Un buen líder nunca dice estas tres cosas

3 Things a Great Leader Would Never Say 

By Les McKeown

Sometimes leadership is quite simple: Avoid these three phrases.

Great leadership is hard. Very occasionally, it's pretty simple-- like just not saying dumb things.

In the spirit of simple leadership, I give you my personal top three dumb things leaders shouldn't say. No doubt your mileage will vary:

1. "Don't bring me any surprises."

I hear it all the time, and so do you (maybe you're even guilty of it yourself)-- a leader is blindsided by some event they couldn't have predicted, and, out of embarrassment, swears they'll never be caught unawares again.

At first they work harder, longer, assimilating data like an apocalypse is on the horizon that only they can avert, but then...bam. Another unexpected shoe drops, another unpredictable event occurs, and our leader is left with egg on their face all over again.

Redoubling their efforts, the leader adds another layer of protection against catastrophe - a mantra they begin doling out to all their direct reports: "Don't bring me any surprises" (or its close cousin "Don't bring me any bad news").

Well, guess what happens when you tell people often enough not to bring you any bad news or surprises? They don't bring you any bad news or surprises. Does that mean that all of a sudden there isn't any bad news items or surprises going around? Of course not.

It just means they're brushing them under the carpet...because, well, because you told them to. (Where did you think they were going to put all the bad news and surprises you told them not to bring to you?) Which in turn means that there is now a time bomb waiting to explode right in your face.

If you're concerned about predictability and consistency, do yourself a favor and don't try to wish away bad news or surprises. Try the opposite. How about telling people "The first whiff you get of bad news or a surprise, bring it right here." That way you do actually stand a chance of controlling things.

2. "If you were an animal, what kind of an animal would you be?"

Or "What body of water would you be?", or "What books influenced you when you were young?" or "What's your favorite color?" --any question, in fact, that you think provides some deep insight into whether or not a potential employee has the 'right stuff'.

It's all meaningless pseudo-psychological mumbo jumbo, and adds precisely zero to a true understanding of a candidate's ability to do the job you're hiring for. If you need to ask one of these pointless, irrelevant questions for your own peace of mind, by all means go ahead. Just don't confuse what's going on with an effective job interview.

3. "Don't take it personally."

Really? You're talking to, let me check...yes, a person, about them, their work, their livelihood, their ideas, their sense of competence, their choices, their discretionary effort, their life's work, and you're telling them not to take it personally?

How about you give every person who works for you a free pass for a week to make whatever comments they like to your face about what you say, do, or suggest, in whatever terms they wish, so long as they preface it with "Don't take this personally...".

If you don't think the act of working with others is in any way 'personal', perhaps you might be better thinking of a career as, I don't know, a beekeeper, perhaps? They really don't take things personally.

Inc

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Los intereses de la empresa por encima de los míos

The 20 Most Powerful Words in Business 

By Les McKeown

This simple sentence should be your new personal motto. It will keep you productive and your business on track.

Success in business is relatively simple: Make good decisions more often than you make bad ones, and you win. Make bad decisions too often, and you lose.

Simple? Yes. Easy? No. Particularly because, as your business grows and becomes more complex, more and more people get involved in the decision-making process.

At first, it's just you and your gut instinct--and more often than not, you and your gut get it right (that's what gets your business out of Early Struggle in the first place). Getting it right means your business succeeds and grows. Growing means adding people and complexity. And before you know it, the most important decisions are being made not by you, alone, but by teams-- some of which include you, and some of which don't.

And teams, as everyone rapidly finds out, generally suck at making high-quality decisions consistently.

Hidden agendas, passive-aggressive point-scoring, manipulative bullying, sullen disengagement: The ways in which teams can screw up the simple process of making a good decision are legion-- and so are the suggested remedies. Endless books, workshops and assessment tools have been produced (my own included) each claiming to solve the issue of dysfunctional teams.

My take? Around 70 / 80 percent of the crud that occurs when otherwise good people get together in a joint decision-making process can be eradicated by the conscious use of a simple, 20-word statement. I call it The Enterprise Commitment, and here it is:

"When working in a team or group environment, I will place the interests of the enterprise above my personal interests."

This simple statement of intent--so simple that it may seem at first to have been coined by Pollyanna herself--is in fact a highly powerful rubric that will keep your team focussed on high-quality decision-making.

A Statement That Makes a Statement

Think of a high-performing team like a group of highly-skilled surgeons gathered around a patient on the operating table: little unnecessary distraction, full focus, high-quality data, precise analysis, mutual support and clinical execution.

Why is this picture so different from the scene in most boardrooms? In my experience, it's not because the individuals concerned are less capable or less committed. It's simply that the "patient" isn't clearly defined. For the surgeon in an operating room, there's no question about who she's there to serve.

For an executive in the boardroom, the "patient" (the business) is amorphous, indistinct, and sometimes forgotten about altogether. The Enterprise Commitment simply, but powerfully, keeps everyone's focus on what's truly important-- the needs of the enterprise as a whole.

(By the way, I use the term "enterprise" because the same dynamic applies not just to entire organizations, but any enterprise undertaken by two or more people, including a business, division, department, project, group or team.)

Inc

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Regalos educativos para niños

Top Educational Kids Gifts for 2013

We’ve scoured the world looking for the absolute best gifts you can buy for your kids that will make them love you forever and maybe learn something at the same time.

Here are my picks for the top gifts:

1. Leap Motion ($79.99) - www.leapmotion.com

The Leap Motion is a tiny pack-of-gum sized device that lets your kids control any Windows or Mac computer with their hands and fingers like in the movie Minority Report. Despite the low price tag, the Leap Motion is extremely accurate - up to 100x the accuracy of Microsoft’s Kinect.

The device comes with an app store called Airspace which has hundreds of free games (including one called Block 54 which is a 3D version of Jenga) and great educational apps (my kids loved Balloon Bust which teaches counting and flying around the world with Google Earth). It’s been really amazing to see my kids learning and having so much fun at the same time - I feel like I gave them a chance to experience magic. 

Click here to purchase or learn more. 

2. Luck of the Draw ($49.95) - 

This is a drawing game that is fun even for people that aren’t artistic.  Once you draw your picture (in 45 seconds) the next step is to select a category card. This card tells you how the artwork will be judged. If the category card says “used the most graphite” then the person with the most pencil marks “wins” that point. Some of the category cards were quite fun and since you don’t know what the category is before you draw, this evens the playing field for the non-artist types. My kids really liked this and it was great to see them thinking creatively. 

3. LeapPad 2 ($109.99) -

This is the latest tablet from LeapFrog (the company that created the children’s tablet category). The device is starting to show its age but it is still an incredible first tablet for kids. 

4. Brainbox ($14.99) - 

This is not just for kids or just moms and dads to play with their children - it is for anyone who wants to keep up with geography and learn basic information about other countries and hone your memory skills. A brain game that helps you learn while exercising the mind. Easy to play for one or more. The cards are very sturdy and should last a long time. I guess eventually my husband and I will learn where all the countries are and be able to answer all the questions every time but so far not. We have a HUGE National Geographic world map on our wall to keep track of world events and this game has enhanced our map skills. My goal is to be able to fill out a blank world map and list all the countries on it.

Top Tech

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La determinación lo es todo para conseguir un empleo: Lea esto

Todas las personas que buscan trabajo necesitan leer sobre las medidas extremas que este individuo pasó por trabajar en un emprendimiento muy lucrativo
NICHOLAS CARLSON - Business Insider



Entonces estás por graduarte de una escuela de negocios y cree que eres alguien muy prometedor, ¿eh ?
Lo mismo hizo David Rogier.

Pero él siguió golpeando con las empresas que quería trabajar.

Por último, su consejero le dijo: Ve a almorzar con un tipo llamado Tristan Walker y descubre cómo él consiguió hacer arrancar su carrera.

Walker es actualmente un empresario residente en Andreessen Horowitz. Él hizo su nombre como el primer tipo de desarrollo de negocios de Foursquare.

En una entrada de blog, Rogier cuenta la historia de cómo Walker consiguió ese trabajo. No fue fácil.

Tristan quería trabajar en el emprendimiento más caliente en el valle - Foursquare (era 2009).
Aplicó en la página de Foursquare.
No hubo respuesta.
Tristán encontró la dirección de correo electrónico del CEO en el sitio web y le envió una nota.
No hubo respuesta.
Tristán le envió por correo electrónico una vez más.
No hubo respuesta.
Tristán le envió por correo electrónico una vez más.
No hubo respuesta.
Tristán le envió por correo electrónico una vez más.
(Yo tengo agallas, pero me hubiese parado en el cuarto correo electrónico )
Tristán no lo hizo y le envió por correo electrónico una vez más.
No hubo respuesta.
Tristán le envió por correo electrónico 3 veces más. No hubo respuesta.
Entonces, ¿qué hace Tristán? Comenzó a trabajar para ellos. Quería un trabajo en desarrollo de negocios, por lo que comenzó a hacer desarrollo de negocios. Llamó a las empresas dijeron que era un estudiante y le preguntó si estaría interesado en anunciarse en Foursquare (recuerde, Tristan en realidad no trabajan para Foursquare). Tuvo que explicar lo que era Foursquare - pero, milagrosamente, dijeron que sí unas pocas empresas.
Tristán luego envió un correo electrónico al director general Foursquare una novena vez y dijo - He alineado algunos anunciantes para usted.
Esta vez, el CEO respondió. Se reunieron al día siguiente. Tristan pasó a dirigir el desarrollo de negocios en Foursquare.

Rogier ahora trabaja para IDEO, la consultoría de diseño. Él dice que aprendió mucho de almorzar con Walker, incluyendo la idea de que su solicitud de empleo en realidad debería destacar las áreas que va a ser percibido como débil.

Él escribe :

"Antes de que aplicara a IDEO (la revolucionaria consultoría de diseño de producto), le pregunté a un ex empleado de IDEO (la maravillosa Emily Ma) que cosa IDEO percibiría como mi mayor debilidad. Su respuesta :. ¿En realidad sos realmente creativo? y yo vengo de la cadena de suministro. En lugar de llenar su solicitud, me decidí a hacer un libro. Pasé 10 horas en 4 diferentes oficinas de reclamos de equipaje del aeropuerto, entrevisté a 23 personas y armé un libro de Snapfish sobre cómo iba a mejorar las reclamaciones de equipaje (sobre eso era el libro). Tengo la pasantía ".

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4 errores en SEO

4 Worst SEO Mistakes 

BY MICHAEL MOTHNER

Want to boost your search engine traffic? Avoid these common blunders.

Most business owners rely on traffic from search engines to drive sales. But whether you are an SEO guru or a novice looking to extract a few more leads from your search engine marketing efforts, chances are good that you are making at least one of these incredibly common--and potentially damaging--SEO mistakes:

1. Creating duplicate content. Google hates to see identical--or even very similar--content on more than one webpage or more than one website. It will rarely feature both of those links on a search engine results page, because that doesn't add value for the end-user.

Make absolutely sure that you do not copy and paste the same text--even if it is relevant to both pages--in more than one location on your website. More importantly, make sure you always post fresh, unique content (never let your Web designer snag content from competitor sites and then forget to replace it). Worried others might copy your content? Google does a darn good job determining who published it first, but services like Copyscape.com are helpful for protecting your content from copycats.

2. Stuffing keywords in anchor text. Besides having a clean website structure and a good collection of unique, relevant content on your site, the secret to ranking highly on Google (and elsewhere) is the quality and quantity of links from other sites to yours. The actual clickable (blue underlined) text that links to your site is known as the “anchor text.” One of the newest hazards when it comes to Google’s algorithm is when the anchor text of links to your site are too keyword-rich. It makes it look like you are trying to game Google.

Here's a quick example: Let's say your company is Luggage.com and you want to rank highly for the keyword “leather wheelie bags.” You get your friend who runs the blog SophisticatedTraveler.com to link to your site. A general link (“Check out a great luggage store at Luggage.com”) is good for SEO. But you are over optimizing if the anchor text is stuffed with keywords (“They have leather wheelie bags at this site”). If this happens across dozens of blogs due to your concentrated SEO effort, it looks unnatural, and Google may penalize your rankings.

3. Failing to put keywords in URLs. Adding keywords to URLs isn't a new concept, but it's an easy and effective SEO strategy that many companies still ignore. In short, you need to make your URL structure verbose and keyword-rich. Ideally, a customer should be able to look at your URL and tell what that webpage is about.

In other words, instead of this:

http://www.kitchens.com/cat12/prod456

Use this:

http://www.kitchens.com/microwaves/ge-wonder-X23

Having these keywords in the URL helps signal to search engines that this content is relevant to those search terms.

4. Buying links. Bottom line: The tactics that were successful in 2008 don't work anymore. It used to be that if you wanted to rank highly for the keyword “leather wheelie bags,” you threw some content on your site related to that keyword, and then bought links from blogs and other sites with the anchor text “leather wheelie bags.” Soon enough, you zipped up to the top of the search rankings.

But those days are gone, and no smart SEO strategy involves going head to head with the legions of Google’s engineers. Nowadays, successful strategies have nothing to do with “gaming Google.” They involve creating good, shareable, unique, relevant content. Though there are no shortcuts in this strategy, you won't have to worry every day about Googlegiving you the boot.

Avoid these four mistakes in your SEO efforts, and you'll be rewarded with higher rankings from Google, more traffic, and better results.

Inc

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10 ideas extremas para ahorrar

10 Extreme Bootstrapping Ideas 
By CHRISTINA DESMARAIS

Putting every dollar you make back into your company, and not your pocket, can be brutal. These cost-saving tips can help.

You're building your business with your own money, which means you get to keep control of it, not hand it over to some investor. But bootstrapping is tough, especially if it means putting every dollar you make back into the company instead of into your pocket. So other than taking out a second mortgage on your house, maxing out credit cards, and eating ramen every night, what can you do to get your idea to the next level all on your own?

Jerry Jao, co-founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based Retention Science, has some ideas. His current start-up, which uses big data to help e-commerce retailers retain customers, raised $1.3 million last year in a VC- and angel-backed seed round. But his two former companies--one that flopped and another that was cash-flow positive before he morphed it into Retention Science--existed solely on Jao's and his co-founder's own dimes. The duo also managed to avoid drawing a salary from Retention Science for more than two years. They consider themselves "extreme bootstrappers."

Self-described as a "goofy Asian guy with glasses" who is "not a natural salesperson" Jao says he taught himself to negotiate deals by reading books and getting advice from others. In addition to incorporating Retention Science using BizFilings and managing all the company's books and tax filings himself, he drives a 1998 Toyota Corolla that has a door that doesn't work and sometimes won't start.  Even so, he doesn't complain about his clunker--previously he lived for two years with his co-founder's parents in LA, and for five months he didn't have a car at all.

Here's Jao's top 10 list of ways to save money and keep your budding company alive.

1. Defer legal fees.

Negotiate with your lawyers so that you don't have to pay them until you raise seed or Series A funding. Jao says the law firm that counsels Retention Science provided it with discounted advice that the company didn't have to pay for during the first two years of getting off the ground.

2. Use QuickBooks.

Yes, you're busy, but managing your books isn't terribly onerous once you get your accounts set up and data input. Plus, Jao says looking at your monthly burn helps foster a cost-saving attitude because you can see how fast money runs out. "Do not use a bookkeeper or hire an accountant," he says. "It is absolutely a waste of money." (And make sure to check out 5 Apps That Make QuickBooks Better.)

3. Ask for a discount on your server costs.

Jao says Microsoft, SoftLayer, Rackspace, and Amazon Web Services all offer start-up promotions. In fact, the latter offers more than a dozen products that include a free tier.

4. Tap your well-connected friends for their company discounts or hand-me-downs.

Know anybody who works for Apple? Jao says Apple employees can get up to $500 off the sticker price of a Macbook and 20-30 percent off iPads.

"Post a message on Facebook and you might be shocked at the responses you get. Or look on Craigslist and buy from other start-ups," he says. "You don't need brand new machines. You just need something that works and when you have a real business later, you can upgrade."

5. Look for shared office space.

Working at home is isolating and if you camp out at a coffee shop you can end up spending too much money on food and drinks. Instead, find another start-up that has extra space and make a deal to use it. Either that, or rent a spot in a coworking space. In addition to being a lot cheaper than paying for your own office, they're great places to meet other founders and creative types who can end up being new partners, allies, and even clients. Check out these16 cool coworking spaces, many of which you can find at ShareDesk.net, an online marketplace for sharing offices, meeting rooms, and other workspaces.

6. Drive instead of fly.

Obviously this won't work if your meeting is across the country, but if you need to do an in-person and you can drive there and back in a long day, go for it.

"To save money on plane tickets, if I have an investor meeting at 9 a.m. in Silicon Valley, I'd leave at 3 a.m. from Los Angeles, then drive to the Starbucks on Sand Hill Road, change into my business clothes, and go to the meeting," Jao says.

7. Ask for event discounts.

Jao says that many event organizers understand that entrepreneurs don't have a pile of money to spend on networking events or conferences and will provide special discounts that are often not advertised publically. "It never hurts to ask," he says.

8. Don't use a PR firm.

Publicity is extremely important--but incredibly expensive if you're paying someone else to drum it up. "Since the founding of Retention Science, we've spent zero dollars on PR and marketing to date," Jao says. "It doesn't matter what they tell you, as an early stage company, you cannot justify a retainer of $8,000 to $10,000. Do your homework and reach out to reporters yourself."

Not sure where to start? Check out these 13 tips for DIY publicity.

9. At first, use WordPress for your website.

While you do need a professional-looking website or digital store front, hiring an agency or design shop to create one can be expensive. Jao says he and his co-founder created the websites for all three of their companies themselves and suggests using inexpensive talent you can find on platforms such as Freelancer.com once you're ready to scale. At first, though, WordPress will suffice--it offers thousands of free themes and plugins. Alternately, try one of these 4 easy-to-use tools for building websites.

10. Forget about job boards and recruiters.

Instead, Jao hangs flyers at universities known for harboring bright minds. "We found our first hire out of Caltech this way," he says.

Not sure you're up for such measures? Check out the three reasons bootstrapping has been crucial to Elle Kaplan, CEO and founding partner of Lexion Capital Management, the only 100 percent woman-owned asset management firm in the U.S.

Inc.com

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16 cosas que exigirle al próximo desarrollador de web

16 Things to Look for in Your Next Web Developer 

BY YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR COUNCIL

Don't reinvent the wheel, hire a great communicator, check references, and use a service for code-sharing to guarantee your access to it.

Why is finding a good developer so difficult? For many non-technical startups, the problem boils down to knowing what to look for in the first place. We asked a panel of 16 successful entrepreneurs from the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) what separates good developers from big headaches. Here's what they had to say. 

Trevor Sumner, LocalVox. Your first website will not be great, and it shouldn't be. According to Reid Hoffman, if you are happy with what you launch, you've launched too late. Foreseeing that your business will evolve in unexpected ways will allow you to constantly update your website without a lot of effort. You don't want someone who hacks something together that's hard to change later. I'm never happy with my website.

Tim Jahn, matchist. Most people think they need the best Web developer to get their project done. Unless you're working with nuclear reactors or advanced rocket science, you actually don't. What you need is a fantastic communicator. The number one reason projects break down is because there is a miscommunication between the developer and you. You want a developer who's great at keeping you up to date on your project.

Nick Reese, Microbrand Media. After working with 30 different developers both in-house and out of house, the one key takeaway is this: Never reinvent the wheel on non-competitive advantage elements. This even applies if the programmer says it will only take an hour. This one premise has cost us more deadlines and delays than any other. Always use commonly available code for non-essential pieces.

Brett Farmiloe, Internet Marketing Agency. I once hired a Web developer and felt cheated when the new design didn't produce the results I wanted. The developer had a great portfolio, understood exactly what I wanted, and was very responsive. The problem wasn't the developer--it was my customers! They didn't like the product. The number one thing you need to know when hiring your first Web developer is exactly what your customers want.

Andrew Howlett, Rain. Until you're ready for long-term needs, outsource. Find a reputable firm to help you out. While the hourly rates will be higher, you can take advantage of their talent pool instead of trying to find one person to fit all your needs. Focus on what your business is trying to do instead of becoming a development shop. When your size and site require maintenance, then hire someone.

Lawrence Watkins, Great Black Speakers. Many Web developers are more interested in supplying all of the bells and whistles than in providing a functional solution to your business problems. Avoid these individuals like the plague. They will cause you headaches because of a poorly executed Web strategy. Make sure that your Web team has good business, design, and development competency.

Natalie MacNeil, She Takes on the World. Don't just depend on a portfolio! I once almost hired a Web developer with an incredible portfolio, but when I dug a little deeper and started contacting the owners of the websites in his portfolio, I quickly realized that he was exaggerating his role and including sites he didn't even develop. Now I always follow up with past clients and dig deeper into portfolio pieces before making hires.

Ryan Buckley, Scripted, Inc. Anyone hiring their first Web developer needs to understand where the code is being stored and to have a clear agreement stating that all code is owned by the company. I highly recommend a service such as GitHub or Beanstalk to share the code repository so you'll never lose access to the code you're purchasing.

Charles Gaudet, Predictable Profits. It's one thing to have a nice-looking website, but looks aren't everything. It's sort of like pulling up to the race track with a tricked-out Ferrari but having a Chevette engine under the hood. It would be hard to compete. In business, you want every competitive advantage possible, and having a website built with a search engine-friendly foundation is key.

Adam Root, Hiplogiq. Communicating with developers can be a difficult task for non-technical entrepreneurs. Having been on both sides, I'd recommend creating the key value screens of your application in PowerPoint. Engineers will see what you are attempting, and you will gain a deeper understanding of how your app will accomplish your business goals.

Kelsey Meyer, Contributor Weekly. When hiring developers who previously worked for another company, ask about their side projects. Most likely they've been working on passion projects, and it will give you a better idea of what languages they prefer to code in, where their interests really lie, and how you can keep them really engaged in your company.

Alexis Wolfer, The Beauty Bean. Assuming you don't have a background in Web development, the best way to hire a developer is by asking for recommendations from peers and by getting references from potential candidates. Even more important is a developer's ability to pivot when your business does, and believe me, it will.

Stacey Ferreira, MySocialCloud. The most important thing when hiring your first Web developer is looking for someone who is willing to learn. Programming languages, like everything else, are constantly changing. Even if someone has great previous work experience, he or she has to be willing to keep learning and stay up-to-date with an ever-changing industry.

Danny Boice, Speek. By "Swiss Army Knife" developer, I mean someone who is decent at all levels of the stack (front end, middle-tier/API, back end) and who knows a breadth of languages and platforms, as opposed to specializing in one. When I met one of my best early developer hires, he had just taken six months off to do hackathons--using a different language for each one. He's still with us today, and he is amazing.

Steven Le Vine, grapevine pr. A conceptualization of your brand should be the first thing you are aware of when developing your website. Your website is the primary platform for potential clients, and customers will visit when doing research on your company. It's essential that your website mirror your brand identity for consistency purposes. Consistency is always key.

Jared Brown, Hubstaff. If you're looking for a top-tier Web developer, which you should be, you can often find one by posting on Hacker News or GitHub jobs. But be prepared to spend some money to find and employ the developer. Development will most likely be your highest cost for the first few years, so go all in. Being cheap will only lead to ulcers, and it's the surest way to torpedo the company.

Inc.com

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Las 9 peores declaraciones de misión

Las 9 peores declaraciones de misión de todos los tiempos

BY MINDA ZETLIN

Si su declaración de misión no contiene errores ortográficos, menciona lo que hace su empresa, y que no se va de una página entera, que ya está haciendo mejor que estas grandes marcas.

Una declaración de misión puede ser una forma poderosa para motivar a usted ya su equipo hacia una meta común. Sólo considere esto, desde la misión de Amazon: "ser la empresa más centrada en el cliente de la Tierra, donde los clientes pueden encontrar y descubrir cualquier cosa que quieran comprar en línea." Incluso cuando la empresa sólo vende libros, esta visión ayudó a guiarla donde quería ir.

Pero si las declaraciones de misión son poderosos, también son difíciles para hacerlo bien. Si usted está luchando con la suya, no se desanime: Algunas de las marcas más conocidas del mundo tienen algunas de las declaraciones de misión más horribles. Excesivamente prolijo, terminales vaga, o simplemente estúpida - usted sabe que puede hacerlo mejor que ellos:

1. Usted tiene un montón de tiempo para leer esto - ¿verdad?

"La misión de Avon está enfocada en seis aspiraciones principales que la compañía continuamente lucha por alcanzar," comienza la declaración de misión de Avon. Entonces sigue. Y sigue. Tiene 249 palabras, que cubren todo, desde superar a sus competidores para aumentar el valor del accionista hasta la lucha contra el cáncer de mama.

Es muy bueno para hacer muchas cosas importantes a la vez, pero su declaración de misión debe proporcionar a los empleados y al mundo en general con uno o dos objetivos clave que definen el éxito en su universo. Si usted no puede conseguir que en una o dos frases, volver atrás y vuelva a intentarlo.

2. ¿Por qué preocuparse de la gramática?

"La misión de la marca McDonald es ser el lugar favorito de nuestros consumidores y su forma de comer y beber," dice declaración de misión de McDonald. Eso está bien, pero entonces continua: "Nuestras operaciones en todo el mundo están alineadas en torno a una estrategia global llamada el Plan de Éxito, que se centran en una experiencia excepcional al cliente - Personas, Productos, Plaza, Precio y Promoción."

Se las arregla para ser a la vez vago y presuntuoso al mismo tiempo. Pero la lección importante es que después que haya puesto en el tiempo y esfuerzo y tal vez pagarle a un consultor para crear la declaración de la misión perfecta, usted debe tomar un extra de unos segundos para poner a través de un simple ortografía y gramatical. Si los ejecutivos de McDonald's  lo hubieran hecho, se hubieran dado cuenta que tenía una desacuerdo entre el sujeto y el verbo. Debiera ser: "...alineados alrededor de una estrategia llamada el Plan para Ganar, el cual se centra en una excepcional experiencia del consumidor." 

3. No nos interesa en que negocio estamos metidos.

Aquí mission statement de Albertsons: "Crear una experiencia de compra que agrada a nuestros clientes; un lugar de trabajo que crea oportunidades y un gran ambiente de trabajo para nuestros asociados; y un negocio que logra el éxito financiero." 

En case que usted se esté preguntando, Albertsons es una cadena de verdulerías, primariamente en el Oeste de USA, su declaración de misión debiera mencionar lo que su compañía hace realmente.

4. ¡El cielo es el límite!

"Para ayudar a que cada marca ser más inspiradora, y a un mundo más inteligente," comienza la mission statement de Avery Dennison's. Esa es una gran ambición para una empresa cuyo producto es etiquetas adhesivas. Una buena declaración de misión debe tener alguna relación con la realidad. 

5. No lo decimos en serio.

Aquí está la primera oración de la mission statement de Barnes & Noble's: "Nuestra misión es operar el mejor negocio minorista especializada en América, independientemente del producto que vendemos."

Aquí está la tercera frase: "Decir que nuestra misión existe independientemente del producto que vendemos es de menospreciar la importancia y la distinción de ser los libreros".

Es probablemente mejor si su declaración de la misión no se contradiga.

6. Nos gustamos tal como somos.

"MGM Resorts International es el líder en entretenimiento y hospitalidad - una colección diversa de personas extraordinarias, marcas distintivas y mejor en destinos de clase." Está catalogado como declaración de la misión de MGM Resorts ', pero es sólo una autodescripción halagadora. Di lo que aspiran a ser, no por eso ya piensas que eres genial.

7. Lo repensamos mejor.

Aquí la mission (or vision) statement de Hershey's: "Continuando con el legado de compromiso con los consumidores, la comunidad y los hijos de Milton Hershey, ofrecemos productos de Hershey de alta calidad, mientras que la realización de nuestro negocio de una manera socialmente responsable y sostenible con el medio ambiente." Aparte de la práctica molesto de poner el nombre de uno en mayúsculas, eso no es malo.

La compañía tomó algo de burla por su declaración de la misión anterior, redactada en su totalidad: "Indisputado liderazgo de mercado." Hershey fue inteligente como para cambiarlo.

8. Si no tienen nada bueno que decir...

Dell parece que ha decidido cubrir su desafío de declaración de misión con un simple not having one. Esto debe darle valor a usted. Cualquier cosa que se le ocurra debe ser mejor que ni siquiera intentarlo.

9. Adivine de quién es esta declaración de misión :

"Es nuestra misión es con autoridad continuar proveyendo acceso a diversos servicios para permanecer relevantes en el mundo del futuro."

¿Se rinde? Fue creado por el Mission Statement Generator el cual recombina sustantivos, verbos y adjetivos en declaraciones de misión prototípicos que son un deleite repleto de discursos empresariales sin sentido.

Inc

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Cómo posicionar su blog en Google

Cómo empezar a posicionar un blog en Google

Publicado por Antonio Cambronero - Weblog Magazine

En esta entrada de Weblog Magazine aprenderás las nociones básicas para empezar a posicionar un blog en Google. Pero antes, como introducción, leerás unas breves líneas acerca de los métodos que emplea Google para situarte en un lugar concreto dentro de las páginas de resultados de las búsquedas.

Uno de mis primeros artículos en Weblog Magazine, a mediados de 2009, fueSEO, ese oscuro objeto del deseo. Y, aunque Google ha llevado a cabo, desde entonces, sucesivos e importantes cambios en algunas reglas de su algoritmo de posicionamiento (el método por el cual tu blog aparece en un lugar concreto de la lista de resultados de una búsqueda), todo lo expuesto en aquél artículo sigue siendo válido.

Los nuevos algoritmos de posicionamiento de Google

A principios de 2011 surgió “Google Panda”, un nuevo procedimiento en el posicionamiento en buscadores, basado principalmente en premiar los contenidos de calidad y acabar con el contenido duplicado. En Abril de 2012 hubo otra actualización del algoritmo, llamada “Google Penguin”, con el propósito de dar fin a las denominadas “granjas de contenido”, sitios creados exclusivamente para hacer posicionar artificialmente a otros. Su principal característica es penalizar el “linkbuilding” automático, la adquisición desmedida de enlaces, posts patrocinados y técnicas similares.

El cambio más reciente recibe el nombre de “Google Hummingbird” y consiste en un primer paso hacia la búsqueda semántica y, en definitiva, una nueva forma de entender el posicionamiento en Google.

En realidad, existe todo un universo de algoritmos con sus respectivas modificaciones, en paralelo. Algo que puede hacer sufrir de insomnio a más de un especialista en SEO. Lee Últimos Cambios en el Algoritmo de Google(última actualización realizada el 7 de Octubre de 2013) para conocer todos los algoritmos y sus cambios.

¿Y yo, como simple y mundano blogger, qué hago ante esta avalancha, un tanto críptica, de osos, pingüinos y colibríes? Para responder a esa pregunta, como decía al principio, lo primero que habría que tener en cuenta es que la mayoría de lo publicado por Google en su Guía de optimización de motores de búsqueda, sigue siendo válido. Por ejemplo, hoy por hoy, sigue siendo de vital importancia facilitar la labor de indexación de tu blog, proporcionando a Google (y a otros buscadores) un índice ordenado de las páginas que forman tu sitio (el denominado “sitemap”). Así que, antes de preocuparte por las modificaciones de los algoritmos de búsqueda, debes conocer lo básico. Cómo empezar a posicionar un blog en Google, por ejemplo.

El mapa del sitio (sitemap) como una llave maestra para que Google indexe bien tu blog

Efectivamente, si comienzas un blog desde cero, perteneciente a una plataforma auto-alojada (tal como WordPress.org, la versión de WordPress en la que tú tienes que instalar y configurar el software en tu propio serivdor), Google no lo conocerá y a menos que se lo presentes, tus artículos no saldrán en ninguna página de resultados de búsquedas. Para ello, debes, por una parte, crear y actualizar el sitemap (un archivo en formato XML) y, por otra, enviárselo a los buscadores, cada vez que se publica un post.

Eso no sucede en sistemas de publicación de blogs del estilo de Blogger o WordPress.com, en los que automáticamente se crea un mapa del sitio, enviado a Google (y otros buscadores) cada vez que se publica un post (o se actualiza o borra). Así que si tu blog se encuentra desarrollado bajo una de estas plataformas no debes preocuparte de nada. Empiezas a publicar y al cabo de un tiempo, tus posts empezarán a aparecer en Google. ¿En qué posición? eso dependerá de diversos factores pero, sobre todo, del buen uso de palabras clave y de la elaboración de artículos de calidad, escritos pensando en tus lectores.

En WordPress.com el sitemap es “nombreblog.wordpress.com/sitemap.xml” y en Blogger, accede en tu navegador al archivo “nombreblog.blogspot.com/robots.txt” para verlo. Sustituye, claro está, “nombreblog” por el prefijo de tu blog en su URL.

Sin embargo, en sistemas auto-alojados (WordPress.org), tú tienes que generar el mapa del sitio. Eso se puede llevar a cabo mediante un plugin como Google XML Sitemaps o, mejor, con WordPress SEO by Yoast, de propósito más general, orientado a SEO.

Para otras plataformas auto-alojadas podrías probar Sitemaps Generator.

Una herramienta que te ayudará a resolver posibles errores en la creación del mapa del sitio es Google Webmaster Tools. Lo primero que debes hacer cuando creas un blog, en una plataforma auto-alojada (WordPress.org), es darlo de alta en las herramientas para webmasters de Google y probar y enviar el sitemap. Una vez que Google lo reconozca, en esta herramienta podrás ver y analizar posibles errores en el mapa del sitio.

En este artículo hemos visto la importancia del mapa del sitio (sitemap) para ayudar a Google a indexar tu nuevo blog y, en consecuencia, empiece a aparecer en las páginas de resultados de las búsquedas.

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