The Bazaarvoice Social Commerce Blog » free http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog Ideas to Help Customers Build Your Business Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:10:24 +0000 en hourly 1 RISE Presentation: Establishing the Foundation of a Great Company Culture http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/03/04/rise-presentation-establishing-the-foundation-of-a-great-company-culture/ http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/03/04/rise-presentation-establishing-the-foundation-of-a-great-company-culture/#comments Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:45:05 +0000 Brett Hurt http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/?p=606 Here at Bazaarvoice, company culture isn’t just an afterthought – it’s our foundation.

As part of RISE – A Relationship & Information Series for Entrepreneurs, I'll share answers to questions entrepreneurs should consider regarding culture:

  • How do you prioritize culture within the company?
  • How exactly is it built?
  • How can you sustain it as the world around you feels uncertain?
  • What role do founders, executives, and managers play?
  • How is this different when you are just starting out?

My speech, entitled Establishing the Foundation of a Great Company Culture, is part of this week's RISE series of events, and I'll be speaking this Thursday, March 5, at 2 p.m.

RISE is an annual conference series dedicated to providing a free forum for entrepreneurs to connect and exchange ideas that inspire the entrepreneurial spirit. RISE is a non-profit initiative with no cost to participate allowing entrepreneurs from multiple industries and backgrounds to exchange successful ideas. Unlike traditional conferences, RISE Sessions are limited to 25 participants and take place all over the city in areas where entrepreneurs naturally congregate.

The session, on Thursday, March 5 at 2 p.m., will be hosted here, in the Bazaarvoice office. Registration for this event is free, but act quickly – only a few slots are available. I look forward to seeing you here!

]]> http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2009/03/04/rise-presentation-establishing-the-foundation-of-a-great-company-culture/feed/ 0 Chris Anderson and Wired on the Power of Free http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2008/02/27/chris-anderson-and-wired-on-the-power-of-free/ http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2008/02/27/chris-anderson-and-wired-on-the-power-of-free/#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:33:29 +0000 Brett Hurt http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2008/02/27/chris-anderson-and-wired-on-the-power-of-free/ Wired Magazine CoverAs a businessman who loves technology, Wired is my favorite magazine.  I simply find no other business magazine as innovative, both in the way it is physically organized and designed.  But the real gold is the content.  The Editor In Chief of Wired, Chris Anderson, is one of the most visionary business thinkers of our time.  You remember "The Long Tail"? – an awesome read that nicely summarized the true power of the Internet to reach niche markets.  I had the pleasure of meeting Chris in person at Resource Interactive's iCitizen event last year, as we were both speakers at the event.  He then ran the tables at conferences, keynoting seemingly almost every one that I attended.  "The Long Tail" had real business impact (see my post on it's impact on eCommerce).  Chris deserves the success he earned – seeing a commerce-changing trend that none of us could as succinctly and powerful describe.

Now Chris and Wired strike again with a preview of his new book, "Free", which is due in 2009.  The cover article of this month's Wired is "Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business".  If you want to read now what everyone will be talking about next year, read this article now.  It isn't worth me summarizing here – trust me, it's worth your 15 minutes to read the entire article by clicking the link above.

Free is a very powerful word-of-mouth driver, and Bazaarvoice has certainly placed a lot of "bets" in this area.  Currently, the following Bazaarvoice solutions are free (to at least one stakeholder):

  • ShoutIt!: Share your review on Facebook, digg, and Del.icio.us – free to clients and users; creates a form of advertising without the taint of being advertising
  • SyndicateVoice: free for shopping comparison portal partners, free for new clients for a period of time; creates a form of advertising without the taint of being advertising
  • BrandVoice: free high-converting user-generated content for clients from the customers of their manufacturing partners; leverages the power of channel marketing, which has existed since the dawn of vendors selling through the retail channel
  • Ratings & Reviews, Ask & Answer, Stories: free for users; gives them the context they need to make a purchase decision as well as connect with other customers; consumers used to pay for this type of content from people like "Consumer Reports", or by physically driving to a store to speak to an in-store sales person who may or may not have the information and context that they need

I look forward to seeing how Chris's new book shapes up, and I have no doubt that it will be impactful.  As he so eloquently describes in this article, free already surrounds us due to near free transistors and bandwidth.  As more businesses transform to be information-based, this trend will radically accelerate.

How are you using the power of free in your business?

]]> http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2008/02/27/chris-anderson-and-wired-on-the-power-of-free/feed/ 4 Vote For Your Bazaarvoice "Badge Flair"! http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2007/02/19/vote-for-your-bazaarvoice-badge-flair/ http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2007/02/19/vote-for-your-bazaarvoice-badge-flair/#comments Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:21:59 +0000 Sam Decker http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2007/02/19/vote-for-your-bazaarvoice-badge-flair/ At Shop.org Annual Summit, FirstLook and eTail we introduced Bazaarvoice Badge Flair – a series of badge ribbons with phrases that say who you are or what you feel. Who needs a “SPEAKER” or “BOARD MEMBER” badge to feel special!?  You can pick up Bazaarvoice Badge Flair for free at our booth at any show we attend.  Express yourself on your badge – which is where everyone is looking anyway!

We’ve come up with the first set of ideas printed on these ribbons, many of them below. Now it’s your turn. Below you can vote or come up with a new idea. We will print new ribbons at an upcoming show…and if your idea or choice gets voted towards the top, we’ll have your ribbon waiting for you.

So choose your favorite expression below, or add a new phrase at the bottom and others can vote on your idea. You can come back and add another anytime. Please keep it under 20 characters. See you at the next show!

{democracy}

HIT F5 TO REFRESH AND VOTE AGAIN OR ADD A NEW PHRASE. 

]]> http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2007/02/19/vote-for-your-bazaarvoice-badge-flair/feed/ 4 Bazaarvoice Secrets for Shop.org Annual Summit (NYC, Oct. 10-12) http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2006/10/04/bazaarvoice-secrets-for-shoporg-annual-summit-nyc-oct-10-12/ http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2006/10/04/bazaarvoice-secrets-for-shoporg-annual-summit-nyc-oct-10-12/#comments Thu, 05 Oct 2006 04:56:18 +0000 Sam Decker http://www.bazaarvoice.com/blog/2006/10/04/bazaarvoice-secrets-for-shoporg-annual-summit-nyc-oct-10-12/ If you're going to Shop.org Annual Summit next week in NY (Oct. 10-12) come see meet the team at booth #120. We have several announcements, case studies and demos to show you.

You can also come to a panel or roundtable we are hosting at the Web 2.0 Bootcamp (pre-show event) and during the summit. Here's our schedule if you want to print this.

 

And, for a select few people who read this (you can tell your closest colleagues) we are going to perform a unique display of ecommerce wizardry. Come by our booth and we will guess your conversion rate. If we get it wrong, we have a special 'under-the-table' giveaway for you (limited supply)!

Oh, and one more thing (this is like the peeler in the ginsu knife commercial, but better!)…

This is not announced anywhere else. Bryan Eisenberg (speaking at the conference) will be signing and we will give you FREE copies of his new best-selling book, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark, at our booth (#120) on Thursday, Oct. 12 at 1pm and 4:15pm breaks. He may be guessing some conversion rates as well!

See you there!

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