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Telecom Breakthrough: Blockchain to Stop Big Brother From Watching You

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Telecom Breakthrough:
Blockchain to Stop Big Brother
From Watching You

  

Telecom Breakthrough: Blockchain to Stop Big Brother From Watching You

Ensuring privacy and security is perhaps one of the key issues in the era of the Internet. Advancements in technologies allowed us to access information faster, communicate easier and at the lower cost. However, the same technologies allowed third parties to collect our personal data. “The Internet is the most liberating tool for humanity ever invented and also the best for surveillance,” said John Perry Barlow, the cyber rights activist, “It is not one or the other. It is both.” Cointelegraph spoke with Roman Nekrasov, CEO and Co-Founder of Encrypto Telecom, an intriguing project in the Blockchain and cryptocurrency space setting out to transform telecommunication industry.

There is a lot to be changed in telecom industry

Roman came to Blockchain industry with Bitcoin mining. In late 2012, following his friend’s advice he set up a Bitcoin farm using four Radeon 7970 video cards. As the Bitcoin price was rising, he got more and more interested in the technology behind Bitcoin, how cryptocurrencies work and what are the reasons of such an obsession about cryptocurrencies nowadays beside mining. In 2014, working in the local telecom company, Roman encountered a bunch of issues ranging from absolute lack of interest in customers’ needs, inconvenient user interface of personal accounts, topped with vulnerability of customers’ personal data.

He says:

“It was the time I came up with the idea to start a project which could solve some of these problems through integration of Blockchain technology. This is how we created Encrypto Telecom. My partners supported the idea, and agreed that we had everything we needed to create a service we imagined – convenient, secure, protected and at an adequate price.”

So insecure, so vulnerable!

It is a scary thought, but our personal data is being monitored constantly. It is collected by a range of organizations or individuals, ranging from state agencies, harvesting data for the purposes of ensuring national security, to business corporations, wishing to learn more about customer’s habits. The safety of collected data can never be fully guaranteed – high-profile hacks and leaks of millions of users’ accounts details, passwords, credit cards information, home addresses take place with frightening frequency. Besides, hackers and malicious organizations can purchase this data to defraud its owners.

There is now a whole bunch of applications for communication through instant messaging, voice and video calls. Some of them are placing privacy and security at the core, however, there are applications still relatively insecure. Thus, even if the content of the call is not intercepted, it is still possible to collect metadata and other details posing a risk to the security and privacy of those making a call.

Ensuring privacy of communications

EncryptoTel has developed a platform that enables users to communicate securely through existing applications such as Zoiper, X-Lite, etc, ensuring full encryption of voice and video calls and financial privacy through integration of cryptocurrency payments tools. EncryptoTel’s suggests integration of a virtual private branch exchange (PBX), which can be rolled out for businesses easily and quite fast. It will enable businesses to deploy a secure Internet-based telephone network, which could be connected to the external phone system. Many offices are already using PBXs or IP-PBXs, EncryptoTel aims to develop this model further significantly improving privacy and making it more cost-effective.

Nekrasov told Cointelegraph:

“EncryptoTel is more than just another PBX system. Besides offering a range of services for businesses, we are also aiming to extend these services to individual customers, who wish to communicate not caring too much about the privacy of their personal data.”

Currently, there are no competing companies in the space offering similar model. “Well, there are giants like Twillio and DIDWW, but we don’t consider them as our competitors, as our approaches differ a lot,” Nekrasov explains. “We are aiming to take the maximum benefit from integration of Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Moreover, we are planning to collaborate with these companies to expand our services and numbering capacity.”

How the platform works

EncryptoTel uses the most innovative digital technology solutions, including encryption through open, trusted algorithms, and Blockchain technology. The company has developed services for a basic user, businesses and marketing agencies. EncryptoTel’s PBX allows transferring incoming calls to any number, including mobile and stationary phones. It is possible to carry a fully automated distribution of calls with the help of specially created schemes and scenarios. Once the complex setting up of the call queue and incoming calls transfer schedule is completed, it becomes easy to distribute calls among let’s say company’s employees, therefore significantly simplifying tasks of a secretary.

Platform also offers a number identification feature along with hiding/substitution of the number. The most reliable traffic encryption protocols are used to ensure privacy of all conversations. All data is effectively protected inside the network and only the user can have access to it through a personal account. Roman says that the interest in EncryptoTel is already huge, however, there is a number of challenges the team had to encounter. Thus, there is no clear understanding among users what is the PBX and how it functions, not even mentioning the understanding of Blockchain technology, but EncryptoTel team members are always ready to address all the questions and requests from customers.

Roman says:

“We would like to expand our services, attracting more and more customers but the project is currently financed through our personal savings, as well as with the support of friends and community.”

On April 24, EncryptoTel launches an ICO, which is going to last for 37 days. The team is expecting to raise at least $100,000, which would allow building a stable and fully-functional PBX. In case the ICO attracts more than $250,000, company will embark on development of a native traffic encryption protocol based on Blockchain technology. If investments exceed one mln. EncryptoTel will start a huge campaign aimed at international expansion in B2B, B2C, B2G sectors. The EncryptoTel team has successfully completed development of the majority of platform’s features of a working BETA version of the platform.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Should You Accept Cryptocurrency In Your Small Business?

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should you accept cryptocurrency in you small business

Should You Accept Cryptocurrency In Your Small Business?

 

Despite the controversy and challenges that occur — small-business owners are embracing cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin. The main reason, according to the more savvy entrepreneurial-types, is that by using the latest technology they can stand out from other businesses.

Does that mean that accepting cryptocurrencies is the right fit for your business? It actually depends on your business’s particular situation and needs, but for the most part, cryptocurrencies can offer the following advantage for business owners.

In years past U.S. merchants have had to pay over $78 billion in credit and debit card processing fees. Since cryptocurrencies are decentralized, meaning that they don’t require a bank to verify each transaction, you can eliminate those transaction fee which normally cost 2 percent up to 5 percent for each transaction.

In other words, it costs almost nothing for your customers to transfer funds to you. As for you — as a business owner — don’t have to share your hard-earned revenue with that third party financial institutions.

More privacy and security for your customers.

According to a research by Statista, 17 percent of shopping cart abandonment is over payment security concerns, with another 18 percent is due to excessive payment security checks.

With cryptocurrency transactions, customers don’t have to share personal data when making purchases because they rely on a send-only protocol, meaning that counterfeiting and identity theft are decreased because there aren’t any number for hacker to steal.

Transactions are processed quickly.

Waiting for a funds to become available in your bank account isn’t just frustrating, it can negatively impact your cash flow. That’s not the case with cryptocurrency transactions. In most cases, these transactions occur in real-time because there aren’t multiple banks holding-up the payment process.

Even if it’s not that quick — funds are typically available in just a couple of minutes.

It’s an international currency.

If your business exports goods and services, or purchases supplies or materials from other countries, then cryptocurrencies like bitcoin can help you get around those expensive foreign transaction fees, exchange rates, or currencies.

Since eCash, like bitcoin, is a global currency and it’s not tied to any single government or company. In other words, it ignores border restrictions. So as long as both parties accept bitcoin, you’re good to go.

No fraud, no chargebacks.

 

Cryptocurrencies are similar to cash, in that you either have it or you don’t and all transactions are final. This is because transactions are added to the blockchain via a complex system called mining.

This system verifies funds and makes it pretty much impossible to spend more than you own. Also, since both parties must approve the transaction, there aren’t any disputes to worry about it. This means that chargebacks don’t occur and are a thing of the past.

Acquire new customers.

There are serious die-hard fans of cryptocurrencies. Having your customers already familiar with cryptocurrencies is a plus and can be a major assist for your business since they actively seek out businesses that accept digital currencies.

Of course, that’s a niche market. However, as a general rule of thumb, when you offer more payment options the more customers you’ll be able to attract. In fact, it’s been found that up to 28 percent of shopping cart abandonment is caused by the lack of a payment option a shopper prefers to use.

We’re moving away from paper.

Both cryptocurrencies and digital wallets are continuing to grow. In fact, both the blockchain and bitcoin had banner years in 2016. Bitcoin was the top currency in 2016 and is being valued at around $1,000.

It’s expected this trend will continue in 2017 and and began a high growth beyond 2017 as people become more familiar with this digital currency.

Instead of resisting this change, it would make more sense for your business to become an early adopter and embrace cryptocurrencies so that you can set yourself apart from your competitors.

The bottom line.

While accepting cryptocurrencies can set you apart as an innovator and an early adopter of fintech. Cryptocurrencies are faster and cheaper than processing traditional payments, and are relatively secure.

As yet, cryptocurrency is not equally regulated. Some countries are working to restricted cryptocurrency use.

If is not considered as stable, yet. Cryptocurrency isn’t as regulated as the price of eCash and it can fluctuate suddenly.

Limited scaling. The system is designed to only process so many transactions at this time. However, the fintech revolution is solving many of the issues surrounding the scaling.

Lack of applications. There aren’t as many applications to process virtual currencies as compared to apps that can process credit or debit cards. However, several companies are in the race to come up with the MVP app for cryptocurrencies.

Security. While identity theft and counterfeit can be greatly reduced with this type of system, there’s no system in place to prevent human error, technical glitches, or fiduciary fraud. (Of course, there never has been anything to stop those very same issues in traditional banking, either. Cryptocurrency still remains the most secure banking method as a result of the blockchain process.)

Makes planning more challenging. Since cryptocurrencies are decentralized, and 100 percent digital, it can make preparing financial statements, determining taxes, and figuring out your prices difficult.

If you do decide to start accepting cryptocurrencies after weighing the pros and cons, you can easily get started by using digital wallets like Due and Coinbase.

There’s also POS systems like XBTerminal that allows customers to pay from any mobile bitcoin wallet by using NFC or QR code.

David Ogden
Entrepreneur

This article was originally published on Due.com.

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Tips to Creating a Successful Content-Marketing Campaign

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Tips to Creating a Successful Content-Marketing Campaign

The phrase “content marketing” is all over the web these days.

Content has become a conglomeration of many things: webinars, blog posts, videos, social network shares and more. It sounds like a great idea. If done right, a well-executed digital campaign will yield considerable benefits for both established businesses and entrepreneurs. Such a strategy has the power to position a business as a topical authority and establish the owners and executives as experts.

The devil, as they say, is in the details. Implementing such a campaign isn’t as easy as it seems and takes a bit more effort than pressing a button. Depending on your business goals, time needs to be spent aligning your company's brand’s online persona with your customers’ needs. Once posted, content that’s shared requires interaction on your part. Interact directly with your community by saying something meaningful to stimulate continued conversation. Content marketing can be a boon for your brand. Be sure to follow these tested truths when planning your campaign:

Know your audience and keep the content relevant. 

Each social network has a unique identity and audience, so take some time to research the demographics of the social marketing platforms you use to share. All sites are not the same. Some skew highly to men (Google+) and others are more popular with women (Pinterest). Check the current information on the sites to determine where to share your content to the to best effect.

Whether you market to businesses or consumers, you no doubt have a grasp of their interests. Blogs are still a great way to build an engaged community around your brand and interests. An example of a blog that successfully uses content marketing is SavvySeller.co. This is a community site offering helpful advice for online sellers while displaying ads for its parent company, World Lister. Check what your customers are sharing on social media. By making your blog posts relevant to readers, they may pass along your content as well and become your advocate, awarding you with free, yet most valuable, marketing.

Beware of constant self-reference. 

Repetitive self-reference will not stimulate engagement. The days of broadcast advertising are long past, and without giving your message a twist, broadcasting will do nothing but discourage readers. Rather, use stories to illustrate the benefits your business has to offer. Direct your message to the reader and be sure to personalize it by using the word “you.” In this way, your posts directly address (and pique the interest) of your community. Keep the promotional content to no more than a 1-to-7 ratio. As social scientist Dan Zarrella says, “Stop talking about yourself." Instead, "start talking as yourself.”

Share what works. 

When creating content for your business, consider your own time schedule and talents. Sitting down to write a white paper may be painful for many people, and small businesses may not have the time or resources to produce one. If you are more comfortable communicating your messages in another format, for example, why not try sharing the following:

Short-form articles (like this one)

Infographics or small sharable graphics are easily produced on a platform such as Canva

Photographs of products in action that you can share on Instagram 

Short product demonstrations or instructional videos (try to keep them under two minutes)

Other related business content

Also, consider sharing content about things you are passionate about. By posting ideas and subjects that are personally relevant to you (the business owner), you project your humanity to your online influence. 

Consider curating.

 A growing trend is content aggregation which is deriving content directly from others’ RSS feeds and automatically turning them into shares. Aggregating is not curating. In contrast, curating content requires a human being to find, read and qualify digital content that is relevant to your audience. Curating may sound like a lot of work, but it may take as little as 30 minutes a day. If you (or another member of your staff) regularly read digital content that relates to your business, finding articles to share is a simple proposition. 

Even the owners of niche businesses can find articles that might resonate with their audience. If you curate and share content from others, your audience will look to you as a reliable source for information on a specific topic. A secondary benefit of sharing third-party content is that you build relationships by broadening the conversation with others within your industry.

Measure once and then again.

 Track the comments and responses to your pieces. When you share links on social media platforms, use the many free metrics tools to decipher which of your posts were on track. By on track, I mean were they read? Shared? Acted upon? If a platform or content type isn’t working for you, be sure to put effort into the ones that are. Know that your content marketing will build with time and continuity, and social content may not translate into sales immediately. Set up a plan in advance and have reasonable expectations. You are brand building for the long haul.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Tips on Developing a Successful Inbound-Marketing Strategy

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Tips on Developing a Successful Inbound-Marketing Strategy

  

As a small-business owner, you wear a lot of hats:

customer support, HR, media relations, bookkeeper, and the list goes on. With so many responsibilities, having marketing strategies doesn't always make the top of the list.  But it should, as it is important for maintaining the pipeline to ensure you stay busy. One way to help generate new business (without having to be out in the field every day) is inbound marketing, a technique that brings customers closer to the brand through blogs, videos, email newsletters and social media marketing, to name a few. These strategies bring customers in, instead of having to try and gain customers through activities like buying ads, cold calling and buying ads, a practice called outbound marketing. By following these easy steps, you’ll be well on your way to building a customer pipeline and able to stay focused on the work you’re passionate about.

Leverage online profiles.

Many people make the mistake of assuming their website is a one-stop marketing shop. But your presence on the web should go beyond your company’s website. Leveraging your personal social accounts to link back to your business site is a simple first step to begin marketing yourself in a less conventional way. It helps drive traffic from a wider variety of touch points and increases the potential audience you can reach.

Ensure the “About” sections of sites like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn have a short elevator pitch about who you are, what you do and why someone should use your company. And if it suits your business, don’t be afraid to inject some personality into it.

Build a blog.

This can take a lot of time, but there is serious value in good content. Not only does it help establish you as an expert in your field, it also helps to increase your website’s rank for main keyword phrases. When deciding what kind of posts to write for your blog, consider what your potential clients will be searching when looking to hire someone like you. Producing content that answers questions clients have will mean they’re more likely to land on your site and in turn will be able to read how much you know about your area of expertise.

Be sure to reference back to your site or consider integrating your blog with your website for a one-stop shop for value-added content and the services you provide. It’s a great one-two punch to show potential clients that you know your stuff and your business can solve their problems.

Contribute content to relevant websites.

Much like writing blog content, this involves some writing on your part, but it is well worth the investment. There are a number of websites that accept guest posts written by people who are experts in their field. Find blogs whose audiences are made up of your ideal audience, and contribute the occasional article to establish yourself as a thought leader and help generate business leads. It’s great when you can leverage trending topics into a relevant article to pitch. Sites always prefer content that is timely and dialed into the hot topics of the moment. This is a “quality over quantity” situation where you don’t need to be writing articles for different sites every week.

Tell people about your successes.

Don’t worry about coming across as bragging, it’s important to make it known when work is yours. People looking to hire or explore new companies are always searching for insight into who’s doing good work and what they are saying about the industry. Publishing a running record of your work is one of the best ways to demonstrate the value you deliver.

Keep an updated portfolio on your website, share content you’ve written via Twitter, Facebook, and your blog, and include your bio at the end of freelance content you’ve written. If you’re a photographer, include a watermark when your photos are shared online. There are lots of ways to share and take credit for your work, and it’s valuable to do so.

Publish reviews from past and present clients.

The best way to build confidence in your work is through testimonials from people who have worked with you in the past or had experience with your company. These can be done in a number of ways thanks to all of the social platforms available. Have someone write you a recommendation on LinkedIn or for use on your website. You can also amplify the good will of your clients by retweeting a particularly flattering tweet and integrating your social media into your blog or website. And lastly, remember to post any positive media coverage on your site. There’s nothing like giving your potential clients the confidence that they’re working with someone who’s the best and who has delivered great experiences to other people.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

The Fundamentals for a Successful Inbound-Marketing Strategy

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The Fundamentals for a Successful Inbound-Marketing Strategy

An entrepreneur’s responsibilities reach far and wide. 

You wear a number of hats on a day-to-day basis, none more important than marketing. To succeed, you must learn the strategies and practices that work best in 2014. A deep understanding of inbound marketing best practices is vital to the growth and success of your business. No matter how busy you are, you simply can't ignore the importance of marketing your brand effectively. Take a look at the eight most important things every entrepreneur needs to know about inbound marketing.

The traditional marketing playbook is broken. 

Almost everyone – 91 percent, to be precise – has unsubscribed from email lists. Two-out-of-three people (68 percent) who record TV content do so to skip advertisements (Motorola, December 2012) and, according to DoubleClick, the average click-through rate on display ads is only 0.2 percent. According to Brian Halligan, the CEO of Hubspot and author of the book Inbound Marketing: Attract, Engage, and Delight Customers Online, the way modern consumers shop and make purchases has changed dramatically, and as such, businesses must adapt in order to survive.

In an interview, Halligan said, “The Internet has fundamentally changed how we live our lives, and as consumers, we now have more options than ever to tune out marketing that is annoying. Most entrepreneurs I know understand that based on their own experience, but when it comes to marketing their business, they default to the traditional marketing playbook because it's easy or because it's what everyone has always done for years. That's a huge mistake."

According to Halligan, you can no longer rent your way to consumer attention, you need to earn it. Instead of dreaming up new ways to interrupt your way into your prospects’ lives, invest in ways to engage them meaningfully with an inbound experience. “Dharmesh (Shah) and I wrote the inbound marketing book to give entrepreneurs actionable advice to attract, engage and delight their prospects, customers, and leads,” Halligan explained. "Inbound marketing focuses on the width of your brain, not the width of your wallet, and entrepreneurs have more remarkable ideas than anyone I know."

Your content must be remarkable enough to break through the clutter. 

Think about how many channels you have on your television, and how many websites and social media channels compete for your attention each day. The same is true for your customers. It’s not enough to just produce content. Your content must educate, inspire or entertain your audience. Don’t talk about your brand non-stop or try to sell people too early or often in your content. Instead, try to spark interesting dialogue and discussion with your content. Doing so will pay off with attention and engagement.

Think of your website as a hub, not a megaphone. 

Far too many businesses think about their websites as broadcast channels for addressing a large group of people. Your website functions best when its content and design are built with a human touch. Instead of writing copy to impress your competitors, create copy and experiences an individual customer will love. Don’t scream through a megaphone at your customers. Design the entire end-to-end experience with individual humans in mind. Conversation trumps a broadcast message every time. Design your web experience accordingly.

Inbound includes content and code. 

Many entrepreneurs mistake massive volumes of content for an inbound strategy, forgetting that shipping code is indispensable as well. Specifically, free tools are powerful in converting web traffic into highly engaged leads. For example, InsightSquared created Sales Funnel, a free tool that allows Salesforce users to quickly and efficiently diagnose their sales funnel. Leads that try Sales Funnel convert at a rate almost twenty times higher than leads that don’t. Free tools can transform your entire customer experience. Invest developer resources into your marketing efforts for the biggest impact possible.

Master the call to action.  

Think about how hard you work to get traffic to your site. Now think of what happens if a visitor comes to your site and doesn’t know where to go or what to do next once they visit. You’ve just wasted all of your hard efforts! Your call to action is a sign post showing your visitors where they should go next. If someone came to your blog first, you want to make it easy and seamless for them to subscribe to read similar articles. If a visitor comes from a co-marketing initiative with a partner, ensure the copy on the site is built specifically to appeal to someone who knows both your brands. Tailor the next step accordingly. It’s not enough to optimize your site for search. You have to optimize your site for action.

Get visual. 

The average attention span is just eight seconds, so even if you want to write a 10,000-word essay on your new product launch, chances are slim that your audience will get through it. Creating remarkable visual content is a great way to cut through content clutter and stand out from the pack. If you don’t have an army of designers at your disposal, use Canva or Visage to create simple and beautiful visuals, hire a young freelancer to pitch in or just put your iPhone to good use taking pictures of your space, your customers, your team and your product. When it comes to content, a photo (or video) really is worth 1,000 words.

Inbound delivers higher ROI for your business. 

In a 2013 survey, American inbound marketers spending more than $25,000 per year saved an average of 13 percent in overall cost per lead ($36 versus $41 with outbound). It’s far more expensive to continue pouring money into paid channels that don’t deliver returns than it is to invest in blogging and social media. Inbound marketing is good for your bottom line and your brand.

Hire wisely. 

If you’re hiring an in-house marketer or an agency to help with your marketing efforts, you need a skill set that matches your strategy. Invest in people who are digitally savvy, highly analytical, have significant reach on the web and have experience creating remarkable content.

Today’s marketing world requires companies to continually optimize. The team behind you must be well equipped, comfortable with the technology and have the tenacity to update your strategy and approach on a daily basis to meet your growth goals. Successful inbound marketing is a science that requires a specific expertise and plenty of experience. Even if marketing isn’t your cup of tea, it’s important that you know and understand the basics. If you keep these tips in mind, you can rest assured that your business is practicing the latest and greatest inbound marketing techniques, and maximizing its growth potential.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Ways to make your inbound marketing stand out

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Ways to make your inbound marketing stand out

Experts in content creation and digital strategy discuss the best methods and channels to attract new customers.

  

Marketing IT Bullseye

Converting leads and contacts into customers continues to be the top marketing priority for many companies, according to HubSpot research,. And organizations that focus on inbound – e.g. using content marketing, social media and SEO to attract customers — (vs. outbound) marketing are more likely to be effective. Here are a few things your business can do to make your inbound marketing efforts more effective – and convert more prospects into customers.

Know who your target audience is – and where they get their information

“You must define your audience before you even get started, creating the fundamental inbound marketing ‘buyer persona,’” says Ryan Malone, founder & CEO, SmartBug Media. Personas should factor in demographics – gender, age, education, location – and include things like the customer’s likes and dislikes, where they shop, where they work and who they buy for (family, friends, coworkers).

Once you’ve identified and defined your ideal customer, use that buyer persona to guide your strategy, “from the keywords [you] choose, to the website experience, the blogs you write to the social media sites you use for promotion,” he says. “Many organizations mistakenly try to be everything to everyone; however, to truly see inbound success, you must focus on attracting the right audience first and foremost."

Plan ahead

“SMBs need to look at the big picture and strategically plan content long term,” says Jamie Domenici, vice president of SMB marketing, Salesforce. “This allows your business to capitalize on… seasons, holidays or events [that are relevant to your business and target audience].” For example, Valentine’s Day is a holiday no florist, chocolatier or jeweler would want to miss. And “having an editorial calendar ensures the business can prepare interesting and insightful content well in advance.”

Develop an SEO strategy

“Search optimized blogging is one of the best ways for small and medium sized businesses to improve inbound marketing,” says Lauren Fairbanks, CEO, S/G Content Marketing. Just “make sure you focus on the right keywords that match your customer's pain points and work on creating content around those.”

“The best (and free) place to start with this is AdWords Keyword [Planner],” says Amy Nedoss, marketing strategy director at SocialRaise. “Find low-competition and high-volume search terms. Then align your content with [them]. That way the content is highly targeted and has a better chance of being found [by your target audience].”Fight enemies smarter and faster with an open, unified ecosystem for a resilient defense.

“Another trick to improve SEO is to revive your old content,” says Tim Jernigan, marketing analyst, Badger Maps. “If your existing posts don’t receive traffic anymore, you can revamp them with infographics [or] images. You can even combine a few blogs to make a PDF guide [or white paper] and post [with a new title].”

Create a company blog and fill it with useful content

“The secret to a successful inbound marketing strategy is to consistently provide quality content that is interesting and helpful to current and prospective customers. At the heart of this strategy is the humble blog,” says Domenici.

“Company blogs drive inbound traffic to your website, and can also give your business credibility within your industry,” she says. “Customers favor companies that offer valuable knowledge rather than ones that are too self-promotional, so be sure to identify common customer pain points and provide easy-to-follow solutions. Extend the reach of your blog by sharing posts across your social networks to engage with customers where they are.”

Send fewer emails but with better content

“A big theme we’re seeing this year is sending less email better, which is something we’re really leaning into at HubSpot,” says Jon Dick, vice president of marketing, HubSpot. “As people’s inboxes become more and more crowded, many marketers have resorted to increasing their email volume to get the same number of opens. But this approach is backwards.”Sending fewer but more relevant emails “will actually get you more opens and better engagement in today’s environment,” he says. The key is to “focus on adding… value and investing in good content that shows, not tells, your message.” If you do this, “the few emails you do send will get good engagement.”

Include graphics and/or photos in messaging

“Humans are more receptive to visual content,” points out Domenici. So “incorporating visual elements [in your messaging] is a sure-fire way for your small business to increase the draw of your inbound marketing strategy. Readers will often become disengaged with ‘how-to’ blog posts that are text heavy, but adding graphics can help illustrate step-by-step instructions in a clearer way. Video tutorials are also a great way to easily provide a solution to a common problem and can easily be shared through different channels.”

Interact with consumers through podcasts and videos

“Nothing showcases the personality of a brand better than utilizing the latest digital media channels,” says Mark Nardone, executive vice president, PAN Communications. “Brainstorm podcast topics that will open up discussions around industry trends and best practices. This will garner interest from consumers and influencers and position your brand as a thought leader and resource for your target audience.” And don’t leave out video.

“With a 5x higher recall than the written word, video is the most engaging media format and most effective in assisting conversions,” says Kent Lewis, founder & president, Anvil Media. “Video production costs have decreased dramatically. And live streaming (on platforms like Facebook), 360-degree video, augmented and virtual reality… and drones [have] all make video capture and viewing more dramatic and immersive. If your brand isn't doubling down on video as a key element for inbound marketing, you will miss the bus.” 

Tap social media influencers

“It’s imperative that brands use social media to develop an influencer repertoire to share news… and establish a brand image,” says Nardone. Social media “influencers play a crucial part in inbound marketing practices by acting as brand So after you have created your buyer personas, find out which social media platforms they are using and who are the influencers in your category or industry. Follow and interact with them to establish a connection. Then reach out to them about promoting your brand.

Try Facebook Lead Ads

“If you aren't using Facebook Lead Ads, you're missing out in a big way,” says Michael Mignogna, CEO, Minyona. “Prior to Facebook Lead Ads, when advertising on Facebook, you had to create an ad that pointed to a landing page on a website outside of Facebook and then hope the user felt like taking the desired action.

“With Lead Ads, an advertiser can offer a free download of an ebook, for example, and because it all happens inside of Facebook, the information the advertiser wants to capture is auto populated so the user can simply click ‘download,’” he explains. “We use this for several clients, and… we are able to bring them dozens of new inbound leads per week that automatically get opted into an email nurturing campaign.”

Share content on LinkedIn Pulse

Post blogs and articles you’ve written on LinkedIn Pulse. “It won't hurt SEO in terms of duplicate content, and it will help you reach many more people with minimal additional effort,” says Maddy Osman, founder & SEO content strategist, The Blogsmith. “LinkedIn has some of the best reach on any social platform, and as more people engage with your LinkedIn Pulse post, it will reach their networks as well. It's a great way to use your existing network to reach more people and funnel them to your website.”

Don’t offer up all your content for free

“The majority of your content should be freely available on your company blog, but some of it should be only available for download if people enter their contact details into a lead generation form,” says Brett Langlois, SEO & content team lead, Pure SEO. “This will allow you to capture their details and enter them into your sales funnel.”

Invest in marketing automation

“The most successful inbound marketers have the right tools to amplify their efforts,” says Tommy Burns, marketing specialist, Matrix Marketing Group. “There's only so much you can do alone, and marketing automation can free up valuable time to be directed where it's needed most. Increased inbound results offset any cost.”

Be patient and persistent

“Inbound marketing is a long game,” says Julie Graff, social content liaison, Pole Position Marketing. “While you can get some quick wins (particularly with pay-per-click advertising and some SEO tactics), it's going to take some time to see real growth. Don't pull the plug because you don't see results right away. Your goal should be long-term, sustainable growth. This takes patience, time and an ongoing strategy. When you do see results, you're not done. You need to keep going. Digital growth results stop when you stop investing time in them.”

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

How to Assemble a Board of Directors for a Startup

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How to Assemble a Board of Directors for a Startup

                           

…assembling a board of directors presents startups with significant opportunities to reinforce and expand on the business’s strengths while also addressing its weaknesses.

This post provides an overview of several of the legal and practical considerations startups should be aware of as they constitute their board of directors.

As mentioned on Bradley’s Family Business Advocates blog, a board of directors is the governing body of the corporation elected by its stockholders. The board will guide the overall direction and strategy of the corporation; it will hire, fire, and supervise the corporation’s officers; and it will ultimately decide all major corporate decisions, such as whether or not to sell the business. Good directors are valuable resources who may provide startups with credibility, technical expertise, industry experience, and access to new business opportunities. Accordingly, assembling a board of directors presents startups with significant opportunities to reinforce and expand on the business’s strengths while also addressing its weaknesses.

The initial directors of a corporation are appointed by an incorporator simultaneously with, or shortly after, the organization of the corporation. An incorporator is a person who creates the corporation by executing and filing the certificate of incorporation, and they will often be a shareholder, director or officer of the corporation or one of its representatives. If the incorporator chooses not to appoint directors in the corporation’s certificate of incorporation, then an organizational action is required by the incorporator to transfer governing authority over to the initial board of directors. Until this transfer of authority occurs, the corporation is governed by the incorporator, whose powers are limited by statute. 

Although most states do not mandate when the transfer must occur, some states, such as New York, have held that an incorporator may not operate a corporation indefinitely because the board of directors must manage the corporation.  While the NYBCL does not address when the organizational action must be taken, it has been held that an incorporator cannot operate a corporation indefinitely because the board should manage the corporation. The incorporator's powers are generally limited under Delaware law to organizing the corporation, adopting the bylaws, electing directors, and transacting other limited business as is authorized by state law.

Generally, state law provides startups with significant flexibility in structuring their boards. A board of directors must have at least one director, and all directors must be natural persons (as opposed to business entities or trusts). Otherwise few limitations apply as to who may serve on a startup’s board. The corporation’s certificate of incorporation or bylaws may fix the number of directors and their requisite qualifications. Corporations often provide a range, rather than specifying the number of directors, which allows for greater flexibility as new directors are added and existing directors are removed or resign. Usually, the board will consist of a mix of the corporation’s key management (i.e., inside directors) and other individuals not employed by the corporation (i.e., outside directors). 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to assembling an initial board of directors…

The legal flexibility that startups have in structuring their boards is constrained by practical and strategic considerations. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to assembling an initial board of directors, rather each corporation must balance competing interests and tailor its board to its current needs. When determining the size of a board, although there is no maximum legal limit for the number of directors permitted to serve, a bloated board will often become ineffective and unmanageable. A board of directors will typically have an odd number of directors to prevent a voting deadlock.

A startup’s shareholder base will greatly affect the composition of its board. Outside investors routinely condition their investment on receiving a board presence that roughly reflects their ownership stake in the corporation. For example, a venture-backed startup may find that an outside investor holding 20 percent of the corporation’s stock would like to appoint one-fifth of the corporation’s directors. Further, depending on the rights granted in the corporation’s organizational documents, such an investor may be entitled to make this election without the input of the other shareholders. Even without command of a majority of a corporation’s board seats, outside investors often feel that representation on the board helps them maintain communication with management and visibility into their investment.

Although directors can often be a significant asset to a startup, it is important to take some time to appropriately vet and recruitable candidates for directorships. Initially, many startups may wish to proceed with forming a corporation to secure the benefits of the corporate form without appointing multiple directors to their board. In the interim, it is not uncommon for startups to organize an advisory board to realize some of the benefits of a board of directors without handing over actual authority to make business decisions or manage company affairs. Ultimately, a successful startup will likely see the structure and composition of its board of directors change significantly over time. It is important that entrepreneurs and investors seek corporate counsel throughout this evolution. 

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

3 Simple Ways for Earning Cryptocurrency From Home

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3 simple ways of earning cryptocurrency from home

3 Simple Ways for Earning Cryptocurrency From Home

Cryptocurrencies represent awesome payment systems that enable anyone to send and receive money to and from anyone in the world; convert it to fiat currencies easily and use it to buy whatever one might choose whether online or offline. However, one of the drawbacks of cryptocurrencies is that it can be somehow hard to buy them, especially in selected countries where it is difficult to open a bank account.

Throughout this article, I will show you three ways to make money online in the form of cryptocurrencies using just your laptop/PC and an internet connection:

1-Blogging on Steemit.com

Steemit.com is a blockchain based social network, that incentives its users for posting and curating (upvoting) content. On Steemit, you can make money online, in the form of crypto, for posting new content and/or curating (up-voting) the content of others. The social network has three forms of currencies/tokens:

STEEM: which represents a cryptocoin that is tradable on a number of exchanges such as Poloniex.

Steem backed dollars (SBD): whose value is linked to the USD. SBD is also tradable on cryptocurrency exchanges.

STEEM Power: which are influence tokens that give users control over the amount of earnings they gain by posting and curating content.

When you publish a post on steemit, you will receive rewards for it after 24 hours depending on the number of upvotes it received by other users, who create content. Your earnings will be divided into 3 portions

a. 50% will be in the form of STEEM Power

b. 25% will be in the form of STEEM

c. 25% will be in the form of SBD

STEEM and SBD can be instantly transferred to an exchange and sold for Bitcoin, while you can only convert STEEM Power to STEEM, to be able to sell it, through a complex process known as “Power Down”.

 

2- Mining Altcoins Via Minergate:

Even though I remember that I used to mine around 1 whole Bitcoin every 36 hours in 2010,using just my PC, it is now impossible to mine Bitcoin and most major altcoins using a PC, as the networks of all these coins have grown massively and their networks’ difficulties have skyrocketed too. However, there are a handful of altcoins that you can still mine using a PC with reasonable specifications.

Minergate provides a descent service that enables you to mine a number of altcoins using your PC or laptop including Monero, bytecoin, Ethereum, Ethereum classic and others. The software also has a great option; “Smart mining”, which automatically picks up for you the best coins to mine according to market prices and network difficulties.

With a few clicks, you can download, install and start mining cryptocurrencies using your laptop. The higher the specifications of your PC (processor, RAM) and GPU, the bigger the amount you can make via Minergate’s mining software. Roughly speaking, a dual core i5, 8 GB RAM PC with a 1 GB Nividia Geoforce GPU can mine what is worth around 10 cents per day.

 

3- Donating your PC processing Power for Gridcoin GRC:

Gridcoin Research (GRC) is a cryptocurrency network that is created to facilitate multi-party computing and reward volunteers who donate their computing power to BOINC projects with GRC. You can make between 8-30 cents per day via donating your PC’s processing power to the gridcoin network.

Follow the BOINC client and gridcoin installation guides on gridcoin’s official website and in less than 20 minutes, you will be earning gridcoin for donating your computer’s processing power.

 

David Ogden

Entrepreneur

 

Author Dr Tamer Sameeh

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Bitcoin & Other Cryptocurrencies Shaping Future Economy, Capitalism Morphing

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Bitcoin & Other Cryptocurrencies Shaping Future Economy, Capitalism Morphing

  

Bitcoin & Other Cryptocurrencies Shaping Future Economy, Capitalism Morphing

Money has shaped our modern economy. We have gone from using grain and cattle and even salt as currency to using metal tokens (coins) and paper. However, paper has the habit of sticking and it has been around ever since the Chinese introduced it during the Tang dynasty. We have grown comfortable using paper currency and no one can deny that it has had its usefulness. Now we are approaching another era in which bits are playing the same role that paper did. Digital currencies are no longer something that will happen way into the future, they are here. How will the advent of digital currencies like Bitcoin, Monero, Ethereum and etc affect the future shape of the economy?

Is it the end of Capitalism?

Ed Finn wrote an article in the Guardian asking, “Do digital currencies spell the end of Capitalism?” Finn’s article covered the DAO issue and how Ethereum community dealt with the hack. He examines the very nature of digital currency and ponders the questions surrounding ‘programmable money.’

In the end, he succinctly concludes:

“If what counts, and how we count, is measured in processor cycles instead of human exchange, it will change the rules of the economy as surely as driverless vehicles will change transportation. What we value is fundamentally a question of belief, and it’s increasingly unclear what we believe in more: billfolds or bits?”

So what will change if we move to digital currencies, surely these currencies change the nature of money as they are not issued by a central monetary authority or backed by the promise of the sovereigns.

These currencies are an organism of their own kind. They open the doors to people issuing their own tokens and creating their own monetary policies. This could radically change the financial system as individuals could potentially fund their own enterprises with their own currencies. They also remove the vagaries of the interest rate cycles associated with government issued money and break the nexus between big businesses and the government.

The era of financial empowerment

Digital currencies have opened doors which were firmly shut. These currencies hold the promise of distribution of wealth like never before. Not only have they brought in the technology to transfer money in a blink of an eye at minimal costs around the world, they have also brought access to ‘money’ for people who never had it before.

As Dominik Zynis of the WINGS Foundation says:

“Digital currencies will allow anyone, be it person or community, to be included in the economy by self regulated credit expansion enabling trade people who previously lacked access to requisite mediums of exchange.”

Creating trust among people

At the moment people have no choice but to trust the sovereign's money. It is after all, a promissory note. Digital currencies put the trust fact squarely among the public. People who choose to use a particular digital currency, do so because they recognize it as money. Not because they were told to use it as money. The use of digital money or programmable money opens the doors for applications like smart contracts. Smart contracts within digital money can revolutionize the way ‘deals’ are done. Escrow can be inbuilt so that a transaction is only completed when certain parameters are met. This removes the need for having intermediaries in financial transactions, property transactions etc.

Capitalism is about to morph

The present economic system that we live in has reached its peak potential. We need a new era of economics if we are to develop further. In an era where the planetary resources are increasingly dwindling, we need a system that places less emphasis on profit and more on developing human resources. Virtual currencies or digital currencies can usher in an era of entrepreneurship and development. They can also transform how we do business today and remove regulatory bottlenecks out of the system. While capitalism might not come to an end immediately due to ‘programmable money’, it is certainly about to evolve into something different. No one can deny though that we are at the crossroads.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member

Markethive

Crypto Capital Markets To Save Mankind From New Global Financial Storm

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Crypto Capital Markets To Save Mankind From New Global Financial Storm

  

       Crypto Capital Markets To Save Mankind From New Global Financial Storm

Nick Ayton our London Correspondent, the Sage of Shoreditch looks beyond the current system at Crypto Capital Markets 2.1, a new world of finance and capital markets. The current Fractional Reserve banking system that few trust is failing, creaking at the seams. Will crypto economics be the only thing left as the global economies collapse under massive debts hidden from sight behind the media’s fake news?

With Bitcoin, Ethereum and crypto-currencies there is no concept of debt. In crypto capital markets bubbles stay in the glass.

Bubbles generally pop

It comes as no surprise that many predict another financial bubble that has been building since 2013. The West, Middle East, and Asia – nobody will be able to duck it. In the West, cars loans are the new subprime, student, and household debt is rising and credit worthiness is falling. And when it hits it will be worse than 2008. We are all victims of a dangerous game that is being played out by central bankers that have artificially kept interest rates at historic lows, so the pretense and promise of economic recovery can be maintained. There is no transparency, the truth is hidden from view, there is no trust left.

According to Business Insider,

“Interestingly, rates aren't just low within the context of American history. They also happen to be at the lowest levels in the last 5,000 years of civilization.”

Half truths

Everything is censored because if everyone found out the banking system would collapse. The issues are real, they are not going away and it is time for a new economic model. However, unlike 2008 we have a chance to create a fairer system, a system that will be more difficult to manipulate and impossible to create new ‘bubbles’… Is it time for the people to embrace crypto economics and get in early before they miss the opportunity.

Alternative

Crypto Capital Markets a rapidly maturing and fast growing alternative to Fractional Reserve Banking and failing Capital Markets. A system that is rapidly being put in place by the Libertarians, free thinkers, and crypto entrepreneurs so that everyone can still trade what value they have, after the next collapse.

A new system free from tampering and manipulation, a system without censorship, open, fair and transparent.

And yes Bitcoin and other native Blockchains will become the new norm, they will be all that is left.

Financial panic

We are already seeing inflation rising in many economies and currencies under pressure. The central banks have gone too far, printing too much money that has fed the hunger to borrow more and more. With a mountain of debt that cannot be repaid and will never be repaid, an alternative is needed. A world of worthless paper currencies, called fiat, no longer backed by solvent governments, where the US Dollar will devalue fast, pulling other currencies with it. Europe will collapse first as banks like Deutsche bank remain 40 times overleveraged and will fail the consequence it will strand the Euro as a currency without sovereignty, pushing southern European countries into bankruptcy.

The Yuan will fall further, the net effect of failing currencies will be pushing the people to look for the safe haven of crypto-currencies.

Storm Approaching

When the next financial crisis hits, 2017/18 Crypto Wallet adoption will pass 500m users in just months and rise to one to two bln by 2019. The world’s forgotten people, the unbanked are already embracing a new humanitarian banking economy like Humaniq. Across the globe capital markets and financial centers are overleveraged. Housing bubbles are growing and stock markets are reaching new highs are hugely overpriced. Debt is stockpiling, the Fractional Reserve Banking is off the grid as having more than 20 central banks in negative interest rates demonstrates. They believe the taxpayer will end up bailing everyone out. Again. But not this time.

Safe haven

Brexit and the Trump effect was a voted not for the ethos or the people involved, it was a vote by the people, for the people that have had enough. Where banks have overreached, governments sit back and the one percent most wealthy play with people’s lives and manipulate markets.

Our future is Crypto Capital Markets for which we already have the infrastructure such as exchanges, coins/token, wallets and markets.

2008 was the start when people started to say ‘no more.’ The Satoshi Nakamoto paper – a peer to peer electronic cash system was aimed at ensuring governments and bankers cannot destroy value laying the foundation to a new Capital Markets 2.0 originally designed to cut out the banks. It may become the only thing we have that works.

Chuck Reynolds
Contributor

Alan Zibluk – Markethive Founding Member