5 Ways To Have Better Business Conversations

Being able to communicate with confidence is a game changer. It’s the difference between getting people to believe in you, or causing people to forget about you. If your customers believe you, they’ll buy your product. If venture capitalists are inspired by your passion, they’ll invest in your company. If your staff trusts your vision, you don’t just have a team — you’ve sparked a movement.

As an executive coach and business correspondent, I’ve worked with and interviewed scores of top entrepreneurs. Though they excel at building businesses, one thing many struggle with is basic interpersonal communication skills. In fact, many can be painfully awkward in public.

Is this you? Do you have a minor case of social anxiety? Are you more comfortable online rather than off?

If so, take a deep breath. No, really, take a deep breath: I have good news.

Being less awkward is easier than you might think. When you build your confidence, you can become a better leader and form deeper relationships, both of which can generate success for your company. Here are five surefire steps you can take to improve your communication swag and become less awkward.

USE THE ONE-OUT BREATH RULE

People are always going to ask you some version of: “What do you do?”

Have a clean answer ready to go – with one caveat: exhale only once.

By the time you run out of breath, you should have completed your answer. If not, you’re blabbing. If you’re clear and concise, your reward will be hearing, “Tell me more about that.” That’s your cue, and permission, to go deeper.

WINGING IT IS FOR AMATEURS — STAY ON MESSAGE

Be like a politician and, come hell or high water, stay on message. Have you ever noticed that regardless of what politicians are asked by reporters, their answer is often unrelated to the question? This is because they have an agenda. So do you.

I’m not asking you to be inauthentic. Just know what’s most important to you and what you want your listener to remember.

Politicians typically have three to five talking points and they don’t stray far from these. You can use this same approach whether you’re speaking with investors, customers or employees.

LISTEN — PEOPLE LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THEMSELVES

The easiest way to build immediate rapport with someone is by being interested in them. So take some pressure off yourself when you meet a stranger by being a good listener.

Here’s the deal: people love to talk about themselves. Take advantage of this. If you want to be the most interesting person in the room, play the role of journalist and be a great listener.

Try paraphrasing someone’s answers back to them for clarity. Provide guiding cues like, “tell me more about that.” Listen closely enough to create value. Don’t be afraid to make an offer like making an introduction or suggesting a book or app they may like.

GET YOUR NON-VERBAL ON

Nothing is worse that being perceived as indifferent, unless you’re a hipster living in Williamsburg. So elevate your communication skills without even opening your mouth.

Use your hands to make points (but be careful not to knock anything over) and make firm eye contact with others when they’re speaking. If you’re interested, nod your head to show you’re in agreement or smile. A little goes a long way.

DO YOUR RESEARCH (AHEAD OF TIME)

Whether you’re meeting someone for coffee, attending a dinner party or having drinks, learn all you can about him or her in advance via LinkedIn, their website, About.me or articles that mention that person’s name.

If you’re attending a conference, find out who else is attending and make sure to follow the conference’s hashtag. Get in the loop.

This creates an opportunity to form context and an alleyway to success. There’s more connective tissue out there than you can imagine. So find the connections and use them to feel familiar.

Antonio Neves is an executive coach, speaker and award-winning business journalist. He’s the founder of the consultancy THINQACTION and the co-founder of international accelerator, The Ignition Lab.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

What Facebook’s Latest Changes Mean For Your Startup

Facebook is at it again.

Have you heard about the latest updates that affect business business Pages? If you manage a business Page, you’ll want to know about them.

Below, I’ve outlined the biggest changes that will impact business owners on Facebook and shared some resources to further explore each:

Objective-Based Ad Creation

Facebook has simplified their advertising options. They continue to work on streamlining their ad creation process. Recently, Facebook announced that the process of building ads has been re-thought and re-created to focus on advertisers objectives.

According to Inside Facebook, the new ad flow will allow advertisers to create a Facebook advertisement based on the following common objectives:

• Clicks to Website
• Website Conversions
• Page Post Engagement
• Page Likes
• App Installs
• App Engagement
• In-store Offer claims
• Event Responses

Once a business has decided on an objective and built an ad, Facebook will place the ads where they perform best. Advertisers will no longer have to choose between the right-hand side bar or the newsfeed: Facebook will decide.

According to Jon Loomer, you can toggle back and forth between the new ad units and old ad units if you’re looking for some more control over your ads. Facebook has also given an updated look to the ads manager to support this change.

Updates to Facebook Insights

Earlier this year Facebook did a complete overhaul of their Insights. Recently they’ve started rolling out some enhancements based on user feedback. Some of the updates include the “People talking about this” metric splitting into Page Likes, People engaged (unique users who have clicked on, liked, commented on, or shared posts), Page Tags and Mentions, Page Check-ins and other interactions with Pages. Facebook also changed the name of the virality metric to “Engagement rate” and added clicks to the measurement.

These are just a few of the changes. To learn more about all of the changes, check out this article from AllFacebook.

Facebook Alerts Users When Messages Are Bound for Recipients “Other” Folders

Awhile back, Facebook made it so that when you send a private message to other users or brands that you are not connected with, message would go into an “Other” folder, instead of that user’s/brand’s inbox. The change was a little confusing. It was hard to tell where your message went and if the user/brand ever saw it. Now, you are fully warned when your private message will land in a user’s or brand’s “Other” folder.

Graph Search Now Includes Posts and Status Updates

At the end of September, Facebook updated Graph Search’s capabilities to make posts and status updates searchable. This new feature allows you to search for status updates, photo captions, check-ins and comments, and to find the things that were shared with you. According to Facebook, you can search for posts you want to see again, like “Posts I commented on” or “My posts from last year.”

Graph Search has always been set up so that you are only able to see content that has already been shared with you and public posts. If you haven’t updated your privacy settings since Graph Search was released, you may want to check in and freshen up on the options you have chosen.

Have you noticed any other updates to your Facebook Pages lately?

A version of this post originally appeared on the author’s blog. Images are used with permission from AllFacebook and Inside Facebook.

Jim Belosic is the co-founder and CEO of Pancake Laboratories, a software company based in Reno, Nev. The company is best known for its flagship product, ShortStack, software that’s designed to help small business owners and designers create custom apps that harness the power of social media. ShortStack recently celebrated its second birthday; Pancake Laboratories has several new software products slated for release in 2013.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

5 Things You Need In A Startup Job Posting

Startup founders might have some trouble finding their first employees. They’re often more concerned with getting their business off the ground, and the recruitment process consists of much more than simply interviewing prospects and choosing the best ones.

It starts with the job posting, and the results of the entire endeavor are determined by what the posting accomplishes. A great job posting can bring in top talent, while a mediocre one will attract lackluster candidates. Choosing from a pool of possible employees who all leave something to be desired is no way to hire.

Founders need to create a job posting that will lead to applications from outstanding individuals – people with passion and skill will help build a startup into a thriving company. Here are five tips on how to do just that:

1. An Eye-Catching Title
The title of the job posting is the first thing prospective candidates will see, and it needs to grab their attention. However, there’s a middle ground with this – quirky titles like “design ninja” are rarely effective, but postings with bland titles or even numbers like “programmer three” are also unlikely to get read by many people.

Titles that draw viewers are those that are specific enough to give information about the position, but not so company-specific that they have little meaning to those outside the industry or even the business itself. Relying on accurate information rather than gimmicky titles will also help job postings show up more readily in searches. Founders looking for a designer can say as little as “Designer Sought for New Startup” and find several candidates who are interested in this type of work.

2. Clear Requirements for Applicants
Startup founders should consider what they really need in an employee for the position they’re advertising. It’s common to post openings and ask for innovative and self-motivated applicants, for example, but this is not necessary to request. It’s a given that employers don’t want backward and lazy workers. Instead of focusing on descriptions like that, startup founders should ask for specific qualifications, industry training and traits. For example, it’s helpful for many early-stage startup employees to be flexible and able to handle stress, as well as to have good networking skills to get the word out about a new business. This is much more informative than a generic set of adjectives.

3. Give a Comprehensive, Concise Job Description
Job descriptions should be the centerpiece of job postings. It’s important to outline the duties and tasks a worker will be expected to handle, especially because it’s easy for different people to have different perceptions of what a programmer or designer really does. Additionally, startups often have employees double up on roles occasionally, and this should be made abundantly clear to those who are interested in applying. If founders really need marketing professionals who can also program computers, this needs to be explicitly stated in the job posting. This will save time that would otherwise be spent sifting through applicants to find someone with a surprise skills section on his or her resume.

4. Discuss Company Culture
Applicants generally want to know what the company they hope to work for is like day to day. One great way to show them is through a brief description of the culture. Startups have a reputation for interesting cultures, and anyone who’s looking to jettison an enterprise career for a small, fresh company will almost inevitably want to know how it’s different. This has the double benefit of attracting applicants who would fit in and cautioning those who aren’t a good match up front.

5. Give Contact Instructions
Even on job boards where the next step applicants need to take is stated clearly, it’s a good idea to outline how to apply and what’s expected in an application. Not everyone will include a cover letter if they aren’t told to do so, for example. Job postings for startups are unique, but it should be made clear that certain requirements apply across the board.

Your Employees Are Not Like You

I recently heard behavioral analyst Steve Sisler speak at an event for the Colorado Chapter of Entrepreneur’s Organization. Prior to the event, he asked us all to take two tests: a personality assessment tool that measures dominance, influence, steadiness and conscientiousness (or DISC profile) and the Innermetrix Values Index, which measures individual drive and motivation.

I’ve always been skeptical of these types of tests, but there was something about Sisler that made him seem credible. He picked a few people out of the crowd and asked to see their DISC graph. Rather than state the obvious, he quickly pointed out aspects of their behavior that shaped their entrepreneurial efforts. He even guessed that someone was an avid poker player, just by looking at his graph. Below are the three main things I learned from his talk that CEOs need to stop doing to their employees ASAP (or risk holding the entire company back):

Stop thinking about your employees as if they’re like you. They’re not. They’re not motivated the same way as you are and they don’t process things the same way you process things. Sisler said, “We don’t see people as they are, we see them as we are.” Individuals are all wired uniquely, and it’s up to you to discover and understand exactly what makes each of your people tick. Jason Eckenroth, CEO and Founder of ShipCompliant, which provides regulatory compliance and supply chain automation for the U.S. alcohol industry, had this to say about his experiences working with Sisler: “I have begun to see people for their nature and to judge less if their approach is different than the approach I would take. My company would not exist if it were filled just with my clones. Instead we have a great mix of booster rockets, maintainers, safety and project managers.”
Stop rewarding employees the same way you want to be rewarded.
As the CEO, its easy to try to reward your employees in the way that you’d like to be rewarded. That’s natural. But unfortunately, it doesn’t always work. Unique individuals need unique rewards. For instance, I’d rather make ten thousand cold calls than give someone a performance review. It is just really difficult for me. Besides all the obvious reasons why it’s important to give regular performance reviews, Sisler said that some employees crave this kind of direct, ongoing feedback. They need to hear aloud that they’re doing a great job. But for others, it terrifies them. It’s up to you to know which of your employees need which kind of feedback.
Don’t match a person to a position; match a personality type to a role. We often sign up for jobs we’re not well-suited for (such as me giving performance reviews). It’s essential to understand not just what your people are capable of, but how to put them in a role that’s going to allow them to be the most naturally effective. Eckenroth told me that because he started understanding his people better, he was able move people to the right positions and approach them with greater empathy. “It is unnerving to have someone so easily point out your strengths and weaknesses but this actually empowered me. I could more easily manage against that weakness. It helped me quickly focus on my team member’s strengths, and to quit pushing them in areas that only highlighted their weaknesses.”

How do you quantify the value in understanding your people? What drives them? What bothers them? What makes them operate? What kinds of things do they need to hear to know they’re on the right or wrong track? If you need help figuring it out, you can find more about Steve Sisler here.

Sarah Schupp is the CEO and founder of UniversityParent.com, the #1 site for college parents to find everything they need to help their student succeed. Follow her on Twitter @Sarah_Schupp.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

Where Do You Go For Quick Tech Advice?

Question: Your absolute favorite place to get business tech advice in a pinch? (e.g. Quora, Twitter, etc.) Why?

Hop Onto HubSpot

“When I need to learn about business tech in a hurry, the first place that I always look is HubSpot. They have a very complete knowledge base on all things related to Internet marketing. Their white papers and case studies are especially helpful because they give real-life examples of how companies can use different strategies in conjunction to move closer to their organizational goals.”

– Lawrence Watkins | Founder & CEO, Great Black Speakers

Read Feld Thoughts

“Brad Feld is the most consistently awesome source for tech startup advice. His blogs and books explain the details behind choosing co-founders, pitching investors, hiring early employees, compensating board members, and more. And his past and present leadership with top tech startups, accelerators, and venture capital firms lends huge credibility to his words.”

– Neil Thanedar | CEO, LabDoor

Keep the KISSmetrics Blog

“The KISSmetrics Blog is phenomenal at taking difficult technology and digital marketing techniques and breaking them down into step by step instructions. I love the no-nonsense approach they have to writing how-to, and also how they don’t feel any need to pack in a bunch of keywords so they pop up on Google News. They focus instead on writing truly useful content for tech businesses.”

– Seth Kravitz | CEO, Technori

Look at Your LinkedIn Network

“I have a very smart and diverse network, and within minutes of shooting off an inquiry, I’ll get at least a dozen fantastic responses. The best thing about this approach is that I know I can trust these answers because they are grounded in real expertise and experience.”

– Alexandra Levit | President and Founder, Inspiration at Work

Take It to Twitter

“I usually turn to Twitter when I’m looking for advice, since I have a vast network there. It’s especially helpful when I’m looking for suggestions of new websites and tools either for my company or for a client. I’ve found people on Twitter to be one of the most immediate sources of advice and often quite accurate in terms of what I’m searching for.”

– Heather Huhman | Founder & President, Come Recommended

Utilize Advisers and Partners

“Anytime we run into a “wall”, the first thing I do is pick up the phone to call business advisers and partner companies, like our distributors. We love Quora and other sites for generic answers, but advisers and partners have a much greater feel for the context in which the issue exists. Their intimate knowledge of our business allows us to quickly and creatively uncover the core of the problem.”

– Aaron Schwartz | Founder and CEO, Modify Watches

Try Zappos Insights

“Zappos launched a new site called Zappos Insights where entrepreneurs can tap into the Zappos team and a network of fellow entrepreneurs for support and insights. Whether it’s tech advice or culture issues, it’s awesome.”

– Luke Burgis | Director, ActivPrayer

Create an Email Group

“Rather than wasting time on Twitter, I send an email to a small group of people that have been helpful before. Some are friends, some are acquaintances, others are those who helped me develop my sites. But usually within 20 minutes, not only do I have an answer to my question, but I have some one to help implement it if need be. Consider using social media to find these contacts, and then get more focused.”

– Sean Ogle | Founder, Location 180, LLC

Use Community Groups

“Join Facebook and LinkedIn groups that have some solid tech experts in them. This way, you can reach out in an emergency to get some quick advice. You’re also building relationships at the same time.”

– John Hall | CEO, Influence & Co.

The 6 Skills That Made These Entrepreneurs Successful

I’m not sure if there are any other occupations out there that require as many skills and abilities as it takes to be an entrepreneur. If you’re a pilot, you need to be familiar with the operation of your aircraft – but you don’t have to source its parts, build it and then sell it to an airline in order to be successful. If you’re an engineer, you might draft plans – but then you pass your designs off to others to see them brought to reality.

That’s not to say that these fields aren’t important or challenging – just that they’re not as all-encompassing as entrepreneurship. When you’re a solo business owner, every aspect of your company’s operation falls on your shoulders. You’re a visionary, yes, but you’re also a project manager, team leader, administrative assistant, sales person and more, depending on what the day calls for.

Given how complex the work of an entrepreneur can be, I want to take the next two weeks to break down some of the skills that you must have to be successful in this type of business. And since I’m a sucker for case studies, I’ve paired each skill with an example from a great entrepreneur throughout history.

Hope you find them helpful when it comes to cultivating your own skill as a business owner!

Never Be Satisfied

The best entrepreneurs are never satisfied with what they’ve already achieved. They’re innovators through and through, which is why you won’t see them stop and rest on their laurels. Even if they experience what the rest of the people in the world would consider to be “success,” entrepreneurs are already scheming away over how much bigger and better their next projects will be.

Entrepreneur: Milton Hershey

You’re probably pretty familiar with the name “Hershey,” but what you might not know is that this entrepreneur didn’t get his start in chocolate. In fact, the young Milton Hershey first experienced success with the Lancaster Caramel Company, based off a unique recipe he developed throughout his apprenticeships. Though the company was successful, he saw a brighter future for chocolate and sold his caramel company for $1 million in 1900 (roughly $25 million in today’s dollars).

Hershey tasted success with his first company, but it wasn’t enough for him. Cultivate this same sense of never being satisfied if you want to make it to the top of your industry as well.

Be Ambitious

Entrepreneurs don’t change the world through small actions – they do it through ambitious projects that radically alter the status quo in their industries. Because of this, the “holy grail” of all entrepreneurs is a product or service that’s so disruptive that it changes the core way people view, interact with and label the world around them (just as we don’t “conduct internet searches,” but instead “Google” for answers on the internet).

Entrepreneur: Mark Zuckerberg

When it comes to ambition, is there anyone better to look towards than Facebook titan Mark Zuckerberg? Zuckerberg didn’t necessarily start out with the goal of changing the way social interactions occur on the internet, but once he realized the potential of his fledgling social network, his ambition took over – pushing the company forward to more than 1 billion registered users around the world in 2013.

When it comes to entrepreneurial ideas, don’t just think small – think global. Think big and shock the world with your outrageous ideas.

Be Fearless

If you want to succeed in business, you can’t let a little thing like fear stand in your way. Yes, running your own business can be scary at times, but if you let that fear overtake you and prevent your forward momentum, you don’t stand a chance at finding entrepreneurial success.

Entrepreneur: Sara Blakely

Sara Blakely is the founder of Spanx – the billion dollar women’s undergarment company that’s become a household name. When Blakely first came up with the idea for her flagship product, she knew nothing about garment manufacturing, nothing about the patent process and nothing about retail. But she didn’t let the fear of the unknown stop her. By researching and outsourcing tasks when necessary, Blakely’s product line took off, making her the youngest self-made female billionaire in history.

If you get scared, find a way around it. Fear, when left unchecked, can seriously impede your process and threatens to derail your business entirely if it isn’t managed.

Take Risks

It’s not exactly revolutionary to say that entrepreneurs need to be risk takers. But the thing is, the best business people don’t just take risks for risk taking’s sake. Instead, they assess the situation and then take calculated risks that are designed to maximize their success while minimizing their overall exposure to unnecessary risk.

Entrepreneur: Mark Pincus

Before founding Zynga, the million dollar social gaming company, Mark Pincus took a major risk in walking away from a guaranteed funding source for his first company, Freeloader. Because the terms of the deal would have required Pincus to hire a CEO of his investor’s choosing, he opted to take a major risk and walk away from the deal – even though he had just a few months of cash left.

In the end, Pincus’s gamble was successful, as he was able to secure funding from another source and then sell off the company in order to provide startup funding for Zynga. It was a calculated risk, for sure, but a risk all the same – the exact model you should strive to emulate in your own business endeavors.

Follow Your Intuition

We all have a certain amount of in-born “gut instinct,” but only those entrepreneurs who choose to hone this sixth sense and rely on it to guide their business decisions will be truly successful.

Entrepreneur: Steve Jobs

Really, is there any better example of intuition at work in entrepreneurship than that of Steve Jobs? What’s fascinating about him isn’t the number of products he sold or the number of sales records he broke, but his seemingly-instinctive ability to develop concepts that consumers didn’t even realize they wanted yet. Before the launch of the iPad, the tablet market was stagnant. So much so that entering the field was a risky proposition. Yet somehow, Jobs reworked the concept to create the iPad, building an immediate fervor for a product that had no initial market interest.

Interestingly enough, Jobs recognized the role intuition played in his success. In an interview with Walter Isaacson published in the New York Times, Jobs attributes the development of his own powerful sense of intuition to time spent wandering around India at the age of 19:

“The people in the Indian countryside don’t use their intellect like we do,” he said. “They use their intuition instead … Intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion. That’s had a big impact on my work.”

You don’t need to drop everything for an international sabbatical in order to develop your own intuition. Instead, take the time to listen to your inner voice and allow the information it gives you to find its way into your work every so often.

Know Your Vision

Finally, entrepreneurs have a way of taking what they see in the world and twisting it into the visions they have in their heads. They don’t accept reality as it is and work from there. Instead, they see reality and distort it in their minds – allowing them to cultivate visions and make breakthroughs that ordinary people could have never envisioned.

Entrepreneur: Bill Gates

One of the best examples of entrepreneurial vision is Bill Gates – the man who’s widely credited with both launching the personal computer revolution and with developing the world’s first piece of software (alongside business partner Paul Allen, of course) in 1974. At the time, “computers” as we know them now didn’t exist. Gates and Allen actually developed their code by borrowing time on the mainframe computers owned by educational institutions and large corporations.

To make the leap from this type of computing arrangement to the idea that PCs could be owned and operated by individual households around the world was truly an instance of vision at work.

Maybe your vision of the future won’t have the impact of the PC revolution, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be important for you, your business and for the world. Learn to see what isn’t there yet. It’s a critical skill that all entrepreneurs must master in order to experience success.

Do you relate to any of these entrepreneurs in the way you’ve handled your own startup business challenges? If so, share your thoughts below.

This post originally appeared on the author’s blog.

Sujan Patel is the founder and CEO of Single Grain, one of the top Digital Marketing agencies in San Francisco, CA. With more than 10 years of Internet marketing experience, Sujan leads the digital marketing strategy for companies like Sales Force, Yahoo, Intuit and many other Fortune 500 caliber companies.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched #StartupLab, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses via live video chats, an expert content library and email lessons.

You Raised Some Capital! Now What?

Capital is precious—and must be treated as such. Below are three points companies should consider when allocating their funds in hopes of growing their businesses:

Hire Quality over Quantity

Many startups operate under the myth that their people should be paid a minimal amount, or even receive no salary for a period of time, in exchange for the larger payoff down the road. That may be fine for founders or executives that have other means to ride out the early days, but the reality is that most employees still need to “put food on their tables.”

It’s better to pay a smaller group of employees more money than to hire a larger number of folks on the cheap. That is, hire quality over quantity. Why? For starters, people who are paid less, even if they’ve bought into the startup opportunity, generally become dissatisfied sooner than later. Secondly, larger groups tend to work more slowly, bogged down by more meetings and lack of consensus.

While it sounds contradictory, smaller teams—especially top talent paid well—can deliver bigger results. Not only are they more motivated and productive, they also are forced to be more creative, they decide and act more quickly, and they build stronger bonds. All of this translates to a greater return on investment for the business over the long-term.

Keep Pitching the Company

When building a management team, many companies seek strong business development talent in one or more individuals. That’s fine, however in the early stages of startup, these leaders should remain focused on effectively pitching the company to raise more money—versus trying to drive sales.

After all, startup companies are typically small and not ready to take on tons of new business. Additional fundraising will enable a company to develop and market its product(s) sooner and then scale to handle increased business and revenue opportunities.

Investing in leaders with exceptional presentation and relationship-building skills is extremely valuable to a startup company, helping to succinctly get the desired message across to other potential stakeholders.

Launch Sooner than Later

A simple, reliable product today is better than a full-featured one tomorrow. Too many startup companies hold off launching their product(s) while trying to incorporate every last feature and functionality.

Not only does this delay time-to-market, but more complex products tend to have an increased number of “bugs” and support issues, which ultimately eats into existing capital more quickly.

Focus on a minimal number of features that will lead to the launch of a robust product sooner than later. And then use your remaining capital—not to mention revenue from the faster, successful initial release of your product—to incrementally add features and functionality.

While the above may seem obvious to most, many companies continue to take steps in the opposite direction when allocating their capital, only to find themselves struggling to stretch out their funds. The smartest, most successful startup companies tend to more efficiently manage their capital in these key areas.

Vijay Nadkarni is founder, president, and CEO of Mobiplex, Inc.

How To Animate Your Branding

Animation is a form of creative technology that is increasingly being used by businesses to increase their brand awareness and boost audience engagement levels.

There are various styles of animation, e.g. explainer, whiteboard, 2D, 3D, stop motion, motion graphics and so forth, which can be used to:

Promote products and services
Boost internal communications
Strengthen brand ethos

Animation and Branding

Seth Godin defines branding itself as “the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer.”

If branding is all about making the consumer talk about your business, or a particular product/service belonging to your business, then your mission here is quite clear:-

You have to make your consumers talk about your business!

Branding is about spreading the word about your business as far and as wide as possible. This could be through any of the following:-

Customer reviews on e-commerce websites,
Discussions on social media platforms,
Video testimonials on youtube, or
Video conferences (e.g. google’s recent launch of hangouts on air for businesses)

So, how could animation help strengthen your branding in ways besides the more conventional the more commonly utilization of explainer videos?

Well, there are several possibilities:-

Animated Infographics: When movement is added to static data, facts and figures, these are referred to as animated infographics.

Businesses are using animated infographics in increasing frequency, especially for sales presentations and highlighting the findings of research and development work.

The use of animated infographics is catching on because they can make it considerably easier for the audience to understand and remember the information that is being presented.

Animated Logos: When a logo is made to appear as if it was in motion, it becomes animated logo.

Including an animated logo could make a world of difference to your digital marketing collateral, such as websites, e-libraries online brochures, etc.

Animated logos are also great for impressing viewers in the intros of videos used for marketing and educational purposes and livening web pages and business presentations.

Animated Banner Advertisements: If you would like to improve the effectiveness of your online adverts, then you could consider making your banner advertisements animated.

The beauty of animated banner adverts is that they can convey more than one message at a time; similar to the way animated greeting cards work.

Animated YouTube Advertisements: If you are a YouTube user, you will be aware of the adverts that appear before a video starts to play.

Animation is being used in many of these adverts as it is great tool for producing videos that need to generate a high impact in a short space of time.

This is especially true for products that would be difficult to explain using more traditional live filming such as apps and software platforms.

Takeaway

Animation is a form of creative technology which can be used in a variety of different ways improve brand recognition and engagement levels, besides the more conventional explainer videos.

As the importance of both video and content marketing is growing, it may now be time for you to consider how you could start incorporating animation into your marketing strategy.

Dr Manroop Takhar is the founder of Qudos Animations, a leading animation studio that excels in producing outcome focused animations for businesses.

You can email him: info@qudos-animations.com, or circle him on Google Plus.

14 Things You Should Know About Finances Before Starting Up

QUESTION: NAME ONE THING YOU WISH YOU KNEW ABOUT MONEY AND FINANCES WHILE STARTING UP. DID IT LEAD TO A MISTAKE?

SAVE SOME FUNDS FOR LATER

“Getting money in the door is great, but high expenses can blindside you if you’re not putting money away for a rainy day. Having a buffer in the bank gives you confidence that you can keep the doors open long enough to get more cash into the business, and it also

helps reduce entrepreneur stress.”

– Nathalie Lussier | Creator, Nathalie Lussier Media Inc.

PAY THOSE BILLS ON TIME!

“I started my business as a 22-year-old kid right out of undergrad. I didn’t understand the importance of keeping track of my bill payments, especially student loans. As a result, I routinely paid them late, hurting my credit score. This hindered me later on as I wanted to access capital to grow, but was not able to by traditional means. I recommend I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi.”

– Lawrence Watkins | Founder & CEO, Great Black Speakers

LEARN QUICKBOOKS QUICKLY

“In my last startup I left the bookkeeping up to my partner because he claimed to have basic knowledge with QuickBooks software. Unfortunately, his lack of expertise created thousands of dollars in accounting bills (not to mention the wasted hours). If I had known more about the program, I could have cross-checked his work and corrected course. Bookkeeping is too important to overlook — learn it.”

– Kent Healy | Founder and CEO, The Uncommon Life

HIRE AN AWESOME ACCOUNTANT

“There are a lot of solid online solutions that try to replace having an accountant, but ultimately nothing’s better than the real deal — and the real deal can often be found for a great price, as long as you ask around the tech community for someone who fits the bill.”

– Derek Flanzraich | CEO and Founder, Greatist

PAY YOURSELF A MARKET RATE SALARY

“Entrepreneurs tend to undervalue and underpay what we do at our company. Unfortunately, this creates a fundamental flaw in all of our financial models, thus clouding our ability to make smart decisions from our numbers. Even if you can’t afford to pay out cash yet, have your accountant track it to give you a clear view on the company’s profitability and financial health.”

– W. Michael Hsu | Founder & CEO, DeepSky

UNDERSTAND HOW CASH FLOW WORKS

“A pile of account receivables is not the same thing as cash in the bank. Having learned this painful lesson many times early on in my startup days, I always stress to other startups to hold off on new hires or expansion plans until the cash is actually in the bank. It’s painful when you hire someone due to a big pending payment, only to have it delayed, and then telling them, “I can’t pay you.””

– Seth Kravitz | CEO, Technori

KEEP CONSISTENCY IN BILLING TERMS

“We have small and big partners, from local boutiques to the Major League Baseball Player’s Association. When we started Modify, we had stated payment terms, but were always flexible with partners. Ultimately, the lack of clear policies significantly impacted our business. Not only did we create more work through negotiations but we also lost track of receivables, which puts us at a risk with cash.”

– Aaron Schwartz | Founder and CEO, Modify Watches

INCLUDE AN INTEREST CLAUSE

“It’s important to include an interest clause in contracts so that a company knows they will face a penalty if they do not pay you on time. Otherwise, there are no repercussions to them sending you a late payment, since it is unlikely you’ll take legal means to go after them for it. If they know they’ll have to pay interest if they’re late, they have incentive to get you your payment on time.”

– Stephanie Kaplan | Co-Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Her Campus Media

THEORY AND PRACTICE AREN’T PARALLEL

“I majored in finance at NYU, worked as an investment banker on Wall Street for two years, then worked as an associate at a venture firm investing in startups. And when I started my own company, I didn’t know how to manage my money. The reality is this: my financial models were theory; cash flow is reality. We ran into some early problems by spending on ”future earnings” that didn’t yet exist.”

– Luke Burgis | Director, ActivPrayer

REMEMBER REGULATORY OBLIGATIONS

“If you’re not clear on your regulatory obligations, beware of missed deadlines, costly fines, and time wasted attempting to correct these issues. Startups are responsible for more than state and federal taxes; look into franchise fees to the state in which you are incorporated or established, state and local business licenses, 1099 filing, and 409A valuation for companies with employee options.”

– David Ehrenberg | Chief Financial Officer, Early Growth Financial Services

EXPANSION HAS HIDDEN COSTS

“I wish I’d known about all the additional costs that come with hiring employees. There are health and retirement benefits, taxes and many other miscellaneous expenses that totaled to an amount that was quite surprising. Learn about this early so you are able to calculate exactly how much new employees will cost.”

– John Hall | CEO, Influence & Co.

ALWAYS BUDGET AND PLAN

“Even if you have little resources and capital, it’s still important to have a plan and a budget. Your business plan can be basic — as little as a simple list of goals for your venture. Of course, you’ll need a more detailed plan if you’re soliciting investors. TheSmall Business Administration website offers a great basic business plan template.”

– Andrew Schrage | Co-Owner, Money Crashers Personal Finance

PROFIT AND LOSS AREN’T EVERYTHING

“I wish someone had told me that P&L isn’t the only indicator for the health of your business — looking at and managing your cash flow is at least a weekly activity. Just because you’ve got big contracts coming in doesn’t mean you’re safe. Iif you ever want funding, you have to be vigilant about managing your cash flow and keeping your daily account balances high.”

– Raoul Davis | CEO, Ascendant Group

GET ACQUAINTED WITH TAX DEDUCTIONS

“When starting up, I wish I better understood tax deductions. That’s the reason I worked with a tax attorney to build a definitive tax guide for entrepreneurs. Taxes are complicated and intimidating, but having the right tools makes it easier to keep track, to spend money wisely, to maximize deductions and to stay out of trouble with the taxman!”

– Nick Reese | CEO, Microbrand Media

How Pitching Is Like A First Date

sales pitch Pitching your startup is like going on a first date. Entrepreneurs should be confident without being cocky, approachable without seeming desperate, and passionate without being over the top. The goal is to build up enough intrigue to be asked on a second date (or a follow-up meeting) without scaring the listener off. But that’s no easy task.

Here are four common pitching turnoffs that are easy to make — and advice for avoiding each:

PUSHING RATHER THAN PULLING

Picture going on a first date with someone who immediately rattles off the reasons why you should marry them. Not only would it eliminate the thrill of the chase, but you’d wonder what’s wrong beneath the hood. However, if the same person were to casually mention the homemade meal he or she cooked for some old Harvard buddies the other night, they would earn some serious points in the ‘potential mate’ department. It’s a matter of creating intrigue rather than trying to force interest.

The same goes for a company pitch. If the audience feels that they’re being force-fed a value proposition that they can’t relate to, their walls will go up. However, by piquing the their curiosity in a less forward way — such as describing the excitement you felt in saving thousands of dollars for one of your client companies — the audience would be left wanting more. Present genuine accomplishments in a modest, matter-of-fact way, allowing the listeners to discover the value propositions that are most applicable to their own lives. They’ll appreciate your product a lot more if it is their idea to latch onto it.

USING BUZZWORDS AND INDUSTRY JARGON

Buzzwords are like corny pick-up lines — they make the listener question the authenticity, credibility, and even sanity of the person pitching. Sure, you may have a ‘rockstar team’ that is going to ‘massively disrupt’ an industry with ‘game-changing technology,’ but using these clichéd words make you sound naïve. The listener immediately places you in a bucket with the 50 other ‘rockstar’ entrepreneurs that they’ve heard make the same ‘disruptive’ claims.

Keep the pitch genuine and crisp, using proof points, metrics, and anecdotes that the audience can grasp in a meaningful way. Similarly, steer clear of using too much industry jargon. Understanding a pitch shouldn’t require a dictionary or a biomedical degree. Speak in layman’s terms so that the audience is actually listening to the description and not trying to figure out what was just said.

PITCHING AROUND A POWERPOINT

Trust in a relationship is crucial, so another dating red flag is a person who sounds too scripted (ex: “I didn’t know beauty until I saw you.”). Similarly, relying on a PowerPoint too heavily can make the entrepreneur sound canned and insincere. The audience should feel like your pitch is unique and heartfelt, not like you’ve fed these lines to thousands of other listeners.

Though it’s tempting to build a PowerPoint at the same time as a pitch, trying to force the pitch to be visual right away compromises the story arc. Instead, start offline with 20 notecards. Use the first 10 to answer the basic questions: problem, solution, market opportunity/size, team, unique IP/technology, competition, distribution strategy, business model, financials, funding status, etc.

Fill the remaining 10 notecards with good company bragging points (aka “power cards”). Examples would be impressive metrics (4 out of 5 users tell a friend about the product), high-quality partnerships (three Fortune 500 companies agreed to beta test the platform), or powerful quotes from customers (“ABC company increased our ROI by 5X”). Then arrange, combine, and re-arrange these 20 notecards until they fit into a story arc that flows, using relevant ‘power cards’ during transitions. Memorize the key facts, but keep in mind that no one wants to date someone who is following a script word-for-word.

CRAFTING THE PITCH ALONE

It’s not a bad idea to get a second opinion on your outfit before a date. Likewise, a little guidance, encouragement and even tough love from your friends can be crucial for polishing your message. The perfect pitch isn’t created in a vacuum.

Since entrepreneurs are self-starters by nature, few accept the fact that they can’t create a pitch alone. In reality, however, you’re often too close to your own company to know how to pitch it.

During my three months in the TechStars accelerator, each company was challenged to pitch every Wednesday night to a room of 35-50 peers. When the buzzer rang (three to five minutes later), the person pitching would have to be completely silent and accept criticism with a smile. No excuses. The trick was to truly listen, say “thank you,” and accept whatever challenge was given for the following week. If someone suggested that you pitch without slides the following week, or to use a fake character as an example, you’d do it for your own benefit.

But you don’t need to join an accelerator to get peer feedback. Start a weekly Meetup group with other entrepreneurs in the area. Not only will this be good practice for investor meetings, but the variations will prevent the pitch from becoming too scripted.

At the end of the day, you make the final decision about what feels right for your pitch, but the process gives you needed perspective, confidence and practice. Just like dating, at the end of the day, your demeanor is more important than the words you use.

Heidi Allstop is the founder of Spill, a confidential site for young adults to “spill” about hardships and share life advice with one another. She launched the company as a psychology student at University of Wisconsin-Madison and spread it to 150 college campuses in 15 countries. A TechStars alum and the winner of the Global Social Venture Competition, Allstop is on a mission to bring empathy online.

Can Psychics’ Tricks Help Your Startup?

If you’ve never heard of it before, cold reading is the name of a technique used by many controversial ‘psychics’ and people claiming to be able to talk to the dead. The technique has nothing to do with supernatural abilities, but is rather a method psychics use to con their audience members into thinking they know more about them than they really do.

By using a number of psychological techniques and a lot of practice, these charlatans are able to convince anyone they meet that they must have some kind of psychic ability.

The canny founder out there is probably thinking that this sounds like a tool you could apply to your startup. Surely the ability to intuit lots of information about a person would enable you to be a better salesperson, to give better presentations, and to motivate your team more?

You’re right! Cold reading can be used effectively in business in a number of capacities.

How Cold Reading Works

The basic idea behind cold reading is simple. You talk quickly, make lots of statements, and pay careful attention to people’s body language. Then you can qualify your statements based on those reactions.

One of the methods used in cold reading is called ‘shotgunning.’ Here you make lots of quick statements that are generally quite vague and then look for responses from that person to decide which statements best describe them. Human nature works to your advantage here because the listener will only really remember the times that you got it right and will gloss over the times you got it wrong.

Another technique you can use is something called the ‘Barnum’ technique. Here you make statements that are generally true for everyone but that sound very intuitive and personal.

For example you might tell someone that they get nervous at extreme heights, that they keep lots of old photos of relatives, or that they sometimes feel insecure without really knowing why. These are universal experiences, but they sound intensely personal, and the listener will feel like you know them well.

In the ‘rainbow ruse’ you make a statement that can’t possibly be wrong because it actually describes two opposite situations. You might for instance say that someone is sometimes very angry but also very calm and placid. This is once again true of everyone and doesn’t really mean anything, but it’s not easy to completely deny.

When you combine the rainbow ruse and shotgunning, you can watch out for which statement the person reacts best to and start leaning your monologue in that direction. If they smile when you say ‘but also very calm and placid,’ you can then elaborate by saying, ‘In fact some of your friends would say you’re so laid back you’re horizontal!’ Naturally most people will believe the more positive statements about themselves

For a great example of cold reading, from someone who admits it’s just an act, check out Derren Brown. He also does a number of corporate events and has a brilliant live show.

How to Use it In Business

There are many ways this can apply to a business setting; you just need to use a little imagination.

Use these techniques in sales by suggesting that you know the person well and understand what they need.
Convince an investor that you’re the perfect company for their portfolio.
Insinuate that a project is coming along well, without lying!

Use these techniques well, practice them hard, and you can end up being able to tell everyone precisely what they want to hear.

Evan Thomas is a carefree and enthusiastic businessman. He enjoys writing about his experiences and sharing useful information through his articles. Visit www.incorporator.com.au for interesting tips.

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12 Tips For Pitching The Press

QUESTION: NAME ONE TIP FOR PITCHING A MEDIA OUTLET ON AN ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURE.

PITCH THE STORY TOO

“Journalists love to tell a story, so pitch them your startup story rather than just telling them about what your product is. Make it colorful and interesting so they can easily see how this would translate into a compelling piece for them to write.”

– Stephanie Kaplan | Co-Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, Her Campus Media

TIE IN A HOT TREND

“The best thing to do when pitching media is to tie in your current pitch idea with a topic that is already hot in the media. Media outlets want to get the most viewership possible, so they like to ride popular stories as long as they can. This tactic especially works when you can tie a celebrity into your story – my most popular post was “5 things LeBron James can teach us about entrepreneurship.””

– Lawrence Watkins | Founder & CEO, Great Black Speakers

INCORPORATE THE NUMBERS

“Business is a lot of numbers, so including numbers (revenue, profit, employees, etc.) is always helpful for a pitch. When we pitch Back to the Roots, we always mention the impact we have on coffee waste by saying “on track to divert 3.6 million pounds.” When quantifying the story, the pitch, idea, and the significance become clear for the journalist. It’s easy for them to skim over in a hurry.”

– Alejandro Velez | Co-Founder, Back to the Roots

HELP THEM HELP YOU

“When pitching to a media outlet, try to find something relevant in your business that the outlet is passionate about or they may have been discussed in the past. Helping them create new content — with a little sprinkle of your own business — will help establish a relationship and help open doors for future/better opportunities.”

– Angela Pan | Owner/Photographer, Angela B Pan Photography

DO RESEARCH, BE PERSONAL

“Working in media has taught me the importance of personalization. A few targeted pitches to the right people, using their names and addressing how your product/service fits within their specific outlet will get you much further than a mass pitch sent to every email address you can get your hands on.”

– Alexis Wolfer | Founder/CEO, The Beauty Bean

BECOME AN AUTHORITY

“Some of the best-received content that we’ve had published has been in response to changes in our industry and hot topics in the news. A good way to secure a media placement is to reference a current event, trend, or statistic that affects your business and detailing how your company is developing or changing as a result.”

– Eric Corl | President + Co-Founder, Fundable LLC

FACTS TELL, STORIES SELL

“The media exists to tell compelling stories, not to provide free advertising for a business. Think of your business as a TV series and create multiple story arcs. Do you have a quirky startup story? Are you piggybacking on or revolutionizing a trend? Make a list of 10 or 15 story angles for your venture, then match each one to its most appropriate media target.”

– Melissa Cassera | President and CEO, Cassera Communications

THEY’RE PEOPLE TOO!

“Sometimes, people forget they’re pitching a real person, not just a “media outlet.” This journalist is a person, with tight deadlines, frustrations, and an overflowing inbox, just like the rest of us. Follow that journalist on Twitter: What time does he usually publish stories? Why would he care about your business or story? You want to be a convenience, not just another spam email.”

– Alexander Torrenegra | Co-founder, VoiceBunny

HAVE CELEBRITIES USE YOUR PRODUCTS

“Nothing has made pitching to media outlets easier for me than being able to say that influential celebrities support our work — particularly if the celeb is willing to go on record for a quick quote or interview. Media outlets want to know that their article, if published online, will collect good traffic, and they know that celebs drive this traffic better than anyone else in the world.”

– Shaun King | Founder & CEO, HopeMob

BE FRIENDS ALREADY!

“Nothing works better for pitching a media outlet than already having a pre-existing relationship with an editor or writer there. So don’t wait for a reason, make some friends for friendship’s sake!”

– Derek Flanzraich | CEO and Founder, Greatist

DO SOMETHING CRAZY

“You read about it all the time: someone puts themselves on the line with some kind of stunt, and everyone starts talking about it. What is something that you can do that would have the press all over you and want to talk to you about? Be creative and don’t hold back — and you will get your PR.”

– Louis Lautman | Founder, Supreme Outsourcing

KEEP IT SHORT

“Don’t send a long email. Journalists are pressed for time and have little to no patience. Keep it short and to the point to boost your chance for being successful in the pitch.”

– Ben Lang | Founder, Mapped In Israel

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11 Ways Mentors Are Essential To Your Success

QUESTION: WHAT IMPORTANCE WOULD YOU PLACE ON HAVING A MENTOR IN BUSINESS AND IN LIFE?

FOLLOW THE PARALLEL PATH

“Having a business and life mentor is not only important, it’s essential. Entrepreneurs are very close to our business and a mentor is someone who can see things from a distant and different perspective. A key to success is surrounding yourself with people who are further along the life and career path than you are; just remember to choose mentors who are going in a direction you aspire to go.”

– Christine Hassler | Founder, Twenty Something, Twenty Everything

YOUR PROBLEMS AREN’T NEW

“The best thing for me about having a great mentor is that I always have someone to remind me that my challenges are not new. At our lowest points, we are susceptible to think that no one has every been through our pains. Mentors are there to help us snap out of it and stay focused on achieving business and personal success. Also, hearing how the mentor handled situations acts as a guide for me.”

– Lawrence Watkins | Founder & CEO, Great Black Speakers

A PIECE OF PERSPECTIVE

“A mentor is so valuable for giving you the much needed perspective that we tend to lose in life and business. By reminding us how far we’ve come and that these challenges can be overcome, mentors can boost confidence, redirect our paths and help celebrate big wins.”

– Kelly Azevedo | Founder, She’s Got Systems

IT’S AN INVALUABLE INVESTMENT

“My mentors have provided me with more guidance, strategies, insight and connections than all other resources I’ve been exposed to combined. Finding the right mentor who is truly interested in your success and your goals is one of the most powerful things you’ll ever do as an entrepreneur.”

– Travis Steffen | Founder, WorkoutBOX

TAKE THE ULTIMATE SHORTCUT

“Experience may be the best teacher, but your mentor’s experience is the best teacher of all. That’s because getting the right mentor is like taking the ultimate shortcut. You can learn from their mistakes without repeating them yourself, and you can model your actions based on their successful formula.”

– Pete Kennedy | Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Main Street ROI

LEARN FROM OTHERS’ MISTAKES

“Having trusted mentors for your business and life allow you to learn from others’ mistakes instead of having to learn them on your own. Some mistakes are unavoidable (if only because we’re all too stubborn to learn from others sometimes!) but even a few avoided mistakes will save time, money and sanity.”

– Alexis Wolfer | Founder/CEO, The Beauty Bean

MENTORS AREN’T BUSINESS ADVISERS

“Every startup has formal and informal advisers, whether they’re professors, investors, partners, family or friends. As an entrepreneur, you will often have to make choices that are good for the business, but possibly bad for you. Most advisers focus on the company. It is critical that you find a personal mentor that has your best interests — not those of the company’s — in mind.”

– Aaron Schwartz | Founder and CEO, Modify Watches

ACCELERATE YOUR LEARNING CURVE

“By running a business while in college, having a mentor has taught me way more than any of my professors have ever. Granted, I didn’t pay much attention in class when I should, but there’s nothing that beats real world advice, perspective, and networks. All in all — get a mentor!”

– Kenny Nguyen | Founder/CEO, Big Fish Presentations

POSITIVELY BIASED POINT OF VIEW

“Someone who offers actionable advice and has a positively biased point of view, who really believes in you, is invaluable. Turning to a mentor often means the difference between giving up and moving forward. I don’t know if I could have achieved success without my mentors to challenge me, push me, and help me keep my eye on the ball.”

– Nick Reese | CEO, Microbrand Media

FIND YOUR OWN GANDALF!

“What would the LOTR hobbits have done without him? Think of yourself no differently. Those with wisdom in this world don’t have it to keep for themselves but to share with others, and all are grateful to do so. On this journey of entrepreneurship and this journey of life, the stakes are too high not to have someone to help guide our steps. Mentor: absolutely necessary. Long white beard: optional!”

– Luke Burgis | Director, ActivPrayer

WORK/LIFE GUIDANCE WORKS

“Find a mentor who has balanced life with business. Work/life balance is extremely important, and if a mentor can help you take a step back and look at the big picture, it can be one of the most valuable assets in life.”

– John Hall | CEO, Influence & Co.

3 Steps To Building A Strong Network

As any entrepreneur will tell you, there are few things in the world of business that are more valuable than a great network. After all, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. And when it comes time to start a new enterprise, expand a company, raise funds or even find a co-founder, you’ll be relying on the value of your network to help you accomplish these milestones. Here are three steps to make sure you have the strongest network possible:

MAKE YOURSELF UNCOMFORTABLE.

No, I do not mean wear a wool sweater in Phoenix in August. I mean put yourself out there. Unless you are one of those rare people who can meet a random stranger on the street, strike up a conversation and get a stranger’s life story within 30 seconds of meeting them, approaching someone you have never met before can be nerve-racking.

But if you want to build a great network, you have to do it — a lot. The more you do it, the better you will get. Make it your goal to get people talking about themselves, while genuinely listening to what they are saying. If you fake it, they will know and you will have burned a potential valuable connection. Dale Carnegie’s classic “How To Win Friends and Influence People” is an incredible resource built largely on this idea. If you haven’t read it already, I highly suggest you do. Twice.

Next time you meet someone new, smile, introduce yourself and ask a simple question; i.e. “Where are you from?” Proceed with small follow-up questions. You will find that they talk at length and naturally warm up to you. It’s basic, but it works.

BUILD YOUR NETWORK BEFORE YOU NEED IT.

Far too often, aspiring entrepreneurs get to a point in their business when they need advice but have no clue who to go to for direction. I call this the I-wouldn’t-even-know-where-to-start dilemma. It is the result of one simple fact: they do not have a network.

You have to put in the necessary time to build genuine relationships with the right people. Successful people are always connected to other successful people. Join local business networking groups or venture associations (i.e. Los Angeles Venture Association, LAVA) and immerse yourself in rooms full of them. You want to be a millionaire? Surround yourself with millionaires. You want to be a drug addict? Surround yourself with drug addicts. This might sound ridiculous, but it’s absolutely true.

On a related but important note, do not go to someone you have recently met and start asking for favors. It will appear that you’re trying to take advantage of them and they will pick up on it. Invest the time to build real relationships, and thus, your network.

FOLLOW UP, EVERY TIME.

You know the person who says they are going to do something, then doesn’t? You do not want to be that person. In fact, you want to be the opposite of that person.

When you meet someone, even if you do not think they can help you directly, ask if you can keep in touch. Send a simple follow-up email the next day saying that it was nice to meet them and that you look forward to staying in touch. Finally, stay in touch.

Just because you don’t think they might fit your idea of an important connection does not mean they don’t know 10 other people who are perfect for what you may try to accomplish in the next month or year.

This last point is what a great network is all about. Networking is not just about the people with whom you are directly connected; it is about getting those people to tap into their networks on your behalf when you need it most.

Adam Callinan is the Co-Founder/Co-CEO of BottleKeeper, the simple yet practical solution to the warm beer and broken bottle epidemics that have plagued the world for centuries. Adam is also the Founder/CEO of PiCK Ventures, Inc., the parent company of PiCK, a mobile wine technology company. Adam and his wife Katie now live in Manhattan Beach, California. Tweet @Adam_Callinan