Business Tribes Management Consulting

Connect - Learning Azerbaijani from 10,071 kilometers away

Baku, Azerbaijan by Teuchterlad  

Ethnologue estimates Azerbaijani (Azeri) as being spoken by about 6.1 million people in Azerbaijan, over 11.2 million in Iran, and 1.9 million people in surrounding Caucasian and Asian countries. The total estimate of 19.1 million worldwide speakers is a conservative figure. I became interested in learning Azerbaijani, after meeting Professor Gubad Ibadoglu Bayramov, Chair of the Economic Research Center, Baku while he was a visiting scholar at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Professor Bayramov studies the use on state oil revenues and economic developmental. He suggested that I learn Azerbaijani (Azeri) in conjunction to doing research in Baku. I assumed learning Azerbaijani would be more difficult than my previous studies in Spanish, German and Hebrew. I did not realize that only a handful of American universities teach the language on a limited basis, and It is not covered by language software programs. Shared Talk, which is ran by Rosetta Stone, has a great language partner matching tool. The website lets users set up a simple profile of what language(s) one knows and what language(s) one wants to learn, email potential partners, chat and voice tools. SharedTalk.com works because it provides an easy to use platform for people to connect. The system advertises for Rosetta Stone's software, but it is not invasive or overbearing. A simple banner at the top links to the main corporate site which sells software for 30 languages. Shared Talk advertises for Rosetta Stone, bit it is tasteful. On Sunday I had my first Azerbaijani session with Leli, a brilliant medical student in Baku via Skype. Cheers to learning a language with a tutor from 10,071 kilometers (5438 nautical miles, 6258 road miles).

Connect - How To Embrace Your Competitors

Mike Michalowicz of TPE notes "We all know that trying to go it alone is a recipe for disaster. Success is all about finding strong partners. But partnering has now gone to the next level. The smartest businesses are reaching out to their formerly fiercest competitors and making them their strongest partners."

Many of the entrepreneurs address hit the theme by emphasizing the importance of connecting with people. 

Beth Silver of Doubet Consulting - "The best approach when partering with those in your field is to look at everyone’s key strengths and act accordingly. I love working with other marketers as different people bring different approachs and skills. Partnering with the competition is a sign of true strength not weakness!"

Marya Grier of The New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners - "Partnerships, affiliations, mastermind groups build collaboration, cooperation and communication. As women business owners, we can’t survive without these relationships. This promotes the continuing diversity of our members and their businesses, and provides us with opportunities for value- added products, services and resources. From a knowledge standpoint it raises our level of awareness of others difficulties and how we can help them and ourselves to accelerate our business results."

Christopher Dorrris - "Evolving Beyond Competition. How To Embrace Your Competitor: As we become more conscious as a species, we are recognizing that everything in the history of our universe, with the exception of man, has operated on the principles of cooperation, not competition. We are learning that the most effective way to “get” is to authentically give. So the best method of getting more of what you want is to adopt a mentality of abundance – there is more than enough to go around. And to practice helping those you formerly thought of as competitors as colleagues."

Joseph Joel Sherman of Business Tribes "Drop the personal grudge and move forward. People often hold grudges against a competing company, sometimes for years, despite a complete change in the personal and strategy of the organization they hate. Holding such a grudge may defy logic, and destroy shareholder value if it prevents healthy collaboration. As an entrepreneur, decide if you can drop the grudge completely, and if so, move forward. Determine if your collaborator can do the same. If not, find another collaborator that you can work well with."

Connect - Getting China and India right

"... being present in China and India is not the same thing as getting China and India right."

" .... the successful global corporation of tomorrow will be one that figures out how to take advantage of three realities: the rapid growth of emerging markets and the increasing multipolarity of the world economy; enduring cultural, political, and economic differences across countries and regions; and the rapidly growing integration of national economies.  Organizationally it will be managed as a globally integrated enterprise rather than as a federation of regional or national fiefdoms."  

"And it will be led by business leaders who have global mindsets and are masters at building bridges rather than moats."

From: Getting China and India Right: StrategiesConn for Leveraging the World's Fastest Growing Economies for Global Advantage by Anil K. Gupta and Haiyan Wang

Connect - Marketing with Ease

Olalah Njenga is CEO and Senior Marketing Strategist at Yellow Wood Group where she is responsible for helping companies develop marketing plans that are meaningful, manageable measurable.  Specifically, Olalah is a business to business strategist and ensures that marketing strategies are in alignment with a companies’ sales goals and critical business objectives. 

 

What is Marketing With Ease™ ?

Marketing With Ease™ ™ is a marketing program created for small and solo business owners who are responsible for their own marketing and sales efforts.  It was originally a marketing coaching program that I developed and delivered on an individual basis to solo professionals and practitioners who were struggling with marketing overwhelm.  Today, Marketing With Ease™ ™ is a CD based program that contains 5 Modules that break the role of marketing into manageable segments. 

Where do you draw inspiration for your work/business?

I am continually inspired by people making the decision to become successful in business and defining success on their individual terms.  Being in a position to contribute to their success is a tremendous source of inspiration for me. 

How is Marketing With Ease™ unique?

Marketing With Ease™ has two unique aspects.  The first is that Marketing With Ease™ helps business professional focus on the “what” of marketing as opposed to focusing on the “how to” like other marketing products that are available.  Additionally, there are 5 modules that comprise the Marketing With Ease™ program and because of the inter-related nature of the program, you can start anywhere in the program. There is no defined start here, end here. You simply jump in once you’ve determined the area of marketing that is causing you the greatest amount of overwhelm. 

What are some interesting projects that you have been involved in?

In July, I will be announcing three joint venture opportunities that are based off of the Marketing With Ease program.  One collaborative project involves a social media expert.  I have another interesting project with a sales training company doing a multi part training program.  The other interesting project is with a national franchise that focuses on business development for small business owners.  All of these collaborative projects in are harmony with the goals that I’ve created for 2009 and I’m thrilled to see them come to fruition.  

Do any of these themes resonate with your business?  If so, how?

Absolutely! Connect is the category that really stands out for me. At the heart of good marketing is the building and nurturing of connectivity.  Without connectivity, relationships, both professional and personal would simply fade.  Marketing With Ease™ helps business professionals but the fun, comfort back into the way that they market.  When marketing is fun, true connectedness is achieved. 

How can people contact you?

That’s easy. My office is 919.783.4101 and my email address is onjenga@yellowwoodgroup.com. Most people contact me through one of the social networks that I hang out at – either Twitter (@Olalah) or Facebook (facebook.com/Olalah).  My primary website for marketing consulting is www.YellowWoodGroup.comand my marketing products website is www.MarketingWithEase.com. 

Connect - Interview by Roberta Lage and Pranay Shah

Roberta Lage is the Founder and CEO of Roberta Lage Design, R Design based in Agoura hills, California. Roberta Lage Design specializes in Web and Graphic Design.

Pranay Shah is the proprietor at multidimension studios a creative design agency based out of Mumbai, India having representatives in San Francisco, Charlotte and New York as well as being a director in Krikey Infotech Private Limited which is developing http://www.okrikey.com, a startup based out of Mumbai where he is creating India's first social infotainment site for expats, tourists, visitors and locals in India. Pranay has extensive experience in new media design and development and is particularly interested in marketing and business development. Pranay holds a Bachelors in Fine Arts in Computer Arts: New Media from the Academy of Art, San Francisco.

Roberta: Where do you draw inspiration for your work/business?

Pranay: A lot of inspiration that I get is from day to day things. It may be a hoarding that I see on the way home, or a conversation that I hear while I'm in the office, and its just bouncing ideas of the team. We'll be sitting there one second and the next we'd have a great idea idea that we could work of.

Roberta: How is your work unique?

Pranay: It was always an ambition that one day, an entity would exist that would change the rules on how people saw products, services and individuals. A company that would work in symbiosis with clients to achieve truly exceptional and unique results. We do that today. We give solutions that haven't been provided in the marketplace before, especially to small businesses and we have received great feedback.

Even as o'krikey.com is being developed, we are taking on heavy weights like Lonely Planet, craigslist and burrp! (a local information site) which have been far more established than us. However, I believe that giving the consumers what they want is key and to make that happen, you have to go all out, do the impossible and just go for it.

Roberta: What are some interesting projects that you have been involved in?

Pranay: With the clients that we have every project has been interesting. We've worked on everything from making sites for DUI, to designing an adult content site (which we realized that we couldn't do!) to working with a startup based out of New York where we did the identity for the site and of-course our project for the moment. We've also worked with firms in the States.

Roberta: Could you please describe some current projects/ventures that you are developing?

Pranay: Okrikey.com. the idea came to me while i was waiting for an appointment and flicking through the local newspaper, which highlighted the relocation hassles faced by foreigners. That was the day when okrikey was born. Since the idea has evolved, hours have been spent figuring out the layout, debates have been had over the color and today we are anxiously awaiting its beta launch.

Roberta: Business Tribes focuses on Connect, Crate, and Cause. How do these themes resonate with your business?

Pranay: Yes. Absolutely. Design is all about connecting with people, giving them the best brand/product experience. okrikey is all about social media and connecting people across various networks and helping each other out.

Roberta: How can people contact you?

Pranay: My phone numbers are 91.22.30207700 and 415.287.3352. Email is usually the best way to reach me: ps@multidimensionstudios.com and pranays@okrikey.com

URLs: http://www.multidimensionusa.com and http://www.okrikey.com  

Connect – Salsa Shanghai: a bridge between people

Sangsang Tie worked previously for Nielsen Media Research as a senior account executive where she developed media market research reports for clients clients and sought new business opportunities with potential clients. She has also conducted market research and business model design for media companies. Sangsang Tie holds a BA specializing in Advertising in China and an MBA from Webster University. She lives and works in Shanghai, China.

I just got 2 event invitations on Facebook from Bob, founder and teacher of Salsa Shanghai Dancing Group, a private dancing school. One invitation is a weekend salsa party at a popular Latin bar. With a SSDG membership card, you can get discount drinks and free snacks. Another one is the wedding party of two SSDG members. They met each other on the salsa class and became lovers, and now, they are getting married.

I met Bob at a free SSDG salsa class 2 years ago.  At that time SSDG was only a small dancing studio. I was working at the online marketing department of a consumer product review magazine. Bob wanted to buy a small advertisment for new dancing classes on the magazine but had no budget.  Finally we had a barter exchange deal; they gave employees and readers of the magazine some free salsa class, discount and gift cards for standard class and we put a small piece of advertorial on the next magazine. 

I was quickly attracted by salsa on that free class and spent ￥1200 (about USD170)to become their member. All members can have unlimited class and invited by all kinds or salsa party(drinks not included).Since then I started receiving all kinds of email about salsa dance, like different style of salsa, new party even after the dancing class, weekend party even at bar, or latest contest information in China. I talked to Bob every time I went to the class and believe he did really well with online marketing.

Bob said he met his wife on a salsa class. After they got married they both quit their jobs and started running SSDG. He wants SSDG become not only a dancing school but also a community that connects all people that have a passion for salsa together and enjoy a new dancing and even life style. “Salsa is not only a kind of dance, it can be a bridge between people, can be a way to express, can be a life style. Learning the dance itself is not the purpose, we want our members come here to get know others and express themselves by body language and enjoy life.”  

He said a budget is the biggest block on the road of branding and promotion, and the only free resource is less than 200 members’ email list. By sending email to members and launching BBS on their website, it is easier to link people together because they all like salsa, they are or they believe they are young and want have fun. 

Bob negotiated with local Latin bars to give SSDG members extra discount by bring them there. Party information was sent out by email, sms and BBS, and now Facebook. Bob said he didn't expect the information to be dispersed so quickly. Emails have been forwarded thousand of times and members bring their friends to the party and finally become members. "A lot of people here in the city don't know where to release stress, we give them one." 

Now SSDG has more than 4000 members and it is one of the largest salsa dancing schools in China. People come here become close friends, even lovers. The wedding I was invited to is the third wedding between SSDG members. Bob said he is going to make use of Facebook more to enhance communication among members, and the most exciting thing is you don't have to pay a penny.

Connect - World Wide Social Networking: Understanding each other via Couchsurfing by Abdul Safiyanu

Abdul Safiyanu studies International Trade (BTS, brevet de technicien supérieur) at ORT School in Strasbourg, France.  Abdul has worked previously as a sales trainee with H&M Strasbourg, and in foreign market research with EAST Vibes.  Abdul enjoys sports, football (soccer) is his favourite.  Abdul wishes to travel and work with people from different countries to experience their way of life and their culture in general.  Abdul speaks French, English, Haussa (Nigeria), Twi (Ghana) and basic German.

The needs of adventure, discovery and sharing are at the origin of tourism.  Men like travelling and discovering, thanks to new means of transportation: It is often said that here begins somewhere else, because people can move from one part of the world to another in a couple of hours.

Very often people want to travel, but what if your financial situation is not very good?

Thanks to network tools such as Facebook in general, and Couchsurfing in particular, people from different horizons can link to share memories as well as accommodation.

Couchsurfing is interesting in that you can simply buy a plane ticket and go to the country of your choice as far as you have a link there. It is spreading so much because it is free.  Bloggers and users feel comfortable to tell their friends to try it because it is free.

Connecting people together in order to get free accommodations during their holidays presents numerous advantages. Indeed it creates links, brings together people who would have never met, helps the participants to easily understand cultures which are different from their own.  It is worth reminding that understanding people who are native of cultures which are different from ours may avoid many of the problems that humanity faces, such as wars etc…

We should not forget that it could encourage the growth of World trade and bring peace and prosperity as well. So could Couchsurfingbe one solution to ignorance? Or a new world cyber and real community? So far one thing is clear it keeps on growing everyday.  

Connect - New Media and the need to change

Allan Young has a graet post Jamming a Square Peg Through a Round Hole on the SAMBA blog.  Allan notes that newspapers continue to loose money not only because of a late online presence, but "Maybe they are asking the wrong question? It ought to be, "Why doesn't anyone read good Web-quality content for local topics?" When new mediums or distribution channels arrive, they demand a new form or style of content. The radio folks couldn't figure this out when TV blasted onto the scene. You cannot just port your usual stuff and expect it to work in the new new thing. That's boring and awkward."

Traditional newspapers with online sources are failing, yet new sources are rising. Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News is a great take on old style news. They condense and organize the news for a certain group of readers based on articles from many traditional sources such as The Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg. Then they give people an easy way to comment and find related articles. The news market is actually getting larger as it changes. As Allan suggests, the content and style of news must adapt, just as radio figures had to adapt to TV, or face near extension. There may still be a need for traditional newspapers, just as radio has survived, and in some cases thrived. The key for newspapers will be to keep the connection with the readers. Is there something about the reading the paper with your morning coffee or the full size photos of your favorite sports team? Successful blogs and new media grow because they are built for a tribe - they connect with people.

Connect - The business of education by Christine Fetter

Christine Fetter works for the world’s largest private education institution: Education First at the English First Shanghai, Kids Center. Christine has been living in Shanghai, China since October 2008 and holds a BA in Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Christine is enjoys travel, hiking, learning about other cultures and photography.

As we have progressed almost a decade into the twenty-first century, globalization and the changing pace of businesses are larger than ever before.  The traditional business models just don’t cut it anymore.  This is especially true in the education sector of an economy.  After working in a private education institution for several months, I have learned that there is a whole business aspect in education.  I used to think that education was just a business of teaching and educating young minds of whatever subject is being taught.  This is simply not the case.  Most private education and several public institutions rely completely on the money paid by the parents or student themselves.  The business is that the students and parents must be completely satisfied with the teacher and the material being taught to them.  If they are not satisfied, the school loses the student and the parents; therefore losing the money.        

As a teacher at one of the largest private education institutions in the world, I have learned the main aspects of the business.  The idea of create, cause and connect works well in this sector.  Teachers don’t always work best alone.  We can connect with other teachers and use each other’s resources to our benefit in creating the best lesson plans possible.  We can also help and connect with other education institutions by giving our resources and lesson plan ideas that has been proved successful in a classroom.  We can work together create strategies that work best in a lesson plan on certain subject material taught and share with every other teacher in education sector.  This has already been done, but on a small level.  

Create, cause and connect does not create competition among institutions; but helps educators learn from each other for the best business possible.  After all, what really satisfies an educator is that a student has learned something from them.  

Connect - Social Networking: From Confucius to LinkedIn… by Marlene Amegankpoe

Marlene Amegankpoe is currently studying Mandarin and management at the Franco-Chinese Management Institute of the University of Nanchang, China.  She is a master's student in International Management with an Asiatic specialization at the Institut d’Administration des Entreprises, Poitiers, France.  Marlene brings a wealth of business experience from Mali, Benin.  Her intrestes include Internet trends, travel and writing.

Social Networking stands as a new popular movement particularly on Internet.

It would be a fault to think that social networking is recent. Actually, it has existed for 2500 years in the China of Confucius and still rules Chinese society. Guanxi is the Chinese concept of social networking. Based on Confucius’s principles it describes personal connection between people exchanging win-win favors. It’s a network of contacts, relations lying on confidence, credibility and honesty.

At a higher level, The Guanxi Wang is a strategic alliance of networks in which, people share and give access to information and resources. In this network, members share their Guanxi. To ensure the continuity and the balance in the network, members agree to help people they don’t know, who are also members of the Guanxi Wang. The Chinese continually aim the extension of their Guanxi, success lying on the combination of their efforts and their Guanxi. An important Guanxi means power and respect.

Guanxi is not nepotism or corruption. It’s much more subtle and aims a real long term relationship. This concept is at the core of social networking applications like Facebook or Linkedin. Through these applications, a person A without Guanxi with a person C, can ask to a person B in his Guanxi Wang to introduce him to C.  A will repay the favor by another.

Today we cannot ignore the importance of having a Guanxi, we are even ready to pay to have contacts. Social Networking has become a key issue to success. So if you are using these social networking applications, remember that you enroll in a 2500 years old tradition!