How to Beat Your Competition: Lessons from “Eclipse the Wonder Horse”

I recently read the story of Eclipse, the horse described as the greatest racehorse of all time.

Eclipse raced between 1769-1770 and was unbeaten in eighteen races.

When Eclipse raced it was never a close finish.  He beat other horses by massive distances of one or two miles!

It was this amazing ability that gave rise to the phrase “Eclipse first, the rest nowhere“.

In your market are you beating your competition by miles like Eclipse or is the race to every new customer a close finish?

Follow these three steps and you’ll ensure that it’s your small business first, your competition nowhere.

1. Pick Races You Can Win

Eclipse was retired because other owners wouldn’t race their horses against him.  They knew they would lose.

Picking a race for your small business means picking a market where you can dominate.   You can do this by creating a niche and being different.

Create a Niche

Don’t try to be “everything to everyone”.

Pick an area of your market where you have the expertise and experience to specialise.  Specialising reduces the competition, and a race with fewer runners is always easier to win.

It doesn’t mean you have to turn customers away if they are outside of your niche.  You’re simply focusing your energy on winning the race you pick.

For instance as a web designer you could specialise in designing websites for restaurants.

This focused marketing approach reduces your competition and makes you attractive to your target customers who will see you as the “go to” person in your niche.

Be Different

If you’re facing too much competition, even in your niche, you need to be different.

You need to stand out.  Give new customers a reason to be interested in your small business.

If you’re an accountant and the other accountants in your niche all lead their marketing on audit work or tax advice you could attract new customers by marketing your “finance for non-financial managers” training courses.

As a restaurant you could use items of interest that people will want to see, creating a complete customer experience.  At Shanahan’s on The Green in Dublin they have JFK’s original rocking chair in a case in their “Oval Office” bar.  This attracted me to the restaurant because I wanted to see the chair and the other items on display.

Once you’ve gained peoples interest you can build customer relationships and introduce your other services.

2. Be Blinkered

Blinkering a horse in a race helps ensure that it remains focused on where it’s going and not what’s going on around it.

It ensures that the horse doesn’t become distracted.

In your race to beat your competition you need to keep your small business marketing focused.  Don’t change what you’re doing just because those around you do.

A competitor of a client of mine took several pages in the centre of a local newspaper and filled them with advertisements for low quality products and cheap prices.  My client specialises in offering high quality products, great service and has a lot of knowledge.  Following what his competitor did would have wasted a lot of money and would have damaged his reputation because it doesn’t fit his image and wouldn’t attract his target market.

You need to find what’s right for you and keep doing it.

Consistent activity is one of the key factors in ensuring you avoid the feast and famine cycle and keep your small business growing.

3. Use Your Advantage

Eclipse’s advantage on the race course was his phenomenal speed.   It allowed him to leave his competition standing.

In modern racing horses often have their own advantages.  Some have stamina, some jump superbly and some take to a type of ground better than others.

What advantages does your small business have that will help you beat your competition?  It could be any of a number of factors including:

• broader product range
• larger local stock
• greater industry experience
• faster delivery speed
• more personal touch

Let people know if your practice has the largest number of qualified lawyers in Toronto.  That would be an attractive benefit to a client who is deciding who to approach with a major piece of legal work.

But don’t ever use price as an advantage.  There will always be someone else who is willing to sell at a lower margin and take a lower profit than you.  That’s a race to the bottom and in it no-one wins.

Know your advantage and ensure it’s clear in your marketing.

The Bottom Line

Pick your niche, be focused and use your advantages to be like Eclipse.

Be so differentiated in your market that you have no competition racing against you!

Your small business first, your competition nowhere.

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Best Practices for Managing Virtual Employees

Coming out of this recession has been difficult for small businesses everywhere. While many companies have crumbled under the financial pressure, others turned to different options, such as outsourcing, to maintain regular business on a tight budget.

One way to outsource your work is to hire virtual employees. Often times outsourced positions are cheaper than in house, which makes it a worthwhile option while the recession lingers on.  You can choose to hire someone yourself or work with a companysuch as those who provide HR outsourcing services. Regardless of your hiring process, make it worthwhile by utilizing these three best practices.

“… When managed correctly, virtual employees can be a great asset. Unfortunately, without effective management, keeping virtual employees productive can be a struggle.” – Hiring.Monster.com

Set Expectations

When starting the relationship, it’s important to set expectations. As in any work environment, employees need to know what is expected of them and how you hope for them to do their job. Because there may not be an option to meet in person if a problem does arise, it’s critical that you lay the groundwork before starting.

Part of setting these expectations ismaking sure that the new virtual employees are on the same page as the rest of your in house team,Smallbusiness.Chron.com suggests, “The best practice for a virtual team is for the manager to establish procedural work rules and Internet etiquette rules that dictate how the group interacts.”

Some basic ground rules include:

• Goals: Goal setting ensures that your employees have something to work toward, which keeps them productive.
• Give them a point person: Whether it’s yourself or someone else, give your virtual employees a point of contact for questions, concerns, etc.

Keep Open Flow of Communication

When you can’t meet one a week, or even once a month, it’s critical that all possible lines of communication are open. This is integral in keeping the relationship as similar to an in-house employee-boss relationship as possible.

• Check email frequently: This can also be laid out in the ground rules. Set a frequency for when to check email: once an hour, three times a day, whatever is optimal.
• Video chat once a month: If you can’t have an in person meeting, consider chatting “in person” with video chat. This gives you a chance to speak face to face, which can be beneficial for the relationship.
• Have a phone meeting once a week: As your in-house teams would meet once a week, be sure to do the same with your virtual employees. You can consider phoning them in for department meetings, company meetings, or just one on one chats.

Utilize Detailed Reporting

The most important factor in virtual employee outsourcing is that the proper work is being done; thus, you want to get a reporting plan into place. This will be a place for your virtual employees to detail the work that they’re doing, allowing you to see that it’s being done. This also allows you to see whether or not they are on track with target goals and long term projects.

Hiring virtual employees can be a smart financial move for any business, especially those at risk of collapsing. The key to making it work, however, is maintaining these 3 best practices. If you can do that, you are sure to make the most of every penny saved.

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New Technology Makes Small the New Big in Business

In the past larger businesses have had access to all the best tools and resources and consumers have been faced with an impossible choice. Large companies can be faceless, disinterested, and difficult to deal with. However, they have traditionally been able to offer simple, easy solutions that smaller firms could not. From simple things like the ability to contact a firm 24 hours a day, or the ability of a company to take card payments, the big boys had it all. However, the bigger they come, the harder they fall.

Fast Movers

Small companies are now in the strongest position they have been for years. In some senses this is a bit of a no-brainer; if there’s only one of you it’s easy to increase your workforce and productivity by 50 per cent. If there are five thousand of you, then chances are you’ll be looking to shave a few thousand off that figure at the moment. Big firms can’t move quickly when it comes to downturns; their commitments and legal requirements make changes and responses slower, just by virtue of their size.  However, they still have, or had, the edge when it came to technology. Cloud computing and mobile communications have done for that!

Online Solutions

Cloud computing offers a whole range of big business solutions for small firms, from online document storage and back up to online accounting software. The main benefit to most small businesses with cloud computing is that it offers reliable access to their business documents and records at the click of a mouse – and from any computer with an internet connection. Fatal computer crashes could potentially kill a small business a few years ago; today they are nothing more than a small blip – if that.

Easy Pay Solutions

Accounting and payment solutions have also been an area that has been costly and cumbersome for most small businesses. However a number of solutions have started to enter the market. In the past, taking payment from a customer was not always straightforward. It often meant the archaic use of checkbooks or, worse still, cash! For small businesses the hassle involved in the process included large amounts of paperwork, trips to the bank and yet more paperwork. Multiply that by several customers and the whole process could involve more time than it was worthwhile.

It has taken some time but now, at last, all you need in order to take payment on delivery is a mobile phone and a handy little card reader. While mobile card readers have been available for a while, they have come with a not so mobile fee structure.  Today, all that is changing; Intuit Go Payment from a market leading online accounting firm is one good example. With a free, small attachment for your mobile device you can simply swipe your customer’s card and, well, that’s it.  This eminently simple solution is suitable even if you run your business off the back of bicycle. Indeed, it’s this type of technology that’s making running a business off the back of a bike a real possibility. Overheads? What overheads?

On Your Bike David

This type of technology levels the playing field considerably for small and large businesses. For clients, a small firm is often a first choice, and being able to offer the convenient features that were previously the preserve of the big firms, means that first choice is no longer a hassle for customers. As Goliath-like firms struggle to negotiate their way through these troublesome times, the small David-like firms are speeding ahead; even if they only have a bike to do it on.

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7 Tips to a Great Skype Interview

Thankfully, working from home has gotten easier because of the wonderful world of technology. We are able to perform job duties to our fullest without ever leaving home. Skype is becoming the fastest interview platform for many different companies because of simplicity and inexpensiveness. Whether you are conducting a Skype interview or on the interviewee end, here are 5 tips to consider before you log on next:

Internet Connection:

First and foremost, you want to make sure that your internet connection is fast and reliable. There is nothing like a choppy and dysfunctional Skype interview to really frustrate both ends of the interview. Contact your local internet provider to make sure that you have a dependable and fast connection well enough for Skype.

Location:

You want to set the computer in a part of your home that is quiet and has little to no distractions. You don’t want a child come running in during an important interview.

Background:

Your face and upper body should be framed evenly in the screen and reflect a simple background. Avoid any personal photo frames, busy wall paper or anything that the other person on the other side could deem distracting. With that said you don’t want a stark white wall as a background either. Think about sitting in front of a nice bookshelf or a window with curtain/blinds.

Lighting:

Lighting placement is very important on how you appear to the other person. A bright, fluorescent light directly above your head can be harsh on your skin tone and cast awkward shadows on your face. Try sitting near a window with natural sunlight or use a soft table lamp and place it near you.

Eye Contact:

When it comes to video chatting, your eyes naturally gravitate to yourself as you speak. The goal of the Skype interview is to make it feel as real as possible. You want to give the feeling that you are face to face in an actual office interview. So look at the camera as you speak, it will have the other person feeling like you are speaking directly to them.

Clothing and Makeup:

Test out your make up by doing it before the interview and seeing how you appear on screen. You don’t want to look like a clown and you don’t want to look like you just woke up. You may need to go a little heavy on the blush to give your face some color on screen. As far as your outfit goes, avoid anything that will wash you out, wear dark colors like plum, navy and black. The neckline needs to be professional.

Practice:

Skype with a friend or relative to make sure that your Skype is properly working. This is a good chance to test out the lighting and background on your friends. Ask them if they feel like your make up and clothing is good for an interview. Also note the volume level of your voice and that you are heard clearly.

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A Basic Overview of the AMT

One of the perennial tax issues that comes up is that of the alternative minimum tax, or the AMT. Originally, the AMT was instituted as a way to ensure that those with high incomes, and who might take advantage of excessive deductions, pay at minimum, what they should owe.

However, in the intervening years since the introduction of the AMT, it has expanded somewhat. In some cases, those with what could be considered a middle class income, and those who might not actually have a large amount of personal deductions.

How Does the AMT Work?

Basically, the AMT works by requiring those affected to pay the difference in what they owe. You figure out your taxes twice, by two different rules. First, you determine what you would owe following the “regular” rules of taxes. Next, you follow the rules of the AMT. This involves filling out a Form 6251.

After you have the results of both efforts, you compare them. If your “regular” tax is more than the AMT, you don’t have to pay it. However, if the AMT number is higher, you have to pay the difference. So, if your AMT tax shows that you should owe $52,000, but your “regular” tax comes out to $45,000, you need to pay your regular amount of $45,000, plus pay another $7,000 because of the AMT.

Really, you don’t know whether you owe the AMT unless you figure your taxes, by these two separate rules. Many people find that it’s much easier just to have an accountant figure it out, since going through Form 6251 can be quite tedious.

What Increases Your AMT Liability?

There are different items that contribute to AMT liability each year. And, of course, Congress regularly passes a “patch” that helps prevent those in the middle class from getting hit by the AMT. Fairmark offers a list of items that can result in AMT liability:

1. Personal exemptions: The more personal exemptions you have, the greater the likelihood that you will end up paying the AMT. Most of the time, simply taking exemptions for yourself, spouse, and children aren’t enough to trigger the AMT, but if you have enough personal exemptions can cause a problem.
2. State and local tax deductions: If you itemize to take state and local tax deductions, that could trigger the AMT. This is more likely if your state and local taxes are high, resulting in a bigger deduction.
3. Standard deduction: It seems strange to think that your standard deduction could trigger the AMT, but in some cases, according to Fairmark, it actually does. It’s not allowed under the AMT, so if you figure your taxes with a standard deduction, and then you figure with the AMT, and your regular taxes are lower because of the standard deduction, you could owe the AMT.
4. Medical expenses: The medical expenses allowed under the AMT are more restrictive. So if you claim a higher amount of medical expenses, it could mean that you owe the AMT.
5. Second mortgage interest: If you deduct the interest on a second mortgage, it could result in the AMT, since only the interest on a first mortgage is allowed under the alternative rules.
6. Different credits: It’s also worth noting that there are a number of credits that aren’t allowed under the AMT. If you have them in your regular taxes, but not in your AMT version, you might owe extra.
7. Miscellaneous deductions: Some deductions can only be taken under circumstances, and those with large incomes, and a large number of deductions, can easily get to the point where they result in you owing more by an AMT calculation than a regular calculation.
8. Long-term capital gains: A large capital gain can trigger the AMT, although you wouldn’t think it so, since the same treatment is available.
9. Incentive stock options: Without the proper planning, you could end up owing more because of the AMT.
10. Tax-exempt interest: Even though you may not have to pay taxes on some interest in a regular tax calculation, not all of that interest is exempt in an AMT calculation.

It’s also worth noting that some business deductions can trigger the AMT. Business use of your home is one of those deductions. Other factors can make it more likely that you will be subject to the AMT, including a gross income that exceeds $100,000 a year.

Make sure you consider the possibility of owing the AMT. You won’t know until you do the calculations, and until the patch is figured. Many agree that something needs to be done about the AMT, but it doesn’t seem like a solution will be forthcoming anytime soon.

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Tie Employee Compensation to Firm-Wide Returns: 6 Steps

Pay bonuses based on your company's overall financial success, and get your employees pulling in the same direction.

As a business owner or manager, one of the most difficult things to oversee is compensation and expectations at employee review time.

Initially we at User Insight did the same thing most companies do: a review after an employee's first six months, with annual reviews every year after that. Along with the review usually came some type of bump in an employees' base pay. But as a consultancy, we have the added complexity of ebbs and flows in the amount of work we are servicing. Inevitably, employee review times would be fall during the slowest periods of the year.

This caused several issues. As a business owner, it's difficult to increase overhead at times when business is slow. Even if you know you're just in the down part of a regular business cycle, it still makes your judgment more conservative. 

So, we found once a raise was in place, business would inevitably heat up, and an employee wouldn't experience a financial impact that was in sync with his harder-working performance. He didn't directly feel a reward for his work. In fact, I often heard groans when we signed a big round of new business.

To resolve these problems, we sought to tie a large portion of our employees' compensation to the performance of the company. Our operations manager at the time, Rachel Walsh, proposed how it would work.

Here's how:

1. We now conduct quarterly reviews.

2. As a company, we set a revenue target each quarter.

3. We take part of the money we had budgeted for raises and instead pay it out on a quarterly basis tied to company performance.

4. Each employee is given a goal that is a percentage (about 10%) of his or her salary.

5. As the company achieves the quarterly goal, each employee can achieve the equal percentage of his or her individual target.

6. We allow the achievable percentage to rotate above 100% if the company outperforms expectations for a given quarter.

Though these tactics were hard to adjust to at first–not having a known dollar "number" was frightening–we put the program in place. And it has been very successful. Conversations about compensation are now rare at User Insight, and only when an employee takes on a substantial new level of responsibility.

We've had times when bonuses have been paid out at more than 150% of expectation, but that worked because the company was doing well and employees had stepped up to deliver the work that was needed. Likewise, when the company is not mapping to goal, we save money on overhead.

The quarterly reviews have also been very helpful. The results allow us to look at the organization overall on a more frequent basis, determine what's going well, and discover ways to improve. We have a better understanding of how we're doing as a company. We regularly release the percentage of revenue target we have achieved, so employees know right away if we are ahead or behind.

The best thing that changed: Now everyone cheers when we sign a new deal.

Special report by LEAN FORWARD, Eric V. Holtzclaw

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Master Face-To-Face Marketing: 15 Sources Of Event Management Intelligence

You may be organizing an in-house event, trade fair or seminar as part of your current Marketing Plan.  Some of you may be participating in a trade show or convention as an exhibitor, sponsor or partner in the months to come. If so, tap into some great advice on how to maximize your presence and effectiveness in these face-to-face marketing opportunities. Read on to pick up on some key event tools out there.

WHY: Include Events in your Marketing Mix?

• They deliver something no online experience can quite match up to: real in-the-flesh face-to-face meetings and marketing opportunities.
• Events are multi dimensional, tactile and real-time forms of Experiential Marketing: the best way to let people sample your products and experience what you do in person.
• Events give you space for inspiration and chance collaborations. When Online, you are deliberately looking and researching. In Real-world events, inspiration will hit you in the face even when you are not looking for or  don’t know what you’re looking for.
• 
  

HOW: To Get Started.

Most regions and countries have homegrown resources to help them. My favourites include:

• Facetime: a non-for-profit outfit from the UK providing free down-loadable PDF guides, DVDs and e learning CDs that guide you through event management decisions.  Starting with: The Journey of a Virgin Exhibitor
• TSNN.com a prominent events directory and industry news portal from the US offering tools and resources to business people working on trade events with the latest industry tips. Here is a taster: How to become a Tradeshow G.E.N.I.U.S.
• MeetinIreland.com in Ireland is the kind of site you should find locally in most countries, providing easy to find resources for international & local event planners, incentive travel, DMCs and conference organisers. A handy resource for locating venues and local information. I especially like the resources page and conference checklist: Step-by-step planning schedule to keep you on top of your conference management.

 WHAT: Event Intelligence You Can Tap Into

The growing cross pollination between offline and online event marketing / on-site activity is a separate bible in itself. There are experts in the field that can help you get navigate through the cutting edge event planning technologies, applications or social media practices in the events sector.

•  Event Manager Blog‘s Julius Solaris is my personal Fave, here is a taster: Using Social Media at Trade Shows [Infographic]
• Events Guru UK provides events technology advice such as Heidi Wilkiams’: Using Google Events as Part of Your Event Strategy?
•  Small Business Marketing Blog, Ready2Spark does good cross over posts for marketers and event planners alike. For Example: QR Codes for Events – Do they Deserve the Hype
• Write on Track gives some insight on the relevance of Twitter to events & conferences a several posts including: How to Tweet at Conferences

People who need People…

Presentations and people skills are essential to maximising your presence at events. There are some coaching experts online with key insights on getting your message across.

• Smart Solutions  does a great blog on how to work the room in : Top Networking Skill – Rapport
• The Reluctant Speakers Club is  a great go-to blog, a veritable font of information on how to develop your speaking and presentation skills. Maximising your impact in that next speaking engagement with :Don’t Waste My Time

Check the Suppliers

Companies in the business of providing display solutions or key suppliers to events organisers also do blogs advising you on the techniques and key things to remember when participating in trade events. Look at your local suppliers for advice too.

• The Trade Show Marketing Network a US based Supplier provides display marketing tips and advice like : Trade Show Display Budgets – What You should be Spending
• Skyline also from the US,  dish out practical and down to earth white papers and blogs on topics like trade show displays and marketing techniques  for example: Trade show Planning Flowchart: your Prescription for Pain Free Exhibiting.

Off The Beaten Track

Thinking of doing something cutting edge, unique or targeting the Millennial market?

• The Alt Terrain Guerrilla Marketing Agency details different types of Guerrilla event marketing ideas with pics whilst promoting their services. For example: Engaging Mural Graffitti and Street Art Performance at Indoor and outdoor events.
• CG online Marketing has a recent post of future digital trends that definitely impact on the event sector:What’s Our Digital Future.
• Get event marketing insight from the world of concert promoters and entertainment from Dottedmusic.com : Online Tools Every Concert Promoter Should Use

WHEN: Trying not to Clash & Publishing your Event

When holding an event especially if targeting an international audience in a B2B setting, be cognizant of current events globally and make sure you get seen in international directories and event calenders. A plethora of  online directories exist. Some of the more comprehensive portals include:

• Biztradeshows.com: The largest directory of trade fairs, business exhibitions & trade shows, featuring 19000+ live trade events and 8100+ Organizers worldwide. They post post show reviews and press releases so you can research events to invest in. A sample from their Best Practise list of blogs:Meetings and Conferences at Trade fairs.
• Expopromoter.org is an affiliate network for the business event industry; an event industry resource offering online services for two target segments: business event organisers and B2B websites.

 WHERE: Finding the Right Venue

•  Meetingsbooker.com offers 58,965 conference rooms in over 100 countries around the world. Event bookers can use the website for free and receive direct online quotes or send an enquiry to a number of venues for conferences. Their blog does give latest news on new venues ideas/trends and even tools by industry guest bloggers. For example:  Starbucks go after meetings market.

I hope this helps you tweak the events side of your business.

The key Marketing takeaway?  Events are real world experiental face-to-face marketing activities and  by their very virtue, require more focus on the following:

• Your local environment vis a vis venues and travel arrangments
• The events calender in your sector
•  The people and presentation skills within your team
• The new technologies and trends that make people sit up and notice your activity in a noisy marketplace.

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5 Reasons Why You Should Be Using Pinterest for Business

If you have been on the fence about using Pinterest for your business, it's understandable. I know what you're thinking, "Oh man! Not another site I have to keep up with!"

But if you were getting results out of using the network, wouldn't you want to give it a try? Here are my reasons why you should be using Pinterest for your business.

1. More Website Traffic

Websites and blogs are reporting an increase in traffic to their sites once they started using Pinterest. As soon as I began using Pinterest for Idea Sprouts I began to get new traffic AND leads from the site.
Since increased website traffic can also increase leads and sales, Pinterest is worth considering as another social media network for your business.

2. Links to Your Website

If you have "pin-worthy" images and videos on your website, people will start pinning them to their Pinterest boards. That means you get a link back to your website with every pin.
If you want to see if you have any pins back to your website, use this website address:
http://pinterest.com/source/YOURWEBSITE/
So for my website, I'd use: http://pinterest.com/source/ideasproutsmarketing.com/
You will then see a list of pins that anyone has pinned from your website. Pretty neat!

3. Get Found by New People

Every time someone pins or repins one of your images, you have the potential to get found by even more people. That's because your images will show up on their boards and their followers will see it.
In addition, when you pin or repin an image, you have the option to share it on Facebook and/or Twitter, which means even more eyes will see your content.

4. Showcase Products

While I don't advocate using Pinterest to blast people with images of all of your products or ebooks (in fact, being overly promotional is against Pinterest rules), you can certainly use it to highlight items.
If you have physical products with gorgeous photos, you have a real opportunity to shine on Pinterest. Especially if your products are popular with women (right now, the majority of Pinterest users).

5.  Get Personal

One of the great things about Pinterest is its simplicity. You can share so many different types of photos and images very easily, and get more personal. Add photos of your employees, your events, or testimonials from happy customers. People may begin following you because of one pin they liked, but they will take a few minutes to learn more about you by looking at your boards.
I'm going to be sharing more Pinterest ideas with you in the upcoming weeks, but for now, why not set up an account? Once you do, I'd love to connect with you.
I'm looking forward to seeing your pins!

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Social media news: Facebook, Google, Twitter and YouTube

Tuesday was a busy day in the social media world. Here is a quick overview of what happened on Facebook, Google,Twitter and YouTube.

Facebook

Facebook released Facebook for WordPress. The new plugin allows bloggers to take their sites to the next social level with a wide range of features:

• Cross-posting to Facebook Timelines and Pages
• Customizable Like, Send and Subscribe buttons
• A Recommendations bar
• An Activity Feed Box
• A Comments Box with SEO support
• Open Graph Protocol integration

Users can also choose to mention Facebook friends or Pages in their posts. Further, the plugin also works on mobile devices and supports internationalization.

For more information on Facebook for WordPress, visit https://developers.facebook.com/wordpress/. To install the plugin, click here. 

Google

Google introduced its improved Hot Searches list in Google Trends.

This list, which gives Internet users access to the fastest rising search terms in the United States, now boasts a more visual and interactive experience with rich images and links to news articles. It also provides greater information about queries, and lumps related search terms together.

"Unlike the previous version of Hot Searches, which always provided 20 daily results, the new page introduces a filtering system that helps us make sure that the list includes only the truly hottest news stories of the day," says Nimrod Tamir, from the Google Trends Team, on the Google Blog. "[...] [T]he new list also provides an indication of how many searches have been conducted for each topic in the 24 hour period when it was trending."

Twitter

Twitter announced the launch of Tailored Trends. With this new feature, users can now access the most relevant conversations based on where they are and who they follow.

"These Trends lists are tailored for you by default on twitter.com and mobile apps like Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android," says Sara Mauskopf, Product Manager, on the Twitter Blog. "If you don’t wish to see tailored Trends, but instead want to see a more general list of Trends, just change your location on twitter.com. Of course, anytime you want a glimpse into the conversations that are happening on Twitter around the world, you can always select individual countries and cities to see Trends in those locations."

YouTube

Voting is now open for the Your Film Festival, a contest launched in January 2012 by YouTube, Ridley Scott and Scott Free London to find the best storytellers in the world.

The Scott Free team selected the 50 semi-finalists from more than 15,000 short film submissions, and it is now up to YouTube users to vote for their 10 favourite filmmakers.

The finalists will travel to Italy in September, where their work will be screened during the opening days of the 69th Annual Venice Film Festival, and then judged by a jury of industry professionals, including Ridley Scott and actor Michael Fassbender.

The contest winner will be announced at a Your Film Festival ceremony, streamed live from the festival. He or she will receive a $US500,000 production grant to work with Scott Riley’s team to create a new story.

Users have until July 13 to vote. For more information, visit the Your Film Festival channel.

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