Build a Social Media Presence

Tim Lupo of Fresh Tilled Soil has a great post this morning entitled "How to Build a Strong Online Presence in 2009" We've been following Tim and rest of the team at Fresh Tilled Soil's advice on how to build a presence in Google for NextUp Careers. So far we've undertaken the following steps:

1. We've set up our LinkedIn profiles and joined industry specific groups on the site. This has provided us automatic access to thousand of Reliability Engineering and Predictive Maintenance Profesionals. We are now engaging in conversations about job and career related issues on the site. We also posted the press release announcing NextUp Careers.
2. We have been twittering on a daily basis in an account we set up specifically for NextUp. We typically twitter about things we've posted on the NextUp Careers blog or about interesting stories we've found on the web that relate to jobs and careers in the reliability engineering and predictive maintenance space.
3. We are in the process of establishing a Facebook page for NextUp and also a group on LinkedIn that will be dedicated to job and career topics. We also posted a basic demo of how NextUp works on Youtube. Five people have actually watched it

The results of our initial efforts on creating a presence have been pretty good. So far we've been able to get first page positioning on some of our keyword terms and are moving up the ranks on others. Its a long process - creating organic search success doesn't happen overnight, but if you are consistent with how you use social media sites, I think you will find the results very favorable. How are you using social media to drive traffic to your site?

Do You Know Guy Kawasaki?

I'll be the first to admit that before sometime last year, I had no idea who Guy Kawasaki really was. I had heard the name but I really didn't know who he was or for that matter really care. I did not follow technology in great detail, nor did I pay much attention to quirky marketing books. I read strategy, finance and books on execution. Not fuzzy books on marketing by guys named Guy and Seth (Godin).

Then, for whatever reason I kept hearing about Guy and started following him on his blog - How to Change the World, which it turns out is one of the most popular blogs in the world. The blog is everything mine is not (i.e. short and too the point) and is usually very informative. Guy is also a Twitter fanatic and I attempt to follow him (I could never read all the links he sends) when I can. Guy is also a well known author - his last book is entitled "Reality Check" and I just picked it up. Its 475 pages, so I'm not confident that I'll finish it anytime soon!

If you would like to get yourself familiar with Guy Kawasaki, but don't want to commit to 475 pages, I strongly recommend reading the interview Josh Bernoff of Groundswell conducted with him. The interview is light, but covers a variety of topics, including the 10/20/30 rule that says every presentation should have no more than 10 slides, last for 20 minutes and contain a font smaller than 30 points. I also found the interview interesting because of his comment that he really doesn't care about Web 1.0, 2.0 or the macro picture. One should be focused on building a "kick ass company". This is a point that we often try to get across to people we talk to who get worried about the things they can't control.

Anyways, check out the interview and his blog - I would highly recommend putting him on your RSS feed. Also, be sure to check out his company ALLTOP, which is a really great way to filter all the blogs out there. I use it frequently. Now, if I can just get the Vann Report on ALLTOP.

Angel Investing Declines

Discouraging news for entrepreneurs and small business owners looking to raising capital was published earlier this week. BusinessWeek has a quick post "Looking for an Angel" that details the results from the University of New Hampshire's Center for Venture Research - Survey of Angel Investing that was released earlier this week.

According to the report, angel investing was down $19.2 billion (26%) in 2008! What is particularly interesting about this number is that the total volume of deals was only down 2.9%. This means that while companies are raising money, they may not be raising enough. The biggest losers in this appears to be companies that are raising money for growth as the survey found those companies took the biggest hit.

The study indicates that a best case for 2009 will be flat line. This points further to the need to conserve cash and maximize your capital outflows. Also, it shows you will need to be creative in your capital raising as the angel avenue might not be a viable option for many companies. The three F's - friends, families and fools will be more important than ever. In addition to these, you may also want to take a look at Spark Capital's Start at Spark and Charles River Ventures Quick Start - both are seed funds that will provide seed capital to companies. I've been debating whether or not to apply with one of our new ventures. If I do, I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, have any of you had any luck with raising money from angels or with either of these new programs? Stories are encourages and welcomed.

The Sanctity of Contracts

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago amidst the furor over the AIG bonuses, that I wrote a post entitled the world fiddles about the potential for this to set a precedent to undermine the confidence in contracts. Yesterday’s New York Times, has an article “Contracts Now Being Seen as Rewritable” regarding just this concern.

The Times article is generally focused on discussing the issue from the standpoint of city/state governments utilizing bankruptcy or the threat of bankruptcy to get unions to the negotiating table. However, of particular concern for business owners and professionals working on contracts is this statement from the article:

“The Treasury secretary, meanwhile, is working on a much broader initiative to give the federal government the power to modify the contracts of the financial institutions it takes over. The proposal raises several new issues, because it would eliminate the judicial oversight of bankruptcy proceedings and the opportunity for affected parties to challenge the changes.”

If we’ve learned nothing from this current financial disaster we should at least understand that there is a reason for rules and regulation. By contemplating action that will allow the Federal government to modify contracts it is being as irresponsible as the previous administration which turned a blind eye to the basic principals of finance and accounting. Contracts entered into in good faith are the foundation of our financial and legal system, undermining them, for any reason is even more dangerous than allowing NINJA loans and the like to proliferate the balance sheets of our financial institutions. I would rather see a process be burdensome than trample on the sanctity of a contract negotiated in good faith.

The Obama administration has pledged to be different. Hopefully, they will come to their senses and put this issue to bed.

If you've just been part of a "Reduction in Force' event

I just finished up my morning coffee which, on Sunday’s is always accompanied by a thorough reading of the Boston Globe. This mornings Globe Magazine has a great article on how to make the best of being out of a job. The article, entitled “From Lemons to Lemonade” can be found here.

A couple of key takeaways from the article:

1. Have a quick mourning period and then get over it. Your not going to be effective in your job hunt if your still bitter about your last one. Actually, I’m sure that is good dating advice as well.
2. Have a plan. I’m always reminded of the infamous words of AkAk’s dad in “One Crazy Summer”. “Without a plan, there’s no attack. No attack, no victory!”
3. If your not having success in finding something in your current field, don’t be afraid to try something different for a while. A temp job can give you the opportunity to do something you’ve always wanted to do. At the very least, it gets you active and earning a little coin. Plus, you never know who your going to meet when you are tending bar, mowing lawns or working retail.
4. Get out there and network. Engage yourself in Facebook, LinkedIn and the other networking sites.

Lastly, don’t spend all day long stalking monster.com, careerbuilder.com and all the other job boards out there. Of course, if your a professional in the reliability engineering and predictive maintenance industry do visit NextUp Careers!

Twittering Away

As many of you who follow me on the blog here know, I have been experimenting with Twitter. My last post about it indicated that I was less than enthused with the medium; I compared it to a fad like a pet rock or a friendship bracelet. This may still prove to be true, but I have been using it with increasing frequency and beginning to see the value in it.

I hate to admit it, but I am now operating two accounts! This is probably absolute madness but there is a method to it. The first account is related to my personal activity and is geared towards me and my Vann Group persona. The second account is for NextUp Careers, our new venture that I posted about the other day. This account is designed to promote NextUp within the Reliability & Predictive Maintenance industry that we are a part of.

So far, I have found this account to be far more useful and fun because I am engaging in a specific community. In doing so, we have a targeted audience that we are communicating with and we are able to promote our service in a way that generates awareness of our activity for those who are generally interested in it. In total, we have attracted 43 followers in the past week and adding more everyday.

What I am also finding out is that twittering on some level is just the random thoughts in your head that you decide to communicate to others whether because you have a need/purpose, or just because you can't help yourself. I find a couple of beers helps!

I'll continue to keep you updated on my twitter adventures, and if you have joined the fad, go ahead and follow me. I'll be sure to reciprocate.

The Education of an Entrepreneur

My first business venture was a lemonade stand which I had on the corner of Laurel and Columba St. It was an okay spot but I realized there was more traffic at the intersection of Columba and Grattan so I moved it. I was probably seven or eight years old.

Around the same time I started delivering papers for the kids in the neighborhood who were older than me and had routes. I helped Michael F. with his morning Republican route, Danny O. with his afternoon Transcript Telegram route and Billy B. with his Sunday route. When Billy went away to college I acquired his route and every Sunday for years my father drove me and my sisters Kim and Pam around while we delivered 125 papers. I had the route until I was 14 and old enough to get a job at Bradlees.

Kim, Pam and I also started a business selling colored salt. We would take chalk and color the sand and then layer it in glass jars. When I couldn't get them to focus on doing what I wanted with the business, I tried to buy them out. I was probably ten or eleven years old.

I also bought and sold baseball and basketball cards. My best return ever is when I bought a box of 1979 Topps basketball cards for $12. It had six Larry Bird/Magic Johnson rookie cards which I was able to sell for $100 a piece. I still dream of that deal!

In high school a couple of my friends and I financed keg parties. We would pool our money, buy a keg and sell cups for $5. Usually a good business where you got your money back and a pretty good profit, except for when the cops showed up. This was my first experience with financial risk.

I started my first company in college, doing research for my fathers clients who needed help finding information. I was also a pretty good writer in a fraternity with many guys who were not so I wrote term papers for $10 a page. My girlfriend at the time and I had a good number of conversations regarding the ethics of such an enterprise but ultimately agreed it was being done in the spirit of brotherhood. I guess she realized the benefits of me having money to take her out to dinner!

In 1999, I started Fisher, Tilton & Vann, Inc. because I realized I didn't do well working for other people. We also acquired Split Rock Capital from Bill Mazzeine. In 2003 we incorporated the Vann Group and in 2004 we acquired Client First Associates. I briefly invested in a property management and landscaping company and have since started several other smaller companies that are in various stages of development.

Despite all of this activity, I never considered myself an entrepreneur because nothing I was involved with was ever designed to scale and therefore, in my mind I wasn't building a company, which is what entrepreneurs do. Over time I have learned that this thinking is incorrect as it does not matter what size a company is, if you have the courage to take a risk your an entrepreneur. Nonetheless today I pleased to announce that I am meeting my old definition of an entrepreneur. Over the coming months within this space and in other places on the web, you will get the opportunity to learn about many of the ventures we will be launching.

In doing so, I want to make it clear that this does not signal a departure from what we do best. Quite the contrary as much of what we are focusing on will be geared towards helping transitional companies unlock their value. This will be done by leveraging the web and social media in ways that will allow us to provide tools and advice to companies across the globe - its going to be exciting!

We've also got great partners who are teaming up with us to make all of this a reality. Partnerships are a hallmark of the Vann Family's history of business success and we are really excited about their involvement. Their operational, industry and technical experience will allow us to do what we do best - make companies (ours and yours) grow.

With that said, I'm pleased to announce our first venture - NextUp Careers. You can link here to the press release for all the details about the first career portal dedicated to helping reliability engineering and predictive maintenance professionals find career opportunities and companies find the right fit. What we are building is pretty amazing, and I'll have a post soon on what makes it unique in the world of web-based job and career sites.

In the meantime, please continue to watch this space for progress on all the exciting things we are up to. Also, please keep us in mind as you think about how your going to transition your business from what it is to what you want it to be. We can't wait to help you.