V.S.S Mani: From 50,000 Rs to 100 –Justdial.com
In a developing country like India, the common citizen is faced with a plethora of choices in many issues; from planning a tour to buying an article. This problem of choice which perplexes the common man needs a solution and that solution is the right information. That too with just a phone call! This is the concept which gripped Mr. Mani. He wanted to provide all kinds of information help through a call. Aptly, his company is named “JustDial”.
V.S.S Mani was born in Jamshedpur and grew up in Kolkata. He completed his C.A there itself. “Yellow Pages” started making a name for itself with a similar concept. The thing is that it works for just a part of the day. In 1987, while he was working, he thought of a new firm which would operate all through the day at any time. So, he started a small company in New Delhi. In those days, to get the telephone connection, it took nearly 1 to 2 years. So, the atmosphere was not exactly encouraging at the time for his startup. So he closed it. With a cash of 50,000 RS he went to Mumbai. Due to lack of funds, he struggled a lot to bring his abstract idea to life. He started a Matrimonial Magazine which became a hit.
It was after this that he started “Just Dial“, in 1994. He increased the quality of service by categorizing the information and also serving the customers in less time. JustDial serves the customers through 3 means. They are:
Phone Calls
Internet
SMS
Monetizing the Venture:
Whenever a customer asks for a particular information, they will make him stay on the line for a while. In the interim an advertisement is played. This way money is made. This kind of a unique service model attracted many people. Thats why a small investment of 50,000 is now worth around 100 Crores!
The company started with just 100 employees. Right now, it boasts of having around 2,600. It extended its’ services in 45 cities and has branches in 13 cities.
Because of its’ exponential growth, “SAIF Partners” from Hong Kong invested 50 crores and “TIGER GLOBAL” organization from America has invested in 77 crores.
Recently, Mr. Mani started www.JustDial.com to serve their customers through internet also. Just Dial receives nearly 100,000 phone calls per day from our country.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
An Interview with Jack Ma – Alibaba.com
An Interview with Jack Ma – Alibaba.com
Jack Ma — one of China's most influential business leaders and one of the 100 people who "most affect our world," according to Time magazine — has a new passion: the environment.
Ma is the founder, chairman and CEO of the Alibaba Group, a holding company that includes the world's largest business-to-business e-commerce platform (Alibaba.com) and the premier consumer-to-consumer auction website in China (Taobao.com).
But Ma has become more than just an incredibly successful businessman — he is now a staunch advocate for corporate social responsibility and personal action to improve China's environment, from boycotting food products made of shark fins to fighting water pollution.
Ma is also a trustee for The Nature Conservancy's China program. He sat down with Charles Bedford, director of the Conservancy's Colorado program, to talk about China's changing attitude toward its environment and philanthropy, the country's formidable environmental problems, and his populist vision for tackling those problems.
Charles Bedford: You've incorporated social responsibility into Alibaba, and you've also focused on bringing the Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning microlending institution Grameen Bank into China. You've got a longer term vision than what is typical in the corporate world. Given that, what do you see long-term for China's environment? Where do you think China's environment will be in 10 years or 20 years?
Jack Ma: I think one thing's for sure — China's environment will get better in 10 or 20 years. Business people like myself are beginning to pay attention to social issues including the environment and taking action and really treating this issue very seriously. And we're doing it not for P.R. reasons, but because we know it is important. We know it is serious and that if we don't take action, it will hurt ourselves, our children and our families.
I think that, in a way, this growing awareness of the environment as an issue now is good timing. Ten or 20 years ago, China would never have been aware of this kind of problem. Back then, people were focused on how to survive. Now, people have better living conditions and they have big dreams for the future. Now we have the ability to deal with the issue. We have the knowledge. We have the technology to solve our environmental problems. But if we don't take them seriously, we're going to pay a huge, huge price later.
The most fun part of business, at least to me, is to contribute to the future. It's not just about making money — it's about making healthy money, enabling people to enjoy their lives. I think the important thing is to wake people up and let them know that our environmental issues need to be addressed. Positive thinking is key: The future is always beautiful.
Charles Bedford: Building on that a bit, how do you see or how could you help or how can other corporate leaders in China get beyond that quarterly-report mentality of profits and into a longer term sustainable future vision?
Jack Ma: As business leaders and entrepreneurs, we always have to ask ourselves: Why did we build this business? As companies grow and become public, most start to forget about their initial dreams, about why they built the company in the first place, which was to contribute to society and to help customers. Those are their real dreams, and not to produce good quarterly results. Good quarterly results are good, of course, but that's not the purpose of business. That is the by-product and result.
For successful business leaders, if their goal is to be rich, they can become very rich. But then what's the point of having all that money? When you have 100 million U.S. dollars, I think that's more than enough for you and your children. Once your net worth exceeds a certain point, that's not your money anymore. It is society's money. It is the money society has given to you, and you should take responsibility to allocate the money in a good way. I started thinking about this issue just two, three years ago. One day I suddenly woke up and wondered, "What's next?"
Charles Bedford: "What's next?"
Jack Ma: Yes. "What's next?" What was the initial dream you had? Go back and think about it. You know, reboot it. You have to reboot your brain, your machine, your computer to run faster, right?
Charles Bedford: Yeah.
Jack Ma: When there is so much software installed, your machine is very slow. Therefore, we all have to reboot and revisit that initial dream we had and why we built our businesses. Was it really to please shareholders? It is best to forget about the quarterly results. It's just one part of the business – it's not the purpose of the business.
I believe that customers are number one, employees are number two and shareholders are number three — always in that order.
Charles Bedford: You mentioned that, over the last couple of years, environmental awareness has become a bigger focus in your life. Specifically, you have restricted trading of shark fin products in the platforms that you work in, and you personally have made a public call for rejection of shark fin products.
Jack Ma: Yes.
Charles Bedford: Is that when your interest in the environment and sustainability began, or is it a result of a natural evolution? How did you get involved? Where did you first find I guess we would say in the United States, "find religion" on the environment?
Jack Ma: Well, honestly speaking, before [the shark fin issue] I had never thought about the environment. That was the first environmental issue I dealt with. In the beginning, I did not understand those anti-shark fin guys because I had never given much thought to where shark fin came from and thought it was cultivated.
Charles Bedford: What did you think about it?
Jack Ma: I didn't know what it was because I'm not fond of food and ate it purely because it tasted good. To me, it was like having noodles. But on the day I discovered where it came from, I made a promise to never eat shark fin. I did not see the point of eating fins of sharks from the ocean.
The incident inspired me to think about our business model and how it interacts with the environment. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to know about what's happening to the environment, climate change and everything.
I feel proud that the knowledge was integrated into our work, especially because I didn't force the Alibaba team to remove shark fins from our site. My colleagues and staff asked me about it and we exchanged ideas. The young people in my company sat down and discussed it amongst themselves. They came to their own conclusion and said, "Let's take down this thing." I am proud of the transformation that resulted through education and thoughtful discussion.
It's very interesting that so many people, especially those born in '80s and '90s, support this action. I am proud of these young people. They care for the environment more than my generation ever did. If you want to change the future, get the young people on board. If you want to understand young people, you have to think like the young people do and care for the environment.
It's a good transformation for me.
Charles Bedford: Can you trace your interest in environment and sustainability to that realization, or were there other issues that—
Jack Ma: There are many other things that have inspired me. When I visited the river where I learned to swim as a kid (I almost drowned in there when I was 12 years old), the water was full of garbage. The water use to come up to my chest and now is just barely above my ankle. It has almost completely dried up. I thought to myself, “Oh my God, what's going on?”
Also, my wife keeps telling me: "Be careful of the water that you drink. There is something wrong with it." My father in law had recently died of cancer, which has made me re-evaluate a lot of things. I look around and see so many people dying. The more I think about the environment, the more I start to realize and wake up to the issues.
Alibaba has helped a lot of small business owners make money through our platforms. But now our challenge is to help more people to make healthy money, "sustainable money," money that is not only good for themselves but also good for the society. That's the transformation we are aiming to make.
Charles Bedford: You've spoken a lot about the idea that small is beautiful in the economic world and small businesses are the future.
Jack Ma: Yes.
Charles Bedford: How do you think that applies to helping protect China's nature, China's environment? How can those innovative sources in small businesses or that type of business aid in the protection of China's environment?
Jack Ma: The Nature Conservancy is doing a great job to help preserve huge amounts of beautiful land and is an expert in this area. My thinking is that everybody can do something and each person makes their own small contribution to the environment.
People can look at their own community, their own neighborhood, their own lake in front of them and think about what they can do to help. My belief is that small is beautiful and it is about everyone contributing their small part. For me, it is about caring for the river in front of me. It is about caring for the small garden in my neighborhood. This is the movement I want to inspire. I want everybody to take action – do simple and easy things that don't require money but will as a whole make a big difference.
And I want to encourage all the grandmothers, grandfathers, those who are retired and living in the community, to challenge those companies who are the source of environmental damage and polluting the water. If you are really committed, you can take action. You don't have to cross mountains in order to address climate change. Being ambitious is good, but every tiny action, every tiny contribution is beautiful. I respect the grandmothers and the young kids who do things in their own neighborhood. This is what I want to encourage in everyone.
Charles Bedford: So that would be a platform that you could create for that individual action and meaningful local action towards improving water, air, natural values, forests?
Jack Ma: Yes. Thirty years ago, you can throw rubbish in Hangzhou’s West Lake and nobody would care. But try doing that today and the local people will throw you into the water for littering!
Charles Bedford: Yeah.
Jack Ma: What we want to build up is consciousness and awareness among people. We want people to take these issues seriously so that they think polluting is just as bad as committing a murder. Because, ultimately, it is. Business is important, but it is just as important to take action on these environmental issues as well.
I'm not an extremist. We're just taking a stand on what we believe is good for ourselves and our children. And I don’t want people to do it merely because they are told it is a responsibility. I hate the word "responsibility." I am taking action because this is something I believe in. It is a way of thinking and a part of my philosophy.
Charles Bedford: Although the government here in China isn't monolithic – there are actually complex relationships among the national and the provincial and the local governments -- government as a whole is certainly a major actor here and plays a big role, and business is the other huge sector that's come on in the last 15 and 20 years in China. But one of the sectors that's noticeably missing is the NGO, the charitable, the social civic culture. What role should entrepreneurs and businesses play in helping to create that civil culture?
Jack Ma: We need to give them some time. I think China is making progress. But keep in mind that government people are all human beings, and people should be self-reliant instead of depending too much on government. Second, don't complain about what government should and should not do while you remain passive and are not acting.
What we want to do is to raise awareness among as many people as possible on the seriousness of the environmental situation in China, and let them know that everybody can contribute something to make things better. The better we educate people on the issues, the more will happen. With more and more young people joining the government, they will bring an understanding on the importance of the problem and take action. So it is about influencing a whole system.
I think we are in the process to building it up right now. We cannot expect change overnight. We need to create the change over time, say 5 or 10 years. That's called a long-term strategy, and is necessary for sustainable action and results.
Charles Bedford: The Sichuan earthquake of 2008 was a catalytic event in this country, something that really changed mindsets and changed people's sense of their ownership of the collective China, beyond the government role. You yourself have been very active in Sichuan. You're still active.
What was behind that shift? Was that just the right time and right place sort of thing to spur Chinese philanthropy, to spur consciousness about those things?
Jack Ma: I think this earthquake made some changes in China that have been happening over the past decades transparent to the Chinese people. A lot of Chinese people who have become rich recently have started to think about others and about the environment. I think many hundreds or millions of people were already doing that every day, but that earthquake suddenly forced everyone to focus on one thing.
Chinese people did not start caring from this event. It is more a culmination of the past 10 or 20 years, when everyone was doing small things for each other. When this event occurred, it created a focal point that brought together everyone's attention and focus. It's not like the event suddenly changed China or the Chinese people in their care and love for their neighbors. China is and had already been changing. [The Chinese people have] been recovering the love [for each other] for the past 10, 20 years now. Now is a chance that everybody will start to move, take action. Whether these actions are right or wrong or good enough or efficient enough, we will see. It's improving.
So when I complain about these environmental disasters in China, I'm actually being positive towards China. If I can understand and realize what other people can't realize, it's because they have not had a chance to think about it. So let's tell them. Let's communicate our message to them.
Charles Bedford: I love that phrase, "recovering the love." It's a really lovely phrase.
Jack Ma: Now what we want to do is plant seeds of love and responsibility, and 20 years later, they will blossom. If we only complain and do not plant, do not invest in a good fertilizer, do not have land, then it is hopeless. There is love in the heart of every individual. We should "plant" facts, culture, education that cultivate love, and foster appreciation and understanding of others.
Charles Bedford: I have two questions kind of spinning out of that, Jack. First, what you've described sounds a lot like what the Buddhists call "Right Livelihood" or a right focus on participation in society. Is that a social value in China? Is it a personal value? Is it both?
Jack Ma: I'm not strongly religious, but I am fascinated by religion. I love Christianity. I love Buddhism. I love Taoism. I respect all religions and am curious about them.
China is largely a Buddhist culture – it's genetic for us. It's been embedded in our culture for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, today, the land has been polluted by so many chemicals that it makes it hard for the Buddhist culture to grow. But the seeds are there.
Charles Bedford: The second thought about that is, as you know, I work for The Nature Conservancy, and it's obviously a global organization. It's mainly based in the United States, and it's focused on biodiversity and nature conservation around the world.
The United States has felt an obligation to the rest of the world, I think, where many people feel they have to support NGOs that work not just in our country but internationally. Do you see a China version of that movement in the future? How do you see Chinese working to save the planet not in China? What's the obligation? What's the path for Chinese entrepreneurs who care about Brazilian rainforests or Indonesian rainforests or global water quality or climate change?
Jack Ma: China is a developing nation, and for nature conservation, China is not fully developed in this area yet. The U.S. is pretty developed.
I think most of the Chinese people did not realize how terrible the environmental situation is in their own country. They are only now just beginning to think about what can be done about to address the problems. It is not easy for them to travel and see what is going on outside of their own community. For you, travelling is merely a matter of getting a visa and finding time. For Chinese people, many have never travelled to a neighboring province, let alone visit a different country. Of China's 1.3 billion people, most are still farmers and have not left the countryside.
The Chinese people really care about environmental protection in China. That will be their greatest contribution to the world. For me, I have the luxury to think about doing more for Africa. But how many people are like Jack Ma? How many Chinese people have the resources, the opportunity to develop a bigger world view, and have the luxury to see the outside world? Obligation to the world is good, but I think the Chinese people will say they have an obligation to take more action to take care of their own environment. If you don't or can’t care for yourself, I don't think you can care for others.
Charles Bedford: That's a great way of putting it. China's contribution to global conservation is working on China.
Jack Ma: China's gas consumption. China's pollution. These can have devastating impact on the world. If the Chinese people solve these issues, they would be making a tremendous contribution to the world.
Charles Bedford: I know from other sources that you're also interested in environmental or organic farming. How are you going to sort of pursue those? Where are you heading with those things?
Jack Ma: I want my team to tell me. I want our young people to tell me and get me involved in it. I don't want to be telling them what to do. If I tell them, it's just going to be another job assignment that they have to complete. I want them to think about it and do research. I want them to come to me and say, "Here's an issue which is destroying the environment and these are the things that we think we should do about it."
We should trust the young people. They're smart enough. The good thing is they are waking up to the issues. They have started to think and do research. They are influential because they work for this company and this city. When they go home, they talk to their parents, relatives, classmates and exchange ideas.
I think you have to manage philanthropy like the way you manage a business -- you always have to be smart. You need to find out what works, what doesn't, what is needed, and what is good.
My thinking is very simple. Let's plant the seeds of love everywhere. When spring arrives, we will see green shoots. In five years, they become the trees. I say we start planting.
Charles Bedford: You've mentioned a couple of times how you work with your team. You have a unique and interesting leadership style with the team you get together to work through these tough issues. How do you do that? What's the mechanism to say: "Hey, guys, you've got to resolve this"?
Jack Ma: I trust my team. They know I will not betray them. We will do anything for the sake of the team, for the sake of the company, for the sake of the customers. Our decisions are based on those priorities: customer, team, and shareholders – in that order. I think they – the employees – should feel a sense of ownership in the business.
Charles Bedford: Well, it's not a very typical management or leadership style. It seems to have worked pretty well for you.
Jack Ma: I like the way things have worked out. I am busy, but 70 percent of my time nowadays is not focused on business. I am busy developing peoples' minds. The more I can inspire my team's minds and the more I share with them, the more they will develop.
Charles Bedford: What has attracted you to The Nature Conservancy? What's the connection for you, and what role do you think the Conservancy can play in assisting entrepreneurs and government people in China to conserve the environment?
Jack Ma: Originally, I had thought TNC was too remote from me. However, on my recent U.S. trip, I started thinking a lot about environmental protection and was lucky to have talked to the right people. My friends were very aggressive in pushing me to work with TNC, to the point were I would feel guilty if I didn’t accept the opportunity. I was convinced and said, let’s go for it.
Now that I am involved with the organization, I feel so proud because TNC is doing some really great work. Now I look back and wonder why I did not get involved sooner.
I think TNC should take more on in China, specifically in cultivating Chinese business leaders and other community leaders. I have two key tasks. One, I will be helping TNC raise environmental awareness, so they can engage in conservation in a professional way. Two is promoting that "small is beautiful" concept, encouraging people to make their own individual contributions to saving the environment.
TNC can do conservation professionally. They can do bigger. They can do better. They can save more. And nobody had let me know that before. I thought it was just another NGO. There are too many NGOs around. Every day I get hundreds and hundreds, thousands of NGOs talking to me about this and that.
You know, I felt really proud yesterday when I told my colleagues that I had just attended a meeting of the trustees committee for TNC/China. My Alibaba colleagues started clapping to show their support and approval. They felt proud of me. I've been sitting on the board of many organizations, but this is the first time they have applauded me for joining a board. This is good. This is very good.
Charles Bedford: Final question: Alibaba is new media. We talked about a platform for the many small things that people can do, and I'm assuming you're sort of thinking about that from a new-media tools perspective and looking to your team to produce that kind of plain blueprint for people to participate through new media in saving the environment.
Jack Ma: Absolutely. I'm going to pursue a lot of tough things, including shining a light on those companies that do not care for their society and community. I'm going to use the power of the Internet and my wonderful platform to let the whole world know about companies that are polluting rivers. I think raising awareness will make hundreds of people start to challenge the companies' unethical behavior and banks will stop their funding. There is so much power in education and raising awareness.
We will also offer prizes for the small and medium size companies that are taking action and bettering their community. I want to highlight good actions and encourage people to do good constructively. I am really looking forward to this and think this will become part of my fun activities every year.
Charles Bedford: Well, thank you very much. It's really great to talk to you about this.
Jack Ma: You're welcome. It is my pleasure. I love this topic.
Jack Ma — one of China's most influential business leaders and one of the 100 people who "most affect our world," according to Time magazine — has a new passion: the environment.
Ma is the founder, chairman and CEO of the Alibaba Group, a holding company that includes the world's largest business-to-business e-commerce platform (Alibaba.com) and the premier consumer-to-consumer auction website in China (Taobao.com).
But Ma has become more than just an incredibly successful businessman — he is now a staunch advocate for corporate social responsibility and personal action to improve China's environment, from boycotting food products made of shark fins to fighting water pollution.
Ma is also a trustee for The Nature Conservancy's China program. He sat down with Charles Bedford, director of the Conservancy's Colorado program, to talk about China's changing attitude toward its environment and philanthropy, the country's formidable environmental problems, and his populist vision for tackling those problems.
Charles Bedford: You've incorporated social responsibility into Alibaba, and you've also focused on bringing the Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning microlending institution Grameen Bank into China. You've got a longer term vision than what is typical in the corporate world. Given that, what do you see long-term for China's environment? Where do you think China's environment will be in 10 years or 20 years?
Jack Ma: I think one thing's for sure — China's environment will get better in 10 or 20 years. Business people like myself are beginning to pay attention to social issues including the environment and taking action and really treating this issue very seriously. And we're doing it not for P.R. reasons, but because we know it is important. We know it is serious and that if we don't take action, it will hurt ourselves, our children and our families.
I think that, in a way, this growing awareness of the environment as an issue now is good timing. Ten or 20 years ago, China would never have been aware of this kind of problem. Back then, people were focused on how to survive. Now, people have better living conditions and they have big dreams for the future. Now we have the ability to deal with the issue. We have the knowledge. We have the technology to solve our environmental problems. But if we don't take them seriously, we're going to pay a huge, huge price later.
The most fun part of business, at least to me, is to contribute to the future. It's not just about making money — it's about making healthy money, enabling people to enjoy their lives. I think the important thing is to wake people up and let them know that our environmental issues need to be addressed. Positive thinking is key: The future is always beautiful.
Charles Bedford: Building on that a bit, how do you see or how could you help or how can other corporate leaders in China get beyond that quarterly-report mentality of profits and into a longer term sustainable future vision?
Jack Ma: As business leaders and entrepreneurs, we always have to ask ourselves: Why did we build this business? As companies grow and become public, most start to forget about their initial dreams, about why they built the company in the first place, which was to contribute to society and to help customers. Those are their real dreams, and not to produce good quarterly results. Good quarterly results are good, of course, but that's not the purpose of business. That is the by-product and result.
For successful business leaders, if their goal is to be rich, they can become very rich. But then what's the point of having all that money? When you have 100 million U.S. dollars, I think that's more than enough for you and your children. Once your net worth exceeds a certain point, that's not your money anymore. It is society's money. It is the money society has given to you, and you should take responsibility to allocate the money in a good way. I started thinking about this issue just two, three years ago. One day I suddenly woke up and wondered, "What's next?"
Charles Bedford: "What's next?"
Jack Ma: Yes. "What's next?" What was the initial dream you had? Go back and think about it. You know, reboot it. You have to reboot your brain, your machine, your computer to run faster, right?
Charles Bedford: Yeah.
Jack Ma: When there is so much software installed, your machine is very slow. Therefore, we all have to reboot and revisit that initial dream we had and why we built our businesses. Was it really to please shareholders? It is best to forget about the quarterly results. It's just one part of the business – it's not the purpose of the business.
I believe that customers are number one, employees are number two and shareholders are number three — always in that order.
Charles Bedford: You mentioned that, over the last couple of years, environmental awareness has become a bigger focus in your life. Specifically, you have restricted trading of shark fin products in the platforms that you work in, and you personally have made a public call for rejection of shark fin products.
Jack Ma: Yes.
Charles Bedford: Is that when your interest in the environment and sustainability began, or is it a result of a natural evolution? How did you get involved? Where did you first find I guess we would say in the United States, "find religion" on the environment?
Jack Ma: Well, honestly speaking, before [the shark fin issue] I had never thought about the environment. That was the first environmental issue I dealt with. In the beginning, I did not understand those anti-shark fin guys because I had never given much thought to where shark fin came from and thought it was cultivated.
Charles Bedford: What did you think about it?
Jack Ma: I didn't know what it was because I'm not fond of food and ate it purely because it tasted good. To me, it was like having noodles. But on the day I discovered where it came from, I made a promise to never eat shark fin. I did not see the point of eating fins of sharks from the ocean.
The incident inspired me to think about our business model and how it interacts with the environment. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to know about what's happening to the environment, climate change and everything.
I feel proud that the knowledge was integrated into our work, especially because I didn't force the Alibaba team to remove shark fins from our site. My colleagues and staff asked me about it and we exchanged ideas. The young people in my company sat down and discussed it amongst themselves. They came to their own conclusion and said, "Let's take down this thing." I am proud of the transformation that resulted through education and thoughtful discussion.
It's very interesting that so many people, especially those born in '80s and '90s, support this action. I am proud of these young people. They care for the environment more than my generation ever did. If you want to change the future, get the young people on board. If you want to understand young people, you have to think like the young people do and care for the environment.
It's a good transformation for me.
Charles Bedford: Can you trace your interest in environment and sustainability to that realization, or were there other issues that—
Jack Ma: There are many other things that have inspired me. When I visited the river where I learned to swim as a kid (I almost drowned in there when I was 12 years old), the water was full of garbage. The water use to come up to my chest and now is just barely above my ankle. It has almost completely dried up. I thought to myself, “Oh my God, what's going on?”
Also, my wife keeps telling me: "Be careful of the water that you drink. There is something wrong with it." My father in law had recently died of cancer, which has made me re-evaluate a lot of things. I look around and see so many people dying. The more I think about the environment, the more I start to realize and wake up to the issues.
Alibaba has helped a lot of small business owners make money through our platforms. But now our challenge is to help more people to make healthy money, "sustainable money," money that is not only good for themselves but also good for the society. That's the transformation we are aiming to make.
Charles Bedford: You've spoken a lot about the idea that small is beautiful in the economic world and small businesses are the future.
Jack Ma: Yes.
Charles Bedford: How do you think that applies to helping protect China's nature, China's environment? How can those innovative sources in small businesses or that type of business aid in the protection of China's environment?
Jack Ma: The Nature Conservancy is doing a great job to help preserve huge amounts of beautiful land and is an expert in this area. My thinking is that everybody can do something and each person makes their own small contribution to the environment.
People can look at their own community, their own neighborhood, their own lake in front of them and think about what they can do to help. My belief is that small is beautiful and it is about everyone contributing their small part. For me, it is about caring for the river in front of me. It is about caring for the small garden in my neighborhood. This is the movement I want to inspire. I want everybody to take action – do simple and easy things that don't require money but will as a whole make a big difference.
And I want to encourage all the grandmothers, grandfathers, those who are retired and living in the community, to challenge those companies who are the source of environmental damage and polluting the water. If you are really committed, you can take action. You don't have to cross mountains in order to address climate change. Being ambitious is good, but every tiny action, every tiny contribution is beautiful. I respect the grandmothers and the young kids who do things in their own neighborhood. This is what I want to encourage in everyone.
Charles Bedford: So that would be a platform that you could create for that individual action and meaningful local action towards improving water, air, natural values, forests?
Jack Ma: Yes. Thirty years ago, you can throw rubbish in Hangzhou’s West Lake and nobody would care. But try doing that today and the local people will throw you into the water for littering!
Charles Bedford: Yeah.
Jack Ma: What we want to build up is consciousness and awareness among people. We want people to take these issues seriously so that they think polluting is just as bad as committing a murder. Because, ultimately, it is. Business is important, but it is just as important to take action on these environmental issues as well.
I'm not an extremist. We're just taking a stand on what we believe is good for ourselves and our children. And I don’t want people to do it merely because they are told it is a responsibility. I hate the word "responsibility." I am taking action because this is something I believe in. It is a way of thinking and a part of my philosophy.
Charles Bedford: Although the government here in China isn't monolithic – there are actually complex relationships among the national and the provincial and the local governments -- government as a whole is certainly a major actor here and plays a big role, and business is the other huge sector that's come on in the last 15 and 20 years in China. But one of the sectors that's noticeably missing is the NGO, the charitable, the social civic culture. What role should entrepreneurs and businesses play in helping to create that civil culture?
Jack Ma: We need to give them some time. I think China is making progress. But keep in mind that government people are all human beings, and people should be self-reliant instead of depending too much on government. Second, don't complain about what government should and should not do while you remain passive and are not acting.
What we want to do is to raise awareness among as many people as possible on the seriousness of the environmental situation in China, and let them know that everybody can contribute something to make things better. The better we educate people on the issues, the more will happen. With more and more young people joining the government, they will bring an understanding on the importance of the problem and take action. So it is about influencing a whole system.
I think we are in the process to building it up right now. We cannot expect change overnight. We need to create the change over time, say 5 or 10 years. That's called a long-term strategy, and is necessary for sustainable action and results.
Charles Bedford: The Sichuan earthquake of 2008 was a catalytic event in this country, something that really changed mindsets and changed people's sense of their ownership of the collective China, beyond the government role. You yourself have been very active in Sichuan. You're still active.
What was behind that shift? Was that just the right time and right place sort of thing to spur Chinese philanthropy, to spur consciousness about those things?
Jack Ma: I think this earthquake made some changes in China that have been happening over the past decades transparent to the Chinese people. A lot of Chinese people who have become rich recently have started to think about others and about the environment. I think many hundreds or millions of people were already doing that every day, but that earthquake suddenly forced everyone to focus on one thing.
Chinese people did not start caring from this event. It is more a culmination of the past 10 or 20 years, when everyone was doing small things for each other. When this event occurred, it created a focal point that brought together everyone's attention and focus. It's not like the event suddenly changed China or the Chinese people in their care and love for their neighbors. China is and had already been changing. [The Chinese people have] been recovering the love [for each other] for the past 10, 20 years now. Now is a chance that everybody will start to move, take action. Whether these actions are right or wrong or good enough or efficient enough, we will see. It's improving.
So when I complain about these environmental disasters in China, I'm actually being positive towards China. If I can understand and realize what other people can't realize, it's because they have not had a chance to think about it. So let's tell them. Let's communicate our message to them.
Charles Bedford: I love that phrase, "recovering the love." It's a really lovely phrase.
Jack Ma: Now what we want to do is plant seeds of love and responsibility, and 20 years later, they will blossom. If we only complain and do not plant, do not invest in a good fertilizer, do not have land, then it is hopeless. There is love in the heart of every individual. We should "plant" facts, culture, education that cultivate love, and foster appreciation and understanding of others.
Charles Bedford: I have two questions kind of spinning out of that, Jack. First, what you've described sounds a lot like what the Buddhists call "Right Livelihood" or a right focus on participation in society. Is that a social value in China? Is it a personal value? Is it both?
Jack Ma: I'm not strongly religious, but I am fascinated by religion. I love Christianity. I love Buddhism. I love Taoism. I respect all religions and am curious about them.
China is largely a Buddhist culture – it's genetic for us. It's been embedded in our culture for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, today, the land has been polluted by so many chemicals that it makes it hard for the Buddhist culture to grow. But the seeds are there.
Charles Bedford: The second thought about that is, as you know, I work for The Nature Conservancy, and it's obviously a global organization. It's mainly based in the United States, and it's focused on biodiversity and nature conservation around the world.
The United States has felt an obligation to the rest of the world, I think, where many people feel they have to support NGOs that work not just in our country but internationally. Do you see a China version of that movement in the future? How do you see Chinese working to save the planet not in China? What's the obligation? What's the path for Chinese entrepreneurs who care about Brazilian rainforests or Indonesian rainforests or global water quality or climate change?
Jack Ma: China is a developing nation, and for nature conservation, China is not fully developed in this area yet. The U.S. is pretty developed.
I think most of the Chinese people did not realize how terrible the environmental situation is in their own country. They are only now just beginning to think about what can be done about to address the problems. It is not easy for them to travel and see what is going on outside of their own community. For you, travelling is merely a matter of getting a visa and finding time. For Chinese people, many have never travelled to a neighboring province, let alone visit a different country. Of China's 1.3 billion people, most are still farmers and have not left the countryside.
The Chinese people really care about environmental protection in China. That will be their greatest contribution to the world. For me, I have the luxury to think about doing more for Africa. But how many people are like Jack Ma? How many Chinese people have the resources, the opportunity to develop a bigger world view, and have the luxury to see the outside world? Obligation to the world is good, but I think the Chinese people will say they have an obligation to take more action to take care of their own environment. If you don't or can’t care for yourself, I don't think you can care for others.
Charles Bedford: That's a great way of putting it. China's contribution to global conservation is working on China.
Jack Ma: China's gas consumption. China's pollution. These can have devastating impact on the world. If the Chinese people solve these issues, they would be making a tremendous contribution to the world.
Charles Bedford: I know from other sources that you're also interested in environmental or organic farming. How are you going to sort of pursue those? Where are you heading with those things?
Jack Ma: I want my team to tell me. I want our young people to tell me and get me involved in it. I don't want to be telling them what to do. If I tell them, it's just going to be another job assignment that they have to complete. I want them to think about it and do research. I want them to come to me and say, "Here's an issue which is destroying the environment and these are the things that we think we should do about it."
We should trust the young people. They're smart enough. The good thing is they are waking up to the issues. They have started to think and do research. They are influential because they work for this company and this city. When they go home, they talk to their parents, relatives, classmates and exchange ideas.
I think you have to manage philanthropy like the way you manage a business -- you always have to be smart. You need to find out what works, what doesn't, what is needed, and what is good.
My thinking is very simple. Let's plant the seeds of love everywhere. When spring arrives, we will see green shoots. In five years, they become the trees. I say we start planting.
Charles Bedford: You've mentioned a couple of times how you work with your team. You have a unique and interesting leadership style with the team you get together to work through these tough issues. How do you do that? What's the mechanism to say: "Hey, guys, you've got to resolve this"?
Jack Ma: I trust my team. They know I will not betray them. We will do anything for the sake of the team, for the sake of the company, for the sake of the customers. Our decisions are based on those priorities: customer, team, and shareholders – in that order. I think they – the employees – should feel a sense of ownership in the business.
Charles Bedford: Well, it's not a very typical management or leadership style. It seems to have worked pretty well for you.
Jack Ma: I like the way things have worked out. I am busy, but 70 percent of my time nowadays is not focused on business. I am busy developing peoples' minds. The more I can inspire my team's minds and the more I share with them, the more they will develop.
Charles Bedford: What has attracted you to The Nature Conservancy? What's the connection for you, and what role do you think the Conservancy can play in assisting entrepreneurs and government people in China to conserve the environment?
Jack Ma: Originally, I had thought TNC was too remote from me. However, on my recent U.S. trip, I started thinking a lot about environmental protection and was lucky to have talked to the right people. My friends were very aggressive in pushing me to work with TNC, to the point were I would feel guilty if I didn’t accept the opportunity. I was convinced and said, let’s go for it.
Now that I am involved with the organization, I feel so proud because TNC is doing some really great work. Now I look back and wonder why I did not get involved sooner.
I think TNC should take more on in China, specifically in cultivating Chinese business leaders and other community leaders. I have two key tasks. One, I will be helping TNC raise environmental awareness, so they can engage in conservation in a professional way. Two is promoting that "small is beautiful" concept, encouraging people to make their own individual contributions to saving the environment.
TNC can do conservation professionally. They can do bigger. They can do better. They can save more. And nobody had let me know that before. I thought it was just another NGO. There are too many NGOs around. Every day I get hundreds and hundreds, thousands of NGOs talking to me about this and that.
You know, I felt really proud yesterday when I told my colleagues that I had just attended a meeting of the trustees committee for TNC/China. My Alibaba colleagues started clapping to show their support and approval. They felt proud of me. I've been sitting on the board of many organizations, but this is the first time they have applauded me for joining a board. This is good. This is very good.
Charles Bedford: Final question: Alibaba is new media. We talked about a platform for the many small things that people can do, and I'm assuming you're sort of thinking about that from a new-media tools perspective and looking to your team to produce that kind of plain blueprint for people to participate through new media in saving the environment.
Jack Ma: Absolutely. I'm going to pursue a lot of tough things, including shining a light on those companies that do not care for their society and community. I'm going to use the power of the Internet and my wonderful platform to let the whole world know about companies that are polluting rivers. I think raising awareness will make hundreds of people start to challenge the companies' unethical behavior and banks will stop their funding. There is so much power in education and raising awareness.
We will also offer prizes for the small and medium size companies that are taking action and bettering their community. I want to highlight good actions and encourage people to do good constructively. I am really looking forward to this and think this will become part of my fun activities every year.
Charles Bedford: Well, thank you very much. It's really great to talk to you about this.
Jack Ma: You're welcome. It is my pleasure. I love this topic.
Google success story
Google success story
Larry Page - (Lawrence E. Page) is the founder of the popular Internet search engine Google and American Internet entrepreneur
Larry Page is the cofounder of Google and is currently the President of Products of for Google Inc.
Lawrence E. Page was born in 1973 in Lansing, Michigan to parents Carl Vincent Page, who is a professor of computer science at Michigan University and Gloria Page, who is a computer programming teacher at Michigan University. With his parents guidance from the beginning Page was destined to be successful in the IT industry in one way or another.
After graduating from East Lansing High School he studied for a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan and went on to study a Masters degree at Stanford University. While studying at Stanford University, Page was introduced to Sergey Brin. The two did not start out as friends, seeming to disagree on most topics of conversation, but eventually came across a subject that had been a great interest to them both. That topic was Retrieving information from large data sets. The pair later wrote what is widely considered their seminal contribution, a paper called "The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hyper textual Web Search Engine". The paper has since become the tenth most accessed scientific paper at Stanford University.
Soon after they started working on a project that later became the Google search engine. After trying to sell the idea failed, they wrote up a business plan and brought in a total initial investment of almost $1 million to start their own company. In September 1998 Google Inc opened in Menlo Park, California. The company grew so quickly and gained so many employees’ a few office relocations were made due to lack of space, with Google Inc finally settled in its current place at Mountain View, California. Over the next few years headed by Larry and Sergey Google made many innovations and added to its list of products and employee’s (nearly 5000 by 2006). By October 2004 Google announced their first quarterly results as a public offered company, with record revenues of $805.9 million. As of 2005 Page has been estimated to be worth US$12 billion and is sixteenth in Forbes 400 list and making him the 27th richest person in the world.
In 2002, Larry was named a World Economic Forum Global Leader for Tomorrow. He is a member of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) for the University of Michigan College of Engineering, and together with Co-Founder Sergey Brin, Larry was honored with the Marconi Prize in 2004. He is a trustee on the board of the X PRIZE, and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2004.
Larry Page - (Lawrence E. Page) is the founder of the popular Internet search engine Google and American Internet entrepreneur
Larry Page is the cofounder of Google and is currently the President of Products of for Google Inc.
Lawrence E. Page was born in 1973 in Lansing, Michigan to parents Carl Vincent Page, who is a professor of computer science at Michigan University and Gloria Page, who is a computer programming teacher at Michigan University. With his parents guidance from the beginning Page was destined to be successful in the IT industry in one way or another.
After graduating from East Lansing High School he studied for a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan and went on to study a Masters degree at Stanford University. While studying at Stanford University, Page was introduced to Sergey Brin. The two did not start out as friends, seeming to disagree on most topics of conversation, but eventually came across a subject that had been a great interest to them both. That topic was Retrieving information from large data sets. The pair later wrote what is widely considered their seminal contribution, a paper called "The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hyper textual Web Search Engine". The paper has since become the tenth most accessed scientific paper at Stanford University.
Soon after they started working on a project that later became the Google search engine. After trying to sell the idea failed, they wrote up a business plan and brought in a total initial investment of almost $1 million to start their own company. In September 1998 Google Inc opened in Menlo Park, California. The company grew so quickly and gained so many employees’ a few office relocations were made due to lack of space, with Google Inc finally settled in its current place at Mountain View, California. Over the next few years headed by Larry and Sergey Google made many innovations and added to its list of products and employee’s (nearly 5000 by 2006). By October 2004 Google announced their first quarterly results as a public offered company, with record revenues of $805.9 million. As of 2005 Page has been estimated to be worth US$12 billion and is sixteenth in Forbes 400 list and making him the 27th richest person in the world.
In 2002, Larry was named a World Economic Forum Global Leader for Tomorrow. He is a member of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) for the University of Michigan College of Engineering, and together with Co-Founder Sergey Brin, Larry was honored with the Marconi Prize in 2004. He is a trustee on the board of the X PRIZE, and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2004.
Interview of Anupam G. Mittal, Founder & CEO Of Shaadi.com
Interview of Anupam G. Mittal, Founder & CEO Of Shaadi.com
In the USA and Europe, internet dating sites help users hookup, find compatible partners and meet up. In India, matrimonials sites help users and their parents list themselves and their respective children’s details and advertise them as being available for marriage. Its a different mindset and methodology and Shaadi.com leads the rankings as the top matrimonials service in India (along with Bharat Matrimony). We interviewed he the founder and chief, Anupam Mittal. - Mark Brooks
What is Shaadi’s founding story?
It goes back to 1996/97. I used to live and work in the U.S. then I took a sabbatical for a couple of months and went back to India. Frankly, I was just bored. I wanted to do something, so I got together with 3 or 4 people and we started playing around with websites and tinkering on the Internet. One day I met a traditional matchmaker. In India, as you know, you don’t marry one person, you marry a family. So these matchmakers go from home to home, build relationships with families and try to make a match within their network. I was really intrigued about his business. I asked him: “How many people do you have in your network?” He said: “About 50 or 60”. So it occurred to me that if one chose this route to get married, then it was awfully limiting in terms of who you could marry. So one thing led to another and we thought, why not take this concept and put it on the Internet and that’s how Shaadi.com was born.
How would you say Shaadi is different from the likes of Match.com?
Shaadi.com is more a matrimonial platform. Match.com, for example, would never be able to justify providing all the various different fields that we do that are very important from a matrimonial perspective. For example, community and sub community or references, which is allowing people to call other people and do reference checks.
How does it work from the user perspective?
It depends on how involved you are as a user. Once you sign up we can find out, based on your activity, how involved you are as a user and what you are really looking for from Shaadi.com. One scenario would be where we don’t interact with you in the real world at all. We simply let you experience the site because you know exactly what you’re doing. The other extreme is that we call you and have you walk into a Shaadi.com center. We have about 75 Shaadi centers across India and one in Canada now. These are real world matchmaking centers.
In terms of pricing is there a big difference between somebody who uses just the online piece and the user who wants to use the matchmaking service?
There is a significant difference. In U.S. the pricing is different. We start at about $54 for 3 months, then it could go up to $300 if our members require phone assistance. In India, the price ranges from $40 to $400 because we offer the real world service there through the matchmaking centers.
How is the down economy effecting business?
Different markets are responding differently. Our Indian market has been growing stronger and stronger ever since the recession hit. However, if you look at the UK market, in September we saw a dramatic fall. But that lasted only about 2 months and since then it’s come back pretty well. So overall, we don’t see any impact because the growth in India and the growth in other markets more than compensate for the slight drop we had in the UK.
Facebook is growing quite quickly in India against the likes of Orkut. Do you see the social networks like Facebook and Orkut posing a threat to Shaadi or is there an opportunity in there?
This is a question that kept me awake a couple of years back. I used to ask myself, “Will social networks make sites like Shaadi irrelevant?” Now I know that it’s not going to happen. Over the years we have developed the site in such a way that it offers features and things that are very relevant to matrimony and marriage which Facebook or Orkut could never replicate. Their purpose of being is not to get people married but to connect them. So I see it more as an opportunity and in the next few months we will figure out how to use Facebook to make a big difference for our purposes.
You have other businesses beyond the matrimonial area. Could you tell me more about those businesses you’re involved in?
After starting Shaadi.com, I founded a couple of more businesses and over time we ended up as a group of businesses called The People Group. There are 2 primary focus areas. One is Shaadi.com which is matrimonial, of course, and the other is online real estate, Makaan.com which in Indian means home. That is something we started almost 3 years back now and it’s tracking pretty well. We also own another company, called Mauj Mobile, which is a mobile company for entertainment, mobile value added services technology and service management where we help operators generate higher revenues. Finally, there is People Pictures which is a film production company.
Where would you like to see Shaadi by the end of 2010?
India is a very complex country. You’ve got several languages, thousands of dialects, many states. India in a way is like Europe; you go south and it’s a completely different culture and within the south as well there are 4 states which have completely different ways of matchmaking and completely different requirements. So our biggest challenge is how to use the power of the Internet to be everything to everyone. That involves building a technology platform that has extreme customer segmentation based product features and the packaging that becomes very relevant to the member. If we can crack that, then I would like to use the same for the non-Indian market and expand to other cultures and communities that are culturally aligned or similar to the Indian culture.
In the USA and Europe, internet dating sites help users hookup, find compatible partners and meet up. In India, matrimonials sites help users and their parents list themselves and their respective children’s details and advertise them as being available for marriage. Its a different mindset and methodology and Shaadi.com leads the rankings as the top matrimonials service in India (along with Bharat Matrimony). We interviewed he the founder and chief, Anupam Mittal. - Mark Brooks
What is Shaadi’s founding story?
It goes back to 1996/97. I used to live and work in the U.S. then I took a sabbatical for a couple of months and went back to India. Frankly, I was just bored. I wanted to do something, so I got together with 3 or 4 people and we started playing around with websites and tinkering on the Internet. One day I met a traditional matchmaker. In India, as you know, you don’t marry one person, you marry a family. So these matchmakers go from home to home, build relationships with families and try to make a match within their network. I was really intrigued about his business. I asked him: “How many people do you have in your network?” He said: “About 50 or 60”. So it occurred to me that if one chose this route to get married, then it was awfully limiting in terms of who you could marry. So one thing led to another and we thought, why not take this concept and put it on the Internet and that’s how Shaadi.com was born.
How would you say Shaadi is different from the likes of Match.com?
Shaadi.com is more a matrimonial platform. Match.com, for example, would never be able to justify providing all the various different fields that we do that are very important from a matrimonial perspective. For example, community and sub community or references, which is allowing people to call other people and do reference checks.
How does it work from the user perspective?
It depends on how involved you are as a user. Once you sign up we can find out, based on your activity, how involved you are as a user and what you are really looking for from Shaadi.com. One scenario would be where we don’t interact with you in the real world at all. We simply let you experience the site because you know exactly what you’re doing. The other extreme is that we call you and have you walk into a Shaadi.com center. We have about 75 Shaadi centers across India and one in Canada now. These are real world matchmaking centers.
In terms of pricing is there a big difference between somebody who uses just the online piece and the user who wants to use the matchmaking service?
There is a significant difference. In U.S. the pricing is different. We start at about $54 for 3 months, then it could go up to $300 if our members require phone assistance. In India, the price ranges from $40 to $400 because we offer the real world service there through the matchmaking centers.
How is the down economy effecting business?
Different markets are responding differently. Our Indian market has been growing stronger and stronger ever since the recession hit. However, if you look at the UK market, in September we saw a dramatic fall. But that lasted only about 2 months and since then it’s come back pretty well. So overall, we don’t see any impact because the growth in India and the growth in other markets more than compensate for the slight drop we had in the UK.
Facebook is growing quite quickly in India against the likes of Orkut. Do you see the social networks like Facebook and Orkut posing a threat to Shaadi or is there an opportunity in there?
This is a question that kept me awake a couple of years back. I used to ask myself, “Will social networks make sites like Shaadi irrelevant?” Now I know that it’s not going to happen. Over the years we have developed the site in such a way that it offers features and things that are very relevant to matrimony and marriage which Facebook or Orkut could never replicate. Their purpose of being is not to get people married but to connect them. So I see it more as an opportunity and in the next few months we will figure out how to use Facebook to make a big difference for our purposes.
You have other businesses beyond the matrimonial area. Could you tell me more about those businesses you’re involved in?
After starting Shaadi.com, I founded a couple of more businesses and over time we ended up as a group of businesses called The People Group. There are 2 primary focus areas. One is Shaadi.com which is matrimonial, of course, and the other is online real estate, Makaan.com which in Indian means home. That is something we started almost 3 years back now and it’s tracking pretty well. We also own another company, called Mauj Mobile, which is a mobile company for entertainment, mobile value added services technology and service management where we help operators generate higher revenues. Finally, there is People Pictures which is a film production company.
Where would you like to see Shaadi by the end of 2010?
India is a very complex country. You’ve got several languages, thousands of dialects, many states. India in a way is like Europe; you go south and it’s a completely different culture and within the south as well there are 4 states which have completely different ways of matchmaking and completely different requirements. So our biggest challenge is how to use the power of the Internet to be everything to everyone. That involves building a technology platform that has extreme customer segmentation based product features and the packaging that becomes very relevant to the member. If we can crack that, then I would like to use the same for the non-Indian market and expand to other cultures and communities that are culturally aligned or similar to the Indian culture.
Naukri.com - dot com Success Story
Naukri.com Success Story
Info Edge’s executive vice-chairman, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, launched his first Internet portal, Naukri.com, in 1997 when India had only 14,000 Internet users. Today, he is churning out strategies to make Info Edge the most dominant Internet Company in the country.
In some sense, Sanjeev Bikhchandani is the Sachin Tendulkar of the Indian Internet industry. Bikhchandani’s unique selling proposition, very much like that of his cricketing counterpart, is his longevity. His ability to stay in the game long enough has been central to his success. In 1997, the first year of operating Naukri.com, his annual revenue touched Rs. 2.5 lakh. In year two, it hit Rs. 18 lakh. In fiscal 2010, Info Edge’s (the parent company behind Naukri.com) net sales was at Rs. 232.22 crore with a net profit of Rs. 56.92 crore. Over the last five years, in spite of a big recession in between, its revenue compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) was at 33 per cent.
In my mind, though, beyond Bikhchandani’s ability to generate sales, raise venture capital, attract and hire talent or deliver on product innovations, his longevity and ability to stay in business through the dotcom bust and tackle downturns in the economy is what stands out. Twenty years in business, through three different phases - the first six as a small business owner, the next four spent building Naukri.com including countering the dotcom bust and next 10 years spent scaling up, creating leaders and building a growth company – is what made me take notice.
Late last month, as I was walking through the headquarters of Info Edge in Noida, I could not help notice some interesting printouts that adorned the walls. The most interesting of them highlighted Naukri’s first ever press coverage. A June 1997 issue of Business India carried a small writeup on Naukri.com with a headline that read – ‘A tedious job’. The writeup ended on a skeptical note. It read, “Who will advertise on a job site that was visited by the jobless?” A few minutes later Bikhchandani answered that question for me. He said, “My thinking was fairly simple. If I could get 1,000 companies to pay Rs. 500 per job posting per month that would be Rs. 60 lakhs a year in business. That’s it. I was not thinking too large scale.”
Bikhchandani’s answers are brutally honest and to-the-point. In this article, I plan to share insights drawn from my conversations with Bikhchandani – on the growth plans for Info Edge, the overall Internet industry and what makes him tick and as an interesting aside, Info Edge’s foray into the corporate venture capital space.
In quarter ending December 2010, Info Edge raked in Rs. 75 crore in net sales with a net profit of Rs. 21 crore. Bikhchandani’s flagship business Naukri.com contributed handsomely to this revenue. Quadrangle, the offline executive search and recruitment services arm, played a key role as well. His newer businesses, Jeevansathi.com, the matrimonial classifieds brand and 99acres.com, the online real estate listings portal, are growing as well.
While the jobs vertical continues to bring in most of the revenues, Bikhchandani is keen on diversifying across the spectrum and recreating the Naukri.com magic across several verticals. Infact, in fiscal 2010, Info Edge’s revenues from verticals outside of recruitment (a vertical that is highly dependent on the economy) has increased to over 16 per cent from just 5 per cent in FY 2006. This strategy stems from Bikhchandani’s belief that India’s consumer Internet game is a long-term one. He says, “The success of Naukri.com came about because of several factors – being an early mover, taking advantage of being an early mover, strong branding, quality of our sales force and continuous innovation to our product offering.” Of course, Bikhchandani does not have the early mover advantage in his other verticals. Jeevansathi lags behind Shaadi.com and Bharatmatrimony.com in the matrimonial classifieds space, but is hoping to gain market share in regions where the other two players do not have a strong hold.
However, there is one aspect of Info Edge that has probably gone unnoticed. Maintaining strong cash flows and operating with negative working capital is one of its strongest points. Consumers enroll in prepaid plans to avail any of Info Edge’s classified services. Negative working capital coupled with its ability to maintain healthy operating profit margins has helped it accumulate Rs. 400 crore in cash and liquid assets (as of February 2011). Today, its market capitalisation stands at a whopping Rs. 3,000 crore.
This kind of cash gave Info Edge the flexibility to start a corporate venture capital (VC) arm. In July 2010, there was an organisational change within the company. Hitesh Oberoi, previously the chief operating officer, took over as managing director and chief-executive. Oberoi’s focus was on the internal workings of Info Edge. Bikhchandani became executive vice-chairman and started focusing on external investments. Till date, Info Edge has invested in three consumer Internet ventures – policybazaar.com, an insurance comparison site; meritnation.com, an e-learning portal and zomato.com, a restaurant and food classifieds portal. Bikhchandani says, “The corporate venture capital model is a core part of our growth plans. We have identified growth strategies internally as well.”
The corporate VC arm operates like any other VC firm except that it is laser focused on the consumer Internet space in India. “We have started looking for some opportunities in e-commerce,” adds Bikhchandani. Like any other investor, Sanjeev now travels around the country spotting interesting ideas from great teams. He looks for innovation, intellectual property creation and possibly an early mover advantage. In each of its current investments, Info Edge’s understanding of the Internet space is the biggest value addition apart from the money it invests.
Info Edge is also open to investing in intrapreneurs, people who come up with fresh ideas that can be incubated within the company. AllCheckDeals.com, an organised real-estate brokerage that uses the web for enquiry generation, came up the intrapreneurship route. The management at AllCheckDeals.com was given a stake and it was spun off into a separate entity within Info Edge. However, Bikhchandani admits that it is not something he plans for. If a new idea is suggested for Naukri.com, it obviously stays within the portal, but fresh ideas do get heard by Bikhchandani.
As we speak about Info Edge’s growth plans, I divert Bikhchandani to talk about the Internet landscape in the country. India’s Internet industry is unique in its own way. For starters, advertising as a revenue model is just taking off. From jobs and matrimonial to real-estate broking, deal making online has been the big success story so far. E-commerce is catching up with the growth of companies like FlipKart and Myntra. I ask Bikhchandani, what he thinks about the mobile and social media landscape in the country from an Info Edge perspective? “Mobile is going to be bigger than social,” he says. “Tapping into social media for customer acquisition is where social media will come into play.”
“My thinking was fairly simple. If I could get 1,000 companies to pay Rs. 500 per job posting per month that would be Rs. 60 lakhs a year in business. That’s it. I was not thinking too large scale”
Bikhchandani has been a keen observer of the global Internet industry since the early 90s. His conference room displays this big chart titled “Trends and Technology timelines 2010+” that lists all kinds of next generation technological strategies and ideas for several industries. My attention is drawn towards some key words from the chart - personalisation of content and niche portals, which I promptly cross-question Bikhchandani about. “Both personalisation and niches are something we are watching. We launched firstNaukri.com, which is a job portal for college graduates. We might have a few niche portals, but a large number of niche portals are unlikely,” he says.
Not every project that Bikhchandani touches succeeds. Brijj.com, a LinkedIn-clone in the online professional networking space, was launched to supplement Info Edge’s other portals in the recruitment space. Bikhchandani says, “Brijj is certainly facing a challenge. It is getting registered users, but not getting repeat usage.” Info Edge’s deep pockets allow it to take certain risks. Pilot projects are implemented to see if they work and losses are cut if the story does not pan out as planned.
Another pilot project at the company was the offline matrimonial centers for Jeevansathi. It was largely an effort to acquire customers who were not comfortable signing up online. Bikhchandani says the offline centers are overall breaking even, but the jury is still out on whether an offline center is needed or not.
As we speak about several of his portals, Bikhchandani is constantly talking about several members of his team. We talk about Naukri.com’s Hari Sadu campaign on television and he credits his marketing manager, Oberoi and the creative team at Draft FCB Ulka. The team page at Zomato.com, one of Info Edge’s investee companies, lists each and every team member at the company. His emphasis on talent does not go unnoticed. Bikhchandani says, “It is an ongoing process. If this kind of growth continues, we will probably have a shortage of talent, two years from now in our industry. So, attracting and managing talent is certainly crucial.”
Within the industry, Bikhchandani is known for his strategic inputs. In some sense, he’s seen as this entrepreneur who beat it out the hard way, and came out on top without giving up. His learnings and understanding of the Internet space from an Indian context is well respected. And this image is certainly helping the corporate VC arm of Info Edge. Aligning with Info Edge gives startup entrepreneurs insights into Bikhchandani’s thinking.
Naukri.com is certainly the poster child of the Info Edge stable. Jeevansathi and 99acres are catching on and so is AllCheckDeals.com. But, what will be interesting to watch is the growth of Info Edge’s investee companies. These companies will have access to Bikhchandani’s strategic inputs, but probably not his day-to-day operational skills. Only time will tell, how India’s largest homegrown Internet company continues to scale up with its unique combination of its internal businesses and external investments. Having interacted with Bikhchandani, I certainly believe it will be an exciting ride that will be filled with a lot of commitment and compassion. For me, its time to closely track Bikhchandani’s second innings as an investor and how the story of his portfolio companies pan out.
Info Edge’s executive vice-chairman, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, launched his first Internet portal, Naukri.com, in 1997 when India had only 14,000 Internet users. Today, he is churning out strategies to make Info Edge the most dominant Internet Company in the country.
In some sense, Sanjeev Bikhchandani is the Sachin Tendulkar of the Indian Internet industry. Bikhchandani’s unique selling proposition, very much like that of his cricketing counterpart, is his longevity. His ability to stay in the game long enough has been central to his success. In 1997, the first year of operating Naukri.com, his annual revenue touched Rs. 2.5 lakh. In year two, it hit Rs. 18 lakh. In fiscal 2010, Info Edge’s (the parent company behind Naukri.com) net sales was at Rs. 232.22 crore with a net profit of Rs. 56.92 crore. Over the last five years, in spite of a big recession in between, its revenue compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) was at 33 per cent.
In my mind, though, beyond Bikhchandani’s ability to generate sales, raise venture capital, attract and hire talent or deliver on product innovations, his longevity and ability to stay in business through the dotcom bust and tackle downturns in the economy is what stands out. Twenty years in business, through three different phases - the first six as a small business owner, the next four spent building Naukri.com including countering the dotcom bust and next 10 years spent scaling up, creating leaders and building a growth company – is what made me take notice.
Late last month, as I was walking through the headquarters of Info Edge in Noida, I could not help notice some interesting printouts that adorned the walls. The most interesting of them highlighted Naukri’s first ever press coverage. A June 1997 issue of Business India carried a small writeup on Naukri.com with a headline that read – ‘A tedious job’. The writeup ended on a skeptical note. It read, “Who will advertise on a job site that was visited by the jobless?” A few minutes later Bikhchandani answered that question for me. He said, “My thinking was fairly simple. If I could get 1,000 companies to pay Rs. 500 per job posting per month that would be Rs. 60 lakhs a year in business. That’s it. I was not thinking too large scale.”
Bikhchandani’s answers are brutally honest and to-the-point. In this article, I plan to share insights drawn from my conversations with Bikhchandani – on the growth plans for Info Edge, the overall Internet industry and what makes him tick and as an interesting aside, Info Edge’s foray into the corporate venture capital space.
In quarter ending December 2010, Info Edge raked in Rs. 75 crore in net sales with a net profit of Rs. 21 crore. Bikhchandani’s flagship business Naukri.com contributed handsomely to this revenue. Quadrangle, the offline executive search and recruitment services arm, played a key role as well. His newer businesses, Jeevansathi.com, the matrimonial classifieds brand and 99acres.com, the online real estate listings portal, are growing as well.
While the jobs vertical continues to bring in most of the revenues, Bikhchandani is keen on diversifying across the spectrum and recreating the Naukri.com magic across several verticals. Infact, in fiscal 2010, Info Edge’s revenues from verticals outside of recruitment (a vertical that is highly dependent on the economy) has increased to over 16 per cent from just 5 per cent in FY 2006. This strategy stems from Bikhchandani’s belief that India’s consumer Internet game is a long-term one. He says, “The success of Naukri.com came about because of several factors – being an early mover, taking advantage of being an early mover, strong branding, quality of our sales force and continuous innovation to our product offering.” Of course, Bikhchandani does not have the early mover advantage in his other verticals. Jeevansathi lags behind Shaadi.com and Bharatmatrimony.com in the matrimonial classifieds space, but is hoping to gain market share in regions where the other two players do not have a strong hold.
However, there is one aspect of Info Edge that has probably gone unnoticed. Maintaining strong cash flows and operating with negative working capital is one of its strongest points. Consumers enroll in prepaid plans to avail any of Info Edge’s classified services. Negative working capital coupled with its ability to maintain healthy operating profit margins has helped it accumulate Rs. 400 crore in cash and liquid assets (as of February 2011). Today, its market capitalisation stands at a whopping Rs. 3,000 crore.
This kind of cash gave Info Edge the flexibility to start a corporate venture capital (VC) arm. In July 2010, there was an organisational change within the company. Hitesh Oberoi, previously the chief operating officer, took over as managing director and chief-executive. Oberoi’s focus was on the internal workings of Info Edge. Bikhchandani became executive vice-chairman and started focusing on external investments. Till date, Info Edge has invested in three consumer Internet ventures – policybazaar.com, an insurance comparison site; meritnation.com, an e-learning portal and zomato.com, a restaurant and food classifieds portal. Bikhchandani says, “The corporate venture capital model is a core part of our growth plans. We have identified growth strategies internally as well.”
The corporate VC arm operates like any other VC firm except that it is laser focused on the consumer Internet space in India. “We have started looking for some opportunities in e-commerce,” adds Bikhchandani. Like any other investor, Sanjeev now travels around the country spotting interesting ideas from great teams. He looks for innovation, intellectual property creation and possibly an early mover advantage. In each of its current investments, Info Edge’s understanding of the Internet space is the biggest value addition apart from the money it invests.
Info Edge is also open to investing in intrapreneurs, people who come up with fresh ideas that can be incubated within the company. AllCheckDeals.com, an organised real-estate brokerage that uses the web for enquiry generation, came up the intrapreneurship route. The management at AllCheckDeals.com was given a stake and it was spun off into a separate entity within Info Edge. However, Bikhchandani admits that it is not something he plans for. If a new idea is suggested for Naukri.com, it obviously stays within the portal, but fresh ideas do get heard by Bikhchandani.
As we speak about Info Edge’s growth plans, I divert Bikhchandani to talk about the Internet landscape in the country. India’s Internet industry is unique in its own way. For starters, advertising as a revenue model is just taking off. From jobs and matrimonial to real-estate broking, deal making online has been the big success story so far. E-commerce is catching up with the growth of companies like FlipKart and Myntra. I ask Bikhchandani, what he thinks about the mobile and social media landscape in the country from an Info Edge perspective? “Mobile is going to be bigger than social,” he says. “Tapping into social media for customer acquisition is where social media will come into play.”
“My thinking was fairly simple. If I could get 1,000 companies to pay Rs. 500 per job posting per month that would be Rs. 60 lakhs a year in business. That’s it. I was not thinking too large scale”
Bikhchandani has been a keen observer of the global Internet industry since the early 90s. His conference room displays this big chart titled “Trends and Technology timelines 2010+” that lists all kinds of next generation technological strategies and ideas for several industries. My attention is drawn towards some key words from the chart - personalisation of content and niche portals, which I promptly cross-question Bikhchandani about. “Both personalisation and niches are something we are watching. We launched firstNaukri.com, which is a job portal for college graduates. We might have a few niche portals, but a large number of niche portals are unlikely,” he says.
Not every project that Bikhchandani touches succeeds. Brijj.com, a LinkedIn-clone in the online professional networking space, was launched to supplement Info Edge’s other portals in the recruitment space. Bikhchandani says, “Brijj is certainly facing a challenge. It is getting registered users, but not getting repeat usage.” Info Edge’s deep pockets allow it to take certain risks. Pilot projects are implemented to see if they work and losses are cut if the story does not pan out as planned.
Another pilot project at the company was the offline matrimonial centers for Jeevansathi. It was largely an effort to acquire customers who were not comfortable signing up online. Bikhchandani says the offline centers are overall breaking even, but the jury is still out on whether an offline center is needed or not.
As we speak about several of his portals, Bikhchandani is constantly talking about several members of his team. We talk about Naukri.com’s Hari Sadu campaign on television and he credits his marketing manager, Oberoi and the creative team at Draft FCB Ulka. The team page at Zomato.com, one of Info Edge’s investee companies, lists each and every team member at the company. His emphasis on talent does not go unnoticed. Bikhchandani says, “It is an ongoing process. If this kind of growth continues, we will probably have a shortage of talent, two years from now in our industry. So, attracting and managing talent is certainly crucial.”
Within the industry, Bikhchandani is known for his strategic inputs. In some sense, he’s seen as this entrepreneur who beat it out the hard way, and came out on top without giving up. His learnings and understanding of the Internet space from an Indian context is well respected. And this image is certainly helping the corporate VC arm of Info Edge. Aligning with Info Edge gives startup entrepreneurs insights into Bikhchandani’s thinking.
Naukri.com is certainly the poster child of the Info Edge stable. Jeevansathi and 99acres are catching on and so is AllCheckDeals.com. But, what will be interesting to watch is the growth of Info Edge’s investee companies. These companies will have access to Bikhchandani’s strategic inputs, but probably not his day-to-day operational skills. Only time will tell, how India’s largest homegrown Internet company continues to scale up with its unique combination of its internal businesses and external investments. Having interacted with Bikhchandani, I certainly believe it will be an exciting ride that will be filled with a lot of commitment and compassion. For me, its time to closely track Bikhchandani’s second innings as an investor and how the story of his portfolio companies pan out.
Looking for Online Management Trainee/ summer placements /MBA Marketing Internship/MBA Project report help.
Looking for Online Management Trainee/ summer placements /MBA Marketing Internship/MBA Project report help.
Location: Anywhere from India & Abroad
Mba / bba project title/ topics should be in the area of Internet/web/online Marketing, or we will suggest title for project report
Currently we are looking for MBA - Marketing Graduates, for Management trainee (Internship) position, this would be like a project work which would add value to your profile.
Can get job opportunity with company like Google, Yahoo, MSN, FACEBOOK, Shaddi.com, Indiatimes, AOL and many portals like Indiamart, Alibaba.com and digital marketing agencies like Lowe, FCB Ulka, JWT, Grey Worldwide, Saatchi, TBWA - Anthem, HTA (Hindustan Thompson), Network, Everest, Icon – Dubai, Mudra, Leo-Bernett, O&M, McCANN, Contract, Euro RSCG, RK Swamy-BBDO, Interface, Quadrant, Madison, Rediffusion, Percept, Triton, 3-rd WAVE, Publicis Zen, Percept-H, Pratuti, DAVP, Joshbro… and many e-media technology companies in India as well as abroad .
While working with above companies you will be getting opportunity to work with brands like
Lure Pepsodent Idea Celluar ICICI
Akbarallys Tata Motors Cipla Colgate
Nescafe Antiquity Club Mahindra Liril
iFLex
Jet Airways Bharti Axa UTI
Free Press Docomo UB Group Tata Indicom
Dabur Edelweiss Axe Wheel
Colgate Srilankan Airlines Detsche Bank Tata Tea
SM Foods Nivea Levi's Durex
Meswak UTI Kohinoor LG
Surf SBI Castrol PSI Family Planning
SHELL – Diesel Engine Oil RIMULA Hero Honda Gen set Shalimar Coconut Oil
Westson TV Save Girl Child campaign Maruti Celebration CNG - Intro
Social Service campaign LIC - Jeevan Suraksha Policy Bhusan Steel British Book Fair
British Council RUPA Publishing Reliance Communications
You may get position like online marketing manager, online marketing executive, SEO manager, PPC manager, Affiliate Marketing manager, SEO expert or consultant, WEB CONTENT WRITTERS ETC
Job & placement or startups business consultancy / assistance:-
After project completion candidate will receive project completion certificate, and depending on performance s/he can considered for permanent employment with us or we can refer to our clients or business associate with us.
Assistance for start new business:- Students who are ambitious to start new business on his/her own and having sufficient capital , we help and provide consultancy to start and run successful business.
We a small business consulting firm specializing in helping owners to start and grow their businesses and their bottom line. Our specialty is working with companies from startup to 100 Employee Company.
We coach business owners , design business plans, develop marketing strategies and create marketing plans. By providing a full range of Internet services such as web design, hosting, search engine optimization and blog marketing etc. We will be your internet marketing solution. We specialize in business consulting for both small business startups as well as mature companies. Schedule monthly operations / budget reviews to keep your business on track.
Salary: - According to current industry trend online marketing managers salary in India is from Rs.200000/- to Rs.450000/-PA...Online Marketing/ Social Media Managers Salary in UK is £40k - £45k pa + Excellent Benefits, Location: City Of London, Average Online Marketing Manager Salary in United States: $78000. Salary depends on qualification, marks, individual ability, PASSION and experience.
Please let us know if you are interested in this opportunity or have any references matching this requirement.
Please find our company profile and the Project Training Details:
e-Branding India Technologies is fast growing ebrand in Consumer Internet and Social media marketing company . It is e-marketing consultancy for SME’s. Now presence at Thane,Mumbai,Pune Sangali,TEXAS USA. (Very soon will be at Noida ,Bangalore ,Dubai).Provides 360 degree e-marketing solutions. Like SEO, SMO, PPC, Online PR and many more.
Our client-tile includes product /companies from US and India.
Our consultants are the best amongst the in the e-marketing domain across globe.
Position: Online Management Trainee
Internship Description:
Internship Project: 1-2months
- Marketing pre sales/marketing.
- Preparing Business presentation/ proposals
- Email Correspondence
- Prepare Presentation, White papers
- Research & Analyzing
- Analyze Competitors
- Lead Generation
Profile Description:
- MBA/PGDM ,B.A., B.Com, B.Sc, BCA/BCS, B.E./B.Tech, / BBM/ BBA/ MCA/ MSc/ MCom Fresher…
- Internet search skills, Internet Savvy, need to have own laptop/computer or access to internet nearby.
- Good in presentation
- Pleasant Personality
- Willingness to learn and excel in e-marketing business
Work Duration – 5 Hours/Day and 5 days a week
Students from anywhere India & abroad can apply.
To apply, get in touch with us at
info@ebrandingindia.com, ebrandingindia@gmail.com +91 9224335234
Location: Anywhere from India & Abroad
Mba / bba project title/ topics should be in the area of Internet/web/online Marketing, or we will suggest title for project report
Currently we are looking for MBA - Marketing Graduates, for Management trainee (Internship) position, this would be like a project work which would add value to your profile.
Can get job opportunity with company like Google, Yahoo, MSN, FACEBOOK, Shaddi.com, Indiatimes, AOL and many portals like Indiamart, Alibaba.com and digital marketing agencies like Lowe, FCB Ulka, JWT, Grey Worldwide, Saatchi, TBWA - Anthem, HTA (Hindustan Thompson), Network, Everest, Icon – Dubai, Mudra, Leo-Bernett, O&M, McCANN, Contract, Euro RSCG, RK Swamy-BBDO, Interface, Quadrant, Madison, Rediffusion, Percept, Triton, 3-rd WAVE, Publicis Zen, Percept-H, Pratuti, DAVP, Joshbro… and many e-media technology companies in India as well as abroad .
While working with above companies you will be getting opportunity to work with brands like
Lure Pepsodent Idea Celluar ICICI
Akbarallys Tata Motors Cipla Colgate
Nescafe Antiquity Club Mahindra Liril
iFLex
Jet Airways Bharti Axa UTI
Free Press Docomo UB Group Tata Indicom
Dabur Edelweiss Axe Wheel
Colgate Srilankan Airlines Detsche Bank Tata Tea
SM Foods Nivea Levi's Durex
Meswak UTI Kohinoor LG
Surf SBI Castrol PSI Family Planning
SHELL – Diesel Engine Oil RIMULA Hero Honda Gen set Shalimar Coconut Oil
Westson TV Save Girl Child campaign Maruti Celebration CNG - Intro
Social Service campaign LIC - Jeevan Suraksha Policy Bhusan Steel British Book Fair
British Council RUPA Publishing Reliance Communications
You may get position like online marketing manager, online marketing executive, SEO manager, PPC manager, Affiliate Marketing manager, SEO expert or consultant, WEB CONTENT WRITTERS ETC
Job & placement or startups business consultancy / assistance:-
After project completion candidate will receive project completion certificate, and depending on performance s/he can considered for permanent employment with us or we can refer to our clients or business associate with us.
Assistance for start new business:- Students who are ambitious to start new business on his/her own and having sufficient capital , we help and provide consultancy to start and run successful business.
We a small business consulting firm specializing in helping owners to start and grow their businesses and their bottom line. Our specialty is working with companies from startup to 100 Employee Company.
We coach business owners , design business plans, develop marketing strategies and create marketing plans. By providing a full range of Internet services such as web design, hosting, search engine optimization and blog marketing etc. We will be your internet marketing solution. We specialize in business consulting for both small business startups as well as mature companies. Schedule monthly operations / budget reviews to keep your business on track.
Salary: - According to current industry trend online marketing managers salary in India is from Rs.200000/- to Rs.450000/-PA...Online Marketing/ Social Media Managers Salary in UK is £40k - £45k pa + Excellent Benefits, Location: City Of London, Average Online Marketing Manager Salary in United States: $78000. Salary depends on qualification, marks, individual ability, PASSION and experience.
Please let us know if you are interested in this opportunity or have any references matching this requirement.
Please find our company profile and the Project Training Details:
e-Branding India Technologies is fast growing ebrand in Consumer Internet and Social media marketing company . It is e-marketing consultancy for SME’s. Now presence at Thane,Mumbai,Pune Sangali,TEXAS USA. (Very soon will be at Noida ,Bangalore ,Dubai).Provides 360 degree e-marketing solutions. Like SEO, SMO, PPC, Online PR and many more.
Our client-tile includes product /companies from US and India.
Our consultants are the best amongst the in the e-marketing domain across globe.
Position: Online Management Trainee
Internship Description:
Internship Project: 1-2months
- Marketing pre sales/marketing.
- Preparing Business presentation/ proposals
- Email Correspondence
- Prepare Presentation, White papers
- Research & Analyzing
- Analyze Competitors
- Lead Generation
Profile Description:
- MBA/PGDM ,B.A., B.Com, B.Sc, BCA/BCS, B.E./B.Tech, / BBM/ BBA/ MCA/ MSc/ MCom Fresher…
- Internet search skills, Internet Savvy, need to have own laptop/computer or access to internet nearby.
- Good in presentation
- Pleasant Personality
- Willingness to learn and excel in e-marketing business
Work Duration – 5 Hours/Day and 5 days a week
Students from anywhere India & abroad can apply.
To apply, get in touch with us at
info@ebrandingindia.com, ebrandingindia@gmail.com +91 9224335234
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Why and How of movie marketing online
Movie e-Marketing Solutions
If you are thinking marketing your movie online but don’t know how go about it , we can help you.
Why and How of movie marketing online
Why to market movie online?
1. The movie-going audience expects to find you online. 40% of movie-goers under the age of 39 look first to the internet to find out about movies.
2. Movie trailers are among the most downloaded videos online. There are more downloads of movie trailers than blooper videos, joke videos, music videos or user-generated videos.
3. You have to be proactive about your reputation. All it takes is for one person to dislike your movie, to create a website, blog, social media etc and become more accessible to the online audience than your positive movie reviews.
4. You can gain information for this movie and your future movies. If you motivate your grassroots audience to interact with you, you can talk to them about future stages of movie marketing - theatrical release, DVD release, DVD downloads and sequels.
Scope of work will include the following points
Movie website design & micro site development
Online PR and buzz generation with sites Vernacular news ( e.g. Oneindia ) ,Communication(e.g. SMSGupshup),Gaming/ Social( zapac.com),Entertainment (IndyaRocks),Portals News (NDTV.com)
search engine optimization – promotion in organic search on google , yahoo,msn,aol etc
pay per click keyword marketing on google ,yahoo,msn,facebook & content network.
social media marketing (Twitter, Facebook,orkut 15 + sites, Social bookmarking
Facebook pages and many more )
online contests & games
blog commenting on film , entertainment & children related blogs.
Video Marketing – Most online marketers are aware of the value of online video to promote services and products. Whether used to as an online commercial, product education, or to provide online support in order to reduce customer service calls, online video is an exploding and very useful solution.
Blog Movie Reviews –we can write News, spicy gossip, latest rumors, gossips, making of films etc about our film.
Website analytics & reporting- Information on tracking and analyzing traffic to film website.
Banner Advertising-
Our expert will guide to choose best place to do banner advertising and banner promotion. Increase your website visibility through our cheap banner on following Indian websites
NNE,Indiastudychannel,SUCCESSCDS,ADMISSIONNEWS,PlacementPapers,UPSC Portal,
JNTU World, Bharatmatrimony,Jeevansathi,Simplymarry,KMMatrimony, Chennaionline
Delhilive,Bangaloreliving,Discover Bangalore,INDIANCAFES,123Kerala
HungryBangalore, Cricbuzz,Goal,Cricketfundas,Sixer,CRICKETPULSE,,SIMCRICKET,CMDN
Vcricket,CricketNirvana,About,SanjeevKapoor,Indusladies,Tarladalal,iDiva,Indiaparenting, Gigaom,Zdnet,Pluggd,Xconomy,IT-Director,Technorati,Gizmodo, Cartradeindia,Betterinteriors,
Betterphotography,Carazoo, Eenadu,Tamilwin,Navbharat Times,Lokmat,Rajsthanpatrika
Maharashtra Times,Amarujala,Dinakaran,Andhrajyothy,Patrika,NAKKHEEERAN
MATHRUBHUMI,DINAMALAR,DAILYTHANTHI,Dainik Bhaskar,Divya Bhaskar
Sandesh,AOL,Oneindia,SAMAYLIVE, Way2SMS,160by2,SMS7,SMSGupshup
Youmint,YOUTELE,Mginger,MyCantos, Zapak,123Greetings,Humsurfer
Yaari,INDYAPULSE,VGREETS,DESHONNATI,NEODELIGHT, Rajshri
Bigflix,Smashits,Cinesongs,BANGALORELIVING,ONEINDIA,RAGALAHARI
123KERALA,123MUSIQ,SantaBanta,IndyaRocks,Raaga,IndiaGlitz, NDTV,
Pressmart,Tehelka,Indian Express,DECCANHERALD,THEHINDU,EXTRAMIRCHI
DNA India,ASIANAGE,IBN Live, HolidayIQ,WAYN,TOURISMKARNATAKA
IndiaHotelReview,Trip Advisor,Journey Mart,Sprice, Monster India,MONSTERGULF
GOVTJOBS,INDIASJOBS,JOBEEHIVE,Freshers World,YuvaJobs, Financial Express
Businessworld,Moneycontrol,Buzzing Stocks,Businessline,Valuenotes,
All above sites are from different verticals like Vernacular ,Communication,Gaming/Social,,Entertainment ,Portals, News, Travel ,Jobs Business, Classifieds/ Review, Education, Matrimony ,Local ,Sports Women, Technology ,Lifestyle etc
It covers all types of internet audience like male female all age group, people from all states /city of india etc
for more call Mr.Prakash on +91 9222086563 mail at info@ebrandingindia.com
If you are thinking marketing your movie online but don’t know how go about it , we can help you.
Why and How of movie marketing online
Why to market movie online?
1. The movie-going audience expects to find you online. 40% of movie-goers under the age of 39 look first to the internet to find out about movies.
2. Movie trailers are among the most downloaded videos online. There are more downloads of movie trailers than blooper videos, joke videos, music videos or user-generated videos.
3. You have to be proactive about your reputation. All it takes is for one person to dislike your movie, to create a website, blog, social media etc and become more accessible to the online audience than your positive movie reviews.
4. You can gain information for this movie and your future movies. If you motivate your grassroots audience to interact with you, you can talk to them about future stages of movie marketing - theatrical release, DVD release, DVD downloads and sequels.
Scope of work will include the following points
Movie website design & micro site development
Online PR and buzz generation with sites Vernacular news ( e.g. Oneindia ) ,Communication(e.g. SMSGupshup),Gaming/ Social( zapac.com),Entertainment (IndyaRocks),Portals News (NDTV.com)
search engine optimization – promotion in organic search on google , yahoo,msn,aol etc
pay per click keyword marketing on google ,yahoo,msn,facebook & content network.
social media marketing (Twitter, Facebook,orkut 15 + sites, Social bookmarking
Facebook pages and many more )
online contests & games
blog commenting on film , entertainment & children related blogs.
Video Marketing – Most online marketers are aware of the value of online video to promote services and products. Whether used to as an online commercial, product education, or to provide online support in order to reduce customer service calls, online video is an exploding and very useful solution.
Blog Movie Reviews –we can write News, spicy gossip, latest rumors, gossips, making of films etc about our film.
Website analytics & reporting- Information on tracking and analyzing traffic to film website.
Banner Advertising-
Our expert will guide to choose best place to do banner advertising and banner promotion. Increase your website visibility through our cheap banner on following Indian websites
NNE,Indiastudychannel,SUCCESSCDS,ADMISSIONNEWS,PlacementPapers,UPSC Portal,
JNTU World, Bharatmatrimony,Jeevansathi,Simplymarry,KMMatrimony, Chennaionline
Delhilive,Bangaloreliving,Discover Bangalore,INDIANCAFES,123Kerala
HungryBangalore, Cricbuzz,Goal,Cricketfundas,Sixer,CRICKETPULSE,,SIMCRICKET,CMDN
Vcricket,CricketNirvana,About,SanjeevKapoor,Indusladies,Tarladalal,iDiva,Indiaparenting, Gigaom,Zdnet,Pluggd,Xconomy,IT-Director,Technorati,Gizmodo, Cartradeindia,Betterinteriors,
Betterphotography,Carazoo, Eenadu,Tamilwin,Navbharat Times,Lokmat,Rajsthanpatrika
Maharashtra Times,Amarujala,Dinakaran,Andhrajyothy,Patrika,NAKKHEEERAN
MATHRUBHUMI,DINAMALAR,DAILYTHANTHI,Dainik Bhaskar,Divya Bhaskar
Sandesh,AOL,Oneindia,SAMAYLIVE, Way2SMS,160by2,SMS7,SMSGupshup
Youmint,YOUTELE,Mginger,MyCantos, Zapak,123Greetings,Humsurfer
Yaari,INDYAPULSE,VGREETS,DESHONNATI,NEODELIGHT, Rajshri
Bigflix,Smashits,Cinesongs,BANGALORELIVING,ONEINDIA,RAGALAHARI
123KERALA,123MUSIQ,SantaBanta,IndyaRocks,Raaga,IndiaGlitz, NDTV,
Pressmart,Tehelka,Indian Express,DECCANHERALD,THEHINDU,EXTRAMIRCHI
DNA India,ASIANAGE,IBN Live, HolidayIQ,WAYN,TOURISMKARNATAKA
IndiaHotelReview,Trip Advisor,Journey Mart,Sprice, Monster India,MONSTERGULF
GOVTJOBS,INDIASJOBS,JOBEEHIVE,Freshers World,YuvaJobs, Financial Express
Businessworld,Moneycontrol,Buzzing Stocks,Businessline,Valuenotes,
All above sites are from different verticals like Vernacular ,Communication,Gaming/Social,,Entertainment ,Portals, News, Travel ,Jobs Business, Classifieds/ Review, Education, Matrimony ,Local ,Sports Women, Technology ,Lifestyle etc
It covers all types of internet audience like male female all age group, people from all states /city of india etc
for more call Mr.Prakash on +91 9222086563 mail at info@ebrandingindia.com
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
How to calculate your Keyword Density for SEO content.
The subject of Keywords & Keyword Density is a talking point amongst SEO gurus worldwide and each has a different opinion of the right way to approach keyword density and how to deploy keywords throughout your content properly. The reason for the different opinions (and almost every SEO expert has his/her own opinion about the “right way” to do keyword optimizing) is that the ranking rules used by the Search Engines are a well kept secret. We honestly do not know an absolute way to use keywords the right way … we can really only guess.
In the early days of the modern Internet (say, the mid-to-late nineties), the Search Engines used keywords and their keyword density within the content of a web page as a very important website ranking factors – that is, the more times a particular keyword or phrase appeared in the content of a website, the more likely that the website would rank well for a search of that keyword or phrase. If a web-page had an enormous number of instances of the word “TEA, then the search engines made the decision “This website is about TEA” and that website would rank very well when someone searched for “TEA”.
These days, keywords are not such important factors and have fallen behind the significance of a large number of inbound links to your site but keywords remain a factor none-the-less. In fact, a great deal of your S.E.O. efforts revolve around keywords; they are truly the foundation of any SEO work that you do.
However, your understanding and ability to calculate your keyword density is very useful for your work as an SEO marketer. It will allow you to make informed decisions about the content on your website and how to manipulate and optimize it for better ranking in the search engines.
There are automated tools for calculating keyword density it’s always best to understand the inner workings of keyword density, so you can make decisions about how to structure your content for yourself.
Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page compared to the total number of words on the page.
Keyword density is a little bit of a tightrope walk. Too low a keyword density and your keywords will have little (or almost no) significance to your search engine ranking. Too high a keyword density and you may be penalized by the search engines for “keyword stuffing” (that is they will lower your placement in the search engine results pages because you have used a keyword way too many times for it to simply be a coincidence).
Many SEO experts consider the optimum keyword density to be 1% to 3% percent and Google documentation states that your keyword density for any keyword or phrase should be less than 5%. You must make your own decisions about what is right for you but it seems like a keyword density of around 2%-3% is just right.
Here I am going to show you how to calculate your keyword density and help you optimize your website. There will be a little bit of mathematics involved but nothing more complicated than a little multiplication and division. How you calculate your keyword density relies heavily on the circumstance in which you are using your keywords.
To calculate keyword density in its simplest form, you divide the number of times that you have used a specific keyword by the total number of words in the text that you are analyzing and multiply the result by one hundred to achieve your percentage.
Therefore:
Keyword Density = (abc/ xyz) x 100
Where:
Density = your keyword density
abc= how many times you repeated a specific keyword
xyz = total words in the analyzed text
So, if your article or piece of content (the text you are analyzing) is 500 words in length and you have used your keyword 15 times, the keyword density for that keyword is…
Keyword density = (abc/ xyz) x 100
= (15 / 500) x 100
= 0.03 x 100
=3
Keyword density = 3% !!!
That’s pretty straight-forward ?
Key-phrases add a new level of complexity to the keyword density issue. People don’t only search for one word when they perform searches on the internet. They may use a phrase which contains more than one word. Users will search terms that contain more than one word usually because they are looking for something specific.
If I were in search of a good restaurant in my area (believe me, not such a crazy idea) I wouldn’t just search the keyword “restaurant” in Google… This would return me a list of millions of results. I would instead search something like “restaurant in Mumbai”.
“restaurant in Mumbai” is an example of a key-phrase because it consists of more than one word as opposed to a keyword which is a single word.
So, someone trying to cater to my search would possibly try and optimize their content for that key-phrase – “restaurant in Mumbai” and they would try and fine-tune the density of the key phrase to that coveted 1% – 3% range.
This changes the calculation that we must perform to calculate our keyword density, because now we are dealing with an entity that contains multiple terms.
This presents an interesting dilemma. To work out the keyword density of a key phrase, it could be tempting to use:
Density = (abc x (jkl / xyz)) x 100
Where:
Density = your keyword density
abc = how many times you repeated a specific key-phrase
jkl = number of words in your key-phrase
xyz = total words in the analyzed text
So, again, if we take my “restaurant in Mumbai” example – There are three words in my key-phrase and I have used that key-phrase three times amidst my total word count of 500 words.
Density = (abcx (jkl / xyz)) x 100
= (3 x (3 / 500)) x 100
= (3 x 0.006) x 100
= 0.018 x 100
Density = 1.8%
There is a problem with this keyword density formula, however. One cannot ignore the fact that keyword density refers to the frequency of the appearance of one particular keyword. This means that “restaurant in Mumbai” should be counted as if it was just one word amongst the rest of your text and not three words.
This idea brings us back to our original formula, Keyword Density = (abc/ xyz) x 100, and doing the calculation above gives us:
=(3 / 500) x 100
=0.006 x 100
=0.6%
Which is a little low and very different. If you were using this formula to calculate your keyword density, you would want to add a few more instances of “restaurant in Mumbai”
Share your views on this article to Author Mr.Prakash Bhosale at info@ebrandingindia.com
In the early days of the modern Internet (say, the mid-to-late nineties), the Search Engines used keywords and their keyword density within the content of a web page as a very important website ranking factors – that is, the more times a particular keyword or phrase appeared in the content of a website, the more likely that the website would rank well for a search of that keyword or phrase. If a web-page had an enormous number of instances of the word “TEA, then the search engines made the decision “This website is about TEA” and that website would rank very well when someone searched for “TEA”.
These days, keywords are not such important factors and have fallen behind the significance of a large number of inbound links to your site but keywords remain a factor none-the-less. In fact, a great deal of your S.E.O. efforts revolve around keywords; they are truly the foundation of any SEO work that you do.
However, your understanding and ability to calculate your keyword density is very useful for your work as an SEO marketer. It will allow you to make informed decisions about the content on your website and how to manipulate and optimize it for better ranking in the search engines.
There are automated tools for calculating keyword density it’s always best to understand the inner workings of keyword density, so you can make decisions about how to structure your content for yourself.
Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page compared to the total number of words on the page.
Keyword density is a little bit of a tightrope walk. Too low a keyword density and your keywords will have little (or almost no) significance to your search engine ranking. Too high a keyword density and you may be penalized by the search engines for “keyword stuffing” (that is they will lower your placement in the search engine results pages because you have used a keyword way too many times for it to simply be a coincidence).
Many SEO experts consider the optimum keyword density to be 1% to 3% percent and Google documentation states that your keyword density for any keyword or phrase should be less than 5%. You must make your own decisions about what is right for you but it seems like a keyword density of around 2%-3% is just right.
Here I am going to show you how to calculate your keyword density and help you optimize your website. There will be a little bit of mathematics involved but nothing more complicated than a little multiplication and division. How you calculate your keyword density relies heavily on the circumstance in which you are using your keywords.
To calculate keyword density in its simplest form, you divide the number of times that you have used a specific keyword by the total number of words in the text that you are analyzing and multiply the result by one hundred to achieve your percentage.
Therefore:
Keyword Density = (abc/ xyz) x 100
Where:
Density = your keyword density
abc= how many times you repeated a specific keyword
xyz = total words in the analyzed text
So, if your article or piece of content (the text you are analyzing) is 500 words in length and you have used your keyword 15 times, the keyword density for that keyword is…
Keyword density = (abc/ xyz) x 100
= (15 / 500) x 100
= 0.03 x 100
=3
Keyword density = 3% !!!
That’s pretty straight-forward ?
Key-phrases add a new level of complexity to the keyword density issue. People don’t only search for one word when they perform searches on the internet. They may use a phrase which contains more than one word. Users will search terms that contain more than one word usually because they are looking for something specific.
If I were in search of a good restaurant in my area (believe me, not such a crazy idea) I wouldn’t just search the keyword “restaurant” in Google… This would return me a list of millions of results. I would instead search something like “restaurant in Mumbai”.
“restaurant in Mumbai” is an example of a key-phrase because it consists of more than one word as opposed to a keyword which is a single word.
So, someone trying to cater to my search would possibly try and optimize their content for that key-phrase – “restaurant in Mumbai” and they would try and fine-tune the density of the key phrase to that coveted 1% – 3% range.
This changes the calculation that we must perform to calculate our keyword density, because now we are dealing with an entity that contains multiple terms.
This presents an interesting dilemma. To work out the keyword density of a key phrase, it could be tempting to use:
Density = (abc x (jkl / xyz)) x 100
Where:
Density = your keyword density
abc = how many times you repeated a specific key-phrase
jkl = number of words in your key-phrase
xyz = total words in the analyzed text
So, again, if we take my “restaurant in Mumbai” example – There are three words in my key-phrase and I have used that key-phrase three times amidst my total word count of 500 words.
Density = (abcx (jkl / xyz)) x 100
= (3 x (3 / 500)) x 100
= (3 x 0.006) x 100
= 0.018 x 100
Density = 1.8%
There is a problem with this keyword density formula, however. One cannot ignore the fact that keyword density refers to the frequency of the appearance of one particular keyword. This means that “restaurant in Mumbai” should be counted as if it was just one word amongst the rest of your text and not three words.
This idea brings us back to our original formula, Keyword Density = (abc/ xyz) x 100, and doing the calculation above gives us:
=(3 / 500) x 100
=0.006 x 100
=0.6%
Which is a little low and very different. If you were using this formula to calculate your keyword density, you would want to add a few more instances of “restaurant in Mumbai”
Share your views on this article to Author Mr.Prakash Bhosale at info@ebrandingindia.com
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Internet Marketing for New Novel/ Poetry /Drama / short story / Songs Lyrics / album Writers
Internet Marketing for New Novel/ Poetry /Drama / short story / Songs Lyrics / album Writers & How to Network Online To Sell and make money .
1
There are many ways to get your name in front of those who might take an interest in your book. It doesn't matter if you are self published or have a major house backing you--you need to get your name out there.
2
There are many great websites that cater to writers. Message boards are gathering places where frustrations, goals, and success are shared. It’s not only a great support to the lone writer but is handy since most boards have you create some sort of profile for joining.
3
It should be a no brainer at this point that a website or blog is a great tool for advertising. Including the link in your signature as you post comments at blogs is another way to get your title in front of people. Plus, your link should always be in your email signature.
4
Agents who have websites are great and agents who have updated blogs are even better. Even if you don't write in the genre they represent, check them out as they usually have great information, contests and are just a great place to check in with other writers. As you participate in conversation, don't forget to use your profile or link in your signature to keep your book out there and in front of people.
5
Amazon makes it easy to include your book information at your blog or website. Include the link to your book at Amazon as you cruise around the Internet.
6
Writing, especially fiction writing, is a tough business to get into and a tougher one to stay in. Generally, neither authors nor publishers make a significant profit until an author‚s fifth novel is published. Most of the time, the majority of the meager money that publishers put into publicizing books goes toward review copies and the usually unproductive author tour. How many books do first-time authors sell? Over 195,000 new novels are published by traditional publishers in the U.S. every year. Of those, 70% sell fewer than 500 copies.
7
To be in the other 30% of authors, you must seize every promotional advantage you can, especially by using the web and other new media, first novel sold out of its first print run of 10,000 copies in under two months and is currently chewing through its second print run, which is better than average.
8
To sell your book, (1) inform people that you and the novel exist, (2) interest readers enough to buy your book, and (3) build a relationship to keep them coming back for more. For all this, the Internet is the perfect medium
9.
To announce your presence to the world, first you blog. Before your book is published, start your own blog or blogs on subjects related to your book, especially controversial themes or subjects that people want to know more about on an easy, free blog host like Blogger/Blogspot, Livejournal, or Xanga. Join blogs. Be a guest blogger. Trade blog posts with other bloggers. Many small blogs and blogger networks, including those that you start or join and co-op blogs, allow you to write one blog post and then cross-post to them all, which means far more bang for your time and typing buck. Some blog networks also feed into search engine news services, which is an added publicity bonus.
10.
Writing guest articles for newsletters, print, e-magazines, and other blogs is one of the best ways to reach new readers. Articles for big blogs and e-magazines, such as this one or Booklet, are generally exclusive. Don't cross-post these, though you can link to the post from your other blogs with a teaser about the article. Query blogs via email with a paragraph about the topic of your article and why you should write it. Find popular places to post by using tools like SEO, SMO, ONLINE PR,VIRAL MARKETING,AFFILIATE MARKETING ETC
11.
If you have the time to commit to writing several articles per week for only one site, About is competitive but lucrative.
Literary journals, especially e-journals, are excellent places to publicize. Excise self-contained nuggets out of your novel and submit them. You can also write stand-alone prequels, sequels, or exquels to your novel. Lists of literary journals, such as this one at Poets & Writers, abound.
12.
Social networking sites are also great places to up your profile .A page at FACEBOOK, LINKED IN , ORKUT MySpace ETC is the minimum. You can cross-post your blog essays on MySpace blogs, too. Add friends, join groups, and aim for 1000 friends as your first goal, then 5000, then 10,000. Good reads is a must-visit social networking site for authors. It's similar to MySpace except that it's geared toward bibliophiles -- a target-rich audience. Add friends, join groups, and post book reviews. Gather is a community of writers and is another great place to make friends and turn them into readers by cross-posting your blogs and essays.
13.
Once your book is added to Amazon, enroll in the Amazon Connect authors' program. You can post blogs, announce book tour dates, and connect with people who have purchased your books in the past. Your posts show up on your book's page.
14.
Forums and newsgroups are the great underground for authors. Make a list of topics, especially controversial ones, in your novel, and search YahooGroups, GoogleGroups, and search engines for "forum" plus your topic. Post to the introductory thread with details about your book, then respond to other people's posts, and cross-post any topically related blog posts as thread starters. Include your book's title in your sig file, but don't actually advertise your book as that will likely just get you branded as a spammer. As long as your posts are on topic, helpful, thoughtful, and informative, people will visit your signature links. Forums are good places to enjoy yourself.
15.
Where to get ideas for blog essays: news items (write an opinion piece, not necessarily contrary, and link back to the source article), forum posts (on a discussion thread, when you write a long answer to a post, copy/paste your answer, tidy it up, and post it on your blogs), your characters (write short stories about them, which you can then submit to literary journals, or do "interviews" with them, which is always an amusing exercise), or questions that people ask you about your book.
16.
After you inform people that you and your book exists, give them more information. Seventy percent of readers who are thinking of buying a book by a new author search the Internet before they buy.
17.
The first thing you should do when you sign your book contract, if you haven't already, is buy your name as a web domain address. You might want to buy the dot-net and dot-org versions as well as the dot-com, because if you don't, someone else will.
18.
So what do you put on your web site? First and foremost and as always, content is king. Readers want to know more about you, your book, and subjects in your book, writing your book, excerpts from your novel or other short stories, and your characters. Don't just slap up a couple sales pages.
19.
Republish essays that you hold the e-rights to on your website. Link to others and to your blogs. Include a few pictures of yourself but nothing that will overly interest a stalker. Write content for the site that includes important key words and optimize your pages for search engines, which include naming pages using commonly searched words that are also subjects of the essay and ensuring that the links between pages work. Add content frequently. Include a way to email you (important for building an email list)
20.
After you've found someone and sold them your novel, sell them the next one by building a relationship with them. As any Marketing Consultant will tell you, the easiest customer is the repeat customer. To do this, build an email list.
21.
Anyone who emails you, write them back and add them to your emailing list. When you start out, you can do mass emailing to your friends, but as you get bigger you should have an opt-in email list. Send out at least a couple newsletters each year and make sure there is a way for people to remove themselves from the newsletter so you are in compliance with anti-spam laws. Definitely make use of your email distribution list to announce the pre-sale and sale of your next book.
22.
Cruising around the Internet doesn't need to be viewed as a waste of time. Consider it networking. Joining in on writer's groups online and commenting at agent and author blogs can all be used as a way to get your name and your novel out there in front of people?
Conclusion:-
So that's how to use the Internet to rise above the fray: find readers, give them information, and build relationships with them. In-store sells only a few books and publishers may or may not allocate much in the way of publicity funds and manpower to first-time authors. Your own efforts on the Internet can make a dramatic difference in whether or not your novel succeeds
Contact: - Call- +91-9222086563 email:- info@ebrandingindia.com
1
There are many ways to get your name in front of those who might take an interest in your book. It doesn't matter if you are self published or have a major house backing you--you need to get your name out there.
2
There are many great websites that cater to writers. Message boards are gathering places where frustrations, goals, and success are shared. It’s not only a great support to the lone writer but is handy since most boards have you create some sort of profile for joining.
3
It should be a no brainer at this point that a website or blog is a great tool for advertising. Including the link in your signature as you post comments at blogs is another way to get your title in front of people. Plus, your link should always be in your email signature.
4
Agents who have websites are great and agents who have updated blogs are even better. Even if you don't write in the genre they represent, check them out as they usually have great information, contests and are just a great place to check in with other writers. As you participate in conversation, don't forget to use your profile or link in your signature to keep your book out there and in front of people.
5
Amazon makes it easy to include your book information at your blog or website. Include the link to your book at Amazon as you cruise around the Internet.
6
Writing, especially fiction writing, is a tough business to get into and a tougher one to stay in. Generally, neither authors nor publishers make a significant profit until an author‚s fifth novel is published. Most of the time, the majority of the meager money that publishers put into publicizing books goes toward review copies and the usually unproductive author tour. How many books do first-time authors sell? Over 195,000 new novels are published by traditional publishers in the U.S. every year. Of those, 70% sell fewer than 500 copies.
7
To be in the other 30% of authors, you must seize every promotional advantage you can, especially by using the web and other new media, first novel sold out of its first print run of 10,000 copies in under two months and is currently chewing through its second print run, which is better than average.
8
To sell your book, (1) inform people that you and the novel exist, (2) interest readers enough to buy your book, and (3) build a relationship to keep them coming back for more. For all this, the Internet is the perfect medium
9.
To announce your presence to the world, first you blog. Before your book is published, start your own blog or blogs on subjects related to your book, especially controversial themes or subjects that people want to know more about on an easy, free blog host like Blogger/Blogspot, Livejournal, or Xanga. Join blogs. Be a guest blogger. Trade blog posts with other bloggers. Many small blogs and blogger networks, including those that you start or join and co-op blogs, allow you to write one blog post and then cross-post to them all, which means far more bang for your time and typing buck. Some blog networks also feed into search engine news services, which is an added publicity bonus.
10.
Writing guest articles for newsletters, print, e-magazines, and other blogs is one of the best ways to reach new readers. Articles for big blogs and e-magazines, such as this one or Booklet, are generally exclusive. Don't cross-post these, though you can link to the post from your other blogs with a teaser about the article. Query blogs via email with a paragraph about the topic of your article and why you should write it. Find popular places to post by using tools like SEO, SMO, ONLINE PR,VIRAL MARKETING,AFFILIATE MARKETING ETC
11.
If you have the time to commit to writing several articles per week for only one site, About is competitive but lucrative.
Literary journals, especially e-journals, are excellent places to publicize. Excise self-contained nuggets out of your novel and submit them. You can also write stand-alone prequels, sequels, or exquels to your novel. Lists of literary journals, such as this one at Poets & Writers, abound.
12.
Social networking sites are also great places to up your profile .A page at FACEBOOK, LINKED IN , ORKUT MySpace ETC is the minimum. You can cross-post your blog essays on MySpace blogs, too. Add friends, join groups, and aim for 1000 friends as your first goal, then 5000, then 10,000. Good reads is a must-visit social networking site for authors. It's similar to MySpace except that it's geared toward bibliophiles -- a target-rich audience. Add friends, join groups, and post book reviews. Gather is a community of writers and is another great place to make friends and turn them into readers by cross-posting your blogs and essays.
13.
Once your book is added to Amazon, enroll in the Amazon Connect authors' program. You can post blogs, announce book tour dates, and connect with people who have purchased your books in the past. Your posts show up on your book's page.
14.
Forums and newsgroups are the great underground for authors. Make a list of topics, especially controversial ones, in your novel, and search YahooGroups, GoogleGroups, and search engines for "forum" plus your topic. Post to the introductory thread with details about your book, then respond to other people's posts, and cross-post any topically related blog posts as thread starters. Include your book's title in your sig file, but don't actually advertise your book as that will likely just get you branded as a spammer. As long as your posts are on topic, helpful, thoughtful, and informative, people will visit your signature links. Forums are good places to enjoy yourself.
15.
Where to get ideas for blog essays: news items (write an opinion piece, not necessarily contrary, and link back to the source article), forum posts (on a discussion thread, when you write a long answer to a post, copy/paste your answer, tidy it up, and post it on your blogs), your characters (write short stories about them, which you can then submit to literary journals, or do "interviews" with them, which is always an amusing exercise), or questions that people ask you about your book.
16.
After you inform people that you and your book exists, give them more information. Seventy percent of readers who are thinking of buying a book by a new author search the Internet before they buy.
17.
The first thing you should do when you sign your book contract, if you haven't already, is buy your name as a web domain address. You might want to buy the dot-net and dot-org versions as well as the dot-com, because if you don't, someone else will.
18.
So what do you put on your web site? First and foremost and as always, content is king. Readers want to know more about you, your book, and subjects in your book, writing your book, excerpts from your novel or other short stories, and your characters. Don't just slap up a couple sales pages.
19.
Republish essays that you hold the e-rights to on your website. Link to others and to your blogs. Include a few pictures of yourself but nothing that will overly interest a stalker. Write content for the site that includes important key words and optimize your pages for search engines, which include naming pages using commonly searched words that are also subjects of the essay and ensuring that the links between pages work. Add content frequently. Include a way to email you (important for building an email list)
20.
After you've found someone and sold them your novel, sell them the next one by building a relationship with them. As any Marketing Consultant will tell you, the easiest customer is the repeat customer. To do this, build an email list.
21.
Anyone who emails you, write them back and add them to your emailing list. When you start out, you can do mass emailing to your friends, but as you get bigger you should have an opt-in email list. Send out at least a couple newsletters each year and make sure there is a way for people to remove themselves from the newsletter so you are in compliance with anti-spam laws. Definitely make use of your email distribution list to announce the pre-sale and sale of your next book.
22.
Cruising around the Internet doesn't need to be viewed as a waste of time. Consider it networking. Joining in on writer's groups online and commenting at agent and author blogs can all be used as a way to get your name and your novel out there in front of people?
Conclusion:-
So that's how to use the Internet to rise above the fray: find readers, give them information, and build relationships with them. In-store sells only a few books and publishers may or may not allocate much in the way of publicity funds and manpower to first-time authors. Your own efforts on the Internet can make a dramatic difference in whether or not your novel succeeds
Contact: - Call- +91-9222086563 email:- info@ebrandingindia.com
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