How to use Social Media to Become a Successful Entrepreneur

I've often wondered how people become successful.  Is it their innate ability to visualize the next big idea, or is it the their ability to market their skills and products/services to the world around us?  In my opinion, being an entrepreneur is all about risk taking, but you can't be successful without being an excellent networker and salesperson, which is why social media has truly revolutionized the "game."

That's right, I said the word "game" when describing entrepreneurship; because at the end of the day, your goal is to win, and to win big.  Social media provides us multiple platforms to connect with other high profile companies and individuals to market ourselves, so let's look at a few of them to break down their true uses.

Facebook offers the largest number of users to market your product, but is it the best option place to network and market yourself and your company?  While many people currently spend at least 20 minutes on Facebook daily, the main interactions are with friends, not colleagues, which ultimately begs the question, is Facebook best for professional use, or just personal?  My opinion - stick with personal.

LinkedIn is unique as it's an entire social network built on the professional world and even allows companies to create their own pages and update information on a daily basis, ultimately creating conversations about a variety of topics including industries, companies, and the job search in general.  From my experience, and this is coming from someone who is currently searching for a position in a foreign country, LinkedIn is great for the job search and the networking process, but it can't be the only network you use.

In my opinion, Twitter offers an excellent mixture of news and live conversations, which ultimately creates opportunities to portray your thoughts and meet other people who are eager to discuss similar subjects.  Don't ever be afraid to approach someone on Twitter.  Be direct, ask questions,usually they'll respond back.  Stay in the loop on conversations, make yourself known and you'll make a ton of new business contacts that you never thought was possible.

While Google+ is the newest of the social networks, it's also the fastest growing (250 million users in the first year) and I truly believe it provides the best opportunity to truly network yourself and connect with others about specific subjects.  It gives you the opportunity to create circles (which differentiates your networks), portray your statuses to anyone on Google+ through their public search domain, and my personal favorite, utilizes Google Hangout so people can video chat with others in their industry about intriguing topics.  When used to its fullest, Google+ offers a unique blend of networking and news, which is ideal for entrepreneurs.

I'll leave you with this.  Good luck to anyone who wants to make it on their own.  Think of an exciting product or service and sell the hell out of it.  Just don't forget to utilize the social platforms that other successful entrepreneurs have given us thus far, you won't regret it.

What is the Ideal Marketing Mix

Traditional Advertising, Online, Onsite or a Mix of all Three?

As I sit on my couch watching TV here in Israel, a calm rushes over me as I realize that my TV viewing experience is completely different than just three weeks ago in the Untied States.  It's amazing, yet somewhat surprising, that there are no advertisements between commercials of television shows here.  As a TV fan, I love the concept as I  no longer have to sit through the played-out GEICO commercials, or the local car dealership screaming at me tilling me why they'll get you the best deal!  But as a man who loves marketing, it makes me wonder, is it really best for the overall sale of a product?

Often in America we're taught in the marketing and advertising world that eyeballs = sales.  This is why you often see a bidding war for professional sports contracts in the United States, like ESPN's new deal to televise NCAA Football Playoffs, because the more eyeballs you have on your TV, the more expensive your ad space will become.  While this is great for TV networks, is it truly best for the brand themselves, or are we now entering an age where we don't truly know the best marketing mix?  Online has become the new medium of choice, which is why all we hear about now are acronyms like CPI, CPC, CTR, etc.  But again, do impressions really help sell new TV's, or just give you more information on what exactly you need to buy.

I personally believe you need a mixture of about 50% TV, 35% online and 15% onsite.  Each industry may be a bit different on this scale, but overall, it allows brands the opportunity to not only utilize all marketing mediums, but focus on different demographics as well.

So as much as it pains to me to say this, I think that it should be required for all TV stations to sell ad space during their primetime shows.  After all, isn't that why we created the DVR? 

Don't "Like" A Facebook Status?

How Do We Actually "Dislike" Something on Facebook?

I don't know if it's that status update creativity has stayed stagnant while Facebook has obviously evolved, but some of the things I'm seeing on there are absolutely atrocious   It's as if you want us to mock you for telling us that you are on your way home from work and need to stop to get a Red Bull.  Congrats! 

I'm sure we've all said it before but, "How do I dislike a status update?"  Currently, unless you're using Firefox, the only way to dislike something is basically not to comment or like it.  I guess this works as people should understand that if their status isn't clever enough, people won't like it, and thus they'll change it next time.  But I've got a better idea...ADD A DISLIKE OR THUMBS DOWN BUTTON.  It seems to be a simple step to allow people to show their true feelings on your status. 

Currently Facebook employs the small thumbs up icon and the like button.  Why not just have the opposite and give the users the chance to embrace the change?  YouTube does this and it helps market a video that goes from kind of cool, to crazy viral.  The same can soon be said for Facebook and some of their companies.  A lot of companies update their statuses bi-weekly and don't put too much thought into it.  This can help teach them the dos and don'ts of Facebook posting and allow them to ultimately improve their marketing efforts.

As I briefly stated above, there is an add-on for Firefox that allows this, but only Firefox users can see the dislike.  Which begs the question, if people are clamoring for it, why doesn't Facebook just listen to us?

Job or Culture Immersion

Full Time Job or Language Immersion, Which Would You Do?

As I start my life in not only a new country, but also, an entire new society with a completely different language  it makes me ask the question, should I focus on looking for an American speaking job now, or spend my time immersing myself in the Israeli culture and language first.  I've spent many hours debating this with Americans and Israelis alike, and have come to one major conclusion, nobody truly knows the answer.

In my personal opinion, and by no means am I correct in this, integrating seamlessly into society is the most important aspect of this big move.  Right now I walk down the street and hear everyone speaking Hebrew and I keep on saying to myself "I want to do that".  Since this can't be done overnight, I believe that focusing on a 5-month Ulpan (Hebrew immersion classes), which the government will pay for while subsidizing my living for the first six months, seems to be a no-brainer.  Why not take advantage of a system that allows me to learn for free while also paying for me to live?  The answer is not so simple though. 

I was recently offered a job that would allow me to utilize my English in a position and industry that I'm not totally familiar with.  If I take it, I have complete financial stability, but I won't be able to improve my Hebrew.  However, if I don't accept it, which i ultimately decided on who's to say that in 5 months, Ulpan, that I'll be able to even find a job?  

For now, I'll focus on part-time work, hoping that it can lead to something bigger.  But I guess this really just proves one major thing, there's no real answer in life.  We just need to make quality sound, quality decisions and roll with the punches either way

Blogging - An Online Marketing Requirement

It seems to me that some of the most successful people on the internet in the marketing industry seem to have a blog.  Not just because they have somethign amazing to say, but because times are changing and it's necessary nowadays to embrace the current culture, which is basically telling us one simple thing...ANYONE CAN MAKE A NAME FOR HIMSELF ON THE INTERNET

Since I just moved to Tel Aviv a few weeks, which in my brief existence here seems to be the mecca for tech and online marketing industry (outside of Palo Alto), in order for me to prove myself, I need to differentiate myself, hence the blog.  I'm hoping that this turns into my next "daily obsession", which basically means, watch out because I'll probably start obsessively writing blog posts twice a day for the next century.

So everyone who's reading this, which is probably just myself right now, gear up for a fun ride as I don't expect this to end anytime soon.