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The Curator: Why Startups Fail, Pitching Journalists, Productivity Hacks, Jack Ma on Alibaba

Here’s our weekly link roundup of small business buzz, musings and muchness. A curation of the best small business talk around the web.

Weekly Buzz: Sit back, relax, and enjoy our curated reads. Here’s our weekly link roundup of small business buzz, musings and muchness. A curation of the best small business talk around the web.

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The 7 Hats Successful Entrepreneurs Wear Well

There are amazing people around the world who draw from their inner strength, and use a little magic to do what others might consider impossible. These talented people, known as “entrepreneurs,” know and do certain things that not only expand the quality of their lives, but also of life itself. Is it grace? Charisma? What is it that makes all the difference for the successful entrepreneur? (The Huffington Post)

 

Startup Founders Explain Why Their Startups Fail

When the founder of a startup company shuts down her or his business, it is customary to pen an essay that tells the rest of the community what went wrong, called a failure post-mortem. It’s estimated that nine out of 10 startups fail, which is why the technique has become so common as to be a Silicon Valley cliché. Some of these essays are honest, enlightening, and brave. Others point fingers or issue backward non-apologies. (TIME)

 

4 Signs Your Small Business Is Ready To Sell Online

If you run a successful small brick and mortar business and feel ready to expand and grow, you may be tempted to jump on the bandwagon and start your online store. However, is it the right time for your offline shop to open online? Here are 4 telltale signs your small business is ready to go mobile. (Forbes)

 

5 Ways For Your Brand to Go Visual

The Internet is overloaded with text, with every company in the world creating text-heavy blog posts. With so much to read, people are looking for simpler media to consume. Pictures are processed more quickly and remembered longer. They can also tell your brand’s story more effectively than 1,000-word blog posts. Hence: A picture is worth more than 1,000 words. (PRDaily)

 

Bridging Gaps to Success for Minority Women Entrepreneurs

Growing up as a Hispanic girl in Los Angeles, Martha de la Torre wasn’t encouraged to be assertive. Her father expected her to be quiet at the dinner table. Her immigrant family circle did not include professionals who could be mentors or offer business connections to the aspiring entrepreneur. (BusinessWeek)

 

6 Ways to Ensure a Journalist Will Love Your Pitch

It’s been a few years since I left the newsroom, but in my time as a reporter I saw enough bad pitches in my email inbox to give me nightmares to this day. Now that I have joined the “dark side,” as reporters like to call it, I want to share the six steps to not just writing the pitch of a reporter’s dreams, but that can also cut through the clutter and get your clients in the news. (PRDaily)

 

10 Productivity Tips, Tricks, Hacks for Entrepreneurs

New, old, stale. Entrepreneurs get to have many tag-names added to their title. I believe that entrepreneurs are the people who build something of value, perhaps something that anyone could have built before, but didn’t because the time wasn’t right. Are entrepreneurs known for their perfect timing? (The Huffington Post)

 

Jack Ma on Alibaba, Entrepreneurs and the Role of Handstands

I spoke with Alibaba’s founder, Jack Ma, at a private luncheon on Friday, just an hour after his company had gone public. Mr. Ma is unlike any Chinese leader I have ever met. He is emerging as the face of the new China: a free enterprise entrepreneur working within the confines of a rigid government. (New York Times)

 

What and When Millennials Share on Social Media

Millennials (18-34) are far more likely than the general population to share content on social networks and to click on shared content, details ShareThis in a new study of the sharing habits of Millennials. Understanding how Millennials approach social sharing is important given that online shares could be as influential as in-person recommendations. (Marketing Charts)

 

Is Organic Better for You? It Is When You’re Talking About Site Traffic

When it comes to driving internet users to a website, nothing beats organic search. According to data from BrightEdge, organic search drove 51% of website traffic referrals worldwide during June and July 2014. Meanwhile, display, email and referred search ranked second, with 34% of referrals, paid search third (10%), and social media last (5%). (eMarketer)

 

Online Discounts vs. Free Shipping: A Battle of the Ages

Who doesn’t love a good deal when online shopping? Pretty much everyone. But not all offers are created equal, and in July 2014 polling by Retention Science, percentage discounts led the pack as the most effective customer incentive.Among US online retailers, 30.9% said a percentage discount was the most effective customer incentive, the No. 1 response. Meanwhile, 21.8% cited shipping incentives—free or discounted—as offers that worked best for their customers. (eMarketer)

 

7 Little Things to Improve an Ecommerce Business

Sometime a small thing, like sending a thank you card or carefully choosing which related products to feature on a product detail page, can have a positive impact on an ecommerce business. Certainly there are sweeping business strategies and powerful software solutions that may help your business. But what about little things that you can do in a few minutes or, perhaps, a few hours that could help your ecommerce business improve? (Practical Ecommerce)

 

5 Tips for Scaling Your Sales Organization

In sales, the most important lessons are often simple to share but incredibly difficult to pull off. That’s what Scott Crawford, VP of Sales and Business Development at professional website platform Pantheon, realized when he turned to his mentors for advice on building a sustainable, scalable sales organization. Find out what he learned and start laying the foundations for your own sales team’s success. (OpenView Partners Blog)

 

 

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