Entrepreneur harus buat relasi

Entrepreneurship is more about building a business than inventing a product. It's more about the quality of the execution, rather than the quality of the idea. Most importantly, it's more about being a proactive leader who connects to customers and the team deeply, rather than a bright light that struggles to be seen amidst the glare of a million other bright lights.

Achim Nowak, noted business coach and author, in his recent book "Infectious: How to Connect Deeply and Unleash the Energetic Leader Within," talks about how technology today allows entrepreneurs to communicate at a furious pace. They exchange more emails, texts and tweets every day. Yet many know less and less about how to really connect, and get people to commit to their business or product.

I've seen this all too often in my own work with startups. More noise always means more hours a day working, but it doesn't necessarily mean more business or more productive connections. Nowak talks convincingly about how successful entrepreneurs connect deeply with others at the highest of four levels, with less effort and more results:

1. Level one: Talk at the social level. Talk is the first of four levels of communication. It is the surface of many business experiences, and some people never get beyond this level of relationship. They don't engage with a measure of skill and ease at this level, which inhibits any resonation at a deeper level. You need to move past this level quickly.
2. Level two: Connect through personal power. Every entrepreneur has personal knowledge and strengths which can get them past the social level in connection. These should include professional position, existing relationships, specific expertise, professional appearance and passion for your cause or business. Use them effectively.
3. Level three: Shape the intent of the connection. Great connectors don't just fall into conversations, they carefully shape them with conscious intent and tone. Action verbs are key to creating powerful intents, and they unleash forward-moving velocity. Don't waste your precious time, or theirs, on long boring conversations at lower levels.
4. Level four: Energy conquers all. Energy and passion is the realm where all resonating connections truly unfold. If an entrepreneur doesn't have it, or doesn't show it, he or she will never be able to build deep connections and commitments from customers, partners or team members. Everyone recognizes the visible and verbal queues of energy.

Entrepreneurs who understand how to connect with people on all four levels are able to shape conversations with effortless grace and create infectious connections that are the key to business success in this age of relationships.

For many business people, the hardest part of establishing relationships effectively is dumping old habits, and learning to ignore some old myths and common beliefs. Here are a few of the things you probably need to unlearn, according to Achim, for better business as well as social connections:

• You need to find common ground fast. Common ground is, in many ways, a wonderful thing, but is irrelevant when it is forced. Take your time to discover common ground, and relish the many things that you do not have in common.

• Avoid charged topics. In today's media-saturated world, being comfortable discussing current and controversial topics is critical. In business, having the confidence to disagree, explore points of conflict and learn new points of view builds real relationships.

• Don't show the cracks. In reality, not taking any risks in showing the personal cracks guarantees that you will be viewed as a business robot that nobody really wants to work with. The power of a vulnerable moment is a powerful connection.

• Don't get stuck with a loser. Some business people are so busy looking for the right connection, afraid of losers, that they are never really in any relationship. It is far more powerful to really connect with a few key people than to skim the surface with many.

• I will, I will, I will be perfect. The notion of perfection negates the wonders of all that is not perfect, such as the beauty of an awkward moment, the thrill of the unrehearsed encounter and the delicious learning of solving a business problem.

Today, more than ever, people buy based on connections, and commit based on relationships, no matter how great the technology is behind your product. In addition, we are all human, and we need good relationships to be healthy and happy. Maybe it's time to take a hard look at your people connections, and use these tips to kick your results up a notch.

4 cara menginspirasi team Anda

Call me a cock-eyed optimist, but I’m a big believer in personal brilliance. Whether it’s being a talented wordsmith, an amazing salesperson, or an incredible team TISI -1.79% player, we’ve all got a little dose of secret sauce within us. The trick is coaxing it out of us in a way that enables and inspire us to perform at our best.

This is no small task, and it gets even harder when we think about how to tap into the brilliance of our teams. Everyone’s secret sauce is different, and people are motivated by all kinds of things. (For example, after a long day I just might walk through fire to get to a cheese plate and a good glass of wine, but I digress.)

Beyond the individual coaching we must do as managers, what are some ways to encourage engagement and bring out the brilliance in your team? This was the $10,000 question my company, Brilliant Ink, set out to answer recently with our Employee Experience study. After hundreds of Fortune 1,000 employees weighed in on the relationship between work experiences and engagement levels, we had more answers than we bargained for, so in the spirit of sharing, here are a few ways to start engaging your employees today.

1. Show Them a Path to Success

Sooner or later, most of us will spend some time thinking about where we’re headed in life, especially with our careers. Your employees are no different. But they also know that they need their manager’s help getting there, which is why you need to be thinking about their career paths, too.

Managing Our Way To Prosperity: No Holy GrailSteve DenningContributor

This may seem like a no-brainer, but shockingly, 66% of employees aren’t discussing their career path with their managers during the critical first 90 days of employment, and 40% aren’t even talking about it during annual performance reviews.

Don’t make this mistake. Ask your employees where they see themselves headed, and don’t just rely on them for the answer. As a manager, you may have a better line of sight into their career opportunities than they do. Think about where your employees really excel (remember that secret sauce?), and the roles within your organization that may be a good fit for them down the road. The annual performance review is a great time to evaluate career goals, but career planning should really be a year-round activity.

RELATED: Can You Be Friends With Your Employees?

2. Connect the Dots

Knowing where we’re headed isn’t enough. We also want to know why we’re doing what we’re doing, and if it really matters. This is especially true for your current millennial employees—and the ones you may be hiring soon. According to the national nonprofit organization Net Impact, today’s students say that having a job that makes a social impact on the world is more important than having children, a prestigious career, or being wealthy. (Seriously.)

So, not surprisingly, employees who say that their manager has helped them see how their work connects to the company’s mission, vision, values, and business strategy report higher engagement levels than those that don’t. Storytelling can be particularly powerful in this regard. Sometimes simply recognizing your team members’ efforts and placing it in the larger context of the outcome they helped create is enough to remind them that the work they do matters and inspire them to keep at it.

RELATED: What Every Leader Should Know About Company Culture 

3. Keep Talking—They’re Listening

Do you ever wonder if the pep talks and information sharing with your team are really necessary? I’ll be honest and say that I do. After all, it’s not often that our employees tell us how helpful any of this is to their job.

Well, thank goodness for data. Our research shows that 68% of employees rely on their immediate manager for most of their company information, and this is especially true of your newer employees. We also know that the more direct and inspiring leader communications are, the more likely your employees are to be engaged. So keep talking! Just make sure to keep it real.

4. Get Them Involved

You might never know the real brilliance lurking within your team if you don’t give them a chance to shine. Here’s one of my favorite ideas: Turn your employers into hackers for a day. No, this doesn’t require learning how to code or doing anything illegal. It’s about giving your employees creative license to brainstorm freely about any number of challenges your company is facing.

Here’s how it works: Invite employees across functions and departments to channel their collective brilliance toward any sticky business challenge that’s open for input. It could be related to your strategy, products, or the employee experience itself—such as improving corporate culture or your onboarding process. Match your employees (or let them self-select) to teams, then get out of their way and see what happens. At the end of the day, teams can share their ideas, and the most feasible and popular “hacks” can be advanced for further exploration.

We recently used the same formula for a cross-functional hackathon involving nearly 100 corporate professionals from a variety of companies who were interested in improving the overall employee experience. The ideas were exciting, and the energy in the room was downright electric. It’s a great way to help your employees see how they connect to the bigger picture and get them interacting with people they may not have an opportunity to work with every day.

What personal brilliance is lying just underneath the surface with your team? Taking the time to discover the answers will not only benefit your organization, it will also enhance the personal development and performance of all your employees.

This article was originally published on The Daily Muse. 

Liz Kelly is the CEO and founder of Brilliant Ink, an employee communications and engagement consultancy, and can be found on Twitter @Brilliantink

12 aturan untuk para pemula bisnis

Image credit: ABC

Anyone who has started a business has his or her own rules and guidelines, so I thought I would add to the memo with my own. My "rules" below aren't just for those founding the companies, but for those who are considering going to work for them, as well.

1. Don't start a company unless it's an obsession and something you love.

2. If you have an exit strategy, it's not an obsession.

3. Hire people who you think will love working there.

4. Sales Cure All. Know how your company will make money and how you will actually make sales.

5. Know your core competencies and focus on being great at them. Pay up for people in your core competencies. Get the best. Outside the core competencies, hire people that fit your culture but aren't as expensive to pay.

Related: Mark Cuban on Why You Should Never Listen to Your Customers 

6. An espresso machine? Are you kidding me? Coffee is for closers. Sodas are free. Lunch is a chance to get out of the office and talk. There are 24 hours in a day, and if people like their jobs, they will find ways to use as much of it as possible to do their jobs.

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7. No offices. Open offices keep everyone in tune with what is going on and keep the energy up. If an employee is about privacy, show him or her how to use the lock on the bathroom. There is nothing private in a startup. This is also a good way to keep from hiring executives who cannot operate successfully in a startup. My biggest fear was always hiring someone who wanted to build an empire. If the person demands to fly first class or to bring over a personal secretary, run away. If an exec won't go on sales calls, run away. They are empire builders and will pollute your company.

8. As far as technology, go with what you know. That is always the most inexpensive way. If you know Apple, use it. If you know Vista, ask yourself why, then use it. It's a startup so there are just a few employees. Let people use what they know.

Related: Three Steps for Getting Started in Mobile Commerce

9. Keep the organization flat. If you have managers reporting to managers in a startup, you will fail. Once you get beyond startup, if you have managers reporting to managers, you will create politics.

10. Never buy swag. A sure sign of failure for a startup is when someone sends me logo-embroidered polo shirts. If your people are at shows and in public, it's okay to buy for your own employees, but if you really think people are going to wear your branded polo when they're out and about, you are mistaken and have no idea how to spend your money.

11. Never hire a PR firm. A public relations firm will call or email people in the publications you already read, on the shows you already watch and at the websites you already surf. Those people publish their emails. Whenever you consume any information related to your field, get the email of the person publishing it and send them a message introducing yourself and the company. Their job is to find new stuff. They will welcome hearing from the founder instead of some PR flack. Once you establish communication with that person, make yourself available to answer their questions about the industry and be a source for them. If you are smart, they will use you.

Related: Is Any Publicity Good Publicity?

12. Make the job fun for employees. Keep a pulse on the stress levels and accomplishments of your people and reward them. My first company, MicroSolutions, when we had a record sales month, or someone did something special, I would walk around handing out $100 bills to salespeople. At Broadcast.com and MicroSolutions, we had a company shot. The Kamikaze. We would take people to a bar every now and then and buy one or ten for everyone. At MicroSolutions, more often than not we had vendors cover the tab. Vendors always love a good party.

This article is an edited excerpt from How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It (Diversion Books, 2011) by Mark Cuban (Available atAmazon and iTunes).

Apa sih open source ?

What is open source?

The term "open source" refers to something that can be modified because its design is publicly accessible.

While it originated in the context of computer software development, today the term "open source" designates a set of values—what we call the open source way. In general, open source projects, products, or initiatives are those that embrace and celebrate open exchange, collaborative participation, rapid prototyping, transparency, meritocracy, and community development.

What is open source software?

Open source software is software whose source code is available for modification or enhancement by anyone.

"Source code" is the part of software that most computer users don't ever see; it's the code computer programmers can use to change how a piece of software works. Programmers who have access to a computer program's source code can improve that program by adding features to it or fixing parts that don't always work correctly.

What's the difference between open source software and other types of software?

Some software has source code that cannot be modified by anyone but the person, team, or organization who created it and maintains exclusive control over it. This kind of software is frequently called "proprietary software" or "closed source" software, because its source code is the property of its original authors, who are the only ones legally allowed to copy or modify it. Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop are examples of proprietary software. In order to use proprietary software, computer users must agree (usually by signing a license displayed the first time they run this software) that they will not do anything with the software that the software's authors have not expressly permitted.

Open source software is different. Its authors make its source code available to others who would like to view that code, copy it, learn from it, alter it, or share it. LibreOffice and the GNU Image Manipulation Program are examples of open source software. As they do with proprietary software, users must accept the terms of a license when they use open source software—but the legal terms of open source licenses differ dramatically from those of proprietary licenses. Open source software licenses promote collaboration and sharing because they allow others to make modifications to source code and incorporate that code into their own projects. Some open source licenses ensure that anyone who alters and then shares a program with others must also share that program's source code without charging a licensing fee for it. In other words, computer programmers can access, view, and modify open source software whenever they like—as long as they let others do the same when they share their work. In fact, they could be violating the terms of some open source licenses if they don’t do this.

Open source software is also a key component of the behind-the-scenes technology that powers the Internet. Every time you use a device to view a webpage, check your email, chat with a friend, or play a multiplayer game, a network of computers around the world works to link your device to a remote computer which serves up the data your local device displays. Many of these systems run open source software, from the Linux operating system to a web server application such asApache. There are also a variety of other open source tools which enable functionality for file storage, networking, and other important computing tasks.

Much of remote computing takes place within the "cloud." Cloud computing can mean a lot of different things. Most people refer to the cloud to mean applications running on a network of remote systems doing some of the things that they used to do on their local desktop machine. Just like desktop programs, cloud products have open and closed source variants. For example, while many people are familiar with tools like Google Docs, there are also open source alternatives like Etherpad. And much of the software which runs "underneath" the cloud projects like OpenStack.

So as the Open Source Initiative explains, "open source doesn't just mean access to the source code." It means that anyone should be able to modify the source code to suit his or her needs, and cannot prevent others from doing the same. The Initiative's definition of "open source" contains several other important provisions.

Why do people prefer using open source software?

Many people prefer open source software because they have more control over that kind of software. They can examine the code to make sure it's not doing anything they don't want it to do, and they can change parts of it they don't like. Users who aren’t programmers also benefit from open source software, because they can use this software for any purpose they wish—not merely the way someone else thinks they should.

Others like open source software because it helps them become better programmers. They can learn to make better software by studying the source code others have written. They can also share their work with others, inviting comment and critique.

Some people prefer open source software because they consider it more secure and stable than proprietary software. Because anyone can view and modify open source software, someone might spot and correct errors or omissions that a program's original authors might have missed. And because so many programmers can work on a piece of open source software without asking for permission from original authors, open source software is generally fixed, updated, and upgraded quickly.

Many users prefer open source software to proprietary software for important, long-term projects. Because the source code for open source software is distributed publicly, users that rely on software for critical tasks can be sure their tools won’t disappear or fall into disrepair if their original creators stop working on them.

Doesn’t "open source" just mean something is free of charge?

No. This is a common misconception about what "open source" implies. Programmers can charge money for the open source software they create or to which they contribute. But because most open source licenses require them to release their source code when they sell software to others, many open source software programmers find it more lucrative to charge users for software services and support rather than for the software itself. This way, their software remains free of charge and they make money helping others install, use, and troubleshoot it.

What is open source "beyond software"?

At opensource.com, we like to say that we're interested in the ways open source can be applied to the world beyond software. We like to think of open source as not only a way to develop and license computer software, but also an attitude. Approaching all aspects of life "the open source way" means expressing a willingness to share, collaborating with others in ways that are transparent (so that others can watch and join too), embracing failure as a means of improving, and expecting—even encouraging—everyone else to do the same.

It means committing to playing an active role in improving the world, which is possible only when everyone has access to the way that world is designed. The world is full of "source code"—blueprints, recipes, rules—that guide and shape the way we think and act in it. We believe this underlying code (whatever its form) should be open, accessible, and shared—so many people can have a hand in altering it for the better.

Here, we tell stories about what happens when open source values are applied to business, education, government, health, law, and any other area of life. We're a community committed to telling others how the open source way is the best way—because a love of open source is just like anything else: it's better when it's shared.

Where can I learn more about open source?

We recommend visiting the Opensource.com resources page.

Gunakan XenServer

How I reduced data center costs by 60%, increasing capacity by 100%

January 6, 2014 by Gustavo Franklin Nóbrega in: Web Hosting Articles

The quick answer:  I moved my website from a big data center in the USA to iWeb, and virtualized every server with XenServer. Here’s how my team and the iWeb sysadmins did it.

I work at eSapiens Internet, a small IT company that runs a social network in Brazil. Today we have around 500,000 unique visitors per day, and 250,000,000 page views per month. Keeping all our web servers and databases servers running well together is not an easy task.

Before October 2013, we had more than 30 dedicated servers connected by a 1Gbps network and a few shared iSCSI storage volumes. All these servers ran CentOS with nGinx above it. Backend web servers ran php-fpm and backend database servers PostgreSQL.

All services were very well configured and we were getting the optimal performance that a dedicated server could provide. But we still thought this might not be the best solution we could get, so we looked to a new solution, which I’ll describe now.

A new solution

After some research we decided to virtualize all our dedicated servers using Citrix XenServer. We made the choice by doing some tests between vmWare and XenServer, finding the latter to have the best cost/benefit ratio. On the storage side, we chose DSSv7 from Open-E. It’s a great storage software solution, Linux based and fully compatible with XenServer. It provided us with replicated high availability iSCSI storage volumes and, even better than that, an active-active cluster solution.

This image shows our solution today. As you can see, the solution is a quite simple.

Basically we have six application servers (AppServers) running Citrix XenServer 6.2, two storage servers running Open-E DSS v7, a couple of firewalls and a VPN server. Connecting all this hardware we have two 10 Gigabits switches, configured with LACP protocol.

This solution design was a joint effort between teams from eSapiens and iWeb, and the support offered by iWeb was crucial to choosing them over another data center. We discussed the design with iWeb for several days before the project, as well as during the deployment of servers, and without the support of the iWeb team we would not have had the same success. Today we have high availability at so many levels (storage server, xenserver, firewalls, switches) that any hardware failure will not stop us.

Tips for success

Here are some tips we have to share about the configuration of some of ours virtual servers:

Since we have a lot of simultaneous access, we built a PostgreSQL cluster with seven VMs, using one master node and six slaves nodes. To replicate data we used Streaming Replication, which is natively PostgreSQL and works very well, and to balance the requests we use pgPool. Our database VMs are the largest that XenServer support, each one have 128GB RAM and 16 vCPUs.

The biggest challenge we had was IO. Because of the XenServer architecture, only vCPU0 process all IO at the VM level. To get the maximum performance we didn’t add iSCSI storage volumes directly to the VM from the storage server, but rather connected the iSCSI storage volume from storage to XenServer and then to VM. You might think that this would jeopardize performance because we add another element (XenServer) between storage server and VM, but this element has eight CPUs that balance IO thought IRQ and that’s what matters. Another tip is to use the taskset program (in Linux) to set a group of programs, like PostgreSQL process, to use all others vCPUs except vCPU0, reserving this vCPU for IO subsys only.

The results

In terms of results, this project reduced data center costs by 60% (even taking all XenServer and DssV7 licenses in to account) and we estimate that our capacity to serve web pages has increased by at least 2x (maybe 3x) that of the older dedicated structure. This result was only made possible by the great prices offered by iWeb for equipment and the great crew that helped us throughout the project.

Gustavo Franklin Nóbrega is Chief Operations Officer at eSapiens. Find him here on LinkedIn.

Apa itu virtualisasi ?

APA ITU VIRTUALISASI
Virtualisasi bisa diartikan sebagai pembuatan suatu bentuk atau versi virtual dari sesuatu yang bersifat fisik, misalnya sistem operasi,  perangkat storage/penyimpanan data atau sumber daya jaringan.

Virtualisasi bisa diimplementasikan kedalam berbagai bentuk, antara lain (Harry Sufehmi, Pengenalan Virtualisasi, 20090607) :

1. Network Virtualization : VLAN, Virtual IP (untclustering), Multilink
2. Memory Virtualization : pooling memory dari node-node di cluster
3. Grid Computing : banyak komputer = satu
4. Application Virtualization : Dosemu, Wine
5. Storage Virtualization : RAID, LVM
6. Platform Virtualization : virtual computer

Pembahasan kali ini akan menitikberatkan pada materi platform virtualization alias virtualisasi komputer dan sistem operasi.

APA ITU CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud Computing adalah sistem komputerisasi berbasis jaringan/internet, dimana suatu sumber daya, software, informasi dan aplikasi disediakan untuk digunakan oleh komputer lain yang membutuhkan. Mengapa konsep ini bernama komputasi awan atau cloud computing? Ini karena internet sendiri bisa dianggap sebagai sebuah awan besar (biasanya dalam skema network, internet dilambangkan sebagai awan) yang berisi sekumpulan besar komputer yang saling terhubung, jadi cloud computing bisa diartikan sebagai komputerisasi berbasis sekumpulan komputer yang saling terhubung.

Cloud computing bisa dianggap sebagai perluasan dari virtualisasi. Perusahaan bisa menempatkan aplikasi atau sistem yang digunakan di internet, tidak mengelolanya secara internal. Contoh cloud computing untuk versi public adalah layanan-layanan milik Google seperti Google Docs dan Google Spreadsheet. Adanya kedua layanan tersebut meniadakan kebutuhan suatu aplikasi office untuk pengolah kata dan aplikasi spreadsheet di internal perusahaan. Contoh cloud computing untuk keperluan non public adalah Amazon EC2 ( Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud ). Amazon menyediakan komputer induk, kita bisa mengirim dan menggunakan
sistem virtual dan menggunakannya dalam jangka waktu dan biaya sewa tertentu.

KEUNTUNGAN PENGGUNAAN VIRTUALISASI

1. Pengurangan Biaya Investasi Hardware. Investasi hardware dapat ditekan lebih rendah karena virtualisasi hanya mendayagunakan kapasitas yang sudah ada. Tak perlu ada penambahan perangkat komputer, server dan pheriperal secara fisik. Kalaupun ada penambahan kapasitas harddisk dan memori, itu lebih ditujukan untuk mendukung stabilitas kerja komputer induk, yang jika dihitung secara finansial, masih jauh lebih hemat dibandingkan investasi hardware baru.
2. Kemudahan Backup & Recovery. Server-server yang dijalankan didalam sebuah mesin virtual dapat disimpan dalam 1 buah image yang berisi seluruh konfigurasi sistem. Jika satu saat server tersebut crash, kita tidak perlu melakukan instalasi dan konfigurasi ulang. Cukup mengambil salinan image yang sudah disimpan, merestore data hasil backup terakhir dan server berjalan seperti sedia kala. Hemat waktu, tenaga dan sumber daya.
3. Kemudahan Deployment. Server virtual dapat dikloning sebanyak mungkin dan dapat dijalankan pada mesin lain dengan mengubah sedikit konfigurasi. Mengurangi beban kerja para staff IT dan mempercepat proses implementasi suatu sistem
4. Mengurangi Panas. Berkurangnya jumlah perangkat otomatis mengurangi panasnya ruang server/data center. Ini akan berimbas pada pengurangan biaya pendinginan/AC dan pada akhirnya mengurangi biaya penggunaan listrik
5. Mengurangi Biaya Space. Semakin sedikit jumlah server berarti semakin sedikit pula ruang untuk menyimpan perangkat. Jika server ditempatkan pada suatu co-location server/data center, ini akan berimbas pada pengurangan biaya sewa
6. Kemudahan Maintenance & Pengelolaan. Jumlah server yang lebih sedikit otomatis akan mengurangi waktu dan biaya untuk mengelola. Jumlah server yang lebih sedikit juga berarti lebih sedikit jumlah server yang harus ditangani
7. Standarisasi Hardware. Virtualisasi melakukan emulasi dan enkapsulasi hardware sehingga proses pengenalan dan pemindahan suatu spesifikasi hardware tertentu tidak menjadi masalah. Sistem tidak perlu melakukan deteksi ulang hardware sebagaimana instalasi pada sistem/komputer fisik
8. Kemudahan Replacement. Proses penggantian dan upgrade spesifikasi server lebih mudah dilakukan. Jika server induk sudah overload dan spesifikasinya tidak mencukupi lagi, kita bisa dengan mudah melakukan upgrade spesifikasi atau memindahkan virtual machine ke server lain yang lebih powerful

KERUGIAN PENGGUNAAN VIRTUALISASI

1. Satu Pusat Masalah. Virtualisasi bisa dianalogikan dengan menempatkan semua telur didalam 1 keranjang. Ini artinya jika server induk bermasalah, semua sistem virtual machine didalamnya tidak bisa digunakan. Hal ini bisa diantisipasi dengan menyediakan fasilitas backup secara otomatis dan periodik atau dengan menerapkan prinsip fail over/clustering
2. Spesifikasi Hardware. Virtualisasi membutuhkan spesifikasi server yang lebih tinggi untuk menjalankan server induk dan mesin virtual didalamnya
3. Satu Pusat Serangan. Penempatan semua server dalam satu komputer akan menjadikannya sebagai target serangan. Jika hacker mampu menerobos masuk kedalam sistem induk, ada kemungkinan ia mampu menyusup kedalam server- server virtual dengan cara menggunakan informasi yang ada pada server induk

Merancang Konten Marketing

Marketer Harus Mahir Merancang Konten Marketing

Posted by: Cecep supriadi March 14, 2013 Leave a comment

Marketing.co.id – Konten marketing adalah penggunaan informasi relevan dan berharga untuk menarik pelanggan potensial. Tidak hanya menarik, informasi ini jika dikerjakan dengan benar akan mampu merangkul target audience dan menghasilkan keuntungan bagi bisnis Anda.

Konten marketing dapat digunakan sebagai cara kita berkomunikasi dan berinteraksi dengan pelanggan tanpa menjual. Misalnya, sebuah artikel yang bagus dapat memasarkan produk atau jasa dengan cara yang tidak mengganggu konsumen.

Konten marketing sepertinya sudah jamak digunakan oleh banyak bisnis sekarang ini. Bisnis telah menggunakan konten untuk memberikan nilai tambah kepada pelanggan sejak ratusan tahun yang lalu. Misalnya  Jell-O – sebuah merek milik Kraft Foods yang berbasis di Amerika.

Ketika berbicara pada acara yang digelar oleh British Interactive Association – ahli media sosial dari Twitter, cloud, dan marketing agency AKQA – menunjukkan bagaimana marketer harus berinvestasi lebih dalam menentukan strategi konten mereka untuk berhubungan dengan konsumen.

Sebuah laporan dari Content Marketing Association menemukan baru 21% pemasaran yang menggunakan konten marketing. Hampir tiga perempat (73%) dari mereka yang ditanyai percaya bahwa mereka akan meningkatkan atau mempertahankan anggaran konten marketing di 2013.

“Dasar pemikiran konten marketing adalah untuk mengurangi kendala konsumen dalam mendapatkan pesan secara menyeluruh,” kata John Webb, Marketing Director Rockspace dan mantan marketer Rockstar Games dikutip Marketingweek.co.uk

Namun karena brand seolah-olah mendefinisi ulang jati dirinya melalui konten marketing tersebut, mengakibatkan konsumen merasa dibombardir dan pada akhirnya memunculkan sikap penolakan. Bisa jadi hal ini terjadi karena kemampuan produsen konten yang menurun.

Webb menyarankan para marketer merekrut mantan wartawan yang memiliki kemampuan berburu cerita yang memiliki tujuan sejalan untuk menyatukan data dan elemen konten untuk menciptakan kampanye pemasaran yang sukses.

Menurut Ron Peterson, Director of Social AKQA, membuat konten yang dirancang untuk membangun popularitas adalah juga tentang menanamkan mindset (pola pikir) konten yang melampaui fungsi komunikasi pemasaran seluruh organisasi.

Peterson menambahkan, “Jika Anda melihat sebuah merek membuat konten dengan baik, mereka telah jauh melampaui repurposing iklan TV untuk YouTube.”

“Konten yang yang berjalan baik sebenarnya dirancang untuk (media) sosial dan bukan hanya yang berbentuk video, bahkan kualitas respon terhadap pertanyaan di Twitter pun termasuk di dalamnya. Ini semua tentang bagaimana memiliki proses berpikir yang kuat dan strategis,” katanya lagi.

Anda mungkin dapat memperoleh inspirasi dari merek-merek produk olahraga seperti DC dan Billabong. Keduanya tidak selalu memiliki anggaran besar seperti halnya Nike atau Adidas, tapi mereka mampu membuat konten secara teratur dan dibagikan kepada ribuan konsumen.

Sementara itu Dara Nasr, Head of Agency Sales Twitter Inggris mengatakan, marketer harus melihat konten yang lebih luas melampaui kampanye inti/tunggal.

 “Hal-hal yang dilakukan dengan baik (di media sosial) akan mampu berbicara lebih baik ketimbang hal-hal yang dipos ulang. Namun hal yang terpenting dari ini adalah berada di sana dan hadir.”

Nasr mencontohkan O2, di mana merek tersebut dengan jenaka merespon pelanggan kasar yang marah karena pemadaman jaringan atau pertukaran (foto) lucu antara buruh dan Demokrat Liberal sebagai cara merek mendekati konten melampaui promosi tertentu dan menyematkannya ke dalam komunikasi sehari-hari mereka.

7 hal dalam membuat Konten marketing

7 Pelajaran dalam Membuat Konten Marketing yang Diminati

• ■Tips Bisnis
• ■e-Marketing & Sales

by Administrator - Jan 14, 2014

2 702

Saat ini sebuah konten marketing sudah sangat mudah untuk ditemui. Contohnya ketika kita membaca sebuah newsletter, Google Alerts atau ketika kita mengunjungi sebuah situs berita. Perkembangan teknologi dan munculnya sosial media juga sudah mengeliminasi kebutuhan akan channel distribusi secara tradisional bagi sebuah konten marketing. Kita tentu saja tidak hanya ingin bisa membuat konten yang bagus dan bisa menampilkannya untuk audiens yang tepat. Kita tetap membutuhkan kreatifitas dan kemampuan yang cukup untuk bisa membuat sebuah konten yang terbaik. Berikut ini adalah pelajaran untuk membuat sebuah konten marketing yang diminati:

1. Desain adalah hal terpenting

Sebuah konten marketing bukan hanya harus mementingkan isi. Namun sebuah desain juga akan sangat berpengaruh terhadap daya tarik dari konten tersebut. Jangan berhemat saat membuat desain sebuah konten marketing. Audiens akan mencari sebuah konten yang menarik untuk terus dan terus dilihatnya. Gunakanlah sebuah gambar dengan resolusi terbaik, dan digabungkan dengan pemilihan teks yang menarik. Tidak perlu membuat sebuah desain yang berlebihan. Anda hanya perlu membuat sebuah desain yang sederhana namun mampu meninggalkan kesan yang lama kepada audiens.

2. Masukan konten multimedia

Sama halnya dengan berinvestasi dalam sebuah desain. Ketika Anda sudah mulai membuat sebuah desain yang menarik untuk konten marketing. Anda bisa menyisipkan sebuah konten multimedia didalamnya. Anda bisa mengkombinasikan sebuah video, slideshow, foto dan bahkan playlist dalam blog atau website Anda yang berisi sebuah konten. Hal ini akan menjadi suatu daya tarik tersendiri bagi audiens.

3. Buat sehalus mungkin

Tujuan membuat sebuah konten marketing, memang untuk menghasilkan penjualan. Namun konten marketing yang baik, harus mampu membuatnya sehalus mungkin dan tidak terlihat seperti sedang menjual. Fokusnya kali ini adalah mengedukasi, menghibur, dan mengantarkan nilai konsumen kepada keinginannya untuk membeli. Jangan langsung membuat sebuah konten yang terlihat seperti sedang menjual. Audiens akan sangat malas untuk melanjutkan membaca konten marketing tersebut.

4. Ciptakan keseimbangan

Sebuah konten tidak akan berhasil tanpa ada campur tangan dari audiens. Ikutsertakan audiens Anda untuk membuat sebuah konten marketing yang baik. Harus ada sebuah keseimbangan antara konten yang dibuat secara professional dan konten yang dibuat oleh user. Anda bisa meminta sebuah feedback kepada audiens tentang konten marketing Anda. Lalu anda bisa menyisipkan saran dari para audiens untuk membuat sebuah konten yang mereka ingin lihat.

5. Jangan membuat sebuah jalan buntu

Ketika Anda membuat sebuah konten, jangan biarkan audiens menunggu Anda menjelaskan hal lainnya. Di dalam sebuah konten marketing, Anda bisa membuat sebuah link – link ke halaman yang lain dari kalimat – kalimat di konten Anda. Hal ini bukan hanya akan mengedukasi audiens, namun bagi sebuah blog atau website, ini akan menaikkan jumlah traffic website atau blog Anda. Dan itu akan sangat membantu bagi pemasaran konten Anda. Jangan biarkan audiens hanya membaca sebuah halaman tanpa tahu fungsi lebih dalamnya. Izinkan audiens untuk melihat lebih dalam tentang isi konten marketing Anda.

6. Mudah untuk sharing

Saat Anda membuat sebuah konten yang luar biasa, Anda sudah pasti memiliki banyak pengunjung di situs atau blog. Jangan lewatkan kesempatan ini untuk mendapatkan pengunjung lebih banyak dari yang sekarang. Manfaatkan tombol share untuk bisa membagikan konten marketing Anda dengan lebih mudah. Anda bisa menyisipkan tombol share sosial media, seperti Facebook, Twtitter, Google+ dan lain sebagainya. Hal ini akan membuat konten Anda dilihat dari manapun. Sebuah tombol ‘like’ dibawah sebuah konten, memungkinkan akan mengundang lebih banyak pembaca dan juga pengunjung situs Anda.

7. Media offline masih sangat berguna

Sebuah strategi pemasaran yang diminati saat ini adalah dengan memanfaatkan media online yang ada. Kita bisa mendapatkan banyak pengunjung, fans dan peminat produk kita hanya dengan melalui sosial media. Namun itu tidak akan memunculkan sebuah komunikasi berkelanjutan, jika kita tidak bisa berkomunikasi secara langsung dengan para konsumen kita. Anda bisa mulai berkomunikasi secara langsung dengan konsumen. Hal ini bertujuan untuk bisa mendekatkan diri dengan keinginan dan kebutuhan mereka. Anda bisa mulai mengikuti sebuah event offline yang ada. Anda juga bisa mengikuti sebuah komunitas atau organisasi, yang memiliki banyak pengikut. Anda harus menyeimbangkan antara pemasaran secara online dan juga offline.

Good Luck :-)