entrepreneurs

Listen to your customers: Why crowdfunding of brands is the future

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‘The customer is always right’ is the mantra of many a brand. But it has taken us decades, if not centuries, to really incorporate customer feedback into brands; to make the customer’s voice the loudest in our brand evolution.

With customer feedback sychronising with customer purchase through cookie capture and machine-to-machine technology, crowdsourcing of brands is the future.

Customers driving change in brands

Customer data has always been an important tool in the evolution of product development. However how we generate this data has been revolutionised through technology to the point where brand guardians can track almost every aspect of the customer journey from desire to purchase.

Larger enterprises are already using customer forums to crowdsource ideas for future development with Starbucks launching My Starbucks Idea, giving the customer not only a voice in the NPD of their products and services but also their voice a presence in their development strategy – giving the customers and Starbucks the feel good factor.

Likewise General Electric’s #EcoImagination has turned the brand into a driver for change – a brand named as one of the worst pollutants in the world a decade ago, GE has recently been named by Fortune as one of the greenest brands around today. How? Through listening to the chant of their customers and responding to their voice.

And look at the phenomenal success of social media and analytics tool, BrandWatch, which has seen 100% growth year on year from 2009 to 2013. What does it do?  It records what customers are saying about a brand, analyses it and reports back to the brand guardian.

At Platform, we have already seen the rise of the Customer Experience Centre, which started out life as a showcase and a courting space for clients, but quickly transformed into a place to dismantle and co-create brands with customers and clients alike. Second guessing your customers is dangerous – listening to them makes business sense.

Intermediaries driving change

Harnessing customer feedback is nothing new though even if utilising this data in the most effective way is still an on-going challenge for marketers.  However, what about the intermediaries influence? Those who are at the customer coalface – the sales manager, the client liaison officer? How do you aggregate this information which is correlated to purchase but more anecdotal than statistical?

Again, forward thinking companies are already realising the power of the employee, not only paying lipservice to their thoughts but giving them a real voice in the evolution of their brands.  Technology is facilitating this listening with companies, including Platform, launching business apps that aggregate data from customer and sales meetings and then reconfiguring that information back to them alongside competitor data – like their own learning machine, fed with real data and feedback and personalised to their own market, customers, products and services.

Digital data is allowing us broader access to realtime data about what our customer wants and their everyday interactions and engagement with our teams be it our salesforce or our customer service team.

External drivers of change

Then there is the third level of change – the external influence that can drive and shape a brand through credibility and influence with the rise of the blogger/vlogger.

Bringing credibility and endorsement to a brand has always been the Holy Grail of the brand guardian. Previously the charge and power of the media, the b/vlogger is taking the crown of the journalist to become top influencer of the brand. So how do brands access this channel of influence? And how do they influence the data that the b/vloggers are accessing about their brand, and respectively communicating to their target audiences about their products and services? And how does that change the experience of the brand in the future? Will bloggers and vloggers be the ones driving brand change?

For many audiences, the b/vlogger started out as an embodiment of the voice of the customer. Saying the things about a product or a brand that the customer didn’t have a public or collective outlet for – and being rewarded by a following that agreed or at least valued their opinion.

However, as the b/vloggers have become more influential their voice has become more valued – not only by customers but by brands, and as a result now commands a high price in exchange for positive PR. When crowdsourcing of an idea from customers or staff, there is an element of trust to it, but with the blog/vlog landscape how much credibility and transparency is there?  Is the commercialism of advocacy destroying trust and openness of a brand?

There is no doubt that we have passed a point of no return in the evolution of the brand – that crowdsourcing the future of brands will become the norm in the world where everyone has a say and the channels of communication are open for all to voice and see.  It will be those brand guardians who stay close to their customers and influencers, who listen and who are truly transparent who will be the winners in their brands’ PR battlefield.

Resources: marketingtechnews.co

7 Behaviors of Millionaire Entrepreneurs

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Becoming a millionaire isn’t an accident. It takes business owners decades to accomplish this rare feat. Many people look at these successful individuals and assume they must be lucky or born into wealth. But in reality, this is usually far from the truth. Becoming a millionaire takes work, focus and productive habits.

Emulating the behaviors of millionaire entrepreneurs can help you develop discipline and the habits that catapult entrepreneurs to the next level. With that in mind, here are seven behaviors of millionaire entrepreneurs you can learn from:

1. Start early.

Do you rush into your day responding to dozens of emails and letting other people define your priorities for you? Successful entrepreneurs, such as Peter Shankman, founder of HARO and The Geek Factory, are early risers. Shankman gets up at 4:30 every morning to allow for a workout before networking and building relationships — all before his competitors even sip their first coffee.

 

2. Learn constantly.

Keeping up in their industries is important for millionaire entrepreneurs, but so is regularly expanding their mindset and worldview. Russell Sarder, who runs the multimillion dollar NetCom Learning, makes time to read every day. Even during the business week, he reads one or two hours a day. By consistently learning, he’s able to bring new insights into his work that help define his business.

 

3. Make a budget and stick to it.

As unexciting as it sounds, budgeting in both your business and your personal life is essential to becoming a millionaire. In the book The Millionaire Next Door, authors Thomas Stanley and William Danko discovered that self-made millionaires diligently tend to the ebb and flow of their bank accounts. No matter how wealthy they become, that behavior doesn’t change — which is why they stay wealthy.

 

4. Don’t be afraid to work hard.

The reason “get rich quick” schemes are so popular is that it’s very appealing to get something for nothing. Not for millionaire entrepreneurs. Gary Vaynerchuk makes this very clear in his hilarious rant about people’s focus on “passive income.” He points out that no one gets truly wealthy without putting in the serious work.

 

5. Make clear goals.

Millionaire entrepreneurs know exactly what they’re working towards. They have clear timelines attached to their dreams. They know what they want to do in the next four weeks, the next six months and the next five years. Studies show that writing down your goals, making clear action steps and sharing those goals with supporters makes it 78 percent more likely that you’ll achieve a goal than simply thinking about it.

 

6. Be willing to fail.

Being afraid of failure is going to hold you back from becoming a millionaire. Successful entrepreneurs aren’t afraid to step outside their comfort zones and take a new risk, because they realize that failure is a learning process — not a final judgment on their ventures. Millionaire entrepreneur Farrah Gray discussed the importance of depersonalizing failure in an interview with Black Enterprise.

 

7. Take time off.

Stopping is hard for any entrepreneur, but many millionaires have realized its importance. Arianna Huffington admits she wishes she could go back and tell her younger self that her performance would actually improve if she committed to unplugging, recharging and renewing herself periodically. Taking time to relax allows new creative ideas to come to the forefront, which helps increase your wealth.

Becoming a millionaire isn’t something that happens by luck or heredity — it’s a matter of hard work and intention. Embrace the habits of these entrepreneurs and hone your own habits to follow in their footsteps.

Which one of these behaviors can you implementing today? Make a commitment to it by leaving a comment below.

Sources: Entrepreneur.net

The 5 Traits of Great Future Leaders

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Finding leaders isn’t about finding those with the loudest or even the most reasonable voice, or even finding the one with most impressive skills. How often have you seen someone with great skills be promoted to a leadership position, only to see him become a harried, crazed person making outrageous decisions that demoralize the team? It happens, but it doesn’t have to happen to your team, when you understand how to spot people with the potential to become leaders, people who will help achieve the vision you’re working toward.

There are five traits of potential leaders that make them easy to spot:

1. They like people.

This is non-negotiable for leaders. Those who are following want to be around and be a part of things led by someone who likes them and is helping them succeed. People don’t want to be around someone who is clearly impatient with them and considers them a nuisance. In other words, they won’t follow someone who doesn’t like them.

 

2. They are possibility thinkers.

Challenges don’t stymie them. Potential leaders aren’t Pollyannas; they are willing to admit that problems exist. But even if solutions aren’t readily apparent, they can find the workarounds that help the team move forward toward the goals.

 

3. They communicate.

Leaders must have a desire to interact with others. Excellent communication skills can be learned, but leaders innately want to express vision, goals and tasks to others. Those whose go-to coping method is to silo themselves away from the community are not yet suited for leadership.

 

4. They are willing to learn.

Leaders are usually finding ways to learn and grow, and they are motivated to share that information. There will always come a point in a leader’s life where the vision they are pursuing requires them to learn and become more: a better communicator, a dynamic re-director or a stronger motivator.

 

5. They can catch a vision.

Leaders may not come with their own vision at first, but they can be inspired to catch an existing vision. Their determination to be possibility thinkers and willingness to learn will aid them in learning from a mentor how to create their own visions.

 

While some people have a natural bent toward being a leader, good leadership skills can be learned by people who have these five traits. You’ll grow as a leader as you identify these people and help them develop into all that they can be. I’ve discovered that one of the most satisfying parts of my life, both professionally and personally, has this process of finding and growing successors.

Resources: Success.net

6 Things Effective Leaders Always Say

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Too often we forget our most basic goal in business—to create relationships with clients, customers, prospects, colleagues, shareholders and, at the center of it all, employees. Everyone at every level needs appreciation and meaningful feedback about their work. If you think that’s an obvious and practiced element of leadership, think again. Nowadays, leaders are prevented from being effective by not showing appreciation to employees.

 

Communication is the fundamental element of an organization, and the pattern is established by leaders. Healthy communication requires trust, inclusion, recognition, clear directions, meaningful interaction and feedback at the nerve center of the company.

The most effective leaders understand that clear communication helps a company’s bottom line and can increase productivity. They are diligent about building a sense of connectedness with their teams and appreciation of their employees by saying and asking:

 

1. “Here’s what I appreciate about you and your contribution.”

The basic “atta-boy” or “atta-girl” doesn’t satisfy people who put their heart and soul into their work. Instead, say something specific like, “I appreciate the way you pull in people from other departments to reach your team goals—you’re a connector.” Leaders need to notice employees’ unique, specific contributions.

 

2. “Thank you.” (personal and public)

From the elevator to the parking lot, daily interactions represent opportunities for leaders to engage in dynamic interactions and show appreciation for their employees’ efforts. Public recognition at a staff meeting, or a thoughtful “thank you” in a newsletter, are also meaningful.

 

3.“What do you think?”

Employees often withhold their best ideas from leaders who always have the “right” answer or take credit for others’ ideas. Ask questions such as, “What have you noticed?” “How do you think we could improve?” “What is keeping us stuck?” and “What do you love about it?” Establish a safe environment in which people have the opportunity to express themselves and be recognized for their ideas and they will take ownership of the results.

 

4. “Here’s what’s happening and what you can expect.”

Companies today often operate in a state of change, and all too often, information is withheld until the last minute. This is a huge distraction for employees who need “real speak” about their futures. Leaders often underestimate employees’ ability to accept “why” if it is shared in an honest way. Leaders will gain deep respect when they share as much as they know as soon as they can share it. Explanations are better than no explanations.

 

5. “I have some feedback for you.”

Don’t wait for a performance review to tell people how they’re doing. A culture of continual feedback is healthy and nimble.

 

6.“Let me share a time I got it wrong.”

Smart, capable leaders who know their stuff are well respected, but employees like and trust leaders who are not only smart but can occasionally lean back and laugh at their own mistakes and who are generous with what life has taught them. The effective leader says, “Let me tell you about something I learned the hard way,” instead of dictating the course to take.

Resources: Success.net

There’s Nothing Sexier Than a Passionate, Hard-Working Entrepreneur

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Passionate is 1st rules in Entrepreneur 

 

1. The passionate.

There’s no two-ways around it, a relationship with an entrepreneur is filled with emotional ups and downs. One day you’re riding the wave of a huge acquisition, next moment you’re biting your nails as you wait for your next round of funding to come through. The great thing is that they express their emotional roller coaster. They’re passionate and excited about their business, and you get to come along for the ride with them — if you like roller coasters, that is.

And it’s not just their business. They’re equally as passionate about life. And about their partners. No one will ever love you harder than an entrepreneur can. They love you with the fiery force of knowing that everything is impermanent, and the moment is all we have.

Intense, but totally worth it.

2. The persistent.

If you’ve ever loved an entrepreneur — or even been romantically pursued by one — you’ll know this all too well. When it comes to their business, they mean… well… business. Nothing will stand in the way of their dreams, and although they may have their off days, they bounce back quickly and become more focused than ever before. This transfers over to their relationships as well.

They know what they want, and they’re not afraid to go after it. They’re happy to wait as long as it takes to win your heart, and when they finally do, they’ll cherish it even more. They know a good fit when they see one, and even when your relationship hits an inevitable rough patch, they won’t falter.

They’re with you until the end.

3. Have a strong moral compass.

Most entrepreneurs get into business to help the world in some way. They want to make a difference. They can’t stand idly by, knowing that they could have helped make a change for the better. By nature, they are value-adders. They want to better the lives of their clients, their customers and society at large.

In almost every entrepreneur / entrepreneur relationship I’ve witnessed, both partners add extreme value to the relationship. They build each other up and drive each other forward. Their partnership is a constant upward spiral of growth.

They aren’t trying to change their partner — they’re giving them a leg up to their dreams, in whatever way they are able to.

4. Not afraid to show they care.

If someone works that hard for you, it’s apparent that they have strong feelings for you. When entrepreneurs go after their goals, they do so with drive and abandon. They’re not afraid to let people know that they care — their 80/20 clients, or their significant others.

They will tell you how much you mean to them, every day. They’ll make you feel special, because you are. It’s important to them that you know that they love you, because you are what they want, and they know they can’t stand idly by and expect the relationship to run on auto-pilot.

5. It’s fun!

Entrepreneurs have a yearning to live life to the fullest. They have an empire to build, and you get to be part of the building phase. Whether that means you’re helping build a startup from scratch or providing emotional support for your partner’s existing enterprise.

There’s an excitement that comes with being part of something big and knowing that you are an integral part of it’s success. If you have a hard-working entrepreneurial partner by your side — count yourself lucky. It can be one of the most fruitful relationships you’ll ever have.

Keep learning from each other and helping each other to grow, and your relationship will continue to flourish for years to come.

Sources: Entrepreneur.net

Small Businesses Need to Know About Digital Transformation and Disruption

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Although a small or medium-sized business’s digital transformation may not be as large an undertaking as it would be for a big corporation, it is every bit as significant.

Some small businesses think their size creates some kind of immunity when it comes to digitalization. They assume, because they are “small,” they don’t need to undergo a digital transformation to maintain a solid book of business. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Digitalization is changing everything about life today – from consumer purchasing to how we conduct business. As more devices become connected to the Internet, more brands have started to create content and customer connections that cater to the buyer no matter where they are. And In today’s market, every company is now responsible for living up to the “anywhere, everywhere” consumer expectation.

 

Digital transformation and disruption

Digital transformation refers to the company decision to deliver that seamless digital experience to consumers and to maintain an evolving customer relationship with new platforms and solutions. In practice, it means using data-driven analytics to get a better understanding of a target market, and then using that information to digitalize the internal and external processes to cater to the needs of the consumer.

The result of digital transformations may or may not be considered a digital disruption. Digital disruptions are the larger phenomena that take place in society and change the way people do things in their daily lives. Mobile banking, for instance, might be considered a digital disruption. It provides value to the customer and changes the way people work, but it also is a concept that revolutionized an industry. A software update probably wouldn’t be a digital disruption but any digital tool that is ultimately driven by consumer need could be considered one. As a small business, you may be affected by digital disruption, and you may have the opportunity to cause one — or both.

 

Transforming your small business

Your company’s digital transformation may not look like another company’s. A transformation isn’t about adopting every trend in the marketplace. Rather, it is a fundamental change in your business that adds value to the customer experience.

For example, going mobile may be a key part of your company’s transformation. More people access their mobile devices before making a purchase than they do a desktop or laptop. Companies that successfully digitalize their businesses make sure that responsive web design creates a seamless experience on every device a consumer might use. It fundamentally changes the way your consumers interact with your brand, transforming your business from a legacy enterprise to a digitalized company.

Although a small or medium-sized business’s digital transformation may not be as large an undertaking as it would be for a big corporation, it is every bit as significant. Digital transformation is vital for enterprise survival and growth.

Start making changes and ask for guidance and feedback from existing customers as well as employees who interact with customers on a daily basis. By focusing on the customer experience, you can make the digital changes necessary to streamline your business interactions online and in-store.

Once your company has made key digital changes, remember that the process is ongoing. Encourage innovation in your business and strive to evolve with the digital world in real time. Technology isn’t slowing down and businesses that stay relevant will have to keep up with the changing tides. Reach your customers by staying technologically current. Keep them by remembering what sets your brand apart.

Sources: Entrepreneur.net

Investing the Right Way

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Joint Venture Investing is the Right Way to invest. Why? It allow us to minimize the impact of invest and increase our reach on our investment road map. Let’s break it down into the essential part for investing in property. First we need a certain amount of capital, second we need to have a salary that able to cover our loan amount, third “age” which determine how long your loan term can reach as the longer the term the better and finally the knowledge.

For 1 person to able to able to fulfill all these is hard as it only few people that able to achieve that. So what about those that did not have the basic criteria to be able to fulfill? That when Joint Venture Investing is the right way to invest.

If a person who is in his/her mid 20’s which have the ability to get loans from the bank both in term of his/her salary & age but not the capital and knowledge, he/she must find a elder person who have the capital and knowledge. With both utilizing both advantage then the basic criteria is fulfill. We know well this is an method that exit the problem is preventing Joint Venture Investing melt down and a exit plan if one does not wanted to continue be involve, this is to protect both party.

Hence, this year PIC we are honor to be able to invite Chris Tan a lawyer and founders of Chur Association. He will touch on the the Joint Venture Investing and teach how to prevent dispute between joint venture party. Sharing his knowledge on how to be able to protect joint venture party and ensure that there is an exit plan in place to in cast any break of joint venture.

In the past joint venture investment is been known widely but the main cons is on the exit plan and also the dispute  arrangement. Therefore, if we remove both of these obstacle, joint venture investing is the right way to invest.

PIC 2015 – No Capital, No longer a Problem

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Property investment can be a long-term endeavour, such as earning the rental an apartment building, or an intended short-term investment in the case of flipping. That is the way of property investment but have you ever wonder is there any other way to invest in property? Now this is where Property Investment Convention 2015 (PIC2015) come into play.

We all know investment mean you need a certain amount of capital and when we talk about property it is a ball game of “tens-of-thousands”. This makes investing an even harder game as for the young adults who just on their dawn of career or the middle-age men who had caped his loan ability due to his 1st property.

You might be thinking young adults who are in their mid 20’s is to be expected not to have the money to invest one way or another. However, during young age we have the spirit, passion and most important of all the energy to fight for what we want most. Money had been an issue of life whether you like it or not. Hence, investment should start at a young age when both your brain and your energy level are high, start doing it right.

For the middle-age group, if one had have his property house that enough as many are not even capable of owning any. Wrong, middle-age group are the one that needed investment even more as their family is setting up. Money will be even more important as the dependency of money increased.

PIC 2015 will open up your mind and guide you through a different method or we called it “Creative Method” to venture into property investment while keeping check with your financial budget. Join us and learn from John Lee (one of our speaker in PIC2015) how to invest in property with a different method.

Dump the mindset of investing the old and traditional way and learn how to invest a different way. John Lee will guide you through how to invest in a way that he had mastered in and are using it widely in Malaysia and also UK. Plus, he is a international speaker and own millions pounds of property all across UK.

Hint: Think about your car, which you are paying back loan to the bank after you buying it. Your driving it, using it, owning but do you really have full control in it? Try miss 1 month of loan payment, and see what happen to your car.

8th Global Entrepreneurs Roundtable (GER)

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MOC Capital with Wealth Mastery Academy & MICE Preferred are proud to be the 8th Global Entrepreneurs Roundtable & Rise of ASEAN host in Kuala Lumpur this 2015! We Aim to gather all top-notched and upcoming entrepreneurs and investors to this once in a year annual event. Our team is well equipped to provide you an experience like no other!

We would like cordially invite you and your esteemed organization to be part of our perpetual growth in investments, entrepreneurships and educational conference as we have assist and seen tens of thousands of our participants grew! We wish to see your growth too at the Rise of ASEAN Conference & 8th Global Entrepreneurs Roundtable this 17th – 19th April 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia!

$xx Trillions in Assets
under management presented by participants

ONE Location,

Global Connections

In a recent article by Forbes, it states ‘At the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills a panel discussion on Southeast Asia provided data, history and empirical experiences that all point toward the ASEAN member states continued economic growth. Moreover, the panel suggested the ten ASEAN member states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam; should be the primary destinations for businesses looking to expand in Asia and investors looking to invest in Asia now and for many years to come.’

GER have had been in held in South Africa, Singapore, China and now Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Rise of ASEAN Conference

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This April 2015, MOC Capital Berhad with Wealth Mastery Academy & MICE Preferred presents you Rise of ASEAN Conference (ROAC) & The 8th Global Entrepreneurs Roundtable (GER) happening in Kuala Lumpur; A first ever conjoined entrepreneur and investment outlook into ASEAN and Global.

The aim of Rise of ASEAN Conference (ROAC) is to provide not only current updates and scene from the entrepreneur and investment arena, but also as a main networking-opportunity-platform for all veteran and upcoming entrepreneurs, investors, small, medium and giant business and brand owners and not forgetting renowned investment bankers; to share and provide opportunity to grow bigger and wider-across the globe.

This event is also a perfect platform not only for networking, grasping opportunities but also as a Marketing gateway where you can showcase your products and services and to escalate your company’s brand portfolio.