Category Archives: Popular on Twitter

Who are your best business connections? They are not who you think!

Categories: Marketing, Popular on Twitter | Tagged , | Leave a comment

I am sitting here doing my monthly article reading. I pour through dozens of interesting (and a few not so interesting) business articles to find interesting content to write about. Well, here on Harvard Business Review I’m reading about how dangerous it is to assume your career is safe. I think it is dangerous to assume anything is safe. In this world, nothing is constant except change — and my Guru says we have to wait for change!

But, your best business contacts may not be who you think they are. Your family, close friends, schoolmates, and close associates at work might not be your best contacts. In a sense it is unpredictable who your best contacts are, and one may be great at one point in your career while another might be good at another time.

It is often the case that your best business contacts are people who you have known for years, but with weak ties. Maybe a customer who you had slightly longer and more interesting conversations with, or a vendor’s assistant who was a little more knowledgeable or interesting. That winning connection could be anyone. Perhaps it pays to keep a database of your interesting connections and try to develop slightly less weak ties with them. You never know what could happen. I met some of the most interesting industry related people I know on Twitter. Unfortunately, they were anti-social and the relationships didn’t last. Maybe I should go back to hanging around at coffee houses — those coffee house types never get tired of yapping with me!

You might also like:

My favorite business dream was about lions and giraffes
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/01/23/the-best-business-dream-i-ever-had-was-about-lions-giraffes/

Steve Jobs Principle — the more people you network with outside your field
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/08/28/outsource-steve-jobs-principle-the-more-people-you-network-w-outside-your-field/

You don’t get to the next level in business by being in a hurry
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/11/13/you-dont-get-to-the-next-level-in-business-by-being-in-a-hurry/

Should you work for a startup to learn how they operate?

Categories: Popular on Twitter, Startups | Leave a comment

Portrait of a startup
I have a friend who wants to start a business. But, he wants to know how other startups do things. There is a certain energy at startups that is contagious — a zeal, a passion, a certain “je ne sais quoi.” The problem with startups is that the people running them don’t always have solid business experience. They are also working on a limited budget and don’t always have the best resources for hiring the right people. There will normally be one or two very talented people who have amazing skills, but are winging it as far as business predictions, human resources, and management are concerned.

Casual is good!
Startups are also fun because they are often casual, have a lot of younger energetic people, and have room for fast job advancement. If the company doesn’t fold, you’ll probably be promoted to Vice President the minute the boss can put someone under you!

Fixed routines might not exist
Companies that are venturing out into new directions are very different from long established companies with set routines and set procedures. I remember when I started my company how I changed my techniques for doing everything. My programmers and employees got really upset. They had just learned my methods, and then I changed them just like that. Being frustrated with change is not a good way to start if you want to work at a startup. You need to embrace change, and also understand the reasoning behind the changes (if there is any.) Additionally, your job description might need to include “other things.” The boss might not be able to afford a full time janitor or social media expert, so you might have to do both when you are not in marketing, you’re in management. If your tech genious quits, you might find yourself in HR when you signed up for a job in sales. If the company grows, but you haven’t yet moved into your new office, you might be stuffed in the corner. But, it’s all good, because this is part of the overall excitement of working for a startup. Personally, I love it.

Learning from the pros
If you want to learn from seasoned business people, the management teams at Coca Cola or Toyota are who I would sign up to learn from. Although they are far from startups, they have the most innovative, top notch managers that you can get. They have had to deal with more complicated situations, growth issues, marketing issues, and tactical situations than you can imagine. Those managers come up with smooth and well thought out solutions to any type of problem while managers at small businesses are often very limited in their thinking — especially if they have no experience like in many startups. Sure, working for a startup might be exciting, but learning from people who are competent is also exciting if you don’t mind being around suits all day long. My psychic and I channeled twenty companies using “magical” means (consciousness.) The results that we found were that the best business advice that we got came from seasoned pros. Organizations like Harvard or Hyundai were light years more sophisticated during the channeling than newly mushroomed companies like Uber or Twitter. My personal experience sounds very bizarre (and it is,) but try to think a little more deeply about the situation. Do you want to learn management skills from someone sound or someone who lacks a stable foundation? Who do you think you’ll learn more from? Personally, I feel you should try it both ways as you will learn different things from each experience.

The failure rate is high
Most startups do not succeed in the long run. There is a lot that can go wrong and many factors that will be out of your control. People who make the most money in business are able to perform a service or create a product that is better than anyone else’s. How can you possible be better when your company has no experience? However, if the owner of the company has twenty years experience working in robotics and your startup is in robotics, then you have a fighting chance since your skills are not just starting up.

If you don’t have the complete skillset
Many people dream about doing business. I once dreamed about it to. Now, I’m really “in business” as my friend Steve used to say with emphasis. The reality is not so glamerous. I need to do twenty types of tasks every day. If I only did nineteen out of the twenty, my business wouldn’t stay afloat. People I hire only want to do one or two tasks. When you ask them to do three, they start complaining. The lady who does incoming calls complains if she has to do outgoing. The lady who does over the phone testing doesn’t want to do social media. The person who likes social media, doesn’t want to write blogs. I have to do all of these things and more — and be good at all of them or I am out of business. If you are serious about working for a startup, you have to multi-task and be good at all of your tasks. If you start your own startup, then you have to do more than multi-task or you are out of business.

Think positively
If you do a good job, you might be the next Google, Uber, Baidu, or Facebook. So, work hard, try hard, and even if things don’t go as expected, you will learn a lot. Stay thirsty for success my friends!

You might also like:

What does Mark Cuban say about startups?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/12/04/what-does-mark-cuban-say-about-startups/

Should established companies create startups?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/01/12/should-established-companies-create-startups/

Interesting startups from around the globe
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/09/27/interesting-startups-from-around-the-globe/

How women can get even with men in the workplace

Categories: Of Interest, Popular on Twitter | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

In the real world, there seems to be very little fairness. This is why I generally recommend that minorities learn to be good at creating their own businesses. That way they get paid much closer to what they are worth without all of the discrimination and affirmative action. Women seem to also always be held back in the workplace due to preconceived notions. However, there are many things women have in their advantage that can help them get even.

(1) Patience is a virtue
Young men are known to lack patience. Men want to get ahead, and fast. Many find it painstaking to endure a boring job for years in order to get a good reputation with their company. Women tend to be more willing to pay their dues and take promotions as they come. Try to capitalize on your patience as a woman.

(2) Building relationships
Women are better at building and maintaining relationships than men. If your job involves managing clients or suppliers, it is in your interests to do an outstanding job and make it so those clients only want to talk to you — and not the boss. That way you have power as you become somewhat irreplaceable.

(3) Unvirtue may not be a virtue, but women do it anyway?
Many unvirtuous women sleep their way to the top. Personally I think this is very immoral, but people do all types of immoral things without batting an eyelash. If you and some chauvinistic guy are stuck in the mailroom as your job, and you use your charms to get a management position during your first year at the company — you can go back to the mailroom to taunt that male chauvinist and show him who got ahead in the long run. Or, as the case may be who got ahead in the short run.

(4) Being less threatening.
Bosses are tired of workers who have all types of demands and who threaten. Of course in the real world, women can be very manipulative and threatening. But, many women are not. So, you can capitalize on being loyal and non-threatening. Your boss will like that and in the long run if you have job smarts, that could help you move up the ladder.

(5) The art of subtle manipulation
In management, getting other people to do what they are supposed to is hard. Although women typically are not respected as authorities no matter how assertive they are (proven fact, not just making this up) women are often good at sweet talking people into doing what they are supposed to. When I need the programmers to get off their rear and fix something, I have to ask ten times. When my female assistant sweet talks them, she only has to ask once and they do it. Hmmm. If a woman knows how to sweet talk, and makes sure things get done, she could be a superstar in management and get ahead of the aggressive guys.

Summary
Well, that’s it for now. Women face the glass ceiling in the work place, but if they use their female charms to their advantage, they can get a significant lead over men in ways you can’t even imagine. Instead of complaining about gender bias, use what you have and combine it with responsible business behavior, and you a good chance to get ahead of the boys.

You might also like:

Is it safe for women to take cabs in India?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/08/22/is-it-safe-for-women-to-take-cabs-in-india/

7 rules for women entrepreneurs to live by
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/01/30/7-rules-for-women-entrepreneurs-to-live-by/

Women programmers in the US and India
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/06/17/women-programmers-in-india-and-the-u-s/

How to get more clients for your BPO or Call Center (Compilation)

Categories: Call Center, Compilations, Popular on Twitter, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

We wrote many blog articles about outsource marketing that were so popular, we were not able to top them. However, many of these articles are from long time back and they never resurface to the top of the feed of our blog. So, we are going to bring them back in the form of a compilation to give you a choice of many articles!

How to attract more clients to your call center part 1
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2011/05/05/getting-more-clients-for-your-call-center/
Relationships are the key to success. How well do you get to know people and nurture the relationship? It might all start with a cold call, so get your fingers ready to dial.

How to attract more clients to your call center part 2
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2011/05/19/how-to-attract-more-clients-to-your-call-center-part-2/
Hiring the right staff and training them meticulously is part of the secret. You need to mentor them, coach them, and keep metrics on them. Experienced workers will keep your clients happy, so don’t deliver any novices or you’ll all be sorry.

How to find clients for call centers — good salespeople
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/04/08/how-to-find-clients-for-call-centers-good-salespeople/
You could have the best call center in the world, but without the right salespeople, getting new clients might not be so easy. Having well trained salespeople is key, and having a few extras around might not be such a bad idea either.

How to get clients for call centers — contracts!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/04/05/how-to-get-clients-for-call-centers-contracts/
Getting clients is just half the battle. Once they agree to do business with you, what type of contract should you use? Should it be rigid and long term, or a more relaxed month to month contract that is more “friendly?”

How to acquire clients for call centers — presentation!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/03/29/how-to-acquire-clients-for-call-centers-presentation/
If you provide a good service, that is half the battle. But, how you present yourself online and over the phone can mean the difference between gaining that new clients and losing them.

How to gain clients for your call center: Pay-Per-Click!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/08/01/how-to-gain-clients-for-your-call-center-pay-per-click/
There are many ways to get clients for your call center, but attracting people using PPC can be one of the fastest. You’ll need to know all of your keyword variations inside out and how the Google Adwords and other systems work. After that it is all systems go!

How to acquire call center clients — looking like a big company
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/06/20/how-to-acquire-call-center-clients-looking-like-a-big-company/
Some people are comfortable hiring a small company. But, larger clients prefer to play ball with larger companies. So, how to you appear to be large when you are not?

Is an English accent important? Just do your job!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/03/01/call-centers-in-india-is-an-english-accent-important-just-do-your-job/
Some call centers in India like to have agents with seemingly perfect English accents. But, the key to getting ahead lies more in quality work than in flashy accents.

Gaining new clients and nurturing them correctly
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/04/17/gaining-new-clients-and-nurturing-them-correctly/
We all have our hands out for new clients. However, how often are we there to solve their problems or just ask them how things are going? Do we woo them the right way? And how is our credibility?

OTHER INTERSTING ARTICLES

Half a million Filipino call center workers are on American time
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/03/29/half-a-million-filipino-call-center-workers-are-on-american-time/
It is hard to think of people staying up all night just to please us in America, but in the Philippines, this is a reality!

Why Indian Call Centers Fail
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/03/16/why-indian-call-centers-fail/
Many call centers are new startups that lack the skills or discipline to keep their work up to high standards. They also hire staff who often lack experience or training. The results are catastrophic!

Handling Stress in a Call Center Office
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2012/05/22/handling-stress-in-a-call-center-office/
People who work at call center offices burn out fast. The problem is that they do too many hours of calling each day and have no mechanism of de-stressing. We propose a long list of proven techniques to eliminate your stress today!

Attracting clientele via 123outsource.net — the 1st step
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/01/26/attracting-clientele-via-123outsource-net-the-1st-step/
123outsource.net is a powerful directory for attracting outsourcing business. Learn how to use our tool the right way!

Are you tired of outsourcing to India?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/03/05/are-you-tired-of-outsourcing-to-india/
The cultural behaviors in India are not usually to our liking in the US unless you get lucky and find someone really considerate. See how cultural differences ruin outsourcing relationships.

Is it better to have a woman do your phone calls?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/01/04/is-it-better-to-have-a-woman-do-your-phone-calls/
Men are better at being authoritative, but women are less threatening. Who should you hire for your next process?

Are your callers annoying?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2012/05/14/are-your-callers-annoying/
Finding call center reps with pleasing voices and personalities should be your main priority. Learn the art of interaction in this quick article!

How to start an outsourcing company
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2011/04/24/how-to-start-an-outsourcing-company/
Be an expert in your field and have a decisive offering. But, what about free trials? Am I crazy? Learn step by step what you need to do and get prepared!

How to write a resume for an outsourcing job!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2011/03/09/how-to-write-a-resume-for-an-outsourcing-job/
How do you document your education, professional membership and job objectives? Should you use chronological order or inverse? What else should you put on the resume?

Create stories in your blog about the experience of your clients
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/07/18/create-stories-in-your-blog-about-the-experience-of-your-clients/
Do you want to be good at marketing in 2015? Marketing is all about storytelling these days, so learn the art. If you are good at blogging too, so much the better!

From 100 Indian call centers down to 1
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2014/01/21/from-100-indian-call-centers-down-to-1/
When we weeded out the unprofessional call centers on our directory, we got rid of almost all of the Indian call centers. They didn’t answer their phone professionally and didn’t behave as if they were “real” businesses either.

Cottage industries in India ruin India’s outsourcing reputation
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2013/09/29/cottage-industries-in-india-ruin-indias-outsourcing-reputation/
Many outsourcing companies in India are not real companies. When you call them and ask their company name, they often have multiple names and multiple ventures all run out of someone’s bedroom that are often not real businesses at all.

Solutions to India’s transportation problem
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2011/04/10/solutions-to-indias-transportation-problem/
India is a country filled with traffic jams and new overpasses being built daily. But, what if they used more innovative solutions like moving walkways and standing only buses? Hmm…

Hitting the 10,000 mark on Twitter; Halfway up Mt. Twitterest!

Categories: Popular on Twitter, Social Media | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

.

I did it !!
A few months ago I hit 10,000 mark on my Twitter account, which is one third of the followers Bernie Sanders typically has at a campaign rally. Hitting 10,000 was very exciting, but didn’t change my life.

A flood of 140 emotions
I’m happy I got 10,000 followers, but to get major traffic or respect on Twitter, you need at least 100,000. Still, hitting a milestone felt good! On the other hand, I seem to have Twittered away more than an hour a day for the last year achieving this goal. I often ask myself, “was it worth it?” It’s hard to know if social media is worth your time, because the real reward only comes once you have developed a huge following and superior skills.

The reward comes at the end
Having been a student of the spiritual world over twenty-five years, certain phrases still resonate in my mind: “The reward comes at the end.” We spend years, decades and our entire life meditating to reach a lofty spiritual goal. But, we don’t get the rewards incrementally. We get the reward only when we reach the destination. Twitter, much like life seems to operate according to the same logic.

Twitter lends itself to exponential growth
You need a foundation to grow on Twitter, and you won’t get much return on your investment (even if you are Donald Trump) while you are building that foundation. However, once you have a solid following, you will find that using the same hour a day you spend (or three in Kim Kardashian’s case) you will gain more followers. I noticed that I went from getting about 20 followers a day to over 100 without spending additional time. If you have more followers, you will have more people who regularly retweet you which will get your messages across. You will also be better at writing tweets and picking the best articles to write or share.

Halfway up the mountain 10,000 feet (or followers) high
I have tweeted far and wide, and well past base camp which I passed several months back. It’s too late to turn back now. But, I am excited to see what is in front of me. I will breathe easier as I reach new plateaus (good thing this isn’t an actual mountain; otherwise I’d need an oxygen tank at this point.) My journey would have been much easier if I had had a Sherpa, but I guess hiking Mt. Twitterest doesn’t work that way. But, when I get stuck for ideas, I just ask my imaginary Sherpa for one.

Having it all figured out
After having struggled on Twitter for years, I feel like I have somewhat figured it out. I remember the types of hurdles I went through four years ago wondering why nobody liked my lame tweets. I learned to warm up my tweets to make them fun to read. I also learned how to experience and analyze which types of topics, articles and tweets do best. At this point, it is just about repeating the process. But, repeating the process means exploring many interesting articles and new themes for articles that I will soon write. Although I feel I know it all now, the growth rate, and the type of situations I will run into will continue to change — and there will never be a dull moment, but if there is, I’ll make sure it doesn’t show up on my feed!

Using Twitter as a tool rather than an addiction
I feel that I am too obsessive about Twitter. I shouldn’t spend as much time as I do. Google+ doesn’t get me much results, but it does get me SEO value whenever I publish anything. If I spent five minutes less on Twitter and spent those five minutes publishing daily on Google+, I would be using Twitter as a tool rather than an obsession. Every several months, I come up with a new plan to optimize my daily schedule. I think I just figured out my next small adjustment. Putting time management aside, use Twitter to learn new skills, read new articles, and figure out what works. You don’t need two hours a day for this. You can get huge on Twitter in as little as half an hour per day and still be able to follow, unfollow, tweet, select great articles, and interact with others.

The dream I had when I hit 10,000
I actually had this dream a month ago. I was hiking. Then, I got to a part in the trail that was too steep to hike up. I had to grab on to the long grass and pull my self up the slope for a stretch. Then, I got to a part which was very rocky and I had to climb up very treacherous sections. Finally I arrived at a ledge above me which I wouldn’t be able to get past unless I became a spider who could crawl upside down and backwards to get to the edge of it and then on top. But, I glanced to the right and there was a trail covered by a wooden structure. I quickly made my way into the wooden walkway and it led to a French restaurant and pastry shop. There were twelve choices for fruit pies; eleven after my imaginary Sherpa appeared out of nowhere and got his hands on one. My interpretation of this dream was that I had struggled up hill for years, but now I would enjoy the fruits of my labor!

Mastering other networks
I did spend two years trying to master Facebook, Google plus and a few other social media networks. I made excellent progress and our Notary Facebook account generates over 5000 clicks per month to my blog which is amazing. However, I never felt pulled towards those networks in the long run.

Social Media Saying:
Why do I keep climbing Mt. Twitterest? Because its there!

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You might also like:

10 quick factors that differentiate a good blog entry from a bad one
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/08/03/10-quick-factors-that-differentiate-a-good-blog-entry-from-a-bad-one/

What is the difference between a Twitter account with 1000 followers an a million?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/07/11/what-is-the-difference-between-a-twitter-account-with-1000-followers-and-1000000/

Why you should hire a comedian instead of a CEO to help you co-blog
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/06/13/why-you-should-hire-a-comedian-instead-of-a-ceo-to-co-blog/

18 ways to boost your social media marketing in 10 minutes or less per day!
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/05/05/18-ways-to-boost-your-social-media-marketing-in-10-minutes-day/

Wouldn’t it be nice to have your office in the Himalayas?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2011/04/27/wouldnt-it-be-nice-to-have-your-office-in-the-himalayas/

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Why you Should Hire a Comedian Instead of a CEO to Co-Blog.

Categories: Humor, Popular on Twitter, Semi-Popular, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Carbonating my Business Blog with Some Fizz
I am a business person, and if you read my blog regularly, it is likely that you are too! I struggled for a long time to find people who could help me blog. Sometimes people would think of generic sounding topics while others came up with bizarre and interesting stories. However, to have a constant supply of zany and interesting ideas, I needed more. Since I am a business person and very active on social media, I am bombarded with blog titles of every description and have no trouble thinking of more. I can easily write about business themes. So, if I hired someone with a business mind just like me, what would be the point — we already have a business mind here. What readers like, is some pizazz, and some clever jokes thrown in — and some professional proofreading never hurts ether — make that “either”.

Business + Humor = Success
Laugh and the world blogs with you. As a writer for three blogs, I like to throw some humor in on a regular basis. However, as a shrewd businessman, I’m shrewd enough to know I have no business writing comedy! The point is to align two different types of minds with different but complementary skills. In my case, I have a business-oriented mind with some industry-specific knowledge. My comedy writer is not only a comedian, but is a seasoned writer capable of professional proofreading — and that’s no joke. (The last time I put an ad in the paper for a seasoned writer, I got a Cajun guy from Baton Rouge with absolutely no experience applying for the job!)

Collaborative Brainstorming With Finesse
My writer and I join forces and in an hour can brainstorm more than a dozen interesting and funny blog titles. Then, we sometimes work together to develop themes. The actual writing of the blog might be done by him, or by myself and then “touched up” by him. He’ll clean up some small mistakes, find some areas that need finessing, and he’ll also ramp up the humor wherever possible. The other people I interviewed either couldn’t think of even one blog title, or came up with titles that sounded as cookie cutter and generic as the description cookie cutter and generic. My comedy writer comes up with stuff that is off the wall, but that is always a hit with both of the industries that I cater to.

Two Similar Minds — a Two Headed Monster?
If two like-minded business people wrote blogs together, there would be no jokes. They would debate whether or not to have pie charts, or graphs. Whether to cater to the lay-person, or higher level professionals. You might learn something before falling into a deep slumber reading their informative articles. If my comedy writer worked over their blog, he would chuck the charts and throw the pie graphs in their faces and start all over again to find a more laughable way to present the facts! Graphs and charts enhance the digestibility of information, but without a spoonful of sugar, the medicine won’t go down.

Incompatible Minds
On the other hand, if you partner up with someone whose thoughts are completely out of sync with yours, you won’t get anywhere collaborating. Finding your perfect match is not easy in the writing world. Rather than a comedian, it could be a stunt driver or a bartender — and I’ll drink to that, preferably not while stunt driving! But, whatever you do, don’t hire a CEO to help you with your business blog!

You might also like:

A standup comedian at a standup restaurant in India
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/12/21/a-stand-up-comedian-at-a-stand-up-restaurant-in-india-2015/

Change your brain by the people you are with
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/11/11/change-your-brain-by-the-people-you-are-with/

A new specialty for your call center — suicide hotline
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/06/12/a-new-specialty-for-your-call-center-suicide-hotline/

India in 2140

Categories: Humor, India, Popular on Twitter | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Rahul had a dilemma. He wanted to get married, but in 2140, nobody in India could get married to anyone from a good family unless they worked for a BPO department of a MPC (multi-planetary company.) Rahul had finished school in anti-gravity device repair and Gorkonian anthropology. He was an expert at understanding all of the various life forms on planet Gorkon which was a job requirement. The last round of Indians didn’t bother understanding the locals which led to a huge fight.

Rahul was chosen by the Gorkonians to do all types of tasks. Fixing issues with their spaceships was one of the main things he was good at. But, he got into trouble because there was a serious problem with the mother ship and Rahul insisted on taking a 45 minute samosa and chai break at the critical minute. But, Rahul made it up to them. He found a great way to punish those who broke Gorkonian law. They would be banished in an interstellar flight for 200 years. The irony is that by the time the space craft would come back, it would be 200 years for those in the space craft, but only 4 years for those on Gorkon due to interstellar time lag. Rahul was the star of the planet (no interplanetary pun intended.)

Next, Rahul was assigned to fix their flying rickshaws. They were to fly at exactly four feet of altitude at all times except when docked and have air-friction reduction technology added. Rahul fixed every aspect of these machines perfectly, or at least they thought. In the mean time Rahul needed to go back to planet earth as his mother had arranged his marriage to Rajeny. Rahul returned back to earth after three years working in Gorkon to learn that his wife to be had only aged one year. Apparently time didn’t move as fast on Earth as it did on Gorkon. Rahul thought for a while for how to solve the problem. They decided that they would have to live in the same planet, otherwise their marriage would be doomed. He wouldn’t be able to work for two years, come back for a year and go back to work for two years otherwise he would be grandpa while Rajeny would be only twenty-five. So, they both went back to Gorkon. Of course that way, their parents would be younger than they were after a few decades, but they didn’t think that far in advance.

Everything was ready for them. The spacedock they landed on was perfect. Rahul’s buddy Vipool was responsible for the programming on that dock. Then, they had a vegetarian space burger with chutney. Finally it was time to go to their home. So, they got in one of the rick-shaws Rahul had designed. It has plugins for computers, voice activated commands, interplanetary phone systems, and even a mini movie screen where you could see movies from 290 different planets translated into any language you wanted. Rahul asked, “How much is it to get to my flat in Sarkun?” The rick-shaw walla said, “200 Gorkon rupees.” Then Rahul said, “Can you use the meter?” The walla replied in fluent Gorkonian,

“Sorry, meter broken!”

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18 ways to boost your social media marketing in 10 minutes / day!

Categories: Popular on Twitter, Semi-Popular, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We all love social media, but how many of us are good at it? It is a full time devotion to really be good at social media, and that is only if you are smart and keep your eyes open. But, not all of us have full time to work on our Twitter or Facebook accounts. So, what are the quick ways to get ahead? How can I take my magic social media pill and go viral tonight? Here’s how!

Here are some effective things you can do in 10 minutes per day or less!

(1) Follow people who share a lot in 10 minutes per day!
You can find sharers on Twitter, Google Plus and other mediums. If you click on articles that got shared a lot, you can see who the sharers are on Twitter. It is easy. Just be prepared to have your inbox filled with other irrelevant junk they shared. If you get shared a lot on Twitter or other mediums, you can grow fast. Following sharers will give them a chance to follow you back and share the hell out of your content. Many big accounts on Twitter only get a few shares per post. You can have a small account and get up to 15 shares per post using my simple technique. The people you follow who share must be semi-relevant or my strategy will backfire! 10 minutes a day of following sharers will change your life!

(2) The mute function on Twitter contains the chatter
Tired of people who tweet too much Twitter litter? Try the mute function. That way you are still officially following them, but you don’t have to hear any of the chatter. Oh what a relief it is. Just spend two or three minutes muting annoying people and you’ll be all the happier.

(3) Lists on Twitter isolate winning content in minutes!
You can favorite a tweet, but Google circles and Lists on Twitter allow you to arrange your favorite followers into lists. I get lots of great content to retweet by putting my best several dozen in my various segmented lists. I mostly ignore the others, but don’t tell them that. It’s nothing personal, but their tweets are not all that! Segmenting your top followers into lists takes only minutes!

(4) Boost your follow-backs by 50% overnight
We all follow people on Twitter, and we all retweet. However, we mostly do this the wrong way. Let’s say I am going to target politically interested people. I might get my followers from Obama’s Twitter. If you want the maximum percent of them to follow you back, retweet Obama’s best tweet from the last two or three days, and retweet some other hot political content. Your follow-back rate will go up by about 50% just from this simple yet logical technique.

(5) Google+ communities are a gold mine, but…
Google+ is a hard medium to grow on. The actual process of following people takes time, and they limit how many you can follow. Follow back percentage rates are low even with the most relevant of followers. So, what is the secret to Google+? The secret is to grow a community. Although it takes work to grow Google+ communities to a critical mass where you’ll be seen on big keywords, it pays. You’ll get a waterfall of new followers if you include a big keyword in your community name and get critical mass. You can grow a Google+ community in 10 minutes per day, but you would be better off outsourcing this task to India and have them spend four hours a day inviting people from 20 different accounts to your single community.

(6) Facebook: test and isolate your winning content
Facebook gets me more traffic than anywhere else. But, you cannot use it ramdomly. Use it strategically. Test out any of your content that you feel is promising. Then, track your stats, isolate the top 5% of your content, and use Facebook PPC to promote those posts. I did this and went from 300 clicks a month to 5700 three months later on Facebook. I am still in a state of shock. It takes only minutes to identify your best content, but the reward will make you happy for hours!

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You might also like:
Facebook knows you better than your mama, but how well do you know your customers?
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/10/03/facebook-knows-you-better-than-your-mama-but-how-well-do-you-know-your-customers/

How to use the right keywords in your blog titles that lead to instant popularity
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2015/09/17/how-to-use-the-right-keywords-in-your-blog-titles-that-lead-to-instant-popularity/

Pimp my Tweet — a BPO company specializing in Twitter
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(7) Experiment with different post titles
If you post the same old thing the same old way, you’ll get mediocre results. But, what if you find hot new ways to promote your content? I will often write up to ten tweets for a single post just to see which one does the best? The way you write your post titles can affect your traffic. A winning title can get you 10x the clicks! A few extra minutes experimenting with post titles will change your entire profile’s performance overnight!

(8) Post other people’s winning content as well.
Yes, post your own content, and yes, post the best of your content over and over again. But, to gain popularity, diversity of articles sells. I run an outsourcing blog, but I post tons of general business articles from Entrepreneur, Inc., Forbes and other popular magazines. They write really interesting stuff, and I use it to my benefit. I sometimes retweet them, and other times rewrite a title and post it under my own account on various social media channels. This gets me tons of shares, tons of growth, and takes only minutes per day. If you prefer, you can spend four hours at a time, and prefer all of your tweets for the next month all in one shot. But, remember, if you post other people’s content, make sure it is winning content that your followers will enjoy reading.

(9) Post more often on Twitter
Many people post one or two tweets a day on Twitter. There is nothing wrong with this. But, if your account is big enough, you might consider posting 24 hours a day using a system that you can input the posts ahead of time. If you are posting 24 hours a day once or twice per hour, you will reach a lot of people who would never notice you otherwise.

(10) Posting 2x per day on Facebook got me 4x the clicks
2×1 = 4. In math it doesn’t, but on Facebook it does. I posted double the content and got quadruple the clicks. The secret here is that by posting more, your audience becomes more engaged and visits your page more often. If they visit more, then you will get more clicks and shares. So, 2×1 = 4 Do the math… or in this case, don’t do the math. Finding out what frequency to post is critical in social media, so experiment.

(11) Post at the right time on your mediums.
I tested out what times my Twitter audience for my notary twitter was at it’s best. 10:30 am to 3pm was the peak. I got 50% more shares then than at other times of the day. Late at night did particularly poorly. Unfortunately I’m up all night, so I do better when my social media manager can pre-publish my tweets to go off at the ideal time. Put in the same effort tweeting, but tweet at the right time, and get up to double the benefit!

(12) Try a dozen social media platforms, but focus on one
Many of us try to do too much. But, you need a pecking order for which social media platforms you use. The one that gets you the best performance needs to be first on your list. Sure it is good to be found everywhere, but certain accounts only merit a few minutes twice a week while your bread and butter deserve at least 10 minutes per day, perhaps up to an hour. If you allocate your time strategically, you’ll get a lot more out of each hour you spend on social media. I did exactly this. I used to spend an hour per month creating my Facebook post list. Now, I spend four hours, and my results went from 300 clicks per month to 5700 clicks per month. That was the account that panned out, and it became a gold mine after I allocated my time strategically.

(13) Grow it fast & milk it
Social media campaigns generally do not give you much fruit until they are huge. They have the same growth pattern as trees. Some trees will never grow that well no matter what you do while others will grow fast if given the ideal soil, fertilizer and love. Rather than spending an hour per week evenly distributed between five social media platforms, it makes sense to find the one that grows fast and delivers results and crank it. Find a way to grow it huge, and then you’ll get a Niagara Falls of traffic and perhaps SEO popularity from it. If you grow your Twitter to 100,000, you only spend 40 seconds pasting in your tweet, but it will reach 1/10th of a million people and probably get shared a lot too. If you have five accounts with 20,000, you spend five times the effort to reach the same quantity of people!

(14) Blog writing strategies in a nutshell
Write about whatever you want to. But, remember that the blog content you share can tell you a lot about what you should be writing about. If you share an article about Zen and the art of political sabotage and your crowd likes it, then you should try to write your own blog entry with a similar title, but with content designed by you. Your version of the article is likely to be a lot more popular than your average idea simply because you based it on a winner.

(15) Use what I call keyword anchors.
I’m not sure how other people use these terms in an internet context, but to me a keyword anchor is a term that is hot in the industry. It is sort of like having a Macy’s in a mall at the end of a long hallway. You know that Macy’s will attract traffic because they are famous, and they are hot. I write blogs and share content all the time, and I study what is hot. In the context of tech business, posts about Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Google, Starbucks, Cloud Technology, Apps, or other popular topics generate a lot of clicks. There are also more general anchors like pets, cats, wine, food, and other topics that please the masses. People are familiar with these people or concepts and will relate and like your articles more easily because you integrated these into your blogs. So, if you want to write about an office party you are planning. You might consider writing about how Google throws an office party and then integrate your personal office party into the blog entry somehow. Tying themes together is the secret to popular blogging — try it! It’s not hard.

(16) How to get over “idea block” which is similar to writers’ block.
Can’t think of ideas for what to write about? Just read what others are writing about. The more you create, the more creative juices you’ll have and the more you read, the most collective knowledge will be in your head which will help you think of ideas and write better.

(17) Optimize the sources you get your followers from
Are you spending an hour a day following people on social media? Are they the right people? Think of people in terms of the groups they are associated with first. After all, you are sourcing your leads from particular sources. If you get your business followers from Forbes, track how many of them follow you back in a 48 hour period. Then, follow people from Wall Street Journal. See if the percentage goes up or down. Keep in mind that the follow back rate can vary based on what you tweeted more recently, so keep that relatively constant so you don’t ruin your experiment. You can increase your follow back rate up to 30% by following a more optimized relevant source!

(18) Crank them out
Like to write blog articles? Not all of them need to be perfectly written. The important thing is to churn them out. As a blog manager, you need quantity on your blog. If you find out that a particular article was popular, you can spend two hours with your professional writer friend touching it up or rewriting it. In the mean time, see which themes are working for you. I can write an average of four articles per hour. But, if I do refined work it could easily take four hours for one piece. Four hours makes sense for something that got 1000 views so far, but for something that will only get 20 views? I don’t think so!

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You might also like:

How to choose which posts to share on social media and how often
http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/04/08/how-to-choose-which-posts-to-share-on-social-media-how-often/

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http://bpo.123outsource.net/2016/01/05/99-ways-to-die-in-social-media-choose-one/

How to get half a million followers on Twitter
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Which type of online content influences consumers the most?

Categories: Outsource Marketing, Popular on Twitter | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Expert content has been proven to be the most effective during purchase consideration, and even for affinity and familiarity according to a recent Nielsen report involving 900 respondents who responded to an online survey. Expert content was found to be more effective in attracting buyers than user reviews or even branded content. But, why is this?

Should we trust the experts?
Many consumers liked the third party characteristic of expert reviews. The experts were not promoting the product themselves, but merely giving an intelligent unbiased review or commentary of the product. 50% of consumers in the study indicated that they would not trust a brand’s website to be evenhanded about promoting the product while even more were less likely to trust reviews that could have been paid for by the company promoting the product. Additionally, consumers found the expert content to be a better source of information.

Not all products respond the same way to product information.
Video games had similar results between expert content and user reviews while dryer sales were more dependent on user reviews than any other type of content. However, electric toothbrushes sold better with branded content. Maybe the experts couldn’t hit the image home that you would have whiter sexier teeth if you would only buy a particular toothbrush.

If you are promoting your own product, you might try to experience with all types of content to market your product. Although you can’t control user reviews, you can create formats where users can leave reviews, and you can promote whichever ones you like as well!

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What separates “A” marketers from the flock?
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The Pen is mightier than the Sword; But, is Flogging mightier than Blogging?

Categories: Of Interest, Popular on Twitter, Semi-Popular | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Flogging for Blogging
In Saudi Arabia, a man is to be flogged as a punishment for criticizing Islam in his blog. Due to health reasons, his flogging is to be delayed based on what I read on 1-22-2015. The world seems to be polarized these days. There are 1.5 billion Muslims who are often not treated with respect from the rest of the world. Muslims are often not tolerant of any disrespect. Part of this reaction could be based on the amount of disrespect that has accumulated over the last several centuries towards them, particularly for those who live in primarily Christian countries.

It’s Muslims vs. Christians; Secular vs. Religious
With the Charlie Hebdo incident it is very clear that there are many Christians that will go to any lengths to offend Muslims, and will stop at nothing. The extremists who retaliated against Hebdo’s offensive cartoons will also stop at nothing in their war against offenses to Islam. Even the Islamic world is polarized. We see countries like Egypt divided between secular Muslims & Christians vs. the more religious types. Turkey has a similar division although the secular people in Turkey are more numerous than the religious ones. It seems that whenever you put Muslims and Christians in the same country, or even Muslims and Muslims in the same country, a serious conflict will result. So, what is the solution?

Punishment & Spirituality
The government of Saudi Arabia has the right to carry out justice as they see fit. It is their land, their government. My point is more of a spiritual point. If you abuse someone’s body, you are not only damaging their life, but you are also damaging your soul. For those of us who are believers (in God, but not necessarily in a particular brand of religion) we acknowledge that we have a soul, and that the condition of our soul is based on our actions and thoughts. If we behave well, we might have a chance at going to heaven, or at least be reborn well. We believe that we reap what we sow. I believe that the punishment of flogging is an extreme way to preserve a religious way of life in a country that endorses only one religion. But, the amount of damage done by the flogging extends far beyond the victim. The flogger will also reap a karmic penalty for his act of violence, his supervisor, and the society as a whole will gain a bad vibration as a result of this unmerciful act.

If Allah is merciful, then as followers, we should adopt his attributes.
Allah has 99 names according to Muslims, and 72 names according to Jews. They are only disagreeing by 27% which is not bad considering who we are dealing with! The Islamic names of God are very spiritual in nature. I only know a few of these names, but they include Merciful, Compassionate, Peace, Struggle, among others. If God is compassionate, why should we be any less as spiritual followers? You can pray to God as many times a day as you like, but if you lack spiritual values such as a love of peace, compassion and mercy, what good does the prayer do you? Prayer and religious life are meaningless unless paired with good values and character development. This means that we must exercise kindness and charity in our lives, even if we are not perfect at it.

I am also offended
I am not a Muslim, but I respect all monotheistic faiths. I take offense when someone defames the Islamic faith, especially if it is done in an insulting, unfair, or hateful way. Rather than calling people names for being offensive, I often explain how their false statement against Islam is wrong, why it is wrong, and what the truth is. I know very little about Islam, but I am able to explain some of the basics to rude “infidels” who insult this holy religion. My way is a peaceful way. I am not sure if much good is done by my way. However, my way produces no harm, and could do at least a little good. Flogging someone will do irreparable harm to everyone involved. It is an extreme measure. Rather than speaking against flogging, I’ll politely ask those in favor of it to consider a gentler way to deal with individuals whose blogging is damaging to society — whomever they might be.

I support separation
I live in America which insists on integration. Segregation is a dirty word here, and if you are for it, then you are a dirty racist pig! However, putting people together who don’t like each other and who don’t get along can be much worse than segregation and can lead to murder, flogging, and worse. Religious Muslims do not integrate well with secular Muslims or people from other faiths. Secular people tend to offend Muslims, and Muslims tend to shun secular people. Even when integrated, the two separate like oil and water. Lebanon was plagued by an horrible civil war which left many dead and many more emotionally shattered. In my opinion, the Christians in Lebanon should have their own country. The Druze should also have their own land, and the Muslims should have a country to themselves too. This way they don’t have to fight with each other over control. Egypt is teetering on the verge of civil war because secrular Muslims, Christians, and religious Muslims don’t see eye to eye. Perhaps it would be better if Egypt became two or three countries. I don’t know having separate countries for each type of people in the Middle East is best, but in the short run, it seems like it would solve a lot of problems.

Talaka, Talaka, Talaka!
The same holds true for Iran and Saudi Arabia which do not grant freedom to break Islamic law. There are many residents in both of these countries who are very Western in their thinking and cannot be happy following Shariah law. For those folks, it might be easier if a chunk of Iran or Arabia is reserved for them to set up their own communities where they can live by whatever laws they like. If you don’t get along, why fight it? Get a divorce! Talaka, Talaka, Talaka! Islam allows a couple to get a divorce, so why not allow a community of secular minded people to do the same. Everyone will be happier in the end — perhaps…

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Enjoying the “Four Hour Work-Week” by outsourcing

Categories: Of Interest, Popular on Twitter | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

There are people out there who run small businesses who have read the book: The 4-Hour Work-Week by Timothy Ferriss. It was a very interesting book that gave me a lot of new insights about outsourcing. The basis of the 4-hour philosophy is to outsource almost all of the tasks that you do. You need to calculate exactly what you do all week, how long each task takes, and who you could outsource it to. Part of my problem is that I like doing as much as I can myself, so I know that it gets done correctly. If you outsource without knowing who you are dealing with, you could get into a lot of trouble. You need to make sure people are reliable and not ripping you off.

Outsourcing mundane tasks so you can grow
Regardless of whether you want to enjoy a lot of free time, or free your time up to use it in other ways to grow your business, you need to understand the concepts of a four hour work-week. If you bog yourself down doing mundane tasks that someone else could be doing for you, you will not have time for more critical tasks that you need to grow your business. You will also not have enough time to take a long daily walk and keep your weight down.

Finding the right people
Finding overseas virtual assistants in the Philippines or India is easy. There are so many of them. Outsourcing your bookkeeping to someone in India or locally is also easy. There are many people who are good at that. But, what about harder tasks like blog writing. If you want to find someone who can write viral blogs, you might spend more time searching for them, that they spend writing blogs. As hard as it might seem, it is worth it to learn to be an expert at hiring people to do more difficult creative tasks like writing and blogging. It will take a lot of time, but if you find the right person, the rewards could be huge.

Empowering people to make decisions
Part of the philosophy of decreasing your workload is enabling your outsourced workers or employees to make their own decisions. If you let them make smaller decisions themselves, they won’t be bothering you while you are on vacation or working on a big deal. Your time needs to be spent making big decisions, or creating the rules for making small decisions which you share with your workers. The more your other people can do themselves, the more you can do more critical tasks.

Finding great travel deals while you enjoy your free time!
To get to the point in your business where you can outsource almost everything means that you probably worked twelve hour days for over a decade to get into that position. That means that you deserve a vacation. Optimizing your vacations is a skill that is quintessential to any four-hour work-weeker. There are particular cities in the world where you can enjoy five-star comforts for a very affordable price. Timothy Ferriss mentioned that Berlin, Tokyo, Buenas Aires, and a few other locations offered a great lifestyle for less. That was many years ago, and it is unclear where the bargains are to be held these days. But, if you search around, you can find great deals on villa rentals, dance lessons, karate lessons, and other fun stuff to do.

Personally, I enjoy travel in America and to other fun locations in the world. I am less worried about the daily cost, and more interested in how cool my experience will be. But, for domestic travel, I learned that Albuquerque is a wonderful place to visit where I can get a comfy hotel room for $55. Going to Phoenix when it is hot, I stayed at the Hilton for $95 which can get up to $500 during peak season. Tucson is more mild during the summer and I was able to go hiking every day and get 4-star hotels for $89! The bottom line is, if you have money and time, and an eye for optimizing your experience, you will find great deals in parts of the world you never thought of. You will be using the same skills you use when finding optimal employees who can do it all for a reasonable price. BTW, next year I want to visit Bali and enjoy comfortable hotels at $20 per night and great spicy meals for $2 per dinner. Wish me luck!

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