eSignature Form for Sales Teams Safe

A safe form is a digital document designed to securely capture information while ensuring data integrity. airSlate SignNow implements state-of-the-art encryption and secure cloud storage to guarantee that all safe forms are protected against unauthorized access, ensuring your sensitive information remains confidential.

Yes, airSlate SignNow offers affordable pricing plans that cater to businesses of any size. By choosing airSlate SignNow, you not only get a powerful solution for creating safe forms but also signNow savings compared to traditional paper-based processes and other eSignature services.

The standout features of airSlate SignNow’s safe form solution include customizable templates, real-time tracking, and easy integration with popular applications. These features streamline the document signing process, making it easier for businesses to manage workflows securely.

Creating a safe form with airSlate SignNow is simple and intuitive. After signing up, you can use customizable templates to create your document, add fields for user input, and then send it out for eSignature within minutes, all while maintaining security and compliance.

Yes, airSlate SignNow supports integrations with a variety of platforms, such as Google Drive, Salesforce, and Dropbox. These integrations allow for the seamless creation and management of safe forms directly from your favorite tools, enhancing productivity and efficiency.

Any business that requires secure document management can benefit from using safe forms. This includes sectors such as healthcare, finance, real estate, and education, where secure handling of sensitive information is crucial for compliance and trust.

Absolutely! airSlate SignNow provides real-time tracking on all safe forms, allowing you to monitor who has viewed, signed, or completed your documents. This feature enhances transparency and ensures you stay informed about the progress of your important transactions.

There are many aspects to GDPR. The two main ones being:1) getting consent from users to collect and use their data, and2) storing that data securely and only as long as necessary).However, that not only impacts marketing channels and processes, but also SALES and how you generate cold leads (e.g. through public sources).Salespeople must be aware of the implications of GDPR and comply with them, just like marketing-people.For salespeople that mainly affects 3 areas:Getting consent from users to collect and use their data, e.g. through esignatures and electronic contracts. (Using public data does not mean you can automatically contact them directly)Storage of customer data (e.g. CRMs)Using legal and GDPR-compliant contracts with customersIn my understanding, using public data still violates with 1): The contact still hasnt given you the right to contact him! In fact, not even a simple signup through an email form necessarily gives you the right to contact him. You still need a) inform him BEFOREHAND how you are going to use and store his data and b) send him a double opt-in email (if you want to be on the safe side)However, there are even more aspects that salespeople need to care about when it comes to GDPR.Lets have a closer look.Using cloud-solutions to ‘outsource’ the technical liability of data storageOne way to ‘easily’ become GDPR compliant in data storage, is by ‘outsourcing’ a majority (or all) of the data storage into the cloud, e.g. by using a cloud-based CRM over storing customer data on your local drive in an excel spreadsheet. That way, the cloud provider will have to ensure that the data is stored securely; has to put the necessary technical requirements into place to allow users to be forgotten; is the one who has to report and be liable for any data bsignNowes; etc. You are basically shifting the responsibility to somebody else.Getting consent from users to collect and use data, esignatures can be one solutionThere’s many ways to get the consent of a user to send him promotional material or cold emails. GDPR defines requirements for obtaining consent to process an individual’s personal data. This consent must be specific, informed, unambiguous, freely given, and documented. e-signatures can help to making sure this is the case. We make it easier to obtain affirmative consent at the point of data collection – in real-time.Ensure the use of GDPR compliant contracts throughout the sales teamIf you are managing a large sales team it might be difficult to ensure everybody is using the latest contract templates. What if they send out an outdated version that is not GDPR-compliant? A digital contract management platform[1] can help by only allowing salespeople to use certain contract templates without the option to edit certain legal terms of the contract.I wrote a blog article that goes into more detail how cloud solutions can help salespeople be GDPR compliant, specifically with digital contract management platforms: Sales organizations need to comply with GDPR. This is what you need to do with your sales contracts. | Accordium - Agree FasterFULL DISCLOSURE: Im co-founder of Accordium, a sales automation and digital contract platform.Footnotes[1] Home | Accordium - Agree Faster

I think that we all agree that the days of manual prospecting are long gone. If you automate your prospecting efforts you can save a lot of time and money, and streamline your whole sales process. But, since there are lots of prospecting tools in the market, it can be hard to figure out which ones are good and which ones you should avoid.I’ll give you a couple of suggestions based on the tools I used.Email Hunter is a decent little program that can extract a list of every single one company email. All you need to enter is a company domain, and you will soon be able to email any person from a company. You can use either its dedicated Chrome plugin, or you can do your search by means of their browser version. This program can come in really handy if you want to find the email of a particular decision maker and get in touch with them directly.HeadsignNow is another interesting tool that offers more options than Email Hunter as it has some advanced search features. This means that you can search prospects based on various criteria such as name, company, title, or website. You can also expect to find your prospects’ social media handles and memorize your search logs.Autoklose isn’t your average prospecting tool, mainly because it offers much more. It’s actually a sales automation platform that can dramatically speed up your sales cycle, and prospecting is just one of the weapons in its arsenal. Apart from automating your prospecting efforts and saving you a tremendous amount of time, Autoklose will make your job and life easier by automating your email marketing efforts, amplifying your follow-ups, providing you with detailed campaign stats and metrics, and streamlining numerous dull, repetitive tasks that have to be done during the sales process.When it comes to prospecting, Autoklose allows you several powerful methods of filling your funnel with quality leads.Upload your own reliable contacts from .CSV files and Autoklose will import the information in the database so that you can make lists according to various parameters, and additionally segment them in order to create customized outsignNow campaigns and improve your open and click-through rates;Connect your Salesforce account and sync the data with Autoklose thus growing your internal database. What’s great about this platform is that it prevents you from sending the same email to the same person twice;Gain access to a huge B2B leads database and find prospects from virtually any industry. I was impressed with the abundance of prospects that I could actually contact. This database is managed by Autoklose’s reliable third-party providers, and it’s absolutely clean and packed with verified, complete, and updated contact information.It’s clear that Autoklose gives you a plenty of prospecting options, and the fact that you can search for your potential customers by using different parameters makes it in a way similar to HeadsignNow, but one of the main and most important differences is that Autoklose provides you with validated data which undergoes a meticulous 50-point data-scrub, meaning that every missing field is filled in, and every email, phone number, address, and job title is checked both manually and through the proprietary technology. To cut the long story short, Autoklose keeps you covered and gives your prospecting a big boost.

Digital Marketing is very good for people who are a hybrid of creativity and analytical. It is one of the top 10 competitive courses in 2016. It’s like changing and adapting to new technologies every day.I studied engineering in mechanical has limited creativity and more physical work. My work experience consists of 1+ years of CNC machine operator. I felt that my soul is slowly withering as the year passed. Then I had some personal issues I left the job. That job was quite a little good but I don’t know sometimes it feels like the work is not for me. Sorry, I went over my job & experience.Digital marketing is a good career option if you are a mixture of creativity, analytical. It has a very good salary package and it is also needed by every company out there.For me, digital marketing has been a wonderful and profitable choice. Since I started this study, I have never felt it too difficult. Sometimes the tough challenges come but it makes me feel good because every challenge I learn so many new things.If you’re not sure. You can connect with any institute to request for a demo session to decide.I am highly recommending to learn Digital Marketing and would prefer to do it from Bangalore.

I’ve utilized 11 different marketing strategies for each of my businesses, and I know that each of them will still be relevant from 2018 and onwards. This answer is quite long, so I’ve also included a TL;DR, that way you can pick what you want to read more about.Most of these marketing strategies will create viable growth for any organization, and are worth trying for at least a month.However, before I list them, I feel the need to make one thing abundantly clear:No matter what anyone tells you, there is no one-size-fits-all marketing strategy. You will have to experiment (it’s called A/B Testing) for as long as you want to remain relevant and profitable.So the secret isn’t SEO (search engine optimization). It’s not traditional “business card” networking. It’s not even Facebook Ads. The secret is whatever works for your business, and it’s 100% unique.TL;DR:Advertising on FacebookMaking a Google My Business ListingUsing Google AdwordsPutting Greater Emphasis on Content MarketingCouponsCreating eMail Marketing FunnelsWebinarsFree Offers / ConsultationsGuest Blogging and Writing ColumnsCreating PartnershipsKeynote Speeches1. Advertising on FacebookTwo million small to medium sized businesses like yours are currently advertising on Facebook. It’s cheap and effective so it only makes sense.As far as targeting goes, Facebook Ads are ridiculously good. They allow you to target a specific audience based on location, interests, age, sex, online behavior, and many other factors that no other platform can quite get down.The best part about creating Facebook Ads is how easy it is! You simply need to have an eye catching image or video and accompanying header. If you’re not sure what constitutes “eye catching” in your niche, you can use the Facebook Ads Manager and test multiple ads for one product — eventually going with the one that generates the most amount of money for you.Doing this will not automatically guarantee returns, but thankfully, there are plenty of 3rd party tools to use, AdEspresso by Hootsuite is the first one that comes to mind!Use it to run your campaigns and speed up your journey to positive ROI.NOTE:If your business is largely visual, don’t just use Facebook. Use its sister-company, Instagram as well. Instagram Ads allows you to benefit from having the same data base and targeting options as Facebook, while simultaneously allowing you to connect with an audience that is better primed for visual sales.Is this your ideal solution? Check outFacebook Advertising Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide by Neil PatelHow to Run App Install Ads On Facebook by Aki Merced2. Making a Google My Business Listing (and Ranking)A Google My Business (GMB) listing is the smartest thing that you can do for your business.Think about it; Google is the biggest search engine in the world, and if anyone searches for a particular product/service, you’ve pretty much got first dibs!Most search results on Google first include a paid ad, and if someone is looking for a service, the next results are typically GMB listings. Ranking your business in the top 3 search results will bring in ROI like you’ve never seen before.What exactly is Google My Business?If it’s your first time hearing about GMB, it can probably sound a little intimidating. GMB simply combines variously Google platforms and puts them in one place, i.e your business’ Google+profile, your Google Reviews, Google Maps, and gives you access to data like Google Analytics and Google Insights.Since typing this answer, Google is probably working on plenty more offerings…One thing is for sure, from the minute you list your business on GMB and get it ranking, you’ll immediately get the credibility and visibility (of course) that you’ve been looking for.If your small business is local, this is a must-do!If you’re ready to get started, read this:How to optimize your Google My Business listing: expert tips by Graham Charlton7 SEO Mistakes That Leak Money From Local Businesses by Jacob McMillen3. Using Google AdwordsJust like I said in the above strategy, no other platform gives you the type of exposure as Google. At least not in modern history.If online marketing is a baby, then Google Adwords is its godfather.Since Google Adwords has been around for so long, it’s really competitive and pretty expensive if I may say so myself — however, it works extremely well.Here’s the thing; while Adwords is expensive, it’s also really effective if you’ve already utilized on-page SEO, so start there first. SEO makes Adwords a whole lot cheaper!How does SEO make Google Adwords cheaper?For every single ad on the search engine, Google gives them a quality score based on its CTR (click-through-rate), the landing page that the ad sends traffic to, and ad relevance. The quality score also factors in the bid rate that you will need in order for your ad to be displayed. The higher the quality score, the lower the bid cost.Adwords aren’t a zero-sum game, though. You can pair your Google Adwords strategy with another strategy on this list and create a killer campaign!If that’s exciting for you, check these links out for further reading:The Complete Google AdWords Tutorial by Jerry BanfieldThe Iceberg Effect: How Your AdWords Strategy Is Slowly Drowning by Johnathan Dane4. Putting Greater Emphasis on Content Marketing18% of marketers say that content marketing has the greatest commercial impact on their business of any channel in 2016.What exactly is Content Marketing?It’s actually a process of creating and then distributing content that is high value, relevant and consistent with your brand in order to attract a clearly defined audience. You can think of answering Quora questions as a form of content marketing. Sort of.The whole point of content marketing is to focus on long-term results, instead of short-term ROI. While the initial content marketing payoff is very low compared to using Facebook Ads, for instance, in the long-term you create a reputation for your business and that in turn generates sustainable growth in visitors, leads and customers.It’s not easy, though. You still have have have the right mix of:High-quality contentPick relevant topicsOptimize your content with SEOBe consistentMind you, a lot of people automatically think of BLOGS when thinking about content, however, this is 2017 — content ranges from videos, podcasts, online courses, slides and many other ways that people prefer to consume information.To know which content works with your business, you’ll have to do some A/B Testing. There will be a format that eventually sticks.You can read some more here:Getting Started With Content Marketing by Content Marketing InstituteWhy You Need a Growth Model For Your Blog (And How to Create One) by Devesh Khanal5. CouponsBear with me here, I know this one is a bit of an unconventional suggestion, but if you sell a product or offer a service, you can use sites like Groupon as means of promotion for your business.Before anyone checks out of an online store these days, they always search for coupons, and when they’re scrolling through, they’re bound to see your offer as well.Your products will receive mass exposure, and you’ll also get targeted local advertising, increased brand awareness and a slew of new converts — even if they’re only there for the coupon, they’re still spending money.WARNING:If your deal goes viral and becomes extremely popular, you might find yourself a little overwhelmed and unable to handle the new customers, so just make sure that you the math properly.Remember, you want to attract customers with a coupon, but the proposition on your site should keep them there.Sound confusing? Here’s some additional readingDoing The Math On A Groupon Deal by Jay GoltzThe Real Cost of Groupon and What it Means to Your Marketing Planning by Mana Ionescu6. Creating eMail Marketing FunnelsIn 2018 why will this still be relevant? Good question. Simply because of this one reason: Many of the people that visit your site are not going to immediately be convinced by your value proposition. They will need some finessing.Getting their contact information allows you to send them additional marketing materials until they’re completely convinced that spending their hard earned money on your business is worth their time. And also, email is still the most high converting marketing channel — ever!How do you take advantage of this?Simple. You start with something called a “lead magnet”. It would be an offering that compels your website’s visitors to give you their email address — in exchange for something that they would view as valuable, i.e a free service trial, a free digital download, early access to a webinar, a coupon, anything.The point is to get someone to subscribe to your email list and once they do that, you will be able to display your credibility by giving them valuable content.Other benefits of email marketing include:Low costGlobal signNowEasy to automateEasy to segmentImmediate communicationEasy to setup and runEasy to track and optimizeTo be quite honest, if you are a complete newbie to marketing, you’ll notice that a lot of marketing channels are super hard to start. Email marketing is one of the strategies that are relatively simple to start.Read these two pieces to learn some more:21 Powerful Ways to Quickly Grow Your Email List by Jacob McMillenHow to Build Your Email List: The (Better Than) Ultimate Guide by Aaron Orendorff7. WebinarsIf you’re serious about your business, then you’ve probably woken up or stayed up till 2 AM at some point — to catch a webinar. If not, then you’ve got a long way to go (just kidding)!What exactly is a webinar?It’s a seminar that takes place on the web — hence the name, “webinar”. And it can honestly range from being a presentation, to a demonstration to a discussion. It doesn’t always have to be one thing.A webinar actually goes hand in hand with email marketing, because if you pick your topic correctly, you can drive a slew of subscribers into your email list and build some credibility for your business.The great thing about webinars is that they can be pre-recorded and made into standalone products (or even a series of products), which makes them a great platform for training — live and recorded.Before you maybe conflate the two, it bears mentioning that webinars and video tutorials are two completely different things. A webinar tends to have a start time and has live Q&As between yourself and your audience, so it’s far more interactive than a typical video or livestream.You will need webinar software to run a webinar that utilizes the following functions:2-Way Audio – the presenter speaks while the viewers are muted, but the presenter can “turn on” individual viewers so everyone can hear their questionScreenshare – the presenter can share their screen or switch to video for whiteboard teaching or live demonstrationPolls – the presenter can invite viewers to take a poll or provide feedback in other waysCaveat: Webinars do not work for all niches. You’ll really need to think carefully about whether your customers will benefit from a webinar and if not, there are plenty of other strategies that you can always go with.Do webinars fit with your niche? Great!Here’s some additional reading:Webinar Marketing: 15 Steps to Revenue Generating Webinars by Georgiana LaudiHow to grow your business with webinar marketing by Ross Beard8. Free Offers / ConsultationsPut yourself in your customers’ shoes for a second; I’m sure that when it comes to any kind of professional services, you want to have access to expertise, right?That’s why it’s important to position yourself as an expert or an authority figure in whatever your small business’ niche is. By promoting a free consultation, you can generate new leads.Here’s the thing, you shouldn’t even worry yourself about whether you’re disclosing too much free information in the consultation, because if your customers feel that your service is worth the money — they’ll stick around.Okay, it’s true that there are going to be a lot of freeloaders looking for something that they can quickly grab, exploit and go, but to be honest, those customers were never going to buy. Why stress yourself over them?If you can provide a high-quality consultation for free in 30 minutes, a real customer will think, “imagine what they can do in an hour…” and sign up.Advertising a free consultation can be done both online and via pamphlets, newspapers, signs or through word-of-mouth, and hey who’s to say that you can’t put a free consultation front and center on your website or on your social media?Which businesses does this strategy work for? ALL of them. Seriously.Here are some reading essentials:Should You Offer Free Consultations? by Courtney Johnston6 Ways To Make Free Consults Work For You by Laura Simms9. Guest Blogging and Writing ColumnsAny fairly decent writer can share their opinion through weekly or monthly write-ups and watch as this endeavor does wonders for their brand.While you won’t get paid for your efforts, what you will receive however is an opportunity to make consistent contact with an audience and potentially build a relationship with its readers. Then, that audience will immediately think of you when they encounter a certain situation, or other experts in your field.Start out with local newspapers and non-profit magazines, because they’re typically always looking for high-quality contributors who won’t seek a fee, then move on to the more exclusive publications like Forbes, Inc, Fast Company etc once you’ve got your skin in the game.Again, you’re not going to make any money from guest blogging or writing columns, but you will make bank in other ways (i.e. speaking engagements) by being able to say that “you’ve been published in such and such”.The aim of successful guest blogging is to make your brand/business/name valuable to your target audience in a not-so subtle way. Guest blogging and writing columns is an opportunity for you to build trust with your customers, even though someone else already did the hard work of building this audience.How do you get started?Write how-to guidesComment on current eventsPublish interviews with other interesting peopleCreate list-articles (listicles)Report on trends or eventsHere are some additional ideas to get the cogs turning in your brainHow to Secure Guest Posts on Big Publications (WSJ, Forbes & HuffPo) by Sujan PatelHow I Wrote for Fast Company, Copyblogger,& Entrepreneur by Aaron Orendorff10. Partner With Other BusinessesTeamwork is always more effective than singular effort, and combining resources with another business can help you do things you could never accomplish on your own.It’s typically best to target companies in your local area, even if your clientele isn’t local. Your goal is to work out a complementary arrangement that provides mutual benefit for both businesses.Some joint venture examples include:A PPC agency could partner with a CRO agency to refer clients to each other.A coffee shop could offer free coffee vouchers to a plumbing company’s customers.A marketing company could partner with an accounting firm to recommend each other’s services during new client onboarding.A beauty therapist could offer free manicures for a hair stylist’s clients.There is really no limit to what’s possible. Simply identify crossover in your audience and a non-competitor’s audience and then find a way to tap into that crossover in a mutually beneficial way.Sound interesting? Good! Check these additional links outWhy Small Businesses Should Partner Up With Other Brands by Web Smith5 Tips To Partnering Alongside A Business For The First Time by Deborah Sweeney11. Speak At EventsIn terms of branding and establishing yourself as an authority, few things are more impactful than being a speaker at popular events in your niche.While invitations to speak at larger events are often extended as a result of accomplishments or visible influence, you can also work your way into these opportunities by becoming a talented speaker and delivering great talks at smaller events.Or you can simply use it as another marketing channel, by speaking at some of these types of events:Local clubs – think Rotary, Lion’s, Chamber of Commerce.Business networking groups.Specific interest clubs (photography, hiking, sewing, etc.)Browse local events on Eventbrite and We are what we do | Meetup.Schools.Churches.Check events in your local newspaper and magazines.Big companies and their employees.Be prepared, and treat every event like a big deal.And finally, the last couple of additional reading linksHow To Start Speaking At Events by Chris BroganWhy I Get Invited to Speak at Events (And How You Can Too) by Rohit BhargavaAt the end of the day, what’s good for the goose isn’t always good for the gander — you’ll need to do a proper business audit (based on your customer demographics) to determine whether any of these suggestions will be a fit for your business, but my guess is yes.Your answers from your evaluation should lead you to at least 4 of the strategies mentioned in this answer.Good luck!

This is focus. And focus is almost always the difference between a business that grows profitably and one that never seems to gain any momentum. You can continue to hope that “next time that email is going to work better,” or you can develop a clear focus and a realistic strategy.Who is Your Target Customer?The first decision in any marketing strategy is to define your target customer. “Who do you serve?” always needs to be answered clearly before you can execute any tactic effectively. This means you have to say “no” to other potential customers who might buy from you but who are clearly bad fits for your narrow focus. This takes time to develop the discipline, but you can’t do effective marketing without it.Focusing on a well-defined target may make you uncomfortable at first, but stay the course and follow through. An accountant friend of mine changed his business from “doing taxes for anyone in Phoenix” to “a CPA who does taxes and investments only for physicians” – his best customers who have special needs. He made this change over a period of two years and tripled his business, narrowed his service offerings and strengthened his pitch.If you are spending time and money on marketing but your efforts are not driving enough sales, the problem is almost always that you haven’t narrowed your target market definition enough to be effective. The narrower you define your market so you can focus on those that you can best serve and those that can best service you, the more effective your entire business will be.What is Your Category?Your category is simply the short description of what business you are in. What few words would someone say to describe your business? Starbucks is “high-quality coffee” Chipotle is “fresh Mexican burritos.” My friend’s tax business is simply “tax accounting for physicians in Phoenix.”Most business owners can’t resist over-complicating their company descriptions. This leaves people unsure of what you actually do, which weakens your marketing effectiveness. Here’s a simple rule: If someone can’t clearly remember your category description a month after you meet them, they were never clear about what you do in the first place.Clearly defining your category helps amplify your marketing and sales efforts. Think of what it would take to be the best – the leader – in your category. You’re not the leader? Then narrow your category definition (or your target market focus) until you are the leader. A focused laser can melt steel at a distance, but the same light undirected has no effect. Be laser-like in your focus.What is Your Unique Benefit?Your unique benefit should highlight the one (or two) main things your product or service actually delivers (benefits) that your target customer really wants, not a long list of all the things your product does (features).At Infusionsoft, we know our customers don’t just want our software: They want to grow sales and save time. We don’t describe everything our software does or the hundreds of benefits, we keep our focus on those three key benefits in everything we do. And the simpler we describe it, the better our marketing works.Who is Your Competition?When someone is looking to buy a solution to a problem, they will quickly make sense of the alternatives to compare against – your competition. However, most entrepreneurs haven’t specifically defined who their real competition is and don’t focus their messages to create clear differentiation for their buyers. This frustrates the buying decision process and makes your marketing efforts weaker.You need to be clear in your own mind about what your biggest competition is. If you are a tax accountant, is your competition really the other tax accountants in town? Other CPAs or financial planners? DIY tax software? Doing taxes manually? National tax accounting chains? Each competitor type would create different comparisons, so you need to narrow it down to one or two main competitor types.Why Are You Different and Better for Your Target Customer?Once you have defined your competition, make a list of all the things you do differently and better. Then rank each of them by how important these factors are to your target customer. Pick the top one or two and put them on your homepage and include them in your elevator pitch.Don’t overcomplicate this. People just want to know one or two things to move their decision along. Is it cheaper? Do you have faster delivery? Best personalized service? Are you the only accountant who exclusively serves physicians in Phoenix?What Does Your Marketing Strategy Statement Look Like?When you put the five key decisions of marketing strategy in a sentence form, it looks like this fill-in-the-blank statement:Your company name is the leading category for target customers that provides unique benefit. Unlike competitors, your company does unique differentiator.Our growth rate doubled when we focused and committed to this clear and simple marketing strategy.Try it for yourself: Fill in the blanks to create the marketing strategy statement for your own business. Get some perspective from employees, friends and best customers. List all the possibilities and then make some decisions. Say it out loud a few times. You should feel clarity and power coming through. It will also show you a few things you could stop doing in your business that would create more focus.Can you see why it makes no sense to Tweet, to send a broadcast email or build a new website if you are not clear about your marketing strategy that has laser-like focus? Doing these tactics without a road map – your marketing strategy – will not deliver the right customers and will give you fewer sales than if you had invested the time to implement a focused marketing strategy.Here’s the real secret that successful companies practice with extreme discipline: Creating a clear marketing strategy is not what companies do after they get big, it’s what small companies do to grow and get bigger in the first place.

I recommend that anyone looking to test the entrepreneurial waters give e-commerce a start. You can actually sell goods without ever owning them.I got started with E-Commerce when I was just 13, buying custom bicycles and selling all of the parts separately.Later I realized that I could sell just about anything without owning it at all. When a customer would place an order with me, I would get their money and use it to place an order with my supplier straight to my customer’s house.The difference in price and cost is my profit to keep. This is a business model known as dropshipping.A customer places an order on my website, I then buy much cheaper from a supplier and ship the order straight to my customer’s house.Keys to success:Start with one product (or a very small niche selection, if you must). Remember, Amazon started with Books on the internet.That flagship product should cost you less than $10, and sell for $29. In my experience, $30 is the maximum strangers are willing to spend with a stranger on the internet, with no recommendations from trusted sources or other social proof.Most people stress over what they will sell. The truth is, it’s all about angle. Super generic products are totally fine, when combined with the right audience.That last point is very, very important. I’ll share an idea I had the other day to help you better understand—I recently left a job that provided a company car. I’m out on my own for the first time, and despite making more money now, I’m still stressed over losing my steady, predictable income.So, I’m driving my sister’s old Lexus SUV. I love it.Leather interior, good gas mileage, has a little more get up and go…But the ONLY audio input is a cassette player!!So, I put in a little Casette-to-Auxiliary adapter that I sell through my B2B dropship business.I connected that device to another product I sell B2B— bluetooth-to-auxiliary adapter…I connected my phone via bluetooth, and voila!! I was playing Spotify wirelessly to/through a cassette deck!To my surprise, the audio quality was actually EXCELLENT.These two devices cost $6 combined.Find out what cars only have tape/cd decks and no auxiliary, and figure out how to target owners of those cars. Sell the combo for $29.BAM. Hungry audience, fantastic margin.Craigslist? Facebook ads?I haven’t fleshed that part out yet.Go ahead, steal my idea :)

The Rice Bucket Challenge –Inspired by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, the Rice Bucket Challenge – an ‘Indian version for Indian needs’- is the brainchild of Manjulatha Kalanidhi, a journalist from Hyderabad. Within a month of its launch, the concept has gained popularity across the country and has managed to evoke the spirit of giving in people of all ages. To participate, one only needs to donate a bowl of rice (or more if they want to) to any needy person and post a picture on the Rice Bucket Challenge’s Facebook page tagging friends to take up the challenge. Although, there are no official statistics available to know the exact quantum of rice donated, one can get a measure of its success just by visiting its Facebook page which has garnered 64,000+ likes within a month of its inception. For this initiative, Manjulatha has been awarded the Karmaveer Chakra Award and the Rex Karmaveer Global Fellowship by iCONGO, an international confederation of NGOs, and the United Nations.Power of 49 – Tata Tea’s latest campaign – ‘Power of 49’, launched under the aegis of the Jaago Removement, focuses on promoting equal status for women in the society and encouraging women empowerment . The ‘49’ in Power of 49, symbolizes the % of women on the electoral rolls. The campaign, since its launch in 2013, has taken up issues related to domestic violence, the public safety of women, education and employment, health and sanitation, and the latest being to encourage women to demonstrate the true Power of 49 by casting their votes in the recently concluded elections. With the support of known personalities like Shabana Azmi, Kiran Bedi, Flavia Agnes, and Ranjana Kumari, who give a voice to the causes it represents, the campaign is nothing short of a revolution. So far, the three -member team set up for each of these causes has come out with manifestos stating the problems that women face and putting forth their demands. Power of 49 does not only highlight the issues but also celebrates achievements of women in every walk of life. To know more about the campaign and to participate visit jaagore.com/power-of-49.Dark is Beautiful – In a land obsessed with ‘fair’ skin, the mere thought that ‘dark skin can be beautiful’ is criminal. Needless to say, the pressure to be ‘fair’ is slightly more on the women. Indian women have, since generations, been convinced that success in any endeavour like – gaining acceptance in society, being loved by family, getting a job or a promotion, getting married, is heavily dependent on the color of their skin or rather on the ‘lack’ of it. A belief that is further endorsed by marketers selling skin creams that promise to miraculously lighten their skin tone and brighten their life! This attitude in a country where a major section of the ‘entire’ population is either blessed with a wheatish skin tone, or in some (un)fortunate cases a slightly darker skin tone, is alarming and has been the cause of depression and insecurity in young girls. To counter the ill effects of this mindset, Kavitha Emmanuel, founder-director of the Women of Worth movement, launched the Dark is Beautiful campaign (2009) with the fiery, dusky and beautiful Nandita Das as its spokesperson. The campaign aims to create awareness about the harmful effects of discrimination based on skin color. Through media literacy workshops and life skills training workshops it aims to educate people to deal with discrimination based on skin color and its blog provides an outlet to supporters of the campaign and sufferers of the ‘fair is beautiful syndrome’. The campaign was globally appreciatedand in June 2014, it achieved a milestone in the form of ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India) finally realizing that too much ‘fairness’ was quite ‘unfair’ and came out with new and stringent guidelines for advertisements of fairness creams.The Jan Lokpal Bill Movement –Anna Hazare’s Jan Lokpal Bill movement was responsible for giving a voice to India’s fight against corruption and corrupt babus. The movement that started in April 2011, with Anna Hazare going on a hunger strike to get the Jan Lokpal Bill, first drafted in 1968, approved by the government, became one of the largest people movements in India since the nation’s fight for independence, and was considered one of the top 10 news stories in world in 2011 by Time Magazine. It brought people of all regions and social strata together to demand a corruption-free India. The Jan Lokpal Bill was finally passed in the Lok Sabha in December 2013 after tireless efforts of Anna Hazare and his team comprising Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan, who chose to get the government’s attention through the ahimsa way by keeping fasts (kept by Anna), organizing dharnas and rallies and with effective use of social media to signNow out to the country’s youth. Although, today, almost a year after the Jan Lokpal Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, we may not be able to confidently declare India to be corruption-free, but we can definitely say that a way has been paved and we’ll get there!Save Our Tigers – In the long list of issues we need to fight for or against, as the case may be, is the need to save and protect wildlife, one of them being the country’s National Animal – Tiger. The movement to protect the national animal started in 2008 by Aircel and NDTV after the Sariska Tiger Reserve lost all its tigers due to poaching. Since then both the companies along with the government have been actively trying to gather funds to set up facilities to give a safe home to the animal. Among its many initiatives, few that stand out and have caught people’s attention are the regular ad campaigns, documentaries that they launch, the telethon launched in the first year collected INR 45 million, signature campaign (open), and the latest, create and sell merchandise based on Aircel’s ‘Kids for Tigers’ brand ambassador Stripey the cub, in partnership with Gabi Life. Apart from these initiatives, Aircel has also come up with a six-point agenda highlighting the support that they need from all of us to save our national animal. The six-point agenda is –Involve local communities in conservationStrengthen and modernize the forest department to step up protectionImprove man-animal conflict mitigation measuresIncrease protection in buffer-zones and corridorsZero tolerance approach to poachingMake political parties accountable for loss of biodiversity.Lenovo India – #VibeUpMyLifeProblemWith number of phones dispatching every other day, it’s truly difficult to make your phone emerge among a troupe of cell phones. The test was to locate a jumble breaking way to build unite with the quick moving and element millennial for them to find a phone that fits their lifestyle.Identified ObjectivesThe goal of the #VibeupMyLife campaign was to associate with Indian millennial today to show them that the World’s initially layered phone, is much the same as them and can adjust to their layered way of life, having numerous sides, measurements to it like romance, thrill, bling, mischief, masala or just about anything!The #VibeUpMyLife, a 72-hour constant social media marketing campaign connected with the crowd around a Photo Challenge which is about having a great time by doing cool and interesting things to the photos by adding layers to it and involved art, tech, social media with request pouring on facebook and twitter.The challenge was hosted on the campaign’s dedicated microsite, www.vibeupmylife.com.They gave away 10 VibeX2 layered phones to the most popular entries.StrategyEverybody appreciates a touch of flavor in his or her standard boring lives. A mix of a ton of things we do every day, give life an intriguing twist. Taking motivation from this, the #VibeUpMyLife campaign a first of its kind constant engagement around an Art-A-Thon on Twitter and Facebook in India was about including that spirit of vibing up life with layers.The website kept in focus the thought of being ‘built in layers’ and demonstrated the advancement of the layered phone being built during the 3 days of the campaign.First and foremost brand in India to do a live coverage of #vibeupmylife on Snapchat.Results#vibeupmylife conversations received around 500 entries on Day 1Campaign sparked conversations around the layered phone on social and campaign websiteBoth Lenovo_in and #vibeupmylife trended naturally in Mumbai on Twitter on the very first day#vibeupmylife conversations received more than 1500 entries5M individuals signNowed on Facebook of which 80K individuals drew in around #VibeUpMyLife content on FacebookTwitter earned 585K impressionsMore than 10000 people engaged on Twitter and drove layered conversationsA walloping 2351 individuals started their layered trip for the 72 hour Art-a-thon after visiting the microsite#vibeupmylife received 3000 mentions on TwitterLessonsPeople love being snared on to energizing quality substance on online networking like interesting engaging visual imagery, challenging content, and incentives.Philips Male Grooming – #LikeABratProblem StatementPhilips Personal Care was trying to reinforce its portfolio by showcasing the new “Professional Skin Advance Trimmer Range” of items which is built keeping in mind, the Indian male buyers.Identified ObjectivesThe goal was to enlist 14-20 year old students as first time clients in the electrical male grooming establishment and position Philips Pro Skin Advance Trimmer Range, as the first preference “to get the cool macho look that you want”. They needed to drive infiltration in the target markets from 2.2% to 5% by 2014.StrategyWe searched out to make a stage, where the audience could connect with the brand and comprehend the need of easygoing styling, which would drive more sales of the items.It began with a definitive BRAT of the nation, Arjun Kapoor. His tough appearance, consolidated with hisdifferentiating enchanting grin, had made him ideal for today’s generation. So we decided to rope in Arjun Kapoor as a new face of Philips India Grooming Range and empower young men to get the trimmed look, with one-of-a-kind campaign – #likeabrat.Thus, an interactive stage www.likeabrat.comwas made, with a plan to frame a section of easygoing styling for the young men of today.ExecutionThe campaign commenced with a teaser on http://www.likeabrat.com which showcased charming shots of Arjun Kapoor, requesting visitors think about what he was up to, along with content on Social Media around hashtag #likeabrat to create interest and encourage conversations.Aspiring Brats were called to take part in the esteemed Brathood on http://www.likeabrat.com. Those who thought, they had the persona to lead and change, needed to enlist on the website and vow their integrity.Conversations sparked on Philips India social media channels around Brat, with #likeabrat being the vital handle for communication.The true BRAT has to perform certain dares that would judge his personality and attitude, so that he would get a chance to feature on a TV show on MTV.ResultsThe campaign succeeded in accomplishing brand exposure of more than 45 M while the brand communications crossed 4 lakhs altogetherThe hashtags #LikeAbrat and #LiveLikeAbrat got trending on Twitter and generated over 28 M impressionsMore than 10 lakh worth of earned media was acquired. The visitor count on the website crossed over 1.1 lakhsAbove all, the campaign came about into gigantic interest of the trimmer, prompting stock shortage incidentallyLessonsA campaign should not be for more than 1 month. Aside from reserving brand ambassadors for TVCs, print, features and so on, brands ought to attempt to get their association on social channels to give a help to the campaign.Hindustan Unilever – #BeBeautifulProblem StatementHUL, in 2009, saw the indications of development in content marketing and sensibly put resources into #BeBEAUTIFUL – their special content platform began by seven of HUL’s greatest brands – Lakme, Dove, Pond’s, Vaseline, Sunsilk, TRESemme, Toni & Guy.BeBEAUTIFUL, in its old avatar, was an exceptionally brave and ground breaking activity yet it didn’t play to the qualities of content marketing.The main problems with the platform were:Divided approach in their communication strategy – the platform for distinctive channels of communication, bringing in no clear understanding for the platform in the minds of the customersNo underlying content strategyToo much dependence on paid media – the platform didn’t have any natural readership and almost 95% of their audience was paid – a fact that defeats the entire purpose of a content platformIdentified ObjectivesThe social media campaign #BeBeautiful introduced by Hindustan Unilever was in a broad sense intended to team up every last bit of its seven brands (Lakme, Dove, Ponds, Vaseline, Sunsilk, Tresemme and Toni &Guy) together with a single promotion strategy and bring gathering of people on their platforms through content marketing, so that it can be attained by every woman.Other key objectives were:To have a content strategy to engage the audience across all the social media platformsPromote the brand, its products and build a rapport of the brand in the market through social media marketing organicallyStrategyThe core strategy to draw in the group of onlookers was to furnish them with a platform where they can read, share and use beauty related data in their day to day routine for a superior life. This platform also worked together with bloggers who blog about fashion, way of life and related fields.Hyper-Personalization: To join with the gathering of people and enlist new clients for their items, the coordinators chose to patch up the brand’s websites alongside the online networking platforms. The UI of the website and the blog was improved for the simplicity of surfing.How-to Blogs: To move ahead in the race against its competitors in the market, HUL decided to go for personalized content rather than generic content. To implement this, they decided to get bloggers who would create content, both in text and in video formats and shared on the website, on blogs, Facebook and Twitter to increase the engagement of the audience and build a rapport of the brand in the market.ResultsThe social media campaign #BeBeautiful garnered a total of 2.3 million visitors throughout the campaign out of which 6 lakh people came only through the social media handles. BeBEAUTIFUL’s YouTube channel, with 50,000 subscribers and more than 30 million views, is one of the most watched beauty channels in India due to its original content.The number of organic visitors increased from 15,000 to 2.5 lakhs within a span of 5 months.The signNow of the brands of HUL on #BeBeautiful were:Lakme – 4.3 million organic impressionsDove – 830,000 organic impressionsPond’s – 275 organic impressionsToni & Guy – 323,000 organic impressionsVaseline – 890,000 organic impressionsWe also have the most successful blogger engagement plan in IndiaRevlon India – ChoicesProblem StatementThe more youthful customers in India don’t instantly relate to Revlon as a brand. Revlon needs to be more relevant to the 18-35 year old Indian lady, as this is the present and future TA for the brand.Identified ObjectiveThe Choices Campaign is anticipated to fulfill the following objectives:• Bring out the Brands “Point of View” – That they are the Provocateur of women• Be relevant and relatable to the new Indian consumer• Establish the brand’s image as being bold and glamorous• Be seen as the brand that moves and incites ladies to venture out of their comfort zoneStrategyFrom the minute the Revlon woman gets up in the morning, all that she does is a choice. Choices by Revlon urge women to consider parts of her life that she may not routinely consider, while in the meantime fortifying her entitlement to make her own life choices. The particular women that Revlon is focusing on are the ones that are at the cutting edge of a cultural shift.The central part of the campaign is the Facebook Application. Every month, a theme will be made and then views of the fans are gathered.The campaign is further supported by the following key elements:Bloggers – For each theme, a key opinion leader who is a specialist in that field is drawn nearer to band together with Revlon as the official blogger for Choices.Twitter – This is an incredible approach to accumulate insight into the mentality of Indian women. Twitter is also used to create engagement through fast contests.Content – All through the Choices campaign, we have kept on making custom Revlon content on the themes as well as on the items that Revlon is launching.In-Store – The Choices theme is likewise taken in-store through collaterals and activities that adjust with the subject of the month.ResultsThe campaign has added more than 300,000 fans to the group and made engagement rates as high as 60% for the brand.Garnier Men – Missed call ad FacebookProblem StatementWith the rapid growth of e-commerce in India Garnier Men needed to get the open door. Remembering this it expected to convey to its consumers a never before seen experience by means of digital.Garnier Men wanted to create a campaign that allowed a unique, seamless and direct user experience which was guaranteed to increase participation rather than IVR led campaigns which face high level of drop outs.Identified ObjectivesLeverage the relationship as preparing supporters for Rajasthan Royals & SunRisers Hyderabad for IPL 7 while in the meantime aiming to increment online sales.StrategyThe Mobile Power Play was an insights sponsored development drove campaign by Garnier Men, the official sponsors of Rajasthan Royals and SunRisers Hyderabad.With over 180 million mobile users in India, the brand saw great opportunity in mobile marketing.Most importantly, Garnier Men was the first brand globally to partner with Facebook to launch the ‘Missed Call Ad’. The campaign also had a desktop form, facilitated on the brand’s blog – ‘http://www.thegarniermen.com’.With an all-encompassing media plan the brand secured platforms, for example, sports websites, Google Search/Display and obviously Facebook. To top it all off, campaign gained over 500+media exposures from global as well as local publications.Results• Total Campaign signNow – 15 Million• Increase In Online Sale (YOY) – 250%• Total Calls – 12,686• Total Engagement – 239,205• Total Impressions – 15,119,706• Total Clicks – 85,203• Blog Participants – 2,815