Every small business owner has one ultimate goal. To succeed. Success itself is the defined differently for and by each business owner. In my experience most of the business owners I have talked to never have a clear goal. Here is what I mean. As a small business owner my ultimate goal has been to be able to afford myself the opportunity to work a 4 hour work day and spend more time raising my son and focus on building my family. That’s my dream for my business, myself and my family. The irony however demands countless hours, brutal challenges, hard negotiations, financial gains, cycle of losing and gaining customers and the ability to maintaining yourself at the core.

Many small business owners make the mistake of never defining what that ultimate goal is. They want success, they want financial gains, they want unlimited wealth, they want toys but is that the goal or is that the way to get to your goal? Think about it today and take some time to figure it out. I promise you, you will look at yourself differently as well as your business differently.

I am sure by now you have already unwrapped your Christmas gifts and sorted out the “keepers” and “returns”.

I was reading a book earlier and came across few questions – “The greatest gift you can give yourself is a new beginning. What if you could start again, with nothing from the past to bind you? Where would you go? What would you need? More important; What could you live without?” — I believe these questions are a good way to measure where we are in life right this moment and where we want to go tomorrow. Instead of cluttering your life with pointless resolutions that become self-esteem killers, let’s revolutionize the way we think about resolutions.

A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, “a turn around”) is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time. Let’s be honest, no one is going to drop 50 lbs. in 6 weeks, earn a 20% raise, or showcase a new invention on Oprah’s new network this year (If you do, I’d love to offer you some free marketing services). But what we can do is to begin a thought revolution (i.e. fundamental change in organizational structure of our thoughts) and make an honest attempt to accept who we are and do one thing each day that makes us a better human being — not necessarily to others, but to ourselves. Soldiers move “step” by “step” to win wars. Oscar Wilde once said, “When liberty comes with hands dabbled in blood it is hard to shake hands with her” and I believe that’s how every revolution begins and ends; a tough process but worth waiting for.

I am wishing you a beautiful 2011. I am wishing you a new revolution that will ignite your passions. I am wishing you the ability to discover your story and it’s beginning and above all I am wishing you, a better you.

Be safe tonight and when you wake up tomorrow morning, remember my connection with you, however small or deep, has taught me something about life, and for that I am forever grateful.

Happy New Year!

Best regards,

Nabeel Ahmed
Founder & CEO
AppealCulture

Christmas did not exist for me. I couldn’t find it.

Let me clarify. Christmas did not exist for me until I started receiving special offers and happy holiday emails from every vendor I have ever done business with. Within the course of last 14 days my inbox has turned into a virtual landfill of red and green newsletters, special offers and coupons, all cleverly surrounded by pictures of snowflakes, Christmas lights, and people wearing Santa Clause hats.

I have received 70+ (and counting) “Happy Holiday” emails from retailers, vendors, publishers, marketers, and other businesses in the past five days. The more “letters” I read, the more I realized how uniformed and generic everything around us has become.

I couldn’t find Christmas in this cyber landfill.

Because here at AppealCulture, we are an anti-marketing cult of sorts, I thought it would be nice to do something different. Something a bit traditional but sincere and in sync with what AppealCulture is all about. Storytelling and the human connection. So here I am with no Santa Clause and no special offers. A simple story with a human connection.

Christmas did not exist for me. I couldn’t find it.

Let me clarify.  Once upon a time, when I was growing up, I had the privilege of living and traveling to many different places; Libya, Pakistan, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Singapore and often short and border trips to India, China, and Afghanistan. Also visited Egypt, Turkey and Malta but was too young to recall the headache I caused my parents on those trips.

Christmas wasn’t a part of our annual routine as a family. It was something magical that happened in a distant memory somewhere else or in the Hollywood movies. Although we never officially celebrated Christmas, the fondness of Christmas as a beautiful holiday that represents love, joy, family and tradition was something that I always felt an admiration for. However, the commercialization and symbolism of Santa Clause, the tree, big bow, star, biblical figures on sale, red and green always confused me. As I grew older I found it a bit sad that we have relinquished our spirit of tradition to the way of commercialization but I have learned that it’s a gift of globalization and every cultural and traditional holiday (across the globe) has fallen victim to it.

I couldn’t find Christmas in this commercialization.

The diversity of my holidays was as different as the countries and cultures I grew up in. If I could pick one country to represent the pie chart of my life in holidays, I’d probably choose Singapore. Singapore has 11 national holidays and they have beautifully calibrated distribution among the religious and ethnic communities in the country. They include the Chinese New Year, the Buddhist holiday Vesak Day, the Muslim holidays  Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha, the Hindu holiday Deepavali, Good Friday and the Christmas Day.
Although I cherish the diversity of cultures and the spirit of togetherness, I couldn’t find Christmas

Christmas did not exist for me. I couldn’t find it.

When I moved to Los Angeles as a teenager the influence of Christmas became more evident. I received my first Christmas present when I was 19 years old. I thought maybe this is where I will find my Christmas. I was working at a fast food place famously known for it’s meat crisis in the 90s and participation in “Secret Santa” with a $10 limit was the “presidential order” by our not so beloved manager. Needless to say, it wasn’t as magical as I expected it to be.

I couldn’t find Christmas in this E. Coli covered forced gesture of political correctness.

Over the course of next few years that followed, I was able to learn the true meaning of Christmas. I learned that it’s about loving but more so it’s about giving. Giving not in the literal sense but giving in all sense of your being. In 2005, I spent my Christmas with homeless people in DC through a non-profit program that I was part of. I had taken some food to distribute on the brutally cold streets of Washington DC. After few hours on the street, I met my last “receiver” of the day. I met a homeless gentleman by the name of Rob. He asked me for some food by saying “I haven’t had anything since yesterday” and I gave him the last two brown bags I had left. I walked away feeling selfishly good about myself. Few minutes later I realized that I don’t have my car keys on me so I rushed back to the street corner where I found Rob. Not only I found my keys but I found something much bigger. I found Christmas. What I witnessed was truly touching and moved me to my core. I saw Rob giving away his food to an old homeless couple. When he saw me, he laughed and said – “Hey man, it’s Christmas. Don’t worry, I will find more food”. A person willingly giving away what he needs the most, to me that’s the true spirit of Christmas.

Christmas does exist. And I found it some five years ago on the streets of Washington DC.

I hope each one of you have discovered and found your Christmas. On behalf of me and my AppealCulture family, we wish you the best of what this holiday season has to offer. Please be safe, laugh, enjoy this time with the ones you love knowing that your AppealCulture family appreciates you just as much.

Best regards,

Nabeel Ahmed

Founder & CEO
AppealCulture

Nabeel Ahmed is the founder and CEO of AppealCulture, a new media marketing company based in Washington, DC. Nabeel is a new media marketing expert with focus on technology, branding, web design, online marketing and social media strategy. Nabeel is an accomplished blogger, writer and often speaks to small businesses on the topics related to new media marketing and social media strategy. You can follow Nabeel @nabeelva on Twitter or friend him at Facebook.

You may also subscribe to his free writings at Thought Pixels. If you like this article, please follow us on Twitter @appealculture or Like us on Facebook to get up to date tips and trends.

As we are approaching 2011, one thing is very clear; “The new decade is all about engagement”. As a business if you don’t have a blog to express and engage, you don’t exist.

Blogging isn’t just your virtual diary anymore or a place for your personal thoughts. Today, blogging is an essential instrument for your business. Online entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, self-starters and personal branders have used blogs as the standard add-on to their websites. As a whole, business websites follow the same structure and offer similar features—images/graphics, ways to connect, and information. But a blog can take you above and beyond your typical website.

Whether you’re a law firm, government organization or art studio, a blog can be a valuable addition to your online presence. For example, I love the State Department’s blog, DipNote, because I feel like it’s a more informal, creative, and deeper look at U.S. foreign policy.

If you are a small business you can find a great value in Seth Godin’s blog. His blog is unique in regards to its content, style and it is widely read and admired.

The biggest benefit to having a blog on your page is that your customers feel like they get a behind-the-scenes look at who you are really are and what you care about. Instead of feeling like they are looking at your label or a lifeless program, they feel that they are hearing from the people behind the business. And when deciding who to do business with these days, people want to look for partners who are personable, transparent and approachable. In this economically challenged and uncertain environment, every business needs to amplify their human side to make users feel welcome and connected and an authentic blog gives you the opportunity to do just that.

Does a blog really fit within your overall marketing strategy and can it be integrated within your existing site? In majority of the cases, the answer is yes. You can easily add a free blog from Blogger, WordPress, Typepad, or Hubpages to get you started.

Check out this excerpt from a blog by my colleague, Nabeel:

With that in mind, here are five things to keep in mind when starting a blog for your business.

1) Be passionate. Tell us what you love (business-related) and use the blog as an opportunity to express that.

2) Be fun. Keep the entries light, short and with nice visuals to add color to your site.

3) Give it something extra. Don’t rehash material already present on your site. This is your chance to talk about other issues in a more candid manner that may not be suitable for the home page. It’s something that your loyal readers will find by sifting through the site.

4) Open up. It’s ok to be brutally honest in a blog if it means showing transparency. Don’t be inappropriate, but admit mistakes, talk about challenges and get personal.

5) Ask for engagement. The best way to get people coming back is to engage with them through questions, calls for suggestions, and venues for discussion. You can even have guest bloggers if the topic calls for it.

Happy blogging!

Ladan Nekoomaram is an accomplished writer and an expert on Social Media. Ladan currently works as a Content Developer and a Writer for AppealCulture, a new media marketing company based in Washington, DC. You can follow Ladan’s tweets at @ladansusan on Twitter.

You may also subscribe to her free writings at Thought Pixels. If you like this article, please follow us on Twitter @appealculture or Like us on Facebook to get up to date tips and trends.

A lot of marketing or communications companies have embraced the beauty of Twitter and other social media as a vital tool in promoting a product. However, just because you have the tools doesn’t mean you’re using them correctly.

It is impressive when a company is equipped with a good website, blog, mobile app and social media community. But it’s just plain sad when they have those tools and they aren’t getting any bites. On Twitter, there are millions of users and all of them are looking to grow their portfolio.

According to a recent survey by the PEW Research Center, 8 percent of Internet users are enthusiastic Twitter users–meaning they have a lot of followers, they Tweet frequently and they use it for a practical purpose.

The survey also shows that:

• Most Twitter users are either young adults, minorities, in the communications field in some way and are city dwellers
• People who live in big cities are twice as likely to use Twitter than in rural areas
• Latinos and African Americans are twice as likely to use the service than Caucasians
• One fourth of active Twitter uses check it “several times a day”
• Women and the college educated are also more likely to use Twitter than others

Given this research, you can help identify your audience so they not only follow you, but they @ you, share your links and add you to their lists.

If you have fewer than 100 followers, it’s time to get cracking. Some sites have an obvious advantage because they are known. For example, when Conan O’Brien got a Twitter account this summer and when a government agency goes on Twitter, they will automatically get a million followers overnight. You may not be so lucky.

If you post silly updates, news stories that don’t interest me or flat out stop posting for a month, I will look the other way faster than you can type 140 characters. Here are some tips on how to up your numbers (more than just the bots) and use this great tool to your advantage.

1) Post things people will care about. Original or interesting content that will grasp people’s attention.

2) Just like a good marketer, sell your “product” with a punchy headline, question, link, @ or hashtag.

3) Always end with a link, unless you are on the scene writing about something breaking that just happened. No link shows that you’re being spoiled and not giving people anything outside of what is written. The tweet needs to go somewhere, reference something or someone on twitter and relate to a topic that people care about.

4) Quit with wasteful hashtags. Saying stuff like #omg or #ihatemylife or #lolz are a total waste and quite frankly make you look like a twitter snob. It’s obnoxious!

5) If you are a marketer or PR person, it can get risky tweeting at strangers. People may see you as a used car salesman or the guy dressed as a Taco handing out flyers outside of a grocery store. Or worse–they’ll think you are desperate. Do not tweet people unless you are willing to give them something they would want.

6) Don’t @ a crazy amount of people on irrelevant things. They see what you’re doing. You’re that kid in class who waves “me me me” when the teacher is trying to think of someone to call on.

7) Be careful of the “followers” “follow” ratio. If a person sees that you’re following 10,000 people but only have 100 followers, they’ll think you are spam. While it is true that the more people you follow, the more will follow you back, be mindful that the scale doesn’t become too imbalanced.

Don’t blast out 10 tweets at a time. Use HootSuite if you must, but try to update your account

9) Update your feed. Just like a website, people will only go to your page if they see it is active. Not only do you need to show activity, you need to show engagement by @ing people with similar interests, joining in Twitter chat forums (follow those forums, discussions or conferences by researching appropriate #s. For example, #ONA10 drew hundreds of journalists together in cyberspace).

10) Lastly, it’s ok to self promote (that is one of the main functions of Twitter), but do it with class.

Ladan Nekoomaram is an accomplished writer and an expert on Social Media. Ladan currently works as a Content Developer and a Writer for AppealCulture, a new media marketing company based in Washington, DC. You can follow Ladan’s tweets at @ladansusan on Twitter.

You may also subscribe to her free writings at Thought Pixels. If you like this article, please follow us on Twitter @appealculture or Like us on Facebook to get up to date tips and trends.

Social media is not only the gateway to unlimited information–sometimes almost too much information–these days, but it’s also an easy, effective and creative way to brand the company you’ve always wanted to have.

Starting a small business and keeping it unique, creative and significant in your field is costly as it is. You want to find the best way to reach those most interested in what you have to offer and not only appeal to them, but engage with them. In a media landscape where people can find what they are looking for almost anywhere, you have to find new ways to reach them in the places they hang out the most. Where they shop, socialize, debate, learn and publicize details about what matters to them in life.  Today, that place is Facebook.

When you were a little kid on the playground, your ultimate goal was to make friends to subconsciously maximize your utility. You had a number of tools at your fingertips to do so–you could be the kid who had the best toy and shared it with everyone. You could be the kid with the questionable pile of silly putty that scared people away except for the naive kids who later regretted their choice. Or you could be the brat who flaunted the nice toy but only gave it to people you felt were good enough for it, or worse, you accepted candy bribes in exchange for turns with it. If you want to make the most friends, gain the most from them and have the best experience, which kid do you want to be?

When it comes to online marketing, your website and your web presence are who you are. Even if you’re a caring, customer-driven business, that won’t matter unless you can tell that story and portray that image online. The first thing to do is follow the lead of the kid on the top of the sandpile. Grab your best toy–Facebook (or any social media, for that matter) and share it with the others.

So how do you use something so popular like Facebook to help your company succeed? What if there are other kids who pick up on this trend and are screaming to the top of their lungs toting their toy in hand? You need to find your ally–your best friend–who can team up with who can help you get the crowd you want, retain that crowd and expand. And today’s biggest marketing ally is hands down social media strategy. Here are 5 ways of thinking when starting your business’ Facebook page.

1) “If You Build It, They Will Come,” does not exist anymore. Turn off “Field of Dreams” and wake up. Almost everyone nowadays has jumped on the new media bandwagon and gotten themselves a Facebook account. While it’s essential for you to have one, you need to take it to the next level and make it a value-added feature to your company. If I go to a company page and there are only a few updates and followers, it’s clear to me that they knew they needed an account but didn’t know how to use it to their advantage. The best way to draw people to your page is to give them what they want. Give them a reason to “fan” you and see your updates on their crowded newsfeed.

2) Engage with your audience and SHARE. Because everyone is on Facebook, it’s getting even harder to zero in on those who would be most interested in your product’s page. Friending strangers isn’t always effective on Facebook like it is on Twitter or Linkedin. First, start with your existing friends to help get the word out. After all, the best form of advertising is personal referral. If my roommate tells me the best place to get a haircut is company X while online reviews say it’s company Y, you better believe I’m going with company X. After that, find people in groups with similar interests or who express similar outlooks on a business as you do. You can gauge people’s reaction to your page with questions, links, discussion topics and of course, freebies.

Another good thing to remember is the power of sharing. If someone gives me a holler on social media, I’m likely to give them one back, then likely to pass it on to my friends, and likely to invest further in the relationship.  If an organization retweets me, refers to something I post on Facebook or sends me a personalized message, I’ll feel like I’m not talking to a machine, but rather, the people behind the machine. Small businesses thrive on customer service, and Facebook can be your customer service if you know how to use it.

3) Don’t Be Sir Spamalot. Please. The quickest way to get me to unfriend you or unfollow you is to spew information at me that is useless or too high in volume. As a good rule of thumb, post three items per day (one of them promoting engagement like a question, one of them talking about a product that would be useful for someone, and another on an upcoming event or promotion). Unless you’re the New York Times or you’re a website giving away free cupcakes every hour, 20+ updates a day isn’t necessary.

4) Facebook Ads Work. While you want to focus on free benefits of Facebook, a lot of a companies have luck when their organization shows up on people’s page. Most avid Facebook fans have noticed just HOW targeted these ads are to their interests. They are not a coincidence–Facebook knows what you like and will give you ads based on your listed interests. For the company I work at, we have tens of thousands of Facebook fans. We have kept them because of the updates and lively engagement, but we have accrued them because of referrals and strategically placed Facebook ads that draw them to the page. But fair warning: The ad will not guarantee you that someone will like your page. It will introduce them to the page, but it is your job to inspire them to hop on board.

5) Go Local. When competing against giants in your field, the best strategy is to find the hyperlocal. For example, while The Washington Post will have national news covered, is anyone touching gentrification issues in your hometown? For your business, understand what people in your community need/want and get down to the nitty gritty details. Interact with other small businesses that coincide with what you’re doing and help each other out. In the magazine business? Collaborate with local graphic designers or printers to build relationships and gain credibility. Fill a need that hasn’t been filled, listen to people and what they want, and most importantly, share the link love.

Ladan Nekoomaram is an accomplished writer and an expert on Social Media. Ladan currently works as a Content Developer and a Writer for AppealCulture, a new media marketing company based in Washington, DC. You can follow Ladan’s tweets at @ladansusan on Twitter.

You may also subscribe to her free writings at Thought Pixels. If you like this article, please follow us on Twitter @appealculture or Like us on Facebook to get up to date tips and trends.

“To be a person is to have a story to tell.” —Isak Dinesen

I have nothing in common with Isak Dinesen except the fact that I am also a storyteller. Let me explain.

Isak Dinesen (real name Karen Blixen) was a Danish author and is famous for her memoir, Out of Africa, and for several works of fiction. I am just yet contemplating the idea of writing my first book. A 2007 poll of opinion in her native Denmark lists Karen Blixen as one of the most representative personalities in Danish history.  A 2010 poll of opinion of my family suggests that I am opinionated and few other things. She was twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature. My son often nominates me as the “best dad ever” (usually after he gets what he wants) but he is only six and I think he has some credibility issues.

So let me say it again, “I have nothing in common with this great figure except the fact that I am also a storyteller.” I appreciate being a storyteller because stories have amazing powers. We can draw lessons from stories, as well as inspirations. Each one of us has a story to tell. That means as of today there are over 6.5 billion stories around us. (Actually 6,885,810,034 is the latest world population figure by the U.S. Census Bureau at http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html).

So here is the billion dollar question (or questions), “What is your story” and “How do you make your story worth listening to and making sure that it has a lasting impact on people?”

In the business world, successful companies stand out more by

1.     How they think and share their story than what they produce. And realizing;

2.     Being unique doesn’t hold much value on it’s own anymore unless you give it a power of imagination and then words and images;

3.     And these words and images must have meaning and purpose and define you and your culture as a company.

I recently conducted a one question survey on Facebook. I picked a story from the history books to avoid any pollution of thought from the business world. I asked people “Why do you think Mount Everest is called Mount Everest?” – The only rule for participation was that they can’t ask anyone or look up the answer.

74% of the people who responded to the survey said, “It’s because Mr. Everest was the first person to “climb and conquer” the mountain”, 15% knew the factual answer and 11% did not know.

The fact is that the naming of Everest has nothing to do with who physically conquered the mountain. The name was given in 1865, in honor of Sir Geroge Everest who had done some incredible mapping work which led to a mountain in the Himalayas being declared the highest peak in the world. A military engineer and geodesist, Everest went to India in 1823 to take on a mammoth task – to complete the Great Trigonometrical Survey of the sub-continent.

Until 1865, it was known by the locals as “Chomolungma” (on the Tibetan side)  or “Sagarmatha” (on the Nepalese side). These names were in use for centuries.

Knowing this history, I am asking you to put your marketer’s hat on for a few minutes and as yourself one question: How would you feel if 74% of your customers think you are not you but someone else? In other words, let’s assume if you are running the Honda Corporation and 74% of the people out there think that your best selling product “Accord” is sold by Toyota – what do you think are the consequences of that story?

The first decade of the 21^st century is about to end and let’s assume that 74% of the people are disinterestedly living their lives with a wrong perception about your product or company – if this assumption ever becomes true, especially in this economy, it simply means game is over. You should call your business good bye now.

Here is what you should think about if you want to stay in the game for a long-term:

1.     Creating a great story is the first step.

2.     The sustainability and longevity of your story is crucial to the success of your marketing and branding efforts.

3.     Your story will last only if its genuine and has the ability to engage and connect with people.

Sometimes we simply don’t put the time and effort to realize this natural synergy of connections and stories around us. We choose not to benefit from their impacts or draw inspirations. We feel we are not as important as the others who have these incredibly amazing stories but the reality is that we all have incredibly amazing stories. We all are connected to each other in one way or the other. It’s all about using your thought process as a microscope and putting these connections under it. Turning genuine connections into genuine stories is what a true marketer does.

I was born in Tripoli, Libya on March 30th, 1975. On March 31st, 1975, a day after my birth, a man with no direct connection or link to me lost his wife Louise and a 16-year-old daughter Belinda in an airplane crash in Nepal. Nepal is approximately 4300 miles and a continent away from Tripoli. Although I spent most of my life not knowing “his” story but reading his story during my adult life had an impact on me. I felt a strong connection with this man and my life. I also felt a certain level of understanding with this man because my father was in an airplane crash in 1986 and I had heard some horrible stories firsthand.

This random person was Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to ever conquer Mount Everest.

Learn to discover your personal connections with your business, your customers, their stories and your stories. Explore by engaging and you’d be surprise to learn the power of storytelling.

Nabeel Ahmed is the founder and CEO of AppealCulture, a new media marketing company based in Washington, DC. Nabeel is a new media marketing expert with focus on technology, branding, web design, online marketing and social media strategy. Nabeel is an accomplished blogger, writer and often speaks to small businesses on the topics related to new media marketing and social media strategy. You can follow Nabeel @nabeelva on Twitter or friend him at Facebook.

You may also subscribe to his free writings at Thought Pixels. If you like this article, please follow us on Twitter @appealculture or Like us on Facebook to get up to date tips and trends.