Brand-Building With F-Bombs: Small Biz Looks To Twitter

Richard Easton loves the mixed grill special at Mangal 2, a family-owned Turkish restaurant in the gentrifying East London neighborhood of Dalston. What first drew him, though, wasn’t the food. It was the sassy, profanity-laden commentary on the restaurant’s Twitter (TWTR) feed.

“It’s very focused on London life and making fun of groups like hipsters,” said Easton, 26, who finally visited the restaurant last month after following it on Twitter since summer. “The food was really good and I was impressed,” he said -- though he was surprised at how serious the staff was, given the tone of the Twitter feed.

Mangal 2 tweets, penned by the owner’s 25-year-old son, have as much to do with soccer and current events as they do with kebabs or koftas. “Don’t be too surprised when Facebook buys your Mum for $3 billion,” declares one. During the Olympics, he posted: “Today’s special is the Sochi Kebab: same kebab but served ice cold. Gay customers get 40 percent off. Putin’s not welcome.”

With more than 11,000 followers, Mangal 2 shows that slick marketing isn’t always the key to raising brand awareness. No longer just a forum for self-absorbed musings, Twitter has become a venue where small businesses such as watering holes, booksellers and florists connect with fans and customers -- and have fun doing it.

“Some of the tweets are a bit crude and provocative, but it’s real and it’s got a voice instead of just Instagramming food images and saying today’s special is so and so,” said Ferhat Dirik, Mangal 2’s Twitter-meister. In December, his tweets landed him a job as a social media editor at the U.K.’s Daily Mail newspaper.

London Riots

A half-hour walk from Mangal 2 is The Dolphin, a pub that has garnered almost 22,000 followers. Its feed is run by David Levin, 33, a former writer at MTV who often stops in at The Dolphin for a pint or two. During the 2011 riots in London, Levin created @The_Dolphin_pubwhen it was rumored the building had been torched.

The next day, the feed had 1,000 followers, and it soon gained recognition for humorous tweets such as: “FYI: for the price of a gym membership, you could take a skipping rope to the pub three times a week and drink gin while you work out.”

Though the Dolphin now has its own Twitter account, @dolphinhackney, Levin still tweets under the original name with the blessing of the pub’s owner -- and has eight times as many followers.

“Twitter is now part of the equation for branding,” said Levin, who says it’s not uncommon for new customers at The Dolphin to say they heard about the pub because of the tweets. “I’ve seen the power of Twitter firsthand.”

Single Mother

Levin, too, has spun his Twitter experience into a job. He has tweeted for Adidas, L’Oreal and Ikea, where he posed as a single mom in her mid-20s as part of an ad campaign for making do with small spaces.

Last summer, Levin set up a group of social-media writers-for-hire, called That Lot. The group runs one-day Twitter training workshops for 120 pounds ($200). Levin’s advice: be short, be topical and engage with followers.

“A lot of advertisers don’t get” Twitter, said Paul Frampton, chief executive officer at Havas Media, the ad placement arm of French advertising company Havas SA. (HAV) “People have to be brought into the conversation on Twitter and it has to be more of an opinion or you won’t get followers.”

Punchy Sentences

The upside to Twitter is that it’s free and small businesses can reach as many people as they can attract. On Facebook, by contrast, large brands are increasingly paying to win fans. Aside from slapping ads directly on the site, Facebook advertisers can target consumers based on location, demographics and interests and build pages for brands to interact with customers through posts, events and offers.

“Small businesses like a pub, florist and restaurant can all have a social media voice on Twitter because it’s the same for everyone, while Facebook is becoming a paid platform,” said James Whatley, head of social media at ad company Ogilvy & Mather. Facebook declined to comment.

Small business owners without sassy, media-savvy offspring or a knack for writing punchy sentences can hire someone to run their Twitter account. Will Wynne, a former private equity banker at Credit Agricole who founded an online florist called ArenaFlowers.com, turned to a pro to pen his Twitter feed. Since it was launched 18 months ago, the account has attracted more than 22,000 followers.

Wynne’s aim was to get readers to think of flowers beyond the two-to-three times annually that most people buy them. He says sales have increased 30 percent since his Twitter account started posting tweets such as, “When you’re asked what your weaknesses are at a job interview, look lovingly into their eyes, place your hands on theirs and say ‘You.’”

While Wynne doesn’t attribute the sales boost entirely to the tweets, “there’s no doubt Twitter has helped,” he said. “Twitter has humanized our brand and in the end, life’s too short and we like to have a bit of fun.”

From Bloomberg

By Kristen Schweizer

Israeli Moms Mentored by Google for Women Making Startups

Women cradle newborn babies in their arms and dangle soft toys in front of older infants on colorful mattresses, all in a room in a Tel Aviv high-rise strewn with strollers and oversized bean bags.

It’s not a play facility. It’s the location ofGoogle Inc.’s first baby-friendly school for startups. Called Campus for Moms, the program involves a series of nine weekly classes designed to give women on maternity leave a boost toward opening their own ventures in a country whose economy is dependent on innovation.

“The course helped me realize that this is who I am,” said Nira Sheleg, a 37-year-old mother of two who founded Wizer.me, a teacher-resource company, during the program. “I am an entrepreneur, not just a mom with an idea. Now I have a support group, and the mothers around me are amazing.”

Since graduation last July, she’s recruited a chief executive officer and several advisers and plans to start sales soon. Her targeted market: the U.S.

The classes –- two series have run so far -- are designed to address a dearth of women entrepreneurs in Israel, where technology makes up almost half of industrial exports. That contributes about one-third of economic growth, making staffing such companies a priority for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Yet only 9 percent of technology startups around Tel Aviv are headed by women –- about the same as in Silicon Valley.

“The biggest miss we have on talent in the technology industry is the lack of women entrepreneurs and engineers,” said Google Israel’s head of research and development, Yossi Matias, the senior company executive working with the Campus for Moms project. Google is following up with similar programs in London and in Krakow, Poland, he said.

Micro-Venture

Employees of technology companies in Israel make up less than 10 percent of the total workforce, according to figures from 2011 posted on the Central Bureau of Statistics website. About 7 percent of all working women are employed in technology, compared with 12 percent for men.

As little as 4 percent of global venture capital flows into female-initiated startups, according to Eva Ventures, a micro-venture capital fund dedicated to the promotion of women entrepreneurship. Its website uses figures from the Kauffman Foundation, an educational and entrepreneurial grant maker in Kansas City.

Eva Ventures started raising funds a few months ago and hopes to close with about $30 million in a few months before seeking candidates to invest in, said Michal Michaeli, founder and managing partner of the fund. All three managing partners are women.

“We know that having more women as start-up founders would enrich the vibrant, innovative and unique scene that is Israeli high tech,” the fund’s website says.

‘Man’s Society’

Orna Berry has lived in the skewed world of Israel’s technology industry for more than 25 years.

“It was always clear to me that this was a man’s society,” said Berry, former chief scientist for the Israeli government and venture partner at Gemini Israel fund. She is now a corporate vice president at EMC Corp., the world’s biggest maker of storage computers.

Along the way, she’s reached out to women in the industry. She calls it less an act of mentoring and more the “virtue of the fact that a woman leader was with them so they allowed themselves not to stop at red lights.”

Sheleg, who abandoned the first business she started due to the demands of her family life, attests to that. She was able to create Wizer.me in the nurturing environment of Campus for Moms, where conversations ranged from baby-sleeping issues to where to register a business. Wizer.me lets teachers create online worksheets and other educational tools.

Long Distance

Her first venture, ShellEgg, was an Internet showcase for architects. She founded it with her sister when they both had infants.

“We had lots of trouble going to the States for the long-distance trips that were necessary and we didn’t progress as we should have,” said Sheleg, who studied information technology at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. “At the time, we didn’t know how to combine motherhood with startups.”

At Campus for Moms, lecturers speak once a week about technology, give how-to lessons on forming a business and share life experiences. Leaders in the industry explain how to win investors and how to develop a market.

Women startup aspirations in Israel can be undermined by the lack of child care outside the family in a country where school and day care can end in early afternoon.

Military Service

Hilla Brenner, founder of Yazamiyot, a women’s entrepreneurial group that worked with Google to create Campus for Moms, says the country’s mandatory military service of two years for women and three years for men is also partly to blame for muting female business dreams. Women often have to accommodate their husbands’ armed-forces duties or delay careers because of their own.

“To become an entrepreneur you need to be completely involved in something else besides your family,” said Brenner, a 38-year-old mother of three who raised money for her first venture when she was eight months pregnant with her first child. “This is more difficult in Israel than in other places because your partner does reserve duty, sacrificing for his country, while you sacrifice for the kids.”

Shelly Hod Moyal, co-founder of equity crowd-funding platform iAngels, which launched this month, says mandatory service also means studies are delayed. Career-building begins when women are as old as 28 and thinking about starting a family.

‘Pretty Smile’

When they do decide to go ahead, there are prejudices to overcome.

“There was one lead angel investor who said ‘just because you have a pretty smile doesn’t mean you will be successful,’ and another told us we were missing male energy,” she said. “On the other hand, there were a lot of people who empowered us and said, ‘Just seeing two women doing this is refreshing.’”

IAngels has already raised more than $1 million for four companies with investors from all over the world, she said. The company has two employees: an associated partner and a developer.

According to a 2013 report by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Israel’s percentage of self-employed women ranked 11th from the bottom of 38 countries, better than Germany and France and just behind the U.S. Mexico and Greece took the top places.

Gender stereotypes moved Rebecca Rachmany, a 46-year-old mother of two, to co-found a startup to counter them. Gangly Sister Productions has posted a YouTube cartoon series for tween girls in English called ‘Purple and Nine’ that seeks to inspire them to explore technology.

No Programming

“No one ever tells a girl she isn’t cut out to be a movie star, but they do say she isn’t cut out to be a programmer,” said Rachmany, whose team includes six founders, two of whom are men, as well as paid translators, animators and production sound specialists. Most work part-time and more than half the contractors are women.

Costs are financed for now by Rachmany and her co-founder, who left other jobs to do Gangly Sisters full time. The goal is to make money from online paid community memberships and affiliated projects.

At Campus for Moms, which is attended by about 50 women, a new session will start in May. If Sheleg’s experience is a guide, more startups will emerge.

“Once you’re in this community of mothers doing the same thing you are you don’t think it’s so extraordinary,” she said.

From Bloomberg

By  Gwen Ackerman

The startup staffed by ex-cons

The sleek San Francisco office of tech startup LaunchPodium is a big step up for two of its staffers.

Tulio Cardozo, 32, and Caleb Hunter, 35, were inmates at California's infamous San Quentin State Prison. But today, their lives are similar to 20-somethings across Silicon Valley: They're trying to build a startup.

LaunchPodium, founded in the spring of 2013, is an online marketing firm helping small businesses build websites, social engagement and advertising. The two men make up half the new company's full-time workforce: Cardozo is a lead developer, while Hunter is a technology architect.

"LaunchPodium's main focus is about simplifying an entrepreneur's life," Cardozo said. "Think of it as an entrepreneur support package in a box."

They pull all-nighters, weigh Wordpress versus Drupal, and spend their days white-boarding ideas. But only a short time ago, they wore matching blue uniforms and had access to nothing more advanced than a prison typewriter.

Cardozo served just under six years in prison for manufacture of a controlled substance and was released in October 2011. Hunter served eight years for carjacking and vehicle theft and was released in October 2013.

LaunchPodium founder Mike Parsons met the two men through a six-month prison entrepreneurship program called The Last Mile, founded by Chris Redlitz.

Inmates create tech-oriented business plans and learn about the industry from guest lecturers and books by prominent entrepreneurs, like Guy Kawasaki's "Enchantment." They finish with a "demo day" where they pitch to actual Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

Parsons partners with the program, helping ex-convicts get acquainted with the tech world when they're released from prison. In addition to Hunter and Cardozo, he has five other newly released prisoners working as "entrepreneurs-in-residence" (meaning they work primarily on their own startups from the LaunchPodium offices). Hunter and Cardozo actually began their tenure at LaunchPodium three months ago as EIRs, where they perfected their technical skills. They were hired full time last month.

"We made a very deliberate choice to go out there and work with people that really are just so committed to making a contribution," Parsons said. "Their advantage is in their attitude."

The program is not just "do-gooderism" -- it's good business. Customers find the unusual backgrounds of the LP staff a compelling reason to work with them.

"We bring a certain level of insight that perhaps someone who's [been] part of the everyday conversation wouldn't necessarily see," Hunter said.

It's an unexpected benefit of their isolation, since much of the technology used today was developed while they were serving time. The smartest phone on the market when they were incarcerated was the Motorola Razer. Facebook (FB, Fortune 500) still had "The" before its name.

For both men, technology was at arm's length for years: Cardozo learned about Massive Open Online Courses while incarcerated, but to participate, he had to have his mother download course materials on computer science and mail him stacks of paper.

"I always wanted to be a geek and go to MIT ... [but] I knew that wasn't gonna happen," Cardozo said.

LaunchPodium has given the men a way to break into the tech world.

"When they get in front of a computer or they see a smartphone for the first time, it's really a special moment," said Redlitz. "It's like a kid at Christmas or someone with a new toy."

Back inside San Quentin, TLM is starting to select inmates for the program based on their potential for filling openings at its partner tech companies. It's a sort of in-prison job recruitment.

After years of the concerns that cropped up on the cell block, the highs and lows of the startup world don't phase these guys.

"We're sitting in a meeting, and it took me a moment to pause and realize, I'm literally living my dream," said Hunter.

From CNN Money

By Erica Fink

Facebook execs get another big payday

In addition to her duties at Facebook, Sandberg serves on the board at Disney and was previously a director at Starbucks.

Facebook executives took home another big haul for their efforts in 2013, even though their pay packages weren't quite as lucrative as they were in 2012.

In a regulatory filing Monday, Facebook said that three of its top executives earned more than $10 million in salary, bonuses and stock awards last year. A year earlier three top execs made more than $17 million.

Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg's compensation dropped to $16.1 million last year, down from the $26.2 million she earned in 2012. But Facebook's executives receive a significant portion of their compensation in stock grants that vest over the course of four years, so those totals could change depending on what happens with the company's share price over time.

Chief financial officer David Ebersman earned $10.5 million last year, down from $17.5 million for 2012. And Mike Schroepfer, Facebok's chief engineer, earned $12.6 million in 2013 after making $20.7 million a year earlier.

It doesn't appear that the cuts in compensation are related to performance -- Facebook's board praised Sandberg's leadership in "the continued growth in mobile ad revenue, helping to grow the base of Facebook users, and strengthening key policy relationships globally." Ebersman, the board said, contributed to growing the company's revenue and the "execution of financial planning and forecasting."

CEO Mark Zuckerberg accepted a $1 salary for 2013, as the company had previously announced, following the example of other tech industry leaders like Google' Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs famously took home just $1 a year.

It's safe to say Zuckerberg can afford it -- as Facebook's leading shareholder, he had a net worth of $27 billion as of Monday, according to Bloomberg.

Zuckerberg did receive chartered air travel paid for by Facebook, which the company valued at $650,164 for 2013.

Facebook's ad revenue soared 72% in 2013, including strong growth in mobile ads, which had been a question mark for the company. Overall sales hit $7.8 billion on the year, up from $5.1 billion in 2012. 

From CNN Money
By James O'Toole

Think You're Too Old to Be An Entrepreneur? Think Again. (Infographic)

If Hollywood wants to portray an entrepreneur in a movie, then he -- and it’s usually a he – is in his early 20s, may or may not have a college degree, is probably wearing blue jeans and a hoodie, and is a bit unkempt, with messy hair and facial hair.

That stereotype may appeal to our interest in a narrative where geeks take over the world, but the Mark Zuckerberg-inspired vision is absolutely only a part of the entrepreneurship story. Many entrepreneurs don’t even think about launching their own business until they are in their 30s, 40s, and even 50s, after years of work experience.

Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's, sold paper cups and milkshake mixers until he was 52, according to an infographic from San Francisco-based startup organization Funders and Founders (below). Meanwhile, the founder of cosmetic behemoth Mary Kay, Mary Kay Ash, sold books and home decor objects until she was 45.

Fret not if you are over 40 and have yet to start your own business. There’s still time. And chances are, if you’ve worked a while, you’ve learned a thing or two about life and business that will be helpful, too.

Take a look at the infographic below for more examples of entrepreneurs who launched later in life. 

From Entrepreneur

By  CATHERINE CLIFFORD

What Business Owners Can Learn From Taxi Drivers

Want to be a successful taxi driver?

It’s a competitive business. It’s impossible to raise your fares. There's long hours and it’s very, very hard work. Your customers can be tough, moody, impatient and sometimes downright unfriendly. You’re expected to be an expert at your job and possess a wealth of information. You are criticized and analyzed, and rarely receive a thank you. You’re regulated by the government. You have high costs.

It is not easy being a taxi driver. I should know. I have all of these same problems, and so does just about every business owner I meet. I have friends that run pizza shops, clients that manufacturer tubes and partners who sell hardware. They all have the same problems. But I know how you can succeed.

You will make sure your taxi is spotless, that you always have enough gas and that your repairs are up to date. The cab will not smell of cigarette smoke, sweat or beer. In fact, it won’t smell of anything at all. There will be no evidence of past customers in the back seat -- no stains, tears or missing seatbelts. The taxi will be cool in the summer and warm in the winter. You will have a bottle of water for each customer. You will be clean and dressed appropriately. You will be courteous, respectful and helpful. You will treat each customer like they're special. Your place of business will be respectable and professional.

You will be expert in what you do. You will learn the language of your customer so that you can communicate effectively. You won’t ask your out-of-town passenger for directions because you will understand that your customer assumes that you know how to do what you’re being paid to do. You will not use profanity, scream and shout at other drivers, talk on the phone to your girlfriend or comment on the economy or the president.

You will not drive or conduct yourself recklessly or endanger your customer. You will do what you do so that your customer can do what he or she does -- be it talk on the phone, paperwork, checking their messages or nap. You will converse when your customer wants to converse. You will operate your business with the best interests of the customer in mind.

You will make the best use of technology and equip yourself with reliable GPS software so that you can get to and from your destination quickly. You will have a mobile phone in case customers need to call or text you. You will offer your customers choices for payment -- cash or credit card, and for those customers who want to pay by credit card you will utilize a mobile payment application to do this, also ensuring that passengers receive a receipt emailed to them. Your use of technology will not only increase the convenience of the customer but make you more productive and therefore profitable.

You will be ethical. You will not take a roundabout route when a more direct one is better for the customer. You will not overcharge. You will not take advantage of your customer’s ignorance -- of course.

You will do something extra. As you drive maybe you’ll ask if your customer would like a restaurant recommendation or some advice about the destination. You may point out interesting sites if the customer wishes. You will help with your passenger’s bags. Most importantly when you reach your destination you will do something that most taxi drivers don’t: say thank you. Offer your business card and your services if they’re further needed. And thank them again. You will demonstrate your competitive edge by always doing more than expected.

This is how to be a successful taxi driver. Don’t want to drive a cab? That’s OK. It’s also how to be a successful entrepreneur.

From Entreprenuer

By Gene Marks

3 Business Secrets to Learn From Listening to Your Body

You may have seen him or her: the strong, well-built, self-assured business leader strutting onto the stage to deliver a dynamic keynote to a packed conference hall. Beneath that well-cut suit is a person who clearly works out.

Why is it that many of the people who lead top companies appear to be in great physical shape? Perhaps the question should be: Why do many successful business leaders also exude physical prowess and health?

It’s not just coincidence.

The connections between how you take care of your body and the way you nuture your business are too close and too important to ignore. The physical entity we call a human body and the legal entity we call a company are both vehicles that allow you to reach an end result. They are both cohesive networks of systems with rules and optimum conditions for success (read: health). And they both respond to your leadership.

So how can you leverage information gleaned from your body to improve your businesses?

1. Strategy. Like companies, bodies vary by shape and size, strengths and weaknesses and overall health and vigor. It’s critical for you to be aware of your body’s -- and company’s -- unique characteristics and needs, and that to use strategy in thought and action to achieve the results you seek.

When you approach your body from the point of view of strategy, you’re thinking about the best moves to strengthen it and avoid injury as well as the most nutritious foods for nourishment and health. You want results without side effects.

When you approach your business strategically, you’re considering the optimal ways to position it as unique and valuable, the most effective tools and systems to drive innovation and support vital processes, and the best ways to avoid problems.

In both cases, it’s important to be creative and nimble.

2. Energy. A critical yet often overlooked force for success, energy powers everything we do. And a high level of energy can drive greater productivity; clearer, more creative thinking and a host of other things critical for building a business.

It's no wonder that leaders like Apple’s Tim Cook, Nike’s Mark Parker and Senator Wendy Davis have made maintaining their physical health a nonnegotiable priority. Just as physical activity can improve brain function, inactivity has an equally tangible opposite effect, according to new research.

One study, published recently in The Journal of Comparative Neurology, found that a lack of physical activity in rats increased their risk for heart disease and altered the structure and operation of the brain. Inactivity caused the neurons to overstimulate the sympathetic nervous system and made the animals lethargic. 

3. Time. Another element bound up in the quest for success is time. No one ever feels they have enough, but some people excel at exercising time management to their personal and professional advantage. Among the most ambitious, driven people are the ones rising earlier and exercising more. Publications including Entrepreneur have written about the fitness habits of successful people, such President Barack Obama.

But this is not about simply setting your alarm clock earlier and upping your bench press another 100 pounds. It's about prioritization and efficiency, consistency and discipline -- and passion.  

Time is a precious and nonrenewable asset; use it well. When you’re in the gym, don’t waste time on exercises that won’t produce the desired results.

Apply that same thinking to business. Out of the 50 tasks you need to accomplish at work, determine which will give you the highest yield, both in the short and long term. Tackle those first. This approach is also important for your business goals.

Above all, enjoy the process. Identify the one exercise at the gym and the one task in business that give you the most joy. Then strategize to use these favorite activities to help you reach your goals faster and become stronger.

The principles upon which you can build a stronger, healthier body are the same ones that can help you build a lasting and vibrant business. Live by those principles and perhaps it will be you up on that stage next.

From Entreprenuer

By Eric Schiffer