Madhav Tripathi

Posted by Franz Och, Principal Scientist

Are you using Google Translate to access the world's information? It can help you find and translate local restaurant and hotel reviews into your language when planning a vacation abroad, allow you to read the Spanish or French Editions of Google News, communicate with people who speak different languages using Google Translate chat bots, and more. We're constantly working to improve translation quality, so if you haven't tried it recently, you may be pleasantly surprised with what it can do now.

We're especially excited to announce that we've added 9 new languages to Google Translate: Afrikaans, Belarusian, Icelandic, Irish, Macedonian, Malay, Swahili, Welsh, and Yiddish, bringing the number of languages we support from 42 to 51. Since we can translate between any two of these languages, we offer translation for 2550 language pairs!

How do we decide which languages to add to Google Translate? Our goal is to provide automatic translation for as many languages as possible. So internally we've been collecting data and building systems for more than 100 languages. Whenever a set of languages meets our quality bar we consider it for our next language launch. We've found that one of the most important factors in adding new languages to our system is the ability to find large amounts of translated documents from which our system automatically learns how to translate. As a result, the set of languages that we've been able to develop is more closely tied to the size of the web presence of a language and less to the number of speakers of the language.

We're very happy that our technology allows us to produce machine translation systems for languages that often don't get the attention they deserve. For many of the newly supported languages ours is the only mature and freely available translation system. While translation quality in these languages will be noticeably rougher than for languages we've supported for a longer time like French or Spanish, it is most often good enough to give a basic understanding of the text, and you can be sure that the quality will get better over time.

Remember, you can also use Google Translate from inside other Google products. For example you can translate e-mails within GMail, translate web pages using Google Toolbar, translate RSS news feeds from around the world in Google Reader, and translate documents in Google Docs. (The new languages aren't available in these products yet but will be soon!) And, if you're translating content into other languages, you can use our technology within Google Translator Toolkit to help you translate faster and better. In the future, expect to find our translation technology in more places, making it increasingly simple to get access to information no matter what language it is written in.

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Thanks to Bob Cargill for pointing out this excellent post!

1. Social climbers are attracted to social media
That's right. The same people who climb their way up the social food chain in the real world tend to do well in the social media world. They'll be your friend for a while, until they find someone else with more Twitter followers to tweet with.

2. Most social media is bad marketing/PR
Few organizations really want to engage with their customers. It's just easier to slap together a blog, Facebook fan page or hire someone to tweet about your products and coordinate events that hopefully generate buzz. Participation is hard.

3. Everyone hates internet celebrities, but secretly want to be one
Yup, I'm sick of the whole internet celebrity thing too. But it's funny—sometimes I think the people who slam it the most actually want to be the next social media rockstar, whatever that is.

4. Social media burnout syndrome is real
We joke about it, but it's true. We're overwhelmed by technology which promised to make life better for us. Instead, most of us haven't figured out how to restore the balance we once had in our lives.

Read more at Logic+Emotion by Dave Armano
Hmmmm, I may be suffering from social media burnout.
Or am I just tired from traveling or working all of the last 13 days including 11 night?

This article is a reprint of Wise Bread's contribution to OPEN Forum from American Express -- where small business owners can get advice from experts and share tips with each other.

It's quite easy for small business owners to become distracted by their day-to-day responsibilities. But in this competitive economy you can't afford to miss out on the newest business innovations.

That's why we asked 50 of the top small business bloggers to share their best tips for small business owners. Their response was incredible. While some shared nuggets of wisdom, others gave us actionable tips you can use right away. Here's your crib sheet to the best business advice the blogosphere has to offer.

(This article was written in collaboration with Glen Stansberry, who writes about personal productivity at LifeDev and tweets from @glenstansberry.)

 

On the Small Business Advantage

1. "Respond. This is the single biggest advantage you have over the big guys. Not only are you in charge, you also answer the phone and read your email and man the desk and set the prices. So, don't pretend you have a policy. Just be human."
— Seth Godin, Seth's Blog

2. "As a small business owner, you have the advantages of speed and flexibility. Use them to your advantage. Like Wayne Gretzky, skate to where the puck is GOING to be, and chances are that you'll get there faster than your larger, more bureaucratic competitors."
— Chuck Frey, Innovation Tools

3. "Show your passion for helping your customers solve problems - and talk to them like you talk to your friends. A real, enthusiastic, human voice is every small business's edge"
— Andy Wibbels, AndyWibbels.com

4. "One simple social business policy might be: Be invested. Be human. Be helpful as if the whole company depends on what you say and do, because customer service is the advantage of small business brands."
— Liz Strauss, Successful Blog

5. "Smaller scale businesses should take advantage of how easy it can be to maintain closer, more intimate ties with their now very values-based end consumers (who have high expectations about brand interaction)."
— Andrea Learned, Learned on Women

 

On Motivation, Persistence, and Resiliency

6. "Outlast the competition. I was amazed at all the empty storefronts I saw in LA on my last visit. On one particular block, three or four of the ten lunch places were shut down. And the others? Doing great. That's because the remaining office workers who used to eat lunch at the shuttered places had to eat somewhere, and so the survivors watched their business grow. A war of attrition is never pretty, but if you're smart about overhead and scale, you'll win it."
— Seth Godin, Seth's Blog

7. "Don't give up. Most people who are self-employed went through a time when they had no money. And they worried they would lose everything they own, and their career. And they kept going. The people who succeed are people who refuse to quit. If you keep trying to make money from your business, you will eventually succeed so that you don't starve. Really. Just don't quit."
— Penelope Trunk, Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist

8. "Count up your successes regularly. One person I know put a marble in a fishbowl each time she got a compliment or a bit of good press for her business or a nice note from a customer or a big order. Then every time she looked at the fishbowl she was reminded of all the good things in her business. Her employees could see it, too. This is invaluable on days when everything seems to go wrong. It keeps self-doubt from building up – and tearing you down. It also helps employees feel good."
— Anita Campbell, Small Business Trends

9. "If you find yourself in a rut, try thinking back on the reasons you initially wanted to start your own business and don’t lose sight of them. If you need to, write them down."
— Megan Dorn, The Startup Blog

10. "If you do not enjoy what you are doing, try something else."
— Anthony Cerminaro, BizzBangBuzz

11. "Do not be afraid of hard work, learn to multi-task, be flexible and patient."
— Harish Keshwani, BusinessWorks, Inc.

 

On Starting Up

12. "Don’t start a company unless it’s an obsession and something you love."
— Mark Cuban, Blog Maverick

13. "Be careful about trusting intuition, but be more careful not to bend to the majority for whom 'impossible' is a comforting excuse for inaction."
— Tim Ferriss, The Blog of Tim Ferriss

14. "When starting and growing your business, it's important to bootstrap with your own resources as much as possible."
— Mike Smith, Guerrilla Freelancing

15. "Don't be afraid to skip a step. The people I consider the most successful (by my definition which includes enjoying their work, earning a good living, feeling happy and accomplishing lots of life goals) do not wait for permission from anyone to pursue opportunities."
— Pamela Slim, Escape from Cubicle Nation

 

On Financial Management

16. "Become a cash flow king. Manage cash flow like there is no tomorrow. Know which vendors can wait and who needs to be paid right away. Always have some money on hand for emergencies and only borrow if you know when you can pay it back."
— Jared Reitzin, Mobile Marketing Watch

17. "Jump on every opportunity to eliminate needless costs, but never stop investing in the long-term future of your business—no matter what is happening in the market."
— Michael McLaughlin, Guerrilla Consulting

 

On Business Planning

18. "If you don't enjoy planning your business' future, you must be doing it wrong; ease up on the business plan document, do just the planning, just big enough to run your business and control your own destiny. "
— Tim Berry, Up and Running, Entrepreneur.com

19. "Measure EVERYTHING in your business that you care about and use your findings to drive your decisions so they are based on facts, rather than emotions or seat of the pants guesswork."
— Mark Riffey, Rescue Marketing

20. "Define your goals – Be clear on what you want. Do you want 20 more leads in your database? Do you want to generate $995K in net new customer in revenue this year? Do you want to add 15 new clients this quarter?"
— Jared Reitzin, Mobile Marketing Watch

21. "Carefully plan for achievement. Achievement is like building a home. It must be pre-planned, budgeted for, executed with daily hands-on management, have managed solutions (contingency plans), and be ready for situations when other ways to achieve the end result must be applied within a finite time frame."
— Tom Marquardt, The Profit Repairman

22. "The best way to build a career or a business is to test and try a lot of things. If you spend too much time in the planning stages, opportunities pass you by."
— Pamela Slim, Escape from Cubicle Nation

23. "Embrace constraints. Constraints and limitations are wonderful allies and lead to enhanced creativity and ingenious solutions that without constraints never would have been discovered or created."
— Garr Reynolds, Presentation Zen

24. "Overconfidence is a killer. Question your business plan as much as you would question your nephew's business plan if he were to hit you up for a loan."
— Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution

25. "This notion of overnight success is an urban legend, and very misleading. If you're starting something new, expect a long journey. "
— Martin Zwilling Startup Professionals Musings

26. "Even though you may have considerable experience in the world of business, you should not assume that you can ‘shortcut’ your way to success in your new endeavor. Certainly, your experience in the real world will stand you in good stead in terms of marketing, customer relations and so on, but you must start with your clean sheet of paper each time."
— Adam Toren, Young Entrepreneur

 

On Hiring Employees

27. "Hire people who are more talented than you are; your business will never grow if you're worried about hiring people that will outshine you."
— Rich Brooks, Flyte Blog

28. "Hire people you trust and train them to use the time in the ways you want them to move business forward for you. Just as you do in other parts of your company."
— Liz Strauss, Successful Blog

29. "Develop a rich internship program. Interns are a great way to keep the atmosphere fresh and vibrant, but they’re also a great way to transition talented young individuals into your work force. Internship programs also allow you to assess an individual’s skills and work ethic in a real-life setting without any long-term commitments."
— Megan Dorn, The Startup Blog

 

On Managing Employees

30. "I recommend working collaboratively with people throughout the organization. Ask each individual to identify something in his or her daily work that is inconsistent with the organization’s core values. Randomly sort the individuals into groups of three to six and ask each group to come up with the three most significant misalignments pertaining to each core value. This process allows your organization to quickly identify—without pointing fingers—the four or five most significant misalignments."
— Jim Collins, JimCollins.com

31. "Allow folks to work off hours. Commuting sucks and is a waste of time for everyone. Let folks start at 6am or 11am and you’ll cut their commute in half."
— Jason Calacanis, Calacanis.com

 

On Leadership

32. "Leadership is scarce because few people are willing to go through the discomfort required to lead. It’s uncomfortable to stand up in front of strangers. It’s uncomfortable to propose an idea that might fail. It’s uncomfortable to challenge the status quo. It’s uncomfortable to resist the urge to settle. If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader."
— Seth Godin, Seth's Blog

 

On Innovation

33. "Continuously experiment, improvise and try new things that improve your business and add customer value."
— Steve King, Small Business Labs

34. "Don't underestimate the importance of capturing your ideas - they're the lifeblood of your business."
— Chuck Frey, Innovation Tools

 

On Your Product

35. "Best beats first. It doesn’t really matter who gets there first, so long as you figure out a way to produce a better solution, doggedly persist in bringing that solution to the world, and continually improve."
— Jim Collins, JimCollins.com

36. "Understand companies that understand user-interface design. Study the best: Google, Apple, Lexus, and Ferrari. They understand that complexity is their best friend, not an enemy. They understand it, so they can exploit it."
— Matthew May, In Pursuit of Elegance

37. "Keep feature creep in check. The one constant source of elegant innovation is observation. The Japanese call it genchi genbutsu which means 'go look, go see.' That allows you to triangulate around the customer: observe them not just by asking them what they want—they don’t always know, can’t always articulate it, and they’ll change their mind tomorrow—but by becoming one yourself."
— Matthew May, In Pursuit of Elegance

 

On Marketing

38. "Good word of mouth is the best marketing money can't buy."
— Muhammad Saleem, MuhammadSaleem.com

39. "NEVER EVER EVER hire a PR firm. A PR firm will call or email people in the publications, shows and websites you already watch, listen to and read. 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 an email 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 communications 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."
— Mark Cuban, Blog Maverick

40. "The key is finding the advertising channel that best fits your company and your industry and use it to get the biggest bang for your buck. At the end of the day, it’s not about how much you spend or how many eyeballs you reach. It’s about how many customers you can bring in the door while still making enough money to float your boat."
— Rosalind Resnick, Entrepreneur.com

41. "Really think about if you need that $15,000 a month PR firm. Perhaps you can get a PR consultant to work on 2-3 projects a year for $10-15k each and save 75%. More PR firms are wasted half the year while you build up your product anyway."
— Jason Calacanis, Calacanis.com

42. "Focus on generating attention. The Web has liberated us from the tyranny of paying for attention! Small business entrepreneurs can generate attention for their business in four main ways: You can BUY attention (this is called advertising); you can BEG for attention (this is called Public Relations); you can BUG people one at a time to get attention (this is called sales) or you can EARN attention online by creating great information that your buyers want to consume such as YouTube videos, blogs, Twitter feeds, photographs, charts, graphs, and ebooks—and it is all free. How are YOU generating attention?"
— David Meerman Scott, Web Ink Now

43. "Budget enough time and money to market your company; the world won't beat a path to your doorstep if they can't find you on Google."
— Rich Brooks, Flyte Blog

 

On Brand Management

44. "Forget touchpoints, conversation, or the other detritus of brandingbabble, and focus on doing things — actions your business takes, and your customers take in response — as thereby you'll create and nurture the real value of your brand. Follow the previous point unequivocally and without pause. Unless something furthers this pursuit, consider it to be noise."
— Jonathan Salem Baskin, Dim Bulb

45. "Differentiate Yourself: Create a grid analyzing your business and your competitors. What do you all do similarly? What is the one thing you do that your competitors don't? Focus on this one thing with your customers for an edge."
— Kevin Dougan, Strategic Public Relations

46. "Be Consistent: You’ve spent a lot of money on your name, website and logo. Are you using them consistently across your web site, business cards, signage and even in your invoices/receipts? Take a 360 degree view of your business from your customers eyes and make sure you’re hard-earned identity is served up consistently."
— Kevin Dougan, Strategic Public Relations

 

On Search Marketing

47. "Be micro-focused and the search engines will find you."
— Seth Godin, Seth's Blog

48. "Don't put all your eggs in Google's basket. Defensible traffic is a must. If you rely too heavily on free Google traffic, you risk losing that traffic next time the search algorithm changes."
— Matt McGee, Small Business Search Marketing

 

On Social Media Marketing

49. "Ask Why, Not What: It might seem like everyone is on Facebook or using Twitter these days. When the latest marketing fads come into view, don't ask 'what' should I do on sites like this, ask 'why' should my business be on these sites. If your customers don't use these sites, should you?"
— Kevin Dougan, Strategic Public Relations

50. "Find your customers online and where they spend time. Once you've researched where your customers spend their time, use those venues to converse and collaborate with them toward shared mutual gain."
— Steve Rubel, SteveRubel.com

51. "Don't fear the social media space. Small business do excel in social media, because they understand relationships. Though the Internet is often seen as a place to sell, social media has made it a great space for extending customer relationships. Social media tools also offer great ways to connect with other small business to share ideas, to talk with customers for feedback, to announce special events and to find with new partners to make new innovative offers."
— Liz Strauss, Successful Blog

52. "To increase the effectiveness of your activities, you need to integrate three basic components – research / intelligence, content development, and measurement. Remember that relationships are key in social media, so you will need to expand your thinking to earned direct and indirect links through good content."
— Valeria Maltoni, Conversation Agent

53. "To make participation in comments and social media activities count for you, listen first, be aware of the context - are people talking about your industry in general, a competitor, or your company directly? - and look to engage in an honest, open and helpful manner. Drop the buzzwords, and do a gut check by reading your comment as you would read what someone else left on your blog."
— Valeria Maltoni, Conversation Agent

 

On Market Positioning

54. "Find a significant unmet need and fill it well."
— Anthony Cerminaro, BizzBangBuzz

55. "Use design, service or ambiance to differentiate your product in some unique, even if small, manner. No matter how pedestrian or utilitarian the product, make buying it or using it an experience"
— Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution

56. "When aligning yourself against the competition, it always pays to be different and take risks."
— Mike Smith, Guerrilla Freelancing

57. "Own a niche: The Internet has allowed business to get so niche they can make money around the world with the smallest of audiences. Capitalize on this, start small, own a niche and then expand from there."
— Jared Reitzin, Mobile Marketing Watch

 

On Lead Generation

58. "Reanimate your sleepers - It costs far less to reach back out to an existing list of dormant customers than it does to find and sell to new customers. Offer your sleepers something outrageously compelling to get them buying again. Even if you make nothing on the sale that 'awakens' them, you'll likely make up for it in continuity sales."
— Jonathan Fields, JonathanFields.com

59. "Nurture your leads that aren't sales ready. Lead nurturing isn't calling every quarter to ask if they are ready to buy, but to become a trusted advisor and provide relevant information to your prospects. In fact, a recent study of business-to-business buyers shows that sales people who become trusted advisors and understand the needs of economic buyers are 69% more likely to come away with a sale."
— Brian Carroll, B2B Lead Generation Blog

60. "Use your CRM - Don’t create the biggest database of contacts possible. Instead, seek to create the most relevant database possible that contains the right companies and contacts that influence the buying decision. In the beginning, you won’t have all the data you need. Be patient and you'll build the opportunity profile over time. See each conversation as an opportunity to build a relationship."
— Brian Carroll, B2B Lead Generation Blog

61. "Don’t let up. Be consistent. No matter how busy you are make time to do lead generation activities. As you know it doesn't always stay that way. Try to do at least one lead generation thing every day, even if it is something small, that will help you engage a prospective customer. If you use calling, resolve to make an extra call a day before you leave. If you do networking, strive to meet one more person at an event."
— Brian Carroll, B2B Lead Generation Blog

 

On Sales

62. "Boost your sales by focusing on how each customer wants to buy, instead of plugging in some standard sales approach."
— Michael McLaughlin, Guerrilla Consulting

63. "Talk to your prospects to discover their most pressing needs then direct your efforts to solving those challenges. Always be focused on being seen as a problem-solver, sharing and giving rather than focusing on your own gain."
— Chris Garrett, ChrisG.com

64. "When you do make a request, frame it in benefits to the prospect. For example instead of 'join my list', say 'get the 10 secrets to ... delivered to your email inbox'."
— Chris Garrett, ChrisG.com

65. "Sell more to existing customers - Create a sleaze-free sales process that upsells and cross sells highly-relevant, value-added products or services to clients in order to bump your average order size by 10-15%."
— Jonathan Fields, JonathanFields.com

66. "Co-operate with a competitor. Up-sell related products after the initial sale. If your customers would benefit by having both of your products, you might negotiate the opportunity to include your competitor’s product inside your own box, or vice versa."
— Martin Zwilling Startup Professionals Musings

 

On Customer Relations

67. "Treat your customers right, even when they're wrong"
— Muhammad Saleem, MuhammadSaleem.com

68. "Small businesses know that relationships matter. Start asking for ways to connect that go beyond the sale."
— Chris Brogan, ChrisBrogan.com

69. "Then, if you get them, treat these people special, and not like marks. Give them MORE than the others. Encourage them."
— Chris Brogan, ChrisBrogan.com

70. "If you value your company’s survival, it is imperative that you educate those who respond on your company’s behalf to bear in mind that people are publicizing their interactions."
— Rosalind Resnick, Entrepreneur.com

 

On Networking

71. "Always be polite and cordial, even if you think the entire population of the room/party/event you are at are insipid pond scum not worth the light of day. The irritating, pompous pest with an attitude problem and personal hygiene to rival your average skunk may one day turn out to be your best client, or the one man in town who can provide what you need."
— Derek Heck, Bootstrapping Blog

72. "Never stop learning and associate with right people."
— Harish Keshwani, BusinessWorks, Inc.

73. "Find a partner. There is no single type of person who succeeds at running their own business, the most common characteristic is someone who decreases risk where he or she can. People who run their own business are taking a big risk just by doing that — they don't want any more risk if they don't have to take it. And the most common way to mitigate risk is to partner with people who have skills that you lack yourself. So the successful small business owners have a wide network so they can more easily find the skill set they need when they need it. First in a partner, and then in future employees."
— Penelope Trunk, Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist

74. "Be confident in your networking, and always think long-term. Don’t discount someone as a contact because they may not be able to help you out immediately. Don’t run up to people demanding their assistance, either. Networking is a two-way street, and quite often it pays big dividends to be the person offering help, rather than the one asking for it. Make yourself useful to your contacts, start building a relationship, and then take things from there."
— Derek Heck, Bootstrapping Blog

75. "Create a culture of yes. And by that I mean a support system of possibility thinkers - mentors, peers, a coach - who can help foster your greatness. Sometimes that means they'll call you out and challenge your ideologies, but they will always, always be cheering you on in a way the evokes your true strengths. And that where the power is."
— Danielle LaPorte, White Hot Truth

 

On Blogging and Your Website

76. "Be real when communicating with people on a blog. Don’t try to be someone you’re not. It’s impossible to keep up a facade over time. If you’re serious and more of a deep thinker type, then write that way on your blog. If you’re more of a quick-observation type of communicator, do that. There’s room for all kinds."
— Anita Campbell, Small Business Trends

77. "Consider what need you're meeting for those reading your blog. If you're solving a problem, meeting a need or answering a question that people have - they'll be likely to not only keep coming back to your blog but will also be more willing to go deeper with you and your business in some way by buying a product or engaging your services. Be useful to someone and they'll become loyal to you."
— Darren Rowse, Problogger.net

78. "Realize that your company web site isn't really yours. It belongs to your customers. They'll use it more than you. Put the kinds of content, tools, etc., on there that they want; make it easy for them to be your customer."
— Matt McGee, Small Business Search Marketing

79. "To be effective and efficient with your corporate blog, create an editorial schedule of topics and features that are categorically consistent with keywords you want customers to find you with when searching. Keywords in your categories, post titles and in links between pages will give search engines the information they need to rank blog posts in search engines like Google and Bing. Other blogs will link to your content using those keyword phrases in the title which can send more visitors and increase search rankings even more."
— Lee Odden, TopRank Blog

80. "Be social with your blog. Not only should small business blogs encourage comments by asking questions at the end of their posts, but they can be social through commenting on other blogs related to the topics that are important to customers. Links from comments on other blogs can introduce new visitors to your blog content. Other social options with a blog include running polls, linking out to other prominent blogs (their blog software will let the know you’ve linked to them) add 'share this' buttons to make it easy for readers to save, share and bookmark your content as well as email it others that might find it interesting."
— Lee Odden, TopRank Blog

81. "Don't be overly concerned with how many readers you have; pay attention to getting the readers whose attention you most want looking at your blog. Quality trumps quantity in the blogoshpere (although having both doesn't hurt!)"
— Susie Gardner, Buzz Marketing with Blogs

82. "A successful blogger in any industry knows the appetite their audience has for information and under-delivers just slightly. If you have a blog, keep your readers wanting more, and excited to see your posts!"
— Susie Gardner, Buzz Marketing with Blogs

 

On the Big Picture

83. "As I get older, I see, more and more, that one of the most common mistakes that small business owners make is confusing business with life; take care of yourself and your people first, and don't let more important things get lost in the business."
— Tim Berry, Up and Running, Entrepreneur.com

84. "Stop working in (for) your business as if you are an employee and start working ON your business, as if it is an investment."
— Mark Riffey, Rescue Marketing

85. "Set aside time to think about how to grow your business. If a business isn't growing, it's usually not staying the same size — it's shrinking."
— Gregory Galant, Venture Voice

86. "Don't blindly follow the advice of gurus. What worked for them may not work for you. Make your decisions from first principal and learn from experience."
— Gregory Galant, Venture Voice

87. "The difference between success and non-success is in an individual’s ability to believe in themselves as their own element of change and the daily commitment of that individual with that knowledge of success to execute those changes. Change gives you the ability to rise above and deliver upon command, therefore leading to more positive outcomes. Embrace change."
— Tom Marquardt, The Profit Repairman

88. "The recession has created a climate of ‘Entrepreneurial Darwinism’ – only the strongest and best managed businesses will survive. To be successful in this economy entrepreneurs must: 1) constantly evaluate their business model to make sure it keeps its relevance and offers true value to the customer in a highly competitive market, and 2) tighten up their finances by keeping overhead expenses to a minimum, paying off debt, and building cash reserves."
— Jeff Cornwall, The Entrepreneurial Mind

89. "Bring your individual passion to your new business venture and focus on solving the real — not imagined — needs of your customers. "
— Dominic Basulto, Endless Innovation

90. "Give things some time to happen and fall in place."
— Harish Keshwani, BusinessWorks, Inc.

91. "Use sustainable business practices: The fact (not trend) of sustainable business practices is one that smaller businesses can more easily act on and should maintain - in order to serve the women's market, especially, more effectively."
— Andrea Learned, Learned on Women

92. "Don't worry about being 'the next Google' or 'the next lululemon' - the next great company always appears seemingly out of nowhere and is unique in everything it does."
— Dominic Basulto, Endless Innovation

 

On Operations

93. "An idea by itself is almost worthless. It's how you execute that matters. Focus on execution."
— Dane Carlson, Business Opportunities Weblog

94. "Once per week, stop putting out fires for an afternoon and run the numbers to ensure you’re placing effort in high-yield areas: What 20% of customers/products/regions are producing 80% of the profit? What are the factors that could account for this? Invest in duplicating your few strong areas instead of fixing all of your weaknesses."
— Tim Ferriss, The Blog of Tim Ferriss

95. "Decide which areas of your business most need improvement. Then, set aside time every single week to focus on reading, researching, learning and implementing improvements in those areas."
— Becky McCray, Small Biz Survival

96. "Obsess about ideas not tools. Tools are important and necessary, but they come and go as better tools come along. Obsess instead about ideas. Though most tools are ephemeral, some of your best tools are a simple pencil and sketch pad."
— Garr Reynolds, Presentation Zen

97. "Do not be tempted to fly off in different directions when you finally start to build momentum. It is important to constrain your enthusiasm and make sure that you are striving to be the best at what you do. Many business owners make the mistake of cutting themselves too thinly in this way and find that their core business may indeed suffer."
— Adam Toren, Young Entrepreneur

98. "Technology is changing almost all industries and businesses. Understand and follow the technologies that are having the greatest impact on them and take advantage of technology to improve business and competitive position."
— Steve King, Small Business Labs

99. "Use change and turnover to give you the opportunity to evaluate a situation and quickly correct and realign, thus strengthening the whole organization and it's future."
— Tom Marquardt, The Profit Repairman

 

On Time Management

100. "Say no 80% of the time. 'No, thank you,' is the sweet spot of focus, and it's the most powerful word in an entrepreneur's vocabulary. You'll be tested to use it on a daily basis in order to stay in sync with your authenticity and your brand, your true interests, and what matters most. And when you let your instincts override that knowing 'no' with a feeble yes, it's almost guaranteed to end in resentment, legal fees, or burn out."
— Danielle LaPorte, White Hot Truth

101. "We are all equal in this world to everyone else on just one thing, no matter who we are or what we do: TIME. What we do with those precious moments, makes the difference between success and non-success of those goals and achievements that we want to obtain. Make the most of your resources, especially time."
— Tom Marquardt, The Profit Repairman

Bonus Tips

102. "Eliminate the concept of competition by building a unique brand. If you're doing something no one else is, you effectively own the market. Just be careful - you may not have external competitors, but you still have to wage war on inertia."
— Chris Guillebeau, Art of Nonconformity

103. "Ask your customers what they want, and then find a way to give it to them. I do this with very basic surveys where I ask these questions: a) What is your biggest problem right now? and b) What do you think is the #1 thing we can help with?."
— Chris Guillebeau, Art of Nonconformity

104. "Do the things that make you money."
— Jonathan Mead, Illuminated Mind

105. "Focus on value, and do what you want."
— Jonathan Mead, Illuminated Mind

 

The last two years have been the most exciting of my life.

I made the jump to freelance work, which has given me the freedom to work when and however much I want.

The transition from a regular job to freelancing was not easy, but I managed it.

This post is meant to help you bypass difficulties and maximize your productivity as you start your own freelancing career.

That being said, here are 20 tips to help you become a successful freelancer.

1. Don’t give up your day job!

Your day job is your most important asset when switching from regular work to freelancing.

You need to be able to support yourself on this new career path, so start off slowly and work in the evenings or on your lunch breaks.

If you are a student, working around your studies can be quite lucrative; you can fill in those free periods with money-making design work!

2. Put an amazing portfolio together

In the freelance business, having a solid portfolio is important.

While many employers will accept your résumé, your portfolio is the bit of you that stands out. It shows employers what you can do and what you have done. Make it as creative as possible.

Many people worry that they have no work to show potential clients. If that is the case, try redesigning your favorite website or rebrand your favorite company and mark it as a case study.

While this work has not been commissioned, it does show off your skill, which will inspire much more confidence in your client if they find out they are your first client.

3. Do not buy any new gear

This is a common pitfall for many freelancers.

They think they need the best equipment to do the best job. Yes, tools help, but how you use them is what matters.

As tempting as it is, you do not need the latest Macbook Pro; you can do the job just as well on your four-year-old PC.

Why spend money when you want to make it? Of course, some things are essential, such as Photoshop, but try to get a student version or a discount.

You do not want to let money slip through your fingers when you don’t have to.

4. Build your website

Building your website before looking for work is also important.

The first thing potential clients will do is look at your website. Your website conveys your attitude towards your work and your personality, so make sure it reflects how you want to be seen.

Choose the words on your website carefully: do you want to be seen as formal or lighthearted? Also, do you want to emphasize form over function? All of this has to be conveyed in your design.

5. Set up a new bank account

Keep your personal and work accounts separate.

You do not want to give out your personal bank details, nor do you want to attach a PayPal business account to your personal account.

While you may be able to get by at first using your personal account, you will run into problems down the road with taxes and client payments. In any case, at least you’ll be able to keep your personal PayPal account, for which you won’t be taxed for transactions!

6. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

As with all things, starting off freelancing can be tough, but the freelance community is very friendly.

While no one will build your website for you, people may help you with a snippet of code or give you feedback on your design.

By asking for advice, you also make friends, which in time could lead to work.

7. Go back to school

While you may think you know everything, you certainly don’t.

Spend some time on tutorial websites or invest in taking a course to extend your knowledge. Any skill you can add to your toolkit will be valuable later in life.

Learning a completely new skill, such as video editing and conversion, might also be a good idea.

The web has become much more video-centric, so having skill in the field will enable you to offer more to clients, creating more profit for you.

8. Set up a home office

Make sure you are able to concentrate on work and work alone.

A space dedicated to work will help you get it done more quickly. The office does not have to be a room in your home; it could be outdoors or your local coffee shop: any place that does not have too many distractions and is well lit and inspires you to work.

Working outside in the fresh air can help keep you alert and sustain your concentration.

9. Get an online Skype number

One of my biggest problems starting out was the huge phone bills I racked up talking to clients and team members.

If you face the same problem, you could either swallow the higher phone bills or get an online Skype number. Skype works through your computer, so working while talking on the phone is easy.

But you can also get a landline number with Skype, and clients might be reassured by the stability that this landline brings. Subscribing to a Skype plan can be especially helpful with international clients.

10. Blitz social media and promote your brand

Knowing how to market yourself is your first step towards full-time freelancing.

Keep updating your Twitter account and to regularly interact with online communities: clients can be found anywhere.

Remember, though, anything you put online is not private, so make sure you show the face that you want other people to see. Be sure to share anything you find interesting, and re-tweet anything you find relevant.

Clients may find you through a recommendation or piece of content of yours on a social media website, so keep updating and become a “sharer.”

11. Be patient

Now that everything is set up, your number one rule is to be patient.

Work will not come flooding in immediately. Take it slow, and take on jobs as they come in.

Learning to be patient with clients also helps you communicate with them.

Some will be rather aggravating to work with, and you have to learn how to remain calm and communicate with them at a level that satisfies both of you.

12. Promote your services with content

The entire Internet is driven by content. Valuable free content goes a long way.

Whether a free WordPress theme or a well-recorded screencast, publishing content is a great way to get your name out there.

It will also promote your status as an expert and give potential clients something to play with and a chance to see how you work.

13. How to deal with job boards

I would advise that you stay away from job boards.

They seem to be overridden these days with people offering services for negligible compensation.

You have to make a profit. But if you decide to look for work on job boards, make sure the job comes with a steady salary and not a one-time payment.

Local jobs are better because developing a healthy relationship with local clients is easier and can lead to more work.

14. Finding jobs elsewhere

To find jobs elsewhere, you must network. I found this to be the hardest part: you have to get out and pitch to businesses.

Offering your services to friends and family may get you by for a while, but they will likely start asking for favorable treatment or rates, and when you are starting off, you cannot afford to be doing work for a steal.

Upscale bars and city lunch spots are great places to meet people. Start talking to people while standing in queues, or go to social events in big cities. People love to show off what they do, so why shouldn’t you do the same?

15. Find your niche

Most of my work came from finding a niche market and exploiting it.

For example, if you have made a website for a soon-to-be-released novel, the project could serve as a template for websites that promote novels.

If the website is efficient and profitable, you could ask other authors or publishing companies if they would like to invest in your tried and true method.

16. Creating steady work and revenue

The problem with freelancing is that you have no job security whatsoever. So you need to create security.

Instead of quoting a set price to a new client, try proposing a manageable monthly rate that includes website promotion, constant SEO monitoring and website maintenance.

Not only will this generate revenue over time, the client may ask you for more services if they see it is working out well, at which point you can increase the rate. This supplementary revenue is less likely to materialize if you stick to one-time payments.

17. Dealing with bad clients

You will inevitably come across bad clients.

Bad clients either want to control too much of what you do or communicate poorly.

If you land one, you have to step back and think whether the client is worth the trouble and whether they will give you repeat business. If not, then cut them loose.

You will feel bad when you let a bad client go the first time, but remember that you have freed up your time to take on another better client.

18. Referrals and testimonials

Once you have worked with some happy clients, ask them how they felt about the process and whether you handled it well and what you could have done better.

While the responses may be useful as testimonials, you will also be showing clients that you are trying to improve your services, which may encourage them to tell others about their experience, leading to yet more clients for you.

19. Invest in invoicing and client management software

As you gain more clients over time, you will need to know how to manage them.

Signing up for invoicing software to automate recurring monthly invoices will be helpful.

Also consider subscribing to something like 37 Signals’ Highrise software, or at least record in a document who your customers are, what work you have done for them and any details about them you may need to refer to in future.

This will save you from administrative work down the road and also serve as a good trigger for your memory.

20. Quit your day job and have fun!

If you have followed these steps, you should have sustainable income and be doing what you love as a profession.

The purpose of freelancing is to have time to go where you want to go and do what you want to do. Make sure you enjoy your new lifestyle by traveling and getting out a bit more.

You can work from anywhere in the world, so take advantage of that!

Bonus tip: Never race to the bottom

Once you have given a quote to a prospective client, avoid getting into a degrading fight for the job.

Do not devalue your work. You may choose to offer a discount in certain situations, but if you do it repeatedly, employers might think you were overcharging the first time and assume your rates are flexible.

Once you give a quote, stick to it!

This article was written by Ollie Judge exclusively for Webdesigner Depot. Ollie is CEO and founder of Ether Corporation, a unique freelance agency launching next month. Be sure to follow him in Twitter and on his personal blog at olliejudge.com

Have you made the transition to freelancing? Please share your personal experiences and tips with us!

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1. 10 Tips for Surviving The Economic Downturn
2. Freelancing and the Power of Partnering
3. 10 Excellent Tips For Designers To Improve Their Income
4. 10 Tips for Working With Clients Remotely: Part 1
5. 10 Tips for Working With Clients Remotely: Part 2

Yahoo Mail Adds Status Updates, MyPhotos, Evite

Yahoo Mail has been improved with the idea of making it focus more on the social connections that are already implicit in users' email exchanges. The Yahoo Mail homepage will now display status updates from a user's friends on the service. If a contact uploads new images to Flickr, for example, these updates will appear on the Yahoo Mail homepage (and also in Yahoo Messenger).

Yahoo also now allows users to attach up to 25MB of photos to messages and has improved its tools to attach and view these images. To make sharing photos easier, Yahoo has integrated Xoopit's 'MyPhotos' application into Yahoo Mail. Yahoo acquired Xoopit last month. In addition, Yahoo will also integrate Evite into Yahoo Mail, which makes it easier to create invitations based on a user's address book. 

In addition, Yahoo has also updated its mobile, web-based version of Yahoo Mail. The site is now a lot cleaner and allows users to read Word, Excel, and PowerPoint attachments right from within the web application.

Some of these updates are quite reminiscent of what Microsoft is doing with its Live products. On Windows Live, for example, users can also aggregate their updates from other services and see what their friends are doing online. While Yahoo is integrating all these services into Yahoo Mail, Microsoft Live splits all these tools up into separate applications.

Despite Bing Deal, Yahoo Redesigns Search

Interestingly, Yahoo also decided to preview an updated look and feel of Yahoo Search. The new look will feature a three-column layout, similar to the Yahoo homepage. While most of Yahoo's own search engine technology will obviously soon disappear in favor of Microsoft Bing, Yahoo wants to align the layout of its search engine with the rest of its services. The new layout brings services like Search Monkey and data filters into a column on the left side. None of these are new services, though they do bring old services that were often underutilized to the foreground.

People Search

Yahoo will also give its users a better way to search for people. Once these updates go live, whenever somebody uses Yahoo Search to find information about a person, Yahoo will display data from LinkedIn, Twitter, FriendFeed, and Facebook.

Nice, But What About Bing?

All of these updates are quite nice, though once Yahoo switches over to Bing, it will remain to be seen how many of Yahoo's search tools will actually survive the transition. During today's presentation, Larry Cornett, Yahoo's VP of Search Products and Design, stressed that the company will continue to invest in search technologies. During the Q&A session after today's presentation, Yahoo also focused on the fact that it will continue to control how search results are displayed, even if those results come from Bing. Yahoo will also continue to be able to add on to Bing's results, which sounds as if programs like Search Monkey could survive the transition.

Yahoo Messenger

Yahoo also announced updates to Yahoo Messenger. The new beta of Messenger 10 will launch in 25 countries and will feature support for status updates, similar to Yahoo Mail. None of these updates are extremely exciting, though it is important to remember that Yahoo Messenger has a lot of users, both in the US and worldwide. Many of these users will surely appreciate these updates, which, among others, include support for high-quality video calls.

As I get more into blogging and trying to figure out the advantages of how social media will affect me professionally, I came to a startling realization; I may have to unfollow a lot of my friends (who I'm following). I told myself that I should, "Be cautious to who I follow on Twitter." This sure is easier said than done, however as I further pondered this, some points came to mind that I thought was interesting as to why I should consider cleaning my Following list on Twitter.

1. How are the people that you follow furthering you professionally?

I tend to follow people that are knowledgeable in the areas that interest me. I love technology and I love my guitar. Befriending people that are up on technology and some that play guitar fluently helps me to stay abreast on what's hot. This indeed is a plus for me.

Stay away from Negativity

Where should I begin? Tweets that are depressing can sometimes in turn depress you. Stay away from them. Why follow someone that picks fights with other tweeters or will tell you the day is cloudy even though you see sunshine. I recall one Gospel guitarist, tweeting about being in church and saying a worship service sucked. Not amusing at all and it's certainly not encouraging.

Trending Topics

Social Media connoisseur Wayne Sutton once said something that rings true. "Partaking in Trending Topics may be fun, but think before you tweet." Sometimes those you follow participate in topics that are entertaining. However many are crass and if you yourself have fun with it, people who are trying to take you seriously, won't. I say this to point out that sometimes your "friends" can drag you into these topics that may get you in trouble in the long run. Be very cautious.

You're not following me, Why am I following you?

They have nothing informative to say except they woke up in the morning, eating frosted flakes and watching the BET Awards on Tivo instead of working. Yet they have 30,000 followers and following merely 500 people. (Most of their follows are celebs and they're most likely not following them back.) This certainly is not helping you. Unfollow them!

Celebrities are just like you

The only difference is that they have lots of money and are very popular. That's all they have. Following them won't further your networking, especially if they're not there to help you get you to where you need to be.
I challenge those that are looking for Twitter to help them further them in their prospective careers to ask themselves these questions. I'm curious to know any more factors that should be looked at when following and unfollowing people. Do you know any? I'd love to hear from you.

This is Day 9 of the 30 Days to 3,000 Fans program. You can learn more about the program here.
Remember the viral Facebook note about “25 things about me”? If you don’t then you probably haven’t been on Facebook for long. The 25 things about me note spread through Facebook and touched millions of users before it eventually died out. The main ideas behind the note was similar to a chain letter. You write 25 things people don’t know about you and then tag your friends and ask them to write the note as well. The end result was that million of users ended up writing 25 things about themselves and it ended up getting covered by people in the press because so many people had participated.

How To Create A Viral Note

I wish that I could give you a step by step guide that will result in millions of people sharing your note but alas, I don’t have the secret answer. What I do know however, is that you can tag people from notes that are posted to your page and thanks to that feature you can begin to have notes spread throughout the social graph. So how do you come up with a note that’s going to be seen by everybody and will be attributed to you?

While I hate to tell people that they should create a note which is similar to a chain letter, Facebook’s note system works extremely well through standard chain letter models. The most important component of a note is that users need to be able to share something personal about themselves. Facebook is a site for sharing and any game or activity that encourages personalized participation is much more likely to succeed.

Create More Effective Titles

Want to really get someone’s attention? An effective title can make all the difference. I’ve previously written articles using advertising headlines that I modified from a book I have about headlines (you can get the book here) and the results have been phenomenal. While the content is extremely important, you will gain or lose the vast majority of readers via the headline. Make sure your note’s title stands out and you’ll be well on your way to developing a viral note. If you want other tips on effective copywriting, I highly recommend checking out Copyblogger.

Create Multiple Notes To Tag Smaller Groups Of People

While you could create a note and tag all of your contacts, it would be more effective to spread your note postings over a period of time. This way more people will see the note and you can also spread out the number of people that you tag in any given note. Tagging people is essentially the way that notes are spread and it can also be leveraged just like the classic game of tag: “Tag you’re it!”

Adding The Branding Component

So you are trying out your hand at developing a note that will spread throughout the social graph but there’s no branding component of the note! That’s definitely an issue. By doing things for the betterment of your network (out of the good of your own heart) you can still generate a lot of recognition and influence. However I know that many people want instant traffic to their Facebook page so I’ve come up with a few ideas. I suggest trying a few things but keep in mind that the more you brand a note, the less likely it is to spread. Here are two of the primary ways to brand a note:

1. Put your brand name in the title - This method is pretty aggressive. I personally believe that this is a sure fire way to have your note fail at growing beyond the people you first tag but if you are an aggressive marketer you can feel free to test it out. Just remember that I warned you!
2. Go chain letter style - I hate to suggest that companies create chain letters but there are some important things to learn from chain letters. Chain letters are called chain letters for a reason. One of the primary reasons is that they actually work! So to get more recognition have people do a traditional pyramid list (we are not sending money here, just playing a game). Have people write down the name of the last 5 people that were in chain at the end of the note.

There are plenty of other ways to consider branding your note including encouraging users to link back to the source of the note. Whatever method you come up with, branding is something that needs to be delicately balanced with contributing to the community. Always keep in mind that sparking the conversation is more important than the branding being received.

Daily Task

Brainstorm three ideas for notes that you think people will be willing to spread to their friends. Ultimately this task takes some extra effort but if you want to generate buzz you should take advantage of all of the promotional channels available to you on Facebook and the notes application is one of them.

Note
This day was the furthest stretch for a marketing activity on Facebook. Throughout the 30 days process there are numerous other suggestions that will have much greater results and are less aggressive. However, it never hurts to work on improving your ability to create a viral sensation!