When.com Supports Local Events Like TECH cocktail
May 20, 2009
Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes
Special thank you to When.com, our premier sponsor for TECH cocktail DC 5. When.com is the hyper-local guide for your hyper-active lifestyle. When.com helps you to pinpoint restaurants, events and activities in your neighborhood. Its unique tools for Hot Tickets and Dining Deals can help to save you time and money. When.com also throws user-generated events into the mix for extended coverage of everything that’s going on in your city. For example, check out the listing for TECH cocktail DC 5 in Washington, DC today.
Watch the video (above) as I chat with When.com’s Abha Dasgupta. Also be sure to check out When.com next time you are looking for something to do and if you are in the DC are be sure to see them tonight at TECH cocktail DC 5.
TECH cocktail and Ann Arbor New Tech Meetup Team Up
March 18, 2009
Reading time: 3 - 4 minutes
We have an event coming up on March 27th. Yup, that’s right! This event is being held in partnership with the Ann Arbor New Tech Meetup and a2geeks (thanks Dug!). Timed to coincide with Entreprelliance (hosted by UM’s M-Powered) and Detroit Startup Weekend, the inaugural TECH cocktail Ann Arbor event will be a full house, even in our expanded venue - please RSVP early !
Everyone will have their first round covered and after that the specials will be $2 drafts and $4 cocktails.
Check out the showcasing companies below when you have a chance and also check out our sponsors since nothing would be possible without them.
Sponsors:
GLEQ - Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest
Showcase companies:
CADcorporation: http://admissions.umich.edu/vmerse
Vmerse is a software application that allows users to virtually
experience 3D worlds by providing a photorealistic visual and social
experience. From a technical perspective, Vmerse, a patent-pending
product of CADcorporation, is a secure platform for creation of
customizable, and fully controllable, 3D virtual worlds that can be
incorporated and hosted within a parent organization’s web site.
GiftZip: http://giftzip.com
GiftZip is the fast, fun and free way to send or print INSTANT gift
cards from the web’s top retailers… all from the comfort of your
computer. Don’t just give, GiftZip!
Hab.la: http://www.hab.la/
Hab.la lets visitors to your website chat with you without any extra
chat software. Their messages show up in your favorite instant
messaging app. Hab.la is easy for webmasters to set up and friendly to
your visitors’ web browsers.
Hiperlogic: http://hiperlogic.com/
Tailored High Performance Computing solutions around a wide range of
engineering, CAE/CFD, and Life Science applications.
Complete range of virtualization solutions including
* Planning
* Design
* Software
* Hardware Server and SAN Storage
* Implementation
* Backups, Monitoring, Disaster Recovery, Desktop Virtualization
* Consulting and Support
Myine: http://www.myine.com/
High-quality electronic audio products that make music accessible to
consumers with limited time or technological sophistication.
Conceived specifically for ease of use and superior function, Myine
products are designed to enrich the lives of their users with minimal
effort and stress. Get less. Get yours. Get Myine.
Commercial-free FM Radio, WiFi Internet Radio
Peekok: http://www.peekok.com/
Peekok provides a suite of brand-transparent, turnkey,
digital services for retail sales, increased fan engagement,
and viral marketing for the music industry. All of which
correspond to (re)building brand and increasing revenues.
VeoProject: http://veoproject.com/
Web-Based Project Management
An advanced collaboration tool that integrates
project planning, issue tracking, time tracking,
and document sharing for your team.
LaunchBox Digital Looking For 2009 Startup Class
February 2, 2009
Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes
LaunchBox Digital is now accepting applications for LaunchBox09, its 2nd annual business incubator program, which will begin on May 18, 2009 and wrap-up with Demo Days the first week of August 2009. Your startup company could be one of ten applicants that will each receive up to $20,000 in seed investment and guidance.
Stay tuned to all the LaunchBoxDigital 2009 activities as follows:
- LaunchBoxDigital Facebook group
- Free “Zero to Brand in 48 Hours” webinar on February 18 to get insights into the LaunchBox09 application process
- Follow the LaunchBoxDigital blog
- Signing up for LaunchBoxDigital email list
Applications are available at: LaunchBoxDigital.com.
How to Turn Website Visitors into Sales
September 24, 2008
Reading time: 4 - 6 minutes
These days, most of us are pretty good about monitoring our website activity. We know our “hits” from our “page views” from our “visitors” and many of us track those numbers religiously. Unfortunately, though, those numbers only show you who reaches the virtual door. What happens after a potential buyer steps inside your website? Too many companies, even those spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on online marketing, focus so much on driving website traffic that they fail to convert that traffic into sales.
Fortunately, it’s getting easier and easier to measure your online sales and track potential customers. Here are a few tips for finding the gaps potential customers fall through and patching them up.
Know Your Conversion Rate
In the industry, “conversion” is just a fancy term for turning visitors into customers. Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors that reach a specific business goal, whether that’s a sale, lead, or download. It sounds simple enough, but the first step to improving your conversion is to track it and establish your baseline. Industry experts suggest that average conversion rates run 2-3%, but real numbers can vary wildly – honestly assess where you’re at now and work to improve it. Fortunately, many analytics tools (including free tools such as Google Analytics) now make online conversion tracking easy.
Find Your Gaps
Once you’re tracking your conversions, map out your online sales process. A typical process (sometimes called a “conversion funnel”, since it’s wide at the top and narrow at the bottom) may look something like this:
- Home Page
- Search Results
- Product Page
- Shopping Cart
- Order Form
Of course, the path any given visitor follows could be very different, but once you have a sense of the ideal path, you can start to review your website analytics for gaps. For example, does traffic fall off a lot between your shopping cart and your order form? Once you isolate these gaps, filling them becomes much easier.
Make Actions Clear
In any online sales process there are multiple calls to action, decision points that you want customers to follow. One of the easiest ways to improve conversion is to make your calls to action clearer. For example:
- Make links look like links (i.e. blue and/or underlined)
- Make buttons look “clickable”
- Make buttons visually distinct (large, a bold color, etc.)
- Use action-oriented copy (“Buy it now!”)
Test, Test and Test Again
Don’t leave website changes to chance - test them, and let the data guide your decisions. This can be as simple as a basic “split” or “A/B” test, where you serve up two versions (A and B) of a page, copy, or image (split 50/50) and measure which one generates more conversions. These days, website testing is easier than ever, thanks to free tools like Google Website Optimizer. Testing is not only incredibly effective, but it can go a long way towards ending arguments over opinion, especially in larger organizations.
Make Improvement A Habit
Hopefully, this gives you a few ideas for how to get moving on the path to increasing conversion. Ultimately, understanding your website data and improving your online sales process should be a long-term habit. Honestly assess where you’re at today, listen to your data (and your customers), and start testing improvements methodically, and you’ll be off to a great start.
TECH cocktail Community Contributed Knowledge
Dr. Peter J. Meyers is the President of User Effect, a former start-up executive, cognitive psychologist, and lifelong programmer. User Effect specializes in helping online businesses understand their customers and convert visitors into buyers. Pete can be reached directly at peter@usereffect.com
TECH cocktail Boulder 1 Demo’er SocialThing Acquired
August 15, 2008
Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes
Just in time for TECH cocktail Boulder 2 next week which is shaping up to be another super event, TECH cocktail Boudler 1 demo’er SocialThing has been acquired by AOL. Congrats to SocialThing and the TechStars incubator program (of which it was a portfolio company). We look forward to celebrating with you all in Boulder next week. For more details on the acquisition check out these articles on the SocialThing Blog, TechStars Blog or on SOMEWHAT FRANK.
TECH cocktail Boston 2 Storms On
July 25, 2008
Reading time: 4 - 7 minutes
TECH cocktail Boston 2 at Tequila Rain was a bit of a wet one as a summer storm sprung itself on the Boston area making it problematic for us to even get to Boston. Luckily we made it out and so did a couple hundred dedicated Boston TECH cocktailers. Thank you to everyone that made their way out through the rain.
The event was sponsored by TripAdvisor, ChicagoMicro and Genotrope. Word on the street is that Newton, Mass. based TripAdvisor is hiring product managers so you might want to reach out to them if you are looking for a new gig.
Check out the TECH cocktail Boston 2 photos from the event taken by the talented local photographer Sooz. Also special thanks to Thomas Summit for all his help being out guy on the ground in Boston which helped us make this event go off without a hitch.
The six Boston area startups demoing at TECH cocktail Boston 2 were as follows:
AmpIdea - Founder Praful Mathur, a student at University of Illinois, has been dedicating his summer to developing and deploying the AmpIdea interactive taxi cab advertising platform in the Boston Area. AmpIdea offers an impressive interactive touchscreen device. It sounds like the next step for them is to get some funding so if you are VC you might want to check them out.
Modiv Media - Modiv Media is taking a different approach to self-checkout systems in grocery stores. Modiv founder Matt Volpi showed off its shopper device software which empowers grocery shoppers to scan the products they are going to purchase while they shop. The product serves behavioral targeted product deals and savings while shoppers shop. Currently the product is rolled out in a number of stores so be looking for it in your super market soon.
Totspot - Are babies blogging? Well not exactly though that would be amusing, Totspot offers an great way for parents to blog and share photos and memories with the rest of the Web or privately to family and friends. It is like a baby book online for your baby. If you have a baby on the way you may want to get your baby’s blog setup today.
VendorCity - Startups listen up as this could be helpful as VendorCity offers a place to find, rate and recommend local vendors. Let’s say you run a business and you need to find good legal help, VendorCity could be of assistance. VendorCity is not your classic directory site as it leverages sophisticated technology to assist in recommending the best vendor for your needs. VendorCity is currently taking on the east coast but with time looks to expand to the rest of the US markets.
WebNotes - WebNotes’ mission is to revolutionize the way people collect, organize, and share information on the Internet. With WebNotes, users can annotate web pages with highlighters and sticky notes, organize their notes into projects and categories, and share annotated web pages with friends and colleagues. WebNotes is a great tool for anyone reviewing products online, gathering market data, or conducting any type of web research. Currently in private Beta, WebNotes opened up its registration to TECH cocktail participants during the event.
YouCastr - YouCastr is making following sports more personal and social by enabling anyone to broadcast live audio commentary, create sports talk shows, and interact with other fans in real-time. YouCastr is platform to broadcast live audio (and soon video) for long tail sports, such as high school and amateur sporting events. So if you want to cover the glory days of high school or college sports YouCastr is the place to go.
Social designer Josh Porter of Bokardo also made an appearance at TECH cocktail showing off and signing copies of his new book Designing for the Social Web
Finally, if you were at TECH cocktail Boston 2, be sure to join the online TECH cocktail group at “I am TECH cocktail,” our new community for TECH cocktailers. You can contribute your photos from the event as well as connect with other TECH cocktailers. Cheers!
Choosing the Right Certified Public Accountant for your Business
July 23, 2008
Reading time: 3 - 5 minutes
By Lisa Hanlon, CPA: Frost, Ruttenberg & Rothblatt, P.C.
Running a business in today’s world can be one of the most exciting and overwhelming challenges in a person’s life. Choosing the right business advisors that will assist an entrepreneur in starting a business or taking an existing company to the next level is a significant step in this process. There is little doubt that the most important business advisors are your accountant (CPA), lawyer and banker. Ultimately, this “dream team” will work together in helping you meet your goals. The CPA firm that you hire should do more than just balance your books or reconcile your checking statement; they should add value to your business which, in turn, will add value to your life.
When choosing the right CPA, consider the following guidelines:
The CPA that you hire must have significant experience with your industry. In the long run, this will save time and aggravation. A good CPA will see the “big picture” and be dynamic in their thinking – offering ideas based on their experience. Request the firms most recent peer review report if you are hiring them to do an audit. Make sure your CPA understands how your cash register rings. Get referrals from people that you trust.
Try to limit the interview process to no more than three candidates. Any more than this will just complicate the decision making process.
After describing your long and short term objectives, ask the prospective CPA to discuss what they can do to assist you in meeting these goals. They should be able to offer suggestions and planning opportunities. Don’t be afraid to ask for references, so that you can talk to other business owners that have the employed the CPA’s services. Be sure that you understand the fee structure up front; this is really an interview process for both parties. Remember to observe whether this individual is good at both listening and speaking. Ask yourself, “Does this CPA appear to be genuinely interested in my business needs.”
After interviewing the candidates, make your final decision based on all of the various objective and subjective considerations, as well as such factors as chemistry and attitude. Trust your instincts when deciding which CPA to hire. You’ll know which one has the passion to help.
Once hired, don’t be afraid to consult your team of advisors when making decisions affecting your business. Open communication with all of your advisors is a key ingredient in making these relationships work. The right CPA, lawyer and banker should be actively involved in your business. Use them as a sounding board when making key financial decisions. From personal experience, keep in mind, that using your CPA in a manner that will allow them to be proactive rather than reactive to financial disasters will make your business more successful and your life easier.
One thing is for sure, without the right team of advisors, your job as a business owner will be more stressful and difficult. Instead of thinking of these advisors as another expense item on your profit and loss statement, think of them as a valuable asset that will give your business the edge it needs to compete in today’s highly competitive marketplace.
TECH cocktail Community Contributed Knowledge
Lisa M. Hanlon is an officer with Frost, Ruttenberg & Rothblatt, P.C. with offices in Deerfield and Chicago. She works with closely held and family-owned businesses in a variety of industries. Lisa can be reached at LHANLON@FRRONLINE.COM .
Connect Before & After TECH cocktail
July 22, 2008
Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes
Join the TECH cocktail COMMUNITY
We have been hosting TECH cocktail events for quite some time now and have received a lot of suggestions along the way. One reoccurring suggestion was that TECH cocktailers wanted a better way to connect with other attendees after in between events. We have been meaning to do this for quite a while but we finally got our act together and are are happy to launch the new TECH cocktail COMMUNITY extension (iam.techcocktail.com). We have been able to help the community offline thus far and this new online community should help the community keep the conversation going online as well.
The community site offers TECH cocktailers the ability to add photos and videos from our events, create groups and discussion forums and even post blogs. As a community both online and off we can now all help each other in a number of different capacities from finding new developers or designers to basic business questions.
Connect with like-minded TECH cocktailers today: iam.techcocktail.com
TECH cocktail Boston 2
July 1, 2008
Reading time: 2 - 2 minutes
We are excited to announce we are coming back to Boston for our second TECH cocktail event this summer. You may recall, last fall we visited Boston for a super TECH cocktail Boston 1 which brought out a great crowd and showed off some local startups. You can check out the photos from TECH cocktail Boston 1 to see what we are talking about.
Join us for an evening of fun mingling with other technology enthusiasts, VCs, bloggers and entrepreneurs.
When: Thursday, July 24, 2008 - 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. EST
Where: Tequila Rain by Fenway (Boston)
What: A “cocktail of TECH people”
Price: FREE You must be 21+ to attend and must be on the RSVP list.
If you are interested in sponsoring or demoing at TECH cocktail Boston 2 please contact us ASAP!
TECH cocktail On Jonny’s Par-tay Live 6/18 9pm EST
June 18, 2008
Reading time: 1 - 2 minutes
TECH cocktail will be a topic of conversation on the video show, Jonny’s Par-tay on Wednesday, June 18, 2008 at 9pm EST. The show is hosted live by DC TECH cocktailers Scott Stead and Jonny Goldstein so tune in. Here are the details:
What: A rollicking conversation with Tech Cocktail co-founder, Frank Gruber, Jonny Goldstein, Scott Stead, and you! You get to interact with everyone else via live text chat.
When: Wednesday, June 18, 9-10PM EST
Where: jonnyspartay.com
Be a part of the live conversation as we talk about TECH cocktail, technology startups and more. It should be a lot of fun!
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Sponsors
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Preferred Services Providers
Preferred Accounting Services Provider: Frost, Ruttenberg & Rothblatt, P.C. 
Preferred Legal Services Provider:
Hinshaw & Culbertson
Preferred Charity:
Teaming for Technology
Preferred Creative Service Provider: Jess3 
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