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7 Lessons I Learned From Jeff Bezos

December 2, 2013 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, did an interview with 60 Minutes about where Amazon is heading. There were a lot of fascinating things revealed in the interview such as a highly advanced assembly line, all of the constants that Amazon is trying to break, and the drones that will be shipping products to your house in a few years. This 60 Minutes interview was one of the best ones I have seen in a while. Jeff Bezos explained how Amazon has been able to do what is has done, and the future of Amazon as well. Here are the 7 key takeaways from the interview:

Everyone starts from the bottom. Jeff Bezos drove to the post office himself in order to deliver the first product. Amazon used to be an online bookstore, and in the beginning, Jeff dreamed to have enough money to buy a forklift. Now there are forklifts all over Amazon’s buildings.
You need to innovate in order to survive for a longer period of time. Amazon has brought forth a lot of change. They have already changed how books are sold. However, Amazon will also be changing how movies get produced and how we buy our groceries. Amazon already delivers groceries to customers in Seattle and LA. Without innovation, companies get toppled faster.
Have a vision. Drones won’t be coming anytime soon, but within 5 years, Jeff Bezos plans to have drones bringing all products under 5 pounds directly to customers. Just to give you an idea of how much time this would save, 83% of Amazon products weigh less than 5 pounds.
Be organized. Amazon’s assembly lines are incredible. All of the products get organized based on zip codes which makes distributing them very easy.
Keep on growing. Amazon has millions of customers, but even with all of these customers, Amazon keeps on growing. Amazon is using some of the money to build more warehouses which will allow them to ship products to their customers faster. One warehouse is being built in New Jersey for those of you nearby.
Know what the customers want. Jeff Bezos knows that his customers want affordable prices and quick delivery. That’s why he is using the money from Amazon to build warehouses and make drones. That’s why the prices of Amazon’s Kindles are intentionally lowered to prevent a profit. Kindles only make a profit when users buy paid apps on their Kindles.
Show some humor. Jeff Bezos showed a lot of humor during the interview. His humor made the interview engaging.

Giving Up Is An Option (But That Doesn’t Make It The Right Option)

December 2, 2013 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

The sad truth is that giving up is always an option (but not all options are meant to be followed properly).

The workload gets too tough (although no one can escape work).

Doing all of the research will take forever (although you’ll learn a lot in the end).

The product might not even be successful (but what if it would have been and you stopped halfway).

Getting a sale is going to be a challenge (you’ll be able to rejoice because you made a sale).

The ROI doesn’t add up (When Twitter started, it cost more money to keep Twitter going than the owners were making from the social network).

You can give up (however, there’s also the better option which is to make a difference).

Hashtags: The SEO For Twitter

December 1, 2013 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

Chances are you know what a hashtag is. Millions of people know what a hashtag is, but not everyone is implementing hashtags on Twitter. Hashtags are like the SEO for Twitter. The more hashtags you use, the more people see you. However, a tweet with too many hashtags doesn’t encourage people to click that follow button.

The best way to implement hashtags in your tweets is by using a maximum of 3 hashtags in the same tweet. At the end of a link to an article, you can put three hashtags that explain what the article is all about. You can also include hashtags in the tweets. If I tweet an article called, “Top 10 Twitter Tips,” I would write the tweet as Top 10 #Twitter Tips,” (with the link).

The reason I put the hashtag in front of Twitter is because I want my target audience to find me. People who are interested in Twitter, Social Media, Blogging, Business, and a few other things (or a combination of these things) are my target audience. When people search those terms using Twitter’s search box, my tweets come up since I use those hashtags.

You need hashtags in your Twitter strategy because they increase visibiltiy. Including or leaving out the hashtags in your tweets can be the difference between a surge of followers and only getting a few followers.

5 Reasons Why You Need Google+ Hangouts For Your Business

December 1, 2013 by Marc Guberti 7 Comments

One of my goals was to have a podcast where I interviewed people about business and social media. I decided to take steps of action in order to accomplish that goal. I looked at a lot of options such as a blog talk radio show and a bunch of websites that offered podcasting services. However, this was a lot of work. As I continued working on accomplishing this goal, nothing seemed to work.

Then, I saw someone use Google+ Hangouts. I thought, “Why not?” I had looked at many other options. What would doing some research about Google+ Hangouts do? Looking into Google+ Hangouts has completely changed my goal for the better. Instead of having my own podcast, I interview people on Google+ Hangouts.

My story of ending up on Google+ Hangouts involves a lot of struggles, but like all happy endings, a solution was reached. Whether you are interested in podcasting or something else, Google+ Hangouts will help your business soar. Here are 5 important reasons to start using Google+ Hangouts:

1. You can have multiple callers, and 10 participants is the maximum. Having a maximum of 10 participants makes it more likely for everyone to say what they want to say. If there were 100 participants on the same Google+ Hangout, either some people would be left out or the hangout would be too long and lose the interest of your viewers. You can interview 1 person or a bunch of people as long as there aren’t more than 10 people. If you have 11 people that you want to interview, you can create multiple Google+ hangouts to get all of the interviews in and ensure quality.

2. Google+ Hangouts can automatically be published to YouTube and Google Plus when they are done. By having your hangouts automatically published to YouTube and Google Plus, you will immediately be able to draw comments and questions about your hangout. This also saves you some steps towards promoting your hangouts.

3. You can host a live Q&A with Google+ Hangouts. Putting a form on your blog or your email address will get you some questions. You can even answer questions using a social network. With Google+ Hangouts, viewers can call in and ask a question, and you answer it like always. The only difference is that anyone can view the person’s question and your answer. By hosting a live Q&A, you will be able to help more of your viewers in real-time and build credibility for yourself as an expert at the same time!

4. Google+ Hangouts is free and easy to use. Unlike most podcasting services, blog radio shows, and anything similar, Google+ Hangouts are completely free. You don’t have to pay a one-time price or a monthly fee of any kind. Google+ Hangouts is also easy to use. Out of all of the products I have seen on Google, they do the best job at giving how-to instructions for Google+ Hangouts. After looking at Google’s instructions about setting up a Google+ Hangout and inviting your guests, you will be able to do all of this in a manner of minutes.

5. There’s a lot of creative ways to use Google+ Hangouts. After you get used to Google+ Hangouts, there are a lot of creative ways to use it. One creative way to use Google+ Hangouts is by giving away one of your products or telling people about a coupon throughout the entire Google+ Hangout. Instead of placing advertisements in your video, you can talk about discounts and giveaways of your products. If you don’t have a product yet, you can give away something that attracts attention such as an iPad Mini or the always popular $50 Amazon Gift Card.

Beat The Competition By Satisfying Your Clients’ Needs

November 30, 2013 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

Successful entrepreneurs don’t focus on creating products for their needs. They focus on creating products for their clients’ needs. People buy products that solve a problem. People buy food because it solves a problem. People buy water because it solves a problem. People buy jackets because it solves a problem. People buy food so they don’t go hungry, water so they don’t go thirsty, and jackets so they aren’t cold during winter.

However, the problems and needs of clients go well beyond food, water, and a jacket. The problems and needs of people are down to the sub-niche. Some people’s problems that need fixing seem so minuscule to everyone else. Every client is also a person that needs to solve problems.

There are going to be clients who need a problem to be solved relating to your niche. In fact, it may also relate to your sub-niche because more people are getting more specific. Instead of asking for help with social media in general, some clients may want help with a specific social network. Instead of asking for help with Twitter in general, some clients may want help with getting more followers. Some clients will also want targeted followers instead of just having a big number of followers.

Your clients have needs. The first thing you need to do is find those needs. The best way to find those needs is by having a Q&A on your blog and social networks. After enough people ask you questions, you will be able to find a common pattern. When you find that common pattern, all you need to do is find an answer. That answer needs to become a product that satisfies all of your clients’ needs.

By satisfying your clients’ needs, you will be able to stand out from the competition. By standing out from the competition, your business will be able to grow like never before.

Why Following Others On Twitter Is Critical Towards Success

November 30, 2013 by Marc Guberti 6 Comments

When I first joined Twitter, I thought I would eventually become one of those people with 100,000 followers and end up following only 100 people. I was able to get as far as 1,667 followers while only following 12 people. However, the number 1,667 didn’t change for months. On some days, I would gain a follower and have 1,668 followers. It always seemed as I would lose one follower the very next day.

This is the path I took for months. It seemed as if no matter what I did, I would remain stuck with only 1,667 followers forever without any signs of improvement. I tried everything I could to get more followers except what I was very reluctant to do: follow others. One day, all of the frustration piled on until I made my move: I started following others.

Following others also led me to following back. As my following count soared, I started to get more followers. All of a sudden, I got almost 100 followers. Then I got 194 followers in one day. Then I settled at a consistent 30 followers every day. Getting 30 followers every day was a lot better than being stuck at 1,667.

As my following continues to grow, I decided to ask myself how I was able to get the big following by following others and why I wasn’t able to get the big following by only following 100 people. After some thought, the answer became clear, and it applies for a lot of people on Twitter right now.

The reason I was stuck at 1,667 followers for a long time was because people did not know me. The best way to get people to know who you are is by following them and hoping for a follow back. As more people get to know you, your will build a bigger following. That’s how I went from being stuck to gaining 30 followers a day to gaining hundreds of followers every day.

People need to know about you. By following people on Twitter, you are telling them that you are on the web. When enough people follow you back, and you continue to tweet consistently, your presence on the web becomes powerful and extraordinary.