Final Blog: And the Walls Come Tumbling Down

Throughout the semester, I have been very interested in researching and writing about different social media platforms and how they are being utilized by startup companies. I set out to discover the ways that these social media sites were advancing new companies. My purpose behind this topic was also a little selfish considering I am launching a startup of my own. I wanted to find practices and examples that truly might help my company MistoBox. Additionally thought, I was hoping to be somewhat of a guide and inspiration for likeminded, young entrepreneurs.

I had three main methods of research. First, I researched and analyzed companies that were utilizing social media platforms. Next, I looked at social media blogs and news sources for information that was new to me. Finally, I looked at the social media platform itself, analyzing both its strengths and weaknesses. Breaking down all of my previous impressions and experiences with social media, I could rebuild each of them within the context of startups. They soon became very different devices and tools.

As I outlined, there are definitely shortcomings amongst the big social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Each has their benefits though, and as their technology progresses, the business applications often become more and more valuable. Overall, social media sites are like a godsend for low cash entrepreneurs. As started blogging, one thing become more and more clear to me: with the advancement of technology, specifically social media, the barriers to entry were being radically diminished.

Instead of huge marketing campaigns, YouTube and Pinterest can effectively serve as digital word-of-mouth advertising. Instead of having to "know the right people," you can connect with investors on CrunchBase or raise money on crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter. Instead of purchasing expensive office space, you can just hold your meetings online in virtual worlds like Second Life. Instead of creating an expensive website to start gaining customers, you can put up a LuanchRock site and start collecting emails instantly.

I've learned that the tides are changing. The way people start business will extremely different. The field has now been leveled for anyone with a great idea and motivation to step in and grow a company with practically no money. It is incredibly encouraging knowing that as a young, poor entrepreneur, I have a fighting chance with the help of social media technology, and so do you! In the future, I predict that the barriers to entry will continue to drop, and only the most clever and hard working will prevail within these models. Bring on the competition! 

Business Meetings in the Virtual World

Now companies like IBM and Cisco are using virtual worlds like Second Life in business applications.

This technology could prove to be incredibly useful for startups. When first starting a company, you don't always have an office and you don't always have all of the members in one place. This can solve as a solution for that problem Do you think that a company could thrive sustainably from just virtual meetings?

Sources:
http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2008/08/interview-philip-rosedale.html
http://virtrealz.blogspot.com/

Future of Crowdfunding

With the passing of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act in early April, crowdfunding is dramatically changing. In a previous blog post, I discussed the crowdfunding site Kickstarter.  For those of you that don't know, a crowdfunding website is a place where anyone can go in order to give money to a startup or project. Before the JOBS Act was passed, it was illegal to give any equity of your company via crowdfunding sites. You could only give away rewards and gifts in exchange for the cash. However, once the JOBS act is put into action, startups will be able to raise capital up to $50 million in exchange from up to 1000 different shareholders.

This is literally one of the most drastic shifts that entrepreneurship has ever seen. The barriers to entry have significantly decreased. Now ANYONE with a great idea can potentially (and fairly easily) raise money to start a company.

What does this mean for you? This means that you, yes even you, could post your golden idea online and be on your way to millions of dollars of funding with a few clicks of the mouse.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-signs-game-changing-crowd-funding-jobs-act-160100102.html
  

What the "F" Facebook? Less likes?

Facebook pages are often thought of the best platform for companies in the social media landscape. It is a way for companies to connect with their fans, distribute information and news, and link all of their online media. However, a new study came out that states that the new Facebook Timeline layout actually decreased the rate at which fans will like our pages. Fan growth slowed by around 6%! You know the new Timeline layout I'm talking about right? It looks like this:

Facebook is always looking for a way to create a better experience for their users, but I think it is extremely important for Facebook to remember that a huge percentage of their users are businesses. Do you think that Facebook should focus solely on the consumer user or have a more balanced view on innovation? 

Sources: www.facebook.com/mistobox

http://mashable.com/2012/04/20/fan-growth-slowed-facebook-timeline/ 

Launch Rock

Launchrock is a "startup helping other startups." Launchrock helps companies easily make a good-looking "launching soon" webpage. These pages let you collect visitors emails, promote you company, and track the results. A Launchrock landing page looks like this:

Visitors arrive at your site, and they have the option to enter their email to learn when your company launches and other news about your company. Once they have entered their email, they have the option to share the page via email, Facebook, and Twitter. Each person is given a unique URL, so site administrators can track referrals. You can use this feature to promote your page. For instance, Visualize.me promoted their site by saying that the more signups you referred, the earlier you could get a beta invite. They signed up 15,000 people in one day. 

For site administrators, the Insights tool helps you track all of these sign ups: 

All in all, this is an amazing and FREE way to gain traction and collect email adresses of interested parties. 

Sources: 

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/160/launchrock

http://launchrock.com/

Social Media to Attract Angel Investors

Believe it or not, there are social media platforms that are specifically made to connect business ventures with potential angel investors. There are many of these kinds of sites: AngelList, CrunchBase, and StartupIndex. You can simply create a profile for your venture, and then angel investors will be able to view and interact with it.

You can see an example of MistoBox's AngelList profile here: http://angel.co/mistobox#activity.

These kinds of sites have facilitated large rounds of investment. For instance, Go Go Duck (a search engine recently discussed in class) just closed their round A funding from a relationship they met through Angel List.

Picture Source: vator.tv. 

Pinterest: The next big thing

Pinterest

There are rumors that Pinterest is driving more traffic to ecommerce sites and blogs than YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+ combined, AND it is now the third most popular social media website in the US. These are stats that entrepreneurs cannot ignore!

Pinterest allows its users to share photos on a pin board style interface. Users can make themed boards to manage their image collections:

Users on Pinterest pin items that they want to reference later and want to share with their Pinterest followers. Each user acts like a member of your company's word of mouth force. How can your company tap into this force?

1. Make a Pinterest account for your company
2. Create boards that tell your company's story to your target market
3. Have a high quality, interesting photo to go with each piece of content you publish

Make sure that you tailor your content specifically for your target demographics. You want to make sure that you are not only pinning things about your company, but about things that you think that your customers would like. Pin pictures that link back to your site and blog.

Sources: Mashable.com
Tidymom.com
http://www.retailtechnology.csnews.com/top-story-pinterest_climbing_the_social_media_ranks-439.html

Custom Twitter Background

Twitter is awesome for startup companies, but it does have some shortcomings! Twitter does not allow you to have an extensive bio, multiple contacts, or multiple websites listed on your profile. If you're willing to put in a little extra effort, I have a solution for you. You can create a custom profile page background (like the one on the right) that has all of your extra desired information. It also lets potential followers that you care about your presence on Twitter and you might be a good person to connect with.

To create a custom background, you can use free and easy to use tools like http://freetwitterdesigner.com/. 

When you find shortcomings in any social media platform, there is often a third-party developer that has created a way to overcome the problem. This is just one example.

Picture source: webdesignerwall.com

Improve your YouTube Videos

Video marketing is huge! YouTube just made it easier for you to improve the quality of your videos.

Sources: http://mashable.com/2012/03/21/youtube-edit-videos-one-click/

http://youtu.be/2b5uKF-7qDM

Book Review: The Zen of Social Media Marketing

I recently read the book The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Kabani. The book had great reviews, so I thought I'd check it out and see what applications it had to social media strategies for startups.

This book actually covered more than the title would have you think. It does a good job in touching on all important internet marketing tactics like blogging, SEO, and paid advertising and tying them all into an overall social media strategy. 

The social media topics covered were strategies not tailored for startups, however, they were things that all entrepreneurs should know in general about social media. The book highlighted four social networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+. 

Aside from the book, I found a great resource in the Kabani's website and blog. You can check it out here: http://www.shama.tv/. 

I would highly recommend this book. Even if you know a lot about social media, this book does a great job of putting the social media world as we know it today into perspective. You can purchase the book here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1936661632/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link. 

Crowdfunding on Kickstarter

Have you heard of Kickstarter yet? If you haven't, you need to go to their website and check it out! Kickstarter is one of the big players in the world of crowd funding websites. Crowd funding, as defined by Wikipedia, is "the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together." In other words, crowd funding gives anyone the ability to go to this website and fund a project. Kickstarter believes that a good idea can be communicated across the web and spread like wild fire reaching a huge amount of people. This huge amount of people is a great source of funding and support.

Kickstarter employs an "all or nothing" funding system. That means if a project does not reach its funding goals, the project gets no funding at all. They do this for three reasons. First, it eliminates risk for people giving funding. A funder's money is not going to go to waste on a project that is not fully funded. Second, it allows people to test a concept without risk. If it's a bad idea, you're not going to get funded, so you do not have to worry about having to follow through. Third, it encourages people to spread the word and get involved in promoting their Kickstarter project.

So that owners keep 100% ownership of their projects, Kickstarter does not allow an exchange of equity for funding given. Instead, project creators give away rewards in order to incentivize people to fund their project.

Do you have a project you want funded? This is how it works:

1. You submit your project to Kickstarter for approval. It must fit into one of their categories (art, comics, dance, design, fashion, film, food, games, music, photography, publishing, technology, or theater). It must also be a creative and novel idea according to Kickstarter.

2. Once your project is approved, you can create your Kickstarter profile, which includes a video, a description of your project, the amount of money you are asking for, the number of days your project is going to run, and a list of the rewards you will be giving away. Check out a successful Kickstarter project here.

3. Once your Kickstarter project has gone live, it's time to promote, promote, promote! You only have a certain amount of days to reach your funding goal! Tell everyone you know across any platform you have about your project.

4. If your Kickstarter project gets funded, AWESOME! It's time to start fulfilling the rewards to your funders and start your project! If your Kickstarter project wasn't funded, it probably wasn't that great of an idea. Time to move on.

Kickstarter can be used by entrepreneurs to get their concepts off the ground. It can be the seed funding that is needed to validate a business without giving away any equity and with very little risk.

Some very exciting news: my most recent venture MistoBox just got approved by Kickstarter! I'm now in the process of creating a Kickstarter strategy before I launch the project, so I can put myself in the best position possible to get full funding. I'll be sure to keep you updated on the projects process, and let you know what I find to be the best strategies to getting funded. Can you think of any strategies that would make a Kickstarter project successful?

Birchbox & YouTube

Birchbox is a cosmetic and beauty sample subscription service. Every month, subscribers pay $10 a month in order to receive 4 to 5 premium cosmetic samples. When women particularly like one of the samples, they can go to Birchbox's online store to buy the full size product.

Genius, right?

What's more genius is how they used social media to get over 50,000 subscribers just 6 months after their launch. With this extremely rapid growth, Birchbox claims that they purposely did not exert much marketing effort in an attempt to limit their growth. Still, Birchbox's presence on social media platforms exploded.

Now a year after their launch, they have amassed over 80,000 likes on Facebook and 18,000 followers on Twitter. These followings on Facebook and Twitter are great, but their largest gains have come from YouTube.

Birchbox has of course created its own videos that provide beauty tips and tutorials like this one:

However, it is the videos that are created by people not related to Birchbox at all that have helped this company boom. Video bloggers ("vloggers") across the web have created videos to show off their Birchbox loads. This blogger MissGlamorazzi has regularly seen over 100,000 views on her videos like this one:

In identifying successful social media strategies, it is important to deconstruct the strategy and pull out the parts that can be applied elsewhere. What is it about Birchbox that prompts the average person to post and view videos about the company?

1. Birchbox connects with on a high emotional level with its users.

2. Users want to feel part of a larger community

3. Users want to be experts in a given field

4. Users are young and internet oriented

5. Birchbox gives video bloggers ideas for topics which they can "vlog" about

Birchbox has done an amazing job at maximizing its reach on YouTube not only developing its own YouTube channel but also having a presence through vloggers across the web.

Entrepreneurship: The Topic. The Passion.

I have an incredible passion for entrepreneurship. In 2010, I started an internet marketing company for dentists called Dental Presence, and I am currently in the midst of launching a coffee sample subscription company called MistoBox. Given my background, you can see why I am fascinated by everything that entrepreneurs can do to successfully launch companies.

In recent years, the development of online social networks has granted startups an amazing opportunity. Finally, startups can promote themselves and reach a national audience without the massive capital requirements for marketing budgets.

In this blog, I will be covering the ways that entrepreneurs are leveraging the internet and social media for entrepreneurial activities ranging from testing a concept to acquiring customers. This topic is particularly interesting because it is continually changing: entrepreneurs are finding new ways to use social networks, social networks change over time, and new social networks are emerging.