Becoming an intrapreneur isn’t something people typically fall into. If you want it to happen, you’re going to have to get out there and make it happen. And to do that, you’ll need a plan. Item number one on your list is to master your job. This is actually a two-parter. First, become an expert in your…
The relationship between young bands and venues is tense at best. Young artists always think that they’re extraordinary, and that they’re on the verge of a major commercial breakthrough. Venues should be grateful to have them. On the other hand, promoters have had it with artists who think they own the world, and who can’t actually pack enough people to half-fill the clubs they’re playing. And who come with a million demands per gig. Maybe if bands and venues had a platform for communicating better and faster, then the whole experience would be less frustrating for everybody.
A marketplace for source code, SellMyApp.com is where developers of iPhone, Android and Blackberry applications can easily sell their own work. If you’re one, this site lets you list your code either in part of in full, and it lets you do so at no cost. There are no listing fees to be paid for selling your apps here. All you have to do in order to create a listing is to sign up for a free account. Once you’ve got one, you’ll be able to list as many apps as you want.
The submission form is really straightforward, with you having to describe what your app does, and which rights you’re selling. You might sell full and exclusive rights to your code, or you might license the usage to specific parts of it.
And that’ll be it. Your app will go live, and you’ll get to promote it on Facebook, Twitter and just any other site where you think potential buyers could be found.
Still, it must be mentioned that although you can have your app added to the database at zero cost, you can also pay for additional exposure. Featured apps are displayed on the homepage for longer, and they always get a much better placement.
A site that’s been inspired by by Fiverr, Digg, Twitter, and Google, Ten Dollarz shows us that even in today’s world there’s tons of things that can be bought for a tenner. This site features nothing but mini jobs that people are wiling to do for $10. These are mostly creative works, like designing a cover photo to go with your new Facebook timeline, and writing articles for blogs. Each person who posts anything on the site has actually got his profile page and his own reputation, so that it’s very easy to know perfectly well whose services you’re hiring.
Some of the many categories that are listed on the site include “Advertising”, “Web Design”, “Writing”, “Music” and “Social Marketing”. All of the jobs that are listed on TenDollarz can be “liked”, and they can be ordered in just one click.
And if you plan to use this site to market your skills and start getting some clients, then it’s worth mentioning that Ten Dollarz uses an algorithm of its own that notices when your promote your job using social media. When that happens, your listing is “powered up” and becomes a lot more visible.
I know some writers who post their work for free on blogs, so that everybody can read it. If you do, then I must tell you I find such a thing admirable. It speaks of a genuine interest in connecting with the public, in letting just anybody have access to your art regardless of where you are located. It beats the distribution chain completely, as long as people can access the Internet then they’ll be able to read your poems, stories and novels. Yet, nobody would blame you if you wanted to generate some sort of income for what you’ve created. And a site like Sellfy is all you need to get started.
This site helps you sell your own digital content by dragging and dropping it into an uploader, and setting a price for it. That’ll result in a page being created where people can easily buy your own work (in this case, a PDF that brings your writings together).
Of course, you can sell any kind of digital content using Sellfy. Images, photos, music… Sellfy lends itself to anything that can be downloaded and stored in a hard drive. The transaction will be handled via PayPal, and the money will be put your way as soon as a payment has been received.
Presented by Joshua Schachter (the man who created Delicious way back in 2003), Skills.to is a service that puts Twitter to a very good professional use. Basically, it lets Twitter users tell the world about these things they’re good at. People who take to this service can tag themselves with these skills they have, so that their Twitter contacts know what they could help them with if the time comes. And Skills.to also lets users tag their friends with endorsements for skills. In this way, everything’s a lot more transparent than it should be if people where just allowed to claim they can do just anything. This system of endorsements makes it easy to verify that people are really as skilled as they say they are. Endorsements are reflected numerically by the side of these skills people claim to have.
The site is free to join and use, and if you’ve already got a Twitter account then you can sign in right now and start marketing your skills. People who are not already part of your Twitter contacts will be able to learn about you by using the search tool that’s featured on the site.
Something like GrabInbox is a must if you use social networking sites to promote your services and products. GrabInbox lets you manage everything from the same page. By signing in using either your Facebook or Twitter account, you’ll be able to add all the social services you habitually use one by one. These include not only Facebook and Twitter, but also LinkedIn. And when it comes to Facebook, you can add as many fanpages as products you have to advertise.
Once all your accounts and pages have been added, then you can monitor everything from a centralized location. You can see what people are commenting everywhere and reply in kind, and you can post to multiple accounts in one fell swoop. And just in case you can’t be online as much as you’d like to, then that’s not a problem since GrabInbox can send you direct notifications when you have new messages and replies.
Besides, GrabInbox comes with a Google Chrome plugin that you can use to share interesting pages with all of your customers and fans. And a bookmarlet that does the same is provided for those who run other browsers.
Read more on GrabInbox.com – Manage All Your Social Accounts…
Creating an event and promoting it on social services should be simple, something that’s done in a couple of minutes at most. And that’s what happens when you’re using a service like Splash. This new tool enables you to create a page for any event that you’re hosting, using a slick management system (One Clipboard) that lets you pick a place, set a date and invite guests in a couple of clicks. And then, track all of your RSVPs and VIPs in real time.
Integration with One Clipboard also means that you can take care of aspects like generating a budget, creating one-sheets and overall brainstorming.
Once the page has been created, then you can make it come to life by connecting Splash to the host’s Twitter feed, and have all the conversations that are connected with your event featured on your page. And these conversations will keep on being imported for as long as people talk about your event.
And once the event’s over, then you’ll be able to post all the photos which were taken that day right on your Splash page. The people who were there will be able to comment on them, and also to share the best images with their friends.
For the promotion of classes, seminars and meetings there’s this site. OddFan.com can be used to promote everything from seminars and webinars to meetings with renowned professionals who are willing to share their knowledge with newcomers. You simply have to submit the date in which the event will take place and pick a category from the many that are available for your listing to go live. For a good couple of hours (and maybe more than that if you are lucky) it will be displayed on the homepage. After that, people will only find it if they do a search.
But chances are people won’t have to dig that deep, as the homepage has actually got three main tabs (“Upcoming Events”, “Just Listed” and “Most Popular”) that go into ensuring events won’t get buried that easily.
Financial services, cleantech, healthcare, leadership, human resources, email marketing… these are just some of the featured categories. And the list keeps on getting better: internet law, lead generation, sales automation… no matter how ambitious you might happen to be, you’ll find something for you here.
OddFan.com is free to use, and open to all the people who have something to share that goes with the spirit of the site. Registration is fast and painless, and you can also authenticate who you are using Facebook.
Simon launched Flogtube.com in November 2011, an e-commerce website that gives its users the chance to record 30-second videos about products for sale or services. Like a site which combined Ebay.com and Youtube.com would be, we could say. Before, he had founded Oobafit.com, which was reviewed also here at Killerstartups.com.
“I would say I’m basically a complete beginner who learnt Php, Drupal, etc in a week! So no computer wiz, just a hard worker, that’s the commando work ethic anyway”, Simon told us.
And quite an example you are giving us there, Simon. He had an idea which he wanted to see working in real life, so he aimed all his artillery (not literally, although he’s a an ex marine) to getting it done.
“To be honest, I was fed up of receiving things from the internet which where not quite matching their description! So I decided the problem lie with communication between buyers and sellers, I then figured that an easy way to improve this was to use video! I was really surprised to find that Youtube and Ebay have missed the gap so I decided to fill it. Using video allows users to show in great detail their product, talent, or business and then make money on it which we don’t take a cut of, so its free.“
But how does someone start a business based on the internet and computers if he doesn’t know very much how to use either of them? Simon did not let his lack of knowledge stop him from making what he wanted to do.
“I haven’t really got any website experience so I decided to by a tutorial CD online and taught myself Drupal in a week. I then spent the following 2 weeks building a proof of concept with the site.“
Flogtube may be used to showcase three different things. In the first place, individuals can list their items for sale. Then, businesses can make their services available or any person can advertise his skills to find jobs. And thirdly, talented individuals who want to give a shot at singing, playing music, acting or any other artistic knack, can post their short videos too. So Flogtube is something more than just an e-commerce site, which it is anyway, but with some more features.
From Simon’s mind to the web
When we asked Simon about the process of launching the site, he makes it look effortless, which gives us a hint that he enjoyed it because he certainly did some work:
“It was easy really I just didn’t sleep whilst learning, so for about three weeks I only slept two hours per night to get the job done.”
To get the necessary funding, Simon explained that “…it was quite informal but pitched the idea to someone I new who could see the potential. I think they saw the value in the product because of its simplicity. I then drafted a projection of revenue streams as it’s important to explain exactly where the money is coming from.
Fortunately with this site there are loads of options which are very realistic to make the business viable. I do think however he invested in my ideas and drive to get the website finished, speed was the key, other features such as a payment system for users could be sorted later.“
Simon’s project is online now at Flogtube.com, and we are left to see its evolution from now on. As it seems, we’ll be seeing a lot of it in the near future.
“We have a version 2 of the site which will be launched mid April with fully integrated payment system and an iPhone application which means you can simply film on your phone and upload in around 30 seconds directly to the site, making a killer app!”, said Simon.
“I have loads of new ideas. We want to make this a multi platform business with amazing opportunities with smart TV’s and the internet combined into a shopping channel which anyone can star in.”
We will also have some ideas around the talent side of the business making it into an online America’s/Britain’s got talent, where people can vote for acts online.“, he added.
It appears as if this guy Weatherall from Winchester (Hampshire), got a good thing going here. And without really being into computers, which makes it more amazing. In his other company’s site (www.getfit121.com) we can confirm how much of an outdoor and fitness guy he is. But quite entrepreneurial. Apart from keeping fit himself, he trains professional boxers. His mind though, never rests from new ideas which are somehow leaving the fitness world:
“I like to learn about new technology and am looking into Arduino chips for my next invention/crazy idea which I have been working on for fun again! After I got back from the Iraq war in 2003 I figured that fitness would be my future but I really enjoy the tech stuff now which is taking over slightly”.
It stands out that Simon enjoys all what he does, which I’m beginning to think is the key for his success (and anyone else’s, if we come to that). This is what he told Killerstartups.com:
“Just for fun really. To be honest that’s why I did this because its fun and I want to truly solve this problem of increasing communication between buyers and sellers.”
Yes, I think it’s all about fun, in the end.
Read more on Flogtube.com – Sell And Promote Yourself With Videos…
Buildchatter.com gives the best ideas to start promoting yourself through social media platforms. Every kind of clients can benefit by Buildchatter‘s service, really. Whether you are a rising law firm, a restaurant, or a gym, the tools will be a great asset for your business. The advantage of this service can be found in its easy to use interface, the complete control you have over your campaign and the thorough reports you’ll be able to see of who and how many are paying attention to what you do.
The options that Buildchatter allows you to build are for example the creation of a fanpage, build an online boutique and showcase your products, organise sweepstakes, give out gifts to engage clients, make contests and even make videos to get some viral expansion of your service.
The pricing of this service goes from $39 to $149 per month. You can see all the option at their site in Buildchatter.com.
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There’s no need to turn to eBay to sell your own products when a site like AuctionBase lets you get the very same job done yourself. And it lets you do it without needing to be a genius coder or a designer. AuctionBase is a management platform for live auction websites, and it’s been created for people who’ve got zero technical skills.
This new platform lets you do just everything that’s connected with creating and monitoring a live auction by using a really simple interface. You’ll be able to have auction pages up and running in a couple of minutes, and then edit the content as many times as you want afterwards without having to touch a single line of code. And you can also easily create auction catalogs and events, and engage buyers using a series of social media tools. An e-news campaign builder is provided along with a tool for creating Facebook mini auction catalogs. And all the auction pages and catalogs you create can be accessed on mobiles, too.
A tiered approach to pricing means there are four different plans to choose from, and their names speak for themselves: “Small Business”, “Intermediate”, “Advanced” and “Cloud”. You’ll make your choice based on how much storage and bandwidth you think you’ll need to get things done. But you can upgrade/downgrade your plan whenever you want later, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
The economy is in shambles, and it doesn’t look like things are going get better overnight. If you’ve got some skills that you could use to generate an income, by all and any means do it. There’s sites like HiredFor.com that can help you spread the word about what you do, and start making some good money.
This site lets you market your skills by creating free listings, in three easy steps. First, you have to explain what you can do for others. This can be everything from teaching an instrument, babysitting, giving yoga classes or even walking a dog. Then, you have to tell HiredFor where you’re located, so that people who search the site later will find nothing but relevant results more easily. And finally, you have to set a price for the services you’re offering. There’s no limits to how much you can charge, you’re free to set the price you want.
Leaving aside how useful this new site is from a commercial point of view, it’s only fair to remark how great something like HiredFor can turn out to be for local communities. By connecting people who live nearby and who have never crossed a word before like this, HiredFor can create the kind of bonds that in this time and age have somehow become lost. And strengthen people’s true sense of belonging as a result.
If your company has just launched and you’re still to hire someone to design your own website, then a service like ShoutMyBiz will help you in the meantime. ShoutMy.Biz lets you build a basic page for your company, and include everything from your logo and a description to photos and a map showing customers how to get there. And you’ll get to do all this yourself, just by dragging and dropping the different elements where you want them to be.
This service is provided for free, and it’s actually compatible with Facebook and Twitter profiles. You can bring all of your different streams into the same page, and keep a good watch on everything from there. Analytics are provided for you to understand exactly where your traffic is coming from, and how people are relating to your content.
And ShoutMy.Biz also works if you’ve already got a site, and all you want is a centralized hub for monitoring your content and all that’s being said about it on the social web. You won’t be charged a thing, and you’ll get to monitor everything at once, using ShoutMy.Biz’s neat dashboard.
Visit this site if you’re going away on vacation next week and the thought of not posting a single tweet while you’re away makes you feel uneasy. TwitDrip is a new service that will surely stop all your worrying. It basically lets you schedule tweets for any time in the future. You can have a tweet posted every day at 8 PM for the next 2 weeks, and give your followers the impression that you’re just taking things calmly, not that you’ve taken a break from it all. And if you have lots of tweets written already, you can also set a “drip” for your tweets, and have them posted at the frequency you want.
And a service like TwitDrip is also going to be useful if you’re an Internet marketer. A service such as this one lets you have promotional tweets delivered right on schedule. TwitDrip makes it dead-easy to market any product of yours, without having to get near a computer more than once or twice a week
TwitDrip is a free service, and you can also use it without having to sign up for an account first. You can sign in to the service using your Twitter username and password here.
After working hard on an event for weeks and weeks on end, it would only make sense to do something and try to keep attendees talking about it for as long as possible. And that’s something this social media application makes easy. Dather lets you build a crowdsourced multi-media scrapbook, chronicling the event from start to finish. Photos and videos can be added, and people can talk about the whole experience. They can praise the food that was served, they can laugh over those who were dressed cataclysmically bad, they can reminisce about that guy who fell into the pool… in short: they can talk about all that’s made the event one to relive time after time. And they can do it somewhere other people will get to see it. If you mean to make the event a regular one, you could hardly ask for some better promotion. Nothing draws people to an event more than the buzz generated by the ones who have already been there.
There’s three different ways in which you can actually use Dather. In addition to embedding a widget into your site and using a Facebook app, you’re given the option to build a micro-site for promoting everything. In all cases, you’ll get a timeline showing visitors all that went down at your event, and they’ll be able to share what they see with all of their social graphs at once.
Read more on Dather.com – Create A Scrapbook For Your Event…
If you and your band are having trouble getting mentions in the press, then StoryAmp comes highly recommended. The usefulness of this site is such that it lets you create dispatches which can be distributed using the company’s own press lists, and brought directly into the hands of sympathetic journalists. These dispatches are created for free, and you can include your band’s bio, photos, videos, setlists and pretty much anything that would give music journalists a chance to write some good copy.
And if your band has been around for ages and you’ve got just lots of pictures and videos that you want to have included in your dispatch, then you can do so by signing for a paid account. This will cost you $15, and in addition to letting you upload as many photos and videos as you want to be used in your music pitches, it will let you password-protect everything. In this way, you’ll make sure that only people who work in the industry will get to read your dispatches.
In any case, dispatches can also be shared with fans. It depends on who you choose to share your passwords with.
And it must be mentioned that for a limited time premium accounts can be bought at a discounted price. Right now, instead of having to pay $15 you can pay $10 and get one to promote your band to the full.
Available in lots of different languages (including English, German and Spanish), My Art Map is a social network for people who are passionate about art. If that’s the kind of person you are, on this site you’re given the chance to learn when artistic events are going to be held close to where you live, or in any city that you find yourself in for the weekend. And if you’re an artist yourself, you’re also given the chance to share your own work with everybody else. You can have it shared and commented, and create nothing short of a true personal network for furthering your career.
Membership to MyArtMap.de costs nothing, with you being able to register as an individual or as a commercial user. The latter is the option you should go for if you represent any museum, trade fair or gallery. And also if you work for an auction house, or for any venue that’s connected with art in any way or the other.
Other social sites that are already available and that we have previously reviewed on KillerStartups.com include BetweenCreation and The Hive. The Hive in particular offers services for crafters and hobbyists, so it aims for a slightly different audience than MyArtMap.
An online community of its very own, Veteran Central is aimed at war veterans and their advocates. If you’re either, on this site you can connect with people who are like you, and start working together for the benefit of everybody. This site aims to become the one spot in which veterans (and also current military) can unite their voices, and make themselves be heard. And it intends to cater for veterans in very different positions, too.
For example, if you’re a veteran business owners this site will let you get in touch with other business owners like you, and see in which ways you all can collaborate in spreading the word about what you do.
And this site also makes it very easy for business owners to hire veterans that are unemployed. The site lets people recommend these veterans that they know to business owners who are keen on helping those who have served the country.
Besides, VeteranCentral.com is developing an online platform that helps veterans build a virtual resume, complete with multimedia videos that let them show their skills to the world in the most representative of ways. Once this service is in place, you’ll be able to share these videos you have recorded with all the contacts you have on your broader social networking sites.
If selling products online is your main source of income, then this is the kind of service that you can’t afford to miss. It’s got what it takes to make a true difference in the way you do business. JVZoo is an instant commission platform that integrates with PayPal, and which lets you recruit marketers to promote and sell your products. JVZoo is really simple to use, with you being able to create an affiliate program for any item that you sell in a couple of clicks. Programs can be created both for digital and tangible products. As long as it’s something that you sell online, then you’ll be able to have that product offered to marketers and sellers that could be interested in them.
As a user of JVZoo, you’ll also be able to create instant affiliate contests. And the overall appeal of the campaigns you’re creating will no doubt be enhanced by the fact that you can offer lifetime commissions to your affiliates.
Of course, you can always track your sales and promotions, and figure out what’s working and what’s falling short of expectations at a glance. The slick dashboard that’s provided will let you see to that.
