The social media revolution is mostly over. The major players have matured, innovation is very stagnant in this area and most social networking ideas are “pretty much out there”. With the exception of a civic network, all the potentially mainstream social networking innovations have been created. The next revolution is something far greater in scope and potential gains for humanity. A large group of programmers, activists, venture capitalists, investors and technology leaders are now seeking to reinvent money. …

Reach Millions of Users via Twitter for Free

This is the graph of my mention reach from the last six months. A nice number considering I don’t have millions of Twitter followers of a TV program. But the truth is you can gain fair exposure using Twitter just by consistently posting high-quality content. The tool I use to manage my Twitter metrics is called SumAll, it’s free and very practical. Aside from that, I only used my blog and the Klout Chrome extension to achieve these results. Let’s dissect the process I used to gain TV-like exposure during last semester:

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Jordhy.com passes the 500 visitors per hour mark.

A critical mass of users is built by producing adequate tools and content. High traffic requires at first a solid infrastructure with adequate support and then a clear design that offers an ideal UI/UX for visitors. When visitors find the content they need in your platform, on a consistent basis, and they can consume such content in an enjoyable fashion, they come back for more. After coming back a few times, they start referring to you. Soon after, they join your mal list, and so it goes.

A WAR CHEST IS A METAPHOR FOR ANY COLLECTION OF TOOLS OR MONEY INTENDED TO BE USED IN A CHALLENGING OR DANGEROUS SITUATION. — FROM WIKIPEDIA

Many entrepreneurs go to war alone, broke, naked, and with a big open heart! They go on quoting Rocky, The Field of Dreams, and Forrest Gump. It’s time for a rude awakening because you’re in a different movie. And, if you must pick movies I would probably say that entrepreneurship is similar to The Terminator or something along those lines. When people say entrepreneurship is hard, they don’t mean Harvard hard; they mean it’s…

So, your plan is to ship a series of features, have thousands install your app, and hope for the best? I’m sorry, but you need a better plan, specifically something that doesn’t include the word “hope” in it.

Network effects happen when your application is deliberately designed to support such effects. Network effects happen when a critical mass of users is constantly enriching your platform and, such enrichment can be monetized. Network effects translate into a virtuous cycle of value creation whose engine of growth should be apparent from day one in your mobile app or startup. Let me illustrate:

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What is the key to success in building new things? Is it making the code run faster? It is proper financing, or maybe hiring the right people. At a technical level yes, those things matter tremendously. However, at a high level, you should probably strive for a more general goal: crafting love.

First, you have to choose your craft and make sure you love it. Only pursue fields you are passionate about. And only hire people that are passionate about it. Because this love for the craft will eventually turn into discipline, persistence, and mastery. …

Community building is a powerful strategy to make your next project grow exponentially.

ONE SHOULD GUARD AGAINST PREACHING TO YOUNG PEOPLE SUCCESS IN THE CUSTOMARY FORM AS THE MAIN AIM IN LIFE. THE MOST IMPORTANT MOTIVE FOR WORK IN SCHOOL AND IN LIFE IS PLEASURE IN WORK, PLEASURE IN ITS RESULT AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE VALUE OF THE RESULT TO THE COMMUNITY.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

Community building is key to reaching a high user base with a grassroots movement and minimal marketing expenditures. You recruit the first thousand users and, if they are the right users, your community will recruit…