongle will add usability and ease to transactions.

Though I do agree with Read Write Web:

A regular coffee shop can get a payment terminal for free and only pays about $20 in fees per month (plus a percentage of every transaction).

The Square will cater to brand new businesses who cannot afford the merchant costs and to "mom & pop" stores who are selling more home-made like goods at low prices where the merchant costs become overbearable. In the end this will lead to better management of small business expenses. Therefore causing a better stimulus on the small business market.

Secondly,

Trust. I commented on this yesterday with my video, but to expand on that fact.

Small businesses need trust more than any other large corporation. These small manufacturers, service providers, and sellers need to build their trust database more than anyone else. Because their not fully well known and have a more volatile client base they need to:

1. Keep a consistent returning client base
2. Have an increasing trent of new clients

Other larger companies don't have as much volatility in this case, so the small marketing techniques need to be based more on CRM and a quality product or service for their size (prefferably even competing with the big dogs!). By building thier trust these small businesses will see a huge increase in their word-of-mouth marketing and their returning client base moreso than their new clients!

Check out Chris Brogan & Julien Smith's Trust Agents, and understand your clients' needs!

What do you think the impact on small businesses is?

Image by emdot

LeWeb '09 & New Marketing

I've been following the tweets from LeWeb '09 and have a few thoughts so please check out the video below.

If you can't see this video watch it on YouTube

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Letters from Denmark

This past weekend I took a trip to Denmark with 8 of my closest friends here in Alicante. This is my story for your reading pleasure.

As I was sitting in my room my blank gaze is broken by the sound of the most annoying telephone ring in the world, so naturally I pick it up so it'll shut the hell up. I answer to the sound of - "Hey, wanna go to Denmark for 14€ Round Trip?"

I can't think of anyone who would pass up that offer...

A few weeks later 3 days from leaving we decide we still don't have places to stay, car to rent, food, or any idea really of what the plan was for the trip.

One van, 120€ of food, overweight bags, and one flat rented in Ribe later we're hopping onto a RyanAir flight out of the Alicante airport enroute to Billund.

3 hours on the flight bumming our time not digging into our food, for lack of running out later, games of Uno, the plane arrives safe and sound into the Billund Lufthavn. Now this is the first time I have traveled within Europe to another country, I literally had to do a double take that I didn't need to get a visa stamp into my passport, afterall it is an international flight. I was rather disappointed in the fact that I would be unable to have that nice stamp saying I have according to their government been in that country. So just continued walking through, and to the car rental stoop. Here is where I'm finally nervous, because this car is our lifeline of the trip, without it...we get nowhere. Why? Because the online rental said you had to be 26. Our oldest driver, 22. Sure enough online rental ≠ rental company. 9 Person van, here we come baby.

Jam packed, music full plast, we head down the road in the Danish dark on our way to Ribe, the first stop.

We finally get to the Ribe Byferie to our flat. For nine college kids this place was like a gold mine. Comfortable beds, a kitchen, terrace, a shower was nice, we started to unpack the food and get settled in. The girls were nice enough to start the nightly family dinner; Jamón serrano, jamón york, cheese, toasted bread, this was a feast for the gods in our eyes.

We sat around like a big happy family and got our selves a few beers before seeing what the Ribe nightlife had to offer.

Hours of dancing and a few more beers we head home to call it a night and see the town by light the next morning. We're out of the flat by 10 ready to walk downtown. We park the car and start walking. A quaint town with an obvious ancient viking influence and a sense of community. A town where you can walk to every dead end and corner, and still not see everything, because everything there is to see isn't just the obvious location. It's like an unending treasure hunt.

We start our way to Århus (pronounced ouhrhus) and notice it get's dark at about 4:15PM we dicide it will be a very long night. After arriving at our hostel, where we get a half-assed cusion and a nasty floor for more than an elegant flat, we go walk around Århus. Not into an hour after being in the city that we walk into the local catholic church. You know, to see what nordic influences effected had on churches.

Speaking spanish we're warmly invited by another native to the tongue to coffee and cake. Utterly confused we followed this lady into the belly of the church. We're sat down warmly and served coffee and marble cake. We're joined by about another 10 spanish speaking people realizing we had decided to see this church directly after one of their two spanish masses a month. As they thought we were with them the whole time they understand that we had just gotten there and didn't want to deceive them. The half hour we passed was great, with the company of a community, inviting us into their doings because of a common language.

It's time to be on hour way. After a while we're again, in a bar waiting for our friend's friend to meet us and tell us some great places to see.

You'll see a common theme here, we usually end up the night at some new Danish pub, to see what the local wildlife has to offer.

The next day we decide to see two things. The old-town market, and the deer park.

Old-town market...costed money... 5 hopped the fence, 4 stayed back to not hop fences. I leisurely took the latter, to go see an old windmill, and an green house past of the university. Going from desert to intensely tropical then back out into 40º cold isn't fun on the head but it does provide some cool trees and butterflies!

The deer park took us a bit of driving around, and asking those who spoke english how to get there.

Finally found it and spend about an hour playing with the deer, letting them eat carrots and apples out of our hands while we fed them. If there's one thing you do in life, feed a wild animal, not a petting zoo animal, a wild one where the animal makes the choices.

We dedicded that our hostel was a piece of shit, and had to go to Aalborg and rough it there. We drove an hour out of Åruhus to Aalborg, and finally found a hostel site that offered us a cabin of 6 people for nine. Instead of forcing us into 5 & 4. This way we all sleep in the same building and keep the body heat well adjusted.

After another fulfilling dinner of jamóns and samwiches, we go check out the bars. I order a Hoögarden beer, one of my favorites by taste. My friend sees a couple of cute bonde girls and decides it's a good idea to convince one of them it is his birthday and should take a picture of all of us. She tells him that it's her birthday too, and out table of 9 should join them. This makes the guys happy.

Beer's become too expensive, and we decide to head back and keep the laughs going back in the hostel cabin.The night ends with a really long deep sleep.

After waking up on our own time, and checking out it's time to see Aalborg by day. It definitely beats Århus, but not the quaintness of Ribe. We finally get back to the car and get driving back to Billund to catch the flight home.

We're surprised at the airport by my roommates parents.

They were nice enough to drive us home.

Image by keeshu

The Interview(ee?)

One thing I notice is the vast amount of articles coming around that are talking about interviews, their processes and their tips. I want to give a different perspective; try doing the same thing everyone else is from a different country. It actually makes it a lot tougher, even though you might not think so.

My Problem

If you follow my blog you realize, I'm currently studying in Alicante, Spain, my 3rd year of my international business major. As much as I am loving it, it makes apartment hunting and job hunting for the upcoming summer and school year much more difficult.

As much as I would love to send in a snail mail copy of my resumé or give a quick ring to the HR department of wherever I would like to apply, it financially isn't that feasable. Doable, just not reasonably. The benefits of using some direct contact methods that help by being stateside:

• You usually get to talk to someone, and if you're anything like me thats much more reasurring than sending your resumé into the black hole of the online database.
• The advantage of the company receiving a physical copy of your resumé shows not only your persistence but your will to succeed and advance in the working world

The Realization

The first step is realizing you have a problem. When you get stuck in a difficult situation, you probably already know it. So understanding that you are in this pickle is naturally the first thing you need to do. Then after that you can begin focusing on ways to rectify, and make the problem one that is almost non existent.

The Solution

Anticipation. The simple fact that you can anticipate these problems make the solution much easier. My Suggestions:

• Skype: If you haven't found the many many benefits of Skype yet, I suggest giving it a try. Should you be called for an interview you have an economical and practical way to conduct a phone interview on the cheap, especially if YOU have to call.
• Google Voice: 2 benefits here: Recorded transcriptions and a proper phone number where you can receive a transcribed voicemail in case you get a call back.
• LinkedIn: The online resume: get connected, get out there, and get known.

Naturally, I'm still going through my application process for this summer, but as more develops and more comes my way, I'll be more than happy to clue you in on my tips. If you have any please leave them in the comments.

Image by Ben Heine

BenHeine.com

The New Age of Business

Apologies

I'd like to make my apologies for not realizing that I haven't posted in close to a month. I have gotten caught up with classes, and the many new people I am meeting every day here at the residency in Alicante.

On the up-side it has given me a lot of time to look into the new wave of economics, marketing, and the whole entourage of business coming into view for me.

Market the hell out of it

If you're not reading Seth Godin and you're a marketer, even a professional with an amazing track record I highly recommend just taking a peek even if once a week.

His posts are never too lenghty and my favorite is that they are never strictly to-the-point. He makes you think! Take the example of The unclicking 84%; Seth's genius in marketing takes you from concrete data, to making you think of what the next step should be for you, your venture/business/etc., and most importantly for your market.  My ideas and questions for you:

• New ideas. Even if they're recycled ideas with a new twist, or a new focus, that makes it become new.
• Can you change or increase your market focus without losing the original base?
• How can you take your brand to a level of incredible trust and promotion?

Social Media Economics

Yes; not marketing, media nor optimization...but Economics.

Many have put themselves in roles of Personal Branding consultants, Social Media Marketers and Optimizers, but you may be asking what does any of this have to do with economics?!

Actually, quite a lot. This new age of entrepreneurs has unleashed the venture capitalists, the big businesses and the small businesses to look into a new realm of enterprises. From an economical point of view, unemployment (9.8% Wolfram|Alpha) in America is still worsening, but with many more entrepreneurs emerging daily and new ideas coming fresh from those unemployed new businesses are starting up daily with the goal of giving a good or service to the people.

Now, here's where social media comes in. The main social media hotspots are, San Fancisco, NYC, Boston, Washington DC, and the Raleigh-Durham (RDU/Triangle) area of North Carolina.

I point you to the NY Times Unemployment map (interactive) here. Accounting for the size difference of population between these metropolitan areas and other rural areas, the unemployment rate in the social media hotspots is relatively less than the other main areas due to their success with entrepreneurship.

Just some thoughs, what do you think? Leave comments.

Image by billadler

BlaireAshley Jewelry For A Cause

A new startup by Appalachian State International Business student Blaire Jesseph is based around some very impresssive ideas and wicked smart plans.

Like Musibility Blaire is also taking a great approach to her startup by focusing her marketing first locally and establishing a base before launching a fully functioning site for orders and blog updates on the BlaireAshley line of jewelry.

A little about Blaire

Blaire's mother Bonnie also runs a succesful business called W.I.N.O.S. (Women In Need of Sanity) where Blaire works as Assistant Marketing Director and runs the blog for W.I.N.O.S. Blaire's work with her mother led her to start BlaireAshley.

Fashion & Philanthropy

From the Facebook Page: Blaire Ashley is an emerging jewelry company sharing an opportunity with you to help others with each and every purchase. Through each purchase, Blaire Ashley will donate a portion of the proceeds to a philanthropic project focused on improving the standard of young lives around the world.

By purchasing jewelry at wholesale prices, the high profit margin, allows the amount of donations that Blaire makes to be a great portion of her income!

Be sure to also follow her on Twitter (@BlaireAshley)

Image by BlaireAshley

BrightKite Meet Monopoly - Foursquare

I just recently hopped on the great fun network of Foursquare. As many of you know I am currently in Alicante, Spain doing my study abroad requirements for my International Business Major. This causes a lot of downsides for many US based social media apps. The reason for this taking Foursquare as an example; is that Foursquare focuses on what I belive are the main social media cities of the US, leaving out not only those who are out of those areas with no fun, but also those around the world. At the same time, I know that if I were in the US I would thoroughly enjoy the benefits this new site has to offer.

BrightKite meets Monopoly

Here's my take - Foursquare turns BrightKite into an interesting competitive game, almost like Monopoly, just without all the banker stuff.

The more you check into different places, outside of work (bars, pubs, comedy clubs, etc.) the more "points" you get allowing you to become the mayor of an area, or to give you badges (achievements).

This is an addictive way to get people going on their competitive nature as Jeff Cohen(@dgtlpapercuts) mentioned to me earlier today - "Competitive nature makes it addictive." Which is phenomenal it will get people moving and FAST on this new network!

Caught at Work?

Just a quick blurb on this: People WILL use this at work, lose producitvity, and will most likely feel the repercussions of this sooner or later down the road.

Image by willandbeyond

What do you think of Foursquare? - Comment Below!

Foursquare - The Game of Brightkite

Is Free Really That Bad?

Being in Spain, I tend to get some of my favorite magazines a little late. Thanks to my Mom she's sweet enough to send me them! But I got the October issue of Entrepreneur and in a short article titled Radicals & Visionaries by Joe Robinson (Can be found here) there are two very different and two very acceptable debates to the Free ideals of today's entrepreneurs and Social Media visionaries.

This article actually makes me question the idea of offering 100% of your service for free. I surely understand the point offer a service that will give something to your target market; but what's in it for you, personally, egotistically, monetarily, and importantly as a business.

Take Facebook and Twitter for example. Great websites, great popular services, but besides ads, they aren't retuning a profit on their ever expanding investments. Let's face it from an accounting and financial standpoint, they have little going for it.

Free...but the good stuff isn't

As many companies have found this out and I believe it to be the optimal way to run an online business, or to market your company. Is by offering a service/product that is 100% as effective as the competition, but continue to offer a paid service that adds many many bonuses that cannot be offered by the competition for a cost of free-99. Why? Because if they can get free from anywhere else, why should they have to pay for yours?

Take E-Books for example; Offer a very well elaborated E-Book for everyone, entirely free no matter what. But at the same time why not offer a $.99 ebook with an extra features including say worksheets (for a financial E-Book)?

That's just my take on the free debate. It's not entirely bull if you know how to fnagle it for your benefit!

Image by alles-schlumpf