Monday, April 13, 2015

SnapChat Changes It's Face with Emojis! Sort of...

Hi all and welcome back,

Last week, Snapchat rolled out it's latest update of friend emojis. At first I was confused. These little emojis started popping up amongst my friend list and I had no idea what they meant. After a little research I found that Snapchat replaced its "Best Friend List" with these emojis to highlight who you snap the most and who is more of a mutual friend.

I took the below excerpt from John Constine of tech crunch. You can read his in depth Snapchat article here.

Here's what the latest Snapchat emojis mean to you:

  • 💛- Gold Heart – You’re #1 Best Friends – The person you send snaps to most sends snaps to you most too
  • 😬- Grimace/Grit Teeth – You Have A Mutual #1 Best Friend – The person you send snaps to most is also who this person sends snaps to most
  • 😊– Smile – One Of Your Best Friends – This is one of the people you send snaps to most
  • 😎- Sunglasses – You Have A Mutual Best Friend – One of the people you send snaps to most is also one of the people this person sends snaps to most
  • 😏- Smirk – You’re Their Best Friend But They’re Not Yours – You’re one of the people they send snaps to most, but they’re not one of the people you send snaps to most
  • 🔥- Fire – You Two Are On A Snapstreak – You and this person have sent snaps back and forth for the number of consecutive days shown
Snapchat has expanded its app drastically as it aims to monetize itself off of its 30 million active monthly users. We'll see if the emoji hype takes off, but one things for certain, Snapchat is a force to be reckoned with as apps look for market dominance in the increasingly shrinking attention spans of users worldwide.

Thanks for reading and snap away my friends!

Best,

-BQ


Monday, April 6, 2015

Branded.Me Makes It Easy to Showcase Your Work

Hello All!

It has been awhile since I have last posted on this blog. Not to fret, I've been clamoring away at all the latest tech and entrepreneurship gossip that I could get a hold of and I have some awesome things to share in the new future.

First, let's discuss the latest online profile builder that I stumbled across last week: Branded.Me. Branded.Me is a simple to use and easy to showcase your favorite work. Check out a snapshot of my Branded.Me page right here:

Bronson Quon Branded.Me Profile

As I mentioned, Branded.Me makes it easy to highlight your latest projects or current activities. Simply add or drop the sections that best suit you.

Now build away online friends and come back next week for more tech and entrepreneurship words of wisdom.

Cheers! 

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Can Spotify Dominate the Music Streaming Industry?

I listen to a lot of music and my plethora of tracks ranges from indie to pop. I like all kinds of music and I've tried to expand my musical library as I find artists to add to my collection. With that being said, the music services I've used has drastically altered over the last decade. I remember purchasing my first iPod and being ecstatic with the iTunes library. Upon entry I thought, "iTunes is going to change music forever," and it did! Now, the available services for music lovers range from iTunes radio, Pandora, and my recent favorite, Spotify.



Spotify allows you to not only stream any track with wifi connection, but you can now listen to your favorites offline. This is a huge addition to the once predominantly oriented online service that commuters and students took advantage of in the early days. You can also create playlists of your favorite songs and share them with your friends. Now you can build musical repertoire within your connections and share what you think is the hottest tracks out.

I recently read an article that stated online royalties for artists on Spotify surpassed royalties for artists on iTunes in the UK for the first time ever. So, Spotify is not only a great service for users, but the artists are being paid appropriately in an industry that has struggled to support all the hard work they do.

What's next for Spotify as they look to dominate the music streaming market? A recent article I found on Yahoo! News stated that Spotify is looking to get a lyrics button for laptop users to use during karaoke sessions. I don't know if you have ever been to a karaoke bar, but the regulars take it quite seriously. This could be just another addition to Spotify as they try and distance themselves from the dominators in the market, iTunes and Pandora.

For now though, things are looking up for Spotify and I'm excited to see where their headed next. Technological disruption has allowed newcomers to enter existing markets and shift the landscape. I'm excited to how the industry progresses and I hope, above all else, that the artists begin to be recognized for the work we continue to love.

What music services do you use?

-BQ

#Spotify #Pandora #iTunes #MusicStreaming #OnlineMusic #Artists

Friday, January 23, 2015

Are We Living In a Post-PC Era?

I read an article this week on Yahoo! today that really caught my attention. In summary, the article suggested the end of a PC dominated community due to new and emerging technologies such as tablets and smart phones. I think this is an issue that has been around since the emergence of the iPhone, but I'm not sure it holds as much weight as the article suggests...

photo of a personal computer (pc)

Are we really likely to give up our desktops and PC's?

I started to really think about this once I skimmed this article. Yes, iPhone and tablet sales have been steadily rising in the past few years. So has the development of Apps that are not compatible on common PC's, but what about everything else we do? I think we still use PC's as an anchor to work out from.

Think about all of your devices your phone, tablet, laptop, personal computer, etc. They all serve different purposes and you use / work with them in different ways. I know I like to have emails sent to my phone, but I would much rather respond to them on my laptop. I also don't like viewing Microsoft documents solely on my iPad, but I use my iPad everyday for news catchup and music. Each device does something better than the others and I'm not sure there is going to be as much replacing as some of the experts think.

I could be missing a huge technological trend, however, I predict that smart phone and tablet sales will continue to increase as we continue to use more and more devices in our personal and work life, but PC's will remain to be the most productive tool on your desk.




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Saturday, January 17, 2015

Albert Einstein's Business Advice

I found this infographic that highlights Albert Einstein's advice for businesses and companies.

13 Business Secrets from Albert Einstein

All of these quotes resonated with me and put business into perspective for me. I really like Einstein's quotes; "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." and "If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal. Not to people or things."

Businesses seem to fail because they lack a clear vision. They also may lack a clear way to accomplishing cede vision. Keep your business simple and don't clutter your life with unnecessary what if's and speculations.

Lastly, business without passion is just that, business as usual. You develop your own happiness, so create a goal that you can tie happiness too.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Sales go up and down....

I found this image on pinterest and I liked it enough to share it here. I think business owners often lose sight of what matters... THEIR CUSTOMERS! Don't be so focused on bringing in new business that the quality of your work decreases.

Sales go up and down. Service stays forever.
 
How do you stay focused on your current customers? #business #startups #sales

Monday, January 12, 2015

Mark Cuban's 12 Rules for Startups


 I recently found an awesome infographic with Mark Cuban's 12 Rules for Startups. I loved it enough to share it again. My analysis of the first 5 can be found below:
 
a list of mark cuban's 12 rules for startups. what a genius!


 1. Don't start a startup unless it's an obsession and something you love.

I think this holds true for every business and industry you dabble in. Company percentage failures are high, so founders need to be hold true to their vision and the love for the grind will help them pivot and change course when times get hard (which they will).

2. If you have an exit strategy, it's not an obsession.

This bounces off of rule #1. If you always have a plan B then you will never do everything in your power to make sure plan A is a success. Exit strategy = acceptance of failure.

3. Hire people who you think will love working there.

Statistic after statistic show the differences in employees who love their jobs compared to the ones that dread coming to work. Working in a startup is difficult and unsettling, however, a solid team is crucial to success. A solid team will support the overall infrastructure and push your projects forward.

4. Sales cure all.

You may have a great idea or product, but until you have a paying customer, YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS. Handling the difficulties that come along with running a startup is easier to handle when you have inflows that can support your projects and ideas.

5. Know your core competencies and focus on being great at them.

I think businesses often fail because they try to do too much with their limited resources. It's better to be amazing at 1 single thing than mediocre at various things. Focus on what matters, your skills and environment and you will find success.