The article has been contributed by Dhruv Kohli, Founder, Boba Bhai.
The startup ecosystem is emerging as a global powerhouse, and India specifically has witnessed unprecedented growth within the ecosystem. However, startups, in contrast to established corporations, encounter various difficulties and prospects that require a different approach to leadership. Launching a new business is like setting out on an exciting but risky journey. Within this ever-changing realm, leadership assumes a crucial role in determining the fate of startups.
The daily existence of a leader in a startup is characterised by a constant state of uncertainty regarding funding, market suitability, and expansion plans. To thrive within this environment, leaders must embrace the concept of ambiguity and display a willingness to undertake carefully calculated risks. Here are a few strategies aimed at overcoming challenges in the startup ecosystem.
In the fiercely competitive landscape of e-commerce, fintech, healthcare, and education, startups face formidable challenges in securing funding, acquiring top-tier talent, and captivating the attention of discerning customers. In this dynamic environment, merely possessing survival skills is insufficient; startups must employ intelligent and strategic approaches to thrive. A key fact of this strategy involves a deliberate focus on specific markets rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. By tailoring their products or services to meet the unique needs of targeted markets, startups can carve out a distinctive niche and create a more profound impact.
In addition, exceptional service delivery is a linchpin for startups aiming to distinguish themselves amidst tough competition. Beyond just meeting basic expectations, providing outstanding service fosters customer satisfaction and loyalty. In an era where choices abound, positive customer experiences become a significant differentiator. Moreover, innovation plays a pivotal role in setting startups apart. By consistently introducing fresh ideas, pioneering technologies, or disruptive approaches, startups can not only address evolving market needs but also position themselves as industry leaders. Standing out goes beyond having a Unique Selling Point (USP); it necessitates effective communication to ensure that the uniqueness resonates with the target audience, fostering brand recognition and sustained success.
Encourage an Open System of Communication
Maintaining open lines of communication with team leaders is not just a leadership best practice; it’s a strategic imperative. Even when dealing with high-performing individuals, transparency and genuine connection remain paramount. By articulating the organizational vision with authentic passion, leaders create a shared sense of purpose that reverberates throughout the entire team. This genuine enthusiasm serves as a catalyst, not only deepening the bond between leaders and their teams but also fostering a warm and inclusive atmosphere that permeates the entire organization. As communication flows seamlessly from top to bottom, it forms the backbone of a cohesive and collaborative work environment where every team member feels valued and connected to the broader mission.
Team leaders, as the front-line representatives of the organization, play a pivotal role in shaping client relationships. Analogous to a mega-funnel, effective communication at the leadership level ensures a clear and consistent message cascades down to the frontline, resulting in enhanced customer satisfaction. This well-established communication channel acts as the secret recipe for not only strengthening existing client relationships but also fortifying them against the challenges of time. By empowering team leaders with a comprehensive understanding of the organizational vision and values, leaders cultivate a customer-centric culture that resonates at every touchpoint, solidifying the foundation for enduring client partnerships.
Soft Skills that Every Leader Should Have
Ensure Team Leaders Find Fulfilment in Their Roles
Ensuring that team leaders find fulfillment in their roles goes beyond merely meeting organizational objectives; it’s about fostering a work environment where each leader can harness their strengths and experience personal and professional satisfaction. Leaders should proactively engage in open conversations with their team, encouraging an ongoing dialogue about job satisfaction and potential areas for improvement or realignment. By creating a culture that values individual growth and fulfillment, leaders can uncover hidden talents and aptitudes within their teams that might be underutilized in their current roles.
Recognizing that individuals may have strengths extending beyond their designated responsibilities, leaders can empower team members to explore diverse skill sets and roles. In doing so, leaders not only contribute to the personal and professional development of their team but also create a more versatile and adaptable workforce. For example, identifying a tech expert with strong client service skills may open up opportunities for cross-functional collaboration or role adjustments, enhancing overall team dynamics. This proactive approach not only mitigates potential dissatisfaction but also transforms challenges into opportunities for growth, reinforcing the ethos of continuous improvement within the organization.
Setting the Tone: Founder’s Impact on Startup Culture
In the startup ecosystem, the founder’s impact on the company’s culture is pivotal, as leaders shoulder a level of responsibility that surpasses that in well-established organizations. Founders are not just figureheads; they are the architects of the startup’s cultural framework and ethical standards. Leading by example isn’t merely an optional leadership style; it is an indispensable requirement. The values and work ethic embodied by a founder serve as the cornerstone, setting the tone that reverberates across the entire organization. This emphasis on cultural leadership ensures that the startup’s ethos aligns with the founder’s vision, fostering a cohesive and inspiring workplace.
The startup leader assumes a multifaceted role that transcends traditional managerial responsibilities. Beyond being the captain steering the ship through uncharted waters, they serve as the chief navigator, diplomat, motivator, and problem solver. In this dynamic environment where uncertainty is the norm, the startup leader plays a crucial role in orchestrating the diverse talents within the team. The potential for innovation and impact is unparalleled, making the journey more than just about building a business; it becomes an opportunity to shape the future. Embracing the exhilarating roller coaster ride of startup leadership, with its unique blend of challenges and opportunities, requires an unwavering passion and drive to bring about transformative change in the entrepreneurial landscape.
Communication is crucial in any team or organization to achieve success. Open communication promotes trust, fosters collaboration, and strengthens relationships within the team. It enables team members to express their thoughts, concerns, and ideas, leading to better decision-making and problem-solving. Moreover, transparent communication encourages accountability and ensures that everyone is aligned and working towards a shared objective.
In this blog post, we will delve into the significance of communication within your team and how it can benefit your organization.
Open internal communication in an organization builds trust among team members. When individuals are transparent and honest in their interactions, it creates an environment where others feel safe to do the same. This trust facilitates collaboration as team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas, concerns, and feedback without fear of judgment or negative consequences.
Moreover, when trust is established, it strengthens relationships within the team. Team members feel valued and acknowledged when their opinions are heard and respected. This fosters a culture where everyone feels a sense of belonging and mutual respect.
Enhancing Collaboration and Decision-Making
Transparent communication greatly enhances collaboration within the team. When team members openly share their thoughts and perspectives, it leads to a grasp of the task at hand. This diversity in thinking can spark solutions and enhance decision-making.
Transparent communication among team members helps in addressing conflicts and misunderstandings. It allows teammates to openly discuss their differences, find ground, and come up with beneficial solutions. This collaborative approach prevents conflicts from escalating and promotes teamwork.
Moreover, transparent communication improves the quality of decision-making within the team. When all team members have access to information and are encouraged to express their opinions, it results in informed decisions. Different viewpoints and expertise are taken into account while minimizing the chances of overlooking factors.
Promoting Accountability
Transparent communication fosters accountability within the team. By communicating about progress, challenges, and achievements, everyone becomes aware of each other’s responsibilities and commitments. This shared understanding facilitates coordination and enables work towards shared goals.
Through discussions regarding expectations, deadlines, and deliverables, team members can hold each other accountable for their actions. Clear and open communication is essential for avoiding misunderstandings and maintaining clarity in tracking progress.
Boosting Engagement and Employee Satisfaction
Transparent communication plays a vital role in enhancing employee engagement and satisfaction within a team. When team members feel that their thoughts and ideas are valued, they are more likely to contribute and take ownership of their work. This sense of involvement and empowerment leads to job satisfaction and a stronger commitment to achieving the team’s goals.
Transparent communication also enables leaders to provide feedback and recognition. Regular, honest feedback on performance allows team members to grow and improve. Open communication facilitates acknowledgment of accomplishments, reinforcing behaviors, and motivating team members to continue performing at their best.
Creating a Culture of Transparency
Establishing a culture of communication requires efforts from both leaders and team members. Here are some practical steps to promote communication within your team:
1. Lead by example: Leaders should demonstrate communication by being approachable, open-minded, and receptive to feedback.
2. Encourage listening: Team members should actively listen to one another, showing respect for opinions while displaying genuine interest in what others have to say.
3. Keep the team updated regularly: It’s essential to provide updates on the progress, milestones, and challenges of the project. By communicating these updates, we ensure that everyone is well-informed and aligned.
4. Create a space for communication: It’s important to establish an environment where team members feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas without fearing judgment or negative consequences.
5. Establish channels of communication: Define the appropriate communication channels for different types of interactions. Encourage face-to-face meetings, video conferences, and collaborative tools to facilitate efficient communication.
Conclusion
In summary, transparent communication holds the potential to transform team dynamics and drive success. By building trust, enhancing collaboration, fostering accountability, and boosting engagement levels, transparent communication cultivates a productive team atmosphere. Embrace transparent communication within your team to unlock its capabilities.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Discord.
People love to stay in touch whether it’s by talking to friends and family through video calls, messaging through apps, or touching base working remotely. Gamers are no different. That’s why online gaming and chatting go together like Han and Chewy.
Gamers have always faced two problems, how to talk to one another and how to organize people to get an online game going. Discord is one such app that was created by the gamers for gamers to solve such problems. But outside of the gamer’s realm, what is discord all about?
Discord is an easy-to-use free communication app, similar to apps like Skype or Slack but aimed mainly at gamers with a lot more features. Discord lets friends chat with each other at one to one or as a group via a server.
It provides user-friendly text, voice, screen-sharing, and video chat services through public or private servers that can be set up pretty quickly and easily. No doubt Discord started as a gamers’ chat app and became quite famous for it. But its users started finding non-gaming ways of using this platform which inspired Discord to make a few changes.
Discord specializes in text, image, video, and audio communication between users in a chat channel. Discord runs on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, and in web browsers. One of the most critical differentiators that makes Discord the go-to app for video gamers is its open-bot-friendly ecosystem.
COVID forced everybody to social distance and communicate via chat platforms. So, because of its users and the pandemic Discord thought about growing beyond its only for-gamers image, and now it wants to be seen as a general-purpose chat app for everyone with even non-gaming needs and wants, to go mainstream all over the world, just like Zoom. Discord is for anyone who could use a place to talk with their friends and communities.
Discord – Target Market Size
Founded in 2015, Discord successfully identified who the early adopters of their platform would be, the gamers.
Leading Countries for Monthly Traffic to discord.com in July 2022
However, in recent years, as the company continues its expansion, the target market size has also been growing hand in hand with the same. The vicinity of their platform’s services is gradually starting to attract more users outside of the gaming community.
From large corporate meetings to job recruitments, from live karaoke nights to virtual wedding parties, the possibilities are pretty endless. That’s why they have changed the branding and introduced the new tagline which specifically says, “Your Place to Talk and Hang Out”.
In short, Discord is projecting itself because of the way forward for platforms where you’ll chat with friends, learn something online, or simply share ideas albeit you are not into gaming. They have successfully gained a sustainable advantage above their competition within the gaming sector and now the company appears to have shifted its focus to target users from various industries.
Whether you’re a part of a faculty club, gaming group, worldwide art community, or simply a couple of friends that want to spend time together, Discord makes it easy to speak a day and hang around more often.
About Discord’s logo, the most popular theory is that the discord logo is a game controller, with a face. But according to its Twitter account, it’s a friendly bot named Clyde.
Discord’s tagline says, “Your Place to Talk and Hang Out”. Whether you’re a part of a faculty club, gaming group, worldwide art community, or simply a couple of friends that want to spend time together, Discord makes it easy to speak a day and hang around more often. Discord is not just for people with gaming requirements, but for everyone to communicate.
Discord – Founder and History
Founded in May 2015 by Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy, Discord continues to be the most preferred app for gamers for communicating while gaming.
The idea of Discord came into Jason Citron’s mind when he noticed how difficult it was for his team to work out tactics in games like Final Fantasy XIV and League of Legends using available voice-over IP (VoIP) software. He founded OpenFeint, a social mobile gaming platform that got sold in 2011 for $104 million.
Founders of Discord – Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy
He founded a game development studio, Hammer & Chisel in 2012. Their first product was Fates Forever, released in 2014, which Citron anticipated being the primary MOBA game on mobile platforms, but it didn’t become commercially successful. He then noticed the glitches and issues faced by gamers all over the world while gaming which was communication. He also found that some VoIP options required players to type in IP addresses just to connect, while others were resource-heavy and had known security problems. This led the developers to develop a chat service that was much friendlier to use and based on more modern technologies.
Discord addressed all of the issues of its predecessors. It was free to use. It had a remarkable product design. It had a desktop client, but it also had an internet app. Users could invite friends with a link and start conversing through the browser without downloading anything.
Discord was publicly released in May 2015 under the URL discordapp.com. consistent with Citron, the sole area that they pushed Discord into was for the Reddit communities, finding that a lot of subreddit forums were replacing IRC servers with Discord ones. Discord became a known name among Esports and LAN tournament gamers, and other Twitch streamers.
Discord – Vision and Mission
“Discord wants you to build genuine relationships with your friends and communities close to home or around the world. Original, reliable, playful, and relatable. These are the values that connect our users and our employees at Discord.”
Discord’s mission is closely associated with its vision. Its mission is to bring people together around games. That’s why most of the app’s features consider meeting the requirements of gamers. For Discord, diversity and inclusiveness are critical a part of how it intends to succeed in its mission.
“It’s where your world talks. Discord is a voice, video and text communication service used by over a hundred million people to hang out and talk with their friends and communities.”
Discord – Business Model
Discord is against advertisements and the selling of user data. It has been relying on funding money till recently and has no intentions to make users pay to use the application in the future.
Discord’s basic service is free. But there’s also a premium version called Nitro that comes with added features—custom emojis, higher-quality video for sharing gaming screens, and higher file-upload limits—starting from $2.99 monthly.
Explaining the rationale behind the decision, Citron said,
“I didn’t want to sell ads because I felt like selling ads would require us to spend a tremendous amount of energy investing in building ad technology that doesn’t make the end user experience better. It actually subtracts from the end user experience. So, we would be spending a ton of energy taking value away from our users so that we could make money. And I wanted to build a business where the incentives of our team and our user base were directly aligned. And that is why, at that moment, I said let’s not do the easy thing and slap ads on this. Let’s double down on Discord Nitro, which is all about making it more fun to talk and hang out, and see if we can build a real business around that.”
In Q2 2022, Discord reported $28.72 million in revenues, an increase of over $5 million compared to Q2 2021.
Almost all of Discord’s revenue comes from its Nitro, its premium enhancement bundle.
Discord has over 150 million active monthly users and over 300 million registered accounts.
In 2021, it was valued at $7 billion, doubling its value in under a year. In 2022 it was valued at $15 billion.
In-App Purchase Revenues of Discord Mobile App Worldwide
Discord – Funding and Investors
Discord has raised a total of $995.4M in funding over 16 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on March 12, 2022, from a Secondary Market round. Discord is funded by 31 investors. Arcane Group and Flat Capital are the most recent investors.
Date
Round
Amount
Lead Investors
Mar 12, 2022
Secondary Market
–
–
Mar 3, 2022
Secondary Market
–
–
Sep 15, 2021
Series H
$500M
Dragoneer Investment Group
Dec 17, 2020
Series H
$100M
Greenoaks Capital
Sep 29, 2020
Secondary Market
–
–
Jun 30, 2020
Series G
$100M
Index Ventures
Dec 21, 2018
Series F
$150M
Greemoaks Capital
Apr 19, 2018
Series E
$50M
–
Jan 1, 2017
Series D
$50M
Index Ventures
Jan 26, 2016
Series C
$20M
Greylock, Spark Capital
Feb 10, 2015
Series B
–
9+ Program, Benchmark, Tencent
Nov 21, 2013
Series A
$8.2M
Benchmark
Jul 11, 2012
Seed Round
$1.1M
–
Discord – Acquisitions
Discord acquired Blitz App on Nov 6, 2018. The gaming chat app giant acquires augmented reality startup Ubiquity6 in 2021. The latter was experiencing problems in finding audiences for its products, as per reports.
Acquiree Name
Date
Amount
About Acquiree
Blitz App
Nov 6, 2018
–
Your gaming coach for League of Legends, Valorant, CSGO, Fortnite, and more— powered by AI and built with professional players.
Ubiquity6
June 2021
–
An augmented reality startup founded in 2017 aimed to bring augmented reality experience to mobile users.
Discord – Partnership
After the initial growth spurt, Jason’s team had to come up with a strategy to reach out to a larger target audience for which they partnered with video game streamers such as Twitch. This partnership did result in more visibility, allowing more gamers to adopt as well as invite others to join the discord users’ community.
But obviously, Discord also faces several challenges. The principal among them is that it allows users anonymity that creates an “anything goes” environment. Anybody from anywhere can technically create “servers,” which are chat groups. This could also lead to younger users being exposed to adult content or bullying. For his part, Citron defended Discord by saying it kicks out users who are younger than 13 if they’re found, but verifying ages on the service is almost impossible.
“For teenagers, you know, obviously, it’s still important that parents are aware of apps that their kids are using, and sort of who they’re talking to on the internet,” says Citron.
During Q2 2022, over 27.7 million Discord accounts were deleted due to spam activity, and approx. 532,000 accounts were banned due to child safety concerns. Similarly, 106,00 accounts received a ban due to exploitative and unsolicited content approximately. Additionally, the platform permanently deleted nearly 27,500 accounts following reports of regulated or illegal activities.
Number of Banned Discord Accounts in Q2 2022
“The truth is that yes, I am [frustrated],” says Citron about the abuse. “We built Discord to be a way for people to be together with their friends and, as a parent, it’s important to me for that to be safe for everyone. Ensuring Discord is an inclusive and welcoming place for our users is our highest priority.”
Discord – Future Plans
Discord leveraged heavily on the essential human need for communicating. The strength of Discord lies in its ability to cater to the growing needs of huge web-based communities.
Discord continues to refresh and refine its services by creating perks like a guided bot, meme bots, bots that could fetch player stats, and many more which makes discord a fun platform for users to interact via. All of this could happen only because of the founding team’s in-depth knowledge of the gamer’s mindset and insight into industry trends.
It’s pushing to show the platform as a communication tool not only for gamers but for everyone from study groups to sneakerheads to gardening enthusiasts. At the top of June, Discord’s rebrand was complete. Its new tagline was “Your place to speak,” which cleared the misunderstanding of many folks that the app is simply for gamers.
In the coming years, according to Citron, Discord has many works to do including improving moderation tools and making sure the communities on its platform operate the way the company hopes is not being just confined to a group of people with gaming interests.
Conclusion
Discord is a popular communication platform that allows users to create and join virtual “servers” to chat and collaborate with others. It offers features such as text and voice chat, file sharing, and integration with other apps and services. It is widely used by gamers but has also gained popularity among other communities such as artists and educators. Overall, Discord is a versatile and user-friendly tool for online communication and collaboration.
FAQs
What kind of company is Discord Inc.?
Discord is an easy-to-use free communication app, similar to apps like Skype or Slack but aimed mainly at gamers with a lot more features. Discord lets friends chat with each other at one to one or as a group via a server.
Who founded Discord?
Discord was founded in May 2015 by Jason Citron and Stan Vishnevskiy.
How does Discord make money?
Discord is against advertisements and the selling of user data. Its basic service is free. But there’s also a premium version called Nitro that comes with added features.
What is Discord used for?
Discord is used for voice calls, video calls, text messaging, media, and sharing files in private chats. It continues to be the most preferred app for gamers for communicating while gaming.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by AT&T
Telecommunication has made a positive impact on society by helping businesses grow their network. It makes long-distance communications easier via electronic modes. Though we are living in a global village where even America is just a phone call away, the beginning stages of telecommunication were not that easy. AT&T company is the descendant of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company which holds the pride of connecting most parts of America via telephone networks.
AT and T company’s origin dates back to 1876 when Alexander Graham Bell first invented the telephone. He secured a patent for the device when he first made the wire transmission of intelligible speech. In 1877, a year after the invention, he and two other investors Gardiner C. Hubbard and Thomas Sanders, formed the Bell Telephone Company. Later, in the next year, they sold it to a group of financiers. The Bell company was already in a race with the leading telegraph company, Western Union Company, regarding the development of telephone services. In 1881, Bell bought Western Electric, the leading maker of telegraphic equipment, and became the most dominant manufacturer of telephone equipment.
During most parts of the 20th century, AT and T ruled the phone service of the United States as a monopoly. The Bell Telephone company formed American Telephone and Telegraph Company as a subsidiary company in 1885. In 1899, American Bell Company transferred its assets to its subsidiary, resulting in the formation of AT&T as the parent company. The company was rebranded as AT and T Corp. in 1994.
AT&T – Industry
The telecom industry in the United States is valued at $412.4B in 2021 and is expected to grow at higher rates in the upcoming years. Telecom companies are competing to become the fast-paced, greater network in the global market. To succeed companies are taking equal efforts in understanding customer needs worldwide. Global needs are constantly changing and industry knowledge and updation are necessary to survive the position. Currently, omnichannel strategy and extensive technology investments are mandatory as the growth is rapid like 5G.
AT and T is the world’s largest telecommunication company in terms of revenue. It is also the third largest company in providing mobile telephone services. The revenue from the sector is likely to increase by 17% per annum as per the reports.
AT&T – Founders and Team
AT&T was founded by Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas A. Watson, and Gardiner Greene Hubbard in 1875. AT&T underwent a lot of transformations and reformations between 1982 and 2004.
AT&T Founders – Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas A. Watson, Gardiner Greene Hubbard
Alexander Graham Bell
Graham Bell is an inventor, scientist, and engineer who invented the practical telephone. He is the co-founder of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885. He started the idea of establishing the company immediately after getting the patent rights for the telephone. He grew the idea and the company along with two other investors.
Thomas A. Watson
Born in Massachusetts, United States, Thomas A. Watson was a bookkeeper and a carpenter before Alexander Graham Bell hired him. He is known for the invention of the telephone. Being the recipient of the first phone call, his name was the first ever word said on the telephone. Watson took great pride in his role as an inventor, having developed numerous telephone accessories that helped to enhance the user experience.
Gardiner Greene
Gardiner Greene Hubbard was an American lawyer, financier, and community leader. He was the co-founder and the first president of the Bell Telephone Company which was later known as AT and T. He was also the founder and president of the National Geographic Society.
AT&T – Startup Story
AT and T company started as Bell telecommunication company when the telephone was first introduced. In 1885, Bell became an American Bell Telecommunication company, and AT&T company was formed as one of its subsidiaries. In 1899, AT&T acquired the assets of its parent company. It established a network of local telephones along with all its subsidiaries in the United States and became a monopoly in the sector. The monopoly continued mostly through the twentieth century. The Bell system was also known by the nickname Ma Bell.
Later, in 1982, the US regulators broke up the AT&T monopoly by grouping them into seven individual companies. These new companies were called Regional Bell Operating Companies, informally Baby Bells. AT&T continued to operate successfully in providing long-distance services despite the increasing overseas competition.
SBC (Southwestern Bell Corporation) was one of the breakups of AT&T. SBC made a series of acquisitions in the late 80s and early 90s. The acquisitions include Metromedia mobile business and several cable companies. When SBC acquired 2 baby bells and several other telecommunication companies in the latter part of the 1990s, the company changed its name to SBC Communications Inc., Later, in 1998, the company was in the top 15 of the Fortune 500. In 1999, AT&T was part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
AT&T purchased its former parent and other companies between 2005 – 2013. Though it follows the corporate structure and stock price histories of SBC from 2005, it claims its original history dates to 1877. Following several acquisitions and rebranding including DirecTV and several other satellite channels, AT&T reorganized itself into four main units. The units are,
Communications
AT&T Mobility
Film and Television Production
Advertising and Analytics
AT&T – Mission and Vision
AT&T had various plans in the sector from 2013 when they settled clearly as a top service provider in the US. They planned various launches including the satellite-operated HBO television which got launched in 2020. They invested and divested various capital to diversify the company. Now, they are an unbeatable top company in the industry.
The mission of AT&T is “Innovate and get there first”. The company’s mission statement includes the purpose, value, and goals of the business.
Their vision says “We aspire to be the most admired and valuable company in the world”. By enriching and making the lives of people easier, they bring the most exciting modes of communication to the market.
AT&T – Name and Logo
AT&T Name and Logo
AT&T was formerly known as Bell company. AT and T stand for American Telephone and Telegraph Company. As a credit to the founders, AT&T had a logo of a bell in its early stages which was later reshaped into an emblem.
AT&T – Business Model
Though AT&T has various operations and businesses, the mainstream income is from communication operations. They provide various kinds of telecommunication services which include wireless services, TV Broadband, and much more. The acquisition and provision of assets and businesses usually go into the rebranding expenses.
AT&T – Revenue Model
AT&T is a top service provider in the telecommunication sector. It derives its income from various sources, including the wireless phone business, broadband, and TV operations. The revenue generally flows from subscription mobile, fixed-line, and wireless broadband services.
Setting up AT&T Internet
AT&T – Employees
As of January 2022, AT&T had 2,03,000 employees. This count has declined by 11.74% since then. The higher officials have taken steps to keep the door glass by providing a friendly atmosphere and embracing actions to improve the value of employment. AT&T is a job grind with a 90% turnover rate in the first year of employment. AT&T employees get the benefit of accessing the services of their company at a discounted price and also access to television options like HBO Max, and STARZ at no extra cost.
AT&T – Challenges Faced
Like every other sector, telecommunication also has its pros and cons. AT&T has also faced many challenges and struggles to reach the position of the largest company. The three major challenges faced by the company are,
Defending the Time Warner merger, and convincing the regulators
Defending its zero-rating strategies. By offering data-free consumption of DirecTV on mobile and home devices, it became an unfair strategy to other streaming companies like Netflix
The struggle to keep the debt level under control even after the acquisitions
AT&T – Funding and Investors
The company goes through funding rounds frequently to get some funds to run the company network smoothly. The recent funding round in Jan 2023 has a fundraising of $2,200,000 from the Kansas Office of Broadband Development.
AT&T – Mergers and Acquisitions
The company has a greater history of acquisitions. The total acquisitions of AT&T are 32 till now. The latest and key acquisitions are listed below.
Acquisition
Acquired Date
AlienVault
July 2018
AppNexus
June 2018
Fiber Tower
Jan 2017
Iusacell
Nov 2014
Nextel Mexico
Jan 2015
AppNexus
June 2018
NextWave Wireless
2005
Centennial Wireless
1988
AT&T – Awards and Achievements
AT&T has won the J.D. Power 2021 Business Wireline Satisfaction Award for large enterprises and medium businesses for the second straight year.
Since 2017-2021, the company has been recognized as the No. 1 telecommunications company, based on factors such as innovation, social responsibility, and human capital management.
AT&T Business also won the 2020 Company of the Year Award for the Global Cellular Internet of Things (IoT) Industry, Excellence in Best Practices. Frost & Sullivan, a business consulting firm, granted the award to recognize AT&T Business for visionary innovation, market-leading performance, and unmatched customer care.
AT&T – Competitors
The company is a multinational holding business and has the biggest mobile telephone services. This calls for competitors all over the world. Here, is a list of leading competitors for AT&T to know about.
The company has strong growth potential due to its competitive performance in the current macroeconomic environment. In 2022, AT&T shares have climbed an increasing stream of 3.9%. By 2025, 75% of its network footprint will be served via fiber and 5G. It will also have reduced its copper services footprint by 50%.
FAQs
Who is currently the CEO of AT&T?
John T. Stankey is the CEO of AT&T since July 1, 2020.
What is AT&T used for?
What is AT&T used for?AT&T Inc (AT&T) is a provider of telecommunications, media, and technology services. The company offers wireless communications, data/broadband and internet services, local and long-distance telephone services, telecommunications equipment, and managed networking.
How much debt does AT&T have?
The long-term debt for the quarter of September 2022 was $123.854B.
Which is the largest acquisition for AT&T?
The largest acquisition of AT&T to date is WarnerMedia for $108.7B in 2016.
The internet along with modern technology has seen a boom in the past decade. It has stimulated a lot of young people to turn into entrepreneurs by crafting their unique business ideas. The 2021 Entrepreneurial Spirit Index published by IPSOS shows 29% of Generation Z ranked as having a very high entrepreneurial spirit, compared to 36% of Millennials, 33 % of Generation X, and 25% of Baby Boomers. As of 2022, there are reportedly 582 million entrepreneurs worldwide. This growth has encouraged more people and companies to become investors.
The business you start might have huge market potential. But, for it to reach a wider market and attain success beyond the geographical limit, it needs constant financial support. This financial aid is offered by Investors and VCs who are always choosy about their investments. Investors expect certain qualities from entrepreneurs before they decide to invest. So, what are they? What are the qualities that an investor looks for in an entrepreneur? Let’s see.
Here are some of the entrepreneurial skills to impress an investor.
In-depth Business Knowledge
Pitching your business plan to investors requires inside-out knowledge of your business and its market. An excellent idea portrayed with poor business knowledge can be fatal. Moreover, the confidence with which you approach the investor has a direct effect on the funding. In-depth business knowledge gives you that confidence.
Before preparing your presentation for investors, gain clear knowledge about the scope and problems of your business and market. Construct a plan to solve those problems. You can gain that by interacting with your prospective customers and other market experts. Look for the questions, criticisms, and suggestions that the investor might toss at you. Be prepared for such things so you can provide a satisfactory response.
Team Building Skills
Many investors prefer to invest in businesses that have a good team. As Will Herman, a popular Angel Investor himself said, he believes in a founder who has a good team. It includes not only the co-founders but also the management team as a whole.
Every person can’t be an expert in all aspects of the business. So experiencing yourself in what you’re good at and building a team for other aspects can gain you a positive note from investors. Even an average business idea can be executed exceptionally through a good team. If you’re desperate about getting the investor’s concern, then knock on their doors with a competitive squad.
Precision in Fund Requirements
Being clear about the amount required and the ways of utilizing them is a significant factor seen by Investors. Opting for an open-ended request for funds shows your lack of business awareness. Get to know the market well and be as accurate as possible in your need for funds.
Determining the channel of fund flow is another important and challenging factor. You need to be more specific to the investors regarding what ways their money will be utilized. It could be for customer acquisition, product development, or anything. Pitch them with specific numbers to gain their interest.
The primary quality of a good entrepreneur is his Communication skills. The success of a business depends on the coordination between various departments, teams, and stakeholders. All these can be successfully bridged through effective communication by the entrepreneur.
Therefore investors expect entrepreneurs to be good communicators for effectively managing the business. This will be keenly observed during your pitching. Now, what makes one a good communicator? Deep knowledge develops confidence and this, in turn, grooms you to be a good communicator.
Passion towards Business
Create a vision for your business and develop a sense of passion while running towards it. The more passionate you are, the more determined you’ll be towards achieving your goal. The path to success in business will be loaded with ups and downs. How you overcome it depends on how passionate you are about your vision. Investors look for such dedicated and vision-driven entrepreneurs to invest their money.
Organizational and Leadership Skills
The success of the business depends on the way it is organized and managed. Coordinating teams, assigning appropriate tasks, and motivating them towards the company’s goals are some of the functions that come under organizational and leadership skills. A leader inspires his employees directly. Therefore, this skill becomes essential for the success of a business. Due to its impact on their investment, investors expect this quality in you during pitching.
Adaptability and Learning Skills
An entrepreneur should always be open to learning and suggestions. Adapting to the constantly changing market is a crucial skill that an entrepreneur should possess. It keeps you alive in the face of a competitive market.
Experienced investors may provide you with advice regarding the business. Even some people you meet, customers, or your failures might teach you something. You must keep yourself open to such learnings. Failing to look around and close yourself off might land you and your business in trouble.
Every entrepreneur must possess problem-solving skills to deal with day-to-day business challenges. Problem-solving is a combination of various other skills like analytical and critical thinking. It starts from identifying a problem and may involve taking complex decisions for business growth. You can develop this skill by going through various case studies of organizations and thinking from their perspective.
Strategic and Critical Thinking Skills
Strategic and critical thinking becomes essential for the overall development of entrepreneurial skills. You should be able to foresee problems from various perspectives to arrive at the best solution. Critical thinking becomes essential for making strategic business decisions.
Developing the skill of thinking strategically and critically would help you out beat your competitors and expand your market reach.
Marketing Ability
Communication skills will help not only to sell your ideas to investors but also your products to customers. This requires a clear understanding of customers’ needs and preferences, your competitors, market conditions, and other external factors. Investors look for your team’s ability to convince a person and make them buy your product or service.
Investors believe more in you than your business plan or products. Their investment depends on the value of trust you offered them. Trust can be built from possessing a combination of various skills mentioned here. Gaining as many skills as possible is always an added advantage to you and your business.
FAQs
What are the 10 Entrepreneurial skills?
10 important entrepreneurial skills an investor looks for in an entrepreneur are:
Today’s world is all about showing your best social skills and communication skills for marketing yourself. The budding entrepreneurs constantly need to sell themselves and market their business ideas. To bucket up the investors for the business, one needs to attend social gatherings and socialize with people to get them involved in their venture plan. However, in the workplace, these skills can be an essential aspect of staff interaction, planning, and collaboration. In this article, we discuss what social skills are, how to apply them in the workplace and why developing social skills is so important.
However, it’s very important to impress the person with your witty remarks and steal the show with your knowledge. Many people are not comfortable with the words and not everyone can express their thoughts clearly which forfeits the chance of great investment opportunities from our hands. It is necessary to improve communication and social skills. So in this article, we will talk about ways to improve your social skills and effectively communicate in your workplace.
Social skills, also known as interpersonal or soft skills, are used to communicate with others. There are several types of communication skills we use daily including: verbal, nonverbal, written, and visual. Verbal skills involve the spoken language, while nonverbal communication skills include body language, facial expressions, and eye contact. Strong social skills can help you build and maintain successful relationships both professionally and personally and also help you in being a good public speaker.
Methods of Improving Social Skills
To be a better communicator, one has to improve their social skills, improving social skills will help you in every aspect of life. Some of the methods to improve Social Skills in life are:
Instead of shying away, try to start a conversation with a stranger, your acquaintances and family. Ask an open-ended question that keeps the communication going, the need to engage is extremely important here.
Try to broaden your answer, when answering someone’s question. This led to deeper communication and you can practice your conversation skills.
Observe the social skills of the people around you, especially your colleagues. You can learn a lot of things from your surroundings. Observing their way of non-verbal and verbal communication will help you in improving yours.
Main eye contact while conversing with the opposite person.
Just talking is not enough, you need to develop your listening skills as well.
Take the help of books, podcasts and YouTube videos to improve your social skills.
There isn’t any rocket science behind alluring the people, it is easy to behave in social gatherings. There are some basic rules which you need to regimen before entering any social event. So, draw your attention here.
Make a Killer First Impression
When we meet someone for the first time, the very first thought that pops into our mind are to make a long-lasting impression that they stay lifelong with us. The points that will help you to make an ebonics first impression for the audience are –
Smile often, will exude positivity. Smiling makes you appear more friendly and gregarious and, others will feel more comfortable in your presence. Don’t smile like a fool, just a little, to look friendly and easily approachable. Smile as you mean it.
Make eye contact with the other person while talking and that will define your confidence in the other person. Eye contact displays confidence and is one of the quickest ways to make people gravitate toward you. There is a simple trick to show your strength and social skills that will improve your confidence in the other person. So make eye contact with the person while talking to them with your striving confidence.
Your body language should be open to the public. Rigid body language is the definition of nervousness and lack of confidence. The body language should be relaxed and no need to be prim and proper. Positive body language includes good posture, leaning in slightly when someone is speaking (displays interest), and smiling/eye contact. This will helps in improving communication and social skills.
Be a Good and Patient Listener
You need to develop good listening qualities in lieu to get the attention of others in a social meet-up. Take time to understand the other person’s view and, only after understanding it reciprocate your answer. Some people confuse listening with hearing. They both are different things you need to understand, what is being communicated to show your interest by:
Giving them your full interest and showing that you’re understanding their words.
Take time to ask questions on the topic of the discussion.
Make valuable remarks on the topic and share your valuable opinion with the person.
Give Compliments
Giving compliments to the person while making the introduction will give you the right start. Give genuine compliments where applicable and be honest about them. If you notice something nice about a person don’t be afraid to let them know. Phrases such as “That is a nice shirt by the way. Where did you get it?” or “You have a very admiring personality makes you much more amiable and breeds pleasant social interactions.
So, these are a few simple tricks to make social gatherings your show. But after reading this topic and observing the experiences you will get to know that confidence is the key element here. This will helps in improving communication and social skills. If you have the right amount of confidence in yourself, then no one can stop you from becoming successful. So, try to embed confidence in your body language and you will see the changes yourself.
Effective Communication
What Are Communication Skills?
Communication skills are the activities that make your performance ultimately a good one. Communication skills are very important in every human being’s life it is used in both, as in your personal life and your professional life.
It is also the abilities of when you give and receive different kinds of information from different sources. When you communicate ideas, feelings, or even any update regarding your work or project. Communication skills involve listening, speaking, observing, and empathizing. Having good communication skills helps to develop your personality and one can also be given the top priorities as a leader. Communication is so important that entire careers and fields are based almost entirely upon communicating, like these 13 communication careers listed here.
Whether it’s written or spoken, reading, or listening, these skills are crucial in any workplace and can make you a better, more effective, and more efficient employee,
Ways to Communicate Effectively in the Workplace
When the employees have good communication skills, superiors can better understand the potential, willingness, talents, and skills of their employees. Some of the ways to communicate effectively are:
Encourage open discussion: In this, a manager acknowledges his\her employee’s, views which is important. They ask their employees for valuable inputs. Encourage managers to clearly show that they have heard employees’ opinions and engage the employees on a personal level. The managers recognize their employees and acknowledged the employee’s inputs.
More face-to-face or phone conversations: A face-to-face conversation will last longer as more people talk together, which makes them stronger and better relationships with employees, managers and the boss. As, in a face-to-face conversation one can perceive each other feelings, facial expressions, and body language. Having, eye contact will also help to get an understanding of the communication and good internal networking might help you in the future.
Be careful when wording emails: When you are writing the mail to your manager or your boss, don’t write like the reader is your best friend. Don’t assume the reader knows who you are and why you are emailing. Don’t use informal language. Don’t forget to proofread for spelling and grammar mistakes. Write in a way that will boost them to open your mail.
Be aware of body language: Your body language can influence the way others respond to you. It can also impact how they perceive you and your intentions. Being highly aware of your body language can influence your productivity and reputation in your workplace.
Make meetings meaningful: While making the meetings one should have a clear agenda, so that everyone in the workplace has a clear idea about when and which meetings have to be scheduled at which time.
Conclusion
Effective communication is integral in your life. Without communication nothing is possible. One can eliminate unnecessary, unwanted problems and can promote better performance with the help of communication. The ability to communicate depends on your social skills, so before communication improving your social skills is extremely important as well.
FAQs
What are 5 essential communication skills?
The top 5 essential communication skills are:
Written Communication
Verbal Communication
Non-Verbal Communication
Active Listening
Contextual Communication
What are the 5 social skills?
The 7 social skills are:
Sharing
Listening
Maintaining Eye Contact
Using Manners
Cooperating
How to start a conversation with someone you don’t know?
To start a conversation with a stranger, you need to:
The boom of the internet, technology and social media have given the current generation i.e. Gen Z, the ability to know everything about different products or services without even buying them. Nowadays, people are keener to do their research and gather information before buying anything.
The present generation is more inclined towards technology and exploring new possibilities. This gives them the opportunity to buy everything online from digital stores and websites.
Due to this reason, the need for digital marketing is extremely crucial for any company that wants to sell their products and services to Gen Z. So, it is extremely important for businesses to establish online platforms where they can interact with their customers and sell their products.
Gen Z is the post-millennial generation who is way smarter and more technological-advanced than their previous generations. They are the largest and growing generation who are born and brought up with technology from the beginning. They are more likely to inherit the world with new ideas and technology that will create limitless possibilities in the future.
If you want to lay a solid foundation for your business in today’s time, then it’s important to know how to sell to Gen Z. They are different from the previous generations, you cannot trick them into buying anything. You have to be diverse and open-minded while forming marketing strategies. The previous generations i.e. the millennials and Gen X are not much familiar with social media and digital platforms.
This means you need a different approach if you want to sell to Gen Z which is only possible by audience segmentation. Once you divide your audience into different segments/ groups, it becomes easier to make strategies that match their interest and expectations.
Furthermore, the youngsters influence a greater percentage of their family spending. This makes Gen Z extremely crucial for the growth and expansion of your business.
How to Sell to Gen Z?
The following are some of the marketing tips and strategies that will guide you on how you can sell your products or services to Gen Z:
Use Digital Platforms for Promotions and Advertisements
Gen Z’s Choice of Platforms for Following Brands
As you know, Gen Z is also the digital generation. Nowadays, every kid has access to smartphones, tablets, laptops and computers. This means they are more inclined towards social media and digital content. This is why marketers should make the right use of digital platforms to promote and advertise their products.
There are multiple digital platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc. that can be used to set marketing campaigns and interact more with your audience. The better the content, the easier it will be to sell to Gen Z. You must surround your marketing strategies around digital platforms so they can reach more audiences. Thus, making use of digital platforms is the topmost strategy that will help you to sell to Gen Z.
Use the Latest Technology and Software
Technology has advanced a lot allowing us to explore and accomplish great wonders. Gen Z is tech-savvy and marketers can use technology to provide them with an easy and smooth experience while they are buying your products and services. This will aid in better marketing of your products and help them to find and try your products easily.
With the right technology and software, you can completely optimize your website so it can provide your audience with a better shopping experience. It won’t take long for the present generation to find a different website that offers the same product. Hence, ensure that your website is the place where people must look first before buying anything.
Respect the Privacy of Gen Z
Protecting your personal information and maintaining privacy is extremely important. Your personal data can be used against you to cause harm or scams and fraud on the internet. This is why Gen Z is more concerned to maintain their privacy and stay anonymous.
Trying to get too much data can drive them away from your website and other digital platforms. Respect their privacy as they are extremely conscious about their personal information.
Marketing always involves data collection from the audience. It helps them to know their customers and generate creative strategies to capture their attention. But ensure that your marketing strategies don’t invade someone’s personal space. Data collection must be ethical and non-invasive. So, respecting Gen Z’s privacy is a great way to attract them to your business and therefore, better potential for increased sales.
Create Quick, To-The-Point and Effective Online Content
Nowadays, people are living a fast-paced lifestyle. A 10-second advertisement is also too long for Gen Z and they will skip it if there is nothing informative or does not interest them at all. The present era of Gen Z demands short and snackable content that can lure their attention towards your brand.
This is why marketers must prioritise creating quick, to-the-point and effective content to sell to Gen Z. This will ensure that people are getting to know about your products and if your marketing is unique and creative it will definitely attract Gen Z to buy your products or services.
Ensure Two-Way Communication With the Gen Z
The key to selling to Gen Z is by meeting their needs and expectations. If your product can serve their needs then they will automatically buy your products. But to know their needs and expectations, you need to communicate with them and know more about their taste and preferences.
Furthermore, it’s important to speak their language when you are trying to sell them. This is only possible when there is communication from both ends. Now, it’s much easier to communicate with your customers with the help of customer service, helpline numbers, comments and reviews and even through social media platforms.
Focus On Selling Genuine and Authentic Products
The present generation is extremely smart and it’s not easy to trick them into selling anything you want to. There are abundant sources where one can know the a to z about a product before buying it. It just takes a few minutes before people can post and share their experiences after buying something.
If you want to sell to Gen Z then ensure that you have a brand image for selling genuine, good quality, and authentic products. Marketers must ensure that their marketing strategies provide a correct and genuine description of the brand. This will make people post positive reviews which will drive more audiences to buy from your website.
Partner With Influencers and Celebrities
Influencer Marketing Market Size Worldwide from 2016 to 2021
In the digital era, your marketing strategies must focus on capturing more audiences from digital platforms and social media. There is no point in spending money on banners and posters which will hardly have any impact on Gen Z.
The young generation tends to follow celebrities and influencers on Instagram. They are more likely to use products and services if they see them being used, especially by their favourite influencer or a celebrity. This will increase brand awareness and ensure that your products and services get more publicity. This is why partnering with influencers and celebs is crucial, so you can sell to Gen Z.
The quality and pricing of your product are essential especially when your target audience is Gen Z. The young lads have enough resources to compare your product with other brands in the market. If you are not selling good quality products at affordable prices then it can be difficult for you to create a good brand image.
Moreover, the young generation is more into buying branded products and uploading pictures to social media to get fame and become popular. Hence, once you have a brand image in the market then you can set your price high and it will be easier for you to sell your products to this young generation.
Let the Gen Z Know You Care About Them
When talking about Gen Z, it’s essential to focus on their needs and interest. This proves that you care about them and you are trying your best to serve their needs. The young generation wants to be heard and they want products that will benefit them after using them.
Moreover, irrespective of any generation people are more likely to believe in brands and companies that seem to have their best interest at heart and are not just trying to trick them into wasting their money. Your marketing strategies should focus on communicating with your target audience. If you are committed to providing better products and services they will definitely support you until the very end. Thus, another great way to sell to Gen Z is by letting them know that you care about them and their needs.
Don’t Promote Social Discrimination Through Online Content
Gen Z is strictly against any kind of social discrimination. Be careful while making marketing strategies and online content. Ensure that it doesn’t promote racism, gender discrimination, religious intolerance, or any kind of social discrimination that deprives a particular group or society.
As marketers, you must review the content before uploading it on digital platforms and ensure that it is appropriate and respectful to all groups and society. This will help you to connect with the majority of the audience and make it easy to sell your products and services to Gen Z.
Conclusion
If you want to sell anything to Gen Z, ensure that your company and brand have a reputation and a strong hold over digital platforms through social media and online content. Gen Z is incredibly smart and they have the technology and internet to do research before purchasing anything.
The above-mentioned are some marketing tips and strategies that will help you to sell to Gen Z. They are more driven by technology and the internet, so make sure to stay updated with the latest technology and software. This will provide them easy and smooth experience while shopping from your website. Hence, you have to be specific and transparent while dealing with Gen Z.
FAQs
What is the Gen Z age range?
Gen Z refers to the people who are born between the years 1997-2012. So, the members of the Gen Z ages between 10 to 22 years.
What is Generation Z buying?
Generation Z is inclined towards buying quality products. They are more attracted to a brand that is more transparent, offers discounts and free delivery, and caters to their needs and preferences.
How to sell to Gen Z?
Use digital platforms for promotions and advertisements
Use the latest technology and software
Respect their privacy
Maintain price and quality
Create quick, to-the-point and effective online content
How old are Gen Alpha?
Generation Alpha is the youngest generation on the planet. This refers to the people born between 2011-2025. So, the oldest person in this generation would be 11 years old.
The conversation is our primary way of expressing our ideas, opinions, goals, and feelings to those we come into contact with. It is also the primary means of beginning and establishing friendships and relationships. Starting a conversation with someone you have never met before can be stressful and difficult unless you have the right mindset. Starting a conversation with a stranger gives you a whole new experience. It can change your perspective. To start a conversation with a stranger just gather enthusiasm, positivity, and energy. The key to holding a long conversation is F O R D.
F- Family
O- Occupation
R- Recreation
D- Dreams
It is an empowering mindset to be able to create a conversation with potentially anyone. The ability to communicate in an informal and friendly manner is essential for every aspect of a person’s business, social, and personal life.
The problem arises when comfort and confidence are replaced by anxiety and fear. In this article, we will talk about some tips on how you can start conversing with a stranger. So. let’s get started.
One of our most important communication skills does not come from the tongue, but also from our body. Research has shown that over half of face to face conversation is nonverbal. ‘Body languages’ often communicate our feelings and attitudes before we speak. We are judged quickly by the first signals we give off and if the first impressions are not open and friendly it will be difficult to maintain a good conversation. The following technique will be very much helpful.
Body language + Tone of voice + Words = Total Communication
With practice and greater awareness of body language, you will be able to encourage others to approach you and feel comfortable. When you meet a stranger at a party the easiest way to start the conversation is to introduce yourself.
Risk vs Rejection
It takes a certain amount of risk to begin a conversation with a stranger. Most shy people don’t start conversations because they fear being rejected. This prevents them from reaching out to others. One thing that keeps in mind is that risk-taking and rejection are part of life. The advantage of being the first to say hello is that it allows you to guide the direction of the conversation, and gives the other person the impression that you are confident, friendly, and open. The more you practice starting a conversation, the better responses you will get. But all the people are not alike. You may be rejected sometimes, use it as a lesson and adjust your approach for next time. If you are rejected don’t automatically assume it’s your fault.
Ask Ritual Questions
Ritual questions are easy to answer requests for information. Ritual questions can be used to overcome someone you don’t know and wish to speak to. The easiest way to start a conversation with a stranger is to notice something interesting about the person you wish to speak with. Second, you notice something that the person is carrying. Thirdly you start a conversation is to making a comment or asking a question based on the situation. It is best to focus on positive things rather than complaining about the negative. Ritual questions are good for breaking the fear and starting a conversation. Exchanging ritual information also follows you to prepare to introduce yourself to the other person.
There are two types of ritual questions one is closed-ended which asks for a yes, no or short answer and another one is open-minded which asks for a more detailed answer.
Some examples of close-ended ritual questions are listed below:
Do you live around here?
Do you like food?
What time is it?
Are you going to the park?
When did you get here?
Where are you from?
Are you enjoying your stay here?
Is this your first visit here?
Some examples of open-minded ritual questions are listed below:
How did you find your apartment?
In what ways do you think this country (city, college, etc.) has changed?
How did you get involved in that line of work?
Why did you decide to move there?
What brings you to our town?
What do you like to do on your days off?
Know What to Say by Listening
Know what to say next by listening carefully for keywords, facts, opinions, feelings, and most of all free information. Conversation problems include poor listening, memory, and concentration skills. People speak slowly and with lengthy pauses between thoughts. Asking relevant follow-up questions based on what the other person has said shows you are listening. Close-ended questions help to clarify facts and details. Open-ended questions encourage the speaker to elaborate and suggest that you are interested in the topic.
A good listener is actively involved in the conversation and can often relate to what the speaker is going to say next. This involvement shows concern and interest, and will usually reinforce facts and details. Conversations are more fun when you get actively involved. By participating, you will improve your listening skills. You link your prior knowledge and experience.
Take the Help of Free Information
By taking advantage of free information, you can guide the direction of the conversation. Ask open-minded questions that refer to the free information. Free information is communicated by a person’s clothing, physical features, body language, personal behaviour, and activities, as well as by words. Listen carefully to topics that may wish to avoid discussing.
Disclose Free Information
Self-disclosure lets others get to know you on your terms. The information you share with the people you meet determines how they get to know you. Once you take a look at what is being revealed, the details are not secrets that must be kept. After people exchange greetings they usually exchange some basic personal facts. Another self-disclosure provides a background of experiences and information. Revealing personal opinions and preferences on different subjects. In this case, you can reveal your attitudes, values, and concerns. Reveal your goals, struggles and all your skills.
Conclusion
Conversing with a stranger may seem intimidating but it is a necessity. It helps you in networking and creating professional relationships for your job or business. Communication is the key to everything, it is the only way that we channel our ideas and thoughts to others. So while conversing with a stranger the above tips will definitely be a help.
FAQs
How to start a conversation with someone you don’t know?
To start a conversation with a stranger, you need to:
Introduce yourself.
Start with the basics.
Be aware of your body language.
Disclose free information.
Make eye contact.
What are Communication Skills?
Communication skills are the activities that make your performance ultimately a good one. Communication skills are very important in every human being’s life it is used in both, your personal life and your professional life.
How to communicate effectively with your clients?
Here are the effective ways to communicate with clients:
The article is contributed by Anupama Soni-Founder of Open Door Communications.
Face-to-face networking is on pause, relationship building is not. My love for stories makes me a natural net worker. I thrive on people’s energy and this is one thing that keeps me going. I love my daily interactions with my colleagues, clients and peers and you can imagine how difficult it is to go through my day in its absence. Do you find yourself struggling in this prolonged isolation like I did? Luckily, I found that it doesn’t have to be difficult at all. If you’re a people’s person or in a people-facing business/profession, here are a few things I’ve discovered that may hopefully help you too.
Make goodwill calls not sales calls
The collective pain has also raised the empathy bar, every communication you do today will have an impact. Let me use a personal example here to show you what I mean. I have a taken a Home Loan and I pay monthly EMIs towards it. A while ago I got a call from one of the company executive who thanked me for making payments on time and also mentioned that the interest rate I pay to their company is on the higher side compared to some other banks. She suggested, I should consider enquiring in the market for a better rate for myself at my convenience. Pleasantly surprised, I asked her if her company and superiors are aware of this call and suggestion, to which she said it was their management’s idea to educate their clients. Now it is a different matter if I transfer my loan to another bank at a later stage or not, but I do not think I will forget this gesture.
Use LinkedIn well
I can’t stress this enough. We must all update it thoroughly. I recently saw a very nicely formatted ad by a client that said “We are building enviable LinkedIn for our clients”. I thought it was a smart idea and since I am a communication expert and I found I had some spare time on hand these days, I decided to do it for myself. I can’t really put down in figures but I have seen a spike in new contacts, and I even managed to get a new project for the company solely by networking here.
Jump onto the Webinar bandwagon
I know the whole world is tired of hearing about webinars, FB and Insta Lives but there is no right or wrong in this time. It will help you connect with your customers and lots of relevant people. Some you will continue to stay in touch with long after! Trust me on this and thank me later. I have a buzzing new entrepreneur group and some are slowly becoming a part of my social group too. Not only that, I’m learning new things as well. For example, we partnered with a company in the NFT space, learning how it works and educating the media and people through various activities have been fun and the Metaverse world is really the future.
Approach new contacts
We often find our comfort in people we know even if we have brilliant bunch of contacts waiting to be approached, that in my opinion is the biggest networking mistake people make. We wouldn’t be exposed to new, will not have out of the box ideas and continue to get validation of our own thoughts if we sit in our comfort circle, drastically limiting our leanings. If you genuinely admire someones work, reach-out to them with a thoughtful note and ask for the advice if you are seeking one, most people are receptive! Let the silent not dampen the spirit.
There is nothing wrong or right here, we all are learning and people are more open to new ways of communication, so use it.
Go beyond business and build a close network
There is no right or wrong way to build a close network. Start with a large group, pay attention and proceed with care, and like they say – you will find your niche. I was a member of over eight WhatsApp social groups (people took permission before adding me) and I observed long enough to see the ones that made sense to me. I continued with only two. One has to be clear of the purpose a group will serve. My friend introduced me to a women’s networking group when I initially started my business. I joined hesitantly because I was wary of catfights and silent wars. This group however has changed my perception; women in this group are extremely helpful, laud you on your success, lift your spirit up and are forever ready for celebration.
My Instagram was strictly for my pictures and my thoughts. I have a slightly wry sense of humor and I am very mindful of that especially in the workplace but, since Instagram is my space, I experimented and to my surprise I have people coming and appreciating my stories and saying how they wait for new posts from me. It has become my happy place. I have observed how my personality has evolved and I no longer feel that I need validation.
So, while you do some of these don’t get lost in the virtual world. Divide your time sensibly. Get that sunshine and exercise. Use free platforms, be responsible, pay attention and proceed with care. Happy Networking!
This article has been contributed By Mayank Jain, Co-founder of Scalenut.
The growth of technology is phenomenal in the present day. There was a time when people were afraid of technology and blamed it as the primary reason for unemployment.
But as times change, people change. Today people are slowly warming up to technology and seeing it as a medium to reduce their workload. In fact, advanced technology will take over 30% of repetitive and mundane job tasks.
Technology-driven processes have surpassed many conventional ways and made our lives simpler. One such technology that is slowly making its presence felt across most industries is Artificial Intelligence (AI). Content writing is no exception.
Yes, you heard that right. We are crossing a period where AI has started writing intelligent content for people to read. This post is about this futuristic journey, beginning from the fusion of AI and content creation. Before that, it is essential to understand about NLP, one of the core concepts of AI, that has multiple hats to wear in shaping the future of content creation.
You might have seen Google correcting your search result with a “Did You Mean:” question or Alexa responding to your commands. That is actually NLP algorithms demonstrating their technical prowess.
NLP is an element of AI that finds profound application in the field of content creation. We can even call it the backbone of AI-generated content. It understands texts and interprets human languages. In other words, it learns from actual interactions with humans. With enormous data under its hood thanks to millions of search queries and search commands, the NLP algorithm generates human-like content in any language of your choice.
With that basic introduction, let’s dive into the main topic.
How is AI shaping the future of Content Creation?
The advent of automatic content writing tools
AI-based content writing tools are being developed across the globe and can generate content thanks to various NLP algorithms embedded in them. Several businesses are already using such tools for their content creation needs. Semrush’s ‘State of Content Ops & Outsourcing Report 2021 confirmed that around 12% of participants admitted to using AI writing technology to create content.
These AI content tools can generate high-quality content automatically and instantly. All that you need to do is give some context to the AI engine, such as keywords, target country, short description, etc. The tool then goes around the search engine and finds high-ranking content. Based on this, it comes up with a comprehensive and optimized content piece for you.
SEO-driven Content Generation
For a very long time, search engines have been working on rule-based actions. It required an SEO expert who could understand the rules and modify the content accordingly. But with the advent of AI and its infusion into SEO, the situation has changed drastically. Today, even a layperson can create SEO-enriched content thanks to several AI-based SEO tools. These tools perform a high-end search, show what your competitors are doing, keywords to rank for, the H1 H2 tags to use, and so on. Basically, the tools become your SEO guide and walk you through the different steps to rank better than your competitors.
Enhanced Creativity
Creativity is the foundation of any good content. And AI, a machine without a human brain, is slowly stepping into the world of creativity as well. Again, NLP plays a role here. When AI interacts with thousands of humans, it slowly understands what the humans like to hear and what they consider interesting. The day is not very far when AI-based tools will develop unique and interesting concepts for your advertisements or even a book you plan to write.
Even today, there are several tools that can come up with unique blog ideas and product descriptions based on one word you enter. In other words, it’s the perfect antidote for your writer’s block.
Yes, artificial intelligence has indeed evolved to a great extent in “understanding” human communication. But that doesn’t make it better than us. AI can write amazing content without repetition of words or phrases, but at the end of the day, it tends to sound a bit robotic. The variation in communication exhibited by humans has not entirely been interpreted by AI yet and will be a mighty task in the coming days. As Founder & CEO of Codeless, Brad Smith quotes –
“The biggest problem with AI right now is its overreliance on patterns and the probability of certain words or phrases showing up next to each other when you reference certain topics. It is merely taking what’s already out there on certain topics and then playing a Robocop version of the word game Mad Libs,”
Expressing Emotions
Humans have the ability to play around with the emotions of the reader through their choice of words. It might be a challenge for AI to emulate. Imagine two stories, one written by a human and another by an AI engine. Now, as a reader, there are high chances that you will feel some emotion reading the story written by the human as it’s been written by someone with actual feelings. Even though the story written by the AI engine might be good, there are chances that the reader may not be able to connect with it well.
Inability to Make Decisions
We write content based on our past learnings and can shift between different topics on the go. This is a lacking feature in AI since it is programmed to run only within a set boundary of related topics. For example, we can bring a concept of a movie into a blog on the stock market to make it interesting, but this might not be possible for the AI engine.
Conclusion
The future where AI takes control of content creation and SEO is not very far. But the chances of total domination still look slim with the array of challenges that lay ahead. But one thing is sure – AI is here to help all the content creators out there and make their lives simpler in coming up with world-class content with minimal effort.
Kinnary Nensee
