A new technique was needed — one that produced long-term results and wouldn’t be affected by the economy or Google’s updates. Dropbox and Mailbox stumbled upon this technique, and since their success, many companies have started imitating them. What is this technique that created such buzz in the business and marketing worlds? The answer is a simple one: explainer videos.

How Dropbox Became a Success with Just Two Elements

Many businesses have used explainer videos, but the vast majority of them didn’t yield the results they wanted. Their downfall was found in webpages they inadvertently overloaded. Customers would click on a landing page and be greeted with pop-ups, adverts for other companies, downloads, hyperlinks, and jarring graphics. It’s a common mistake that too many online businesses make. A good inbound marketing strategy is useless when overshadowed by five other marketing strategies.

Dropbox did it right. It created a simple, clean website to bring more focus to its product. In fact, the site only features an explainer video and a download button. The video explained the purpose of the product and gave the customer a chance to be sold on the idea of downloading it in the first place. Using this technique, Dropbox was able to pull in more than 100 million users. It was advertising at its best, and it was insanely simple. An explainer video, plus a user-friendly website, creates better customer retention.

Mailbox: A Success before Launch

Mailbox is similar to Gmail, but it promises improved visibility and a better layout than what’s currently being offered by other email providers. Since most people are comfortable with the email interface they currently use, it wasn’t going to be easy to get users to switch.

To make a consumer want to purchase or use a new product, he needs to understand why the product is better than what he is currently using. Mailbox did this with an explainer video as well. Not only did interest in Mailbox surge, but it became popular before the program actually launched. Within 24 hours of the video launching, the service already had 250,000 people waiting to sign up. The response was so enormous that the company had to create a unique reservation system to keep the traffic from shutting its servers down: Customers were placed in a virtual line to wait until their number was up and they could download the app. How is that for overnight success?

Why Did Videos Work So Well for Them?

Dropbox reaped so much success because it allowed the customer to establish a certain level of interaction with the company before signing up for its service. This increases trust among customers, which helps to fuel the best kind of advertising: word of mouth. This word-of-mouth advertising, combined with its no-frills website, helped increase its conversion rate by 10 percent — and added an extra $48 million in revenue in 2012. This is a massive financial conversion, considering they only had a 10 percent sign-in increase.

Another reason why explainer videos were so successful for these two companies is because videos stimulate the senses. Studies show that people retain 58 percent more information when they can hear and see something at the same time. It makes sense, doesn’t it? Clear, concise language and quick-hitting facts and details are also known to stick out in the brain, making it easy for people to remember those facts.

The more we revert back to those facts in our brain, the more we associate the business with them. This increases our chances of eventually buying a product. Explainer videos stimulate both the mental and visual parts of our brain, which are used when learning something new. Advertising that combines compelling language with related imagery will stimulate the viewer’s senses. If you want to be remembered, this is how you should do it.

These two businesses’ successes show that less actually is more when it comes to inbound marketing. If you can get the customer to come to you, your website should make the next step easy and self-explanatory. A video saves the customer from calling customer service to understand how a product works or calling sales to understand why he should use it. Explainer videos are short, fun, clear, and informative — all the things an online commercial should be.

Andrew Angus is an author, speaker, and founder/CEO of Switch Video, a video animation company that produces simple videos that “explain what you do” in an engaging and compelling format. Andrew is a thought leader in the online video industry, writing and speaking about the brain science behind making your company’s story stick. He welcomes people to reach out to him on Twitter or Google+, and he can be booked to speak on Speakerfile.

What does this process of duplication look like? How do leaders of organizations best motivate and prepare their organizations, specifically their members, to step up and take leadership positions within the company? Here are six ways leaders can best duplicate themselves and grow more leaders within their organizations:

1.     Communication

There’s nothing more important than being open and transparent about where the organization is going and where there are opportunities for people to step up. If your employees don’t have a firm grasp of the company’s vision or goals, how do you expect them to step into leadership roles and offer true value to the company? Spend time with your organization as a whole — and with your employees as individuals — to cast a vision on what’s coming up for the organization and how they can play a part in its growth.

This idea works with feedback as well. If you’re upfront and honest with your team about things that aren’t going well or expectations that haven’t been met, they will know exactly what is needed from each and every one of them, and they’ll be much more likely to meet expectations.

2.     Mentorship

Invest time in your employees to develop their skillsets to prime them for leadership. Oftentimes, employees go unnoticed and stay unmotivated in their positions because they don’t have support and mentorship to take them to the next level. As a leader, you have experience and expertise to help grow your employees into leaders. Don’t just expect them to become leaders overnight.

3.     Professional Development

Encourage and develop opportunities for your employees to gain access to resources and education that will give them the knowledge base to step into a leadership role within your company. This doesn’t even have to be in-house. Numerous organizations encourage their employees to attend conferences, speaking sessions, and networking events outside of their offices to grow themselves. The more opportunities for outside growth and personal development you offer, the more likely they are to carry over into your workplace and organization.

4.     Responsibility

Employees want to know that they can be trusted with opportunities to show their worth — and to be directly responsible for the company’s growth. Not sure if they’re ready for responsibility? You’re never going to know if they can handle it until you give them opportunities to succeed (or fail). Start small, and if they prove that they can be trusted, then give them increasing responsibility. If they fail, it’s a learning opportunity that will allow them to grow. If consistent failure happens without adjustments being made, then you’ve determined that they probably shouldn’t be part of the organization a lot faster than you would have otherwise.

5.     Culture

By developing a culture that promotes failure along with growth, you create an environment that allows people to get involved without worrying as much about the security of their job or place within the company. Breaking down barriers for your team will motivate them to step outside of their comfort zones and exceed expectations. Promote as much as possible the idea that failure is okay as long as learning opportunities come along with it. There’s nothing worse for an organization than a group that’s okay with the status quo.

6.     Praise

This is a common question for those in leadership roles of organizations: How much praise should I give my employees? There’s really a simple answer: Give praise when praise is due. Gone are the days of leaders having to sitting atop their ivory towers, watching the peons work. When your employees do well — especially when they exceed expectations — make sure they know the work is not going unnoticed. If their efforts aren’t celebrated, they are much less likely to try again.

You should never question whether you want your people stepping up to become your company’s next leaders. Instead, you should ask who, when, and how can I help them get there? By developing more leaders within your organization, you will be able to fast-track the growth of your team and, most of all, secure a future that isn’t solely dependent upon your personal success.

How are you executing these ideas in your organization? Are you planning for growth by grooming leaders within your organization? Let me know how you’re growing leaders within your company, and tell me about other ways you motivate future leaders.

Ryan O’Connell is the Vice President at Influence & Co., a company that helps experts build their businesses through thought leadership and content marketing by producing high-quality content for reputable publications. You can reach out to Ryan on Twitter @Oconnellryan or on Google+.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

There are some challenges that are industry-specific, but for the most part, there’s a formula common among great leaders and great companies: a clear vision, a source of inspiration, and a willingness to evolve.

Set Your Vision and Stick to It

Successful companies are created and redefined in a variety of ways. Sometimes, it’s thanks to a truly innovative idea or technological solution. Other times, it’s merely a basic but significant improvement to an existing product or service. In essence, an entire industry can be redefined by the ability to see something others don’t. This begs the question: Are you positioning your company to visualize the next great solution for your industry? When your industry thinks something’s impossible, will you take advantage of the opportunity to prove them wrong? Remember, on unexplored ground, there’s no competition. You won’t just have the lead — you’ll have the element of surprise, too.

In 2008, when our founding team formed 2U (back then, we called it 2tor), no one thought prestigious colleges and universities would be willing to take the leap and offer their for-credit courses and degree programs online. Our vision and unwavering point of view were met with severe skepticism, but we stayed the course. Today, we have more than a dozen top-ranked schools as partners, thousands of students enrolled in our programs around the world, and the unique opportunity to set the pace in an industry that we helped create.

Source Inspiration Everywhere

Not every founding team is lucky enough to have a product or vision that is as disruptive to an industry — or as transformative. But that’s okay. Ideas are only as good as their execution. Great leaders find inspiration everywhere. They constantly seek to identify and understand industry challenges and, most of all, customer and employee insights.

Hearing your customers’ words directly can give you a fresh perspective on your business. Start by asking a few questions: What are your consumers looking for? Are you giving it to them? When are their needs being met — and when aren’t they? Ask your employees these same questions. You might not always like the answers you hear, but internalize this feedback. Use it as fuel for inspiration. If you can identify the core reasons why your product, service, or people are underperforming, you can fix them. That’s where you’ll find your next growth opportunity.

Iterate, Iterate, Iterate

Stick to your vision, but keep in mind that processes and people need to evolve. Individuals who thrived in the startup stage might not be the managers who can effectively drive results in a larger company setting. The product or service that once had tremendous demand may be surpassed at some point by a cheaper, more effective solution. Know your weaknesses and know when to pivot.

It’s so easy to get into a routine and see things the way you always have, especially when you’ve experienced success doing so. But the truth is that the world is changing at a rapid pace; if you don’t quite catch yourself, you’ll share the same fate as companies like Borders and Blockbuster. Although a change may seem small, it can make all the difference to your customers. Don’t be overwhelmed when a problem seems impossible to conquer. Instead, take a step back, think about what matters most to you, your competition, and your customers, and forge a new way forward.

Apple is a fantastic example of a company that continues to evolve its product line while maintaining its vision for beautiful, user-friendly design and brilliant marketing. The result: the most valuable company in the world.

At 2U, after focusing on building strong online graduate degree programs over the last five years, our vision has evolved to leverage that experience and knowledge in the undergraduate space with Semester Online. This new initiative will offer (for the first time) a broad selection of high-quality, for-credit courses online from a number of prestigious colleges and universities.

The next time you find yourself stuck or challenged in a big way, take a step back and remember that it’s okay to start small. Remind yourself why you started in the first place. Let your vision guide you, allow your customers and team to give you inspiration, and recognize that you and your business are always a work in progress.

Jeremy Johnson is the co-founder and President of Undergraduate Programs at 2U. 2U, Inc., formerly known as 2tor, Inc., partners with top-tier universities to deliver rigorous, selective graduate degree and undergraduate for-credit programs online. Jeremy was named to the Inc. and Forbes “30 Under 30” lists. Connect with Jeremy on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

Now is the time to reclaim the most important hour in the day.

As a smart and successful employer, it’s your responsibility to encourage your employees to make healthier choices at lunchtime. The more employers care about the health, well-being, and productive stamina of company employees, the better off the company will be. If your company takes a vested interest in employee health by implementing a healthy food program at work, you will be rewarded with fewer sick days, fewer dollars spent on healthcare coverage, higher productivity, and more positivity within the workplace overall.

Below are eight ideas that will help you implement a healthy food program within your company:

1.     Do some research.

Educate yourself on nutritional guidelines and programs so you understand how to help your employees make healthier choices. Recognize that a healthy lunch is not one-size-fits-all. The ideal healthy lunch for the office would be one that satisfies your hunger, makes you happy, and provides you with enough energy for the rest of the workday. The components of this meal would depend on your lifestyle and diet, but they should include plenty of protein and vegetables, as well as water for hydration. For those who work on the go, omitting a bag of chips, a cookie, sandwich bread, a can of soda, or processed deli meat can make a huge difference over the course of a year.

2.     Connect with your peers.

Talking to other employers will help you understand how they encourage healthy lifestyles within their workplaces. You’ll likely get feedback that varies from paying for gym memberships to supplying workers with healthy snacks. You might find inspiration in some of their tactics.

3.     Make the program (and the incentives) a priority.

The more you can empower your employees through opportunities, the more willing they will be to participate. Even though eating healthy often seems to be more expensive, you will make up for it when your employees are more productive. Be sure to budget enough money to keep the program fresh and exciting for employees.

4.     Lead by example.

The best place to start these changes is right in your office. For board meetings, office parties, and free lunch days, select menus that reflect your values as an organization. But don’t skimp by ordering a simple fruit-and-veggie tray. Instead, select diverse, healthy options that cover all diets and lifestyles. Look into companies like Cater2.me, which currently serves San Francisco, New York City, and Chicago; they allow companies to order food with a high level of specificity from pre-approved local vendors and restaurants and then deliver it straight to your office.

5.     Create a healthier workspace.

Support the movement by eliminating unhealthy options from your office. Your break room should not have a soda machine. Replace this with company-provided bottled or filtered water that employees can take back to their desks with them. Candy bars and snack cakes found in most vending machines should be replaced with items that have undergone little or no processing.

6.     Set up a reward program.

Establishing goals and incentives is a great way to get your employees on board with the changes you want them to make. Get everyone’s input on personal or group goals and what sort of rewards they would most appreciate. For example, you could have all employees keep a food journal and have a dietician judge who has consistently eaten the healthiest meals during the month. Rewards could include a work-from-home day or a company-paid gym membership.

7.     Arrange local deals and discounts.

Contact local businesses and restaurants to set up discounts for your employees on company-approved healthy items and dishes. By steering employees in the right direction and helping to take the strain off their pocketbooks, you will be giving them the push they need to make better choices and great changes.

8.     Bring in professionals.

Hire a nutritionist to visit the office on a regular basis and host classes to educate employees on topics such as healthy food alternatives, exercise, and meal planning. You could also invite a chef to come to your workplace and share recipes for healthy meals and snacks to enjoy both at work and at home.

As an employer, promoting a healthy lifestyle in the office tells your employees that you care. If your employees believe that you are invested in their well-being, they will become more invested in their work and your company. Begin a healthy food program within your company, and take back the most important hour of the day.

Blake Beshore is the co-founder of Tatroux LLC, a growing fine arts publishing company that focuses on the obsessive nature of those working in diverse fields of the creative arts. Beshore’s most recent book, “Notes from A Kitchen: A Journey Inside Culinary Obsession,” has received national acclaim for the two-volume re-envisioning of the cookbook. Connect with Blake on Twitter and Google+.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

The Prime Cut

What some business owners don’t realize is that there are a lot of money-saving techniques that won’t directly affect the quality of your product or service. For example, if your company is developing a new type of envelope adhesive, don’t look to the R&D department to make cuts. Instead, put your traveling sales reps up at a Super 8 instead of the Hilton. This cost-saving measure isn’t likely to directly affect the quality of your new adhesive.

You also don’t have to make drastic changes in where you’re already buying supplies. A lot of the time, you can negotiate shipping prices with vendors your company is already using, or go in on a group discount program to help reduce your overhead. Your business can join buying networks for things as diverse as travel costs and office supplies, usually without changing vendors and always without directly affecting the quality of whatever your business showcases.

Specific Tools You Can Use

There are three specific money-saving programs I recommend:

Office Depot Discount Program

* It sets you up with a Business Solutions Consultant to cater to the specifics of your orders.

* Your business can save up to 85 percent on more than 75 of the things you use most frequently, and up to 50 percent on about 10,000 other items.

* When you spend more than $50, you get free next-day delivery.

Office Depot’s is a viable (and valuable!) rewards program, and most businesses find the Business Solutions Consultant to be a really helpful perk. It’s tailor-made ordering at its most helpful.

UPS Discount Shipping Program

* An account with this program saves you up to 28 percent.

* You get a discount each time you ship, so the more you ship, the more you save.

* You can order shipping supplies, print labels, and schedule pickups, all through an online account.

UPS’ discount program is a perfect fit for businesses that do a lot of shipping. It may not seem like an enormous amount of savings at first glance, but a penny here and a penny there don’t take too long to add up.

Hertz Business Rewards

* This program is geared toward small- to medium-sized businesses.

* You can earn free Hertz car rentals and other discounts.

* When you sign up, your business is permanently linked to pricing discounts, including up to 20 percent off every rental.

I’ve found that Hertz greatly values its business customers by making renting a vehicle incredibly easy and ensuring that clients always get the best deal possible. Hertz is sometimes used so often by a business that it can earn free rental days, which are great perks for hard-working employees when they’re on vacation.

If we momentarily jump back to our friendly envelope adhesive, the purchase of office supplies, the shipping aspect, or the car rental service are unlikely to affect the quality or the sale of the sticky substance. These are all safe and effective ways to reduce your overhead while leaving the quality of your product intact.

Whether it’s running your back office, shipping your product, or paying for airfare, restaurants, pencils, or hotels, there’s usually some sort of cost-effective program that helps your business reap benefits without carrying through to your main product. Find a way to cut costs without cutting into your bottom line, and your path to success will be paved for you.

Jack J. Bergman is the President of Allied Business Network,a business membership program that offers small- and medium-sized businesses discounts on items that they use every day. Jack is a business thought leader and brings businesses together with abnsave.com, smartbizsavings.com, and businessadvantageplus.com. He welcomes anyone to reach out to him on Twitter or Google+.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

Low-Cost Strategies

There are really two low-cost strategies that you can employ when pricing your product. A low-price strategy involves pricing your product the lowest in the market and then targeting those consumers who are looking for the cheapest option in that category. Think of companies like Frontier Airlines, Payless, and Suave.

These customers tend to have more problems with the products and feel little or no loyalty to these brands. For small businesses and startups, utilizing low-cost pricing can be detrimental to your long-term success. Consumers will only value you if your pricing remains competitive, and usually there will be a larger, more established company that will eventually jump in and overtake your market.

The other strategy focuses on delivering high-quality products at a lower production cost. These companies don’t target the “lowest price” market, but position themselves as the best value for high- and low-end products in order to create a distinct position in the market. Brands such as T.J. Maxx, Honda, and Amazon employ this method of best value positioning.

These companies determine the brand strategy, and then create products that match the quality and price the consumer is looking for by driving down production, marketing, and distribution costs. Brands have to be careful in the low-cost provider category. If you drive down costs so much that your retail prices stray into the low-price market, then you risk being pigeonholed as a low-end option. If you do decide to play in the low end of the market, make sure you make it crystal clear how you arrived at your price versus the competition so you don’t get lumped together.

High-Quality but Affordable

Price has always been, and will always be, a significant indicator of quality, so making a high-quality product affordable and valuable is a fine line to walk.

One way to do it well is to deliver the same product at a lower cost, and be very transparent about how you did it. Then, you become the “affordable” alternative. Before Tower Paddle Boards existed, a good stand up paddle board was $1200 to $1500. While a cheap board cost around $850, producers of those products were driving production costs down at any cost; thus, quality was falling by the wayside. Aside from casting aside any quality concerns, they really hadn’t changed anything else about their business model in comparison to their competitors.

We soon realized that a significant portion of the cost came from the traditional distribution channel all of our competitors were using. We created high-quality boards that could compete with any of the expensive brands; then, we sold them directly to the customer. We’ve followed up with great customer service, and our business is growing based on the quality of our product and our favorable price point.

Building a High-Quality Brand

Though the definition of “high quality” varies between industries, there are a few must-haves for any brand seeking this label.

Premium features: Your products must carry features that are above and beyond your competitors’. It’s imperative that these be designed into the product as talking points.

Durability: Too many products today are more or less disposable, and that’s what low-end brands target. High-quality products last as long as possible to provide the customer with high value.

Customer service: For really high-quality brands, it’s all about customer service. Think about Zappos — the first name in online customer service. Companies that really care about the customer experience, from the initial sale to follow-on support, go far in providing quality and value to the customer.

A common mistake is to equate “high quality” with “fancy.” High quality is about premium features, durability, and dedicated customer service. Fancy is much more superficial. Land Rover is a great example. The cars are undoubtedly beautiful and have an aura of wealth and class. But ask any mechanic or former Land Rover owner, and they’ll tell you horror stories about the low quality of this “fancy” brand.

High Quality Impacts Sales

When a company focuses on quality, it turns prospects into customers and then into brand advocates. Once that happens, you can slash a significant portion of your marketing budget. It’s expensive to acquire new customers, but when loyal fans do the work for you, it costs next to nothing. And when customers love a product, they are more than happy to convince everyone they know to love it, too.

It’s not just new customers, though. Those same brand advocates are more willing to make repeat purchases when they know they are consistently receiving quality products. Lower-end companies tend to turn and burn customers, cutting off any hope of brand loyalty. Their business is transactional, and nothing more. Companies that focus on high quality build a long-term asset in the form of a loyal customer list, making it less risky to roll out new products or try new things.

Think of low-quality products and brands as get-rich-quick schemes. They sound great, but they provide nothing of value to the consumer and won’t build great companies. Instead, focus on building a high-quality brand (at whatever price point) that creates loyal brand advocates. Then, you’ll know you’ve got something valuable — and everyone else will, too.

Stephan Aarstol is the CEO and founder of Tower Paddle Boards, an online, manufacturer-direct brand in stand up paddle boarding. Tower Paddle Boards was invested in by Mark Cuban on ABC’s “Shark Tank” and was named one of the top 10 success stories in the history of the show by Entrepreneur Magazine. Stephan is an entrepreneurial thought leader and online marketing expert, and he welcomes anyone to reach out to him on Google+.

Image Credit: Shutterstock.com

Signs of Potential

So, how do you know if your solution is actually a business in the making? Start off by asking yourself three basic questions:

1.     Does your idea make something better? This could be a physical product like Eli Whitney’s cotton gin — which made it easier to separate seeds from the cotton — or a process like Henry Ford’s assembly line, which made it possible to manufacture mass quantities of automobiles at more affordable prices. The point is: People are always looking for shortcuts. If your idea makes something easier, you probably have a winner. 

2.     Is this a product that people want? People think up new ideas every day, most of which are nothing to write home about. Even if you’re convinced it’s a brilliant notion, if nobody else is excited about it, it’s not going to be profitable. So do some market research. Talk to as many people as possible, and determine whether there is true demand. 

3.     Can you sell it for a profit?Note: The question is not simply if you can sell it, but if you can actually make a profit. In other words, will it sell well? It’s imperative to look at the costs of producing your idea, marketing it, and selling it, as well as how much actual revenue you can make. Everyone wants a car, right? Until Henry Ford was able to make them affordable to the masses, very few people had one. You need to be able to make a product cheap enough for people to buy, or no one will.

If you can answer the first two questions in the affirmative, you’re off to a roaring start. The third question might seem obvious, but it’s the most important of the three, so take some time to really think it through.

Signs of Success

In order to move your idea ahead with confidence, it’s important to be able to recognize what success looks like for each of the three questions mentioned above.

For the first question, it’s important that your idea vastly improves something. If you invent a battery that only lasts a few minutes longer than what is already on the market, it’s not much of an improvement. However, if you have a battery with triple the lifespan of any existing battery, this is a successful idea that adds true, significant value to the marketplace.

Your market validation feedback will show how successful you are in creating a product that people want. Determine who the consumers will be and which industries might use it, and do some surveys. If your targets are generally enthusiastic about your potential product, this is a sign of early success.

When it comes to determining profit and costs, a cost-benefit analysis can show you the likelihood of success. Additionally, managerial accounting will clue you in to your overhead per item, and you can determine whether you can sell it for more money than it costs to produce. Go back to the battery example: If your new, long-lasting battery costs 20 times more than what’s currently available, it’s not going to sell. In short, make sure your overhead is less than what people will pay for it.

From Problem to Profit

The solutions to problems really can turn out to be the most interesting business ideas. When I was a kid, I kept a journal full of the things I thought could be improved. One of my pet peeves was not being able to play sports in the dark, so I wanted to make a line of glow-in-the-dark sports equipment that would enable me to run around 24/7. As a 12-year-old, I wasn’t going to do any serious market research beyond daydreaming with my friends, but someone did, and it wasn’t too long before a toy company started cashing in on phosphorescent footballs. Problem solved, profit made.

As an adult, I kept this problem-noting mentality, and it eventually was the catalyst for starting my own business. When a neighbor’s house fire damaged one of my properties, I noticed there was no direct, easy way to find reliable contractors. Searching them out became a full-time job for me, and in talking to both homeowners and insurance agents, I realized I wasn’t alone in my frustration.

The idea to have one source through which people could find qualified contractors seemed like a great step up from scrambling through the Yellow Pages, only to find that half the listed contractors were no longer in business. In talking to other homeowners, I found that a one-stop claims site would relieve a lot of the tension that comes with repairing damages.

By asking the right questions and paying close attention to the answers, it’s easy to determine whether your idea can become your business. Lack of time, money, and energy are people’s primary problems. Use those as your guiding lights, and you can end up making a living from the right solution.

Troy Fairchild is co-founder and CEO of Claims Made Easy, a web-based solution simplifying the insurance claims process for homeowners. Troy is an entrepreneurial thought leader and an expert on the insurance claims process. He welcomes anyone to reach out to him on Twitter or Google+.

Competition Stats

• 16 entrepreneurs out of more than 100 applicants made the tournament.
• There were a total of over 21,000 votes in all rounds.
• The Championship Game had 7,790 votes.
• The competition featured entrepreneurs in industries ranging from health devices and financial planning to SaaS companies and mobile hair stylists.

Congratulations again to all the competitors! Your stories are inspiring, and we look forward to keeping track of what you do and where you go over the next year.

Now let’s get to know our winner, Robin Wilson. Cue “One Shining Moment.”

Interview with Robin Wilson, co-founder of Style By Bravura

Why did you start Style By Bravura?

We both left the salon environment more than seven years ago and found ourselves out styling for a wedding one April morning. We hadn’t seen each other in years, and neither of us knew the bride or bridal party. I’d contacted Jacki after someone I knew had double booked herself and needed to send a stylist out. We had a great time, worked well together, and spent the entire drive back talking about how we could have made it so much better — how we’d manage the process, follow up, and how everyone we knew was getting married. We both already had our cosmetology licenses, business degrees, virtually no startup costs, and a lot of energy. Why not? We welcomed our first contractor, Lisa Brodt, soon after, and off we went.

Was there a particular tipping point in which you knew Style By Bravura would be a success?

The feedback said it all. On day one, we had no idea we would be developing a business or a brand. We were just out styling hair together for a wedding completely by chance, being ourselves. It’s normal for us to enjoy making new friends and listening to stories.  It’s normal for us to help out when someone in the room needs it and we can. We have a huge responsibility to the people who trust us enough to participate in their major life moments. The feedback we received was incredible; we were impacting people far beyond their appearance. It became clear that we were so much more than a beauty company: We’re experience specialists.

Why did you choose to start your own business instead of joining an established company?

I’ve wanted to own a business since I was 7 — selling “art” (my coloring book pages) door to door with my friends. I’ve worked for many companies, and the same thing is always true: You have to work for a really long time, navigate a political gauntlet, and hope a position opens up someday that will allow you to impact the direction of the company or try out your ideas. That never sat well with me. I’ve always been inspired by innovation and have tried to create an environment at Bravura where we support the creative endeavors of our people and aren’t afraid to try new (and sometimes scary) things. I’m just a catalyst. I look for people who are better than me, and with them, we’re growing this into something much bigger.

What would you say to a young entrepreneur starting their first company?

You don’t need to know everything right now. You DO need to know it’s going to be hard, you’re going to hear “no” a lot, and you might very likely fail sometimes. I’ve never exactly been one for sugarcoating.

The good news: So what?

Think about it: Things rise and fall naturally. Twinkies are gone! You’re doing something that most don’t dare to. You’re stepping out with an idea you care about and owning it.  Remember why you started your business in the first place, be committed, and be open to change. Learning how to ask the right questions and admit where you’re weak will be great tools for getting better and growing your business.

Anything else you’d like to say to the Under30CEO audience?

Thank you for voting, reading, and sharing! This experience has been amazing, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what the future brings. If you’re thinking about starting a business, do it. If you want to make a difference in the lives of others, do it. If you want to be someone important, do it. Spectating is not a sport. In the words of Amy Cuddy, “Do it, and do it, and do it — even if you’re terrified and just paralyzed and having an out-of-body experience. Until you have this moment where you say, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m doing it. I have become this. I am actually doing it.’”

But living in a culture that celebrates startups and entrepreneurs is not the same as living in a world where their paths are paved before them. Despite their idyllic status, the biggest threat to great and innovative startups and talented entrepreneurs is a lack of funding, pure and simple. Capitalization is essential to taking truly groundbreaking ideas to market, but while we provide lip service to the entrepreneur, not enough of us are stepping up with the cold, hard cash that makes these startups fly.

When people don’t do something I know they should be doing, I always assume it comes down to education: They just don’t know. With that in mind, I thought I’d rehash the three incredibly simple reasons that everyone (and by “everyone,” for now, I mean all you accredited investors out there) needs to have at least some skin in the angel investing game.

1.  Financial Gain:

Yes, be selfish. Very selfish. Well-diversified, professionally managed angel portfolios earn over 25 percent return on investment — consistently. Check the research. It’s a less regulated industry than its private equity brethren and public markets. The threat of adverse selection on your portfolio can be very real, but those who invest in a professional setting with robust deal flow and the proper legal and analytic support do well.

Along the same lines, angel investing is the best way to divert some of that cash away from volatile (and, might I add, occasionally tapped-out?) public markets and start investing where your money can have a really concentrated, powerful effect. Stockbrokers go on and on about diversification, but if your idea of diversification is just adding more stock symbols to your portfolio, you’re still putting your fate in the hands of whichever nanotrader gets his hands on the next fastest data transmission device that lets him manipulate public markets and create mass hysteria for everyone else. Half the time, the market does what it does and no one can really explain why, except to blame “public sentiment.” I’m not saying it’s the worst investment, but it certainly shouldn’t be the only one.

2.  Public Good:

Yes, selfishness can do a lot of good. We angels are in it to make money, but we believe we’ll make money because capitalist markets create demand for the necessary innovations of our time. If we can’t make money investing in it, it’s because the world doesn’t need it. That’s why you see a lot of the prominent angels and angel groups really scrutinizing app-based and mobile startups. A few years ago, that was changing the world; today, we’re seeing just a little too much duplication and fragmentation in those markets, so we’ve got our eyes out for bigger innovations with longer tails.

The public good point is one that people, from time to time, like to tell me I shouldn’t bring up. They say it makes angel investing sound too idealistic. But you know what? A lot of angels are idealistic. They’re realists, too (you can be both). The majority of angels were once entrepreneurs themselves, and they tend to see the world as one big opportunity for positive change. That doesn’t mean we all wear Toms and hair shirts, but at the early-stage level, if you’re going to put cash behind an entrepreneur, you’d better feel something beyond the vague satisfaction of a pro forma that hints at profitability.

3.  Use Your Smarts:

Angel investors get to be active investors. That’s not the same as saying angel investors are meddlesome, but when relationships between early-stage companies and the angels who fund them are structured properly, entrepreneurs have a constant lifeline of seasoned, experienced investors to help them navigate.

Meanwhile, angels get to use their extensive industry expertise and insight to help select quality investments. When participating in an angel group, you get the benefit of multiple backgrounds and experiences when vetting funding applicants. The value here cannot be understated: In our own angel meetings, we see extremely in-depth discussions, no matter what industry the startup is in. From biotech to pharmaceuticals to consumer products and IT, someone in the room is there to help educate the others. Angel investing is truly the only stop on the private-to-public market spectrum where your experience, and that of your esteemed peers, has such a direct effect on the health and performance of the investments you make.

Ground Rules

As I mentioned before, there are a few ground rules to follow to make sure you don’t wind up a fallen angel. Call me biased, but I truly believe that a national group structure keeps you and your portfolio safe (there’s that idealistic capitalist in me — I started the business because I believed in what we do). But no matter how you pursue it, the keys to success in this world are fairly universal: Do lots of deals of many types in lots of industries and regions, with as much advice from trusted peers as possible.

However you go about it, the first step is to start looking at deals. Check out an angel group online or near you, and see the kinds of deals and processes they’ve got going on. Dip your toe in the water. After all, a portfolio that earns over 25 percent in returns does the public good and lets you wield your talent sounds like the best kind of portfolio to me. Now that you know, why aren’t you an angel?

Rachael Qualls is the founder and CEO of Angel Capital Group, the only angel investment group to date that is not geographically specific in its investment focus. Its unique model not only provides angel investors with a wide range of high-quality deals, but it also offers talented startups and entrepreneurs a reliable capital source. Connect with Rachael on Twitter and Google+.

The experience gave me the opportunity to adopt a fresh perspective on attending a conference as an unknown. I knew it would be hard to go and meet people, but I figured, “So what? I’m an adult.” I was up for it — and you should be, too. Pushing myself beyond my comfort zone improved my networking skills and expanded my circle in new ways.

Having survived this experience of being a stranger, here are some of my tips on what you should not do:

1.     Come late to an event, thinking it will be easier to join in: It is much easier to arrive early. People are mingling then and finding their places. They are much more receptive to meeting new people, if only because they don’t want to appear strange standing by themselves. Come early and bring business cards. (Even if you don’t want anyone to remember you, you can use them for the many giveaways and door prize drawings!) You can really get to know more people — in more depth — when you arrive early.

2.     Try to enter a conversation in which two people are directly facing each other: I say “try” because it usually doesn’t work and you look ridiculous, hanging on as they continue to talk, leaving you to eventually slink away. If they are talking at an open angle, rather than directly at each other, then they will be more accepting of being interrupted.

3.     Join a big group: It’s hard to get started with a big group. Instead, find someone standing alone. I walked up to a man standing alone at the first event. Was he a loser? Was I? (Try not to make these assumptions.) No, he was a nice guy. I enjoyed meeting him and asked him the questions I’ve learned to ask: Where are you from? (This is a great question because it can be answered in many ways: with a city, state, or country; a profession or company; or even which hotel the person is staying at.) What did you come for? What do you expect to get out of the conference?

A great opening is to start by saying, “I don’t know a soul here.” People like it when you admit your vulnerability. They’ll usually answer that they don’t know anyone, either, or they’ll introduce you around. It’s a great way to find the people in the know.

4.     Deliver a monologue: Sure, you’re nervous, but conversations need to be reciprocal. Think of them like late-night talk show interviews, not as stand-up presentations. I’ve been taught to ask questions, but I realized that two of the people I conversed with never asked me anything back. Not a thing. They just told me about themselves, why they were there, and what they wanted to achieve. It was interesting, but not engaging.

5.     Use your phone, tablet, or computer to look busy: I know you don’t want to look alone, but spending all of your time looking at your devices doesn’t lend itself to getting involved. People will wonder why you spent so much money on a conference you’re not even invested in.

6.     Tweet, tweet, tweet: Nowadays, there’s a Twitter hashtag for every conference. But that doesn’t mean that you have to constantly tweet everything the speakers say. If you’re tweeting, are you listening?

7.     Grab your breakfast or lunch and sit at an empty table: No, no, no. You have to sit down with people. Try to find an empty spot at a nearly full table, unless you see a big, already-acquainted group is sitting together. Look for a table where several different individuals — not groups — are sitting. Take risks: You are at a conference, and no one knows you. Here, you can face rejection.

8.     Play “How important am I?” or, even worse, “How important are you?”: Are you a VIP a PIP, a PUP, or a legend in your own mind? (That’s a very important person, a previously important person, and a presently unimportant person.) If you go to an event and there are VIPs — or you yourself are labeled a VIP — that’s great.

But first, you’re a human being. The people you meet are human beings. That is what’s important. Be good to everyone you meet until you are proven wrong. When you’re approached at a conference, don’t keep looking around to see if there are other (“more important”) people you should be spending your time with. Love the ones you’re with!

What should you do? Take risks. This is the perfect time for you to face rejection. You don’t know anyone. Trying new things and failing is a lot easier when the stakes aren’t high. Even if you don’t do well, you will learn lessons on what not to do next time. You have gained experience; from experience comes ability and with ability, you will succeed.

Barbara Fowler, Managing Director at Chief Outsiders, a provider of part-time marketing executives to help mid-sized businesses. Fowler’s specialties lie in sales and marketing synchronization, global business strategies, and family business turnaround techniques. A frequent speaker and writer on topics such as leadership, cultural diversity, and developing an environment of success, she has effectively led culturally diverse organizations and written and implemented training programs for CMOs worldwide.