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Feb 24, 2015 3:57:00 PM

12 Steps to Developing a Healthy Company Culture

 recently had the opportunity to be interviewed by Digital Connect Mag, which was started by a group of tech enthusiasts with the sole purpose of helping consumers, businesses and IT professionals. They aim to cover pretty much every topic under the sun which is related to Technology, Business and Information Technology.

A startup’s success is dependent on a number of factors, the most important, and often the most overlooked being the startup’s company culture. Regardless of how solid a product and the funding behind it is, the strength of the company culture will ultimately be the determining factor behind the startup’s long-term success.

The most important aspect when creating your company culture is establishing a set of values which will define your company from its early stages to maturity, values that your company will adhere to during both successful and difficult times. This effort needs to be made from the very beginning stages of your entrepreneurial endeavor, since the values you establish initially will determine the direction in which your company grows. By making a concerted effort to build your company around that value system, and by setting clear expectations for the type of relationships that your team should have, you can exert a far greater control over what your company will look like in the next five to 10 years.

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Feb 20, 2015 8:00:00 AM

10 Important Non-Technical Traits That Every Developer Should Possess

ExactDrive was recently quoted in an article posted on YoungUpstarts.com, which focuses on stories and thought leadership pieces that help businesses small or large, the entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, or those who simply want to become better at what they do.

by Philip Acuña

Hiring a developer isn’t just about finding someone with the right technical skills. Though technical prowess is obviously important, non-technical qualities such as self-motivation and problem-solving abilities are crucial when it comes to ensuring that your vision becomes a reality. Countless entrepreneurs have hired candidates that look great on paper, but often lack the imagination or tenacity to complete the project independently or to the entrepreneur’s liking.

To help you avoid having to face this problem, we spoke to several startup CEOs and asked them to share some of the most important non-technical traits that every developer should have.

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Feb 17, 2015 8:00:00 AM

How To Solve The Biggest Problems With Facebook Advertising

Until recently, one of the biggest frustrations with Facebookadvertising has been the inabilityfor advertisers to effectively measure the ROI ofadvertising campaigns. In fact, brands have been crying out for data to help them measure campaigns and justify their ad spend for years.

Late last year, Facebook answered those cries withthe launch of theiradvertising platform, Atlas, which was designed to improve how marketers target and measure their online advertisements.

Advertisers are excited about the potential of Atlas, as it opens up two new and extremely powerful capabilities for digital advertisers: a solution to the ‘cookie problem; and the ability to target consumers on mobile devices.

Let’s look at these two possibilities in a little more detail:

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Feb 12, 2015 8:00:00 AM

Will Mobile Advertising Ever Rule The World?

Mobile ownership has now passed the point of critical mass in terms of global ownership: In the US alone, more than half of the American population now owns a smartphone. It is therefore unsurprising that mobile advertising has taken a place centerstage amid the advertising strategies of small and large businesses alike.

The driving force behind the growth of mobile advertising is the fact that it is a low cost strategy that yields high conversion rates.

New mobile-specific ad formats are being introducedevery day, enabling marketers to engage with potential customers in new and innovative ways. As native, programmatic and location-based ads continue to roll out, could mobile advertising be poised to overtake other media?

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Feb 11, 2015 8:00:00 AM

Watch Out: How Click Fraud Is Taking Over And What To Do About It Part 2

Click fraud has been around since the beginning of internet advertising and fraudster’s methods have become more advanced over the years, leading to sophisticated BattlestarGalactica-like internet bots that mimic human behavior with false clicks.

Whether you know it or not, your brand is shelling out money for clicks that did not come from humans, and the problem is endemic. In 2014, click fraud cost advertisers $11 billion and unfortunately, it is easier to get away with than cross checking in hockey, or late hits in football.

What is Click Fraud?

Click fraud is a method used by competitors who are frustrated with seeing a certain company’s ads appear above their own. By employing people (or bots) to commit click fraud on their behalf, their aim is to spend your daily budget before the day has even begun.

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Feb 9, 2015 8:00:00 AM

7 Important Strategies For Effectively Branding Your Product

ExactDrive was recently quoted in an article posted on Noobpreneur.com, which is an award winning small business online magazine offering tips and ideas for small business owners and those who want to enter entrepreneurship with the right mindset.

Developing an excellent product does not necessarily mean that a company will become the success story of their respective industry. Entrepreneurial lore is ripe with stories of companies whose less than adequate products outshine their more capable competitors. The primary reason behind this is the former’s ability to effectively brand their product, regardless of whatever shortcomings it may have. The ability to do so has become the determining factor to the success and failure of many companies, especially in a market saturated with so many similar solutions.

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Feb 6, 2015 8:00:00 AM

Watch Out: How Click Fraud Is Taking Over And What To Do About It Part 1

If you've been affected by click fraud, how should you deal with it? Marketing analytics can help. Have you ever visited a social media site, seen a not-so-interesting story with thousands of likes, and clicked on it, mainly because others were clicking? If you answered yes, you may have been duped by click fraud - and you are not alone.

The Wall Street Journal last year reported that 36 percent of Web traffic is spawned by click fraud programs and bots, and the cost to the global digital display advertising industry was approximately $11.6 billion in 2014.

The statistics are shocking, but don’t fret - this blog will show you what to watch out for and how to deal with click fraud, when traversing cyberspace.

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Feb 2, 2015 1:40:00 PM

Advice for Avoiding Common Startup Mistakes

ExactDrive was recently quoted in an article posted on Founders Space, which is dedicated to helping exceptionally talented entrepreneurs reach their full potential. Their goal is to nurture the brightest, most creative people from around the world, and help them grow their startups, get funding, and bring their unique visions to life.

Mistakes tend to happen for even the most seasoned startup veterans. Maybe you scaled too quickly, mistimed your product launch, or perhaps you just hired the wrong person. Whatever the reason, mistakes often provide a humbling opportunity for reflection and personal growth, and most importantly, give you an idea of what not to do going forward. At the end of the day however, there are some mistakes that can easily be avoided by listening to the advice of others.

We spoke to nine startup founders and asked them what their best advice was for avoiding the most common startup mistakes. Here’s what they said.

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Jan 29, 2015 8:00:00 AM

6 Important Business Questions for the New Year

The new year provides entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs alike with an opportunity to start anew, and forget the misgivings of the previous year. While being able to forgive and forget is a crucial element of progress in the business world, the ability to critical analyze your previous year from a rational perspective is equally important, allowing you determine exactly what areas need improvement. Maybe you could have communicated with team members better or perhaps you just need to improve your work-life ratio. Whatever it is, being able to find the right balance between forgiveness and level-headed self-reflection can work wonders for your business.

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Jan 22, 2015 8:00:00 AM

5 Critical Signs You Need Help With Your Facebook Advertising Campaign

Are your Facebook advertising campaigns producing the ROI you want? If not it’s time to look at your advertising strategy. Some companies are rewarded with low-cost leads and healthy profits from their Facebook campaigns, while others simply fail.

There are some common mistakes made by facebook advertisers that are preventingthem from getting the results they want. Consider these five points before embarking on your next campaign:

1. Not having a Goal

When you create a Facebook ad, the first thing to ascertain is what your objective is.
Each Facebook ad should have a specific, measurable goal, and you need to know what metrics you will use to measure your success with that goal.

By focusing on “cost per” metrics, you can improve the effectiveness of you campaign without increasing the ad spend.

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