When working hard is not enough…

The first months in my hotel entrepreneurship I used to work an average of 17 hours from Monday to Sunday. Crazy, isn’t it? Well, yes, it’s. The worst and most ironic is that I got no results at all. Unfair, isn’t it? Well, yes again, it’s. But I got a long life lesson from that: succeeding on running a business is not about doing it harder but is rather about persistence, strategy and efficiency. Definitely, I wasn’t superman!

Recommended: Yes! 50 Scientifically proven ways to be persuasive

Noah Goldstein’s, Steve Martin’s (no, not that Steve Martin‘s) and Robert Cialdini’s Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive is a pop psych book, where a bunch of research in psychology is distilled into one readable volume.

50 scientifically proven ways constitute 50 chapters of the book, longest of which take 7 pages. The authors take the position that persuasion is a science, not art, hence with the right approach anybody can become the master in the skill of persuasion. So, what are the 50 ways?

To read the full article click on here.

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When building the company team is not (only) about money

One of the good things (not the only one!) that I learned once founding and running Terra Extremus Hostel in Santiago of Chile was that when the time of building the company staff came, money wasn’t the only one variable that keeps people motivated and willing to give their best out.

What does productivity really mean for the company?

This world is fast. Knowledge, technological advances and information grow to exponential rates, and to catch up with them is a challenge on its own. The dilemma for organizations is critical but what’s the solution? Fully renovated staff every single year that can bring new insight into the company? That’s an approach: expensive, unsustainable for the long term, and questionable from an CSR –Corporate Social Responsibility- perspective. Here I suggest some practical changes in the way we perceive productivity management inside the organization.

Recommended: Six interesting examples of gamification in ecommerce (published on econsultancy.com)

The video game industry is worth more than $100bn worldwide, so it's no surprise that businesses are using gamification to try to boost sales.

The idea is that by adding gaming elements to the sales process, such as small challenges and rewards, you can increase customer loyalty and advocacy. If you want to read the full article by David Moth on eConsultancy.com just click on here.

Recommended: Five ways to work with content on ecommerce sites (published on eConsultancy.com)

Content is a common cause of headaches on ecommerce websites.

Hundreds and thousands of individual products, all with their own URL, all lacking any form of unique content to help them stand out both to users and search engines: this is an all too common occurrence in ecommerce.

I'm going to show you five simple ways to work with content to help it stand out, both on-page and in the search results.

If you're interested in the full article by Peter Meinertzhagen on eConsultancy please click on here.

Recommended: 5 Things Founders Don't Talk About (published on Forbes.com)

Last week I had a dozen business founders over for beer and pizza to catch up and talk shop. It’s one of my favorite things to do, because I think when you get a group of fellow founders in a room together, there’s instant fraternity among them. People let their guards down. When surrounded by peers, Founders talk about things that no one else can appreciate or understand...

Great article by Wil Schroter contributor of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) on Forbes.com. If you want to read the full article just press here.