Collegepreneur Magazine

College Vote 2008

Who's going to be the next President? Talk to us...

We're also looking for Campus Reporters to submit reports over the next 11 months.

If you're interested in being a Collegepreneur reporter for College Vote 2008, be sure to visit the site on January 21, 2008 for applications.

Until then, who's going to be the next prez and why?

 

Making Money with Affiliate Marketing

Making Money Through Affiliate Marketing
by Obinna Heche

One of the easiest ways to bring in additional money is through affiliate marketing income. Essentially, you can add links from your site to others and when one of your visitors clicks on the link and makes a purchase, you get credit for the sale and receive a commission on the amount. How much commission is agreed upon by you and the store ahead of time. There are different types of affiliate pay scales, including pay per click, pay per lead and pay per sale but the bottom line is that your visitors have to click through your website in order for the commission structure to kick in.

Generally, pay per click is a set amount for every time one of your visitors clicks through to another site and has a sustained visit. Many require a minimum number of seconds on the page to qualify. While pay per impression counts the number of times a stores link is displayed and pays a few cents per thousand. The generally accepted and preferred method of payment is through pay per sale or registration. When one of your visitors signs up for service or makes a purchase you receive a percentage of the amount spent.

If the offering is just for registering, then a set amount per sign up is paid to you. Many times there is a minimum amount that is due before payment is made, which can vary from $10 to $50. When a person becomes an affiliate for another website, they are assigned a tracking number that is used in every link from their site to their affiliate. When a person clicks on that link, a cookie is dropped on the visitors computer to track their future visits.

Each time that visitor visits the online store, the cookie lets the company know to give you credit for any activity, regardless of whether the visitor arrives through your site on a direct location. However, if the person frequently deletes cookies from their computer and accesses the website directly, then you will not receive credit for the sale. If you have an active website that receives a lot of traffic, you can add to your income by adding affiliates to your site.

It is recommended that you offer sites that are related to your site, as visitors to you will be more likely to look at other sites the links are recommending, if they are related to the subject focused on by your site. They already have an interest in what you are offering and the links are simply expanding on that interest. On most business related sites, it is advised to steer away from gambling or adult oriented sites that may be considered inappropriate by many other businesses. Although these sites usually generate a higher commission level, if your visitors are offended by this type of site, they may stop visiting your site all together.

Obinna Heche delivers the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home successfully.. http://www.homeincomeportal.com/obhmy365

Rise of Goodwill

Collegepreneur Staff Writer

Social entrepreneurs are individuals who have creative, sometimes non-traditional answers to society’s most pressing social problems. Their reach is vast, tackling a wide array of issues.

Rather than relying on "systems" to make the world better, social entrepreneurs take matters into their own hands, underscoring the often-used axiom, "If it is to be, it's up to me."

So, how do you make your mark as a social entrepreneur? Here are some tips.

#1: Identify your "passion" buttons.

Are you activated by certain topics or issues? Does it bother you to see the way we sometimes treat the planet? Or do you get upset with how teachers are treated in this country? Figure out what makes you tick.

#2: Join an existing cause

There are literally hundreds of thousands of causes that need volunteers. A quick search on the Net will result in many possibilities. Remember, it's not about how large your contribution, social entrepreneurship is more about "getting in the game".

#3: Map out a plan

Maybe you'll volunteer this year; but start your own 501 c-3 next year. The sky's truly the beginning. As a college student, there's no better way to get a sense for how people feel about an issue than to set up a table a high traffic area on campus (with permission, of course).

Each hard copy edition of Collegepreneur features a Social Entrepreneur. The premier issue highlighted a woman who's encouraging women to Feel Your Boobies.

Subscribe and read about it!

From DJ to CEO

by Nicole Braddock

Jonathan Cobb was just an average, run-of-the-mill college student with aspirations of something greater. From his humble beginnings as a radio disc jockey at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, he went on to publish an online platform for his radio station 90.3 FM, allowing it to reach audiences he never thought possible. Right at the beginning of the dot com boom, Cobb knew he had what it took to become somebody in this ever-advancing age of technology.

By late 2004, Kiptronics was born. Kiptronics gives online publishers the ability to put audio and video online in a format they can sell. Anybody can put a video or an MP3 up on the web, but Kiptronics has given publishers and regular companies alike the ability to utilize a common platform for their media. “I started Kiptronics with the goal of providing an efficient and effective way of helping publishers make money off audio and video they’re distributing online,” says Cobb regarding the original vision of his online publishing business, Kiptronics.

Kiptronics allows publishers to do effective targeting, reporting, analytics, ad placement, tracking, and management across advertisements that are running on media they’re distributing out to all of these different devices. With such large names as CondeNet, CBS and even FOX in their repertoire, Cobb’s company has gone from small potatoes to the big cheese in just a matter of years.

There are some essential components to any successful enterprise. Once Cobb settled on the company vision, the future of his enterprise was left up to everybody else. A business needs a dedicated CEO, which Kiptronics had in Cobb, but it also requires a clientele base, mentorship, and willing investors in order to really get off the ground.

Luckily, Cobb had what it took to get those essentials as well.
“If you’re an interesting person and you’re doing interesting things you’re going to meet other interesting people who do other interesting things,” says Cobb regarding business networking for his Kiptronics endeavor. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for all of the VPs of engineering and super software developers and other crazy entrepreneurs that I’d run into over the years that I could then lean on and say, ‘How can I do this?’”

These days, Kiptronics is doing big things. Stationed in San Francisco and employing 14 full-time employees, the enterprise is taking advantage of the needs of online publishers. The market continues to stretch their needs and desires for multi-media utilization methods. Kiptronics plans to stretch right along with them. Cobb has one piece of advice for aspiring “collegepreneurs” like himself: “Be humble and receptive to input and seek it out. I think you’ll find that when people hear about something exciting, that they are more than happy to help.”

Start Up Biz Checklist

The ABCs of Getting Started
by Amy Goldsmith

As a student evaluating your options for life and work now and after graduation, you may be thinking about going into business for yourself. Even though you’ll be your own boss, establishing your own successful business is not as straightforward as it might appear, and it’s important to consider how to protect your business name, brand and unique inventions. An entrepreneur who considers the following checklist will be in good shape to capitalize on a new business idea.

Protecting Intellectual Property Rights
Intellectual property–the name, logo, designs and ideas of the entrepreneur–is often the single most important asset of a new business, especially in today’s competitive environment. Taking steps to apply for such protection as copyright registrations or artistic creations; trademark registrations of names, logos or slogans; design patents for protecting the ornamental design of a product; or utility patents to protect the actual workings or mechanism of a product or a business method, is an integral part of start-up planning.

If documentations for ownership or intellectual property rights are in place, they can be offered as serious collateral for fi nancial assessment and backing of a newly formed business entity.

Trademarks
After a company or trade name has been selected for a new business venture, and that name has been deemed “available” through the appropriate state offi ce, the entrepreneur will often assume that it is proper to go forward with doing business under this name. Incorporation takes place, stationery and cards are printed, advertising and signs are designed or commissioned, and goods may be advertised on the Internet. This presumption, that the path ahead has been opened for doing business, is one of the most common mistakes made by the fl edgling entrepreneur, and it can be very costly–even disastrous. The type of “clearance” offered by the Secretaries of State of the various states secures virtually no rights to the name, should the name conflict with a previously, properly established name. It’s important to take steps to assure that no major pitfalls arise from the establishment of a business name.

What should be done to make certain that the name which is proposed for a new business venture does not conflict with the established trademark, trade name or corporate name rights of another party?

The answer is clear.

First, choose a name which itself can be protected as a trademark. Select from imaginative, fanciful, and arbitrary choices as opposed to common, descriptive, or geographical names. Selecting a name such as “Superb Lighting” or “New York Dinnerware” will only lead to difficulties with respect to both prior rights of others and rights against subsequent users. Also, remember that many states have statutes which require the use of such additions as Inc., Corp. or Ltd. to a name, and restrict certain inapplicable
terms.

Next, a pre-corporation search should be conducted to determine the existence of similar trademarks on record in various states, or commercial names listed in telephone directories or on the Internet. The search should also include trademarks and trade names listed in various trade publications, advertised in newspapers or magazines, or which are registered in (or are the subject of pending applications in) the United States Patent and Trademark Offi ce. If the proposed name is likely to confl ict with the rights of others, it should be dropped and the entire procedure of choosing another name--searching it and obtaining a written opinion—must be undertaken again.

However, compared to the possibility of a legal claim by a third party and to the price of advancing funds for start-up operations under the wrong name, precaution and prevention of unintentional confl ict more than pays for itself.

Even start-up businesses need to think globally. If the product is to be manufactured or sold abroad, it would be wise to obtain searches for the name in those countries that are deemed most essential to the success of the new venture. If a conflict arises from the search, the name may have to be changed once again, but at least it would be done in time to prevent further financial outlays. 

See Amy's full article in the hard copy of the premier issue of CP
Click here to subscribe

Will You Be A Better Marketer in 2007?

Off course you will. And this article will help. BIG time. '3 BIG' times even...

There's a critical 3-tier approach to any successful marketing plan that unfortunately, most people will never know.

Having a clear understanding of 'The BIG 3' will make or break your marketing campaign so pay very close attention.

Here they are:

1. Message

This is what you say about yourself, your products, your services, and/or your company that is designed to be compelling and attractive to the people that you want to reach.

Most home business owners and entrepreneurs have no message at all and if they do it is no more than an expanded business card. It looks like everything else. Just open the yellow pages and you'll see what I mean, same boring old messages.

Most messages are based on what the business owners want and NOT on what the market wants. Read that again.

They tend to be company focused or product focused rather than buyer focused. BIG difference.

The opportunity with a well crafted message is huge. It gives you a "competition less" advantage and allows you to stand out from the crowd. A really good marketing message allows you to attract more customers at a lower cost, virtually eliminating the prospecting process all together.

How would you like to never have to prospect for customers ever again? Sound too good to be true? Not really.

Your message is called your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). If you've never heard of a "USP" before, well now you have and you must have one or frankly, you're not in business. Emphasis is on the word "unique".

What makes you unique? You need to know this.

Here's a great example:

"Fresh, hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less. Guaranteed."

Sound familiar?

Yep, Dominos Pizza. A struggling company prior to this "unique" message.

It doesn't say it's the best. But it's fresh, hot and quick. Get it? THAT is their message. THAT is their "USP."

And THAT message allowed Dominos Pizza to become a multi, multi-million dollar publicly traded powerhouse. They simply had a message and delivered on it.

2) Market

This is who you deliver your message to and equally important, who you choose NOT to deliver it to.

So what do you do with your message now that you have one?

Target your market.

Target marketing is "Direct Response Marketing," focusing on the who, knowing who it is you want as a customer or prospect, and then setting out to find them and delivering your message directly to them and ONLY to them.

With me? Good.

Many home business owners and entrepreneurs make the mistake of communicating with people who do not fit the profile of their target market or think everyone is their target market. BIG mistake.

If you were managing a baseball team and needed a pitcher you wouldn't run an ad in the local newspaper saying "Baseball Pitcher For Hire." You would seek a pitcher within the game of baseball. You would go to the minor leagues, or other professional baseball teams to locate your pitcher.

So you have two choices:

1) Advertise to lists that are already established within your target market: think Ezines or Newsletter subscribers and Direct Mail.

2) Lead generation: generating your own specific, targeted leads.

If you know your customer or prospect it is much simpler to find them. Right? Right on!

As the famous millionaire-maker Dan Kennedy says:

"Its all about 'message to market match' - specific message to specific market. These are the money skills. This is where the income hierarchy comes in. You move higher and higher up that ladder when you can bring the customer in the door - the money skill."

3) Media

This is when you take your message and get it to your chosen market in the best ways possible; in ways that are efficient, effective and affordable...

Such as: Internet, direct mail, JV's, Ezines, newspapers, radio, tv, etc.

Dan Kennedy also goes on to say:

"There is no inherently good or bad media anymore than a hammer is inherently a good or a bad tool. If you want to drive a nail and hang a picture it is a great tool. If you want to do heart surgery it is a pretty poor tool."

Most home business owners and entrepreneurs use too few media. "Diversity is stability." The more you can use effectively, the less vulnerable you are too changes.

So there you have it:

Message / Market / Media

Do not neglect either of "The BIG 3." Ever.

You are only as strong as you're weakest link. If one leg is weak, they are all weak.


Andrew J. Cass is a Home Business Development Expert and Professional Marketing Consultant. He is in the top 1% of income earners in the Home Business industry. To learn insider secrets and powerful marketing strategies from the pros to help you explode your home business empire, sign up for Andrew's FREE cutting edge Ezine at: http://www.TheHomeBusinessInsider.net

Dr. Manners Is In The House

Collegepreneur Staff Writer

Remember when you were younger and you’d throw a green bean at your cousin and your mom or dad would say, “Young man, where are your manners?” You’d drop your head and apologize, right?

In business we can’t leave good manners at the Sunday dinner table. We have to take them with us into every nook and cranny of the business world if we want to succeed. Business etiquette goes beyond knowing which fork to use or whether to call the boss Mr. or Ms. With the advent of email, blogging, texting and voicemail, manners have had some important recent system developments. To keep your good name out of the gutter, here’s Dr. Manners recommends.

Emails
Keep them short and stick to the facts. Never get into an emotional exchange via email. Email is great for confirming directions to the meeting; lousy at conveying intent and tone, or clarifying an off the cuff comment you made at the water cooler last week. The general rule is this: if the situation’s sticky, pick up the phone and hash it out in a live forum.

And one more thing. DON'T TYPE IN ALL CAPS -- unless it's just a few words (never more than five!). It’s akin to shouting. It may be easier on you the writer to just hit the CAPS LOCK and peck away but trust Dr. Manners on this one. It’s murder on the recipient. Don’t do it.

Voicemails
We love the latest tunes too but do your callers really need to endure the 30-second intro from 50 Cent or Kelly Clarkson? We think not. A simple, professional outgoing message that’s no longer than 30 seconds is ideal. On the flip side, when you’re leaving a voicemail message for someone remember to keep it brief. Start the message with your name and phone number, followed by a snippet about why you’re calling, and then finally leave your name and number – slowly – again. Ideal length of message? 20-25 seconds. Brief is always better.

Meals
If you offer to take someone to lunch, the rule is you pay. If you’re talking to someone and the conversation goes like this, “We should have lunch sometimes”, then it’s a double Dutch affair even if you’re the one who eventually calls to get the ball rolling on the particulars of the gathering. Keep in mind that if you take someone to lunch you can’t control what he or she orders. So be ready for whatever happens between the first drink order and dessert.

Which Way?
The fork goes on the left. The spoon and knife go on the right. Food items go on the left, this means that your bread plate is on your left. Drinks, including coffee cups, are on the right. Reach only for items right in front of you. If you can’t reach an item while you’re seated, ask a neighbor to pass it to you. Once passing starts, just go with the flow.


Gossip
Don’t do it. Next.

Introductions
Dr. Manners is always amazed at how little folks know about how to manage introductions. If you’re standing with a co-worker at a local coffee shop and an acquaintance walks over and starts talking to “you”, manners dictate that you stop at the first pause to introduce your co-worker. Something like, “Excuse me, John, this is my co-worker Shawn.” Your conversation may now resume. Never allow a conversation to go on without attempting to involve everyone present.

Returning Phone Calls
It’s usually a good idea to return calls within 24-72 hours. Anything beyond three days and people start to think you’ve forgotten them or worse, that you’re just rude. To help manage this, consider adding something like this to your outgoing message: “This is Dr. Manners, sorry I missed your call but will make every effort to get back to you within the next 48 hours…”

Dr. Manners realizes that there are many more topics to cover in business etiquette but in the interest of time (and manners), will keep this installment short. Remembering that brief is always better.

 

Look! Up In The Sky...

The Sales Person's Kryptonite
by Lee Salz

Superman, as strong he is, is paralyzed by kryptonite. It brings him to his knees despite his superhuman strength. Sales people have their own kryptonite called RFPs, the dreaded Request for Proposal. An RFP process doesn't have to be kryptonite. Superman has no choice but to fight this nemesis to survive. Sales people have choices.

For one, there is no law that says you have to respond to every RFP that crosses your desk. You have the right to say no. Some of you are now thinking that I'm insane, but it's true. Let me turn the tables on you for a moment. The definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If you aren't the low price provider and you have no relationship with the prospect, how can you possibly win the business? You can't and won't. Therefore, sending in countless RFP responses under these conditions will yield nothing but losses. So, who's crazy now?

Sure, when the pipeline isn't as full as it should be, it is a natural reflex to want to pursue every RFP you can get your hands on. Yet, filling out an RFP is work. It also has a cost to both you and your company. While you are working on an RFP which you have little chance of winning, you aren't prospecting for business that has a much higher chance of award. Look, we all get the same number of hours in our day. What you elect to do with yours determines whether or not you are successful in sales.

A couple of things you should know about RFPs. First is that there is a disconnect between Procurement and their customers (called users). Often times, Procurement authors the RFP and establishes the measurement criteria for evaluating the submissions. However, when you speak to the actual user, they say that the criteria developed by Procurement is inconsistent with their needs. Thus, a supplier is selected for a user based on flawed criteria.

Another thing you should know is that an RFP is not necessarily a commitment to make a change in provider. Some companies require that they source the business every x amount of time. Ever wonder how that RFP got in your inbox? Procurement will surf the web and pick a handful of providers to whom they will send the RFP and off it goes. It helps to know that Procurement folks are measured on their ability to reduce cost to the company. Just like a sales person's scorecard is based on achievement of their sales quota, Procurement's quota is based on cost reduction. The RFP that arrived in your inbox could very well be their attempt to put the squeeze on the current provider so they can show a 10% savings. Don't kid yourself. This happens a lot!

One final thing you should know about RFPs is that they are sometimes used as a manager tactic. For example, some people are too nice to tell you “no,” so they hide behind the statement that their company only buys through the RFP process. Don't buy that for a second. No company exclusively buys this way. Even the Federal Government, who is the most formal buyer, does not limit their purchasing to this means. Sales people, present company included, sell products and services to the Feds without an RFP being issued. It can be done!

There is also a safety net for managers when they buy through RFPs as multiple people are involved in the selection process. If the supplier fails to perform, the finger can't just be pointed at one person. During your needs analysis discussions, you can often get a feel for who really wants the RFP, the company or the person with whom you are meeting. Don't underestimate the fear of blame. Many managers try to stay off the radar screen so they don't want to create risk for themselves.

Dealing with an RFP where you have a relationship with the prospect is the subject of a future article. Keeping us focused on the blind ones, as I said before, you have choices. You could just respond to every RFP. Or, you could just chuck it in the trash. Care for a third option? What if you called the Procurement person and had a conversation that sounded like this,

“Hi, I'm Lee Salz with XYZ Services. I just received your RFP in the mail and wanted to ask you a few questions so I can determine if it makes sense for us to respond. As you can imagine, we receive many RFPs and are very selective when determining to which we will respond.”

With that said, one of a few things can happen. She could give you permission to ask your questions. Or she could say, “Fill out the RFP, or not. It's up to you.” My vote is to decline any RFP where the Procurement person won't allow you to ask questions of them. How can you have a fighting chance to win if they won't speak with you?

With permission granted to ask questions, what is it you need to know to decide if it makes sense to participate in this process?

1. How did they get your name for inclusion in this process?
2. Why is this RFP out now?
3. Have they definitively decided to change providers?
4. What criteria will be used to score the RFPs?
5. What are the steps of the process after the RFP is submitted?

Sure, there are a ton of other questions you could ask, but this information will best help you to determine if you have a chance at winning this account. The rule of thumb is that the less information Procurement shares, the lower the chance you have of winning.

Yes, walking away from the mega-deal is hard and painful. But is this deal real or simply a mirage? Watch any Superman movie and you will see that he overcomes his kryptonite peril. Will you overcome yours? By the way, if you are a finalist resulting from an RFP submission, send me an email and ask for my Finalist preparation tip sheet.

Lee B. Salz is President of Sales Dodo, LLC and author of “Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager.” He specializes in helping companies and their sales organizations adapt and thrive in the ever-changing world of business. Lee is available for keynote speaking, business consulting, and sales training. He can be reached via email at lsalz@salesdodo.com, his website at www.salesdodo.com or by phone at 763.416.4321. www.salesDodo.com.

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Up Close with Dr. Randal Pinkett

Listen to a snippet of CP Founder/Editor-in-Chief, Fran Harris' interview with cover story Dr. Randal Pinkett, author of Campus CEO