Monthly Archives: February 2012

How To

5 Common Social Media Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

02.22.12 From Open Forum

Most small-business owners feel strongly about social media. They either love it, hate it or both. If they love it, it’s because its tools can create tremendous brand awareness. If they hate it, it’s because it’s a massive time suck. Regardless of where you stand and how proficient you are at each tool, there is always something new to learn. Here are a few common social media mistakes and tips on how to fix them.

Expecting ROI right away

Ashley Ranger sees this often. As founder of /excelamktg, a social media marketing company based in Los Angeles, potential clients frequently voice frustrations when not attracting a target number of followers or sales captures. Ranger’s advice is always the same: It takes time. Read more from Open Forum

Startups

PAUL SINGH ON VENTURE CAPITALISTS AND RAISING MONEY

02.21.12 From Tech Cocktail

Last week I got a chance to listen to Paul Singh from 500 Startups talk about raising money at The Fort. First of all, I have to say that almost every sentence Paul uttered could have been used as a quote on its own. Below are the best ones, which I broke down into 3 basic steps for raising capital for your startup.

Step 1 – When you are ready to start approaching investors, do not run around knocking on every door. Have a targeted approach.

“Think of investing as phases. Create a hit list of investors and sort them by ranking. Take the people on the bottom and test your pitch on them first. Pay attention to the questions they ask you, because there is a 90% chance you will get those questions again.” Read more from Tech Cocktail

.CO Exclusive

Thinking of Starting a Business? Don’t Forget These Five Essentials

02.14.12 By Rebecca Malik

.CO ExclusiveRebecca Malik is the President at 17thandRiggs.com, an online source for contemporary furniture and lighting, where she helps you create a fresh, modern space.  Her site has been featured in well-known publications such as Southern Living and online with sites such as the popular Daily Candy. She is a blogger for WomenGrowBusiness.com, where she shares ecommerce and small business management tips.

As a small business owner since 2008, I’ve encountered an array of frustrations and roadblocks in running and growing my company.  I must admit that my response to many of these hiccups has been more reactive than proactive.  However, these hasty actions can be avoided and you can operate more effectively if you start off on solid footing.  To that end, consider the following five fundamentals when in the planning stage of your business. Read more from Rebecca Malik

Startups

Women 2.0 PITCH Conference & Competition

02.07.12 By Lori Anne Wardi

Women 2.0 PITCH Conference & Competition (February 14, 2012 in Mountain View, CA) is a full day event to learn from the product innovation leaders who built Flickr, Facebook, Zipcar, TaskRabbit, LARK and more. Both men and women working in technology (from early-stage startup to corporate) are invited to hear speakers share best practices, growth strategies and stories of disruptive product development at their ventures. Learn about launching products from concept to cash and customers! Watch the Women 2.0 Startup Competition finalists pitch live to a panel of investors for feedback and prizes. Network with 800+ members of the Women 2.0 community at our biggest event of the year!

To register, visit http://women2.org/conference2012 and save 10% with discount code “CO-COMMUNITY”.

I joined the .CO team way back in 2008, when we were putting together the bid to win the right to launch the .CO domain globally.   Our little startup won the right to administer .CO in 2009, beating out industry giants like Verisign, which runs the .com and .net domain extensions. What a great coup!  I was passionate about our mission from the very start – and continue to be so to this day. Read more from Lori Anne Wardi

.CO Exclusive

I bought a .CO domain now what?

02.02.12 By .CO Team

.CO ExclusiveYour new domain to-do list

Searching for the perfect .CO domain name can be pretty exciting, but the real fun begins after you buy your domain. We want to see your “next big thing” succeed, and while we know you’re resourceful, here’s a few quick tips to help you get started. Read More

.CO Exclusive

Building a brand on Bimmer.co

02.02.12 By Morgan Linton

.CO ExclusiveMorgan Linton is a domain name investor and author of the popular blog www.MorganLinton.com. Over the last four years Morgan has focused on turning meaningful domain names into real online brands. Morgan is also one of the founders of Appraiso, a new software platform that enables website owners to appraise the value of their developed sites. In April Morgan will be moderating the Domaining Europe conference in Valencia, Spain.

When I was sixteen years old I fell in love with BMW. No, I didn’t have a BMW myself but we did have a family friend that owned one and the moment I saw it, I set a goal to own one myself someday. Well that day finally came on my 26th Birthday, ten years later, and as a web geek that just bought a BMW, I wanted to start a blog to share my experiences with the world.

One of the first names that came to mind was “Bimmer” the most popular word used to describe BMWs. I was a member of Bimmer Forums and a subscriber to Bimmer magazine so the brand had a lot of meaning to me. Of course I couldn’t get the .COM and after trying my next top choices, I found that none were available. Read more from Morgan Linton